After they returned, Professor Lakton directed the class to the lecture hall to discuss internalizing the memories of the ice cave so they would associate it with the intent filter they were trying to create. Nym sat in the back of the hall, several rows behind the students, and tuned out the lesson. It was not new information to him, and he was much more focused on the air golem he had patrolling outside the facility.
There was no guarantee that the trolls would attack again, or even that they knew where the Academy’s Glacial Valley facility was. They obviously had access to at least second layer arcana though, and if he assumed what Professor Langdon had told him when they’d done their scan on him was correct, they were a prognostic species.
They only had two more field trips to do though, and then he’d be back at the sanctum with free access to Archmage Veran’s fat, juicy library. Little jobs like this were a small price to pay for all the ways the archmage had gone above and beyond the strict terms of their agreement. Nym wouldn’t say he was friends with the old man, but he appreciated that Archmage Veran was a generous mentor.
He’d positioned the air golem in various spots, trying to get the broadest slice of the valley that still included the trail leading back to the building. The unfortunate truth was that due to the secluded nature of where they’d built the place, the trail wound around a lot. Even from the sky, Nym couldn’t find a good angle to see the whole thing, let alone the valley opening up beyond it.
If he wanted to dedicate two air golems to lookout duty, it was possible to do what he wanted, but that meant double the arcana usage and triple the headache of having to process three sets of eyes at the same time. He supposed he was probably being too paranoid about the whole thing, but he knew he’d feel awful if anyone died when it was his job to keep them safe.
He didn’t realize the lecture had ended until students started leaving. Even then, he wasn’t paying a lot of attention until two of them sat down next to him. One was a boy, the other girl, both around fifteen or sixteen in age, and close enough in looks that he guessed them to be family. “Hi there,” the boy said. “I’m Phan. This is my sister, Risa.”
“Hello. I’m Nym,” he said, bringing more of his brain power back to what was going on around him. The sensory input from the air golem was regulated to the partitioned portion of his mind, which would make it difficult to multi-cast, but he didn’t think he’d need it at that particular moment. “Need something?”
“We just wanted to thank you for the save earlier. Neither of us are good flyers, and when all that snow came down on us, we just kind of froze. Pardon the pun.”
Risa groaned. “Don’t pardon it,” she told Nym. “He did it on purpose.”
“Nothing wrong with a good pun. They’re a great way to break the ice,” Nym said.
“Oh God save my poor immortal soul, there’s two of them now,” she said, staring up at the ceiling and clasping her hands together.
“Ignore her. She likes her theatrics,” Phan said. “Like I said, we wanted to thank you. We’d probably be dead without your intervention.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s literally my job. I’m just glad you guys were clumped close enough that I could grab everyone at once.”
“Ah, yes. Also thanks to you. I’m a bit slow with elemental water.” Risa’s face flushed and Nym stared at her blankly for a moment before realizing she’d been part of the group he’d hauled forward.
“Don’t worry. Everyone’s got their strengths and weaknesses.”
“Not likely,” Phan said. “You’re our age and already a master mage. That’s crazy. You’ve got to be a prodigy at like… everything.”
“I’m really not,” Nym said dryly.
“Master mage but not Academy trained. Definitely a prodigy, tough in a fight, friendly with us lowly second circle mages, and cute too,” Risa said, ticking things off on her fingers. “Total package.”
“I… er- what?”
She laughed. “Easy to fluster though. I guess you’re right about everyone having weaknesses.”
“Go easy on the poor guy,” Phan told his sister.
“What would be the fun in that?” she said, leaning forward until her lips were close to Nym’s ears. “I heard that the instructors get full, sound-proof, suites. I would love to see one. Perhaps sometime tonight.”
Nym’s face heated up and he pulled back from the girl. “I- I’ll consider it.”
She laughed again and stood up. “You do that,” she said, and walked away. Her hips swayed back and forth with each step.
Phan buried his face in his hands and sighed. “She has no shame,” he muttered.
Nym had to agree, but she was very pretty. Perhaps a little too forward with someone whose name she’d just learned a few minutes earlier. He’d bet she knew every single spell in that book he’d gotten his shaving spell out of, possibly a few more that weren’t in the book too.
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“Thanks again,” Phan said, standing up to follow Risa out. “You seriously saved us both, and a lot of my friends besides. It was impressive. You want to join us for dinner?”
“Dinner? Oh, no thanks. I’ve got some work to do tonight.”
“Fair enough. Invitation is open if you finish up early.”
“Thanks,” Nym said. “I’m afraid it’s going to be an all-nighter though.”
“Mmhmm. ‘Work to do.’ ‘All-nighter.’ Just don’t let her break your heart man. And for God’s sake use a contraceptive spell. She’s kind of air-headed sometimes and will probably forget.”
Nym felt his face reddening again. “Not that kind of work. Also you know way too much about your sister’s sex life.”
Phan gave a long-suffering sigh. “We share a dorm room. Parents couldn’t afford housing for two.”
Since he had no idea how big those rooms were, he didn’t know how cramped it would be sharing a one-person room, but at a guess, he’d say ‘a lot.’ “Sorry to hear that.”
