Cave of Nightmares

by V. St. Clair

  Hayden nodded gratefully.

  “Though you should stop by the ‘formal, junior, casual’ area over here, with the green-and-yellow dots. Everyone should have at least one decent outfit for family visits or semi-formal occasions here at school.”

  Hayden’s head was spinning.

  “There’s a formal casual section? That doesn’t make any sense at all,” he mumbled, and the woman laughed prettily.

  “I know it’s all a bit confusing right now, but you’ll get the hang of it eventually. For now just stick with the basics and let me know if you have any other questions.”

  Hayden thanked her and made his way to the daywear, exhaling in relief when he saw racks of normal pants and shirts. He picked out a week’s worth of clothing, not wanting to be too loose with his allowance, and carried the bundle awkwardly in his arms to be paid for.

  Getting all of his purchases up to his room on the sixth floor was the most challenging thing he had ever done, and his arms were aching by the time he managed it and shut the door behind him. All of his roommates were in class right now, so he changed into one of his new outfits and loaded up his belt slots with the basic supplies he’d purchased this morning. Only his prism slots remained empty, because he hadn’t been cleared by Master Asher yet to purchase any.

  Looking in the mirror, Hayden was pleasantly surprised by the image he struck.

  I look like a real mage.

  The prism holder in front of his eye was empty, but he still wore the circlet around his head like he saw Master Asher do, with the eyepiece rotated upwards so that it was out of the way. His long-sleeved shirt even concealed his Focus-correctors, so no one would have to know how damaged he was.

  Smiling, he went to work unpacking the rest of his bags and filling his side of the narrow closet he shared with Zane, determined to make the place feel more like home. His roommates had colorful bedding and pillows, probably sent by their families. Hayden’s bedding was much plainer, but it looked comfortable enough, so he didn’t mind.

  My mom would have crocheted me a blanket if she was still alive.

  He pushed the unproductive thought from his mind and left the room, deciding to do a bit of exploring since he didn’t start classes until the next day.

  As he walked down the main staircase he took the time to read the dozens of signs posted along the walls and banisters for something called a challenge group, but the flyers didn’t actually explain what a challenge group was so he ignored them for now.

  Making a mental note to ask Zane about that as well, he continued through the pentagonal foyer and walked back out onto the grounds, enjoying the mild summer climate. It was hard to believe that it was snowing and wintry just outside the boundaries of the school.

  There were students hanging out in the main courtyard, obviously resting between classes, or else they just had a free period. Some of them had their familiars with them, and others were working on homework. He didn’t see anyone he recognized on sight, so Hayden continued his walk around the castle, this time exploring the eastern side, opposite the supply shops. Part of him wasn’t expecting there to be anything over here except for the stables he’d seen yesterday, but he was once again surprised.

  There was a handsome log cabin towards the back of the castle, off to the side, with a dirt path leading up to it. As Hayden drew nearer he could hear the sounds of different animals moving about, and he approached the cabin more cautiously.

  There were no signs or labels indicating what this place was, but the front door was wide open so he assumed he was allowed to go inside. The inside of the wooden cabin didn’t appear to be magically-enlarged, though Hayden thought it could stand to be. The interior was mostly one wide open space, though there was a closed door along the back wall that might lead to a bathroom. It looked like an infirmary for animals, with a few tanks of water aerating—though they lacked fish—and many cushions lined up along one wall, some of which were occupied. He passed a hedgehog that was missing a patch of quills— green paste covered the bare spot—and a snake with a foul-smelling bandage wrapped around its middle on the next cushion.

  There were three people dressed in brown who were tending to the different animals, and Hayden guessed that they were around Oliver’s age—maybe seventeen, though they looked much friendlier. Another wall had bookshelves full of texts on animal care, and racks of neatly-stacked, clearly-labeled phials of different colored liquids.

  Hayden was looking around with interest until a man emerged through the back door and caught sight of him.

