New Class

The reactions of the seven individuals as they sat together in the small, dimly lit cavern were as varied as any group of people could be. The twins dressed in blue were unbothered by the stone walls and hard packed ground that made up their surroundings. They were too busy swapping jokes and insults with each other. The youngest of the group, red haired and ruddy skinned as any native of the world might be, appeared to be practically radiant with delight. Another young man, tall and thin as the shadows he clung to, hung back from the group with the wordless reserve of someone who would rather be anywhere else but here. Beside him, or rather, towering over him, stood the most alien among them; a brown skinned, four-armed man who had somehow managed to cross all his arms the wrong way and was working out what a properly relaxed pose was supposed to look like for his kind. The final two, a pair of women who differed in appearance as much as they resembled each other in action, stared in open-mouthed awe at their surroundings.

They were all strangers to each other. Yet thanks to a series of events played out across multiple worlds, they had just become comrades, if not yet friends.

“They work in caves,” the blonde woman muttered in hushed reverence to no one in particular.

“This is all so cool,” the green haired woman beside her cooed in a voice held reluctantly an octave below a squeal.

(“They live in caves,” the blonde woman said, oblivious of the conversations around her.)

“I know, right?” The red haired boy asked. “Oh, I’m Sachin, by the way. Sachin Sun.”

“Lirric,” said the green-haired girl. She grasped the young man’s hand in an enthusiastic grip and shook it vigorously. “Where are you from? I’m from the Protectorate on Alskyr. You know it?”

“Um… Alskyr… with the sea dragons, right?” Sachin grinned as Lirric nodded. “Okay, yeah. Sorry. My world’s been out of the Nexus a while. We only just reconnected. Nidus Aven, by the way. On Avengaea.”

“Oh, that is so cool,” Lirric gushed. “Your world was swallowed up by the drift, huh? I heard a bunch of worlds didn’t come out of it. I wonder if the people there are just going about their lives like nothing’s changed.”

“I heard that some of the worlds just completely vanished. Like gone forever vanished,” Sachin said in a hushed tone, as if speaking the words aloud made them real.

“I heard that some of them were eaten by some giant world-eating monster,” Lirric whispered back.

Sachin’s overcast gray eyes grew so wide they threatened to overtake his entire face.

“Really?” He squeaked.

Lirric attempted to maintain her serious demenour, but a moment later, she broke down into uncontrollable giggles.

“No. I’m just messing with you. But I did hear that some worlds chose to be cut off. Like Tris’Hath.”

“Yeah! Like they were worried about the hydras getting out, so they took themselves out first. I wonder what that looked like. They must have needed at least a dozen mages to pull it off.”

A soft, derisive scoff drew the attention of the two speakers. Sachin and Lirric looked over the heads of their peers to the tall, dark-haired (and darkly scowling) man in the corner.

Liu stood with his arms crossed and his back to the wall. He had turned up his nose at the numerous chairs on offer around the room, preferring instead to find the single corner where the torchlight didn’t fully reach.

“What? You think a dozen mages isn’t enough?” Lirric demanded of the moody stranger.

“Hardly,” Liu drawled. “As I understand it, they required the combined might of every graduate, apprentice, and novice of the mage tower, along with a literal army of sorcerers, and the colour masters themselves. All of them. Which is quite the feat if you know anything about Tris’Hathian politics. Which you two clearly don’t.”

Sachin ducked his head, shamed by his lack of knowledge. Lirrc, on the other hand, puffed out her chest and fixed Liu with the most stubbornly indignant expression she could muster.

“Oh, and I suppose you’re an expert, Mr…?”

“Liu,” he said. “Of the Crean.”

Lirric’s expression melted from obstinance to awe faster than an ice cube in a bonfire. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped into an excited O shape.

“The Crean? The Vella Crean?” She squeaked.

“What other Crean do you know of?” Liu quipped back.

This time, there was no containing the high pitched squeal that squeezed out of Lirric’s lungs.

“Oh my god. You have to tell me all about it! What are the Courts like? Was the world really made by Shy? Do you know any projects? What’s Naeodin like? I heard she’s like… a thousand years old. Is she immortal? Can you make your eyes turn gold?”

