by Sever Bronny
“I should certainly hope so.” She already stood a little straighter and spoke a little clearer, no doubt due to Jengo’s potion.
“It’s rumored to summon dragons, is it not?” Augum said, hoping that was the reason she was bringing it up. Maybe it was a way to defeat his father.
“If you think, my dear great-grandson, that the kingdom will be saved by an army of ancient dragons, you would be mistaken. If there ever was a time of dragons—which is dubious at best, more akin to children’s stories—it took place well before the Founding, many eons ago. No, we are not here for such nonsense.” Mrs. Stone pointed a bony finger at the top of the doorframe where there was a dirty sign. “Jengo, would you please?”
Jengo, being the tallest one by far, was easily able to reach up and dust off the sign. “Mute Manor, AAA, Seko,” he read.
Leera smiled. “Mute Manor. Cute.”
“AAA stands for Academy of Arcane Arts,” Augum said. “But what does the ‘Seko’ mean?” It vaguely sounded familiar.
Bridget beamed. “It’s the ancient arcane witchery word for six.”
“It’s an academy Trainer?” Jengo blurted, eyes widening. “A 6th degree Trainer?”
Mrs. Stone caught herself staring into the distance. “There should be a key hidden nearby.”
Augum spread his palm and tuned to the arcane ether. “Un vun deo,” he said, immediately catching the subtle arcane thread that led him to an old plant pot. Buried in the dirt was a large rusty iron key, which he brushed off and slipped into the lock. With some effort, there was a click and the door popped open, its ancient rusted hinges squealing.
The group entered. Inside was a vast central foyer, seemingly too large to fit such a small manor. Great truss beams supported a high ceiling. Ancient paintings hung on the walls depicting warlocks of old, all blackened by time. Cobwebbed armored statues stood amongst beaten tables and chairs. There were rows and rows of worn shelving holding dusty ancient tomes. Spread along the walls were a great many doors. Everything was dirty or covered in dust as if it had not been used in years.
“Ick!” Haylee said, cringing away from a rather large cobweb connecting a chair to a table.
Mrs. Stone used her staff as support while she groaningly sat herself at one of the tables. “Ah,” she wheezed. “Much better.” She glanced about with a perpetually trembling head. “How this brings back memories. Will accidentally overdrew and made an entire table invisible somewhere around here.” She clucked her tongue. “Students have been tripping over it ever since, I dare say.”
“Do you mean William Smith the Plotter, Nana?” Augum asked. “Your old friend One Eye?”
“Indeed I do. That overdraw made him realize he could permanently make things invisible—completely against the rules, of course, and totally beyond his competence.” She chuckled to herself. “He was such a clumsy, absent-minded fool. Amusing, yes, but nonetheless a fool.”
She pointed at an iron door that had so many scratches it appeared as if hundreds of people had been trying to pry it open over the years. “And over there is the famous Sealed Door, accidentally perma-sealed by Jordan.”
“That’s your other friend, right, Mrs. Stone?” Leera asked with a mischievous smile. “Jordan Winters the Prankster? One Eye said you three were a ‘fearsome trio’.” She snickered, entwining her hand with Augum’s and playfully drawing him near while hooking her arm around Bridget’s neck and yanking. “Just like we are!”
“That was over eighty-five years ago, mind you,” Mrs. Stone said, closing her eyes as she reminisced. “When I was about your age …”
The group exchanged looks of intrigue. Augum glanced around feeling his blood quicken with excitement. He could smell the history in the musty scent of ancient wood and stone and books, and could almost hear Mrs. Stone’s mischievous group frolic about within these walls, probably causing no end of trouble, as he and the girls were wont to do.
“I am the last of that fearsome trio.” Mrs. Stone gave a distant smile. “But our spirit lives on in those that follow our footsteps. That is why we are here.” She glanced at each of them in turn with cloudy eyes. “So that future generations can continue to cause mischief.”
The group gave soft and bittersweet chuckles.
“Now, there are very serious preparations to be made for what is to come for all of us. I have brought you here to begin those preparations. You must pay careful attention. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Mrs. Stone,” the group chorused.
