“This is not spectacular.”

Alisa and Sadie lay on their stomachs atop the amphitheatre roof, four days later, staring down at the chaos below.

“This is just stupid.”

’Yes it is,’ Zen agreed. He lay coiled across the roof as well, twenty feet of tail draped down over the back of the structure. ’You should have practiced more.’

“You can’t really practice something like this, then it won’t be a surprise.”

“I think surprise is about the only thing we have going for us at the moment,” Sadie agreed.

“Should we have tried to revamp the spell a bit, perhaps?”

Sadie giggled. “No, I think it’s perfect the way it is.”

Below, a giant rooster tail waved about grandly, floating in the air disconnected from anyone or anything. It followed a student for a moment, then flounced off in a different direction, seemingly at random.

Bigger and more chaotic - absolutely typical of dragon magic.

Alisa felt strangely proud of the stupid concoction though. It may be bizarre, may not have the same impact as the original version had so long ago, but she’d successfully adapted the illusion part of the spell - if not the guidance system - and made it work despite the restraints of using the thicker power.

Lane Ryvas had tried to dispel the floating rooster tail, but since the powerscript fueling it wasn’t attached to anyone or anything in the vicinity, there was nothing for him to dispel. The increased distance would burn through power at an accelerated rate, but she didn't need it to last for long.

In the distance, Mirva trotted around Sadie’s yard, the spell’s complex locus draped across her back like a horse blanket, tied in place so she could do things like...

Alisa stifled a bark of laughter as Mirva rolled over onto her back, the illusionary rooster tail flailing in wild contortions as its instructions were muddled by the motion and distance. It twitched madly, sometimes upright, sometimes sideways, flicking students in the face or flying up almost to the ceiling.

Lane Ryvas did his best to ignore it and continue the lesson, but the students weren’t so easily corralled. Some jumped from their chairs to avoid the illusion, some swatted at it or flinched. Most looked either annoyed or amused, a few both.

Alisa ran a finger across the complicated array on the roof in front of them, refilling the power before it could run out. Unfortunately, the constraints under which they were operating meant they couldn’t attach it to a student, but only a specific bounded location. The rooster tail would haunt only the amphitheatre, and only so long as Alisa maintained its power.

Sadie grinned. “I don’t know, I think it might be a little spectacular.”

Alisa couldn’t help but agree.

Once the class ended, second-year students splitting up into groups and dispersing, and Alisa let the spell fade. Sadie mentally relayed the ‘mission accomplished’ to Mirva, who stopped cavorting about and lay down in the sun. The rooster tail floated unmoving in the middle of the amphitheatre for several more minutes, then vanished as suddenly as it had first appeared.

“Our class starts soon,” Sadie said, breaking the silence. “We should get ready.”

“If it’s another review on two-layer combinations, I’m going to walk out.”

“Me too.”

They cleared away the spent magic, brushing it off the roof covertly, then climbed down to join the other year 1 students in the lecture hall. Mirva trotted over to join Sadie, acting so over-the-top innocent Alisa couldn’t help but laugh.

“My dragon has no sense of stealth,” Sadie bemoaned. “But you did good.” She grinned as she patted Mirva’s neck.

Zen hissed softly, nudging at Alisa’s hand.

“What, you didn’t even try to help, you just lay there? You think that deserves praise?”

’Yes’.

“Fine, good job Zen. You… laid on the roof like a champion. Minus two points for the tail. If Lane had looked our direction, you’d have given it away completely.” She grinned at Sadie. “I guess that makes two dragons with no sense of stealth.”

’You try keeping track of this much tail,’ Zen complained, twitching it irritably.

“Says the dragon who insists he’s going to keep getting longer forever.”

’I will be happy to continue growing, just not all at once.’

“Speaking of growing. How’s your spell practice coming along?”

Zen coiled in an elaborate shrug. ’I will not be holding you back.’

“Wait, that’s a thing?”

Sadie glanced at them, questioning.

“Do dragons have to pass assessments too?” Alisa asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Half the time I think they’re trying to keep us in the dark on purpose, and the rest of the time I’m convinced that no one knows what’s going on anymore.”

Alisa sighed. “Probably the latter. I should ask Tay next time he comes by. If Zen needs to be up to year 3 standards…”

’I will be!’ Zen insisted.

“Mhm.”

’You don’t believe in me.’ All the confidence slid from his mental voice, turning to dejected in a moment. Alisa could tell that he was teasing, and poked him in retaliation.

“So you’re going to join year 3, for sure?” Sadie asked.

“Once Tay gets here with the paperwork, I’ll be able to take the advancement test. But the assessment only covers through fifth-layer spells, so I’m not concerned.”

“Mere five-layer spells hold no mystery for you, oh mistress of the eighth plane.”

They laughed, and for a moment Alisa felt as though the past year had fallen away, things the way they used to be. Hopeful, simple, and full of ordinary worries about ordinary things.

“I miss Reen,” she admitted. “I want to figure out if this can go anywhere or if it’s an exercise in futility. I haven’t seen him in so long and I keep thinking… did I just make this up, am I reading too much into it, does he care about me at all, or should I try to stop thinking about him so much?”

