Bay

Chapter Five

By the time Bay and Beth made it back to the mess hall, the lunch food was being put away. They managed to grab a loaf of bread to split and each grabbed a hunk of cheese. They ate in silence. Bay could not stop thinking about the ammo she had given to the Sorceress. And she figured Beth was probably thinking the same thing. She had probably made things better for the other girl. She had been honest straight away. The Sorceress would probably use her family against her even more so now since she had lied. She had tried to protect her family but had just put them into even more danger.

Her stomach still felt empty when Bay finished her share of their lunch. Beth offered her the rest of her cheese but Bay waved it away and told the girl that she would eat more at dinner. Beth scarfed the cheese down in two bites.

"I wonder what we should do now," Bay said. "We weren't told where to go or who to meet with."

"Probably Miss Mally," Beth said. She stood up and walked toward the door.

The girls confidence seemed to have grown since talking with the Sorceress. Probably because Bay had unwittingly protected Beth's family. She probably thought that if the Sorceress was going to go after anyones family now, it would be Bay's. And, once again, she was probably right.

Bay followed Beth to the door but there was no one out in the hall except for a couple guards at either end off the long corridor.

"Which way should we go?" Beth asked.

"Toward the main entrance, I would think," Bay said.

When they reached the entranceway, the front doors were open wide and many students were standing just outside the door. They looked impatient.

"I see you two finally decided to show up," Miss Mally said. "Get on with the others now."

"Sorry," Beth said. "We didn't know where to go."

Bay trotted towards the others, but still heard Miss Mally's clipped response, "No excuses!"

As soon as they joined the waiting group, they began to walk out of the large fortress gate. The same gate they had gone through upon arrival. Maybe Bay could find a way to escape and get back to her family. No. That would only endanger them further. They would all have to pick up and leave. And the Sorceress would most likely find them all anyway. She most likely would not let them go easily once they were caught. She would kill them all. Maybe even keep Bay alive to live with the fact that she had gotten her entire family killed.

They walked along the wall and down a wide path through tangled trees. A large lake lay among the trees. It reached across to the mountains in the distance. A short dock went out into the waters. There were no boats. The lake was still.

Miss Mally walked straight down the dock to the very end. She waited while the students arranged themselves in pairs from where Miss Mally stood back to the shore.

Bay and Beth stood side by side near the front. The students in front of them stood perfectly still with their hands at their sides, so Bay emulated them. Beth rung her hands in front of her but stopped when Bay nudged her with her elbow.

"Today, we have two new students. We are going to demonstrate the type of things they will be learning here. Ian, you will go first as you are the most experienced." Miss Mally stepped to the side and one of the boys at the front stepped forward.

"The walk?" he asked and Miss Mally nodded.

"Wait," Miss Mally said. "Bay, Beth, come to the front."

Bay let Beth walk ahead of her. They both slid between each of the pairs in front of them to stand next to Miss Mally and Ian.

The old woman nodded and Ian stepped toward the edge of the dock. The water shivered and became even more still than it had been when they had arrived at the lake. Ian stepped off the dock, but instead of the expected splash, he began to walk forward. Bay watched in awe as the boy walked out toward the middle of the lake.

"Up," Miss Mally shouted.

Suddenly the water beneath Ian's feet shot into the air with him standing unperturbed at the top of the fountain of churning water. Higher and higher he rose. Bay looked around at the lake and noticed a distinct line at the shore showing how much the water level had depleted.

"Back," Miss Mally instructed.

Ian's wave began to move toward the dock. Closer and closer. Faster and faster. Bay stepped back as the water hit the dock, but it was only a small spray of water that dampened her face. Ian stood back at the end of the dock.

"Good," Miss Mally waved Ian back into his pairing. "Now, Bay, I want you to try."

#

Bay stepped forward. She felt more than heard the whispers behind her. Why would Miss Mally want her to try? She did not know the first thing about any of this sorcery!

Feigning confidence, Bay asked, "What am I supposed to do?"

"Focus," Miss Mally said. "And then step off the dock."

Bay stared down at the water, willing it to become still again, like it had when Ian had stood in her place. Nothing happened. She closed her eyes and held her breathe. When her eyes opened, the water still slopped against the pillars of the dock.

"Now step forward," Miss Mally said.

"But the—" Bay felt the wind push her forward and the next thing she knew, she was plunging into the frigid waters. She swam back up to the surface and gasped for air. The air around her was filled with laughter. She looked up to see Miss Mally's pleased face staring down at her. She turned away.

"Quiet, quiet," the horrible woman said. "Beth, your turn."

The giggling did not stop fully, but it did lessen as Beth stepped forward.

"Get out of the way. Go on. Swim to shore." Miss Mally made shoeing motions with her hands.

Bay concentrated on swimming to shore. She did not want to watch Beth inevitably fail. Fail and be laughed at just the same. As soon as she stepped out of the water, Bay began trudging back up to the fortress. She probably should have stayed and endured the rest of the lesson, but she was too angry. Anyway, she would deal with the punishment later. Right now all she wanted was to change into something dry and finally eat more than a hunk of bread.

She was walking through the gate when a soaking wet Beth caught up to her.

"Where are you going?" Beth asked.

"You shouldn't have followed me," Bay said. "Now we're both going to be in trouble."

"Oh well," she replied. "I can't believe that just happened."

"I can," Bay sighed. "Humiliate the new comers so that they have an even harder time making friends. They don't want us talking to one another, remember?"

"The guards don't seem to care," Beth said.

Bay looked around the yard. Sure enough, none of the guards were paying them any mind. They walked through the large open doors and a demon stepped in front of them. He pointed down a hallway and began to walk toward it.

"Guess we should follow," Bay said.

The demon walked briskly and Bay had trouble keeping up. Beth's shorter legs caused her to lag behind until she began running to keep up.

"Where... do you think... he's taking us?" Beth said between breathes.

"I'm assuming to where ever we are going to be punished," Bay replied. Why did I leave? I should have stayed at the lake. She followed the demon through a doorway and jogged straight into his back. He had stopped.

Bouncing off of his back, Bay sat down hard on the ground. Beth grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet and they both hopped away from the demon. He did not even seem fazed from their altercation.

The room was small. Just enough room for a desk and chair, and a thin bench along the wall opposite the desk. The demon pointed at the bench and then walked out of the room. Beth sat down straight away, but Bay peered over at the papers on the desk.

They were mostly supply documents, but one stood out from the others. It was an order to apprehend both Bay and Beth's families.