The Lost Queen Book 1 - Alden

19. 6 Years Later

"Man, I can't believe that fucker cut off my arms for the regeneration test." Victor rubs his arms. "That really hurt."

"Yea and if Mannerly tells me one more time to 'be one with the bat' I am going to break his nose." I rub my temples.

Jenny laughs. "It was really cool seeing your arm turn into a human-sized bat wing though."

"Yea, the professor said he had never seen that before." Liam sits down his book, "At least you made some progress. I couldn't get anything to morph."

"Morphing is easy. You just have to imagine yourself as a bat."

I launch my tracking book at Clarks head.

He speeds out of the way and laughs. "What do you guys want to study? Midterms are next week."

I sit back in my chair and groan. "No one say morphing."

"Or regeneration." Victor rubs his arms again.

"Well, that only leaves reproduction, explosives or tracking." Jenny glances over a paper.

Victor stands up. "Let's go blow something up."

Jenny gives him a dirty look.

I stand up. "Well, let's go track something and then blow it up."

Sara comes running in. "I can't believe that asshole cut off my arm."

"He cut off both of mine." Victor yells.

"Yea but mine came back a different color." Sara holds out her arms. "Now how am I going to tan only 1 arm? I look like a freak!"

Before anyone can even say anything.

-Chimes- "Please Note: All students have been invited to a ball in the king's castle. Your invitations have been sent to your rooms. The ball is to celebrate the king's 500th year of reign. All students are required to attend. There will be a meeting about it tonight at 8PM in the auditorium. Tonight's movie start time will be pushed back to 10pm. Please plan accordingly."

"OMG I can't go to a ball with different color arms! I have to fix this now!" With that, Sara runs out of the room and straight into the elevator.

I check the time. "It's only 4. We have plenty of time to go blow something up."

"Ok, but I'm not missing dinner in the cafeteria, taco bar tonight." Victor sets the alarm on his watch.

Liam laughs, "It is hilarious that her arms are different color though."

We all laugh for a minute.

"Sorry, but I think I'm going to take off for today. I really need a day off. I'll meet up with you guys at the auditorium tonight." Liam takes off for the elevator.

"Someone is hanging up a sign about the ball in the study room." Jenny points through the door. "Let's go read it."

"Ball for the kings 500th year... held at Odinenburg Castle in February.... That's still 6 weeks away." Clark nods.

"Yea, plenty of time to fix her arm." Victor laughs.

"Odd that they would put it at Odinenburg Castle. That's in Romartia, I believe. And King Fane hasn't even been there in 100's of years. But it does have the best ballroom." Jenny nods, "So I guess that does kinda make sense."

"Why doesn't he go to his own castle?"

"That's where he lived, mainly with his parents and sister. His dad ruled out of that castle for 1,000's of years, right up to his death."

"Did he die there?"

"There are only rumors. The former king and queen were found in a different castle. But no one ever found out where they died. And Princess Mayra was never found at all."

A chill shoots threw my body. I check the room, and we're the only ones in it. "What are the chances that when we get there we will be attacked?"

"Or the school will be attacked as soon as we all leave..." Clark looks back at the poster.

"I don't think I'll be able to go to the ball. Being a hybrid and all. But if you want, I can show you guys a little bit of defensive magic." She puts her eyebrows up, "If you're interested anyway."

Victor stands there with his mouth open, staring at her.

Clark manages to find words, "We can do magic?"

She laughs. "Clark, you turned into a bat earlier today. You're immortal. Do you think that's not magic?... I mean honestly, you'll never be as good at magic as a magician. We can see magic around us and manipulate things. But you will be able to tap into some of the surrounding magic, even without seeing it. You should be able to do simple defensive magic, like shields. Maybe a few offensive spells as well. A bolt or orb should do some damage, if you can focus enough to learn it. And with 6 weeks of practice you should all be decent."

"Sweet. Yes, let's go try it out. I'm tired of playing with explosives anyway... Let's go play with some magic." I am smiling ear to ear, that will be awesome.

"But where?"

"A lab room with some empty space would work." Jenny has her thinking face on.

"... what about the power lab for year 3? There's not much in there except a few chairs. And it's on the top floor of the school. No one will be up there." Victor grabs his books.

