Gift of Gold (The Year of Churning Bloods) (22 page)

Any cheating within the competition also results in instant disqualification and various punishment from demotion to eternal servitude, to death, depending on the severity of the cheating, as defined by Caterwaul Lorenzo.

              Cheating within the competition is defined as:

-Deliberate disclosing of information on the various tests,

-Assistance in any way during the test.

-Deliberate trainee collaboration within the tests, to assist other competitors.

By signing this oath, the competitor acknowledges that the Grimlars are not responsible for any injury and or death that may occur within the competition

In the result of a tie between two or more trainees, the quest will be split between them, including the wishes granted at the kill of the dragon Orthonus. The victor or victors of this competition shall be granted one year from the first of January, to the next first of January to kill the dragon Orthonus. This dragon must be slain, fallen, or otherwise killed by the hand of the victor using any means for the three wishes to take effect.

Here ends the contract.”

“Umber, what do you think?” I asked, unsure how to proceed. The spirit simply hung there in silence as he thought about this.

“Three wishes,” he mused to himself quietly. “I could rule the world with three wishes.”

“I wasn’t asking you what you’d wish for,” I responded in a huff. “I want to know if we can win this.”

“We have a fair chance of winning the competition, but killing the dragon is another thing entirely,” Umber replied without any sort of outward emotion.

I carefully picked up the pin and held it away from my body like it was tipped with poison. This seemed like too much work. Why did I want to do this in the first place? Why did I even bother? I paused and turned my head to one side. “I don’t have to do this if I don’t want to,” I realized suddenly. “I could stay here with Professor Wenchenberg forever, drinking tea, reading, and not worrying about what would happen outside.” The thought was so pleasant, I closed my eyes for a moment to appreciate it. A few seconds later I stopped, suddenly realizing that something was wrong.
              For the first time in my life, I became aware of the fact that I didn’t
want
to live here forever. I frowned and looked around the office, disturbed by how small it felt at that one moment. “This is the only place where I’m happy,” I thought to myself nervously. “Why don’t I want to stay here? What’s wrong with me?” I gripped the sides of the table and began to shake.

“Jacob? Is everything alright?” Professor Wenchenberg asked, quickly kneeling by my side. The weakness in his voice scared me. The way he spoke reminded me of those beggars that used to linger outside the orphanage, looking for some kind of charity. “Jacob, this is really important. We can’t move forward unless you do something... Please.”

“Move forward,” I whispered to myself. “I need to move forward.” As if being struck by lightning, I bolted upright and then quickly sat down. I was so overcome with understanding it was like I lost control of my limbs. I didn’t want to stay here because I knew I wouldn’t move forward. I’d be doing the same damn things, experiencing the same senses and learning nothing new. Why would I do that when I could actually change the world like I said I would?

With one fell swoop, I pricked my little finger and held it above the contract, watching with full focus as my blood spattered against the paper. Just as the Taborthodox stamp began to smoke, the professor quickly yanked the papers away and hid them as if I might have torn them up.

He gave me a watery smile before clasping his hands in his lap. “Thank you,” he said, now regaining his composure.” You’ll make a fantastic hero someday.”

“Hero?” I wondered, tilting my head slightly. “What’s a hero?”

Professor Wenchenberg pulled his head back and stared at me with mild curiosity. “You’ve never heard of that word before?” he asked in disbelief. “Out of all of the books you’ve read, you’ve never once come across that word?”

“It sounds familiar,” I admitted, unknowingly tugging at my hair. “Maybe I heard it outside somewhere.”

“Well... A hero is someone who faces a danger from a position of weakness.” Professor Wenchenberg began. “Someone who takes on this danger for the greater good.”

The hairs on the back of my neck suddenly stood at attention. “I see,” I said after a long pause. “Thank you sir. I think I do want to be a hero.”

Professor Wenchenberg nodded distractedly before retrieving a quill and some paper from his desk. “I’m giving you a list of resources I want you to look into for the competition. Have you read any of these books before?” the professor asked before handing the sheet over.

I glanced at it briefly and shook my head.

The Professor shrugged his bony shoulders slightly. “Fortunately I think you can find all of these books at the library? Why don’t you go there now?”

“Why don’t I?” I repeated stupidly.

The professor nodded sternly. “Yes, I think that’s an excellent idea actually. You go to the library now while I get these papers sorted. Good day Jacob. You’re dismissed.” he added, kindly nodding towards the door

I slowly edged towards the exit, slightly unsettled by the urgency in Professor Wenchenberg’s gestures. “Goodbye sir,” I said, suddenly turning around.

“Hmm?” he asked, too immersed to look up from his papers. “Oh yes. Goodbye Jacob. Tell Professor Palinto I said hi won’t you? Also if he asks, please tell him that I’ve returned my overdue books two days ago and no, I haven’t stolen them.

I laughed, unable to help myself before walking out of the office as if nothing odd had happened. “Hero,” I said to myself with a proud smile. “He thinks I’m a hero.”

***

              My forehead prickled up in pain as I used my filthy right hand to wipe off the sweat from my brow. “Where was the library again?” I wondered, quickly bustling through the corridors of the school.

Eventually, I stumbled through a set of grand double doors and into a room jammed with more books than I thought existed.

