Cave of Nightmares (14 page)

He exchanged his level-
four chalk for a bright pink piece from his belt and sketched a large circle on the black stone, big enough for four of them to stand comfortably inside if they wanted to. In a matter of seconds he added two long lines through each of the four quarters of the circle, and a third to the one closest to him. Inside the circle he drew a square, adding three long curling lines from the center through the boundaries of the circle, finishing with a flourish. It was the most symmetric, perfectly-drawn thing Hayden had ever seen. It had taken about ten seconds.

Master Reede took
Anabel’s remaining hand in his and examined it closely, flipping it over once or twice to see the back as well. Then he motioned for her to move out of the way, placed his hand in the center of the configuration, and immediately pulled her lost limb into view. Hayden gasped as the entire intricate drawing vanished in the blink of an eye.

“Here you go, my dear, one left-
hand as promised.” He passed it back to her. “Those of you who have lost a limb, head over to Mistress Razelle and she’ll reattach it for you. The rest of you get back to your circles and I’ll be around to check on the results of your first attempt.”

Hayden wasn’t quite able to recover from the sight of his classmates’ missing hands as quickly as Master Reede, and as their instructor moved amongst them offering commentary and advice on their first attempts at summoning, he began to wonder what he’d gotten himself into
by coming to Mizzenwald.

“This
is your circle, Hayden?” he pointed to the pile of shredded grass, crouching down so they were on eye-level.

“Yes, sir,
” Hayden answered, bracing himself for criticism.

“N
ot terrible for a first attempt,” Master Reede said fairly. “You were a little overzealous and pulled more than one strand, but that will get better with practice and confidence.”

“How come it’s all shredded?” Hayden asked.

“Things must have gotten a little criss-crossed in your will. You’ve either got thoughts lurking at the back of your mind that interfered with your summoning, or your will wasn’t entirely focused on the grass.” He shrugged. “Again, practice and experience should improve that with time.”

He got up and went to the next person, and Hayden exhaled in relief, thankful that he wasn’t one of the worst in the class. Of course, he wasn’t the best either; about half the class had successfully conjured their pieces of grass without issue, even the ones who weren’t Conjury majors.

Still, better a pile of worthless grass than a missing hand.

His mind was reeling by the time he went to Powders.

7

Pounds of Prisms

By the end of the day Hayden was more than ready for their two-day weekend. His Healing class had been taught by a sixth-year student because Mistress Razelle was busy reattaching his classmates’ hands from their Conjury lesson that morning, and despite the fact that Hayden wore
a dust-mask in Powders that day, Master Sark declared his finished product “a sin against mankind”.

By the time he got to Elixirs
, Hayden had a pounding headache, which a room full of simmering vapors only worsened. To cap things off, Lorn Trout managed to slip an extra cup of water into Hayden’s cauldron as he was passing, which completely ruined his sleeping elixir.

If Hayden
hadn’t been naturally good at Prisms the class would have been an utter disaster. As it was, he was barely able to focus properly due to his headache, but managed to answer questions correctly whenever he was called on and made it out of the class without incident.

The only bright side of the day was that Tucker happily agreed to join his challenge group, which meant that he and
Zane only needed one more person on their team.

Unfortunately they couldn’t settle on a fourth
person before the end of registration that night, so they woke up early on their first morning off to join the other incomplete groups in the main courtyard.

Tucker met them at the bottom of the main stairwell, yawning sleepily as they followed the other early-risers through the foyer and onto the front lawns.

“I’ve been thinking about who our fourth should be,” Tucker greeted them without preamble. “We’ve got wands, prisms, and conjury right now, so we’re pretty offense-heavy. If we can, we should try for an Elixirs major, because they’ve got a nice balance of healing and complementary magic for the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that too,
” Zane agreed. “Powders are pretty handy in a fight, but for our lineup we can get more out of the other.”

Hayden tried not to look guilty at the realization that he hadn’t given their challenge group strategy any thought at all before now.

“I’m decent with powders, so we should be able to make due where that’s concerned,” Tucker shrugged. “I’m in the third-year class, but I’m no great shakes at it.”

Hayden frowned.

“I’ll be lucky to make it through the level-one class without burning the school down,” he grumbled, and Zane laughed.

