ã€ŠThe Royal Mageã€‹


 Chapter One^

    The sound of pens scribbling on paper could be heard in the classroom as thirty students sat quietly working on the last test for their exams. A pale skinned woman with dark red hair that flowed down her back and bright hazel eyes that flicked around the class as she sat on her desk keeping an eye on her young students as they focused on their exams. She was quite happy to see this because she had told them that if one of them was to get less than b grade on any of their exams she would request that they redo the entire last year and being the granddaughter of the Arch mage meant she had such perks.

    She got off from her desk picking up her cup of hot tea as she decided to go around the class, her black heels clicked on the white tiles as she went along. She stopped in her tracks as she reached the back of the class giving a mental sigh at the sight of one of her students sleeping peacefully with drool running down his face and nearly hitting his paper. Before it could make contact she stretched her hand out and just like that the paper was in her hand, she braced herself to see what utter nonsense the student had written.

    To her pleasant surprise when she looked through the papers all the answers were filled out, she turned and hurried to her desk sitting down to flip open her teacher''s journal where the answers for the various test were kept. Of course with a lock spell so the students that liked to play they were smart got no help from her, she flicked to the last section where the answers for the Herbalism exams were kept, she had to look because that wasn''t her class to teach, in fact she was the spell caster teacher.

    A bright smile curved on her red painted lips, all the answers were correct and written with in depth information as the teacher, her cousin, would like it. She wondered who the student was but before she could look at the name she heard one of the students yell "Cheater!" her head snapped up and like the wind she appeared right next to the student who had yelled out.

    The girl with the most perfect twin braids she had seen with perfectly circular glasses turned and pointed to a student behind her. "Professor Daeya he was looking at my paper!" the girl yelled folding her hands over her lacking chest.

    Daeya turned her head to face the boy that was shaking his head while giving her a look of apprehension. "No, I wasn''t looking at her paper... well I was because an answer she put got me very curious but, I didn''t look to copy it, no I finished my work an hour or so ago, it''s just ... well I seemed to have misplaced my paper." The boy spoke nervously slowly lowering his head as he did.

    Daeya covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing, not at the boy but at the little snitch, who was looking a bit embarrassed as she quickly looked through her papers to find the interesting answer. She took a deep sigh and looked back at the boy "It''s okay little one, you didn''t misplace your papers I have them so stop freaking out and take a seat the test will be over in a few minutes."

    The boy looked at his desk before looking at her "but I need to check over my answers to make sure I didn''t get anything wrong."

    Daeya shook her head "that won''t be necessary, just relax until the bell sounds."

    She gave the boy one last look before heading back to her desk, she sipped on her tea for a few minutes and stood up when the bell went off. The students all sat back and looked straight ahead and she stretched out her hands just like before, the pages slowly floated into the air and then one by one begun to stack up in her hands. When she was finished she set the pile down in a box and tapped it and the box vanished on its way to the exam markers.

    "Okay Little One''s your results will be posted by the end of next month but until that time enjoy yourselves because depending on your score you will either have rigorous training or rigorous studies ahead of you, so enjoy the peace while you can, now little ones you may be on your way." She gave them one last smile and just like that she vanished from the class room and appeared in the teachers¡¯ lounge, she dropped into the nearest couch and instantly fell asleep.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ^^

    The boy sat in his desk feeling a bit nervous, was that Professor messing with him, why would she take his papers away from him and then refuse to give them back when he asked? He still had enough time to check his answers for the last time but she took that option away from him and now he would have to wait until the end of the month to know if he had managed to pass the most important test he had to take for his exams.

    He felt a surge of anger pool in his stomach, he wanted to find that pesky professor and ask her who the hell she thought she was. But he knew nothing would happen she was the granddaughter of the all-important arch mage and that made her think she was above everyone else. Well he was the son of a farmer and if he knew which vegetables were taken to her house he''d poison every one of them and watch her oh so youthful looks deteriorate, no one messed with him when it came to his studies.

    He was very much aware of everyone moving out of his way as he fumed while heading down the hall, he was always told that his eyes gave him a dangerous look. He didn''t quite like them but they ensure he was never late to a class and never had to wait in the cafeteria line for long, people would just move out of his way without him doing anything. He walked out the exam building for Leiri''s Pathway College, it was a sort of school where children from the small villages would attend and it was just a step for him to get to the Royal academy and then in three years¡¯ time he would be able to start his practice and look after his family.

