[right][h2]Matt Harken - Mordhaben's Entrance[/h2][/right] Mordhaben's. It was a place he had hidden away in his wildest dreams. Secluded away in that imaginary land of winning lottery tickets and teenage crushes. A daydream of escapism, but never to impinge on reality. After all, magical talent or no, he was nothing more than a countryside farmboy, and Mordhaben's was a place for great men and women to learn the ancient arts. Countless times he had explored it in his head, with grandiose halls of perfectly elegant gentlemen and ladies, all clad in the latest fashions. People with soft hands and commanding eyes, all of whom were at least two meters tall! And there were chimeras, too, no doubt. And monsters. Over the course of these many imaginary adventures he had never once imagined himself as one of these prestigious students. When the letter of acceptance arrived, he'd laughed and cried with the whole family. They'd held a feast, and invited everyone in the village. He could still remember it quite clearly. The chicken had nearly put him into a food coma. This all happened over a two weeks ago, and yet it still didn't feel entirely real. Like at any moment he'd wake up and find out the entire thing was a dream, and ma was waiting on him to get back to work. But how could he deny the reality of this? He was in the train right now, on the way to that academy he'd never believed he'd see. All around him were those students he had held in such high esteem. And, the most unbelievable part of all, he was supposedly one of them. A first-year student at Mordhaben's Institute. Nervously, Matt stared into an old book on animation magic. He'd read it cover to cover already, which was good considering his mind was in no state to absorb new information. Unable to actually comprehend the pages he merely stared intently at the writing, overcome with a sickly nervousness that wouldn't let go of his gut. Occasionally glancing at the other students over the worn edges of the book he was able to get some idea of the people he was expected to live and learn with. They looked quite differently from how he imagined them. Their clothes looked more practical than he'd imagined they would, but then again he had no idea what was and wasn't fashionable. Perhaps they were all clad in the latest trends, and they were all secretly judging him for his choice of attire. The cheap suit he'd inherited from his father hung loosely around his shoulders, clearly intended for someone with more bulk. It didn't help that he was squishing himself into the corner in a vain attempt to avoid the notice of the other students. Wait, was that a spider person? He almost dropped his book in surprise as he stared at the strange amalgamation of human and arachnid traits. Of course he'd been aware that there would be chimera at Mordhaben's, but he'd never seen one before. In his head they had been strange creatures, but he'd never imagined anything like that! Was that spider silk? Were they making a web? Why would a person-spider need to make a web? Was he hoping to catch giant flies? Were giant flies a thing? Would he need giant webs to protect himself? Matt snapped back into reality as he realised he was staring rather rudely, and instantly fixed his gaze to his book once more as a blush made it's way to his cheeks. In his embarrassment he failed to notice that he was holding the book upside down, which was probably a good thing considering he was already wishing he could sink into the ground and disappear. When they arrived Matt quickly made his way out of the train, breathing a sigh of relief at the escape from the confined space. That many sets of eyes just made him nervous. Looking around his eyes were immediately caught by the rain flowing around the path as if they were walking through a glass tunnel. Matt's eyes widened in surprise and he stopped dead in his tracks, wondering how they'd achieved something like that. In his village he'd been the only one with any real magical talent, so this was his first time seeing another's magic. It was exciting, but also daunting. Back home he'd been assured that his magical abilities were astonishing, but he'd never had anyone to really compare himself to. Was he about to find out that he was sorely out of his league? The further he walked the more he felt like this place was too good for him, and some part of him began to envy the students walking next to him, casually chatting with each other as if this was the most natural thing in the world. Oh well, he'd just have to do his best. That's what his ma always said. If he did his best and failed, then at least he'd know he'd given it his all, and he could go home without regrets.