by Bill Ricardi
Not waiting for me to finish, Leeson hopped up and said, “Okay!” He was out the door in an instant.
Ames’ somewhat sleep-addled voice drifted over from the bedchamber. “Are you doing that stupid Soft Fall thing? You know they make you jump off a cliff into an actual snow bank, right?”
I narrowed my eyes. “The young man neglected to mention that.” I sighed softly. “But yes, it sounds like a good idea. A gentle transition from adventure to academia might be wise. Any objections?”
My beautiful white feline padded out of the bedroom and became a resident of my lap. “No. I’m going to be busy for a couple of weeks, and I need you out of my fur.” The gentle nosing at the side of my neck took any sting out of Ames’ words. I stroked my lover’s sides, smoothing down that ruffled morning pelt. Satisfied purring filled my ears.
After running through the logistics in my head, I nodded. “Let’s get packed then. I’ll ask Rick and Will to pack up the books and stuff that I have in the store room, and have them ask the apprentices watching The Magic Shop to bring it all back to the Arcane University when they arrive for the new school year.”
An hour later, the seven of us arrived at the teleportation circle with three distinct destinations. Ames, Toby, and Tara were headed up to Ice House. Rick and Will to Limt. Leeson and I were going to the Arcane University. We waited in line under a bough covered walkway until our names were called. The elven attendant let Leeson and myself know that we were next. There was a lot of hugging and back thumping from our friends. When our turn arrived, after a delegation of elven silk merchants had been spirited off to Civilia, the young human and myself were shoved up onto the Circle of Transport. Our friends showered us with such clever goodbyes as ‘Don’t be late for school, kids!’ and ‘Stay out of detention!’.
Before we could summon any witty retorts, we were elsewhere.
The reception hall of the Arcane University was no less impressive on my second visit. The sheer size of the cavernous three story chamber was, if anything, even more amazing when not filled with bustling merchants and visitors. The two of us hopped off of the teleportation circle and made our way to New Students booth.
Crewing the booth was a familiar face. The same buxom young were-wolf lass that had checked me in on my first University visit was on hand to greet us this time as well.
The brown furred, pink robed young lady offered me a bright, toothy smile. “Welcome back sir! It’s great to see you. Did you remember to bring your identification?”
I couldn’t help but smile back. “Recently recovered and being worn as we speak.”
The were-wolf nodded. She shuffled through a short stack of parchment until she located the one with my name on it. “That’s great sir, everything is in order. Will the two of you be rooming together, or shall I let the Arcane University assign roommates?”
I glanced over at Leeson. We hadn’t discussed it, but he was nodding eagerly at me. “We’ll share a room.” I confirmed.
The lass made a neat little note on my application. “You’re all set then. Nobody has 214 yet, so we can put you right back in there. You can catch up with the initiate group at lunch.”
I thanked the young mage, and then stepped aside.
The were-wolf’s tone changed dramatically as my human friend stepped up. “Hello there, Leeson.” rumbled the girl, somewhat huskily.
The young man murmured, shyly, “Hi Jess.”
“I’m afraid you’ve been selected for a random ID inspection. Could you take off your boot?”
I glanced around as Leeson bared his foot for the were-wolf. There were no other students waiting to be checked in, and no other obvious prying eyes.
I did my best to hide a smirk as the curious young lupine drew her claws lightly over Leeson’s ankle, making the young man gasp softly and blush. “Have you been taking care of it?”
I would have averted my eyes, but I admit to being far too amused to engage in discretion.
Leeson stammered, “Y-yes, of course. I’m always c-careful.”
Jess rumbled, “You give it a good polish once in a while?” I couldn’t be sure, but it occurred to me that the lupine might be talking about something other than the University ID anklet.
Leeson turned an interesting shade of pink. He nodded quickly and said, “Uh huh.”
With a final caress of his bare foot, the brown furred young lady set it down. “Okay. Everything seems to be in order.”
The flushed human quickly got his sock and boot back on, while his paperwork was located and filled out.
The were-wolf murmured, “Done. Shall I come see you after you’re settled in?”
Leeson nodded to the attractive attendant. “Sure Jess, I’d like that.”
Jess blew the young human a kiss, and then went back to her paperwork.
Leeson and I walked towards the South wing in silence. We passed two dozen natural gas lanterns before I broached the subject. “So. Jess, eh?”
Leeson swallowed. “I met her when we were here for our testing. We became fast friends.”
I allowed a few paces to go by before I commented, “Professor Gideon’s daughter, you know.”
The young man nearly tripped over his own feet. “W-what, really?”
I nodded. “I picked up on it later that week. They were sitting together at dinner. No mistaking it really.”
My small friend bit his bottom lip for a moment before saying, “Well we d-didn’t do anything. Much of anything. Yet.”
I arched a brow. “Yet?”
“I really like her, Sorch.”
“I saw that. A piece of hard-earned personal advice then: Watch the claws.”
I timed those words of wisdom with our arrival at the checkpoint to the South Wing. Leeson was stuck blushing in silence rather than protesting aloud in front of relative strangers. When we had passed security, the young man slapped me on the arm. I just smiled.
