The coach waits for me at the very bottom of the fortress. The final floor is a huge, low cavern, and the only way into the school, save from the staircase that leads down from Lour Castle. Anyone coming in then has to go up a long, narrow, spiralling staircase before they can actually get into the school; supplies are hauled up by a winch. Back in its stronghold days, this place was nearly impossible to attack.
I hurry across the yard, drawing my cloak up around my shoulders. An icy wind whistles up through the tunnel that leads to the outside world, and the horses whinny softly, their breath steaming like a dragon's when they snort.
Grumach waves to me from inside the coach, then bids me to hurry up with an impatient jerk of her head. I break into a jog, not wanting to annoy the Councillor before our journey has even begun.
I start as I finally climb into the stagecoach; it's like an oven inside, as there's a tiny brazier in the middle. "Isn't that a fire risk?" I eye the hot coals warily as I slide onto the leather-covered bench opposite the Councillor.
"Of course," she says. "Just as you risk your lives by using the barrier between life and death as a playground for a glorified game of cat-and-mouse. Life is full of risks, Freya."
I swallow. I guess she's right, but we survive the Shadows because nobody is actually stupid enough to look at the shadow creatures so they can attack you. All it will take is for one wheel on this coach to come loose, and I'll have a lap full of blisters.
Grumach raps on the roof of the coach, and immediately it jolts forward. Soon enough, we rumble out onto the narrow road, which is only just two small coaches wide and carved into the side of the gorge. If we follow the road north, we'll eventually get to Gelid Springs, the source of the River Winter and, according to Hydrologist legend, where humans first learned to control water with only their mind. Downstream, the river cascades into the Oskanian Sea. In a few months, it'll bring snowmelt and blocks of ice from these mountains to Wintermouth, and the city and the river will truly live up to their names.
The great river itself cascades beneath us, a pale brown torrent that froths against hidden rocks on its way to the capital and the ocean. They say that Lour Castle and the fortress beneath it were designed so attack is impossible, but when you see it from below, it's obvious that it would only take a determined handful of Petrologists to send the whole thing and everyone in it into the river.
When I look up at the monolith of a school, I feel a sudden sense of longing. The whole place looks dead—the shutters are all closed and there doesn't seem to be any movement in the classrooms, but maybe Tanvik declared a day of rest, as he often does when a student graduates. I guess it's better that way—if I could see life going on as normal without me, it would make leaving so much harder. It's unusual for everyone to get the day off, but maybe Tanvik was feeling generous for some reason.
Tears spring unbidden to my eyes, and I turn my face to the window so Grumach won't see. I must have sniffed or something though, because the Councillor laughs gently. "Cry if you need to, Freya," she says. "Gods know they'll eat you alive for that at the Guild, but we have days before we get there."
Her words don't comfort me as they should.
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A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short! If I don't update tomorrow, Windows 10 fucked up. It's Microsoft's fault. Avenge me.
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