Chapter 17: The Academy (Patreon)

“I don’t like the scar test.” Nancy griped, rubbing the burnt line of skin on the back of her hand.

“I mean, who does, but they numb it up first, so it doesn’t hurt.” Casey said, inspecting the back of his hand, which was perfectly clear of the brand. Casey had been here a full three weeks longer than she had, and he’d gotten used to the strangeness, but it gave Nancy the creeps. She still wasn’t sure if Mr. Surpey was on the up-and-up.

“It hurts after.” She muttered.

“Once your Body gets high enough it doesn’t hurt for very long.” He responded, flopping over in his bed to look directly at her. “And just think of all the amazing things we can do because Mr. Surpey has been helping us.” Casey reached out and grabbed his headboard and lifted his entire body off the bed, holding it parallel with one hand.

“I even got a class today!” Casey said, setting himself down. “I’m a Pikeman now. It gave me plus five to my Body!”

“What’s a Pikeman do?”

“Well, from what I could read, it helps me poke things with spears.” Casey said. “Mr. Surpey suggested it.”

Nancy shuddered at the mention of poking things with spears. She did not like killing the rabzi. They almost looked like rabbit-people, and they sounded…just awful when they died. That was why she started aiming for their necks.

Other children had adapted quickly to the situation, even chatting and laughing while they tormented the creatures in the cages, but it still made Nancy sick. The only two reasons she killed them was because if she didn’t, someone else would do it meaner, and because when she shied away from killing, all the keegan guiding them paid way too much attention to her.

It reminded her of her mommy’s expression shopping for fruit, when she discovered a bruised peach. Nancy had never known how terrifying it would be for that expression to be directed at her, but it scared her into killing fuzzy rabbit men the same size as her.

Ironically, this distaste for torment caused her to kill the rabzi faster than the other children, so she had even more blood on her hands. She was already level sixteen, just a week or so behind Casey.

She eyed the brand on the back of her hand that they had given her when she’d first started. It was definitely starting to fade.

Maybe she and Casey could graduate to the next step at the same time. Nancy would give almost anything to be past killing Rabzi.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Nancy and the other seven children sat up, looking at the doorway, Keegan doorways were nine feet tall on average, absolutely massive compared to the children themselves.

“All tucked in for bed, I see.” Mr. Surpey said, folding his boney hands over each other as he entered. “I apologize for disturbing your night, but tonight we’re going to welcome a new member to the group and say farewell to another.”

A scared little girl even younger than Nancy peeked out from behind his pant leg, clutching a stuffed rabbit to her chest. Oh, she’s not going to do well. Nancy wondered if Mr. Surpey even knew what the doll was supposed to represent.

“This is Marcy Evans, she’ll be joining you.”

“…hi.” The little girl whispered, barely audible.

“And Casey Baker, I’m happy to announce that you’ve graduated from this step. Everyone, gather round and give Casey your well wishes, you won’t be seeing him again until you join him in the next step: the academy.”

The children gathered round and gave Nancy’s friend hugs and congratulations, talking and laughing excitedly. Mr. Surpey stood by patiently, his hands folded as he waited for the congratulations to die down.

“Come now, Mr. Baker,” he said once the noise had quieted somewhat. “I have to show you to your tutor.”

“Okay then,” Casey said with a shrug. “Going to school can’t be much worse than stabbing Rabzi all day.”

“Can I come with?” Nancy asked, stepping forward, a nameless dread building in her chest as Casey headed for the door. Something about the door reminded her of a hungry mouth. Not the shape or the color, but the feel. She wanted to follow Casey, and make sure that he’d be okay with her own eyes.

“No, the rest of you children must have your rest. It’s a lot we ask of you and you’ll be needing all the rest you can get. Remember, this isn’t goodbye forever, you’ll be seeing him again in the academy in a few weeks,” Mr. Surpey said, gently grabbing Nancy by the shoulder and turning her back toward her bed.

“I’ll be fine,” Casey said, flexing his nonexistent biceps and grinning before he followed Mr. Surpey through the door.

And then they were gone.

The other children clustered around the new girl, babbling excitedly as they caught her up to speed. The shy girl couldn’t get a word in edgewise and seemed to be on the brink of crying from the information overload.

Somehow Nancy couldn’t get it out of her head, sitting on the edge of her bed and staring at the door. Normally she would whisk the little girl away from the overbearing boys and give her some space to breathe, but she was still thinking about Casey.

