The performance was a historical re-enactment of the Battle of Breaker’s Ridge. The details were exquisite; the clanging of steel, the roars of the Catobolas, the terror captured on the frozen, stone faces of Corlin soldiers. The only distractions were the wails of the children in the audience and the obvious glee of the illusionist casting it.

  -Lee Yang

  Komena remembered her first illusion show. She had been younger than ten at time, seven maybe, and it been an adaption of an old folktale. The details of the plot escaped her, something about a wizard that went out into the desert, hunting ghouls and ifrits, meeting the Simurgh and learning spells from it. The part she did remember, in vivid detail, was the climax. A light show of conjured fire, lighting and sandstorms thrown against gleaming claws and cackling faces.

  Right after that show, she had imagined the Faculty of Illusions. She had pictured it as a palace, shining in colors. A dazzling beacon set against the dull bricks of the docks where she lived. She hadn’t been delusional enough to think she could work there but she had loved the idea of the place.

  When she had been given free rein to explore the city a few years later, when she could be trusted to look after herself, it had been one of the first places she had gone to. To see it for herself. This meant that she surprised or disappointed when she returned to the brick of a building.

  This was her first time inside the faculty, though. There were no guards at doors and no receptionist waiting to greet them. She remained disappointed when the halls were the same plain grey, white, and brown as the outside. It was well lit, at least. Bright orbs had been generously set to float by the ceiling, giving off a flat, white light. Komena wondered if that counted as an illusion.

  The halls were also quiet and empty, except the occasional student going about their business. The pair started wandering, trying to find the Dean’s office or anyone who could guide them. The closest they got was a young man dressed like a lecturer that came running up to them, wringing his hands.

  “You two must be the inspection team.” he said. He didn’t talk like anyone important, sounding a little like a threatened kettle that was just beginning to boil. Likely a graduate student acting as an assistant.

  “Yes, that’s right.” Komena said. “We were hoping that the Dean would be able to see us.”

  “Of course, of course. Unfortunately, he’s occupied right now. We need his confirmation on the shows we have planned for the next season. He’s busy going over them with a few other senior faculty.” He said. “It should just take an hour or two more. If you’d like I can take you to his office so you can wait with some refreshments.”

  “No, thank you. This shouldn’t take very long, and waiting would be a waste of time for us all. Tell us where he is, we can just pull him aside.” She said.

  The boy had started to clench his hands tight enough to turn his knuckles white.

  “Oh no, I’m sure your business is too private for that. It’s crowded there, people practicing, showcasing the pieces they’ve come up with. You don’t want them interrupting or overhearing you.”

  To his credit, the assistant was keeping his tone steady in its submission, despite his obvious nervousness. No stumbling over his words or garbled syllables. It must have been a performer thing.

  “You’re not important enough to worry about what’s best for us.” Kave said. “Just tell us where he’s gone.”

  The boy didn’t answer. After a moment Komena and Kave walked past him and down the hall. They weren’t followed.

  “Are we going the right way?” Komena asked quietly after taking a few turns, trying to work towards the center of the building.

  “Towards the Dean? How would I know?” Kave answered. “No one’s cast any illusions to throw us off though. I would feel the spell. You’d probably notice the change anyway.”

  “That’s good. I was worried that they had some defenses built into the walls that they could have triggered. But if they did, they’re likely to important for our guide to have been told about. Above his pay grade, like you said.”

  “Which raises the question, where are the people who should be in charge. We should have at least seen a professor going between classes.”

  “Maybe they had the same idea, and all went out for lunch.” Komena said, grinning before stopping in her tracks. Then she took off running down the halls, as loudly as she could. Kave trailed behind her at a job.

  After running through a few halls, they came across a student peeking her head out from her dorm, her attention drawn by the noise of their steps. She was a year or two younger than Kave, braided hair peeking out from her head scraf.

  “Excuse me, could you help us?” Komena said. “We’re consultants from the Faculty of Agriculture. They wanted us to verify that some of the flowers in the next few performances were still in bloom, but our escort skipped out on us and it’s so hard to find anyone helpful.”

  The girl looked between the two of them. Komena tried to look professional and put together, posture covering over exhaustion. Kave tried to look harmless, which just softened his features back to the intense brooding he had worn when Komena first met him. The girl pointed down the hall.

