by Martha Carr
The front hall inside held its usual number of students leaving their last classes or approaching their next, but all of them walked with a syrupy sluggishness. Cheyenne caught snippets of conversation here and there, most of which stopped halfway through a sentence without anyone asking for the rest of it. Some of the students looked up from their dazed staring to watch her as she moved quickly down the hall, but the Goth girl was quickly forgotten in the fog.
Cheyenne picked up the pace to her undergrad classroom, scanning the blank faces and slow movements around her. Hell of a way to weed out the magicals from the humans. Now my normal speed is enhanced speed.
The classroom was empty when she stepped through the door three minutes before her 10:30 class. She flipped on the lights and headed down the aisle to her desk at the front of the room. The activator didn’t pull up anything in her vision, no traces of floating airborne blight and definitely no spying war machines. “I guess we’re good for now.”
She gingerly shrugged off her backpack and set it on the desk. Fortunately, her open wounds weren’t giving her much trouble right now. Maybe that’s because the blight in the air is a bigger problem right now.
With a sigh, Cheyenne pulled out the chair behind the desk and waited for her students to show up.
At 10:35, only one short, dark-haired girl had wandered into the room, and it took her another three minutes to choose her seat. By 10:45, only half the class had shown up, all of them looking confused and like they forgot every other minute where they were and what they were doing here. Five minutes after that, Cheyenne cleared her throat and stood.
One of the kids in the back, who’d resorted to picking his nose in the absence of regular mental functioning, started when she moved. “Ow. Shit.” He pulled his finger out of his nose and stared at it.
“Okay.” Cheyenne clapped her hands. “So, it looks like this is what we’re working with today.”
“With what?” The kid who wore all the puka-shell necklaces cocked his head, his mouth hanging open.
Well, at least he managed to show up. “With class. Which is where you are, by the way.”
“I hope your mom’s okay,” the short dark-haired girl said in a breathy drawl.
Cheyenne looked sharply at her. “What?”
“Your mom. That sucks.”
How the fuck does she know shit about that? “Look, I don’t know what you think is going on.”
“Oh, yeah.” A larger guy with thick, round glasses slowly bobbed his head. “Because you weren’t here on Friday. Right? Wait, was I here on Friday?”
“Not sure.” Cheyenne stuck her hands in her pockets and frowned as she scanned the quarter-full classroom and only half of her students. “I wasn’t.”
“Yeah, ‘cause of your mom. That email you sent us made me sad.” The dark-haired girl stuck out her lower lip and nodded at Cheyenne, her eyes wide and glistening. “So, tell her good luck from me.”
“Right. Thanks.” Cheyenne took a deep breath. Maleshi had said she’d taken care of it. Pre-emptive mom issues for the win. I had no idea my mom would need more help when I was in a different world fighting Ba’rael on Friday.
“So, when do we get to…” The puka-shell kid’s voice trailed off as he developed a sudden interest in the overhead lights.
“All right. You know what?” Cheyenne thumped a fist on the desk, and her students jumped in their seats. “It’s your lucky day. I think we’ve all got a case of the Mondays, am I right?”
No one said a thing, and only half the students who’d bothered to show up even looked in her direction.
I can’t believe I said that. Hopefully, nobody remembers.
“All right. I’ll send out an email about this assignment too so nobody forgets, which seems likely right now. Go find whatever kind of job you’re hoping to get after college with a major in Computer Sciences and bring back all the info about it on Wednesday.”
“That’s our homework?”
“Yeah. Class is over early today.”
“Wait, what’s our homework?”
“The thing she just said. Didn’t you hear her say we have to, uh…what do we have to do?”
“Jesus.” Cheyenne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Go home and check your emails tonight, okay? I’ll send it out to everybody. Simple assignment. Time to leave.”
