Chapter 1
Rhynys gripped the leather saddle as two warm, thick arms wrapped around her waist. A petal-pink dragon flapped against the sky underneath them; the sky grew colder as they continued to make their way east. Rhynys had spent just about every winter break in the great desert of Lovander, as she had no intention of freezing to death in the stone halls of the Citadel.
It may have been the best magic school in the world, but the dark sea surrounding the island plunged it into a bitter cold where only the foolish stayed. Lovander, more specifically Darion, had yellow sand, 20 hours of sunshine, and a honey wine that makes the winter break go by way too fast. Most importantly, it was a place where she and her dragon could fly across the endless dunes.
Unfortunately, it was all behind them now. The desert had disappeared beneath the clouds an hour ago, and she could feel the cold air seeping into her black gloves. Her long, white hair had long since come undone from the braids put in by young girls on the sandstone streets, and it flew wildly in the wind.
"You're shivering, my dear," Elis Martk's voice came from behind her. His strong arms wrapped around her waist tightly.
"It's hard not to in such bitter cold," she said.
She gripped her hands tighter on the reins as the massive beast below her began to dive down. The muscles of the dragon rippled beneath the pastel scales, and he called out it's high pitched, nasal sound. She leaned forward as they dove through the clouds, her light blue eyes squinted against the freezing wind. Her pale cheeks turned pinker as she continued to shiver.
"You know..." Elias began to say, "Most people take boats... with insulated cabins and heaters."
"Most people are not of House Jodan."
Elias rolled his eyes and smiled to himself. "Unfortunately, I have noticed just how stubborn your family is."
Rhynys turned to look at him. He grabbed onto the sides of his cloak and pulled tight as he trusted the leather seat belt more than he should. He looked considerably less pleased than when they had been on Lovander, having complained for the first 20 minutes in the sky. Now, he stayed mostly quiet behind her, his mind racing with thoughts about the semester ahead of them.
"You could have stayed." Rhynys shrugged. "You could have waited for such a ship to take you back."
"And let you fly home alone?" He smiled.
"I would have no trouble making this journey alone," she replied, her face beamed. Her greatest joy in life was when she took to the skies above the ocean on her dragon, Dawn. "I have done it plenty of times."
"Correct." He shrugged. "But you would have missed my company."
She didn't respond. Rhynys didnt do feeling. It would only be a matter of time before she was sent back to the cliffs of Morhal, to marry a rich lord in exchange for an army of dragons and her magical Jodan blood for his offspring. There was no point in catching feelings, no matter how wealthy and handsome Elis was; he was still a commoner. Though his thick, curly brown hair, dimples, brown eyes, and charming smile had enticed her enough to continue this despite the feeling in her stomach.
Elis and Rhynys enjoyed each other, sometimes in less innocent ways. That was enough for both of them, or so she thought. It started at the beginning of the semester; both of them got teamed up on a project and realized that late nights studying and practicing were a lot better when neither of them was doing either. No dramatic balcony confessions, or declaration of love. Magic was complicated enough for Rhynys.
She looked towards the horizon, and the cliffs had begun to make their appearance through the thick fog. She could begin to see the faint shimmer of the Citadel bridge: a bridge of pure light magic. It had been set there by the old mages who first used the island for research. Now, the island was home to a city so densely populated that not a single plant was left. Homes hugged the sides of the cliffs as they threatened to fall with every storm. She squinted her eyes and looked east; against the cliffs of the mainland sat her family's house. Large figures flew in the sky around it as she continued her way towards it.
When she was Archmage, her first order of action would be to add a landing zone to the college. The Jodan had always felt personally insulted whenever someone would relegate them to horseback.
She shivered in her cloak again. Her thick lips had begun to get chapped against the wind, and her nose burned. Snow still covered the landscape. "I miss the dessert."
His hands reached down and pressed against her outer thigh. "I miss being able to pamper you at a villa."
"All good things must come to an end." She wasn't referring to winter break.
"This place is a prison." He scoffed. "It has exams, and awful professors."
"Two common features of schools."
"It also has snow." He shot back.
"Unforgivable." She wanted the conversation to end, as Elis was as pretty as he was talkative.
As they made their way to the cliffs, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the city. The towers of the college pierced the sky like needles, and people crowded the streets. She hated walking through the poor parts of the town as the people (to her) were so uncivilized. She turned her nose in the air as she smelled rats, feces, and piss. The rat district had always been a stain on the city, and the closest road to the Jodan house. The rat district was groups of houses built on top of each other that could barely be defined as shelter. Many of them freeze to death over the long winters, and it makes room for the next group of people trying to get wealthy in the magical land of opportunities.
The worst part (to Rhynys) was the humans that huddled in the city. To her, they should go back to their own kind, and it is foolish to even believe they could become a great mage. She scoffed at a human beggar in front of her and made an active effort to kick over the stew bowl in front of him.
