Suddenly, Riley felt a strong grip on her arm and Bruno’s voice was in her ear.

  “I’ve got you,” Bruno said. Before she knew what was happening, Riley felt herself being lifted up above the crowd, her legs set down on firm shoulders. This turn of events was so completely unexpected that Riley froze. How was Bruno strong enough to lift her up like she was no heavier than a piece of paper? And where was she supposed to put her hands?

  A pang of anxious energy from Herbert was enough to focus Riley back on the situation at hand. Thanks to Bruno, she wouldn’t have to worry about being crushed by the crowd, but they were still approaching the doors, and potentially a worse danger. They weren’t moving very fast though as everyone tried to squeeze through the same exit door.

  “Ew, get it off me!” came an panicked voice nearby. “It’s slimy!”

  Slimy? What was going on? Was there something in here with them?

  “Bruno, I don’t know if we should go out there,” Riley said, leaning down toward his ear so he could hear her above the commotion. “Shouldn’t there be another exit? By the stage?”

  All Riley heard was a grunt in response and then miraculously, they started moving in the opposite direction, against the flow of the crowd. Riley didn’t even feel any pressure on her legs, Bruno’s arms firmly protecting them from being crushed. His strength really was incredible. Still, it was pitch dark. They needed to be able to see.

  Do you remember the candle spell? Riley thought to Herbert. Herbert responded with a questioning image of a candle. I know, we don’t have a candle to light, but we can try to hold it for a few seconds, we need some sort of visibility. Riley felt Herbert shift into a determined, focused state as he projected an image of the candle sigil to her. She took a deep breath, letting the chaos around her fade into the background as Herbert spun the appropriate pattern, cupping her hands in front of her to center the spell. She felt the magic tingle from her core, down her arms and into her fingertips and then…

  Nothing. Not even the weakest sputter of fire came from their spell. Riley tried again, and again, nothing. Was there something they were forgetting? This was one of Riley’s first ever spells - she and Herbert had practiced it hundreds, maybe thousands of times before. No, something was wrong. Something was dampening magic here. No wonder none of the professors had managed to illuminate the room yet. They would need a magical item like the voice magnifier to do that - or a good old fashioned torch.

  “We’re past the crowd now,” Bruno said, his voice loud enough to carry. His tone was calm, and remarkably casual. “You can let go of my shirt now.”

  But Riley wasn’t holding onto his shirt. Her hands were still outstretched in front of her from trying to do the candle spell.

  “Oh, uh sorry,” came a voice from behind them. “I didn’t want to get trampled and it seemed like you knew where you were going.”

  “Nope,” Bruno said plainly. “Where to next, Riley?”

  “My magic isn’t working,” Riley told him, unsure if the person behind them could hear her as well. “Can you find the stage?”

  They were moving forward again when the person following them shrieked.

  “Are you ok?!” Riley cried out, panicked at the thought that their mysterious companion had been attacked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” came an embarrassed response. “Something wet brushed my leg, but I’m not hurt or anything.”

  It was relieving that the guy wasn’t hurt, but that still didn’t explain what was happening. What if the wet thing came back and it did hurt them? It was then that Riley noticed a hint of light from their left. “Look!” she exclaimed, but Bruno was already moving toward the light source, a flicker from a hallway beyond the exit. The light grew steadily brighter as they approached, someone clearly headed their way with something bright from the opposite side. Professor Fernanda appeared, four torches in each fist.

  “Through here,” she called out to them, stepping aside so they could pass. Luckily the doorway was large enough that Riley didn’t even have to duck as they passed through.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Everything is fine,” Professor Fernanda told them as they crossed by. “Just some stupid prank from some third years. Go gather in the courtyard outside.”

  The three of them passed cautiously through the hallway, heated voices echoing out from an adjoining room. Even with the clamor of more students entering the hallway, Riley caught some of the argument.

  “This isn’t the time for this, Moret, we need to…” A woman’s voice was saying.

  “Isn’t the time?” A shrill man responded. “We could lose the school if we don’t get rid of that delinquent! He’s…”

  “Might I remind you,” a gravely voice cut in. “That delinquent is the only reason we’re able to keep the school running.”

