by T J Lantz
Squeak! Squeak!
Tyranna looked down to see a rather plump rat with a very long tail cozying up to her leg. She let out a small scream.
“Oh! Don’t mind him. That’s Fuzzy. Hi, Cousin Gnemo!”
“Gnipper! It’s great to see you.”
Gnemo stepped forward to give his cousin a hug. Tyranna dared not move, lest the giant rat decide that it was time to take a delicious chunk out of her leg.
Gnipper looked similar to Gnemo. Both had the same chubby cheeks, bright hazel eyes and small freckles around the nose. Gnipper was a few inches shorter. Her hair was the color of a vibrant pink rose and tied into an uncoordinated battle between pigtail and braids. She wore a thick white smock, that, like the stone work around her home, was also filled with random scorch marks. Perhaps the most noticeable thing was on her head. She was wearing a an old kitchen pan of some sort.
“I wanted to stop and say hello while I’m in town and introduce you to one of your new classmates.” Gnemo looked over Gnipper’s head into the shadows of the corner of the room. “Hi, Sam!”
From the darkness stepped a squirrel-kin. Unlike the guards at the Alabaster tower, this one didn’t wear the white tabard with the acorn symbol, instead opting for a simple light purple dress. Like the guards, however, she did carry a sword on each hip. Tyranna noticed that she had several burned areas over her body, and her tail was bandaged. Tyranna wondered if whatever happened to Gnipper’s house also happened to her friend. Had she not feared an attack from the rat, she would have retreated back outside.
“Greetings, Gnemo,” replied Sam.
“Do you hide every time someone comes to the door?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Element of surprise. You never know when an enemy may strike.”
“I understand,” he lied with a smile. “Lord Laszlo has sent this proclamation for you.”
“The lord protector has sent a message for me?” she exclaimed excitedly, moving to grab the parchment.
She unfurled the parchment and began reading to herself. Tyranna was impressed. She had been the only girl she knew of that could read until today, not that she knew very many girls back home.
“How long are you in town, cousin? I’ve got this great experiment I’ve been working on, and if you have some time I could use a test subject. I just need to know. Are you allergic to cyanide?”
“Ah, sorry, Gnipper,” he replied slowly, making sure to choose his words carefully. “I need to be getting back to the Rover in a couple of days. I’ll have to pass on this one.”
That’s ok. I can always just use Fluffy.” The little gnome took a few steps forward and scooped up the rat. She extended her hand toward Tyranna to greet her.
“Hi, I’m Gnipper,” she said with a big smile on her face.
Tyranna looked down at her hand. It was covered in a dark green substance that was slowly dripping to the floor.
“Oh, sorry,” she said, wiping her hands on her color streaked smock and then putting it back out for Tyranna.
Reluctantly, Tyranna gripped it, gave it a quick shake, and dropped it as fast as she could.
“I’m Tyranna.”
“Apparently,” Sam interjected, “the lord protector has requested that I am to keep you from any unintentional harm that may fall upon you due to the resentments of other students.”
“Yes, he said you might watch out for me a bit,” Tyranna replied. “He’s afraid some of the other students may struggle to accept me.”
“If it is Lord Laszlo’s will,” Samantha replied with her clenched paw over her heart, “then it shall be completed, or I shall die trying.”
“Ummm,” said Tyranna. “I think he just meant that you say something to them if they are picking on me for being mixed-blooded. I don’t think dying ever came up.”
“Tyranna, do you want to see some of my experiments?” Gnipper interjected excitedly.
She did not. She actually couldn’t remember the last time she wanted to do something less.
“Sure, I’d love to,” she lied, not knowing what else to say.
“Great, before we do though, I just need you to sign this waiver.”
“Ah, you know,” interrupted Gnemo, “it’s probably about time all three of you headed over to Thales. We don’t want to be late after all.”
chapter 15
No Running In the Halls
Jaxon
ROSEHAVEN: THALES ACADEMY
October 27, 1503
Knock! Knock! Knock! Jaxon turned his head around to face the open door to the room. He quickly tried to dry his eyes with his sleeve so that no one would know he was upset.
