by Bryant Reil
“No!” Kyla’s response came out as more of a whimper than she had intended. In truth this demoness was the biggest problem she had ever faced. “I haven't really been away long enough to start missing—”
“I said shut it!”
Her mouth clamped shut again.
Lili leaned low so Kyla could smell her breath, which carried the stench of rotten eggs. “Now you're going to face some big girl problems. Get you ready for that scary world, you—”
A voice, firm and gentle, approached from behind. “She has apologized, and will be more careful in the future. There is no need for further trouble.”
The demoness scowled. “This is none of your business, you piece of horse—” As soon as she looked up her eyes locked in place, and the taut muscles in her face softened. Kyla turned to see what had caught her gaze. It was a nymph, blond with green eyes and wearing a pale blue outfit and a name tag that read 'Eunoe'. Her stare held the demoness in a trance.
“You have more important things to do than pick fights. No need to get yourself expelled on your first day.”
“Of course not.” Lili turned away, her voice having lost its depth and fire. She shook her ahead, puzzled, and then headed to the drink table.
“Thank you!” Kyla put her hand over her chest to feel her heart racing before extending her arm to Eunoe, who clasped her wrist. “I'm Kyla. Thank you so much...uh...You-know? Uno?”
“It's pronounced YOON-way. This is Aspen.”
Next to Eunoe stood a dryad with dark reddish-brown skin. She was dressed in bark, leaves, and flowers, assembled in a way that was tidier than the dryads back home. She bowed her head. “Nice to meet you.”
Kyla noticed something rather unusual about Aspen. “Wait-you don't look like an aspen at all! We have dryads of aspens around Aspengrove and they're all really pale with gray eyes.”
“I'm a—” Aspen began to speak but Eunoe cut in, earning a dirty look from the dryad.
“She's the soul of a cherry tree. Was. She's attached to me now. My Charm saved her from a fire. We named her Aspen because she seemed to have a fondness for them.”
“Oh, I see.” Kyla nodded, though she didn't see how charm was much protection from a fire. Then again, Eunoe had calmed the demoness.
Eunoe discerned her question. “Charm is what we alseids call our flocks. Our group. Like a family.”
Kyla had never heard of alseids, but did know there were many sorts of nymphs. “Oh. We just have dryads. Only aspen dryads, I guess. They don't talk to us, though. Hey, how did you get that demoness to go away? Are you a teacher?”
“No. It's part of my work with animals. I can relax them by looking into their eyes. A useful skill if you need to tend to a wounded bird, for example.”
“You're an animal doctor?”
Eunoe shrugged. “Personally, I'm more of a designer.”
A rather handsome gentleman walked up to Eunoe from the side, though she barely cast him a glance before looking away. “ 'ello, fair maiden! Name's Amhlaoibh. Call me Amh, if it pleases—”
“Beat it.” Eunoe's voice was cold, and felt more so compared to her gentle tone with Kyla. Aspen said nothing but gave the young man a look of pity.
His lip quivered but he remained composed. “Very well. Perhaps another time.”
As he walked away, Eunoe's voice softened again. “I hope that didn't seem rude. I haven't gone five minutes without some lecher trying to pick up on me since I arrived.”
Aspen frowned. “He wasn't a lecher. He was very polite.”
“They're all polite at first, aren't they?”
Kyla had little experience with boys her age, but agreed that Eunoe had been overly harsh. She didn't want to jeopardize her new friendship, however, so kept her criticism to herself. Before she could reconvene the conversation, she let out a tremendous sneeze.
“Ew! Nasty!” cackled the demoness from across the room.
Aspen pulled a few leaves from her dress and held them up to Kyla's nose. “Blow,” she ordered.
Kyla, embarrassed, obeyed.
The demoness cackled again. “Aw! Looks like you found a new mommy!”
Aspen scrunched up the used leaves and tossed them into a nearby canister. For the first time in Kyla's life, she had nothing to say.
***
“What do you mean I'm not enrolled? I paid my tuition!”
Kyla's legs shook and her stomach twisted in place. The troll sow had no packet for her.
