DarkSkull Hall

by Lisa Cassidy

  Alyx was grooming Tingo’s silky coat when Brynn’s head appeared over the stall door. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” She smiled back, genuinely pleased to see him. Brynn had the ability to make her feel comfortable and less depressed when he was around. She didn’t know whether it was because of his refreshing directness and honesty, or something about the mage power in his voice.

  “Finn was genuinely sorry, you know.”

  “I know,” she said. “I just like some time alone every now and then. It gets stifling, all of us being together all the time.”

  “Is that your subtle way of saying you want me gone?” he asked wryly.

  “You’re welcome to stay.” She tossed him a curry brush. “You can even help if you like.”

  “Ha. Thanks.”

  “How are you coping with everything, Brynn? You don’t seem to get as miserable as the rest of us.”

  “I want to be a mage,” he said. “And this is part of becoming a mage, so I put up with it.”

  “That’s very mature of you.”

  “Did I mention how I cried myself to sleep the first two weeks I was here?”

  “Really?” She looked at him, astonished.

  He nodded. “The day when Howell let me join your group, that was the first night I stopped crying.”

  “Oh.” Brynn had spoken the words with the same casual tone he would use when ordering what he wanted for dinner, but they made Alyx feel awkward, and guilty.

  “Now you’re just going to stand there and let me do all the work?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

  She laughed. “Why not? It seems to be working so far.”

  “I’m tempted to make a servant joke, but I fear you’ll rip my head off.”

  “Oh, shut up.” She elbowed him in the shoulder, and they both laughed.

  Chapter 17

  Alyx awoke from dead sleep to the sound of ringing bells. It was dark in the small room she shared with Dawn, and heavy raindrops rattled against the window. Alyx half sat-up, then hurriedly sank back under the covers as the cold air hit her bare skin. The bells continued to ring, proving to be reality and not the remnants of a dream. In the hall outside, she heard doors opening and closing and booted feet running.

  “What’s going on?” Dawn yawned.

  “No idea.” Alyx groaned, wakened completely now. “Maybe we should see what’s happening.”

  Both girls slid out of bed and hurriedly pulled on their usual breeches and tunics, wrapping themselves in their thick brown robes but still shivering uncontrollably in the icy air. When she opened the door, the other young women on their floor were disappearing down the stairs at the end of the hall.

  Dawn passed Alyx her staff and both girls headed in the same direction. They followed the other girls outside, pulling the hoods of their robes up to protect their faces against the driving rain. A stream of students was crossing the open space and entering the main hall from both dormitory buildings. The bells continued ringing.

  “Come on, let’s get out of this rain.” Dawn shivered.

  “Everyone else is going into the hall,” Alyx agreed. “It’s probably not smart to linger out here in the dark alone.”

  They dashed across the sodden grass, joining another group of initiates running up the steps and through the double doors of the hall. Once inside, Alyx pushed back the soaked hood of her robe, relieved to be out of the rain and cold.

  She and Dawn continued through the entrance foyer and into the main hall, falling in with the other students. Master Alaria was stewarding everyone through into the dining hall, where a large number of students were milling about inside, the excited hum of their conversation pervading the air.

  “We were about to come and get you.” Finn appeared, grabbing Dawn’s sleeve and dragging her through the crowd.

  “What’s going on?” Alyx asked.

  “Hang on a second.”

  Finn pulled them across the dining hall and led them out a pair of glassed doors to a long veranda that ran the length of the building. Tarrick and Brynn were out there, hair tousled and damp.

  “Why are we here?” Alyx asked in annoyance, pulling her robe more tightly about her again.

  “It’s freezing,” Dawn added.

  “Less than an hour ago, the signal fire in the south-eastern watchtower was lit. The flame is only ever lit to warn of an attack in progress.” Tarrick filled them in, excitement gleaming in his dark eyes.

  “Someone is attacking DarkSkull?” Dawn’s eyes widened. “Who?”

  “I don’t know. Watch!”