“Nothing new,” Phan said. “Little sis has been tagging along in my life since I was two. I’ve been accommodating her whims for more than a decade. I’m just glad that you have your own room so I don’t have to go find somewhere to be. But alright, I’ve got to get going. We’ll be in the dining area for the next hour or so if you change your mind.”
“Thanks, maybe tomorrow,” Nym said.
The teenager left and Nym settled back into place. There was no way he was getting the coverage he wanted with one air golem. It was driving him mad. There had to be a way, but he just couldn’t find the angle. He was so close. It was tempting to just go out there and collapse the switchback that was blocking his set up from working.
Risa was really cute too. Nym jerked in place and shook his head. Where had that thought come from? “Come on, pay attention,” he scolded himself. He had a job to do here and bigger problems that he was on a clock to solve.
* * *
“Do you have a moment, Professor?” Nym asked that night.
“Of course. What do you need?” Professor Lakton said. He’d caught up to her in the hall leading to the instructors’ suites, thanks mostly to his scry anchor flitting around keeping an eye on things.
“I was hoping you could show me the other two spots the class will be visiting. I’d like to scout them out early this time.”
“Ah, yes. I can help with that. I should have thought of it. Normally the chaperones already know them. They’ve been with the Academy for a while, or possibly were students who went on this field trip themselves. Here, come with me. I’ve got a map of Glacial Valley in my office.”
She led him to her suite and ushered him in. The front room looked just like his: a standard office. Hers was a bit more lived in though. Where he’d had no use for the room, she’d obviously spent hours in it talking to students and had set it up with quite a few of her own personal possessions. Included in that was a large map of Glacial Valley pinned up on one wall.
It showed the facility in the southwest corner with red dotted lines marking the trail they’d take to get to each location. The ice cave was clearly marked at the end of one line, and the other two led to a frozen waterfall and what looked like some sort of field full of flowers. The waterfall made sense to him, but the field seemed out of place.
“What is this?” he asked, tapping the field on the map.
Professor Lakton smiled. “It’s one of the wonders of the world. We call it the Garden of Winter. I have no words to do it justice. The pixies tend to it, keep the flowers blooming. It may be the single most beautiful thing you’ll ever see in your entire life.”
“Huh. Interesting. I’ll look forward to seeing it.” He studied the trails they’d be taking for a moment and added, “Will your class be alright with just you here tonight? I’d like to fly these two paths tonight and get a feel for what’s out there.”
“We’ll be fine. This facility is well-defended, and now that it’s occupied, I’ve activated some of the dormant wards to fortify it even further. However, will you have time? The waterfalls are two hours away from here, and the Garden of Winter is an even longer trip.”
“I fly fast,” Nym said. “I’ll prioritize tomorrow’s journey first and only do the second trail if I have time.”
“If you’re sure,” Professor Lakton said. She frowned, shook her head, and said, “It’s very hard to think of you as a master mage. You’re very young. I keep wanting to treat you like a student.”
Nym was used to that. For as long as he could remember, adults had been underestimating him and treating him like a child. Admittedly, they did sometimes have a point. He’d made enough stupid mistakes to be cognizant of the fact that he could use some advice every now and then.
“I get that a lot. I do appreciate your restraint,” he said. “Thank you for showing me the map. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
* * *
A few hours ended up being more like six. He flew the trail to the frozen waterfalls at a slow speed, wanting to thoroughly scry the landscape around it. There wasn’t much to find, but he noted a few places where a troop of trolls… pack of trolls? Clan? Gang? Whatever they were called, he found a place where a group of creatures capable of performing elemental water magic could bring down snow to wash out the trail.
He did spot his first yeti, more as a fluke than anything. He’d already scried the area and completely missed it when it exploded out of a mound of snow and tackled a full-grown elk that was walking by. The rest of the herd scattered in panic while the nine-feet-tall bipedal monster ripped the elk’s throat out with its teeth and dragged the carcass back under the snow with it.
“That is… terrifying,” Nym whispered as he watched from the sky. That was going to be a whole new kind of nightmare to watch out for, and he made a mental note of which mound the yeti had popped out of. Fortunately, it was a good quarter mile from where the students would be passing by.
There wasn’t time to fly the second trail, not if he wanted to sleep. Nym teleported back to the area outside the Academy facility and let himself back in, a time-consuming process that involved weaving through the wards on the door to get them open. It was much easier with the key the professor had, but Nym hadn’t taken it with him, hadn’t even asked. He wasn’t sure Professor Lakton would have given it to him if he had.
He flew to his suite and walked in, only to hear something crumple under his feet. He looked down to the floor and spotted a folded-up piece of paper that had been slipped under the door. Nym picked it up and opened it.
I guess my brother wasn’t joking when he said you’d be busy all night. I ought to be offended that you aren’t here, but you’re cute, so I’ll give you another chance tomorrow. -R
“Oh God,” Nym said. He wasn’t sure if he needed to make sure he was gone all night again or if he needed to make sure he got everything done early.