Chapter eleven. Y'all know this is gonna be good ^_^

Chapter eleven- Monsters, monsters, and more monsters.

It was amazingly dark, with no sky and invisible black walls. The floor was rough and rocky, and hard to take a step without tripping of some sort.

“Richard, is there any way you could light up the place?” I wonder if I could myself, although I knew only one simple spell. Which I need to practice, so really I have no power on me.

“I sure can.” Richard waved his wand and fire blasted from the stick. He lifted it up like a torch, and everything became easier to see.

“Whoa.” The place was a dry, midnight place. It looked as though somebody had carved out a street enough for people to walk, and I could see little specks of light the further we walked. I realized people, probably Questures, had stuck torches into the sides of the rock with great force. I looked up and the ceiling was so high, it was lost in the dark.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Richard exclaimed. We began to walk, and he turned to face me.

“What’s your homework assignment?”

“I learned a spell today, named the Scarab. Apparently I’m supposed to practice the spell until I get it right.” I answered.

“Perfect!” Richard took my hand and I followed eagerly. We stopped behind a dead briar tree, and Richard explained very quickly. “Okay, Mary. When I see a monster, I’m going to run at it and fire a spell at it. You will come into the battle after me, and usually one or two monsters will join the battle- they are lazy, you see. I will protect, heal, whatever you want me to do, and you can use your spell and practice it until the monsters are dead.”

I nodded, understanding. The thought of killing something shot a chill through my body, but I knew Richard would protect me, and that killing evil wasn’t that bad. Although I couldn’t get the thought out of my head- ‘two wrongs don’t make a right.’ My mother used to say that to me when I got in trouble, it would always stop me from talking back or being rude.

Richard pointed at something. I looked over at where he was indicating, and I noticed a dark, glowing figure coming toward us. It was a monster, an undead creature. I remembered the last sentence of the paragraph I was reading in my history book- The legend is that Malistaire Drake, out of revenge, will awake the undead and unleash their lust for kill, eventually to take over the world of Wizard city and more. I felt myself shudder at the words. No, I shouldn’t be thinking of such things!  Richard was my protector and nothing could hurt me.

“I’m going to run at it now, okay? Be ready!” Richard warned.

“Richard- wait! I don’t think I can kill them!” I yelled, but Richard didn’t hear me. He was already charging at the creature, I could see its red aura increasing as if preparing for battle. Richard suddenly shot some kind of red bird at it through his wand and it hit the creature in the stomach. In the light of the spell, I could now clearly see what the creature looked like.  It was a cloaked figure, with a disturbing rotted face. The face looked human, but perhaps a hundred years old after death. The rest of its body was covered in black silk. I prefer it stay that way, referring to the disgusting face- its body probably wouldn’t be any better.

“Mary- come out! Now!” Richard shouted. He averted his gaze from the monster to me, with my stricken face and worried complexion.

“I- I can’t kill the monster, Richard!” I gasped out.

Richard sent the monster burning, and I saw it turn into a pile of dust. Richard rushed toward me to avoid other monsters. “Why can’t you kill the stupid monster?” He sounded annoyed.

“Because two wrongs don’t make a right.” I whispered. I put my hands around my arms to warm me up. It was embarrassing to not be able to kill a simple monster. “I’m just not used to killing…”

Richard sighed and his face softened. “How about I kill the monster, you just practice the spell on them?”

I nodded. I liked the idea, so that I don’t have to kill any living thing. Wait- isn’t the undead already dead?

“Wait- Richard. Aren’t the undead already dead?”

Richard thought for a second. “The undead are dead, however, they have been awakening, and therefore we can only put them back to sleep by killing them again.”

“That makes sense. Where do you learn this stuff?” I asked, curious. Richard seemed to know everything I wanted to know- I couldn’t help being slightly jealous.

“Well, I’m more experienced, since I’ve been in Ravenwood for a while.  It helps if you go to the library, too.” Richard replied.

The library! Never though t of the Wizard City library…

“Hey, Richard? What time is it?” I asked.

Richard glanced at his watch. “It’s a quarter after four.”

I smiled. “Plenty of time. Now let’s try again.”

Richard nodded. “This time, come with me.”

He took my hand tightly just in case I didn’t come, and pulled me over to another of the creatures approaching. I was in battle. My first one. I realized this was what Questures do every day.

“Okay, Mary. Practice your spell.” Richard told me, preparing for battle.

The rest of the day in there went the same- Richard would drag me into a battle, I would practice my spell, which fizzled a lot. Most of the time, Richard had to kill the monsters before they did any real harm. Although, around the end of the day, I was able to cast the spell fluently without fizzling.

We walked back to

Triton Avenue

around six, past Olde town and Richard and I separated in the Commons, now knowing where I was. I watched Richard leave me, walking back into the shopping district to his home. I wished him good luck towards his father.

I walked into

Unicorn Way

, the sun was already setting. I loved the pure feeling of the sleepy sun against my skin, nourishing my pores and my blonde hair. When I reached my house, I was very tired. Today was very busy- learning a new spell, discovering a cave that I might call the Haunted Cave, out of its undead problem.  I was exhausted, and I just wanted to eat and go to sleep.

Sabrina greeted me at the door when I walked into my wonderful home, as it was so nice to finally be home.

“Dinners ready and mom is freaking out. What took you so long?” Sabrina told me, annoyed.

“I was with my friend.” I replied. I wasn’t going to tell anybody about the Haunted Cave. “Where’s mom?”

