The Necromancer

Chapter Five

The airport was bustling with activity as people hurried to catch their flight or pick up their luggage or call a taxi. Clutching the plane ticket in his hand, Nathan dragged his luggage behind him as he searched for the gate. "I swear Gate 27 doesn't exist," Nathan murmured to himself. After traversing the entire airport, Nathan was ready to give up.

"Gate 27 is hidden," a man whispered back. Dressed in a pilot's uniform, he fell into step with Nathan. "We can't just announce our presence to everyone, now can we?" He steered Nathan towards an unmarked side door that opened up to a long, blank hallway.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a pilot." The man gestured to his uniform. "I fly a very special plane that will take you and a few others to Drazora. Ah, here we are now."

A hostess smiled. "Captain Grayson, everything is prepped and ready for take off."

"Good, has everyone checked in?"

"We are waiting for Nathan Norwood, but I assume that you are him." Nathan nodded, handing her his ticket. "Then we are all set. You can sit in any empty seat."

The plane was significantly smaller than a commercial plane. Only a handful of the seats were taken, leaving Nathan with a wide selection to choose from. Hefting his luggage into the overhead compartment, he chose a seat away from the others. He sank into the plush seats. The seats were spaced out, giving him more leg room between the seat in front of him than in a commercial plane. Putting in his earphones, he drifted asleep.

"We will be landing in ten minutes. Drazora will be on your right," Captain Grayson announced, waking up Nathan. A forest covered the earth below. Rising up between the trees was a huge castle-like structure. It was an interesting blend of medieval and modern architecture. The plane circled once around Drazora before aligning itself with the landing strip and descending. A mini airport backed up to the school. Several other small planes similar to this one were lined up off to the side of the landing strip. The plane glided to a stop at one of the two docks.

The flight attendant woke up a few of the sleeping students and helped them get their luggage down from the overhead compartment.

Stepping off of the plane, Nathan entered a room that resembled an airport terminal. Televisions lined one of the walls, denoting which planes had already arrived and which ones were departing. A few kiosks sold magazines, food, books, and other miscellaneous items. Four rows of seats occupied the center of the room. A sign above an offshoot hallway read "Transportation Terminal". There was hardly any of the craziness typically associated with any airport. No one seemed to be in a hurry. Most students lingered in the lobby/gate area instead of moving towards the school section of Drazora. A few adults, probably teachers, moved with a purposed through the crowd.

"Students who just arrived, please place your luggage in the luggage chute to be placed in your room," a teacher piped up, gesturing to a metal hatch marked luggage chute. Dragging his luggage behind him, Nathan opened the hatch and dropped in his luggage. Most of the other students seemed to know each other and practically ignored Nathan. This left him with nothing to do and no one to talk to.

Luckily the last plane landed and all of the students were herded into the Entrance Hall, saving Nathan the embarrassment of awkwardly standing alone. All of the first year students were instructed to wait there outside of the Great Hall, while all of the upper classmen moved to take their seats inside.

One of the teachers stood in front of the first years, motioning for everyone to be quiet. "My name is Professor Frost. It is my job to keep track of the first years and should you need any assistance throughout the year do not hesitate to find me."

"In a moment you will all be sorted into a class of magic. This class has people who specialize in the same type of magic as you. At this school you will learn all types of magic but special attention will be paid to your type of magic for each student individually," Professor Frost explained. "In order to find out what you specialize in, this will help." He held up a small pouch in the air. "Inside is golden dust, the golden dust will change color and shape according to your specialization. Do you understand?" Everyone murmured sounds of agreement. "Good."

Professor Frost led us into the Great Hall. Tables were set up in rows. A different symbol was emblazoned onto the surface of each table. Students sat at each table which was filled to varying degrees. They all dressed similarly; the girls were dressed in a fancy blouse, a skirt, stockings, and various types of expensive shoes while the guys wore a fancy shirt, slacks, and expensive dress shoes. Some of the students even wore cloaks. Cloaks? Seriously? They do know this is the twenty-first century right? Somewhere on their uniform was the symbol that corresponded with the one on their table.

Silas and the other professors sat at a table up on the center dais where Nathan and the other new students gathered. Silas inclined his head slightly when he glanced Nathan's way before turning to watch Professor Frost who was calling out the first student's name, "Templeton Adkins". A young scrawny boy walked towards the center where Professor Frost stood. Pulling out the small pouch, he threw a handful of golden dust onto the boy.

The dust hovered around him, encasing him in a blue cloud. A blue symbol appeared over his head, Manipulation. The scrawny boy rushed to take his seat.

Professor Frost called off name after name, revealing what each student specialized in. The next name that Nathan actually took interest in was "Tharin Kronin". The golden dust was sprinkled over the boy. The dust surrounded him and turned blood red. His symbol glowed fiery red above him. It looked like a hand with magic shooting out it. There was a slight air of darkness about it.

The boy smirked as though he already knew what he was going to specialize in. As he did so, he looked directly at Nathan. The other students of the Affliction house were the dark and brooding type. Many had tattoos all over their bodies. Tharin seemed to already be popular there even being a new student.

"Nathan Norwood," Professor Frost finally called. Nathan awkwardly shuffled up to the center of the dais. Professor Frost grabbed a handful of golden dust and tossed it onto Nathan. The dust swirled around him, turning an inky black. The room seemed to darken as the dust grew thicker. There was a collective gasp from the teachers and the older students. Everyone was shocked into silence. Some of the younger students began whispering to the older students, most likely asking what it meant. Nathan hesitantly looked up to see what his specialty magic was. Above him a black symbol that looked like a skull glowed hauntingly. He didn't recognize the symbol; none of the other new students had specialized in this magic. In fact, there was no table at all that had the skull on it.