Page 117 of The Serpent’s Shadow

Chapter 34

Ravinica

SHIFTERS WERE STARTINGto leave campus before the sun had gone down, in preparation for the wild evening.

I spent most of the day hanging out with Randi and Dagny. Passing by a few students, I heard a new title shouted at me.

“There’s the giant-slayer,” one initiate called out with a smirk.

Randi and Dag laughed, and I flushed, passing by the inebriated young man and his friends.

I paced myself and only had two drinks by sundown, to keep my focus, while others had been drinking all day, celebrating their initiate passing.

“Giant-slayer, eh?” Randi said, shouldering me with a grin. “I think I like it.”

“Much more agreeable than the previous ones,” Dagny muttered.

“Yes,” I said with a chuckle. “Much better than bog-blood or half-breed.”

My finals duel against Grim had been making the rounds through the academy. It was no small thing, taking two out of three bouts against one of the strongest fighters at school.

Would it have been different if we’d used real weapons and actually tried to kill each other? Probably. I still had to use every bit of cunning and sprightliness I had to beat him—and even then it had been close.

The fact Grim had been nothing but welcoming and congratulatory for defeating him spoke volumes of the man. He didn’t care about accolades or his own ego. He only cared to see me succeed and prove my worth to the naysayers at Vikingrune Academy.

“Perhaps the tide is finally starting to shift,” I said under my breath.

I was finally coming around on Arne, too. It was a big weight off my shoulders, not hating the man like I had the past few months.

Hate was a sure way to cripple myself. If I could keep things honest and lighthearted with the iceshaper, perhaps we could get over the elephant in the room once and for all, and put it behind us. Gods knew he had done the most to try and please me.

I looked forward to my second year at Vikingrune, though it was also nerve-wracking. I didn’t know what the future held once the snows started falling and the school went underground to train and learn.

The rebellion was becoming a sore point for the Hersirs. I wasn’t looking forward to a face-off against them. Students against professors never ended well. It reminded me of history lessons about peasants versus noblemen. For the most part, it rarely worked out in the peasants’ favor.

There were two-dozen dead Huscarls deep in Delaveer Forest we also had to contend with. Sending that many soldiers out, and having none of them return, had to be concerning for the Hersirs.

If they discovered what actually happened—that they had not been killed by elves, but by their own students and Lepers—well, that did not bode well for any of us.

Reclaiming some of the power from the faculty at Vikingrune might be the only way to be victorious and come out unscathed.

Doing that, however, is much easier said than done.

I noticed our trio had instinctively walked from the southeastern section of Nottdeen Quarter to the western gates, where students were coming and going in a flux. It was the first day in over a month the gates were opened, and everyone was using it to their advantage.

I imagined Isleton was bustling, rip-roaring with activity and scandalous behavior. I didn’t really feel like being in that mix right now, yet I headed for the gate anyway.

Dagny stopped at the edge before the gate, asking, “Where are you two going? It’s going to be a madhouse at Isleton.”

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