Cave of Nightmares

by V. St. Clair

  “Hayden, you awake?” Zane mumbled up at him.

  “Yeah, you?”

  Stupid question. If he wasn’t awake he wouldn’t have spoken to me.

  “Heh, not really,” his friend chuckled. “Better get up and get a move on though, or we’ll be in line for hours.”

  Hayden didn’t really understand what he meant until they made their way out to the front lawns, where dozens of students were lined up with their belongings in front of the main courtyard. A group of mastery-level students were drawing translocation circles while Master Reede called for groups of people to come forward who were going to the same place.

  “It’s chaos out here,” Hayden observed with interest, watching Lorn and Oliver Trout shove a cluster of first-year girls out of their way to get to the translocation circle ahead of them.

  “Yeah, come on, let’s get in line.” Zane led the way towards the courtyard, weaving in and out of groups of people with much more baggage than them. Hayden followed as quickly as possible, glad to only be carrying the one bag, with Bonk perched sleepily on his shoulder. Felix the fox was wrapped limply around Zane’s shoulders like a scarf, fast asleep.

  “Merina!” Master Reede called out as soon as the next circle was completed. “Anyone headed to Merina step forward now.”

  Hayden’s stomach did a flip-flop at the mention of his hometown. He wondered whether he would ever go there again, and how Anna was doing at the orphanage. He felt a stab of guilt that he hadn’t thought of her much since he came to Mizzenwald.

  I’ll visit her. Someday I’ll go back and thank her for her kindness to me.

  A few people went forward and squeezed together in the circle, fumbling around a bit to make sure all their bags came with them.

  “If they send us all out by magic, how does everyone get back?” Hayden asked curiously.

  “That’s up to us,” Zane grinned. “Usually Mom or Dad takes some time off work to ride back with me.”

  The mastery students touched their hands to the edges of the circle and the group headed to Merina disappeared. They immediately began drawing another diagram in its place.

  “That must get exhausting,” Hayden observed.

  “I’ll bet it does. But Master Reede probably has them swapping out every few minutes,” Zane pointed out. “That’s what I have to look forward to if I decide to go into research with him when I’m older…well, if he accepts me, that is. It’s really hard to get an apprenticeship at Mizzenwald because there are only a few spots and so much competition. The mastery students have to do all the grunt work that the Masters are too important to waste time and energy on.”

  “Do you want to do research when you’re older?” Hayden asked, surprised.

  “I don’t know…it’s never really been my thing, but I feel like I should give it a try. I’d rather be out in the world as a field-mage though, traveling and fighting deadly monsters with my friends.”

  “You don’t get enough deadly monsters in our arena challenges?” Hayden grimaced at the thought.

  “Well, yeah, but they aren’t real monsters, they’re just constructs. It would be cool to actually do some good in the world, maybe save a town from something deadly and become a local hero,” he grinned at the thought.

  “Calypso! All aboard for Calypso!” Master Reede called out, and Zane nudged him forward.

  “Oh good, that’s us.” He held up his hand as they parted the crowd to signal Master Reede not to send the group without them. Hayden followed along in his wake and joined him in the middle of the circle, along with three fifth-year students he didn’t know and two first-years.

  “Everyone ready? Alright, send them off.” Master Reede said in a bored voice to his students, and Hayden clutched his baggage tighter as the translocation took hold. He blinked hard several times and looked around at the town of Calypso.

  It was a medium-sized town, not unlike Merina, and they had appeared in the middle of a pavilion. Nobody looked terribly surprised to have a bunch of kids materialize out of thin air, and Hayden realized that this must be a typical translocation site when the first-years’ parents hurried forward to embrace them. Zane must have read his expression because he said, “They send us to the same spot every year, so people learn to expect it during the summer and winter breaks.”

  “What happens if we wake up late and miss our translocation circle at Mizzenwald? Do we just have to walk home?”

  Zane snorted in amusement. “They run through all the locations dozens of times until everyone is taken care of. I just wanted to get an early start on the day so we won’t get to my house after dark.”

