Cave of Nightmares (2 page)

Hayden’s eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t know they would be voting so soon, and wasn’t at all sure that he had made a good impression. Some of the mages watching him still looked like they had been talking to the children at the orphanage and wanted to send him to the gallows.

“I don’t care if I’m not allowed to study magic,” he explained, his voice shaking in desperation. “I didn’t know any mages growing up, and it doesn’t matter to me if I’m ever allowed to be one. I just don’t want to wear these stupid bracelets any more, please. People won’t talk to me because they think I’m an exile, and I want to be free again.”

A few of the mages looked stunned and pitying, though Hayden had no idea why they should be. They were the ones who did this to him, after all. The one in charge answered him slowly.

“The Binders are the only thing preventing you from using your power. If we remove them you would have to be trained properly, or else you are a danger to those around you.”

Hayden frowned and stared down at his feet, a sinking feeling settling into his stomach.

They’re not going to take these off of me, not ever.

The man called for the vote, but Hayden couldn’t bring himself to look up as the mage asked his colleagues to raise their hands if they thought he should be free of the lead Binders.

It felt like a long time passed before the voting was finished, and Hayden closed his eyes as they told him the outcome, preparing
himself for the words he’d been dreading for weeks.

“On this, the first day of
Shemm, Hayden Frost is hereby released from his Binders and will present himself to Mizzenwald for formal magical training.”

The only part that his brain registered immediately was that he was going to get his bracelets taken off at last. He snapped his head up so fast that it hurt his neck, and barely refrained from jumping up and down and cheering as the meeting concluded.

The head-mage approached him while the others filed out of the room, motioning for him to hold out his arms.

Up close, Hayden could see that the pin on the man’s chest was a wand sticking out of what looked like a pile of blue sand. He still didn’t understand what it meant, but he was too overwhelmed to ask.

The mage reached into his golden robes and removed a short wand that was made out of black wood. Hayden could see a dozen other wands in various colors and lengths lined up along his belt, which looked like it was designed specifically to hold them. The mage tapped the wand sharply against each of the lead Binders and they crumbled like dirt as they fell away from his hands.

Now Hayden did allow himself to smile, rubbing his wrists with relief. Free of the bracelets, people could stop asking him what he did to get banned from using magic or staring at him like he was an exile. Life might finally go back to some kind of normal…

“You will present yourself at Mizzenwald within a week.” The mage was still watching him with an unreadable expression.

The rest of his earlier announcement finally registered in Hayden’s brain.

“But sir, I don’t have any money….I can’t afford school.”

The mage was studying him carefully as he answered.

“Primary schooling for mages is done at the institution’s expense; it is the right of every mage to learn magic. Mastery schooling will have to be paid for out of pocket, should you choose to continue that far. The cost of your admissions exams will be covered by this Council.”

He walked past Hayden to exit the room, but stopped in the doorway and turned around one last time.

“Until you arrive at Mizzenwald, you should take care to contain your power, or you will end up with worse than Binders to contend with.”

Hayden took a step backwards, terrified by the threat.

“I know it seems cruel, but you share the blood of the most dangerous man the Nine Lands has seen in hundreds of years. Do not give people a reason to doubt your integrity.”

On that somber note, the mage left him alone.

Hayden entered the hallway and was relieved to find Anna waiting for him. She glanced at his wrists and immediately gave him an excited grin, hurrying forward to embrace him. Being hugged like this reminded him of his mother, and Hayden swallowed a lump of emotion with effort.

“You’re free!” She beamed at him, her blond hair coming loose from its clip. “You see? I told you they’d see what a nice boy you are and let you go.”

“I’m not sure it’s because they like me. I think they’re just waiting for me to mess up on my own so they can lock me up for good.” He had no idea where that idea had come from, but immediately believed it to be true.

Anna frowned at his pessimism and ruffled his hair affectionately.

“Well then, you’ll just have to prove them wrong.” They retraced their steps to the central stairwell, which somehow seemed much more welcoming now that he was free of the Binders. “The others will be so glad to have you back. We can leave for Merina tomorrow.”

Hayden shook his head, not the least of which because he knew that none of his peers were eager to see him again at the orphanage.

“I don’t think I’m allowed to go back to Merina. That mage told me I have to go to somewhere called Mizzenwald and learn to control my magic so I’m not dangerous.”

Anna stopped in her tracks and stared at him like he had just grown another head.

“They’re sending you to
Mizzenwald?
”

Given her tone of voice, Hayden was beginning to think he’d been tricked and they were banishing him to a dungeon after all.

“That’s what they said….Why, what’s wrong with Mizzenwald? I thought it was a school for magic.”

They resumed walking, but Anna still looked disturbed.

“It
is
a school for magic; one of the best schools in the Nine Lands, actually,” she admitted. “You usually have to take a series of really expensive tests to be admitted there, because it has a reputation for turning out some of the most powerful mages to ever live: Doracus the Wise, Nyall the Bold, Errol the Arcane…”

Hayden looked up at her.

“Then why are you so surprised that they’re sending me there? Is it because they didn’t make me take a test to prove my powers before they let me in?”

Anna didn’t quite meet his eyes when she answered.

“No. I was surprised because Mizzenwald is where your father went to school.”

***

The Council of Mages had given him a week to present himself at Mizzenwald, presumably so that he would have time to send for his belongings in Merina. Unfortunately Hayden had no possessions to call his own, as everything his mother owned had been reduced to ashes during the explosion that changed his life forever, so he set off without delay.

