Chapter Two
Nala and I head back to the first quarter, where Miss Worthington is waiting to start the tour.
“I hope you are all settled into your rooms. Now, without further ado, let’s get on with this tour, shall we?” Miss Worthington dictates and pushes her ginger curls behind her ear.
The tour starts as Miss Worthington leads us through the large wooden doors at the end of the first quarter.
We are met with another long corridor. Miss Worthington flicks her wrists in one swift movement and the first door on the left-hand side springs open.
I will never get bored with watching the power of Influence firsthand.
She brings us through to a large echoing room filled with ten long tables, each big enough to seat one hundred students.
The tables are made of aged oak and perfectly preserved.
The room smells sweet and smoky. It must be radiating from the oak.
Three huge orbs of light float over each table, pulsating gently with a soft orange glow—one orb at each end and the brightest one in the middle.
The walls are over twenty feet tall, painted with a glossy white finish.
The orbs of light reflect off the paint, making the walls emit a friendly glow.
There are a few parts where the paint looks chipped at the cracks between the bricks, but it suits the room so well that it could have been done deliberately.
There are two pillars at the far end of the room.
The pillars are carved with etchings of elions and tamers in battle.
The etchings look like they have been chiselled out by the hands of Gods.
I suppose they were. The carvings glisten with a golden shimmer and Enchantra fills up the once empty space that surrounds the pillars.
The level of detail is breathtaking. No wonder it took a thousand enchanters to build.
“This is the dining hall, where you will meet at seven a.m. sharp for first meals, twelve p.m. for the second and six p.m. for your third and final meal of the day.” She pauses for a second before saying.
“I should hope that you are always on time for meals. The dining bell shall only ring twice, and if you are not here by the time the second bell tolls, I’m afraid you will have to wait until the next meal. ”
Nala gives me a concerned look. “We HAVE to be on time every day. No way am I missing any meals. I need my strength if I want to be a tamer!”
I smile at her and agree. “Don’t worry, I’m an early riser. I’ll make sure to wake you up well in time for first meals.”
Nala takes a relieved breath before saying, “I was hoping you would be. I always seem to sleep through my alarm!”
“I won’t let that happen, plus I need my food too. You do not want to see me when I’m hangry,” I joke reassuringly, clinking my teeth together in a chomping motion.
Nala laughs and gently squeezes my arm.
“I’m really glad you’re my roomie.”
“Ditto,” I reply.
I look around at the other students filling the hall.
I notice a tall blonde boy wearing a long green and yellow scarf.
He isn’t wearing it for warmth, as the scarf drapes around the nape of his neck and rests just above his knobbly knees.
He looks like an odd boy, like he is used to getting picked on by the other kids.
His big, thick glasses, too heavy for the bridge of his small button nose, keep rolling down his face, so every few seconds, he uses his index finger to push them back up again.
He is standing directly in front of the orb and reaching his long arms out towards it.
The ball of light dances away from his touch.
He tries again, this time on his tiptoes, his outstretched arm only a centimetre away from the orb.
He leans forward once more, making contact before yanking his arm back quickly.
“OUCHHH!” He consoles his finger with his other hand.
A silly mistake. Everyone knows not to touch an orb; they are balls of pure light channeled from the sun itself.
When made by a powerful enchanter, the slightest contact could burn your flesh right down to the bone and looking directly at the centre of one could blind you.
People often forget just how lethal they can be because of their beauty, but they’re a reminder that beautiful things can also be deadly.
“William Watson!” Miss Worthington bellows.
“Let this be a lesson for all students not to touch the orbs. William, make your way to the healing quarters. Miss Aloe will escort you.” Miss Worthington gestures at a small lady in a long white dress with matching white gloves that rest at the top of her forearms. She wears a gold belt cinched tightly around her waist. She looks gentle and friendly, and she reassures William with a smile and leads him out of the room. Miss Aloe must be a healer.
We follow Miss Worthington back into the long corridor. Her wrists make the familiar circular motion we saw her do earlier and the double doors on the right-hand side bounce open. We walk in with anticipation.
