Aldric spent the morning warding off questions about his stint in the infirmary. The other ravens pestered and pried hoping to know what it felt like to successfully cast the hardening charm. Unfortunately for them, and Aldric, he didn't remember much of the actual transformation.
He simply remembered falling asleep without him willing his mind to do so. Then he was awake in that awful clinical room.
"Well, what did the architect say? We saw him come to visit you several times," one of the boys wondered, pulling his boots over his heels.
"I only talked to him the once, I had only just woken up," He explained. The boys' faces seemed almost disappointed at his response.
"It isn't that I don't want to tell you guys, I really don't remember. There isn't much to tell," he added, attempting to lessen the others' frustration. More questions flew from all directions before Jasper stepped forward.
"And how about the new accessory?" He asked, fondling the star dangling around his neck.
"He-he gave it to me. A reward I suppose," Aldric said, grabbing the star as if he'd forgotten about it.
"Right, a reward for fainting. Who knew?" Jasper scoffed, swiftly brushing past him. He went to grab after him, but his grasp was interrupted by the rooms quick rotation. Before he could reach him, Jasper had escaped out of the swarmingdorm and made his way to the wall where he waited to enter the shadowmancy classroom.
Shadowmancy class was more of the same lesson as the previous day. The boys watched their robotic teacher scribble another rune on the board and explain its meaning and effect. This rune looked like a deformed letter A. An inverted V with a solid horizontal line running through it and a crescent moon just above it.
"Does anybody know what this top line may represent?" Umbra gestured to the solid line. The ravens stared blankly, all hoping somebody had a guess. Aldric scribbled the rune on his parchment and drew labeling lines, awaiting the explanation.
"Aldric?" Umbra requested. The boy glanced up, and nervously place his quill away.
"Y-yes sir?"
"Any guesses?" The machine puffed with red smoke. Aldric glanced at the rune and thought back to the vanishing rune.
"Time?" He said, unconvincingly.
"Not quite. Good try. An assassin who goes unseen is beneficial, but an assassin who goes unheard, now that will be the difference of life and death," the machine explained. It zipped to the board and quickly labeled the rune.
Muffling glyph
"This line," umbra gestured to the solid line.
"Represents suppression. The act of cutting the sounds of footsteps, loud breathing, or heavy heartbeats before they can be carried through the air," it explained, marking the suppression line on the board. The boys followed his writing and noted the line on their papers.
"Any guesses on the symbol above the rune?" Again, the room went silent and the pattering of bouncing feet were more audible than ever.
"Guess not. Okay then, the crescent represents the very thing that keeps you boys safe. The void. This portion of the rune will guide onlooking eyes…elsewhere," again, the board was labeled and only the final line remained.
"Jasper?" Umbra called. The slender boy's eyes gazed up nervously as the machine puffed again.
"Yes Umbra?"
"Do you know what the inverted V represents in this rune?" The boys gazed intently at the board then to his parchment before his eyes fell.
"No sir,"
"Pity," the machine said, flipping back to board to begin the explanation. Aldric studied the rune closely as Umbra began the explanation.
"The symbol represents the-"
"The caster!" Aldric stood and shouted. The machine whipped around, and all of the boys' eyes peered back at him. He felt the gazes on him and remembered where he was.
"S-sorry Umbra. I've spoken out of turn," he said softly, lowering back into his seat.
"Yes, that may be true, but so too is your response. The symbol does represent the caster as well as the ground beneath them. All of the lines combined you get the muffling glyph," Umbra said, drawing the glyph in the sky with a finger.
Suddenly the robot was completely and unmistakably silent. It popped and puffed with smoke and light but there was no sound. Then, though the boys knew what their teacher looked like, suddenly they've found him unrecognizable. If they hadn't see him just cast the glyph they'd be certain a visitor was lingering in the class.
Each of them leapt with excitement and glee before the machine waved its hand and its audibility returned.
"With that boys, your homework should be plain. Until tomorrow, enjoy the rest of your evenings," Umbra's arm extended to the door that swung open revealing a still vacant corridor. The ravens each exited the room and slowly made way toward their next lesson.
