"I don't want to talk about it." Jarrod grumbled.
"OK... Well, anyway, guess what we heard? Jasmine passed her water test. She'll be leaving the academy in a couple of days, once they find a place for her at one of the water schools. Rumour is that they're pushing really hard to get her into Gerolo temple."
"Gerolo?! But students there usually head straight for the military, I thought her family needed her on their farm."
"They do, but things are pretty bad down South right now, I think they're looking to recruit as many people as possible. She'll get top training, and if she survives, she'll go back home and be a better water mage than if she had gone to any other school."
"Does she want to go?" Jarrod asked.
"Does it matter? If she wants to continue her water study, she'll have to go where they send her." Harold said.
Jarrod looked around the cafeteria and spotted Jasmine surrounded by people congratulating her. She looked happy. Jealousy surged through Jarrod.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" Pietro pointed out the window over towards the air spire. Jarrod glanced outside the window and noticed a group of people dressed in black clothes heading towards the spire. "Do you think this has anything to do with how Professor Avir was acting earlier?"
"You think they're finally taking him away to a mental institution?" Harold asked.
"After what he tried to get us to do today, maybe it is time for it." Jarrod added.
"No, I think there's something more to this. I'm going to check it out." Pietro said. He finished the last of his lunch and got up to leave.
"I'm curious, too. Want to come, Harold?"
"Sure, let's go."
The three boys left the cafeteria and headed towards the spire. As they reached the top of the stairs, they heard some voices.
"Sumir, you must understand that you are needed," a voice yelled. "Things are worsening. The riots in Runveld haven't helped things at all. You hold a lot of respect there, and I'm sure that if you came with us, we would be able to settle things down quickly."
"The students need me here. I have left many things unfinished. I can't just leave now. The exam period starts in two months, and my cat wasn't born to live on the ground, she wants to fly!"
"This is more important than exams or cats, our country is in trouble! If Runveld isn't dealt with then the people of Farin will starve! Your students will starve! They're starting to cut off shipments already."
"If I leave, my cat will starve!"
Jarrod, Pietro and Harold peeked into the room. They saw four black clothed men stood around Professor Avir's desk, surrounding him so that he couldn't escape. Pietro turned to the other two and whispered quietly. "What's going on in Runveld? I haven't heard anything about this in the news."
Both Jarrod and Harold shrugged.
The voices continued arguing. "I'm sorry to have to do this, Professor, but you leave us no choice." The man standing immediately in front of the Professor Avir's desk pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. "By the order of High Council Wizard Johnathan Boleran, you, Professor Avir, are recalled to your position of War Mage. You will be stationed at Runveld encampment, you are required to report to General Benjamin Smith in three weeks." He replaced the piece of paper into his pocket.
"I see." Professor Avir replied. "I guess it can't be helped then! Pietro, Jarrod, Harold, would you like to help me pack?"
The three boys opened their mouths in surprise. They entered the room looking sheepish, and glanced at the other men, wondering what punishment they would receive for eavesdropping. However, the men had no interest in the three boys, they left without another word.
"What's going on, Professor?" Pietro asked.
The professor's face took on a sombre look. "I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to discuss anything with you, and I would like it if you were to keep everything you heard here to yourselves." His face suddenly changed to an expression of cheekiness. "When you get your new air teacher, then please tell him or her that we didn't manage to cover the air wall section of the syllabus, and as for the rest of the year, I've left notes for what I would like covered. The exam has already been prepared, but he or she is to look over it to ensure that at least all examinable topics are covered."
"I don't understand why they're making you leave. Why do they need you? There are hundreds of war magi in the army. There is no war, so surely they can spare a few of them to take care of matters in Runveld. No offense, Professor, but what's so special about you?" Harold asked.
"I was once the personal mage to Lord Wyndam of Runveld, before I was offered a teaching place at the academy."
"You were from Runveld? You don't seem like a farmer!"
Professor Avir laughed. "Not everyone from Runveld is a farmer. Anyway, I just need you to pack all of the books in my back room into the trunk, Pietro, if you could help me wrap the glass instruments in wool so they don't break during my trip."
