The Chosen One was tight-lipped as she tried to see if this really was the best group of odd individuals for her.
Gwyn glanced around the open field, looking for any potential groups that might be a better fit. Her eyes met Anastasia's. The woman stared daggers at her.
I'll just stay here for now.
"Alright, Class!" Professor Pinto was huffing. "Gods, it's hot out here." He wiped the sweat from his head and appeared to cast a spell, cooling himself off. "That's better."
When the students didn't acknowledge his presence, he immediately disrupted all conversations.
"Alright, students! I've painstakingly done a head count, and all are present! Stick together! We are going to be heading into The Wilds right now!" He projected his voice to be much louder than it usually would be, as if he were using a megaphone. "We have two Dyads here! If we run into any trouble, they will surely take care of it!"
"Yeah, if I'm lucky, a dragon will eat me before I can continue this pointless existence." Myria chimed, the most excited she has sounded yet.
"Alright, before we get started, you all must master a simple incantation."
Students began to take out their catalysts. The variety was staggering, but it seemed as though a wooden wand was the go-to for a lot of people. The field contained over one hundred students.
At this point, Teddy came strolling up to the group.
"Real funny, there was no hot woman interested in me at all over there, Leo."
Leo snapped his fingers.
"Oh shoot, I must've been mistaken."
Astrin sneakily gave him a low five.
Teddy narrowed his brows, looking discontent.
"Are you having a laugh? Do you think this is a joke? Because you know what? Nothing is more important than love." Teddy pulled a magic staff twice his size out of somewhere and pointed it at Leo's face. "Nothing!"
"Over there, yes." Professor Pinto was looking at Gwyn's group. "I appear to be losing you, yes. We will be casting a simple alliteration incantation. 'Fire flare for fostering'."
Two figures in the same robe that Gwyn wore stood beside the teacher. Their faces were covered to conceal their identities.
Some students cast the simple incantation prematurely, and balls of fire shot into the sky.
"Perfect!" Professor Pinto shouted. "Now, everyone, point your catalysts to the sky, and repeat after me!"
He paused, looking around to make sure the students were following his instructions.
"Fire flare for fostering!"
Professor Pinto held out his crooked wand toward the sky, and a ball of light shot from the tip, arcing in a slow drag against the sky.
Nearly every student followed suit. The sky became a rainbow of different colored flares, all slowly drifting into nothing as their incantation faded. Gwyn made no attempt. She still had no catalyst to cast spells.
"Excellent, excellent!" Professor Pinto shouted.
"Why isn't the incantation just 'Fire flare'?" Anastasia asked with an attitude.
"Anastasia, that's simply because stringing more words together makes the incantation more fun!" He gave a boisterous laugh, but not many joined him. "Well, now that you know this spell, use it if you are in trouble! I will let you know when you can roam freely around the forest. Keep in mind, it is very dangerous. Do not go picking fights with any creatures here. We are simply meant to observe. Nothing more."
"But what if I have to defend myself?" A student asked.
"Then use the incantation, 'Fire flare for fostering,' and one of the Dyads will rescue you."
The two robed figures nodded, but didn't speak.
"Now, follow the path before you! Do not stray from it!" Professor Pinto shouted.
Gwyn stuck with Myria, Teddy, Leo, and Astrin as the class formed a line. They traveled deeper into The Wilds. One Dyad stood at the front of the line, another at the very back.
"I'd like to see a dragon fight us," Teddy said triumphantly. "I'd kick its ass with the most basic lesser magic. It wouldn't know what hit it."
He air boxed nothing, dropping his staff. He waddled and picked it up. It seemed he had to work twice as hard to keep up with the rest of the group.
"I'd love to see that, Teddy!" Astrin said enthusiastically.
"I as well," Leo said shortly after. "Is that a new catalyst, Teddy?"
"You bet it is! Harnesses more magical energy than your average piddly wand. Plus, a man, such as myself, needs a rod that suits his length."
Gwyn rolled her eyes, but this comment made the twins chuckle.
"I think you're overcompensating for something," Myria said, making a pinch between her fingers.
"Gah!" Teddy gasped. "A man like me does not compensate for anything! I'll have you know my dad was a Whisperer!"
"Yeah, we know, Teddy."
Myria made it clear that she's heard this a thousand times.
"Your dad was a Whisperer?"
Gwyn wanted to throw Teddy a bone.
"Ah! You haven't heard the story." He pulled his pants up a little. "Well, buckle up, you are in for a doozy!"
"His dad was a Whisperer, but he died fighting a devilfrog that attacked his village."
The twins said, clearly having heard the story just as many times as Myria.
"GUYS!" Teddy shouted. "It's my job to tell the story; you didn't mention all the cool stuff he did."
"A devilfrog?" Gwyn asked.
"Yes!" Teddy glared at everyone but Gwyn. "It's a large frog-like creature with horns that spews poison. Black and red slimy skin with beady red eyes. It stalks its prey at night and drowns them in its massive, sticky maw!"
Teddy made massive gestures with his hands and conjured lesser magic to reveal images of what the fight may have looked like.
Myria cut to the chase.
"He died after the fight. He tried to pose with its dead body, but someone poked it, and it reflexively swallowed his father whole."
"Guys! It was soooo much cooler than that."
"Right," Myria said, disinterested, then turned to Gwyn and whispered, "It wasn't."
This admittedly made Gwyn chuckle.
"Well. I'm going to avenge him, kill every devilfrog until they are extinct!" He clumsily tapped the staff on the ground. "And I will do it with this puppy right here!"
"I can't wait to witness you, Teddy," Myria said.
"Us, as well." The twins seconded.
The class continued to walk as Teddy made joke after joke, some funny, most not, but he tried to keep the misfit party entertained as they traversed the colorful wooded area known as The Wilds. Eventually, the class reached a clearing that teemed with creatures of all kinds.
It was a brief patch of land surrounded by trees of every color. A field of tall grasses that reached most elves' knees, but it reached Teddy's neck as they stepped through the grass.
Teddy spat out pollen and grass.
"Bloody hell."
"Float above the grass, to save my ass!"
Teddy floated about three feet off the ground. He held his staff sideways in his lap as he glided around.
"You know… You could always learn a reshaping spell on yourself, Teddy," Leo said.
Teddy floated up to him and put his fingers on the lens of his glasses.
"I'll die before I do that." He gave a meaningless glare, then smiled. "This is peak comedy. Everyone loves a short elf."
"I don't know if we do," Myria muttered under her breath.
Gwyn barely heard it but softly chuckled at her comment.
"Alright, Class," Professor Pinto started, huffing some more. "As one final reminder: This field trip is to practice your understanding of magic. Find anything within this forest and observe it as we discussed in class. The closer you come to perfectly summoning what you observe, the higher you score!"
Professor Pinto made grand gestures, but most students were too busy starting their observations.
"I'm just going to make something up," Myria said.
"Myria!" Astrin shouted. "That won't help your education."
"Trying to get eaten by a dragon, remember?" Myria said. "I'll be dead before I graduate, if I'm lucky."
"Oh, I don't believe that for a second, Myria. You bring too much joy to this world. I don't know if anyone would be happy again if you weren't in it."
Teddy floated with his arms wide like a starfish.
Myria rolled her eyes at them.
"Whatever."
"Last thing, I swear!" Professor Pinto shouted. The class groaned as some of them turned to face him. "Don't go too far into the forest, we will signal when it's time to return, you won't be able to miss it. Now go! Have fun and remember your assignment!"
A knight in black armor stood behind him. His visage more terrifying than before. Gwyn closed her eyes and shook her head.
But he remained.
Ever watching.