As the professor told us to go, I felt my bloodline burn hotter in me.

  “No,” I said, stepping closer. “I am not done. Even if you’re too small minded to think of it, there are ways to use this.”

  “Maybe technically, but what, are you going to torture a sixth circle caster by making them take the spell then killing them? Salem’s already got mind magic and psychic powers, he’s going to fall to the Creep even without the bloodline, and the Erudite’s being stupid for–”

  “Shut up,” I snapped at him. “Besides, even if Salem wasn’t here, I have questions about using Summers’ inversion with my bloodline.”

  “You don’t have a bloodline,” professor Albernium sneered, his tone dripping with condescension. “What, were you hoping to steal his taint for power and become an aberration as well?”

  My blood started to boil at that, and I reached for my fire. I slammed it back down into the coals of my spirit. As my full power returned, I got a good smell of Albernium.

  His bloodline was huge, a bonfire compared to my torch, but it was thin and weak. I shone far brighter than he did, with my power far denser, and far more dangerous.

  And it was far. Because even without having compressed my power as much as I had, Albernium’s bloodline was that of a lindwyrm.

  A lesser dragon.

  I allowed my power to rush into dragonfear, then slammed it into Albernium’s mind. He reeled back, actually falling out of his chair before scrambling to his feet. He stared at me, slack jawed, then I felt him release his own dragonfear, smoke rolling off him as he did.

  I crushed his mental assault beneath mine, and the force sent Albernium staggering backwards. He dropped to his knees, rushing power into his lindwyrm bloodline to try and resist.

  Smoke poured off his form, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. The man was not only weak, but he was sloppy. I sucked in a sharp breath, and the smoke flowed into my mouth. I wouldn't have dared pull that trick against Greta. She was sloppy, but she could have still tried to pull on the smoke while it was in my spirit, before it converted into my own fire. There was a reason dragons didn’t use flame attacks against one another, after all.

  But against Albernium?

  I began drinking his power, letting it flow into mine, and he threw up his hands.

  “Stop, stop!” he cried out.

  I let go of the dragonfear, and he scrambled to his feet.

  “Have you never seen a disjointed bloodline before?” I asked.

  “Oh, I had, but it had never worked on me, I could always smell through the veil,” the man said, eyes wide and shining with… adoration? I shuddered. “I have to train you. Your power is so small, but it’s so… strong. What is that? How did you get stronger like that? How did you not billow smoke when you used your dragonfear?”

  “Tell you what,” I said, glancing at Salem. “I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt here. Apologize to Salem for claiming he’s a monster and give me all the texts you can on using ether manipulation with bloodlines. In exchange, I’ll give you a crash course on how to refine your fire and manipulate it without billowing smoke everywhere.”

  The man’s eyes flicked over to Salem, then back to me. He must have drawn some sort of conclusion about Salem being a part of my collection, because he immediately agreed.

  “Of course, I’m so sorry, I had no idea that he was part of the collection of a full blooded dragon. I didn’t even know there were any in the school. But if he’s one of your attendants or part of your hoard, he’s probably safe, since you wouldn’t let a treasure break, of course. I wouldn’t let a treasure of mine break.”

  I felt heat rising in my veins again. This man seemed to be everything I’d hated about the Dreki family, boiled down into a single person. The domineering, aggressive attitude towards those beneath you, while at the same time begging and scraping to those above you.

  I took a look at Albernium for the first time since we’d entered his classroom. He was young for a professor, only about thirty or so, and his stole indicated he was a fifth circle caster who could stretch up to cast some sixth circle spells. His hair was white and glossy, and there were hints of scales under the sleeves of his jacket and at his neck.

  I turned around to face Salem, so that Albernium couldn’t see me, and mouthed an apology. Salem gave a wry grin and a shrug, then spoke aloud.

  “I’ll be waitin’ for ya’ in the hall, sir,” he said, barely able to keep himself from laughing. “Don’ wanna overhear any dragon secrets.”

  “Very good,” I said imperiously, before turning around.

  “So well trained,” Albernium said, as if it were a compliment. I just nodded and gestured for him to get on with it. He coughed.

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  “Right. So, using ether manipulation techniques with bloodlines. It’s not quite as simple as it sounds. Given your nature, I assume you got the standard bloodline spells in your grimoire?”

  “It contained the spells for bloodline spellcraft, convert breath, and amplify bloodline,” I said. “I’ve already done the bloodline spellcraft ritual, and hadn’t looked too deeply into the other two.”

  “Oh, very good, very good. Bloodline spellcraft is the basis for which most, well, bloodline spellcraft is used,” the man said. “It does allow you to use some ether manipulation techniques with your bloodline, but the unfortunate thing is that each bloodline is somewhat unique. Unlike ether, there’s no standardized version of Summers’ inversion, as what works for a dragon might not work for a harpy. I can show you what I do for the massage and path techniques, though with how dense your power is, I worry it may be less useful for you.”

  “Go ahead,” I said, waving.

  He closed his eyes and flared his fire, then began moving it in slow, steady patterns. Similar to how my version of Summers’ inversion was the practical reverse, his version of Xander’s massage involved stimulating the connection between his ether pool and his fire, while plucking at the connection to Etherius. Willow’s path involved weaving both fire and ether along the connection point to create channels at the stimulation points, while also plucking the connection.

