Chapter Four: The Opening Ceremony

Nysana makes some new friends on her way to the Opening Ceremony.

Nysana slowed her run as she came around the corner and nearly ran into the back of the back of three girls. She stammered out a quick apology.

A beautiful blond elf with cold, gray eyes and fixed her with a scowl before scanning Nysana up and down. "I don't recognize you, and you're obviously not a first year. Who are you?"

The taller brunette's eyes bulged and she tapped the elf's shoulder in excitement. "Don't you know! This must be the Battle Witch that we heard rumors about. Never thought they would be this true."

"I thought you'd be older," the third girl said.

Nysana fought the urge to slap her. "I'm the same age as the Apprentice. Battle Witches start training earlier than mages and witches."

"Well she couldn't be too much older than us or it would be like having another Professor around," the tall brunette pointed out.

The other two girls gave that idea a look of utter disgust.

"Oh forgive me! Where are my manners." She cleared her throat and extended her hand. "I'm Helena. The bitchy blond on my right is Alyra and the feisty girl on my left is Valia."

"Nice to meet you all," Nysana said evenly.

"When did you get here?"

"You met Olivar? Was he an a*s?"

"Did he flirt with you?"

Nysana held up her hands. "I think we should get to the Opening Ceremony."

"Well we can talk and walk at the same time," Helena said.

Nysana explained how she arrived and the different parts of the castle she had been shown, commenting about a few of them as she went. When she finally came to the subject of the Gardens, Helena was quick to interject.

"Oh dear gods, I love the Gardens! Did you see all the levels or just one?"

"Just the first one that came out from near the courtyard with the fountain with three heads," Nysana answered.

"Oh that one's pretty but you have to see the lower levels. In my opinion, they are the most beautiful of any of the Gardens." Helena's eyes glazed over and a small smile lit her face.

"I can't believe Olivar had time to show you all that and the Gardens."

"Oh, he didn't. Keiron did."

"Keiron . . . as in Keiron Nathron?" Helena asked with wide eyes.

"Yes. He's a bit odd." Nysana eyed all three of them for a reaction as they walked and was not disappointed as all three held looks that bordered on outrage.

"How could Olivar leave you with him?" Valia asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Is he that terrible?" Nysana countered.

"Oh you poor dear," Helena said. "He's pathetic. You don't want to be messing around with him. He's definitely not the right kind of mage you want to associate with. You need friends with connections, not dead weight."

A part of her, one that made her sick, knew that they were right. Keiron probably had few connections. She was sure that Mistress Stonespear would want her to make powerful allies.

Nysana filed into the Feast Hall along with her three new friends and sat next to them as they chattered away about what they had done over the summer. She glanced around, looking for Olivar or Keiron. Her eyes landed on the Apprentice who was seated near the front of the room with a group of laughing young men that were probably senior students like him.

The faculty entered from a side chamber and seated themselves at the dais at the far end of the Feast Hall. Some were clearly dragons, their eyes glowing with ambient magic. Others were simple mortals but no doubt individuals of great power and prestige.

The Grandmaster, Surogeth the Gold, stood and raised his hands until the chattering of the students died down. "Welcome! Welcome to another year at Valmystaal. To those who are just arriving for the first time, I welcome you for the first, but hopefully, not the last time."

Nysana put down her food. Did he mean that some of them would be sent home? She suddenly realized that she knew nothing about the expulsion policy of Valmystaal and made a mental note to find out as soon as possible.

"As you might be aware, magic is a dangerous and powerful force and should not be taken lightly. To that end, we must gauge everyone's level of magic so that we may see where your power lies."

"Is it the might to blast your enemies with your mind?" A burst of energy flew from his outstretched hand and dissipated into the air.

"Is it the power to charm your enemies and control their minds?" A few of the senior students swayed in their seats as if they were drunk. After a moment, they shook their heads and glanced around in confusion.

