The Currents of Magic

Chapter Seventeen

Meyer woke up to knocking at his door. His room was dim, and when he looked out the window he saw the towers of the High Manor glinting in the orange light of evening.

"Come in," said Meyer.

The door opened, and Damian stepped inside.

"Where have you been all day?" said Damian.

"Lesson in the morning, free afternoon. I just napped for—" Meyer paused and glanced at the small glowstone clock on his desk. "I think a couple hours."

"You missed dinner," said Damian. "We all just go back."

There was another knock at the door, and several boys tumbled into the room. They stood in a heap in front of the doorway, and Meyer could see at least two boys hadn't managed to get through at all.

"Meyer, right?" said the first boy. He was tall and blonde and Meyer recognized him from breakfast.

"That's me," said Meyer.

"I'm Eric," he said. "Nice to meet you."

"And I'm Reed," said the next boy, nodding to Meyer.

Five more boys stepped forward and introduced themselves, their names sailing by too quickly for Meyer to remember. Soon seven boys had filled in around the walls, and the spacious room felt very small. As Meyer glanced around, he noticed everyone looking at him.

"Hi," he began. "I'm new here, though I suppose all of you know that."

"Of course we do," said a boy leaning against Meyer's desk. He had a soft face, and his sleeveless arms showed no defined muscle, but he was tall and solid nonetheless. "That's why we came here."

"And to welcome you," added Eric.

"Thanks," said Meyer.

"Do you like it so far?" said Reed.

"Seems pretty good," said Meyer. "I never imagined myself training in magic, but no complaints."

"Where you from?" asked Eric.

"Outlands," said Meyer.

"Us too," said the soft faced boy leaning against the desk. He threw his burly arm around the skinny boy standing next to him.

"By the way, that's Ander, and I'm Cade," said the skinny boy. The hair on the sides of his head was neatly buzzed, and he had a friendly smile.

"What town are you from?" asked Ander, taking no notice of Cade's introduction.

"Vanroc."

Ander shook his head. "Never heard of it."

"What a surprise," said a stout boy with a scraggly goatee. "Outlanders who don't know where the other is from. That place is seriously too big."

"I actually have heard of Vanroc," said Cade. "It's one of the strong-towns of the Southeast."

"Who would have thought," said Ander. "I think Trent is from the strong-towns, maybe they know each other..."

"Anyway," said Eric, his tone final like the stroke of an executioner's axe. "I hear you're pretty good at magic."

Meyer saw a muscle along Eric's jaw line twitch, and looking around the room, he realized that with one word Eric had cleaved the old conversation to its death.

"I'm not sure if I'd say that," said Meyer. "I only cast my first spell this morning."

"Zurasara charm?"