Vaygris and her ilk have put to ruin a great many of my contingencies. Her mastery of fate far exceeded my own predictive capacities. As if to compound my misfortunes, my citadel did not survive the cataclysm. Was that merely by chance? I am deeply frustrated by the loss of my great library — not for my past self's emotional attachment to his meticulous curation, but for more practical reasons. I must reconstruct my wealth of knowledge from scratch. Metas'In has been quite helpful in this regard.

  “Wow, it’s huge!” said Lerrum, leaning over the rail and staring at the large forested island in the distance.

  “It looks just like Aldea,” Narro opined, prompting a raised eyebrow from Evran. “Without all the buildings and stuff.”

  “I guess I can see it. Most islands this size have a small mountain for a labyrinth,” said Evran. “There isn’t a great spot for a harbor, though — not on this side, at least.”

  “That barely qualifies as a hill, human,” said a nearby dwarf student in his third year. “Travel to the eighth band someday. Then you’ll see what a real mountain looks like!”

  The sky took on pink and orange hues as the sun rapidly approached the horizon. The Glory of Aldea was all alone this evening, as they had sent the schooner that had discovered this island ahead to the rendezvous while the Glory made a beeline for the virgin island. The schooners should be meeting up about now and sharing the discovery.

  It was far too late in the day to establish a landing, or even scout for an appropriate spot in the coming darkness. As the daylight faded, the ship took down her sails and drifted lazily toward the island, forcing the students to spend another night stewing in their anxieties. By morning, two of the schooners had rejoined the expedition, while the rest were given leave to return to Aldea.

  The adventurers and a few specialist mages from the Glory augmented the crews of the remaining schooners as they sailed off to scout the island for an appropriate place to make camp. Not long after they disappeared behind the island, a large blue flare appeared in the sky. The Glory raised her sails and slowly made its way toward the flare.

  “Wow, these guys work fast,” said Lerrum, admiring the makeshift landing as it came into view.

  The specialists had already dug out a pair of depressions for schooners to safely dock over. The Glory was far too large for a full slot of its own, so a partial area was excavated for the ship to nestle its stern into while the rest of the ship remained exposed to the void. For a ship of its size, the updrafts would not pose an issue.

  Once fully moored, the passengers disembarked and set themselves to the various tasks to which they’d been assigned. For the older students, that meant patrolling the nearby area for monsters while the younger students offloaded supplies, cleared out trees, and established a defensive perimeter.

  “I don’t see why we can’t just sleep on the ship!” Kaila complained as she approached the edge of the camp with Evran. “There are comfy beds right there! Instead, we have to build these stupid earth magic shelters.”

  “It’s important to know your basic survival skills,” said Evran. “Besides, it’ll be fun!”

  “For you! I’m not a freakish prodigy when it comes to earth magic. You’ll be living in a marble mansion while I’ll be lucky if my pathetic little dome doesn’t collapse on me!”

  “I don’t see why you can’t make a nice hut, too. You’re great with ice, and the principles aren’t too dissimilar.”

  As they were arguing, Narro approached with another spellblade in tow, one of the beastkin of the Inuthi clan. He wore a troll-hide cuirass over a gambeson coat and carried a longsword at his side. The many nicks and tears in his armor spoke to his experience, as well as a lack of a restoration enchantment. His wolf-like ears barely peaked over his shaggy gray hair, and a rather fluffy tail swayed behind him as he walked.

  “Yo, Ev, Ice Princess!” teased Narro, having overheard the last part of Evran and Kaila’s conversation. “Here’s your teammate, Indon. Don’t let him die; he owes me money.”

  “Hi Indon, I’m Evran. I’ve managed to keep Narro alive somehow, so you’re in good hands.”

  The spellblade laughed nervously as he shook Evran’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Evran.”

  “And I’m Kaila. Call me ‘Ice Princess’ and I’ll freeze your tail off. While we’re on that topic, Narro, please come over here.”

  With a mischievous laugh, Narro turned and ran off toward the other side of the camp. “Sorry, Ler and Depri are waiting. Have fun, you three!”

  “Kai, coldly threatening people with ice magic isn’t helping,” Evran joked. “And Indon, I can’t help you if you lose your tail to her. I’m good enough at healing flesh and bone injuries, but organs and regrowing body parts is a bit beyond me.”