She was amazed to discover that Casey was still alive, and here. they all thought he’d been kidnapped. What were the chances that the same man saved them from the same bad guy and brought them here?

Nancy had no idea, but something felt strange to her, and it made her stomach twist with nameless dread.

Maybe I can sneak out and say goodbye in person, Nancy thought, standing up and heading for the door. She gently tugged on the latch and peeled the door open, looking around the edge of the wood.

Nothing but an empty hallway.

Nancy slipped out into the hall and went for the stairs, sneaking on her tiptoes.

The door next to the stairs clicked open, startling ice into Nancy’s skin. A melas housekeeper backed out of the room before she could react and bumped into the girl, knocking her to the ground.

“Oh, what’s this?” she asked, turning around to view Nancy, clothes slung over her shoulder. “Little Nancy, is it? What are you doing out of bed?”

“I’m…getting something to drink.” Nancy lied.

“Oh, I’ll fetch it for you then.” The maid said, her tone sweet and gentle as she bent low to address the girl. “You run on back to your room and I’ll grab a cart filled with water and snacks for you and your friends, will that do?”

“…Yeah, that’ll be fine,” Nancy said, unable to admit to wanting to sneak around.

She headed back to the door and went back inside. Nancy snuck a peek over her shoulder as she entered the room and noticed that the melas maid was still watching her.

Making sure she went back into her room.

A shiver went down Nancy’s neck as she shut the door behind her.

Something felt wrong. Nancy didn’t know what it was, but it felt like something was tightening around her and making it hard to breath.

She leaned against the door and slid down to her butt, breathing rapidly in and out as her heart began beating in her chest like a caged animal trying to escape.

Like a caged Rabzi.

“Nancy?” one of the boys, Richard, asked, coming closer to her and putting a hand on her forehead. “Are you okay? You don’t feel like you have a fever.”

“I don’t know. I was going to go…get a drink, and the maid bumped into me,” she said.

“Yay, snacks!” Richard said, fist-pumping.

Nancy frowned. “How did you know she would bring snacks?”

“When she bumped into me, she brought everyone snacks. Remember a couple days ago?”

“Oh yeah, when I ran into her, she brought snacks too,” Penny said, the dark haired girl frowning thoughtfully before breaking into a smile. “Awesome!”

Something felt wrong. It whirled inside her, and Nancy put every ounce of focus she could into listening to her gut, slowly teasing out the dreadful question.

“Did anyone…ever get to the stairs?”

The children glanced around at each other, shrugging and shaking their heads.

“I guess not,” Richard said. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” Nancy said, shaking her head. “It just feels wrong. Like we’re trapped here.”

“But…the door isn’t even locked.”

“Nobody’s ever gotten past the stairs without running into the maid! Isn’t that weird?” Nancy asked. “How could she accidentally run into everyone who tries to leave every time?”

The children frowned and fell silent, not sure how to react.

“Yo,” a boy named Thomas said, waving his hand from his bed. “Over here.” The blond preteen lifted his heavy oak bed frame up and set it aside, revealing a trap door in the floor.

“There was a girl here a couple weeks before me who could make anything into a door.” he said with a shrug. “I’ve been using it to explore the castle.”

“Really!?” Nancy crawled over to the door and ran her fingers over it. The smooth stone of the floor was marred by hinges and a stone knob. She twisted the handle, and with a smooth motion, the heavy block of stone lifted up, revealing a void-colored black hole in the floor.

Nancy couldn’t get any sense of depth, because the weak light of the room stubbornly refused to penetrate it’s depths. For a moment, she thought it was a doorway into death itself, until Penny brought a candle nearby, revealing a marble floor a few feet under the opening.

“Jerk,” Penny said, punching Thomas on the shoulder. “This is the kind of thing you’re supposed to share.”

“It’s the space between this floor and the rooms underneath us.” Thomas said, rubbing his arm. “Head straight that way, and you’ll get to the next door.” He pointed toward the side wall. “Leads to the roof.”

“Thanks,”

“No problem kid,”

“Don’t act like the grownup just ‘cuz you’re ten.” Penny said, punching Thomas’s shoulder again.

“Ow, quit it.”

“Make me.” Penny stuck out her tongue.

“I’ll be back soon!” Nancy said, dropping into the pit and orienting on the direction Thomas had given her.