Sadie grinned at her. “So that’s why you’re abandoning me… for a boooooooy.”

“No! It’s not like that!” Alisa felt herself blushing. “No, no, it’s for magic, and because of Tay, and—“

“And because you’ll be in the same class as Reeeeeeeeeen.”

“Aaaah!” Alisa covered her cheeks with her hands. “Noo, I should never have told you. You horrible woman!”

“Like you wouldn’t do the exact same thing to me if I started chasing one of the older guys.”

“I— I’m not chasing, I’m… trying to be a friend with.”

“Uh huh… keep telling yourself that.”

When they reached the new lecture hall - a massive structure with support scripts all around its base and huge windows for dragons to fly in and out of - Alisa still felt like her face might catch fire. Sadie just refused to let it go until the last possible minute.

As it turned out, Alisa didn’t have to wait much longer. The year 2 group returned two days later, just in time for some wrap-up lessons before their advancement assessments.

She ran out to the gates to welcome them back, but when she finally caught sight of Reen’s light hair in the crowd of returning year 2s, she froze up.

What was she supposed to say to him? ‘Hi, how was your trip’? From the weariness on the faces of everyone involved, it had been exhausting and probably stressful. Some had their clothes torn or hastily mended, others wore new outfits entirely.

The dragons walked or flew overhead, most at their mages’ sides. Hands on dragon backs, dragon heads tucked against mages comfortingly.

What had they been through?

Zen caught sight of Raxi, and immediately flew out to harass Riss. Soon they were chasing each other around, hissing and coiling in play battle. Riss had nearly caught up to Zen in size, now.

Alisa hadn’t been expecting how big the other aelaniri were. She’d watched Zen grow over the months, gradually elongating and thickening, but to see the dragons she still thought of as only moderately big coiling through the air like giant serpents… it was breathtaking. Raxi’s black scales glinted and Riss threw rainbow light like a prism from his pearly scales.

There weren’t a lot of inter-class relationships, but Alisa could easily discern them by matching the dragon types. People with similar dragons seemed to end up paired together.

“Ah, Alisa, here to welcome me back?” Lia called, when she saw her. “Marvelous. We’ll have the whole trio together again at last. Has Zen still not learned to keep his tail to himself?”

Alisa looked up, to where Zen and Raxi were circling one another while Riss lazily flew above, looking smugly down at them. “What are they doing?”

“Zen is trying to convince Raxi to choose him over Riss. It won’t work, they’ve bonded far too tightly by now for anyone to come along and change her mind.”

Alisa wasn’t so sure. She glanced at Reen, who smiled and waved back at her. She waved awkwardly, wanting to run to him and hug him; wanting to run away. She still hadn’t told Lia she was dating her brother, if that’s what they were doing. Had Reen told her? He wasn’t making a move. Perhaps he’d decided to break it off? Had she misinterpreted everything?

She did her best to chat amiably with Lia as they all walked into the academy grounds, Reen following behind and only occasionally interjecting something.

“I’ll see you at class?” Alisa said.

“Will you?” Lia raised her eyebrows.

“Well, I haven’t been officially advanced yet, but I’m trying to sit in on as many year 2 classes as I can,” Alisa explained. “I’ve applied for testing out of it into year 3.”

“You shouldn’t do that,” Lia said flatly. “It’s not just about the spells, I know you think you can study your way into mastery, but it’s about experience too. And things like what we just did can not be imitated from books.”

“Lay off, Lia,” Reen said gently. “I know you’re tired.”

“And whose fault is that?” Lia snapped, rounding on him.

He held up his hands between them. “I’m just saying, you need some rest.”

“Do you think you’re my mother? I don’t need anyone telling me when it’s bedtime.”

Alisa backed away. “I’ll… see you around, Reen,” she said, not wanting to get involved in what was clearly a long-running argument.

Reen snapped his head around. “Wait, Alisa, I—“

“You what?” Lia interrupted. “You’re chasing after kids now? Is that why you were in such a hurry to get back?”

“I’m not…” Reen ran a hand through his hair, looking between Alisa and Lia, then pressed his eyes closed with a deep scowl. “I’ll see you later, Alisa,” he said, resignedly. “I need to get Lia to bed.”

“You do not need to ‘get’ me anywhere! I am perfectly capable of getting myself to bed!”

Reen caught Alisa’s eye and waved, then took Lia’s hand and, seemingly unbothered by her continued ranting, led her away toward their house.

Alisa stared after them, disappointment and resentment churning in her stomach.

Lia was so needy, so demanding, she couldn’t even give Reen a few minutes to himself without criticism. She had no idea how he had the patience to put up with someone like that. If it were her, she’d have smacked Lia long ago.

Dejectedly, she walked back toward the lecture hall. The next special class was starting soon, and she had to pay attention if she wanted to pass her advancement test. Most of it was material she’d already learned on her own or from precad, but there was enough new material covered that she didn’t dare skip a lecture.

She’d catch up with Reen later, once Lia was feeling less antagonistic.