It's not like they had any free time that day. Herb study followed right after communication with animals and you can certainly imagine Aedan's face when he found out that most of his novices weren't able to read a single word from their books! That was the end of their lessons outside. Aedan chased them all back into the citadel and those who couldn't read had to stay with him in the underground chamber with the huge hearth, buried under exercises in both writing and reading. The others had to spend the rest of their afternoon closed in their dungeon study-rooms and learn from the books they carried across the forest earlier that day. But this time, Aedan took precautions. He locked the remaining members of the Black Squad — Darius and Viktor — in their study rooms with two heavy locks, just in case.
X. The Forgotten Book
The novices were usually quiet and obedient when Aedan sat with them in the dining room, but that wasn't the case today. He was late coming for breakfast and therefore no one cared about his rules. Everyone used this opportunity to chat and play games with their friends.
Magnus was one of the last novices to enter. As soon as he stepped inside, all faces turned to him, with their words frozen in their throats. Magnus wasn't sure what the reason was for this. He slowly made his way to the seat that Maren had frantically guarded for him.
Shortly they stopped staring and most of the children went back to talking, but there were some who kept on throwing Magnus covert looks. In the morning chatter, Darius couldn't miss hearing the new nickname that Magnus had earned among the novices.
“The lord of ravens, such nonsense,” Darius muttered irritably, shaking his head in disbelief. He wasn't the only one who seemed to be in a gloomy mood — the whole Black Squad was frowning like the sky before a storm, but there was still one member missing.
The door suddenly swung open. Like the wind, Rodrick panted into the dining room and flung himself onto the empty seat among his friends. They seemed to be impatiently waiting for him. All four of them leaned closer.
“Well? Have you found anything?” Viktor said quietly.
Darius wrinkled up his forehead as they all waited for an answer.
“It wasn't easy,” Rodrick said in a weighty tone, “But in the end I found it.” Upon these words, he unveiled a bundle of scrolls, wrapped together in his coat. Compared to the ones in the citadel's library, these were not brownish, burnt, dank nor falling apart. They were all completely new.
“Excellent,” Viktor said, his expression clearing. He grabbed the scrolls and started skimming through them recklessly under the table as none of the other novices were welcome to see what he and his friends were doing. His face brightened even more when he found what he was looking for. “Magnus,” he whispered in hope, but he wasn't too pleased when he opened the scroll. There was no other information than Magnus' name and his age.
Viktor's hands trembled with anger. He almost crumpled the scroll as if it was a piece of junk.
“Why do you care about it so much? It doesn't matter, does it?” Giselbert said negligently. He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he involuntarily smelled the dish that lay before him.
“I want to know who we are dealing with. There's something more to him, I tell you,” Viktor said, watching Magnus with narrow eyes.
“Trust,” Rodrick agreed, “He's stronger than a mature man!”
Darius rolled his eyes.
“Oh please! He's just lucky, that's all,” he grumbled, without much conviction. There was a great deal of envy in his voice.
Viktor looked more concerned than usual. “Isn't it odd? Nobody knows where he came from or who he is and yet everyone admires him. It even seems that he already knows everything we're supposed to learn here. And his strength... his strength is unbelievable.”
“Believe,” breathed Henry's voice.
When the four boys mentioned nearly all the extraordinary abilities they had observed about Magnus, Darius tore the scrolls from Viktor's hands.
“That girl Maren is with him all the time. She must know something,” he whispered, carefully browsing the papers to find Maren's name. “If we learn something about her, then maybe through her we could learn something about him.”
For a moment, his friends stared at him wordlessly, as if they couldn't understand how he came up with such a smart idea. But after all, Darius was their leader, so they should have expected nothing less.
“You're right,” Viktor nodded as he rounded on Giselbert, Rodrick and Henry sitting on his left, “We need a plan.”
“Right!” said Rodrick eagerly, while Darius who sat at the end of the table was browsing the scrolls in great haste. “One of us could get closer to her and act as a big friend of hers!” he said swiftly, raising his carrot-red eyebrows in excitement.
