Chapter 43 - On A Mission

It was the end of the week once again and it was time for another auxiliary class. Ryan had taken only one day off from his regular classes, attending the rest of them. Laura on the other hand had missed the entire week, only showing up today. Ryan had told Ben everything that had happened that night, leaving out only the bits that would paint him in a bad light.

Over the week Ryan had checked in on Laura several times, making sure she was alright and that she had everything she needed. Laura greatly appreciated the fact that Ryan cared so much about her wellbeing. It took her a few days, but the feeling of dirty hands all over her body began to fade away.

Seeing Laura walk into the classroom caused Ryan to smile widely. He quickly pulled out a chair for her at the desk next to him and Ben. "I'm glad to see you. How're you feeling?"

Brushing some hair behind her ear, Laura smile at him. "I'm ok, thanks."

She looked around the classroom, seeing a few empty seats. "Where's Kelly and Riley? Class is about to start."

The original six members of Professor Kal's special class was now down to only four. Richard was sitting quietly as always off to the side but not too far from the other three. Riley and Kelly, the fraternal twins were no where to be seen. Although she hadn't gotten especially close to the two of them during their classes, she had the feeling that they wouldn't miss just for any reason.

"It probably has to do with the rumor going around." Ben said, leaning back in his chair.

Laura looked at Ben inquisitively. "What rumor?"

Laura had been keeping herself from the rest of the student body most of the week. So, she hadn't socialized nearly as much as she normally would. The only people that would visit her would be Ryan, or her father and mother.

Leaning forward, Ben scrunched up his face in an attempt to look scary. "They say that Professor Kal is an evil necromancer! That he likes to sacrifice children to demons and eats the flesh of his victims."

Laura furrowed her brows. "Why would anyone think that Professor Kal is a necromancer? He's never done anything to hurt anyone, has he?"

Laura asked this question looking between the three of them. Richard silently shrugged his shoulders along with Ben, Ryan on the other hand looked like he was trying hard to keep out of the entire conversation by scribbling in his notebook. Before Laura could ask anything else a familiar portal opened up inside the classroom.

"Is this everyone?" Professor Kal asked as he scanned the classroom. "How disappointing."

Usually, Professor Treffle would accompany Professor Kal to each of their classes, but today she was nowhere to be seen. Another strange thing was the way that Professor Kal was dressed. He was wearing something that commoners would normally wear, a plain brown tunic and brown pants. It was extremely jarring seeing him in something other than black.

With a wide smile and clapping his hands together, Professor Kal addressed the small class. "Now, I have some great news to share with all of you." He paused. "Our trip has been moved forward and has been extended!"

Expecting an enthusiastic reaction, Professor Kal was greatly disappointed to see the four students only look at each other with lackluster expressions on their faces. Laura raised her hand, like usual. "Sir, uh, when are we leaving then?"

"Right now!" Professor Kal said, producing his staff from his ring and made his way to the door.

An explosion of objections sounded out behind him. Even the always silent Richard was moaning in distress. Ryan had his head between his hands and Ben was shaking his head. Laura was the only one that was capable of putting any rational thoughts together.

"Pro..Professor! We haven't packed or prepared anything yet. What about our parents and our classes?" She shouted out after Professor Kal before he could walk through the door.

Smacking himself in the forehead, Professor Kal stopped in his tracks and turned to face to students. "You're right, I almost forgot to give you these." He then proceeded to conjure four sets of plain brown clothes, very similar to what he was wearing.

"You've got an hour to grab anything that you want to bring. Don't worry about clothes, you'll be wearing these during our trip. Don't worry, I've got another pair for each of you. Meet up at the main entrance when you're ready."

With those words Professor Kal exited the room, leaving Laura gaping like a fish and holding four pairs of plain commoner clothing between her hands.

…..

A little over an hour later, the group of four met up at the main entrance wearing the drab clothing that was given to them. The other students were all staring and laughing at them as they milled around waiting for Professor Kal. The clothes were poorly made, the stiches clearly visible from several feet away. They were also made out of cheap wool, making them very itchy and hot. The children were miserable and very confused as to why they were being forced to wear such atrocious clothing.

Clopping noises, accompanied by the sound of wooden wheels could be heard coming from the street. The children all turned their attention to the carriage that had just come to a stop right in front of the main entrance to the Academy. Everyone was staring at the atrocity in front of them, never before had anyone ever seen such a wreck of a wagon.

It looked like it had been built by piecing together several different wagons into one. The wood paneling didn't match, and the wheels were just slightly different sizes, causing the entire thing to list slightly to the left. The canopy that covered the back was patched together by a novice, Ryan thought that even he could have done a better job.

The only thing sadder than the wagon itself were the horses pulling it. Those poor animals looked like they had skipped more than just a few feedings. One could see their ribs poking out of their skin and some of their teeth were missing. Their legs were stick thin and their hip bones stuck up high into the air. Flies were buzzing around them landing shortly only to be swished away by what little hair was left on their tails.

Voices could be heard in the crowd around them, mostly expressing sorrow for the poor horses and disdain for whoever treated them in such a way. Down from the driver's platform jumped a man with black hair and a plain face, it was Professor Kal. Getting down behind him was Professor Treffle; she was dressed in the same plain clothing as Professor Kal and the students could clearly hear her cursing under her breath.

"Right on time." Professor Kal started, walking up to the four of them, ignoring the cursing coming from behind him. "Ok, everyone on the wagon. I'm sure you all have a lot of questions, so I'll explain on the way."