Standing in the doorway was the girl from the Alabaster Tower. She wore a long cloak made from the fur of some white animal, but from which one Jaxon couldn’t tell. As he rose to greet his unwanted guest, Jaxon pondered how a person could get by in life looking so plain—no horns, no tail, no wings . . . nothing.
“Hi there. I don’t mean to bother you. I thought I heard some crying, and I just wanted to make sure everything was ok.”
“Crying? No, that wasn’t me,” he lied poorly. “It was probably the dog or the wind. Or it might have been the dog breaking wind. I can’t really be sure.” Rigby gave him an annoyed look.
“Well as long as I’m here, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Tyranna. I’ll be living across the hallway from you.” The young girl gave a big smile as she spoke. Rigby immediately jumped off the bed she had been sharing with Jaxon and ran to their visitor, demanding as much attention as she could get. Her tail spun like an out of control windmill as Tyranna bent down to pet her.
“I guess she likes you,” Jaxon replied, wondering what the dog could possibly see in someone who looked so . . . human.
“Awww, she’s beautiful. What’s her name?” asked Tyranna.
“Her name’s Rigby,” Jaxon replied. He wasn’t sure what to make of this stranger. Jaxon had never been very good at making friends with other kids his own age. Saan always said it was because he had an old soul. Everyone else told him it was because he was a real jerk. The fact that Tyranna was a girl didn’t make it any easier. Outside of Rigby and Saan, Jaxon could count the number of conversations with the opposite gender he had participated in on one hand. He could probably still do it even if a horrible accident took three of his fingers off.
“Well hello there, Rigby,” Tyranna exclaimed as she scratched vigorously behind the dog’s ears. Rigby seemed very happy to have her attention as her tail continued to flail around dangerously. “What about you?” the girl continued.
“What about me?” Jaxon replied nonchalantly, subtly batting his eyes to recover from his teary outburst.
Jaxon didn’t get asked his name much. Most retics knew him by reputation, and the rest avoided him once they saw his tail and skin color.
“Your name, don’t you have one?” she asked.
“Of course I have one.” Jaxon replied. “It’s Jaxon. Jaxon Miniheart. You must be new here or else you would have known that already. I’m kinda famous. You may have heard about my arena match a few weeks ago. It was a huge deal.”
“No, sorry. I haven’t had a chance to hear very much yet. I just arrived this afternoon.”
“Where were you from before you came here?” Jaxon asked. He figured a little conversation with her couldn’t hurt. She didn’t seem too bad for someone so human looking. Plus, he figured if he was going to live here it might be nice to have someone to talk to that didn’t bark their responses back.
“I was raised way up to the North,” Tyranna answered, “a few miles from the Baltic Sea. I lived in a monastery in the town of Lipkos, near the port city of Gluesk.”
Jaxon had absolutely no idea where she was referring to. He very rarely paid attention when Saan was teaching him geography. He found no use for it. What difference did it make where the humans lived now? Rosehaven was his home. Maybe someday he’d live in the Underworld but never anywhere
with humans.
“So, what are you? You look like a human.” Jaxon wasn’t quite sure if he meant to insult her or not, but it was the only way he could think to phrase the question. She didn’t seem to be hurt by the question.
“Sir Reginald, the one who saved me and brought me to the Wild Rover, said it’s likely I have elven blood somewhere in my history, but it’s hard to believe. Apparently, I have some strange ability to take the form of animals, but I don’t know too much about it. What about you? What species are you?”
“Are you serious?” Jaxon waited to see if she was joking. When she didn’t respond, he continued. “You really can’t tell?” Jaxon paused a moment for more emphasis and then said with a proud flourish, “I’m a demon.”
Tyranna looked taken aback, like that was not an answer she ever expected. “You mean a real demon. Like from . . . down there?” The young girl rolled her eyes toward the floor, indicating Hell.
