Read Online Aldwyn's Academy by Nathan Meyer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Nathan Meyer
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ornate bushes now denuded by the late season.
He froze there, not daring to move. Caleb lay still beside him.
He heard the rustle of robes, the slap of footsteps, and the murmur of voices as the pair approached.
He risked peeking up and saw two figures approaching them on the walkway.
“Oh no,” Caleb said in a low whisper. “We’re doomed. That’s professors Dunbar, the head of summoning magic, and Grimsby, the head of change magic and spellcraft theory,”
Grimsby was a plain featured woman with shorter brown hair and a slim build that seemed positively ethereal next to the blunt, squared-off stoutness of Dunbar, a heavyset dwarf with a long, thick beard.
As they passed by Dorian and Caleb’s hiding place and headed toward the academy proper, he overheard their intense conversation.
“Blackburn suspects something,” Grimsby was saying, her voice low and slightly melodious. “I’m sure of it.”
Dunbar grunted. “The tiefling doesn’t miss a trick. The only one sharper than him is that feykind Maverick.”
Grimsby laughed, and upon hearing the warm chuckle, Dorian instantly liked the woman. It seemed impossible not to.
“Don’t let either of them hear you say that or you’ll be dodging Magic Missiles for sure,” Gimsby said.
“True enough,” Dunbar answered, but then his voice turned deadly serious. “But I’m sure these ghosts are simply harbingers of something bigger, brought upby residual energy left over from other, more powerful, necromancy.”
Dorian felt a chill deeper than any environmental cold run through him. Necromancy? he thought. Death magic.
He swallowed hard as the professors strolled on down the walkway.
“Then the matter of those wolves attacking poor Dorian Ravensmith and his mother,” Grimsby noted.
“Bad business, that,” Dunbar agreed. “And now the situation with that second-year student …”
“Helene Miridori,” Grimsby finished. “That complicates things for sure and I get the feeling Lowadar isn’t even entirely sure of the whole story with that.”
At the mention of his mentor’s name, Dorian turned and looked at Caleb. Both their eyes were open wide.
It was one thing to suspect something themselves, but it was quite another to overhear two of the faculty voicing concerns.
The pair rounded the corner of the building and disappeared.
Dorian sat up. Now that he had been given time to consider his actions, he already felt less sure of himself.
His eyes found the window to his room, still ajar. He’d already had enough excitement for one day, already gotten into enough trouble. It would be so easy to scamper back up the wall and into the safety of his room.
He turned and looked back toward the Tower of Change Magic and saw the darker form of Helene detach from the shadows and slip into the darkness of the gardens.
“There she goes,” Caleb whispered.
Chapter 17
D orian slid around the corner of the tower, Caleb a dark form behind him.
As he moved, hugging the shadows and avoiding the telltale crunch of frozen snow under his feet, he racked his brain to remember everything his mother had told him about Aldwyns and the miraculous gardens behind the academy, as well as the information he had gleaned from his tour earlier that day.
Ahead of him, he saw the elf girl veer away from the dark trees forming the Dryad’s Grove.
Whatever Helene was headed for it wasn’t there because after using an outlying tree for cover, the elf girl cut across the grassy field and entered the Ever-Changing Maze.
Dorian swallowed.
The thought of getting caught between the high, narrow walls of the magically animated labyrinth filled the boy with dread.
He paused, watching her disappear through the mouth of the maze.
For the second time since crawling out his window he was ready to return to the safety of his room. The thought of Helene mocking him, being braver than he was, instantly popped into his mind in an excessively vivid picture, and anger sped his
He froze there, not daring to move. Caleb lay still beside him.
He heard the rustle of robes, the slap of footsteps, and the murmur of voices as the pair approached.
He risked peeking up and saw two figures approaching them on the walkway.
“Oh no,” Caleb said in a low whisper. “We’re doomed. That’s professors Dunbar, the head of summoning magic, and Grimsby, the head of change magic and spellcraft theory,”
Grimsby was a plain featured woman with shorter brown hair and a slim build that seemed positively ethereal next to the blunt, squared-off stoutness of Dunbar, a heavyset dwarf with a long, thick beard.
As they passed by Dorian and Caleb’s hiding place and headed toward the academy proper, he overheard their intense conversation.
“Blackburn suspects something,” Grimsby was saying, her voice low and slightly melodious. “I’m sure of it.”
Dunbar grunted. “The tiefling doesn’t miss a trick. The only one sharper than him is that feykind Maverick.”
Grimsby laughed, and upon hearing the warm chuckle, Dorian instantly liked the woman. It seemed impossible not to.
“Don’t let either of them hear you say that or you’ll be dodging Magic Missiles for sure,” Gimsby said.
“True enough,” Dunbar answered, but then his voice turned deadly serious. “But I’m sure these ghosts are simply harbingers of something bigger, brought upby residual energy left over from other, more powerful, necromancy.”
Dorian felt a chill deeper than any environmental cold run through him. Necromancy? he thought. Death magic.
He swallowed hard as the professors strolled on down the walkway.
“Then the matter of those wolves attacking poor Dorian Ravensmith and his mother,” Grimsby noted.
“Bad business, that,” Dunbar agreed. “And now the situation with that second-year student …”
“Helene Miridori,” Grimsby finished. “That complicates things for sure and I get the feeling Lowadar isn’t even entirely sure of the whole story with that.”
At the mention of his mentor’s name, Dorian turned and looked at Caleb. Both their eyes were open wide.
It was one thing to suspect something themselves, but it was quite another to overhear two of the faculty voicing concerns.
The pair rounded the corner of the building and disappeared.
Dorian sat up. Now that he had been given time to consider his actions, he already felt less sure of himself.
His eyes found the window to his room, still ajar. He’d already had enough excitement for one day, already gotten into enough trouble. It would be so easy to scamper back up the wall and into the safety of his room.
He turned and looked back toward the Tower of Change Magic and saw the darker form of Helene detach from the shadows and slip into the darkness of the gardens.
“There she goes,” Caleb whispered.
Chapter 17
D orian slid around the corner of the tower, Caleb a dark form behind him.
As he moved, hugging the shadows and avoiding the telltale crunch of frozen snow under his feet, he racked his brain to remember everything his mother had told him about Aldwyns and the miraculous gardens behind the academy, as well as the information he had gleaned from his tour earlier that day.
Ahead of him, he saw the elf girl veer away from the dark trees forming the Dryad’s Grove.
Whatever Helene was headed for it wasn’t there because after using an outlying tree for cover, the elf girl cut across the grassy field and entered the Ever-Changing Maze.
Dorian swallowed.
The thought of getting caught between the high, narrow walls of the magically animated labyrinth filled the boy with dread.
He paused, watching her disappear through the mouth of the maze.
For the second time since crawling out his window he was ready to return to the safety of his room. The thought of Helene mocking him, being braver than he was, instantly popped into his mind in an excessively vivid picture, and anger sped his
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