'There's a new presence on campus. It feels familiar though. It's been about a month since the incident could it really be him. He survived? Down there of all places.'
The headmaster wondered just what was happening in his academy as he opened a portal leading back to the bridge where he accepted all the new students earlier in the year.
Max slipped through the forest shadows as dawn peeled thin strips of gold across the horizon. Every muscle in his body ached from the week of training, but he kept moving. The hooded man's final words echoed in his head.
We will meet again… when the weapon tells you.
The magic academy's outer wards shimmered ahead, faint ripples of blue light marking the boundary. Max stepped through them, feeling the familiar prickle across his skin. The wards recognized him or maybe the weapon strapped to his back. Hard to tell anymore.
The academy grounds were quiet at this hour. Statues stood like sleeping guardians. Floating lanterns dimmed to soft embers. Max pulled up his hood and slipped along the stone walkway, keeping to the shadows.
He almost made it to the courtyard undetected.
Almost.
"Well, this is unexpected."
Max froze.
Headmaster Zephyr stood in the doorway of the west tower, tall and composed as ever, gray robes fluttering in the early morning breeze. His silver hair drifted like smoke, and his eyes oh man those sharp, unsettlingly clear eyes they studied Max with calm precision.
Max tried not to show how nervous he suddenly was.
"H-Headmaster. I was just… taking an early walk back from the tunnel I fell in."
"Is that so?" Zephyr's gaze dropped to the weapon on Max's back. "With that strapped to you? Out strolling for a Month outside my detection?"
Max swallowed. "It's for… exercise?"
Zephyr raised a single eyebrow. "Max, I have lived long enough to know when someone is lying badly."
Max was pretty sure his soul tried to escape his body for a moment.
But then Zephyr did something unexpected. He smiled softly.
"You've been away," the headmaster said. "I trust you used your time wisely?"
Max hesitated. "I… learned some things."
"That's good. Knowledge, after all, rarely waits politely. But be cautious." Zephyr stepped closer, lowering his voice. "The academy is changing. The world outside is stirring. And you, Max, have placed yourself in the path of it all."
Max's pulse quickened. "What do you mean?"
Zephyr shook his head. "Not now. Rest. Heal. And keep what you've learned to yourself for your sake, and for theirs."
He turned, heading back into the tower, his robes whispering across the stone.
"Oh," he added, glancing over his shoulder, "welcome back."
Then he disappeared into the shadows of the staircase.
Max exhaled shakily and continued toward the dorms, making sure no one saw him cross the main courtyard. He slipped behind the greenhouse, climbed through a cracked side window of the alchemy hall, and cut across the back corridor until he finally reached the boys' dorm.
He opened the door as quietly as possible.
Alex was sitting on Max's bed.
Max nearly dropped his weapon.
"Where were you?" Alex whisper-yelled, springing to his feet. "Dude, you vanish for a month and now you crawl in like some kind of sewer goblin!"
Max blinked. "…You're surprisingly close. Also why are you in my room I thought it was locked."
Alex pointed accusingly. "I heard you climbing the window. Your stealth sucks. The room selections opened up and since you were gone I claimed your room which was easy to do since nobody wanted a dead mans room anyway."
Max sighed and shut the door behind him his identification card still working. "Okay, fair. But I can explain."
"Oh, believe me, you better," Alex said, crossing his arms. "Because you missed everything."
Max stiffened. "Everything?"
Alex nodded, eyes wide. "First of all, the third-floor spell labs got sealed because apparently someone summoned something they couldn't control. There were screams, Max. Screams."
"That… sounds normal for the spell labs."
"Yeah, but this time the screams were from the professors. Nobody even knew about the mysterious third floor until then. Just that we had labs for research up there."
"…Okay, that's new."
"And then," Alex continued, lowering his voice, "there were rumors about someone breaking into the restricted archives in the professors area. Zephyr's been on edge. The school council board sent investigators. Everyone's freaking out."
Max's stomach dropped. "Do they know who did it?"
Alex shook his head. "No clue. But they think it was a student."
Great, Max thought. Just what I needed.
"And one more thing," Alex added. "A bunch of people have been wondering if you really died or if you falling through the field was some kind of cover up and you left the academy. Some people think it's to good to be true that the powerful professors would let you just die. I thought the screams on the third floor were from you! They weren't you right? Some say you got expelled. And one rumor says you were kidnapped by swamp elves."
Max blinked. "…Swamp elves?"
"Yeah. I don't know who started that one. Swamp elves sound like they might be gross or really pretty who knows. If that rumor was true you have to Introduce me man."
Silence stretched, heavy and awkward.
Then Alex leaned in, eyes narrowing. "Max. Seriously. What happened to you?"
Max looked at his bruised hands, at the weapon sheathed on his back, at the dust still clinging to his boots from the forest where he'd trained every night.
He met Alex's gaze.
"I'm not sure you'll believe me," Max said.
Alex shrugged. "Dude. I'm rooming with a dead guy who honestly I'm still trying to figure out if you're a figment of my depressing imagination or not. Try me."
Max took a deep breath.
And he began to explain—carefully, not everything, but enough.
As Alex listened, his expression changed to confused… then to worried.
When Max finished, Alex exhaled slowly. "Okay. Um. Wow. So you've basically been training with a mysterious sewer ninja for a week."
"That's… a very inaccurate summary, but sure." Max said rolling his eyes.
Alex ran a hand through his hair. "Max… things are getting dangerous around here. If someone finds out what you've got? That weapon? You won't just be in trouble. You'll be a target."
Max felt the weight of the weapon settle heavier on his back.
"I know," he said quietly.
Alex looked at him for a long moment, then nodded. "Okay. Then I've got your back."
Max blinked. "You do? Are you even strong?"
"Of course I do." Alex smirked. "Someone's gotta keep you alive. You attract trouble like it's your job. I've been through my own fare share… even though I asked for it."
Max laughed a tired, relieved laugh he hadn't felt in days.
It was good to be home.
Even if everything was changing.