Page 31 of Into the Isle

I could use someone like that on my side.

Interesting, that it’s the first advice my brother gives me here and I’m already going against it. This was going to be a long semester at the academy if I kept my resistant attitude.

Eventually, the trees thinned into a sparse wooded area before we were greeted by a massive hillside stretching up into the sky. I hadn’t seen the hill—more of a small mountain, really—from Vellen Shore, because the forest had gobbled it up in its high canopies.

Atop the hill, on the edges of the summit that stretched at least a mile across, I noticed a high wall circling the whole plateau.

Arne was suddenly up beside me. “If you were guessing, you’re right. That’s Vikingrune Academy.”

I tilted my head. “Really? It looks small from here.”

“Wait till we get there, fox. Were you expecting Valhalla, hmm? Odin’s grand, ostentatious halls, perhaps?”

I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting.

As we began to traverse the hillside, my thighs burning from the climb, I looked out to my left once we reached a certain height. Various campfires plumed down below, back on level ground.

“What’s that?” I asked Arne, squinting down below.

“Isleton.”

“Isleton? Creative name.”

Arne chuckled. “It’s the town everyone goes into when classes are off and you need to blow off steam. It might remind you of your own village, with a few places to eat, some shops, pubs, things like that. You can pick up all the latest fashion trends in Isleton.”

“Oh?” I smirked, looking down at my raggedy tunic and pants. “As you can see, I am a couture aficionado.”

Arne shouldered me, winking. “Fur coats are in vogue right now, I hear. Just look at your brother.”

I kept chuckling, putting a palm over my mouth so I wouldn’t annoy everyone around us. I was already drawing a few scowls—chief among them my brother’s, who strode forward with his white coat swishing in the wind.

“Truly timeless, those fur coats,” he added, seeing that it was making me laugh. “I think horned helmets are also making a comeback. Even though we all know Vikings never wore those.”

“Oh, no, of course not,” I said, smiling.

I enjoyed a man who could bring humor to an otherwise stuffy situation. Gods knew I didn’t have that back at Selby. Arne must have known I was anxious as ever, yet his little jokes calmed my nerves. I appreciated it.

There was a path up the hill that wound up and back and up and back. By the time we reached the plateau, it was nearly sundown. I felt as though I’d walked enough to reach straight up a mountainside, if we’d not been walking a dizzying, winding path.

From this great height, I could see everywhere we’d come from. The Isle stretched down below, through the beautiful Delaveer Forest and into the Vellen Shore where the mists created high walls on the horizon I couldn’t see through. A bit closer, nestled in the skimpier parts of the forest, sat Isleton.

At the top of the hill, I doubled over and put my hands on my knees. “Thank the gods,” I muttered.

Arne chuckled and clapped my back. “Up and at ‘em, little fox. We’re almost there.”

I glanced up, breathless. The high wooden fence-wall and gatehouse greeted me, complete with guard towers and a few archers atop them standing watch. It looked more like a prison than a university for magical students.

Cresting over the fence were gables and rooftops of variously sized and shaped buildings—longhouses and other structures. I figured I’d learn what they were soon enough, as Eirik had said.

More trees surrounded the hill and sloped down with it to the west and east, though these trees were different than Delaveer Forest and seemed to sparkle in the waning sunlight. They were bushy oaks and beeches.

I scampered forward once our group started moving toward the gate, with Eirik in the lead.

He waited for me, and as we reached the gate, he said, “Once we get inside, you and I will go straight to Hersir Ingvus.”

I twirled my wrist to motion him forward. “As you say, brother. Lead the way.”

He nodded, staring up at the guard towers to the left and right—cylindrical spires built of wood and stone. Guards on either side stared down at our group.

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