Cave of Nightmares (8 page)

“I understand,
and I won’t,” Hayden said with absolute certainty. He was determined not to follow that path, not ever.

“Good.” Master Asher released him and stood up, changing moods so rapidly that it was a little alarming. “Now that that’s settled, let’s see if we can scrounge up a class schedule for you so you can get supplies.”

Hayden had no choice but to follow, his mind still spinning with thoughts of his mother’s face and broken prisms.

4

Bonk

By the time Hayden got his schedule and supplies list he was beginning to understand why Zane thought he would need more money. It was true that most of the basic supplies were free of charge, but he had to have his own prism-holder custom-made to fit his head, which cost thirty credits all on its own. Then there was the magical tool belt that everyone here wore, though most of his primary slots were designed to hold different prisms instead of wands or powders.

Roaming through the different shops that Master Asher had pointed out to him earlier, he began stocking up on the supplies that were listed on his schedule for e
ach class. Emeric’s Wands was stacked floor-to-ceiling with boxes of different colors, wood-types, and lengths. He had to ask the owner for help locating level-one birch and cherry wands for Master Willow’s class.

Next he went to Pinch’s Powders,
a room full of open-topped barrels of different-colored powders and grains. These immediately made him sneeze, and Hayden eventually had to cover his nose with his sleeve until he scooped out a few bags of the ones he was looking for.

It wasn’t until he entered
Kly’s Elixirs that he saw another student, since most of his peers were in class right now.

The girl
looked even younger than him, with wavy blond hair that touched her shoulders and green eyes. She was holding up a phial of dark red liquid when he entered the shop, examining it in the dim light of the room. She turned at the sound of his arrival.

“Hi,” Hayden said lamely
, feeling instantly awkward.

“Oh, hel
lo,” she answered politely, looking at all the bags he carried. “Is this your first year?”

“Yeah, it is. What about you?”

“It’s my second. I turned eleven last month.” She smiled. “You look older than ten though.”

“I’m twelve; j
ust getting a late start.” He tried to smile but it probably looked like he had a toothache.

“Oh,
then welcome to Mizzenwald. I’m Theresa Wesley, but everyone calls me Tess.” She held out her hand, saw that his were too full to shake, and dropped it back to her side.

“I’m Hayden Frost,” h
e admitted. “I figured most people knew that by now, since they were all whispering about me last night at dinner.”

Tess’s
eyes widened slightly.

“I missed dinner last night, and I don’t have a lot of—well, no one told me.” She colored slightly. “What’s your major?”

Hayden was surprised at how well she took the news. He could also sympathize with her for not having many friends here, though she seemed like a nice enough girl.

“Prisms.
You?”

She frowned.

“I’m a double major: Elixirs and Powders. Unfortunately that just means I’m not very good at anything else.”

Hayden felt another stab of pity for the girl. He wanted to say something comforting but he was at a loss for words, and after an awkward moment of silence Tess excused herself and left without buying anything.

The girl was soon forgotten as Hayden stocked up on basic ingredients for his Elixirs and Conjury classes and got to the part of the trip he was looking forward to the most.

He had deliberately saved
The Magnificent Mage for last, looking forward to being rid of his hand-me-down clothes from the orphanage forever.

For the first time in two years
he was able to choose his own apparel, but walking into the shop left him a little out of his depth. Much like the place he got his Foci tested in, the interior of this building was much larger than the outside would suggest. It looked like a warehouse, with racks of clothing lining the walls and free-standing circular racks dotting the floor space in between.

The clothing seemed to be organized by type or function, but that didn’t make it much easier for him. Hayden had
been expecting categories like ‘shirts’ and ‘pants’, but on his immediate left was an overhead sign labeled: Formal. All of the clothing in that area had a purple sticker on it, but even within the ‘formal’ heading the clothes were further classified into things like: travel wear, dining, performance, and diplomatic.

He couldn’t help but gawk as he walked further into the shop, turning his head in all directions as he looked for a promising area
to start in. There were more people in here than in any of the other stores, but the room was so large that it didn’t feel crowded. He was standing under the sign for: undergarments, boys, when someone spoke to him.

“
I’ve never seen someone so amazed by underwear,” a callously-amused voice got his attention, and Hayden turned to face the sound.

There were three boys behind him, two of them much older than him by the looks of them
, and all of them better dressed. One had spiky brown hair, cruel dark eyes, and a glossy brown falcon perched on his shoulder. The oldest—and the one who had spoken—was tall, blond, athletic, and for some reason vaguely familiar. It took Hayden a moment to realize that he had seen this boy eating dinner with Master Asher the night before. Something about him reminded Hayden of every popular person who had ever picked on him in the orphanage after finding out whose son he was; perhaps the arrogant smirk.

The youngest
boy might have been related to the oldest, because their features were similar except for this one had a slightly doughier look about him. He looked closer to Hayden’s age than the others.

“Judging by how he’s dressed, this might be the first time he’s ever owned a pair of underpan
ts,” the boy with the falcon laughed unpleasantly.

Hayden disliked the three of them immediately, but didn’t want to start any trouble
on his first day of school.

“Who are you?” h
e asked, deciding that if he could get their names he could ask Zane about them later.

The oldest boy smirked.

“Oliver Trout, son of Magdalene Trout of the Council of Mages. This is my younger brother, Lorn.”

Hayden searched his memory of the Council of Mages and recalled the blond lady who mildly resembled Oliver. It was hard to believe that the woman who argued in his defense was the mother of these two.

“And I’m Jasper Dout. I’m sure you’ve heard of my family.” The boy with the falcon sounded haughty, as though he would be giving out autographs after lunch in the main courtyard.

