Page 66 of The Stone Initiation
Yarrow clasped his hands behind his back and faced us, his expression unreadable, golden eyes bright against his warm brown skin. He looked older today, probably because he was in dressed slacks and a button-down shirt.
Our gazes locked for a moment before his attention slipped to the bruise on my face. Yeah, it looked bad, and it would probably get worse before it got better.
He dismissed me and addressed the class. “Today I’ll be testing your psychic shields. Every gargoyle has one, but not all of you know how to use it. My job is to teach you how to strengthen it, hold it in place, and use it to protect your mind against supernatural manipulation.”
Palia put her hand up.
“Yes, Miss Lambert?”
“What supernaturals can control our minds? I don’t know of any.”
“There are a rare few who can.” He smirked. “Ifthey choose to.” His eyes glowed bright and Palia’s hand shot up again.
She stared at it in horror. “Oh…”
Yarrow’s eyes dimmed and Palia dropped her hand back into her lap.
He’d done that. Made her put her hand up.
He nodded, happy to have made his point. “But it isn’t witches you need to worry about. The main threat, the one you’re most likely to encounter once you’re on active duty, are the graynites. You’ll learn more about them in your history class with Professor Mirrowind, but for the purposes of arcana, all you need to know is that if your shields are weak a graynite can, and will, strip you of your soul.” He let us sit in silence for several beats before continuing. “Graynites feed on souls because they have none of their own, and a gargoyle soul…well…It’s a powerful thing. So today we’ll test your natural aptitude. After that we’ll work on strengthening your connection with your shield. For those of you who make it to general or initiate, you’ll be taught how to siphon arcana from the atmosphere to replenish and power up your shields, if need be.”
He meant if we were captured by Graynites. Wait, is that what had happened to the caretaker Varsa. He’d been siphoned and almost lost his soul? I needed to know what the graynites were exactly. My hand shot up before I could second guess myself.
“Miss Walker?” Yarrow waited.
“What is a Graynite? I mean, what kind of creature is it, exactly.”
His mouth turned down. “No one knows. And that, cadets, is what makes them so dangerous.” He rolled up his sleeves exposing corded forearms painted with gold glyphs that gleamed in the gloom.
When had it gotten so dark?
Yarrow didn’t bother to turn on any lights, and with night spilling into the room, and our excellent night vision, we didn’t need any.
“Mr. Mason, we’ll start with you,” Yarrow said. “Join me.”
Curi crossed the room, and someone behind us muttered. “At least he’s not afraid of the witch.”
Curi’s shoulders tensed. He’d heard the comment, but he didn’t respond, keeping his back to us all and his focus on Yarrow.
“All right, Mr. Mason. I’m going to push against your shields to test them. It may feel a little invasive, but don’t push back until I ask you to, okay?”
“Okay,” Curi said.
Silence fell as Yarrow closed his eyes and held up his hands. The glyphs on his arms began to glow and the air grew thick and heavy.
“Do you feel that?” Ginia whispered.
I nodded.
Goosebumps broke out on my arms and my scalp pricked.
Curi didn’t move an inch.
“Now,” Yarrow said.
Curi’s shoulders rose as he exhaled, and Yarrow smiled and lowered his hands. “Good. Great work. Your shield is responsive. It’s strong and we can work on making it stronger. You can sit.”
Curi reclaimed his seat, avoiding making eye contact with anyone.