“Upstairs, in the kitchen. I should get up there soon, she is gonna be pissed at me if I’m late as well.”

I rushed up the stairs. I felt very guilty for worrying my mother, since she was already stressed out as it is. I remembered the letter that she wrote earlier today, and that still was a suspicion of mine. I would not ask her- I could not ask her, only to figure out I had been snooping in her stuff. It probably wasn’t anything anyway.

I walked into the kitchen, and my mom was sitting at the table sipping a cup of coffee, although it was sixth- third tea at night. I looked at the dinner, roasted chicken, rice and corn.

I groaned. My mother’s chicken was always dry. Sabrina walked past me and sat at the table, while I just stood there and stared at my mother.

“Where were you this evening?” My mother asked me, not even glancing at me.

“Mom, you know where I was. I was with Richard.” I replied.

“Where with Richard.”

“Practicing homework.” I answered. I knew a lie was coming, and I hated lying to my mother.

However, my mother seemed pleased with my answer. She didn’t ask any furthermore questions, which surprised me.

“Sit down and eat your dinner, Mary.” My mother ordered softly.

I followed her orders, despite the extremely dry chicken; I ate quietly and complimented her cooking. She smiled weakly, and soon went up to bed.

I said goodnight to Sabrina, and walked downstairs to my room. I fell asleep early, and didn’t even hear Sabrina enter the room to go into her own bed.

Chapter 10, Seraphina-Alleyen lovers "hint-hint"

Chapter ten- The Haunted Cave

          The walk home was short, and we didn’t talk much on the way, we were too excited to. When we reached my house, I told Richard to stay outside while I hurried inside.

          I put my bag on the couch, and hurried upstairs to my mother’s room. I noticed the door was open when I reached it, although nobody was in the room. The bed was made, curtains drawn, although the desk was covered with crumpled paper, as well as the garbage can. I looked up and down the hall, and nobody was in sight. Perhaps I could see what my mother had been doing…

          I walked over to the desk, and touched a few of the papers. Which one should I look at? I picked up one from the garbage, its paper crumpled tightly into a ball. I opened it up quietly, and I realized there were words upon it. I looked back at the door again and back at the piece of parchment. Perhaps I could just read a little… Even though most of it was crossed out with pen. I read:

          I know this is a late start, but I didn’t know

            I’m sorry I waited so long but I

            If you see this letter, please believe that I tried to tell you

          It certainly was my mother’s writing, and it sounded as though she was trying to tell whoever she was writing to something, but couldn’t find the right words. I opened some other letters, and it said quiet the same things. I wondered what she was talking about …

          I heard creaking up the stairs, and I shot away from the desk. I walked into the hall, and saw a shadow coming up towards me from the stairwell. I slouched on the wall, as though I was just hanging out. My mother walked up the stairs, and saw me.

          “Hi mom.” I said casually. There was something strange in her eyes, but she didn’t seem suspicious of me.

          “Hey, Mary. When did you get home, sweetie?”

          “Just now. Hey, mom, can I go do my homework with Richard?” I asked hopefully. I was worried; she knew he was fire…

          Her answer surprised me, and the way she said it surprised me even more. Her voice was not… Cautious. “Sure, honey. Go ahead.”

          “Really?”

          “Yes, just stay out of trouble.” She replied. Like I could follow that rule.

          “Thanks, mom.” I rushed downstairs, and out the door. Richard was still standing there, with an annoyed look on his face.

          “Geez, it took you about time. What took so long?”

          “Sorry, I got sidetracked. I can go, so let’s start walking.” I answered. I wasn’t going to tell him about the letters my mother was making- it could be nothing.

          We walked through

Unicorn Way

, past the shimmering stream that runs around in a circle around the Park. I remember playing here with my mother, and when Sabrina was born we didn’t do it anymore.  Maybe we could have a picnic in a couple of days when it is Saturday, its not a long time since it was only Wednesday.

          We walked through the Commons, and turned left into the Shopping District. The Shopping District was crowded as usual, beautiful tiles scattered the decorated stone on the ground being stepped on by many people, unnoticing the architecture. Houses and shops were on both sides of the streets, stone fences blocking off the trees and bushes. We turned right on a forked road, and walked forward through the bustles of people. Eventually, in front of us was a large tunnel with a wooden sign hanging over it. The sign read: Olde Town

        It looked similar to the Ravenwood tunnel, although the inside wasn’t at all. Olde town was a wide, open space with few trees. Lots of tiled stone were placed on the ground, with three small hills going downward to three tunnels. We walked down and looked at one tunnel,

Cyclops Lane

.

          “What is

Cyclops Lane

?” I asked Richard.

          “Well, these places are based on schools. As you can see in the title of

Cyclops Lane

, a Cyclops is a creature made by a legend. The source of magic that uses legends are Myth- so

Cyclops Lane

is dedicated to the myth school. I’ve never been in there, but I’ve heard a lot of stories about the creatures in there. Do you know there are Minotaur’s are in there?”

          I looked at him. “What is a Minotaur?”

          He chuckled. “Well, I think a Minotaur is something like a breed from a bull and a human.”

          “Sounds handsome.” I laughed. We walked down a bit, and stumbled upon the tunnel to

Triton Avenue

. I looked down at the other hills, and I remembered Richard saying there were three tunnels.

          “Richard, if Triton Avenue is the second tunnel, what is the third?”