Under the scrutinizing gazes of their peers, and a few curious professors that had stopped to see what the commotion was all about, the four young mages shuffled towards the wagon. They didn't have any luggage; Ryan was kind enough to allow everyone to store their belongings inside his storage ring. Now that Professor Kal had unlocked it, he was free to use it however he pleased. Ben jumped up first, then helped Laura up as well. Richard clumsily made his way into the back of the wagon while Ryan walked around the front to talk with Professor Kal.

He had noticed something weird with the horses and wanted to ask him about them.

"Professor." Ryan said, tapping on his shoulder before he could climb up into the driver's seat. "Are those horses…" he paused, looking around before continuing in a whispered tone. "Are those horses dead?"

Professor Kal looked at Ryan, then at the two emaciated horses attached to the wagon. "Huh, I could see why'd you think that, but no, they're not dead. You wouldn't believe the deal I got on them! Now, hurry up and get on."

Professor Kal shooed Ryan away before getting into the driver's seat with Professor Treffle sitting next to him still cursing under her breath. Once everyone was ready, Professor Kal whipped the reigns and the horses started to pull the wagon down the street.

…..

They had just left the city, exiting through the southern gates. With the tall walls slowly disappearing behind them, Professor Kal gave the reigns to Professor Treffle and turned around to address the still terribly confused students.

"So, let me start off by explaining what is going on. I have been given the task of finding out who had cursed the then First Prince, Alexander. That means we are heading to the capital of Morgania, Austrina."

Interrupting him, Ben spoke. "So why are we coming along then? And what's with these clothes?"

"Let me finish, let me finish. You lot are coming along as part of my special class. It'll be good for you to travel and to experience the real world. As far as the clothes are concerned, they are a disguise. I can't just go trapsing through the city proclaiming I'm a mage if I want to find whoever had done it, now can I?" Seeing that Laura was about to speak up, he stopped her. "It was a rhetorical question."

"So, we're going to be incognito, and you all have a part to play. I'm the father of four fine young children and Professor Treffle over there is your loving, but often moody, mother." Professor Kal enthusiastically explained.

They all looked over to Professor Treffle, only to see her with a death grip on the reigns and a vein bulging from her neck. It looked like she wanted to strangle something.

Seeing a good chance, Laura finally asked the question she had been wanting to ask. "What about our parents and the classes that we'll miss?"

Waving his hand dismissively, Professor Kal answered. "That's all been taken care of. You don't need to worry about it one bit."

It was part of the package deal that he had worked out with Court Mage Reginald. Professor Kal was a little surprised to see the old man come to his door a few nights ago, but he quickly welcomed him inside his home. It was clear to see that the old mage was extremely uncomfortable. He was looking everywhere but at Professor Kal and would hardly take two steps inside the door, staying as close as possible to the exit.

Jumping straight to the point, Reginald rushed through the reason for his visit. The King, in his infinite wisdom, wanted to use Professor Kal to find the evildoer that had cursed him and killed his father. At first Professor Kal wanted to refuse but had quickly changed his mind once Reginald said that they would offer him anything that he wished for to do so.

Wanting to test him, Professor Kal asked for King Alexander to dress up in drag and profess his love for the King of Morgania. To his surprise, Mage Reginald said that he would bring that back to the King with a serious look on his face. Shaking his head, Professor Kal gave out a hearty laugh and slapped Reginald on the back, causing the poor old man to tremble.

Professor Kal, after calming himself down, went through his real list of demands which included no small amount of gold along with the permission to bring along his students. There were other things on that list as well such as ingredients for potions and rare materials he needed for a few experiments that he was having a hard time locating. All of these things Reginald readily agreed to, he didn't even try to bargain; that just showed how badly they wanted him out of their hair.

Reginald was thinking that the kingdom got off lightly. The gold, ingredients, and materials were easy enough to write off. The students on the other hand were the only thing that gave him pause. In the end though he didn't fight for them to stay, he just offered them up a silent prayer and thanked them for their sacrifice to the kingdom.

With everything settled, Reginald hurriedly exited the room under the pretense of gathering up everything Professor Kal had listed. He also had to speak with the parents of the children that would be leaving with him. Professor Kal was shocked at just how fast the old man could move when it came time for him to leave.

"Sir, do we really have to wear these things" Can't we pick some better material at least?" Richard spoke up, his fingers digging into his irritated skin.

Patting his head, Professor Kal answered plainly. "No. These are what commoners wear so we can't change into something more comfortable, it'll blow our cover. Plus, it builds character."

"Builds character my ass." Professor Treffle grumbled from the driver's seat, scratching around her collar.

With a smirk, Professor Kal turned and looked at her. "Looks like mom's in one of those moods again kids."

Professor Treffle snapped her head in his direction, glaring daggers into him. "I am no one's mother! I'll be damned if I'm going to put up with this for an entire month!"

Ignoring her outburst, Professor Kal turned back around to face the students. Professor Treffle returned to driving the shabby wagon, her face contorted in blatant rage.

"Uh, Professor, why is Professor Treffle coming along with us?" Ryan timidly asked, glancing at the woman's back.

"Well" he began. "I needed someone to look after you if I'm out and about, plus, she still wants to learn all the secrets of magic. It's the price one must pay to do so."

In reality, she was forced to come along with him by Dean Petticoat. Mage Reginald may have been willing to throw the students to the wolves so to speak, but he was not. He ordered Professor Treffle to tag along to watch over the students. Professor Kal only accepted her because he knew her slightly and also because he got along well with the Dean.

It had to be said that Professor Treffle protested loudly, but it was useless. Dean Petticoat had threatened her position as a professor, with that, she relented. It was now her duty to ensure that the students didn't befall an unfortunate accident for the next month and a half, which was easier said than done.. It wasn't as if Professor Kal would purposely harm the students, but during the time that she had known the man he would often not seem to realize how dangerous his actions truly were.