Moonrise

“What has happened here?” Olivia looked from Aravia to Silas for answers. But before she could hear her master speak, she bolted for the door. She ignored the sounds of her steps echoing loudly in the stairway and the calls of Mage Olivia resounding from above. She could only hear her heart as it pounded in her ears. Her body was still on fire. Something was wrong with her.

She had made it to the forest without realizing it, as if led by an invisible force. She inhaled the sweet scent of the woods, trying to calm down, but it felt all wrong. The scent became stronger and overbearing in her nostrils. She coughed, choking on it like smoke. Her body was burning even hotter now, her heart pounding faster and louder. Her bones went from an ache to feeling like they were being pulled apart from her sinew and flesh.

As her vision began to darken, she could only manage one thought. I have to cool down. She staggered to the side of the small river, where she had cleaned so many herbs. Without hesitation, she threw herself into the icy stream. She laid there, shivering, the outside world drowned out by her heartbeat, and she closed her eyes to darkness.

“What happened?” Olivia questioned the Healer. Silas looked as if the effect of the unbound spell had shell-shocked him. He leaned against a small shelf of books, his hand massaging his eyes. “Are you going to tell me or just stand there, draped like a thespian?” The woman spat this venomously. She was not the most tactful when it came to words, but Silas just chalked it up to her being used to having to be strong as the Lead Mage.

“I couldn’t finish binding the spell to the elixir...” He said a little breathlessly.

“And why not?” Olivia pried.

“Because. . . my apprentice was. . .” He chose his words carefully here, so as to not betray Aravia, “. . . not in the right headspace.” He knew this was a truth, but it wasn’t the truth, and he could sense Olivia knew this as well.

“The girl shows mastery of The Arts. You know this.” Olivia chided as she dusted the charring off the work surface. “She puts all of her energy and focus into her work as you have often told me.”

“Yes.” He straightened, regaining his sense and dusting of his shift.

“Then tell me,” She absently straightened some beakers knocked ajar across the workbench, “What could distract her? She knows this is her only opportunity to thrive. Perhaps you’ll tell me it’s a boy?” Olivia chuckled at her own question. When she heard no response from The Healer, she turned sharply to meet his gaze. Silas dropped his eyes to the floor in shame.

“How?” Olivia ejected this question, flabberghasted by the thought. “The other Mages stay far away from her- she has no friends. She was an outcast when she arrived and still is!” Olivia told the truth, although Silas could detect a hint of sadness in her voice.

“I know.” Silas’ words were flat and dejected.

“Then how- oh.” Olivia’s voice was one of realization, and she looked at Silas accusingly. “Did you-?”

“No.” Silas defended.

“Then-”

“I don’t know!” He turned away and ran a hand through his thick, dark locks. Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Silas paced in front of the workbench, while Olivia drummed her fingers along the back of a chair.

“She is a young woman now- almost twenty-two years of age.” Olivia began. She pulled the chair back and sank into it, sighing. “And we’ve kept her locked away from others quite a long time.”

“For her safety!” Silas defended again.

“Yes. For her safety and other’s.” Olivia stared off into the dim room absently. “But it seems we may have brought this on her ourselves.”

“Possibly.” Silas admitted without looking at The Mage. He was ashamed of himself. There were times he might have had similar thoughts to Aravia’s. His work and demeanor made his social setting similar to his apprentice’s, therefore he knew how one might feel this way.

He had only seen Aravia a few times when she was younger. Once when she was “recommended” to be his apprentice, and a few times when she just happened to be in the same courtyard as him. Until she was 19, he had kept away from her, so that she could finish her studies and be granted the rank of Apprentice Healer. He had little interest in an apprentice, much less an infamous one. But the day she showed up to his tower, he realized how gifted she was. Power rolled off her when she was happy or frightened. Though she could not produce a spell herself yet- which was unusual for a Mage- he knew she had power within and only time would unlock it.

“Has she been different lately?” Olivia questioned Silas, breaking him away from his thoughts. She looked deeply into his eyes, as if searching for a clue.

“Why does it matter? All young men and women go through this.” Silas sighed and sank into the chair across from Olivia. Olivia tapped her fingers, waiting. “Yes. She has been restless lately. Her nightmares are less frequent, and she spends more time out in the woods than before. She’s become less self-restricting. I thought she was just growing.”

“She is.” Olivia agreed softly, but Silas detected something working in her mind. She was turning a thought over and over. It seemed to be a dark one. A sharp cry, “Did you just try to read me?” The Mage shouted at Silas. Silas let out an exasperated sigh; he had failed to breach the strong mind defenses of The Mage.

“There’s something you aren’t telling me. What is it?” He asked, shutting down his energy and pulling back. Though Olivia was a long-time friend, he knew she had her secrets that not even he was privy to.

“Next time ask first.” Olivia grunted and rubbed her temple. “Being my friend doesn’t mean you’re allowed to break the rules.” Olivia might have been angrier at The Healer if she desperately didn’t want to tell someone this terrible secret she had kept for all these years.

“What is it?” Silas asked more sternly this time.

“When the girl was first brought to me, I sensed something.” Olivia placed both palms flat on the table and held Silas’ gaze. “The strength of her power was evident, as you know doubt can feel too.”

“What else?” Silas probed. Olivia seemed very perturbed, but she continued.

“There was something else underneath her power. Another.”

“Another?” Silas could hear his heart skipping in his chest.

“Another, but the same. We can sometimes sense this in-”

“Werewolves. . .” Silas finished the sentence knowingly. “There was no curse.” He shot an accusing glare at Olivia.

“No.” She interjected, “There is a curse, though not the one she thinks. Her veil hides her- keeps her hidden from others who might seek to use her. The real curse is her inheritance. She is a genetic anomaly.”

“Why?” Silas gave a questioning brow furrow. He knew why. Mages who had great power were a feat of their own. Pairing that with werewolf blood made it even more dangerous. And often, those with that amount of power were either drawn to The Dark Arts or used as a pawn in them. His real question was Why her?

“I tried to keep her away from others.” Olivia stated with a sadness to her tone. “I used the veil as a concealment and as a disway-ment But she is still coming into her power.” Silas could hear the regret in her voice. “I had been tasked to keep her under control and prevent her from becoming something we could never contain, but it seems I have done wrong, and it have failed anyway.”

Olivia stood from her chair and walked to the door. She seemed to know something about Aravia’s future that he could not see.

“I felt her power the moment I entered Silas. It’s grown ten-fold from when she was a child.”

“But she can’t even cast a simple spell! And if she is a werewolf, why hasn’t she shifted?”

“Because she is cursed. An old magic binds her wolf and refuses to release it. But as her power grows, I’m afraid she may be undoing the spell herself. And when that happens, I’m not sure what else will follow.”

“But-”

“You’re going away.” Olivia stated without turning from the door.

“What?” Silas was taken aback by this.

“You’re going away to a place where she can be properly guarded and where she can be around others, to prevent-” She gestured around the room, “This.”

“But why send us away? This is the safest place for her. She can gain control of her powers here.”

“No!” The energy that emanated from this word showed The Mage’s true power. Silas felt her magic prickle his skin and winced. “She is to be restricted from practicing The Arts. The Moonrise pack will hide her, and you will get to assist an old friend in the meantime.”

Silas said nothing, as he knew Olivia’s mind was made up. He didn’t know how sending a repressed werewolf to live with other werewolves was going to help any- if not make the problem worse. As always, there was sure some hidden agenda here- some hidden puppet master among the Mage’s Council pulling the strings. Silas only knew one thing. He must protect Aravia.