Jaxon laughed. This girl obviously knew nothing. He couldn’t believe she had been chosen to attend Thales! So much for only taking the best and brightest students from around the island. There standards really dropped since he was admitted.
“No Tyr, not from down there. That’s a human story they make up to scare children. The Underworld is on a separate plane. It’s like a completely different place than Earth. Only the most powerful sorcerers can open up a portal between the two worlds. I’m probably gonna make one someday, maybe even go down and visit a bit. See my real father.” The words came out easier than Jaxon had thought they would. Something about talking about himself always put Jaxon at ease.
“But . . . I thought demons were horrible, evil creatures?”
“How do you know I’m not?” Jaxon asked playfully. In fact, he had been called that very same thing at least three times since the month started.
“I figured evil boys don’t have dogs that demand belly rubs from strangers.” Tyranna smiled. Apparently she had already convinced herself that not all demons were so bad. Jaxon was fine with that. It had been a very long day and he was really too tired to do anything that would change her mind anyway.
“I guess you have a point there. You’re not wrong though. A lot of people here think all demons are evil. I guess it’s because so many of them are. It’s kinda easy to get caught up in it. We have free will though, just like every other thinking creature in the world. We can choose how to act. Take me for example. Some days I like to wake up and do horrible things to people for fun. Other days I like to sleep in. It’s my choice. I mean the only truly evil creatures are humans, but I’m sure you already know that.”
“You think humans are the evil ones? Most humans I know are very nice people.” Tyranna looked hurt at Jaxon’s accusation.
“Nice to you, sure. I’m guessing they thought you were one of their own.” Jaxon could see that he had her with that comment. Perhaps she was smarter than she appeared. She at least understood basic logic.
“They did . . . but . . .” Tyranna trailed off searching for an argument. Jaxon could tell she wanted to defend the humans, but couldn’t find the words to use. For a moment no one said anything, when suddenly Tyranna perked up and spoke.
“We need to get down to the great hall soon to meet everyone. They told me we need to be there by five and I hate to be late.” Then, in a whispered, sly voice she uttered, “Do you want to race?”
“Race? Are you kidding? We’re in a building. We can’t race in here. Plus, we just met. I wouldn’t want to beat you and make you upset.”
Tyranna looked at Jaxon like he was crazy. “It’s ok. I understand. You’re afraid!” She taunted him with a quick smile when Rigby let out a series of earsplitting barks before plowing past the two children, out the door and down the corridor.
“I forgot to tell you, racing is her favorite activity!” Jaxon shouted as he bolted after his dog ignoring his own advice about not being able to run in a building. Rules had never been his thing anyway, so why change today?
Tyranna was quickly on his heels, trying to compensate for Jaxon’s head start. Jaxon reached the stairs first, and began shimmying from one to the other. Suddenly, Tyranna darted past, taking two steps at a time, her longer legs easily moving from one height to the next. She moved past him and out of sight, like a gazelle running from a predator.
Jaxon tried matching her pace, but he was so intent on beating her he didn’t notice the large leg that had been extended in front of him. He tumbled forwards to the floor as he ran straight over the new roadblock, smashing his head on the stone at the same time.
Rolling over to his backside, he checked the area where he had hit with his hand. No blood, just a painful lump. Hearing the noise of his fall, Rigby was already back at her master’s side, far more concerned with his well-being than with their race.
“Ha! Beat by a girl twice in one month, eh Miniheart? At least this one didn’t stab you, too.” The rhetorical question came from a large hairy boy in front of him. He was at least a foot taller than Jaxon with a thick muscled body and the head of a particularly repulsive bull. He had two large bone horns protruding from his skull, each with a menacing point. His short rounded muzzle displayed an extremely unfriendly grin.
As if she knew exactly what Jaxon was thinking Rigby bared her teeth at the minotaur.
“Awww isn’t that cute. The little demon has himself a defender. Too bad she couldn’t protect you from Bushytail. It was hysterical seeing her kick your butt all over that arena.”