          Richard looked at the hills in remembrance. “I believe its Firecat Alley, Mary. It’s the town dedicated to fire- I’ve heard there were men made out of lava there.”

          I laughed. “Yeah, right. Is there a land dedicated to Balance?”

          “Nah.” Richard and I walked closer to the

Triton Avenue

tunnel. “Not that people have seen of, but I heard there was a place like it. It’s probably more than a town, though, if you know what I mean.”

          “No, I don’t know what you mean. More than a town?”

          “Yeah, I don’t know what I’m blabbering about either.” Richard chuckled. “Let’s just go into

Triton Avenue

to get to the Haunted Cave already.”

          “Okay.” I said as we reached the tunnel. We rushed through it, and what we saw when we entered blew me away.

          “Richard-“I gasped. Instead of the sky that we have been encountering before we went through the tunnel, it was a different sky. Dark blue clouds covered the sky, with no sign of the sun. “Richard, the sky is different!”

          Richard chuckled. “It’s dedicated to a school, Mary. If you can guess, this town is dedicated to the Storm school. Storm as in, raining, lighting, thunder and absolutely no sun. If you’re looking for nice, sunny rays of sunshine, here isn’t your spot.”

          I looked at the sky in amazement. “So the sun never, ever shines here?”

          “Not that I’ve heard of.”

          “Weird.” I muttered. I glanced around the entrance to

Triton Avenue

, and everything was very watery and gloomy. Houses had dark blue stone, water streaming down the roofs and into the gutters in all directions. The sidewalks were grey, the streets were grey, and the cottages had no flowers.

          “What a gloomy place.”  I exclaimed.

          “Eh, you get used to it.” Richard replied. I followed him as he walked forward, and every street we turned had the same gloominess. Further down the road of the town, we took a right and walked down a stone hill. Wet willow trees were on patches of grass, but that seemed to be the only place with any source of plant. People in purple and yellow were running around, desperate looks on their faces. I wonder why they were so serious looking?

          “Why are those people running around look so… Determined?” I asked.

          “Those people.” Richard pointed out. “Are some Questures. They happen to be on a serious mission right now, I guess.”

          “Hmm.” I watched one scurry past us. “I wonder what it is… Should we ask?”

          “You could.” Richard replied. “Although they look like they have no time for it.”

          “I’ll ask anyway.” I answered stubbornly. I saw a girl with black hair and blue eyes, and I stopped her in her tracks. She looked irritated.

          “What do you want?” Her voice was urgent.

          “Why are you guys in such a rush? Is Malistaire here or something?” I asked.

          She twitched at Malistaire’s name. “How dare you speak of such a name? You are foolish as you are curious… Ask yourself what is happening in

Unicorn Way

, and if you don’t know, ask somebody who does.”

          I was shocked by her answer. “Nothing is happening in

Unicorn Way-

or

Triton Avenue

.”

          She just stared at me. “You’re a Novice at magic, what would you know? The undead is swarming, and you are too young to figure it out. Malistaire is a dangerous man, little girl.”

          “I’m not little.” I growled. “If you may know, the girl in the newspaper is me, and I also happen to live on

Unicorn Way

!” I realized this was the first time boasting about being in the newspaper.

          She looked at me strangely. “Then you are a strange child, Mary Ravengem.” She walked away. It surprised me that she remembered my name… Does everybody remember?

          “Am I strange?” I asked Richard as we continued on.

          “Nah, just powerful.” He replied.

          “You think I’m powerful?” I blurted out.

          “Well, Malistaire left you in one piece for a reason.”

          “I suppose…”

          We turned to the right, and ahead was a dead end- besides a strange thing on the ground. It kind of looked like a button of some sort, stuck to the ground.

          “What is that?” I pointed to it.

          “They are called pinicles, some type of Teleporter.” He answered.

          “Teleporter? Do you mean we will have to use it?”

          “Well, how do you think we are going to get up there?” Richard pointed up, and I looked up to see a large cliff, unable to be built with stairs.

          “Is it dangerous?” I asked with worry. 

          “No, people use it all the time.” Richard assured. He took my hand and led me toward the pinicle.

          “You sure?”

          “You bet ya.”

          We walked onto the platform, and it was smooth against my feet. I closed my eyes expecting something to feel, but I felt nothing. In a second, Richard and I stepped off the platform. When I opened my eyes, the scene was different.

          We were still on the same platform, although the scenery was completely different. Instead of the place we were standing a second ago, we were standing on the cliff we were looking up at. The idea of teleporting took my breath away- science and magic mixed together! Extraordinary!

          In front of us were three, narrow streams under three stone bridges. The view suddenly reminded me of the trolls under the bridges in the stories my mother told me every night as a bedtime story. She stopped when I turned eight. I would listen to her soothing voice, eventually falling asleep as though the books she read were lullabies. With her voice, they probably were. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a good singer.

A house as big as a tiny shack sat on the right side of the Pinicle, a fat man with and apron sat in front of it, working on something. Maybe he was a sword maker or something.

          “Follow me, Mary.” Richard grasped my arm and led me over the bridges. I almost expected trolls to jump out and yell: You may not pass!

          “You must remember the path to this cave pretty well.” I told him. He seemed to know exactly where to go.

          “I’m good at remembering things.” Richard replied, tapping his temple. “All fire students have the gift of good memory.”

          I wonder if my dad remembers my mom and sister. Or me. “Why is that?”