    He threw his bag strap over his shoulder and ran to jump on one of the carriages that was passing and heading in the direction of his village. It was an hours ride away a small farming village tucked next to one of the kingdom¡¯s largest rivers, so at least he could say he was one of the kingdoms village children that got to take a bath everyday ignoring the freezing water.

    The Carriage stopped a mile away from his village and he decided to drop into a bakery on the way and bought a few meat buns and sugar buns. When he was finished he took his time to walk the rest of the way, ignoring the heat of the summer sun bearing down on him. He took off his shirt and tied it around his waist, his silvery white hair kept falling into his face so he pulled it back and used a clip to hold it in place, and he would totally look dangerous now.

    He soon reached his village ignoring the cold looking buildings and headed for his house where his mother was no doubt at work on their small farm. He sighed at the thought of that cough she had had for the past several months that refused to go away no matter what medicine she used. He had researched on what it might be but to confirm such a thing would cost a lot of money all of which was going into his schooling. Hopefully he''ll be able to score a part time job working for a herbalist when he went to the capital and that would take some pressure off his poor mum.

    He quickly got to his one story brown wooden house, it wasn''t much to look at but it was home and more than enough for three people. He didn''t waste time getting to his room and changing into his house clothes, he folded the bottom of his pants and pulled on his worn brown leather boots that would need replacing very soon. He used a string to tie up his hair that was shaved at the sides in a style that hunters were known for wearing. His mother once told him that his father kept his hair like that so just to make her smile he kept the style.

    He walked through the kitchen setting the paper bag on the small counter and pushed aside the shutter like doors. He was met with the sight of a tiny girl with unruly light blonde hair bouncing around on the back porch with blue paint on her hands singing a strange song. She had probably heard it from the drunkard that lived a few houses from them; it wasn''t exactly the type of song a child should be singing.

    She spun around and let out a squeal as her bright blue eyes caught sight of him she excitedly ran up to him her feet way ahead of the rest of her body. The boy shook his head at his little sister''s awkwardness and picked her up when she reached him. She squealed as he hugged her closer and placed a few kisses on her face, ignoring the blue hand prints that now covered his vest and tanned skin. When he set her down she took off heading through the tall green stalks that stood in their yard.

    And he could hear her screaming "Mama Rime is home!"

    Rime shook his head and followed his sister finding his mother drinking from a jug, her auburn hair was pulled up in a wickedly messy bun and her dull brown eyes looked over at him. As she held a soft smile on her face she dropped the plow and took a few steps before collapsing in the mud. With a scream he ran over to his mother and held her against him as his little sister broke out into a painful cry.

 Chapter Two^

    At dawn a few months later Rime found himself stepping out of a carriage, he had been travelling for the better part of a week in the stuffy carriage, packed in like sardines with strangers he had never met, so the ride was anything but comfortable. He gave the orange hew sky one glance before turning around to collect his little sister who was too tiny to get from the carriage to the ground without landing on her face.

    He picked her up placing her on his back and made sure her hands were around his neck before taking a sash and tying her hands so they don''t slip off while she was asleep. He made sure her legs were locked in place as she yawned and placed her chin on his shoulder instantly dosing off. He moved to the back to collect his two suitcases that had been taken down from the top before he could take them he had to pay three bronze coins and soon he was off.

    It took him nearly two hours to reach the front gates for the Royal Academy, having to take out a pass card the Academy had sent him along with his letter of acceptance that he had received about a month ago. The guard stared at him then collected the card and flipped through a book before nodding, with a flick of his hands the gates opened and allowed him entry. He realized that he was probably hours ahead of the other new students and that was why the guard gave him an odd look.

    He had to go through a map of the school that was posted near the entrance before finding the administration building that was straight across from the gates, it was possibly because of how far away it was that made him not notice it. He sighed and walked as quickly as he could to the building, the doors were opened but it was like a ghost town in there. He looked around and headed to the front desk where he hadn''t noticed a woman in an odd silver hooded dress standing by a filling cabinet.

