They’d need to have a talk later.
Or…
Eva focused on Zagan.
Uninterested. Eva couldn’t see anything else in his posture. His eyes focused off on some point above the student’s heads. With his arms crossed, he leaned back against a wall.
A wall that certainly wasn’t in the middle of the room.
Some invisible thing? Blood flecks passed through the area without resistance.
Eva wondered if anyone else noticed. His clothes might obscure the lean, but from her perspective, it was pretty obvious.
Still, he didn’t so much as glance in the direction of the blender girl.
Zoe Baxter, on the other hand, alternated between glancing at the girl, glancing over the students, and glaring at Zagan from behind his back. Surprisingly, Zoe hadn’t spoken to Eva about Zagan.
“Upper years will be instructed and monitored by Professor Zagan, middle years by myself, and lower years by Professor Baxter,” Franklin Kines said at the end of his speech. “Gear up and pair off.”
Eva sighed as she followed Juliana and Shalise over to the racks. She pulled on a knee-length vest and a helmet. Her own gloves were better than the ones offered. Even if they weren’t, it wasn’t like anyone she’d be up against could actually harm her hands.
“Well,” Eva said, “shall we get to it then, Shalise?”
“Shouldn’t we wait for Professor Baxter to give us instructions?”
Eva shrugged. “I was only half paying attention, but I think we’re meant to work on shields and basic projectiles. If Zoe has a problem with it, she’ll stop us and let us know.”
Shalise gave a hesitant nod before they moved to one of the unoccupied dueling rings.
“I’ll attack first then?”
“Got something that will hit me this time?” Eva asked with a grin.
A polite smile was all Eva got in return.
A polite smile and a ball of electricity. Eva could feel it burning through her flecks of blood as it arced towards her.
Eva held out her hand in front of her–forgoing her wand; there wasn’t enough time to reach for it as it was still in her pocket–and brought up an order magic shield.
Her shields were not very strong. Luckily, neither were Shalise’s lightning balls.
The electricity hit the shield, sending fractures through the ethereal wall. With a burst of extra magic, Eva repaired the cracks before any electricity could snake through to the other side.
“That’s a new one,” Eva said with surprise in her voice. The last time she saw Shalise fight, she hadn’t managed any kind of attack save for small bursts of air that were not dangerous even without a shield. “No runes?”
“I worked hard this summer,” she said with a smile. The smile slipped slightly as she said, “it isn’t as impressive as a proper lightning bolt, but Professor Baxter helped a lot to get this far.”
“It is quite impressive, I assure you Miss Ward.”
Shalise jumped a few feet as Zoe Baxter approached from behind the girl.
For once, I’m not the one being startled, Eva thought with a grin.
“I wouldn’t have expected you to be able to cast that for a few months yet,” Zoe continued, “though you could put more power into it. Keep it up and you might make a full bolt by the end of the year.”
Blood rushed to Shalise’s cheeks. She mumbled something that Eva couldn’t quite catch. Evidently, Zoe did hear it.
“Ah. Well, you best put in your greatest efforts. I shall be most pleased if you are able.” The professor’s eyes turned towards Eva. “You could do with Miss Ward’s work ethic. Do try to concentrate on your shield better, it shouldn’t have fractured like that. I will, however, commend your quick repair work.”
“Yes, Professor Baxter,” Eva said with a nod.
Despite her blood shield being near infinitely better than the order shields–twice over with Arachne’s blood–Eva could see the value in learning it. Blood was a limited quantity. She might not want to waste it on a shield when she could use it for an attack instead. Or she might not have any handy. A weak order shield could save her life.
Zoe nodded a dismissal towards the two and proceeded to another circle.
Left to their own devices, Eva and Shalise continued hurling magic at each other. Eva happily noted that her friend’s shield held up to all of her fireballs, weak though they were. Her own shield wasn’t so lucky. Every now and again, Shalise would put out enough power to take it down completely.
After twenty minutes of constant barrage, Shalise decided it was time to take a short break. Feeling worn out herself, Eva was only too happy to follow.
“I know who you are, Eva.”
Eva stopped in her tracks. She hadn’t even left the ring yet. With a sigh, she turned to face the little blended girl and her companion.
“Most people do,” Eva said. “They couldn’t stop staring at me for a good few months.” Even now, her speaking with the blended girl was drawing more than a few eyes. When she didn’t respond, Eva said, “can I help you?”
“Oh, I don’t know about helping,” she said with a wide smile, “I just wanted to talk to you. We’re a lot alike.”
Eva sighed. She waved Shalise off so the brunette could take her break. “It is generally proper to introduce oneself before starting a conversation.”
The girl slapped her forehead. Hard, if the blood rushing through her capillaries was any indication. Some of it seemed to leak out of the middle of her forehead and flowed along some stitching that became obvious as the blood–and Eva’s sight–ran down her face.
Eva frowned as the girl took no notice, even as some dripped into her eye.
“I forgot. Daddy always said to introduce myself and I forgot. My… friend is Hugo,” she said with a nod past her shoulder. “I’m Des.” She held out one hand, the hand she didn’t use to smack her face.
Eva frowned, but shook the girl’s hand anyway.
It happened so fast, Eva was left gaping. The blended girl reached up with her other hand and pulled Eva’s glove half off.
“Oh, how pretty,” she started. “Oh, but you don’t have stitching at all, that is–”
Eva shoved the girl. She flew back to the opposite end of the dueling ring where she landed in a heap.
Hugo stepped forward, looking about ready to throw a punch.
Eva took half a step back before Des managed to sit up. “Don’t hurt her Hugo, she’s our friend.”
Coating the girl with some extra blood to get a better sight on her, Eva felt her heart sink. Des’ hands still gripped Eva’s glove.
Eva’s needle-like claws slowly unbent from the compressed position they had to keep while in the gloves.
Short gasps from the watching crowd told Eva it was far too late to hide.
Arachne started squirming beneath her vest and her shirt. Instead of bothering to hide her hand, she pressed one hand against her chest, pinning Arachne.
Eva stared. Or observed. Her conversation with the blended girl had brought some attention, but now even those who had been ignoring or oblivious to her turned to stare. Each person brought more gasps or gapes, in turn drawing more people.
The chain reaction of stares couldn’t be stopped.
What to do? Eva tried to stay calm. She could see her own heart picking up speed. Just seeing that caused her to panic more.
Flee, address students, tear out the girl’s throat, release Arachne.
No, Eva thought despite her panic. Unpinning the still squirming Arachne could only worsen the situation as would attacking the blended girl.
Instead she started building up magic within herself–preparing for an infernal walk. She wanted to leave immediately, but wasn’t willing to risk a one way trip to Hell with a botched teleport.
Juliana rushed up to Eva’s side. A pillar of earth stretched from the ground and wrapped around Eva’s hand before breaking off, hiding it from view.