Free Cave of Nightmares by V. St. Clair Page A

major?”
    Hayden was surprised at how well she took the news. He could also sympathize with her for not having many friends here, though she seemed like a nice enough girl.
    “Prisms. You?”
    She frowned.
    “I’m a double major: Elixirs and Powders. Unfortunately that just means I’m not very good at anything else.”
    Hayden felt another stab of pity for the girl. He wanted to say something comforting but he was at a loss for words, and after an awkward moment of silence Tess excused herself and left without buying anything.
    The girl was soon forgotten as Hayden stocked up on basic ingredients for his Elixirs and Conjury classes and got to the part of the trip he was looking forward to the most.
    He had deliberately saved The Magnificent Mage for last, looking forward to being rid of his hand-me-down clothes from the orphanage forever.
    For the first time in two years he was able to choose his own apparel, but walking into the shop left him a little out of his depth. Much like the place he got his Foci tested in, the interior of this building was much larger than the outside would suggest. It looked like a warehouse, with racks of clothing lining the walls and free-standing circular racks dotting the floor space in between.
    The clothing seemed to be organized by type or function, but that didn’t make it much easier for him. Hayden had been expecting categories like ‘shirts’ and ‘pants’, but on his immediate left was an overhead sign labeled: Formal. All of the clothing in that area had a purple sticker on it, but even within the ‘formal’ heading the clothes were further classified into things like: travel wear, dining, performance, and diplomatic.
    He couldn’t help but gawk as he walked further into the shop, turning his head in all directions as he looked for a promising area to start in. There were more people in here than in any of the other stores, but the room was so large that it didn’t feel crowded. He was standing under the sign for: undergarments, boys, when someone spoke to him.
    “ I’ve never seen someone so amazed by underwear,” a callously-amused voice got his attention, and Hayden turned to face the sound.
    There were three boys behind him, two of them much older than him by the looks of them , and all of them better dressed. One had spiky brown hair, cruel dark eyes, and a glossy brown falcon perched on his shoulder. The oldest—and the one who had spoken—was tall, blond, athletic, and for some reason vaguely familiar. It took Hayden a moment to realize that he had seen this boy eating dinner with Master Asher the night before. Something about him reminded Hayden of every popular person who had ever picked on him in the orphanage after finding out whose son he was; perhaps the arrogant smirk.
    The youngest boy might have been related to the oldest, because their features were similar except for this one had a slightly doughier look about him. He looked closer to Hayden’s age than the others.
    “Judging by how he’s dressed, this might be the first time he’s ever owned a pair of underpan ts,” the boy with the falcon laughed unpleasantly.
    Hayden disliked the three of them immediately, but didn’t want to start any trouble on his first day of school.
    “Who are you?” h e asked, deciding that if he could get their names he could ask Zane about them later.
    The oldest boy smirked.
    “Oliver Trout, son of Magdalene Trout of the Council of Mages. This is my younger brother, Lorn.”
    Hayden searched his memory of the Council of Mages and recalled the blond lady who mildly resembled Oliver. It was hard to believe that the woman who argued in his defense was the mother of these two.
    “And I’m Jasper Dout. I’m sure you’ve heard of my family.” The boy with the falcon sounded haughty, as though he would be giving out autographs after lunch in the main courtyard.
    “Sorry, the name doesn’t ri ng a bell,” Hayden admitted, fighting a smile at the outrage on