Conrad Edison and the Anchored World (Overworld Arcanum Book 2) (6 page)

Galfandor smiled. "The Lady of the Pond."

The other man leapt back. "From the Fairy Garden?" His eyes narrowed on us. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing, sir." I placed Mirjana's dangling hand on the bed. "The forest in front of the mansion has been completely cut down, and the pond looks polluted."

Galfandor hissed between his teeth. "Yes, well, we need to talk about that, children." He turned to Percival. "Let me know the moment she's awake."

The healer pressed a hand to his patient's forehead. "If I can wake her. I don't know if our magic will work on her."

"What sort of supernatural being is she?" Ambria asked.

Percival shrugged. "All I know is that she lives underwater as easily as on land."

"A mermaid!" Ambria's eyes widened. "Oh, how wonderful."

Max covered his face with a hand. "There's no such thing as mermaids, silly."

Galfandor cleared his throat. "Follow me, please, children." He left the ward and led us on a rather long hike through twisting hallways, upstairs, downstairs, and finally to doorway that had to be on the opposite end of the university, judging from the distance we'd travelled.

"Where in the world are we?" Ambria said, looking with awe at a huge gallery of portraits with serious-looking people staring back at her. Her gaze wandered to something else and her mouth dropped open. "Did you kill and stuff those poor owls?"

I saw a shelf filled with a variety of life-like owls arranged from largest to smallest. A huge brown one looked nobly down at us while the smallest, a white owl, looked as though it had been frozen into place while taking flight.

Galfandor chuckled. "Someone had the bright notion to use owls as delivery birds." He tutted. "After two teachers nearly lost their eyes and several children were viciously mauled and clawed, we decided that birds of prey simply aren't safe in this environment."

"Safe?" Ambria chirped. "You're concerned about child safety?" She laughed. "You didn't seem concerned about our safety when we rescued the orphans from the Goodleighs all by our little selves."

Galfandor didn't seem the least bit offended. "On the contrary, Miss Rax. I was concerned about your safety, but I was in no position to help."

"Did you kill all those birds?" Max asked.

The old man shook his head. "No, they're merely under preservation spells. I could lift the spell and they'd be free to fly away." Galfandor seemed to think the matter settled and walked down the hallway and into an office. Windows on all sides overlooked the university grounds. To the right I saw the crystalline dome of the library, and straight ahead lay the valley. Science Academy gleamed silver in the distance on the opposite mountaintop.

"Whoa what a view!" Max ran to the windows and looked around.

Galfandor sat in a red leather chair and looked at me seriously. "Now we can talk about what happened in the Fairy Garden."

I sat down on the couch across from him. Galfandor was someone I couldn't quite classify as a friend, though he'd indirectly helped us rescue other children from the Goodleighs' manor and had given us good advice on most matters. Whatever secret motives he might have, he at least seemed to want to help us and hopefully wouldn't betray us.

Besides, he was the only adult we could really ask for advice or help. In light of that, I knew telling him everything was the best course of action. Starting with Evadora, I told him about our short trip into the rift and what we'd heard from my parents and Serena.

Galfandor nodded and grunted several times, but said nothing until I finished.

"Well," he said, "it appears you've once again stumbled into trouble, children."

Max wrinkled his forehead. "What's on the other side of the rift?"

The old man put a hand to his chin. "The anchored world, she said? I don't believe I've ever heard of such a thing."

Max snapped his fingers. "I just thought of something. What if the place on the other side of the rift is where the pocket dimensions like Queens Gate are located?"

"Yes, yes, I suppose it could be. The rift must be some sort of barrier to keep curious folks out." Galfandor stroked his beard. "The mystery of the pocket dimensions would be a mystery worth solving."

"You certainly can't convince me to go back in that awful place," Ambria stated firmly. "Besides, we have the exam to study for."

The thought of school brought another pressing issue to mind. "Sir, supposing I pass the exam, is there a way to hide my last name from the school—change it, I mean?"

The headmaster raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, yes, the name Edison certainly wouldn't go over well with some."

"Ooh, I'd like to change my last name too," Ambria said.

