I fuckin hate the daily run. I hate it. Please just let me sleep in. According to Julian it’s supposed to get better but it has NOT gotten better my shins just hurt.

All the good weather we’ve been having finally broke. No more golden September sunshine — we’ve had two misty mornings over the meadows and pastures, followed by drizzly, miserable afternoons.

Today in class we discussed how testing into Willowa college works and ugh it’s brutal.

“Willowa is the most exclusive of the colleges at Palefish,” Adrian the grad student said. He loves talking about how exclusive Willowa is. I think he’s a sorcery major. “You don’t test into it, you audition.”

“Magical Julliard?” Bass whispered. Several people around us snorted.

At the front of the room Adrian looked sour. None of us were nearly as impressed as he wanted us to be.

Apparently we weren’t as impressed as Francesca wanted us to be, either, because she stood up from her seat in the front row and joined Adrian at the plinth. “Who of you were selected for Palefish because you have displayed one of the three psychic abilities?”

There was a moment of suspense as we all twisted in our seats to see if anyone had raised their hands, and we weren’t disappointed. A pale, painfully shy girl named Margot, who wears a beret with her uniform, raised her hand hesitantly. So did Kiara Jones, who wears her hair in long locks down her back, and Luca Miguel, who spends all his time bent over a sketch book instead of talking to anyone.

“This year in your classes you’ll have the opportunity to best develop your skills,” Francesca said. “At the end of the year, the three of you will be asked to demonstrate your abilities, and if they are satisfactory, you’ll be offered places in Willowa. But you won’t bet the only students who will have the opportunity to show off your magical abilities. Who was selected for Palefish because of a different innate magical ability?”

Bass raised his hand cheerfully, but he was the only one who did. Behind us in the last row, Marina raised a few fingers lazily, barely even looking up, which came as a surprise. I’m pretty sure she’s from one of the families that have come and joined Saint Niveus for generations. No idea what her magic might be.

I could have raised my hand. I didn’t obviously, fuck that. In retrospect I wonder if anyone else has secret latent magic powers they didn’t want to admit to.

“You both will also be given a slot to demonstrate your abilities as well, but there are still more students that will be offered places in Willowa.” Francesca took a deep breath. “There are three magical paths that require no innate magic to access. Anyone with the right combination of grit, determination, and luck can secure themselves a place in our hallowed halls. Does anyone know which magics I mean?”

Up front Andie raised their hand.

“Yes Mx Maddox.”

“Alchemy,” they said, very quietly.

“Yes, very good, Alchemy,” Francesca said. She was beginning to pace, her robe billowing, and we were all sort of transfixed by her. This was, after all, magic that any one of us could do. “Alchemy has been studied here at Palefish since the school was open only to the founding families and their descendants. It is a tricky, complicated matter of assembling ingredients and runes under the perfect circumstances in order to produce a subtle magical effect. The process requires the utmost precision and the resulting spell so subtle you might not even notice when it works. Traditionally it has been offered by Saint Niveus, but they work primarily with runes, sigils, and the planets. In Willowa, the nexus of our magic turns towards the natural world — plants. Animals. Fungus. Still, Alchemy students will find themselves straddling Willowa and Saint Niveus depending on their interests.” Francesca smiled. “What else?”

There was a long quiet. Andie raised their hand again, but Francesca seemed to be giving the rest of us an opportunity to answer. When none of us did, she gestured at Andie.

“Alright Mx Maddox, what else?”

“Warlocks,” Andie said and Francesca beamed at them.

“Yes! Warlocks! What is a warlock?”

I actually knew the answer, but the only thing worse than running is speaking in front of people so I didn’t raise my hand.

Eventually it was Andie that said, “A warlock is a magician that shares power from a magical familiar, another living source.”

“Very good,” Francesca said. “What kind of living source? Like a black cat?” There was a spattering of laughter. “Come on, what kind of living source? Does anyone know?”

Rook raised his hand.

“Yes, Mr…?”

“Mun,” Rook said. “Warlocks might use many kinds of cryptids as familiars, and usually they take what they can get, but bone snakes are a pretty popular choice.”

Francesca cocked her head at him. “Very good,” she said, genuinely impressed. “Did you hunt?”

“Yeah,” he said. “With Knock Valley and Daryl Armstrong.”

Francesca looked appropriately impressed, and I couldn’t help it, I felt a total thrill of pride.

“Does anyone know the third kind of magic?” Francesca asked and the whole room was quiet for a long moment before Andie raised their hand, somewhat tremulously this time.

I already knew what they were going to say when Francesca called on them.

“Sorcery,” they said and Francesca smiled a slow, cat-like smile.

“Ah yes,” Fracesca said. “Sorcery.” She took her time with her explanation, let the tension in the room build. “Can anyone describe sorcery for me?”

This time not even Andie raised their hand. I think Francesca sort of liked that, because she smirked.

“Sorcery is the most misunderstood form of magic, and in many ways, the most dangerous.” She paused again, as if to make sure we were all really listening. “In the right hands, the energy left over when someone passes on from this life can be manipulated,” she said. “But this power does not come easily. In order to unlock the ability to sense and commune with this energy, budding sorcerers must go through a long, difficult ceremony called the domus tenebrarum, or the house of shadows.”

At that point even Marina seemed to be paying attention.

“We currently have second year sorcery students preparing to enter their house of shadows. Keep an eye on them. The ones that survive will be different when they emerge.”

“What happens?” Marina asked from the back row and Francesca just pricked an eyebrow.

“Only sorcerers know,” she said. “Perhaps you’ll find out.”

Listen not even I was immune to how fucking cool and spooky that sounds. But to be honest I already don’t like to think about the specifics of how I brought Julian back, all this house of shadow stuff seems a little out of my sphere. Plus ya girl is not going to get on a stage and magically audition for anything. Absolutely not. That is my worst nightmare.

It’s hunting for me folks. Bellhoof for life.

God I can’t believe I have to run again tomorrow. I’m so fucking tired.