Olivia dreamt of dark pits and mutilated corpses; she dreamt of writhing tentacles and terrible crunching bones. Often she was running through endless winding tunnels, something close behind her, and above her terror was a terrible sadness because underneath the wails of her pursuers were the sobs and pleading cries of her tortured friends. She woke, panting, and drenched in sweat, a deep, painful throbbing behind her eyes. She was in a bed in a dimly lit room, and she heard the sound of heels clicking on a tile floor as someone approached. She struggled to sit up, but another throbbing wave rolled out from behind her eyes, and she laid her head back on her pillow with a soft groan.

“She stirs! Oh, poor thing. That was a terrible knock you took to the head. My topical treatment did wonders for the injury, but you’ll feel even better after you drink this syrup.” The voice accompanying the clicking of heels was soft and feminine, and the thin, delicate fingers that gently touched her forehead sent cool shivers of relief into her throbbing skull. She turned into the touch and blearily saw an angelic figure leaning over her. For a moment, she thought it really was an angel, but then her eyes focused in the dim light, and she saw that it was a Ghelli woman with the largest wings she’d ever seen. They glowed luminously, and Olivia swore she could see faint sparkles of light drifting off them. “That’s it, come back to me. Here, open your lips and take this spoon.” Olivia felt the tip of a spoon on her lower lip, and she did as she was told, letting the woman put the spoon in her mouth and swallowing the thick, syrupy contents. Warmth flooded forth into her, and she felt the throbbing in her head recede to a very dim ache.

“Uh, that’s better, thank you!” Once again, she struggled to sit up, and the woman helped her, shoving another pillow behind her shoulders.

“Poor girl! You missed all the festivities - the welcoming assembly and the new cohort mixer. Ahh, well, plenty of time to get to know the others over the next few months! Let’s be glad that rock didn’t spill your brains out and kill you instantly, hmm?” The woman sat at the edge of her bed, and Olivia could see that she had little antennae protruding from her beautiful chestnut hair. Her eyes were like pools of glowing honey, and Oliva felt transfixed by her beauty. “Oh, I’ve seen that look before! It’s the side effect of improving my race so many times. Don’t let it fool you; I’m ugly on the inside.” She chuckled as she said the last, and Olivia didn’t believe her for even a second.

“Thank you, um, miss.” Olivia fumbled awkwardly, not knowing what to call the woman.

“I’m Nurse Tyliste, but just call me Tyliste; I’m not formal. I think you’ll be okay to get back to your dorm. I’ll have one of my aides walk with you. You’ll want to head to your classes with your cohort, won’t you?” Olivia just nodded at the question, and Tyliste stood, her beautiful wings bouncing with the motion, and tiny motes of golden dust showered down around them.

“Your wings. Um, your wings are beautiful,” Olivia mumbled, feeling sort of light-headed.

“Hoho, thank you, sweetie. I can see my medicine has gotten you a little drunk. Don’t worry; it will fade.” She seemed to drift away into the dimly lit sick ward, and Olivia heard her talking to someone. A moment later, another Ghelli arrived, this one much less mythical, his wings far less luminous. Olivia smiled and scooted her legs off the side of the bed and saw her shoes resting next to it.

“Let me help you,” the young man said, kneeling to push her shoes onto her still-stockinged feet. Olivia followed him out of the sick ward, noting that all the other beds were empty, and then through several hallways and one stairway to her dormitory. The whole walk seemed like a dream, and when he said goodbye and walked away, Olivia felt like the entire thing might have been some sort of drug-induced delusion. She stepped into the dorm room and was suddenly glad that her bed was so close to the door. She stumbled over to it, lay down, and was deep asleep before she could think any more about her ordeal.

“Olivia. Olivia!” She opened her eyes to see Veena standing next to her bed. “We didn’t even hear you come in last night! I’m so glad you’re alright! That bitch, Gwinna! She could’ve killed you. I think she might have tried.” Veena was wringing her hands together, looking at Olivia. Some of the others started wandering over toward the two of them.

“You should have seen Rald,” Shani said. “He almost attacked her. All the cohorts crowded around and kept them apart, though, and then we rushed you to the infirmary.”

“That was a dirty move, for sure,” Rald said with a yawn. “Better get ready for class, though.” He turned and walked through the doorway to the bathrooms. Olivia sat up and looked around. Most of the others were in various states of dress; Adaida was fully dressed and sitting on the edge of her perfectly made bed, reading through a text. Hanwol was nowhere to be seen, probably in the bathroom.

“Did I miss a lot at the assembly?” She looked at Shani and Veena questioningly.

“Oh, no. It was boring. Professor Oylla-dak was impressive, though; she’s a Shadeni with an advanced race. I’d never seen her before, and it was inspiring—tall, beautiful, and huge red wings she kept folded behind her back. She unfurled them when her speech was over and actually flew out of the amphitheater!” Shani spoke wistfully, her eyes glazing over as she remembered the sight.

