Lucifer returned to his seat at the front next to Quinn.

“(Gust is here).” Quinn stated.

“Mhhmm.”

“(You’re still upset).”

“Mhhmm.”

Quinn sighed. “(He’s not the brightest kid).”

Lucifer crossed his arms and fumed. He was here as an apology. When he stopped Ferek’s strike, he felt the need to act and acted. There was no time to think of the consequence, and now the Yard was in quarantine to thaw. Quinn didn’t tell him that Gust would be in one of the classes.

Astrid’s voice chimed loudly from behind them. “I wonder what she’s covering this time since she brought your friend.”

“It’s not like she tells me.” Gust groaned.

“Oh, c’mon, you live with one of the greatest heroes of all time and don’t ask her what and when she teaches? Seriously?!”

Lucifer had to focus to hear Gust. He spoke at a near whisper. “She sent me away to work for her biggest critic, I don’t think she wants me.” He couldn’t hear the rest. More students streamed into the classroom, all of them commenting on Quinn’s presence. 

“I’ll speak in Futhar from here forward. Shall we get started?”

Lucifer’s face transformed into his cheshire grin. “Yes, ma’am.”

The two took to the platform. Lucifer practically glowed next to Quinn, but it was her presence that hushed the classroom. Lucifer’s eyes met Gust’s for a moment before Gust concentrated on Quinn. 

“Good afternoon. As your moldable, wretched minds can see, I will be the Seminar on Runificery guest instructor for today.” 

There was a whistle and a “You go Quinn.” Students cheered. Quinn raised a wrinkled hand and it got more raucous. Her celebrity status carried through the room. Only Gust sat cross-armed and rolling his eyes. Quinn whispered for Lucifer to do the thing, so he did. The room fell quiet, shocked. The temperature dropped a small amount, but it was sudden and noticeable. Next to him, a bead of sweat rolled down Quinn’s forehead.

“And today, I have a guest as we focus on the most important property of runificery. Please tell me one of you knows it.” 

Gust’s lips moved, but a student from the back yelled out “Conservation.”

Astrid continued. “Technically, energy in all its forms must be conserved. It can be transferred, but not destroyed.”

“Correct to the both of you. So tell me, why did it suddenly get cold?” 

No one answered. Before today, Lucifer wouldn’t be able to answer it either. His affinity was so much a part of his body, it was like breathing, like his heart beating, like falling asleep and waking up at the same time; his affinity was a natural extension of himself. He had no need to think about it.

Gust answered. Lucifer could see it. Quinn did too. “Speak up, Gust.You are the only one who’s experienced this anyway.”

“The heat moved away. You’re sweating.”

“Correct. Now can someone tell me how. And don’t answer this one, Gust.” No one answered this one. Lucifer supposed that an Eruli is less strange than a living hero in the presence of academics. “Lucy, darling, I am feeling a bit warm.”

“Ok.” He’d held all of the heat from the audience to the stage. He concentrated all of it into his hand. He didn’t know how, but the warmth obeyed him. It moved, concentrated and grew hot. A flame grew from his hands. It rose and flickered above him. He could concentrate  the fire and heat more, but if he tried to tighten his hold, he grew light headed. Even now, he could feel his body sapping away some of his internal body heat. It was like a cold itch in his palm. 

“Lucifer here is an Eruli. Unlike us, Eruli have free reign to transfer natural energies to a varying degree. In this case, Lucifer is making fire by moving the heat energy of the room into an isolated space and controlling it. 

Lucifer could tell that the room’s jovial atmosphere shifted and the cold air wasn’t the only chilling part of the room. Tension cut through the room: the same tension he felt walking with Ferek during the day. They were all scared.

Quinn continued. “Of course, we are not Eruli, but we must respect the same laws of the universe as Eruli in runecraft. Lucifer, are you ready?”

He extinguished the flame and let heat return to the room. “Yes ma’am.” 

“Stay seated everyone.” From under her podium, Quinn walked to the side of the stage and struggled to pull a small trough of water. Lucifer readied himself. He extended one arm towards the air in front of Quinn, and to the trough behinder her. He didn’t need to do this, but this was his third session. It made people more comfortable thinking he would be doing something at all. 

Quinn rifled through her pockets and pulled out a piece of paper about half an inch thick and the size of a playing card. “What is the most important element of a runificer’s toolbox?”

Gust’s eyes widened, but Astrid answered. “Time! It’s why all the best runificers are old farts.” The room erupted. 

Quinn laughed with them. “Indeed, this old fart has kept this baby since she first graduated years ago in ancient times. This is an unfiltered Hagalaz inscription.” The room went silent. “I see many of you have taken Alphabetic Runifercy and know that Hagalaz is the most volatile rune we can inscribe, and can have unexpected results. With simple syntax, I’ve fed sunlight, essentially energy, into this rune for storage. It has an activator I’ve never used and Hagalaz is the final inscription. Today, we demonstrate the difference between us and Eruli.”

She threw the card at the students. They scrambled. Nearly each one crawled over the other, trying to back away as the card ignited in a bright blaze. The blaze lasted only an instant. Transferring that much heat was like breathing. He could do it in his sleep. The water trough exploded, drizzling the entire room. 

Only Gust remained in his seat