Emotionless (The Emotionless Book 1) Read online

  The room that I chose to be mine was a deep red in colour. And with all these red, dark brown colours, my head started to spin. Inside the room, on the wall where the light switch was, there was another dial. I twisted the dial, and it began to click, and the colour of the room changed: Blue, orange, yellow and now white. Satisfied with just the plain, modern white, I left it on that and searched the room. I immediately narrowed in on the bird that was perched up above the computer desk, on its perch. The chirpy yellow bird looked as if it was smirking at me and enjoying the fact that it could travel for annoyance.

  “Masters and my mistress, I will cook you all a light snack before bed. You all haven’t eaten since we have arrived,” Hopper spoke from the living area, I think.

  Uninterested in eating, I went to the window, flicked the lock and pushed the double doors outwards. There was a ladder that must lead up to the top of the tower. Scrambling up on the ledge of the windowsill, I reached for the ladder and felt the bitingly cold rail. After I had a firm grip with both of my hands, I leant down and noticed the significant drop down the side of the tower and along the roof of Mage Academy. Yet, I was persistent in getting away from the noise, and so I let my feet slide off the windowsill. My legs swung around, and a surge of pain sparked when my right knee hit into the steel ladder step. I let my feet rest on the ladder step, and didn’t move up until the throb subside. I closed my eyes and let the bitingly cold and chilled wind brush against exposed skin and flickered my short hair around my head. Able to move again with only a hint of pain, I climbed up until I reached the top. I pushed myself up and slipped through the arched opening and stepped onto the flat surface that was covered by the pointed tower roof.

  There were no arguments, conversations or overlapped talking up here. There was only the howl of the wind and nothing more.

  I looked around the stone walls untouched for years. Cobwebs glistened in the moonlight. The dust settled and soaked the ground I stood upon. Touching stone walls, I felt the groves of lumpy stone. Fingertips then slid away from them when I got to the other side of the tower. Hands pressed against the edge and I leant out of another arched opening and looked down. There was a flat surface, probably fifty feet down that I could aim to use the jump rune that was on my boots. Determination set and I shuffled up and let my legs dangle on the outside of the tower wall.

  The night of Sorcerer City and Mage Academy was mesmerising from afar and above. The stars twinkled, and the moon was a large white eye that beamed down pure light. Blue and green orbs floated around the homes and shops, and the ocean sparkled and gleamed. Waves rippled and looked like diamonds, shattering against the cliff, on the right side of Mage Academy. An endless sea stretched out as far as a mages eye could see.

  Absolutely breathtaking.

  Tearing my eyes away from overlooking Sorcery City, I looked down at my boots. “Jump rune, activate,” I murmured. A slight glow lit underneath my boots. I then shuffled forward some more until I was leaning downwards.

  A frosty breath escaped lips, and my heart beat faster and faster. The tingling sensation in my hands from the cold stone felt almost numb. And then my stomach lurched from the drop. Wind billowed upwards, raising my shirt and my hair lashed around crazily.

  I needed to get myself into position, and so I lifted my legs into a hunched stance and raised both hands on either side, ready for the jump. As I looked down at the surface I needed to land on, I felt a presence near me. It felt like everything stilled. The lashing wind, violent and ferocious was nothing but a hum, soft in my ears. The intensity of the fall almost felt like I was floating now. Every strand of golden-brown hair could be seen, and through the curtain of it all, I saw him.

  He was standing on the side of the tower wall and looking down. His features shadowed and were covered from the light of the moon and cast ominously. As I fell, my eyes dragged upwards, and I could feel that they were looking at me as well. Through the darkness and cover of night, a spark of gold glowed in his eyes. His features a sickly white and white hair swayed in the wind.

  Away from his shadowed face and the golden spark of eyes, I cast a look at a shine of blue down at his boots. The interest peaked immediately, and my mouth opened slightly, amazed at this guy when I suddenly realised the reason that I was falling in the first place. Time sped up, and I dropped increasingly.