  “Hello young man, are you here to pick up a familiar?”

  The man had a rustic look about him, dressed identically to his apprentices in brown cotton and leather, though he was clearly in charge. He looked to be in his forties, with a slightly weathered face, shaggy black-grey hair, and blue eyes that crinkled at the corners. He was bulky without being fat, like he was used to carrying heavy things around all day.

  “Oh, no, I’m sorry. I’m new here and I was just looking around; I don’t have a familiar yet.” He extended his hand to shake without even thinking about it. “I’m Hayden Frost.”

  “Ah, yes, Ash told me about you,” the man nodded, not looking remotely bothered by his lineage. “I’m Torin, the man you come to if your familiar gets injured or falls ill. I’ve got some time to take you out back if you’d like. We can see if any of the unclaimed animals here take a fancy to you.”

  Hayden raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  “So mages don’t get to choose their familiars?” He remembered what Zane had told him the night before but was hoping for some wiggle-room.

  Torin laughed good-naturedly.

  “Did Ash tell you that?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “No, it’s exactly the opposite. Not just any animal can be a familiar; they’ve got to have magic in them, the ability to sense which mage they will work best with. An animal will allow you to be its master and companion only if there is a strong magical connection there.”

  He cuffed Hayden jovially on the shoulder. “Now come on, lad, and let’s see if we can find you a friend in this lot.”

  Hayden felt strangely comfortable with Torin, who had a fatherly aura about him that made Hayden wish he’d had a proper father figure growing up. Torin led him out the back door, stopping just long enough to check on a hyena with its leg in a cast.

  “Don’t the familiars sometimes fight or eat each other?” Hayden asked curiously, not sure how all these animals could coexist without a few accidents.

  “Nah, like I said, familiars have a bit of magic to them. They know not to attack each other, though some of them hiss and kick a fit when they’re near the others, but that’s usually more a reflection of their masters’ attitudes than anything else.”

  “So if I don’t like someone, my familiar won’t like theirs either?” he asked thoughtfully.

  “Probably not,” Torin shrugged, leading him to a penned-in menagerie of animals. Even though the fencing consisted of simple wooden posts with slats between them and was only waist-high, none of the animals appeared keen on escaping, even the birds.

  “Go on, walk around in there and see if anything takes to you,” Torin urged him forward, and Hayden took a deep breath and opened the swinging gate in front of him, expecting to be bombarded by magical creatures.

  Some of the animals turned their heads and stared at him with interest, but most of the others continued whatever they were doing before. He passed a pair of monkeys on a climbing structure and trained his eyes on the ground in front of him, not wanting to step on anything by accident.

  A hawk was watching him imperiously from one of the fence posts, and Hayden’s heart leapt at the thought of owning such a sleek, cool familiar. But the hawk didn’t seem interested in him, and after hovering awkwardly nearby for a few moments he continued to walk around the pen.

  Baby pigs had their faces buried in a slop bucket, making loud wet noises as they gorged themselves. Hayden was a little glad when
they didn’t seem interested in him, and took care to creep past them without drawing their attention. There was a little pond in the middle of the pen with a few snakes peeking out from nearby rocks, and a snail the size of a small cat lazing in the water.

  A Jack Russell terrier approached him slowly, tongue hanging out of its mouth. Hayden was fond of dogs, and smiled as he knelt down to pat it, thinking that it wouldn’t be such a bad familiar to have. Before his hand could make contact, something came flying at him from his peripheral vision and clamped its teeth over his outstretched hand, piercing the skin.

  “OW!” Hayden jerked his hand back and cradled it to his chest, examining the pin-pricks of blood welling up in a small crescent shape. He looked around for the creature that attacked him and was surprised to see a small dragon standing beside him.

