Academy Arcanist [Chp 7-8]

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CHAPTER SEVEN

AGE FIFTEEN

Finally.

I was finally fifteen years old.

Today was the day.

My bedroom seemed smaller than ever. I practically stumbled into every piece of furniture as I shoved clothing into my backpack. They weren’t the best clothes, unfortunately. The pants were too short. I had grown a few inches since last I had visited the tailor.

I still wasn’t as tall or large as Sorin, but at least I was catching up in terms of height.

With my things packed, I flew out the door and hurried down the hall. My father and stepmother waited in the front room. Late morning sunshine lit up our home, the light bright enough to rival my high spirits. With a smile, I grabbed a handful of raspberries from a bowl on the table.

“The ship should be leaving soon,” I said, trying not to sound too cheerful.

My father grunted some sort of acknowledgment.

The Sapphire Dune had taken all morning sailing around the nearby islands to gather Academy hopefuls. The Isle of Haylin was the last stop. Once it was finished boarding, we’d be on our way.

“Sorin already headed to the docks,” my stepmother said. Her watery eyes fixed on me, and then they grew glassier with barely restrained tears. “I hope you’ll have safe travels.”

I really didn’t want my departure to be tainted with bittersweet emotions. I ignored most of her statement as I made my way to the front door. After popping a few berries into my mouth and swallowing, I said, “Astra Academy is one of the most incredible places in the world. Sorin and I will be fine.”

When I tried to exit the house, my father posted his arm across the doorway, blocking my path. I turned to him, tense and uncertain of what would happen next. He was larger—his gut alone was as wide as two people—but he was also older, in more ways than just physically. He wouldn’t try to stop me by getting rough, would he?

No. That was foolish.

“Listen, Gray,” he said. “All important days in your life start with either a good or a bad omen.”

“Oh?”

“That’s right. You need to… pay attention to the details. Good weather, good sounds, even the good scents—you need to pay attention. You’re a clever boy. Sometimes you get too cocky. You miss the little things.”

My father used that bad omenstuff as an excuse to get uninvolved in a lot of island drama. If the weather was poor, or his breakfast was sour, he would say today wasn’t a day to go to the market. He liked staying home.

He wanted me to do that? Seemed childish.

“I’ll keep a look out,” I said.

My father reluctantly lowered his arm, allowing me out. “There’s magic all around us, boy. Just… keep that it in mind, when you think you see signs. I’ll be rooting for you two boys to succeed at this academy. I’ll be a proud father if I can say you and Sorin became arcanists.”

His words threatened to break my composure. I tried not to dwell on them. “Thanks. I’m certain Sorin and I will do okay.” We had a secret advantage, after all. Professor Helmith had told me all about the Academy.

My stepmother held her arms open for a hug. Again, I didn’t want to get mired in emotions, so I gave her a quick embrace before quickly exiting the house. My father watched me go, his face stuck in a slight frown.

I ate a couple more raspberries as I hurried down the road. What was my father worried about? Today was a good day. Well, that was what I had thought until I caught a whiff of the smell of rotting fish. Every so often, the fish sat on the pier a little too long. That stench covered the whole island.

Was that my omen? Perhaps. Someone people might see a rotting fish as a bad omen to leaving, but I saw it as further proof that I needed to leave. I didn’t want to rot like those fish.

My father was content to stay here doing the same thing forever, but not me.

I shrugged off the thought as I headed into town and straight for port. The early morning mists rolled in from the bay, creating an ominous atmosphere the closer I got to the ships. The chill seemed to seep into everyone’s spirits.

Despite that, I kept my head high. No number of ill signs would sway me from my path. I held my tiny backpack over my shoulder.

Others would be joining us on the trek to Astra Academy. Apparently, the Sapphire Dune had stopped at several other islands to gather up hopefuls looking to venture into the Menagerie. Would we all become arcanists? That was unlikely. Some mystical creatures had difficult Trials of Worth.

The stronger the creature, the more difficult the trial, at least according to Professor Helmith.

My brother waited for me near the gangplank. I recognized his silhouette in the morning fog long before I saw any details. His broad shoulders and barrel chest were difficult to miss, even among the sailors. I jogged over to greet him, smiling wide.

“Sorin,” I called out. “You left the house without me.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said as I got close. His voice had definitely deepened in the last year and half. He sounded like a man in his thirties. He even had the stubble on his chin to match. “I was just too excited.”