    Rime nearly jumped out of his skin and his head snapped to the side to look at the woman who was slowly approaching the counter with a large book in her hand. "You''re a bit early don''t you think?" The woman asked in a bland voice not showing a hint of interest to Rime''s reaction at her appearance. "New students aren''t set to arrive till about eleven and it''s barely seven, if you''re looking to get a head start this is a bit of an over reaching."

    Rime quickly shook his head "I didn''t plan on coming here so early, it''s just that the carriage reached ahead of schedule and I didn''t have anywhere else to go since the school is going to be providing my boarding."

    The woman arched her regal brow at him and nodded "papers?"

    He nodded and set the two suitcases down opening up the smallest one that his old school books had been stuffed in. He pulled out a large envelope and handed it to her, the woman¡¯s bland eyes scanned the papers when she pulled them out of the envelope and nodded before looking up at him. "Oh Mr. Tagon, you requested boarding for both you and a Miss Cyra?" He nodded and for the first time since the exchange the woman finally smiled and it was as if the whole room brightened up. "Kindly follow me."

    Rime placed the envelope back in the suitcase and closed it picking it up to follow the woman, who someone how instead of going around the front desk went through it causing Rime''s dark blue eyes to widen in surprise before he pulled himself together and followed the woman. They walked through the silent school grounds that seemed almost like a cemetery without the children moving around it.

    The tall marble buildings that seemed to reach the sky loomed over him, all baring a different color depending on what was thought. The water guardian''s building was a shimmering blue while the fire Caster''s building was a deep blood red that promised doom to anyone that entered without permission. He gulped and faced forward at the building that seemed to appear out of thin air because when he had looked ahead before, it wasn''t there.

    It appeared to be several feet higher than the other buildings and four times as wide, made of pristine white marble that seemed to shine under the light of the sun, he looked at her and she smiled. "It''s sort of a security measure, no one but the teachers in charge of boarding and the students that are registered to sleep here can see it. So that if by some miracle, to the attackers, they are able to enter the grounds our students won''t be hurt in their second home."

    He nodded and followed her as she headed straight up the main pathway and then turned left. "You know your request for you to have a room for you and your sister was a complete surprise to the Grand Head master. It was the first time a student had ever made such a request but when we looked at your explanation and then verified your grades we were given the go ahead by the board. So a room has already been set aside for you along with some necessities for the little one."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Rime smiled at the thought of being able to keep Cyra close to him and not having to send her off to the children''s home. He had heard horrible stories about the place and would be too worried about his little sister to focus on his classes if she was taken there. This was also possible because students that attended the Royal Academy were considered to be adults which gave him the right to act as Cyra''s legal guardian since his mother''s passing.

    He brushed off the sad thought and focused all his attention on the woman that led him to their room. They went down a very Spartan like white hall and then stopped at the room that was just at the end of the hall the woman stepped aside and asked him to write his name on the door with a pen that was floating next to it. He did as he was told and then watched as the door glowed and then requested a pass code from him, he decided on a combination of his and his sister''s name Mercy.

    When he was finished he was told to open the door and turned the black handle, when he entered he was surprised by the size of the room. It was maybe two times the side of his old room at home that he his mother and sister had shared, three of the walls were painted in white but the wall across from the door was painted in a sapphire blue that matched his sister''s eyes.

    In the room were two large beds on either side, with white sheets and blue covered pillows, in between them was a large white night stand with a lamp on it. He looked to his left just off the door to see a book shelf that took up the entire wall and a desk and chair and just behind the door was a large wardrobe and off of that a small vanity and another desk and chair. But oddly enough the desk and chair were a soft pink; someone had designed the room with his sister in mind.

    He placed his suitcases next to the wardrobe and moved to the bed just across from it, he untied the sash that was holding his sister in place and gently lifted her off his back and set her on the bed. He took off her pink cloak and worn out brown boots, and then loosed out the braid her hair was in. Pulling the covers over her, he placed a kiss on his head and turned around nearly jumping at the sight of the woman he had forgotten was there.

    "She looks like she will be resting for some time, so we should just get the school tour over with so you can get settled in. After all you have much more things to take care of than the other students, come along." He nodded and gave his sister on last glance before following after the woman.

