The Other Prism (The Broken Prism) (33 page)

“I can’t see how we could possibly avoid it at this point,” Tess said quietly. “It’s all looking pretty bad, isn’t it? First the oculi appearing at all of the Great
Nine, and now the Masters have put a halt on our arena team challenges so that their evenings are free to prepare for the fighting.”

“I’ve been wondering
, how exactly does one prepare for a war?” Zane interjected with genuine interest. “I keep imagining Master Reede pacing back and forth in his room, chanting in strange tongues and cackling maniacally at his conjury chalk while he tries to build a magical army of some sort.”

Both Tess and Hayden laughed at the image that evoked.

“I think they’re probably making contact with the other powerful mages in the Nine Lands, having meetings…stockpiling weapons and doing research maybe…” the former suggested.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Zane sighed. “But I still think Master Reede cackles maniacally when he’s alone.”

“Maybe when he discovers a new spell with conjury, yeah,” Hayden conceded.

“Well, come on, let’s get out of here. You don’t look like you’ve been mauled by wild animals anymore, and I’m tired of sitting on these hard chairs.” Zane stood up and stretched his
legs. “Besides, Bonk gets nervous when you’re gone too long; he’s probably chewing on your sheets again.”

Hayden still felt tired and sore when he stood up, but he suspected that would continue for another day or two. He followed his friends back to the main stairwell, avoiding the eyes of everyone they passed so that he wouldn’t have to talk about his day with anyone else.

They said goodnight to Tess and continued down the hall, ducking inside the common area to grab a few cookies since Hayden had spent most of the day heaving up the contents of his stomach. He downed them ravenously as he and Zane entered their room to discover that, yes, Bonk had been chewing on the bed sheets again. Conner and Tamon were both sitting at their desks working on homework, and they stopped to demand an account of the events at Isenfall.

Hayden didn’t think he could go through it all one more time tonight, so he delegated the task to Zane and went to take a shower. By the time he returned, his roommates had several sugg
estions about how he should deal with Master Kiresa in the future, though most of them would probably get him arrested by the Council of Mages.

Tamon changed the subject back to the I.S.C. itself by saying, “I wonder where they’ll hold the finals this year.”

Confused, Hayden raised an eyebrow and replied, “It’s supposed to be at Branx. That’s what Master Asher told me at the beginning of the competition.”

“Yes, but the only reason they’re doing it there is because of how close it is to the Forest of Illusions,” Tamon explained. “Traditionally, the finals take place at the outskirts of the Forest, because there’s so much magic in the area that you don’t even have to design an arena, plus they like giving mages experience inside the Forest before they leave school.”

“But isn’t the Forest of Illusions where the sorcerers are going to attack first, because they want control of all that magic?” Hayden raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah, that’s why I was wondering if they were going to change the setting for the finals this year, maybe move it to Creston, which is a little further away.”

“I don’t know, no one has said anything about it to me yet.” Hayden shrugged. “Have any of you been to the Forest before?”

“Are you kidding?” Conner snorted. “That place is a death-trap if you don’t know what you’re doing; you’d have to be crazy to…” he stopped at the look on Hayden’s face. “I mean, well, I’m sure you’ll be fine there, of course. They’re not going to chuck their best competitors into a horde of chimaeras and hope for the best.”

“But there
have
been deaths in the competition before…” Hayden frowned, suddenly not so enthusiastic to get to the Forest of Illusions and have done with this tournament.

“Well,
yes
…but you’re the ridiculously-powerful son of the Dark Prism. I’m sure it’ll be a breeze for you,” Zane assured him.

Hayden suddenly remembered that he wouldn’t be alone, or at least, not entirely without assistance. He almost touched the shield charm around his neck reflexively, but thought better of it. What if it accidentally summoned Master Asher right into their dorm room?

Asher won’t let me die. If things get too bad, he’ll come help me…

That was the very thing that Master
Kiresa found so contemptuous about his counterpart, but right now Hayden was thankful for it.

“So, stupid question, by why is it called the Forest of Illusions?” Hayden asked his friends.

“The magic is so thick in there, it can make you see things that aren’t really there, or it can transform things so that they
are
really there, if that makes any sense,” Conner explained.