Elis snickered next to her. "They are absolute scum, aren't they?"
In the better parts of the city, elven people walked in fur-lined clothing and cooked in large firepits in their neighborhoods. It was common for elven groups to act as a family unit, which was the main reason this island expanded so fast. That, and the fertile land directly across the light bridge, and the supple sea filled with fish weighing upwards of three elves; the Jodan dragons thrived in this area due to it.
Up ahead further, there was the Citadel. Rhynys had spent much of her life dreaming of graduating inside these walls, and at the end of this semester she would. Her parents had told her stories from when she was young, how her parents met there and how they continued to infuse the Jodan line with power. They talked about the dueling halls, which I would finally have access to. About a professor that color summon storms with a flick of her wrist. About the Jodans who have walked the halls before her.
That one lay like a weight on her shoulders.
The name meant something here. The elemental magic had run through her family for generations. The feeling of the world around them was innate and powerful. She had inherited her family's gifts, and with it she had inherited their expectations. She looked down at her hands and snapped her fingers. A small spark illuminated in front of her for only a mere moment before disappearing.
Elis's eyes trailed over her movements as the corner of his mouth rose in a devilish smirk. "You should save your energy for later."
She ignored him as she looked at the towers reigning over her like a god. She hadn't realized how much she missed this: the buzz of the city, the people, and most importantly, the competition. Lovander will always be an escape, but the Citadel was her life. The doors opened before they had arrived at them, as if it could sense they were coming. The warmth of the servants lighting the many fires had spilled out.
The stone walls took long to warm, but once they did, the Citadel was warm enough to melt the ice off of itself. The busy halls of the Citadel filled with students that had both just arrived, and others that had closely not left for the entire break. They pushed their way through students, faculty, magical creatures, and the occasional burst of potions breaking in bags or uncontrolled spellbursts.
"Jodan!" Someone yelled from behind them.
She cursed her stark white hair that made her easy to spot in a crowd this big. She turned to see an elvish student a couple of years below her with dark hair and light eyes. His name? She couldn't tell you. A lot of people come up to her to try to impress her, others look from afar; some in awe, some envy, others hatred. Their opinions were none of Rhynys's business.
"Did you really spend the break in Lovander?"
She nodded.
"Was it as warm as everyone says?" He asked. His blue eyes looked up at her in awe; it wasn't common for people to ride dragons, as they breed so slowly and they are so volatile. As a result, much of the population had to make multiple day journey by sail, or if they were lucky, by a boat powered by magic.
"Warmer." She turned back around to continue to make her way to her room. She did not have the patience for much more of this.
"Rhynys."
A familiar voice called out to her. She spun around, and Professor Verma stood in the hall; students passed by her as she stood in her thick vermilion cloak. She taught elemental theory; the first professor to teach that class who was not a Jodan. As a result, she had not found herself particularly impressed by her surname. If anything, it made her life much more difficult.
"Back already?"
"Unfortunately." Rhynys uncrossed her arms and pulled her hair behind her shoulders.
"Perhaps you shouldn't have returned then." Her lips pressed together in a thin line. Her brown eyes pierced down at her.
"Someone will have to succeed you." Rhynys shrugged.
Verma was taken aback and pressed her hand against her chest. "I see your arrogance has survived winter."
"Unfortunately."
Verma had to do everything in her power not to scoff at her. Instead, she smiled a venomous smile. "We will start our practical exams this year... your first one will be in two weeks, and I expect you to fail it miserably."
Rhynys lifted her hand up to her necklace and rubbed the black diamond between her two fingers. A nervous tick she had had since she was a child.
"You always know how to say the sweetest things," she winked.
"I expect nothing less from an elf as arrogant as the Jodan's." She turned to walk away.
Rhynys kept her neutral expression until she had disappeared completely in the sea of people. She turned to Elis and stuck her tongue out. She could never decide whether she liked being a Jordan or not.
Elis leaned into her. "You know... I don't think I have ever seen a professor threaten a student with failure."
"Most students aren't..." She did a small spin, which caused her bottom black skirt and black cloak to spin a bit in the hallway, "... me!"
"You know what... she's right... You are an arrogant Jodan." He furrowed his eyebrows together for a second before he laughed with his full chest. "Come on, let's get back to the dormitory."
The walk to the dorm tower was short, and Rhynys paused at the window as the crowds thinned to look over the city. One hand rested against the cold glass as she looked out over the darkening grounds of the Citadel. For a moment, nothing moved except the snow drifting between the towers. Then, somewhere beyond the mountains, the sky flashed gold. It was gone so quickly she might have imagined it. Rhynys frowned, watching the empty horizon.
She didn't know what it meant.
She only knew that, for the first time since returning to the Citadel, she had the distinct feeling that something was coming.
