Elsenis’s decree hadn’t fully left his mouth before Elbexas’s hand was in the air. “Point of order?”

  “Council recognizes Watchful Magister Elbexas.”

  “Yeah. What is she doing here?” The man pointed a finger at the prim Amethyst Magister, whose eyes went wide.

  “The Entrarium is my demesne!” she claimed. “It is my right to-”

  “What, partake in all Council meetings that you happen to have an interest in? Come on Elsenis, this is a High Magister council, Almara has no place here.”

  The Grand Magister frowned, and the expression seemed to stretch his already long face.

  “Curriculum votes with the House,” the armored woman voiced.

  Elsenis nodded, as if that announcement wasn’t a surprise. “Motion recognized. The Amethyst Magister is formally dismissed from the Small Hall.”

  “Your Emi-”

  “Go, Alma. Elbe is right.”

  The matronly Magister’s face briefly twisted at that response, but she nodded and briskly walked from the room without a second look.

  Once the door closed behind her, the woman to Elsenis’s other side sighed. “Really, Elbexas? Was that necessary?”

  “Yes,” he said simply. “You didn’t see how she was acting in front of our guests. I’m telling you, she-”

  “Enough, Elbexas,” the Grand Magister’s weary, deep voice effortlessly overrode him. “Time and place.”

  Elbexas flashed a look that I couldn’t help but feel was directed straight at me–a satisfied smile, without a hint of guilt.

  “I apologize for the disruption, our honored guests,” Elsenis said, his attention returning to us. “Would you do us the honor of an introduction?”

  I bit my lip, and flashed Fallon a worried look. I had never been much for responding to authority figures and ridiculous formalities–but now, sitting in this room, across from five clearly powerful ellids, I was finding it more than a little hard to speak.

  Fallon shrugged, looking far too unconcerned to be sitting in the middle of this room, with the attention of the five High Magisters resting on her.

  “I’m Fallon. Uhm… Starcrossed, according to my little screen thing.”

  That raised a few eyebrows. The wizened figure, Merreire, asked, “You have obtained status crystals as well?”

  “Yes, we found them-”

  Elsenis Ful lifted a hand, and Fallon’s answer cut off in a little squeak. The Grand Magister gave my friend a gentle look. “We will get to your story next, Fallon Starcrossed. But I’d like to meet both of you formally before we continue.”

  I cleared my throat, feeling the weight of the five Magisters turn fully onto me. “Right. Uhm, then I’m Dani. Danielle, that is. Starcrossed.” I flushed deeper with every word, shame and embarrassment and frustration building into a melange in my guts.

  “Danielle and Fallon Starcrossed. It’s a pleasure.” The imposing man attempted a smile that did a stunning amount to soften his long, severe features. “I would introduce you to the rest of us, but I suspect that would be wasted breath, as you’ve been trapped here through our protocols. Still, I would be remiss not to clarify–for the purpose of this conversation, you may call me Elsenis.”

  “Your Eminence,” the woman next to him said softly, “are you sure that’s appropriate?”

  “Of course, Bela,” he said, a hint of reproach darkening his tone. “Titles and praise and such are reserved for those of the faith–coming from two humans who know nothing of our ways, and are not sworn to our Church, they would be mere lip service.”

  I frowned, thoughtful at the man’s words. From context and what little Char and Eni had told us, Elsenis Ful was both the head of the Church of Facet–hence his overwrought title–and the head of the Academy itself. That made those surrounding him the heads of each of the four colleges, just as Elbexas was for the Vigilant House. He was simultaneously the Pope and the Dean of Oxford, with a little Prime Minister sprinkled over the top for good measure. Yet he was still making at least some effort to make us comfortable, rather than clinging to forms and functions we didn’t understand, the way some of the others were apparently prepared to.

  I chewed my lip harder. It was easier to disregard authority figures when they were unreasonable.

  “Now,” Elsenis continued, settling into his chair, “I think the next order of business is, indeed, the story of your arrival, and what brings you–both of you–to our hall. Would you mind filling us in?”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Fallon and I shared another look. I nodded for her to start, but she gave me a wide-eyed look back.

  “Alright, Your, uhm… Sir. Elsenis. So… it was the first day of classes at a very different kind of school…”

  #

  It took a couple hours to tell the story of our first days in Elida, starting from the caverns we had awoken in, to our first struggles with the prey shadows, our surprise trip down to the altar where we received our classes, and ending with the arrival of the predator shadow.