    ++++++++

    Rime returned to the room an half an hour later, he opened the door and went inside locking it behind him. He unpacked the little clothes they had brought and then unpacked his books onto the shelves and his writing supplies onto his desk. By the time he was finished Cyra had already woken up and was rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Ri?" she asked in her soft baby voice and he stood up and headed over to her, she jumped up and hugged him "where you go?"

    Rime felt like crying as he heard that question, he remembered her asking that question to their mother just before she closed her eyes for the last time, crying out in misery when she didn''t answer. Rime shook his head and held her tighter. "I go nowhere." Cyra seemed to relax at his answer and sat back with a sad smile on her face. He wanted to cry even more at the thought of her never being able to smile as bright as she used to, she was only two years old and it was as if her childhood had flown out the window.

    He shook the sad thoughts from his mind and smiled at her as bright as he could. "Come on lets go bathe and then we can get something to eat, sounds good?" Cyra nodded excitedly and jumped off of the bed, Rime barely catching her so she didn''t land on her face. He sighed and helped her to put on her boots, he grabbed up some clean clothes he had set aside for them along with a towel and some soap.

    It was hard for him to find the bathroom, it was a floor up from the one he was on and had large double doors that read bathroom on the front. He walked in and looked around, it was still empty in fact when he toured the school he had yet to see another student but did see a few teachers moving around in lazy fashion. He locked in the door behind them and took off both of their clothes; he went to a small tub in the corner and pressed a pattern on the wall that allowed the tub to instantly be filled with soap and water.

    He wasn''t really expecting the soap but he guessed it worked in his favor, he got them both in the tub and pulled out a rough cloth from a rack and began to scrub Cyra down. He could see the grime that fell off her skin to reveal a pale tone then washed her hair that became a few shades lighter before scrubbing down his skin and hair. Rime lifted her out of the tub and as soon as their feet touched the ground water poured from gods knows where and rinsed them down thoroughly. Then a section in the wall opened revealing a pair of brushes and a tube of liquid mint.

    This school was full of weird surprises; they brushed their teeth, him having to do Cyra''s back for her when she was finished. Then they quickly dried off and pulled on their clothes, Cyra spun around in her white dress that stopped just below her knees. Rime used the clip to twist her hair into a bun and clip it in place, then pulled on her boots and blue cloak. Then he quickly braided his hair that had grown since his mother''s passing and used a small band to tie the end so it didn''t lose, then pulled on his own boots and grey cloak.

    He returned their things to their room and then held her hand to lead her off to the cafeteria.

 Chapter Three^

    Rime stood in a library like book store just a block away from the academy, he held up his subject list and the list of books he would need for each subject. They were a lot of them, he even had to get note books writing utensils and other things that made the list so long it almost touched the floor. Rime sighed as he looked at the list and then pulled out a sack of silver coins, with about two gold coins thrown in. This was all that remained after his mother had paid for his schooling and exam fees.

    Thankfully the school had given him a scholarship so he didn''t have to worry about his tuition, boarding and eating fees. Everything he needed would be provided, the school had even set aside a monthly allowance for him and that would only go so far. He planned to use that for Cyra and he would work out whatever he needed when the time came. Rime looked down at his sister who was busy snaking on plums to even notice he was looking at her.

    He walked down the aisle calling out book names and they would magically float off of the shelves and into the large basket he was carrying around. It took him multiple tries to get some of the books because they were set out through the book store in a random fashion that would have driven his mother crazy; she liked everything to be in perfect order and kept clean.

    When he was finished he made his way to other shelves that held different types of note books and even journals. Rime got three packets of notebooks which held about fourteen each, he then moved on to get two boxes pens and a large container of ink; he grabbed a packet of magical erasers, rulers and pencils. When he was finished he moved to the shelves that held the storage equipment for different types of storage jars, he took as many as he could; he also took measuring equipment and then made his way to the counter. Rime sighed when the woman called out fifteen silver, so he just handed her a gold coin so he would be able to get some bronze coins in change.

    When he was finished he requested everything be delivered to his school and the woman nodded and began unloading everything into boxes. Rime wrote down his name and the school and then collected Cyra who was finishing off the last of her plums. Before moving on to her pickled berries, the good thing is that she never lost her appetite. It took him a bit of time to find a store that sold a large variety of clothing and not just certain types.