I glanced around. None of the dockhands or sailors seemed to share that sentiment. They grumbled to one another as they loaded the ship with all the supplies we would need for the trek.

I ate my last raspberry, prepared for anything.

“Did Father give you a speech about good and bad omens this morning?” I asked.

Sorin nodded twice. “Oh, yeah. He said I needed to keep a lookout for the signs of magic. He said, uh, something like, magic is the breath of the world. When it’s tired or stressed, you’ll see it groan.”

“He didn’t say it like that.”

“But that’s how I remember it.” Sorin grabbed my shoulder, his hand larger than most. “Are you worried? You shouldn’t be. So many good omens today—our trip will be excellent.”

I stared at the sad sailors, then the gloomy mist, and I even wrinkled my nose when the stench of the fish washed over us with the wind. “So many good omens,” I muttered sarcastically.

“Yeah. Did you see the sunshine this morning? No clouds on the distant horizon. And Mum went out and picked all those raspberries, just for you. She must’ve done it while it was still dark out. She loves you, Gray. What’s a better omen than that?”

My throat tightened. With a shaky hand, I swept my black hair back. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

“Seemed obvious to me.”

Then Sorin pulled on my shoulder and practically dragged me up the gangplank. When we reached the deck of the boat, he smiled wide and motioned to everything with a dramatic wave of his arm.

This was a frigate. Three masts, raised quarterdeck, and twenty-four guns. Most people considered them warships, but frigates also transported people. They were the terrors of the seas, unless up against an airship. Few pirates ever dared to face a frigate in one-on-one sea battles.

A modern vessel that every nation hoped to fill their navies with.

The figurehead on the bow of the ship was in the shape of a griffin. Its lion-head was open in a roar with its talon-like claws flexed outward. I appreciated the craftsmanship.

A couple dozen individuals stood around on the deck, each with their own backpacks and bags. If I had to guess, I would say all of them were the age of fifteen, same as Sorin and me. A few were a little older—I would guess twenty-something—but for the most part, all young hopefuls.

These were the other passengers from nearby islands.

“Look there, Gray,” my brother said, his eyes wide. “The captain.”

I turned to see a man in an ankle-length swashbuckler coat. He walked down a set of stairs that led up to the quarterdeck. His clothing was the kind meant to keep a person protected even in the thickest of storms.

He wore boots up to his knees—just like me and Sorin—and a button-up shirt with a few stains on the belly. The man’s protruding gut moonlit as a table. It reminded me too much of my father. My chest twisted with regret when I realized I hadn’t hugged him goodbye.

I shook away the thought. I would see him again.

The captain poked at the rim of his tricorn cap, exposing his forehead. I caught my breath. His forehead had a mark on it—an etching in his skin.

An arcanist mark, just like Professor Helmith.

Well, not exactly the same.

His seven-pointed star was laced with the image of a griffin. The mystical creature had eagle wings, as well as the body and head of a lion. I loved the look of it and stared more than polite society would have considered reasonable.

Would I bond with a griffin? They were similar to hippogriffs, which reminded me too much of home, so probably not.

“I wonder what the star represents,” Sorin whispered as the captain strode onto the deck of the ship.

“According to Professor Helmith, the seven-pointed star is the symbol of magic. The creature on the star determines what kind of abilities the arcanist has.”

“Wow. Your kooky classroom dreams are amazing.”

“They’re not kooky,” I said under my breath.

“Welcome, ladies and gents and all those in between,” the captain shouted, his boisterous volume enough to reach the mountains on the other side of the island. “My name is Captain Minnis. Once my mates finish loadin’ everything aboard, we’ll get everyone into their cabins. You’ll be sleepin’ four to a room—cramped quarters, I’m afraid.”

A few people on the deck of the ship groaned.

“The Sapphire Dune is my baby,” Captain Minnis said. He grunted and stroked at his beard. It was a small thing, barely covering his entire chin, but it was striped—black and gray hairs grew in solid lines. “You’ll treat my ship like it were your lover, you understand me? Gently and graciously.”

A single person on the deck of the ship laughed.

Captain Minnis’s eyes twitched. “Oscar!” he shouted.

A guttural growl emanated from the quarterdeck.

My brother punched my shoulder, causing me to stumble. I rubbed at the soreness on my upper arm, but Sorin didn’t seem to notice.

He pointed. “Here it comes, Gray! Look. A griffin.”

I glanced up. That was when I saw it.