  Despite their expected arrival, people’s eyes seemed strangely drawn to Hayden, and for a moment he thought they all knew who he was and who his father was just at a glance. Then he realized they were actually staring at the dragon on his shoulder and exhaled heavily in relief.

  No one appeared to be waiting for him and Zane, who led the way out of the pavilion and onto a cobblestone roadway on foot.

  “Do you live in town?” Hayden asked curiously, looking all around as they passed one-and-two story shops set up along the road. A horse-drawn carriage trundled past them and they stepped out of the way to avoid being trampled. The driver didn’t even spare them a look as his horses cantered past.

  “Nah, we’re just outside of it. Most people live outside of the city and just come in for business, except for the really rich and really poor.” He turned down another street that had them walking through a market district. Stands were set up on both sides of the wide roadway and carts trundled up and down selling fruits and vegetables, grains and oats. A few vendors called out to them as they passed, but for the most part everyone was busy dealing with customers who packed the street, causing Hayden and Zane to weave around them. He could see a butcher’s shop in the distance, surrounded by a horde of customers while one employee shouted out orders and the other two ran around behind him trying to wrap cuts of meat.

  “As soon as we get past the hospital and the tailor we’ll be out of town and then you’ll see my house,” Zane explained when they finally emerged on the other side of the crowded marketplace.

  “Neat; I can’t wait to meet your family,” Hayden said truthfully, after all the stories he’d heard Zane tell about them over the last six months. “I’m glad they’re okay with me staying with them.”

  Zane shrugged. “I’m sure they won’t mind that I invited you.”

  Hayden stopped in his tracks. “Wait, you mean they don’t know I’m coming!?”

  “Well, they will soon.” Zane gave him a sunny smile that made Hayden want to punch him.

  “But—but you said…”

  “Yeah, well, I lied,” his friend admitted without apology. “When you said you were going to stay at school all summer to do classwork I knew I had to get you out of there.” He shuddered. “No friend of mine is going to spend his holiday reading about alignments or wand-lore.”

  They resumed walking while Hayden tried and failed to think of words to express his horror. After a few minutes he finally sputtered, “But y-you’re going to s-spring the son of A-Aleric Frost on them when they’re not even expecting it! They’re going to have to feed and shelter me for a month and you didn’t even ask their permission!”

  Zane shrugged. “Not much to be done about it now.” He sounded way too casual about this. “Besides, I don’t like being the only boy in the house; my sisters gang up on me. And they’ll absolutely fawn over Bonk.”

  Bonk’s ears perked up at the sound of his name, and he turned his head left and right to take in their surroundings.

  “I…I should go back to school. I don’t want to impose on your family,” Hayden muttered, horribly embarrassed.

  “Right, well, good luck with that. It’s about fifty miles that way,” he pointed behind them. “Shouldn’t take you more than a week or two to walk it on foot.”

  Hayden grumbled and continued alongside his friend.

  “I’l
l pay you back for this someday.”

  Zane smiled winningly. “Bring it on.”

  15

  A Big Problem

  Zane’s house looked about like Hayden expected it to, which is to say, middling. A whitewashed two-level home with a clay-tiled roof, it would have been considered spacious if Zane was an only child, but given that there were up to seven other people sharing the space, it was probably barely sufficient to house them all comfortably. Hayden guessed them to have about an acre of land between them and the nearest neighbor, most of which was undeveloped.

  There were two girls out in the grass alongside the house, hanging up wet clothing on the line to dry. Zane and Hayden were nearly to the front door before the girls caught sight of them, dropped the shirts they were hanging up, and hurried over.

  “There you are!” the older of the two pulled Zane into what looked like a bone-crushing embrace, rubbing her closed fist on top of his head until he said, “Ouch! Lemme go!” Her blond hair was mostly-tucked into a white bonnet, falling free as she wrestled her brother. Hayden could see the similarities in her and Zane’s features.