  Cloaked mages were scurrying to and from the well-lit stables. Two of them ran into the barn where Tingo was stabled, appearing a short time later mounted on two of the big horses.

  Within minutes, a group of twenty mages had mounted and were milling about in the rain. One raised a hand, and a second later, a glowing blue light surrounded the group. At another shout, the riders moved out at a gallop. Alyx lost sight of them as they left the light cast by the stables.

  “See the signal fire up there?” Finn pointed.

  Alyx followed where he was pointing again, seeing a bright orange flame leaping into the sky at the highest point on the south-eastern corner of the valley wall. She supposed it must be an enormous flame for it to be visible over such a distance. Looking around in a circle from that point, there were three other signal fires glowing at each corner of the valley wall.

  “We always light a signal fire at the top of the nearest tower when an attack comes. That alerts all the mages on guard in the other watchtowers along the valley walls. They light their own fires, then DarkSkull sends a contingent of mage warriors to help,” Tarrick explained, excitement threading his voice. “It’s how things were done in the old days, when we were at war and had a Magor-lier.”

  “But we’re not at war.” Alyx was struggling to understand. In all of Howell’s explanations about the reason for the boundary wall, she’d never imagined an attack on the school would actually happen. “Could it be a false alarm?”

  Tarrick moved closer and raised his right hand. After a moment, his mage power emitted a soft silver light that glowed around his hand, allowing them all to just make out his face.

  “The school hasn’t been attacked since the mage war, but I’ve heard in the last couple of years the masters have increased security here. Nobody knows why. Maybe they were expecting something like this.”

  Alyx stared out into the night. “Are we in danger?”

  “Whatever is out there will be no match for fully trained mage warriors,” Tarrick said confidently. “Rothai alone could probably take on an army. He’s the strongest warrior mage alive.”

  “In that case, do you think we could go inside now?” Dawn sounded reassured. “I’d like to be warm and dry.”

  “And miss the fighting?” Tarrick looked at her incredulously.

  They watched for a while longer, but soon it got boring. The mounted mages had disappeared into the rain and night, and aside from the fires burning from the watchtowers, there was nothing else to see. Eventually, Dawn and Alyx prevailed upon the boys to go inside.

  The great fires lining the dining hall had been lit, and some of the kitchen staff were handing out mugs of hot cider. There was genuine fear on the faces of some students and uneasiness on others. Nobody seemed completely calm, which made Alyx feel better about her own fear. Master Renwick appeared to announce that the situation was under control, but that all students were required to remain in the hall.

  Alyx and the others took their mugs of cider and found a corner to themselves near one of the fires.

  “This might be the first morning we don’t miss breakfast,” Finn said cheerfully.

  Brynn smiled. “I wonder what they serve for breakfast here?”

  “I’m more interested to know if morning sparring will be cancelled because of the attack,” Dawn said.

  “I hope not,” Tarrick retorted.

  “This must have been what it was like during the m
age war against Shakar,” Brynn said.

  Tarrick nodded. “Shakar and the mages aligned with him attacked the school regularly back then, trying to destroy the upcoming generation of mages.”

  “Who’s Shakar?” Finn asked.

  “Only the most famous mage who ever lived,” Tarrick said, rolling his eyes at their ignorance. “He was a mage of the higher order, the most powerful of his time, but he turned evil.”

  Alyx snorted in amusement, unable to help herself.

  “You think I’m making it up?” Tarrick demanded.

  “It sounds like a bedtime tale my godfather used to read me. People don’t just ‘turn evil.’”

  “I know,” Tarrick said impatiently. “I’m sure there were reasons for what he did, I just don’t know what they were. Anyway, the point is, the mages went to war with him, and it dragged on for years. Hundreds of mages died.”

  “Tarrick is right.” Brynn said. “It all happened about fifty years ago. The final battle took place at a town in northern Tregaya called Serrin. It’s still a ruin to this day.”

