Survival (Sorrowfeld Academy Book 1) Read online

  Survival

  Published by Bob Dattolo

  Copyright 2021 by Bob Dattolo

  All rights Reserved

  Cover art by rock_0407 at Fiverr.com

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return this copy and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This book contains violence, cursing, nudity, and sex and should not be read by anyone under the age of 16. If you are offended by any of these, please consider another eBook for your reading pleasure.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  OTHER WORKS

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  BACK PAGE SUMMARY

  Chapter 1

  My God, my stomach hurts.

  Holding myself down low doesn’t seem to help, so I’ve been trying to avoid thinking about it as I stare at the pictures above my desk. Mom always told me about the pain of her periods, but this is something else. Why someone doesn’t come up with a spell to help this is beyond me. Maybe I can do that when I get enough power and training? That would be good, because this is…wow. I can’t even take anything because they want to do the ceremony this morning. I think I can take something afterwards?

  I can hope.

  Listening hard, I can’t hear my parents near my room, so I pull out my secret notebook from the back of one of the desk drawers. The pictures on the huge board on my wall show me powerful mages from across the US and then some of the other countries that don’t outlaw magic. All the big ones are there. The famous ones. The ones with just a massive amount of power.

  And money.

  My parents take center stage. It’s a picture that Mom and Dad took for an article…I don’t even remember what it was about. Mom has a huge waterspout behind her, while Dad has a cool wave. They’re both smiling wide, displaying their powers for the world. They’re the strongest here in the state of Florida, and their water magic is needed at least once a week by someone.

  That thought has me staring down again. I don’t look like them yet, but that’s supposed to change. As my power comes in, my body will start to change. Not just getting boobs, which seem kinda weird to me, but I’ll start to look more like them. I look exactly like my mom did when she was my age, so I should start getting the trademark water mage size and weight.

  We are sooo not small people.

  That thought has me opening the notebook. The first bunch of pages are normal school notes. I may only be nine, but I’m already taking high school courses. Smart? Maybe. It’s easier to do when you’re home schooled, so since I fell into it early, Mom and Dad convinced me that it’s a good idea to get it out of the way quickly, because once my magic starts developing, I’ll want to learn everything I can before I’m sent off to the academy.

  Enough of that thinking.

  The pages flip by, and I get to the reason this notebook is hidden.

  The first page is a picture of a massive dragon, wings flexed out wide. He’s the most amazing blue color and looks like living water. He also has a huge spout behind him, like Mom tends to do.

  Ugh, that makes me sigh.

  The second page shows me another dragon, this one the fiery red of a fire dragon. She’s perched on top of a burning building, but she didn’t cause it. She landed there and is absorbing the fire, pulling it in. I remember that article. Three fire mages had tried to stop the building from burning, but they couldn’t do it. She landed, and the fire was out in less than ten minutes.

  Too bad she hadn’t been closer when the alarm was sounded.

  The rest of the pictures passed quickly, then I put the book away with another sigh.

  “I don’t know, Madlen.” My bear stared at me from where I placed it on my desk. “I don’t get the fighting. Why do we hate dragons? Why do they hate us?” Madlen fell to the side, making me smirk, “Nice, Maddie. Real nice. Thanks for backing me up.” No response.

  From the bear.

  That semi-present faint voice in the back of my head chimed in, “Dragons and mages are alike, yet there are enough differences to stand out. Both are insecure, even in their power.”

  Ugh! I’ve been talking to my therapist about this for the past six months, but she doesn’t seem to understand what I’m talking about.

  “I wasn’t talking to you!” I can’t hide the fear in my voice no matter how much I try.

  “Anwyn, you are always talking to me. Even when you think you’re not.”

  “You’re not real! Stop it!”

  “I will stop, but I’m very real. A newborn and weak, but very real. Just as you are.”

  My heartbeat spiked at those words, and tears started.

  God, please don’t let me be crazy. I don’t understand what’s happening to me. Why it’s happening. I shouldn’t hear voices. I shouldn’t. Mages don’t get schizophrenia from what I’ve been able to look up, yet…voices? Or voice, I guess I should say. It’s always the same, although it has changed since it first started. At first it was more…shy, maybe? Tentative? Then the voice got stronger, louder. More persistent.

  I don’t get it. At first, talking back to it didn’t seem to do anything. Having it respond the way it did is something that’s been happening the past…two weeks?

  That’s scary to me. We can’t allow crazy mages to live.

  And I don’t want to die.

  My father’s voice rose from downstairs, “Anwyn, it’s time!”

