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Wendel sat behind Dr. Mendes, hands clutched around her waist, watching as the hanging branches of the trees speed past. They were atop a creature that put Wendel in the mind of a giant spider, its eight legs stretched out in every direction around them. Powerful kicks propelled them across the top of the murky water at breakneck speeds. She had called the creature a water skimmer, and had summoned it as soon as they reached the edge of the swamp. Unlike the manticore Kevin, it did not speak, and Wendel wasn’t sure how Dr. Mendes was communicating with it.
It had taken the better part of the night to gather the survivors from the shipwreck. Wendel had not been able to understand much that captain O’Clary had said. He did understand pirates, but it seemed like the captain was saying that a little girl and a lizard had been responsible for the vast majority of the damage. Dr. Mendes had cast a very complex protective ward around the immobilized survivors, and promised to send help as soon as possible.
They traveled over increasingly wetter terrain until they reached the murky, shallows of the swamp. Wendel had been to this swamp on several outings, led by Madam Druce, to gather ingredients, but he’d never been this far north of the school. Dr. Mendes had stopped at the edge of the water, and waited. Wendel stood next to her, thinking perhaps that she was gathering her wits or simply resting. They had not waited very long when the water skimmer had swam into focus.
It’s body was spherical and black, with a tiny protrusion for a head. Many faceted eyes regarded Wendel coldly, as it crept across the surface of the water right up to where Dr. Mendes was standing. She stepped into the water, and placed her hands on the beast's back, throwing herself up onto its spherical body as comfortably as if the creature were a horse. “Come along Wendel, we need to hurry.” Wendel clambered onto the creatures back with Dr. Mendes’ help, disgusted by the hardness of the creatures exoskeleton.
By late afternoon they had managed to cross the swamps and left the creature. Dr. Mendes mentioned it no further, and in the light of everything, Wendel just couldn’t find the energy to inquire. Two Lanes was more like home to Wendel than anywhere else, and as they walked towards the outskirts of the coastal city, he felt his heart swell. The story and a half cottages of wood, with their steeply pitched roofs and intricate pillars swam into focus. The people that lived on the outskirts of the city were not wealthy by Two Lanes standards, but the University increased the average standard of living for everyone. Ordinarily, the people were friendly here, waving and smiling at any who passed, but as they walked closer and closer to the city proper, Wendel was disturbed by absence of anyone.
“Where is everyone?” Wendel asked, speaking mostly to himself.
“I think we shall find out when we reach the University.” Dr. Mendes strode purposefully forward, kicking up the loose gravel as she went.
There was no wall surrounding the city, and the streets were wide and paved with a heavy layer of loose gravel. The city had been built below sea level, surrounded by swamps. Every patch of ground that wasn’t covered with gravel or paving stones was muddy, and the gravel crunching under Wendel’s feet felt like home. They walked down the main street, what many people called ‘Second Lane,’ the first of course being the sea shipping lane. In the distance, towering above the rest of the city, the University could be seen.
The deserted streets became more conspicuous as they came closer to the school grounds. It was midafternoon, students and staff should have been coming and going, deliveries should have been being made. The campus was a massive complex of buildings and required immense amounts of effort to maintain. The street leading into the arched entrance was completely empty, and Wendel could see no one beyond the white arch itself.
Wendel felt the ward as they reached the arch, and Dr. Mendes was stopped as she attempted to walk beneath the ivory arches. “Really?” She said, pausing momentarily staring up at the white arch for a moment. She uttered a quick spell, and then walked under the arch shrugging. Wendel followed her, the ward he had felt vanishing with her last syllable.
In spite of the fear Wendel felt at the lack of students and staff scurrying across the manicured grounds of the courtyard, Wendel was grateful to be back. The University looked the same as it had for all the years he’d lived here. It had been a span of months since he had left. The air smelled like home, the tang of the sea mingling with the grass and flowers of the plaza. Dr. Mendes was walking purposefully ahead, directly towards the squat, grey administration building. Wendel had to hurry to catch up, his eyes lingering on the double doors of the cafeteria and his stomach rumbling.
She took the steps two at a time, and rushed through the heavy door so fast that they banged loudly on the grey stone walls. Wendel was almost jogging to keep up with her, her pace renewing his sense of fear. His heart was pounding in his chest loudly. She rushed through the hall, past many closed doors until finally, she reached the office of the dean. His door was wide open, and a large group of people were crammed into the opulent room.