  “You’re helping with the senior review? You want to take the first left, third right, then down the hall. It’s the one with the big door.”

  “Oh, thank you so much. Kave, thank the girl.” Komena said. His delayed reaction was to give a quick, nodding bow, before they set off down the way she pointed.

  A few minutes later, they were at the door. Exactly as described, it was bigger than the rest but otherwise unremarkable. Standing in front of it was the same student who’d been who’d first greeted them.

  “My apologies. I informed the Dean of your arrival, and it was just as you said, you leapt to the top of his priorities. He did say that was best handled in a more formal setting though, so he has returned to his office. I will escort you there.” He said. Kave snapped his fingers and spoke three words. With them, a bright orange candleflame appeared in their guide’s mouth. Kave moved his hand and the guide moved aside, dragged by his burning cheek. The two of them walked by the man and into the room. It was large, dark, and empty. Just a smooth flat space mostly taken up by a rectangle marked out on the floor.

  “He must have been eager to see us to pack up whatever they were doing here so quickly. Let’s look around here first.” Komena said.

  Kave nodded and motioned the again. The fire floated out of the guide’s mouth and into the air over the exact middle of the room. As the illusionist rubbed his jaw and sputtered at them, Kave fed the fire until it was roaring, lighting up the room. The two of them began combing through itmethodically, checking the walls and the floor for anything that didn’t look or feel right. The guide rambled in the background but didn’t stop them. He was as scared of the Dean’s authority as she was. Komena ignored him, focusing on the mystery of the room. She knew something was wrong here, just not what.

  Then she found it. Near the ceiling, to the left side a wall, was a patch. It wasn’t even a shadow, just a place that the light was hitting wrong.

  “There.” Komena said, pointing. A quick dispelling from Kave revealed the same wall, but with slightly more noticeable lines tracing out the section, like it was a brick that been laid in a marble wall.

  “You shouldn’t interfere with that. The Dean’s in his office waiting for you and this must be irrelevant to your investigation.” The guide said. His calm voice had started to crack.

  He was drowned by the screeches of twisting and snapping metal. Kave had begun casting to open the panel, snapping locks until it was loose. Another spell pushed it aside, sliding into the wall and revealing a passage.

  “But how could you have known something was here?” The guide asked.

  “I had a hunch.” She answered “I couldn’t imagine a practice session so important that you’d keep us from interrupting, but that he’d drop this fast. When I was looking for him, I saw that there wasn’t anyone else of authority around and I wondered where you would have sent me if I had asked to meet one of them. Then I decided I wanted to meet them all at once. Is the passage trapped? Did you even know this was here? Or did they just order you to not let us in?”

  The guide gave a defeated shrug. The third one then. She sighed and noticed her shadow move. The fire Kave had lit moved through the air as he muttered, lining itself up with the passage entrance.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “It won’t be trapped for long.” He said, before flaring it white hot and forcing it through the passage. The temperature rose to sweltering, like they were standing by a blast furnace It took a few minutes before he relaxed and stopped casting. The fireball had reached the end of its path, melting away any traps that might have been set and thoroughly announcing their presence.

  “Do you think there were any guards in there?” Komena asked, as they waited for the smoking hole to cool. Kave shrugged.

  “I went slow. I think we would have heard if it wasn’t anything they could handle.” He said before going back to work. That wasn’t the answer she wanted from him, but couldn’t argue against it. She just hoped that he would have stopped if he had heard them. She turned to their guide.

  “Could you light up the room again? We’re a little occupied.” She said. He shrugged in the dark, before casting a quick spell. A band of light appeared on the ceiling. An illusion giving the appearance of illumination.

  As Kave pulled the energy out of passage, the smoke cleared and the shimmer from the heated stones slowing to stillness. Soon, it was the same as the rest of the building again.

  “Do you want to go first?” Kave asked her. She nodded. He turned and began casting a spell on her. It felt like smooth ropes of air wrapping themselves around her in a harness, before they hoisting her up into the air. It also felt disappointingly like being cargo moved from dock to ship, as she floated over to the entrance.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked as she touched down. She knew he could cast more than most, but he was eclipsing most people she knew. Kave stretched like he was yawning and cracking his knuckles.