"That's perfect." She jumps up and down.

About half way there she is still bouncing with excitement, "I've only ever been taught, I've never tried to teach anyone before."

We get to the room and, as expected, no one's here. There's one table at the back with a few books on it and about 5 beanbag chairs around the edges.

Victor plops down on a bean bag. "I remember these. Got to sit here and watch other people fail instead of failing myself for a while, floatation was hard to master."

"You guys stand in the middle, a little bit further apart please. Perfect. OK, now the most important thing to remember is that magic is all around us. It's everywhere. I know you guys can't see it, but believe me, it's here."

"So, close your eyes and try to feel it. Feel it moving through you. Try to imagine seeing it. Believe in it... Relax. Good."

"Now hold out your hand, palm up and try to collect it in your hand. Imagine all the magic in the room going into your hand. Stay relaxed. Feel it collecting there. OH MY GOD!"

We all open our eyes at the same time. I have a large orb of something like a blue fireball in my hand. "What the hell is this?"

It keeps growing. All 3 of them are backing away from me with their mouths open.

The lights start flickering in the room, and it's windy for some reason.

I hear the door open but all I can do is stare at this orb in my hand. It's bigger than a basketball now. "WHAT THE f**k DO I DO WITH IT?"

I hear someone say, "interesting."

Jenny's mouth finally works. "Throw it at the beanbag chair." and she points to one near a window.

I launch that thing at the beanbag chair. It hits the wall and explodes. It looks like a bomb blew a big hole in the school. 4 windows are gone, and there is a 20-foot hole in the side of the building. There is rubble everywhere.

There's no power in here. But the big hole is letting in a lot of daylight.

I turn around and there are 3 extra people in the room. Mr. Aver, Emberlynna, and a strange man I've never taken a class with. He looks oddly like Merlin.

Victor says, "Oops" and Clark and Jenny say, "Sorry" at the same time.

All I can make my mouth say is, "my bad."

The-merlin looking man says, "Very interesting." towards Mr. Aver and walks out.

Emberlynna stares at me with her mouth open. Then she looks at all of us with her mouth still open. Finally, she looks at Mr. Aver. Then back to us.

Mr. Aver's eyes go from the rubble to us to Emberlynna to the rubble again.

One of the lights that was hanging from the ceiling crashes into the floor.

It seems none of us can find words.

Emberlynna finally says, "Maybe practice outside from now on." She points outside, then she nods and leaves.

Mr. Aver crosses his arms, "Yes, outside. Away from the building. There is a pond in the woods somewhere, go blow that up. I'm going to call maintenance." He then walks out of the room too.

I turn around and look at Jenny so fast, "What the hell was that?"

She is nearly in tears, "I'm so sorry, I didn't think anyone would get it that fast... and I've never seen anyone get an orb that powerful."

"That's not normal?"

"Well, it's only normal for really powerful wizards to get an orb that's actually visible to the eye for someone that's not a magician. I mean we all seen it, right?"

Clark and Victor say, "yea" at the same time.

"I mean this is unheard of... I don't understand." Tears come into her eyes. "But you have to practice. You could be really powerful."

"It's not safe, I have no control over any part of it."

"You'll learn." Clark pats me on the back.

"Yea and I mean you did say that you want to blow stuff up." Victor smirks.

"TO THE LAKE!" Clark yells with his fist in the air.

I can't help but laugh. I'm not sure about this, but I guess a few more tries in a safe space won't hurt anyone.

Victor hits the button for the elevator and checks his watch.

After about 3 minutes... Clark finally realizes, "Um guys, the elevators not coming. The entire school doesn't have power."

"Oops... I guess we'll take the stairs then." I shrug my shoulders.

"I better not have to climb 15 flights of stairs before dinner to change clothes bro... I will be pissed." Victor gives me a side eye.

"Blame Jenny." I take off running away from her.

"Excuse me!... You're the one who did it." She chases after me laughing.

There is a sound of a weird hum and the power kicks back on.

"Oh, thank God." Victor clicks the elevator button.

-Chimes- "Please Note: The 3rd year power lab room has been blown apart. It will be closed off until the start of next quarter. You will share the 4th year power lab during this time. Please plan accordingly."

We all laugh.

A few hours later, we are in the cafeteria for the taco bar.