  “How do you know so much?” Tarrick asked him curiously. “The war is a closely held piece of mage history. The mages don’t like to talk about it.” He tossed a pointed glance at Alyx. “The reason I don’t know why Shakar did the awful things I’ve heard about.”

  Brynn shrugged. “I heard one of the masters talking about a war. I asked Master Howell about it, and he mentioned Shakar.”

  “How is it that you’re the only one who can get answers out of Howell?” Finn wanted to know.

  “I’m special.”

  “Yeah, special is a good word for it,” Alyx teased him.

  “Ha-ha. Look at that everybody, Alyx has developed a sense of humour.” Brynn stuck his tongue out at her.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Finn said. “I think I agree with her on this one.”

  “I love you too, Finn.”

  “I wonder how the battle is going.” Tarrick rose and disappeared, heading for the door to the veranda.

  “I assume if the valley walls had been overrun, they’d have told us?” Brynn asked.

  “It’s probably another test,” Finn said dryly. “Let the initiates defend DarkSkull Hall. The ones that get killed obviously aren’t strong enough to cope as mages.”

  Alyx stifled a smile of amusement. “I’ve got my boot knife and my staff. I’m pretty much ready to go.”

  “Do you think the king knew about mages going missing and the increased security Tarrick mentioned before he sent us here?” Dawn asked.

  “To be fair, I think we can assume Casovar didn’t tell him about mages going missing, and even Casovar couldn’t have known that DarkSkull would come under physical attack while we were here,” Finn said reasonably.

  “My father knew it wouldn’t be easy for me,” Alyx murmured, stifling the ugly flash of resentment as it reared its head. “The king overruled him.”

  “My parents had some idea,” Brynn said, surprising them. “They have friends in the village whose relatives are mages. They told me what it was like, and offered me the choice.”

  “And you still chose to come?” Alyx gaped at him.

  “I want to be a mage.”

  “You really are insane.”

  “What about you two?” Brynn looked at the twins. “We all know Alyx can’t wait to get out, but if you knew what you did now, would you still have come?”

  Dawn looked thoughtful. “Without any experience of DarkSkull, probably not. But now, four months in, knowing what it’s like… I would choose to come, yes.”

  “What?” Alyx stared at her in astonishment.

  “While I am scared, in pain and exhausted on a daily basis, I feel a certain sense of satisfaction in still being here. I want to see it through to the end,” she said.

  “I know what you mean.” Finn looked at his sister. “And I agree with you.”

  Alyx nodded at them as if she understood, but in reality she couldn’t even begin to comprehend their desire to stay. She’d never felt more alone. In an effort to avoid the feeling, she changed the subject.

  “So back to my original question—who is attacking us?” Alyx shrugged at their looks. “The Mage Council isn’t at war, right? So who would want to attack DarkSkull Hall?”

  “Whoever is behind the mage disappearances?” Dawn hazarded.

  “Hmmm.” Brynn looked around. “Our font of all mage knowledge is still off peering out into the night for a glimpse of fighting.”

  “It could be the Shiven attacking,” Finn said.

  “Shiven fighters strolling into Tregaya, crossing through the countryside unhindered, and launching an attack on DarkSkull?” Alyx said dubiously. “That seems doubtful.”

  “Why?” Brynn asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious? You can’t just send your army across another country’s borders without permission.” She shook her head. “Besides, we’re only assuming it’s Shiven because we’re Rionnan and we’ve always felt under threat from them. It could be anyone.”

  “There’s a scary thought.” Dawn looked gloomy.

  “You’ll probably find the council knows more than they let on to initiates,” Finn said. “I’m sure they’ll have the situation under control quickly.”

  Morning dawned without the attack coming near DarkSkull grounds. Breakfast was served at the usual time, and while they were eating, Master Romas came to address them.

  “A small group of unidentified warriors attacked our south-eastern wall after midnight,” he told them crisply. “They breached the wall, but we responded quickly enough to push them back, killing most and sending the others into retreat. Warrior mages have been sent out to secure the countryside surrounding the valley, and a team of initiates and apprentices will be tasked to fix the broken section of wall today.”