“And in the meantime, we'll get a bunch of information from her,” Henry added thoughtfully.
Viktor suddenly turned back to Darius, a sinister sneer breaking across his face.
“What do you think about it, Darius?”
Darius twitched in his seat as if he was interrupted when doing something he didn't want the others to know about.
“What? Oh! Yeah, yeah, that's great!” he said in the tone of acted enthusiasm, as he had no idea what they were talking about. “I found her document. Here,” he said, handing the parchments over to Viktor with his left hand, Maren's scroll on the top. His right hand was hidden under his chair, holding something that no one was supposed to see.
It appeared that Viktor was extremely pleased with their new plan.
“Perfect. I am sure we can find something interesting here,” he said in a tone of malicious delight when he unfolded the scroll and his eyes slid across its rich contents. Maren wasn't even aware Aedan held possession of something like this. But who would expect that Zimbadur's pigeon could bring him information about all the novices?
The Black Squad squeezed close together and started reading, trying to remember as much as they could or as much as their reading ability allowed them. The scrolls ought to be returned to Aedan's desk drawer as soon as possible. Naturally, this desk was located in a forbidden area. But despite the risk of being caught, all five of them seemed to be satisfied.
However, Maren wasn't. Magnus hadn't spoken to her at all since the moment he entered the dining room, not even a “good morning”. He hadn't touched his breakfast either.
“Why don't you eat? Should I feed you or what?” Maren said tartly as she started eating herself.
Magnus could hardly keep himself awake. It was a wonder his head was still above the plate and not inside it. He had had another sleepless night and his eyelids were drooping so much he saw two plates instead of one. He was just about to fall asleep, when a spoon full of small vegetable balls emerged right in front of his nose.
“Eat,” Maren mumbled.
Magnus didn't have the slightest appetite, especially when someone tried to feed him like a newborn. But when he heard Maren's heavy breath, he took the spoon from her and after a moment of hesitation he placed it in his mouth.
“Ugh,” he shivered as he swallowed. “That's disgusting. Who cooked this?” he said in his best effort to imitate the squeamishness of the Black Squad, but apparently, he imitated it far too well.
“ME,” Maren said in a highly dangerous tone.
That was probably the only thing that could wake Magnus entirely. Faster than a thunderbolt, he set off from his seat and jumped to the other side of the table with one brisk move.
Everyone raised their eyes from their food, making Fjalldís and the Black Squad no exception.
Magnus was desperately surveying the whole dining room, thinking frantically what to use for his salvation.
“Sorry, I didn't know... I just wanted to –” he stuttered as he watched Maren's fierce stare. They were now separated by the table full of plates with food and curious novices sitting in chairs.
“You didn't know, but you were thinking it!” Maren said in an injured voice, as she pointed at him with her spoon.<
br />
“No, absolutely not,” Magnus said quickly, trying to save himself. “I was just kidding, it's actually quite tasty, really –”
SPLASH!
There was no time to smooth things over. One of the green vegetable balls was catapulted directly from his plate, aiming right at him. Magnus ducked by the wall, his big eyes bulging from between his fingers. It took him a moment to realise that Maren missed him completely.
“What's the matter? Not enough?” she shrieked, her lips curled in a slightly malicious sneer. There was another shot at once and let's be honest — she took no mercy on him. The rest of the novices just watched food disappear from their plates and some of them joined the battle by giving supportive screams for either Maren or Magnus.
The wentire dining room was in complete chaos which was a perfect opportunity for Rodrick to sneak around Maren and slip out into the courtyard.
Shortly, they were all forced to stop and Magnus could breathe again. Or not?
“HE'S COMING!” bellowed Lars, the little boy who shared house with Magnus and one other friend. He had been standing on a stool near one of the windows, just to be able to see outside and alarm the others when the time came. He quickly swung himself onto his seat and still panting hard, he shot Magnus a frightened look.
