Page 18 of Malcroix Bones Academy (Bones and Shadow #1)

Bonescastle

Iclimbed down the metal stairs of the carriage, now wearing my satchel crosswise on my body. I cautiously took in my new surroundings.

The view wasn’t remotely what I’d expected.

I’d expected buildings, parks, fountains, trees, even a glimpse of the university gates, but I saw only what appeared to be empty fields.

The ocean of tall grasses stretched as far as my eyes could see.

Gentle, rolling hills rose and fell up to the horizon, also covered with waving fronds dotted with the occasional ancient shade tree.

I glanced over my shoulder at the midnight black, horse-like creatures, with their long, writhing, scale-covered tails.

I heard a ringing laugh and turned, right as Draken and Miranda tumbled down the metal staircase behind me.

One of them stood on either side of me then, and gazed out over the same view.

“It’s the illusion,” Miranda said confidently. “Invisible city, remember?”

She nodded to our left, where a small group of people stood atop a low hill just past the harnessed monoceri.

“That guy in the purple robes must be our officiant. They send one every year to personally invite all the new students to Bonescastle, and to break the enchantment for us. They put a magical trace on us, as well, which is a requirement for all students until they graduate or leave the school… I read about it in the manual they sent last month.”

My eyebrows rose.

Manual? No one sent me a manual.

Had Ankha gotten it, instead? Annoyance swirled around me at the thought. Trust her not to send it on, but to leave me rude notes instead.

Miranda looped her arm through mine.

I looped my own through Draken’s proffered elbow on my other side, and the three of us began following the others up the hill.

When we reached the top, we added ourselves to the single-file line, which led to the white-haired mage. Somehow it was me who ended up first among the three of us. I watched as the old mage raised a hand and spoke words over a male student.

Abruptly, that student vanished.

There was no green and black smoke, no scorched footprints on the grass, but I jumped violently the first time it happened, my heart in my throat. I calmed down when no one else seemed bothered. I watched the next one vanish.

Then the next.

Then the next.

When it was my turn, the old man blinked briefly into my face.

He looked at me as if he knew who I was.

Or, more realistically, like he recognized me from the papers.

The purple-robed mage then solemnly raised his hand.

He said the same thing to me that he’d said to every other student who’d stood in line before me.

“I formally invite you, Leda Rose Shadow-La Fey, to the city of Bonescastle and to Malcroix Bones Academy,” he intoned solemnly.

Really, he boomed the words, like he might be hard of hearing.

“Welcome, good tidings to you, and best of luck in all your endeavors. May you do your ancestors proud by contributing all you’re able to the civilization of Magique!”

There was a flash the instant he finished speaking.

A world exploded into being around me.

I steadied myself on a cobblestone walk.

A view of colorful storefronts lined a street to my left.

More buildings and awnings lined a street at a slightly lower elevation to my right.

I stood in a sloped garden square that took up several blocks, filled with graceful statues, fountains, and vast flower beds with unusual and colorful blooms. The garden itself was more of a rectangle than a square, stretching maybe six blocks on its longest sides, and three or four on the ends.

The steepest slopes lived at the narrowest parts, however.

We were obviously standing on the side of a hill.

The purple-robed mage and I stood by an enormous fountain filled with monoceri carved from massive slabs of black marble.

The stone horses leapt and reared under a deluge of deafening water, surrounded by water sprites and dragons.

The pounding of the water and the laughter and talking of nearby Magicals explained why the man had spoken so loudly.

The fountain was enormous, larger than the carriage.

I glanced down the hill.

Oddly, I could still see our carriage with its own snorting and stamping monoceri, but now they appeared to be stopped at a stone curb right by the city park.

I couldn’t see any of the individual Magicals who’d been standing in line behind me, including Draken or Miranda.

The purple-robed man raised his hand, his eyes distant.

Realizing that the next person in line likely stood directly in front of him, I hastily stepped to my left to give them room, and nearly stumbled into the huge fountain. I watched as the purple-robed mage said the words again, only with a different name.