A majestic and wondrous griffin. It stood proudly on the edge of the Sapphire Dune’s quarterdeck, its golden fur and dark mane rippling in the early morning breeze. The lion-headed creature scanned over the people on the crowded pier, its amber eyes bright.

“That’s a male griffin,” my brother said. “You can tell because he has the head of a lion. A female griffin has the head of an eagle.”

“I know. Professor Helmith told me.”

Sorin glanced over with a slight frown. “Did she tell you all about rare griffins, too? I mean, I love your kooky professor, but I was hoping I could be the griffin expert, and tell you all about them.”

The professor had told me about rare griffins, but I decided to humor my brother.

“What about this griffin makes it rare?” I asked.

Sorin smiled and then pointed. “This griffin is a spotted griffin. See those markings on his flank, right there? Those spots that look like a jaguar’s?”

The captain’s griffin swished his majestic tail. Black spots covered the creature’s flank. And instead of a lion’s tail, with a tuft of fur on the end, like his mane, this griffin had a jaguar’s tail.

“I see them,” I said.

“Spotted griffins only come from way down south, and even then, most people never see them. So, this is a very rare griffin. We’re lucky to see it.”

My brother loved griffins. He wanted to bond with one more than any other mystical creature. He loved their noble appeal, but no matter how I tried, I couldn’t see the appeal.

They just weren’t for me.

The griffin spread his wings and leapt down to the main deck. He landed hard, shaking the entire ship with his 600-pound body.

“This is my eldrin, Oscar,” Captain Minnis said with a smirk. “If any of you so much as breaks a splinter off my beautiful boat, I’ll have Oscar handle you. Understand?”

The griffin, Oscar, snorted as he folded his wings close to his body. “You all are guests on this vessel,” he said, his voice deep and regal. It sent a shiver down my spine. “The journey will only last a day. It shouldn’t be difficult to keep everything tidy.”

The silence of the crowd was the only answer Captain Minnis needed. Once the crew had loaded the last of the supplies, he motioned to the sails as they unfurled. “Now that everyone has boarded…” He reached into his long coat pocket and withdrew a piece of parchment. “I assigned everyone to cabins.”

Oscar spread his wings, flapped them a few times, and then leapt back onto the Sapphire Dune’s quarterdeck. With all the disinterest of a housecat, the griffin walked in a circle several times, and then lay down with a whump.

The sailors had to work around him.

The bustle of the crowd became all-consuming. I could barely hear myself think. My brother—who got excited over every little thing, including funerals—hurried toward the captain with earnest enthusiasm. He stopped mid-step and then turned back around for me.

“C’mon, Gray!”

Sorin dragged me through the crowd on the deck, yanking my arm. I almost lost my backpack, but I managed to hang on to the strap with all my wiry might.

We were practically the first ones in front of Captain Minnis. No one bothered to yell at my brother, likely for fear of being pushed into the water. Not that Sorin would do that—but most people didn’t know Sorin like I did. He was just so large…

“You two here for the academy?” the captain asked as we approached.

“That’s right,” my brother said. Then he pulled me forward. “This is my twin brother. We’re gonna become arcanists together.”

“Yar twin?” Captain Minnis snorted and then gave us both the once-over. “Was there a triplet you ate, boy? That’s the only way I can reason out the size differences here.” Then he glared at our faces. “Look at yar eyes. Those are… almost unnatural. Can you two see all right?”

I frowned. “Yeah. We’re fine. Do we have a room or not?”

The captain glanced down at the ledger. When he brought up his second hand, I caught my breath. I hadn’t noticed until then, but Captain Minnis didn’t have a second hand. He had a wooden prosthetic, carved from some fine oak, and wrapped in leather, to give it the appearance of a glove. But the fingers didn’t move—which was what had given away the illusion.

“I have Sorin Lexly here,” the captain muttered. Then he poked the paper with his fake hand. “And here is Gray Lexly.” He glared at me again. “You named after a color, boy?”

With a sigh, I replied, “That’s right. My name is Gray. Not White. Not Black. Just Gray.”

“Heh. Strange. You’re a little thin, too. And you only have a backpack? No weapons? Extra gear?”

Everything about us was strange to this man, apparently.

“We’ll be fine,” I said.

“Uh-huh. Whelp, I’ve seen plenty of kids attempt to bond at Astra Academy, and ones who make it look a little more prepared than you two. Maybe you want to change your mind? Go back home while you still can?”

