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Evergray took a long time to return to his brother’s house after his last interruption. In fact, it was the next day before Avalon heard male footsteps in his house.
“Evergray,” said Avalon, giving his brother a steely look from where he stood in his kitchen, waiting for the electric kettle to boil. “Where have you been?”
“Up in Fripp’s home,” said Evergray, shrugging.
“Since yesterday?” asked Avalon. “I hope that I don’t find any of Fripp’s books missing next time I go up there, because you’re on thin ice as it is.”
“Oh, baby brother, you wound me,” said Evergray, feigning hurt as he put his hand over his chest. “No, I was not alone up there.”
“Glad you’re sterile,” Avalon muttered, pouring hot water into his cup of tea leaves as the kettle switched off.
“No!” said Evergray, sounding genuinely offended now. “You know that I’m as sexually-active as a- as a- mushroom!”
“Then what were you doing?” asked Avalon, swirling his tea around. “You were up there for a very long time, so it can’t have been anything good.”
“I was simply having a very long and very interesting chat about the strange things that have been going on on this island, with a group of some very interesting young ladies,” said Evergray. “They have some very interesting theories, you know.”
“Oh, do they, now?” said Avalon. “And I’m sure that you did nothing to dissuade them.”
“Of course not,” said Evergray, widening his eyes. “Who am I to deny conspiracy theorists?”
“Yes, I forgot how much of a nutter you are,” said Avalon. “Will I have to stock up on tin foil?”
“Pfft, everyone knows that that doesn’t work,” said Evergray. “Besides, our enemy doesn’t have mind-reading powers. Only mind-influencing, and I don’t know how to fight that.”
“Of course, how could I be so stupid?” Avalon muttered. “So, what broke up the meeting?”
“I want to get back into teaching,” said Evergray. Avalon was very glad that he hadn’t begun drinking his tea yet.
“Absolutely not,” said Avalon.
“Aww, c’mon, bro, please?” said Evergray.
“No,” said Avalon.
“But you guys have so many new Soul Riders that surely, you must be desperate for teachers or instructors,” said Evergray. Avalon pursed his lips as he looked at his brother. He was right- there weren’t enough teachers to go around, and the thousands of new Soul Riders were getting bored and restless.
“What would you teach?” asked Avalon, Evergray instantly brightening with a squeal of delight as his brother gave in.
“Oh, nothing big, of course, just simple things. Life-saving things. After all, I know Pandoria better than anyone. Anyone who is currently in a state to teach, anyway,” said Evergray. Avalon hummed thoughtfully, finally taking a sip of his tea which was now at the perfect temperature.
“I’ll think about it,” said Avalon. Evergray squealed again, like a teenage girl.
“That wasn’t a no,” said Evergray. “Thank you, bro, you won’t regret this.”
As Evergray ran out of the house, possibly to gather his notes or give the good news to his co-conspirators, Avalon sighed. He was most certainly going to regret this.
The following Monday, Evergray spent quite a good deal of time in the spare bedroom of Avalon’s cottage, making himself look as presentable as possible. He’d showered, changed into clean robes, and even tried to brush his hair. But, after much consideration in front of the mirror, he changed back into his old robes and left his hair alone, which didn’t want to obey the laws of physics anyway.
“You’re really wearing that to your first lesson?” asked Avalon drily as Evergray walked past where Avalon sat on the living room couch on his way to the front door. Evergray stopped in front of the door and nodded.
“Hey, I’m just that crazy, travelling druid who spent a little too long in Pandoria and got his brains cooked, I have to look the part, don’t I?” said Evergray, giving a slightly deranged grin. Avalon shook his head and looked back down at the book that he held in his hands.
“Do you have enough handkerchiefs and tissues?” asked Avalon as Evergray turned the handle to open the door.
“Yes, mum,” said Evergray with a roll of his eyes and a fond smile. “And I’ll stop teaching if I feel too ill.”
“You’d better,” said Avalon. “Try not to get into too much trouble.”
“Okay, baby bro,” said Evergray, smiling at him. “And thank you so much for agreeing to let me do this.”
“It’s only a trial,” said Avalon, but his words crashed into the closing front door, and he sighed and got up. Someone needed to keep an eye on his brother.
Evergray’s first lesson was held, of all places, in Guardian’s Dale. A group of young adults, as well as younger teenagers and even some older Soul Riders, stood in front of Evergray while he stood on the pedestal that had once held the statue of an alicorn.
“Welcome, students!” Evergray called out to his crowd, spreading his arms as though he was a rock star. By the way the crowd reacted, one would think that he was a rock star. “Who’s ready to take a trip to Pandoria!?” From his hidden spot in the bushes edging the Dale, Avalon covered his face with his hands. This could only end in disaster.