It looked like it had rained the night before, and the morning dew soaked through Hayden’s shoes as they walked across the lawn to the courtyard where the oth
ers were assembled.

There were about a hundred people outside with them, some in groups and others
standing by themselves, shuffling their feet awkwardly. Hayden spotted Tess leaning against a wooden bench, looking glum.

The Masters were outside as well, standing together in a knot of bright red. They lined up in a row as Master Sark checked his
chrono and called everyone to attention.

“You
’re all here because your challenge groups are incomplete and arenas are set to begin at the start of next week,” he announced, his eyes flickering over the students around him. “Most of you are second and third-year students. Anyone in fourth-year or above should step to the side and we’ll sort you out separately.”

About a dozen students moved away at his words. Hayden assum
ed that they didn’t want second-year students trying to claim fourth-year teammates for an unfair advantage.

“As for those of you with partial teams, we have designated a team leader and placed al
l of the names into this basket,” Master Willow—the tallest of them—held it up for everyone to see. “We will draw a name from the basket, and the team leader will select one individual to join them. If your team is still incomplete, your name will be put back into the basket and redrawn.”

Master Kilgore stepped forward.

“Everyone who doesn’t currently have a team should line up in rows over there.” He pointed to one side of the courtyard, and about fifty people migrated over to line up for selection. They were each wearing a piece of paper on a string around their neck with the symbol for their major drawn on it.

Master Reede reached into the basket and drew the first name.

“Lorn Trout.”

Hayden grimaced as Lorn came forward, looking like Oliver in miniature. He had a very smug look on his face at being nominated the team leader, and bumped into Hayden deliberately as he walked past. His team seemed to be missing only one person, and he scanned the assembled group in front of him for a long moment
before selecting a wand major named Valeria.

The teachers looked over their group of four and
had a brief, quiet discussion before accepting the choice. Valeria didn’t seem either pleased or upset as she moved to join Lorn and his friends.

Hayden was looking aroun
d for something to lean against—because at this rate they were going to be out here all morning—when he heard Master Reede call his name.

At first he thought he was being reprimanded for wanting to sit down, but then he saw the slip of paper in the Master of
Conjury’s hand.

I’m the team leader?!

He had no idea what to think about that. He certainly hadn’t been expecting it. He glanced at Zane and Tucker, but neither of them seemed terribly surprised.

“Today, if you please,
” Master Sark called out dryly, and a few people laughed.

Hayden swallowed and stepped forward, looking out at the group of singles and spotting a few with the symbol for elixirs around their neck. He didn’t know any of them, and had no idea whether they were any good or not. Some of them were eyeing him disdainfully, plainly hoping not to be paired up with the son of Aleric Frost.

He didn’t like having all this attention on him, and became aware of the silence stretching on uncomfortably. Panicking, he said the first name that came to mind, the only person he knew from the assembled group.

“Theresa Wesley.”

Tess’s eyes widened hugely and the silence broke like a dam; people were whispering, laughing, or gasping from every direction it seemed. Hayden felt his face go scarlet when Lorn called out, “Frost’s got himself a girlfriend!”

He went back to
Zane and Tucker without looking at anyone, turning his back on the masses. Zane was giving him a strange look and Tucker seemed exasperated.

“What were you thinking?” t
he latter whispered in disbelief. “You’re a freaking prism—you could have chosen a third year elixir and they’d have been thrilled to join us—and instead you pick an
eleven year old
who isn’t good enough to declare a single major?”

Hayden frowned, feeling like an idiot.

“Most of the others were staring at me like I’m my father incarnate, and I don’t know enough about anyone to know who’s good and who isn’t,” he replied tersely, his ears burning in embarrassment. “Tess is the only one I know, and she seems nice enough.”

Tucker looked li
ke he had plenty to say on the qualifications of a challenge teammate based on ‘niceness,’ but Hayden turned to watch the Masters instead of listening.

They were
debating his choice in quiet tones, and he was surprised when Sark gestured angrily, pointing back at Hayden, who was just as glad that he couldn’t hear what the Powders Master was saying about him.

Probably te
lling the others how my slowing powder came out looking like snot yesterday.

Everyone else was watching the Masters argue as well, apparently fascinated with his choice
of teammate. Tess shifted nervously from one foot to the other while she waited, not moving from her position in the front row.