"You seem to be doing better already." Jenny appears hopeful.

"I don't know. I'm better at throwing them at something before they get too big. But I'm not able to control anything so far." I shove half a taco in my mouth, "I am starving."

"You'll get better though. It's only your first day of learning. I honestly didn't think anything would happen today. I am so happy." Jenny's all smiles.

Some random guy walks up, "Do you know what happened in the lab today? Everyone is saying someone blew themselves up."

"No idea man." Clark answers right away. "Let us know if you find out though."

Victor puts an eyebrow up.

"She said this is rare man... let's keep it hidden for now." Clark finishes his taco. "How long until the meeting?"

I check my phone. "About 45 minutes."

"I can go get a table at the front and get us snacks and drinks." Jenny pops up.

We are back in our apartment 3 hours later.

"This is gonna be so stupid. Who needs a beer?"

"Me. And I know right. Rent a tux. Rent a limo if you want one. Be on your best behavior. It's like a prom." Clark is as annoyed as Victor.

"Don't do anything that will upset the king or his guards. Don't act suspicious... Ugh so annoying. Why does anyone even have to do this?" Jenny asks, "And I'll have a beer too."

"Are you going?" Clark asks Jenny.

"Aver is checking it out. Not sure yet. They have people there that will detect other species or even hybrids. So I don't know if I'm really invited yet. But I would like to go. I've read about the castle and the grounds, it would be amazing to see in person... not to mention getting dressed up for a night would be nice."

"All I heard from the whole meeting was get dressed up and be on high alert. The guards are not to be trusted. And do NOT find yourself alone with one of them. And they have ears and eyes everywhere that will rat on you to get you killed." I make eye contact with Jenny, "And if there is any way you can get out of this, I suggest you get out of it." I try to relax, "And yea, beer me please."

Clark winks at Jenny. "It'll be alright. We can stick together for the night. Have a couple drinks. Talk about how pretty the place is and how nice everyone looks. Maybe dance a couple songs... then sneak out as soon as possible... but we will be fine."

"Yea, we can stick together and everything will be fine." Victor takes a drink, "but we should probably make reservations now. Everything is going to fill up fast, and I don't want to be sleeping in the woods."

I pull out my laptop, "Good point."

"You guys should reserve tuxes soon too... and I need to go dress shopping. I wonder if Sara would help me? I'll have to ask her after midterms. I'm not really into fashion."

Clark laughs, "As long as she fixes her color issue, I'm sure she will... that girl is crazy about clothes and shoes... and hair... and makeup... and"

I cut him off, "I found a 3-bedroom condo about 30 minutes away from the castle. Will that work for everyone? It's got 3 bedrooms. Jenny can have 1... us and Liam can share the rooms with 2 doubles. I'll book it for 2 nights, the night before and the night of the event."

"That's perfect... check for limos." Victor looks at the computer.

"You check for limos. I need to piss and get another beer."

"We need air tickets... I am not spending 15 hours on school transportation..." Clark takes a drink. "That does not sound fun."

"Nice... I found this party bus thing. $350 for 4pm- 4am. Sits 8 people and will take us wherever we want to go. And we can add on extra hours for a fee, if we need them... I'm booking this now." Victor gets out his wallet.

Clark lifts one eyebrow. "What the hell is a party bus?"

"It's like a black stretch SUV. It has a disco ball in it, and a sound system. Little refrigerator stocked with beverages."

"Nice, cool find."

"Clark, you check airfare... it's my turn to piss." Victor hands Clark the computer.

"$200 a ticket. I'll buy them if you pay me back."

We all agree.

"What else do we need?" I glance around at them.

"Tuxes and food." Jenny smiles.

"How long is the flight?"

"2 hours. We will get there at noon on Friday and the ball isn't until 6pm on Saturday. We leave Sunday at 2pm."

"Awesome, so we need something to do Friday, clothes for Saturday, and food. But the room does have a full kitchen. So if we could find a grocery store, that would be perfect."

Jenny gets up and heads towards the door. "I need to get some sleep, I'm getting tired. I will see you all tomorrow."

"Good night."

Clark yawns, "I'm with her, it's getting late. We can figure out tuxes tomorrow."

"Yea, you're right. Good night." I head to bed as well.