Chapter 7

"That was a little close," Henry said with a sigh, the words only audible to Damien. "Stay far away from that woman. If I'd been a moment slower in pulling my presence back, she would have detected me and realized I wasn't from the Plane of Darkness."

Damien gave a jerky nod, too sick to give the eldritch creature a proper response. As people slowly got back to their feet, dark portals swirled into being all around the courtyard. About a dozen people stepped out from within them. Unlike the other mages Damien had seen today, these ones were all quite young.

If anything, they were only a few years older than he was. Their clothing didn't have any sort of apparent pattern to it, although many of them wore dark hues reminiscent of the ones the dean wore.

A woman in casual attire stopped before Damien's group and swiped something away from her face before casting an eye over them.

"Welcome to Blackmist College," she said. Her voice sounded tired. "I've been…elected as your upper-level buddy for your first year here. My name is Beth. You can come to me with any questions about how things work. I'm sure you've got a ton already, but I'd ask you hold them until after we get you all to your rooms."

"We don't have to room together?" Reena asked, breathing out a sigh of relief. The woman pierced her with an annoyed glance and Reena immediately blushed.

"Not all of you," Beth said, staring toward one of the portals and waving for them to follow. "There was a time when Blackmist College was small enough to give each student their own room, but we've grown in the past few years after the destruction of Starfall College. And no, I won't be telling you what happened to it. I don't know myself."

Beth pushed past a crowd of students following another mage through a different portal. She paused in front of the portal a few moments, letting another group pass through, before stepping in herself. The five followed her. They popped out at a small, old-looking arch at the foot of a huge rock slope.

"Anyway, a few of you will have to share your rooms," Beth continued, not perturbed by the teleportation whatsoever.

To Damien's pleasant surprise, he found he wasn't as sick as he had been the last few teleportations. His stomach only twisted uncomfortably before settling.

Damien peered up, but he couldn't tell where the mountain ended. There was a winding path that traveled up it, disappearing into the clouds in the distance.

"How many of us?" Nolan asked.

"I'd get to that in due time if you lot would stop asking questions!" Beth snapped. "The five of you have been assigned three rooms. That means two of you will be sharing, while the other one will be alone. And, before you ask, the person who decides who stays in each room is me."

Nolan didn't even have the grace to look sheepish. Beth shook her head and sighed as she started up the sloping path, leading the new students along behind her.

"I'm going to go ahead and stick the two people who can't listen to instructions in the same room. I get the feeling that's what you wanted, anyway," Beth said. Her tone made it very apparent she did not want a response, and Nolan was wise enough to recognize that. He just gave her an appreciative nod.

"Now, do any of you really desire to be in the single room? I'm inclined to give it to Sylph if not. While the school allows coed rooming, we've found people tend to dislike it."

Mark cleared his throat and reached into his jacket, shuffling around for a few moments before pulling out a slip of paper. Beth noticed the motion and stopped walking to take it from him. She scanned it and her eyebrows rose slightly.

"Ah. That's as good a reason as any I've heard. The solo room goes to you, then," Beth said, clearing her throat. She gestured for them to start walking again. "Then the remaining two of you will room together as well."

Her tone booked no room for argument. Damien refrained from glancing in Sylph's direction to see her reaction. He'd already dealt with enough annoyed glances today.

"Now, your rooms will be near the lower end of the mountain," Beth said. "The runes on this pathway can provide a very limited form of teleportation by essentially compressing space in a small area. They're able to recognize who you are, so you can direct them to any room you'd like. If you aren't thinking of one in particular, you'll show up at your own."

Beth came to a stop at a fork in the road. One led further up the mountain, while the other trailed inwards along a flat area in the mountain. It stopped before three decently sized cave openings lined up within the rock.

Damien glanced over the edge of the mountain and instantly regretted it.

It wasn't that he was scared of heights but looking down the sloping edge of an enormous mountain to the clouds below wasn't an experience one should take unprepared.

He looked up, but the top of the mountain was so high in the sky he still couldn't make it out.

"Are we meant to make this journey every time?" Reena asked. "What if we fall off?"

"We've yet to have anyone fall," Beth said, leading them along the flat area and up to the caves. "Don't become the first. The runes on the path are enchanted to keep you on them. If you slip off, it'll be on purpose."

Beth stopped before the cave entrances. She reached into a pocket and pulled out three pieces of metal. They shimmered and launched into the air, each one slapping into the stone above the cave entrances. The stone curled around it, sealing them within its grasp. Each piece of metal had a set of names—or a single name, where Mark's was concerned—imprinted on it.

