She tapped the circle on the board. “This, for instance, will cause a stone placed within to glow. The magic you release into the ritual circle will siphon into an illumination spell within the stone.”
Several of the students had half formed ritual circles drawn out in their notebooks. Their pens scratched on their paper as they copied down the circle.
A number of students didn’t. Neither Juliana nor Eva even had their notebooks open. Miss Eva, she expected mostly due to the young mage’s familiarity with runes. The two types of magic weren’t related apart from writing things down, but they were similar enough that Zoe expected her to have experience in unorthodox magic systems.
Mr. Anderson and Irene Coggins weren’t copying down the circle either. With their parents, they would have some extra knowledge. Shelby Coggins, on the other hand, barely seemed to be paying attention. Her attention was wrapped up on the boy beside her.
One or two other students, including Mr. Weston and Mr. Bradley, weren’t touching their pens. Though that may have been laziness rather than a real reason.
“Miss Coggins,” Zoe said, both twins looked up but Zoe’s gaze remained on the lighter haired of the two, “why are you not copying down the circle?”
Irene shrugged with a sidelong glance at the table holding her twin. “I know a spell to make light, and I doubt it would be hard to learn an enchantment to do the same thing to a rock. Seems a waste of time to draw out a big complicated circle for such a simple thing.”
“A valid response, though if you were caught in the wilds without a wand, you might be wishing you paid attention.”
“Doubtful,” Mr. Anderson said half under his breath.
Zoe cocked an eyebrow at him, but Juliana had her hand raised. “Miss Rivas?”
“You marked down the circle but failed to mark the circle as a container. If you try to channel magic, it will dissipate as if the circle wasn’t even there.”
Zoe smiled. Genoa taught the girl well, it seems. “Correct. This circle is worthless as it is. As I mentioned before, we won’t be getting into a full course on rituals until your third year. They’re dangerous when you don’t know what you are doing.”
Eva shifted in her seat, looking very much like she wanted to say something. Zoe ignored her.
“There are a number of other, intentional, errors that will safely disperse magic,” Eva ceased her shuffling at that and Mr. Anderson gave a small nod, “just in case any of you think you know how to correct that error.
“If any of you do think to try out a ritual, I’d advise you to seek the guidance of an instructor. Otherwise, wait until your third year.”
Mr. Weston raised his hand, surprising Zoe. She looked to him and nodded.
“I heard you had to be naked to perform rituals. Is that true?”
Where a boy who had been raised outside of a magical family heard that, Zoe could only guess. If Mr. Anderson’s quick glance out a window was any indication, Zoe wouldn’t need too many guesses.
“That is correct for the most part. Something like this,” Zoe tapped the board behind her, “you could probably stay clothed. Anything with a person at the center or intended to affect a person should always be done nude. Even most others should be done nude, especially if you are inexperienced. Designs in clothes have been known to interfere with magic flows in rituals.
“Another reason they are considered dangerous.”
A good half the class blushed at that. Mr. Weston’s hand shot straight into the air once again.
Zoe didn’t need to call on him, what he wanted to ask may as well have been written on his face.
“No, Mr. Weston. If we perform any rituals in class, they will be exceedingly simple and with the protection of myself or other instructors.
“No nudity in class.”
Chapter 015
A chilly breeze ran over the dormitory rooftop. Eva shivered. The early sunsets and low temperatures in mid September were nothing like Florida. She had purchased pants, but hadn’t expected to need them until November or December at least. At this rate, Eva would need to go out and buy some long underwear.
Or perhaps look into magical methods of keeping warm. Surely they existed. If not, her runes hadn’t failed her yet. She’d just use the same runes that heated her shower water.
In contrast to the shivering black-haired woman, a blond stood just half a head shorter to Eva’s side. She had a completely posed look about her. No shivering. No quaking in her boots. No smiles either. She glowered at the last rays of light as they disappeared beneath the horizon.
“What are we waiting for?”
“You can’t blink, right?” Juliana shook her head. “Any fast method of transportation?”
“I can create steps and supports to hop over fences and such, that’s about it.”
“Right.” Eva crossed her arms, resting them lightly on Arachne and trying not to look too cold. “Remember on the plane when I said no screaming, panicking, or just general reactions were allowed? We’re going to do that again.”
Juliana mimicked Eva and crossed her arms. “Okay.”
Eva patted Arachne’s back lightly. The spider slipped out from beneath Eva’s shirt and started transforming. Eva noted with a frown that the spider-demon was doing her best to make the transformation look and sound more grotesque than usual. The squelching noise as her body stretched was louder than Eva had ever heard it before.
When she reached her full height, Arachne had all her legs spread out behind her back like some kind of needly butterfly wings. Her mouth split into a wide grin, sharp teeth parted just slightly.
None of her intimidation seemed to work on the grinning blond. “I knew you weren’t just a regular spider,” she said. “I checked every book on magical creatures I could get my hands on and nothing fit your description. So what are you?”
“This,” Eva said before the demon could answer, “is Arachne.”
Juliana looked the spider-woman up and down. “The mortal weaver who challenged Athena?”
“The one and only,” Arachne half growled out. That Juliana wasn’t intimidated by her seemed to bother poor Arachne.
“So, which version is true? You beat Athena and were cursed for your hubris or you lost and were cursed for your hubris?”
“I won of course.”
Juliana hummed at that, giving Arachne another appraising look over.
“Anyway,” Eva said, “we should go. Arachne will carry you.”
“What?” came Arachne’s half shout.
“I can move on my own, she can’t.”
“But–”
“You’re the one who said we should bring her.” At Juliana’s questioning look, Eva explained, “I believe her exact words were ‘if only Juliana and Shalise were fine with me, maybe I wouldn’t have to hide as a spider all day.'”
“I said nothing of the sort.”
“Pretty close. In any case, I’ll just step there and you carry her.” Eva turned to start stepping, but a squelching noise gave her pause.
She turned back to find Arachne’s legs shifting from her back to the bulbous growths emerging from her back. She grew, standing high enough on her eight legs for Eva to fit beneath her without much stooping. Her human body shifted, rising higher and growing larger to match her new body’s size.
Juliana took a step back, looking at least a little intimidated this time. Amusingly enough, Arachne wasn’t trying for intimidation. At least not as far as Eva could tell. Her transformation was quick and clean.
“I’ll carry the both of you then,” she said, reluctantly, as she stopped growing. “It isn’t good to exhaust yourself before we enter a dangerous situation.”
The poor spider-demon looked almost like she was pleading. Eva had never been carried by her outside her human form. She rarely even saw Arachne in full on Arachne-mode unless the demon was planning on hurting something.