Nick sipped his tea as best he could without being able to pick it up. He had to do the

  same for the soup until he could pick up a spoon. He nodded as his mobility came

  back bit by bit.

  Madam Quince used her air blades to help her. He had thought you needed to gesture

  the spells to life, but apparently he was wrong.

  “Feel better?,” asked Steve. He sipped his soup and tea while sitting at arm’s reach

  from the table.

  “I think I can walk again,” said Nick. “What do we do now?”

  “We let Madam Quince get back on her feet while we move the chariot to the back

  of the building,” said Steve. “It was a rough thing but it got the job done. Maybe

  Calvin and Felix can help build something better if we need it.”

  “There was a summons pulling it,” said Madam Quince. “Is that what happened?”

  “Yes,” said Steve. “I have a spell called the Beast of Balefulness. It summons a horse

  made out of fire. The problem is I can’t ride it since I don’t have a spell that makes

  me fireproof. So the only way to use it is to tie it to something that won’t burn up

  while the spell is active.”

  “That is a strange balance between practical and useless,” said Madam Quince.

  “I don’t know where I picked it up from,” said Steve. “It’s one of the few spells I

  have had all my life.”

  “I’ll help with the chariot,” said Nick. “I’ll have to think about some of the classes I

  have to take.”

  “Apologize to Crow sometime,” said Steve. “It will help heal the anger.”

  “I’ll do that first,” said Nick. “Then we will move the chariot, and then I will look at

  the classes.”

  “I’ll take Madam Quince back to her quarters,” said Steve. “She should be fine with

  some sleep.”

  “All right,” said Nick. “Good night, Granny. See you in the morning.”

  “Madam Quince is the proper way to address me,” said Madam Quince.

  “Then who would be my granny?,” said Nick. He smiled as he stood on shaky legs.

  “Might have to grab something else to eat.”

  “Dinner will be in a couple of hours,” said Steve. He stood also.

  “That’s fine,” said Nick. “Let me talk to Crow.”

  “Don’t run,” said Steve. He went to Madam Quince and offered a hand for her to

  stand up. “We’re in this together until we get out of school.”

  “As soon as we deal with the Warlord, I’m going home,” said Nick. “This isn’t the

  place for me.”

  “Come along, Madam,” said Steve. “The faster you have your liedown, the better you

  will feel.”

  “What did he mean about the Warlord?,” said Madam Quince. She balanced herself

  on a blade of air, holding on to his shoulder so he could pull her to the central tower.

  “Nothing important,” said Steve. “Shall we go?”

  Nick went to the stairs while Steve and Madam Quince negotiated their way to the

  front door. He climbed up the stairs, following Crow’s indicator on his sphere of

  influence.

  He knocked on the door.

  “What do you want, Nick?,” asked Crow through the wooden barrier.

  “I would like to apologize,” said Nick.

  “It’s fine,” said Crow. “I should have trusted them, and their assessment. Maybe the

  brothers are better for what I need to get done.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” said Nick. He looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry, Crow.”

  “I will talk to the others about getting you enough supplies so you can go home,” said

  Crow. “They will probably be glad to help you out. I will take care of it tomorrow.”

  “All right,” said Nick. He turned and headed down the hall. Dinner would be served

  in a bit and he wanted to take another look at the city beyond the academy walls.

  Magic use pinged on his sphere but he ignored it. He wasn’t planning to hunt down

  every teacher and student. He supposed he could practice with the thunder cracker,

  but felt that it wouldn’t serve him to do that.

  He needed to hunt things to get better. He didn’t see that happening inside the castle

  walls.

  He climbed to the top of the wall. He started walking along to his left. He passed the

  point where he had jumped down into the city, and kept walking. He supposed the

  academy didn’t need guards. Who wanted to rush a place where the Warlord had been

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  defeated.

  He saw a man standing on the wall ahead of him. He paused to think what he should

  do in this situation. He really didn’t want to get into another confrontation so soon

  after the first.

  “Come ahead, young man,” said the man. He turned toward the boy. Nick recognized

  him as the man who had told the assembled classes what was in the cards the first

  day. He looked like he hadn’t seen sleep in a while.

  Nick started walking. He decided to put up with a scolding. After all, he wasn’t

  supposed to be on the wall in the first place.

  “How do you do?,” asked the teacher. He tried to smile, but it was more like a rictus.

  “Fine,” said Nick. He decided to stick to one word answers like he did back home

  when he didn’t want to talk to anyone.

  “Are you enjoying your stay?,” asked the teacher. Apparently he had some experience

  with uncommunicative students.

  “Not really,” said Nick. He looked for a way to go around this stranger without being

  rude.

  “Most children don’t,” said the teacher. He turned and started walking away. He

  didn’t gesture for Nick to follow, but the boy did.

  “What about the few who do?,” asked Nick.

  “It’s a chance to impress their relatives, and be bullies,” said the teacher.

  “I guess you don’t approve,” said Nick.

  “The academy is supposed to be teaching responsibility and altruism,” said the

  teacher. “I am afraid that we are failing.”

  “I don’t know about that,” said Nick. “I have only been here a couple of days.”

  “What have you learned since you got here?,” asked the teacher.

  “Don’t make my dormmate mad,” said Nick.

  “I suppose that is something,” said the teacher. He looked up as the dinner bell started

  ringing. “I suppose we must be going.”