“Not really, no,” Hayden replied honestly.

“What he means is, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t in the Forest. All that magic, it messes with your head,” Zane clarified.

“I heard there are purple and silver trees there,” Tamon put in helpfully.

“Yes, but are they
really
purple and silver, or do they just trick you into making them
look
that way?” Zane countered.

Hayden was beginning to understand why a challenge in the Forest
of Illusions would prove difficult.

“Alright, well I’m going to bed. I guess I’ll worry about the Forest when I need to.”
He yawned widely, which hurt his split lip, and climbed into bed, nudging Bonk off of his pillow and scolding him for chewing a hole in the corner of his sheets.

Bonk pretended to look contrite, but he never pulled it off very well. Hayden found it amusing that the dragon could understand him well enough to even care to feign apology. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but he could feel Bonk trying to nudge him slowly off of the pillow so he could reclaim his favorite sleeping spot, and after he cuffed Hayden in the face
for the fourth time, Hayden groaned and tossed the pillow against the wall, contenting himself to lie flat.

Bonk curled into a ball in the center of the pillow and was asleep within seconds.

18

The Reason Why

Despite the fact that Zane spent an entire month trying to convince the Masters that having final exams was a terrible idea during a war, none of them cancelled their tests as he’d hoped. As the last weeks of the school year approached, Hayden heard his best friend grumbling mutinously about what a crime it was to make children spend their days holed up in a library studying.

Judging by the speeches most of his teachers gave, Hayden had an idea that the exams were going to be a lot tougher this year than they were last time. The only bright side was that they wouldn’t have a final arena challenge this year, since the Masters were still disappearing from the school as soon as classes ended for the night. Somet
imes they didn’t even show up for dinner.

Given the amount of terrifying real-life danger he’d been in this year, Hayden was almost sorry that they wouldn’t have a final arena. He’d laugh i
n the face of those stupid yeti-constructs next time around.

Master Willow informed them that their final would include questions regarding every wood type he had ever mentioned during class, so Hayden flipped through his book and made a list of them all to make sure he didn’t forget to review anything.

Ash, elm, cedar, pine, maple, oak, laurel, elder…

He had no idea how he was supposed to remember the specific properties and spell-casting abilities of eight different types of wands, as well as their optimal lengths, but he spent an hour each day trying to.

Conjury seemed like a lost cause. He could draw and use summoning circles well enough to keep himself from losing a limb, but that was about it. He made an effort to remember all the different configurations for different classes of spells, but had a sinking feeling that this would be his last year taking Conjury lessons. Zane would be heartbroken.

When the pamphlets on the classes for the minor arcana showed up in the third-year common area, Hayden pored over them with Connor and Tess. Conner was thinking about dropping Elixirs, and was trying to decide whether to replace it with Scriptures or Abnormal Magic.
Hayden had no idea why Tess was there with them, since she wasn’t planning on dropping any classes this year (she was only enrolled in two of the major arcana as it was).

“I think I’d like to try Abnormal Magic,” Hayden looked at the others to gauge their reaction. “Last year I thought Scriptures looked interesting, but since I’m terrible at Conjury there doesn’t seem to be much point.”

“The two aren’t really related at all, though they are complementary,” Tess explained. “I was so bad at conjury that I couldn’t execute a single summoning without translocating my conjuring arm somewhere. Master Reede had to retrieve it so many times that he didn’t even have to ask whose arm it was before he gave it back to me.” Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “But I’m much better at Scriptures.”

Hayden frowned thoughtfully and said, “I know Scriptures is probably a lot more useful than the other, but for some reason I just feel like I should take Abnormal Magic next year.
Maybe because I
am
abnormal magic.”

“You think you’ll be able to find an explanation for why your Source is so big and your Foci are so…”

“Useless?” Hayden supplied helpfully, to spare Conner from having to come up with a nicer word. “I don’t know, maybe. It’s the only place I can think of that might have answers for me.”

“Well then, you should do it,” Tess said simply. “It’s the only class in the minor arcana that I’m not in, so I can’t tell you what it will be like…but if there’s anything I can do to help, I will.”