             
Books in all different sizes and colours were held up to the ceiling by towering shelves nearly two stories tall. There were fat books which dominated every space they occupied, young books with their spines still uncracked and old books which crowned the room at the topmost shelves. There were so many colours and so many sizes that for a moment I thought I had walked into a room full of confetti.

              A loud cough rang out from somewhere behind me. I turned and felt my mouth fall open as I saw probably the tallest man in the world. He blinked, slowly adjusting his lopsided spectacles as he stooped over to stare me in the eye. The torso of the giant was disproportionately skinny to the rest of him. I decided then that he looked less like a human and more like a thin tree.

“You’ve stood here for fifteen minutes without touching a single book,” he remarked, holding a misshapen hand to the dozens of shelves behind me. “May I help you?”

              I shut my mouth, quickly scampered back two paces and held out the sheet of paper like he would have torn my hand off. The librarian gently pried it from my fingers, and sighed after reading it.

“You’re one of those trainees thinking about entering that competition?” he asked, looking me over with pity.

I nodded uncertainly.

“Unfortunately, You’re not the first to come looking for these books. Nearly everything on beasts has been checked out.” He raised his hands apologetically. “You’re welcome to look around if you want, but don’t get your hopes up.”

“Who has the books checked out?” I asked, looking around as if an overdue book might suddenly fall from the ceiling.

“I’ll get you the log.” The librarian said, shuffling to his large desk and peeking into each of the drawers. After a while he hefted up a giant, slightly mouldy book which he dropped into my hands. I grunted my thanks and stumbled back to a table where I flopped the book open. I quickly brushed over the last few entries, but flinched as I noticed one name stand out above the others. Gregor Tyrannus with his absurdly bold handwriting, had checked out thirteen different books on beasts. The hairs on my neck stood up at the thought of him competing with me. Maybe he was just checking them out for a friend?

“Don’t be stupid,” Umber insisted. “Thirteen books on beasts... For a friend? I can’t believe you would ever think something like that. You knew from the minute that you saw the competition paper that this Gregor would want to compete as well. You may as well get yourself used to the truth before it surprises you later.”

“He’s gonna kill me,” I thought, casting the gory scene in my head.

“That’s only the worst case scenario,” Umber reasoned patiently. “Chances are he’ll be more focused on the creatures attacking him then he will be on you.”

I nodded uncomfortably and carefully returned the logbook to the librarian, who took it back without any acknowledgement. “I don’t think this guy’s going to be much help,” I muttered, carefully motioning to the tree like man who was engrossed with whatever book he was reading. “Help me look,”

Hours ended up passing without me learning anything new or useful. I sat perched on the edge of my seat, looking over the nest of books I had laid out on the table. I reopened and reread some, convinced that I had missed something from before. My heart skipped a pace as I suddenly laid eyes on what could have been an encyclopedia. I quickly flipped it open and gave an angry groan. It was just a book full of myths. “It’s no good,” I concluded, flopping my upper half onto the table like a dead fish. “There’s nothing here.”

Umber laughed loudly. “That’s not what you said when you decided to skip both lunch and dinner to look for your damn books.”

“What do you care about lunch and dinner?” I asked, suppressing a terrible stomach growl.

“Believe it or not we share pain,” Umber responded hollowly. “Starving yourself hurts you just as much as it hurts me. If you had realized how hungry we are, you would have stopped hours ago”

“Whatever.” I said, mid yawn. “This competition is more important anyways. Maybe if you actually took the time to help me look, we would have found something in time for dinner.” I closed my eyes and leaned back, yet still saw dozens of mismatched letters flash in the darkness.

“There’s still time though!” Umber protested excitedly. “They’re probably shoveling away all of the leftovers right now. If we hurry, we could probably get something!” I shrugged a little and squirmed in my seat, tempted to move but still too lazy to actually get up. “Jacob! Common sense! You have nearly twenty days until the competitions begin. There’s no need to stretch yourself this far!”

“Alright alright, I’m getting up,” I said, placing my hands on my hips. “Happy now?”

“Not as happy as I will be when you eat. Move it!”
              After a couple of minutes, I wandered into the deserted dining hall. “No use Umber. It’s empty.” I said, reluctantly turning on the spot.

“What about the kitchen?” Umber wondered, trying to draw me back the other way. I stopped and looked back over my shoulder. There was a small discrete passageway I hadn’t noticed before which smelled vaguely of smoke and olives. I took a couple of steps towards the door and the scent intensified. I snuck into the kitchen space and peered around nervously. Thick stone stoves and ovens outlined the back wall, visible only because of a few simmering pieces of charcoal. Scattered around the room were additional tables and sinks.

A few stifled gasps caused me to jump back. I hadn’t even realized there were people in the room, yet when I took a closer look I could see that they were everywhere. The thin, uniformed men stood so still it was like they were just pieces of furniture.

“Sorry!” I squawked, taking a couple tentative steps back. “I was just wondering if I could have some food? I missed out on dinner you see, I was in the library-” Before I could say anything else, a platter of food was presented to me along with a deep bow from everyone in the room. I picked the plate up from the floor and raised my eyebrows, both unsettled and impressed at how quickly they could move.