"Well don't go courting it," Connor rebuked. "In any case, we still have this situation of the wave disruptor to explore. We can't just drop this problem because another one has popped up in the meantime. We need to go find out what it is."
"Thaumaturgy," I said to no one in particular, wondering why I had not immediately called him for the insulting way he said cooking degree, as if it was no big deal, when in fact, it had taken everything I had to give to even get that far.
"What?" Connor asked, looking at me, perplexed.
"I said, I graduated with a thaumaturgy degree." My voice grew firmer as I remembered what Professor Pomello said to me the day before.
"Just because I choose to direct my magiks in the area of Culinary Arts does not mean I am not a Thaumaturge."
Instantly, Corwin reached out into the space between us and closed his fingers around thin air. He yanked his fist up and the air torqued around me, lifting my body up three feet off the ground.
I gasped, arching against the pulsating pressure around my body as I felt the power of the forces that he wielded.
This was the true power of an aeromancer.
I could feel the writhing, living steel jaws of atmospheric pressure controlling my body as if his power source were a living thing.
"Corwin! Put her down!" Connor shouted and punched his brother on the shoulder.
For a moment, it looked as if Corwin was going to ignore his brother, but then he released his grip on the energies of the airwaves.
The grip around me eased and I was gently re-deposited onto the ground. Connor rushed over to catch me as my feet touched the ground, his eyes flashing with anger at Corwin.
"What the hell are you trying to prove, bullying a girl?" He snarled.
Turning to me, his eyes were full of concern. "Are you okay, Nana?"
I nodded, still trying to catch my breath. He hadn't hurt me, but that had startled me.
"Bullying? I am not bullying a full-fledged Thaumaturge, if she actually is one. THAT," Corwin snapped back at his brother, "is real thaumaturgy—the kind that it takes to deal with the horror that's out there waiting for us!"
He turned away and I was unable to see his eyes. Then he spun back to face his brother, pointing an accusing finger at me. "She can't even handle a low-level thaumaturge attack! What is she doing following us around? It's dangerous to be around us!"
"That's besides the point. You still shouldn't be attacking people for no damn good reason!" Connor shouted back.
"I wasn't attacking her! She's not hurt is she? I was trying to making a point!"
Corwin's fists clenched. "Why are they granting her the full degree of Thaumaturgy when she cannot even defend herself against the simplest aeromancy spell? That's base level atmospheric thaumaturgy!"
"Alright! Fine!" I shouted, unable to keep my peace no longer. "You want to retract my degree, you can go ahead and petition for the retraction. I'll even help you." I breathed raggedly.
"I never needed it anyway! But THAT has nothing to do with THIS, and don't you dare confuse the issues!" I paused to swipe the tears from my eyes.
"I know what I saw, and I know I was there! And as much as Simon has been protesting, he too, was there!" I pointed my chin at Simon, who couldn't sink his head low enough into his shoulders.
Don't cry! Don't cry! I told my tear ducts. Don't you dare cry!
But they would not listen. Huge drops welled into the corners of my eyes, threatening to fall out in shameful concession. I dashed them away, anger burning bright and flaring out of control.
What right did those tears have to fall? I was not the one at fault here. I was not the one stirring up trouble or going out of my way to attract it.
In truth, I was not intimidated by Corwin's show of force because I knew that he would not hurt me. I was merely frustrated that he had voiced the same concerns and feelings that I had always held within, but was unable to articulate verbally without hurting all those around me.
There were so many teachers and professors who tried to help me through the grueling coursework of thaumaturge that had I said any of those words, it would also hurt them.
Of course we all knew I could not master aeromancy or levikinesis or even the basic pyromancy needed to even start a flame. I was disabled. To help me onto the next level, they had to adjust the coursework quite a bit, sometimes down to almost nothing in order to pass me through.
It was just that I felt bare and vulnerable to his sharp-edged truthful words—words which had ripped open the thin illusory veil of protection that had been thrown over me by everyone in a well-meaning attempt to protect me from the real life outside of the Academy.
I knew that outside the Academy there was the real world that I would be facing as a handicapped person.
Connor stepped between us, shielding me from his brother's rage.
"It's ok Nana. I believe you. And nobody is going to hurt you. I won't let them."
I could feel his fury as he stared Corwin down. "Listen everyone, whatever the situation is, it will sort itself out in due time. Right now, the most important thing is for us to keep to our scheduled plan. If we can solve this issue, it's one less that we have to deal with."
He looked at Simon. "You both with me here?"
Simon nodded without saying anything. I could see in his eyes, newfound fear and respect for the twins.
Corwin dropped his eyes in acquiescence to his brother's moderate, yet unyielding tones.
Connor stepped back and clapped his hands. "Alright, let's get going. We've wasted half the morning already. Simon, why don't you lead the way since you can sense the source of this directed transmission better than we can."