Mizzenwald was at the northern edge of
Junir, overlooking the Gawain Sea. It was a two day ride from Kargath by horse in good weather, and Hayden spent most of the journey taking in the sights as he and Anna rode north. The snow continued to fall steadily and they were slowed considerably by his caretaker’s insistence at checking the map every half hour or so, despite the fact that the terrain remained snowy and flat for much of the journey. It was hard to identify any of the landmarks under the thick blanket of snow, and Hayden began to worry that he would be in trouble if they got lost and he showed up late.

Fortunately their delays only cost them an additional day, and they reached Mizzenwald well ahead of the deadline but after the start of term. Hayden could mark the moment they entered the grounds because the weather became instantly warm and sunny, not a trace of snow in sight, though it was now melting in Hayden’s hair and trickling unpleasantly down his neck.

“Phew, that’s better.” Anna didn’t seem surprised by the sudden change in temperature, removing her coat to brush the snow off, but Hayden was fascinated and tried to squirm out of his coat without falling off his horse.

“They can use magic to control the
weather
?” he asked in astonishment as they continued up a grassy hill that hid whatever was behind it from view.

“Most of the academies like to keep the climate warm all year round, I think so that they can do outdoor activities.” She shrugged. “This is the first time I’ve been to Mizzenwald though, so I wasn’t sure what it would be like until we got here.”

Hayden had mostly thawed by the time they crested the hill, revealing a dazzling panorama that he could never have imagined in his wildest dreams. An enormous white castle stood in the distance with symmetrical turrets jutting upwards on either side; at seven stories high, it was the tallest building Hayden had ever seen. The grounds were even larger than his first guess, and they passed several small dueling-arenas, courtyards, and what looked like obstacle courses, and that was only in the front lawns. Hayden watched an older boy coaxing a dog through one of the obstacle courses; the animal was scaling a short wooden wall with notches carved into it.

The closer they got to the castle, the more animals they saw. Most of the students they passed were accompanied by pets, and Hayden tried to keep a mental count of each different kind: cats, dogs, owls, hawks, a fox, and even a giant slug the size of a feline. There were ornamental pear and cherry trees in full bloom around a grand central courtyard, and many students were leaned against them or sitting on stone benches, reading books or working on homework.

A few people looked up curiously as he and Anna rode past, but no one spared him more than a fleeting glance. Hayden was more thankful than ever that his lead bracelets were gone.

They were directed to a large stable around the eastern side of the castle to rest their horses, and as Hayden dismounted he began to feel excitement for what was to come, the first time he’d really looked forward to anything in years.

He clung to his pack nervously as Anna asked the ostler for directions.

“New here, are you?” The man gave Hayden a surprised look. “You’re a bit old to just be starting.”

Hayden frowned.

“I just turned twelve.”

The ostler raised an eyebrow. “Huh, I would have guessed you for fourteen. Well, twelve isn’t quite so bad,” he shrugged. “You’ll want to go through the main doors, just past the courtyard. Since you’re a few days late for the beginning of term, you’ll have to ring the bell on the eastern wall. Someone should be down to help you shortly.”

“Thank you.” Anna gave the man a polite curtsey. “Come on, we’d better get going while it’s still light out.”

Hayden turned to follow her just as the ostler asked, “What’s your family name, lad? Anyone I might’ve heard of?”

His insides squirmed unpleasantly at the thought of telling this helpful horse-keeper that he was the son of the most hated man in the Nine Lands. He saw Anna flinch beside him.

“Cohen. I’m Hayden Cohen.” He used his mother’s name on a whim, desperate to shed the infamy of his father and make a fresh start here.

“Hmm, never heard of the
Cohens.” The ostler shrugged and returned to his business. “Well, good luck, Hayden.”

He exhaled in relief as he and Anna left the stable and made their way back towards what he assumed was the main courtyard. The large double-doors of the castle were propped wide open at the opposite end, emitting the light of magically-imbued gas lamps.

“You’ll get in trouble for that, you know,” Anna told him quietly. “Using your mother’s name, I mean.”

“I’m tired of people treating me like a plague-dog when they hear the name Frost,” Hayden mumbled in response.

“I know, and that sort of thing might work everywhere else, but mages set store by family names. Your mother may have come from a magically-gifted family, but she wasn’t blessed with the gift herself. It’s considered a grave insult here to use her name instead of your father’s, even with what he was.”

Hayden sighed. The last thing he needed was to get on the bad side of the mages here, but he would rather walk back to
Merina through the snow naked than claim kinship with the scourge of the Nine Lands.

They entered the castle through the open double-doors and Hayden stared around in amazement. The foyer he stepped into was the single largest room he had ever been in in his life. The ceiling was at least three stories above them, rimmed with a ledge that was populated by small, black-marble gargoyles, and the room had white marble walls and a green-marbled floor. It took him a moment to realize that the foyer was in the shape of a pentagon, with a different large symbol etched into each of the five walls. Some of them he recognized from the pins he saw the members of the Council of Mages wearing.

There was the blue pile of sand depicted to his left, a steady trickle shown entering and leaving it, so it looked like it was about to spill onto the floor. On the next wall were two slender pieces of crossed wood—
wands
—he realized with a start. The next image was a black circle of symbols he couldn’t interpret that looked like it was glowing, and after that was a phial of red liquid being poured towards the floor. The last image, to his immediate right, was some kind of diamond with multicolored light surrounding it.

Anna located the bell-pull while he was gaping, and Hayden hurried over to join her at the eastern wall, trying not to look conspicuous to the other kids his age that walked past. When Anna pulled the rope down with her full body weight he expected to hear a bell ringing, but there was only silence.