  “Oh, with this I can do organs!” Kaila offered insincerely, producing a scroll from her bag and waving it about. “But in all seriousness, what my tactless friend is trying so say is don’t get overconfident just because you’re in a group with an amazing, elite academy mage… and Evran.”

  “Don’t worry! I was warned to expect some teasing, but you two seem alright. I look forward to fighting alongside you,” said Indon. “And it looks like I got here just in time. The patrol group we’re supposed to be relieving is back.”

  ***

  Upon returning from their patrol, Evran found the base camp nearly complete. A massive stone wall shielded the interior from wayward monsters. The nearby forest had been clear-cut for a hundred meters, with the valuable trees hauled away and the stumps dug up and tossed off the island. It sure was amazing what a few hundred mages could do with earth magic in such a short time. Evran was eager to leave his own creative mark on the campsite, so he took off in search of the quartermaster to see where his shelter plot was located.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Pairs of students were each assigned plots on which they were expected to build rudimentary shelters using earth magic. As this was an assignment beyond the abilities of most of the spellblades, they had all been assigned mages to bunk with. Evran, of course, got Indon for a roommate. He was all too happy with such an arrangement, as it would allow Evran absolute creative freedom in the construction of his dwelling. He eagerly set to building the insanely detailed structure he’d been planning for all week. After spending an hour or two on the project, far longer than any of the other students, his roommate arrived to check on his progress.

  “Are you almost finished, Evran?” asked Indon, peeking through the doorway of the incomplete dwelling. “Why couldn’t you just make a simple dome like everyone else?”

  “Nonsense!” Evran shouted in melodramatic defiance. “They must envy us!”

  “Whatever. It’s almost dinner, so I’m going to head over to the food pavilion. I’m leaving my gear here. Please put it inside when you finish… if you ever do.”

  An hour later, just as the last of the sun dipped below the horizon, Evran stood back and admired his masterpiece in the failing light of day. Not wanting to stand out too much from the amateurish domes of his classmates, Evran based his design on the spiral shell of the fierce Nautaloid monster.

  The inspired building was divided into three rooms — a common room and two bedrooms — separated by walls with sliding doors of stone. The bedrooms were modest in size, but each had a window, a few shelves, and a raised bed frame. At the center of the common room, Evran made a small fireplace where the interior walls converged. Its heat would keep them comfortably warm through the cold spring nights.

  Above the fireplace sat a sconce meant to hold a lamplight spell. The summoned orb of light could illuminate all three rooms through gaps in the walls, which could be covered with a small sliding door. To round things out, Evran added a table with a bench, more shelving, and a washing basin, consisting entirely of mana-formed stone. With his labor complete, he brought Indon’s gear inside only to realize he’d left his own back on the ship.

  After retrieving his stuff, Evran returned to find his new home swarming with uninvited guests. Lerrum, Narro, Arietta, Indon, Kaila, and Depri were inside, enjoying his magnum opus. They already had a fire going and were cooking some skewers of vegetables, wild mushrooms, and monster meat. Having skipped dinner, the savory aromas made Evran salivate while his stomach loudly announced his entrance.

  Someone had figured out the purpose of the lighting sconce and had cast a lamplight spell there. It was working exactly as he’d hoped. Indon was still unpacking in his room, while Depri was in Evran’s, inspecting the sliding door mechanism Evran used for the light and windows. Narro and Arietta sat snuggled against each other on the bench, stealing brief moments of intimacy when they thought no one was looking.

  Lerrum glanced up from the washing basin, which was serving as a prep station for the skewers. “Hey, there he is!”

  “Evran, you have to build me one of these tomorrow!” demanded Kaila, with her signature pout.

  “I’m glad you like it, but this took several hours and nearly all my mana to complete.”

  Depri leaned out of Evran’s room. “I can modify our hut with some of these features. I must say, they’re all quite clever. Where did you come up with this weird spiral for your design?”

  “A lake monster I fought when I was a kid. It was gross, but I kept its shell as a trophy. It had this shape,” Evran explained as Lerrum handed him a cooked skewer and a stone cup filled with Seeker wine. He eagerly snatched the offerings. “Thanks, I’m starving.”

