Radiance - The Alight Archives Book #1

33. Strange Girl

A yawn escaped him as Kliff stepped out of the archgate, a shimmering wall of light filling the space between the curved pathway made of stone, and a heated, afternoon breeze rustled his hair as he tramped with exhaustion into the Nexus. Other identical archgates surrounded him here, some of them glowing as his had done once they were activated.

It was funny, to a certain degree, that before he enrolled at Glyph, he was brought up believing that only the Professional Sorcerers had access to the archgates. In a sense, that wasn't entirely inaccurate, just that his instructors failed to fill him in on the nuances. Anyone who knew the words could theoretically get them to work; Glyph students were given them shortly after Orientation. But what made these archgates unique was that only students and other staff members were permitted to enter the academy grounds. They were much like the barrier that protected the school, in that regard.

If one squinted well enough, they would notice the oily, faintly translucent dome that enclosed Glyph Castle, the Symphony Stadium, and everything else on the island. No entity could walk on these grounds, not unless they had the appropriate documentation, or if they were in the academy's files. It was why, Kliff imagined, the professors were so lax on letting the students know the words for the archgates. To him, such a decision was only inviting disaster, and it made the work of a criminal aspiring to infiltrate Glyph's walls that much easier.

Regardless, he had no place in this matter, and could only trust the professors and that enigmatic Orion Valerian knew what they were doing. Shoving hands into his pockets, Kliff made for the Front Gardens. During this time of day, it was typical for students to congregate here, though there were more than he was expecting, especially since there was some kind of conference going on.

He strode up the dirt trail with a herd of other students that led to the main academy entrance, a pair of crimson-colored doors more than ten feet tall; they were always left halfway open, from what Kliff had noticed. But littered in segmented groups around the gardens were students who chatted or conversed with one another, either sitting on the grassy lawns or the various park benches situated under trees billowing in the wind, freckling shadows spotting the green.

By now, the sky had turned orange with clouds rolling over it like clusters of purplish cotton, carried off to the eastern mountain range by howling wind. His day had been well spent, he liked to think, although he couldn't deny that Glyph's syllabus would prove to be brutal in the coming weeks, and the thought of how much sleep he'd inevitably be forced to sacrifice was enough to make him shrivel where he stood.

As he neared the large doors, a familiar voice caught his attention. Despite himself, he glanced to his right, across a stretch of well-cut grass to a courtyard featuring a fountain made of stone at its center, water streams ribboning out of the gaping beaks of the griffin statue, positioned on its hind legs with its wings unfolded and its front pair of petrified talons swiping the air.

Students sat on the fountain's rim, and those who didn't choose to settle on one of the three long benches curled around its circumference. But Kliff's eyes landed on one person, in particular; the blonde-haired girl was currently chatting with two other of his classmates: the silent but kind-hearted Mason and the energetic Jack who lived for the thrill of combat.

Mason had a good head on his shoulders, although Kliff wouldn't go as far as to say the two of them were necessarily friends. The same went for Jack. He hadn't thought much of him on the first day, but even Kliff had to admit that he'd aptitude for sorcery, as well as he should considering the loud sulmo somehow clawed his way into Glyph.

And then there was the girl who alluded him entirely: Elaine Harwood. Much like Jack, she hadn't stood out to him all that much, however, it was during their test in Black Magic Defense Studies that he really began taking notice of her. She specialized in Light Magic. Realistically, that should have been the first hint that she was more than the customary country girl she presented herself as on the first day. Even by a Professional Sorcerer's standards, Light Magic was a difficult beast to master.