Aik Iskandaryan - William Calhoun and the Black Feather. Book I

Nymus scanned the document and glowed with happiness.

«Right! Time to part, gentlemen! Don’t forget to get your uniform, Nymus.»

«Yes, Your Mailness!»

«Good bye!» William said as he headed to the door. He wanted to put his magic feather back into the box, when there was a voice from behind.

«Oh, don’t you even think of keeping your magic feather in the box again, Mister Calhoun, it’s disrespectful towards the creature! It is alive, you know!» his tone wasn’t strict, but quite insistent.

«Alright, sir,» with that William put his feather into the pocket of his jeans.

Nymus and he left the office of the Postmaster deputy Thomas Hill.

«See, I told you it would be okay!» William said when they were walking along the corridor. «I’m so happy for you!»

«Yes, I should not have worried, Master Calhoun! I need to visit the Equipment Department now. Wait here for me, I shall be right back.»

«Sure, Nymus, go on!»

And William sat on a bench to wait for Nymus. He came out five minutes later wearing a new outfit. He had the pale blue uniform of mailmages, not unlike the one postal workers wore. Nymus’s shoulders were adorned with red feathers, almost like epaulettes, carrying words «Calhoun’ embroidered in gold.

«Would you look at my mailmage!» William made a show of dusting off his feathered shoulders. «You look great, Nymus!»

«Thank you, Master Calhoun!» Nymus’s face glowed with happiness.

«Where to now?» William asked him.

«To register your magic feather!»

He took William’s hand and said the next destination clearly:

«Feather Nest!»

After visiting the enormous hall of the Magic Post Office, completely covered with letters, William couldn’t even imagine that he would face something similar. But he was wrong. The hall he and Nymus arrived at was just as huge. And the floor was also covered, but not with letters. William took a closer look. There were countless feathers all around, of different colours and sizes.

Nymus said by his side:

«Here we are!»

«Where are we, Nymus?» William asked.

«We are at the Feather Nest! This is where wizards get their magic feathers! And if there is a place that has the biggest number of all kinds of birds, then this is it!» he pointed at the feathers under their feet.

«And why is there nobody in here?»

«This is the flight room, Master Calhoun! By the end of the day, when the Feather Nest closes down, birds are allowed in here to fly. I shall stay here to wait for you while you are inside,» he pointed at an unremarkable door on the far wall of the hall.

No wonder William hadn’t noticed it at first.

«But why should I go there alone?» William asked. He didn’t want to part with Nymus. He was used to the mailmage always being by his side, to them doing everything and going everywhere together.

«Those are the rules, Master Calhoun,» Nymus replied. «No wizard may enter the Feather Nest accompanied by another person. This excludes mistakes in the choice the birds make.»

«What choice? What are you talking about?»

«You see, Master Calhoun, when a wizard enters the Feather Nest for the first time, one of the birds flies over and grants him a feather. Before coming here, wizards can only guess which bird will choose them.»

«What happens next?» William asked, thinking that this procedure reminded him of a child’s game more and more.

«After one of the birds comes down from its perch and grants its feather to a wizard, Mister Wellington takes the feather, examines it and explains how to treat that exact feather and which personality that feather has. Then he registers the feather in the Feather Tome and gives it to its new owner.»

«Nymus, what am I supposed to do? No bird has granted me this feather. I’ve had it since my birth. Won’t I have any problems because of that?»

«I think there should not be any problems!» Nymus replied. «The feather can obey only one wizard. If it obeys you, then it does not have any other owners beside you. Just tell Mister Wellington that you have come to register a magic feather and it is all in the envelope.»

«Alright, Nymus! Then I’m off!» William breathed out and headed towards the door on the far wall of the hall.

As he approached the door, he heard some sounds coming from inside. William opened the door and all but drowned in the cacophony of birds crying, whistling, warbling, singing, cawing, and chirping. He suddenly remembered the time he’d been to a zoo with Mrs. Hoggart and was deafened by the noise coming from the bird cage. But compared to this racket, that noise was silence. William sighed, driving the memories off, made a step, and the door closed behind his back all by itself.

William made another step and looked around. This huge room seemed to be full of birds, from top to bottom. William had never seen so many birds in one place. Just then he made out a counter through this live wall of wings and feathers, which stood deeper into the room and resembled a giant nest. There was also another thing. Despite the floor being made of stone, there were full-scale trees, bushes, and flowers growing right through it, with a small swamp in one of the corners. William had no doubts it was real: there was a rotten smell coming from the small swamp, as well as frogs croaking. The birds were still flying chaotically around the room and those that stopped flying landed on almost any object in here: walls, the ceiling, windows, tree branches, and other places.

Somehow making his way to the «nest’, William was surprised to find it empty. He decided that there was nobody in here apart from the birds and turned around to leave. But then a huge hawk appeared from nowhere and dashed right at him. William closed his eyes, but the hawk flew over his head with a cry and disappeared.

When William opened his eyes, he was surprised to find a grey-haired old man behind the counter, with a sharp face and an eagle-like nose. His grey hair fell to his shoulders and his yellow eyes with black pupils, just like that of the eagle, stared right at William.

«Welcome to the Feather Nest, young wizard!» he said in a shrill voice and then, suddenly irritated with the noise around there, made a deafening cry, much like an eagle. The noise instantly died out.

The old man gave William an expectant look.

«Good day, sir…» he greeted the man, looking into the face of this strange master of magic feathers with a bit of fear.

«…Wellington. I’m at your service, young wizard! You have probably come here for a magic feather?»

Wellington walked around the counter, came up to William and, taking his hand, started examining it, not unlike a tailor who examines a client’s figure.

«Sir, Mister Wellington,» William hurried to move his hand away, «I’ve already got a magic feather.»

Mister Wellington returned behind the counter at once.

«Then why have you come here, young man?» he asked, puzzled.

«I’d like to register my magic feather,» William replied.

«To register?» Wellington stared at William’s face. «I can’t seem to remember you… When have you been here before?»

«Never. I’ve never been here. And I’ve never been granted the feather.»

«Oh?» Mister Wellington’s face looked even more puzzled. «Then, may I ask you how you have received it?»

«I’ve had it since my childhood. For a long time, I had no idea what it was for. But then they told me, and I want to study at the Preparatory Course. And, as I understand, I need to register the feather to do that.»

Mister Wellington was listening to him, as they say, with his mouth open, but he quickly overcame his shock and asked: