The faint smell of lemon rug cleaner still lingered six hours into their car ride. The side of Casimir’s cheek pressed against the car’s window. Moisture from his breath fogged the glass as he watched endless rows of pine, powdered white with old snow, pass them by. Trees, snow, and a snake-like road before and behind him. There wasn’t even an abandoned cabin to break up the monotonous landscape.

  “Why did you have to pick a school that is out in the middle of nowhere?” Whitley grumbled from the seat beside him.

  “According to Lord Salamander, this school is built on a vein of Aetherphilic Merculium crystals making it dangerous for non-Aetherians, but the perfect place for Weaver development,” Casimir said, while eying his uncle’s black sedan following closely behind them in the rear-view mirror.

  Whitley crossed his legs and sighed. “I suppose so. I can sense those deposits from here.”

  “Really,” Casimir closed his eyes and tried to sense the reserves but the only Aether he could feel was from Whitley and their driver. I still need to work on my range.

  The car pulled off the side of the highway onto a gravel road. Their smooth, speedy drive switched to a slow and bumpy one as the car jittered on the new terrain. They continued down the road, dimmed by towering evergreens. Eventually, they reached an old iron gate attached to razor wire fencing that faded far into the trees.

  Restricted Area. High Aetherian Radiation Present. Proceed with Caution. No Unauthorized Vehicles Beyond This Point. No Photography.

  Casimir furrowed his brow.

  “Not the most inviting place,” Whitley said glaring at the sign.

  “I guess this is the remnants of when it was a military base,” Casimir said, opening the car door.

  Whitley nodded. “Call me when you change your mind. ”

  He is still not sold on this. Casimir sighed and stepped out of the car.

  Weird. It is unusually warm. Must be because of the high concentration of Aether in the area. He unbuttoned his tweed overcoat. While the driver grabbed his bags from the trunk, Casimir went over to speak with his uncle, who was already outside by the gate.

  “So this is it,” Casimir said to his uncle in a hushed voice.

  “Yes, it is. Salamander was gracious enough to give me a tour before your trip here. The facilities are clean, state-of-the-art, and secure. He said that you will be staying at Clifford’s Rise with his nephew.”

  Casimir noticed the dark worry lines on his Uncle’s forehead and nodded. Uncle still does not seem sold on this either.

  He looked into the woods behind the gate. Other than the path covered with old footprints pressed into the snow, there wasn’t another hint of human life. I probably wouldn’t have been able to step foot in this place a year ago without doubling over in pain. It’s surreal.

  “Your bag, sir.” Their driver handed Casimir his suitcase and bowed.

  “Thank you.” Casimir accepted his luggage, and after the driver left, his attention returned to his uncle. “I will be fine.”

  Iker ruffled Casimir’s hair. “Yep, you’ll be alright. Write to me.” His eyes lingered on his nephew before turning away.

  Casimir took a deep breath and went through the iron door leading to the footpath that expanded deep into the woods.

  The fresh crisp air and the peaceful symphony of snow crunching beneath his feet brought him back to the days when he hiked with his uncle, and he found himself enjoying the challenging trek uphill. “This is great.” Casimir smiled.

  Running laps around the training room isn’t the same as this. Perhaps here, I can finally work toward getting back to full strength.

  As he continued, he noticed some drag marks from a possible bag and an impression in the snow from a fall. Someone had a harder time than me. He later found a cloth bag, and its owner was nowhere to be seen. Casimir scanned his surroundings and spotted a set of footprints wandering off the path.

  Odd.

  He hid his suitcase behind a tree and decided to follow the footprints.

  More skid marks and broken branches. Someone had a tumble. And also…

  There was a set of hoofed animal tracks.

  “A deer?” But these look larger than any deer tracks I’ve seen.

  Casimir slowed his pace, making sure not to fall to the same fate as the person before him.

  Soon, he could hear a faint yell in the distance.

  “Beat it!”

  Casimir crept closer and hid behind the trunk of a spruce tree. He peeked around the corner and saw a blur ram into a tree.

  “Get out of here or I’ll– skin your hide!” Someone yelled again with more panic in his voice.

