Despite Almark’s concerns, no monsters emerged from the woods, and life at the institute passed by peacefully.
On one such quiet day, during a break between classes, Morgan approached Almark with a question.
“Say, Almark, have you heard the story about the Lord Boruqe statue in the garden?”
“Lord Boruqe?” Almark frowned. “Lord Boruqe… Who’s that? I think I might have heard the name before, but I’m not sure…”
“Huh? We learned about him in class… Oh, that was last year. You weren’t here yet,” Morgan said, growing pensive.
The garden…, Almark thought. “I haven’t looked around the garden very much. It’s got a bunch of statues, right?”
“Yeah, but Lord Boruqe’s statue is in the grass maze.”
“Oh…” Almark nodded.
There was a large garden between the school gates and the road leading to the schoolhouse, tended to by many gardeners. It was close to the dorms and hidden among numerous trees; Almark had seen part of it during his tour with Zeid on his first day at the institute. When going from the dorms to town, many students chose to save time by cutting through the garden instead of passing all the way through the schoolhouse.
At the very center of the garden was a series of grass walls, each about as tall as an adult and spread out in an elaborate pattern. The paths between them looked like a maze, and on the other side of the maze was a statue of a robed mage.
This garden was apparently the grounds of an estate once owned by the former governor of Norkh Island. That was when Almark remembered—Lord Boruqe was the name of that governor.
“Oh, right,” said Almark. “This island is part of King Garai’s domain, but it was originally donated to him a long time ago.”
“Yep, and that was Lord Boruqe,” Morgan said proudly. “So you have heard of him.”
“Yeah, sorry. I just couldn’t remember it off the top of my head.”
Almark was trying hard to keep up with his classes, but it was a lot of information at once. Remembering something doesn’t mean you necessarily understand it, he thought.
“So what’s the story about Lord Boruqe?” Almark asked.
Morgan lowered his voice to a hush, looking very grave. “Well, this is just between you and me…”
“Skip the theatrics,” Almark said, rolling his eyes, but Morgan shook his head.
“C’mon, don’t be like that. This is serious.”
“All right, all right. So?”
“Lord Boruqe’s statue.”
“Yes?”
“It talks at night.”
Morgan peered into Almark’s face, like he was asking “so, what do you have to say to that?” Almark, for his part, wasn’t sure how to answer.
“Oh. Okay.”
His indifferent reaction left Morgan frustrated.
“Come on, Almark, you could at least be a little more freaked out.”
“I mean…” Almark scratched his head. “Doesn’t this just sound like a ghost story?”
“Of course it does!” Morgan exclaimed, drawing attention from Nelson, Wendy, and Lilty, who excitedly gathered around them.
“What are you two talking about, Morgan?” Wendy asked.
“Good timing. Hear me out, guys! Almark’s not getting into it at all!” Morgan turned to Almark. “Picture this: You’re in the garden at night. No one’s around, and it’s pitch black. And then you hear somebody whispering. Almark, that’s when you start walking through the garden wondering who could be there. It sounds like the voice is coming from the depths of the maze. It’s already easy enough to get lost in there, plus it’s dark out, so you stumble around, following the voice. Finally, you make it through the maze and find the source of the voice! But just when you look to see who it is…”
Morgan paused for dramatic effect, and then finished his story.
“…there’s no one there. Just the Lord Boruqe statue, standing silently at attention…”
Nelson gave an impressed “ooooh,” and Wendy clapped. Lilty had covered her ears halfway through the story.
“The way you tell it makes it sound like you’re speaking from experience…,” Almark said. “Did all that really happen to you, Morgan?”
“What are you, crazy?” Morgan asked, looking offended. “I don’t have that kind of courage. I heard it from someone in Class 1.”
“Aw, come on. It’s just hearsay?” Nelson asked, exasperated. “I thought you were talking about yourself. So you didn’t actually hear the statue talk.”
“Why would I do something that scary all by myself?”
“What, you think you’re better than that…? Still, it’s an interesting story.” Nelson’s eyes were gleaming with excitement.
As the son of a knight’s attendant, Nelson was very good-natured and sincere, but he was also a little more childish than his classmates. Morgan’s ghost story had clearly tickled his boyish curiosity.
“How about we all go see Lord Boruqe together tonight?” Nelson suggested.
“No way.” Morgan shot the idea down instantly. It was quite the blunt refusal, given he was the one who’d brought up the story. “What kind of crazy person would willingly do something that scary?”
“Hey, it was your idea.” Nelson shrugged. “Ugh, you’re so boring. Almark, Wendy, you’ll come with me, right?”
“Uh, I’m not really that interested…”
“Me neither…”
When Almark and Wendy turned him down, Nelson slumped his shoulders in disappointment.
“I mean, I can get why Wendy would say no… But I took you for someone who’d heed the call to adventure, Almark.”
“Sorry, Nelson.”
Honestly, Almark’s daily training was way more important than this horror show. He felt bad for shooting down Nelson’s idea, but he needed the time to meditate.
“Oh, fine. I guess I’ll just go alone and figure out where that voice is really coming from.”
“What? No, don’t! What if it’s dangerous?” Wendy said, wide-eyed. “You can’t go alone.”
“I’ll be fine.” Nelson sounded fully confident. “Going around the woods at night might be dangerous, but the garden? I mean, the guards at the front gate are a stone’s throw away. It’s not dangerous.”
Hearing a mention of the woods at night reminded Almark of the events with Lilty the other day, as well as the flute he had heard that night. But Nelson was right; the garden wasn’t the woods, and there was no risk of monsters there.
“Nelson, just be extra careful at nighttime,” Almark said.
“Come on, you too, Almark?” Nelson shrugged. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m gonna go out there tonight. Just sit tight; I’ll get to the bottom of this mystery.”
Almark looked at Wendy, who looked back and shook her head in resignation.
No point in stopping him, Almark thought. But just then…
“What’s this about?” asked a calm voice.
Wendy turned around. “Oh, Wollis.”
It was the class representative, standing there with a peaceful smile.
“Hey, Wollis. You wanna come with?” Nelson asked.
Wollis cringed. “Like I said, what’s going on?”
“Uh, you see…” Nelson turned to Morgan. “Morgan, can you tell the story one more time?”
“Sure!” Morgan puffed up his chest, pleased to have another chance to share the tale. “Listen carefully, Wollis.”
“All right.” Wollis nodded, still smiling. “Let’s hear it.”
Morgan told the same story from earlier while Almark and Wendy exchanged grins. Wollis listened silently with a calm smile, occasionally nodding—practically a completely different person considering the sharp glares he directed at Almark. This, however, was Wollis’s usual self: the friendly class representative.
“I see,” Wollis said after hearing Morgan’s story. “Thank you, Morgan. That was fascinating. You’re a good storyteller.”
Morgan blushed a little at Wollis’s praise.
“Sounds neat, right?” Nelson said, tapping Wollis on the shoulder. “Let’s go check it out tonight.”
“I think I’ll have to pass on that.”
“Why?” Nelson frowned.
Wollis gently patted him on the shoulder. “There’s not much to gain from getting involved in this. At least, not for me.”
He said it to Nelson, but his gaze flicked over to Almark. He had an incendiary look in his eyes, and Almark opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Wollis turned around.
“Nelson,” Wollis said. “If you’re still going to check it out, you should be careful.”
The next morning, Almark went down to the dining hall and was relieved to find Nelson there, having breakfast. But when he noticed the boy was quite pale, Almark knitted his brows with concern.
“You look kind of sick, Nelson. Are you all right?” he said.