♢Kai's PoV♢
Debris and rubble fell from the box-shaped prison of stone created by the bony creep lying at the Headmaster's and professor's feet. Blood pooled from what was left of his mangled stump of a hand. Curses and insults flew from his maw at an alarming rate.
"My, oh my, Everest, we have a mess here," Rosewood began.
"That we do, Professor," the Headmaster said. His tone was serious, much more serious than what any student in the Academy was used to. "And you, Vlad. Haven't seen you since you abandoned your teaching position. Now, what in Arcana could lead you to attacking students?" His voice was cold as he addressed the Bone Man, who finally looked up from his stump of a hand.
The Bone Man, whom I now knew as Vlad, didn't answer. Instead, he just glared at the Headmaster, his face full of hatred. The wispy blade in my hand dispersed. The Headmaster watched me closely, keeping his thoughts to himself. But his eyes scanned me carefully.
I looked at my palms, took a breath, then closed my eyes, focusing on the newfound feeling of magic coursing through my body. It felt vague and ghastly before, but now felt as if it was nearly overflowing. The Headmaster said something to Rosewood discreetly before turning his attention to me and Kaya.
"The Hendrix siblings. Would you care to please enlighten me as to what happened here?" he asked. I explained everything, from seeing our mother's visage skulking around the training grounds, to her giving me a black tome bound by chains, to her then revealing herself as the imposter Vlad, and then attacking us.
I didn't tell the Headmaster or Rosewood about meeting Dhumvati or the deal I made with her to revive her system of believers. But Vlad specifically attacked us because of our parents' connection to her. Withholding that information felt risky. But the Church of Centuros labeled Dhumavati a blasphemous being. I didn't know who I could trust with such knowledge.
I should probably keep that part to myself until I know my next steps, I thought. While I had never heard of Dhuma before, there was no telling what the nobles knew or believed. As a commoner, I've never once been allowed to attend a worship service. I made a mental note to myself to read up on Centuros's belief system as soon as I could to get an idea of how much the average noble knew about her.
Rosewood nodded his head along at my explanation, but Headmaster Snowbell eyed me with a bit of suspicion.
"A black tome? A grimoire? And it was chained shut?" He stroked his messy beard, but kept his eyes on me. I was almost sure he knew I wasn't telling them everything. His eyes scanned the rubble of the now collapsed, cube-shaped prison of concrete that Vlad had trapped us in. "Where is it?"
I turned and searched the floor, but found nothing. I looked under some fallen rubble, but still found nothing. Strange.
"Kaya, do you see it anywhere?" I coughed through dust. "You saw it too, right? That black book."
"I did, but—" Vlad's laugh cut her sentence short, visceral and ugly.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter!" he spouted like a madman. "Your fate's been sealed since the day you were born to those heretics!"
"Hm?" That seemed to have caught the Headmaster's further attention.
Vlad continued screaming at the top of his lungs, still huddled on the ground, clutching what used to be his hand. "Heretical offspring have no place in Centuros! I may have failed, but more will come! Your foul parents were culled like the rest of her believers, but don't worry! You'll see mommy and daddy dearest both when you're—"
Kaya launched a kick that connected with his jaw, slamming his mouth shut and sending his head backward, slamming into the concrete. "I can't believe a deranged lowlife like you managed to take their lives," she spat. Her voice was cold. In all the years we've spent together, I'd never heard her talk to anyone like that. It sent a chill down my spine.
The Headmaster didn't miss a beat. "Rosewood, we need to get him off the exam site. Contact the captain of the guard and tell them an ex-professor tried to harm students taking the Final Assessment."
Without a word, Rosewood pulled a pen and paper from a coat pocket, wrote something on it quickly, then casually tossed it. The wind scooped it up and carried it on its way, while the professor picked Vlad up off the ground. "We'll hold him in the detention hall until the guards can pick him up."
The Headmaster simply nodded, and Rosewood placed a hand on Vlad's chest. "[Binding Sigil]," he said under his breath. A magic circle, inlaid with minor, simple runes on the would-be attacker's body. He tensed, and his arms were wrapped behind his back. Rosewood picked him up and, without a word, escorted him toward the school building.
That's when I noticed the eyes of all the other students on us. Confusion rested on their faces, but three stood out in particular. Kerry Button and Dusty Squabbs looked as smug as ever, but Alexis Primrose, to my surprise, actually looked worried. I guess I couldn't really blame her, though. All they knew was that someone had infiltrated our exam and attacked some students. I figured she was probably scared.
The Headmaster turned his attention back to us and again asked about the chained grimoire that I mentioned.
"Oh, right," I remembered, and turned to look for it again.
"You won't find it in the rubble. It's in here, after all," Dhumavati chimed in. "When we formed our contract, it became part of you. You should be able to sense it in your magic pool. Summoning it may be hard, but it shouldn't be impossible to—"
I know, Dhuma, I thought to her. But I didn't tell the Headmaster about the contract. I'm worried that telling anyone, especially someone from the Academy, might result in Kaya and me being labeled heretics.
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that. Besides, I'm willing to bet this old codger already knows something about it."
I sighed and turned to the Headmaster. "Actually, Headmaster Snowbell…"
I explained everything again, but this time I included the parts I left out. The black ichor that swallowed me, meeting a goddess who claimed to be abandoned, and her explanation about why I couldn't cast my magic before. I even told him that Vlad let me make this contract in the hopes of killing me. About how if I died after making contact with her, she'd once again lose sight and influence of our realm. The only thing I didn't tell him about was my promise to revive a system that believed in Dhumavati, the true origin of magic, and that I was now contracted to her.
"A lost deity, heretics," the Headmaster murmured to himself. Then, in a voice so low that only I could hear, he asked, "You couldn't possibly be talking about the lost goddess, Dhumvati, could you?"
I didn't answer right away, but that was enough to give it away. The Headmaster's face darkened, and he grabbed me by the arm. Not tight, but firm. He told Kaya to follow behind us—and quickly.
We were escorted through the exam site, toward the enormous double doors leading into the Academy. Whispers became louder, and the air was suddenly filled with speculation. The students were avoiding looking at me, as if eye contact would somehow get them in trouble. But two students seemed unable to tear their gaze from us.
Faye Rosewood, Professor Rosewood's daughter, had her sights locked onto me. Considering her father had just escorted our attacker away, her curiosity made sense to me. The other gaze, on the other hand…
Alexis Primrose. Her friends, Squabbs and Buttons, had been cruel to me during my years here in the Academy, but she never really said much. In fact, the only thing she had ever really called me was "commoner boy." Insulting, sure, but not exactly cruel. I am, in fact, a commoner, after all.
I caught a glimpse of her worried expression through the double doors before they closed. But why would she be concerned about me?