Blazing Academy: Semester One (Academy For All Things Scorching #1) - Avery Song Page 0,36

going to be out of balance," Gabriel acknowledged.

"Which can potentially kill her when the seal is broken." Westley hit the nail on the head. "How are you going to balance her out?"

"That's the problem." Mrs. CloverSpell sighed. "I need someone of each element. Or at least three of them. Her Blazing Fire should be fine on its own seeing as she's triggered fire multiple times without even trying. However, the other three are completely missing links and with school not officially started, I have no professors on campus to aid with this. Both myself and Professor Daily specialize in Blazing Fire. We'd be able to give her a boost during the ceremony if her Blazing Fire is lacking, but there's no way we have enough of the other elements to keep them in sync long enough for the seal to completely break at a safe pace."

There was a long silence, and I wondered if this Alice would make it. Seemed like the odds were against her, and with no one to help with these other elements, it felt like an impossible task at this point.

The clock is ticking...

"WOOF!" A familiar barking sound suddenly sparked joy within me, an image of a black wolf puppy drifting into my mind.

Cyrus.

"You three!" a high-pitched, squeaking voice similar to a young girl declared.

"Us?" Gabriel, Keru, and Westly replied.

"Yes! You three can save my mistress!" There was a pause and then she continued, "You! You're of Holy Thunder! That's why you're all angel like and wear white! You mean butt!"

"Hey," Gabriel barked. "Not all Holy Thunder users are mean butts."

"Whatever!" she huffed back and moved on. "You! You're of Dark Flame, aren't you?!"

"Uh...I guess," Keru responded nervously. "It's my strongest born element and why I can summon the flames of hell, so sure."

"Good! That leaves you!"

"Hmm?" Westley replied and yawned. "You're going to say I'm Wind Flare, aren't you?"

"Yes! You're...hold on. You're not just Wind Flare." She paused. "Hey. You..."

"A discussion for another day," Westley concluded. "I can help in the Wind department. Now, what are we supposed to do, Cyrus? How long do we even have before the seal shatters? Can you tell?"

"Oh. Right!" Cyrus replied. "Uh 0h."

"That alone doesn't sound good." Gabriel sighed.

"How much time, Cyrus?" Keru pressed.

"Ten minutes?"

"Damn," Professor Daily commented. "If we're going to do this, it needs to be now."

"If we volunteer to do this, what happens?" Keru questioned. "Our duty was to protect Alice once she’d enrolled in Blazing Academy. This falls into that protection role. If we each devote one of the missing elements to her, what becomes of us?"

"Would it be like a boost?" Westley added.

"Or will it be like healing is where there's an exchange?" Gabriel inquired.

"I can't get into details because we've never done something like this at a swift pace," Mrs. CloverSpell announced. "With the break of the seal ceremony, she would have been in a coma for twenty-four hours before the exchange is complete. Nature becomes the main host while those who contribute to the main element can offer energy to help the individual maintain their balance while the magic that is removed from the host is exchanged into Mother Earth. However, we don't have time."

"Alright, so you're saying we need to have some sort of item that will harness the excess energy," Gabriel elaborated.

"Yes," Mrs. CloverSpell agreed. "But it can't be a living being. Not even familiar. The magic will be too much and kill the individual."

"So it has to be an object."

"Yes," Professor Daily spoke up. "But in this case, that item has to stay with her."

"Stay with her? Like a piece of jewelry or something?" Keru asked.

"I get it," Westley spoke up. "I've read about something like this, but it's a little different. There has to be the main host that carries the object of question. Say, a ring. Then the host and those that are willing to input their magic will send bits of their own unique power within the object, which activates it. The host has to be with the object at all times, therefore, it has to be something she can carry with her or even wear."

Something seemed to crack within my head, and a rush of a cold stream of what could have been water felt like it was leaking into my brain.

"Danger!" Cyrus declared. "I-It's shattering!"

"What?!" The chorus of worried responses only made the tension around me seem to grow.

I was struggling to concentrate, as though my clear hearing was now going in and out.