    The first thing he went for was his uniforms; the tailor took his measurements and then went in the back to fetch his five uniforms and the PE clothing. The man came out back shortly and Rime looked over his clothes, it was an all-black suit with a black shirt and a green tie that said which course he was in. Blue for water, red for fire, green for Herbalism and so forth, the man gave him a black box that held a pin that would say which year he was in.

    The P.E clothes was a simple black tights and a dark green fitted t with long sleeves and a high collar and he was given a pair of black running shoes and black ankle leather boots. When he was reaching for the sack of money he was told that the school had already paid for it, so he sighed happily and went on his way after asking for his things to be sent to the school. Rime turned and went over to a different section where he bought three shirts, a black and two whites and two pants one black and the other brown and also got himself a new pair of boots it all came up to one silver.

    It was Cyra''s turn and two women happily collected her and dressed her up each time putting her out in a new outfit for him to decide whether or not he wanted it for her. Most times he nodded and by the time they left she had three times as much clothes as he did and once again he requested for everything to be sent to his school. When they were finished they stopped at a small candy store and bought a few sweets for Cyra and a sugar bun for himself.

    He knew he was spoiling her but he didn''t care, she was all he had left and he would do anything to see her smile. Rime took her hand as she used the other to play with a blue rock candy that she took out of her mouth every few suckles. It took them some time to reach back to the school and when he did the school was livelier than he had left it. Carriages were going in and out of the school all varying in style and apparent cost, he figured since this was the royal academy a lot of high class children would be coming here but it had nothing to do with him. He was here for his studies not to suck up to the rich.

    Rime could see men and women dressed in black and white moving around behind some children some even fetching their luggage. Next to several of them guards stood in different colored armor, he could even see about four female guards surrounding a short dark haired girl that was looking down her nose at everyone. Rime shook his head and watched as people dressed in brown went to the different carriages collecting luggage and labeling each one of them before sending them off god knows where.

    He reached the gate and tried to get in but was stopped by a woman in a golden dress who had a small tiara on her head, she looked him up and down with a scowl and he gave her a dry look. "Sorry but the worker have a separate entrance to the west, I''m sure you can manage to get there without disturbing our students." The woman spoke with a haughty tone as if she was above everyone else.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Rime scoffed and the woman''s eyes widened in surprise. "Get out of my way wench, I don''t have time for you childish rich person games, apparently unlike you I have important things to attend to." The woman''s mouth dropped open as he shoved past her and Cyra let out a little giggle.

    The woman fumed and sputtered before yelling to her guards who ran after the boy and surrounded him. She arched her brow with a smirk on her face and walked up to her guards. "Kindly escort the help to the west entrance and let his boss know what happened here and ensure he gets extra chores." She gave the boy one glance over and turned to walk away but yelped when she felt a small foot hit the back of her knee.

    She raised her hand up to strike the insolent child but before she could her hand was grabbed by a woman wearing a silver dress that had fire in her dull brown eyes. "I am sorry but no one is allowed to hit any of our students or their family under any circumstances, royalty or not." The woman in gold looked at the other woman who squeezed her wrist tight getting a whimper from her before she dropped it. "Under code four of the Royal Academy I will have our guards escort you outside the premises and you will not return without written permission from the Grand Head Master."

    Rime shoved one of the woman''s guard¡¯s aside who was shocked by what the woman said and made his way over to Cyra who had promptly stuck her tongue out at the woman. The woman in gold stared at him before looking back at the Woman in silver who he learned was named Sana. Rime picked up Cyra and turned and headed to the mailing building to pick up his things as the woman in gold was escorted off the Academy grounds.

    He was a bit ticked off because of the woman''s behavior but angrier by the fact that she almost hit Cyra and there was nothing he could do, next time he saw her he would dispatch her into an early grave. It took him a bit of time to find the mailing building but thankfully it was close to the boarding house. Rime had to sign for his things and then load them onto a trolley which he took to his room refusing help from a nearby porter man.