          “Every school has a personality trait. Fire had good memory, Ice is all honest and that crap. Storm students are the super brains; Myth students are awesome at art, such as writing and painting. Death are the charmers, manipulators you can call them. And finally, there’s your school; Balance. They’re professionals at battle strategy, and supposedly hold strong wisdom. Heard that Death students can’t even fool them.”

          “What about the life school?” I asked. I had a precious proud spot for Balance now, since I supposedly hold strong wisdom. I wonder what my mother’s school would be.

          “Heh, the Life students are the social butterflies. Good with singing, they are.” Richard chuckled.

          Go figure. “Well, that’s no surprise.”

          “What, your mom can sing?”

          “How do you know my mother is Life?” I asked, surprised.

          “Lucky guess.” Richard replied.

          “Well, you’re right. I never heard my mom sing, but her voice is different. Maybe it’s just me, but the stories she told me when I was little, with her smooth voice and all that, it doesn’t surprise me that she can sing.”I explained.

          “Wish my parents read me stories when I was little.” Richard put his hands in his pockets, and looked down. We walked. “Just a little further.”

          “What about your family?” I asked. “I tell you everything about mine, and yet, I know nothing about yours.”

Richard thought for a minute. “Well, my mom died when I was four. Got a bad sickness, she did. My dad loves me and all, works his hardest. He’s a shop merchant, earns little gold an hour. At least I’m an only child, you know. It’s hard enough for him to supply both of us.”

          I was shocked. The hot, cheerful, kind guy of Richard GreenBlade didn’t have a mother, and was poor. Well being poor is what we had in common, I suppose. “Richard I- I’m so sorry!”

          “Yeah, its fine. I’m fine, I mean.”

          Same thing I said when he figured out my father had left my family. And that was a lie.

          I was just about to comfort him some more, but he stopped in his tracks. I looked at what he was looking at, and realized we may be at the cave. In front of us was a huge, enormous piece of rock. The door memorized me the most, with an arched doorway. It looked as though the door had been barred up, and then smashed down.

          “What happened to the door?” I asked.

          “Looks like the work of either monsters, or Questures.” Richard replied.

          I studied the melted metal and iron dust from some kind of explosion. “I don’t think Questures could melt metal or make iron explode.”

          Richard laughed.”You seriously underestimate Questures.”

          “I will estimate right when I see it.” I replied haughtily.

“Whatever you say, princess.”

I rolled my eyes. Never been called that before. “Whatever Mr. Smart-allic.”

Richard laughed, and I laughed with him. “So, Mary. Are you ready to enter the cave inside this amazingly large boulder?”

I looked up at the large boulder. “Richard, I don’t even think it’s a boulder. It might just be a big wall of rock.”

Richard scanned the boulder. “I agree. Now let’s go in before I get bored.”

I faked a gasp. “How is it possible to be bored with me here?”

I heard Richard chuckle. He took my hand and I followed him. I could still feel heat radiating from the melted bars of the entrance. “Careful not to interact with the bars, they’re still hot.”

Richard nodded, and he stepped over the bars first. Ahead of us was complete darkness, but if Questures were in here, there must be some source of light. We were just going to have to keep walking.

“Are you sure this is safe?” I asked.

“Yeah, trust me. I’m more educated in the magic of Fire, I will protect you.” Richard replied proudly. I glowed in happiness, knowing the guy I liked was going to be with me the whole time. I stepped over the bars, and entered a world of darkness.

         

Chapter 9, hobos!!!

Chapter nine- The Scarab

I woke up the next day with a refreshed feeling. I did feel a little queasy, however, it didn’t faze me one bit. The homework for yesterday turned out to be easy, just to write a one page note about Ravenwood, the source in the history books. It wasn’t much, nothing I didn’t know, anyway. All it was talking about was the schools, much like the enrollment.

I dressed myself in a blue and yellow dress; it was comfortable and nicer than the green dress. I wonder why I didn’t wear it yesterday.

I ate cereal for breakfast, and it didn’t taste disgusting as it did yesterday. I brushed my teeth and put my stuff in my bag. Sabrina came into the room to eat her breakfast and I realized my mother was still sleeping.

“Sabrina, it’s a bit strange that mom is sleeping in, isn’t it?” I asked.

Sabrina swallowed her food loudly. “I guess, but I don’t really care. It’s not like I have to go to school.”

“Whatever, Sabrina.” I sighed. You can always count on her to not care.

When it was time to go, I wondered if I should walk up to my mother’s room to say goodbye. I crept upstairs quietly, and opened my mother’s door a crack. She was in bed, sleeping like she never slept before. Perhaps I shouldn’t wake her…

“Bye, mom.” I whispered. I closed the door gently, and walked downstairs.

“Any luck?” Sabrina asked, sitting in a big chair by our bookcase. She had a book in her hand.

“No, I think I will just walk to school and leave her be. She seems exhausted.”

“Hmm, I wonder why.” Sabrina said, frowning.

I almost gaped at her. “Am I actually hearing this? Sabrina, are you caring?”

“I care when I feel like I want to care.” Sabrina stuffed her face in her book.

“Ok then.” I laugh. I put my bag over my shoulder and walk out the door.

The walk to Ravenwood was just like any other day. It was still drizzling with rain, however, not like yesterday. I entered the commons, and into the Ravenwood Gates.

The view was still gorgeous and funny since there was no rain coming down. The huge tree of Bartebly covered the sky, so there was no room within the school for rain to fall through. The six schools surrounded the amazing scene, with the seventh school of Balance at the very front, with no desks. 