Eventually
the Masters finished their discussion and everyone fell silent once more.

It was Asher who spoke to the crowd.

“Despite the fact that some of us feel we’re giving you an unfair advantage, others amongst us commend your shrewdness,” he was grinning at Hayden like he found him wickedly clever.

Hayden
had no idea why anyone thought he was giving himself an unfair advantage, and apparently Lorn didn’t either because he asked, “Why is he smart for picking Tess the Mess?”

Tess blushed and stared down at her feet, and Master Kilgore shot Lorn a flat stare for insulting her.

“Because, young Trout, it may have escaped your notice, but Hayden has just formed the only team in the entire school with someone from all five majors on it.”

Hayden’s lips parted in surprise at the revelation, though he hastily tried to look as though he’d planned it from the beginning. Everyone was muttering again, though the same people who were laughing at him just moments ago now looked impressed with his strategic thinking. Even Tucker clapped him on the back and grinned.

“Needless to say, this should be interesting, and we approve your team lineup, though you will begin in the third-year roster to compensate for your team’s obvious advantages,” Master Asher finished, still smiling.

Tess brightened fractionally and shuffled over to join them, though she was still staring at the ground. Since there was no reason for them to stick around now that they had their team,
Zane motioned for them to follow him back to the dining hall for breakfast, trying to ignore the stares and whispers that followed them even when Master Reede called the next team leader forward to make a selection.

Most of the school hadn’t come downstai
rs for breakfast yet, and the dining hall was the emptiest Hayden had ever seen it. The four of them sat down together at the table nearest the door, and for a moment they were completely silent. Then Zane grinned.

“Nice work, Hayden. I can’t believe you found a way to get us all five majors on one team.”

Tucker looked torn between pleased and concerned.

“You heard Master Asher tho
ugh; we’re starting in the third-year lineups. That’s fine and good for me, but I’m the only one of us who is actually in my third year of education here.”

Zane
and Tess looked thoughtful.

“Well, yeah, it does sound like they’re going to make it harder for us…but hey,
at least we’ve got a prism with us,” the former nodded to Hayden.

“I hate to be a downer, but I’ve only had two d
ays of magical education so far,” he grimaced. “Asher hasn’t even cleared me to carry a prism yet.”

Tucker turned to Tess.

“How are you with elixirs and powders, honestly?” he asked bluntly, and her cheeks turned pink. She began fidgeting with a piece of toast on her plate.

“I’m a little better at elixirs tha
n powders, but I’m in the third-level class for both,” she admitted.

“Then why do people call you Tess the Mess?” Tucker continued in his blunt manner.

“It started in first year,” she sighed. “I kept messing up everything I tried in all the other major arcana, and failed out of everything but Powders and Elixirs at the end of the my first year.”

Hayden opened his mouth in shock.

“You failed out of
everything
?” He was beginning to second-guess his decision to include her in their challenge group. “So you only take two classes now?”

Tess pursed her lips, nettled by the attention.

“Of course not. I signed up for most of the minor arcana instead, and I’m alright at them.” She sighed. “I don’t know why I can’t get the hang of wands, conjury, or prisms; I just know bad things happen whenever I try.”

Hayden was beginning to panic, but Tucker didn’t seem to think this was bad news.

“What minors are you in?”

“Charms, Scriptures, and Healing.”

“You any good at Scriptures?” Zane asked brightly.

“I’m alright,” s
he shrugged.

“This migh
t be even better than I thought,” Tucker smiled, brushing his curly black hair away from his eyes. “Scriptures always come in handy if you use them right.”

Hayden would have to take his word for it, because he had no idea what a scripture was or how it was used in magic.

“Well, we’d better set up a schedule for us to practice for challenges,” Zane said pragmatically. “Since Tucker is the only one of us who’s ever been in one, we’ll need all the help we can get preparing ourselves if we’re going to start at the third-year level.”

Tucker nodded.

“We should meet at least three days a week, how about for an hour after dinner tonight and tomorrow, and again on Lenthin?”

There were six days
in a week, including the two they had off from classes, ostensibly to catch up on their homework and train their familiars. Adding three hours of challenge group into Hayden’s already busy schedule didn’t sound very appealing, but he had no choice unless he wanted their team to fail.