Corruption

My heart aches. I can’t lose him, we’ve been friends for far too long.



I press send and bite my lip, but don’t have to wait long for a response.



I smile and quickly text back my confirmation. After it’s sent I put my phone in my bag and leave the room, making my way to the staircase. I go down it, and once at the bottom I move to the doorway in front of me, instead of the other one I usually enter to get to the Office Hall. I step inside the lounge and immediately feel impressed. The walls are a deep red, with lacy black curtains partly covering the tall windows, letting in some warm sunlight. The floor is hardwood, with black space rugs under the sets of furniture. White couches and armchairs and loveseats sit in clusters, facing toward black coffee tables under flatscreens mounted on the walls. I count six clusters, so six TV’s. The school must be loaded. In the center of the room is a circular wooden table, with a cauldron in the center full of ice to keep the wine inside cold. Surrounding the cauldron, covering the rest of the table surface, are empty wine glasses, so I step forward and pour myself some.

“Aradia!” I hear, and turn to see Lilly sitting with Reika.

I walk toward them, wineglass in hand, and sit on the couch next to Lilly, while Reika stays curled up in an armchair next to us. The TV’s playing Dexter, but the volume’s turned down.

“What channel is this?” I ask, taking a sip of my wine.

“All the school’s TV’s are hooked up with Netflix and On Demand,” Reika answers.

“Who cares?” Lilly says. “How was your assessment, Aradia? I’ve been dying to know.”

“It was good,” I say. “I have the powers of pyrokinesis, illustrative projection, perception, and alliance.”

Lilly’s eyes widen. “Alliance? That’s super fucking rare!”

Reika nods in agreement, looking intrigued. “Can we test it?”

I furrow my brow, confused, but Lilly nods enthusiastically. I realize that now Lilly’s going to blast me with her water magic, and I feel a headache coming on. I’ve had enough magic for one day.

“Ready?” Lilly asks me, moving her hands delicately. Water appears between her hands, and she circles it, keeping it in a compact sphere.

“Do I have a choice?” I ask.

“Nope!” she says, and then flings her hands toward me.

The water jets at me, and it’s about to hit my face when it turns and moves around my head. It stops at my shoulder, moving slightly. It reminds me of a snake, and as that thought forms the water shapes itself into a serpent, slightly transparent the way liquid is and reflecting light.

“How did you do that?” Reika says, sitting forward in her chair.

“I didn’t,” I say. “The water did.”

I look at Lilly with a mischievous smile. I move hand to my shoulder, coaxing the water to follow it with small beckoning motions. It obeys, wrapping around my hand. The head of the liquid snake nudges my fingers happily, and I can’t help but laugh. Then I move my attention back to Lilly. I aim the thought of “attack” toward her, flicking my hand, and the water obeys, striking at her. Lilly puts up her hands to control the water, but it ignores her wishes and splashes her in the face, soaking her.

“That’s amazing,” she says, despite her soaking wet state.

“Thanks,” I say with a smile.

“You should probably go change,” Reika says to Lilly with a laugh.

“Nah, I got it,” I say.

I conjure up fire with my hands, and thick tendrils of it wrap my arms like bracelets. I point it at Lilly, and it goes to her, and I control it to circle her and warm her. After a moment she’s dry, so I pull the fire back to me and close my hands into fists, extinguishing my playful flames.

“You already got that down,” Lilly says. “Took me months to master hydrokinesis, even though I was born with it.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. “Oh, I have some questions. What’s Dark Dust?”

“It’s a black dust that witches use to communicate. You put some into your palm, whisper a message and who’s receiving it, and then blow on it until it’s in the air. It will find who you’re looking for, no matter how far, and relay the message,” Reika says. “That’s how I contact my mother.”

“I’ll have to try it out sometime,” I say. “Also, Lucinda has fucking wings, and Justine had fangs and ears.”

Lilly looks at me like I’m stupid, but Reika cuts in quickly. “Headmistress Lucinda is a witch belonging to the Tribe of the Raven, and Lady LeMark belongs to the Tribe of the Wolf,” she says, and then cocks her head. “You don’t know anything about witches, do you?”

I shake my head. Almost none of what she said made any kind of sense to me.

“Have you seen the paintings on the ceiling of the Elemental Temple?” she asks me, and I nod. “There are four Elemental Tribes. The Tribe of the Wolf, Panther, Bear, and Raven. Each tribe is allied with an element: fire, water, earth, and air, respectively. Once a witch has learned everything she needs to know and mastered her powers, she goes through a ritual and ceremony, kinda like a Mundane school’s graduation. In the ritual she chooses a tribe, based on her abilities, and if the element of the tribe accepts her, she is granted attributes of the tribal animal.”

“Which explains the wings and wolf ears,” I say. “But why is the Tribe of the Panther allied with water? Don’t cats hate water?”

“No,” Lilly says. “They fear water. They understand it’s power, and avoid it in respect, not hatred.”

“That’s really interesting,” I say honestly.

“Someday I want to join that tribe and become a Mystic,” Lilly says dreamily.

“Oh yeah,” I say. “When Amelia was freaking out on me she told me to call her ‘Mystic Amelia’. What does that even mean?”

“A Mystic is like a leader,” Lilly answers. “They lead their coven and make decisions based on its well-belling.”

“After you join a tribe, you can choose a coven. There are five covens in each tribe: Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, and Elder.” Reika explains more thoroughly, understanding I’m totally clueless with all this. “You may choose to join the Elder Coven if you’re invited in, but you need a lot of experience for it. The Mystics of each tribes Elder Coven make up the Elemental Counsel, and they make decisions for the whole of all witches. The Mystics of each coven in a tribe make up the Tribal Counsel, which make decisions for their tribe. And lastly, each Mystic may make decisions for their sole coven.”

“So kind of like a monarchy?” I ask, my head hurting from all the information.

“Kinda,” Lilly says, giving me a smile. “It’s crazy to think you haven’t grown up in this world.”

“Really? To me it’s crazy that you have,” I reply.

“I grew up in Missouri, with my mom. She’s part of the Panther Tribe’s Western Coven. We moved me here, to Pennsylvania, when my power’s started coming in. There’s only one Elemental Academy per country, so it was either here or Canada,” Lilly says. “I miss her, I don’t see her very often ‘cause she’s busy with the coven.”

“My mom’s a witch, and my Mundane father abandoned us when he found out I inherited my mothers magic,” Reika says, kind of sadly. “But it’s okay, my mom’s great. She’s a healer in the Elder Coven of the Raven Tribe, and we talk all the time.”

“All I’ve ever had was my dad,” I say. “When I was three my mom and I got into a car accident. She died.”

“That’s terrible,” Reika says empathetically.

“I don’t really remember her,” I say. “So it’s not that bad.”

“Was your mom a witch?” Lilly asks me.

“I dunno,” I reply. “I’ve only ever lived a Mundane life. I didn’t learn I was a witch ‘til Hayden cornered me.” I pause, thinking. “Why did she find me? Like, it seems odd she’d go to a Mundane school for one day just to find me.”

“It was part of her Tribal Ceremony. Before we can join a tribe and begin true witch life we’re set with a task, like finding a witch who’s in the Mundane world or helping a member of the tribe you wish to join with little stuff,” Lilly answers.

“Too bad Hayden still has to wait,” I say with a smile.

“Oh yeah, Lilly told me,” Reika says with a laugh. “Hope the bitch has to wait until she’s forty.”

We all laugh, and then continue to hang out for a while. We watch Dexter and talk about normal things, and after a while we head off for dinner. I walk with my new friends, feeling happy. I’m glad I have a place in the magical world, where I now truly feel I belong.