“Sorry, the name doesn’t ri
ng a bell,” Hayden admitted, fighting a smile at the outrage on Jasper’s face.

Oliver laughed, but it didn’t sound friendly at all.

“Of course, there’s no need to ask who
you
are, though personally I don’t think you look a thing like your father. I’m surprised they even let you in here, knowing what kind of bad blood you carry. Half the kids at Mizzenwald have lost a relative to the Dark Prism; how do you think they’re going to feel about
you
?”

Hayden swallowed with difficulty, hoping that Oliver was lying about how many people had lost loved ones to his fath
er. If he was telling the truth, then Hayden was bound to make a lot more enemies before this year was over.

“I’m not my father,
” he said firmly, fists clenched at his side.

“We’ll see about th
at. They say you’re a prism too,” Oliver gestured to his tool belt, where Hayden saw one wand, half a dozen small bags tied together by drawstring, and three prisms. “Well guess what, so am I. Stay out of my way unless you want your face rearranged.”

Hayden raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“I
was
staying out of your way until you started talking to me. I’m only here to buy clothing,” he pointed out, and Oliver scowled.

“Watch your back, Frost. You’ve made an enemy of the wrong man.”

Hayden was still trying to figure out what he had done to make an enemy of Oliver as the three of them walked off. As far as he could tell, the older boys disliked him pretty solidly since the moment they laid eyes on him.

Trying to shake off the encounter, he went back to shopping for undergarments and socks. He eventually found himself standing in the middle of the shop, trying to decide what he was supposed to use as day wear, when a young woman about Anna’s age approached him. She had
a horsy face and frizzy, bright red hair, and a tape measure dangled around her neck.

“Hi there, can I help you find anything?”

“Um, yes please.” Hayden felt his cheeks burning. “I’m new to all this, and I’m just trying to find some regular clothes for school.”

The woman didn’t look like this was a surprise to her, which made him relax slightly.

“Don’t be embarrassed, plenty of kids come from non-magical families and have the same shell-shock when they first get here,” she smiled encouragingly. “You should stick to ‘casual, day, male’—over there with the orange stickers, you see?” She pointed to the far right corner. “That’s where most students go. Robes are only worn on formal occasions, and even then only certain ranks are permitted to don them. I’d avoid them entirely if I were you, or you’ll risk offending someone.”

Hayden nodded gratefully.

“Though you should stop by the ‘formal, junior, casual’ area over here, with the green-and-yellow dots. Everyone should have at least one decent outfit for family visits or semi-formal occasions here at school.”

Hayden’s head was spinning.

“There’s a formal casual section? That doesn’t make any sense at all,” he mumbled, and the woman laughed prettily.

“I know it’s all a bit confusing right now, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually.
For now just stick with the basics and let me know if you have any other questions.”

Hayden thanked
her and made his way to the daywear, exhaling in relief when he saw racks of normal pants and shirts. He picked out a week’s worth of clothing, not wanting to be too loose with his allowance, and carried the bundle awkwardly in his arms to be paid for.

Getting all of his pur
chases up to his room on the sixth floor was the most challenging thing he had ever done, and his arms were aching by the time he managed it and shut the door behind him. All of his roommates were in class right now, so he changed into one of his new outfits and loaded up his belt slots with the basic supplies he’d purchased this morning. Only his prism slots remained empty, because he hadn’t been cleared by Master Asher yet to purchase any.

Looking in the mirror, Hayden was pleasantly surprised by the image he struck.

I look like a real mage.

The prism holder in front of his eye was empty, but he still wore the circlet around his head like he saw Master Asher
do, with the eyepiece rotated upwards so that it was out of the way. His long-sleeved shirt even concealed his Focus-correctors, so no one would have to know how damaged he was.

Smiling, he went to work unpacking the rest of his bags and filling his
side of the narrow closet he shared with Zane, determined to make the place feel more like home. His roommates had colorful bedding and pillows, probably sent by their families. Hayden’s bedding was much plainer, but it looked comfortable enough, so he didn’t mind.

My mom would have crocheted me a blanket if she was still alive.

He pushed the unproductive thought from his mind and left the room, deciding to do a bit of exploring since he didn’t start classes until the next day.

As he walked
down the main staircase he took the time to read the dozens of signs posted along the walls and banisters for something called a challenge group, but the flyers didn’t actually explain what a challenge group was so he ignored them for now.

Making a
mental note to ask Zane about that as well, he continued through the pentagonal foyer and walked back out onto the grounds, enjoying the mild summer climate. It was hard to believe that it was snowing and wintry just outside the boundaries of the school.

There were students
hanging out in the main courtyard, obviously resting between classes, or else they just had a free period. Some of them had their familiars with them, and others were working on homework. He didn’t see anyone he recognized on sight, so Hayden continued his walk around the castle, this time exploring the eastern side, opposite the supply shops. Part of him wasn’t expecting there to be anything over here except for the stables he’d seen yesterday, but he was once again surprised.

There was a
handsome log cabin towards the back of the castle, off to the side, with a dirt path leading up to it. As Hayden drew nearer he could hear the sounds of different animals moving about, and he approached the cabin more cautiously.

The
re were no signs or labels indicating what this place was, but the front door was wide open so he assumed he was allowed to go inside. The inside of the wooden cabin didn’t appear to be magically-enlarged, though Hayden thought it could stand to be. The interior was mostly one wide open space, though there was a closed door along the back wall that might lead to a bathroom. It looked like an infirmary for animals, with a few tanks of water aerating—though they lacked fish—and many cushions lined up along one wall, some of which were occupied. He passed a hedgehog that was missing a patch of quills— green paste covered the bare spot—and a snake with a foul-smelling bandage wrapped around its middle on the next cushion.