Students were walking into their buildings according to their school, and I walked over to Professor Wethersfield, standing at Bartebly’s Gates as he always does. Balance students surrounded the teacher, as usual, and he was taking out our large pieces of wood for desks.

I tried to look around for anybody I could possibly befriend. There was the red, pigtailed girl, who asked a question two days ago. I saw Tara, whom looked sour. There were some other girls who looked uninterested, and the boys that somewhat gaped at me at times. I would just roll my eyes in annoyance.

The school bell rang, and the school’s courtyard was completely empty. Professor Wethersfield waved his staff, and the pieces of wood floated up in front of everybody. I stared at mine in amazement; I was still incapable of learning properly without a desk. Perhaps I will just have to deal with it.

“Take your parchment and quills out, if you please.” Professor Wethersfield announced. “We will turn in the homework, and I believe I have a small test on what we have learned about our books! We will also be experiencing your first spell, named Scarab!”

Many students whispered in excitement. I grinned eagerly- I have been waiting for this day, even though it’s only been three days. Learning a spell- my first spell!

“Now, give me your homework while I pass out the test.” Professor Wethersfield insisted. He took our homework in his left hand, passing out our tests with his right. When he turned around, I was distracted by the tail wagging out of his suit, and I couldn’t help but giggle. I excused it as a cough when a few students looked at me strange.

“Cheated will not be tolerated, so if I catch any one of you glancing at another student’s paper, you will be given an immediate detention. Please pick up your quills and begin the test.” Professor Wethersfield explained. Some shifted into their nervous state, fumbling with stuff such as their pencil, clothes and hair.

I looked at the test. It wasn’t much… I had read a lot of it yesterday.

1)    Who destroyed the death school?

Well, that question was easy. I wrote:

Malistaire Drake, Teacher of the Death school.

Question two was just as easy: “What is the purpose of Bartleby?”

I wrote: He created Wizard City with his mighty strength.

Well, it was true. The test had basic questions, and only five. I finished mine in around ten minutes; people looked up in jealousy as I walked up and gave it to Professor Wethersfield.

Professor Wethersfield smiled. “I had a feeling that you would end first. Once the others finish, we will continue with learning the ‘Scarab’ spell.”

I walked to my ‘desk’ merrily, smiling and feeling a whole lot prouder than the others. I waited until the last student walked up to give the test to Professor Wethersfield.

“Now we are ready to learn your first spell!” Professor Wethersfield announced cheerily. He stacked up our tests, and put them in his bag. He moved his paws around his staff, doing some strange motion. Suddenly, the staff turned into a stick- no, a wand.

“Everybody take out their wands, please.” Professor Wethersfield proceeded. He rolled up his sleeves, and everybody took out their wands.

“Now, just follow my steps. If you can make the balance symbol, you will be able to learn the spell.” Professor Wethersfield explained. “You have to always twirl the wand in a slow, but smooth manner. It’s good if you move your wrist more than your hand itself, and your arms are always far away from your body when casting the spell, unless doing a shield spell. However, a shield spell is what we will be learning farther on in the year.”

He did the twirling motion, and the students copied him. I surveyed him, taking notes in my head as he told us the instructions.

“After the twirling motion, you make two swirls on the left side and the right side, for a scale. You draw a line between them, making a scale symbol. When you do it, you must clear your mind and think of only harmony and equality.” He drew the picture exactly, it was beautiful and articulate.

We did the same thing. I cleared my mind, and thought of only equality. I did the smooth circle pattern, and swiftly drew two swirls with a line connecting them. I opened my eyes and saw the pattern in front of me. It turned into black dust.

Professor Wethersfield caught this, and he clapped in joy. “Ms. Ravengem has done it! She has made the symbol in less than five minutes, even though she had fizzled! Great job, Ms. Ravengem!”

I felt my face turn red, and other students looked at me at admiration.

Professor Wethersfield walked over to me as the other students practiced their circle. “Ms. Ravengem, I believe it’s time to teach you your first spell, however, you first need to clear your mind of only the spell.”

“Okay.” I whispered. I closed my eyes and concentrated on clearing my mind. “I think I’m ready.”

“Okay, picture the spell… Draw the symbol and picture the spell coming from it.”

I do what I am told, but I only see black dust fall to the ground from my wand. I sighed in disappointment.

          “Its okay, Ms. Ravengem. It took me many times before I could get my first spell right. Just keep concentrating, and try not to open your eyes before you cast the spell.”

          “Okay.” I tried again, without opening my eyes. I could hear a slight song, perhaps a hum…

          “Ms. Ravengem.” Professor Wethersfield whispered. “Open your eyes.”

          I opened them, amazed to see a very large bug, about as tall as my waist and thicker than three people standing side by side. It was brown, and looked a lot like a cross from a walnut to a beetle.

          “Did I cast it?” I asked.

          “You certainly did, Ms. Ravengem. Just keep practicing the spell, while I go help the other students whom have mastered the symbol.” Professor Wethersfield walked away, and went to go talk to a boy with black hair and brown eyes.

          I started making the spell many times. Most of the time, they turned out to be “fizzles,” or black dust. To make it clear: a fail. Occasionally, I would get a Scarab, but by the end of class, only a few were able to cast the spell.

          “Homework tonight is to practice the spell I have taught you today. I expect that you will know how to cast it properly by tomorrow. Good day.” Professor Wethersfield declared.