"This is how you'll find your rooms again in the future," Beth said. "Now, you're welcome to do anything you like in your rooms. Anything. They'll be reformed when you leave or graduate, so don't worry about it. I'm going to leave you lot alone for a few hours to get used to your new lodging and figure out what questions you want to bother me with."

She paused, then turned to Damien and Sylph.

"I've got a few more words to say to you two."

She stepped inside Damien and Sylph's cave without waiting for them to respond. Sylph followed emotionlessly after her with Damien close behind.

To Damien's dismay, the cave was small. In fact, miniscule might have been more appropriate. There was barely enough room for the two beds that had been set on either side of the room. There were only a few feet of space between them. There was a small hole behind Beth that led into another room, but it was too dark for Damien to see into it.

Beth strode to the end of the room and gestured for Damien and Sylph to sit on the two beds. Sylph chose the one on the left, so Damien plopped onto the one on the right, doing his best to avoid making eye contact with the dark-haired girl.

"Blackmist takes the safety of its students very seriously while they're on campus," Beth said. "I'm going to be blunt.

If either of you overstep your lines, personal or otherwise, there will be very serious consequences."

Beth made eye contact with Damien, then turned and did the same with Sylph.

"And I do mean either of you. Blackmist doesn't care who you were. All that matters is that you're now a student.

We will do our best to provide a learning environment for you. Any disruptions to that will be dealt with in the most efficient manner possible."

"Understood," Sylph said seriously.

"Same here," Damien said.

"Good," Beth said. Her face relaxed slightly for a moment. "Please, don't take this as me implying either of you would act inappropriately. It's just something we tell everyone sharing a room with someone they don't know."

She stood up, gave them another nod, and strode out of the room. Damien looked around, doing everything but making eye contact with Sylph.

The only light in the room came from the sun outside, and it had already started its downward path. Damien sighed. He grabbed his travel bag and set it on his bed, dumping out its contents just to have something to do. He felt Henry stir within his mind.

"Are you going to let me come out and say hi to your new friend?" Henry asked. "She doesn't have a keen eye like that dean woman so no risk of her figuring anything out. It would be fun to move around on the mortal plane."

Absolutely not.

"Come on, now. You're just being rude, to me and to her.

She's been pretty nice to you so far. Just introduce yourself, you wuss. You're going to need pawns if we're going to conquer the world."

"Shut up," Damien muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry?" Sylph asked.

Henry's laugher faded into the background as Damien forced his companion away from the front of his mind, cringing the entire time.

"I'm so sorry, I was —" "Talking to your companion?" Sylph guessed.

Damien blinked. That wasn't the reaction he'd expected.

"Yes, actually," he said. "I didn't realize many people did that."

"They don't," Sylph said. "But you had the same spacey look you had before you took the test earlier today, and you were talking to someone then as well. Your mouth was moving a little."

"She's a sharp one," Henry observed. "And by that, I mean she has basic observational skills. Maybe it's best we don't meet. You'll probably spill something important by accident."

Damien ignored him as he was growing accustomed to doing.

"I…ah, yeah, I was talking to my companion," Damien said meekly. Henry prodded him again. "I'm Damien, by the way."

"I know," Sylph said, flat faced. "Your name is above the door, right next to mine."

Damien blinked as Henry roared with laughter within him. Then a smirk flickered across Sylph's tanned features, vanishing as quickly as it had arrived.

"I'm just giving you a hard time," Sylph said, extending her hand. "I'm Sylph."

Damien shook her hand, suppressing a sigh of relief.

Sylph nodded at the travel pack currently scattered over his bed.

"What's in there?" She asked.

"Nosey. I like her," Henry said, his voice fading as Damien tuned him out. "She's going to be disappointed when she finds out it's all boring."

"It's mostly rune drawing stuff, clothes, and basic necessities," Damien said. He paused for a moment, noticing the uneasy expression on Sylph's face. "Rune drawing is a lot more useful than people think."

"Oh, I don't doubt that," Sylph said with a nervous frown. "I just thought the college would provide the basic stuff we need."

"They didn't even give us a whole room," Damien pointed out. "I guess that tiny room behind us is probably the bathroom. Maybe they put something in there?"

Sylph stood up and stepped into the dark room. Damien followed after her, stopping at the edge of the room since he didn't know how large it was. Their bedroom was only dimly lit by the sun, and the tiny room behind it was even worse so. It was dark, aside from a tiny sliver of light that eked its way in.

