“Serena isn’t so bad,” Eva said with a grin. She quickly snapped her lips shut as she realized how wide her smile went. “You just haven’t given her a chance.”
“I think I’ll pass.”
“Your loss. But speaking of…” Eva trailed off, turning to Srey with a small frown on her face. Something really bothered her about the way he was hiding behind Juliana. “I’m going to need your help with a little task.”
Srey flinched upon being addressed. He did move slightly to one side, coming out from Juliana’s shadow.
“Following him right?” Srey said. “Finding out where he hid this message?”
“Not quite. Or rather, I have someone else I can assign to that task.” Nel should be able to watch the vampire well enough. Unlike hunters and Sawyer, it was doubtful that he would have a way to avoid Nel’s sight. “No. I need you to spend as much time as possible here. If you feel the slightest hostility, find and tell me immediately.”
Srey started off with a frown, but the frown slowly grew to a smile. “You mean you want me to keep away from all the people around? I can sit here and read a book in peace?”
“Exactly.”
—
Eva had one last thing to accomplish before the event began in full. A minor thing. Possibly even an optional thing. For that thing, she was currently sitting in her golemancy classroom, waiting for Professor Brier Price to finish her lesson. Which, assuming the clock was right, should be happening in less than ten seconds.
Sure enough, the bell rang right on schedule.
Brier Price jumped slightly, glancing up at the clock as if she hadn’t been expecting it. She was the only one. Nearly the entire rest of the class was already out the door when she started calling after them.
“Oh! Ah, students, no homework today. Enjoy watching the event.”
A few scattered farewells followed from those students who hadn’t yet left the classroom. The professor just watched them go with a smile on her face.
Meanwhile, Eva sat and waited, watching her lined face and grayed, slightly curled hair as she waved goodbye to every student. Eventually they were the last two in the classroom. Something that had Professor Price jumping again when she noticed.
“Eva? You’re still here.”
“Sorry if I’m disturbing you. I had a few questions I was hoping you might be able to help me with.”
The professor shook her head. “Oh no. Don’t worry about it. I’m something of a faithless woman,” she said with a slightly strained chuckle. “Your appearance doesn’t bother me one bit.”
Eva blinked in confusion before allowing herself a close-lipped smile. She had meant that she was sorry about taking up her time. However, Eva didn’t bother correcting the professor. No sense embarrassing her. Eva instead held out her wrist, using her other hand to slide the coiled form of Basila onto the top of the desk.
The stone snake wouldn’t move on its own accord.
“This is Basila,” Eva said. “It used to be a perfectly functional golem with a basilisk personality. Built by Genoa and Carlos Rivas, if you know of them.”
“Of course I know them. Everybody who deals with golems knows of their golem menagerie.” She leaned down and nudged the inert stone, sending Basila rolling onto her belly. “Though this one doesn’t seem functional.”
“It used to be, as I said. However, it was damaged, modified, repaired, and exposed to a handful of potions. Not necessarily in that order.”
“I see.” She pulled out her wand, pointed it at Basila, paused and glanced up to Eva for the first time since she noticed Eva was still in the classroom. And even now, she didn’t quite meet Eva’s eyes, choosing to stare more at her ear than anything else. “Do you mind if I perform a few diagnostic spells?”
Eva pulled her hands away from the table as she shook her head. “Not at all.”
The lines on Professor Price’s cheeks stretched as she smiled. Soon enough, colored ribbons filled the air around them. None of which Eva knew the meaning of despite having taken the class for a few months now. Brier Price was just the opposite. She hummed and hawed as each appeared with a swish of her wand. After a few minutes of scanning each, a single wave of her wand wiped away all but one red ribbon and one black ribbon.
“Alright. Found the primary problems. Neither of which should be too difficult to solve.”
That had Eva perking up. She was inordinately pleased that Basila wasn’t permanently broken. After the Elysium Order’s cathedral, she hadn’t been quite the same. And then a few weeks ago, she had ceased responding to anything entirely.
“The first problem,” she said, dragging the red ribbon over, “is that the magical reserves keeping the golem operational are nearly depleted. It has entered a low power state to preserve the imprinting. Now, I own a small nereid produced by the Rivas, so I know a little something about their quality. This should never have happened. There is enough magic crammed into these things to keep them operational for a century at least.” She ended with a pointed look at Eva. A look that she only maintained for a second or two before averting her eyes.
Eva, shrinking slightly in her seat, looked up to her. “Would a growth potion have caused that?”
“More mass to move around means more energy consumed,” she said with a slight hum. “I assume so.”
“But you said it is easy to fix.”
“I can show you how to refill it in a moment. Though that potion might explain the second issue—as I assume you shrank it back down. Perhaps while damaged?” She dragged over the black ribbon using the tip of her wand. “You repaired it admirably, but you missed one part. Or rather, you didn’t align the substitutiary locomotion array before beginning your repairs.”
Nothing she just said sounded familiar to Eva. Shrugging, Eva said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Substitutiary locomotion? Mystic power that’s far beyond the wildest notion?” Receiving no recognition from Eva, Professor Price made a slight noise in the back of her throat. “Right. We haven’t covered it in your class yet. But you couldn’t have repaired without knowing…” she trailed off, last sentence little more than a whisper.
“One of the modifications I made causes it to self-repair.”
“Ah. That’s an advanced bit of magic,” the professor said with a slight hum. For a moment, Eva thought she might have made a mistake. The ritual that caused it to repair was a blood-based one. But, after staring at the basilisk golem for a few moments, Professor Price shook her head. “Then before it self-repairs, straighten it out as much as possible. Better yet, don’t damage it again.”
No promises, Eva couldn’t help but think. But at least it was fixable. And without going to Genoa about it at that.
With Basila repaired, Eva still needed to make a quick trip down to the alchemy labs for a few potions. But there were no rules against bringing in equipment to the event. So long as Basila counted as equipment, she felt prepared for whatever the task would be.
Chapter 007
“Today’s spectacular spectacle will be beginning shortly. The judges are being briefed on exactly how things are going to be going down. So far, neither we nor the contestants are aware of the specifics. However, that does not mean we are not prepared to bring you any action that may take place.”
Stepping away from the camera, the announcer waved his microphone-less hand towards an array of small flying machines. Several of them bobbed in the air at his gesture.
“Twenty drones flown by our team of experts will be out recording everything. Each has multiple cameras, operated independently by professionals. There will be a slight delay before the footage reaches your televisions. That delay is to allow our editors to select the best angles of any particular scene for your viewing enjoyment.”