          While Professor Wethersfield was putting away the floating wood and such, two girls walked up to me. One of them was the red-haired girl, the other was a blonde. I put my book in my bag and tried to act as normal as possible.

          “Um, could I help you?” I asked. I noticed my voice sounded a bit nervous.

          The blonde girl blushed, making her face go maroon. That was one thing in common- we both blush like crazy. “Well, we- uh. We were just-“

          “We want to know how you did the spell.” The red-haired girl interrupted. “Oh, and by the way, I’m Jasmine, and she is Victoria.” She nodded to the blonde girl.

          “Hi, and well, Jasmine, I was told instructions from the professor. I don’t think I can instruct as well as him…”

          “Oh, it’s okay! Just tell us as good as you can, because we really want to get good grades here!” Victoria said energetically.

          “Well, all I did was concentrating on being in harmony, and equality, and then I closed my eyes and drew the symbol.”

          “But we did that!” Jasmine argued. Suddenly, I saw Richard walking straight towards me. His face looked excited, and I was excited to get away from these desperate girls.

          “Hey, um, my friend is coming. Maybe I can tell you later.” I dashed over to Richard, relieved to get away from Victoria and Jasmine.

          “Mary! Guess what? I found a place in

Triton Avenue

; I think it’s a cave! We can maybe fight some monsters or something there!” Richard whispered excitedly.

          “Um, where is

Triton Avenue

? And isn’t fighting for Questures only?” I asked.

          “You can get to

Triton Avenue

through the Shopping District, and down there is Olde Town. Olde town is a connection route to get to some streets like

Triton Avenue

. Oh, and if we sneak in properly, we can pretend like we are Questures.” He explained.

          “Isn’t that bad?”

          “Nah, if nobody knows, its fine. Plus, it’s for the greater good!” Richard exclaimed.

          “Greater good?” It sounded to me like some charity welfare project.

          “Well, fighting monsters is good, right? It will be helping the greater good!”

          I thought about it. I knew fighting wasn’t my thing… “I don’t know, Richard. I’m not a good fighter, and I don’t even challenge people in the Arena in

Unicorn Way

.”

          “Aww, come on, Mary! Please… It will be fun! You get free loot from what the monsters drop- it gives good gold when you sell it!”

          The word ‘gold’ struck my mind. My mother was hanging on by a thread with money. Maybe I could do it for some extra gold… “Okay, I will do it. We can’t tell my mother, though, because she will freak.”

          Richard smiled widely. “Yes! Let’s go check it out!”

          “Whoa, right now? I have homework to do!”

          Richard chuckled. “Dueling monsters is homework! We can stop by your house if you want, so your mom doesn’t freak out when you don’t come home.”

          “Sounds good to me.” I replied. We began to walk to my house in

Unicorn Way

.

CHAPTER 8!

Chapter eight- The Dream

            The man dressed in black silk paced in a tower of black onyx stone and white marble. The man was tall and broad, oblivious to the sleeping girl watching him in her dream. The man had dark, thick black hair tied into a tight pony tail, and a long tunic. His skin was so pale, with eyes so gloomy that it was hard to look at. Yet, the face she saw had been seen by many others, others in history books. Who was this man?

          The man began to speak. His voice was dark, rich, and it echoed, but it was clear to hear. He spoke in a rhythm, it sounded like it was in a different language.

          She heard a knock somewhere, perhaps there was a door. The tall man turned around. “Come in.”

          The sound of a door opened. A creature walked through the door- it looked like a troll. It was dark grey, with red piercing eyes. It was very short with a club, and a tattered dark green rag for clothes. Sharp teeth protruded through its mouth, menacingly grinding its jaw.

          “What is it, troll?” The man growled.

          The troll’s voice was deep, and it sounded like it was very stupid. “No traces of her, my lord.’

          The man whipped around, slamming his staff upon the marble floor, making it shudder. “You haven’t looked hard enough! Search more! She is in that wretched school, you imbecile! The headmaster may be more powerful than the average wizard, but it’s no way to stop us from retrieving the girl.”

          The troll shrunk down in the shadows, and the dreaming girl saw fear gleaming in its putrid red eyes. The man’s anger penetrated the room as though his temper was a sharp knife on a fragile surface.

          The man slammed his fist against a wall. “He most likely put a charm on her! That foolish man, he shall die someday…”

          “Wha- what do we do, my lord..?” The troll stuttered.

          The man roared. He waved his staff and made the troll go flying into the stone wall. The troll sat up, dazed, but still intact. “Do you stupid trolls remember anything? You follow my orders the way I want you to, and one simple order is for you to listen!”

          “I’m sorry, my lord!” The troll cried. The man looked out of a window in disgust.

          “Bu- but sir, we do wish good pay…”

          The man apparently had enough of the troll. He turned around very fast, and moved his large, red staff in a circular pattern. The troll screamed in pain, and a horrible sight entered the dreaming girl’s mind.

          Blood was pouring out of the troll’s eyes, nose, ears, and bubbling hot blood out of the mouth. Slits of blood were appearing in its dark colored throat, arms, legs, and stomach. The girl watched in horror as Malistaire Drake whipped around in disgust, looking her way although she wasn’t there… It was only a dream…

          I woke up with the searing painful screams of the troll ringing in my ears, and Malistaire’s pure bloodlust eyes printed upon my eyes. I was covered in sweat and convulsing. I hated the blood, the loss of a life. I had a headache the size of an earthquake in my head, and my eyes stung from the sweat. I got up from bed and ran to the bathroom. I threw up in the toilet, and yet nobody woke up. I cried at that point for a couple minutes, letting my salty tears mix with my sick. I flushed the toilet, and brushed my teeth. I got into a new, clean pair of pajamas, and put a cold washcloth on my face. My sweats were gone, but my upset stomach still kept me awake until dawn.