“Good. Firstly, Augum, Bridget and Leera will begin training in the 6th degree, as well as finalize their studies on Annocronomus Tempusari.” She gave them expectant looks.
“Yes, Mrs. Stone,” the trio said in unison.
Her head swiveled to the others. “I also wish to impart certain wisdom to Haylee as she begins her 4th degree, and Jengo as he undertakes his 3rd.”
“Yes, Mrs. Stone,” Haylee and Jengo said.
“I shall be spending most of my time, however, with Leland, who I have a great many things to discuss with, including where to hide his army.”
Leland moaned happily.
Mrs. Stone smiled at the blind and mute boy before returning her gaze to the rest of them. “But there is one other reason I have brought you here, a most practical one. Augum plans to boldly retrieve his mother’s body and give her a proper cremation, so that her wish to not be raised as the undead may be fulfilled. Thanks to Augum’s research in the Library of Antioc, this, we hope, will unhinge Lividius in a manner that will make him a weaker opponent.”
Augum nodded along, proud she put so much faith in his plan. He fondly recalled the mysterious question-and-answer session he had with Herzog the Historian deep in the great library.
“Which brings us to the crux of the matter. Terra Titan’s body rests in the bowels of Lividius’ fortress, the Black Castle. The initial plan called for two distractions—an academy uprising and an assault upon the gates of the castle—all so that a small group of nondescript necrophytes could sneak by during the chaos, recover the body, and escape without getting caught—”
“—you mean us!” Jengo said. “That’s why we’re here, right? Wait, that means me too! I … I don’t know if I’m ready—”
“And Leland’s army will be that force attacking those gates!” Augum blurted.
“Do not interrupt. Patience is a virtue that transcends.”
Augum almost smiled. He recalled her saying something like that to him upon first meeting her, when he was being whiny about cleaning the cave.
“Yes, Leland will indeed spearhead the main onslaught, which Lividius will believe to be the big attack he had been expecting since the Agonex’s capture.”
Leland moaned excitedly.
“And you would indeed be of invaluable service as the sole healer of the group, Jengo, but no, you and Haylee are to aid the Resistance in other ways during this calamitous time.”
Haylee smacked her bad leg. “I’m too slow to help anyone with this stupid leg anyway, Mrs. Stone.”
“Nonsense, child, I have as much faith in you as I have in these three rascals,” and she accented that with a nod at the trio. All four of them beamed proudly, Haylee because Mrs. Stone was placing so much faith in her, and the trio because, in this instance, being called ‘rascals’ felt like a wonderful compliment.
“But you’ll be coming with us, right, Nana?”
“I am afraid not. I will be carefully minding Leland in the attack. He will need a watchful guide.”
“Oh, of course.” Augum exchanged a look with the girls. They were going to penetrate the Black Castle on their own …
“I believe you more than ready for the challenge. But there is a problem. Because Lividius has been expecting this attack, he has reinforced his protective enchantments and posted elite guards throughout the castle.” Mrs. Stone shifted in her seat while they paid rapt attention. “Yet it recently occurred to me there is an alternate way to get in, one I have myself undert
aken many years ago. It involves the sewers, a secret hidden door, and … a stolen key.”
Augum felt bumps rise on his skin with the thrill of mystery. He glanced about at the stuffy old place. “I don’t understand though, Nana, what does Mute Manor have to do with getting into the Black Castle?”
Mrs. Stone smiled. “Ah, this is where you come in. My memory is not as it once was, though one can argue no one’s is after so long a time.” She glanced around with crossed brows. “Somewhere here is the stolen key to that hidden sewer door.”
“Forgive me, but why would that key be here, Mrs. Stone?” Jengo asked sheepishly.
“Oh, it is here all right, as one of us—I think it was Jordan, though I cannot be sure—brought it back here for safe keeping after a particularly notorious adventure we had at the Black Castle, one which we did not want anyone knowing about. And no—” she immediately said as they all opened their mouths with the inevitable inquiry, “—I will not be telling you anything about it.” She made a dismissive wave of her hand, muttering, “Not everything needs to be documented in the history books, especially the sheer nonsense of impetuous youth.”