  “Ah, Evran, you’re here!” said Indon, having finished unpacking. “I take back all my complaints earlier. This is amazing!”

  Evran basked in the warmth of validation as he attacked the tasty skewer. The meat was tender and juicy, and Lerrum had used a sweet and spicy glaze made with some of the fire honey he’d procured from the Seekers. It was beyond delicious!

  He listened to Narro embellish their team’s encounter with a blackthorn boar, the source of the evening’s delicious meat. His own squad hadn’t fought anything worth mentioning, as their patrol mostly consisted of them hacking through thick underbrush near the shore.

  The group spent the remainder of the evening getting to know each other better over food and wine. Indon fit in as if they’d all been friends for years, while Depri was more of a wallflower, content with listening to their outrageous tales. Evran wasn’t particularly thrilled when Kaila told the three spellblades about a certain flower incident.

  “Gods, I wanted to die,” Evran chuckled. “I’ve never been more embarrassed.”

  “It was going so well, too,” lamented Depri, sitting on the floor next to Evran. The group remained silent, anticipating what their quiet companion might say next. “I was genuinely rooting for you two… until you took the wrong petal. I was furious at you for ruining the moment! Now I feel kinda sad.” She reached over and gave Evran a few sympathetic pats on the head.

  “Don’t feel too bad for him,” Kaila interrupted, shifting herself closer to Evran. “I’m beginning to think he knew exactly what he was doing all along. His only mistake was doing it in front of the whole school. I bet Selsey would’ve accepted the right petal in private.”

  “Is that so?” asked Evran. She was teasing him, of course, but Evran was truly over it. He was content to play along, not that he had a choice in the matter.

  “Hell, I might, for the right elf — a prince maybe,” Kaila boldly confessed to a shocked crowd. “You’d be surprised how many would, just not in front of others. A girl’s gotta have her dignity.”

  Depri let out a small squeak and hid her rapidly blushing face behind her hands. You could still see the corners of a fiendish grin peeking out. “I had no idea some girls liked that sort of thing.”

  “I’d have to murder Narro if he did that,” Arietta added while cuddling up against him on the bench. Then she turned to Evran. “Selsey let you off easy.”

  “Kestie might’ve gone for it,” Lerrum wondered aloud.

  “Hey Ev, now that you know what you’re doing…” Kaila began. She leaned over and intruded deeply into Evran’s personal space. “If you knew she’d say yes, which petal would you have taken in private?”

  Again, the room went silent. Evran was not so happy to play along anymore. Concluding that he definitely should not answer this question seriously, Evran took a deep breath and smirked. His answer arrived with a flippant tone.

  “At first I felt guilty. It was like Pri said, I ruined the moment. But now I feel myself aggrieved. All she had to do was whisper ‘middle’ and everything would have been fine. Same petal!”

  The room erupted with a mix of cheers and jeers, though everyone laughed in the end. Kaila rolled her eyes at her incorrigible friend, messing up Evran’s hair as she pushed herself away from him. She glanced back at Evran, still giggling. They held each other’s gaze for a moment, both too long and too short.

  In that instant, Evran felt a peculiar urge to peek at her aura, though he did not know why. His staff rested only an arm’s length away, leaning against the wall of his room. He tore his eyes away from Kaila, then clumsily reached over Depri, seizing his staff. He turned around to find a stunned look on Kaila’s face. The bashful elf glanced away, then back.

  “Pink?” she asked.

  Evran nodded.

  “Huh?” interrupted a very confused Depri. “What’s pink?”

  “Nothing! Just a game we sometimes play,” Kaila responded.

  No one else seemed to have noticed, their attention having turned Lerrum and Narro fighting over the last remaining skewer. Their late-night revelry came to an abrupt end, however. A small, soothing bell sounded from outside, declaring lights-out for the camp. Evran thanked everyone for the impromptu housewarming party and sent his friends on their way. He’d wanted to have a chat with Kaila before she left, but the elf girl offered a terse wish goodnight, then aggressively dragged Depri back toward their own hut.

  “That was fun,” said Indon, helping Evran tidy up their place. “I wasn’t expecting a party like that. You’ve got some great friends.”

  “And Narro,” the two roommates said simultaneously, followed by a laugh.