          The next morning I said nothing. I ate my breakfast in silence; however, I still didn’t feel good.

          “What’s wrong, honey? You look a little hot.” My mother said as she walked in. She felt my forehead. “Holy crap, Mary you’re burning!”

          “I don’t feel so good, either.” I mumbled. I put my head in my hands and rubbed my eyes. “Mama, can I stay home today?”

          “Sure honey, I can’t possibly let you go to school this sick…”

          I dropped my spoon in my cereal bowl in disgust. The sweet taste of the flakes just made my mouth feel slimy and bitter. I ran to the bathroom once again, my mother close behind me. I threw up in the toilet, my mother rubbing my back and encouraging me as a vomit. I wiped my mouth and flushed the toilet. My mother set up my toothbrush for me to brush my teeth right afterwards, and sat on the toilet as she watched me.

          “I thought I heard something last night, were you sick last night?” She spoke softly.

          “Yeah, just had a bad dream.” I replied. What I didn’t tell her was: I had a dream of Malistaire Drake searching for a girl that could possibly be me, whom is enrolled in Ravenwood just like me, and had watched a harmless troll be bled to death with boiling hot blood  and cuts sprayed all over its body. I didn’t tell her the gruesome thought of the troll’s bloodcurdling screams, its red putrid eyes becoming hot suns in fury and terror, a deep gash pounding upon its body every second in every place of his muscular body.

          Instead, I said I had a ‘bad dream’.

“What was it about?” My mother asked calmly. I could see the worry in her eyes, and I knew this was the question I was avoiding to answer.

          “I got chased by wolves in a dark forest.” I lied. It was the first thing that came upon my mind.

          “Oh honey, I’m sorry. Why don’t you go lay in bed and I’ll make you some hot soup? I know you like the chicken kind…’

          I walked out of the room, leaving the nasty cereal on the table. I walked downstairs, and into my room. I realized Sabrina was out of the house somewhere, so I sat in my bed and watched the silver rain fall outside in the window. I was memorized by the pure white light of the cloudy sky, realizing that there was a beautiful blue sky among those clouds… I opened the window and stuck my head out to look up. I knew I looked crazy, but I loved the feeling of the cool, wet drops sprinkling my face. Slowly, the cool air and the fresh tears of the sky made my upset stomach seem a little more… Better.

~•~

          The rest of the day was slow. I spent the day studying the Basic Wizardry book that my professor gave me. It was so fascinating! I learned about famous wizards, such as Merlin, Ophelia, Dracula, Cleopatra and Shakespeare. The quotes from Hamlet were amazing, and Cleopatra’s bravery inspired me so…  Of course, there were bad wizards as well. Robbers stealing from Earth with no sign on their little recording things they call “cameras.” Those are wizards. Murders, earthquakes, those apparently are us. There was even a few witches who put Salem on the map, an apparently horrible place back then for wizards on Earth. There were hangings, burnings, and murders. It happened to be the reason why wizards had to move to this world and make it their own…

          Then there were the Titans. Three of them, to be exact. Nobody truly knows what happened, but everybody knows there was a big war that made the three main schools; Fire, Ice, and Storm. Myth, Death, and Life were peaceful.

          The Dragon Titans of Fire magic ruled the Land, the Ice Giant Titans of Ice magic ruled over the sky, and the Storm Lord Titans/Tritons of Storm magic ruled over the seas. Each Titan had their own story.

The Storm Titans expected that the Ice and Fire Titans were scheming, and were ready when the attack happened. They refused to fully destroy their enemy and so, fell into a cursed slumber as their price for mercy.

After the Great War with the Dragons and the Tritons, the Ice Titans went into a state of stasis, as their story tells it. Apparently, because it is derived from the giants, Ice magic will always be more powerful than that of Fire and Storm; just as Storm magic thinks itself more powerful.

For the Fire Titans, there were many eons of peace, that is until the Tritons and the Giants began to bicker on trivial matters. Finally, war broke out between the two sides and the Fire Titans became involved as the universe was threatened. In order for there to be peace, the Fire Titans used their great power to stop the war and the world became dormant and silent. Though the Titans now sleep, Fire magic, the most powerful of magics (Says differently by Ice and Storm) comes from the essence that the Titans released into fire and magma.

Each Titan thought their magic was more powerful. Each Titan was blaming. However, nobody knows who truly won, or who truly the wiser choice was. Really, the whole thing is bias.

I flipped some pages.

