Her instincts proved correct. A series of boulders landed in the yard, each one nearly scraping her back as they fell and she moved.
As soon as she saw what they were—boulders of loosely compacted dirt—Juliana started to form some suspicions about just who was attacking her.
But no time to ponder. Another boulder forced her to dive to one side, only for the ground to drop out from under her to form a large pit. A twist of her hand pulled the earth back up to her, raising her up even higher than the surrounding landscape.
She had seen where that last boulder had come from.
Her eyes found a silhouette atop a nearby roof, haloed by the setting sun.
The plateau of earth beneath her feet started to crumble as several earthen spikes rose from the ground around her, trapping her in one spot.
Or it would have trapped her had she not been an earth mage.
A hill rose up, destroying the spikes before her. The crumbling remnants of her plateau sifted, sliding her along to the hill. Hills continued rising as she kept shifting the top to the next one, surfing along the top.
Her mother tried to knock her off with a few softball sized stones. Juliana twisted under the first, sidestepped the second, and brought up a wall of earth to block the third. All while continuing her forward movement.
A fourth softball struck her square in the back, sending her toppling forwards. Her own earthen hill that she had been surfing atop collapsed around her, partially burying her. The only redeeming thing was that her upper shoulders and head were still in fresh air.
Her mother blinking atop the mound, effectively standing on her chest, only added insult to injury.
“Not good enough Juliana,” she said, looking down on her daughter.
“I’ll show you not good enough,” Juliana mumbled as she wiggled her fingers—which was about all she could do while half buried.
The top of the hill lost its shape, acting more like a liquid as it swept off Juliana.
She had expected it to take her mother with it, but her mother simply blinked away again, appearing just over the now freed Juliana.
“Nice try, daughter. But not good enough. Where did you go wrong?”
Juliana grumbled to herself as she got back to her feet, half-brushing the dirt off and half-magicking it off her. “I didn’t realize there was another rock coming for my back.”
“That certainly spelled your downfall, but here is a better question. Why was I able to attack you with those stones?”
Blinking, Juliana stared up at her mother. She betrayed no real clues in her face, so Juliana’s eyes dropped down to the dagger held lightly between her fingers.
“Because you’re an earth mage?”
“Because I didn’t have to worry about being attacked. I stood in one place, didn’t even have to lift a finger to defend myself. Why didn’t I have boulders flying towards me?”
Instead, she tried changing the topic. “Dean Anderson wants me to join his contest between the schools.”
Genoa frowned. Whether at the change in topic or at Anderson, Juliana wasn’t sure.
“Does he now?”
“I told him that I would have to ask my parents first.”
“And we say no. You’re not having a demon bound to you if we can help it.”
Juliana blinked and shook her head. “I don’t think that’s what he wants. There were several humans and demons on the list. I think he wants a mix of regular humans, humans with bound familiars, and demons. And Eva.”
“Eva’s participating?”
“Apparently her arm is being twisted to get her into it,” Juliana said, using Eva’s words from earlier in the day.
“I see…” Genoa trailed off, bringing a hand to her chin. “If you’re not being paired up with a demon, I suppose my objection lessens. We’ll have to see what your father says. And what do
“I’d rather not.”
Eyebrows lifting, Genoa widened her eyes ever so slightly in a look of surprise.
Before she could ask, Juliana explained. “He just wants me to compete because I’m younger yet ahead of my age group in magic.”
Though Juliana wasn’t sure how long that would last. The rest of the students were catching up while she had been more-or-less stagnating for the past two and a half years. They would still lack her combat training and experience, but in terms of magical ability, Juliana would probably be even with them by the start of the next year.
“It will make the school look good in comparison to all the other schools who should only be fielding the oldest students. But I didn’t get where I am because of him or his school, you trained me.”
Normally, Juliana might have agreed right away. But that just irritated her beyond belief. If she was going to compete, it should be under her mother’s name. She should be advertising her own school.