“And this… Sovereign students, is the library.” Miss Worthington has a proud smile on her face.
I am first taken aback by the thousands of books all Influenced to hover in rows above the ground.
At first glance you would think that they were all placed on shelves, but there are no shelves, no bookcases; all the books are levitating in perfect rows, one above the other, all alphabetically ordered.
My gaze travels upwards. This room must be at least three stories high, and books cover every inch of every wall.
I have never seen so many books in my life.
My eyes follow the rows up, seeing that they are numbered from one to one hundred and twenty-five.
A smile appears on my face. I can see myself spending a lot of time here.
The dark wooden floorboards are softened by four long red sofas surrounding a large rectangular rug.
This rug has images of all four Sun Gods with something written in Enchantra above it.
Miss Worthington adjusts her blue blazer, giving it a sharp tug at the collar.
“If you should ever need a certain book you cannot reach,” she looks up at where the high ceiling meets the last row of books, “there are always Influencers in here between the hours of seven am and eight pm. They can summon the books for you.”
She diverts her attention to a middle-aged bald man wearing a tweed blazer, a yellow t-shirt and matching tweed trousers. “Mr Eddingbrow, please could you show the students the book of the History of Palidonia?”
Mr Eddingbrow smiles. “Of course.”
He shuts his eyes and rubs his thumbs and forefingers together.
We all look up as a shuffle can be heard from the ninety-ninth row.
A book glides seamlessly through the air and makes its way down swiftly, straight into Mr Eddingbrow’s arms. “The book of the History of Paldonia,” he announces, brandishing the tome.
We look on in awe.
“Miss, how much Influence would it take to lift Jemima over there?” Alex Rotherman says with a smug look on his face, his mates chuckling around him.
Jemima is a shy girl who happens to be on the plumper side. Her face darkens with embarrassment.
“What? It’s a genuine question, Miss,” he smirks.
Yep, Alex is still an ass. No amount of hotness is going to change that.
“Probably the same amount it would take to make your shrimp dick bigger!” I interject. I watch as his face turns bright red and the class bellows with laughter.
Nala nudges me on the arm. “You’re kind of a badass, aren’t you?!” she grins.
Jemima looks at me and mouths a small “thank you”. I smile back.
“That’s enough of that!” Miss Worthington snaps. “There will be no tolerance for bullying. Remember, Mr Rotherman, when you are given your Gift, whatever it may be, the same hands that give it can also take it away. Be careful how you act. The Gods are always watching!”
And with that, she makes her way to the courtyard. We quickly follow behind. I stumble a little as Alex forcefully brushes past me.
“Watch it, Freak!” he sneers. He used to call me that in Pen School. So much for starting afresh. Two hours in and I’ve already made an enemy.
The courtyard is big and open. Blossom trees surround the perimeter.
In the far-left corner there is an elevated platform.
This must be the sandpit where the combat takes place.
I can see this from my bedroom window. There is a man standing on the platform.
He is holding a rake in one hand and has a large bag of sand resting on his other shoulder.
He simultaneously pours and rakes, replacing the bloodied sand with the fresh new sand.
They must’ve recently had a combat class; the blood still looks fresh.
To the right, there is a large dome-like feature. It is transparent but not completely see-through. The windows that make up the building shimmer in the sunlight. This is The Greenhouse, where the teachings of Poten take place. Where life can be restored.
“Many of you will not need to know this building; Poten rarely gives Gifts. There have only been a handful of Restorers this century,” Miss Worthington remarks.
“Inside grows an eternal garden made by the life enchanters from the power of God Poten. As you well know, if you are lucky enough to be gifted by Poten, plants and agriculture will not be the only things you can bring to life.”
“What’s that over there?” a fellow student shouts out, pointing towards Campus B.
The stone wall that separates each campus begins behind The Greenhouse, as the blossom trees are interrupted by a dark pine forest surrounding the second campus.
The trees are unevenly staggered, giving the campus a dishevelled and sinister look.
Crows perch on their twisted branches as if they are standing guard.