Alexis turned the brass ring over in her fingers, tracing the markings with her eyes as she compared them to the drawing on the scrap of paper held in her other hand. Once she was as sure as she could be that the etched marks matched those of the drawing, she set aside the paper and placed the ring carefully on the desk before her.

She was well aware of the eyes focused on her and she kept her head down as her cheeks burned from the attention. Beryl, beside her, murmured encouraging words which didn’t really do much to help but were well-intentioned.

A small, thumbnail-sized piece of Grey Moonstone sat on the desk and Alexis picked it up, holding it for a moment as she studied the deep grey colouring as though trying to delve into the heart of the stone itself. It had a translucent clarity, with a smooth, polished surface that felt chill to her touch.

The stone of the new moon, it held the mystery, secrets and mystical potential of the moon in its beginning phase. One of its purposes was to help bring shadows in to the light as it revealed hidden truths, a property that would be of great use in the spell she was about to cast upon the ring.

“Five minutes.” The professor, a dour-faced man with a great shaggy moustache and beard tapped on the blackboard that hung upon the wall beside his desk. On it was the incantation that she needed to cast. “This is a first-year spell. If you can’t cast it, you’ve no right to be here wasting our time.”

Beryl leaned in, voice low as she said, “ignore him. Hardly anyone gets it right the first time.”

Alexis snorted at that. It was all well and good for the others, but she knew that she had something to prove. She was well aware that the curiosity of the others could soon turn to mockery if they perceived her to be weak. Bullies were bullies no matter the school you went to, and she had no intention of becoming a target. It was only their curiosity that was holding them back as they felt her out.

She took a deep breath and placed the small grey stone down onto the ring. It slipped inside the brass ring easily and she lifted her hands before her, breathing deeply as she focused on what she wanted to happen.

Her hands came together, extended fingers of each hand touching the other and she released her breath, as her heart sped up. The ring finger and pinky of each hand folded back and she slid the forefinger and index of her right behind those of her left.

Speaking softly, an incantation that she didn’t understand in a language unknown to her, she raised and lowered her inflection on each word as she had been instructed and slid the extended fingers of her right hand, up and over those of the left, settling them in front.

The next line of the incantation was spoken, her skin beginning to tingle as a light flared in her eyes. Silence filled the room as she drew her right hand back away from the left until once again only the very tips of the extended fingers touched.

Her heart beat hard in her breast, thumping in her ears as her vision narrowed, with only the ring and the grey stone being all that she could see. Her tongue felt thick and cumbersome in her mouth as she put all of her will into speaking the final line of the incantation correctly.

With an almost violent motion, she pulled her hands apart as she spoke the final word and a golden light flared, running like lightning across the surface of the ring as a wave of weariness swept over Alexis. Her shoulders slumped as Beryl squealed with delight.

“You did it!”

Professor Burrows harrumphed as his bushy brows formed a V on his wrinkled brow. “Try it on before you declare it a success!”

The other students were talking animatedly as Alexis lifted a hand that trembled and picked up the ring. It had a warmth to it that the cold metal had been missing before and she held her breath as she slipped it over the pinky finger of her left hand.

She pressed her thumb against the brass ring and her eyes widened as she glanced around the room. Where before had been bare walls there was a glowing symbol above each desk and piece of heavy equipment in the room.

“It worked,” Alexis said as she tilted her head, looking at the glowing crimson symbol above the kiln. Translucent, but most definitely there, a simple outline of a pot surrounded by flames made up the symbol and it was about the size of her hand. “This is bloody weird.”

“You keep saying that,” Beryl replied, grinning. “I can’t believe you did it first time! I thought you were new at magic?”

“I am!”

Beryl scrunched up her face as she wore her scepticism openly. She didn’t push it though as she glanced at the clock above the blackboard. “Time to go.”

The other students had already begun filing out of the room with more than one wary glance cast at Alexis. While there was no real hostility on their faces, it was clear that they weren’t too welcoming either.

Alexis shook her head and dismissed them from her mind as she gathered her few belongings, slipping the scrap of paper between the pages of her journal for transcribing later. The moonstone was placed in a box on a shelf that was filled with similar boxes that contained all manner of crystals.