"Why is there so little light in here?" Damien grumbled.

"It's not that dark outside."

"The mountain has runes limiting the light coming into your room, among other things," Henry said within Damien's mind.

"Well, that's just great," Damien said.

"Did you just reply to yourself?" Sylph asked. "Or was that the friend in your head?"

"It sounds weird when you put it like that," Damien said.

"And it's my companion."

"He," Henry corrected. "I've decided I like being male.

It's probably because I've been trapped in your mind for the past few years. Also, I've made myself a —" Damien grunted, cutting Henry's telepathic sentence off.

"Well?" Sylph prodded. "If you're going to talk to it, you could at least fill me in on what it said."

"What he said," Damien corrected, sighing and trying not to blush, "is that he's male as of a few seconds ago. And he said that the mountain has runes blocking light from entering our rooms."

"Wonderful," Sylph said. Damien heard a thud followed by a curse.

"Hold on," Damien said. "I think I can help a little."

He grabbed a stick of chalk from his kit and followed Sylph into the room. It was almost pitch black, but Damien didn't need light to see what he was doing. He felt around on the wall for a few moments, looking for a smooth area, and then drew.

Sylph remained silent as the rapid scratch of chalk on stone filled the room for several moments. Damien finished and stepped back from his work, accidentally bumping into Sylph.

"Sorry," Damien said.

At the same time, a halo of gentle golden light lit up on the wall. It faded slightly before settling into a steady glow, casting the tiny room in yellow and gray hues.

It wasn't particularly inspiring. There was a small stone shelf with a hole in the center at the back of the room.

There was a small door Damien opened to reveal a bowl of stone with a hole at the bottom and a line of basic runes along the top.

"Well, it's a bathroom," Damien said. He stepped out to see Sylph investigating the left side of the room, where a dozen tiny holes had been carved in the ceiling. Damien spotted several rune circles on the wall, and another dozen miniscule holes on the floor beneath Sylph's feet.

"Is that supposed to be the shower?" Damien asked, aghast. "Couldn't they at least have given us a curtain?"

"They didn't give us anything," Sylph said, heaving out a heavy sigh. "Damn it. Do you think we get an allowance?"

"No clue," Damien said. "Dean Whisp mentioned the Treasure Pavilion, but I think that was for quest rewards.

They said we could get food for free, though. Is there something wrong?"

"I didn't bring anything with me," Sylph muttered so quietly Damien could barely hear her.

"Wait, really? Not even a toothbrush?" Damien asked.

"What does the word 'anything' mean to you?"

"Right, sorry," Damien said. "I'm sure there's a general store, though. Can't you hop down when we go into town and buy some of the basics?"

Sylph flushed slightly.

"No," she said. "I meant it when I said I didn't bring anything with me. I thought the college would have the basic things we needed, at least for the first few weeks."

"I don't like her that much anymore," Henry said. "Don't even think about giving her the money in your bag. That's ours."

It's mine, not ours.

Damien stepped out of the bathroom and glanced over the stuff he'd laid out on his bed. A large portion of his bag had been clothes, but he'd still packed some extras just in case.

"I don't know exactly what you need, but I've got a spare toothbrush and an extra stick of soap. I'm not sure how much I can help with clothes or anything else…" He handed them to Sylph, who took them with an uncertain look. When Damien didn't ask for anything in return, she gave him a small nod.

"Thank you. I don't think you'll want these again, but I'll pay you back for them once I've got some money."

"Don't worry about it," Damien said, shaking his head.

"They were just spares in case something went wrong."

"Do things generally go wrong in a way that makes you need a second toothbrush?" Sylph asked curiously as she stepped back into the bathroom and set her new toothbrush and soap on the left side of the counter.

"Well, no. But this is the first time I've ever left my town, so how would I know? Statistically, every time I've left home has resulted in someone needing my backup toothbrush."

Sylph flushed again as she came back out and sat on her bed. She nodded toward the open entrance of the cave, frowning slightly.

"I'm noticing our new home doesn't have a door," Sylph said, changing the subject. "Beth said we'd be allowed to change our rooms however we wanted to. I suppose we're meant to do some renovation."

"That just seems like an excuse for the school to be cheap," Damien complained. "But it doesn't make sense.

They said they revert all the changes old students did. It almost feels like some sort of test."

"To get a door?"

"I don't know," Damien said. He shrugged helplessly.