This elicited discreet snickers from the group.
“Bet you anything the key is behind that,” Leera said, nodding at the door with the scratches.
“Not everything is a mystery, my dear child. That door truly is sealed for all time.” She glanced past them through a dirty stained-glass window and frowned. “She is late.”
“Who is, Mrs. Stone?” Leera asked.
“Someone I elicited for help in your training today—”
As if on cue, the front door suddenly burst open, revealing a beaming warlock with shoulder-length raven hair, expressive arched brows, and wearing a black Legion robe.
“Sorry I’m late, Headmistress!” Leera’s older clone, Ms. Jezebel Terse, said with a crooked smile.
The Quirky Jez
“It’s chaos out there, I’m telling you,” Ms. Terse said, striding over. “What a motley but legendary gang we have here. Sorry, had to oversee a shipment of food for the soldiers to the Nodian front. You can guess where most of it went.”
“You nicked Legion food?” Leera asked in awe.
Ms. Terse shrugged. “Sure, why not? Where do you think most of the castle supplies will be coming from? Fools don’t bother checking with headquarters. They just assume the famine has hit the army too.”
Leera gaped at her. “Can you adopt me?”
Ms. Terse chuckled while briefly giving Leera a squeeze. “Not a chance in Sithesia.” She ruffled Leera’s hair before playfully shoving her away. “So, what’s going on? I’m supposed to be training someone? I don’t have too much time, some rich idiot necrophyte is paying an exorbitant fee to have me train him on the First Offensive.” She winked at Leera while whispering behind her hand, “Let’s just say he’s not going to learn a damn thing, and every copper is going to go to the Resistance—”
“Ms. Terse—” Mrs. Stone barked.
Ms. Terse jumped before going stiff and saluting. “Apologies, Headmistress. This soldier is ready to be commanded. But Headmistress should remember she has persuaded a most rambunctious soldier to help—”
“—I am afraid I do remember all too well, Ms. Terse. Impetuous, flighty, irresponsible, self-serving, argumentative, conceited, and brash. I see nothing has changed since your days in the academy, days mostly, as I recall, spent chasing boys or in detention or passing degree tests by the skin of your teeth.”
“This soldier begs to differ, Headmistress, for she has since achieved an even higher level of irresponsibility. I’m also 10th degree in the cheeky element.” Ms. Terse winked at Leera again, neither of them able to conceal a mischievous grin. “But teasing boys is what girls go to the academy for, right?” she whispered to Leera. “I mean, studying is booooring.”
By the way Leera was looking up at her, Augum suspected she might have found a kindred spirit.
“Ms. Terse.”
“Yes, Headmistress?”
“Enough nonsense. As a graduate from the academy, I expect you to set a better example.”
Ms. Terse clicked her heels and saluted again. “Yes, Headmistress, sorry Headmistress,” before placing her hands behind her back and firming her lips, indicating she was done fooling around.
“Unnameables give me patience,” Mrs. Stone muttered, reaching for Augum to help her stand. “I shall allow Ms. Terse to begin training you on the degrees discussed while I confer with our young rapscallion here.”
Leland moaned in delight as Mrs. Stone reached out for the blind boy. Bridget helped connect the two hands, one old and feeble, the other burnt and disfigured. She patiently shuffled outside with Leland in tow, leaving the door open. The group watched them go.
Ms. Terse slowly shook her head. “She’s never liked me very much because I was constantly a thorn in her side, but I miss her a lot. Sure, she was suuuuper harsh—you think she is now—” She scoffed. “Should have seen her when she was Headmistress. Anyway, she had this way of making you want to be a better person, a better you. She made you want to succeed at the impossible.”
“She still does that,” Augum said.
Ms. Terse smiled as she glanced at the trio. “I can see that. Did you know I was around during the fight against Narsus, when she goaded him into the academy and beat the snot out of him?”
“You were?” Leera asked, looking up at her with adoring eyes. “How old were you then?”