"Or there those of you who prefer Battle to subtlety," Surogeth said, while staring in Nysana's direction. "The power to boost your speed, agility, and reflexes is all there at your fingertips."

Nysana knew that he expected her to look uncomfortable, but she would show him no such sign of weakness. She was proud to be what she was. A simple glare is all that she returned to his soliloquy.

The silence stretched for several long moments as everyone waited, enraptured by Surogeth's words. Finally, he broke the silence and said, "Master Nechama has arranged for the partners to be posted on the board outside of the Study Hall. It will appear an hour from now and will disappear by tomorrow morning. The examination of your skills is known as the Starting Evaluation and will affect the focus of study for the rest of your school year. Use every talent available but focus on your strengths."

Surogeth sat again and servants seemed to appear from invisible places in the walls to set down trays of steaming food in front of the students. Soon every table was laden with every dish imaginable. It truly hadn't been named the Feast Hall for nothing. Nysana couldn't remember having ever seen so much food in one place.

Helena tapped her index finger on her chin. "I wonder if the Grandmaster will pair you with someone really good. Ooh! Maybe you'll end up with Olivar. He's the Apprentice after all and--"

"You know the Apprentice isn't allowed to participate," Valia cut in.

"Not to mention she is probably going to be paired with a girl," Alyra said. "That's how most pairing goes."

"Yes, but every now and again, they pair up a boy and a girl. Orrin got paired with Sandara last year. Eremus and--"

"So what?" Valia cut in again. "She's brand new to Valmystaal. Maybe they'll put her with one of us. There's still time to change the enchantment."

The faculty dais seemed to blur and fade away as a shimmering whisp of magic captured everyone's attention. The whisp stretched out until it became a ghostly image of a red dragon. Seven more dragons appeared and they all flew at the red dragon with snarls of rage. Not frightened in the least, the red dragon's scales turned black and he pushed them all away.

"Is this a history lesson about the dragons?" Emlyn asked.

"Yes," Valia whispered back. "Every year we get a new story.

"It's very impressive magic," Alyra added. "Someday I hope to be able to copy it. I dabble with illusions."

Valia snorted. "Dabble."

The black dragon chased the others around the hall, devouring every single one until only the green one remained. Its body beaten and broken, the green dragon refused to back down. Just as the black dragon opened its jaws to devour the green one, a burst of golden light shown out of the darkness, blinding the fowl beast.

What could hold back such a dark creature? An angel? One of the gods or even a Titan?

Out of the blinding light, a golden dragon, twice the size of the black one stepped out with a feral smile. Swirling golden flames burned from its mouth and obliterated the dark dragon. The flames moved again on the green dragon and there was an audible gasp throughout the Feast Hall. Wasn't the green dragon one of the gold dragon's allies?

The green dragon rose up, looking strong and healthy before bowing low to the gold dragon. Seconds later, they and all of the illusion magic in the Feast Hall slowly faded away, leaving the students as they had been before the show had begun.

As the hour came to a close, the students began filtering out in the corridor to stand outside the Study Hall. All of them were talking loudly about who they might end up paired with that Nysana could barely hear was Helena was saying above the din.

"What?"

"I was asking you if you wanted to have breakfast with us tomorrow."

"Oh. Sure."

Helena flashed her brilliant smile. "Great! I'm going to tell Valia and Alyra."

Nysana was puzzled as she watched the other girl walk away. Where were the other two? For the last hour, it seemed like all three had been joined at the hip.

Gradually, the writing began to appear on the board. Silence reigned in the hall aside from the shuffling of feet as everyone tried to look and see which names appeared side by side. As soon as the first grumbles, the noise level was back where it had been.

"See yours yet?" Valia asked.

Nysana shook her head. "No." Her keen eyes scanned the board as she walked behind those that were crowding it.

All at once, he eyes fell on her name, glinting with gold letters against the black backdrop. Beside her name, in the same scrawled handwriting, was written the last name she expected to see.

Keiron Nathron.

"Oh," was all she could think to say.