The chaos had settled down immediately and in less than five seconds, everyone was sitting back in their seats, acting as if they were just finishing their breakfast. But there was no time to clean up.
The door banged open. Aedan, who was now standing at the threshold, had surveyed the whole dining room with a suspicious look. There was something strange about the silence, those frightened faces and — the green mess on the right wall.
“Who did this?!” Aedan's voice made all the dishes in the room shake and chink. The novices trembled too, but with all the guilt on her, Maren was shaking the most. What would happen to the one who had made a shooting range out of the dining room?
Magnus looked at Lars whose eyes were reflecting great fear as he gazed into nowhere. He was shivering and his hair stood upright, as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt. The sight of him didn't help Magnus summon much courage.
Aedan cast a piercing stare at the group dressed in black, sitting at the very end of the table.
“Only four,” he mumbled, when suddenly Rodrick bounded in. As soon as he noticed Aedan, a terrified expression landed on his face. His teacher didn't seem to be surprised at all though.
“There we go,” said Aedan bitterly. Then he swished his arm around, pointing his finger at the wall so quickly that the novices sitting in the front had to duck if they didn't want to get a good slap. “Is that your creation?” he said firmly, gazing fiercely at Rodrick.
A moment of silence ensued. Rodrick's eyes darted to the floor.
“Yes. It was me,” he said finally as he returned Aedan's piercing look. The whole room broke into a shocked whisper.
It seemed as though Aedan didn't make the slightest move, yet in seconds there was a lengthy scroll unfolded in front of Rodrick's nose. He leaned closer to his novice, pointing his finger at one of the rules of the vast guild codex, although it seemed impossible that he could find the right one without even looking at it.
“Read it aloud,” he said flatly.
Rodrick gave his teacher an imploring look, but since there was no response, he started reading.
“I will no – not w – waste – na – na – nat – natal sorcerers for –” he stuttered, but he was stopped by an irritated growl from his teacher.
A few of the novices chuckled, the fiery haired girl Serena among the first.
“I will not waste natural sources for nothing,” Aedan said instead of Rodrick as he stood upright again. “Do you remember this?”
“Yes,” Rodrick said bravely.
“And are you aware of the punishment that awaits you for breaking this rule?”
Rodrick gulped. “Yes,” he said, this time much less courageously.
“Wait for me outside,” Aedan said grimly. But before he left to follow his novice, he looked around his shoulder one last time, casting a stern glare at the remaining members of the Black Squad. “I am sure all five of you had a finger in the pie. And you,” he said, looking at the rest of his novices, “You can thank them for a big delay in our trip which means we will also return much later. You can only pray not to meet one of the Ragnan monsters when the darkness comes.” And he departed.
But the fear he had left in the room stayed — everyone trembled at his last words. The horrifying Ragnan monsters! As soon as the entrance door slammed shut, chaos took over the dining room once more. Maren and Magnus received several unfriendly gazes, while the Black Squad, as unusual as it was, was ignored completely. The only novice who looked in their direction was Fjalldís, but when her eyes met with Darius', she turned her gaze away.
Rodrick spent the whole morning exercising and apologising to Mother Nature. The others, on the contrary, had hardly anything to do. They were ready to go before noon, waiting for Aedan and Rodrick to return. Some of them were already packing their bags into a carriage bigger than the carts that brought them to Sinei, yet it looked that they couldn't all fit inside. It had a raised canopy now, since the weather was nice.
Maren tried to do the same. She pushed her backpack upwards into the cart, but her books fell out and scattered on the ground. She moaned desperately, but help came right in time.
“I'm sorry,” Magnus said guiltily as he effortlessly threw her backpack into the carriage. “I'm really sorry about what I said.”
Maren didn't look at him, but at least she seemed to have calmed down.
“No, it's fine. I should have cooked it properly,” she said bitterly, avoiding any eye contact with him. “You were right. It was disgusting.”
