Canaan Club - 10. Chapter 10

It was as if they stepped into a royal court or something.

The auditorium, specifically known as the Palace of Thorns, was a couple of miles long and deep in pink and gold. There were rows and rows of tufted chairs on the ground floor and half as many on the three balconies that hovered above like clouds. The place was filling up, but not even the new students and their families could make today a full house.

Beau hurried their group along into the upper levels, eager to get a place on the middle balcony. They were able to make it to the front row with the help of the lycan’s insistent shoving.

“Best seats in the house,” he winked as he sat in between Toby and Andre, while Rafe settled between the omé and Joe.

It wasn’t long before the auditorium when dark, the stage still pitched in light. Odd thing was that there wasn’t anybody on stage at the moment. All eyes were cast on a barren platform and a red, bedazzled curtain. The proscenium arch had what looked to be Egyptian hieroglyphs drawn alongside the curves. Rafe nearly busied himself with trying to deduce them when a singsong, feminine voice resounded over the entire room

“Welcome all to the three hundred twenty-first commencement of Ironward Academy, Earth’s most respected and influential educational institution since 1698.”

Suddenly the stage and lights vanished, fading out as if it was a movie scene just coming to an end. Gasps and exclamations of shock rang throughout the Palace, and even Andre inhaled sharply next to Rafe, the former’s hand lightly flapping down on the Gold’s arm. The latter gave him an odd glare before turning back to the front. Joe was smiling, nodding his head in admiration.

Soon, the darkness evaporated when Ironward’s monoliths, or rather what appeared to be stone versions of them, all in the same positions under a lightning storm, haloing the academy buildings in a menacing and foreboding glow. Rafe snorted. He felt like the only person in the room who wasn’t gawking, knowing the type of technology being used here – one of the perks of being a part of the Coat.

“Woah!” Andre hissed in amazement. “Did we teleport somewhere else? I don’t sense any magic.”

“I think it’s a virtual tour,” Joe replied over Rafe. “Only, they’re using the whole room.”

A video recording of a selected area and rendering it into a 3D virtual reality. A bit impressive.

It made for pretty decent training back home.

Though, the cameraman that day must have been shitting his pants.

“Ironward has been known for being the bridge between human and magi not just on Earth, but from all over the galaxy. And we veterans are overjoyed that you have chosen our wonderful school as your haven. Over the course of nine years, you will reside on the Ash Lands, where you will not only learn and study but familiarize yourself with the different cultures of the islands within the archipelago.”

The images shifted, the structures of the monoliths advancing along with the time period, its stone surfaces being replaced with wood. Then concrete. Then metal. Next, it transitioned into a bird’s view of the Ash Lands archipelago, which seemed to be made up of a lot more land than water. There wasn’t much distance between the islands as they were connected with highways, bridges, and even little groups of houses that sat on the water.

“For now, let us take a brief trip into the past and dive into the origins of your new haven.”

Rafe wondered if he could lean back and get in a good snooze. His buddies might have been interested in the evolved technology, but he’s seen it all before.

“Ironward has gone through many changes over the years, always wanting to better its structure in order to become a true organism that can co-exist in both the worlds of humans and of magi. These two universes have been pitted against each other for so long, but Ironward has become a starting point for closing the gap and bringing peace between the opposing sides.”

From the corner of his eye and past Andre’s face, Rafe noticed Beau shaking his head.

“Ironward is… chaos, at worst.”

This had come from a former student. Ironward was trying to keep up an image. If so, then the blond felt no need to listen to a bunch of lies.

“What a crock of shit,” the blond groaned, sagging in his seat. “If what we saw at our orientation is really the norm around here, then this place is a jungle.”

“You guys saw a fight go down, didn’t you?” Joe muttered.

The two looked over at him with mild surprise. Though, Andre was sucked back in by the virtual experience.

“Yeah. How’d you guess?” asked Rafe.

“Bro, the same thing happened during my orientation day, too. It happened right in front of one of those buildings over there.”

“Which means that this whole video’s one big bullshit cover story.”

After glancing at his wolf friend’s enraptured face once more, he leaned his head back against the seat and shut his eyes, tuning out the voice overhead as he napped. Bits and pieces seeped into his mind, some lectures about the traditions and activities, recorded words from teachers and students past

It felt like half an hour later when he opened his eyes, hearing a familiar name.

