Her worry made no logical sense. Even Rosemary could not put her finger on why she felt that way. Perhaps it was because she was the only one in her class that she knew of who came from a non-magical family. Even Samantha, who had been raised entirely by her non-magical mother, had a wizard somewhere in deadbeat land for a father. Perhaps it was because after years of being left out of so many things at Dogwood Elementary, something about Misty Peaks seemed too good to be true. Perhaps it was something else entirely. But whatever the reason, Rosemary could not shake that worry.
When it was one of her friends who received the revelation of their element, of course, this worry was tempered by the fact that, despite it, she was still happy for her friend. Even when it was a student she hardly knew, she didn’t feel too bitter about not having her element yet.
Nothing could console her, though, on the first Thursday of February, when none other than Melissa put her wand to the ball of white light, chanted the magic words, and the ball grew in size and turned blue. Now Melissa, her primary tormentor, knew that her primary element was water — and Rosemary might never have her own revealed. This was simply unbearable.
“Don’t worry,” said Lilith at lunch. “You’ll get yours. It’s only the start of February.”
“How do you know that?” said Rosemary.
“Because sometimes it takes longer,” explained Lilith, “but everyone gets it. My brother didn’t get his till April.”
“But he’s from a magical family,” said Rosemary, “and I’m not.”
“So what?” demanded Samantha. “I grew up in the same mundie world you did and haven’t gotten my element either. You don’t see me worry about it.”
“Yes, you grew up in the mundie world,” said Rosemary, “but your dad’s a wizard.”
“My dad,” said Samantha, “who ran out when I was three!”
“Okay, so he doesn’t get the World’s Greatest Dad prize,” said Rosemary, “but at least you know you’re a real witch!”
“Don’t tell me you’ve been listening to that pathetic snob, Melissa,” said Mika.
“Well, she has her element and I don’t,” grumbled Rosemary.
“And she can’t do spells half as well as you do,” said Mika.
“Oh that?” said Rosemary. “It’s just because I always study the books before class.”
“Well if you weren’t a real witch,” insisted Mika, “all the studying in the world wouldn’t make a difference.”
“And she made a big deal of that mishap you had in Potions back in October,” added Lilith, “even though that was practically the only time your potion wasn’t better than everyone else’s in class — including hers.”
“And don’t forget it’s you, not her, who has a harpy feather in your wand,” reminded Samantha.
“That’s right,” said Lilith. “You’re not just a real witch. You’re a hardcore witch!”
“I guess,” said Rosemary. She still didn’t feel as certain as she wished that the revelation of her primary element would come — but it was nonetheless comforting to see her friends support her like that.
* * *
Saturday afternoon, Rosemary sat in the Common Room reading ‘The Architecture of Misty Peaks’, a book that she had checked out from the library. She hadn’t yet finished reading the book on Greek Mythology, but she felt she needed something else to read to take a break from it from time to time.
At the moment, she was reading a chapter on shortcut portals. Shortcut portals were used in many places on campus, including all of the shortcut staircases.
There were two kinds of shortcut portals — temporary and semipermanent. Temporary shortcut portals were relatively easy to set up and dismantle and often could be switched on or off, but had to be actively maintained. Semipermanent ones, however, were the kind used in the Misty Peaks architecture. Those couldn’t just be switched on or off, and generally took much more effort to set up — but once in place, they were designed to last until they were decommissioned.
While Rosemary was reading, Lilith came in.
“Have you heard the news?” asked Lilith.
“What news?” asked Rosemary.
“A bobcat was found just outside Sparta,” said Lilith, “drained of all of its vital essence. Just like the winged serpent last month.”
“I didn’t know they had bobcats in Greece,” said Rosemary.
“What do you mean?” asked Lilith.
“Bobcats are North American,” explained Rosemary. “But maybe someone brought a bobcat to Greece and there drained it of its vital essence.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Oh I see,” said Lilith. “You’re thinking of that Sparta. No, I’m talking about Sparta, Tennessee.”
It wasn’t till the next morning that the article appeared in the Sorcery Times.
Sparta, TN: BMEC has confirmed that at 6:32am yesterday, a bobcat was found dead outside Sparta, drained of its vital essence. The damage is such that it is impossible for initial exams to confirm whether the specimen was a magical or a non-magical bobcat, as the species exists in both varieties.
“This is the second incident within a month of an animal being found drained in this manner on the Cumberland Plateau,” a BMEC official is quoted as saying.
Anyone with information that can lead to the arrest of those responsible for these incidents is encouraged to contact their local Sentinel Operations Department.
Rosemary read the article after Samantha was done with it. Shortly after she was done reading it, Tom stopped by.
“Hey Rosebud,” he said, “found out anything about that dragon from earlier this year?”
“No,” answered Rosemary. “I asked Professor Sinclair, and he can’t find anything except that it was some protected kind of water dragon.”
“Well, let me know if you find anything,” he said and walked off.
“What was that?” asked Lilith.
“Oh, Tom was the one I first found out about the water dragon from back at the start of the school year,” said Rosemary, “so he was the first one I talked to when I tried to find out what kind it was.”
“So you told him everything about — you know?” asked Lilith. “The skeletons?” she added, quietly.
“No,” said Rosemary. “I can’t even be sure it was a Boeotian Water Dragon. And besides, isn’t that our secret?”
