Ravenrook Chronicles: The Mysterious Student

Chapter 8

Tim came to, staring up at the millions of twinkling stars through the canopy of the trees. His head was pounding. He could feel the soft dampness of the forest floor beneath him. Overhead he heard an owl hooting and little rodents scuttling in the bushes and trees. Tim felt strangely calm and determined. He knew what he had to do. He knew about the dangers that lay ahead. William gave him a tiny sneak peek beforehand. He didn't know what they were to face, but he knew they were going to face Others. He clutched something on a chain around his neck. He inspected it. It was a pocket watch engraved with the crowned skull of The Crown Organisation. The watch also bore the insignia of a second lieutenant. Since Tim had been a member of The Crown he had been pushed to do an officer's course in tandem with his basic training. He was a special case since he was hand selected by a high ranking officer, his officer training was pushed forward. In theory, he held rank on the rest of his classmates.

"Hey, let me help you up," a soft voice said.

Tim looked up to see Sam smiling warmly down at him. There was a little bit of blood streaked across their forehead. Sam noticed the pocket watch dangling from around Tim's neck. They seized it in their hand and inspected it.

"Lieutenant," they said, a puzzled expression forming across their face.

"Lord Henry selected me to join the officer's course for The Crown. Which reminds

me, wake the rest, please."

Once the other's had all come round, Tim set himself to the task of explaining. He mentioned all that he could under the terms of his Pactum Silentii. He explained who The Crown were and what they did. The students, he discovered, had been informed, prior to the test, of the existence of Others and the dealings of The Crown. He then showed the pocket watch which displayed his rank. This gave rise to scoffs and chortles from some of his classmates. Matthew and Jennifer were the loudest of the bunch.

"Why did they choose you to lead, have you ever led staff before? I didn't think you

had," Matthew said, spitting. "I won't be taking orders from you."

The arguments went back and forth between the six students while Tim took a back seat to the discussions of his authority. He took a deep breath and stood up on a fallen tree,

"I may not have had staff before, but I have not only completed the

officers' course and the basic training with merit, but also I've been hand selected by Lord Henry as his assistant and I have been serving in that role since I returned from London earlier this year. Should that not be enough for some of you, I am the only one amongst us that actually knows where we are and which direction we need to go. If you still have a problem with my leadership, you may leave, but your chances of making it back to the manor in time are slim."

Matthew scoffed and walked away with a distinct turn of his head and the grace of a dancer.

"I don't need you, loser. Who's with me?"

Jennifer and Aimee, the bespectacled photographer followed suit. Tim watched them walk away and gave an indifferent sigh. It would have been nice to have the two most capable fighters, and Aimee wasn't a bad hand at navigation and lore. While the remaining four of them had skill and could comfortably make it through the forest, those three would have been great assets to their cause.

Sam waited for those three to be out of earshot before asking Tim what the plan was.

"We have been dropped about a klick, South-east of the manor. Our objective is to reach the manor before sunrise. The Crown has positioned various Others between this point and the manor. They have been authorised to use any means necessary to prevent us from reaching our objective. We are not authorised to use excessive or lethal force"

The three remaining classmates nodded in agreement as they set off. As the last person left the area, there was a flash of light and a resounding crack as though the earth had split in two. Shortly thereafter, the students heard a cacophony of howls and cries as the Test had finally begun.