  An apprentice stood. “Sir, what were they after?”

  “We don’t know that yet. Master Rothai will speak with the local Tregayan militia garrison today. I’m confident that with our assistance, the militia will soon learn what happened and why.”

  Murmurs broke out through the hall. Alyx caught a glimpse of Ladan. He was standing by one of the windows looking out in the direction of the attack. His stance was tense, both hands thrust deep in his pockets.

  “Excuse me for a second,” Alyx murmured to Dawn, rising with the intention of weaving her way through the tables towards Ladan.

  “It doesn’t make any sense—why would anyone attack mages with a small group of non-mage fighters?” Finn was saying, but broke off as Alyx rose. “Where are you going?”

  “Not far. I’ll be back soon.”

  At Alyx’s approach, Ladan stiffened slightly but didn’t say anything. Forging through the intimidating silence that was almost like a physical wall around him, she cleared her throat.

  “You’ve saved my life twice, and I’m not scared of you anymore,” she said. “I bet you’re as lonely as I am here, even though you determinedly push everyone away. So, I thought you might like to talk.”

  He didn’t say anything for a long time, and Alyx fidgeted, debating how long to stand there looking silly before walking away.

  “Why now?” he spoke suddenly.

  She shrugged. “I should have tried sooner. Approaching you isn’t exactly easy, but that’s no excuse.”

  After another long beat, he turned towards her. “All right, let’s talk. Tell me about yourself.”

  “All right.” Now that she had an opening, Alyx wasn’t sure where to start. “I was born in Rionn, and I’ve lived my whole life there until now.”

  “I know all of that,” he said, then after a pause went on. “How old are you?”

  “Sixteen, almost seventeen.” She took a breath. “My mother died when I was very young, but my father has always taken good care of me, and I adore him. I’m going to be betrothed to Prince Cayr. I hate it here at DarkSkull and I can’t wait to go home.”

  Ladan frowned. “You believe your mother died?”

>   “Yes.” She looked at him oddly. “Why would I lie about something like that?”

  “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

  “No. It’s just my father and I.”

  He looked at her quickly, and something flashed in his eyes. “My mistake. I just assumed you’d have a bigger family.”

  “That’s okay.” Alyx tried hopelessly to think of something else to say, but her mind was a blank. She expected he would walk away, but instead he spoke again.

  “Do you remember her—your mother?”

  “Not really. I’ve tried to.... I was five when she died, so I feel like I should remember something. Once or twice I’ve managed to recall a glimpse of her face, or a snatch of her voice, but it’s all so cloudy I can never keep hold of those bits. As I grew older I stopped trying because I don’t like the strange feeling it gives me.”

  “You haven’t asked your father?”

  “Once, when I was small. The pain on his face I remember to this day, so I never brought it up again.”

  “I was eleven when my mother died.”

  “And you’re a few years older than me?” she said. “So you lost her a few years after I lost mine.”

  Ladan made no reply to that, and she sensed that his thoughts were far away, in another time and place.

  “Your mother’s death would have been much harder for you than it was for me. You would remember her well,” Alyx ventured. “What about your father?”

  “My mother’s husband died a year after she did.” Ladan’s voice had turned wintry, but Alyx sensed that the emotion was not directed at her. “That’s when I became the lord of Widow Falls.”

  “Your mother’s husband was the previous lord of Widow Falls? He wasn’t your father then?”

  “My father left us. I haven’t seen him since I was a boy. My mother remarried soon after. Because he had no other children, her husband formally adopted me and named me his heir.”

  Alyx shuddered at the thought of a twelve-year-old boy being forced into the stewardship of an enormous estate, with nobody but his warriors and servants as company. How alone he must have been, with no parents, no siblings, no family at all. All her residual fear of the serious young man vanished, replaced by deep sorrow.