Eudora
The next day I walk into Magic Class with Ryland, Max, Aren, Gia and Char. Bennett is already in the room and he looks pissed. We all take our seats in the stool circle and wait for Professor Solace to join us.
"Where were you all this week?" Bennett demands. We all look around at each other awkwardly unsure what to say. Bennett noticed all of our absences while Ryand and I were trapped and my friends were frantically looking for me.
Before he can press us any further, Professor Solace arrives. She enters the room and turns to Bennett, "Why don't you and Ryland continue your practice in the safety room?"
Bennett looks between Professor Solace and the rest of us with indignation. "I know something is going on and I want answers."
Gia speaks up. "He's the only one in the magic class who doesn't know. Wouldn't it be best if we told him? He could be helpful. Besides, we are already sworn to secrecy about this class."
Professor Solace's eyes slide to the side, glancing at me and letting the decision fall on my shoulders. I give her a quick nod and she sighs.
Professor Solace carefully explains the events of the last couple days to Bennett.
"So Ora is actually the reincarnation of the Moon Goddess and she has special powers that the Emperor wants to control by forcing her to mate with Ryland?" Bennett summarizes.
"That pretty much covers it." I verify.
Bennett glances at Ryland and me wearily as if expecting Ryland to abscond with me any second. "Why should we trust him? He's probably working for his dad." He says pointing at Ryland.
"Ryland has more than proved himself to be trustworthy." Aren adds in Ryland's defense.
"With that out of the way, let's get started with class today. You have all advanced quickly with your magic. Today I want us to work together to set up new goals for each of you for your magic studies and practice. Let's start with Gia." Professor Solace turns her focus onto Gia who grins and leans forward. "At the beginning of the semester, the extent of Gia's abilities were reading vibes and prophetic dreams. Now she can call visions on demand. What do you want to focus on to improve this ability?"
"I want to expand my predictions to have a better picture of what events lead to the future and I want to be able to predict things that are further away in time." Gia responds quickly, having already put a lot of thought into her powers while trying to locate Ora.
"What are your plans to achieve that?"
"I am going to keep going to the shifter matches to see if I can predict the events that lead to the winner, not just the winner, and I am going to try to make these predictions a few hours in advance."
"Remember that the future is fickle and any small decisions can lead to different outcomes. I think you should focus on seeing the multiple routes of the future."
"That feels very advanced. Is that even possible?"
"Anything is possible in this world." Professor Solace turns to address the group. "Does anyone have any suggestions for Gia to try?"
"I think she should try to predict sporting event outcomes." Bennett grins sinfully.
"No." Professor Solace rejects his suggestion without a second thought. "Does anyone have any ideas that aren't morally gray?"
"She should try to use the different possibilities of outcomes to come up with percentages of how likely each outcome is." Char quietly states.
"That seems like math, not magic." Gia huffs.
"Math is a part of everything in this world. Does anyone have anything else to add?" No one speaks up. Professor Solace then turns to Max. "Max, how have your abilities progressed?"
"I have much better control at blocking out thoughts when someone touches me. I've been keeping up my mind barrier all the time and it's starting to become second nature."
"Good. What are your plans to expand your power?"
"I am going to try to extend my mental reach to be able to share thoughts without having to make skin contact. I am going to try reading a person's mind if they are a few millimeters from me and then work on extending that reach further and further."
"Does anyone have any suggestions to try?"
"Do you know if mind reading is even possible without touching?"
"I did it once by accident." Max flushes and I wonder when that happened.
"Let's move on to Charlotte." Professor Solace says, drawing our attention to the smallest member of the circle.
Charlotte avoids eye contact as she starts to speak. "I have been working on creating more complex objects. I need to fully understand how it works to be able to make it, and I can't make anything that uses multiple types of materials yet."
"What have you been able to create?"
"I've made a carriage wheel, some nuts and bolts, and jewels. I did some experimentation and I can't make things like plants and animals, but I can create by-products like fur and feathers and wood."
"Have you tried to make things that are composed of multiple materials?"
"Yes, but I feel like something is blocking me from forming the words into matter."
"Interesting. Does anyone have any suggestions on how Charlotte could overcome this block?"
"I think she should increase the complexity of the objects until she can make simple objects with multiple materials." Gia states. "Maybe she just needs to increase her control and skill, so focusing on details and refining her skills could help her improve enough to bridge the gap."
"That is a great suggestion." Professor Solace grins and her heavily wrinkled face lights up.
"Charlotte I think it would also be helpful for you to take an engineering design class next semester."
"Yes mam."
Professor Solace claps her hands together and turns to me. "Finally, our last new student." I see a glint of exaltation in her eyes. "Your powers are more complex than anything we could imagine. Everyone else is focusing on improving their one skill, while you have almost unlimited possibilities." Professor Solace starts to pace around the circle. "In this class, we should focus on power's Eudora has already demonstrated, her fire ability and her healing. She should work with Aren to better her healing and with Bennett for her fire. We could spend the whole class discussing ways to help Eudora improve and discover more that she's capable of, but we simply do not have the time."
After that the rest of the day flew by and before I knew it, I was walking back into the magic classroom where Professor Solace was already waiting for me and Dean Charles to arrive. Aren was hesitant to leave me alone, but Professor Solace assured him that someone would walk me back to my room once my lesson was done.
To my surprise, Dean Charles wasn't the only one who showed up for my lesson. Professor Steele, Professor Hastings, and Professor Ricklin all hurried into the room right behind him.
