CHAPTER 8

"The first floor is not only where students live; there are also utility rooms there," Alaric explained. "Laundry, common room, linen rooms, ironing rooms, and all that stuff… That's why some fifth-year students also live on the sixth floor. The rooms are bigger there. They only put people there for outstanding academic achievements."

"And where does the master custodian sit?"

"What makes you think he's here?"

"Well, there is one in the main building… He was looking at me through the cameras… That means he must be spying on us here too…" I suggested.

"You're wrong, Fielding. There's no caretaker in the residential block," he stopped and squinted. "And there are no cameras, by the way. The parents of our students really don't like the idea of someone spying on their children. I think you understand what kind of families' children study here. So be careful, if anything…"

"Don't worry, Alaric Torvayne, I'm not going to do anything like that to them," I promised him.

"You're something, Miles," he grinned. "I'm telling you this for everyone's information… After all, all the other kids are older than you. Even your classmates are at least fourteen, and you're only twelve."

"Ah, I see… Thanks for the information."

"You're welcome," he shook his head, looked at me strangely, and we walked on.

We walked for at least a couple more hours. During this time, I found out that the school had its own huge park, which even had a small forest and a small lake with swans and ducks. As it turned out, the students called the forest the Glimmerwood Forest, and the lake the Sapphire Lake.

There was also a huge training hall where students practised magic, a gym, an indoor swimming pool, several laboratories, greenhouses… There was a lot more that I didn't immediately remember. I'll look around later; it's too boring with Alaric.

By the time the master finished walking around the Pendragon territory with me, I was terribly tired of him. Eldric even offered to send him some kind of tickle… Damn, like on a tour in Cornwall—look left, look right…

But this time, I had lunch all alone because I was late. Because everyone else was sitting in class, I was alone in the cafeteria. So I ate quietly, without attracting attention to myself, then got my uniform, books, and trudged to my room. I planned to dedicate the rest of today to studying books and the school website. Well, maybe I'll go to dinner; we'll see…

By the way, I liked the uniform. Cool. Black, with a white skull embroidered on the left side, under which was a number one. This is probably the emblem of the dark classes.

Once in the room, I leafed through the books, then went to the school website on my phone, and before I knew it, I fell asleep. When I woke up, it was already dark outside.

Someone was knocking.

I sat up in bed, rubbed my eyes, and walked to the door. There were no bandits on school grounds, so I opened the door and froze in surprise.

There were four guys standing in the hallway, their faces smeared with something white, and in their hands, they were holding lit candles that burned with a dim blue flame. I don't know what effect they were trying to achieve, but I really liked it.

"Cool!" I couldn't help but say.

"The ritual, Fielding…" one of them suddenly drawled mournfully. "Every first-year must undergo a deadly ritual…"

Wow! What kind of ritual is this, I wonder?

"Listen, Miles, maybe we should go to bed? What a bunch of cretins! To hell with them!" Eldric suggested to me, but I was already really curious to know more about this ritual.

"And what should I do?" I asked my guests.

"Follow us…"

I wonder if this guy was born with such a mournful voice or if he practised it on purpose?

I quickly pulled on jeans and a T-shirt, went out into the corridor, and followed the guys. They were in no hurry and were clearly enjoying every moment. Their steps were slow, and after we left the residential building, they began to howl and giggle strangely. This was probably the death ritual already beginning; they just forgot to warn me…

We walked for about twenty minutes. Too long, in my opinion. It was interesting at first, but during that time, the walk had become a bit boring. And Eldric said that when all this was over, we should give them a couple of tips for the future about conducting death rituals, to make it more interesting. He, of course, is a real liar, but if you believe him, my friend is a great expert in such things.

Finally, we came to a clearing where quite a lot of guys had gathered—by my estimates, at least a hundred people. Candles were placed around the clearing, and in the very centre, there was a stump with a metal bowl on it.

As soon as the five of us got closer to the stump, it became quiet, and the one who invited me here began to speak.

"This night, according to the long-standing tradition of the dark classes, the second-year students must perform a death ritual on the newcomer and accept him into our ranks," he told the assembled crowd mournfully and very loudly.

"It would be nice for him to perform in the theatre," Eldric yawned. "So, are we going to bed, or are you planning on hanging around here until the morning?"

"Wait, it's interesting…" I answered him mentally, watching what would happen next.

The speaker approached the cup, took it in his hands, and solemnly handed it to me.

"Here is the blood of a bat, which, among other things, we cursed in the Distortion. You must drink it to the bottom, Fielding. If you survive, you must perform a ritual dance, which will signify joy that the dark forces have accepted you, and you have rightfully entered this class!"

"Holy shit!" Eldric chuckled. "Did you hear that? What the hell?"

I looked at the guy in surprise, then looked around. Everyone was looking at me with smiles and expecting an interesting outcome. Judging by their faces, there were not only first- and second-year students here; I saw older guys too. It's just a pity that they came up with some boring ritual… How could they come up with something more fun for such a name…

"Give it here," I said, taking the cup, which reeked of alcohol, and placing it on the stump. "Now I'll show you what a ritual dance is, as I understand it…"

While I was standing there, I felt that several people had been buried since time immemorial right next to the clearing, so why shouldn't I pull one of them out? It wasn't for nothing that we had all gathered here.

"Fielding, if you…" the guy started whining again, and at that moment, a woman's scream interrupted him.

A few steps from the clearing, the ground suddenly began to move, as if a mole was crawling underneath it, and then a bony hand appeared on the surface.

One female scream was joined by another dozen and even a couple of male ones. The guy who had previously played the leading role in the performance opened his mouth and silently watched as a skeleton slowly crawled out of the ground to the surface.

First the arms, then one leg, then the other… Click… Click… The ranks of those gathered by this point had somehow quickly thinned out, but about thirty people were still here, which meant that at least someone would see my dance.

Oh, how funny he walks, this skeleton! His knees fly up as if the bones weigh nothing! What a laugh!

He came up to me, put the bones of his right hand on my shoulder, and at that moment, I looked at the guy who was performing the death ritual and smiled:

"Look! Now Fielding's ritual dance! Performed for the first time!"

Wessex Dominion.

Whitestone.

Police station.

The phone rang loudly and somehow unexpectedly. Police Captain Roland Percivane, who dreamed that he was fishing and that he was finally getting a bite, even grabbed his holster to shoot the scoundrel who decided to scare away his fish. Well, at that moment, he woke up.

By this time, Lieutenant Branwell had already picked up the phone, was listening to something, asking clarifying questions from time to time, and writing down information.

Percivane looked at his watch and frowned: half past four in the morning—they couldn't let him sleep a little longer. At least to find out what kind of fish was biting there; they always wake you up at the most interesting part…

"What is it, Theo?" he asked when his colleague hung up.

"Roland Percivane, here's the deal… They're calling from Oakvale…"

"Well?"

"It looks like they have a skeleton there…"

"What do you mean?" the captain blinked. "Did they drink too much whisky?"

"No," the lieutenant shrugged. "That's the point; the woman who called was sober…"

"And what does it do?"

"Crying. Says: come and take it."

"Fool! Not her; what's the skeleton doing?" Percivane frowned.

"He steals apples from the barn."

"What nonsense," muttered the captain, buttoning the top button on his shirt. "Although… With this Pendragon, you can expect anything. These schoolchildren are always coming up with some kind of crap, and then we have to clean up the mess! Let's go and check it out."

"And if it really is a skeleton, what are we going to do with it?" asked Branwell.

"What, what… We'll issue a fine for petty hooliganism; what else can we do with him? We can't put him in jail…"