The Necromancer

Chapter Ten

As Nathan prepared to eat another meal all alone, two more plates appeared across from his. Just as Tharin sat down, Amarantha slid into the seat next him.

Tharin glared at her. "What are you doing here Mari?"

"It's Amara, Amarantha Elizabeth Clarke."

"Yeah well that's a mouthful. Can you imagine if you married Vance Titterington over there? Your name would be a nightmare. My nickname is much better."

Amara huffed in annoyance. "Like Tharin Kronin is any less annoying of a name."

"The Kronin's are one of the greatest wizard families and have been for generations. The Clarke's are nobodies. Rumor has it that you are the only one out of your brothers and sisters to have a strong enough aura to even attempt magic."

"What do you mean 'strong enough auras'?" Nathan questioned.

"Everyone has an aura, but not everyone is strong enough to use their magic. However, that doesn't make them any less human, nor do they deserve any less respect," Amara explained through gritted teeth.

Tharin snorted, "Those cellophane freaks are nothing like us."

Amara's aura began to materialize around her, surrounding her in a shroud of silver. "They aren't freaks."

"What else would you call people like them?"

Nathan shifted uncomfortably between the two of them. Amara was about ready to kill Tharin on the spot. Tharin either didn't seem to care or didn't notice that his words cut deep. In an futile attempt to get Tharin to back down, Nathan tried motioning for him to cut it out. Tharin decided goading Amara into a fight instead of holding his tongue was the best plan of action.

A very stupid plan, Nathan thought.

Amara lashed out, sending a bolt of energy towards Tharin. Hitting him square in the chest, the bolt knocked him off his seat and halfway across the room. Tharin scrambled to stand up, but before he could Amara hit him with another blast. Finally coming to his senses, Tharin blocked her next attack by materializing his blood red aura.

Professor Frost descended from the dais, a sour look on her face. She trapped Amara in a bubble, effectively blocking any further attacks. Tharin, seeing an opportunity to strike back, sent a blast at Amara. However, his attack bounced uselessly off the bubble.

"Miss Clarke, I honestly expected better of you. Your parents are some of the greatest warriors among the Elite Guardians." Amara bowed her head in shame. "As a member of the wizard community it is our job to keep the secret. We cannot let our emotions get out of control because of how closely our auras are tied to our emotions. There will always be ignorant, biased bigots in the world," Professor Frost directed this comment at Tharin. "We have to be the bigger person and remain in control. The three of you will have detention tomorrow evening. Please report to my office directly after dinner."

"Why me?" Nathan whined. "I didn't blast Tharin half way across the room!"

"You made minimal efforts to de-escalate an emotionally charged argument between two wizards. Ifwe were in the presence of the aura-less, they would've outed us to the entireworld. Not to mention your aura just about materialized from how much power you were drawing from their argument. It is incredibly dangerous to draw too much power and overload your aura."

Nathan was about to complain once more, but Professor Frost cut him off once again. "My decision, Mr. Norwood, is final. I shall see the three of you in my office tomorrow evening. Is that understood?" The three mumbled their agreement. With a final nod, Professor Frost returned to her seat upon the dais.

"I hope you know this is all your fault, Tharin," Amara grumbled.

"How is it my fault? You were the one who attacked me!"

Before Amara could spit out a reply, Nathan cut her off, "I've already gotten one detention today. It doesn't matter who started what anymore. If you two want to argue some more, please keep me out of it." Stabbing his fork into a piece of lettuce, he glanced up at his "friends" if you could call them that. "You've already caused enough trouble here, so why don't you sit at your own tables."

Ashamed, Amara discretely snuck out of the Great Hall. Tharin, on the other hand, walked proudly back to his table. He refused to let anyone's comments affect him.

- - -

Nathan's foul mood from lunch followed him like an annoying spirit as he trudged into the gym's locker rooms. Luckily, he didn't have to don a horrible school-issued gym uniform that made him look even scrawnier than he already was. Exiting the locker room, Nathan joined the crowd surrounding the professors.

The gym itself was several times larger than any school gymnasium he'd seen before. The ceilings extended several stories high. There were retractable bleachers on either side. A single line was drawn down the middle of the floor.

"Welcome to gym class pipsqueaks," Professor Murphy greeted. He was flanked by two other teachers. There was a collective groan from the students. "Today's game is dodgeball." A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes as he separated the class into teams.

Glancing around at his teammates, they were a mix of first year students all the way up to seventh year students. Each team stood on either side of the gym, poised and ready to run. A barrier of dodgeballs separated the teams.

A whistle blew and all hell broke loose. The seventh years pelted the underclassmen relentlessly while deflecting any dodgeballs that came near them with their shields. The first-years were hopelessly underprepared. Unable to raise a shield quick enough, the dodgeballs rained down upon them. Large, angry red marks would remain imprinted on their bodies for days. Conjuring his shield, Nathan crouched behind it in defense.

Enchanted dodgeballs flew faster than imaginable. Students already knocked out of the game simply laid down on the ground, not wanting to be hit again as they exit the warzone.

The dodgeballs magically replenished themselves at the barrier line. This created an endless source of ammo for the upperclassmen. 

Nathan's shield began to flicker in and out of existence. It was only every few minutes at first, but now it flickered like a child playing with a light switch. The opposing team had begun to take notice. A dodgeball came whizzing towards him at the same time his shield finally died out.

Instead of getting pounded in the face like he imagined, a glowing red shield pulsed before his eyes.

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Hi,

I just wanted to thank everyone who has been voting and reading my story recently. I know that I stopped posting on here for about a year. I'll try to update the Necromancer regularly, but I just started college so I don't know how much time I'll have each day to write. Thank you again though for your support and encouraging me to keep writing.

~Meg