  I twisted my body and felt my body tense at the ground right before me. About to use my rune, I gasped as my body jolted upwards back in the air. Golden light burst to life and flourished around me, encircling me in warmth. My hands wrapped around their neck and raising my arm, the gem embedded onto my hand pulsed to life. In awe, I then looked behind my Guardian and at the golden wings that flapped in the air. Every feather ruffled and dipped in the light of the sun. Their skin smelt of summer warmth and resonated off of them. They were too bright for my eyes to see. A Guardian dipped in holy light.

  “My mistress!” Hopper wailed. Surprised, the golden light vanished, and I flopped onto the rooftop that I was aiming for.

  White gloved hands touched my cheeks and forced me to look at those red eyes of an albino bunny. “Mage Academy isn’t that bad of a place to be for you to hurt yourself to get away. Why? Why would you be on this roof? Were you jumping?” I nodded in agreement. Red eyes widened. “Why would you jump?”

  “Boots.” Shuffling to a stance, I tapped my boots together so that they made a sound. “I wanted to see how high I could jump.”

  “You weren’t trying to escape Mage Academy?”

  “No, but…” I trailed off and looked up to where that mage was on the side of the tower building. “I want those boots.”

  A Mages Guardians War.

  Steam lingered out when I opened the door to the bathroom. I rubbed a damp towel through wet hair and sidestepped Donte who moved into the bathroom drowsily. Down the hallway, Nixon was already dressed. He decided late last night that he didn’t want to shower for a month and see how much he stinks at the end of it. I’d give him five days before Hopper smells him and forces him to shower. Not only that but Nixon not bathing means we all have to suffer and try to endure the stench that would simmer off of him.

  Closing the door to my bedroom, I also noticed that there weren’t any runes in this home – Doesn’t surprise me, considering this used to be a Guardians home. Because they cannot use runes, there was no need for them. However, I now needed to touch this place up and create a lock rune to keep my door from opening. Definitely not as grand as that mages one next door, but enough to keep my brothers and possibly Hopper from entering without being stunned.

  On my bed, I rolled up my right pant leg. There was a yellow bruise that went around my kneecap and down along the bone. It was when I hit my leg on the bar of the ladder. Last night it was swollen and a blotchy purple in colour. My healing rune has helped a lot, and now I don’t feel that much pain or tenderness. The bruise was just an inconvenience that I had to hide until it has healed. Silas and Hopper dislike when I hurt myself and tend to overreact when I do.

  After I rolled down my pants, I leant back and stared, I suppose, at nothing in particular while I dwelled with what happened last night. After I fell, my Guardian saved me from going splat against the roof. But after that, because Hopper thought that I was running away or committing suicide, he told me the instructions he was told by my parents. He was to keep an eye on us until further notice. I am not that desperate to leave Sorcerer City. No one has done anything as horrible as Yasmine has done yet. Therefore, I can ignore the glares and whispers of hate to an extent.

  I heard Hopper sigh and went out of my room to see a lot of boxes stacked in the living room. They must have come early this morning. But for Hopper, they have arrived at an ‘untimely matter.’ He looked onwards with disappointment.

  “My mistress, there is a few hours before rune wars, you can look around Mage Academy if you want and meet us at the entrance within an hour. Don’t fret, it will be quiet. Most Academy students are away on holidays
and won’t be coming back until the end of December.”

  “Okay,” I responded, on my way to the door.

  After I closed the door to my home, I took a glimpse at the door on the opposite side of the tower, it was still active and wavering with magic. Slowly blinking, I turned to the flight of stairs down, tugged on the sleeves of my shirt nervously and descended. I was nervous seeing other mages and if they would immediately try and do or say something about that night.

