The Other Prism (The Broken Prism)

by St. Clair, V.

  “I guess I’d better stick with Scriptures,” Conner sighed. “You’re right, it does have more practical application than Abnormal Magic, and if we’re going to war with the north then I’m going to need all the fighting abilities I can get.”

  “It’s not like they’re going to send us off to fight; we’re thirteen,” Tess explained.

  “We’re also magically-inclined. You think the bakers and farmers and butchers are going to be the ones fighting the north for us? If this thing drags on, they’re going to need more mages, and they’re going to pull them from the Great Nine.”

  “But the Masters wouldn’t let them do that to us…” Tess insisted. “I know they can be tough sometimes, but they wouldn’t send us off to die when we don’t know enough to win.”

  “Tess, use your head. If we get to the point where they’re drafting undertrained mages from Mizzenwald, the Masters are already going to be dead. Besides, if the sorcerers win, they’re going to take over the school anyway and do who-knows-what with all of us, so we’re not any safer staying here.”

  Tess’s eyes were wide with worry and she was hugging Bonk tightly to her chest. Hayden’s familiar seemed content to sit in her lap and let her hug him like a stuffed animal for whatever reason.

  “That’s enough, Conner. There’s no point in guessing about the future, and scaring ourselves isn’t going to help anything.” He got to his feet and motioned for Bonk to perch on his shoulder. “Come on, Bonk, let’s see if we can catch an open slot with the Masters.”

  “You mean you didn’t tell them you were planning on changing subjects?” Conner raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  “I hadn’t really planned on it until I started studying for the Conjury final and realized how pointless it’s going to be.” He shrugged. “They’ve been holding appointments all day though, so I’ll just go down there and tell them I’ve changed my mind.”

  His mind made up, he took the stairs two at a time and walked across the pentagonal foyer, going through the eastern door and heading back upstairs to the second floor. Sometimes he wished that all of the stairwells connected to the main one that led to the dormitories, since it would save him from going down only to have to climb back up. As he approached the closed door to the Wands classroom where they were holding appointments this year, he encountered Lorn Trout standing in the hallway.

  “What are you doing here, Frost? I’ve got the next appointment,” Lorn greeted him coldly.

  “What subject are you dropping?” Hayden asked with interest, used to Lorn’s rudeness by now.

  “Elixirs, not that it’s any of your business.”

  “Oh, good, because you’re kind of awful at it,” Hayden agreed cheerfully, and Lorn blushed in anger.

  “Well I’m going in there next, and Pollus is after me, so they’re not going to have time for you today. Guess you’ll have to stick with all your subjects for another year.”

  Bonk hopped from Hayden’s shoulder to Lorn’s and calmly bit him on the ear.

  “Bonk!” Hayden scolded, just as Lorn cried out in pain.

  “Your stupid dragon tried to kill me!” he shouted, jostling Bonk from his shoulder and cupping a hand over his ear. “It burns like fire!”

  He took off running down the hall with tears in his eyes, hopefully to either Mistress Razelle or Torin. For some reason, Bonk went with him. Before Hayden could think of what to do, the door opened and a red-haired girl in her fourth year emerged. She looked at Hayden and scowled.

  “What’s all the shouting about?”

  “Uh, nothing,” Hayden lied reflexively.

  “Well, go on in then.” She rolled her eyes at him and walked away. Since it didn’t look like Lorn was going to make his appointment, Hayden stepped through the door.

  The Masters were in various states of reclining in their chairs, trying to stay comfortable. For the most part they looked bored, or tired, though their expressions transformed at the sight of Hayden in their midst.

  “What are you doing here, Frost?” Master Sark greeted him. “You’re not scheduled with us today.”

  “I know, sir, but I wanted to make a change to my schedule for next year.”

  “Why didn’t you submit a request last week?”

  “Because I still had some illusion of figuring out Conjury, but I realized that was a mistake,” he admitted, glancing at Master Reede.

