The apprentices stormed out as soon as lunch was over like the flock of wolves they were.

Hain lost sight of Elise in the chaos that broke out and clung to the walls lined with torches to avoid being trampled to death.

As he waited for the chaos to let up for what felt like ages, he observed the druids-to-be with keen eyes.

Some dashed out through the main entrance, others walked to the dorms beside the staircases.

Amidst it all, Rooney soon wobbled out with his chubby hands placed on his round belly. Hain was about to traipse away before Rooney got any closer when he recoiled and came to a standstill.

A sudden noise reverberated through the dark-coloured hall. It wasn’t the bells, though. It was an announcement of some sort.

He barely understood what he heard. The voice coming through was too airy and slurred. Everyone else around him seemed to understand it as clear as day, though.

They all rushed to the staircases within seconds, as if they waited for the announcement all along and knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Hain was the only one who looked lost and unsure of where to go.

“Room 623. Repeating 623. Class starts in five minutes, you lazy frogs! So you all better move it!”

Where in the world were they all going? Even the gnomes shuffled out of the dining hall with their hands full of dirty plates.

He opened his mouth to ask for directions but never had the chance to. The gnomes darted away from him as if they were running away and disappeared behind the pillars, which led to what could only be the kitchen.

Drawing a deep breath, Hain approached the staircases in the middle of the hallway, unsure of what to do or which staircase to take.

Left or right? Right or left?

Did it even matter? He couldn’t tell.

Some apprentices took the left one and others the right.

He scratched the back of his head as he repeatedly stepped onto the stairs, then backed off, unable to decide which way to go.

Why were these apprentices so fast, even? He looked up at the ceiling for the umpteenth time and still couldn’t see a single soul. It was as if they had all disappeared!

With a dejected look, he was about to climb the right staircase and take his chances when someone tapped him from behind.

“What are you doing here, kid?”

Hain turned around.

The gnome with the waist-long beard and green hat, who gave him a small piece of potato half an hour ago, stood right in front of him.

His tiny hands were full of unwashed dishes. Hain forced a smile and pointed at the staircases.

“I can’t decide which way to go. Or rather—”

“Do you even know where to go?”

“Y- yes, I think so. It should be… room… 626?”

The gnome shook his head and sighed. Like he had heard enough nonsense for the day and repeated what Hain said with a hissing tone.

“Room 626? Good luck finding that, lad…”

“624…?”

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The gnome shook his head for the second time and ambled away without giving him a chance to reply.

Left to his own devices, now more confused than he was at the beginning, Hain took a deep breath in and made up his mind.

He stepped on the right staircase doggedly. What was the worst that could happen, anyway?

“624, it is then!”

The stairs swung from left to right as soon as these words escaped his mouth and flung him from one side to the other as it kept rising higher and higher into the unknown.

What was going on? Why was this so fast?

Had he not secured himself to the handrails, he’d probably fall to his death already.

Then it stopped. Just like that.

Everything happened so fast.

Where was he? This corridor looked too dark and he couldn’t hear anything come through from the numerous doors lined on either side.

Did the stairs take him to the right place? Well, the number carved on the door did say 624, though. Maybe the others were just quiet for a change?

He stepped off the staircase, which immediately returned downstairs.

The door was darker than the one they were in earlier and the number 624 was carved in black ink. But it was hardly visible. The ink had faded away from the passage of time.

He knocked on the door and lingered there for a few minutes just in case. But no one answered the door.

Did he really come to the right place? He turned his back to the door and was about to call the staircase back when the door creaked open behind him.

His heart skipped a beat as he turned around to find the door ajar. His eyes narrowed. What in the world…? The door opened from the inside.

Without budging an inch, he stared at the door and blinked repeatedly. His eyes soon landed on the rusty doorknob, which was perhaps as old as Fayr itself.

But it didn’t come alive as the one back in the headmaster’s room. Was it dead? He wrapped his hand around the cold knob and gulped hard.

There was no one here, only profound and devouring darkness. Or so he thought. He backed away without even realising it.

The silhouette of a man with his back turned to him emerged from thin air. Who was this person? And what was he doing here in the dark all alone?

He wore a black hood and was covered in black from head to bottom. He looked as if he was part of the darkness itself.

His arms were folded behind his back, fiddling in a steady rhythm, but that was not why Hain stared at them with a throbbing heart.

A necklace hung from the stranger’s hand, swaying in an eternal loop. It glowed in tints of green, back and forth like a pendulum and lit up the otherwise dark chamber.

As soon as he laid eyes on the mysterious necklace, however, its light went out and the hypnotising pendulum stopped.

But that was not what made Hain flinch and turn around in a breath. The door slammed shut behind him. Seconds before he turned around, he caught a glimpse of the stranger’s face concealed in shadows, grinning wide like a wolf.

Hain clutched to the doorknob with bated breath. The man approached closer all the while. Panting faster and faster, he ran through the darkness as the stranger merged with the shadows and perished.

Where- where’d go? He couldn’t see a thing!

For a second or two, he thought that the man left just as suddenly as he appeared. Until a low voice cut through the drum of his irregular heartbeat, that is.

He spun in place to catch a glimpse of where the voice came from.

Then he stopped.

The stranger emerged from nothing and stretched out his hand towards him. Hain stared down at the coiled necklace, frowning, not sure what was going on.

“It’s yours. Take it.”

“This… is not mine.”

“It’s a gift. Go ahead, take it.”

“I- I don’t even—”

“Take it.”

“I… I can’t. I—”

“What makes you hesitate?”

Hain looked up.

“I don’t know you…”

Perhaps this wasn’t the answer the man expected. He burst into laughter.

“I know you, isn’t that enough?”

“I—”

The door creaked open and Elise stuck her head in through the crack with wary eyes. Fortunately, the stranger had disappeared and was nowhere in sight.

“Huh? What are you doing here?”

He was about to ask the same thing when he followed her gaze to the floorboards. The necklace!

“What’s that?”

He picked it up before the girl could and hid it.

“It’s nothing,” he said. “Just a stupid necklace. Why are you here? Didn’t class start?”

Her eyes became narrower. He could tell right away that she didn’t like how weird he was acting. Still, she bought his lie, whether on purpose or not and shifted her focus away from the necklace in his hand to his grey eyes.

“A gnome saw you head over here. I thought you’d got lost, so Ms Yones allowed me to come get you. Did you find something?”

Hain gulped hard. He couldn’t tell the truth. She wouldn’t believe him.

“Oh, the necklace? It’s… it’s mine.”

“I see…” She tilted her head slightly. “Actually, it looks kinda familiar. Can I take a—”

“No!” Elise shot her eyes open as soon as he said this. Why did he raise his voice like that? He had to make up a lie! “It- it’s a gift. I don’t want anything to happen to it.”

“Okay, chill. I’m not a thief! It just… Argh, where did I see that design before? Anyway, we don’t have time for this! Let’s go! There’s a place I want to show you!”

Again, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him along.

“Where’re we going? What about class?”

“Don’t sweat it! Remember, I’m a special friend and you’re officially a lucky guy!”

“What?”

“Geez! Just follow me and you’ll find out!”