  At the bottom of the stairs, I peeked around the corner. There was nothing aside from the floating green and blue orbs. I took a deep breath outward and stepped out of the hallway and looked down to where the cafeteria was located. I ignored the armoured knights, clanking as they marched down, and I went to the door to the hall. This was where it all started. The door has changed from the last time I was here. The engravings were now of the Phrelale flower instead of a woven design of doves. There were also magical runes that lit the door – Maybe from added protection, unlike that night. I could still smell the ash and smoke from inside that room. I needed to getaway.

  Going along the hallway, I went up a few steps that led into the cafeteria hall. There were rows and rows of tables of steaming hot food behind the round tables that were strangely placed around the room, and some tables hovered in the air. I noticed the ones that did float in the air had mages sitting on them while most of the tables on the ground didn’t have anyone on them at all. I took a few steps into the cafeteria hall when a table that floated above me slammed down into an empty spot near where I walked. I stepped back and felt the distress of my veins illuminate along my skin.

  Three teenage boys dressed in the Academy navy blue jumpers came down from above. The closest one to me in their seat leant back in their chair. He had his elbows rested on the arms of the chair, and a grin stretched on his face. Not exactly sure what I was supposed to do, I went to walk around the table and towards the doors that had ‘Classrooms, ages 13-16,’ when the one closest to me with reddish-brown hair spoke.

  “So, they did decide to let the outcasts back into the mage world,” he said, smirking. The other two that were with him snickered. “They are literally letting everyone in. Even half mages half Guardians.”

  “At least she’s cute,” his friend with the blond hair pitched in, and they all laughed.

  “Cute to look at. Not to get with. The Frost family isn’t a high spoken family anymore. Get with her, and you will bring dishonour to your household.”

  “I’d still bone her.”

  Were they really talking about me like a piece of meat while I stood before them? Not only that but also degrading my family as well. I wanted to yell out them. To shout and tell them what I really think, but I knew that no matter how angry I got, it would be published in the latest magazine. I don’t want my family to be disappointed in me more than what I already am. I need to swallow their words and leave.

  I could feel their gazes when I decided to walk away from them. That piercing glare of hate and disgust I have felt for five years now. It wasn’t anything new. I was used to it.

  On the other side of the cafeteria hall, I went up the stairs and onto the second floor. Looking down the hallway, I stared at the open door and to where Mr Umar and his Guardian died. Inside the room, there were two sectioned rows of seats with a strip of the walkway in the middle. At the end of the sidewalk, where the teacher’s desk was located, there was a pot, cleaned, and on the centre of the steel table. Potions class. I can see Donte and Nixon getting into a lot of mischief in this class. This would be a class I would avoid if I had to be in it with my brothers.

  I touched the desks as I walked back to the door and looked down. There was a burn mark that stained the stone flooring where Mr Umar was shot by mage magic. Casting my eyes back up, they then settled onto the stairs that led up, where I fled to.

  Even during the day, the flight of stairs upwards were dark. I could only imagine how lit my veins were, and how much they glowed when I ran up the stairs at night, where no green and blue orbs strayed from going. I haven’t been up here since. When I woke after I summoned my guardian, I was someplace else. I was interested to see the room again. I was curious enough to see if there were burn marks or a stain of where I summoned my creature. I wanted to see if anything would trigger and I would know what my guardian looked like and what exactly did I summon for it wasn’t a dragon.

  They were human.

  In daylight, I could see that this part of Mage Academy wasn’t cleaned and maintained correctly… or at all: Cobwebs covered the corners of the walls and floors, black dots of spiders sleeping in their nests. The dust settled along with everything and picked up restlessly when I entered the small hallway that led to the end, where the old, rickety door laid.

  Right before the door, I grabbed the handle, and it felt warm. Like someone touched the handle not too long before I did. The jolts in my arm stiffened when I pushed inwards, and the wooden door creaked. I went to step in when I was dragged back and away from going inside of the room. Surprised, I turned around and to Hopper. He had a hold of my arm.

  “My mistress, we are leaving for A Mages Guardians War,” Hopper spoke, smiling.