Liu countered Lirric’s look of delight with the expression of one who had just been talked into drinking sour milk and now felt horrendously betrayed. Before he could open his mouth to either answer or demolish Lirric’s barrage of questions, the door to the chamber opened with a clack.

Through the opening came a man with the bearing and build of a boulder. The sleeveless shirt he wore did nothing to hide the wealth of muscle gracing his torso and arms. A shock of red hair topped his head, leading into the faintest dusting of crimson around his jawline and chin.

The twins in blue watched the man stroll behind the singular desk in the room with predatory intent.

Tyler, the taller of the two, leaned toward his sister Tylde.

“Dibs,” he whispered.

“I’ll take that bet,” Tylde whispered back.

“Alright, let’s start with a quick rollcall,” the muscular man said without lifting his gaze from the clipboard in front of him. He sat heavily into his chair, causing the wood to groan beneath his bulk.

“Tylde and Tyler Erikson-Landon.”

“Present,” the twins said in unison.

The red-haired man’s eyes flicked up, and then his pen flicked across the paper.

“Lirric?”

“Here,” the green-haired woman sang out cheerfully.

“India.”

“Present,” said the soft-spoken blonde. Her eyes were still as large as saucers as she took in the chamber around her.

“Sachin Sun.”

“Present,” called the red-haired boy sitting beside Lirric.

“Liu Wen.”

“Here.” The amount of disdain pressed into that singular word earned another look from the muscular man behind the desk. If Liu felt any level of intimidation from that look, he didn’t let on.

“And finally Deinjost.”

“It’s pronounced Dee-en-josh.” The towering, four-armed figure in the corner raised one of his hands and paired it with a smile. He apparently regretted his words almost instantly, as the arm folded back down and he ducked his head in a small nod. “Oh… and present.”

“Great.” The muscular man finished making marks on his clipboard, then set it aside with a soft clack. “My name is K’lter, rider of blue Penorith. I am the Warren’s head search rider. I will be responsible for finding you all suitable bonding opportunities either here or off-world. Your preferences will be taken into account, but at the end of the day, the dragon decides the rider. Now, since all of you are new to Tris’Hath, let’s go over some ground rules. First and foremost, no matter where you’re from, while you live here, you abide by our laws. Each of you should have already received a leaflet packet that includes a primer on Lanuthan laws. Study them. Secondly, as familiar or unfamiliar as any of you might be with our rulers, they are not your friends here. They are to be referred to as Their Graces and shown the proper level of respect.”

“Mystic has never demanded such eccentricities at the Court hatchings,” Liu drawled from the back.

The only sign of K’lter’s irritation was a minor twitch of his heavy brow.

“Her Grace of Lanutha calls herself whatever she likes when off-world, but here, on Tris’Hath, in Lanutha, she is one of the ruling monarchs. You are not to approach her outside of the established channels of supplication. And you are definitely not to refer to her as anything other than Her Grace. Clear?”

There was a round of nods from the group at large, and an eye roll from Liu. K’lter took that as agreement enough. Before he could continue on to point number three, Lirric raised her hand. K’lter acknowledged her with a short nod.

“When do we get to see the other warrens? I heard that each princelet has one now.”

“Right, rule number three. So long as you live here, you are wards of Lanutha. Don’t go wandering off without arranging for passage through the necessary channels. Don’t travel without an escort. And most importantly, don’t try to access the deep tunnels.”

K’lter knew he’d made a mistake when the looks on Sachin, Lirric and India’s faces all took on the wonderment of children presented with a platter of candy.

“What’s-”

“No,” K’lter interrupted. “Don’t think about it. Don’t ask about it, and if you’re found attempting to access them, you will be expelled.”

Lirric’s hand shot into the air again. K’lter released a breath through his nose that was in no way a sigh.

“Yes, Lirric?”

“How do we apply for residency in one of the other warrens?” And then so as not to be rude, she added on. “Hypothetically.”

“Hypothetically…” K’lter drew out. “If you wanted to attain residency at another warren, you’d have to first complete your program here, then apply for Tris’Hathian citizenship, then be accepted by one of the other Caretakers.” K’lter paused and narrowed his eyes. “Hypothetically, which warren are you interested in?”

“Oh, I’m not,” Lirric sang cheerily. “But if I was, I heard that Sewyn Warren works closely with the Barokians and the Barokians are the most advanced inhabitants of Tris’Hath. They’ve created AI!”