“Oh, by the way, stick a piece of cloth or something in the roof door so you can find it on the way back, it took me hours to find it again from the other side.”  Thomas called after her.

“Okay!” Nancy dropped to her knees and started crawling, the opening above her head shrinking into the distance until she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.

After about three minutes crawling through the dark, Nancy ran face-first into stone, bopping her nose good.

“ow,” Nancy whispered, rubbing her nose. She reached up and scanned the odd, tilted stone with her hand until her fingers came across a handle.

When she twisted it, the door revealed itself, spilling moonlight into the darkness. Nancy pried it open and clambered out onto the sloping shingles of the castle.

Gotta remember where this is, Nancy thought, taking off one of her twine bracelets and wedging it in the door frame. She gently shut the shingle-door and made her way to the edge.

Nancy almost gasped at how beautiful everything was at night. The moon was huge, a mottled pink and blue, casting a pale purple light over everything.

No, I can’t stare at the pretty moon. I gotta see Casey again. She just had to see him off. See him safe and okay, then all her doubts would go away, and she would be sure they were safe.

Nancy creeped along the rooftop, keeping as quiet as possible and listening for anything that might tell her where Casey and Mr. Surpey had gone. She had spent a lot of time on the roof at her house, and it came naturally to her, especially now that she was a lot stronger than before. Her fingers clung to the shingles, each digit strong enough to carry her by itself.

Nancy didn’t know this, but a professional rock climber would have been insanely jealous before the Stitching. Afterwards, the sport lost a bit of its luster.

Suddenly she heard voices.

Nancy cocked her head and strained her ears.

“…Now make sure you always address him as Sir, as he’ll be your sponsor during your time in the academy. And once you graduate, you may be expected to work for him for a time. Think of it as a student loan repayment.”

“Got it,” She narrowed in on Casey’s confident speech and began creeping that direction. A moment later, she was hovering over Casey and Mr. Surpey as they walked toward the castle entrance through the courtyard.

Casey was wearing Keegan-style robes, which must have been why she was able to catch up with them.

She considered dropping down and saying goodbye in person, but she absolutely didn’t want to get in trouble with Mr. Surpey, so she decided she would just watch for now.

The front gate swung open, creating a path leading into the courtyard of the mansion/castle. A carriage drawn by a pair of matching black lizards with iridescent scales rolled inside, gliding silently on ivory wheels.

The carriage came to a halt in front of Casey and Mr. Surpey, where they were waiting. Casey copied Mr. Surpey and folded his hands, trying to act the part as best he could.

A keegan in a blue and black checkered robe stepped out of the carriage while his driver rested the prod on his knees, staring idly into the distance.

Nearly directly at Nancy, if a dozen feet too low.

“Lovely night, isn’t it?” The keegan said, glancing up at the moon as he stretched.

“Indeed.” Mr. Surpey said with a bow. “Allow me to make formal introductions. Casey Baker, this is your sponsor, Judge Mirzos Elkor. You will call him Judge Elkor or sir. Judge, this is your Sponsee, Casey Baker.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Judge Elkor said, extending his hand.

Casey seemed to reflexively go for a handshake, raising his hand, but the judge’s reach extended beyond Casey’s childish palm, landing a single finger on the boy’s forehead.

Crack!

A blinding flash of greenish energy seared into Nancy’s eyes, cutting out her vision.

As Nancy was blinking tears out of her eyes, she saw Casey topple backwards out of the corner of her eye, stiff as a felled tree.

Casey’s eyes were open, an expression of confusion frozen on his face. He was dead. They killed him!

“No!” Nancy gasped before she slapped her hands over her mouth.

Luckily, Mr. Surpey was shouting. Like, a lot.

“What in the Roil do you think you’re doing!?” Mr. Surpey shouted. “You’re supposed to take him home!”

“I’m expediting the process.” Judge Elkor said, raising his chin, looking down at Mr. Surpey. “Your rules are wasteful and poorly thought out, Mr. O’sut.”

The keegan paused, looking at something in the air. “Although you do deliver results. Look at that, five whole levels from a single urchin. Magnificent.”

“The rules are in place to protect you! You just committed a Reaping, not an Honor Duel!”

“Pssht,” Judge Elkor waved him off as he headed back toward the carriage. “I haven’t the time to tiptoe around the law. I am the law in Solmnath. Other than your whining, I’m very impressed by the quality of your goods.”