  “Oh thank heavens, I was trying to figure out how to subtly suggest that you weren’t cut out for it,” the Master of Conjury sighed in relief.

  “Um, sir, you weren’t very subtle this year…” Hayden disagreed gently. “You told me you’d seen better diagrams drawn by creatures that lacked opposable thumbs.”

  “What, and that wasn’t subtle?” Master Reede chortled.

  “All our appointments have already been booked,” Sark interrupted. “Lorn Trout is next on our roster.”

  “I know, but he…uh…can’t make it.”

  “And why is that?” Master Willow asked calmly, a knowing look on his face.

  “I came down here, hoping to squeeze in a meeting with you before the end of the day, and Bonk…uh…well, he bit Lorn, and he took off running, so I don’t think he’ll be here.”

  “That menace of a dragon poisoned another student just to get you an appointment?” The Powders Master jumped to his feet in anger.

  “I didn’t tell him to!” Hayden insisted, panicking. “And I don’t think he poisoned him…much.”

  “And why should we trust your opinion on the matter?” Master Ferule, the Master of Scriptures, leaned forward.

  “Because, sir, Bonk poisoned me last year, and I wasn’t in any condition to scream or run away.”

  “You were poisoned by your own familiar?” Master Ferule looked skeptical.

  “He wasn’t my familiar yet,” Hayden felt like he was doing a bad job explaining. “He was claiming me, but Torin said he got a little too enthusiastic. Look, Bonk’s not a menace…he’s just kind of a jerk sometimes. I think he finds it funny, like when he head-butts me until I let him have my pillow to sleep on.”

  “Your dragon sleeps on a pillow?” Master Dirqua looked amazed.

  “It’s—that’s not the point. I’m just saying that I know Bonk’s a little odd, but I don’t think he tried to kill Lorn.”

  The room was silent for what felt like a very long time, while the ten Masters studied him. Asher caught his eye and winked in amusement, so Hayden figured he couldn’t be in too much trouble. Finally, Master Willow addressed him.

  “So, you would like to drop Conjury?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And what were you hoping to pick up in its place?”

  “Abnormal Magic, sir.”

  The others looked surprised by this; even Master Asher narrowed his eyebrows in interest.

  “I don’t allow just anyone to take my class,” the Master on the far right of the room spoke up. Hayden didn’t see him around school very often, but he was quite memorable, mainly because of the strange blue-purple color of his eyes. His jet-black hair made the color even more pronounced, and for some reason even his metallic green robes seemed just a shade brighter than his peers’.

  “You mean I have to take some kind of test to get in?” Hayden asked curiously, not anticipating this roadblock.

  “You could call it that, if you like.” The Master leaned back in his chair, but his posture looked anything but relaxed. “You have to convince me that you belong in my class.”

  For a moment Hayden just stared blankly at him, unsure of what to say or do. Sensing his struggle, Master Kilgore prodded him by asking, “Why do you want to enroll in Abnormal Magic?”

  “Well…” Hayden began slowly, trying to buy himself time to think. “I get called abnormal about three times a week, and the class is called Abnormal Magic…”

  Masters Reede and Asher snickered in amusement.

  “Then my answer is no,” the Master answered without hesitation.

  “Come now
, Laurren, you haven’t really given him a chance,” Master Reede said bracingly.

  “You just want him out of your class,” Sark muttered to him, loud enough for Hayden to hear.

  “The boy was asked a question, and he didn’t answer it,” Master Laurren explained neutrally. “I can’t work with someone who is unable to follow basic instructions.”

  “But I did answer!” Hayden insisted.

  “No. You were asked why you wanted to join my class, not why you thought you belonged there.”

  Hayden paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Getting angry isn’t going to help me right now. I need to be as calm as he is.

  “I want to learn about Abnormal Magic.”

  “Why? Scriptures and Herbalism are both more practical.”

