A Fly in Class

A Fly in Class

657 word count




“Colors of light shun that of darkness. The two kinds know no other way and can
never mix. Nor do they ever want to. To try will be to court madness and destruction. It will lead to madness and sorrow, ultimately wasted effort and manpower. In theory, the evil side might want this, as it will cause a great blow to the good. But in practice, it is far too likely the plan would back-fire, wounding the evil instead. So both sides agreed to shun any such attempt. Thus, the school of Necromancy and the Healing Arts cannot mix...”

Ixx yawned and turned to look out the window, bored. He hated classes on ethical
magic. The teacher who presided over the lesions was so terribly dull and long-winded that he was surprised half the class didn’t become comatose. He was surprised he wasn’t comatose right now. He never gave more than half of his attention to the lecture anyway.

Professor Blowin droned on, his deep, even voice blending perfectly with a low
buzz near the window. It was a slow, high uneven sound, as though what made it was confused and miserable. Curious, Ixx glanced toward the noise. There was a fly, flying worriedly near the glass. Occasionally, it would back away. Then, as fast as it could fly, would ram into the glass. Ixx flinched in sympathetic silence. He knew how it felt, ramming his head against stupid rules and mindless conventions.
“Ixxorandius!” The voice boomed, making him jump.
“Yes, professor?” He said, turning away from the fly and window, again giving the professor his full attention.
Professor Blowing gave a slight, cold smile. “Good to see you paying attention again.”
“Sir I was riveted!” Ixx exclaimed, smiling from ear to pointed ear.
“Good, good! Then you can explain my last point in full.”
“But……”Ixx said, franticly thinking as fast as he could. “How...could I possibly?
You explained it so well, that I would never be able to do better, sir!”
The professor visibly puffed at the words. “Um, well, thank you. It is good to
know that you have caught the very natural flow in my point. Perhaps you were paying attention after all. As I was saying, Necromancy was a well known, though no longer…”
Ixx breathed again, and slumped back in his chair. He couldn’t believe that dodge
worked, but against Blowin, a good stroke to his ego always seemed to help. He tried to listen closely, just in case he was called again. Once was fine, but he knew a second attempt at ego-building will blow up in his face.

The fly was buzzing still, distracting him from the lecture again. Ixx felt even more sorry for it than ever. Quickly, he glanced toward the window again, to see how it was doing. It appeared to be doing badly to him. Again, he batted against the glass. The buzz faltered, as it bounced off and lay on the sill. It was still for a moment, and Ixx started to wonder if it just killed itself or not, when it started to squirm. Soon it was in the air again, and was examining the glass again.

Ixx smiled to see its pluck, but he didn’t like to see it struggle on so much against
such an impossible situation. He hated to see the poor fly suffer. He watched the fly buzz about a minute more, then, smiled to himself as he got an idea. With a muttered word and a flick of his finger, he cast a quick spell that caused the window to soundlessly open.The fly didn’t notice for a few minutes. But the air blew a subtle invitation, and
soon the fly left the classroom with what sounded like a very happy buzz to Ixx’s ears.

“Ixxorandius! What are you doing now?” Boomed the voice of the professor again.
Ixx only smiled and answered, “Working for good, sir.”