“Well, do you trust him?” asked Lilith.
“I think so,” said Rosemary.
“Do you think he can help?” she asked.
“Maybe,” said Rosemary.
* * *
About an hour after breakfast, Rosemary went a second time to the workshop. Just as on her previous visit, she came in and stood in the waiting area near the front door, the only area in the room where sawdust wasn’t flying through the air.
Andrew saw her and came up. “Looking for Tom?” he asked.
“Yes,” answered Rosemary.
“I’ll go get him.”
A minute or so later, Tom came, stepped into the sawdust-free zone, and lifted his goggles.
“Wassup?” he asked.
“You wanted to know why I was asking about the water dragon,” answered Rosemary.
“Yeah,” said Tom, “if you’re ready to tell.”
“I am,” said Rosemary, “but I can’t tell you here. Not in front of everybody.”
“Would it help if we step outside?” asked Tom.
“Yes,” said Rosemary.
Tom opened the door and motioned for Rosemary to go through.
“So, what is it?” he asked, once the two of them were outside, with their backs against the building.
“The day we made our wands,” said Rosemary, “I met with Clara, Lilith, and Samantha to go tell Professor Brown something we saw in the forest the day we got the core for our wands. But we were pushed off of our path by rock gremlins who were having a party.”
“Okay?” said Tom.
“Before we knew it,” said Rosemary, “we were in the basement of Montrose Tower. We didn’t mean to go there, but there we were.”
“Well, I’m glad you made it out okay,” said Tom. “They say that place ain’t safe.”
“We almost didn’t,” said Rosemary. “We ran into these living skeletons that had a sword in each hand, and we were lucky we made it out before they cut us up.”
“I’m glad you made it out,” said Tom, “but why’s that a reason to be asking about a water dragon?”
“Because that water dragon didn’t have its teeth,” said Rosemary, “and if it was a Boeotian Water Dragon, its teeth could have been used to make those skeletons.”
She explained to Tom what she had read in Encyclopedia Avalonica about Boeotian Water Dragons and the propriohomunculi that could be grown from their teeth.
“So do you think it was a Boeetee — that kind of water dragon?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” said Rosemary. “It would explain where those skeletons came from, but I don’t know there isn’t another way they could have been made.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know either,” said Tom.
“And there’s one more thing,” added Rosemary.
“What?” asked Tom.
“What we saw in the forest,” said Rosemary, “the day we got the wand cores? There was a place where the trees were being drained of their life force. Just like the winged serpent from last month, and the bobcat from the other day.”
The two stood there for a moment, neither of them saying anything.
“But this is between us,” said Rosemary, finally breaking the silence. “You can’t tell Jesse or Ricky.”
“Okay,” said Tom. “I won’t tell.”
“Promise?” asked Rosemary.
“Scout’s honor.”
* * *
The following Wednesday, there was no assembly. That left time for Rosemary’s extracurricular study — in addition to what she would do after Study Hall. Rosemary always had at least two books checked out from the library that she might study from. This time, she was reading ‘Greek Mythology Told by the Magical and the Mundane’. Today, she got to the section on the story of Tiresias, a legendary prophet who served the people of Thebes for generations.
The book told a number of versions of the story of his transformation into a woman and back — including one of how Hera had transformed him into a woman for striking two snakes who were copulating, but transformed him back seven years later after the next encounter with those same snakes.
The book also told three differing stories of Tiresias’s blindness and his gift of prophecy. The first two were known by mundies. In one of those versions, he had the misfortune of relieving his thirst at a spring where Athena and her favorite attendant were bathing and was struck blind as a punishment. When Tiresias’s mother begged Athena to undo the curse, but she couldn’t, she gave Tiresias the gift of prophecy in compensation. The other of those two was the one in which he had the misfortune of being called on to judge a disagreement between Zeus and Hera — and when a mortal is called upon to arbitrate a disagreement between Gods, it never goes well for the mortal. As soon as he pronounced his judgment, Hera struck him blind in anger — but Zeus gave him the gifts of prophecy and longevity in compensation.
However, there was a third version of the story recorded by Pikas, whose writings were completely lost to the mundie world. In this version, Tiresias was accompanying a prince on his hunt. They came to the place where they knew that Athena would be bathing. The prince decided to go watch Athena bathe, and told Tiresias to stand guard as he did so.
Tiresias, having experienced living as a woman for seven years, not only refused to stand guard, but insisted that he would not allow the prince to violate the Goddess’s privacy in this manner.
“I’ll have your head for this, you insolent wretch!” chided the prince.
Hearing the racket, Athena quickly got dressed in her full armor, including the amulet made from her mother’s crystallized tear, and went to see what was going on. When she arrived, she saw the prince striking Tiresias for daring to protect her privacy. In her wrath, she transformed the prince into a slug — which a bird promptly swooped down and ate. To reward Tiresias for his action, she took off her precious amulet and placed it around his neck. It was this that gave him the gift of prophecy.
According to this version of the myth, it wasn’t until several years later that Tiresias would lose his eyesight.
* * *
There was more to read on the story of Tiresias, but it was now nearly lunchtime. Rosemary closed the book, went up to her room, and put the book in her safe. Then, after putting her books for Study Hall in her satchel, she headed to the Great Hall.