  “I know, sir, but I would rather take your class than either of them,” Hayden insisted, setting his jaw firmly.

  “Why?” Master Laurren prompted quietly.

  “Because it interests me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m weird and I want to know about other weird stuff in the world.”

  “Why?”

  For some reason, that simple word set him off.

  “Because I want to understand why I’m so messed up. I want to know where I came from. I want to know why I have such a big Source, but no one even knew I had magic until my father turned up to ruin my life. I want to know why I survived and my mother died, why everything died in that area, why not even animals can go there now without keeling over even though I recovered. I want to know why my Foci are garbage and I need three-inch correctors. I want to know WHY!”

  He shouted the last word at Master Laurren, hands balled into fists and face flushed with emotion. To his surprise, the Master of Abnormal Magic was smiling benignly at him.

  “And if I tell you that I can’t answer a single one of those questions for you, and that learning from me will bring you no closer to the truth than you are now?”

  “You’re not me. You don’t know what I’ll learn.”

  Master Laurren looked like he was suppressing a smile, which nettled Hayden even more when he was already annoyed.

  “You believe that you’ll see something I missed? That you are smarter than me?” the Master prodded him gently.

  “I believe I will be, yes.”

  “Then I will see you at the start of term next year. Now that you’ve learned how to answer questions truthfully, make it a habit in my class; I don’t have patience for liars.”

  Hayden turned and walked out of the room without speaking, his ears still ringing from the blood pounding in his head. He didn’t like feeling exposed, especially in front of his teachers, and he had a feeling that he had just signed up for a whole lot more of it next year.

  It doesn’t matter. If I have to do this to answer my questions, then I’ll do it. I’ll be the best student Master Laurren has ever seen. I’ll be so good that I can teach the class to him by the time I’m done here, because I’m Hayden Frost!

  It was the first time he had ever really taken pride in his name or his identity before, and he burned with the feeling as he walked out onto the grounds to find Bonk. He passed Lorn, who was headed back to the school with a bandage on one ear, and ignored the other boy’s threats against him as he searched for his familiar.

  Bonk and Cinder were both waiting for him in front of Torin’s cabin, sitting on identical wooden posts that faced him like miniature gargoyles. Hayden stopped in front of them and said, “I’m going to dig into my past, and my father’s, until I remember everything. If I know what happened, then I can figure out why. It might be dangerous, and it might be unpleasant, but I need to know. Are you two with me?”

  The two dragons took flight in unison and perched on either shoulder. Hayden smiled, his emotions abating.

  “Good, then let’s go play ‘fetch.’”

  19

  The Arc of Branx

  Hayden wasn’t sure what he was more nervous about: finals week, or the championship round of the I.S.C. The only thought sustaining him in the days leading to both was that if he could just survive the next week or so, he would be able to enjoy a nice long break before the start of his third year. Even better, since the I.S.C. only occurred every-other year, he knew that no matter what else happened next term, he wouldn’t have the competition to contend with.

  Tess was helping him do some last-minute studying before his first exam, which was Charms. She was able to give him quite a lot of helpful tips and insight, being in the level-two class, so Hayden sat down to his first test of the day in good spirits.

  Master Dirqua entered the room in the same way as usual, by appearing from thin air in the center of their circle of desks. Today the desks had raised dividers between them, so Hayden was unable to see the people on either side of him. A few of his classmates shifted nervously in their seats, though he had no idea why they would be surprised by the anti-cheating measures.

  “Alright, class. Time to see how well I’ve done my job this year. Turn over your papers and begin; you have two hours to complete the exam,” Master Dirqua informed them.

  Hayden flipped over the packet of papers in front of him and began. Obviously the Charms Master had chosen to start simple, because question one said: Name the three basic components required for a successful charm.

  Since they had learned the answer on their first day of class and had been using that knowledge every day since, Hayden would have to be an absolute idiot to get that question wrong.