The undergrad students took five times longer than normal to get out of their seats and figure out where the door was. With a sigh, Cheyenne pointed at the back of the room and waited as they all slowly filtered out. Then she stared at the open doorway after the last of them had gone and rubbed her mouth. There’s no way I’m passing my first year of grad school when shit like this keeps getting in the way. I just gave them a fifth grader’s homework.
She grabbed her backpack off the desk and carried it by the top strap instead of slipping it over her shoulders. The lights clicked off when she slapped the light switch, and she walked quickly down the hall to where she knew Maleshi was teaching her class right now. She only passed two other people in the hall, a student staring blankly at a crack in the wall and a faculty member walking faster than anyone else she’d seen today but mumbling incoherently to himself and blinking.
I guess everyone’s affected by brain fog differently. This is bad.
When she reached Maleshi’s current classroom, a quick peek through the narrow rectangular window showed no difference in her human students. Maleshi was slumped in her chair at the front of the room, her eyes closed as she rubbed her forehead in aggravation. “No, Damien. This isn’t personal hygiene class. I don’t think that’s even offered at this university, but if that’s your biggest concern right now, I think it’s time for you to change disciplines.”
Cheyenne dropped her backpack against the wall and folded her arms, peering through the window as she tried to get a better look at the students. You’d think there’d be one or two magicals enrolled here who aren’t getting their brains blight-scrambled, right? Everyone’s human, and everyone close to that portal is screwed.
After five minutes of another irritatingly useless attempt to get her students to pay attention, Maleshi finally looked at the door and saw Cheyenne staring at her through the window. The general spread her arms and shook her head.
Cheyenne shrugged. Yeah, I don’t know, either, but we need to talk this over.
Fortunately, “Professor Bergmann’s” class got out at 11:15, so Cheyenne didn’t have to wait long for the opportunity to have that discussion. She didn’t think she had the willpower to stand at the open door while Maleshi’s students meandered out into the hall, starting and stopping random conversations without finishing a thought. One girl turned around to look at her professor and opened her mouth to say something. She forgot what it was, and Maleshi headed to the door to chase her out.
“Keep moving, kid.” She waved at the girl. “Whatever it is can wait ‘til the next class.”
“But it was important. I think.”
“I know. Look, I’ve got somewhere to be, and as much as I don’t wanna be there, it’s kinda my job. Go splash some water on your face or something, and I’ll see you Wednesday.”
“Water? I’m not thirsty.”
“Go, go, go.” Maleshi came as close as she could to pushing the girl into the hall without touching her.
Cheyenne frowned after the dazed, wandering students, then grabbed her backpack and stepped into the empty classroom with the general. “This is nuts.”
“Yeah, you’re telling me.” Maleshi folded her arms and stared at the slow river of students moving through the hall. Under her human illusion, she somehow managed to pull off looking concerned and amused at the same time. “Like there’s something in the water.”
“It’s in the air.”
“What?”
Cheyenne closed the classroom door behind her and gave the general a pointed look. “Literally in the air.”
“Sorry, kid. You lost me, ‘cause I was using a figure of speech.”
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“Yeah, I know. The new portal ridge I closed up out on the quad. That’s the issue.”
“It’s closed, Cheyenne. And inactive. I don’t see the connection.”
Cheyenne tapped the activator behind her ear. “But I did. Now we have more blight leaking out of the portals into the air, and it’s making the closest thing we can get to human zombies.”
The general’s green eyes narrowed. “You saw it?”
“Activator. Yep. I don’t know why I can see it on this side and not over there, but it’s like a giant gas leak with some random in-between smoke mixed up with it. That’s why everyone’s acting like they’ve lost their minds.”
“Huh.” Maleshi tapped her lip as she peered through the rectangular window again, then shrugged. “Well, they’ll have to deal with it.”
“What?” Cheyenne stayed where she was as the general turned around and stalked back to the desk and her rolling briefcase. “What do you mean, deal with it?”