“Sure, you paid. You were accepted. You never did any of the follow-up.” The troll sow spoke with no sign of sympathy, which was a little irritating.
“So I have to go home?”
“That isn't up to me.”
Kyla could feel tears welling in her eyes. “I don't want to be a shoemaker!” She supposed, with no formal education, she would have to apprentice with her father and take over the family trade. That or become some rich oaf's trophy wife, but she didn't know anyone with money. Of course if Burburt was learning to make gold...
The troll sow coughed. Kyla thought it was meant to get her attention, but it produced more phlegm than a courtesy cough should. “Go see the Dean of Admissions.”
“Do you think he'll be able to—”
“I just hand out the packets. Offices are on the second floor.”
Kyla dragged her feet as she walked away from the mingling crowd, the cackles of the demoness, and a well-meaning but condescending pat on the head from Aspen.
Chapter Two
Haven Hall
The Dean of Admissions looked like a wealthy old dandy who had spent the last few nights sleeping in a barn. A patch of grizzled white hair, once combed over the balding portion of his head, now stuck out to the side. One lens in his gold-rimmed spectacles was cracked so badly he couldn't possibly see through it. Judging by the stains on his turquoise cravat it served as a napkin, and his purple suit smelled faintly of old socks mixed with crushed mint.
He was vigorously scrubbing at a sheet of paper, and Kyla didn't want to disturb him so she sat quietly and looked around the room. The Dean's name plate was nearly two feet long and the name looked like it was made of spare alphabet parts. Kyla couldn’t guess how to pronounce it as there didn’t seem to be enough vowels and teetering stacks of papers obscured some of the letters.
The paperwork was not confined to the desk. Piles covered the floor and lined the walls, leaving only narrow trails for walking. Some of the paper looked so old it was starting to yellow and the ink was fading. Kyla tried to read a few but couldn't make out the handwriting. It wasn't messy; rather, it was drawn with such intricate loops she couldn't decipher the letters.
The walls and shelves were cluttered with knickknacks. There were carved wooden masks which stared at Kyla with empty eyes. Behind the gnome's chair was a pair of swords with gilt hilts crossed above a round shield which would look very nice with a good polish. One shelf had an assortment of teeth of varying shapes and sizes, and another displayed an interesting collection of rocks. She immediately coveted a purple geode and wondered if the gnome would let her keep it, though she didn't have the nerve to ask. The hollow stone was cut in a cross-section to reveal the crystals inside. Most captivating of all was a ghostly image that looked like a face peering out. Kyla peered closer. It looked like its mouth was open in a scream. How curious.
The gnome, who hadn’t looked up since Kyla sat down, finally yelped and broke her trance.
“OH! I’m sorry. I didn’t see you come in! Uh...normally I’d invite you to have a seat but you seem to have...well, now...I’m sorry. What do you want?”
“I don’t know. I’m supposed to talk to you. The troll lady said she didn’t have a packet for me.” She sat forward and tapped her heel nervously against the leg of her chair. Her future was in this disorganized gnome’s tiny hands.
“Do you have a name?” the gnome asked.
“Yes.” She fidgeted.
The gnome stared at her a moment. “And can you tell me wh
at it is?”
“Kyla. Kyla Nim.”
Without looking, the gnome reached into the middle of a pile of papers beside his chair and yanked out a page. He adjusted his spectacles and peered it over.
“Yes, yes. I see you were accepted but never sent back your course registration.”
Kyla shifted in her seat. “I-you aren’t going to send me home, are you?”
The gnome raised an eyebrow. “Oh, my, no! You did already pay, after all, and we hate giving refunds. It’s not that big a deal. First week of school is a free week, anyway. People try out classes, switch them around if they don’t like them, that sort of thing. It’s just you’ll be a little more limited in your choices as some classes will be full.”
She exhaled, feeling the nervous energy drain out. She slumped a bit in her seat as her muscles relaxed.
“Of course,” the gnome continued, “there is a bit of work for you to do. As you didn’t enroll properly, you will have to fill out some forms. And nobody put together a student package for you.”