  “Okay,” I responded and closed the door.

  At the entrance of the Academy, Donte, Nixon and Silas stood next to the crystal tower. To my astonishment, Nixon looked well dressed and bathed. He didn’t look so pleased about that notion and pushed his brown hair backwards, irritated as we walked down the stairs.

  We then followed the brick path through Destination Road when I started to hear the subtle voices nearby. Not that overly joyed about it, we turned the corner and away from the maze of streets and into something that resembled familiar territory of a city in the Ordinary-Human world – Somewhat. There were large groups of mages and their Guardians that were in their natural form. They were forming lines and going towards a large entrance to this dome-shaped arena. Two mages that had very long stick legs, as tall as trees and as skinny as twigs were on opposite sides of the entrance and watched from sky view of the mages that passed through.

  I was suddenly pushed into the large crowd from behind. I ducked underneath someone’s outstretched arm when they called to one of the mages that were in front of them. Separated from my brothers, I moved forward with a bunny at my feet because there was nowhere for him to morph without bumping or squishing in with the crowd. I picked Hopper up in my arms, and his glowing red eyes glared at me while I shuffled forward with the group. Every stare that came my way, or glare, even a huff of breath from a mage beside me, I felt my fingers tense along Hopper’s fluffy white ear.

  The entrance looked so much more enormous up closely. The arched doorway had crystals covering them, head to toe. So many vibrant colours shunned in the dimly lit light of winter and twinkled like Christmas lights, luring me to go through.

  I moved near the side of the arched doorway to the coliseum. The stick mage above me kept touching the crystals, and that’s when I realised that he had a rune active in the palm of his hand. From where I was, I saw a hint of blue and knew he was using it for something. Through the entrance, following the crowd, I felt this tingling sensation of something gliding up and down my body, as if it was examining me. I suspect that’s what the mage was doing. I guess they are making sure no one enters the arena with any dangerous weapons. Which was odd, because we have staffs and our body is a weapon. Why would we need to bring in a knife or a gun, even?

  Inside, I went through this covered hall that had paintings and photos of mages and Guardians that must have won previously and are up on this hall of fame. Around every photo frame was a thick curtain cover that either draped down over the photo frame or along either side. They were the colours of the Guardians that were summoned. I assume the ones that were draped down are of Guardians that have fallen.

  Out on the other side of the hallway, it opened up into a massive arena with hundreds of thousands of seats. It was almost already packed as well. The voices of
mages encased me in this buzzing bee sound, and in the centre, away from the silver seats was an arena, bare of anything aside from a thin layer of sand. Along the stone walls that surrounded the stadium, I could see splashes of different colours that have stained parts of the stone walls. Many Guardians have already fallen in this pathetic excuse of A Mages War.

  Hopper began to grow restless in my arms, so I shuffled away from the large group that were finding spare seats and placed the rabbit on the ground. He morphed back into a human and sat down on the silver bench. His ears twitched as he rubbed them up and down. With a shake of his head, his ears popped and turned into one of a human’s.

  “My mistress, did you have to pull my ear that hard?” He asked, twitching his head.

  “I want to sit near the front,” I said, ignoring his question.

  “Alright, my mistress.”

  Hopper took hold of my hand, squeezed tightly, in a reassuring way, and led me down the stairs and towards the front, where the best view would be. Mages weren’t as excited about being near the front. There were a lot of seats available, and it worried me slightly on why mages stepped into the fifth or sixth row and not that many people sat closer. Perhaps they were afraid of bursts of magic coming their way. They weren’t as confident with their magic. Unlike them I was delighted in my defence mechanism. I did design them perfectly. So far, no one has been able to penetrate the outer layer of my defence runes. Sitting near the front was no bother. It was actually better, considering I could feel fewer stares drilling in the back of my head. There was no sun as well, the sun covered by murky, white, frosty clouds, my hair didn’t glow as golden in this weather.