"It's not like I've been to a mage college before."

"Nor have I," Sylph said. She rolled her shoulders and sighed. "There's not even any room to train."

Henry nudged Damien mentally to get his attention while he sat down.

"The mage told you that you had a few hours to spend, but she didn't say you had to spend it in the room. She just suggested it. Go look around the campus. It's got to be more interesting than sitting here." Henry said. He made a gagging noise. "I can practically feel the teenage tension seeping into my skin. It's so filthy I'm worried I'll get acne."

It was a strange thing, hearing low effort banter coming from a creature that had been born near the dawn of time itself.

"I think I'm going to look around the campus," Damien said, flicking Henry back again. "The dean's tour wasn't very expansive, and I can't think of what else we'd do in this tiny little room."

Sylph tilted her head to the side. Then she nodded slightly and stood.

"That's a good idea, actually," she said. "I'll join you."

Damien rose as well. Then he paused and turned back to his bed. He stuffed all his belongings back into the pack and slung it over his shoulder.

"I'm not leaving something here until I've got a door," Damien said as they walked out of their cave.

"I don't think anyone wants to steal your clothes," Sylph said.

Damien wasn't about to point out he also had money in the bag. She'd been nice enough, but they'd only known each other for less than a day. He just shrugged. "Maybe someone else forgot their toothbrush."

He did his best not to peer into the other two caves as they passed them. Something told him Nolan and Reena had brought more than enough of everything they needed, and Mark seemed a bit on the wild side. Maybe he could raid Nolan's bed for supplies.

The walk down the mountain paths was silent, but it wasn't awkward. Once they were below the cloud line, the view over the campus was absolutely riveting.

Large, beautifully carved buildings dotted the large valley within the ring of mountains. A river cut through the center of the college, ending in a small lake on the opposite side of campus. The streets were lined with lush, multicolored foliage that lit the town up like lights.

Damien could dimly make out the small dots that were students as they milled about the town. The majority of them seemed to be headed toward the north side of the campus, where a large group of shorter buildings was clustered around what appeared to be a massive colosseum.

Before he knew it, the two of them were standing at the base of the mountain. For the amount of people that had to have lived above them, it was strangely empty.

"Any thoughts on where to go first?" Damien asked.

"We should make sure to be back within two hours," Sylph said. "We don't want to miss Beth, so let's avoid anything that takes too long."

"What about getting some food?" Damien offered. It had been a while since he'd last eaten, and considering he'd thrown up his breakfast, he was getting pretty hungry.

"That would work," Sylph said. "That's the long building with the black stone roof next to the library, if I recall correctly."

Damien looked out over the rooftops. He couldn't make out the mess hall, but the library was easy enough to spot.

The building was so big the top scraped some of the low hanging clouds.

The two of them started toward it, keeping to the side of the road. They passed several groups of students on the way. Unlike the other mages from Blackmist Damien had met, they wore casual clothes.

"Magister Dredd is just awful," one of the girls said as her group passed Damien and Sylph. "I swear that man just enjoys torturing his students. He dropped me off a cliff this morning!"

"He's not so bad once you get used to the pain," another girl said, their voices fading as they got farther away.

Damien made a mental note to avoid any teachers called Magister Dredd. Even the man's name sounded intimidating.

Despite the college's somewhat dreary name, the campus was anything but. Now that Damien got a better look at the buildings, it was apparent each one was carefully crafted by loving architects.

Every bush and plant they passed was neatly trimmed and thriving. Several of the plants had fruit hanging from them.

Even the roads were carefully maintained. The bricks were smooth and shiny. They almost looked slippery, but they felt anything but. Miniscule runes ran along nearly every flat surface on the ground, forming curving lines that ran through the entire campus.

"It must have taken years to do all this," Damien said.

"It's impressive," Sylph agreed. "A bit gaudy, but impressive."

The library hadn't seemed far at first, but it ended up taking nearly fifteen minutes to arrive. The mess hall was slightly closer to them than the library was. Damien wiped away the small amount of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead during the walk—his coat wasn't exactly light.

"And you aren't exactly in shape," Henry scoffed. "You need to start moving more. Your friend doesn't even look like she broke a sweat."

Damien rolled his eyes, but Henry was right. It wasn't that the walk had been hard, but it was quite hot outside, and fifteen minutes in the heat should have been enough to bring at least a little sweat to anyone's forehead. Of course, Damien wasn't about to ask her why she wasn't sweating.