“Thanks,” Hayden smiled at her, and her expression brightened.

“I guess I’d better stick with Scriptures,” Conner sighed. “You’re right, it does have more practical application than Abnormal Magic, and if we’re going to war with the north then I’m going to need all the fighting abilities I can get.”

“It’s not like they’re going to send
us
off to fight; we’re thirteen,” Tess explained.

“We’re also magically-inclined. You think the bakers and farmers and butchers are going to be the ones fighting the north for us? If this thing drags on, they’re going to need more mages, and they’re going to pull them from the Great Nine.”

“But the Masters wouldn’t let them do that to us…” Tess insisted. “I know they can be tough sometimes, but they wouldn’t send us off to die when we don’t know enough to win.”

“Tess, use your h
ead. If we get to the point where they’re drafting undertrained mages from Mizzenwald, the Masters are already going to be dead. Besides, if the sorcerers win, they’re going to take over the school anyway and do who-knows-what with all of us, so we’re not any safer staying here.”

Tess’s eyes were wide with worry and she was hugging Bonk tightly to her chest. Hayden’s familiar seemed content to sit in her lap and let her hug him like a stuffed animal for whatever reason.

“That’s enough, Conner. There’s no point in guessing about the future, and scaring ourselves isn’t going to help anything.” He got to his feet and motioned for Bonk to perch on his shoulder. “Come on, Bonk, let’s see if we can catch an open slot with the Masters.”

“You mean you didn’t tell them you were planning on changing subjects?” Conner raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“I hadn’t really planned on it until I started studying for the Conjury final and realized how pointless it’s going to be.” He shrugged. “They’ve been holding appointments all day though, so I’ll just go down there and tell them I’ve changed my mind.”

His mind made up, he took the stairs two at a time and walked across the pentagonal foyer, going through the eastern door and heading back upstairs to the second floor. Sometimes he wished that all of the stairwells connected to the main one that led to the dormitories, since it would save him from going down only to have to climb back up. As he approached the clo
sed door to the Wands classroom where they were holding appointments this year, he encountered Lorn Trout standing in the hallway.

“What are you doing here, Frost? I’ve got the next appointment,” Lorn greeted him coldly.

“What subject are you dropping?” Hayden asked with interest, used to Lorn’s rudeness by now.

“Elixirs, not that it’s any of your business.”

“Oh, good, because you’re kind of awful at it,” Hayden agreed cheerfully, and Lorn blushed in anger.

“Well I’m going in there next, and
Pollus is after me, so they’re not going to have time for you today. Guess you’ll have to stick with all your subjects for another year.”

Bonk hopped from Hayden’s shoulder to Lorn’s and calmly bit him on the ear.

“Bonk!” Hayden scolded, just as Lorn cried out in pain.

“Your stupid dragon tried to kill me!” he shouted, jostling Bonk from his shoulder and cup
ping a hand over his ear. “It burns like fire!”

He took off running down the hall with tears in his eyes, hopefully to either Mistress Razelle or Torin.
For some reason, Bonk went with him. Before Hayden could think of what to do, the door opened and a red-haired girl in her fourth year emerged. She looked at Hayden and scowled.

“What’s all the shouting about?”

“Uh, nothing,” Hayden lied reflexively.

“Well, go on in then.” She rolled her eyes at him and walked away. Since it didn’t look like Lorn was going to make his appointment, Hayden stepped through the door.

The Masters were in various states of reclining in their chairs, trying to stay comfortable. For the most part they looked bored, or tired, though their expressions transformed at the sight of Hayden in their midst.

“What are you doing here, Frost?” Master Sark greeted him. “You’re not scheduled with us today.”

“I know, sir, but I wanted to make a change to my schedule for next year.”

“Why didn’t you submit a request last week?”

“Because I still had some illusion of figuring out Conjury, but I realized that was a mistake,” he admitted, glancing at Master Reede.

“Oh thank heavens, I was trying to figure out how to subtly suggest that you weren’t cut out for it,” the Master of Conjury sighed in relief.

“Um, sir, you weren’t very subtle this year…” Hayden disagreed gently. “You told me you’d seen better diagrams drawn by creatures that lacked opposable thumbs.”

