The Alcora Chronicles

Marina

Marina

I cursed my clumsiness not for the first time, as I tripped on the hem of my gold spirit-user's robes. Almost dropping my things and tumbling to the floor, I held my breath. However, I managed to right myself, which was different to the usual occurrence, and I let the air leave my body in a sigh.

I finally exited the too-cold classroom and almost tripped again in the doorway. I caught myself and shifted my things in my arms, marvelling at my curious lack of usual clumsiness.

"Oh, Princess!" Professor Deana called after me, addressing me by the title only my people, the sirens, gave to me. "Don't forget to give me that paper on the correct use of water manipulation by week after next."

I nodded and blew a blond curl out of my face. I was hardly concerned with my water magic when my spirit was far more challenging. If I continued to progress at my current rate, I would pass my water Control Test within the next season. However, my spirit magic required a considerable amount more focus and dedication. It was my first specialty and yet, it was a lot more difficult to control.

Shaking the stressful thoughts from my mind, I made my way around the other elemental classrooms toward the spiralling staircase that led to the top of the Magi's Tower. This was where I went when I needed to calm my racing mind. This was where I could remove the feelings of inadequacy from my heart. Even though it was restricted for novices, the Diamond Chamber was where I found my peace.

I emerged at the top of the spiral stairs and my favourite guard let me through the door. I thought to myself that it may have been the magic imbued in the diamond casing of the Terrorstone that made me feel so tranquil. As I considered this possibility, I found that I cared not what caused the relief, only that it was there.

When I lay my eyes on the Diamond Chamber, my breath left me, as it did every time. The singular curved wall was silver in the places where there were no full windows. The light from the orange sunset poured in and refracted off the diamond casing in the centre of the room, which was resting on a diamond plinth. My eyes ached as I stared at the splendour of the room; the sparkling diamond, the burnt orange walls, and the giant windows opposite me.

The Stone was a great contrast. The grey lump looked completely ordinary, lying on a velvet cushion inside the magic-infixed diamond. But if the Terrorstone were to be removed from the box, all Alcora would face terrible suffering. The lands would flood and burn simultaneously, and acid would rain from the sky. Some even said that Hell itself would burst open and demons would roam the earth, but I wasn't sure if I believed that. I wasn't entirely sure I believed any of it, but I was too afraid of the possibility of truth to find out.

Taking a seat away from the windows, I allowed the tension to leave my shoulders. The sun sank slowly lower in the sky, being gradually swallowed by the horizon and I thought of my home in Smoothstone Bay. It was eight years ago that I had discovered I possessed magic, spirit being the first to emerge. It caused so much discord between my mother and I, it still pained me to this day.

With a heavy sigh, I grabbed my book from my pile of things and opened it to the marked page. It wasn't a text on spirit theory, as it should have been. It was a story, one of my people. It told of a siren with no voice. She couldn't speak, couldn't sing. She was looked down on by everyone in her village, until she ventured into the deepest part of the ocean and brought back a legendary pearl, which was valuable enough to save the struggling village from debt and starvation.

It was my favourite story. She was an outcast, shunned by her own people. It made me feel less alone when I read it. And so, I sat in the Diamond Chamber as the sun slowly set, reading the battered and worn book, and dreaming of a time when I could return home.

When the last shaft of sunlight had disappeared into the skyline, I knew that it was time to leave. I closed my book, gathered my things, and got up off the floor. Stretching the stiffness from my muscles, I heard my stomach rumble. With the plan in my mind to get some dinner before heading to bed, I opened the heavy door to the Diamond Chamber and almost walked into someone on the other side.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, wide eyed and trying not to drop my book on my foot. The person was taller and more solid than I was, and male. He had radiant golden hair and his eyes were an intriguing shade of greenish blue. I found myself staring at those eyes.

"I didn't think..." the boy trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck with a large, paw-like hand. "How do you get up here?" he asked.

I lowered my gaze to the floor. "I'm friends with one of the guards. He lets me in after classes."

I heard him chuckle, a deep throaty sound. "Like how pretty it all looks from up here?" There was a sort of derisive sound to his voice, a condescending undertone. This was when I realised that he was most likely a year or two older than me.

"No," I retorted sharply, raising my eyes to meet his and glaring. "It relaxes me. I come up here to think, and read."

The boy seemed surprised and I shook my head, pushing past him. I rushed down the spiral stairs, praying to Nyrema that I didn't trip and tumble to my death. I made it without incident and hurried to my room. Throwing myself into bed and hoping that my uncharacteristic confidence didn't come back to punish me later, I went to sleep, remembering only as I drifted off, that I had forgotten to eat.