Max sighed. "Everyone already knows my last name."

Galfandor stood and went to a large leather-bound book. He flipped it open and ran his finger down a page, then thumbed through the pages. "Ah, here it is." He shook his head. "I'm afraid school policy prohibits the use of aliases."

"But everyone will hate us," Ambria said. "If anyone learns I'm the daughter of Cyphanis Rax, they might run me out of school."

The headmaster raised a finger. "It just so happens that since you and Conrad are—or in Conrad's case, were—orphans, your last names are not a matter of public record. While it does not explicitly state what name is to be used, I believe it allows you some wiggle room on the registration forms."

Galfandor pulled on a rope and a bell rang. "Since you're already here, it might be easiest to fill out the paperwork now."

"But we haven't taken the exam yet," Ambria said.

"You need to register before you can take the exam." He looked at the wall. "Ah, hello Shushiel."

A whispering sound like the rustle of cloth drew our attention to the wall behind us. Ambria was the first to shriek at the top of her lungs. I stumbled backwards over a lamp table, sending its contents crashing to the floor in my mad dash to escape a massive red spider on the wall.

Chapter 5

Max didn't seem the least bit frightened of the massive arachnid. "Wow, you've got a ruby spider?"

Shiny red fur coated the spider from the tips of its eight long legs to the top of its eight-eyed head. Black bands striped the fur on the legs, and formed a crooked E on top of the abdomen.

The headmaster walked over to the huge spider where it clung to the wall. The creature extended a strand of web with several scrolls attached to it. The front legs on its head rubbed together, making the whispering noise I'd heard earlier.

Galfandor chuckled. "Why, no, Shushiel, you look perfectly fine to me. I think our friends have never met anyone so lovely and were quite overwhelmed." He turned his gaze on Ambria and me. "Correct, children?"

Ambria clutched me like driftwood in a storm-tossed sea, but still managed to nod. "V-v-very lovely, sir."

"Yes," I croaked. "Beautiful." I felt a stirring in that part of me where Vic and Della resided and felt a sense of awe and resentment.

Shushiel leapt to the floor, eliciting another shriek from Ambria, and performed an eight-legged curtsey. She stood as tall as my knee and each of her furry red legs looked nearly as long as mine.

"She is pleased to meet you," Galfandor said.

Max leaned toward the spider. "How do you understand her?"

Galfandor smiled. "You simply have to listen carefully to her susurrations." He looked fondly at the huge spider. "The Overlord—Victus Edison—created a mutant gene in cobalt spiders in his early attempts to create allies. The gene turned them from blue to red and branded them with his initial."

I stared at the E on Shushiel's back. "My father is responsible for her?"

"For her entire species," Galfandor said. "The mutant gene caused not only unusual growth in size, but also increased the intellectual capacity of the affected spiders."

Shushiel rubbed her forelegs together in an excited whispery monologue for several moments while Galfandor listened thoughtfully. He finally translated. "Her parents were of the original thirty spiders Victus mutated. Once they realized what he intended for them to do, they escaped his menagerie of mutant monsters and made a home in the Dark Forest."

"So, she won't eat me?" Ambria said hopefully.

Galfandor shook his head. "She prefers rodents or spider bats."

The spider walked over to Ambria and susurrated.

"Shushiel says you are less horrendous looking than most bipeds," Galfandor said.

Ambria frowned. "Tell her she is a lovely shade of red."

"She can understand what we say," the headmaster replied.

Shushiel made a sound not unlike a laugh and extended a leg toward my friend. Ambria shivered and held out a trembling hand. They touched.

"Ooh, she's soft," Ambria said. She stroked a hand across the fur. "She's so fluffy!"

"Can I touch?" Max asked.

Shushiel extended another leg toward him and he eagerly ran a hand across the spider's fur.

"Well, now, isn't this nice?" Galfandor said. "Come, Conrad. Say hello to Shushiel."

I'd never been particularly afraid of spiders, primarily because I'd been too dull-witted thanks to the living curse my parents bestowed on me. Now that I was a little smarter, it was hard to approach such a large, venomous arachnid without my chest tightening. I held out my arm. Shushiel's leg reached out and touched my hand. Her fur felt velvety soft, and not the least bit bristly like it looked.

