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Chapter 3 - Morgan
When she finally fell into bed that night, Morgan was too tired to worry about whether she’d be able to get to sleep under an unfamiliar roof. After all the excitement of the trip to the island, the relative quiet of the approach to the shore was the only glimpse of peace she’d gotten. After that, it was all systems go. The boat had pulled into a pier that jutted out into the water, protected a little from the wild weather by the way the shape of the island formed a natural bay here. Along from the pier, she could see a long stretch of tempting white sand that met the lapping waves of the ocean… but there was no time to even consider a visit to the beach. They were hurried off the ship, staff wearing Brisant livery rushing onboard to gather their luggage, and she realized that another ship was visible in the distance. Of course, she thought faintly. The only way of reaching the island was by way of the ocean—and if there was only one pier, they’d have to make efficient use of it on a day like this.
The humidity really was something else. She could feel it clinging to her skin, feel her body sweating more than she was used to even with the light effort of walking up the winding path through the trees to the university proper. She’d been expecting to see the whole building looming above her, just like in the drawings, but they’d been diverted before they reached it to one of the dozens of entrances to the underground portion of the university, which was much larger than the building that stood on the surface. Dragons loved caves—there was something comforting about the familiarity of the claw marks in the tunnel walls, just like the ones on the inner walls of their own mountain cavern back home.
She quickly lost track of Callan. The groups were separated when it came to room assignments, Acantha following Morgan, Cato going along with Callan to the dormitories that would be their home for the next year. The prospect of living with roommates was a little daunting. Up until now, she’d always had her own quarters in the Palace—one of the perks of having family in the Palace Guard. She’d have her own room, at least. Somewhere to retire to if the university got overwhelming, somewhere to hide and center herself.
Acantha helped her unpack—after pacing the little room she’d been assigned, of course, scrutinizing every inch of it. The stoic Captain seemed pleased enough with the room. Morgan was, too. There was something pleasant and cozy about being so deep beneath the earth, and she fancied she could feel the residual warmth of the island’s volcanic heart. She hadn’t brought much, just enough clothes to get by and a few comforting touches from home. It was a good thing, too. They barely had time to unpack and change their clothes before the new students were being summoned to the Great Hall for the welcome party.
“Are you sure you want me there?” Acantha asked as they joined the streams of students and family members heading up the tunnels. Morgan grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“Of course I do.”
“I wouldn’t be offended. First night in your new school, you might want to socialize—”
“Acantha, I’m not going to see you or Cato for months,” she said firmly. “OfcourseI want us to spend this night together.”
She’d gotten a little misty-eyed more than a few times, sitting in the crowded Great Hall with Cato, Acantha, and Callan. So many of the speeches were about the importance of family support, and though Acantha kept her eyes resolutely on the speakers, she always squeezed Morgan’s hand under the table when the subject came up. Cato, meanwhile, seemed more interested in eating as much food as he physically could. As one of the only non-dragons present, he was catching more than a few curious glances, and he seemed to have resigned himself to being the center of attention for more reasons than one. Morgan didn’t mind at all. Cato had become like a brother to her over the last few years… and what business of hers was it if her brother embarrassed himself?
And then, all too soon, they were saying their goodbyes down by the beach amidst a whirlwind of dozens of other families doing the exact same thing. It wouldn’t be that long, Morgan told herself as she watched Acantha and Cato waving furiously from the deck of the little boat. There were plenty of opportunities for visits, and a ship was sent every day with mail. And she wasn’t completely alone here. She had Callan, who flashed her a sympathetic smile when he saw the tears standing in her eyes, but seemed to intuit that she didn’t want any more attention than that.
No, what she needed was a good night’s sleep… and when she fell into her little bed, that was exactly what she got.
Waking up the next morning was definitely one of the strangest feelings she’d had. She gazed up at the burnt-red stone ceiling of her room for a long time, hardly believing that any of this was real, until the distant sounds of her housemates getting up for the day made her jump guiltily out of bed. She dressed herself quickly, eager to spend some time exploring the campus by herself before orientation began that afternoon. Classes would begin later in the week, they’d been told… but that didn’t mean she couldn’t scope out the library ahead of time, right?
Two of her housemates were in the kitchen when she emerged from her room, and she gave them a shy little wave on her way through, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. They’d met briefly the day before, but they hadn’t had a chance to talk much amid the chaos of getting unpacked and ready for the welcome party. It seemed like they’d already made friends with one another. Did that mean she’d missed her chance? Don’t be silly, she told herself firmly. Friendship wasn’t a now-or-never situation. She’d just… she’d come back later. When she was feeling a little braver.
There were probably hallways that led from the underground dorms straight into the school building proper, but Morgan didn’t want to risk getting lost right now, so she stuck to the path that she’d taken the night before, the one that let her out in the forest onto a path that led up the hill to the double doors that led into the Great Hall. This time, though, she had time to linger, gazing up at the impressive building before her. It had all been built from materials harvested from the island, a process that had taken many years as they waited patiently for more timber to grow… one thing dragons didn’t lack was patience. The Great Hall stood at the front of the building, with an extensive kitchen built into the rock beneath it. The majority of the above-ground portion of the university was taken up by classrooms. It seemed that natural light and fresh air were considered conducive to a good study environment. There were at least ten above-ground stories, and more dug into the earth below. Not just classrooms, but offices, too, for the various teachers and other academic staff. Their living quarters, she assumed, were also dug into the mountain below.