With their lunch break coming to an end, the boys worked quickly to pack everything away. After their work was done, Professor Avir used his magic to lift his trunks towards the door. "Good luck with everything, boys!" and with that, he was gone.
They walked over to the rock quarry, discussing what had just happened. "He's.... gone." Pietro said.
"Is there something we don't know about? They're recalling Professor Avir because of riots in Runveld. Runveld has always been farmland, and from what I know, most of the farmers are there by choice. One of the girls from one of the other classes said that her family was offered land and a home to live in all in exchange for regular shipments of wool." Harold explained.
"Why wasn't any of this in the news?" Jarrod pondered. "I read the newspaper front to back every day. Nothing like this has ever been reported. It must be pretty serious if they're dragging an academy professor away. They have access to other magi, why drag Professor Avir away?"
Their discussion was interrupted when Pietro's fainted. "Pietro!" Jarrod caught him as he fell. "Harold, tell Professor Qiu what's going on. I'll stay with Pietro to keep an eye on him."
Harold ran off and Jarrod lay Pietro on the ground. When Harold returned, they carried Pietro towards the infirmiry. "Lars! Lars! Our friend fainted. Can you help?"
A short man with dreadlocks appeared. "What happened?" Lars demanded.
"We don't know. We were just walking along, and he fainted."
"Did he eat properly today? Was he feeling hot? Did he say anything?"
"No."
Lars entered the waiting room and looked over Pietro's body. "Ah, I see it's his time. Will you boys help me move him to this bed? Then you should go back to your class."
"His time? What do you mean his time?" Jarrod demanded.
"He's going to get a rune."
"What?! What do you mean he's going to get a rune? I thought you get runes while you're asleep."
"He's asleep now, isn't he?"
"But, but..."
"Look, he's fine, and I think there's a class you two boys should currently be attending? Exam time is closer than it seems, so it might be in your best interests to head on back to class."
Seeing as Lars was unwilling to talk to them, Harold and Jarrod returned to their earth class. The class was in the middle of learning to sculpt stone, so they grabbed a rock and began using Professor Qiu's power to shape it into a desired shape. But Jarrod couldn't focus on the task. He was more interested in what was happening with Pietro.
Everything he had read about runes told him that a person would gain their rune in their sleep. Nobody could explain it, but every student he had seen pass through the academy woke up one day with a rune. He had never heard of a student fainting and awakening with a rune. But he didn't think Lars was lying, he knew that all life magi were sworn to protect life, and if something was wrong with Pietro, Doctor Lars wouldn't just write it off as nothing.
Not just that, but Doctor Lars didn't spend very long looking at Pietro in order to diagnose him. How could he have worked out what was going on so quickly? Either he was lying in order to get the boys out of the infirmary, or it wasn't such an unusual occurrence, and so it was easy for him to diagnose.
The idea that it was a lie didn't make sense. If he were going to lie, surely he would have said something more plausible. But if it wasn't a lie, what did that mean? Why did Pietro get a rune in such a strange manner? Was there another way to acquire runes? Maybe they're contagious in some way. Or there was a way to take someone's rune?
Pietro wanted to discuss this with Harold, but at fourteen, he wouldn't understand how much he wanted a rune. He had so much time left. Pietro would understand, but Pietro was unconscious. That meant he had to figure it out for himself.
Earth and life magic classes went by so slowly. All Jarrod was thinking about was seeing if Pietro had regained consciousness, and heading to the library to do some research. As soon as he was done with classes for the day, he grabbed Harold and suggested they visit Pietro. Upon entering the infirmary, they were told Pietro had left.
"Where did he go?" Harold asked.
"He's taking his air test now." Lars replied. Jarrod's shoulders sagged.
"Will we get to speak to him?" asked Harold.
"After his test, of course."
"Thanks, Lars! We should head off and study now. Bye!" Jarrod was eager to get to the library. This meant that he was right, Pietro did get a rune under unusual circumstances, and it must have happened before, as there wasn't a big fuss going on at the moment. If it has happened before, then it must have been recorded. He was determined to find out if he could replicate the effect.
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