“That’s something I didn’t know. Shadeni get wings when they advance their race?” Olivia stood up, relieved to see that she no longer felt dizzy or had any sort of a headache.

“Yes, lots of races start to develop different features as their race gets more and more evolved. You saw Gwinna, right? Her eyes glow and are like gemstones. If she makes it to advanced racial levels, she might begin to make her form non-corporeal for a few seconds at a time. It’s always a little different based on the individual.” Veena supplied this answer as the three of them walked toward the bathroom.

The cohort hurriedly finished getting ready, and then, as a group, they made their way through the hallways, out through the main concourse, and to another building where their Enchantment class was to be held. On their way outside, the cohort filled Olivia in on what she’d missed with regard to announcements. During the welcome assembly, Professor Oylla-dak, the headmistress of first-year students, had given a brief overview of the opening challenge. Each student would be evaluated in their year-one courses at the end of the first month, and their cohorts would be given a cumulative score. This score would account for half of their overall score, and the other half would come from competitions that the various course instructors would put on.

Their Enchantment class was held in a squat, gray building with a row of stained glass windows that ran the entire length of the eastern and western walls. The interior of the building was largely taken up by a huge instruction room with work tables that reminded Olivia of classrooms where she’d done lab work for her chemistry and biology classes in college. Her cohort wasn’t the first to arrive, but they were still early, and they took two tables under the western windows. The light coming in from the eastern windows was lovely, and Olivia felt very relaxed in the room. Cabinets lined the walls, and a row of bookcases along the southern wall was filled with reference books. The teacher’s exemplar table ran the length of the northern edge of the classroom, and standing behind it was another mixed-race individual; Olivia was sure of it.

Professor Brince had light pink-red skin and two short dragonfly wings extending from his upper back. He had a jovial demeanor and greeted each group of students as they came through the door. When Olivia and her cohort entered and took their table, he walked by and said, “Greetings, Copper! I’ve heard good things about your cohort this year. I’m looking forward to seeing what sorts of wonders you’ll come up with in my class.” They all uttered platitudinous responses, though Rald spoke up with a grin.

“Don’t expect too much from me, sir. My talents lie elsewhere.”

“Don’t sell yourself short - you’ve never had me for a teacher before!” He chuckled and walked over to greet Wood cohort as they came through the door.

Olivia was taking out her text, a notebook, and a writing utensil when she felt a presence to her right, and her cohort grew quiet. She glanced up and saw Sarice standing next to her with her hands clasped in front of her. Olivia hadn’t been this close to the girl before, and she was a little taken aback by her beauty. Unlike Professor Brince, she’d inherited full Ghelli wings, and her teal eyes and hair accented her pale blue skin very nicely; she’d apparently lucked out with the blending of her parents’ heritage.

“Olivia, right?” She asked quietly, glancing nervously around at Olivia’s cohort, who’d stopped what they’d been doing and stared at her.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I wanted to say I’m sorry you got hurt yesterday. Gwinna shouldn’t have done that, and I was responsible for judging your match, so, well, I just wanted you to know that I thought it was awful.”

“Mmhmm, alright, you’ve said it, now get lost,” Rald growled from the table in front of Olivia’s.

“No, it’s okay, Rald. Thanks for coming to say that, Sarice.” Olivia smiled, partly because she wanted people to know she wasn’t shaken by what had happened to her, but also because she did appreciate the gesture Sarice was making. Sarice nodded and, with a slightly withering glance at Rald, she walked back over to her cohort, who were sitting near the opposite wall.

“Don’t trust her,” Shani said, shaking her head. “She has too much money and tries to walk too many lines to be trustworthy.” Olivia didn’t say anything but went back to reading through the first pages of her text. The buzz in the classroom died down shortly after that, though, and Olivia looked up to see Gwinna walking in with her cohort. She looked coolly around the room, and when her eyes met Olivia’s, they just kept going as though she didn’t even register. Jade cohort sat in the center row of tables near the front of the room.

“Cold bitch,” Veena muttered. Before Olivia could respond, Professor Brince walked to the front of the class, clearing his throat and announcing that he was starting class and that they’d all best listen up.

“Before we can learn to enchant, we must learn the language of enchantment. The System has made it easy for all of us creatures living in its shadow to communicate, but that doesn’t extend to the knowledge of runecraft. Before I teach you to imbue runes with Energy and tie their lines of power into complex patterns, you must learn the runes themselves. Thankfully, for me, this is the easiest part of the course - you simply need to memorize all eighty base runes, the sixteen conjunction runes, and the two-hundred-fourteen ancillary runes. You may use my class time for the next six days to study because your exam will be in one week. All the runes are listed on pages thirteen through ninety-four of your text. Good luck!” With that, he turned and walked out the door behind the exemplar table.

“I’m dead,” Rald said among the outraged thrum of conversation that broke out in the classroom.

“And I thought he seemed like a nice teacher...” Olivia said, her voice trailing off as she began to flip her book to page thirteen.