  Casimir finally got a good look at the white and tan speckled creature as it backed up. The beast was about six feet tall from its feet to its misshapen, jagged antlers. Its two heads, possessing four glowing blue eyes, looked up at its prey.

  Clinging on to a limb for dear life was a disheveled and frightened young man with a mop of messy brown hair. His old wool coat and tan trousers were filthy from his previous falls.

  Yeah, he looks just as I imagined.

  The young man weaved a square pattern and fired an arrow of light at the deer, but missed. The creature snarled and backed up for another charge at the tree. It broke out into a full sprint and slammed into it, making a loud crack. The tree shook from the impact, and the young man lost his balance and slipped. He caught himself and was now hanging upside down on the limb like a sloth. The deer then started to leap up and tried to nip at him with its teeth.

  “Cut it out!” He struggled to get back up on top of the branch.

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  Casimir observed the young man’s predicament with both amazement and worry. An animal mutated by Aether. Uncle has a few hanging on his wall, but I never thought I would see one in person.

  Casimir’s Aether heart began to pump. Let’s see if I can get this right.

  He weaved a semi-circular pattern and summoned a gust of wind that slammed into the deer. The beast flew into a patch of dead bushes and remained on its side, stunned. Casimir approached it while looking as large as possible.

  “Begone, beast!”

  The deer stumbled onto its feet and ran away.

  Casimir did not lower his guard until it fled deep into the forest. When he could no longer sense it, he looked up at the young man. “You can come down now.”

  “Thanks, but I–” The young man looked embarrassed. “Can you go get help?”

  Casimir sighed. He can’t be serious. Just pull yourself up or jump. It isn’t that high up.

  He forced an encouraging smile. “Just jump.”

  “Jump? But it’s—” The young man lost his grip on the branch and fell. “Ahhh!”

  Casimir caught him and promptly placed him onto his feet.

  “Thanks.” The young man looked at Casimir awkwardly before dusting himself off.

  Meanwhile, Casimir finally got a better look at the frazzled young man.

  He had a freckled baby face with large brown eyes that appeared untouched by the cruelty of life.

  How old is this kid? He does not look a day over 14. But he has to be at least 16 to be here, right?

  He noticed the young man staring back at him curiously. This is getting embarrassing. “Are you okay?”

  After a cautious laugh, the boy replied, “Ah yeah, thanks to you…T-there was another guy who stopped by about thirty minutes ago, but he refused to help.”

  “Hmph, not very charitable.” Casimir began his trek back to the main road with his new companion following closely behind.

  The young man’s nervous mood soured to anger as he recalled the uncaring stranger. “Right, that stuck-up prick said that he’ll only help me if I go back home afterwards, and if I couldn’t handle a deer, I had no business being here. When I told him to shove off, he just left me there. Can you believe that?!”

  A bit cruel, but he has a point. “Deer are still prey animals even when twisted by Aether. You need to remind them of that.”

  “I was trying, but he kept dodging.” He flicked his pointer finger in frustration.

  They made it back to the path heading to the institute and retrieved their bags.

  “I’m Bryson, by the way. What is yours?” He offered Casimir his hand and smiled.

  “Casimir.” He accepted Bryson’s greeting with a firm handshake. He is rather casual with me. I wonder if the supposed noble who abandoned him felt the same.

  “I’d better hurry, Tristan is waiting for me. I told him to go on ahead before the good rooms are taken.”

  Aren’t the rooms assigned? “Is Tristan your friend?”

  “Yeah, we both came from Quinen for the Aetherian Device Program.”

  “Quinen?” A farm boy? Makes sense. “That is a long way from here. It must be nice to have someone you trust as a roommate.”

  “Yep, I lucked out. ”

  I hope Salamander’s nephew is not troublesome.

  Curiosity appeared in Bryson’s eyes again. “So, where are you from? Are you one of the nobles from the capital, or does your family rule over a province?”

  “Yes.” Casimir continued after Bryson gave him a quizzical gaze. “I’m from Sennas, but I have been living with family in Olivas.”