“You may have missed it Bull, but I won that fight. I lit that squirrel right on fire. I’ll do the same to you if I need to.” Jaxon tried to sound tough, but sitting on the floor in Bull’s imposing shadow undermined his attempt.
“Won? Is that what you wanna call that lucky freak show? You came one little fire spark away from being past tense. Maybe later I can finish what the squirrel started.” Rigby’s growling began to grow as she waited for Jaxon’s command to attack. All I have to do is say the word and she would have her jaw around your leg faster than a dwarf can chug ale.
“Hey, are you alright, Jaxon?” asked Tyranna running back to the bottom of the stairs. “I just noticed you weren’t still following me anymore. Are you hurt?”
Jaxon didn’t understand why she had come back. She had won the race. She should be waiting at the great hall ready to gloat. Instead, she came back to check on him. There was something seriously wrong with this girl.
“He’s just tired from that beating he took in the arena. You would think he’d be used to it by now.”
Tyranna shot Bull a look that made Jaxon cringe. “I don’t know who you are sir, but treating others poorly is not the right way to act. You should apologize to Jaxon and offer to help him up.”
Jaxon sighed. The first retic his own age he’d ever met that was actually nice to him and she just happened to be completely insane.
“Oh, this is amazing,” cried Bull, nearly doubled over with laughter. “Not only did you get yourself beat by a girl, but now you have one defending you too! And not just any girl but another disgusting half-blood piece of garbage, just like you. Seriously though, you two aren’t even worth my time. I’m going to eat.”
Content that he had humiliated Jaxon enough for one day, Bull left them, though he kept laughing the entire way back to the great hall. Rigby kept her eyes locked on her target until he was out of site, never leaving Jaxon’s side.
“Does she always do that?” asked Tyranna as she reached out her hand to help Jaxon up.
“Do what?” replied Jaxon, feeling a bit embarrassed. Demons weren’t supposed to get picked on. Not even by a small minded, muscle headed minotaur.
“Rush to defend you against everyone you bump into,” Tyranna answered.
“Oh that. Yeah, I guess she does. She’s kinda protective.”
“We should get into the hall. Everyone was seated when I looked in before.” Tyranna reached her hand down to help Jaxon to his feet. He reluctantly accepted.
Jaxon
nodded his agreement.
The dining area took Jaxon’s breath away. Upstairs the entire building seemed quiet and serene, but down here was a completely different atmosphere. There were six stone tables arranged into three rows, each filled with students. On a dais was a seventh table, filled with older men and women. Jaxon assumed they must have been the teachers.
Though Jaxon had never actually met a real teacher before today, he figured that they were one of the few professions that could be accurately identified on sight. Each of the instructors wore a hodgepodge of brightly colored robes, which made them look more like they should have been leaving the bathtub rather than presiding over an assembly. To top off their less than posh style it seemed that someone had handed out several sets of matching black reading glasses, with thickness varying from very thick to how-can-they-possibly-hold-their-heads-up thick. Jaxon was about to comment on the rotating array of hair styles—a bald man, followed by a woman with a beehive, followed by a bald man, followed by a . . . well something else with another beehive, Jaxon couldn’t really identify gender without further investigation—when one of the men began to speak.
He was a gnome. That didn’t surprise Jaxon. Gnomes were strange creatures and had a weird love of learning. On top of his head he wore the world’s largest, pointiest, and without a doubt least fashionable hat Jaxon had ever seen. The hat was a bright white, like fresh undergarments on laundry day. The only difference, Jaxon believed, was that he would be less embarrassed to be seen wearing nothing but his undergarments than he would be to be seen with a three foot tall cone on his head. The thing did look like it had some practical uses, however, and Jaxon imagined if you turned it over, it would make a great container for a delicious frozen desert.
“Welcome to another year here at Thales,” the speaker began in a loud booming voice. “As most of you know, I am Professor Gnorbert G. Tallhat.” Jaxon was forced to bite his tongue mid-laugh to stifle his own noise. It was one thing to wear a ridiculous piece of headwear in public and quite another to name yourself after it.