It looked like this was Magnus' chance to fix the misunderstanding. “No, it wasn't. I just wanted to make you laugh by imitating Darius and Viktor, but I guess it was a stupid idea,” he explained. After a moment of silence he noticed Maren gazing shyly at his hand that lay on the edge of the carriage and on... her hand.
Magnus felt his face turn red. He quickly withdrew his hand, looking at ten different places but certainly not at Maren.
“Anyway, I don't know how we're supposed to fit in there, just look at it! We're not even inside and it's already halfway full,” he blurted out. It was the first thing that came to his mind, but he was completely right. There was no way all of the novices with their backpacks could fit into this carriage!
Their question was answered by a loud rattle. Maren and Magnus exchanged wordless looks and the rest of the novices let out a few comments of rejection and disagreement. There was another carriage nearing them, its coachman rushing the horses towards them in such haste it made the wheels rumble on the stones and the whole thing tilt dangerously from side to side. Somewhere in the back, the Black Squad beamed in joy, screaming eagerly for another deadly ride.
As soon as the shabby coachman stopped, the boys in black got into the cart without hesitation and for even bigger adrenaline they sat at the very end of the carriage. But one of their members was still missing.
When Magnus saw Aedan and Rodrick finally coming back, Maren's knees started to tremble. It was only natural that Rodrick would hate her until the end of his days and it seemed he was walking straight towards her.
“I really don't understand why he took the guilt on himself, but he probably won't thank you for this,” Magnus muttered quietly.
As Rodrick strolled past Maren, she opened her mouth in order to apologise, but he was faster.
“You don't have to say anything. By the way, the breakfast was delicious,” Rodrick said, still wiping sweat off his forehead. Leaving astonished Maren and Magnus behind, he hopped into the shabby carriage and with a great feeling of putting Magnus to shame, he joined his friends in chatter.
Aedan didn't waste another minute.
“Everyone get into the carriages and let's go,” he said
coldly as he vanished to the rider's seat of the first cart.
There were two carriages, but only one of them was full. No one wanted to go with the Black Squad and especially not with that coachman! Two girls were still deciding though. Serena and Fjalldís were looking from one cart to another, knowing that one was crammed, but would travel safely and the other one was almost empty, but they might not survive the trip.
Seeing their faces, the entire Black Squad snickered.
“Come on girls, we have more than enough space for you here,” Darius said defiantly. He certainly didn't expect that Serena would take his words seriously though. She grabbed her backpack and without any hesitation joined the Black Squad in their dark cart.
“Good choice!” Viktor praised her brightly, thumping his fist on the cart's wooden floor. Serena repaid his approval with a roguishly sweet smile.
As Fjalldís seemed to hesitate, Darius fixed his steel-blue eyes on her. “Are you coming with us too?” he said with a dangerous smirk on his face, reaching his arm towards her.
Fjalldís looked first at his hand, then at his face.
“No thanks. I prefer life,” she said, leaving to Aedan's carriage. To her relief, she could still fit in.
Darius' smile vanished at once. He gaped after her incredulously as he watched her sit near Magnus, although the two of them weren't on speaking terms. “Fine, stay with those losers then!” he snarled angrily, which made Fjalldís look at him once more. It appeared her decision made him furious, but maybe he just couldn't accept “no” for an answer.
Naturally, the deadly cart reached Ragna first, but the guards didn't seem to be happy about their racing success. Eagle and Jackal surveyed them scornfully as their arrival forced them to get to work. The permits of the novices were to be checked by the police via telepathic devices, although it wasn't long ago when it was enough to simply hand them over to the guards who would later give them to the Magi Police. However, after their last “feat”, General Xanthar had decided for other safety arrangements.
As annoying as it was for the guards, soon they had to deal with another carriage which was much fuller and among other children, it also carried their biggest enemy, Magnus. They let him into the town very reluctantly, but that was nothing compared to the fury that Xanthar felt when he had to confirm that Magnus was indeed allowed to enter the town. Eagle almost grinded their telepathic device to dust.
Drakonika (Book 1) Page 18