  Fallon and I rotated back and forth through the story, each providing additional details as needed. The Magisters peppered in occasional questions–some, which would’ve led to digressions, Elsenis shut down, while others, mostly those that sought to add clarity, were permitted.

  Once we got to the fight with the predator, Char took over the story, sharing their perspective, including the shadow’s defeat, the questions the trio had answered during our night camping and our day travelling before concluding with the arrival of Aoss.

  “Thank you for that accounting Delver Charrin, Danielle, Fallon.” Elsenis fell quiet, studying us for a long moment. A soft sound came from his side, and without looking away from us, he announced, “The Council recognizes Lilting Magister Bela.”

  “I’d like to confirm the description you both provided of this altar where you found your crystals, if you wouldn’t mind.”

  Fallon pursed her lips. “Well… The room was filled with crystals, positively bursting with them, on every surface. Except this big, square rock in the middle, where the identity crystals were, which just… Felt like an altar, I suppose. My apologies if that terminology was disrespectful.”

  “Not at all.” Bela frowned, but then, her face seemed to be set into a perpetual frown. Not a scowl, mind you, but as if she was eternally moments from a long, dramatic weep. “And the crystals in question were one identity crystal each of the warrior, rogue, mage, and cleric classes, as well as two status crystals?”

  “And a supply crystal,” I added. “It made some great sandwiches.”

  “There was a key-cryst, too, but it just opened a path out of the altar room.”

  “And what happened to these spare crystals?” That was asked by the armored woman, Helda, in a strident, hard tone.

  Char cleared their throat, and the Steel Magister turned her eyes on him. “As I said in my account, Magister, Danielle was hit by the predator shadow before we arrived, if only once. We think that, in the process, it consumed the energies of the remaining crystals she was holding.”

  Helda frowned, but gave Char a clipped nod.

  “You’re all focusing on the wrong thing.” The eldest magister, Merreira, spoke in a pervasive whisper, one which carried despite its creaking, ancient hesitance. “The girl claims to have spawned into a central chamber, is that right?”

  Fallon looked taken aback, possibly sharing my shock that such an ancient anyone could still be alive, or possibly at being referred to as “the girl.”

  “I’m… not sure I understand, ma’am.”

  “The chamber we left from,” Enila clarified, from the end of our row of seats. “That was the central chamber of that floor, where everyone enters and exits from.”

  “Oh… Then yes, that’s correct. I woke up in that chamber.”

  “I was in one adjacent to it,” I interjected. No one responded, or even acknowledged the comment, though I thought that Elbexas’s sardonic grin grew by a hair.

  “Is that so notable, Merreira?”

  “It is unheard of, Elsenis. If humans had a habit of awakening in central chambers, perhaps we would find more of them alive. For it to have happened now, considering the-”

  Elsenis lifted a dark, long-fingered hand. “Remarkable,” he observed. His gaze floated to us, deep and thoughtful–or, more accurately, to Fallon. I was starting to feel like an exceptionally attractive wall-hanging, for all the attention I was getting.

  “Point of order, Your Eminence.”

  Elsenis Ful didn’t do anything so undignified as startle, but he turned to Helda with an intrigued expression. “Recognized.”

  “Before we proceed, I would ask that we formally recognize the actions of Delvers Charrin, Gellert, and Enila.”

  Elsenis opened his mouth in a silent acknowledgement, and turned to our three rescuers. “Agreed, Steel Magister. Delver Charrin, Delver Gellert, Delver Enila, please accept my most profound thanks, as both Grand Magister and Pontifex, for your swift actions and fidelitous thought in bringing our Starcrossed guests to this hall. Please also accept high honors for your performance. Your Magister will see to proper material reward.”

  All three bowed their heads, but the smiles that stretched all of their faces were still obvious. “It is only our duty, Grand Magister.”

  “And duty excellently done deserves both thanks and reward.” Elsenis nodded to all three, then said, “and on that note, all three of you are formally excused.”

  There was a beat of silent confusion, and Charrin went as far as to clarify, “Your Eminence?”

  “You and your team are excused, Delver Charrin. There’s no need for your involvement from here.”

  “Ah… yes Your Eminence. As you wish.”

  The three stood, almost as one. Eni flashed me a look, as she walked past, but it was too fleeting for me to make out if it was alarm, confusion, apology, or reassurance.

  Then they were gone, and Elsenis Ful returned his gaze to us, with far too much of his attention resting solely on my newfound friend.

  “Let us move along, then…”