Miranda popped into existence in front of him.

She took one look at me, and immediately laughed.

We both stepped back a few paces and waited for Draken to appear next, which he did roughly a minute later. The three of us then walked away from the fountain, far enough that the sound of crashing water grew less deafening.

“Where should we go first?” Miranda asked, still speaking loudly over the bustling square. “I’m dying for a cup of coffee. Any objections?”

“No,” I said, although my eyes never stopped looking around at the city streets.

I glimpsed an oddly-shaped steeple over the nearer rooftops, and a silver dome to some larger structure a little further back. Five, significantly larger streets led away from the park like spokes, along with three smaller ones to the north and south, and numerous alleys.

Looking down the widest of those avenues, the same one where the monoceri and their caravan remained parked, I glimpsed a row of shopfronts, umbrellas with outdoor seating, hanging signs, glowing marquees, trees and flowers in planter boxes, what looked like elevated ponds, and even a few cars and smaller carriages.

Much closer to where we stood, just on the other side of a bed of purple and pink blossoms, hand-painted signs advertised coffee, used magical texts, ritual accessories, magical botanicals, secondhand wings, cakes, antique furniture, crystals, oracle stones, clothing, enchanted carpets, potted plants, and magical pets.

I watched as two kids set off fireworks over their heads, causing a small, dragon-like animal with wings to swoop in and out of the colored lights.

A group of older, post-university-aged Magicals stood just outside the used bookstore, one holding what looked like a set of wings under their arm while chatting with a witch who nodded seriously, her arms loaded with leather-bound textbooks.

Gazing around at all of it, probably with an idiotic grin on my face, I thought…

this. This was why I desperately wanted Archie with me here, rather than the reverse.

For the first time since I’d left my parents’ small beach house in California, I stood in a place that felt like home.

I’d wanted to go to university for as long as I could remember, but this was so much more than that. This felt like mine.

Like I belonged here… whatever the other Magicals might say.

Miranda grabbed my hand, and Draken’s hand on her other side.

The small witch began dragging us in the direction of the nearest tea shop, which had flashing, magical letters advertising gourmet coffee and ice cream on a sandwich board, and a wide selection of magical teas.

The letters changed color and font style, then morphed into images of Magicals drinking tea with pink cupcakes and big smiles.

I glanced over my shoulder long enough to see the monoceri begin to trot off, carriage in tow, their glossy black heads and sharp horns held high in the air.

They broke into a faster canter as I watched.

“Where’s the school?” I asked, right as Miranda reached for the front door to the shop. The door knocked into a delicate bell as Miranda pushed it open with one hand. “You said it’s located right at the center of town?”

“We’ll have to find a map at some point, I suppose,” Miranda said cheerfully. “Or simply cast a location spell. But we were supposed to be dropped off only a few blocks from the front gates, so we could also just stumble around until we find it. I can’t imagine it’ll take long.”

Her happiness was infectious, and I laughed.

“I like the stumbling idea,” I told her. “I wouldn’t mind going into the used bookstore I just saw, either?”

“?Or the Antique Magical Objects Emporium,” Draken added enthusiastically.

“Do you have your own wings?” Miranda asked me.

I felt my smile falter.

“No,” I admitted. “Do I need them? I thought the school provided wings to students who don’t have any?”

Miranda shrugged. “They do. You don’t need them.

But learning to fly’s a lot easier if you have your own wings.

Wing-bonds are alchemical, so using the generic ones provided by the school will make it harder.

Wings are supposed to bond to your magic…

your whole being, really. They’re supposed to feel like an extension of your body. ”

“Oh.” I glanced between them. “You both have yours?”

Draken nodded along with Miranda. “I got an old pair of Dad’s. Still better than the school’s, but not really mine. I’d really like my own set.”

“Have either of you flown before?” I asked my new friends curiously. “Is that something one does, prior to taking classes?”

“A lot of students will have done, I imagine. Even those who aren’t yet legal. I haven’t,” Draken added, then nudged Miranda as we walked up to the counter. “She has, the brat.”