Ascension of the Whyte
Page 9
made up from three interlocking triangles.
Arjan explained, “The book is the symbol for Cognito, it’s also on the potens pin worn by all of the Memorix novices and ascendants. The bee symbolises morphology and is worn by the Metamorphs, The Ouroboros serpent symbolises immortality and represents alchemy so is worn by alchemists, and the vaulknut is the symbol of Magica worn by mages and wizards. Therefore, you’ll need to start in here.”
He leant forward and opened the heavy, wooden door to the morphology classroom.
“Enjoy your first day. You’ll have plenty to discuss this evening if yours is anything like mine was.”
The four new Mud ascendants rushed past them into the classroom.
“You’d better go, or you won’t get a good seat” encouraged Arjan “Hopefully they have thought to add another four.”
Inside the Morphology classroom it was bright, cheerful, noisy and smelly. The walls of the huge, dome-shaped classroom were lined with hundreds of cages, housing just about every conceivable type of animal imaginable. The room’s aroma was a heady mix of musty straw, animal fur, feathers and excrement. Though not wholly unpleasant, it was enough to prompt Auriel to delicately hold the tip of her nose between two of her fingers as she entered. The centre of the room was dominated by a magnificent, round, goldstone table. It had a large open space at its core, and on its far side was an opening which formed a path to this central circle.
Rose sat down with the rest of her cell at the far end of the table and waited patiently for their first class. Soon all of them; Muds, Bloods, Golds and Whytes were seated. Everyone appeared subdued and quiet, but the atmosphere was electric.
Ash let his eyes wander around the room and although the novices were quiet, the room was not. There was a cacophony of animal sounds radiating from the creatures in the cages. He could hear hissing, cooing, barking, squawking, squeaking as well as some extremely strange unimaginable noises that he could not believe were generated by any living creature. He stared wide-eyed and fascinated by the variety of life in the cages in front of him. There were winged birds, winged reptiles and mammals, large insect-like creatures, cats, bears and even fish who seemed to be suspended in some kind of invisible liquid, floating and swimming around within their cages.
In a cage suspended on the wall at the back of the room, directly above the rear opening of the table, Ash noticed a magnificent gold and red bird. It possessed a razor sharp, hooked beak, and enormous talons. The label on its cage told him that the animal was a golden fyre hawk. Noticing Ash’s eyes upon it, the creature turned its two golden eyes to meet his.
“Well,” it said to him tersely, “ You seem to have found me, so how long do you intend to make me wait, before you let me out?”
Small shivers of flame shot out from the nostrils of the hawk’s hooked beak as it spoke. Ash’s mouth fell open; he looked around at the other novices, but was surprised to see that none of the others were reacting at all.
“Lee,” he said, nudging him and pointing at the hawk “did you just hear that bird ask to be let out of its cage?”
Lee raised an eyebrow “are you saying that you did?”
“Bird! Bird! How dare you!” The hawk screeched at him, “ I’ll have you know that I am an Aurum fyre hawk. Which means that you are in the presence of royalty, and anyway, it’s no good asking him,” the hawk scoffed, waving his beak towards Lee. “He won’t hear me, he’s a mere Alchemist, so clearly he will not have the potentia.”
Ash’s jaw dropped. Desperately he looked around at the other novices for confirmation from someone, anyone, that he was not going totally barmy. The hawk flapped its wings noisily, shaking its head.
“Come on….” Said the bird, “ I’m getting stiff in here, do hurry up young Ash, we haven’t got all day you know!”
Again he looked around at the other novices who remained in their seats, quietly waiting. Nobody seemed to be hearing any of this, except Ash. He poked a finger inside each of his ears, giving it a little wiggle.
“You’re not hearing me with your ears young Ash” the hawk said, sounding exasperated. “Come on now, let me out, we need to begin, and it appears that the success of this lesson rests solely with you...”
Ash looked around at his classmates yet again, still expecting someone to say something. When no one did, he got up, ambled over to the hawk’s cage and hesitantly opened its large bear claw toggle fastening.
