Cave of Nightmares Read Online Free PDF Page B

wasn’t close enough to hear. He tried to stay a respectable distance behind them, not knowing where to go from here. It wasn’t until they made it back into the first testing room that the Master of Wands turned to him and said, “Wait here. Ella will show you to the second-year dorms.”
    Hayden assumed that Ella had been sent back to her duties while he was being tested, but she was only waiting around the corner. She spoke briefly with the Master of Wands and then approached him.
    “So you’re a prism,” she greeted him, motioning for him to follow her back down the hall. “Congratulations.”
    “Thanks. What’s your major?” he asked, relieved that she seemed a little more composed around him than before.
    Maybe she just needed time to get used to my last name.
    It wouldn’t be so bad if everyone was able to adjust to him so quickly.
    “Wands. That’s why Master Willow was talking to me just now; I’ve got work to do in the carving shop tonight.”
    Hayden wasn’t sure if she was teasing him or not.
    “Sorry, but the Master of Wands is named Willow?”
    Ella pursed her lips at him. “Yes, and you’re not the first person to find it funny. I’d advise not joking about it in Master Willow’s hearing unless you want to serve detention chopping wood in the Forest of Illusions.”
    Hayden grimaced at the thought and they began climbing a stairwell to the third floor.
    “What are the other Master’s names? The only one who introduced himself so far is Master Asher.”
    Ella raised an eyebrow in surprise.
    “Most people don’t need to be introduced to the Masters of Mizzenwald…they’re kind of well-known throughout the Nine Lands.” She seemed to grow more comfortable with him the longer they talked, and Hayden was eager to keep her at it as long as possible.
    “Kilgore is the Master of Elixirs, Willow is Wands, Asher is the Prism Master, of course, Sark has Powders, and Reede is the Master of Conjury,” she explained easily. “That’s just the major arcana though; there are other Masters here for the minor arcana as well.”
    Hayden was just thrilled that she had identified the five major arcana for him without having to be asked. Now he wouldn’t feel so stupid trying to ask people about things like ‘piles of colored-sand’.
    He wasn’t keeping track of how many stairs they climbed, but his legs were beginning to ache from the strain. He looked down at the dark-purple velvet runner that had been tamped flat by so many people walking on it over the years.
    “Where are you taking me?” He changed the subject, trying not to slow down or sound winded.
    “Oh, sorry, we’re going to the second-year dorms. Whoever built the school decided that the youngest students should have to climb the most stairs, so be glad you’re being granted second-year status or you’d be on the seventh floor.”
    Hayden’s lips parted in surprise.
    “Does that mean I’ll start in second-year classes?”
    Ella gave him a funny little smile.
    “I keep forgetting how much you don’t know.” She ignored the flush of color that tinged his cheeks. “If you’re twelve, then it makes sense to house you with the other eleven and twelve year olds. Classes are a different story though; you’ve got to be recommended by a Master before you can promote to a higher level, so everyone starts at the beginning.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well, for instance, my major is Wands, so I’m taking the sixth-level class for that even though I’m only in my fifth year. I’m okay with elixirs so I’m in the level-five class for that, but I’m only in the level-three group for Conjury. I never even made it out of Introductory Prisms.”
    Hayden relaxed slightly upon hearing that he wouldn’t be expected to jump right into advanced classes. He was actually relieved to learn that it was a merit-based system, because as long as he worked hard and did his best he should end up in the classes he belonged in.
    “Of course,