  My heart jumped again as excitement ripped through me. I can’t wait to find out where I fall! I’ve been looking forward to this just forever, and now I get to start down the path to being able to use my powers. Which spell to start with? Mom said she’d teach me a good light spell, so that has promise. Not that there aren’t huge books for me to learn, but that first one? It’s something real. Something that proves that I can control the powers hidden inside of me. At least until the ceremony’s done. Then it won’t be hidden any longer.

  “Coming, Dad!” I have to put more effort into yelling back. He used magic to be heard, but I know he’s using some to listen for a response, too. Or he u
sually does. I still try to go louder, though, just in case he’s not using as much power.

  Nothing came back from him, so I made sure my notebook was well hidden. My parents will destroy the book in a heartbeat if they saw that I had pictures of dragons that don’t put them in a negative light. They’ve been pretty good about avoiding fights with water dragons, but I know it’s been a close call more times than I probably can start to understand.

  One more stop in the bathroom off of my bedroom to splash water on my face. Pretty soon, I won’t have to use my hands, I’ll be able to use my powers to do that.

  God, I can’t wait!

  That gives me a few seconds to stare at myself in the mirror.

  “In like an hour…those won’t be your eyes any longer.” My reflection mouths the same words. Thankfully. My normal human eyes stare back at me, and this will be the last time that I see them. Once the ceremony is done, I’ll look like my parents. Blue eyes all the way across. No visible pupil. I know humans get freaked out by that, it’s just how we are. Dragons in their human form have the same full-color eyes, but they do have a pupil. It’s just in the shape of a dragon scale and a darker color than their eye. So that amazing water dragon? Blue eyes with darker blue pupils. I think they’re pretty, but most mages hate them. They’re one of the signs of them being other. Which means hate-worthy.

  I just don’t get why.

  Even my body will start to change. My black hair will start to develop blue streaks to match my parents. I look like a runner, but I’ll start getting thicker. Wider. My arms and legs will get thicker, heavier. Not fat, just…like a power lifter? That’s what water mages and dragons look like, at least when the dragons are in human form. I’ve heard some other affinities call us walruses, but we wear it with pride. It’s a sign of our power, so we’re not gonna be ashamed of something so basic and stupid.

  And yet that doesn’t stop my parents and their friends from making fun of the others for the way their powers shape them.

  I seriously don’t get it.

  Maddie’s still tipped to the side as I pass back through my room, “I’ll be back, Maddie! I can’t wait to show you my eyes!”

  Chapter 2

  It takes a solid few minutes to make it downstairs to the workroom. Two servants are left behind, one dusting the artwork my parents collect, and one polishing some of the silver finishing on sconces in the hallway. They both gave me a secret nod and smile once I did it to them first. I’m not allowed to be friendly with the hired help, so I have to hide everything when it’s not just a straight question or a command. You don’t ask for something to be done in our house. You tell.

  Something I’m gonna change when I have my own house.

  My steps take me through room after room, but I’m not seeing them. My head keeps getting stuck on the upcoming ceremony. Mom told me that it can hurt, but it shouldn’t be too bad. My stomach hurts enough already from cramps, so I’m hoping it’s not worse than that.

  And that I get to take something after this.

  That gets more holding, fingers pressed into my lower stomach.

  “This sucks…” my voice isn’t more than a mutter. I doubt my parents have active listening magic running right now, so I should be safe. Ladies don’t say suck. Either do mages.

  Yet I’ve seen them in interviews saying it at times.

  My steps slow as I reach the family history room. I love this room. There are paintings of older family members across the massive walls. Statues. News stories. Books. Movies. Videos of things. You name it, we have it. Not that everyone here is dead. My grandparents are still alive, at least as far as we know. They’re both something like 1500, and once mages reach that age, they tend to get…iffy, mentally. They both went to the sea, which basically means they’re living in it. As far as we know. I’ve heard so many rumors about that, that we become water. All sorts of things. Every mage affinity has something like that, although it doesn’t always happen with those that reach that age.

  Dragons have the same sort of thing too.

  No one knows why.

  Thankfully, my parents are just over 300, so they have a long time before anything like that happens. Heck, it’s a dangerous enough world, even with magic…or maybe especially because of magic, so there aren’t that many mages or dragons that reach that age.

  Still, though, I can’t help feeling pride at seeing everything. Our family history. Someday, I’ll have a picture in here.

  Well beyond the three I’m already in. I mean as an adult and on my own. With my eyes showing the pride I already feel yet can’t do anything about due to my lack of magic.

  The pride fizzles as I reach one portion of the room that gives me chills.

  The space doesn’t have a place of prominence, but it’s close to it. My father says it’s a sign of our humility. Of the danger that we face as mages.