“That’s okay!” Kyla smiled. “I’m just happy I can stay!”
“Don’t be silly! As long as you have money, we’ll find a way to keep you here. Now, here we go.”
The gnome started pulling forms from scattered piles and tossing them onto Kyla’s lap as he spoke.
“Enrollment form...late form...dorm registration...cafeteria registration...insurance...and, uh, medical history...personal essay...orientation forms...”
The pile grew as the gnome darted about, blindly pulling papers from the towering stacks in an inspiring display of disarray management. She couldn’t see any sort of organization, but the gnome knew exactly where to find everything. Even more impressive was the amount of paperwork piling up on Kyla's lap, though she was less excited by that end of things.
“...all in triplicate,” the gnome finished as he dumped a final pile of papers on Kyla. “Most of that you can do during the week but I will need that top one filled out before you go so I can get you assigned to a dorm.”
“Ok. Do you have a pen?”
The gnome’s eyes darted around the room. “Oddly, no.”
***
Kyla dragged her bags to Haven Hall after getting directions from a cordial harpy. The stone building looked fortified for battle. The roof was lined with battlements and it looked like there had once been arrow slits in the walls that had now been filled with cement. The front door was made of oak trimmed in metal, and large enough for ogres or trolls. She grunted as she pulled the door open and tried to lodge it with her foot, but she wasn’t strong enough to manage both her heavy luggage and the door. She only just managed to roll clear before being pinned against the jamb. Her paperwork scattered onto the grass and walkway. A cackle revealed Lili walking on the opposite side of the yard.
“Oh, crab-apples,” Kyla muttered.
A gentle voice with a soft laugh approached from the side.
“Need a hand?” Eunoe asked. Aspen said nothing but reached for one of the bags. Unfortunately, it was the bag filled with rocks, which she strained to lift before deciding it was easier to drag.
Eunoe helped gather the papers. She took the second bag and entered the building, holding the door for Kyla and her armload of paperwork. Aspen grunted as she inched the heavier bag through the door. Kyla looked around in wonder at the fine stonework and old paintings on the walls. A spiral oak staircase with mahogany rails led to the upper floors. Kyla smiled as her footsteps echoed through the large chamber. The ceilings were high and the hallway wide, giving a further impression it had been built with larger creatures in mind, yet the stairs were appropriate for normal-sized folk.
The door closed with a hollow boom which echoed off the stone walls. As soon as it did Aspen let go of the bag she was dragging and peered inside to see what was causing her all the trouble.
“Thank you so much!” Kyla told Eunoe. “Do you live here too?”
“Yes, we have a room on the second floor. What’s your room number?”
Kyla pulled the tag from her pocket. “Uh...two-seventeen.”
Eunoe smiled. “Right across from us! Hear that, Aspen?”
Aspen gave an excited clap, but her perplexed eyes never left Kyla’s bag. She drew out a smooth rock with a plain gray tone. She rotated it in her hand and looked at it, puzzled.
“That’s a rock I got from Lake Gimgal two years ago when I went fishing with my dad and my brother. We used it to smack the fish on the head to kill them. Sounds vicious, I know, but we love fish in my family, and the lake's pretty far away so we don’t get it very often!”
“I use a stick,” Aspen said with no expression.
Eunoe spoke to Kyla in a loud whisper. “At least you probably cook them. Aspen eats them raw!”
Kyla laughed. Aspen shrugged, returning the stone and pulling another from the bag. “That’s how bears eat them,” she said flatly as she examined the second stone. This one was elliptical and also gray but had a white stripe around the center.
Kyla clapped. “Oh! My brother and I used that one to try and knock crab-apples out of the tree behind my house. I think we maybe got three in the whole afternoon. Then he ate a bunch and I started saying he was full of crab-apples until my mom heard me and made me eat a handful of juniper berries.”
Eunoe looked confused. “Why?”
“Oh, she was trying to get me to stop cursing. Anyway I kept the rock because it was the first time in a while I hung out with my brother.”
“So you collect rocks for the memories.” Eunoe leaned over and started sifting through the bag.