Dean Charles has a grim look on his face and he shares a look with Professor Solace. Her crinkled face drops into a foreboding expression, and I know that they are about to share some bad news.
Dean Charles asks us all to take a seat before he stands at the center of the circle. "I have some unfortunate news to tell you all." My heart drops with the confirmation and I panic that something has gone wrong with the plan and the Emperor has hurt Jayden. "A few weeks ago, Eudora willingly gave some of her blood to be tested by one of Genevieve's friends." He states glancing over at Professor Solace. "We have just learned that this friend, some of you may know her as the Dark Forest Witch, was attacked and the blood was stolen."
I gasp in shock. "Will she be okay?"
"She will be fine." Professor Solace states, her voice filled with confidence. "My friend Evelyn is tougher than she looks."
Relief rolls through me. "Good."
"We suspect that the Emperor was behind the attack, although with multiple groups working against Eudora, it is impossible to know for sure. We don't know what the Emperor is planning on doing with the blood, but it can't be good. We need to keep our ears open for any news and we need to stay on high alert until we can retrieve the blood."
The circle of professors nods in agreement and Dean Charles' frown lightens just a touch. "With that out of the way, let's move onto what we are here for, helping Eudora get a handle on her powers. Since Eudora is half-god she is more complex than a regular shifter, we need all of your specialties to help her. Genevieve, would you like to start?" Dean Charles looks to Professor Solace before he takes a seat in the circle.
Professor Solace stays seated, but starts to talk. "The Moon Goddess has many rumored powers which include; Creating new shifters, healing (which we saw at the oasis), power over natural forces, light energy, illusion, fire (which we also saw at the oasis), and more. Her power could be almost unlimited."
"According to the texts, the moon goddesses' powers were mostly part of her being. By sharing a part of her life force, she was able to give incredible gifts." Professor Ricklin perks up at the thought of using history to uncover my abilities. "She gave life the ability to shift and she healed armies. Her powers that didn't involve her blood were that she could guide the tides and light up the night."
"How do we help her figure out how to use her abilities? The blood stuff seems simple enough since she has already figured out how to imbue her blood with healing, but what about the other stuff? No one knows how her powers truly work so all we can do is guess and experiment." Professor Hastings asks.
"That is exactly what we are going to do. I am already planning on having some other magic students help guide her through the elemental and healing aspects of her abilities. We should focus on the powers she can imbue in her blood."
"We should also focus on her shifting abilities. I have a hunch she could shift into any animal she wants." Professor Steele adds a little argumentatively. "Her control of her pheromones is already at an expert level so all she needs to focus on is controlling her shifts and getting used to being in different forms."
"We will eventually get around to unlocking more of her abilities, but for now we don't have a lot of time, so we should focus on aiding her in mastering what we already know she can do." Dean Charles cuts into the discussion. "Shifting, healing and fire are our first priorities. The Emperor could announce a wedding date any day now, and we need to give Eudora the best chance at making it through."
We spend the next hour rigorously testing my healing and seeing if I can imbue my blood with other magical properties. We learn that not only does my blood heal, it also has restorative properties. Most of the time, magical healing can only fix a wound, but my healing can undo the wound like it never happened. This also restores energy to whoever I am healing. If someone was dying of starvation, the professors theorize that I could restore them to a healthy state. They also suspect that this ability could be used to not only restore, but improve. They said I might be able to level people up to different levels of fitness and increase their brains functioning.
At the end of the hour, Dean Charles steers the conversation in a new direction. "I know you are tired and ready to retire for the day, but there are a few more important matters about Eudora I would like to discuss first." He then looks to me and I think I can see some discomfort on his face, but that doesn't seem possible. "Errm." Dean Charles coughs and then clears his throat. "You have recently turned 22 and your mates strings have appeared." He tugs at his collar. "Marked mates share a special.. Bond and well… umm well." He is visibly sweating now. Talking about matehood must make him really uncomfortable. You'd think that since shifters are comfortable with nudity and many of them are very sexually active, sex would be a casual topic, but it is still private and not openly talked about in a professional setting.
The first part of bonding celebrations is for the whole community to celebrate the new couple to be at a formal ceremony, but the second part, the part where the marking and bonding actually happens, is a display only for friends and failed strings to watch. The public claiming of a mate is an ancient tradition that is for the triumphant bonded to emphasize the partner they chose and for the loser to recognize the string has been broken. I blush at the thought of being taken by my potential mates while our friends and any women they might have had a fling with watch on. The idea scares me, and fills me with lust.
Dean Charles' unsure voice breaks me out of my thoughts. "Maybe it would be best if Professor Hastings took over."
Professor Hastings, being a biology and health professor, after all confidently took over the explanation. "Marked mates can share power and strength with each other through their bonds and since you are way more powerful than a normal shifter, if you were to bond with any of them, the power they would have access to through the permanent bond would make them some of the most powerful shifters to ever live. Even just being linked to you with a string also increases your potential mates powers. It is important that you stay close to them to garner strength through the bonds."
"You want me to bond with them?"
He laughs. "No, you don't have to have them mark you, but it would be best for the Knights of the Blood Moon, if all of them were at peak strength when we face off against the Emperor."
Dean Charles takes over the conversation again. "We believe the night of your bonding ceremony would be the best time to make our move. The Emperor will be distracted with all of the plans and we will easily be able to get your friends and many of our knights into the palace under the guise that they are guests. I have also heard back from Beta Orel and he has set the date for your visit to the Desert Kingdom for next week. You will have to travel in animal form in order to get there faster, but the trip will still take three days to complete."