The hawk, its wings flapping loudly, flew from the cage to the accompanying shrieks of the young novices, as it flew over their heads and towards the central arena of the table. As the hawk descended its form became phosphorescent and indistinct, a mixture of glowing vapour and solid form. Then as it landed the glow subsided and standing before them was Lord Irwin, the Morphology Magister.
“Well done Lord Ash,” he said “It appears that everything that I have read about you is true. I am very much looking forward to helping you to develop your evidently outstanding Morphology potentia even further.”
Ignoring Ash’s dumbstruck look he addressed the other novices, who were in possession of similar expressions.
“Welcome to Morphology first years. In this class, all of you will learn to use your potentia to communicate with other creatures to a greater or lesser extent. Most of you will have the potentia to practice verto, in order to morph aspects of your form to suit your purpose; forming gills, fins or wings when needed. A few of you will be able to develop your potentia further, enabling you to complete a full metamorphosis, such as the one you have just witnessed.”
An eager buzz emerged from the novices. They quietened as Lord Irwin raised his tone.
“However, before we begin your introduction to the world of the Morphology, I have been asked to present you with your ascendant's pins and report cards. Your pins are for identification and safety purposes and should be worn at all times. Your report cards will give you an insight into how you performed in your previous ascension and indicate any areas that may require improvement. Those are the areas on which you should aim to work the hardest, over your next three years as a novice.”
Lord Irwin handed each student a sheet of parchment which had been folded into a triangular envelope. As Ash broke the wax seal, a gold pin slipped out into his hand. At the top of the pin was a golden bee and below this Ash’s name had been engraved onto a thin gold ribbon. He pinned it to his robe before unfolding the parchment. Inside was a beautifully handwritten script, it read:
‘Lord Ash. You had a good last ascent. Though there are, as you will see below, a few areas of potentia that you will need to work on. I am, however, extremely pleased to say that your work in Morphology was exemplary and well deserving of the Morphology prize that you were awarded on your graduation. You are certainly likely to provide the other novices with much challenge and inspiration this ascension. Welcome back to the Oratory of Aurum. Lord Bertram Dux, Prima Magister, Oratory of Aurum.’
Below this was a subject by subject report beginning with a grade.
‘Magica: Grade C
Ash, you have developed your potentia in Magica to an acceptable level. Improvements can be made by striving to be less distracted in class and more frequent practice outside the classroom environment. Theodore Goldin, Magica Magister
Alchemy: Grade D
Your progress in Alchemy last ascent was poor. Your potentia in charm making can only be described as immature. However, you are much stronger in pharmacology, primarily due to your ability to commune with the pharmacon loris. You should endeavour to take all your classes more seriously this ascension in order to bring your potentia in Alchemy, up to the level of your Morphology studies. Alain De Lille, Alchemy Magister
Cognito: Grade D
Lord Ash, though you have displayed some conscientiousness in your study of the subject, I fear that Cognito is not where your natural abilities lie. I have rarely experienced a student who has generated such poor results. However, it appears that when you are engaged in an
area of study you are capable of attaining much higher grades. For example, your retention of ‘The Dragons of Hydrargyrum’ and ‘Creatures of the Forests of Ferrum’ was almost faultless. I would hope that this ascension you will expand your interests more generally and thereby increase your breadth of knowledge. Clara Tesler, Cognito Magister
Morphology: Grade AAA
Lord Ash, you are by far the most talented Metamorph that I have ever had the pleasure of teaching. To my knowledge your potentia is unsurpassed by any other ascendant past or present. I feel that I have little left to teach you, my only hope is, that you are able to put your great potentia in this area to good use in your future ascensions. Murdoch Tremayne, Morphology Magister.’
“What does yours say?” asked Auriel, as she pinned her open book pin onto her robe. Not allowing him time to answer, she went on, “I’ve C’s in everything except for Cognito. I got a double A in Cognito. According to Lady Tesler, I have an amazingly brilliant memory, which is strange because I don’t remember a thing about this place. It’s so bizarre they could be talking about anyone. It doesn’t feel as if this is about me at all. I wonder if it’s a good indication of how we are going to do in our classes this time around.”
Ash shrugged “I don’t know. I hope so though, because I got a triple A in Morphology” he