“Woah! Hold still! You’ve got a spider in your hair!”

  Riley shifted awkwardly, pointedly not holding still while strategically brushing her hair behind her ear to allow her familiar, Herbert, to scuttle into a better hiding place. She looked at the shocked student next to her and gently explained, “You must be mistaken.”

  “Oh,” he said, squinting at her long dark hair, not quite convinced. Riley needed to distract him, and quickly. It wasn’t typical for a witch to need to hide their familiar, but Riley had found that people had a particular distaste for spiders. In her eyes, Herbert was the cutest, most adorable creature that had ever breathed life. Only a select few agreed with her. Besides, Herbert was shy, so all the more reason to keep him tucked away.

  “Uh, I’m Riley!” Riley said, jamming her hand out in between herself and the other student. There wasn’t really much space for a handshake in the cramped auditorium, but he took her hand as best he could.

  “Bruno,” he said.

  “So what brings you to Ms. Purple’s?” Riley asked, not waiting for an answer when she saw his eyes still fixed on her head. “I’m here for the magical courses, you know, because I know some basic spells and stuff but not really enough to really help people. I’ve always wanted to help people and be an adventurer and stuff but there’s only so much I could learn from my parents because they have some magical talent but they never really took the time to develop it. So, I’m going to be a first generation adventurer in my family.”

  Finally, he looked away from her hair and focused in on her face. Riley felt her breath hitch in her throat, almost wishing he’d go back to studying her hair. His gaze was intensely analyzing her and now she could see the glint of yellow in his eyes. Not as human as she initially had thought. No wonder he’d been able to spot Herbert, who was barely as big as one of Riley’s fingernails. If they hadn’t both been attending orientation at Ms Purple’s School for Adventuring and Mischief, Riley might have thought Bruno was a threat.

  Riley blushed, immediately embarrassed that she had even considered that Bruno could be a threat. She was from a small human village that didn’t get very many passerby’s, but if she was going to be an adventurer she needed to get used to the idea of working with all sorts of people.

  “A first gen, huh?” Bruno said, his voice low and gruff.

  “Hmmm?” Riley said, so completely wrapped up in her thoughts she had completely forgotten they had been conversing. You know, like two perfectly normal, totally not awkward, would-be novice adventurers.

  “Me too,” Bruno said. And then that was it. He turned back toward the front of the room, signalling the end of their conversation, rolling his shoulders impatiently.

  Now that Bruno’s focused gaze was somewhere else, it took every ounce of Riley’s self restraint not to reach up and check to make sure Herbert was safe and secure. Of course Herbert was. If he wasn’t, she would feel the shift in his energy immediately. There was no shift, she could feel him still nervously alert behind the curtain of her hair.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Why don’t you weave a little web to distract yourself? she thought to him. She felt the shift as he settled down a bit. An image appeared in her own mind as he projected the pattern he was practicing. A new spiraling form that they had recently seen on a healing scroll.

  Good idea! she thought, and she felt his satisfaction at her compliment.

  “Attention students!” a commanding voice echoed out, quieting the hundred or so people gathered. Up on the stage, Riley recognized Professor Fernanda, a brutally large woman who doubled as a tattoo gallery. If her size or the worn battle axe on her back didn’t mark her as a warrior, certainly the pointed ears and green skin were a dead giveaway. She had been Riley’s exam coordinator for the entrance exam. Riley was grateful for the distance between them now - Professor Fernanda was ten times scarier up close.

  “Everyone, please welcome Headmaster Karasu,” Professor Fernanda said, her voice booming out with the assistance of a voice magnifying amulet she dangled in front of her mouth, although she probably would have been just as well off without it. Riley marveled at the gold chained necklace, itching to get her hands on it. She had read about magic items like this, but they never had anything that powerful back home. Casting a spell was one thing, but imbuing an object with lasting energetic force, that was a whole different level of skill.

  Professor Fernanda stepped aside as a hooded figure hobbled up to the podium, using a plain wooden cane to maneuver. On their shoulder sat a crow with a silver tipped beak that looked wickedly sharp, even from halfway across the room. As the figure reached the podium, Riley expected them to lower their hood to speak, but they made no move to do so. Instead, Riley felt her excitement grow as the crow hopped onto the podium and bowed it’s head for Professor Fernanda to transfer the voice magnifier to its neck.

  “The bird is going to talk?” Bruno muttered with an edge of disbelief. Riley wasn’t sure if the question was directed to her, but she jumped at the opportunity to geek out anyways.

  “That has to be the Headmaster’s familiar,” she said in a hushed tone. “Their bond must be particularly strong - most familiars can’t speak for their partners unless the two of them have spent hours meditating in fusion.”

  “Oh, is that what they’re calling it these days?” Bruno replied, amusement lacing his tone.

  Riley was about to tell him off, but the crow spoke first. “Welcome, students and congratulations on making it this far. You have all passed the entrance exam and now are members of the 146th class of Ms. Purple’s School for Adventuring and Mischief. Gathered here on the stage before you, you can see…”

  The crow trailed off mid sentence and an odd silence settled over the room. Professor Fernanda’s eyebrow quirked upward in genuine concern as the bird tilted it’s head, looking as if it were listening to something. There was an ear splitting scream from somewhere in the back of the auditorium before the whole room was plunged into darkness.

  The panic was immediate, more screams spreading throughout the room as a hundred bodies pressed toward the exit in the back. But wasn’t that where the first scream had come from? They could be headed toward the very danger they sought to escape. There was nothing Riley could do though, she wasn’t strong enough to withstand the tide of students.

  “Please, remain calm!” came Professor Fernanda’s voice above the noise of panic, but no one seemed to pay attention.

  If not for the voice magnifying amulet, Riley doubted anyone would have heard the hasty snarl that came from the crow. Even so, Riley wasn’t sure if she had heard it correctly or had only imagined it. If she had to bet, though, it sounded as if the bird had angrily said a name:

  “Capernicus.”