Chapter 36

Tobias emerged out of the tent with fresh black robes.

To Riley's eyes, they seemed a little big.

"Wow, look at you!" Riley exclaimed; his old set of greys, worn from battle, were rolled up and tucked under one arm.

The young sorcerer grinned from ear to ear.

"Someone's happy," Riley grinned with her words.

"I always expected to end up in black robes, but not with a golden torc," Tobias explained.

A servant drifted by, bowing as he passed.

"Good morrow, sorcerer. May I serve?" He asked.

Tobias looked at the man, confused.

The servant blanched pale, "I meant nothing by it, young master."

Still reeling from the events of the last few hours, Tobias's mind finally caught up. "I've just recently earned my golden torc. I was still a student an hour ago."

"Oh, well then, sir, may I humbly offer my congratulations," The servant bowed again.

"Weird," Riley boggled, "it's like we got a first class upgrade."

Tobias regarded her strangely while the servant waited with practiced patience.

"Oh, you're waiting for me to dismiss you," Tobias shook his head, bewildered, "it's been a very full day. Would you, uh, dispose of these for me?"

The copper noticed the grey fabric bundle under Tobias' arm and brightened, "Of course, sir, I'll handle it personally and take my leave, and once again, congratulations."

Bowing once more, he took the old robe and scurried off.

"I suppose I should get used to that," He sighed, watching the man move quickly to his tasks.

He had to have been at least twice his age.

"Do you want me to bite your ankles if you get a big head?" Riley asked, pressing up against his legs.

"That might help. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed," Tobias sighed, running a finger over his new scar.

"We survived, and we weren't meant to, and you proved yourself wrong. I love it when I'm right." Riley drummed her hind paw, claiming her fair share of elation, kicking off in a leap, twisting her body, then zoomed around him in a tight circle.

"Prideful beast," Tobias said, kneeling down to pet her ears before looking around, "Justinian said he'd meet us with the family at our normal place after the match. Jogana fruit on the way?"

"You don't have to tell me twice, but what happens now?" Riley asked.

The thoroughfare was a ghost town as they walked past bored attendants manning booths. Distantly, the background roar of the crowd pointed to where most were.

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Servants in copper torcs, some using aids to focus their power, were moving people on platforms along a smooth floor, interspersed between statues of monsters and soldiers, something called "Blackblade's Gambit."

To Riley, it was the teacup ride from Disneyland, with a little extra flourish and a lot less moving parts.

"This place never fails to surprise me with how similar it is to my past life," She mused, bounding alongside Tobias.

"You've said as much, but as to your question, now we wait. At some point in the next one to two weeks, a messenger will come by the house and deliver my orders," Tobias explained.

Riley's ears went crooked.

"What about graduation ceremonies? Celebrations? What about you going to a scriptorium for a nice quiet life?" Riley balked.

"I don't know what a graduation ceremony would be. As for the rest of it, after meeting Grandmaster Silas, I'm beginning to worry about my future," Tobias sounded pained as he walked up to the companion cart, purchasing Riley's favorite treats with another few coppers from his pouch.

"In a graduation ceremony, you wear a funny flat hat with a black robe, and the leader of the school moves a tassel on the hat from one side to another before giving you a fancy piece of paper," Riley explained.

"You come from a very strange place," He observed.

"Maybe every place is strange except the place you come from," Riley replied, as a blur of a man impacted into Tobias.

"Look at you, saving Chadrick! My hero!" Tobias took the blow full on from Justinian, struggling to hold onto Riley's treats all the while.

"Don't remind me, that little prick wanted to kill me. I guess that's gratitude for you," Tobias sighed, his smile contradicting the seriousness in his eyes.

"That bad, and you're yet to be assigned?" Justinian looked worried.

"Yeah, I'm nervous, brother. This was supposed to be a victory; instead, it's just the doorway to new problems. I've made an enemy in the royal court," Tobias shook his head.

"If there's any justice in this world, they'll slap a copper torc around his neck. His performance was shameful," Justinian's flashed with anger and disgust.

"He's the nephew to the King of Ashes; they'll give him a golden torc and marry him off to some poor first tier woman in the hopes of producing first tier children," Tobias spat bitterly.

"A fate worse than death," Justinian nodded.

"And he's got an infernal companion!" Riley added, hopping aboard the Chadrick sucks train.

"The hawk? Fuck me. Well, powerful companions seem to be in vogue this season," Justinian set one hand behind his head. "This just doesn't get better, does it?"

"No, and in spite of what I've done, in spite of how I saved his ass, I'm now at his mercy. He doesn't need to lift a finger to send me to some shit hole or mire me up to my neck in trouble. I should have let the panterzoon have him," Tobias shook his head.

"Maybe I perma-fried the hawk, and he'll be too busy hating new people to care about us? I mean, we don't matter in his world anymore, right?" Riley knew one thing above all, that there was no hope like false hope.

"You fried his hawk? Good job," Justinian fuzzled her ears.

"She had it coming. They were controlling the monster, tilting the fight," Riley explained.

"That tracks with infernal magic. If he wasn't a royal..." Justian trailed off.

"It was Riley's celestial magic that guaranteed my survival. It would have gone differently otherwise," Tobias knelt down and held out the jogana fruit for Riley.

None too proud, she devoured it greedily.

"I just don't know what to tell you, man," Justinian said, at a loss.

"I don't either. I did meet Grandmaster Silas, though; he summoned me after the trial. My one saving grace may be that there are bigger people than Chadrick and his grudges invested in my future, but that's not a good thing exactly either," Tobias' said with worry dripping from his words.

Riley's ears went flat.

"Let's go find my family. I want to enjoy this while I can." Tobias rose as Riley finished her treat.

"We're all camped out under the old oak tree. You're just making friends all over, aren't you?" Justinian grinned, leading the small group on.

Riley noticed the two blinking exclamation points again but decided it would keep for a moment when the future didn't loom like a blood red moon on the horizon. Being able to wait felt like far more than a luxury. Her eyes widened as she noticed for the first time it felt like control, some modicum of choice that buffeted against the chaos of her new life.

"So celestial magic, huh?" Justinian asked Riley, "Shouldn't you have wings?"

"I do have wings; when I pull at my power, at least I can see them sometimes," Riley affirmed.

Justinian stopped, his mouth hanging open. "She can see magic?"

"She can see magic; catch up," Tobias said with a grin.