  It was the first dragon he had ever seen up close, and for a moment his fascination overcame the pain in his hand. It was standing upright and only came to his knees, a bit smaller than the one he saw last night at dinner. It was a mottled brown color, like mud, and its pointy little ears were perked up in interest. Its wings were folded behind its back, but a thin tail swished through the dirt behind it, and Hayden could see the tint of blood on its tiny, razor-sharp teeth.

  Another surge of pain pulsed through his bitten hand, and he was alarmed to see that the skin was stretched and swollen. His hand was already twice its normal size and turning a disturbing green color.

  “Bonk, you menace!” Torin hurried towards him, staring down at Hayden’s hand. “Bless me, did he actually lay claim on you?”

  Hayden grimaced through the pain in his hand.

  “That little dragon bit me. I think it’s poisonous.”

  Torin whistled.

  “Well I’ll be. I thought old Bonk was never going to pick a master.” He helped Hayden to his feet and half-carried him back to the log cabin. The dragon called Bonk followed, walking along on its little clawed feet.

  “It’s killed me…” Hayden muttered as the world began to blur in front of his eyes. He was seeing double and sweating profusely.

  “You’ll be alright, son. Just lie down here.” Torin lowered Hayden onto a cot and pointed down at the little dragon standing beside him like it could understand him. “You bit him, now get to work.”

  Hayden didn’t want the dragon anywhere near him, but he was too weak to fight when Bonk waddled over to him and began to lick his injured hand. It was an unpleasant sensation and he wanted to pull away, but he couldn’t lift his arm anymore for some reason.

  Torin returned a moment later and lifted Hayden’s head long enough to tip some dark green liquid that tasted like shoe polish down his throat. He sputtered and coughed, but the pain began to subside almost immediately. The world was still swimming before his eyes, and the last thing he remembered before he fell into the blackness was something warm settling down on his stomach.

  When Hayden opened his eyes it was already growing dark out. He couldn’t remember where he was or why he was lying down on a cot, and he blinked several times to focus his vision. His mouth was bone-dry and tasted terrible, and something warm was rumbling against his stomach.

  Looking down the length of his body, he saw a mottled-brown dragon coiled up like a cat, sleeping peacefully on his belly. He stared at it for a long moment before his memory came back to him.

  He sat up so abruptly that it dislodged the dragon, causing it to roll onto the floor and scramble back to its feet. He examined his bitten hand, but it looked completely healed. There wasn’t even a scar.

  “Awake at last, are you?” Torin approached, squatting down beside him. “I was beginning to think you’d sleep the night away.”

  “What happened? Am I okay?”

  He smiled.

  “You’re fine, son; just a little dragon bite.” He patted him on the shoulder. “Of course, most dragons don’t claim their masters by poisoning them, but Bonk’s always been a bit odd.”

  “What? You mean he’s my familiar now?” Hayden stared down at the mottled-brown thing in front of him, which was staring back at him with beady eyes.

  “Of course he is. He claimed you and now he’s yours for life.”

  Hayden wasn’t at all sure that he wanted a companion who could poison him on a whim.

  “But…but he…” he knew there was no point in fighting it, but this all felt so sudden. “Why is he called Bonk?” he asked at last.

  Torin smiled fondly at the dragon.

  “Well, he’s a bit unusual, as far as dragons go. He’s been here for almost fifty years now. My predecessor named him Bonk after he flew headlong into a tree while chasing a squirrel,” he explained apologetically. “We usually don’t name the familiars before they leave the pen, but Bonk’s been with us for such a long time that it didn’t seem like he’d ever be placed with a mage. Most of the others don’t spend more than a year in the pen.”

  Hayden’s head was beginning to ache.

  “He’s fifty years old already?” The dragon didn’t look old or wizened, but it was hard to tell. “Does that mean he’s going to kick the bucket any day now?”

  “Hey now,” Torin chided him. “Fifty ain’t exactly old, you hear? I’m fifty-three and I intend to live a good while longer.”

  Hayden blushed.

  “I didn’t mean to be rude, and I guessed you at forty,” he admitted, and Torin chuckled.