We reached 214 and unpacked. Despite trying times with Master Max, I had good memories of the place. I was glad to have the same room, and even more glad to have the same roommate. Leeson was like the little brother that I never had, it would be good to share this experience with him.
Lunch was soup and sandwiches. Not that I was complaining, but the lunch lady mentioned that they had a skeleton crew right now. They were preparing the kitchens and storerooms for the full student and staff arrival next week. I assured her that I loved soup, which prompted the emergence of a weary but grateful smile. I noticed that a lot of the older staff was comforted that one of the new students was as old as me. I was quickly becoming the favorite of what might be considered the ‘silver’ generation.
The group of early arrivers was somewhat small, perhaps thirty in total. The vast majority of them were fresh out of youth magical academies from all around Panos. Two of them were advanced students from private tutelage, but I was clearly the most experienced mage in this particular group.
After a few hours of being toured around by staff members and a few senior students, we were sent back to our rooms to rest and study. New members of the group were reminded to prepare any spells that they wished for the Soft Fall ceremony, and to bundle up for outdoor conditions.
When we woke from our naps, I noted, “You didn’t mention this you know. I had to find out from Ames.”
Leeson grumbled as he opened his spellbook. “Because I really wanted to do it, and you might be all serious and stuff. Come on Sorch, it’ll be fun!”
I flipped open my own book and identified the spells that I wanted to prepare. “Hey, I know how to have fun young man. I’m not ancient.”
The small human laughed. “You’re like, twice my age!”
“I’m 24! I think.”
He sighed, “Well, close enough.” He continued quickly before I could protest, “I actually know the Soft Fall spell. They have older students at the bottom to cast it on you, just in case you didn’t learn it. I know it but have never gotten to use it. You can bet that I had it prep
ared when we were up in that elf city though!”
I snorted. “Were you tempted to jump off one of the bridges and try it out?”
Leeson admitted, “I was, but I got scared. And the walk back up would be murder.”
Spells prepared, and in my case some intellect enhancement achieved, we went out to meet with the other new students. The cliff that we had to jump from was quite high. Perhaps sixteen, seventeen paces to be exact. But several precautions were in place. In addition to senior students down below ready to cast Soft Fall in case someone couldn’t or failed to cast it themselves, there was a cleric on hand. The pile of snow that we were falling into was massive as well. They were using the Invisible Servant spell to heap up fresh snow, which I assumed they would do again after any hard impacts.
Fine, I’ll admit it. This looked like fun.
We lined up by age, putting Leeson first and me last. He hesitated quite a bit, but then leapt off of the edge with a very un-lordlike howl. He managed the brief incantation, and floated gently down into the snow pile. There were whistles and loud cheers. Leeson couldn’t have looked happier.
Every student either cast their own Soft Fall or was caught by the spell of one of the senior students below. So the other new students must have been curious to see me casting before I jumped. The two older mages below knew what I was up to, if I read their expressions correctly. They grinned and folded their arms, clearly unprepared to cast Soft Fall on my behalf.
When I finished with my spell, I dove towards the snow pile, head first.
I learned that some of the young female students could scream very loudly. I also learned that some of the young male students screamed like girls.
Just before I crashed head first into the snow pile and the ground below, I allowed the Levitation spell to dramatically arrest my fall. I hovered there for a moment, righted my orientation, then allowed gravity to drop me into the fluffy mound of snow, rump first.
There was cheering, relieved laughter, and some good-natured cries of ‘cheater’.
I emerged from the snow and brushed myself off. “Well, if I’m going to be the old man of the group, I might as well flaunt it.” I stated. There was some chuckling and a smattering of applause.
Our staff guide said, “Alright, now that Sorch has given some of you heart attacks, I can officially say that everyone has survived their first Soft Fall day.” There were both hoots and hollers at that particular declaration. Then she continued, “Everyone go get warm and dry. Dinner is in a couple of hours, where we’ll meet up with the students who did their Soft Fall earlier in the week. Then some of this year’s instructors will stop by for a general question and answer session.”
Dinner was simple fare, but quite tasty: Well spiced noodles in a pork and fig broth. Amidst all of the slurping, I got to chat with a lot of eager young students from just about every race and walk of life. Of course, a lot of questions came my way, and I answered them as honestly and briefly as I could. No need to get into personal hardships and imprisonment when trying to keep the dinner conversation light. For a lot of the students, it was their first time meeting an orc of any stripe. I was more than happy to talk about the Southern Tribes in a general sense, once again leaving out the gritty details of my somewhat dreary life prior to adventuring.
After dinner, I sat in on the question and answer session in the Apprentice Lecture Hall. The most amusing part, in my opinion, was the way that Leeson kept eyeing Professor Gideon guiltily. The well muscled were-wolf took notice of my young friend’s habit. He looked at me as one of his colleagues was answering a student’s question. I just shrugged and rolled my eyes. No doubt the big alpha wolf would want to talk to me later. Wonderful.
One of the students asked, “Is there a prerequisite list for the advanced topics?”
