Element Wielder

Chapter 9

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CHAPTER 9

The dining hall was a large rectangular room with a ceiling that seemed to reach to the skies. Hundreds of loud students sat at long wooden tables. Some ate. Others spoke to one another. Few did both.

“Have you ever seen so much food in one place?” asked Lao with a grin.

“No. I can’t say that I have. It sure smells good,” Falcon said. The sweet aroma of pumpkin pie, porridge, and blueberry cream cake intermingled with the salty smells from the stewed pig, roast beruda, and lamb chops. But even through the symphony of smells, Falcon easily distinguished the honeyed smell of his favorite treat: roasted Yinjue nuggets.

At the front of the room was a podium where dozens of professors sat facing the crowd of students. They all wore various-colored silk robes, some wearing black, and some wearing gold, green, brown, or blue.

“Where do we sit?” asked Falcon. “The table for the first-year students is full.”

Lao shrugged. “I don’t know. Let’s just sit at the second-year table.”

Falcon studied the table full of orange-shirted students. They did have a few empty spots. But he knew better than to take them. “Are you crazy? With our white shirts we’ll easily stand out in that ocean of orange. We’re in enough trouble as it is.”

Just then a small boy stood up from the end of the first-year table. “There are some empty seats here, mates.” The boy waved both his hands wildly in the air. It was the same student who had been scolded by the professor earlier that day, Chonsey. His yelling and hand swings brought stares of disapproval from some of the older students, which led the timid boy to retreat back into his seat.

“Thanks. I was beginning to think all the seats were taken.” Falcon sat in one of the two empty chairs beside Chonsey. “I am Falcon Hyatt and this is Lao-Chan Keen.”

“Please, call me Lao.” The three shook hands. “You are Chonsey, right?”

“Yes, Chonsey Meloth. I would ask how you know who I am, but I’m certain that’s obvious. Half of Rohad probably knows my name after that little encounter in the grand hall.”

Not only was Chonsey the shortest boy Falcon had ever seen, he was also the skinniest. He had bushy brown hair that stood out from the rest of his tiny body. His two upper-middle teeth were also large compared to the rest of his teeth. He reminded Falcon of the beavers he’d seen by the river on his hunting trips with K’ran. However, he was friendlier than most of the students he’d met thus far, and Falcon needed as many friends as possible.

An abrupt silence fell over the dining hall.

“What’s going on?” whispered Falcon, more to himself than anyone else.

“It’s the grandmaster.” Chonsey pointed at an old man who slowly made his way to the podium. The sound of his walking cane banging against the marble floor was the only audible noise.

Falcon thought he looked awkward, to say the least. If it weren’t for the white patches of untamed hair sticking out from both sides of his head, the grandmaster would be completely bald. Long sideburns and a bushy goatee covered the many wrinkles on his face and there was a hump on his back that was clearly visible under his dark robe.

“He sure doesn’t look like much,” whispered Lao. “And what’s up with that mountain he has coming out of his back?”

“Watch what you say, mate. Grandmaster Zoen used to be one of the most powerful wielders of Va’siel. I heard he even dueled the Golden Wielder to a standstill in an exhibition match when he was younger. Can you imagine? Dueling the Golden Wielder.” Chonsey’s eyes twinkled with admiration.