  “And you brought Felix!” the younger sister exclaimed, opening her arms just in time to catch the fox, who had taken a running leap at her, nearly knocking the floppy straw hat off of her head. It took both of them a moment to notice that Zane wasn’t alone.

  “Oh, you brought a friend with you,” the older girl turned to Hayden curiously. “My word, is that a real dragon on your shoulder?” Her lips parted in awe.

  “If you hadn’t been so busy smothering me I would’ve introduced you by now,” Zane grumbled, attempting to flatten his mussed hair. “This is my friend, Hayden Frost, and his familiar, Bonk. Hayden, my youngest sister, Florette, and my slightly-older sister, Helene.”

  Both girls’ eyes widened in surprise and examined Hayden’s features in careful detail.

  “Oh, so you’re the one with the evil father,” Florette offered casually, readjusting the floppy hat on her head.

  “Flory!” Helene chided. “You don’t say that to someone you don’t know; it’s rude!”

  Florette frowned. “But it’s true, isn’t it? So why do we have to pretend it isn’t?”

  Hayden forced a smile and interrupted before they could argue niceties any further. “It’s fine, I don’t mind.” He addressed Florette now. “Yes, Aleric Frost was my father, in the loosest sense of the word.”

  Bonk flapped his wings for reasons best known to him, recapturing the girls’ attentions.

  “Oh he’s so teeny and cute!” Florette let out a girlish giggle of delight. “I’ve always heard dragons are massive, like the one that’s been attacking people here.”

  “Dragonlings are powerfully-magical and much smaller than—wait,” Zane changed tracks immediately, “What do you mean ‘like the one who’s been attacking people?’”

  Helene glanced around nervously as though expecting a monster to descend from the sky above her.

  “The last couple months this dragon seems to have taken up residence in the area…no one has been able to rattle out where its lair is yet, and people are terrified of it.” She frowned. “Every few days it swoops down for food. It’s picked off most of the neighbors’ cattle by now, and a few people besides.” She shuddered.

  “Why isn’t anything being done about it?” Zane demanded. “Why hasn’t a mage been called for?”

  Helene rolled her eyes. “Master-level mages aren’t exactly easy to find, you know. Besides, there are monsters everywhere these days, and the mages have been busy. We have asked for help, of course, but no one has come yet. They seem reluctant after they hear it’s a dragon attacking us, because they’ve got such tough hides that most spells won’t penetrate it.”

  Hayden couldn’t entirely blame people for being afraid of battling a fully-grown dragon, magical or not. Zane seemed furious about the lack of assistance though, taking it as a personal insult.

  He ranted about cowards and frauds as he led them into the house. Hayden was aware of the girls eyeing Bonk hopefully as they walked beside him.

  They set their bags down in the main hall and continued into a living area at Zane’s direction, where his other three sisters were joined by their parents. All eyes immediately turned to them, and Hayden felt like a frightened animal standing there in the doorway.

  “Oh good, Zane, you’re—” his mother began.

  “A dragon!” Two of his sisters exclaimed in unison, cutting off their mother and jumping to their feet in excitement. “Oh look at him, he’s so small!”

  “Ooh, can we touch him?” the other sister asked, rushing past her brother as though he were a decorative statue without even acknowledging him. “Does he bite?”

  “Uh…” Hayden was a little alarmed at being surrounded by a flock of girls who all seemed intent on admiring Bonk. Bonk flapped his wings gently and they all gasped and giggled over him.

  “Oh hi, it’s me, your brother…” Zane announced to no one, clearly annoyed. “You know, the one you haven’t seen in months.”

  “Can I pat him?”

  “Will he sit on my shoulder, do you think?”

  The girls were ignoring Zane as thoroughly as they were ignoring Hayden. Goaded to irritation, Zane announced, “Hey everyone, this is my friend Aleric Frost. He’s come back from the grave to murder us all.”

  Hayden gave a start of horrified shock, but his sisters were taking turns stroking Bonk’s scaly back without paying their brother any notice.

  “I very much hope you’re joking,” Zane’s father said gruffly, “though it’s in poor taste, even so.”