“You’ve heard a lot,” K’lter said.

Lirric lifted her shoulders in a small shrug.

“People talk. I listen.”

“Ah, pardon me.” The velvet soft voice came from Deinjost in the corner. The towering alien had raised one of his arms again. “These Barokians, are they interested in structural engineering?”

“If you’re interested in putting your skills to use here, we can help you find work,” K’lter said.

“Oh, that’ll be handy,” Tylde piped up.

“If I can find work there too,” Tyler said.

“Eh. I could get by without you.”

Tyler turned to his twin with a wide-eyed expression that contained the concentrated hurt of a hundred kicked puppies. Tylde held a smug smirk all for herself.

“Regardless of your future paths,” K’lter cut in, “for the time being, you’re here until your program is finished. Any questions?”

“Yes, where do you go to grab a drink around here?” Tylde asked.

“The cafeteria in New Warren,” K’lter answered without delay.

“Want to get a drink together?”

K’lter stared at the woman in blue with a blank expression before turning to the rest of the group. Her brother leaned over to her during the lull.

“Ooooh… swing and a miss,” he said under his breath.

“Alright, if that’s all then I’ll release you to your own devices. Read your leaflets. Each of you has been assigned a mentor if you have questions. Tomorrow you’ll meet up outside this den to meet Penorith.”

“A guy usually doesn’t introduce me to his dragon until at least the third day,” Tyler said.

This time K’lter released a sound that was most definitely a sigh. He collected his clipboard and rose from behind the desk like a mountain rising over the horizon.

“You’re all dismissed. See you in the morning.”

The moment that K’lter turned toward the door and began to leave, Lirric shot up from her seat and over to Liu, who recoiled from her as if presented with a poisonous snake.

“Want to be study buddies?”

“No,” he replied curtly. He would have taken that opportunity to slide out of her line of sight as well, but unfortunately, Deinjost stood between him and escape. Instead, he chose to cross his arms and scowl.

“I’ll be your study buddy,” Sachin piped up.

“Me too,” India added. “It sounds like you know a lot about Tris’Hath.”

“Oh my gosh. I know all the coolest gossip.” Lirric turned back toward the bench, Liu forgotten in an instance. She bounced toward her new group of friends and sat down between them once more.

At the same time, the tall, gangly Deinjost finally extracted himself from the corner and moved toward the blue twins standing close to the door.

“Ah, excuse me,” he said, bowing low so as not to be intimidating at his full height. Two hands curled at his side as if looking for something to hold, while the other two steepled together in front of his chest. “Am I to understand that you have talents you wish to put to use?”

Tylde turned toward the tall man, looked him up and down, and apparently deemed what she saw to be to her liking.

“I have a lot of talents. Which ones are you looking for?”

Perhaps it was the sultry purr in her voice, or perhaps it was the way her brother snickered behind her, but something made Deinjost start abruptly. His pale cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“Ah, I didn’t mean- That is to say I meant- I mean-”

“You’re an engineer, right?” Tylde cut in.

“I am,” Deinjost replied, dipping his head in a quick nod.

“I have a thing for mechanics,” Tylde gave Deinjost another quick once over. “And mechanics, if you know what I mean.”

Deinjost’s flush crept down his neck, entirely unhindered by the fanciful stuff called “clothing” that the others wore.

“I am… I was hoping that perhaps… You see, there’s fewer people here with mechanical knowledge than I’m used to so-”

“Study buddies?”

The relief that flushed through Deinjost’s system eased the strain out of his pose and features.

“Yes, I would like that.”

With two groups of three establishing their budding friendships, that left only Liu in the dark. Figuratively and literally. The sharply dressed and sharply featured man from Vella Crean scowled at the activity around him. This was not the sort of reception he had expected from Naeodin’s dearest ally. Then again, perhaps he shouldn’t have banked his expectations on the rumoured relations of an old woman. At the very least for now, he was one step closer to his goal.

The seven new acquaintances filtered out of the receiving den in their respective groups. Tylde, Tyler, and Deinjost off to find this fabeled cafeteria in New Warren; India, Lirric and Sachin in search of adventure, and Liu on his lonesome to plot his next step.