Cave of Nightmares (4 page)

And with that the Master of Prisms left the room.

The others followed more slowly, beginning a muttered conversation that Hayden wasn’t close enough to hear. He tried to stay a respectable distance behind them, not knowing where to go from here. It wasn’t until they made it back into the first testing room that the Master of Wands turned to him and said, “Wait here. Ella will show you to the second-year dorms.”

Hayden assumed that Ella had been sent back to her duties while he was being tested, but she was only waiting around the corner. She spoke briefly with the Master of Wands and then approached him.

“So you’re a prism,” she greeted him, motioning for him to follow her back down the hall. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks. What’s your major?” he asked, relieved that she seemed a little more composed around him than before.

Maybe she just needed time to get used to my last name.

It wouldn’t be so bad if everyone was able to adjust to him so quickly.

“Wands. That’s why Master Willow was talking to me just now; I’ve got work to do in the carving shop tonight.”

Hayden wasn’t sure if she was teasing him or not.

“Sorry, but the Master of Wands is named Willow?”

Ella pursed her lips at him. “Yes, and you’re not the first person to find it funny. I’d advise not joking about it in Master Willow’s hearing unless you want to serve detention chopping wood in the Forest of Illusions.”

Hayden grimaced at the thought and they began climbing a stairwell to the third floor.

“What are the other Master’s names? The only one who introduced himself so far is Master Asher.”

Ella raised an eyebrow in surprise.

“Most people don’t need to be introduced to the Masters of Mizzenwald…they’re kind of well-known throughout the Nine Lands.” She seemed to grow more comfortable with him the longer they talked, and Hayden was eager to keep her at it as long as possible.

“Kilgore is the Master of Elixirs, Willow is Wands, Asher is the Prism Master, of course, Sark has Powders, and Reede is the Master of Conjury,” she explained easily. “That’s just the major arcana though; there are other Masters here for the minor arcana as well.”

Hayden was just thrilled that she had identified the five major arcana for him without having to be asked. Now he wouldn’t feel so stupid trying to ask people about things like ‘piles of colored-sand’.

He wasn’t keeping track of how many stairs they climbed, but his legs were beginning to ache from the strain. He looked down at the dark-purple velvet runner that had been tamped flat by so many people walking on it over the years.

“Where are you taking me?” He changed the subject, trying not to slow down or sound winded.

“Oh, sorry, we’re going to the second-year dorms. Whoever built the school decided that the youngest students should have to climb the most stairs, so be glad you’re being granted second-year status or you’d be on the seventh floor.”

Hayden’s lips parted in surprise.

“Does that mean I’ll start in second-year classes?”

Ella gave him a funny little smile.

“I keep forgetting how much you don’t know.” She ignored the flush of color that tinged his cheeks. “If you’re twelve, then it makes sense to house you with the other eleven and twelve year olds. Classes are a different story though; you’ve got to be recommended by a Master before you can promote to a higher level, so everyone starts at the beginning.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for instance, my major is Wands, so I’m taking the sixth-level class for that even though I’m only in my fifth year. I’m okay with elixirs so I’m in the level-five class for that, but I’m only in the level-three group for Conjury. I never even made it out of Introductory Prisms.”

Hayden relaxed slightly upon hearing that he wouldn’t be expected to jump right into advanced classes. He was actually relieved to learn that it was a merit-based system, because as long as he worked hard and did his best he should end up in the classes he belonged in.

“Of course, you’ll be ace in Prisms without even trying, I bet. Oliver has been working his tail off for years at it, and he’s still only in the level-three class. Oh crickets, I’ll bet he hates you right away for being a natural at it,” Ella rambled, turning onto the sixth floor and leading him past a series of doors with little name placards stuck to the outside. It looked like there were four people to a room, and Hayden just hoped they were big rooms or it would be awfully crowded.

“Why would anyone hate me for being good with prisms? I don’t hate you for being good at wands…” he remarked in alarm.

Ella chuckled.

“Natural prisms are extremely rare. There are only a few in all of
Junir right now, and it’s super-hard to get the hang of prisms if you aren’t born to it because it’s all to do with patterns of light,” she explained. “I guess that’s a good thing though, because prisms usually have the most powerful magic, and it would be bad if there were lots of them running around the place.”

They passed a common area halfway down the hall that was occupied by about a dozen people, and stopped in front of a door with only three name placards on the outside, with little characters depicting each boy’s major beside their names.

“Well, this is you. The others might not be back from classes until later tonight, but I’ll leave you here to get settled.” Ella turned and looked at him full-on for the first time since they began walking, and a glimpse of worry crossed her features as she remembered who he was.

“Thanks for showing me to the dorms,” Hayden said awkwardly, reaching for the doorknob, desperate for a moment alone to collect his thoughts.

“Sure. I’ll see you around.”

Hayden let out a breath of relief when he closed the door behind him, leaning back against it with his eyes shut as his mind grappled with everything it had absorbed today. He didn’t realize he wasn’t alone until someone said, “You probably don’t want to block the doorway.
Kayce is due back soon and he’ll bowl you over.”

Hayden jumped in surprise and opened his eyes, seeing the room for the first time. It was small but not cramped, with twin sets of bunk beds on opposite walls. Two writing desks were beside each other on each end of the room, one of which was completely clean. There were no windows, but it was well-lit by gas lamps and hand-held orbs of light, and seemed cozy, certainly much nicer than the orphanage.