  Zane scowled. “Sorry, just trying to get their attention.” He turned to his parents. “This is Hayden, by the way. I’ve told you about him.”

  Hayden had to give his friend’s parents credit for not flinching or betraying their surprise at finding a darkly-famous stranger in their living room without advanced notice.

  “Oh, hello Hayden, and welcome to our home,” his mother offered politely. “We didn’t know to expect you.”

  “Yeah, I invited him,” Zane explained without apology. “Is there anything to eat? I’m starving.”

  Hayden felt like he should apologize for barging into their house unexpected, but Zane’s mother disappeared into the kitchen to cook them some breakfast and his father went to make up a guest bed upstairs. He was uncomfortably aware of the gaggle of girls still surrounding him.

  “Uh, Bonk…hop down.” He was relieved when the dragon left his shoulder and settled onto the floor, regarding him with an imperious look. “Okay, now listen here. You behave yourself while we’re at Zane’s house; we’re guests. No biting, no spitting fire, and no clawing at the furniture.”

  The girls just seemed to realize that Hayden was there, because the oldest one turned to her brother and said, “Zane you lout, why don’t you introduce us to your friend?”

  Zane rolled his eyes. “Yeah, why don’t I?”

  Despite his initial awkwardness, Hayden settled in soon enough amongst Zane’s family. He was immensely glad that he’d brought Bonk along with him, because Zane’s sisters didn’t even bat an eyelash at hearing he was the son of the most feared mage in the Nine Lands as long as he had a “cute” dragon.

  Indeed, they spent so much time fawning over Bonk during the next two weeks that Hayden was worried the dragon would become spoiled and glutted by the time they returned to Mizzenwald.

  Still, it left Hayden with plenty of free time, though it wasn’t as free as he’d initially anticipated. Zane was immediately relegated to a list of chores to complete every day, which Hayden helped him finish without being asked because he felt compelled to earn his keep. So far today they’d cut the grass and pulled weeds from the flower beds, and it was early afternoon by the time they finished.

  “Now I remember why I don’t visit home more often,” Zane grumbled, leaning back against the outer wall of the house and taking a long drink of lemonade. “It’s like being a
t a work camp.”

  Hayden chuckled and wiped the sweat from his forehead with one sleeve. His Focus-correctors (which he only removed to sleep) slipped a little over his sweaty wrists.

  “I don’t mind it.” He removed one of his correctors and attempted to dry it on his shirt before returning it to his arm. “It’s been so long since I had a home to stay in or chores to do that it almost feels nice.”

  Zane gave him a sad frown. “I guess that’s true…I never really thought of it that way before. If my sisters weren’t always trying to kidnap me and stuff me into dresses and hair barrettes, I wouldn’t mind as much.”

  Hayden snickered at the recent memory of Zane’s sisters barging into their room in the dead of night with the goal of wrestling their brother into women’s clothing and hair accessories for no purpose other than their entertainment. Hayden had been less amused when they tried to do the same to him, though he found a surprising ally in Bonk, who let out an ominous hunting-cry and prepared to dive-bomb them. After that, no one tried to force Hayden into a dress.

  “Yeah, well, they’re just doing it to mess with you because they know you hate it. It probably means they love you, because girls are weird like that.” Hayden shrugged wildly.

  “Women,” Zane muttered mutinously. “I wish I had just one brother, one other sane person in the house. Is that so much to ask for?” He drained his glass of lemonade.

  “What about your dad?”

  Zane chuckled. “He gave up trying to understand them ages ago. Now he just goes along with whatever they’re doing, or pretends he’s deaf.”

  Hayden wasn’t certain he blamed the man for his survivalist approach. “Well, we finished your chores for the day. You want to show me around some more?” he volunteered, and Zane jumped on the suggestion readily.

  “Good idea; get us away from my twittering sisters for a while.” He stood up and brushed the stray grass off his pants. “Come on, let’s see if we can find our familiars; they might like the exercise.”