“I think we’ll end up surprising you,” I muttered, trying to keep my disdain out of my voice. Who was this guy to judge us?

“I doubt it. And since space is limited on this here vessel, I don’t want individuals who aren’t gonna take this seriously.”

Sorin patted my shoulder. “My brother and I have been waiting for this for nearly two years now, sir. Gray even speaks with one of the professors of the Academy all the time. I’m sure we’ll get in.”

The captain rubbed at his chin with his fake hand. “Oh. You have an insider pullin’ some strings for you. All makes sense now.”

I gritted my teeth and refused to say anything. Professor Helmith wouldn’t cheat to get me into the Academy. I knew her well enough. It angered me that he’d even think I would need that.

“You Lexly Twins will be stayin’ in the cabin marked with the number four, got that?” Captain Minnis pointed to a door under the quarterdeck. “You’ll find hammocks within. I’ll send you your cabinmates in just a moment. Now git.”

With that unceremonious blessing, Sorin and I walked over to the cabin door. My brother shot me a sidelong glance. “Don’t be upset.”

“I’m not upset,” I stated.

“We’ll just prove to him that he’s wrong, is all.”

I forced myself to smile. “You always have a way of seeing the bright side.”

“C’mon! I’ll race you to the room. Whoever wins gets to pick their hammock first!”

He shot off toward the door, lumbering as fast as he could. I just jogged behind him, trying to dispel the anger I felt. Sorin was right. Soon, I’d prove them wrong.

We just needed to get to Astra Academy.

CHAPTER EIGHT

TRAVELING TO THE ACADEMY

Our tiny cabin room came equipped with four hammocks, one in each corner. A single porthole allowed light to stream in, but the fog did its best to keep us blanketed in darkness. We had a lantern by the door, nailed in place so it couldn’t fall if the ship was jostled.

“I won, so I get to pick my hammock first,” Sorin said as he hurried over to the far corner. He sat on the hammock closest to the porthole. “This one.” He swung back and forth, treating his new bed like a swing. “The rope is brand new.”

I went over to the hammock opposite his. Just as my brother had said—the woven rope of the hammock was new. I sat on my bed, wondering if the captain had prepared for the many passengers who wanted to attend Astra Academy.

Before we could get too settled, the door opened, and a small girl slipped inside. She shut the door without making any noise, and then turned her attention to Sorin and me.

Was this girl here for the Academy? She was so short I would’ve sworn she was eleven years old. And potentially stunted. She was barely five feet, which meant she was a good foot shorter than me—and a foot and half shorter than Sorin.

Her hair, as dark red as regal wood, was cut to the length of her shoulders, and her heart-shaped face was adorned with thin glasses. She pushed the glasses up her nose a bit as she shuffled over to an empty hammock. Despite her small frame, she carried a backpack on her shoulders, a sack in one hand, and wore a belt covered in pouches.

How many things had she packed? She had supplies for three weeks.

“Hello,” the girl whispered.

Sorin slid off his hammock and smiled wide. “Hey there, nice to meet you.”

She cringed away from my brother, a slight frown on her face. He was… so much larger than her. His head almost touched the ceiling of our cabin room.

“Don’t worry about him,” I said. “My brother’s harmless. His name is Sorin, and I’m Gray.” With a sigh, I added, “Yes, like the color. No, it’s not short for anything.”

“I’m Nini Wanderlin.” She set her bag on the hammock, and then pulled her backpack off her small shoulders and placed it on the floor. “I’m here to visit the Astra Academy Menagerie and bond with a mystical creature.”

“You’re fifteen?” Sorin balked. “You?”

Nini’s face instantly went pink. She wore a long black coat, and long brown pants, both of which seemed too large for her. She practically sank beneath the collar of her coat, hiding herself from the conversation. She even buttoned it up, like a turtle hiding itself from a predator.

“I’m sixteen,” Nini murmured into her clothing. “No one ever believes me when I tell them my age, but… it’s the truth.”

“Oh. Well. You’re, uh, youthful. Child-like, even. Wait! Pixie-like. That’s a better way to describe it. It rolls off the tongue. Nini—pixie—you hear it?”

“Um.”

“Pixies are so small. Some of the smallest mystical creatures. And you’re the smallest sixteen-year-old I’ve seen, so you’re similar.”

“R-Right.”

“What island do you hail from?” I asked, trying desperately to claw out of the awkward conversation.

