Page 30 of Black Wing and Shadows
Sadie, Thora, and I all entered our room. The size of the room matched my expectations, given how close the doors were. There were three twinbeds spaced about five feet apart, each with a small nightstand beside it. At the end of each bed on the opposite wall, there were three wooden armoires, one for each of us. A tall window on the far wall offered a view of the dining facility roof, the flight field, and the arena. I bet room two had a beautiful view of the fields and woods. I placed my bag on the bed closest to the window.
“Can I take this bed?” I asked my new roommates.
“Yeah, I’ll take the middle, if that’s good with you both?” Thora said.
“That leaves me here, which is good with me,” Sadie said.
Thora and I both nodded. That was simple enough. They both set their bags on their beds, and we headed back out into the hall with the rest of our platoon.
“First squad, line up behind me,” Emmen said.
“Second Squad, behind me,” Corzine announced.
Everyone lined up. The Fire Platoon began to enter the wing and receive their room assignments.
“We will go this way,” Emmen said, pointing down the long hall. Corzine told his group that they were heading toward the watchtower. It made sense to keep the tours in smaller groups. We continued down the hall. Suddenly, Emmen stopped.
“There are bathing rooms located every four bedrooms, for any gender.” She motioned us inside one.
We all moved inside. The bathroom looked nice. There were eight sinks along one wall, followed by six doors. She opened one of the doors, and inside there was a toilet and a square shower big enough for one person. There were hooks on the opposite wall to hang your items.
“All the bathing rooms on floors seven and six are the same.”
We left the bathing room and continued walking down the dim, narrow hall. Each door was numbered and had a small light outside to illuminate the dark corridor. When we reached room thirty, she paused.
"You're all used to the large sparring gym in the Bravo Wing, but your floor has a smaller sparring gym available. There is also some workout equipment in there."
She opened the door for us to look in but didn’t go inside. On the opposite side, she opened another door, revealing a laundry room with washers and dryers.
“It's pretty self-explanatory, but if your parents washed your clothes before you got here, this is where you should do it. Nobody wants to smell your funky asses.” She looked back and smiled.
We all let out a small laugh. It's good to know she had a sense of humor. At the end of the hall, a door led to a staircase that descended.
“On the other side of this wall are the Healer’s quarters. The only way to reach their chambers is to go down to the third floor and enter their stairwell. The third floor is the only level that connects all the chambers.”
She motioned for us to follow and went down the staircase. She gestured toward the door, which had writing saying "Sixth Floor."
“This is where the second-years stay, minus any that are in leadership roles," she told us.
She continued down the stairs, motioned to the fifth floor, and told us that was where the third-years slept. We kept going down. She said the fourth floor was for fourth-year students. That was what Professor Melamora told us on our first day, so many weeks ago. We reached the third floor and entered that hallway. She motioned to the left and said there were two classrooms down there.
“Major Hildegard is our flying instructor. He's specific to the Riders and Drusearons only. His room is on the left. Major Bhatta, whom you should have met, teaches us about the flier type. His room is on the right.”
She turned right and walked down the hallway. She told us the classroom on the right was for the Healers, so we wouldn’t be using it. She motioned for us to enter the room on the left, across from the other. When we entered, we saw a room with beds, each separated by curtains.
“This is the clinic room, meaning if it’s not life-threatening or doesn’t require a mender, you can come here. They can stitch you up, give you medicine, whatever you may be needing," she told us before turning around and walking out. She pointed to another door, saying, "This door is for the stairwell to access the Healer’s quarters, set up like ours.” Wecontinued down the hall toward the Bravo Wing. There were two more large classrooms.
“The one on the right is Captain Vindex’s classroom. He teaches magic to all students. The one on the left is a Drusearon classroom, not relevant to you. Like the other quarters, the areas above and below us are for Drusearons.”
It made me realize I had not seen Zane for several days, and I began to miss him. I did not know which room he was in or which floor he occupied. At the end of the hall, there was a door directly ahead.
“We are entering Watch Tower Two. There are landings on each floor that lead into the quarters for the Drusearons. We will go across, staying on level three of the Bravo Wing.”
We all kept following her. As we moved along, another group of new cadets started their tour in the opposite direction. This wing we knew better because we had lived in it for eight weeks.
“Most of you should be familiar with this wing since you lived here. The barracks where you stayed are converted into guest quarters during the school year. Floors one and two contain the Historian’s quarters. The sublevels are the library, and you are only permitted on sublevel one. Most of level three in the Bravo Wing consists of two large sparring gyms, where you guys sparred. Captain Gile and Captain Rivet are our sparring instructors. The classroom before is Captain Wormald, the Historian professor. You will have him once a week.”
Unlike the hallway for the Alpha Wing, this hallway was closer to the courtyard rather than in the middle. It had large windows overlooking the courtyard. There was one large sparring gym, followed by a door that led into the stadium classroom.