A boy about his age was sitting on the bottom bunk bed to his right, leaning against the wall. He had short, sand-colored hair and hazel eyes. It took Hayden a moment to realize that he was stroking the back of a red fox that was curled up beside him.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was in here.” Hayden took a step away from the door, feeling like an idiot.

“That’s not surprising since you came in with your eyes shut,” the boy said with good-natured humor. “So I guess you’re our new roommate?”

Hayden nodded and the other boy stood up and came over to shake his hand.

“Cool. I’m Zane Laraby, and before you can ask…yes, I
am
descended from Farrah Laraby, celebrated pioneer of the six-part crosshatch.” He sounded mildly annoyed by that fact.

“Sorry, I’m new to all this magic stuff…so I don’t know what a six-part crosshatch actually is,” Hayden admitted, feeling stupid.

To his surprise, Zane grinned at him.

“Oh, excellent.
I’m tired of people always asking me about my great-times-ten grandmother anyway.”

I’d better get this over with.

“I’m Hayden Frost, and before you can ask…yes, I am descended from
that
Frost,” he tried to mimic Zane’s airy tone, waiting for the boy to run away screaming or make evil warding signs at him.

Zane blinked in surprise but didn’t look upset.

“Oh, wow, that must suck,” he summarized the situation admirably in Hayden’s opinion.

“Yeah, it does.” He exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, thankful that for the first time he had met someone who wasn’t terrified of him. “People usually cringe and run away when they hear my last name.”

Zane smirked.

“I’ll bet they do.”

“How come you’re not afraid of me?” Hayden couldn’t help but ask the question, wanting to clear the air before he started living here.

Zane shrugged. “Should I be? You’re not secretly an evil
overlord who wants to rule the world, are you?”

“What?
No, of course not!”

“Well there you have it.” He turned towards the bunk beds. “As you can see, you’ve got the bunk right above me. Be warned, there is a creaky post, and if you toss and turn too much I will probably find a broomstick to jab at you with. You’ve also got the desk next to Conner, who is a complete slob. Don’t let him bum desk-space off of you for any reason because you’ll never get it back.”

Hayden was so relieved at being treated like a normal person that his legs nearly gave out on him.

“Are the other two likely to be alright around me, or do you think they’ll be the witch-burning sort?”

Zane laughed at the joke, one of the first times since he went to live at the orphanage that someone thought he was funny.

“Conner will probably be
creeped out, but he’ll do his best to hide it until he decides whether you’re evil or not. Kayce will be…interesting.”

Hayden grimaced. “Good
interesting, or bad interesting?”

Zane made a face. “I’m not sure yet.”

Well, at least he’s honest about it.

“Um, can I ask why you have a fox on your bed?” he changed the subject, sitting down in the chair by his new writing desk and trying to get comfortable. Zane returned to his seat on the edge of the bed.

“Better a fox than a badger like Lewis; those things are just plain irritating.”

“Someone has a pet badger here?” Hayden’s head was beginning to spin.

“Well sure, we all have familiars. Oh, right, you said you didn’t know much about magic yet.” Zane looked apologetic. “You’ll get a familiar assigned to you soon enough. They’re like pets to us, but they also help us with our magic. They make elixirs and powders stronger for their master when you use your familiar’s materials.”

“You mean you use your fox to make elixirs?” Hayden gasped at the thought of dunking a fox into a cauldron of brew.

Zane laughed again.

“Of course we do, but it doesn’t hurt them. Like Felix, for instance,” he pointed to the fox on his bed, “when he sheds fur I try to collect it, because it makes a mean elixir of stealth. Conner can use his owl’s shed feathers for a wisdom powder.”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Hayden was just relieved to learn that they weren’t slaughtering animals here. “Do you get to choose your pet?”

“
Familiar
, you mean. People will laugh at you if you call it a pet,” Zane explained politely, and Hayden made a mental note to remember it. “And no, you don’t exactly get to pick. The familiar chooses its master and binds itself to you. I will admit that I’m sometimes jealous of the lucky few who get falcons or dragons, because they just look so slick.”

“There are
dragons
here?” Hayden’s mouth dropped open. He had never seen a real dragon before, though he’d heard tons of stories about them growing up in Merina, and Bil swore up and down that he saw one fly over the orphanage one day last year.

“Not the big horse-eating ones, because they have no magic, but the smaller breed of
dragonlings, yes,” he confirmed. “There are only a few people who get them as familiars though, because they’re powerfully-magical and very choosy about their masters.”

“How big are they?”

Zane brought his hands apart vertically.

“About that big, maybe the size of a ferret with wings—or a bit larger,” he explained. “Have they tested you for your major yet, or do you have to wait since you’re late for the start of term? I’m a conjurer, which means I draw lots of cool patterns on the ground and summon other cool things with them.”

Hayden laughed, his feelings about Mizzenwald improving greatly now that he had a friend who didn’t seem to mind explaining basic magic without embarrassing him.

“I thought I’d have to wait, but they tested me just before I came up here.”

“Oh, right, I guess with your last name the Masters would be chomping at the bit to get a look at you,” Zane reasoned out. “So, how’d you do?”

Feeling proud of himself for having a major at all he said, “I’m a Prism major.”

Zane looked floored by the news.

“Really?
You didn’t know anything about magic and you’re a natural
prism
?”

“I guess so. I mean, I didn’t really know what I was doing when I picked it up, but I accidentally made this wall of fire and the Masters had to run in and put it out before the room burned down.”

Zane let out an impressed whistle.

“Wow, that’s serious stuff, though I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. After all, your old man didn’t earn his nickname for nothing.”