  “I guess,” said Nick. He thought about Crow. “Maybe I should skip dinner tonight.”

  “Nonsense,” said the teacher. “You should never turn down food. You don’t know

  when your next meal will be. Let’s go. I’ll smooth things out with your teacher. What

  class are you in?”

  “Madam Quince’s,” said Nick.

  “Agatha and I are old friends,” said the teacher. “I will be glad to talk to her about

  your tardiness. Come along.”

  The teacher found a bridge leading to rooms in the central keep. He walked to the

  castle, and then showed Nick some stairs leading down to the central hall. The classes

  were already filing in for dinner. The pair worked their way to the back of the room.

  Madam Quince stood beside her other students, frowning at Nick.

  “Evening, Agatha,” said the teacher. He smiled at the misfits. “How do you do?”

  “Is Master Sever in trouble?,” asked Madam Quince.

  “Oh, no,” said the teacher. “Nothing like that. We were having a pleasant chat and

  decided to come into the hall together.”

  He ignored the snorts of amazement from the misfits at the table.

  “Are you Granny’s special friend?,” asked Calvin.

  Madam Quince gave him a glare that he blithely ignored.

  “No romance for me, I’m afraid,” said the teacher. “I don’t have anything to offer

  someone as good as Agatha anyway. She needs someone who isn’t as broken down

  as I am.”

  “They say you could get us a dispensation to fight other teams in the school before

  the tournament,” said Crow.

  “True,” said the teacher. “But I would need an example of your readiness before I

  allowed that to happen, mistress.”

  “What kind of example?,” asked Will. He had a cigarette in hand, but hadn’t lit it yet.

  Crow looked like they had told her what kind of example they would have to present

  and didn’t like it.

  “It is only the first week,” said the teacher. “I will give you two weeks to get ready,

  and then you will be able to show me how good you are.”

  “I don’t think that is a good idea, Barnabus,” said Madam Quince.

  “If they want to be in the tournament and fight the other students who will be sent

  here, then they have to be ready,” said Barnabus. “I expect them to lose on their first

  outing together, but I could be wrong.”

  “So you are going to set up a test for us to see if we can fight someone else?,” asked

  Calliope.

  “If you have the courage, then I will make the time,” said Barnabus. “But I warn you

  now, if I win, I will gloat until you graduate, and no dispensation before the

  tournament starts.”

  “You are on,” said Nick. “But if we win, you can expect us to rub it in every time we

  see you.”

  All of the misfits except for Crow groaned at the declaration of war.

  “We will be ready, Headmaster,” said Crow. “You should get ready too.”

  A smile crossed the headmaster’s thin face.

  “I am going to let you enjoy your meal,” said the headmaster. “I will meet you in two

  weeks.”

  Everyone looked at Crow. The expressions on their faces asked her how they had got

  roped in to fighting the academy’s most powerful magician. Nick smiled.

  “I like these kids, Agatha,” said Barnabus. “They will be a trial, but do your best with

  them.”

  “They are certainly not what I expected,” said Madam Quince. She glanced at Nick

  trying to take his place at the table.

  Barnabus smiled. He turned and headed toward his table in the front of the hall.

  “Have you two lost your minds?,” asked Calliope. “You just signed us up to fight

  anyone the headmaster decides we should fight from students to teachers.”

  “As long as we have Will and Steve, they are giving us good odds,” said Crow. “And

  we need this to get our skills working together so we can get rid of the monsters

  under the school.”

  “What monsters underneath the school?,” asked Madam Quince.

  “I am not sure what kind of monsters are living under the school, but I expect them

  to continue their search of the main building,” said Crow.

  “But they aren’t under our building?,” said Felix.

  “No,” said Crow. “Whatever they are looking for is in the main building. They don’t

  know, and neither do I right now.”

  “Crow,” said Nick. “I want to apologize for the way I behaved. I am sorry.”

  “I don’t think I can trust you any more,” said Crow. “You broke your word.”

  “I guess that’s fair,” said Nick. He grabbed his plate when the food arrived and left

  the table. He headed for the exit nearest their building.

  He found a perch on a block of stone next to the door. He sat down and slowly ate

  his food. He thought it tasted like ash, but knew it was the only good meal he would

  have for the day.

  A presence created a shadow over his face. He looked up, one hand charging up.

  He released the charge when he saw it was Calliope. Her arm glimmered in the

  moonlight. She wore her stern expression as she looked down on him.

  “Want to talk about it?,” she asked.

  “Nothing to talk about,” said Nick. “I showed off too much and caused some trouble.

  Crow is mad at me about that.”

  “Don’t you want to fix it?,” asked Calliope. She sat down on the stone across from

  his perch.

  “Can’t,” said Nick. “I shouldn’t have said I would stay when I never wanted to.”

  “This scrimmage against the headmaster is something,” said Calliope. “Don’t

  you want to take him on?”

  “He’s old,” said Nick. “Steve can beat him down with a club.”

  “You know better than that,” said Calliope.

  “I think I have a lot of thinking to do,” said Nick. “Could you take my plate back?”

  “Crow will forgive you eventually,” said Calliope.

  “No, she won’t,” said Nick. He stood. “I’ll be back before lights out. I’ll see you in

  the morning.”

  Nick walked into the darkness surrounding the keep, heading for the wall.