Emberlight

12. The Barrier of Ashes and Witches

Feya

After fourteen days of lessons, Feya stumbled into her dorm room exhausted. With Isadora on patrol, Martel had decided to teach her how to deflect aluminium bolts back at targets by shooting at her with his favourite crossbow; she was glad Martel was telekinetic or else he'd be sporting a trendy arrow through his eye. Two hours into the session, she wanted nothing more than to lie down and forget life for a few moments, but someone was in her way.

Tristan sat on her bed, his hands smoothing the bumps in the plain quilt. He froze when she walked in, grimacing. She didn't need to see her reflection to know she looked sweaty, weary, and scruffy. Her whole body ached.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"Life."

"If you say so. I need to talk to you."

"Now?" she asked, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Where's Kelsey? She seemed sad today. Do you know if Oliana's given her the results of her blood test yet?"

"I haven't had mine yet, so probably not. Kelsey's been spending a lot of time out front—" He sighed. "I really need to talk to you, and not about Kelsey."

She perched on the bed opposite Tristan. She was too tired to sit close to him and waste her energy on nerves.

"I need to tell you a secret," he said, stealing her attention. He ran his fingers through his hair, hovering at the nape of his neck. "There's something about me that you need to know."

The way he looked at her made her heart stammer. She jumped to conclusions. "Good thing or bad thing?"

He smiled. "Just hear me out, because this isn't an easy thing to admit. But I want you to know, so here it goes. I'm..."

...having feelings for you, Feya finished in her head hopefully, but his next words shattered that dream.

"Magic has..." He coughed, blinking hard. "I erm, Oliana knows...magic."

Feya scratched her head. "Oliana knows magic?"

Tristan didn't respond. His eyes glazed over, and his lip hung a little lower.

His look of blankness was worryingly familiar. She climbed off the bed and positioned herself beside him, unsure what to do next. When he gazed placidly with no sign of changing, she touched his shoulder and he jolted to life.

"What was I saying?"

"Something about magic," Feya said tentatively. She had seen that look before, but never on Tristan's face. It looked like the Aversion. "You were talking about magic."

"Can't have been important." He stood and frowned. "Where's Kelsey?"

"Late night lesson," Feya fabricated. She hadn't seen her friend all day, but she needed to use the trigger words to see how he would respond. Besides, she hoped it was true. "She's an Ember now or something. She's learning to draw her, erm, magic out. Spells and things, you know?"

Tristan nodded. She had hit all the keywords, but he didn't look blank this time. If it was the Aversion, it wasn't fully settled in. She shouldn't worry yet. But still, she wrung her fingers and watched him carefully as he stood.

"You're not surprised she's an Ember?" she asked.

"Not particularly. What's more surprising is if witches targeted LOCA for the Ashes cuisine. It makes more sense if they were actually looking for..."

"For Embers like me," she finished.

She couldn't help but noticed the way he said 'witches', as if a different word had been on his mind only moments before. At least the Aversion meant he wasn't magically and tragically screwed like her, because, as much as she wanted him to stay, their lives would always in danger here. Nikkitah could easily finished what she started. Or witches could break through the barrier like they did at Ignite Academy.