Cold wind slapped Nosderag’s skin as she raced towards the potions lab. There was but one problem.

Dr Lomaschramm was locking up the lab for the night.

Nosderag tried to think up a lie on the spot, but the teacher turned around and her nose reminded her of Daliki’s beak. Nosderag closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

‘So I saved an ara fairy who was being harmed in the animal storage shed and it followed me to my dorm and I’ve been trying to bring it back a bunch of times but there are now guards and my roommate has been blamed for a bunch of animals getting stolen and now she’s mad at me for some reason she won’t tell me and she got angry and fed the fairy too much love magic and now the fairy’s short of breath and is clearly in pain and I need a healing potion or twenty.’

Dr Lomaschramm placed her hands on Nosderag’s shoulders. ‘Okay, breathe, breathe.’ Nosderag followed her suggestion but observed her warily, her rigid shoulders up to the sky. ‘Can you describe the fairy’s symptoms?’ the teacher asked. Once Nosderag did, the teacher unlocked the lab and led her inside. She pulled out five potions one at a time and handed them to the student.

‘If one doesn’t work, wait at least five minutes before trying another. These are for magical animals specifically, so they’re your best bet.’

‘Um, thank you,’ Nosderag murmured, looking between the potions in her arms and the suddenly soft-faced teacher.

‘Now, tomorrow, bring the fairy to the principal and explain what happened. I’m sure she’ll understand.’ Dr Lomaschramm searched the room for a crate to put the potions in. ‘I need to finish closing up. You go ahead.’

Nosderag thanked the teacher before heading back towards the dormitory. On the way, she saw a familiar face under a lamp.

Mr Fot walked up to her. ‘What are you doing out this late?’

‘I have to heal an Ara fairy.’

Mr Fot stroked his chin. ‘I see. Mind showing me the fairy?’

‘She’s in my room and tomorrow I’m taking her to the Principal. Maybe see if you can visit the enclosure.’

‘Ah, yes, of course. How about I take her back to the enclosure myself? You don’t need to worry the Principal. I’d love to see such a rare specimen before the poor thing is trapped in that dusty old shed.’

Nosderag surveyed the man, at the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. The clenched hands by his side that opened and shut as if preparing to grab something at any moment. The perfect pearly smile with no lines outside his eyes.

Nosderag’s own eyes widened. ‘Um, just out of curiosity, how much do you think an ara fairy would make on the black market?’

The perfect smile turned into a scowl, then a smirk. ‘Clever Girl.’

Mr Fot swirled his hands about, creating a blue field around Nosderag. ‘Too clever. No wonder you respected me. You’re the only one who did in this stinking school. I’m sorry it has to end like this.’ His eyes made him look unhinged but they contained an ounce of genuine guilt. The field slowly shrunk.

When Nosderag touched the field, a painful chill ran up her arm. However, her pointer finger managed to make it outside. She grabbed her crate and slowly pushed herself out of the field. The pain was agonising and she felt like her limbs were going to freeze off, but she persevered. She shivered once she was out and began to run.

Inside the dorm room, Dalzonf looked at her watch and stroked Daliki’s head, cooing words of comfort. The chair she sat on shook as her knees bounced up and down.

Back on campus, Mr Fot’s eyes grew in realisation. ‘Of course. Damn omlers.’ Ice grew on his nails until they began to resemble claws. He lunged onto Nosderag from behind and dug his icy nails into her skin. 

Before he could tear the skin off her back, Nosderag kicked behind her. Her foot reached his gut but she fell frontwards in the process. She teetered on her feet, praying not to drop the potions.

Ah, yes, the potions.

But first, she needed a distraction.

Meanwhile, Dalzonf stood up and walked to the door but when her eyes went down to her hands she took a step back. Her lips hurt from biting them so much and her eyes were shiny with blocked tears.

As she uncorked one of the potions, shielding them from view, Nosderag asked Mr Fot, ‘Are you the one who framed Dalzonf?’

She could hear laughter from behind. ‘Oh, so you know about that. What a shame. I always liked you as a student. She wasn’t too bad either.’

She uncorked a second potion. ‘But why her? What did she do to deserve this?’

‘Nothing, really. Exist, maybe. Once I’m done with you I’ll have to thank her for making such a lovely scapegoat.’

A pang of coldness stabbed Nosderag’s back. She made sure to dodge Mr Fot’s next attacks. She threw the bottles in her hand to the ground and ran away.

An explosion roared through the air. Green flames descended into deep purple as they ascended to the sky. The heightened pressure of the air pushed Nosderag forward until she fell to the ground. Her knees and elbows scraped against the cement. Behind her was a screeching man, followed by the cracking sound of ice. She turned her head, saw that the remaining flames had been cooled and began hurriedly crawling towards the dormitory.

A pained whisper came from Nosderag. ‘Dalzonf…’

The rumbling that came after the explosion could be heard all the way to Nosderag’s desired destination. Various students gasped and chatted loudly about what they guessed happened. Dalzonf didn’t know the details, just like everyone else, but she knew enough to run out of the dorm room and put all her power into making the elevator drop down to the ground level within seconds.

Spending that much magic made her movements sluggish, but she continued walking out of the building. She tried to speed up but felt trapped by her own weakness. 

Eventually, she saw a crawling Nosderag being repeatedly punctured by icicles. The blood in Dalzonf’s skin went painfully hot. Adrenaline gave her enough energy to run towards Mr Fot and force-feed him with red mist. She kept pouring magic into his mouth until he clutched his heart and collapsed.

Dr Lomaschramm entered the scene with a first aid kit. She administered Mr Fot a healing potion before tending to Nosderag. 

‘Are you okay?’ She asked Dalzonf, who was scrutinising her own trembling hands. Despite the horrified expression on her face, she nodded. ‘The police should be here any moment.’

Dr Lomaschramm glared at the guards as they ran towards the scene. She stood up and gave them the details of the situation with a clipped voice.

Nosderag sat on a bench outside as fire tolxers melted away the ice from her back. She pointed to the crate, which still contained several potions. Dalzonf picked up the crate and brought it to her. Nosderag pulled out a potion.

‘Try this on Daliki,’ she ordered Dalzonf, who at this point was reduced to tears.

‘But what about-’

Nosderag’s laughter was wobbly as she continued to shiver. ‘I’ll be fine. She’s in greater danger right now.’

As Dalzonf ran back inside, several students slowly carried Nosderag into the dormitory. A fire tolxer powered the elevator for extra warmth. The last thing she heard before the elevator doors closed was a whispered question from a student.’

‘Astra, did that love tolxer really just save her?’

Nosderag had to smile at that.