Boreal

Chapter Seven

They'd lost track of Almas almost immediately, and his thoughts had run wild. What if the monster had been lying in wait, ready for them? What if it had pretended to be him, or Shyam, and had lured her away, deeper into the Undercity? His wyvern had been eerily silent, though he could feel her little heart pounding, all four eyes wide and alert. Relief washed over him as he saw her through the storm drain, standing in the middle of the courtyard, staring up at something.

The claw marks marred the drain, stone pulled apart, the walls and ceiling around it fractured. Ptarmigan bit his bottom lip, before pulling himself out, into the courtyard above.

They were back in the Academy grounds, and not an area he recognised. The courtyard was surrounded by houses, white brickwork polished and glittering, slate rooves slanted and crawling with ivy. Most of the houses were identical; arched windows were arranged around a central balcony where potted plants overflowed with dying flowers. A wooden door sat directly below the balcony for each house, painted a brilliant green. Neat and tidy and much, much nicer than the apartment he and Shyam lived in.

All except one.

It looked as though storm had battered the house directly opposite. The glass had been blown out of the windows, those on the bottom floor boarded up, the others left open to the elements. The door was gone, revealing an empty hallway, a bare wooden staircase winding its way up. But the balcony had borne the brunt of the damage; the railings had been pulled free from the stone, dangling limply, and swinging in the gentle winter wind. The doors which led out onto the balcony had been torn from their hinges, left leaning against the frame. The surrounding brickwork was marred by the same, winding claw marks.

Ptarmigan looked around. This couldn't have been a quiet attack, where were the Guardians? As if reading his thoughts, Shyam nipped his ear, and gestured towards the single alleyway which led into the courtyard. A guardian and mount stood sentry at the entrance. He frowned; this must have been a residential area, and unless they were close to the city edge, there shouldn't have been a Guardian post. Areas like this would be covered by patrols.

"The attack must have happened a while ago," Shyam chattered, "otherwise they would've heard."

"Why are they guarding it?"

His wyvern lifted her wings in an imitation of a shrug. Ptarmigan frowned. The Academy must have known an attack had taken place. Maybe they'd placed the Guardians as a precaution in case the monster came back. Maybe they're trying to hide it...

Almas was already stepping through the doorway of the broken house, and unsure what else to do, Ptarmigan simply followed her. He didn't know what to think, anymore.

The ground floor was almost completely untouched. The welcome mat was covered in mud, snow piling just inside the doorway. He found himself stood in a large reading room; low couches scattered around a bearskin rug before a dark fireplace. Bookshelves littered the walls, some leaning where they'd been moved about, stacked on the floor. As he drifted a little further inside, Shyam nipped his ear.

"We shouldn't touch anything."

"I wasn't going to."

She hissed but made no further attempt to stop him as he picked his way over to the middle of the room. Directly between the couches, a table sat, upon which rested a tumbler half filled with a sweet-smelling amber liquid, and a bottle of the same drink. Scattered around it were dozens of papers, and despite Shyam's warning, he found himself leafing through them.

Maps. Hand drawn maps, marking a route through from Kyba to Ausi, and back. Along with it were dozens of forms, outlining the risks of the journey, the expected weather conditions, and how long it would take.