    When reached he unpacked all of their clothes and changed his and Cyra''s boots throwing away the old ones. By the time he was finished the wardrobe was mostly taken over by Cyra''s things and the small space that remained was more than enough for his things, even his school uniforms fit comfortably. The book shelf was filled in a matter of minutes with the text books, writing materials, measuring equipment and the storage jugs, while his draws were filled with anything extra.

    He redid Cyra''s hair and loosed out his own allowing it to hang down the side of his face hooking a few wayward strands in place with the clip. Rime put on his fresh black shirt and then took Cyra¡¯s hand and leads her out the room closing the door behind him. He could see new students being guided to their rooms and then being lead out to the Grand Assembly Hall where the Head Master would start the opening ceremony. They were all seated according to their grades and he found himself sitting in the front row and the second seat to the right. Rime hadn¡¯t really expected it because the school liked to keep the grades a secret until the ceremony.

    He sat down and placed Cyra on his lap who was happily eating red syrup with a spoon not caring that the smell flowed through the room and earned her some curious stares; the other students promptly looking away when he stared at them. He rolled his eyes and looked to his left when a young man in an odd gold shirt sat next to him, his eyes were a bright golden brown and his hair was the same color as the shirt. Rime narrowed his eyes when he realized who the boy looked like.

    He huffed and looked away glancing to his right at the girl that sat next to him; it was the same girl he had seen earlier. So a priss like her came first, that''s probably why she was carrying herself the way she was, it was kind of pathetic if you asked him. It simply meant she was the smartest child in the academy not the entire kingdom or even the world, when she got that title she could behave that way or it would be better if she didn''t.

    The booming voice of the Grand Head Master drew his attention to the raised platform which the man was standing on. The man was huge, he was really tall and had a very large gut, his grey hair flowed down his back and shoulders in wave, and his beard was braided. His dark eyes scanned the room as he once again opened his mouth so wide he looked like he wanted to swallow the front row; even Cyra who was now draining the syrup jar jumped nearly dropping her treat.

    The old man begun the ceremony that lasted nearly three hours and by the time they were able to leave Cyra was falling asleep. Rime lifted her up resting her head on his shoulder as he held her close, they made their way through the crowd and broke out into the grounds. Most of the children were heading to the boarding house; he noticed that the hall he was staying in had a mix of girls and boys. The room across from his was taken by the girl while the one next to him the boy he guessed the hall was reserved for the top students.

    He got into his room and undressed Cyra pulling on her night dress and then tucking her in, when he was finished he went to his desk and began to pack his bag for the next day when his classes would begin.

 Chapter Four^

    The sun hadn''t even risen when Rime woke up, he sat in the corner of his bed trying to hold back the sounds of his crying as to not wake his sister. For the past few months since his mother''s passing he had been waking up in fits and spending the next hour or so crying. He had been having a reoccurring nightmare of watching his sister deteriorate and die in the same manner his mother had. Leaving him by himself with no reason to live so he would bring his life to an end, after he buried her next to his mother.

    He tried his best to calm down and then decided the best way was to repack his bag, which he found himself doing about three times before his sister woke up complaining she was hungry. He had looked out the window to see the sun had risen and decided it was time for them to get ready for the day. Rime got them into the bath before anyone else and then dressed Cyra in a black dress and then a red cloak that had a black butterfly clip that held it together. He pulled on her new boots, then gave her twin braids with some of her hair hanging down the front and sides of her face.

    He moved over to dress in his all black three piece suit and then pulled on his tie; he clipped his pin to thepocket. Rime combed his hair in the same style at the day before just placing the clip so none fell into his face and pulled on his black boots. He took Cyra''s hand leading her back to his room, passing the girl and boy on his way who both gave Cyra''s curious stares. Rime wondered if he would need to explain their situation and dreaded the thought.

    Heset his things down and then grabbed his black leather haversack before locking in his room door and heading to the cafeteria. Once again they were the first ones there, it was a large building by itself made of a strange white brick, and the inside was covered in lacquered wood. The ceiling was taken over by candle chandeliers that had intricate designs. Rows upon rows of tables and benches made of dark lacquered wood lined the room and to the right was a counter that let you see into a large kitchen that stretched the same length of the building.

    They walked through the door and straight down a pathway to a counter where the kitchen staff were already present creating many different breakfast options for the students and the school and the staff alike.