“And now, a word from the Ironward headmaster, Jophery Gylarcan.”

Rafe squinted to indeed spot the enigmatic, golden-haired man making his way across the now-visible stage. Like a contestant at a pageant show, he waved jubilantly at the applauding audience.

“Thank you. Thank you all for coming here today,” he nodded as he stood behind a podium, speaking into the tiny microphone. “I’m happy and grateful that so many of you have chosen to stay with us here at Ironward. I’ve been a staff member here for the last three hundred years and headmaster for the last two hundred, and still, welcoming new students never ceases to lose its novelty.”

“Who the hell is this guy?” Rafe leaned forward, wishing he could peer inside and look into Mr. Gylarcan’s head.

There were many creatures that could live past one hundred and still look like they just got out of school. Superhumans had the potential, but they’d still have a few wizened features. This guy had none. Was he a vampire? Andre would have sniffed him out immediately – have some kind of reaction before then.

“Your headmaster, imp,” Beau, who had his head on Toby’s shoulder and his eyes shut, answered patronizingly without looking over.

Expectedly, it got an ireful glare directed at him, the smirk on his lips saying he knew it was there.

“No,” he spat. “I meant what is he?”

Beau glanced down at the stage, looking over the headmaster, before shrugging. “You know, all these years and I still don’t know what species he comes from. All I know is that it’s magic-related.”

The blond turned to the omé. “Can you sniff him out?”

Andre sniffed once before shaking his head. “Nope. He doesn’t have a scent I can pick up. Can’t sense any magic either. Although…”

He went silent. A perplexed Rafe poked his arm, but the young wolf’s attention did not stray from the stage.

Garlycan continued. “I won’t go over my life history because, frankly, we’d be here all week. No, this day is about you guys. And what better way to integrate all of you into the Ironward family than to let your more seasoned peers speak to you.”

He turned to his left and gestured at someone behind the curtain with a wave. Then, an assemblage of older-appearing people marched out onto the platform. The cluster was organized into smaller groups of individuals, striding to the right end of the stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Allow me to present the clubs of our most popular sport of Combat. Uxar, Phantamo, Egor…”

Rafe was mesmerized by the students that walked out. Each of them looked like a seasoned warrior, some even having scars exposed across their skin. Still, he was getting impatient with Andre.

“Dude,” he pestered, but the omé waved him off.

“Wait for it.”

“…Inerius, Unamo, Odorius,” Mr. Gylarcan went on calling, “and last but absolutely not least, the top-ranking club, with over four thousand consecutive matches since its conception, making it the longest-running team, and the breadwinner of Combat, with over three thousand two hundred twenty-one victories, the Abellon Club!”

When the last team sauntered out, not having to walk too far to complete the line across both ends of the stage, Andre fixed a keen finger at one of them.

“Right there! See that guy? The tall, blond one?”

Rafe followed the path of his friend’s finger, scrutinizing each participant until he reached the one with Andre’s vague description. The guy certainly had height on him, estimating a standing at 6’5. He was powerfully built as well. He wasn’t the most muscular person present, but he packed enough to make a regular gym rat squirm in fear, his bulging arms and legs clinging tightly to the black shirt and jeans he adorned. Long, platinum blond hair fell past his shoulders, not a wavy strand in front of his eyes of lavender and the tiny mole that sat under his left one.

“What about him?” Joe voiced the question, listening in as well.

“I could smell him from a mile away. He’s an alpha werewolf.”

“Like Renkin-level alpha, or…?” Rafe raised a brow.

“Well, right now, it’s not as strong a scent, but I can feel the potential hidden underneath. An educated guess would say that he’s strong another to beat down a troop of betas.”

He didn’t exactly know what that meant, but if it entailed him handling the inbred trio and Renkin’s two betas at the same time without any trouble, then that was pretty strong.

A pretty big stepping stone, but a stepping stone nonetheless.

“Now, a few words from the Abellon Club’s head chief, the renowned Shield of Ironward, Cain Aspen,” Gylarcan announced before making room for the alpha wolf, who swaggered toward it with a self-assured grin and a poised gate as the auditorium went crazy.

“Even the last name sounds familiar,” Andre mentioned absentmindedly.

“Let me guess. It’s another ‘renowned bloodline’ in wolf history?”