  “More tired that I’d like. I can keep going, but I hope you’re not planning to have me start picking fights. Not without something to eat first.” He said

  “There won’t be a need for that.” Komena said, jingling the medallion her badge hung on as he floated himself up to her. “Besides, these are illusionists. This was the fight.”

  The path was lined with tiles that had all cracked from the heat Kave had thrown past them, and was so thin the backs of Komena’s hands brushed the walls as she walked. Another mote of light from Kave led their way down through the path. Occasionally they came across dead ends, but these all flickered like mirages. The damage to the walls they were anchored to made it impossible for the illusions to remain steady.

  At the end of the path, they came onto another panel, this one scorched and warped from the impact of the fireball. Kave began to break the locks on this one as well and open it like he had the first. Instead of the expected smooth slide through, it stuck part way, too warped by the fire to fit into the grooves that it moved on. It took the both of them, Kave with what force he could still conjure and Komena dragging it by hand, to drag it along until the entrance was wide enough to slip though.

  Through the opening was a bright room, laid out almost like a lecture hall. The same gentle slope of seats in front of a podium and a chalk board. She couldn’t see people inside but was certain they were there. If they were keeping themselves invisible, they were doing it masterfully. She couldn’t see even a glint of the rainbow shimmer that would come from a room of bent light.

  “Anyone in there, this is Komena Siri. I’m part of the Faculty of Agriculture’s investigation into a murder.” She announced to the space. “We are coming through now with their full authority. We just have a few questions we need answered.”

  Komena exhaled deeply and sidled though with all the dignity she could muster. Kave followed once she was clear, horns angled through before dragging the rest of his body along. She kept him by the entrance to bock anyone from leaving, pointed Kave back to the entrance and walked over to the lectern near the entrance.

  “At least one of you should come out!” She announced. “It was too cramped in there for any of you to sneak past us and I know there’s no second entrance. If there was the dean would have been waiting in that last room while snuck out the other way. I just some questions answered. Finding you all is just a way to make sure the answers are useful.”

  For a few minutes, nothing happened. Kave stood guard and Komena. Eventually, a well-dressed teacher appeared by her side. His clothes were obviously expensive, dyed deeply in purples and reds. He wasn’t wearing a badge of office, but the clothes and the arrogant posture, left little doubt of his authority.

  “Alright, Inspector, you’ve made your point.” He said. “I assume you wish to speak to the Dean.”

  “I did, but you’re the one who came out to talk to us and now I’m more personally invested in the Faculty of Illusion’s secret illusion room. Is the dean here as well?” She said, looking out what only appeared to be rows of empty seats.

  “Like the doorman said, he went back to his office, but since you’re insistent on talking to someone, here and now about this, I’m the most qualified to-”

  “I object!” Another wizard yelled, appearing in view, same style of dress, but fatter and red faced. “The Chamber Speaker doesn’t have the authority to speak to outsiders on the council’s behalf.”

  With that cue, the room filled with other teachers, all of them shouting. Komena could make out more objections, insults to both the Speaker and the interrupter, and calls to order.

  “Who are these people?” Kave asked. He leaned closer but didn’t whisper. It would have been drowned out.

  “They’re the missing staff that we should have seen in the halls. The actual teachers and competent mages. They were all here, for some reason, which is why that understudy was the one who greeted us.” She answered. Any other questions were stopped as the first speaker pulled out a little bell amulet and tapped it. A wave of silence rippled out, strangling the arguments in the air. It took five seconds before sound could be made in the room again.

  “This assembly was never intended to interact with members of the public. You’ll need to forgive some growing pains and tension as we decide how to.” He said to fill the space.

  “Of course. All the faculties have their little quirks. I’ve seen that firsthand.” Komena said. “My interest in this is strictly personal. Professionally, I just need to talk to your dean.”

  “Of course. The Dean of Evocation’s murder. That’s been a subject lively debate for the last few days.” The Chamber Speaker said, barely restraining a pained glance around at his peers. “When we first voted to hire you, we had hoped that you’d find the culprit to be some internal Evocation affair.”

  “And then the investigation turned outwards and upwards, and you didn’t want me to find this in my search. So, you cut me loose.” She said. There wasn’t a sympathetic look on any of the assembled faces.

  “Yes, though you can’t fault us for that. It is what happened after all.” A voice said from someone near the top rows.

  “If you were that worried about it, you could have had the Dean wait far from here to answer our questions.”