“
What, and that wasn’t subtle?” Master Reede chortled.

“All our appointments have already been booked,” Sark interrupted. “Lorn Trout is next on our roster.”

“I know, but he…uh…can’t make it.”

“And why is that?”
Master Willow asked calmly, a knowing look on his face.

“I came down here, hoping to squeeze in a meeting with you before the end of the day, and Bonk…uh…well, he bit Lorn, and he took off running, so I don’t think he’ll be here.”

“That menace of a dragon poisoned another student just to get you an appointment?” The Powders Master jumped to his feet in anger.

“I didn’t tell him to!” Hayden insisted, panicking. “And I don’t think he poisoned him…much.”

“And why should we trust your opinion on the matter?” Master Ferule, the Master of Scriptures, leaned forward.

“Because, sir, Bonk poisoned me last year, and I wasn’t in
any condition to scream or run away.”

“You were poisoned by your own familiar?” Master Ferule looked skeptical.

“He wasn’t my familiar yet,” Hayden felt like he was doing a bad job explaining. “He was claiming me, but Torin said he got a little too enthusiastic. Look, Bonk’s not a menace…he’s just kind of a jerk sometimes. I think he finds it funny, like when he head-butts me until I let him have my pillow to sleep on.”

“Your dragon sleeps on a
pillow
?” Master Dirqua looked amazed.

“It’s—that’s not the point. I’m just saying that I know Bonk’s a little odd, but I don’t think he tried to kill Lorn.”

The room was silent for what felt like a very long time, while the ten Masters studied him. Asher caught his eye and winked in amusement, so Hayden figured he couldn’t be in too much trouble. Finally, Master Willow addressed him.

“So
, you would like to drop Conjury?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And what were you hoping to pick up in its place?”

“Abnormal Magic, sir.”

The others looked surprised by this; even Master Asher narrowed his eyebrows in interest.

“I don’t allow just anyone to take my class,” the Master on the far right
of the room spoke up. Hayden didn’t see him around school very often, but he was quite memorable, mainly because of the strange blue-purple color of his eyes. His jet-black hair made the color even more pronounced, and for some reason even his metallic green robes seemed just a shade brighter than his peers’.

“Y
ou mean I have to take some kind of test to get in?” Hayden asked curiously, not anticipating this roadblock.

“You could call it that, if you like.” The Master leaned back in his chair, but his posture looked anything but relaxed. “You have to convince me that you belong in my class.”

For a moment Hayden just stared blankly at him, unsure of what to say or do. Sensing his struggle, Master Kilgore prodded him by asking, “Why do you want to enroll in Abnormal Magic?”

“Well…” Hayden began slowly, trying to buy himself time to think. “I get called abnormal about three times a week, and the class is called Abnormal Magic…”

Masters Reede and Asher snickered in amusement.

“Then my answer is no,” the Master answered without hesitation.

“Come now, Laurren, you haven’t really given him a chance,” Master Reede said bracingly.

“You just want him out of your class,” Sark muttered to him, loud enough for Hayden to hear.

“The boy was asked a question, and he didn’t answer it,” Master Laurren explained neutrally. “I can’t work with someone who is unable to follow basic instructions.”

“But I
did
answer!” Hayden insisted.

“No. You were asked why you wanted to join my class, not why you thought you belonged there.”

Hayden paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts.
Getting angry isn’t going to help me right now. I need to be as calm as he is.

“I want to learn about Abnormal Magic.”

“Why? Scriptures and Herbalism are both more practical.”

“I know, sir, but I would rather take your class than either of them,” Hayden insisted, setting his jaw firmly.

“Why?” Master Laurren prompted quietly.

“Because
it interests me.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m weird and I want to know about other weird stuff in the world.”

“Why?”

For some reason, that simple word set him off.

“Because I want to understand why I’m so messed up.
I want to know where I came from. I want to know why I have such a big Source, but no one even knew I had magic until my father turned up to ruin my life. I want to know why I survived and my mother died, why
everything
died in that area, why not even animals can go there now without keeling over even though I recovered. I want to know why my Foci are garbage and I need three-inch correctors. I want to know WHY!”