  “Ms. Purple’s existed before him and it will exist after,” the woman reasoned.

  “Not if there aren’t any students! He’s rotting us from the inside! We’re one wrong step away from being shut down as it is. The new regulations…”

  There was the subtle click of a door shutting and the rest of the conversation was cut off. Riley and her companions were quiet until they reached the building’s exit, stepping out into the mid afternoon daylight.

  “That was so not funny,” the guy behind Bruno said angrily. “Seriously, a prank?”

  Riley let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in, the tension releasing from her body. She felt a giggle bubbling up in her and clamped her hands over her mouth to try to keep it in. She didn’t want to disrespect the person following them, but she was so overwhelmed by the giddiness of relief that she was having trouble containing her laughter.

  “I mean, it was kind of funny,” Bruno said, and Riley could hear the smile in his voice. At that, Riley couldn’t hold it in any longer and the laughter came bursting out. She could feel Herbert hopping around in her hair, her jittery energy infecting him too.

  Bruno turned so that they could see who had been trailing them, a young man that Riley guessed to be around her own age, maybe eighteen or nineteen. Curled, messy brown hair framed a round face with light brown eyes. He was kind of cute despite his furrowed brow. His frown seemed to ease as he looked up at Bruno and Riley, who were both laughing now. Riley laughing from the release of stress and Bruno laughing at - well whatever Bruno thought was funny.

  “I seriously thought we were in big trouble in there,” Riley said, once she had calmed down a bit. “I’m Riley, and this is Bruno. What’s your name?”

  “I’m Elliot,” their companion said, giving an awkward little wave.

  Bruno started moving again of his own accord, presumably toward the courtyard Professor Fernanda had mentioned. Riley thought maybe she should get down from his shoulders, but now that he was walking, she wasn’t quite sure how to ask. It was almost as if he’d forgotten he was carrying her, so she didn’t raise the issue. She didn’t want to be a bother.

  “So, how do you two know each other?” Elliot asked.

  “Oh, just from the auditorium,” Riley answered, trying to sound casual.

  “Ah…” Elliot responded, looking like her answer just raised twenty more questions that he wasn’t sure how to ask.

  “So, why are you at Ms. Purple’s?” Riley asked him. Please be a warlock, she secretly hoped. She wouldn’t mind having the chance to get to know him better and if he were a warlock they’d be taking a lot of the same classes.

  “I’m here to be a diplomat,” he said confidently. “I’m going to be at the forefront of national negotiations someday. Somebody needs to be there to see the big picture and make sure that everyone gets what they want. There’s so many wars that could have easily been avoided if there had just been the right person to step in. And I’m going to be that person.”

  It was the structured speech of someone who had rehearsed in front of a mirror a few times. Still, it seemed to Riley that even just saying those words sparked something in him, as if he were seeing the bright future ahead. She was disappointed he hadn’t said warlock, but his genuine intensity stirred something in her.

  “I’m going to be a warrior,” Bruno said. Riley and Elliot waited for him to say more, but he didn’t.

  In the pause, Riley took her time to admire their surroundings. The forest was beautiful here, full of greens and browns and the warm yellow of dappled sunlight. They entered a grove of sleek, grey barked trees with small birds chattering happily to each other among the branches. The air was earthy and light, threaded with the humid scent of moss underfoot. It felt peaceful and secluded, as if all forms of civilization were a hundred miles away, not even a footpath in sight.

  “Hey, are we going the right way?” Riley asked, looking around them.

  “I thought you guys knew the way to the courtyard,” Bruno said.

  “Uh, I was following you,” Elliot replied. “Don’t tell me we’re lost.”

  “We can’t have gotten that far,” Riley said, “We weren’t walking for that long. If we just go back the way we came…”

  Riley trailed off as Bruno turned one way and then the other. How come everything looked so similar? Which way had they come from? She couldn’t even hear anything other than forest noises, which didn’t seem possible. Shouldn’t they be able to hear other students? Some sort of noise from the school? The puzzled look on Elliot’s face told her everything she needed to know about what he was thinking.

  “I think we’re lost,” she concluded.