Alius Trials: Elemental Mage Series Book 2, page 1
ALIUS TRIALS
ELEMENTAL MAGE SERIES: BOOK 2
LARA WRAY
Copyright © 2023 by Lara Wray
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by Wyrmglas Press an imprint of Lara Wray
Cover designed by MiblArt
Contents
1. CHAPTER ONE
2. CHAPTER TWO
3. CHAPTER THREE
4. CHAPTER FOUR
5. CHAPTER FIVE
6. CHAPTER SIX
7. CHAPTER SEVEN
8. CHAPTER EIGHT
9. CHAPTER NINE
10. CHAPTER TEN
11. CHAPTER ELEVEN
12. CHAPTER TWELVE
13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
19. CHAPTER NINETEEN
20. CHAPTER TWENTY
21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
26. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
28. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
29. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
30. CHAPTER THIRTY
31. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
32. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
33. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
READERS' GROUP NEWSLETTER
ALSO BY LARA WRAY
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHAPTER ONE
I woke up with a start, the bed swaying beneath me. Or was I swaying atop it?
I held firm to the mattress until the head-spinning subsided. Then my heart dropped to my toes, giving an almighty thump, and my adrenaline surged, along with a stirring of my fire, water and air elements, as I remembered where I was and what the day might have in store for me.
I’d been at the Alius Academy – the best magical combat academy in the world – for the past three days. I’d only been awake for two of them, and it already felt like eons had gone by. The fact that I could probably never go home filtered down into my bones and wrapped around my heart with a squeeze. Today, I would either be starting my second day competing in the deadly Academy Trials… or my number one nemesis and the most powerful mage invitee, Sebastian Hale, AKA Eyebrows, had squealed on me to the Chancellor, who might send me to the detention facility.
Last night I had attempted to meet the Voice – an unknown person who had unbound my magic – because he’d warned me I was in danger. My main reasons to meet him were to find out who I was in danger from, who he was, who I was, and why he’d unbound my magic. I’d arrived too late, and the Voice had gone. But Eyebrows, my very own mind-reading stalker, had followed me and he now believed I was a spy half-breed, meeting an Eassusian – a person from the planet of Eassus – to hand over information.
His belief stemmed from many reasons. After my magic had been unbound, mind-mages had discovered that I wasn’t the biological child of my narie – non-magical – parents, but part Eassusian and part mage. That union of species was frowned upon, and because my memory had been altered and no one knew the identity of my real parents, that meant I was unregistered – an unknown entity – in the magical community.
As my identity was unknown and combined with an increase of murders by Eassusian light-reapers – assassins – of both Eassusians and mages, the alius – a mix of magical species – regarded me with suspicion and fear. According to many more than just Eyebrows, I was an unregistered half-breed spy.
Exhaling heavily, I checked my globe, Maximus, for the time – globes are equivalent to a mobile phone in the alius world, except way better. It was 7.45am. I asked Max to glow, and he cast light around my dorm room.
I looked across the room to see if my dormmate, the half-fae, half-human princess, Saffron Underhill, was awake, but her bunk was empty, her bedding perfectly made up from yesterday. I guessed she was sleeping over with her odious vampire boyfriend, Ollie Odie.
The Chancellor hadn’t come during the night to question me, as I’d feared she would. But I didn’t know if Eyebrows was biding his time before he told her and making me stew in my own juice in the meantime. If, by a stroke of luck, Eyebrows kept his mouth shut about my late-night jaunt to the amphitheatre and my day started with a trial, then according to Francis – my wolf-shifter friend – we would have a written assessment next, followed by a magical assessment and possibly a combat trial, hopefully in that order.
I looked at the two valuable but paltry books Saffron had lent me about this world and realised that, as I was new to magic and I lacked knowledge and skills, I might end up dropping off the scoreboard today either way. The Chancellor had already told me if I failed the trials, I’d go directly to the detention facility: a place where you went to learn basic magic. If you were lucky, you got to work in a low-paying job for the powerful alius.
Would the detention facility have rooms or cells? Would I even be sent there? If not, then where? An alius prison?
Pushing those negative thoughts and the early morning gloom aside, I descended my cabin bed ladder to ready myself for the day. Walking over to the sink, I caught my reflection in the mirror. I looked pale, drained and burned out. Seventy hours of work in a grease-bowl café followed by a light-reaper attack that had nearly killed me, the chase trial yesterday that could have killed me, and the fear of my late-night walk being exposed was catching up with me. I washed my face in cold water to add some colour to my cheeks.
Max sounded a horn at eight o’clock, making me jump, and projected text into the centre of the room.
Be at the Great Hall at 9.00am sharp for your next trial. Any late invitees will be ejected from the academy. Punctuality is Paramount!
I rushed across the room to my wardrobe and yanked out a black combat suit. The doorknob flashed green and the door swung open.
“Good morning, Lori,” Saffron greeted cheerfully.