    A short pudgy woman smiled at them when they approached. "Morning children and welcome, what would you like to have for breakfast today?" just as she finished speaking a list appeared in front of their faces listing their options.

    Rime Look at Cyra who quickly chose chili chicken noodles, sweet buns and a glass of berry juice. The woman looked surprised at the tiny child and tried to make some suggestions for a lighter breakfast but got a pout in return so she looked at Rime with a twitching smile. Rime ordered beef noodles, four meat buns and a cup of hot tea, the woman placed the order and told him it was half a silver which would be fifteen bronze; he handed her a slip of paper and she nodded before yelling to the chef to hurry up.

    By the time they got their breakfast and had sat to eat the other students began to pile into the room, some stopping to watch at them before going on their way. Rime smiled as he watched Cyra dive into her breakfast taking a bit of everything at once. The girl was a tiny human with a monster of a stomach that never got full. She slurped up her noodles while humming one of the songs the village drunkard was known for singing, Rime shook his head and eat his breakfast,

    It didn''t take them long to finish and he had to use a warm cloth to wipe down his sister''s face and hands, luckily nothing got on her clothes even though a lock of her hair was dripping with soup. He wiped it off vigorously and then tucked the lock behind her ear, he didn''t even notice when the girl from earlier sat from across him and began to eat her breakfast in silence. He did however notice the boy when he sat next to him and began eating with a rush.

    Rime looked at him as the boy bit into syrup drenched pancakes; taking big bites causing Rime to think that maybe Cyra had been born into the wrong house hold. The boy gulped down his water and then closed off his breakfast with a large glass of sweet berry juice. He used the warm cloth to wipe his face and set it down on the tray before turning to Rime with a serious look on his face. "The name''s Burne Rixton and that frigid bitch across the table is Idina Estarius, you must be Rime Tagon."

    "Language." Was all the girl said receiving a scowl from the boy "there''s a child sitting at this table and the rest of us are still trying to digest, not that you would know with that void you call a stomach."

    Burne rolled his eyes at the girl and then turned back to Rime, his mouth dropping open as he watched the boy get up from the table pulling a tiny girl along with him. "Oh look, you scared him off you manner-less cow."

    Rime shook his head as he walked out of the cafeteria, there was no way he was going to talk to those two after seeing their personality. As far as he was concerned Burne was just like the woman in gold and the girl was too prissy. He had no interest in being friends with people like them; in fact he had no interest in having friends. Having friends never did anything good for him and he was smart enough to learn from his mistakes.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    It took him a while to find the first year building, he looked around and was completely lost, there was no sign on the doors stating the names of the classrooms and from what he was told he had to go in a class labeled Dragon. It took him a bit of time before he gave up and decided to just sit and wait on the rest of the students and teachers. Maybe a half an hour passed before the rest of students started to wander in and looked just as lost as he did eventually coming to the same conclusion as him.

    Eventually a woman dressed in all black with dark locks and light grey eyes came into the building pushing the children aside, she moved to the front of the building and stood tall. "Good morning hatch lings, I am Godiva Vido, the supervising Professor for you first year students and once again I''d like to welcome you to the Academy and wish you pleasant studying. Now that''s that over with I''ll be calling out a list of names starting with the first class and when you hear your name you will step forward."

    Rime stood up picking up Cyra as he did and waited for his name to be called, it actually didn''t take that long because his name was called second. He moved to the front and the woman stopped him and then looked at his sister with a motherly smile. "Tell me your name little bird."

    "Cyra Tagon." Cyra spoke quietly as her grip tightened on his arm.

    Godiva nodded and smiled at the girl once again. "You must be the little guest I was told about, you''re free to go ahead but remember to be a good girl and don''t disturb the other students, okay?" Cyra nodded and the Godiva gave her a pat on her arm before sending them off.

    Rime quickly made his way over to where Idina was standing just as Burne''s name was called and then seven students later they were lead to blood red wooden double doors by their new teacher. Professor Harlan Love was a tall man with hair the color of the wooden doors that was pulled into a high pony tail that hung at the middle of his back; his dark brown eyes scanned over all of them, his pointed ears twitching. Rime thought that maybe the man was an elf that really would explain his height that dwarfed the other teachers.

