The Skyhome Academy

Emma jotted down notes as Lord Emeric Mindstrike lectured his class. The telepathy professor did not live up to his ominous name—he was short and elderly, with thick glasses and old-fashioned mutton-chop sideburns. His expensive but slightly threadbare civilian clothes were similarly out of date.

There were thirty cadets in the Telepathy III classroom, as well as two bodyguards—those belonged to Princess Mei, who sat at the opposite end of the first row from Emma. Near the princess on a straw covered pallet rested her dragon, Qing. The creature was not large enough to ride yet, but she had grown to eight feet in length. Beside her was a small cage with a bat inside.

“That concludes our lecture for the day,” Lord Emeric eventually told the cadets. He looked over to the clock on the wall. “But it seems we have time for another battle of the minds! Will our reigning champion please stand?”

The princess rose from her seat, looking extremely pleased with herself as the elderly noble continued. “Undefeated in fifteen bouts of ‘Eat that Bat,’ she’s the terror of telepathy, the erudite Easterner—Princess Mei of the Shang Dynasty!

“But who dares challenge her? Hands up, please.” One boy raised his hand. “No, let’s give someone new a chance. …⁠Anyone?”

Ever since Dr. Ramos had advised her to be a more active participant in her education, Emma had done her best to follow his suggestion. But the thought of a telepathic contest with the princess terrified her, and she had yet to volunteer. Today is the day. She forced herself to raise her hand, though the gesture was halfhearted.

“Ah! I was hoping our other top student would finally join in the fun,” Lord Emeric said gleefully. Emma stood. “Our new contender is the academic achiever, the servant of Spellshields—Emma Smallport! …⁠Please join me at the front, Cadets.”

Both girls walked over until they stood at either side of the professor. Princess Mei gave Emma a smug sidelong glance. The serf could not stop herself from shrinking back slightly. “Shields,” Lord Emeric said. Flashes of light surrounded everyone, and the protective fields then turned invisible. “As always, our challenger must keep the dragon from her lunch for three minutes.”

Their instructor then used telekinetics to open the bat’s cage. The animal began fluttering around the room. Emma felt that this game was cruel, though she could not begrudge the carnivorous dragon her need to eat.

“Begin!” Lord Emeric cried. Emma reached out her telepathic senses, and felt the princess use her magic to goad her blue serpent to feed. The serf concentrated on spells to implement her own strategy.

Meanwhile the professor narrated for any cadets who had trouble detecting the intricacies of the hidden mental struggle. “Cadet Smallport has opened by pushing the bat to fly faster. As always, Cadet Shang is enhancing her dragon’s hunger as motivation.” This variety of manipulation was much easier on animals than people—not to mention that telepathic coercion of humans was illegal in most circumstances.

The bat flew erratically around the room as the dragon pursued, repeatedly attempting to swallow the smaller creature. “Both cadets are securing the nervous system of their creatures with defensive spells,” Lord Emeric observed. Qing dove at the bat and nearly had him, but Emma intervened. “Smallport forces the bat to change course at the last moment. That’s some quick casting! …⁠Now she’s pushed him to fly under the desks.”

Emma hoped that the obstacles would buy her time, though despite her larger size the floating dragon could easily weave among the legs of desks, chairs, and cadets. A few of the more squeamish spectators raised their legs to avoid possible collision with the low flying dragon—though given their shields they should have realized this was unnecessary.

“Shang goes to work undermining Smallport’s defensive spells,” Lord Emeric observed, “…⁠and our contender does the same with the dragon! A bold strategy—we almost always see the defensive spells reinforced.” But Emma knew that Princess Mei had a telepathic focus—challenging her that directly would almost certainly end in defeat. The serf had to attack where the mind of the princess was not.

Both opponents raced to dispel the others’ defensive enchantments. “Shang is through, and she’s partially paralyzed the bat’s wings!” Lord Emeric called out. The creature fell to the ground. Then the dragon closed and clamped down her jaws—but she did so over a foot away from where the bat lay. The confused serpent then repeatedly tried to bite nothing. “Smallport altered the dragon’s vision so she sees the bat in the wrong place. So nice to see a practical demonstration of our recent lessons!