“I do like them,” Kyla began. “I mean, a lot of people make fun of my collection because I don’t choose rocks because they’re pretty or valuable. These all have meaning. That one is from my mom’s flower garden. And you know, some people like to remember things with pictures or stories. But pictures fade and stories change. My rocks will last forever!”
Eunoe nodded. “I like that, Kyla.” She returned the rocks to the bag and helped Aspen heft it up the stairs.
***
Kyla’s room was smaller than she expected. There were two beds. It hadn’t occurred to her she might be sharing. It was clear which side was hers: the one with the empty desk and a bed with no sheets. Eunoe tossed the smaller bag on the mattress before helping Aspen heave the second bag onto the bed with a grunt, which turned out to be a mistake as they heard a loud crack from the support boards underneath.
“Don’t worry, we can—” Aspen started.
Eunoe interrupted. “We'll fix that for you later.”
“Do you know my roommate?” Kyla asked. The occupied side of the room was simply but finely decorated. There were no blankets, but the mattress was fitted with a finely embroidered sheet. Thick discs made of gold and an inscribing tool sat on the desk. One of the discs bore writing in a language Kyla didn’t recognize. An ornately carved box sat under the bed. There was a strange crystalline sculpture, like a giant snowflake, held up on the wall.
Eunoe looked around briefly. “No idea,” she said. “I've never seen anyone come in or out.”
“Oh. Well, I get along with pretty much everyone.” Kyla sat on her bed and started sifting through a bag for a pen.
Eunoe clicked her tongue. “If not, you can sleep in Aspen’s bed.”
“I don't use it. I spend the night in an oak tree by the science building,” Aspen added.
“Cool! Thanks, by the way. I’m really glad we’re neighbors! Anyway I gotta do all this paperwork now.”
Eunoe stepped back out into the hall. “It was nice to meet you. There's a bath downstairs if you'd like to clean up first. Come on over if you need anything. Let's go, Aspen!”
Aspen looked annoyed by the order, but she waved goodbye and stepped out. And Kyla began her labors.
***
After a refreshing bath and a change of clothes, Kyla set to task on her mountain of papers. It was several hours before she filled out the final blank on the fi
nal page. She tossed the pen back over her shoulder and yawned. The papers were stacked in neat piles on her desk, and the sun was visible as it set on the horizon. She pulled out a candle and a firestick and lit the room to compensate for the fading sunlight. Her hair was now frazzled and she slumped in her chair as her fatigue and hunger competed for attention. She wiped her brow and opened the window, enjoying the light breeze from outside.
A sudden gust of wind blew the candle out, and Kyla was sure something had rushed through the window. She turned in a fright to see a wispy ghost-like figure standing in the middle of the room, dress billowing as winds blasted around her. The girl was nearly transparent and looked horrified to see Kyla's papers flying out the window and over the school grounds.
“Oh, no!” Kyla shouted. “Look what you’ve done! I spent all afternoon on that!”
“Oh, my deepest apologies!” The ghostly figure bowed her head. “I wasn't informed I had been assigned a roommate! Allow me to help.”
“Help how? My stuff’s all over campus!”
“Don't worry. I can recover them.”
The girl evanesced into a gust of wind and swooped out the window. Kyla watched as scattered papers lifted off the grass and out of tree branches, swirling together in a small twister. Once all the papers outside had been collected, the girl sailed back inside, collected the papers that now lay on the bed and floor, and neatly stacked them. The air then coalesced back into the regal but somber shape of the ghost-girl, now slightly more opaque than when she first appeared.
“That was amazing!” Kyla whooped. “I’ve never seen anything like that! What are you, anyway? Some kind of ghost?”
The girl held her head up proudly. “I am Aura, Daughter of the Air, ninth child of Duke Ukko. My family has long borne the duty of carrying the winds and clouds, from the freezing mistrals of the north to the heavy rains of the tropical monsoons. We are wind, we are storm, we are thunder, we are rain. We are the hot winds that dry the desert sands, yet we are also the gentle breeze that soothes the farmer’s brow. We carry both life and death, for without air the living would not bear breath, yet our terrible storms bring death on their wings.”