“The Isle of Leen,” Nini said, leaning away from my brother, her eyebrows knitted.

“Where all the leviathans are?” I almost hopped off my hammock, excitement flowing through me. “I heard they nest by the rocks near the southern beach of the isle.”

Nini slowly exited her giant coat and smiled. It was only then that I noticed the many freckles that covered her nose and cheeks. “That’s right. The leviathans are so majestic when they’re swimming in the waves. They’re giant sea serpents with glorious fins, and their colors remind me of a lapis lazuli.”

“Did you try to bond with one?” Sorin interjected.

Nini flinched at his voice, and then retreated a bit back into her oversized coat. She shook her head. “Oh. You probably didn’t hear. The leviathans left the island a year ago.”

“What?” Sorin and I asked at the same time.

I hadn’t ever heard of something like that happening. Normally, the people of the islands went out of their way to take special care of mystical creatures. The Isle of Haylin did everything it could to care for the hippogriffs, and we had tended to the unicorns until they were eventually taken from the isle, even though they weren’t native.

The Isle of Ruma had phoenixes.

And the Isle of Landin had griffins.

The mystical creatures were sometimes the pride and joy of all the isle citizens. Why would the leviathans leave?

“Some of the leviathans were having trouble sleeping.” Nini patted her hammock and then carefully sat on it, right next to her bag. She sank a bit, almost swallowed whole by her new bed. “Um. They kept complaining to our doctor about nightmares. A few died one night. No one knew why… It looked like they had been attacked, but the leviathans said no one had been in the waters.”

“They died?” I asked, my voice low. “From unknown injuries that just appeared at night?”

Nini nodded.

I found it difficult to breathe.

“And then the leviathans said they needed to leave for a while,” she said. “I’m surprised you two haven’t heard of it.”

Although Nini hadn’t specifically said the dreams were the cause of death—I knew the truth. The leviathans had been visited by the same puppet-monsters that haunted my nightmares. They had been attacked and killed.

My thoughts buzzed, filled with all sorts of theories. Professor Helmith still hadn’t discovered the source of the dream-monsters.

But they had shown up less and less over the months…

She had said she couldn’t seem to detect who was sending them, no matter how many times she destroyed the monsters in my dreams.

“Did you say the leviathans were having strange dreams?” Sorin stepped close and grabbed my shoulder. “I’ve got good news. Gray knows all about dreams! His honeysuckle comes to visit him every night while he’s sleeping.”

I almost choked on my own breath as I whipped my head around to glare at my brother.

“His honeysuckle?” Nini asked, one eyebrow up.

“Yeah. You know. The person he swoons over.”

I grabbed Sorin’s shirt and jerked him over to my hammock, so angry I couldn’t find the right words without sounding like a blackheart. Honeysuckle was the term we used on the Isle of Haylin to refer to someone’s romantic flame. Obviously, the term came from our northern meadow. People would sneak wild honeysuckles off the bushes and give them to their potential significant other.

“Professor Helmith isn’t my honeysuckle,” I growled through gritted teeth, hoping I kept my voice low enough so that Nini couldn’t hear. “Helmith is an arcanist. Arcanists can live for hundreds of years. Remember? When a mystical creature bonds with them, it’s like they’re stealing a person’s ability to age. That’s how an eldrin grows older.”

“So, your professor is an old woman?” Sorin asked, his brow furrowed.

“W-Well, I don’t know her actual age.”

“She just could be a grandma or something?”

Nini stepped a bit closer to us. “Wait, did you just say Gray’s honeysuckle is a grandma?”

I shoved Sorin to the side and forced out a quick sigh. “Professor Helmith isn’t a grandma.” I didn’t know that, but that was the story I was sticking to until I knew otherwise. “She’s a powerful arcanist who visits my dreams. That’s it. She’s not my honeysuckle. She’s just—”

“Someone who teaches at the Academy.” Nini smiled wide again, and then pushed her glasses up higher on her nose. “I’ve heard about her. They say she’s descended from royalty. It’s so amazing you know her personally.”

Descended from royalty?

“Gray sees the professor all the time,” my brother said.

I shook my head. “I haven’t seen her for the last few weeks. She’s busy.”

No dream-monsters had attacked in a while. I thought, at the very least, Professor Helmith would’ve said goodbye, but she just hadn’t shown up in my dreams since I turned fifteen about three weeks ago. It felt strange. Like something was wrong. But I kept that thought from my mind.

