The Student

by Darin Niemann

  “For all their supposed wits, the Masters can’t even be bothered to inform us ahead of time.” A plump cook grumbled to another cook nearby who was cleaning some dishes.

  I had been idling around the kitchens as much as I was able to the last three days days without drawing notice. So far I had gleaned nothing of import. This was my last attempt, as tomorrow I would meet the Masters.

  “Inform us of what?” The second cook asked of the first, continuing her washing of a cup.

  “They are having a meet on the ‘morrow but couldn’t be bothered to tell us kitchen help about it till today! And they want an old, aged wine to sip on during their talks.”

  The other cook had stopped her task at this point, shaking her head in disappointment, “We ain’t got any of that on hand, and now we’ll have to rush and pay a steep price to get it on such short notice.”

  I listened intently as I nibbled on a small plate of crackers and cheese. This was what I had waited for. The cooks did not notice that they were being overheard. They complained about the Masters and their abrupt schedules and a whole host of other things. Finally, one mentioned sending for a shipment at a tavern that I recognized by name. They called a young boy over and told him to run to the tavern to let them know they needed drink.

  The boy took off at a fast walk, and I followed at a discreet distance, careful not to let him out of my sight. I waited only a few moments after the boy entered the tavern before following. As it was closer to midday, it was fairly empty. Only a few people were eating meals and none of the usual nighttime merriment had shown itself yet. I sat at the bar, seeing the young boy conversing with the owner.

  “...says the Masters need their drink today,” The boy said.

  The owner scowled at the boy, but didn’t refute the order. It seemed he made enough coin from the school that it made up for such short notice. The tavern owner grumbled to himself as he disappeared into the kitchen. A few moments later he came back with a young man, the latter carrying a case of wine bottles.

  “This here’s Jesson. He’ll follow you back to the school.” He dismissed the two and went back to the kitchens. Again, I followed at a distance as they made their way to the school. I needed to find out where they would store the wine. With that information, it would be easy to return at night, poison in hand. For the last few days I had meddled with a few different substances, finally attempting a new mixture.

  New mixtures were not often done, except in a few cases where it was common to combine certain components. Many poisons fought against each other which usually meant they didn’t affect the victim at their greatest potency. I used heartwood as a base, as it had the properties I wanted: fast working, lethal, and nearly undetectable. The first two days I had accomplished little by way of finding a better poison or producing a mixture that was fast enough. Finally I had thought of luttu stalk.

  The luttu stalk isn't known as a poison, which is why I hadn’t thought of it earlier. It is chewed on as a relaxant to reduce soreness from muscle strain. Within a sweet wine, it would become tasteless. The substances shouldn’t interact much, if anything the luttu would weaken them while the heartwood would work even faster. In theory it was a perfect mixture. Still, I was a bit worried that it would fail and the council would be alerted. I mixed three parts luttu stalk with two parts heartwood. I would be giving them at least five times the normal dose of relaxant. It would make them sluggish and weak, even if the heartwood didn’t end up completely stopping their hearts.

  I would carry Dante’s sword with me, in addition to any hidden blades, in case I needed it. Everything was moving into place. All I needed was to find the storage place for the wine and I could go prepare for tonight.

  By the time I followed the boys carrying the wine back, the school was bustling. I hadn’t paid much attention to the actual schedule of the other students since my training had begun. I suppose it was nearly time for testing to begin again. The younger boy led the tavern worker to the kitchens and through a hatch that he lifted into a cellar. It would be unusual for me to follow them farther, so I left to prepare my poisons while hoping the cellar wasn’t too large.

  ~

  I finished grinding the herbs and poured the refined, dry mixture into two small vials. Once stoppered, I slipped them into a pocket. I cleaned up and removed all traces of my work before leaving the school’s underground chambers. I left once again by way of Geoff’s room, though I knew now that it wasn’t his room, merely one of many entrances leading below.

  The moon was out in full, bathing the halls in it’s pale, white light. I kept reaching for the vials in my pocket as I walked through the deserted halls, reassuring myself they were still there. The kitchens were quiet as I stole my way through them and approached the hatch leading to the cellar. Idly, I wondered if the cellar somehow connected to the other underground places in the school.

  The hatch squeaked as I lifted it and I paused, straining my ears in the silence to see if the sound had alerted anyone. Moments passed before I relaxed. I lowered the hatch behind me so that anyone wandering the kitchens wouldn’t take notice of anything unusual. The dark made it difficult, but I managed to find the torch nearby and light it with flint and dagger. Once I had some light to see by, I took in my surroundings.

  The cellar was rather large, but at least it was orderly. I supposed it had to be to feed a school of this size. There was quite a bit of food stored in the various shelves and crates, ranging from carrots and potatoes to beets and onions. There was even a large shelf containing canned meats. Flour and grain took up a large space as well. I meandered through the assortment of foodstuffs, glancing back and forth. Finally I laid eyes on the wine.