But she wasn’t interested in the staff quarters right now. She was interested in the library.
The Palace Archives back home were extensive… but they might as well have been a child’s bookshelf in comparison to the Brisant Library, which extended so deeply into the mountain that there were dedicated earth and fire magic specialists working in tandem to ensure that the volcano’s molten magma didn’t overheat the deeper rooms. Most of that was off limits to students, of course, for obvious reasons… though they could always put requests in for rarer books, which would be fetched for them.
Morgan didn’t need to know about the deeper chambers, though. She had a feeling she could spend a whole year in just the first chamber of the library alone. It was a beautiful, circular structure, one she itched to look at from above… on the maps, it had resembled a large eye, gazing up into the sky above. At its center was the help desk, attended around the clock by a staff of librarians happy to help with any inquiries. Then, arranged in a pleasing configuration around that central point, towering bookshelves alternated with desks and other study areas, giving students privacy and even a bit of soundproofing for their study sessions. Morgan wandered the round room for what felt like hours, barely even glancing at the titles of the books, just absorbing the delicious atmosphere of the place.
Yes, she decided with a grin. Yes, she had a feeling she was going to be very happy here.
In the end, it was only the helpful query of a smiling librarian that stopped her from whiling away the entire afternoon… she had settled in at a desk with a huge tome on the history of the school, only planning to read a few pages, but somehow the time had gotten away from her and the quiet young man at her side was asking whether she wouldn’t be attending orientation with all the other students. Morgan almost yelped with shock, whispered her fervent thanks to the librarian, then rushed out of the library. She made it to the Great Hall just in time, grateful to lose herself among the murmuring throngs of new students.
Last night had been a general welcome back, with students of all levels crowding the hall—today, though, was a freshman-only affair. The Great Hall felt spacious and echoey by contrast, though there were still at least a hundred dragons present, if not more. Just how many people did this place house during the term, anyway? It was difficult to tell with most of the living quarters tucked away beneath the surface…
“Greetings, freshmen, and welcome.”
The Dean’s voice was surprisingly loud for such a slight man. He was standing on the raised platform at the front of the Hall, and though he spoke in a pleasantly conversational tone, his voice nevertheless carried effortlessly to the corners of the enormous room. He was a Gemini, she remembered reading—an air sign, like Queen Lana. She, too, had the unerring ability to make herself heard when she wanted to. Could it be a magical quality?
Morgan scanned the crowd around her as she realized that the Dean was revisiting a lot of ground he’d covered in his speech the night before… assuming, she imagined, that many of the freshmen had missed the details in all the excitement. Well, she hadn’t, which gave her an opportunity to take in her future classmates. There hadn’t been much time for introductions last night, though she knew one name, at least. Last night, Cato had pointed out one of the other newcomers to her specifically. She’d been surprised by the dour expression on the mage’s usually cheerful face. Archer, he said. Heir to a billion-dollar fortune, son of the dragon who’d built the very transportation company that had brought the four of them here… and by all accounts, bad news. Not evil, Cato had hastened to add. But selfish, and egocentric in a way that only the very rich and sheltered could be.
And that seemed to track very well with what she was seeing right now… which was that the golden-haired young man Cato had pointed out to her was nowhere to be seen. This orientation meeting was compulsory for new students, that much had been made clear. What gave him the right to skip it? Probably none of her business, but as the meeting wore on, she found herself glancing again and again at the doorway, waiting for him to turn up. It didn’t really affect her if some other student broke the rules… but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel troubled by what it could mean if the pattern continued. She already felt so far behind by virtue of her limited exposure to the outside world. And if dragons who came from influential families were going to be favored by the institution too, what hope did she have of doing well here?
Chapter 4 - Archer
One week into his involuntary stay at Brisant University, Archer was beginning to get the lay of the land. Most importantly, he’d sussed out the social situation… which, it turned out, was sorely lacking. Aside from a semi-regular tradition of a beach party when the moon was full and that absolutely stultifying excuse for a welcome party on the first night, there was no social life to speak of at the university. And Archer simply could not allow that to be the case.
So while most of his fellow students were getting on top of their schedules, their classes, and their workload for the semester, Archer spent his first week establishing the beginnings of a social life. He’d start small, work with what he had… which wasn’t much, all things considered. Just the sad little living space in his dorm, barely big enough for a couple dozen people to hang out in, for all that the university staff had claimed it was the largest available on campus. Still, it was something. A few extra couches, some board games, a few fridges full of cold drinks… he made a list of what he needed, and he set about ensuring that those needs were met.
And of course, Brody and Zack were all too happy to assist with his plans. Born followers, those guys. He felt a curious mixture of scorn and pity for them as they all but fell over themselves to help him out. Had their parents told them to do this, he wondered? Had they been told to suck up to him in the hopes it might end with a job at his father’s company? It wouldn’t be the first time and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, and from what he could tell, they didn’t exactly seem to be here for the love of learning.
Well, the three of them had that in common. Even though he’d deliberately chosen the courses that seemed the least demanding in terms of contact hours and workload, Archer was still bored to death by the end of the first week. He wished he could spend less time in class, but the school had an unfortunately strict policy on attendance. Blowing off orientation on the first day had been a mistake, it seemed. All of his teachers mentioned it at least once when he met them, and he knew word was going to get back to his father if he skipped any more compulsory classes.