I’d speak to her in person soon enough.

Then I could put this fear to rest.

Before we could continue the conversation further, the door opened a second time. A young man, probably the same age as Sorin and I, stepped into the cabin. He wore a black cloak over his shoulders, and a large cap on his head, hiding most of his features like were out in the desert sun and he didn’t want to get burned. He walked to the last hammock and took a seat, no words for us.

“Hello,” Sorin said with a half-wave. “I’m Sorin Lexly. And this is my brother, Gray.”

The man regarded my brother with a slight glance. For a short moment, the man said nothing and just stared, and then went about setting his bags on the floor and crawling into his hammock.

Was he ignoring Sorin? Seemed so. That didn’t bother me that much. If this guy didn’t want to speak, that worked out for everyone involved.

But my brother couldn’t leave well enough alone. “I said hello.” Sorin strode halfway over to the other man’s hammock. “Just in case you didn’t hear me. Some people don’t hear as well as others. I learned that a few years back when the baker would always just wave whenever I said anything, because he just assumed—”

“I heard you,” the man said, cutting Sorin off.

“Oh. Then… you just didn’t want to speak to us?”

The unpleasant fellow lifted his cap a bit and glared at my brother with dark eyes. He was suntanned, like the weather had gotten to him, but it was difficult to see.

He also had a scar on his cheek and chin—the type from an animal. Claw marks.

“I’m not here to make friends,” the scarred man said.

“Obviously,” I quipped.

Sorin frowned. “But we’re all going to Astra Academy together.”

“We’re not all going to attend.” The man pointed to my brother’s forehead. “You’re not an arcanist yet, right? Neither am I. Some of us won’t impress a mystical creature at the Academy—and if you can’t pass a Trail of Worth, they’ll send you home right back on the boat you sailed over on. So… it’s better if we save our introductions until after we know we have a place at Astra Academy, don’t you think?”

Pragmatic.

Not the way I would’ve handled things, but I couldn’t fault his logic.

Nini frowned and hid in her coat. “Hmm.”

My brother shifted his weight from one foot to the other, like he wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the right words. In my mind, this new guy wasn’t worth speaking to. If the man thought it was useless to speak to us—because we hadn’t proven ourselves to be important enough yet—that was his business. Who cared if he liked us or not?

Sorin eventually shuffled over to his hammock and sat down.

I turned my attention to the porthole, wondering just how long I would have to wait to see the Academy with my own eyes. Would we be able to see it in the distance once we neared? Or was it far on land? I wasn’t certain. All I knew was that we could take a sailing ship most of the way.

The vessel rocked as it left port. The Sapphire Dune would reach the Academy in one day…

It felt like forever.

***

I only slept for a few hours.

No dreams. No Professor Helmith.

Another night, and she hadn’t visited. Thankfully, there were no puppet-monsters either, but it didn’t worry me as much as her disappearance. Perhaps someone else needed her help? Was that why she was gone? That made sense. Or perhaps she had finally discovered the individual behind the attacks.

When I woke, I sat up on my hammock and watched the porthole, keeping track of the time through the shifting of the colors in the distant sky. The darkness gave way to dark purple and blue, and then finally to orange and yellow. The dawn reminded me of an amateur painter who couldn’t decide on a color.

Sorin barely fit in his hammock. He took deep breaths, never snoring, but getting dangerously close.

The unfriendly man slept with his cap over his face. He had clearly ridden on boats hundreds of times before. No amount of the ship swaying bothered the man enough to stir from his rest.

Nini wasn’t as fortunate. She tossed and turned, rolling in her hammock, clearly uncomfortable. Anytime waves crashed against the hull, she sat up for a moment and glanced around. Her glasses were tied to her backpack on the floor. She squinted at everything, even the porthole, staring for several seconds before determining everything was okay and going back to sleep.

Once the sun had risen into the sky, clearing away the last of the night, I slid off my hammock and went straight to Sorin. With a few shakes, he eventually opened his eyes. I held a finger to my lips and then pointed to the porthole, to show him the light.

Sorin offered a groggy smile as he slid off the hammock and stretched. He smelled weird. He always smelled weird when he woke up, but that wasn’t really his fault. Sweat did that to a man. He scratched at his wrinkled shirt and rubbed at his eyes.

Then I quietly motioned him out of the cabin.

Restless and eager to see new sights, I walked out onto the main deck of the Sapphire Dune, my brother close behind me.