It was Beryl who led the way as Alexis gaped at each new symbol that appeared on the walls as she passed what had previously just been blank brass plaques. For her, it was like she had been colourblind and could suddenly see colours for the first time.

She couldn’t help but wonder what else she had missed through ignorance of her abilities.

So consumed with her own thoughts she walked straight past the classroom as Beryl opened the door and stepped inside. It was only when her friend’s arm shot out to grab hers that she came back to the present, banishing those thoughts to the back of her mind.

“Take a seat anywhere,” Beryl whispered as Alexis closed the door behind them.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dim room. Larger than the workshop they had just left, there was a wide circular pit in the centre of the room with rows of seats surrounding it. Those seats rose up with each row so that those at the back could see easily over the heads of those in front of them.

Most of the seats were filled and the two young witches were forced to sit on the third row, looking down over the heads of the other students and down into the six-foot deep pit. At four metres in diameter, it filled a large portion of the room and Alexis looked at her friend, mouth opening to ask the many questions she had.

Beryl, eyes twinkling, smiled at her friend. She could see how confused her new friend was and wanted to answer all of her questions but knew that there were some things she just had to experience so jerked her thumb towards the slim, young, girl who had climbed down into the pit.

“Exam time. Just watch and I’ll answer any questions after.”

Alexis pouted but turned her attention to the pit. The girl seemed comfortable enough with what she was doing. She had pulled a large book from her bag and was flipping through the pages, face set as she concentrated on the task at hand.

While they waited for whatever was about to happen, the other students were chatting quietly amongst themselves or reading through their own books. One row down and four students away from Alexis, another student sat, staring blankly ahead.

On her shoulder sat a hairless cat. There was no collar nor leash, but it sat quite comfortably on the girls shoulder, head turned to stare over at Alexis with those unblinking cat’s eyes it had. Alexis had the distinct impression of intelligence behind that gaze and she nudged Beryl with her elbow.

Beryl snorted and waved at the cat as she followed Alexis’s gaze. “That’s Tish.”

“The cat’s name is Tish?”

“No, the kid the cat’s sat on.” Beryl covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. “She’s been blind since birth and the cat’s her familiar. She can see through its eyes.”

Alexis blinked at that and looked the cat in the eyes. The girl, Tish, raised a hand in greeting, a smile pulling up the corner of her mouth. Feeling foolish, Alexis waved back, and the girl and cat both turned back towards the pit.

“This whole bloody place is weird,” Alexis muttered, looking around.

Further along on her row of benches, a girl and boy sat together, heads together as they spoke quietly to one another. She was a stunningly beautiful young woman with hair that shone silver in the soft light of the room.

Her companion was as slim as she, perhaps even slimmer, with the narrow waist most girls their age would kill for. His hair was so blonde as to be almost white, which combined with his pale skin, could almost have him pass as albino.

There was no friendliness about their expressions as they noticed her staring and the smirk that formed on the girl’s face was pure malice. Alexis had met many like them over the years and despised the lot of them. Bullies at best, they tended towards cruelty that went far beyond what most people could muster.

Life on the streets had never been particularly pleasant, especially for a young girl. Along with the dangers that any street kid faced, the girls had to be constantly on guard for the types of predators that seemed to search for them.

Worse even than those were those entitled rich pricks that didn’t even consider a street kid as human. The type of casual cruelty that they displayed like teasing large notes, only to set them alight as the street kid watched. As if to say, they had so much wealth they could burn it without missing it and would rather do that than share even a fraction of it with one who needed it.

Yes, she had seen those expressions before and she knew without a doubt that they would be trouble.

“It’s starting,” Beryl whispered, and Alexis returned her attention to the girl in the pit.

A teacher stood beside the benches in front of her, a thin-faced woman with a hook nose and thinning hair. Give her a black dress and a pointy hat, Alexis thought, and she would look the part of the witches seen in the movies.

When she spoke, however, there was a warmth to her voice that belied her stern appearance and she looked down upon the student with something close to care.

“Elsbeth,” she said. “You are prepared to show us that you have mastered your studies and are ready to move on?”

“Yes.”

The thin lips of the teacher curved into a smile as she nodded sharply. “Begin then.”