  Gradually the questions became more difficult, asking him to draw what emblem he would use for different spells and to justify his decision. There were also questions about how Source magic differed from magic cast through the Foci, which were tricky because there were exact formulas and calculations to remember. He thought he got most of them right (or right enough to get partial credit) and moved on to the section on binders.

  He finished the exam with time to spare, and used the intervening minutes to review his Elixirs notes one more time before his next test.

  The exam for Elixirs was difficult, but with any luck he managed a passing grade, and as his next test after lunch was Prisms, Hayden was able to breathe a sigh of relief for the day.

  His friends exchanged stories of botched test questions over their ham-and-bean casserole, while Bonk darted around the table picking food off of their plates.

  “…accidentally confused orange scripting ink with ochre,” Zane told them. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it until after I walked out too—now Master Ferule is going to wonder why I was trying to summon a cobra to help me climb a wall.”

  Hayden laughed but Conner said, “That’s nothing. I was so hopeless at Elixirs that I eventually gave up on the test and drew a picture of Master Kilgore being eaten by an ox on the back of the paper. Then I realized I had to hand in my test to Master Kilgore…” He grimaced as they all burst into laughter.

  “Did he see it?” Tamon asked around a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

  “Yes, unfortunately,” Conner groaned. “He complimented my artistic ability, and then he wondered out loud whether the Masters had made a mistake about me having any magical ability when I was ten. He suggested I might make a good stable boy.”

  Hayden laughed so hard that ham casserole almost came out of his nose. Tess passed him a napkin and shooed Mittens away from her chocolate pie.

  “What about you, Hayden?” Zane turned to him. “Did you botch anything major, or were you annoyingly perfect?”

  Hayden pursed his lips and the gibe and said, “I have no idea. If I mixed something up, it’s not like I’d know about it, or else I wouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

  “What, you don’t look up all the ones you weren’t sure about afterwards to see if you got them right?” Conner raised an eyebrow.

  “Living through it once is bad enough. Besides, it’s not like I can go back and fix it, so there’s no point in trying to figure out my grades before I get
them.”

  “I guess that’s true,” Tamon conceded. “What do you have after lunch?”

  “Prisms,” Hayden answered, shying away from Tamon’s boa constrictor because it made him nervous. He didn’t care for snakes much, and was always worried about being throttled in his sleep by his friend’s familiar.

  “Well that’ll be a cinch, for you at least,” Zane grinned. “I’ll bet Oliver tries to copy off of you.”

  “Not if he’s smart, he won’t,” Hayden countered. “Master Asher takes that stuff seriously; he’s promised to revoke permission to use blue prisms for anyone who he catches cheating.”

  They went their separate ways as lunch concluded, and Hayden turned off at the Prisms classroom. As there were only five of them, Asher had their desks spaced out so far that one of them was in each corner of the room, with the fifth in the center.

  Hayden got a seat in the back corner, while Oliver was forced to take the one in the middle since he came in just before the bell. Hayden flipped over his packet as soon as Master Asher signaled them to begin and started writing.

  One good thing about the I.S.C. this year was that Hayden had a lot more opportunities to use his prisms in combat than last year, so he was able to give a much better accounting of how it worked. Even though the questions were much harder on this year’s exam, he was confident that he’d answered them even better than he had at the end of his first year, and was absolutely certain that he would qualify for the level-four class.

  I’ll be the first one to make it into the next level since Asher has started teaching here.

  He wondered vaguely whether Master Asher even had a lesson plan for his level-four class, or if he would just make it up as he went along. Knowing the Prism Master, Hayden suspected the latter.

  His classmates had a much more difficult time than he did. Cindy actually burst into tears halfway through the test and had to step into the hallway until she calmed down. Master Asher largely ignored them all in favor of working on one of his research projects. All Hayden could see from where he was sitting were a lot of angles drawn on his paper and lots of scribbles that were probably equations he would never understand.