Night Shifter by Lucia Ashta

Author:Lucia Ashta [Ashta, Lucia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

12

Not even Nessa or Fianna dared interrupt the silence as everyone stared at the petite owl. His expression was grave, his large yellow eyes drawn due to their intensity. Whatever he was here to announce wasn’t good news.

Scanning the audience, he seemed to make eye contact with every single one of us, though I imagined that was impossible. There had to be somewhere between a hundred and a hundred and fifty students, and that didn’t count several staff members who’d crammed in here with us. A student had to complete nine semester terms to graduate. However, the number of students who enrolled each year varied, since it was dependent on a spell and not a regular set of admission considerations. I’d estimated our class of oners—as students here during their first term were called—numbered upward of twenty-five students. I had no idea if this was a constant across all the terms, from oners through to niners. I supposed with students getting kicked out at an alarming rate, it couldn’t be.

Sir Lancelot cleared his throat. “As you might imagine,” he began, his voice loud and clear as it rang through the hushed assembly, “I’ve called you here to impart some rather important news.” As when he’d first addressed our incoming class in this same room, he crossed his wingtips behind his back and began to pace the length of the desk he stood on in a startlingly human manner. Though the owl was small, he dwarfed the two diminutive fairies who stood on either edge of the desk behind him.

“Before I share this troubling news with you, I feel it is my duty to first assure you that you are entirely safe here. There are few safer places in the world, and most of them are fellow satellite schools of the Magical Arts Academy, as this one is.”

Schools? Plural? I’d only ever heard of this one. Dad’s reclusivity after Mom’s death, and Ky’s secrecy—not to get my hopes up, perhaps—hadn’t done me any favors—though I imagined they would’ve answered my questions if I’d posed them.

“Our school is well guarded, though I doubt most of you notice the extent of our protection. In the magical realm, we don’t take anything for granted, especially not with the amount of unrest that governs our world.”

Unrest? I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, noticing that Wren was doing the same.

“While our school is fortunate enough to be nestled inside a mountain, which prevents any potential discovery from non-magical people of the outside world, our location isn’t hidden from our magical counterparts, whether they consider themselves friend or foe.”

Foe? Why would a school of novice students have enemies?

“The spells in place that protect our school prevent anyone or anything that is not pre-approved from entering. And I assure you there are no finer spells than those that govern the functioning of our school. Lords Mordecai and Albacus of Irele House itself set these spells into place, and I tell you from personal experience that there are no finer or more capable wizards in the world.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.