  Bryson lowered his shoulders and sighed in disappointment. “Sennas and Olivas? So I can’t ask you to lower taxes and stop bleeding us dry?”

  Casimir shook his head. The Inquis are forbidden to get involved in politics, and I doubt Whitley would care about my opinions on domestic policy.

  “Well...” After a long pause Bryson asked. “Do you have any dreams?”

  Casimir raised an eyebrow. “Dreams?”

  “Like, why are you here?” Bryson smiled and looked at him with genuine wonder.

  I want to become strong enough to crush Sageman, but I can’t tell him that, can I? Casimir shrugged. “I want to become a Sublime Weaver.”

  “Really? Me too!” He gave Casimir a cheeky grin and nudged him. “Looks like we are rivals.”

  Casimir forced a smile. I should have said something else.

  After a while, Casimir spotted an octagonal high-rise, constructed from steel and glass on a concrete foundation. The light reflecting on the glass created a mirror effect and prevented him from peering inside the building. All he could see was the pale afternoon sky and forest behind him. Impressive.

  He looked further up the path and noticed two people approaching them. One appeared to be a young man about his age, of average build and modestly dressed in a brown overcoat. He had a head full of fiery strawberry blonde hair, a contrast to his companion, who was a much older and darker man with familiar deep-set eyes.

  It can’t be?

  The strawberry blonde waved at them with a smile of relief. “Bryson! You’re safe.”

  “Hey! Tristan.” Bryson left Casimir’s side and ran to his friend.

  Casimir studied the face of the older man wearing a grey work coat. Painfully average with a fairly weak jaw and wrinkles typical of a 40-year-old. There is no denying the eyes. But the face… he must be wearing a mask.

  “What happened?” The man looked to Casimir for an answer.

  “There was a big freakish deer!” Bryson blurted out and outstretched his arms with a grand sweeping motion.

  “But, I scared it off, ” Casimir added.

  The man chuckled. “Yep, there are a bunch of them here due to the crystals. Their meat is tasty. ”

  Bryson stuck out his tongue. “Yuck, that thing does not look like something we should be eating!”

  “It has minor positive effects on Aetherians and is considered to be a delicacy. You’ll change your mind when you try some at the cafeteria,” said the man.

  Tristan furrowed his brow and shared the disgust with his friend. “Is that one of the reasons why this school is so expensive?”

  “I assume so,” the man then addressed Casimir, “Once you get settled into Clifford’s Rise, I’ll escort you to the Chancellor. He wants to see you.”

  “Alright, but before you go, can you tell me where this tower is located?” Casimir asked.

  “Come, I’ll give you a map.” The man gestured for Casimir to follow him and led him to the building’s entrance.

  “Wait, you are heading for Clifford’s Rise?” Bryson asked, causing Casimir to pause.

  “He is a noble.” Tristan shrugged.

  Bryson frowned with disappointment and puffed out his chest and raised his chin proudly. “Well, if you grow tired of being around those snobs. We will be at Olman’s Rise. Take care.”

  “Nice meeting you.” Tristan waved a casual goodbye, and they headed down the path to the left that wrapped behind the building.

  When they were out of view, Casimir whispered, “Sully…”

  “Who?” The man cracked a knowing smile.

  I guess I should not blow his cover. Casimir scratched the back of his neck and laughed. “Sorry, my mistake.”

  “I’m Lucas Warnek, one of the wardens of this facility. If you need anything, you can find me at the front desk or flag me down when I am making my rounds. Now, let’s get you a map.”

  They passed through the building’s swinging glass doors and entered a spacious lobby. Their footsteps echoed on the grey tile floors that shone underneath hanging lights. Casimir glanced at the five green seats next to a potted fan plant. On the interior walls were photos of the institute’s breaking ground ceremony and founding members.

  Sully headed over to the granite desk with wood paneling, grabbed a pamphlet and pen from a container, and returned to Casimir.

  “Here is the campus map.” Sully circled a tower on the left of the map and handed it to him. “It is behind this building to the left. Just follow the outermost left path around the quad, and you will get there.”

  “Thank you. Is there anything else I should know?”

  “No, just remember the Chancellor’s meeting.”