The Future Comes Calling

vy jumper. The crowd surges around them as they head to their next class, people darting them glances. Most of their friends have stepped up during classes and asked the usual questions; are you doing okay, is there anything I can do.

And then there are the others, who ask far more pointed questions like they don already know damn well know what happened from the rumours flying around.

Rafael had a kid small enough to be in year seven ask if Adam died in pain and Stavros hauled the little girl over the side of the staircase and dropped her two storeys before the protective wards caught her and held her in suspension for a teacher to get her down.

Its halfway through the school year so even the new little year-sevens should know not to mess with them, but with Nicholas closed in on himself and Rafael so anxious whenever he can see both of his friends, Stavros is much more focused inwards on their group rather than projecting outwards.

And it would be fine for anyone else, if only Stavros and Nicholas hadn spent the last five years bulldozing their way through people whenever they needed to like collateral damage isn a word in their collective dictionary.

So people take it as a sign of weakness.

The school is from years seven to twelve and split into five tracts depending on the source of magic. Ritual Casting, Familiar Nurture, Nature Communication and Pulling The Veil. Nicholas, Stavros and Rafael are all Inner Core students.

RitCast and InCore hate each other because their casting is similar enough that its always compared and its always a competition. Nicholas and Stavros have given RitCast shit since they first stepped foot onto the floating island, and the two can get really bad about it.

So its not actually a surprise when they
e on the way to Advanced Runes class and a group of year-elevens, a year older, block them off. These are from the RitCast dorms judging by the standard-issue ingredients pouches that hang from their hips.

”Walk away, ” Stavros warns them, stepping out in front of Nicholas and Rafael.

”Ive been hearing rumours lately. ” A RitCast boy is smirking like Stavros doesn make him cry three times a year the bastard never learns.

”Im going to skin your face off, ” Stavros says, spinning his wand until its a blur. ”Make you **ing eat it. ”

The boy stutters.

Another steps up though, from the back of the group and confident because shes got meat shields in front of her. Sarah smirks. ”I heard poor Adam died not twenty meters from you. ”

Stavros raises his wand and the four year-elevens mirror him. Rafael pulls back for more range. Stavros glances back before he can stop himself and Nicholas just stands there but instead of his usual blank state, his eyes are wide, focused.

”I heard, ” Sarah muses. Her eyes slide past Stavros, land on Nicholas. ”That Nicholas was the one to suggest leaving the castle that night. ”

Nicholas breath hitches.

Rafael is actually the first one to move.

…

Not even an overpowered bleaching spell can get all that blood off the walls.