The Forbidden Scholars
You flirt with darkness by reading it.
You’re mystery wrapped in academic neurosis.
Strengths: knowledge, cunning, restraint
Weaknesses: sleep
Familiar: a randy raven of doom
Astrid meets House Obscuria
Pepper stopped outside the Obscuria door. Unlike the other houses, this one didn’t have a proper entrance. Just a shadow that looked deeper than it should be, framed by stone carved with symbols that hurt to look at directly.
“Okay. So.” She chewed her lip. “Obscuria. They’re lovely. If you like brooding, ominous, and dangerously smart.”
“I don’t,” I said.
Cricket snorted. “Liar.”
“Shut up.”
Pepper pushed through the shadow-door anyway.
The lounge hit me like a velvet fog. Dim and intoxicating, heavy with the smell of old paper and candle smoke and something underneath that might have been secrets. Towering bookcases lined every wall, stuffed with volumes that looked older than the Academy. Flickering lanterns cast pools of amber light that didn’t quite reach the corners. Shadows moved in those corners. Slowly. Despite the still air.
A massive tome floated past my head, turning its own pages. The text wasn’t in any language I recognized. It might not have been in any language at all.
“Don’t read that one,” Pepper whispered. “It reads you back.”
A pale student looked up from a desk cluttered with scrolls, bone fragments, and what appeared to be a jar of preserved eyeballs. They had dark circles under their eyes, ink-stained fingers, and the expression of someone who hadn’t seen sunlight in weeks and preferred it that way.
“You’re breathing too loudly,” they said.
Pepper beamed. “Hi, Ajax! This is Astrid!”
Ajax blinked at me, like a cat deciding whether I was worth the effort.
“I know who she is. Your magical resonance is… loud.” They tilted their head. “Blocked, but loud. Like screaming underwater.”
My skin prickled. “Is that bad?”
Ajax considered the question for an uncomfortably long moment. “Not yet.”
Not yet?
Cricket had gone very still, staring into a shadow that seemed darker than the others. “Something in here is watching me.”
“It watches everyone.” Ajax didn’t look up from their scroll. “Don’t wave at it. It gets attached.”
“What is it?”
“Unclear. It was here before the house was founded. We’ve reached an understanding.” They dipped their quill in ink that looked too red. “It only takes things that won’t be missed.”
I couldn’t tell if that was a joke.
“What do you… do in this house?” I asked. “Besides commune with ancient shadow entities?”
Ajax’s mouth twitched. Almost a smile. “Research. Ritual. Containment. Dream magic. The occasional exorcism.” They paused, and something shifted in their expression. Something almost shy. “We have tea on Thursdays. If you want to… discuss theory. Or practice. I could show you some techniques for that block of yours.”
Pepper grabbed my arm so hard I’d have bruises. “Oh my gods. Astrid. That’s an invitation. Ajax doesn’t invite people.”
“I don’t,” Ajax agreed.
“They collect them. Like specimens. You should be honored.”
Ajax frowned. “That’s not… entirely inaccurate. But reductive.”
I backed toward the shadow-door, trying not to disturb any of the books. Several of them seemed to be breathing. “I’ll… think about it?”
“You will,” Ajax said. Not a question. A statement. Like they’d already seen this conversation end differently.
One of the books on a nearby shelf rustled. Its spine cracked toward me, and something inside whispered my name.
Not “Astrid.”
My full name. The one I’d never told anyone at the Academy.
I fled.
Behind me, Ajax’s voice floated through the shadows: “Thursday. Seven o’clock. Bring questions.”
The book kept whispering until the shadow-door closed behind me.
What would you like to do next?
Astrid meets the next house
Astrid continues her tour of the academy
Get book one, Professor Ravish & His Carnal Curriculum