She breezed in, followed by a scent of strawberries. As all fae, she looked ever-perfect, red hair immaculately twisted at the back of her head, revealing the less sharp points of her half-fae ears. Wisps of thick, loose hair framed her elfin face. She was still clad in her combat suit from last night.
“Morning. Where were you? Did you stay at Ollie’s?” I asked, not wanting any details, having already seen them getting it on last night. I blinked away that image with a shiver.
“I did, but there’s no time for chit-chat. We must change our garments and grab some breakfast. If the academy hasn’t changed the order of trials, we will require brain food for the written assessment this morning.” Her head disappeared into her wardrobe. After fishing out a fresh combat suit, she turned to me and added, her purple eyes bright, “I don’t know about you, but I could eat a vat of pickled eels, an entire pot of garlic-tossed green beans… and a great slab of bread-and-butter pudding.”
“For breakfast?” I gave a frown and a sarcastic, “Yum!”
“I know!” she said excitedly.
I giggled at her enthusiasm and returned to getting changed, my mind in a whirl. I couldn’t tell her about last night, because if I told her I’d sneaked out and what had happened with Eyebrows, it would just lead to questions about the Voice. And I didn’t want anyone to know about him. Even if I changed the story a little and mentioned I’d just wanted to take a walk last night to clear my head, as fae, she would sense the lie. And if the Chancellor took us for questioning, it would be better if Saffron remained ignorant of it all, for her own protection and for mine.
“You’re quiet… nervous about the trials today?” she asked.
“A little,” I lied. I was petrified of any of the possible outcomes of today, but talking about it would make it worse, and she seemed happy this morning. I didn’t want to spoil that for her, even if the reason for the bounce in her step was that vile blood-slurper. I roughly pulled on my boots at the thought of him.
Saffron appeared to be submerged in her own thoughts as she sat at the dressing table. She ran a hand over her face and hair, completing her makeup in an instant.
I blinked, staring round-eyed at her. “I had no idea you could do that – that’s amazing! Why don’t you do it every time?
She looked up at me through the mirror’s reflection. “Do what?” she answered absent-mindedly as her gaze returned to the mirror. She scowled at her image.
”Do that! Magic your makeup!”
“Oh, I forgot you’re new to our world. I prefer to apply it manually, but we’re short of time,” she said flippantly, running a hand over her face three more times until she stopped at a more natural-looking selection. Her lips turned up at the corners, seemingly satisfied.
She stood up and turned to me. “Do you want me to do your make-up before we go? It’ll only take a few seconds to apply. I’ve been told I’m a natural with what suits others.” She stared at me expectantly.
“Does the make-up run? I don’t want to look like a crazed raccoon by the end of the trials.”
“Of course not! It’
I bounced up onto my toes. “In that case, why not?”
She glided over to me. “Hold still.” She ran her hand down my face, the action accompanied by a warm, numbing feeling of magic. “Finished,” she said with a flourish.
I bent down to inspect her work in the dresser mirror. She’d given me a full face of daytime makeup, with blended bronze eyeshadow that brought out my green eyes, brown mascara that doubled the length of my eyelashes, and pink lips. The foundation felt light, rather than the caked-on feeling I so often experienced. Wonderful.
“What do you think? I can change it if you don’t like it.” Saffron chewed on a manicured nail as she eyed me for my reaction.
“No need, I love it!” I broke out in an enormous grin.
Her face lit up, and she clapped her hands together. “Perfect! Now let’s go and eat some eels!”
The dining hall was jam-packed. I scanned the invitees and spotted Eyebrows laughing with Archer at a round table near the entrance. He was sitting with a group of mages, including the girls he and Archer had been kissing last night. When our eyes met, he simply stared for a few beats; then he scrunched his brows, deepened his scowl and looked away in disgust. What did that mean? Had he told the Chancellor or not?
Going over to his table and asking him that, or even asking him if we could speak privately, would only invite questions from his friends and mine. I couldn’t live like this. I needed to get on with my day, and if the Chancellor came for me, then I’d deal with it.
To avoid the long queue for hot breakfast, I selected pastries and made a latte. Saffron cursed that there were no pickled eels and recommended me a blend of green and peppermint tea to aid with recall for the assessment. I reminded her I had nothing to recall. She shrugged and picked up a dish that looked like bread floating in milk, labelled Milk Sops, and a side of green beans and brewed the tea for herself.
To each their own.
Once ready, we scanned around. Saffron instantly spotted Ollie’s toffee-coloured, spiked hair in the crowd. He was sitting with our allies at a long table in the centre of the hall. Owain and Cassidy – the dwarf couple of our group – sat next to Ollie. Victor and Francis, the shifters of our group, sat opposite. We joined them in a flurry of greetings.
Owain had black hair, a long bushy beard and bespectacled light green eyes, and was a little shorter than my own 5ft1. Cassidy, in contrast, came up to my shoulder and had long blonde hair and indigo-coloured eyes in a round face.
Francis was our wolf-shifter. He was tall, broad, and square-jawed with short black hair and moss-green eyes. Victor, a dragon-shifter – and the son of the Dragon-shifter Queen of the North and our academy counsellor – sported short blonde hair and light brown eyes; he was built as big as a garden shed. He and his mother both had the power to manipulate our emotions.
