Chapter 28 | Ravinica

Chapter 28

Ravinica

I REELED AT DIETER'S admission, told in a hushed voice. It was a startling name for a group, to be sure.

"The . . . Lepers Who Leapt?" I asked.

My mind had been spinning with everything going on recently: Learning I would be fighting Grim for my combat final; finishing the week off strong without anymore conflicts; convincing Arne to take me here.

Now this? To say I was intrigued would be an understatement. "You don't look like a leper," I added, though I'd only meant to say it in my head.

Dieter threw his head back and laughed. "No, I suppose I don't." He took a pull from his mug, sucking froth from the thin mustache of his top lip. "I look rather unimposing, unimportant. That's sort of the point."

I glanced over at Arne, only to find him watching every twitch and twist of my face. I didn't know what to think—only that this clandestine meeting was making my pulse spike, and that excited me. First week at the academy and I've already stumbled upon some sort of secret society hidden beneath the ridge of Vikingrune?

Awesome.

I drummed my fingers on the table as a barmaid came over, complained to Arne about payment, and then left to retrieve us three mugs of ale.

Alone again, I asked, "Who's going to tell me what the Lepers Who Leapt are?"

Arne ran a hand through his flowing golden locks when Dieter stared at him. A nervous tic of his own, perhaps.

"That's why I thought you might benefit from meeting these people, little fox," Arne explained. "The Lepers Who Leapt are former students of Vikingrune Academy whose inherent magic never manifested."

After a swift pause, taking that in, my eyes bulged. I stared harder at Dieter's fair face, noticing he didn't seem much older than me. Mid-twenties, if I had to guess.

"Wait. You mean there are others like me?" I choked out.

Dieter smiled. "Dozens, lass."

My forehead creased with lines, confused. "How did you all form, or meet each other? And why are you still on the Isle? Where did the name—"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, sprinter," Dieter cut in, pumping both palms. "Don't give yourself an aneurism."

I took a deep breath, calming my racing heart.

Arne was the one who explained. "When a student is exiled from Vikingrune due to their inherent magic staying dormant for too long, they're returned home through the magical mists on one of the Wraith ships. Banished. Never to return to the Isle."

Dieter picked up the story, and my gaze swiveled across the table. "There are those, however, who literally leapt from the longships on their way through the mists. We plunged into the icy waters and swam our way back to the Isle, where we coalesced and hid."

The barmaid returned with our drinks, giving me a moment to mull this over. Once she was gone, I leaned forward on my elbows, speaking in a low voice. "So, you call yourselves ‘lepers' because you are outcasts? And the ‘leapt' part is literal?"

"Precisely," Dieter said with a firm nod.

"What do you all . . . do? Where do you hide?"

Dieter smiled, his mustache twitching. "That is on a need to know basis, Miss Ravinica, and I don't know you well enough. As to what we do . . ." His face sank and he looked down into his cup with a sad expression. When he looked up a moment later, he said, "I am what we call a ‘puller.' You see, the survival rate of plunging into the icy water and swimming back to safety is around fifty percent. I am one of the people responsible for pulling the dead and the half-dead ashore."

"Gods above," I said. I raised my mug with a shaky hand and drank unsteadily, trying to calm down. "Are you, um, rebels?"

"Not exactly. We live an anarchistic lifestyle—a self-governing community without leaders. Everyone has a job. What we do, Ravinica, is live . And help people when we can."

Arne scoffed. "Don't be modest, Dieter. The Lepers Who Leapt keep their eyes on the academy in case things goes awry. Because they don't trust Vikingrune."

Dieter flared his nostrils. "Would you trust an establishment that strikes people down so mercilessly, after all the work we put in trying to live up to the academy's impossible standards?"

Arne inclined his chin, as if giving Dieter a point.

"To that end," Dieter added, putting his hand out, "do you have what you came here for?"

Arne clicked his tongue, reached into his tunic, and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He set it on the table and when Dieter reached for it, Arne kept his fist on the paper so it wouldn't budge.

"What's that?" I asked.

Arne ignored me, staring down Dieter. He tapped the paper. "Help my friend here, yes?"

It was a trade. "Currying favors, and handing them out," as Arne had said. It's a deal . . . for my benefit? Why does Arne want to help me? He doesn't even know what I want— I've told him nothing! A warm pulse spread through my limbs, landing in my belly. It was something like appreciation I felt, and contentment. He wants to help me because he believes in me. Or at least respects me. It can be the only explanation.

I said nothing, dumbfounded, watching these two men converse. They'd clearly known each other for a while.

Dieter looked down at the paper hungrily, then over to me, and back to Arne. "What does she want?"

"She can tell you," Arne answered.

Dieter blinked at me. "Well?"

My lips felt chapped, my throat dry. I sat up straighter, trying to gain some resolve. The question had come abruptly, and I hadn't prepared.

I stammered at first—"I, erm . . ." Then I paused and took a deep breath. Under my brow, my eyes shot right to Arne, then across to Dieter. I lowered my chin. "I want to get into the records room of Mimir Tomes."

To my surprise, neither man was shocked at my request.

"Fine," Dieter said. He wagged his fingers at Arne, who lifted his fist and passed the folded paper across the table. "That can be arranged," Dieter added, tucking the paper into his shirt.

I raised a brow. "You're not going to ask what I want in there? Why I—"

"None of my business. You're not the first one to want records. Remember, lass, every Leper Who Leapt has had their magic stifled, if it ever existed at all. We all have questions about our heritage, lineage, things of that nature. We want answers to the burning question: Why did my magic never reveal itself? What makes me inadequate?"

My heart sank for this man. I could see the pain in his eyes, the sadness on the edges crinkling his brow. I related so much to that question—something I'd been asking myself for four solid years.