“Alright, alright, settle down,” said Evergray with a chuckle, lowering his hands for calm. Avalon wondered if he should be concerned or interested at how easily his brother could calm a crowd. “Now, does anyone here happen to know where that rogue portal is today?”
“It’s actually quite close to here,” said Anna Bravewood, a blonde-haired girl who was dressed in the red druid outfit. It was the official uniform of Evergray’s Followers, their conspiracy theory group. Anna got out her phone, tapping into her photo app. “It’s right down near the lighthouse.”
“Excellent! Then let’s get going!” Evergray clapped his hands and led the group out of the misty area and out into the sunshine. Avalon hid at the back of the group, wishing that he had Kora’s ability to speak with the animals.
One by one, the students filed through the portal on their Jorvik Warmbloods, some complaining about needing to take that horse. While Louisa, Anna, and Rebecca took charge of the students, ensuring that they got there safely, Evergray took a swig of a bright pink potion. He shuddered, hating the taste of the anti-poisoning potion but needing it anyway. At last, he, too, jumped through the portal, and Avalon followed after giving his brother enough time to have gotten a head-start on him.
To Avalon’s slight dismay, he found Evergray just disappearing through the distant portal by the time he’d taken his anti-poisoning potion and arrived in the void between worlds.
And so, by the time Avalon finally arrived in the part of Pandoria that this portal led to, he was almost too late to follow after the group undetected as they walked up a slope covered in pink grass.
“Now, the way that you test Pandorium is a multi-step process,” said Evergray as he stood in front of a cluster of pink crystals. The students gaped in amazement at it when they weren’t gazing around and taking pictures of everything else.
“Hey, what happens if we fall off the side of one of these floating islands?” asked one boy, or maybe he was a man, Avalon wasn’t sure.
“Oh, the manta rays will catch you, don’t worry,” said Evergray, brushing off his concerns with a wave of his hand. “It is scary, though, so I would advise against it.” Avalon closed his eyes and silently counted to thirty as he heard multiple students scream as they plummeted off of the side of the island, before shrieking in delight as they were flown back up.
“The Pandorium?” Rebecca prompted as Evergray got a little distracted trying to convince the students not to jump off the island.
“Yes, right,” said Evergray, turning back to the crystals. “The right Pandorium must be the right shade of pink, the right smell, sound right, and even taste right.”
“Taste?” one girl asked, raising her eyebrow. Avalon rubbed his face with his hands as he heard the sound of multiple young people reaching for the Pandorium.
“Yes, taste,” said Evergray, nodding. “The correct Pandorium, right for making keystones, will taste like… er, what was it you said, Louisa?”
“Like licking a nine-volt battery,” said Louisa.
“Yes, like that!” said Evergray. Avalon’s blood chilled. “Now, go ahead and try-“
“No!” Avalon shouted, jumping out into the open. He didn’t care that he’d blown his cover, he couldn’t put the lives of citizens at risk. Smacking a shard of Pandorium out of the hand of one young girl, Avalon turned to glare at his gobsmacked brother. “This is exactly why I didn’t want you teaching your classes! This is why I forbade you from teaching, why you were exiled, because you are a menace to society!”
A silence descended over the group as Avalon faced off with his brother. It was so quiet that he could hear thr cracking of the Pandorium maturing, the swoosh of the manta’s wings.
“Yeah, he might be a menace to society, but he’s also been more helpful to us about any of this stuff than anyone else,” said Rebecca, her arms folded over her chest. “Unlike, say, you, Elizabeth, Fripp, anyone. We’re in Pandoria today because of your brother, we’re closer to Anne because of him, we now know more about Pandoria than ever before.”
“I’m actually in the process of writing a guidebook,” said Evergray. “As well as looking for a cure for my sickness.” He coughed into his handkerchief, wincing at the bright red that he found among the bright pink. “But thank you for your faith in me, brother.”
“You, of all people, should know the dangers of Pandorium and why it should not be licked, Evergray,” said Avalon. He wouldn’t say more in front of the young and impressionable people, but memories of Evergray’s famous new illicit drugs went through his mind. Back in the 70s, they’d all been blazed out of their minds on the various human drugs, acid mostly, but Evergray had wanted to do some more experimentation. Privately, both of them knew that Evergray’s brief ‘stay’ in Pandoria hadn’t been the main reason for his sickness. Or, it may have been, but his love affair with drugs had only hastened the sickness.
“Exactly, which is why I have to teach them,” said Evergray. Avalon glared at him.
“Class is dismissed,” said Avalon, not taking his eyes from his brother. “Leave now and go back to Jorvik.” A lot of people complained, more than had complained about the horses. But Evergray was the loudest.
“You can’t dismiss my class!” said Evergray, more shock than anger in his voice.
“Be glad that I’m not cancelling them outright,” said Avalon.
The class returned back to Jorvik, and, once the last horse had jumped through the portal, Avalon returned to Jorvik with his brother trailing despondently behind him.