Alexis leaned forward as the girl placed the book down on the floor at her feet and pulled several items from her bag. A feather, long and grey, was placed in the centre of the pit and beside it, a white wax candle that she lit with a wave of her hand and a spoken word.

Dust rose from the wooden boards that made up the floor of the pit as the girl walked around the candle, laying out more items from her bag. Alexis had no idea what was happening but was fascinated nonetheless.

“Today,” the girl called as she laid out the final piece before her. “I will, with the blessing of the Goddess, call forth a True Spirit.”

Alexis caught movement from the corner of her eye and turned her head just as the silvery haired Poppy finished moving her fingers, the movement almost hidden behind the back of her companion. A frown formed on Alexis’s forehead but unsure of what she had seen she turned back to the pit where the girl was marking symbols on the wooden boards with chalk.

“This True Spirit,” the girl called, excitement filling her voice. “Will appear bathed in the light of the Goddess, and will bear with it, her blessing. This will mark my time at this Academy as I leave to join the Order, in her service.”

Alexis’s brow furrowed, barely understanding any of that, but she held her tongue as the girl lifted the book and began to speak. Once again, the language was alien to Alexis but had a cadence to it that felt almost familiar.

As the girl spoke, the air of the chamber felt charged, like the air before a storm. As though electricity floated on the breeze. There was a rumble from deep below the ground and the bench she was sat on trembled, the wood vibrating when Alexis pressed fingers against its surface.

The teacher’s eyes had narrowed as she stared into the pit, while the girl’s face twisted as something unexpected began to pull at her. Dark brown hair was blown by some invisible wind as fear crossed her face, words continuing to pour from her as she seemed unable to stop them.

Something had begun, a spell that was rapidly slipping out of her control. The teacher’s face bore alarm as she began to move her own hands, fingers dancing in the air as she muttered words to a protection spell.

A scream came from the gathered students as spiders began to climb up from the cracks in the boards on the floor of the pit. Their small, black, bodies and skittering movements had the hairs on the back of Alexis’s neck standing to attention.

“Something’s wrong!” Beryl said, face pale.

The spiders began to climb the legs of the girl, running up inside and out of her black trousers. Tears ran down her face as they began to bite, slipping beneath her shirt and climbing towards her head.

As the words finally stopped, she began to scream, those spiders climbing and scrambling up her neck and across her jaw, driving headlong into her open mouth and nose. She threw aside the book as the ground rumbled louder, the air crackling and pressing down on all within the room.

“Dóigh!” the teacher cried, extending her hand. A wave of heat flowed out and spread across the pit. Where it touched, the spiders burst into flame, burning furiously for an instant before the flame extinguished, leaving black ash in its place.

The girl dropped to her knees, coughing and spluttering, red welts covering every exposed bit of skin from the bites of the spiders. Her body shook as she wept. Another rumble shook the chamber and the teacher began a new spell.

“Why is everyone just watching?” Alexis asked, looking around the room at the students who stared with rapt attention.

Beryl shook her head sadly. “There’s layers of protection around the testing chamber. Nothing cast within can affect us, not really.”

“Just her then?” Alexis asked, horrified. “What will happen?”

There was no need for Beryl to answer as the boards in the centre of the pit exploded upwards, tearing and splintering as something monstrous burst through. It reared above the girl whose scream of absolute terror was wrenched from the very core of her being.

Beryl’s hand gripped Alexis and she realised she was standing, ready to leap forward to help the girl.

“You can’t!” she said, as a few of the nearer students turned to look at her, with sneering condescension on their faces.

“Why?” Alexis whispered, heart aching. The monstrous creature, all grey scales and blackened spikes that covered its snake-like body, opened wide a beaked maw filled with rows of needle-like fangs.

The teacher finished casting her spell and the monster shuddered as something gripped it, its bulbous head shook back and forth in anger as it let out a deafening roar.

It wasn’t enough. With a surge of force, it broke free of the invisible bonds, crashing down on the screaming girl and through the boards beneath her. Alexis could only stand in impotent fury as she listened to the girl’s scream descend into the darkness below.

A student laughed at a comment his friend made and a few seated nearby shook their heads in disgust, but no one said anything to him. The teacher, face drawn and eyes dull, stared down at the hole in the floor, tears running down her cheeks.

She looked up, gaze taking in the room before she spoke. “Class dismissed.”