  The corked wine bottles were in the back next to some of the larger flagons of cider. There were twelve of the bottles nestled in a crate. As I only had two vials of poison, and each bottle would take a half a vial, I needed a way to ensure that the Masters drank the right wine. I thought on the matter as I uncorked four of the bottles and emptied the vials into the wine. I finally decided to empty the remaining eight bottles onto the floor, careful not to step in any myself. I then sliced a portion of each cork and replaced them, setting the crate on its side. At first glance, they would assume that the corks had been stoppered incorrectly and the wine had drained out during the night.

  My task completed, I returned to the cellar’s entrance, dousing the torch and replacing it in the sconce. Lifting the hatch ever so slightly, I peered out into the nearly pitch black darkness of the kitchens. There was only a sliver of light from a small candle or two. Seeing and sensing nothing, I pushed the hatch further open, as it once again made a loud screech that penetrated the silence. This time I didn’t pause but quickly closed the hatch, leaving the kitchens without delay. Once back in my room, I heaved a sigh as I kicked off my boots. Tired as my body was from the long day, my mind raced in anticipation for tomorrow’s meeting. It was a while before I fell asleep.

  ~

  I opened my eyes slowly. My mind was sharp, with not a hint of morning haze clouding my thoughts. Unlike last night, my mood was calm and assured. Today, finally, I would meet with the Masters and everything was in place. I readied myself, strapping on my sword. I took a moment to gaze at the way the dawn’s light danced upon the blade before sheathing it. Fully prepared, I left, stopping briefly by the kitchens to nibble on a small hunk of bread as I made my way to the Headmaster’s office.

  The hallways began to fill with students hurrying about to their first classes of the day. In some small way, I envied them their ignorance. The world undoubtedly appeared much brighter to them than it did to me. For the most part, though, I knew that such ignorance would have driven me mad in the end. Never knowing the reason behind Enelo’s murder would haunt me forever.

  Niels, Sol’s assistant, waited outside the Headmaster’s door. I acknowledged him with a slight nod of my head. I realized there was a slight hole in my plan, and that was the assistant. If he came along to the me
eting, I would have to deal with him directly. Without a word he turned and beckoned me to follow. If the masters were already gathered, they could very well be poisoned by now. I felt only confidence though, as the likely scenario played out in my mind.

  Niels and I would arrive at the door, and he would enter first, finding the masters dead or weakened. I would enter immediately behind him, placing him in a vulnerable position with his back facing me. There were many techniques that could knock a man out or kill him, though all of them required you to be in close proximity to the target. Any competent opponent wouldn’t normally let you close enough. From behind though, I would be able to take him out easily, before he ever realized what was happening.

  I calmed a bit, knowing that I could still salvage my plan. Perhaps he wouldn’t even be allowed into the meeting, given his lower status of a mere assistant. Brought out of my thoughts by Niels’ abrupt halt, I found myself near one of the more remote corners of the school’s grounds. Usually these areas were reserved for either the master’s use or for extra classrooms in case of student overflow; though, apparently, the latter hadn’t been needed in many years. Niels approached one of the rooms and gestured to the closed door with a wave of his hand.

  “The masters await,” he said, then promptly disappeared back the way we came. Well that simplified things a bit. Perhaps luck was indeed on my side. I didn’t bother knocking as I entered. The windowless room was lit brightly with candles and torches spread throughout. The center of the room was dominated by a large circular table that could easily seat a group of twenty to thirty. Only six chairs surrounded the table with five currently occupied.

  The masters all sat on the farthest side from me, with a single empty chair opposite them. All eyes turned to me as I approached the chair. I stopped, resting a hand on its back, not deigning to sit. Now that I was a bit closer, I could clearly see that in front of each master was an ornate silver goblet, filled nearly to the brim. None had yet touched their drink.

  I bowed to them deeply in a sign of great respect. As I rose my eyes rested on the Headmaster. He wore a satisfied look on his face which ignited a flash of anger within me but I quickly extinguished it. Patience. Silence reigned as the other master’s regarded me. I recognized them all, though none of them had taught me personally. They were all distinguished publicly as great and noble men of the Academy. I was a bit surprised to see the other sections of the school, besides the healers, represented here. There were two masters of trade along with a master of arms.

  At last, the master of trade on the far left spoke up, “So this is him? Your prodigy?”

  His question was directed towards the Headmaster.

  Sol inclined his head, “This is Kayne. He has completed his trial, marking him as one of us.”

  The others nodded in agreement with the Headmaster. At this, Sol reached for his goblet and raised it high. The rest of the council followed his example.

