Book One – Chapter 15

Yu knew that tone. He had heard it all before.

At Emery Thurm, when the examiners had turned him away at the gate on his first attempt, then allowed him to retake the entrance test the second time he approached them — only to fail, sneer and laugh him off the academy grounds. Then again at Ayenfora, where he had passed, where they had actually let him in, only to treat him as an intruder from day one. A shameful anomaly. An unwanted presence, tolerated only for the amusement of tearing him down, breaking him piece by piece over the miserable seven weeks he lasted there.

Fallem was subtler, perhaps. But the condescension was unmistakable.

What had changed? Had they not talked normally before? If this was how the wizard treated him after weeks of suffering together – braving the cold, fending off beasts and orks, surviving T̰́̇ͦ̀è̸̷̸̬̤̗̊_̸̵̰̦̗̒͜ȟ̗̍ͤa̶͉͉͍̭̰̅̀̈͜ͅȓ̶̶̛̦͇͙̟̈̿͒ͮ͑̋̚͡u̟͖͔̖̙͙͆̄̿ͩͧ̃̽̓̈̌̀͟͞n – then he was no better than the others.

Yu clamped his beak shut as the thought crashed into him, as it struck fast and ugly: Let the witches find him before he finds his brother.

He turned back to the hearth, jaw tight. He grabbed the damp rag from the floor with his left claw and flung it into the water bucket with a sharp toss. Water splashed, sizzling on contact with the fire. Without a word, he hooked one arm through the bucket handle and hauled himself back to work.