"Hello, Shushiel," I said.

She made a whispering noise with her mandibles. The words were so soft I could barely hear them, but I made out two of them. "Hello, Conrad." She continued to speak, but so quickly I couldn't discern the words.

Galfandor chuckled. "Shushiel says since your father created her kind, she and you must be cousins."

The apprehension melted away and I nodded. "Yes, we're cousins, Shushiel."

She wiggled up and down.

"That makes her happy," the headmaster said.

Victum lividum, alpha species. A complete failure
, said Vic. I flinched, though I should have been accustomed to his random musings.

Galfandor handed each of us one of the scrolls Shushiel had brought. "Please fill these out and bring them to the exam tomorrow." He looked at me and Ambria. "You two may choose your own last names, but I suggest you make them easy to remember."

"Edwards," I said immediately.

Ambria pressed her lips together. "Goodness, what name should I choose?"

"I think Bossy or Bigmouth would be excellent last names," Max said.

She swatted him with her scroll. "Bigmouth would suit you wonderfully, Max."

I unrolled the scroll and looked at the information. "Why do you still use paper when you could use an arctablet?" I asked Galfandor.

"The university frowns on using technology," he replied. "Now, children, I must attend to other matters. I wish you the best of luck on the exam tomorrow."

We said goodbye to Shushiel and left the office. Moments later, we became hopelessly lost in the tangle of corridors and stairways of Arcane University.

"This place is ridiculous." Ambria stared at the three hallways ahead of us and shook her head. "How is anyone supposed to find their way around here?"

I looked all around the room. "There aren't even any signs."

Max pointed to my pocket. "Do you have your arcphone?"

I slid it out of my pants pocket and handed it to Max. The magic phone was one of my prized possessions even though it had belonged to someone I murdered. I justified keeping it by rationalizing that the other person had been trying to kill me first, and I hadn't intentionally killed them. What made me most uncomfortable about it was that the victim had been Ambria's older brother. Even though she'd never known him and didn't hate me for the accident, I couldn't help feeling a bit guilty keeping the phone.

Max downloaded an app and activated it.
Where do you want to go?
it asked on the screen.

"We want to leave this building and go to Colossus Stadium," Max said.

The phone projected an arrow pointing behind us. Following its directions, we turned and backtracked to a room with eight exits, took a right where we'd originally taken a left, and within a few minutes, ended up near the healer's office and the exit.

"Hold on," Ambria said, and zoomed in the map. "It says Galfandor's office is almost directly above us."

"Give us directions to Galfandor's office," Max said.

A blue line on the map wended its way from one end of the building to the other, making what should have been a short walk, a rather long one.

"I can't believe that's the only route to his office," I said. "It's as if he doesn't want anyone to visit."

"Who can blame him?" Max said. "I'm sure he puts up with all sort of nutters."

"Let's go back to the stadium and retrieve our brooms," Ambria said. "We still have a lot of studying to do."

My nerves pinched at the thought of the exam tomorrow. "Yes, I guess we should."

"It's past lunchtime," Max complained. "Can't we eat first?"

In all the excitement of the morning, I'd overlooked my rumbling stomach. "Is the dining hall open?"

"One way to find out," he said.

Thankfully, it was a straight march to the cafeteria. Though the room was nearly empty except for a few professors, a wooden golem dressed in a white uniform with a black apron hung about its waist promptly exited from a swinging door and put covered dishes in front of us. A delicious odor wafted from beneath the silver cover. I lifted the lid and discovered seared ham, an over-easy egg, and several slices of bread.

I looked uneasily at the food. "Do we have to pay for this?"

Max shook his head. "I don't think so. Besides, I'm too hungry to ask."

We devoured everything on our plates. Even Ambria looked nearly as delighted as Max while she ate.

"Forget magic," Max said. "I want to go here for the food."

Ambria licked her lips. "It was wonderful."

As if on cue, two golems appeared. One cleaned away the dishes, and the other dropped off small plates with dessert, and platters with cups of dark tea.