  When he finished, he opened his eyes and continued.

  “Convert breath is a simple one. Not a ritual, it’s a cast spell, and it allows your projected breath attacks to turn to lightning or frost, and sometimes other elements if you have the right components. Amplify bloodline is a fifth circle spell. Not a ritual either, alas.”

  He licked his lips and grinned at me.

  “It’s absolutely wonderful. It weaves ether into the coals of your fire, and somehow refines them. It doesn’t increase the amount of fire you have, but it makes the efficiency more effective. I release half as much smoke when I use it, compared to when I don’t.”

  My eye twitched. If he’d been using that and still releasing so much smoke…

  “What other spells are there related to bloodlines?”

  “There’s the sixth circle spell, consume bloodline, of course, but if you want to have your pretty little toy fixed a little bit, it will be difficult. Someone will have to cast it onto him. There’s also the first circle spell, stimulate inheritance, which can help improve the bloodline purity of your children…”

  I frowned. It was strange that there would be a first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth circle spells, but no second circle. There had to be one missing, and the only thing I could think of was the lead that Charm had given me.

  “What do you know about the nation of Ketsalkuetspalaltepetl?”

  “The… what?”

  “The ancient empire of dragon wizards,” I said, letting annoyance leak into my tone.

  “I have never heard of it, my lord,” the teacher said. I grimaced, not liking how obsequious he was sounding. “I have seen a single book in the library reference old dragon spellcraft, but… I don’t know anything about it.”

  “Okay, fine. I suppose I should show you a few things now.”

  I let my fire blaze up in my spirit and guided him through the most basic of basics when it came to bloodline suppression and manipulation. He was even worse at it than Yushin had been. She’d been able to lift and move her bloodline with effort, but he seemed to only be able to shove his fire around with the subtlety of an ogre swinging a club.

  When I finished teaching him the basic exercises, I marched out of the room, and felt hungry eyes on my back. I was sure he was contemplating trying to consume my bloodline for my power, so I hit him with a burst of dragonfear to try and dissuade him from that course of action.

  When I shut the door behind me, Salem opened his eyes and rose from where he’d been sitting and leaning against a wall.

  “Sorry about that,” I apologized immediately. “I don’t hoard things, or people. It has always felt really gross to me, but it’s well established in draconic culture. Going along with it was the easiest way to get him to change his tune.”

  “I don’ mind,” Salem said. “Thanks for gettin’ him to apologize at all. More than I got when I was growin’ up, usually. Did he tell ya’ anything worthwhile?”

  “Maybe,” I grunted. “Not much, though. By all the gods and all the hells, I hate people like him.”

  “It was kinda cool, though,” Salem said with a goofy grin as we started walking back in the direction of our dorms. “I can sense dragonfear with my psychic senses. His was like a thick blanket that rolled over the room, but then yours was like a sword. It just cut through it then stabbed him.”

  “Not all bloodlines are created equal,” I said. “Like yours. Absurdly strong, but you can’t use it. His is naturally a lot weaker than mine. Plus, even if I’ve crippled the amount I can carry, I’ve made what I do have a lot stronger. Side effect of keeping it crunched down for a decade while I hid from my family.”

  “Hells,” Salem breathed. “That’s… I know a bit more ‘bout bloodlines than most, my mam workin’ for the Elder Council as she do. M’ sorry, Emrys.”

  I quirked my lips and bumped his shoulder.

  “Maybe we both have some bloodline issues, aye?”

  Salem let out a dry laugh at that, and his hand rose to rub his empty ears.

  “I cannae wait for the Erudite to fix ‘em,” he said. “Even if it’s only one night a month, it’s bloody annoyin’ ta’ deal with.”

  “Hopefully it will be soon. And hey, it seems like the cage he built works, so now you know that.”

  “Aye. I’ll prolly sleep in t’ere next full moon, just in case the Erudite’s work has a’ flaw.”

  “Probably wise,” I agreed before opening the door to our room. He thanked me and headed in, where Jackson looked up. He gave a shaky smile.

  “Hey you two. Salem… Sorry for going off on you. I was just stressed.”

  I gave them a bit of space, heading to my room to work on spellcraft. Before I began, though, I practiced Summers’ inversion on my dragonfire. The effects were diminished, with how much I’d compressed my fire, but noticeable.

  I started manipulating my fire and ether in the same patterns as I’d been shown for the bloodline version of the massage and path techniques. They didn’t quite take hold, but after some fiddling and experimentation, I managed to get them running, helping soothe my spirit from the strain.

  Once they’d had a bit of time to work their problems out, I took my grimoire out into the common area. Jackson was at the table, and Salem was on the couch, so I took the loveseat near him and opened my book, then started reading on my affinity. I was getting closer to being able to compose spells on the fly, and I thought that once I had a wand, I might be able to start using spells in combat a lot more.

  On the topic of wands, next Wednesday would be the class on creating mage tools, like a wand or staff, and I was getting excited. Tomorrow would be the introduction to the second circle spells in Conjuration One and Introduction to Abjuration, too. Ignoring my duel with Gerhard, there was a lot to look forward to in the future.

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