A golden haired elf, one of the Professor’s Assistants, answered, “Yes, but the majority of you will need to cover a vast array of basic classes before you even consider a specialty or advanced placement. Your first year at the Arcane University is, in essence, already spoken for. If there are any advanced students just joining the University that want a breakdown of prerequisite classes, come up and talk to me after the Q&A is over.”
Leeson’s hand shot up.
“Yes, you near the back?”
My young human friend stood and immediately started to stammer. “Yes, this is f-for Professor G-Gideon. Um, is there anything ab-bout um, were-wolves that… I should say about were-wolf m-magic that is… special?”
A slightly confused murmur passed through the audience. Professor Gideon stood slowly and peered back at us. I did my best to avert my gaze, disassociating myself from Leeson in his moment of shame.
The were-wolf addressed the little human in a clear, confident voice. “Not particularly young man. Our tradition tends to follow that of the human arcane schools, rather than the elven. There isn’t much variation, if that’s what you’re asking. My speciality, and that of many of my kin, is Destruction magic. But don’t let that intimidate you.” He smiled, showing rows of razor sharp teeth.
There was a lot of chuckling from the audience. A very pale Leeson managed to squeak out a ‘thank you’ before quickly taking his seat.
I nudged Leeson and gave him a look that I hope expressed my thoughts: ‘What were you thinking?’
The look that my young friend shot back was one of panic. Clearly he had no idea.
A few minutes after that silent exchange, a frail and weathered hand came down on Leeson’s shoulder from behind. “I’m borrowing your orc.”
I knew that voice. Without even looking over my shoulder, I stood up. “Leeson, Master Max. Max, Leeson. I’ll see you back at the room.”
I followed the old, wispy haired human into a nearby classroom. Surprisingly, Max locked the door and led me to the far corner of the room.
I was frowning as I commented, “This kind of secrecy isn’t like you, Max. What’s going on?”
He held up a finger. The veteran magus cast a spell, creating a sphere of Silence between us and the door. I glanced around, and quickly cast a spell of my own, attempting to Detect Magic in the area. The nearby desks and walls were mundane.
After nodding his approval at my inherited paranoia, Master Max said, “This goes no further than you and me. Hemitath has spent very little time at the University recently, conducting some sort of secret project. Save for a few days here and a weekend there, I’ve been running this place in everything but name.”
I frowned and started pacing. “Believe it or not, I just met her brother Jarotath a few days back. He said something similar, describing her as ‘indisposed and incommunicado’. I thought it was a family matter.”
The old man shook his head. “No. Not unless she has family that I don’t know about. Listen boy. It’s not just that running this place is driving me insane. There are certain things that only the Headmaster, the actual named Headmaster, can do. I can’t access everything I need to, I don’t get the latest intelligence briefings from the elves. So at some point…”
My frown turned into a scowl when he trailed off. “You want me to spy on her?”
“I may need you to tell her to get her pert elven ass home! She returns randomly, avoids me like the plague, and then leaves again. So at some point we might need an intervention. But not now. Not yet. We’re probably fine for the quarter, unless something gets really out of control.”
I sighed. I couldn’t really be mad at Max, he wasn’t in this position willingly. “There are more senior people around, why are you asking me?”
That question didn’t sit well with the old wizard. His wrinkled face got a little bit red. “Who in the hells else am I going to ask? It’s either a semi-competent wannabe orc mage or nobody. Who else can-” He cut himself off.
I finished his sentence. “Who else can you trust. Alright.” Master Max hadn’t made a lot of friends at the Arcane University, despite his power. That I was the closest thing he had to a friend didn’t surprise me. �
��You’ll tell me when?”
“I’ll tell you when.”
We walked through the sphere of Silence, and Max unlocked the door for us. Stepping out of the classroom just a couple of feet restored my hearing. But apparently I wasn’t quite done with student-teacher conversations. Professor Gideon, finished with the Q&A session, was heading my way. Very likely his keen sense of smell led him straight to me. Max walked by the were-wolf without saying a word.
The Professor asked, “Sorch, sorry. I have to inquire about your young human friend. Have I done something to scare him?”
I stared at the huge were-wolf.
Gideon tilted his head and asked, “What?”
“I’m trying to figure out if you’re going to yell. Max’s Silence field is about to expire, and I don’t know of any quiet places around here.”
For the second time that night, I was dragged into a classroom and the door was locked.
The alpha wolf took a deep breath. “Alright, what’s going on Sorch?”
“Leeson wants to date your daughter.”
The number of facial expressions that the were-wolf made in the space of a couple of seconds was incalculable. He settled on a frown, his nose wrinkled and jaw muscles tight. “Date?”
“Well. Mate probably.”
The Professor casually picked up a rather heavy wooden chair and hurled it halfway across the classroom. It clattered against a desk but didn’t break. I held very still. I heard the were-wolf snarling to himself. Only after a little while did I realize he was counting backwards from ten.
“He initiated this?” the lupine asked, after regaining his composure.
I shook my head. “She did. If our recent encounter with an illogic demon was correct, the boy is a virgin. And he was fairly shy around her.”