I slid onto the bench beside Victor, who was stuffing his face with a forkful of sausage and egg. He pointed a finger at my face in a swirl and gave me a thumbs-up. I frowned at him in confusion until I understood his meaning; he was complimenting my makeup.
“Thanks, Victor,” I said, before tucking into my pain au chocolat and chasing it with a bite of crumpet.
“I had a great time last night,” Ollie whispered to Saffron, squeezing her backside as she slid on to the end of the bench next to him.
I shivered and drew the corners of my mouth down. Francis puffed out his cheeks like he was going to hurl. Owain cleared his throat and stared sternly at Saffron and Ollie over his spectacles. Dwarves didn’t approve of public displays of affection.
“Cassidy and I saw the pair of you last night on the stairs in a state of pre-coital readiness. We were forced to step over you just to get past; now this morning you’re at it again. These are inappropriate, inconsiderate displays of public affection, and by the Mother I object!” he said in an exasperated tone.
Cassidy chided him gently, playing the peacemaker. “They’re not dwarves, Owain. Other alius are open with their affections.” Though her blush and expression indicated, she quite agreed with Owain.
“I’m not one to judge – shifters aren’t exactly shy either – but you could tone it down with your barf-inducing couple talk,” Francis said, shoving a stacked fork of bacon between his teeth. There were three empty plates around him. Victor had the same, plus two additional bowls.
Ollie laughed, as if delighted he made others feel uncomfortable, and Saffron shrugged dismissively.
Francis eyed Owain and Cassidy, glancing around shiftily, and asked Victor to form protection barriers to protect our group from mind-magic and eavesdroppers. Victor lifted his chin and proceeded with his Dragon Tongue speech.
“Ee Kor! Ee Arwa! Ee Lev!”
As it had yesterday, when he enunciated each strange phrase, red fire shot a foot from his mouth and lingered for a moment, then dispersed in a fiery swirl and vanished. But this time I noticed that as he spoke his eyes changed to dragon eyes, surrounded by blue scaly protrusions, complete with slitted pupils. How did I miss that yesterday?
Once Victor’s protection barriers were in place, Francis leaned in toward Owain and Cassidy and beckoned for them to come closer. As they huddled in, he told them of the likely trials we had ahead of us. Saffron, Ollie and I had already learned it from Francis before the trials yesterday, but Cassidy and Owain had only agreed to ally with us after the trials.
I scoffed down my blueberry muffin as Owain’s eyes shone at Francis beneath his spectacles. He nodded with approval.
“Thank you for sharing this with us, but of course, dwarves rarely remain in the dark about such things.” He tapped the side of his nose, lips tilting up.
“And, as allies, you were going to share that information with us… when?“ Ollie asked accusingly, before he downed the bloody contents of his paper cup.
“Actually, we were going to tell you now.“ Cassidy eyed Ollie shrewdly. “The fact that you told us first confirms to us we made the right choice, and you are indeed worthy allies.” She slammed a knife through a ginormous round of cheese.
Ollie’s eyes sparked in response. “I’m sure we’re all honoured to be worthy of you.”
I had to admit, I agreed with his sarcasm on this occasion, but I liked Cassidy and I had more important things to worry about, like Eyebrows and the Chancellor – both of whom I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about – and the next trial, which started in ten minutes. I drained my mug of latte and told Saffron I’d see her in the exam.
First, I needed a drink for the trial, so I made my way to the drinks counter to grab a bottle of water. Eyebrows tracked my movements like a hawk on a field mouse, and as I strode across the dining hall, so did he. My heart thudded; memories from last night of a sharp slap followed by a stinging sensation on my palm floated in my mind, just as he met me at the drinks station.
“It’s strange that I can read your thoughts now, but I couldn’t last night. Care to explain?” he asked, rubbing a hand across the cheek I’d hit last night, his hazel eyes and expression both dark.
I recalled the sting of his words: he’d called me a lying, half-breed, mongrel spy. I also recalled his promise to tell the Chancellor. “Depends. Should I be expecting the Chancellor to come after me, mage ring glowing, to send me off to the detention facility?”
“I’m sure that will happen without any intervention from me, Lori.” He smirked.
I rolled my eyes, picked up a water bottle, and sidestepped him. He made no move to follow, and as I passed the table where he’d been sitting, I felt the weight of a stare burning into me, coming from the blonde girl he’d kissed last night.
What was her problem? My pulse quickened at a thought. Did she know? Had he told her about last night? The only reason she stopped glaring at me was because someone called out her name – Zurie.
When I exited the hall, tension released from my shoulders. For now, at least, Eyebrows wasn’t disposed to tell the Chancellor. But the axe I felt poised above my neck would remain, and always remain, until he used that information against me.
One problem at a time. I ran-marched over to the ladies’ toilets near the Great Hall. Punctuality was paramount, and I couldn’t be late.