Heavy emotions swallowed me whole, all at once. I looked over to Arne, and he seemed to notice the expression on my face. With a tender smile, he reached over and put his palm on the top of my knuckles resting on the table.

I looked down, enjoying the way he seemed to silently console me. Like Magnus had done. Like Grim, he had a soft touch, and it was unexpected.

These didn't sound like radical revolutionaries to me, or terrorists who hated anyone who could runeshape. No, these sounded like rejects who just wanted to survive in a world that didn't want them and didn't think they were worthy.

Have I finally met my people?

I asked Dieter, "How do you survive out here? I'm assuming not near the academy."

He snorted with a short laugh. "No, of course not. We have our hideaways elsewhere on the Isle, frequently slipping to new spots. We make do."

"The powers that be at Vikingrune don't pursue you? Do they know you exist?"

"Aye, they do." Dieter patted his heart, where the paper Arne had given him was tucked away. "This will help."

I didn't know what he meant. It didn't really matter, because I saw the hopefulness on his face. That was enough for me.

Arne said, "The leaders at Vikingrune don't pursue the Lepers because they see them as a mild distraction at best. Not worth the effort to snuff out, or the resources to locate."

Dieter nodded along. "As long as we stay out of trouble, that is, and don't disrupt the academy."

"Yes," Arne continued, "the minute Vikingrune feels threatened by the Lepers, things will change." He gave Dieter a stern glare. "Which I've been trying to tell my comrade here for months."

A thought came to me: Magnus. Wasn't he supposed to meet these people also? Does that mean his inherent magic hasn't shown itself either? I stuffed the question away for the time being.

With the introduction out of the way, Dieter threaded his fingers together on the table. He stared at me. "Down to brass tacks. There is an entrance into Mimir Tomes few know about. My people can lead you there. We can't guarantee your success. We won't follow you inside. Once in the library, you'll be on your own."

Dieter leaned forward, giving me an expectant look. "Do you understand the risks? If you're caught trying to break into the records room, you'll be expelled, if not worse. You might be tortured, if they believe you were searching for academy secrets."

I swallowed hard, nodding. "I-I understand." This all sounded very formal now, and it scared me.

I was quick to tamp down my fear. I'd been trained to blind myself to pain, fright, and other negative emotions in order to get shit done. Am I making a terrible mistake asking Dieter to help me with this?

"Do you still want to proceed?" Dieter asked slowly.

I opened my mouth. Closed it. Hesitated.

Then I steeled myself and gave him a decisive nod. "Yes. When?"

"Tomorrow night. Meet back here."

Dieter tilted his head at Arne. "Can you please make this the last one? Damn library's going to get too fucking crowded if we keep sending people there. It's only a matter of time until we're discovered if we keep pushing the envelope like this. Then we're all screwed."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Arne said gruffly. "This wasn't my idea, Dieter. Don't shoot the messenger. Just enjoy what I gave you, help Ravinica, and we're even."

The two men gave each other sterns nods. Dieter turned to me after, drained his mug of in one go, and slid out from behind the booth. "A pleasure, Ravinica. Until tomorrow."

I was more nervous than ever walking back to Vikingrune Academy with Arne after our meeting. Like I'd done something wrong, even though I was only doing what I felt was right.

The first important step of my long-term plan was coming to fruition. I should have felt energized and happy about it, yet I only felt trepidation and an overwhelming sense of dread.

I couldn't shake the thought that I was making a huge mistake here; that once I went this route, there was no going back.

Arne and I mostly stayed quiet for the first leg of our journey up the mountain outside Isleton. I got the feeling Arne was letting me sit with my thoughts and mull everything over. It was a lot to take in.

Once we got halfway up, I had a burning question I wanted to ask the elementalist. "Why are you helping the Lepers Who Leapt, Arne? You can cast. You're an expert elemental runeshaper."

"Because I'm playing both sides, obviously."

I gasped. An opportunist, then? And so nonchalant about his intentions?

A second later, as my world kept spinning out of control, he laughed and shook his head. "You should see yourself right now, little fox." His smile was wide, mischievous. "The look on your face was worth it."

His expression grew more serious a few steps later, as we rounded a boulder along the thin trail up the crevice. "My reasons are my own, Ravinica. Let's just say I like to help people." His expression grew more severe, until he looked angry, which wasn't an aspect I'd seen on the man's face before. Anger looked wrong on him.

"No one should be kept from their destiny because of an arbitrary magical blip," he explained. "If you're determined, valiant, and skilled enough to make it to Vikingrune Academy, to join the cream of the crop and fight for humankind, that should be enough. Who do they think they are to deny you? The gods?" He tossed out an ugly scoff. "The academy can't afford to be too picky about who they allow into their soldiering ranks, you ask me. Not with the imminent risks from the other realms."

Imminent risks? It was the first time I'd heard someone speak so resolutely about our enemies, in a way that wasn't just esoteric. Arne spoke about the threat we faced from the elves like it was a matter of when they would strike, not if .

The Hersirs hadn't spoken about them that way—probably not to alarm the students.

Just what does Arne know that no one else seems to? Is it simply because he has a pulse on the people in and outside the academy on the Isle? Is he one of the privileged few to get along with everyone?

I pulled at the skin of my chin, staring at the ground where I walked. One thing I knew for certain: Arne spoke about the threat—and the reason for helping the Lepers—as a man who had skin in the game. His words were damn near vitriolic as he spit them out.

I didn't believe he was aiding the Lepers Who Leapt because he "liked to help people," or because he was simply an opportunist. His words told me it went deeper than that.

He has a reason for helping the Lepers. I'm going to find out what it is.

That could come later.

Because, for now, I had a secret operation to plan, and a library to break into.