  The wall is black. There are four paintings there, but they’re all black. At one point, they were normal paintings, but those family members have been stricken from the histories. From our family. They no longer exist, to the point that we don’t even have their names written anywhere. Every mention of them is gone.

  Legally, too. Once someone has been stricken, they’re no longer part of the family they were born to. They lose everything. Including their names. Including their memories.

  We just have these four blackened paintings representing people that we don’t even have the names for any longer.

  God, that makes me shiver.

  I so don’t want to look at the dummy head, yet I can’t help it. The mortmagi have scared me since I was a little girl and would come through here and look at everything. They fill me with so much terror. I know I’ll have at least one nightmare from seeing them again, yet I can’t help it. They’re death for one of us.

  Don’t think about it, Anwyn. Don’t do it. Let’s go and do this, and I won’t have to worry about those things.

  My parents are waiting in the workroom. It’s huge and filled with tons of things for them to practice their magic, including a massive pool of water that’s so much fun to swim in. I’ve heard that fire mages would have a fire pit, while others would have their own element. I happen to think ours is better. Certainly more fun on a hot day.

  Mom smiles when she catches me entering. She’s lightly juggling a dozen balls of water that splash to the floor before flowing back into the pool at her casual command. “There you are!” Her smile is massive. So big. She may be more than 300, but she looks like a norm’s 25.

  My father gestures, and water grabs me up and lifts me, gliding me towards him. “Pumpkin!” His huge arms engulf me as the water flows back to the pool. It never even got me or my clothes wet, which is a sign of powerful magic and control.

  Which I’m going to be able to do at some point.

  That’s when the tears started.

  Mom’s arms wrapped me as well as she came in, “Don’t cry, sweetie!”

  Dad ruffled my hair, “Anwyn, there’s no reason to cry, but we understand. We both went through this as well.”

  “We did. Just get it out, then we’ll do the inducement ceremony.” She squeezed tighter, “How’re you feeling?”

  Her question got through my excitement and fears, “My stomach hurts.”

  Dad laughed, which isn’t shocking.

  Mom chuckled, “Yeah, that happens. I’d say you’ll get used to it at some point, but I never have.”

  “It’ll hurt for hundreds of years?”

  She took a step back as I palmed my tears from my eyes, “Not every month, but enough for me. At least once or twice a year I’ll get bad cramps. Let me tell you something, though. Medicine today? You have no idea. Before we had anything good, we just had to suffer. At least now we can pop some Pamprin and let it do its thing.”

  “How come no one has been able to stop it with magic?”

  She shrugged, “Nothing seems to work. People have tried. Don’t even think I haven’t given it a go.”

&
nbsp; Dad squeezed me again before putting me down, “I tried as well. Everyone I know that has a mother, sister, wife, or girlfriend has tried at one point or another. Healing is difficult at best, yet there’s something about cramps. The closest we get is to be able to stop ovulation, but that causes other problems.”

  Mom frowned, “We’ll get into that at some point. That’s very advanced, so probably not until closer to you going to the academy.”

  “Okay. At least I can take something for it.”

  Her smile came back, “You got it! Now…you excited?”

  My nerves fled just a tiny bit, and I was able to smile, “I am? Scared, though.”

  Dad ruffled my hair, “You don’t have anything to be afraid of, Pumpkin. We’re here with you. We’re family. You want to do it now? Or wait a bit?”

  Ugh. “Now?”

  “Why would he think you would want to wait?”

  No! Stop it!

  It’s so hard to hide my flinch at hearing the voice. At least it’s buried in the mix of everything else happening.

  “You can’t think he expected you to ask to wait, can you?”

  That’s not what I meant, and you know it! Please, please stop talking! Just go away!

  “That’s not an option, Anwyn.”

  Mom took my hand, distracting me from the silent conversation in my had, “Come on over here.” We headed for their desk areas, and she put me into one of their circles. They’re old enough to know that circles aren’t needed, but they still work with them at times. When you’re taught something growing up, sometimes you just keep it going even though it’s no longer needed. I think they do it just because it sets them apart at times and makes them feel better about whatever they’re working on. “Stand here. You don’t have to worry about anything. We’re here with you.”

  “Thank you, Mom.”

  Dad crouched in front of me and booped my nose, “You don’t have to thank us. We’re your parents. We’re family. We’ll do anything for you. So, in light of that? It’s time for your inducement ceremony.” He stood back up and stepped away to be next to Mom.

  They both smiled at me as their power grew. I can feel it, which I know they’ve said is kinda weird. I’ve always been able to feel power being done. Not see it but feel it. They can’t. No one else can that they know of. I’ve tried not to talk about it with them once they made it clear that it’s, umm, weird.