He stepped onto the ladder of the carriage and glanced over his shoulder. “Which is why I’ll expect the next one a month from now.”

“What next one?” Mr. Surpey–O’sut? asked, glaring at the judge. “You’ve refused to follow the terms I’ve set down. I wouldn’t take your money now if you begged me.”

“Oh you won’t be taking my money. Your payment will be my silence. Goodbye, Mr. O’sut.”

Mr. Surpey watched the carriage circle around him, gracefully leaving the way it had come.

“FFFUCK!”

“Damn these arrogant Mystborn sons of Roil-welted whores who’ve nothing between their ears but laziness and greed!” Mr. Surpey shouted at the top of his lungs once the drawbridge was closed.

“Jeopardize themselves, me, and everyone else because they want to cut a few corners! Idiots! Myst-addled fools!”

He turned toward her.

Nancy dropped her face below the edge of the rooftop, hand clamped over her mouth. She felt hot tears trickle down the back of her palm, involuntary whimpers rising from her throat.

Their captor continued shouting, drowning out Nancy’s quiet sobs.

“Skol, take the boy and a shovel out into the wilderness and burn his body, clothes and all. If I find out you lifted some of the silk for your wife I will straight up murder you! Once he’s bones, bury him deep, where scavengers can’t get to him. I want plenty of time for the Myst to be scattered into nature so a Seer can’t Read them.

“Right now!” Mr. Surpey said, clapping his hands, stomping inside the castle.

I have to leave, right now. If they found out she was out here, they would kill her too! She had to get back to their room.

Taking the opportunity, Nancy scrambled back across the rooftop, trying to locate the door back to the dark passageway leading to their room.

There it is, Nancy thought, spotting her bracelet, the white beads glowing faintly purple in the moonlight. She yanked the door open and slipped into the darkness as quickly and quietly as she could. The dark no longer held any fear for her. If Mr. Surpey couldn’t see in the dark, then the dark was a good thing.

She crawled back, her heart pounding in her chest, blindly trailing her fingers across the ceiling until she came across the seam of the door. Groping around, she found the handle, twisted it, then burst out into the children’s room.

“Nancy, are you okay, what happened?” Thomas asked as she shoved his bed back over the trap door, her breath coming hot and fast.

When the door was covered, Nancy sank to her knees and began bawling, not strong enough yet to tell them what had happened to Casey. What was going to happen to them.

“Here you are, snacks!” the melas maid said, bumping the door open with her hip, pulling a cart full of delicious meats and cheeses, along with a large pitcher of water and several glasses.

The dark orange woman paused when nobody cheered for snacks, pursing her lips when she noticed Nancy’s sobbing.

“Oh dear, is she alright?”

“She uh…misses her mommy and daddy.” Thomas said, patting Nancy’s back.

***

The next morning, Kebos was pacing the courtyard, watching the children slaughtering the rabzi in their cages in unusual, but welcome, silence. Even the talkative or particularly cruel children who seemed to enjoy hurting things were quiet, killing the vile creatures with unusually stoic expressions.

Oh well, they’ll be back to their usual grating screams once they’ve forgotten about Casey.

They did tend to get a little subdued when one of them left for their foster homes, but this was a little more than usual. Casey had been fairly popular among the other children, from what he could recall.

The only noise he heard was Marcy’s sobbing, which was not unexpected. The little girl was holding a spear several sizes too big for her and trembling like a leaf in front of a wounded Rabzi.

Kebos thought he’d have to intervene as he had to so many times before when a little girl didn’t show a predilection for violence, but he was pleased to note Nancy was talking to the girl, guiding her to kill the Rabzi in the cage.

He was too distant to make it out, but whatever she said must have worked, because in the end, Marcy stabbed the feral monster in the neck, ending its pitiful existence.

Perhaps an inside man would help, Kebos thought, thumbing his chin as he observed. Many children took days to convince to kill the Rabzi. Days that cut into his profit margin. Nancy had done it in less than an hour.

During his patrol of the courtyard, something bright caught Kebos’ gaze. Lying in the dirt on the edge of the grounds was a bracelet, sized for a child. He stooped to pick it up, studying it’s simplistic make.

It was made of twine and ivory beads with black ink stamped onto them that spelled :

F-R-I-E-N-D-S

Hmm… where could this have come from?