"I'm really excited for ancient runes!" Jasper expressed, making his way to a doorway.
"Why? We just spent fourty-five minutes learning about a rune. Now we have to go and do it some more? Sounds boring," Rhys said, his nose upturned.
"Yeah, but those are different runes in shadowmancy. Those are specifically designed for that course, but ancient runes, oh man there has to be hundreds of unknown and undiscovered runes," Jasper fantasized, his eyes wide and full of wonder.
"What do you think Aldric?" Rhys asked, turning back to Aldric's place in the flock, but he was absent.
"Aldric?" He called out, but he was nowhere to be found.
Along a narrow corridor, Aldric walked the seemingly changing passageway. The hall went straight for a while before echoing with an odd mechanical whirring noise. Then it cut to the left, again the hall whirred and it cut right.
This went on for what felt like hours before Aldric came to the end of the passageway. In front of him was a large wall with no way to move forward. He looked around for any way through but couldn't find one. He was confused for a moment as he inspected the wall as if it were an unsolved puzzle.
Then it hit him there was one being that could get him where he needed to be.
"Master magus," he called, and waited breathlessly. The bricks of the wall trembled and quaked before rippling apart to reveal another hinged eye. The pupil scanned up and down before the eye sealed and returned to the wall.
This time, when the bricks rippled open like a riptide, instead of a door, a tall wooden ladder, that looked like it had never been used, was revealed. Aldric glanced up to see the ladder went on for as far as he could see.
He gulped largely before grasping the splintered steps in his hands and planting his foot. Then, one step after the other, he began to ascend the tower. All around him he heard the banging and scraping of the moving tower, but the room he was in didn't rotate once.
He could smell an odd burning from below, something that wreaked of cinders and brimstone. The acrid scent burned the hairs in his nose and made his eyes water slightly but he continued on.
His arms grew tired as he hoisted his weight further up the narrow crawl space. He'd felt almost defeated by the length of his journey, and had almost given up when he stopped for a brief break. He contemplated climbing back down into the darkness and rejoining his flock in ancient runes, but then he glanced up.
Before his eyes, he saw the sliver of light peaking in through a trap door. He had made it to the crows nest. He forced his body to continue on and pulled his dead weight higher and higher, before finally reaching the hatch.
As he approached it, the door creaked open and the blinding light blasted in, almost knocking him from the ladder. He squinted tightly as a thin frail looking hand reached out to him. He took the hand in his and was quickly yanked from the ladder and onto a wooden deck.
He was blinded by the harsh sun and couldn't quite place anything until his eyes adjusted. When his vision cleared he saw where he was. The top of the aviary. He sat on an observation deck that oversaw the entire island.
When he stood and gazed over the railing he saw the majesty he'd never been able to appreciate. A world of vibrance and beauty, bright blooming flowers, wildlife roaming freely, birds singing, everything he'd expected of the world.
It wasn't dark or dangerous, but an odd sort of paradise.
"W-what is this?" He asked, his eyes widened and mouth hung open.
"This is the aviary and everything it stands for. Peace, power, and safety," the architect explained. When Aldric peered over the edge and stared down he saw the aviary in most of its glory. The rotating cylinders all at work as he studied its architecture.
Stained glass windows painted sections of the tower while bars cover the windows of others. As he scanned further down he could see where the layers of the tower aged, showing the order in which they were built.
"Sir, what are we doing up here?" He asked, stepping away from the railing.
"Today, I'm showing you the power of hope and peace. Harnessing either or both of these emotions can be difficult, but highly rewarding," he began. Aldric looked at him intently, scanning every wrinkle on his face, and crease near his mouth as he spoke.
"While using the hardening charm you found yourself depleted and unable to continue. Obviously, this is not the desired outcome in any real confrontation," he continued as Aldric nodded along.
"Well, harnessing hope and manifesting it into life force is the lesson for today. I intend to ensure you never deplete yourself again," he finished.
"So, are we ready to begin?" He asked, peeling his overcoat from his back. Aldric hesitated for a moment, breathed deeply, and nodded.
"Good,"