          Malistaire, of course, was in the book. I read the article slowly, every single word. I read aloud as I leaned against my pillows on my bed:

Malistaire Drake, a retired Death professor from Ravenwood School of Magical Arts, had ripped away the Death building in Ravenwood exactly three years ago. Nobody knows why Malistaire Drake did what he did, and it still remains a mystery. What witnesses had told reporters, was that they had seen him “floating” on a cloud of black shimmery smoke, and had waved his hand with mighty strength. The Death school had apparently exploded from the school area, and fell down into the universe under Wizard City. Legends have it that it landed in another world… Others say that it is still in Wizard City, yearning to be found once again. After that, Malistaire Drake had left with no clues whatsoever of where and why he had done what he did. He reportedly had no family members close to him, nor any socially or mentally thing to trigger this tragic event. Cyrus Drake, his brother, and Malistaire Drake had disliked each other, but nothing goes toward Cyrus being involved with the disappearance of the Death building. What really confuses authors and reporters is that Malistaire Drake may have fallen in love, however, nobody knows if that was the reason why Malistaire Drake destroyed the Death school. Some say it was the retired Life teacher, before she was killed of a sad sickness. Sylvia Drake was her name, and had married Malistaire, July, 1973. She was a beautiful woman; however, Sylvia had died four months before Malistaire Drake destroyed the Death buildings. Investigators say that a man in misery wouldn’t have waited that long to take revenge on whatever he had done, or what had been done to somebody else.  To this day, the legend is that Malistaire Drake, out of revenge, will awake the undead to unleash their lust of kill and take over the world of Wizard city and more.

The rest was about his birth date, his teaching years, and his grades in Ravenwood. I thought about the life teacher- Sylvia Drake? What a strange love affair, between life and death! 

The door opened, and my mother came in. She had a tray in her hand, and upon it sat her signature steaming chicken soup. It was absolutely delicious, and my mouth watered.

“Hi honey, sorry this took so long. You know how it takes all day to make.” She smiled, and nodded to the book. “What are you reading, sweetie?”

I shifted the position on my pillows. “Basic Wizardry. The facts are amazing in here! Did you know Malistaire Drake had a wife?”

My mother almost dropped the tray and hot soup on the floor. Her face turned pale white, and her eyes bulged out like a bugs. I noticed her hands were shaking slightly. “Mom, are you okay?”

She stiffened, and put the tray on my window sill. “Yes, Mary. I did know. She was the Life professor, wasn’t she?”

“Yeah. The author who wrote this book said she was really beautiful. Have you ever seen her?” I asked.

I saw a small smile on my mother’s face. “Let’s just say that I’ve seen her a lot of times. We were very close, I suppose… And for her being beautiful, I don’t know.”

I gaped at her. “You knew her? Tell me about her! Please!”

She looked at me and sighed. “No, Mary. You should eat. It’s a long story…”

I looked at the soup in disappointment. “At least tell me what she was like.”

My mother sat down at the end of my bed. “Well, she loved her school. She was very proud of her school and her students, and never let anybody down, I suppose. She tried to do her best, but some things don’t always turn out to be happy endings…” My mother’s face twitched.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, I-“My mother coughed, but it was a strange cough. “She got sick, as it tells in that book your reading.”

“That stinks. I wonder how a woman so full of life could like an evil guy like Malistaire.” I added, quietly.

My mother nodded curiously. “You never know, Malistaire could have been a good man, once… I believe there is a heart in him, just like everybody else.”

I looked at her strangely, and remembered my dream. I shuddered. “I can’t imagine it.”

She smoothed out my hair. “Why is that?”

“I don’t know.” I lied. How could I tell her about my dream? “He just sounds bloodthirsty to me.”

My mother hugged me, and kissed my forehead. “Everybody thinks that of him at first, but you never know.” She walked out of the room.

Well, what does she know about Malistaire. Her school was life; they weren’t supposed to think of evil things, or even evil people. They were the magic of music and spirituality, good things. Perhaps that was all she can think of…

          I ate my soup in silence, chewing the tasty chicken while I searched the book’s pages for Sylvia Drake. Unfortunately, I found nothing. Not one word, only the paragraph with Malistaire. I finished my soup and put it in the sink in the kitchen. Suddenly, I heard our doorbell ring.

          I walked downstairs, and noticed Richard’s newspaper on the coffee table as I passed to reach the door. When I opened the door, Richard was standing with a book bag over his shoulder. His brown hair was messy, and his blue eyes glittering in worrisome.

          “Hi Richard, what are you doing here?” I asked. I glanced down and I realized that I was wearing my sweats. Not the best thing to wear while talking to a cute guy.

          “Hey, Mary. I didn’t see you at school today- are you okay?”

          “Yeah, I’m fine. Was just a little sick, that’s all…” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Did school just end?”

“Yes.” Richard replied. He took a piece of paper out of his bag. “I stopped by Professor Wethersfield, and he told me to give this to you. Apparently it’s your homework.”

          I looked at the sheet of paper, and I realized I was slightly disappointed. “Okay, thanks, I guess…”

          “So, did you have a cold or something?”

          “You could call it that. I had kind of a disturbing dream last night, didn’t end well for me.” I answered gloomily.

          “What, did you die?” Richard asked, I could see a little bit of laughter in his eyes.

          “No!” I chuckled a little. “No, nothing like that. Just… Different, I suppose.”

          “Want to tell me about it?”

          I thought about telling Richard, but it just didn’t sound right. Yes, he was amazingly handsome, a great listener, and sweet… However, he wasn’t my “best friend.”

          “Nah, I’ve gotten over it.” I lied.

          “That’s what you said about your dad.” Richard said, quietly.

          I was slightly taken back with his choice of topic; I didn’t expect him to talk about my father. I remembered when I was furious with him, just because he was fire like my father.

          “And it’s true.” I was starting to feel guilty with all these lies.

          “K’ then.” Richard stepped outside, and nodded to me. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, right?”

          “Um, yeah, I will be there.”

          “Ok, bye Mary.” He closed the door.

          “Bye.”

          I sighed, and sat down on the couch. I sat there for the rest of the day, watching it rain.