Razed by Magic

Chapter 5

Eli trudged down the hallway, emotions a twisted knot that he had no hope of currently untangling. Guilt over what had happened to Francis and his part in it, and anger, so much anger. At his father, the situation with Francis merely adding fuel to an already massive flame. Anger at himself. At Benjamin. Eli focused on that last one. Benjamin had talked to Francis, he'd had to get his permission for Eli to come here. He knew Eli's history, knew of the connection between him and Francis. And that son of a bitch had lied right to his face when he promised no one would know him here. Just so he would take this damn job.

"I am going to kill him." Eli muttered, drawing a concerned glance from a middle aged woman passing by. Eli gave her an awkward smile that only hurried her pace down the hall. Eli shook his head, slumping up against a wall. How had things already gone this poorly? He would think he was cursed but that was impossible due to his connection to the Void.

With a thought Eli drew upon the Void, bringing its power to rest around him in a small bubble. The cold energy coursed through his body, bringing a sense of clarity in its wake. This was terrible, no one could deny that, but Francis was right, he had a job to do and that's what he was going to focus on. Get through today, threaten Benjamin until he's too scared to even close his eyes, and then continue to do the fucking job so he could get away from all of this. He could do that.

Straightening up, Eli forced all of his guilt and anger into the back of his mind to either deal with later, or drown in a truly irresponsible amount of liquor. He could do this. Eli strode down the hallway, ignoring the odd glances he was getting from the occasional other staff that he saw. Back to a semi-coherent state, Eli finally took a look at the inside of Westmore. The chipped painted walls, the buzzing lights already bringing on a headache, and the faint musty odor that emanated from everywhere.

Eli sneered. This was just disgraceful. How were the students supposed to properly learn to harness magic if their very instructional grounds were falling down around them? No wonder the Sages weren't that concerned about a few potentially missing students, it wasn't like they were losing their best. Eli froze at that thought, shame turning his face red. That was something his father would say, hell, he could even hear him saying it, the condescension dripping from every word. Fuck that.

This was a shithole of a school, there was no denying that, but it wasn't Westmore's fault they had less funding and resources. Besides, Francis was the Dean so the actual teaching done here couldn't be that bad. There was nothing Francis cared about more than magic.

Eli stood before Maddie Wright's classroom, the door slightly open. Taking a deep breath, feeling in no way prepared, Eli knocked before stepping fully into the room. It was small, a dozen or so mismatched desks set up in straight rows taking up the majority of the space. A few looked to be one good sneeze away from breaking. The morning light streamed in from windows on the far wall, beautiful so long as you ignored the unkempt lawn on the other side. Posters lined every inch of the walls, declaring the amazingness of learning, and friendships. A coffee stained desk with a pile of books under one leg stood at the front, a disheveled older man seated at it. He stood up at Eli's entrance, a wide smile crinkling the lines on his face into a well worn pattern.

"Hello, you must be Elijah Gram, my new assistant. So excited to meet you. The name's Brian Harris, although the kids call me Mr. Harris, or Mr. H."

Mr. Harris bounded across the room taking Eli's hand and shaking it vigorously.

"Uh, yeah. Hello. I actually go by Eli. Nice to meet you too."

"Eli, of course. I will make a note so I don't forget that. After decades of teaching I've found that the only way to keep names straight is to write them down. And even then I'll still mess up." Brian laughed, Eli following along a half-second later.