“Shang takes control of the dragon directly—but great minds think alike.” Emma cast her spell, and suddenly her awareness of her own body vanished—she saw, heard, and felt everything the bat did. Her new heart was racing in fear, but the serf-minded bat pushed down the urge to panic. With her wings unable to fly but still somewhat movable, she crawled away from the dragon. The princess-minded dragon obviously knew that her vision had been tampered with, so she tried to bite where the Emma-bat was instead of where she appeared to be.

Though he sounded strange, Emma was still aware of Lord Emeric speaking. “Both cadets are attempting to undo the sabotage of their creatures…and achieve mutual success! They’re returning their awareness to their bodies.” Emma was once more herself.

The dragon continued her pursuit of the bat, with both creatures flying of their own volition. Though the serpent’s tail smacked up against one cadet’s head, he was protected by his shield. “Both sides are shoring up their defensive spells, but the clock is ticking,” the professor noted. “Goodness! Shang is going directly after the bat’s brain stem—a lethal attack. We’ve never before seen her resort to a brute force approach.”

Emma realized that she had no choice but to reinforce her defensive spells, even if that was exactly what Princess Mei wanted—a dead bat was not going to evade anything. Finally, the minds of the serf and princess came into direct conflict, and the struggle became a test of wills.

“Smallport reinforces…this is coming down to the wire!” their instructor cried in excitement. The royal was unrelenting as the full force of her arrogance and desire for victory crashed down on Emma’s consciousness from within the battleground of the bat’s mind. All the handmaiden had to hold on to was her wish to save the poor creature from his fate.

Other emotions came through from the princess as she intensified her assault, though she could not have meant them to—her fear of failure, her homesickness, her loneliness. Emma saw brief images of the Middle Kingdom. And then the view from the deck of a warship, where Princess Mei pushed down her apprehension as the Skyhome drew closer.

Emma was thrown off by these emotions—she had been too fearful to imagine that the princess was capable of weakness. Her concentration faltered, and a moment later the bat was dead. The dragon’s powerful maw snapped up the creature before his body could reach the floor.

“With only five seconds left on the clock, Cadet Shang continues her undefeated streak!” Lord Emeric proclaimed. The princess smiled triumphantly. A number of students clapped politely as the instructor looked to Emma. “You should be proud, Cadet Smallport—you lasted much longer than anyone else.”

“Thank you, My Lord,” Emma replied.

The bell that signaled the end of class rang. “Have a fine day, everyone!” Lord Emeric said before he and most of the cadets started toward the exits.

Meanwhile the dragon circled Princess Mei, who petted the creature. “Good girl, Qing.” As the animal floated nearby, the royal looked to Emma. “I commend you for being the only person in this sorry class to offer me any challenge at this game. You’ve been a surprisingly worthy rival for class rank as well.”

“Thank you, My Lady.” Maybe it was the sense of loneliness she had felt, but something compelled Emma to reach out to the princess. “Um, I saw something when we fought. You were looking down from a balcony, onto a great plaza…?”

“The view from my room in the Imperial Palace,” she answered stiffly.

“You must miss your homeland.”

“Who wouldn’t?” The princess then continued in a milder tone. “I’ve never had to use so much force to win a telepathic contest…some memories obviously slipped through. I command you not to speak of them with anyone.”

“Yes, My Lady. …⁠I was wondering… I have a study group, with my noble and our friend. Maybe some time⁠—”

“I don’t need help with my classwork, least of all from a peasant.”

“Of course, My Lady,” Emma answered timidly. “I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn.”

Princess Mei gave a conflicted look before storming off. Her bodyguards and dragon followed. I shouldn’t have acted in such a familiar way with royalty. Emma hoped that there would not be any negative consequences for her behavior.