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

«Where’s the platform?»

«Come!» Nymus headed to the window in the far corner that was located right in the wall made of living nature element. William followed him.

There were long benches all around, enrolees sitting there with their parents who had come to see them off to the Ball. Of course, William didn’t know any of them. For a moment, he felt really uneasy because he actually didn’t know any wizards at all. «But at least he had Nymus!» he kept saying to himself. He’ll have time to make friends with wizards. It was too early to fall into despair.

They walked past the endless rows of benches and finally reached the window, with the cashier sitting beyond it and reading a newspaper. William saw the name of the newspaper «Informed Wizard’. Nymus knocked on the window. The same moment the elderly wizard put his newspaper aside and gave the newcomers a questioning look. Nymus bent over William’s ear and whispered:

«Your invitation ticket! You need to show it to pass.»

William quickly pulled out the invitation from his pocket and handed it to the elderly wizard in glasses. He took the ticket and touched it with his feather. The invitation vanished from this touch. After this, the elderly wizard said politely:

«Please, step through, Mister Calhoun!»

At this, Nymus took William to the wall, which reflected them now. The water suddenly parted, revealing an oval oak door. They opened the door, stepped through and found themselves on the platform.

«Nymus, so the water wasn’t real, just an illusion?» William asked when they were standing on the platform among other wizards waiting for the Six O’Clocker.

«No, why? It is real, like the ground that replaces it regularly. It is a security system – only those that have the ticket may pass. Those who try to reach the platform without the ticket will simply step onto the ocean floor and drown… Excuse me!.. Make way!… Thank you!… Please, sir… What a lovely child… let us pass,» while explaining all that, Nymus was holding William with one hand and used the other hand to push through the crowd. «If the walls are in their earth shape at that moment, the frauds will bury themselves the moment they make a step.»

«But you’ve managed to pass somehow,» William noted, «and nothing happened to you.»

«Master Calhoun forgets that I am a mailmage! Mailmages do not need to cheat to get anywhere, because they have a special pass to all places. We can peregrine anywhere we want without breaking the law. However, it is prohibited to take our wizards where they are not supposed to be or they need a pass for. It is a blatant violation of the Post Office Code, and for this violation… Allow me the doubt of whether you have chosen the right place on the platform, Miss… For this violation we will never see letters again!»

After passing through the last row of wizards, they came to the front of the crowd.

«There! Now nothing will get in the way for Master William to enjoy the sight of the arrival of the Six O’Clocker!» he said in a satisfied voice and folded his arms on his chest.

They were standing in a gloomy dense forest. The only source of noise here were the loud voices of wizards, who, judging by the thickening crowd, were still arriving, and it was becoming hard to move. Instead of the rails William had expected to see he only saw a path leading from one part of the forest to another. When he turned around, he didn’t see the towering building of the Cabstation behind the crowd. He actually didn’t see anything towering there. Only the trees.

«If it has not been for the crowd, Master William would have seen a shabby hut, no longer than ten feet. It’s for diversion!» Nymus explained seeing his confusion. «Demits often come here, and the large building of the Cabstation in the middle of the forest would have caused, let us say, some degree of misunderstanding.

«But there’s a forest here! Besides, there are no rails. There’s actually nothing here except for the forest.»

«Rails?» Nymus looked surprised.

«Of course! We’re taking the Six O’Clocker, after all!»

«Master William, the Six O’Clocker is not a train,» the mailmage replied shortly.

«What is it, then?»

«A cab.»

«A cab?»

«Not an ordinary one, of course, but a cab!» Nymus replied in a busy-like tone.

«But is it possible to travel all the way to Germany by cab?! Even though the station is called the Cabstation, I thought it was merely a name, and we’re travelling by train.»

«I have already told master Calhoun that wizards do not use any kinds of digital or electronic devices, like demits. Magic Feathers do not allow them to work properly,» the mailmage reminded him.

«Oh, right… now I remember!» William said and they fell silent again. After a while, William asked: «When will I see you again, Nymus?»

«I will meet Master Calhoun here, when the Six O’Clocker brings enrolees back. And if you need me earlier, you know how to call me.»

«Alright, Nymus! I’ll let you know!»

Suddenly William felt something starting to vibrate deep down under his feet. The ground started moving – first slightly, then more and more, and then the whole platform was shaking, as if it was an earthquake. Soon the sound of hooves coming from underground turned into real thunder, followed by even heavier shaking of the ground.

«The Six O’Clocker is coming!» Nymus had to all but shout to be heard. «I wish you an unforgettable trip, my Master! Have a good journey!»

«Thank you, Nymus!»

The moment he said that, the thunder of hooves coming from deep under deafened all the other sounds. A part of the path not far from the place he and Nymus were standing, suddenly rose up. Small pieces of soft ground flew into the air and it seemed like someone large was making the way through the thick ground, struggling to get to the surface. And a moment later, the shovel-like powerful horns showed from under the ground and rushed forward, followed by hump-nosed heads, necks and, finally, white bodies of blue-eyed elks, pulling the legendary black carriage!

This process lasted for a while and soon, when the carriage was fully on the surface, it turned out that the Six O’Clocker had the same size as ordinary trains. It consisted of an endless row of connected cabins. Each cabin looked like a miniature cab. William suddenly realized he had no idea which cabin he was supposed to take. He turned to ask Nymus, but the mailmage was gone. There was an old wizard instead, who was holding his granddaughter’s hand.

«I must have missed the sound of him peregrining because of that racket!» William thought. «Well, now I’ll have to think on my own!»

He saw the enrolees taking seats in the cabins quite chaotically and he headed towards the one right opposite to him. But as he approached it, he saw through the round window on the door that all the seats inside were taken. The cabins were for four people each, with seats facing each other. William moved along the «train’ until he found a cabin with only one passenger. William opened the door and asked:

«Excuse me, are other seats taken?»

The passenger just lazily turned his head, gave William a look and said as lazily:

«Nah!» after which he turned to the other window again.

Then William jumped inside the cabin. Once inside, he looked around. The cab inside was rather tall, even an adult could sand here without touching the ceiling. It was rather roomy as well, to stretch out the legs. Round windows on the doors on both sides reminded illuminators in a ship cabin. The cabins had pillows and other necessary things to make the journey comfortable for the passengers. There were black hooded robes on the seats, neatly folded. After glancing at his travelling companion and seeing that he was already wearing the prepared garment, William took the robes and, following the example of his companion, threw them on. There was a letter «E» encircled by a feather embroidered on the chest. Finding his new outfit quite comfortable, he finally sat down, noticing how comfortable the seats were. Now William’s eyes focused on the companion sitting opposite him. It was a rather chubby pink-cheeked boy with tousled hair, about the same age as William. It seemed that the boy wasn’t interested in anything. He was staring at the trees in the forest and seemed to be lost in his thoughts. But William wasn’t too happy at the thought of spending the whole journey in silence. Besides, it felt like the right time to start making friends. So William decided to show initiative and start the conversation.