The smoke from the candles smelled sweet and rank, like something had died in a ditch two blocks over.
Frederik led me to the middle of the platform. A pile of bones sat there, reaching up to my chest. He raised his voice, speaking to everyone on the platform instead of just me. “Necromancers tread proudly where others hesitate to glance. What others try to run from, we embrace, holding it tight and making it ours.”
I watched the crowd, stayed on the balls of my feet. If people tried to throw something at me, I’d be ready for it. I half expected someone to be lying under the pile of bones, ready to scare me. Once I got closer, I saw the bones weren’t clean like the skeletons. They had meat and sinew stuck on them, dried blood and slack flesh hanging on them. The smell got stronger.
Wouldn’t need to worry about someone trying to jump out from under there after all. None of the ponces would soil their expensive robes by crawling under a rotting pile like that.
I wasn’t sure if that added up to an improvement.
“We welcome Lina to join the ranks of the Academy students! From the remains of the day, find your student badge.”
“From there?”
Frederik grinned at me with a shrug.
“Fine.”
“Whoo!” Fek shouted as I plunged my hand into the pile. It wasn’t even the nastiest thing I had been in up to my elbow.
Pretty close, but nothing beat the Tenorsbridge sewers under the wizard quarter. If these people thought this was bad, they should see what kind of things were chucked down the drain where I came from.
I rummaged around, searching for something. I hoped they had at least put the badge in a box or a container. The badges everyone had on their robes were some kind of thick cloth, so it would be soggy and stink for months if it was thrown in here without—
Something grabbed my arm and pulled. I gasped and fell on top of the pile. The pile moved and rattled under me, bones rolling off to the side.
“Eh?” Frederik said.
A half-rotting arm shot up from the pile of bones, reaching for my throat.
I bashed it aside with my elbow. Not a chance. Another corpse had already tried that, and this time I wasn’t half-dead. I pulled my knee to my chest and kicked it down through the bones, at where the pull was coming from.
Goddamn robed bastards, they thought this would be enough to rattle me?
I stomped down hard and wrenched my arm into the other direction, twisting toward the thumb, the way to get out of any grip. My arm pulled loose, helped by how slimy the hand grabbing it had been.
A dead guy rose up from the pile as I stumbled back. It was blue and grey all over, like it had been dug out of the snow a moment earlier.
“Watch out!” Minnelil shouted.
Frederik took a step back, face pale. “There shouldn’t have been a zombie mixed in!”
The students near the wall shuffled around, but one stood a step before the rest, hands on his hips. Coppery hair shone from under his cowl, a smirk plastered on his face.
The zombie pushed through the bones, rising to its full height. Its joints cracked. A constant wheezing groan escaped from its slack-jawed mouth as it moved.
“You want me? Come and get me!” I shouted. It moved painfully slowly, turning toward me as I circled around it and the pile, moving to get Lombarte behind my back.
Try to sic a dead guy on me, eh?
The zombie lurched forward, kicking bones high into the air as it waded out from the pile.
“Ahm?” Lombarte said.
I dove under the zombie’s outstretched hands, stepping in to get behind its back. I pulled my hands back and shoved as hard as I could. That should do it.
The zombie fell forward, groaning and grunting as it fell on its face on the platform floor.
Lombarte jumped back, yelping and pulling his robes away from the splatter. He barely avoided getting slapped by the zombie as it fell to the floor arms and face first.
“Come on, help your dad up already,” I said.
“What?” Lombarte said, but then his face pulled into a snarl. “You—“
“Hahaha!” Frederik shouted, unnaturally loud. He rushed between us and grabbed on to my shoulder. “You and your friendly barbs! Indeed, heh hoh, ahem. Here’s the badge,” he said, pushing a thick cloth square into my hands. “Welcome Lina to the fold, everyone!” he shouted immediately after, lifting my hand into the air with his.
The zombie growled and squirmed on the ground, seemingly confused about what it was supposed to do next. Lombarte glared at me. Some of the students behind him cheered and some exchanged wary glances with each other, trying to blend into the dark wall. Lombarte spun around toward the students, and the cheering died down.
Frederik pulled me further away from Lombarte and the zombie, moving me toward the left side of the platform. “Maybe it’s better if we let things cool down a bit.”
I turned the badge around in my hand. It was dark blue, with the shape of the school building in the middle, a black archway without the curve. It had my name embroidered in black.
“The shape is called a trilithon,” Frederik said, pointing at the badge. “People say the Academy is built like that because it symbolizes a gate leading nowhere. A doorway without a door, you might say.”
“What are you babbling about?”
“Sorry, I got a bit rattled,” he said, running his hand through his hair. This time he wasn’t as careful and pushed it straight up. “Zombies can be dangerous. Sometimes people reanimate some of the bones to play a prank on the new students, but this is the first time I’ve heard something like this happen. Are you okay?”
I couldn’t peel my eyes off the blond spike jutting up from his head. “I’m fi—“
“Lina! Are you okay?” Minnelil shouted, rushing toward me.
“I was saying I’m fine,” I said, flinching away as she reached out a hand toward me. “It was just a corpse.”
“Well, it scared me,” Fek said, stepping up behind Minnelil. “And you’re going to need a shower. Go in with the robe. That’s what I did.”
I sniffed at the blood and whatever else had soiled half of my robe. He had a point. The rest of the students were filing out from the platform. Some smiled and waved at me, some slinked past. Lombarte left with his two goons. He started to gesture and mouth something at me, but I rolled my eyes and made sure he saw it. “So, that’s it? We’re done here?”
“Well, yes,” Frederik said. “It’s customary to have a celebration party afterward. If you like, you can—“
“Skip. I’ll go clean up.”
“Aww!” Fek said.
“I hear Frederik throws a great party,” Fek said. “Are you sure you want to miss it?”
“Positive.”
I had declined the invitation as I had no idea what the party would mean. More ceremonies? I’d had enough surprises for a week already. Minnelil walked in front of Fek and me, smiling quietly. Suddenly, her face fell and she stopped.
Three people stood at the other edge of the platform. One leaned against the wall, and I saw the tassels and the bells on his robe too late.
“You!” Lombarte said, stepping toward us.
“We’ll take another route,” Minnelil said, turning around, back toward the stairs we had come from.
I took a step back, leaning my hand on the wall to my left. It was sickly warm, like touching someone with a fever. The wooden walkway we were on was empty save for us six. Students walked on the level above and below us, their steps making snow and icicles fall past us. The wind flung them around, throwing them away from the platforms and out of sight.
“Stop right there!” Lombarte shouted.
Minnelil’s face tightened even more, lips pressing together.
Last time I had seen Lombarte, things had turned bad. I would be more careful this time, not look at him directly. Keep remembering where I was. He was just a bully. A normal bully. I could handle those.
“I’ll deal with it,” I said. “Get out of here.”
“Lina…”
“I said I’ll deal with it,” I hissed, pushing past her. She would be paid, so her tutoring me was fine, but this was my kind of problem. Guys like him didn’t stop unless stopped, and stopping them wasn’t for elves with wide smiles and soft touches.
Lombarte stepped into the middle of the walkway, hands on his hips. The two goons, Smerz and Lorn, hovered around him, like two stupid moons.
They wouldn’t leave me alone before I made them. Even if I got my ass kicked, I’d make them pay for it, enough for them to find a new target. No spectators this time, so no face to save for them. Good.
Smerz cracked his knuckles. He was the one who had grabbed me before Falar’s lecture. Lorn stood to Lombarte’s right. He was trying to make his face look angry, but I saw the hesitation. He had been close enough to know it wasn’t that easy to push me around.
While I walked toward them, I veered to the side to glance down. In a pinch I could roll over the edge, swing myself toward the one below. Maybe I would be lucky and land on top of someone. There were about ten steps between me and Lombarte, close enough for me to get to the three assholes if they tried to cast some spell. That was the one thing that really worried me. How would a fight play out in a place where people knew magic?
I measured the distance, counting every step, preparing myself—
“Oi, what do you want?” Fek shouted from behind my back.
I groaned, as did Lombarte. He rolled his eyes, and the small bells on his ears tinkled as he glanced up toward the ceiling. “Just shut up, charity case,” he said.
“Hehe,” Lorn said.
“Charity?” Fek said, stepping to stand next to me. “You wouldn’t have needed to make your daddy bribe your way in here if you had some talent too, you nepomancer.”
My eyes flicked to Fek. His face was pale, shoulders raised.
“Magic is my birthright!” Lombarte spat. “You were picked out of the gutter, soiling this place for us who actually deserve to be here.”
What an utter entitled bastard. I should snap all of his fingers the wrong way around, let’s see him draw any runes after… I breathed and let go of the thought, smiling instead. Bullies only wanted to get their victims angry, so I wouldn’t—
“Say that again!” Fek shouted, taking a step forward.
Oh, come on! He was shorter than me, probably even weighed less. How was that even possible, with me living on the streets and him eating who knows how many warm meals a day?
Fek took another step forward. The idiot was serious, actually going to pick a fight with three man-sized goons. I looked back, scoping the situation. Minnelil was still standing in the middle of the stairs, blocking the way up. Fek and the goons the way forward. Damn it.
Lombarte had a sneer on his tan face, hands pushed into his pockets. “Neither of you are worth being here. Everything about you stinks of the rabble. The chancellor forgets his duties to this institution, dragging in trash and tarnishing the history of—“
Fek cursed and rushed at them. I lunged to grab onto his robe, but missed.
Lombarte’s eyes widened, and he stepped back, the goons stepping in front to block Fek’s way.
Fek started to hesitate, probably realizing what he was actually getting into. Smerz grabbed the front of his robe. Fek stumbled ahead, pulled toward the bigger guy’s face. “Bad idea,” Smerz said, ending the sentence with a laugh that sounded like a belch.
He pushed Fek against the wall, almost lifting him into the air from the scruff of his neck. Lombarte stepped next to the two to leer at Fek’s face. Smerz kept him held against the wall.
I winced as Lombarte slapped Fek on the face. “You’ll learn your place.”
Fek squeaked, lifting a hand to press his slapped cheek. He could hit Smerz’s hand. Wring one of his fingers to snap it backwards. Kick Lombarte in the groin. He was standing right there!
Fek did nothing, just shivered and looked at them both with eyes wide.
Lorn stepped in front of me, holding a palm out. “Just piss off, please? This doesn’t concern you.”
I really should, shouldn’t I? They had their hands full for now. What was the small doofus to me? And what was Minnelil doing? Running away, like I had told her to?
Lombarte pushed Smerz aside, making him let go of Fek. “Oh, look at him,” he said, voice thick with mock pity. “He’s learned his lesson. A gentleman’s apology will be enough, if you make it sincere.”
Fek lowered back to the soles of his boots, hand still pressing his cheek.
Lombarte punched him in the stomach. I grimaced at the way Fek gasped. A dirty blow, fist straight into his belly. Fek doubled over, eyes bulging.
“Too bad you’re not a gentleman, aren’t you?” Lombarte said, pushing Fek on the shoulder to make him stumble back, still doubled in half. “More like a rat. No wonder your mom rather died than stuck around with you.”
The thug standing before me flinched back. I wasn’t looking at him, but he saw my expression.
I got to do a bonus chapter on Royal Road, so you get one too ❤️ Patreon keeps 20 chapters ahead of everyplace else.