  “The Shadow Ravens,” Sol stated while lifting his cup.

  The other masters intoned after the Headmaster, “The Ravens!”

  They all drank deeply. As they set their goblets down, my gaze hardened and I glared at the Headmaster. I began to walk calmly around the table, never letting my eyes leave Sol’s. He started visibly as I changed demeanors. One moment I was being humble and respectful, the next I was confident and cold.

  He tried to rise, but grabbed at his chest, falling back to his chair. He looked around to the other masters just in time to see them collapse, dead. Only the master of arms made it out of his chair before falling to the floor, no longer breathing. Sol was still alive, though breathing heavily with sweat breaking out over his skin. As I had thought, he had built up an immunity to the heartwood.

  I was about halfway around the table when he gasped out, “How?”

  I knew what he meant as I explained, pausing in front of him, “I mixed heartwood with luttu stalk.”

  I saw his eyes widen at that. Clearly, he hadn’t thought to use luttu in conjunction with poison. I glared down at him as he watched me.

  “Enelo recognized you the night you killed him. As he lay dying on the streets, he left a message in his blood. He drew the emblem of a raven that he had seen on the journal you carry. It took me some time to figure it out, as he only completed half of the symbol before he died.”

  I lowered my voice, “You killed Enelo, to gain yet another assassin. You killed him for a mere tool.”

  I shook my head in disgust and hatred. I drew my sword. Enough words had been spoken. I drew back to thrust and end it all when Sol moved. Instinct took over as I saw the glint of metal. My sword whipped around, connecting with the dagger that had so suddenly appeared, ripping it from the Headmaster’s weakened grip and sending it flying across the room to clang loudly against the stone floor.

  I brought my sword around and quickly thrust it through Sol’s heart. Eye’s widening, he tried to speak but only ended coughing up blood. Within seconds he lay dead on the floor. Finally, it was over. I felt relieved to be done with it all. Now I could move on without regret.

  I leaned to wipe my sword off on his robes when the door to the room opened. A young student looked on in horror, as she saw the bodies of the masters and the bloodied sword in my grasp. She screamed and ran, yelling out to anyone who was near. I didn’t have long before guards arrived. Without any proof, it looked as if I had simply slaughtered an innocent group of well-respected Academy masters.

  I would have to leave, and not just the school. The entire city of Erelith itself would be in an uproar over the murder of their beloved teachers. I quickly wiped off my blade and sheathed it, sprinting out the door. I took a different path leading away from the screaming and shouting. As much as it pained me to do so, I slowed to a normal pace as I approached the more populated halls. It seemed an eternity before I reached my room.

  I hastily threw the few belongings I had into my travel pack. I locked my door from the inside, then exited by way of the window. Careful not to draw unwanted attention to myself, I moved as fast as I dared. Soon, I was out of school grounds and on the main streets, which let me breathe a bit easier. The markets were lively by this time of day, allowing for more anonymity. I meandered through the crowds, still steadily making my way to the city’s main gate. I saw the great wall towering in the distance, moving ever closer as I continued.

  I slowed down even more, as the guards at the gate would be my greatest obstacle if they decided to stop me. I doubted they could have received word from the school already but it was still nerve wracking. I subtly inclined my head to a guard as I passed the gate and he returned the gesture, seeing nothing amiss. Once outside the walls, I continued on the road heading west until the city was barely in sight. With nobody in sight, I quickly abandoned the road, heading into the safety of the trees.

  I sighed, the reality of the situation finally hitting me. I sat with my back to a tree as I thought. Word would spread. Nobody knew that those masters were murderous assassins. They were seen as generous and wise teachers. I would be branded as the worst kind of criminal. Obviously, the prince wouldn’t believe it, but the king, without definite evidence against the contrary, would be forced to appease his people. They would want justice for such a horrific crime. My time at Erelith had come to an end, at least for now.

  I rested for awhile with my back against a tree, trying to clear my mind of all my racing thoughts. At last, Enelo had been avenged. Mentally, a weight was lifted from my shoulders, but otherwise I felt the same as I always did. I took in the nature around me: the birds calling out to each other from time to time, the wind rustling the leaves of trees and the sunlight streaming through the branches.

  The bushes to my right suddenly parted, revealing a large mountain cat with striking green eyes and a white diamond marking her forehead. Avuara’Sharyn sauntered over to me, nudging my hand with her nose. It made me smile and I reached to pet her. I didn’t know what awaited me beyond the city of Erelith but I knew one thing for cer
tain. Shar would be with me.

  Afterword

  Thank you for reading my book! I hope you enjoyed it! I would appreciate it if you let me know what you thought of it by leaving a review with comments, criticisms, and any other things that might be helpful to me in writing future novels.