Page 64 of Into the Isle

The King Who Saw.

“We’re going to be talking about this man quite a lot in this class. Especially in the first half of the semester.” She wrote some more, putting a name under it:

The Deceiver in Gold.

“And this man. Together, these two men—human and elf, once the greatest of allies—helped tear our worlds asunder and begin the Taldan Wars. It was King Dannon and Lord Talasin who set in motion everything that has come to pass on Midgard for nearly a thousand years. A millennium of strife and devolving race relations that have only gotten worse in recent years. That is how you’re at Vikingrune Academy, and why you’re here is to help prevent further bloodshed from befalling our fragile realm. Midgard.”

She stopped talking, watching us. My eyes were wide, and I assumed other students’ were too.

“No biggie, right?”

The chuckles were nervous this time.

Hell of a thing to toss at us in the first ten minutes of class.

“I hope you are all up to the task,” Thorvi said, before putting her chalk down. She nudged her chin toward Mr. Trench Coat. “Good answer, young man. First one in years who has gotten it right on the first try. What are you called?”

“Magnus.”

Okay. I have a name to put to the pale, handsome face. That’s good.

“Magnus what?”

A pause. Magnus was leaning back in his seat, aloof, almost disrespectful how he slouched.

“Magnus Feldraug.”

A sharp intake of breath filled the auditorium from nearly every student present. I glanced around wildly, looking for an answer they all seemed to know already.

I wasn’t privy to the vast complexities of our naming conventions, yet I knew the word “draug” well enough from my studies in Selby Village.

I glanced over to Randi with my brow creased, to make sure I heard correctly.

She nodded, leaning in to whisper. “Undead.”

Chapter 20

Ravinica

I LEFT HISTORY & TOMES feeling excited. I was thrilled to start diving into my studies.

I’d learned a lot in my first class. We were going to be talking about the nine realms and the Taldan Wars, which I knew little about. In Selby Village, we had scant information about the interplanar conflicts that besieged Midgard. A single bookshelf in Mimir Tomes held more scrolls, books, and tabernacles than the entirety of my hometown, and I looked forward to soaking up all the information I could.

The thing that most surprised me, and the rest of class, was when Magnus Feldraug had introduced himself. I was shocked to hear he was a “draug,” or an undead person, considering those were monsters of fairytales—boogeymen my mother had told me about.

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