Wendel had been in the dean’s room only twice before. Once for career advice, and the second time when he was petitioning to apprentice under Dr. Mendes. That was a week before he had set out from the University, several months and what felt like a lifetime before. The dean was sitting behind his beautiful desk, which was piled high with plates of sumptuous looking foods. Several members of the upper echelon of the school’s staff were standing around the room. The two cushioned chairs in front of his desk were occupied. The serving boy Wendel recognized. He was wearing a shabby looking grey smock that seemed to be covered in mud, and he looked very out of place amongst the finery of the dean’s office.
The other chair was occupied by a tiny little girl. She was also covered in mud, and at her feet, curled around her legs was a massive green lizard, easily as big as a dog. The girl had a strange metal hood looking cloth draped around her shoulders and neck, that seemed to reach halfway down her back. Her hair was a mess of twigs and moss, but she seemed unperturbed, eating a slice of meat as big as her head from a plate she balanced on her lap.
Wend looked to Dr. Mendes, but the doctor seemed just as confused as he was. Two heads of departments and the headmistress stood around the room, and they all seemed surprised to see Dr. Mendes. Kimble Lane was leaning against a wall in his heavy black armor, his eyes darting to and fro. The headmistress was standing next to the girl, her hand resting on the chair back, and Madame Druce the ancient director of the Alchemy department was leaning on the dean’s desk.
The dean half rose from his lavish chair, his bulk jiggling, “Doctor Mendes! We are so pleased to see you!”
Dr. Mendes had frozen in the threshold, blocking Wendel from entering the room. She walked forward seeming stupefied. Her mouth worked, but no words seems to be forming, and Wendel was off put by her lack of control. She took two more tentative steps into the room, and Wendel hurried in behind her.
The dean sat himself back down, but gestured with his arms, beaming, “And your apprentice! Wendel, I’m so pleased to see you alive and well! Knew you had what it took to be a field agent.”
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Dr. Mendes took another step, stood close to the headmistress, staring down at the girl in the chair, who was still eating as if she was starved. “Otis, this girl! She has X-Class enchantments on her! What’s going on!”
The dean smiled again, directing his happy gaze at the girl in the chair, “Oh! This is Emile Neuwirth! Demetrius here brought her in! Apparently she had been crossing the swamp on her own!”
The serving boy craned his neck to look over his shoulder at Dr. Mendes, his olive complexion had an almost green pallor to it. His long black hair hung around his face like slimy curtains. There was mud on his face, and he seemed very nervous to Wendel. He ventured a half smile.
Dr. Mendes turned to the headmistress, “Melinda! What’s going on! Why is this girl sitting here? No one is manning the switchboard, and I’ve been trying to ring you all personally! Has there been an attack?”
The headmistress turned her gaze from the little girl to Dr. Mendes and said, “Well, there was an attack. We were all distracted by the trial, and they seized part of the armory.”
“What! Kimble, how could that happen!” Dr. Mendes screamed the words, turning to face Kimble Lane.
It was director Lane who explained everything in his sonorous voice. Apparently he had been arrested, which Wendel had trouble understanding at first. There had been protests being staged, and the school had split into factions, with one of the factions demanding the abolishment of the regulations and permits. Wendel’s mind reeled as he listened to the bear of a man explaining his trial and how it had been a distraction so that the thaumatists could seize the armory it was his duty to protect. They were using the word thaumatist easily now, in the present tense.
Wendel felt his skin crawl every time they said it, and finally interrupted, “But how can there be thaumatists?”
All eyes in the room except for Emile’s turned to look at him, it was the dean that answered in his rhinal voice, “Wendel, there are always people who want power, and those who have some usually want more.”
Dr. Mendes said, “So they seized the armory and left, you put the school on lockdown, that still doesn’t explain this child, or why she’s sitting here, eating, wearing X-Class enchantments!”
The dean said, “Well, she was hungry, it only seemed appropriate to feed her. She’s had a hard journey.”
“I bet she has! She’s left a wake of destruction,” she turned to director Lane, “or haven’t the sensors alerted you?”
“I’ve been a little bit indisposed, what with being wrongfully imprisoned and all!” He roared.
Dr. Mendes was looking from face to face, as if trying to decide who to direct her fury at, finally she settled on headmistress Atbiss, “Melinda, why hasn’t this child been stripped of these weapons?”
The headmistress said calmly, “Well, she said they were her birthright, didn’t seem right to take them.”
