Shifting Flames {Book 1 of the Black Mancer Series}

Chapter 7: Evie

Evie

Evie didn't see Kiara until Mancing class the next day, and even then she kept her head down. People stared, but didn't approach. Evie stood strong by her side though.

"If 'partner' means what I think it means- I don't even like him that way! And he just says it in front of everyone... I don't know what to do." Kiara whispered.

Evie put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be ok. I'm here for you."

Two textbooks floated their way, and the teacher drew their attention. "I am Ms. Black, your teacher for today. Please space yourselves out evenly." Ms. Black said, now hovering above the crowd, looking at them sternly. When she caught sight of the prince, her face cleared as she bowed mid-air, saying "It is my pleasure to be your teacher, Your Highness." The prince bowed his head in acknowledgement.

"I have two exercises for you today. The first is to guide an arrow to a target. The second is to hold yourself in the air. First, of course, I'll need to teach you how to use Air Mancing. Be aware that many of you will not get this the first try. Half of you will not even learn it this week. Do not be discouraged though. Many have struggled before you and succeeded. You will need resilience and commitment to learn. This is not easy." Ms. Black clapped her hands. "Well I believe that to be enough from me. Let's get started. Open up your books to page three, please."

Evie looked at the book in her hands. It was a fairly thin hardback with "Mancing Textbook: Beginner" stamped on the grey cover. She flicked through to page three, and began reading. The book instructed her to sit in a certain pose and feel the breeze around her. She could already see others sitting, crossing their legs and holding their arms out, palms upwards. As they sat, an arrow floated down to the ground in front of them.

Evie sat and concentrated. She felt the wind gliding over her arms, behind her neck and making her shiver. The book told her to visualise how the wind was moving. This was supplemented by Ms. Black talking to the class, checking in on those who didn't have the correct position or looked stressed. Evie tried to imagine how the wind flowed. Like a river, skimming over rocks- over her. The next step in the book was to divert this flow. The aim was to move it underneath the arrow, to make it hover. Evie gritted her teeth and concentrated. She could do this. She was a Mancer. She tried imagining it moving under the arrow.

Nothing.

She tried harder.

Nothing.

She tried gesturing with her arms, raising them up.

Still nothing.

Evie was beginning to be frustrated. But she knew that she was just a beginner, so she took a deep breath and looked around. She noticed a few arrows hovering, before rolling and falling back to the grass. There was only about five though, so that relieved her. Movement on her left startled her, and Kiara began hovering above the ground. She glided above the heads of others and the arrow beside her thudded into the target ten paces away. There were a few claps, but most people knew she was powerful from the incident yesterday.

Prince Sebastian moved over to her, and they began talking. Ms. Black checked on them briefly, but mostly left them alone. Evie couldn't hear what the two were saying, though it wasn't her business anyway, so she focused on Mancing for the rest of the morning.

The lesson after lunch was Dragon class. Evie didn't really know what to expect. She used to help raise the family goats, but she didn't think dragons would be quite the same. Still, she loved animals and dragons were no different.

Dozens of students showed up for the class, including Kiara. A large cage filled with tiny cat-sized dragons was on their right, with a large man leaning on it. His arms were covered in scars from scratches and burns, making empty patches on his hairy arms.