Publication
date: March 14th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young
Adult
Synopsis
Tristan
Fairholm is one of 15 juvenile delinquents selected to learn magic…for a
purpose that is kept secret from them. When they at last learn that the magic
they have harvested causes death and ruin in a bid to keep the world from
collapse, they must make a choice: do they fight it? Or do they use it?
If
you loved Harry Potter and The Golden Compass, you won’t want to miss this new
YA fantasy!
Chapter 6
The Lemon Tree
It
came as a surprise when Brikkens announced that he would be giving everyone a
chance to try magic.
At
the unexpected announcement, Tristan lifted his head from the desk and blinked
up at Brikkens, whose bulk was spilling over the arms of his sturdy chair.
“Ah,
Mr. Fairholm,” Brikkens said happily.
Pushing his glasses farther up his stubby nose, he leaned forward and
peered at Tristan.
“Yeah?”
Tristan said sleepily. He sat up
straighter, smoothing his hair over his face.
“Brinley
Alldusk tells me that you’re rather good at detecting auras. Is this true?”
Tristan
shrugged.
“Well,
come forward,” Brikkens urged. “You will
be the first to attempt a rudimentary spell, because out of everyone here, you
are the most likely to succeed.”
Tristan
was sure that Amber knew more than him, though he decided not to correct
Brikkens. Instead he rose and crossed
the room to stand behind the professor.
No one was napping now—Leila eyed Tristan with doubtful curiosity, while
Zeke sat forward in his chair and smirked.
Brikkens
dug into a pocket of the hideous maroon vest he always wore. Then he grabbed Tristan by the wrist and
pressed one of the golden marbles into his hand. Tristan looked in surprise at the marble,
cold and metallic against his palm; he had expected something a little more
unusual, given that it was spun from pure magic.
“Now
what?” Tristan said. “How am I supposed
to use it?” He tried not to look around
the room—half of the students wanted him to fail spectacularly, while the
others anticipated no better.
Brikkens
cleared his throat. “Well, the key to
magic is concentration. To manipulate
the power of this orb, you must isolate a single thought from within the
complexity of your mind, and use this command to direct the magic. Allow any unnecessary thoughts to intrude,
and the spell will be broken—hence, the magic will drain away with no
results. Or, if you’re unlucky, the
spell could go awry.”
Swallowing,
Tristan closed his hand around the icy marble.
“Well,
now, let’s see what you can do,” Brikkens said enthusiastically. “The amount of magic stored in a single orb
isn’t enough to do any real harm, so give us a show, my boy!”
That
was it? Had the professor given better
instructions the week before, when Tristan had been dozing off? Why hadn’t he paid better attention?
Tristan
took a steadying breath and looked around the room, hoping for
inspiration. The curving walls shone
white and empty, as blank as his thoughts, but as he turned his gaze to the
ceiling, he remembered their first day of class. Brikkens had changed the color of the domed
ceiling…but first, Eli had suggested he grow a tree.
Cradling
the marble in the palm of his right hand, Tristan dug in his pockets with his
left. After a moment he unearthed a
handful of debris from botany; mixed into the dirt and pebbles were a few
likely-looking seeds. He dropped the
whole handful onto the clean marble floor behind his back.
Now
what? The students were beginning to
lose interest. When Brikkens had done
his magic show, he’d blown on the marbles before dropping them, so Tristan did
the same, just to be safe. Then he
closed his eyes and tried to marshal his thoughts.
Slowly
he managed to dull his awareness, until his mind was empty aside from the
single desire. Grow, he thought, trying
to be stern. I don’t know what kind of
plant you are, but you’re getting plenty of sunlight and water and…
The
marble began to change in his hand, growing warmer and warmer, while at the
same time becoming less substantial.
Tristan opened his eyes just to see that it was still there, and his
concentration shattered. The marble
hadn’t moved, though it was starting to cool already. He was losing hold of the spell.
Okay,
Tristan continued, ignoring the thrill of anticipation that ran through
him. He squeezed his eyes shut once
again. This time you’re actually going
to grow. He pictured a seed unfurling
its leaves, easing its root into the earth, stretching a stalk towards the
sky….
The
marble was getting hot again, until it was like holding a naked flame. Now grow.
He turned his hand over and let the weightless magic vapor slide away.
Shoulders
tingling in excitement, Tristan opened his eyes and looked across the polished
round table. Damian and Zeke were
sniggering, and Eli had turned to mutter something to Trey. Leila shrugged and mouthed, it’s all right.
All
at once, the room grew silent. Zeke sat
up straighter in his chair, and Hayley’s round eyes widened until her eyebrows
disappeared beneath her bangs. Tristan
didn’t know what they were looking at.
Could they see his scars? He
pressed his hair into place again.
Then
something nudged Tristan in the back of the knee. He jumped and whirled around—there was
something shooting up from the ground.
His
seeds were growing.
Shocked,
Tristan stumbled away from the cluster of plants. The tallest was a pale, delicate tree that
shivered as it grew, sending out leaves and new branches that uncurled faster
than a lizard’s tongue. There was
another plant blossoming to its rear, a tangled dark bush with thorns. As the bush crept its way up the tree’s
thickening trunk, it budded and then erupted in scarlet blooms.
When
the tree unfolded like an umbrella beneath the domed ceiling, Tristan’s spine
tingled with power. In that instant he
could feel magic coursing through his veins and hovering in the air, just
beyond his grasp. This magic wasn’t
frightening or confusing—no, it was subtle and potent and good.
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AUTHOR BIO
R.J.
Vickers grew up in beautiful Boulder, Colorado, earned a BA in Writing and
Publishing at Emerson College, and was shortly thereafter whisked off to
New Zealand by her Kiwi partner.
She
now lives in Christchurch with her fiance, Daniel, where she works as a
part-time chef. When she's not writing, she loves hiking and
adventuring throughout New Zealand.
R.J.
Vickers is the author of The Natural Order, the first book in a new young
adult fantasy series. She swears by NaNoWriMo, and has written seven
short novels during the typing frenzy that is November.
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