“I believe so.”

“Ssh!” Beau shushed them, still not moving his head from Toby’s shoulder. “I’m trying to take a nap, you chatterboxes.”

Rafe ignored him this time, watching Cain’s every move as he bent down to the mic to speak.

“What’s up, y’all. My name was Dixon Cider, but I guess as of thirty seconds ago, it’s Cain Aspen now.”

The Gold didn’t expect him to have such a mixture of silvery-smooth and deep of a voice, all laced in a southern accent, but here they were. The joke landed, too, the room going up in hysterics. Rafe just rolled his eyes and waited for him to proceed.

“You know, it’s been a wild ride. I’m a year nine, which means next year is my last, an’ I never thought so much would happen in that short amount of time. Man, I was such a shakin’ mess, my claws diggin’ into Momma’s yellow flower dress. I think I peed a little, too.”

That got more laughs. Rafe heard Andre and Joe snicker beside him.

“Can ya imagine that? Cain Aspen, leader of best combat club with a kickass nickname, alpha wolf from the Helio Tribe, and son of an Alpha Supreme wettin’ his pants ‘cause he ain’t in his own neck of th’ woods no more. I was scared shitless. But you know what got me through the years? My pappa always told me, ‘you can fall. You will fall. You will fail here an’ there. Lose this an’ that fight. But with each loss is another tool you can use to win. Another thought in the back of your mind to hang onto when your climbin’ for success.’.”

Well, hell. Rafe had to agree with the sentiment. Beau’s certainly been trying to hammer that home into his head after every training session.

“Honestly, I thought that was the stupidest crap I’ve ever heard in my entire life at the time. Why would I want to rack up a sheet of L’s? Pappa said that’s how he got t’ be Alpha Supreme. I didn’t know you had t’ get your ass kicked t’ get to th’ top, but oh boy, did I get these buns a foot a piece! But guess what?” a wide smile took over the alpha wolf’s face as if he won something against the world. “The joke was on me ‘cause here I am! At th’ top of the world, it seems like. My jaw might be outta place and a couple placed bruises might make me look like a walkin’ pufferfish, but at least it brings th’ ladies home!”

Fits of laughter resounded once more. This guy had the charm and allure down to a T.

Which was exactly why Rafe did not trust the smile on his face. Everyone else might have been duped, but the superhuman boy was not so easily fooled. He knew a least six times a dozen other people with that same wit and magnetism who turned out to be evil bastards behind the scenes.

“It don’t matter if you’re joinin’ the combat team or not. You keep that little tidbit in your brain goin’ forward, ya here me freshies? Trust me. You’re gonna need it.”

The crowd went crazy as approval and praise rocked the foundation of the Palace. A chant for the Shield of Ironward went up as Cain strutted back to his teammates. Rafe’s eyes remained on him, staring as the wolf received kisses on the cheek, hugs, and pats on the back.

“I know that face,” Andre smirked at the blond.

Joe was grinning in anticipation as well. “That’s his fighting face.”

Rafe snorted. “What can I say? I’m inspired. Someday, I want to fight and beat his face into the ground before he graduates.”

“Pretty big dreams there, bro.”

“And if I don’t follow them, then it’ll be me who’ll be in the ground. Six feet under and in pieces. The minute we step out of here in nine years, I’ll be fighting a battle that’ll either save or kill me. And the second part is looking more like it.”

“Don’t say that,” Andre grimaced.

“Hopefully, I won’t have to before our time is done here,” Rafe sighed. “Nine fucking years is all I have. I don’t know why that seems so short.”

“Why not leave it up to Beau and Toby-”

The Hermes superhuman was quick to refute that idea. “Out of the question. They’ve done enough holding my father back for some time, but I know him. He won’t wait around forever. And I need to be ready when his patience finally runs out.”

And he hoped to every god in the universe that that impatience wasn’t taken out on Beau and Toby.

“Well, you’re not gonna go in alone, are you, bro?” Joe placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Whatever happens, I’ll be right behind you.”

Andre nodded his agreement. “Ditto, bud.”

There was the urge to tell them to back off. That they have to stay out of it lest they be killed. Instead, he took a deep, low breath before answering, thinking before he spoke.

“It’s my mess to sort out, but thanks anyway, guys.”