  “We were going to, but you decided that waiting was an insult. We didn’t have time decide what he’d tell you.” The Chamber Speaker said.

  “He could have told us the truth!” Kave said.

  “You’re going to talk about truth here of all places?” The Speaker said. “I had heard your kind weren’t mindless beasts, creature, but you disappoint.”

  There was a smattering of applause from the audience, undercut with a few boos and heckles. Not loud enough to dominate the room, but too much to distinguish the meaning of their calls, though they seemed more against the Speaker than for Kave. Regardless, the boy kept glowering. Instead of the usual stream of smoke leaking from his mouth, there were just stuttering wisps. His posture was so perfect you could almost believe it was deliberate self-control and not exhaustion.

  “Still, you raise a valid point, and your intrusion provides opportunity.” The Speaker said, clapping once and dispelling an illusion. The wall at the back of the room burned away like sea mist, revealing a shelf of scrolls that reached from floor to ceiling. A few more woven spells brought all the scrolls from a shelf near the top flying out and drifting down. They came to rest at Komena’s feet.

  “These are the minutes for the past month of meetings.” The Speaker said. Komena opened one of the scrolls, finding it encrypted, a spell keeping the ink rotating, meaningless flux. The Speaker cast another spell and words snapped into place on the page. The crowd shouted disapproval as she read. There wasn’t anything important, but they weren’t lying to her.

  “And this one is a list of who is responsible for keeping the knowledge of the Flauros summoning.” The speaker said, passing along another scroll. They had left parts encrypted, but for now she was happier not knowing whatever they were hiding. But, as promised, there was a section buried halfway through marked Flauros. Mercifully, there were only three names on the list instead of a full room of suspects. The only ones to worry about were the Speaker, birth name Barolmaeus apparently, whoever the Accuser was, and someone named the Tourist. That was still three more than there supposed to be though.

  “I see that the Dean hear is more open with the secrets of his position than others.” Komena said. Another reason to keep an investigation at arm’s length.

  “It is a necessity of our organization. Redundancy is part of accountability, and you’ll find enough here to put you at ease.” The Speaker said.

  “Speaker, I will protest your casual revelation of the secrets of this institution!” The fat one yelled again “You are mocking policies and failsafe’s generations old at the first breeze to blow against them.”

  The Speaker sighed and looked to Komena. For a second, she saw an even mix of amusement and annoyance on his face, before he put the mask back on.

  “Investigator, could you make your case to our parliament? How do you imagine the other faculties would respond to our lack of cooperation?” He asked.

  “Well, I won’t pretend that the other faculties are lining up to give their sides of the story, but to go so far as to stonewall us entirely? Let me think.” Komena said. “Assuming no one here is the culprit, the real one would take the opportunity to frame someone. Even if they don’t choose you, whoever they choose will put out another name to buy time. This investigation won’t last forever, but it will be intense while it lasts. More attention to you all, people searching the building. Someone else will find this strange little system you have set up. And they’ll probably be more invested in you spreading around restricted spells than I am. Or maybe they’ll just execute your dean and the three of you right away. Send a firm message and try to move on. I am sure that’ll cause just as many problems for you all.” She said, talking like she was making predictions on the races.

  The audience was quiet for the first time since Komena had seen them. There were a few scowls on their faces, and she could still hear scattered mutters as they planned, but most of them were subtler. The fat, loud one was now unreadable behind a stony glare. Kave was smirking, though it was small enough that you wouldn’t be able to see it from the seats.

  “But that’s hypothetical. We’re here now and that gives us a few obvious next steps for our investigation. If you don’t want to answer our questions, that’s fine. But I promise you, you’ll need to kill us make us leave.” She said, taking the smile of the boy’s face as she pulled out her investigator’s amulet.

  “And that would be an insult to the Faculty of Agriculture, which ends just the same as being framed but done by a vindictive old witch. At least being framed would just be nosiness, but she seems like the type who takes things personally.”

  That quieted the room entirely. They had thought that they could trick their way through this mess, that there was a performance they could put on that would keep things the way they were. That layer of detachment had been their shield, and she had needed to rip it away. Otherwise, someone else would, with spells and blood in the streets.

  “Alternatively, you can find us a quiet room, some dinner and leave us be for a few hours with your dean and these scrolls, and we can try to prove that nothing here is worth looking into.”