“It’s pretty self-explanatory, kid.” Maleshi grabbed a stack of paper off the desk and shoved it into her open bag. “Look, there’s not a whole lot we can do until Venga’s work can wipe out the blight on the other side. Then the leaks will stop over here. Humans are used to brain fog, right? It happens all the time.”
“Not from a magical airborne poison.”
Maleshi scoffed, zipped up her briefcase, and grabbed the perpetually extended handle before rolling the thing after her. “Okay, fine. It’s a little different. And maybe it hasn’t happened like this on a mass scale, but they’ll be fine, kid. If this is the only way they’re affected by this leak, or whatever it is, it’s not the end of the world.” She leaned sideways to knock twice on the closest desk. “Huh. Not even sure that’s real wood.”
“So you’re not concerned.”
“Of course I’m a little concerned, but seriously, a little bit of disorientation never hurt anyone. Besides, fall break is coming up in two weeks. Everyone’s gonna write this whole thing off as autumn jitters. No big deal.”
“Except for when it gets worse.”
Maleshi stopped beside Cheyenne and turned to look at her head-on. “But it’s not worse. Not yet. If it gets to the point where it needs to be dealt with, then we’ll deal with it. Until then, you and I both know there are a few things currently inhabiting top-priority space. Right?”
Cheyenne frowned.
“Hey, if you took care of all the other more important issues on your own without me even knowing about it, congratulations.”
“No. I haven’t.”
“Oh. Well, there you go. First things first in order of importance, kid.” Maleshi nudged Cheyenne’s shoulder with the back of her hand. “Just gotta work your way down the list.”
“Yeah, okay.” Rolling her eyes, Cheyenne turned to follow the general dressed as Maddie Bergmann back out of the classroom. “Oh, hey. By the way, thanks for the ‘getting out of teaching undergrad classes free’ card.”
“You’re welcome. I’d ask what your students had to say, but I have a feeling the answer’s ‘not much’ today.”
“Yeah. They brought it up, though. Enough for me to figure out I apparently sent my entire class an email saying class was canceled on Friday.”
Maddie turned the doorknob. “That is convenient.”
“How’d you pull that off?”
“Please, Cheyenne.” When they stepped into the slowly emptying hall, the door pulled shut behind them with a click. “I found my way into your university email and sent a convincing Cheyenne Summerlin email. I’m sure you already know how easy that is to do.”
“Yep. But you didn’t send the same email to your class.”
“Of course not. That would be weird.” Maleshi took off down the hall to wherever she was headed next. “I took a sick day. But I did let the other graduate instructors and professors know that you were working through some personal family issues and that, as your mentor and the one who suggested you teach for your master’s, I approved your long weekend. No questions asked.”
“And this doesn’t count against me as a strike or whatever.”
“Nope. You’re in the clear, kid.”
“Cool. Thanks.”
“I have to get a move on, so if there’s nothing else?”
Cheyenne shrugged. “No, that’s it. Oh, and that meeting with the colonel and the Bull’s Head is tonight. Just a reminder.”
“Oh, sure.” Maleshi shrugged. “Yeah, I might show up. It depends on a few other things I have in the works.”
“Like what?”
“Hmm.” Maleshi kept moving down the hall and didn’t turn to look back at the halfling when she added, “Like private things that don’t have anything to do with you. I’ll text you the terror twins’ numbers. At the very least, they should be there if it comes down to a fight.”
“Yeah, okay. See you tonight.” Cheyenne sighed when the general disappeared around the corner without another word. “Maybe.”
Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket, and she pulled it out to find the goblins’ numbers already shared with her from Maleshi’s phone. She snorted. Noose Girl and Firebird. Only Maleshi would come up with names like that.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
It took Cheyenne under ten minutes to run in enhanced speed all the way back to her apartment from the VCU campus. Ember was still sitting on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in her lap now as she stared at the TV. Her eyes widened when Cheyenne burst through the door, dropped her backpack on the floor against the wall, and headed straight to the kitchen.
“Whoa. You’re back early.”