“Let’s see.” Ms. Terse began counting on her fingers. “I’m thirty-five years old now, and that took place in the year 3324. Since it’s 3342, that would make me …” She frowned as if a foul scent had entered the room.
“I count on my fingers too!” Leera cooed. “And I’m also terrible at arithmetic …”
Ms. Terse gave Leera another light playful shove. “Stop trying to make me adopt you. I hate children. Never wanted any.”
“We’re not children!”
“I lump anyone under twenty in the brat camp. Anyway, what were we talking about?”
“You were seventeen years old,” Bridget said. “In the academy, that is, when Mrs. Stone dueled Narsus.”
“Ah, yes, now that was something to witness.” She shook her head. “One heck of a moment in Solia’s history, you know.” She pointed at each of them in turn. “You’re going to make history too. You watch. You think you’re famous now, just wait until this is all over. I mean, you’re going to have to get creative, sure, but if that legendary grouch thinks you can do it, then so do I.” She winked.
“You’re going to help us though, right?” Leera said in almost pleading tones.
“Pfft, are you kidding? I’ve come for the drink and the mayhem and hot sweaty men in armor.” She glanced around, frowning. “Don’t seem to be any about nowadays though.” When she caught the looks on their faces, she snorted a laugh. “What a gullible bunch of mules. Of course I’m going to help. Yeesh, got to teach you lot about this novel thing they call humor.”
“I love you,” Leera whispered.
“Creepy,” Ms. Terse sang, breaking out into a highly infectious laugh the group immediately joined in with. It was the kind of laugh that refused to peter out, the kind they had all been longing for for quite some time, the kind that had Leera redden more and more with each guffaw, until she was cherry red.
Ms. Terse prodded Leera’s cheek. “Look, little monkey is going to turn into a summer apple!” which of course sent up another round of laughter.
It actually took Ms. Terse a while to calm them down, for by then they were in tears. “All right, you bunch of shifty-eyed turkeys, settle down before I have to slap you around a little.” She playfully made slapping gestures. Then she raised her index finger with a grave expression on her face. “And no more ‘Ms. Terse’. Makes me feel like an old windbag. Jez or Jezebel. Seriously, I catch anyone other than Headmistress Stone calling me ‘Ms. Terse’, I’m going to turn them into chopped turnip.” She placed a h
and beside her mouth and whispered, “I’m kidding, it’d be a cross-eyed pigeon,” before rubbing her hands together. “All right, what’s this about training?”
And so they began a marvelous morning with Jezebel Terse, or “Jez” as they now called her. The surprising thing about her was that not only was she fun to be around, but she actually knew her stuff. Despite being rambunctious and somewhat crazy, she was able to pass along complex arcane ideas in simple-to-understand—albeit sometimes colorful—analogies, which of course had them in stitches.
“Are you trying to take a poop?” she asked Augum when he was straining to perform his first Seal casting on a door. “You’re kidding me, right?” She looked around at them, each struggling with a new spell in their degree. “None of you are going to cast a new 6th degree spell successfully on your first day. This is not the 1st degree here and none of you are geniuses. Stop. Trying. So. Hard. It’s embarrassing for all of us.”
“No no no,” she later said to Bridget, correcting her hand posture. “Like you’re actually squeezing the life out of a small bird. It’s Mute, not a handshake. And you can relax with that look, missy, we’re not at a who’s-the-prissiest-of-them-all contest here.”
Leera howled at that one so loudly she actually elicited a stinging shoulder slap from Bridget.
At another point, Jezebel placed a hand over her eyes and shook her head. “Haylee, sweetie, stop it, just … stop.”
“What? What am I doing wrong?” Haylee asked, sweeping her long blonde hair out of her eyes while trying not to laugh at Jezebel’s ridiculous over-acting.
“You’re sinking this entire endeavor with that—” Jezebel made a silly random squiggle in the air. “—air doodling, or whatever you want to call that chicken scratching. You’re trying to draw an elemental not a deformed animal. Remember you’ll be uttering a phrase at the same time with each point, not to mention visualizing the little beast, so you need to be ultra precise.”
“Wait, so I shouldn’t be making it so round?”