  “Bless you for that. Anyway, dragons live for hundreds of years, so he’ll probably be around longer than you are if you take good care of him.”

  Bonk was still watching Hayden curiously.

  “What if he bites me again?”

  “He won’t. Now that he’s yours he’s sworn to protect you as best he can, and to always act in your best interest. He was just a little too enthusiastic in marking you for his own.” Torin patted Bonk affectionately on the head. “I’ll miss seeing the little guy when I make my rounds though. I’ve gotten used to having him here with me.”

  Hayden frowned.

  “You said he was weird for a dragon. What did you mean?”

  Torin shrugged.

  “He’s just a little odd is all, nothing too bad. Like, most dragons wouldn’t ever fly into a tree, because their perception is too good for that. But most dragons also won’t curl up and sleep with their master, because they’re proud creatures. Bonk’s just a bit different than the others.”

  Of course, a messed-up dragon for a messed-up boy.

  “So what am I supposed to do with him?”

  Torin gave him a sympathetic smile.

  “Just let him follow you around a bit during your free time and be sure and talk to him so he gets to know you. There are plenty of training areas for familiars on the grounds, so you can teach him to obey commands, though he’s already learned a few from me. You’ll be plenty thankful for him during Elixirs, I wager; dragons shed their scales over time, and they’re immensely useful in draughts.”

  Hayden and Bonk stared at each other for a long moment. He still wasn’t sure what to do with the little dragon, but he was warming up to the idea of owning one.

  It’s better than having a pet pig.

  He stood up and took a moment to get his balance.

  “What does he eat?” he asked Torin, who was getting a bit teary at the thought of saying farewell to Bonk.

  “Dragons generally like meat, though Bonk will eat just about anything I put in front of him. Don’t worry too much about it though; he can fend for himself if he needs to.”

  “Okay, well…thanks for your help, Master Torin.” Hayden glanced out the window to gauge the time. The sun had almost completely set.

  “It’s just Torin. I’m no Master of the arcana,” the man said without dismay. “I just know enough to take care of the animals here, and that’s more than enough for me.”

  “Oh, well thank you then, Torin.” It felt strange calling an adult by their first name, but the man had insisted.

  “Of course. Don’t be afraid to
come back here if you’ve got more questions or need advice.” Torin brushed the dust off of the back of Hayden’s shirt before turning to the dragon. “Up, Bonk.” He patted Hayden’s shoulder as he said it, and the dragon spread its wings and took flight, alighting gracefully on the spot where Torin patted him.

  Hayden had to admit that that was pretty cool, and he walked out of the cabin with Bonk perched on his shoulder, his small claws squeezing gently to maintain his balance.

  No one was outside right now, and Hayden sincerely hoped that they were all at dinner, because he was starving. Remembering that he was supposed to acquaint himself with his new familiar, he tried introducing himself.

  “Hi Bonk…um, I’m Hayden. Hayden Frost.” He felt ridiculous, not knowing if the dragon understood a word he was saying, but he pressed on. “You probably haven’t heard about my father, but everyone else has. He’s kind of evil, you see…well, he was, but he disappeared two years ago and no one has seen him since. I’m pretty sure he’s dead, which is probably a good thing…but I wish I’d gotten to meet him, just once. I don’t even know what he looks like.”

  Whether by coincidence or design, Bonk cuffed him affectionately on the head with his wing as Hayden entered the castle and turned down the corridor leading to the dining hall.

  “Anyway, I’m pretty new to all this, but I’ll try to take good care of you.” He could hear noises coming from the end of the hall, and the tantalizing aromas made his mouth water as he entered the dining area.

  It looked like the meal was well underway, because half the tables he passed had empty serving platters stacked on them, and he squinted and looked around for Zane.

  People were staring and talking about him again, but he was too hungry to care just now. Thankfully Zane stood up and waved to get his attention, and Hayden hurried towards him.