Since we were quite a ways from Alder Alley, we decided that we would wind-surf to the point where Alder began and T-boned into Garamond Circle.
I did not want to ride on Corwin's board and was about to tell Connor to please let me ride with him when Corwin reached out and touched my arm.
"Hey, Nana. Listen...I'm really sorry I overreacted awhile ago," he said. His eyes were full of grief. "I hope I didn't hurt you too badly."
"I'm—I'm fine."
"No you're not. I shouldn't have said that and I shouldn't have done that and I truly apologize."
"You said things that were true. Sometimes truths hurt."
"There was no need to hurt you. I am—worried about everything that's happening around us right now, and I am afraid that we may not be able to protect you completely, but that doesn't excuse my behavior. I was a real jerk and I am very very sorry. Please forgive me."
I hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Whatever temporary insanity that had caused Corwin's outbreak was no longer present within him.
He was back to his normal aloof self. He even smiled, and although it didn't quite reach his eyes, it was acceptable to me.
"I'll take you there, if you let me." He breathed.
The twins pulled their boards from their back pockets, two identical thin wedges made of a strange metallic black material.
With a quick hand-gesture, they turned the palm-sized wedges into full-sized hoverboards which bobbed and floated on a current of air, two feet off the ground.
They jumped on with practiced ease and then Corwin reached for me.
I grabbed onto his hand, and with a little bit of levitation help from him, managed to get on the board with momentary grace that had been lacking in my previous attempts.
Simon ignored Connor's outreached hand and levitated himself up onto the board. He grabbed onto Connor, excited about the chance to ride the surf once again.
This time, I did not hesitate but reached around and hugged Corwin's waist, partly because I knew it was necessary so that I did not get thrown off the board, but also because I wanted him to know I held no grudges against him.
He pressed my hands against his warm torso, and up we went.
The ride there was fairly quick and without incident even though the airways were starting to become energized with a few scattered students taking to the skies on their hoverboards.
Once we got to the intersection of Garamond Circle and Alder Alley, we dismounted and walked the rest of the way toward the area where the strange anomalous structure was.
This time, Simon disregarded the thing floating above us and headed straight through the alley, towards the hills. As we followed Simon, I began to notice something that I had not noticed before.
The first time I came through this alleyway, I was loaded down with books and bleeding from a wound. I was not in the best of condition and barely noticed my surroundings.
I had thought at the time that meeting up with Tory and Simon was a lucky break for me when my bats could no longer work their levikinesis magik on the box, but I had failed to realize that the boys were there precisely because it was a part of the campus which had been, for some inexplicable reason, rarely frequented by the students.
I looked around as we walked through the long alleyway.
Nothing was in derelict condition because the Dean would have never allowed such a thing to happen to his pristine cream-and-white palace perched on top of Topaz Mountain.
Nevertheless, the stucco buildings in this section of the Academy were weatherbeaten and dusty in a manner that was not quite in keeping with the crisp and clean campus in all other parts of the Academy.
Granted, it was not in-your-face obvious. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary—much. Once I began to notice the signs, however, they showed up everywhere I looked and could no longer be ignored.
Dirt and debris had begun to collect in all the neglected corners and alcoves of the sand-colored stucco structures and all the windows were filthy.
Around the ledges were obvious signs of arachnid occupancy and on the steps and the sides of the building, mouse droppings portend the presence of the scurry creatures.
Stray weeds waved their scraggly green leafy arms and yellow heads out of tiny cracks and crevices on the cobblestones. Judging by the size and number of the invasive sprouts, a gardener had not come by this way in quite some time.
Even the gutters had green leafy vegetation peeking out from above, which meant no gutter cleaners, no chimney sweepers, and no painters had been sent this way in awhile. Signs of neglect was everywhere and the buildings seemed to be sliding into a slow decay.
There was also no sound of human activity, this far from the main hub. The only sounds I could hear were the faint cawing of distant crows and the ever-present cicadas.
In the unrelenting light of day, it was obvious that there could not have been classes held in any of these classrooms for as far back as the fall semester of the previous year.
"Wow, this place looks…" Connor whistled.
"Deserted," I finished his thought.
Simon laughed. "You just now noticed?" He pointed to one of the classrooms towards the end. "See that tag on the wall?"
I turned to look at where he pointed and saw a small crude paint mark on the wall with the triple-T symbol. TTT. It looked like a claw mark, and that was precisely what it was meant to resemble.
"Was that something dreamed up by Torrence?"
"Do you honestly think he's that smart?" Simon sneered. "I came up with it as a sign for our club. We meet out here once or twice a week to go over stuff."
"So you're the mastermind behind the Delinquent's Alliance."
Corwin said with a laugh. "Blackstone's been on our case to get you guys disbanded for months but we've been too busy with other stuff. Thanks for making things easy for us."
Simon scowled, about to say something when I interrupted.
"Blackstone as in the Dean Blackstone?"
"None other." Connor confirmed.