Page 79 of Into the Isle

“With a last name like that, I’d steer clear.”

“Yeah, well, you say that about everyone. Not all of us can hide behind desks all day.”

Dagny raised her brow at me. “Someone’s gotten comfortable here in a hurry.”

I hung my head. She was right—I didn’t know her well enough to be poking jabs at her. “Sorry, Dag. I guess I’m just frustrated being kept in the dark about some people who pique my interest.”

“At least you find them interesting.”

“I don’t think Magnus finds me interesting. Which I should be all right with.” I tapped on my tray, ready to move onto my sandwich. I lifted it and bit, then said around the mouthful, “Grim Kollbjorn doesn’t eat people, by the way. He’s not the MVP.”

Randi choked on the other side of me. “Wait—come again? What’d I miss?”

Dagny chuckled, glancing at Randi. “I like her. Has all the bubbliness I had before this place beat me down.”

Randi wrinkled her nose. “That’s promising.”

The three of us watched a few students come and go, sitting on the benches, eating, leaving. It was a near-constant turnaround of people.

“Why weren’t you at Combat & Strategy as a second-year trainer?” I asked Dagny.

“Because you have to be chosen for that post. I was on field duty.”

I paused a beat, wondering if I should put a cork in all the questions I had, like Magnus had chided me for.

Nah, fuck that. “What’s field duty?”

“It’s where we scout outside the academy for ne’er-do-wells.”

“Did you just say ne’er-do-wells?” Randi asked, grinning. “I like you too.”

Dagny flashed a quick smile. “You’ll learn more about field duty in your second term.”

If I’m here for it. I only have one before I get kicked out if my powers don’t show up.

It was only the first day of class, so I had to give myself some grace. I couldn’t help but feel like time was against me; like I was staring at an hourglass and the sand was pouring faster and faster.

If I was going to get booted from Vikingrune, I needed to discover everything I’d come here to learn, first. Which meant I needed to start being more mischievous and enterprising.

Thinking about that made me recall a quick glimpse from combat class. Magnus had asked Arne if something was going down tonight, and Arne had said it was happening this weekend. What were they talking about? Could it help push my own schemes along?

I wanted to find out.

When I blinked back to reality, Dagny and Randi were both standing. Dag dusted off her palms and said, “Well, back to it. Just a couple more classes for you two to survive your first day.”

She patted us both on the shoulders before walking away.

“Oh, and Ravinica?” she said over her shoulder. “Try not to get too discouraged during Runeshaping Basics.”

I smiled sadly. “I’ll try, Dag. Can’t make any guarantees.”

The next class after lunch was Stealth & Interrogation. A bit on-the-nose for a class name, but so were the others.

The class started late. A teacher’s assistant came out and greeted us. It was one of Sven’s siblings, a strong-looking woman with a mean mug, named Edda.

And one of the shifters who attacked me in my first night here.

Great.

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