So, there he sat, in his dingy palace of silence and broken memories, drinking until that merciful darkness could take him once more.

~~~

NADRINA ONLY JUST NOW realized that she had no plan.

It was the end of the first school day, but she had spent most of it in her dorm room. Since their odd class schedule meant their one lecture was supposed to take up the whole school day, she’d been left with virtually nothing to do except ponder what had happened. The questions Professor Aldric’s actions had left her with had tumbled through her brain throughout the day. She knew what she wanted to do, but wasn’t sure if it was a good idea.

Focus, Nadrina! You promised yourself you would do whatever it took to learn as much about magic as you could! Don’t wimp out now!

Despite her internal pep-talk, Nadrina still took several deep breaths to calm herself. She’d never been good at being bold or dealing with conflict, and now she was inviting the worst-case scenario on herself. Going back to her room and being alone with her questions, however, just wasn’t an option for her.

Shutting her eyes tight, as if being blind would somehow help, she tentatively reached out her hand and gently knocked on the door to Professor Aldric’s office.

She half expected to hear a gruff “go away” shouted at her. Maybe he would answer the door, but he’d just slam it in her face. Worse, what if he laughed at her for asking such stupid questions? He seemed furious this morning. Maybe he’d just set her on fire like Codrin’s desk?

Faced with the unexpected silence, Nadrina’s mind conjured all sorts of horrid scenarios. She stood there, looking like an idiot, hand raised in front of herself and a confused look on her face. Why hadn’t anyone answered? Was he out?

Maybe he was just ignoring her? Fine then, she’d just be a nuisance. She knocked again.

Nothing.

She knocked three more times.

Still nothing.

She started beating on the door repeatedly until her hand hurt.

Dead silence.

Her frustration mounting, Nadrina lashed out at the offending door with a foot, hard. To her surprise and horror, the door whipped inward so hard that it rattled as it swung around and collided with the wall. She winced, bracing against the tongue lashing she was sure to receive.

Nothing but the sound of her own thudding heartbeat greeted her.

Now thoroughly bewildered, she slowly peeked into the room, only to find no one there. In fact, the room almost looked abandoned. If she hadn’t watched him walk in here this morning, she would’ve assumed she’d accidentally opened a storage closet.