“Yeah.” Cheyenne flung open the cabinet above the sink to get a glass for some water. “Class got out early.”
“Okay. That statement’s lacking the usual excitement that comes with it.”
Cheyenne chugged the entire glass of water in one go, then took a huge breath and filled it again. “Maybe that’s because it wasn’t for any of the usual reasons.”
“Uh-huh.” Ember shifted on the couch and folded her arms over the back of it, resting her chin on her forearms as she watched her friend down another glass. “Whenever you’re ready. I’m listening.”
“Damn.” Cheyenne stared at the empty glass, briefly considered drinking another, then stuck it in the dishwasher instead. “Didn’t know I could get that thirsty.”
“I meant, whenever you’re ready to tell me about why you’re back now instead of in half an hour like you normally are.”
The halfling wiped her mouth. “Sorry. Did I interrupt something?”
“Very funny.”
“That new portal ridge I closed on campus? It’s leaking.”
Ember frowned. “I’m having a hard time picturing that.”
Cheyenne stepped into the living room and shrugged. “Leaking the blight and some in-between shit. Which is now airborne, apparently.”
Ember wrinkled her nose. “Not good.”
“Nope. I mean, it’s better than the blight the way we’ve seen it before popping on out through an active portal. That would be a serious issue, but this makes people confused and slow and fuzzy. In the head.”
“By people, I’m guessing you mean humans.”
“Well, yeah.”
“Also not good.”
Cheyenne nodded and walked slowly to the leather recliner. “True. Also not high on the priority list. And before you ask how I can possibly think that, I already talked to Maleshi. She doesn’t think it’s that big of a deal for now.”
“So you’re focusing on the more important things. I get it.”
Tilting her head, Cheyenne stared at her friend. I didn’t expect that, but okay. “Right. Hopefully, the airborne leak will clear up once we take care of everything else. It’s gonna be a weird scene on the quad out there until then.”
“Assuming it doesn’t get any worse before it gets better.”
“Yeah, Em.” Cheyenne lowered herself into the recliner and closed her eyes. “That can be said about pret
ty much everything we’ve got going on right now.”
The living room fell silent but for the high-intensity action scene playing out on the TV at a barely-above-a-whisper volume. Ember paused the show she was streaming and tossed the remote on the coffee table. “You okay?”
“Yep. Just trying to switch mental gears here.” Cheyenne kept her eyes closed and focused on her breathing. “And wondering why you’re asking.”
“You look tired.”
“Ha. Well, I didn’t sleep as well as I wanted.”
“Yeah, I don’t mean the dreams. You’re pale. I mean, paler than normal. You just chugged two glasses of water in under a minute, and you have leaves in your hair.”
Cheyenne opened her eyes and glanced at the tangles of her black wavy hair falling over her shoulder. “Drow speed to the school and back.”
She picked the leaves she could see out of her hair and leaned forward to set them on the coffee table.
Ember stared at the dried, crumbling mess with a frown. “You’ve got three blight-poisoned holes in your body, and you thought it would be a good idea to run all the way to VCU?”
“It worked, and I didn’t even have to stop. Not once. Leveling up with drow speed, right?”
“Leveling up with recklessness, maybe.”
“I’m fine, Em.”
Ember floated off the couch and approached her friend. “You don’t look fine. Honestly, you kinda look like when you woke up from your twelve-hour nap after the fight with Ba’rael you didn’t technically win.”
Cheyenne looked at the fae with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously. I’m good.”
“Cheyenne, this is your healer speaking. Quit playing tough drow and let me do my job.”
“It’s not your job to be my healer, Healer.”
Ember folded her arms. “No, but it’s my job to help you, make sure you have everything you need, and in this scenario, it’s also to look out for you and make sure you don’t run yourself into the ground. ‘Cause I have a feeling you will if nobody says anything.”
“Okay, fine,” Cheyenne said, “What do you want me to do?”