The girl still had not spoken. She had finished the plate of meat and moved on to a large puff pastry that was easily the size of her head. She was eating noisily, and Wendel felt his legs shaking. He wished there was somewhere he could sit down, and decided given the strange atmosphere, no one would notice if he sat down on the floor. His legs practically collapsed and folded up under him. The lizard wrapped around the girls legs opened one lazy eye, and stared at Wendel. He felt oddly appraised.
“Madam Druce!” Dr. Mendes was beginning to sound desperate, “What is going on!”
The ancient woman regarded Dr. Mendes kindly, “Karene, we’ve talked about this before, the students that left with Veles have been taken in by promises of power and easy riches. We’ve both always known that Fiona was a problem, but I never thought-”
“That’s not what I meant! Why have none of you taken these weapons from this girl! I followed a thaum field a days journey, she’s carrying weapons of mass destruction, and yet here she sits eating pastries!”
“Yes, I think Otis is spoiling her a bit, but you know how he appreciates the sumptuous things in life, I tried to press some fruit on her,” the old woman gestured to an untouched pile of various fruits and vegetables.
Dr. Mendes turned around, a complete circle. Then she turned around again, very slowly, as if taking in every detail of the room. Finally, her eyes fell, and rested on Wendel, who was leaning back against the wall, staring back at the massive lizard who had not blinked since it had started looking at him. Her mouth worked wordlessly for a moment, and then she closed her eyes. She took several long deep breaths, opened her eyes, and nodded.
“Right, I’ll do it myself. Emile?” She turned to the girl in the chair, “It’s Emile, right?”
The girl swallowed a mouthful of pastry and said, “Yes ma’am, and you’re Doctor Mendes.”
Dr. Mendes smiled, “That’s right, I’m Doctor Mendes. Emile, where did you get those rings you’re wearing?”
“They are my birthright.” The girl said this as if it answered everything.
Dr. Mendes spoke very calmly, smiling, “Well, Emile, those rings you are wearing are very dangerous. They’re both X-Class enchantments, and you have to have a permit to carry enchantments of any sort. Including that necklace, the mail coif, and whatever those other two things you have are. You are going to need to give them to me.”
The girl’s voice changed when she answered, “You don’t want to take them, they’re my birthright.” Wendel couldn’t help it, he felt like the girl was right. Very obviously.
Dr. Mendes stammered her words, “I, you. Wait.” She seemed to be straining to speak and finally got the rest of the words out in one “I need you to give me the rings, the necklace, and everything else!”
The girl took another bite of her pastry, and then said, “You don’t need me to give them to you, you have much more important things to worry about, the first being helping my pa.” It suddenly seemed very important to Wendel to help the girl’s father.
Dr. Mendes seemed to pause for a very long time before finally saying, “What does your pa need help with?”
Emile began to explain everything that had happened with her father and the little dragon, Gypsum. She made it very clear that Gypsum was not to blame, and Wendel agreed. Clearly the dragon was not to blame, just a mistake. Dr. Mendes seemed to be hanging on every word.
“She’s Leaning on us!” Dr. Mendes exclaimed to the room as soon as the girl had stopped speaking. Immediately she burst into the fastest litany of spellcasting that Wendel had ever heard. The words seemed to flash out of her mouth like lightning racing across the sky.
The girl spoke up instantly and said, “Stop!” Her voice was like a whip on his face, and though Wendel had been doing nothing, he felt the overwhelming urge to stop. Dr. Mendes managed to force out another word of the spell before the girl said, “You don’t want to do that! You won’t be able to hear me, and it’s very important that you listen to me!”
The doctor stood stock still, seeming to be struggling with an inner conflict, “Where did you study magic? How could you know what the spell was going to do?” It sounded like every word caused her a great strain.
When the girl spoke again, it was in the voice of a child, “It just seemed obvious, you were trying to make it so no one could hear me! That’s not very polite, I’m a guest here. I came here to find a wizard to help my pa!”
There was a pregnant silence, and finally it was broken by the serving boy, “She needs your help, and you need hers! Everyone was running around and yelling at each other before she got here!”
Wendel regarded the boy, who he realized probably wasn’t much younger than himself. Everyone in the room looked shamefaced except for Dr. Mendes who seemed like she was struggling under a great weight, her shoulders slouched. It was Madam Druce who said, “I’ve already analyzed a sample of the dragon’s neurotoxin, but I don’t know how long it will take to synthesize an antidote.”
Dr. Mendes turned to her and said, “You’ve analyzed a sample? We need to get to your lab, I think there’s a connection with what happened in Uriel.”