The ship’s crew hurried about, their energy high. A couple grabbed ropes and tied down barrels, a few others secured hatches in place, so the doors wouldn’t swing open. When I turned my attention to waves, I saw no islands or landmasses. There were no clouds, either. No storms, no other ships. Why were the sailors so excitable?

“We’re approaching the Gates of Crossing!” a man from the crow’s nest shouted.

Captain Minnis leapt onto the railing of the quarterdeck. With his one good hand, he grabbed the mizzenmast. “All right, ya lazy bones! Prep the ship. Take down the sails! Bring up the star shards! Git!”

His leopard griffin, Oscar, walked along the railing of the quarterdeck, watching the sailors comply with the captain’s orders. Then the lion turned his attention to me, his eyes bright.

The captain’s eldrin stared at Sorin and me for a long moment. I simply slipped my hands into my trouser pockets and stared back, unsure of what the beast wanted. Were we allowed on the deck? The captain hadn’t said otherwise.

The sailors lowered most of the sails, but kept the main ones in place. It slowed our travel, and my heart raced a bit.

“What’s going on?” Sorin asked, glancing around. “What’re the Gates of Crossing?”

“Professor Helmith told me all about them.” I grabbed my brother’s arm and guided him over to the starboard side of the ship. “That’s why I woke you up. I can’t wait to see your reaction.”

“I see something.” Sorin pointed to the far horizon, the very direction the ship was heading.

I leaned most of my weight on the side of the ship and stared. There was a ring of metal in the ocean, half submerged in the water. A giant metal ring—large enough that the Sapphire Dune could easily sail through.

We were heading straight for it.

Although Professor Helmith had told me about the gates, I hadn’t realized they would be that large. I smiled to myself, still eager to see everything in action for myself.

The sailors shot up from the hold, some of them carrying sacks, but one of them carrying a small wooden box. I turned around and watched as the sailor carefully opened the wooden container and held up a single crystal.

The crystal was no larger than his thumb, and it glittered with inner power.

“What’s that?” Sorin asked.

“A star shard.”

Professor Helmith had told me about star shards. They were magical crystals that fell from the sky like shooting stars. They were bits of raw magic, solid and tangible. And most importantly, they were used in item creation. Sorin’s confusion didn’t surprise me. Our school didn’t teach us much about star shards other than we needed to report them to the mayor if we ever found one.

Our teacher had said that star shards were rare and valuable, and that only arcanists should have them. A single shard was worth half a years’ worth of work for my father.

The sailor placed the single star shard in the middle of the deck. It sparkled in the daylight, glinting with power. No one approached it after that. All the sailors kept their distance.

“What’s going on?” Sorin whispered to me.

Although I knew the answer, I just smiled. “You’ll see. Don’t worry—you’ll love it.”

“You’re really not gonna tell me?” Sorin punched my upper arm.

I half-stumbled away and rubbed at my shoulder. With a smirk, I said, “Nope.”

“It’s not fair that you got a professor to tell you all the amazing things that’ll happen. I’m just in the dark.”

“Trust me. It’ll be more exciting if you just experience it. I wish I didn’t know.”

Sorin grumbled something else under his breath, but I didn’t quite hear. Then he stared down at me. “Are the gates a magical item?”

“Yeah. Well, technically they’re artifacts. Which basically means they’re powerful magical items. Professor Helmith said the Gates of Crossing were made by talented rizzel arcanists.”

My brother’s eyebrows lifted. “Rizzel arcanists? I’ve never heard of a rizzel. What kind of mystical creature is that?”

“You’ll see.”

Sorin didn’t like that answer. He tensed like he was about to punch me again, and I flinched in anticipation. He just chuckled and playfully shoved me.

“Everyone prepare yourself,” the captain shouted. “We’ll be travelin’ soon.”

The Sapphire Dune sailed a bit slower than before, but we made steady progress toward the gate. It wouldn’t take long before we sailed right through the ring.

The sailors grabbed the railings, and a few actually tied a rope to themselves, and then to the masts. It felt odd not to have some sort of safety measure. I grabbed the nearest bit of railing and hopped I was strong enough to weather whatever was about to happen. Sorin did the same.

“Here it comes,” Captain Minnis said.

I held my breath, my eyes fixed on the ring. It grew larger as we got closer.

And then the single star shard on the deck of the ship glowed with a radiant inner light.