    The man spoke with a deep burly voice that didn''t match his lithe figure. "As you enter state your names, Rime set the child down and have her enter after you stating her name." With that the elf turned and walked into the room "Harlan Love."

    The students followed suit Rime doing as he was told before picking Cyra up once again when they were done. "Okay, now your names are registered to the class and no one else but us can enter without my permission, or they''ll meet a swift death and I''m not joking about that. So make sure whatever friends you have in the other classes have permission to enter or better yet you go to them."

    The man waved them over. "Your names are usually aligned with the desk you have, like in most cases Ms Estarius would find herself sitting in the corner desk of the front row, but since we have to accommodate a young child that has recently lost her mother, my condolences." Harlan said looking at them for a brief moment before turning back to the desk. "We''ll have Mr. Tagon and his sister sit at the corner desk, as you all know it''s made to seat two people instead of one like the other desk. Miss Estarius will sit in the second, Rixton in the third so on and so forth, so take your seats."

    Everyone did as they were told, Rime placing Cyra to sit down first and then sitting next to her, he pulled out a small story book he had bought for her and placed it on the desk. She smiled and begun reading silently, he pulled out a note book, a small jar of ink and a pen. "Okay so normally the head would give out schedules for the classes but for this class, you learn as fast as you can work. So today we''re going to have a quick quiz for me to test your knowledge, when I know how far a long you''ve gotten I''ll work out your first course and after that we''re going to the alchemy building to test your magic affinity."

    Professor Harlan began writing the questions on the board as he spoke. "No need to write the questions down, just number your page and place your answers deciding the class¡¯s collective knowledge is how we''ll move forward. Even someone who is months ahead of the rest of the class would still have to restudy some things, so don''t get ahead of yourselves and be considerate to your peers. By the end of the semester I hope you give me a better outlook on humans." He finished writing the twenty something questions down and then left the class without saying anything else.

    Rime took his time answering each question going as in debt as he possibly could, by the time the teacher returned he had rechecked his answers five times. Professor Love moved around the class collecting the note books when he reached the front of the class he sat down and looked at all of them. "Now I wonder how many of you noticed that two of the questions had multiple answers and because of a particular word I stated meant you had to list both of them?" He said arching a brow at them earning some whispers.

    The class sat in silence as the teacher took his time going through each not book and taking notes in his journal. He could be seen shaking his head, nodding or muttering something with the change of each book when he was done he clapped his hands and stood up. "Okay, let¡¯s go, you''ll get your books back after lunch when we begin your official studies, now we''re off to see how many potential mages I have in my class of Dragons."

 Chapter Five^

    Rime held onto Cyra''s hand as she skipped alongside him as they all made their way to the Alchemy building. It took a good ten minutes of walking before they were able to reach the building which was situated near the third years. The building was a tall marble structure that was a very light aquamarine in color; the building almost glowed in the sun light causing many of the students to shade their eyes.

    Professor Harlan led his new students into the very tall building slowly making his way up the marble steps. He only ever came in this building when one of his new students needed to be tested but otherwise he would avoid it as if his life depended on it. Which it did because a man he could only call his arch nemesis was the head of the building, he rolled his eyes at the sight of the very man he loathed, speak of the devil and all that.

    Rime smiled as Cyra hoped from step to step causing the other children to smile at her antics; they walked into the building and were met at the entrance by a short angry looking man, who seemed to be glaring daggers at their professor that stared straight over the man''s head. The man growled something in a strange language that Rime immediately recognized to be the Dwarves Tongue as they called it. He had a neighbor that was a dwarf and loved to cuss the village drunkard every chance she got.

    The man turned his attention from the elf and smiled at them. "Welcome to the Alchemy building, I am Professor Drugi head administrator for the Alchemy department. Now you all must be thinking what in the world does Alchemy have to do with magic affinity and the answer to that is... nothing." The whole class stared at the man¡¯s serious face. "It''s just a big fancy rock that you touch and it tells you what you need to know. But since our building has the strongest magic spells, all thanks to me. They keep it here and because humans have this strange fear of Dwarves which is just laughable because you''re all taller than us; even that little girl will grow taller than many of our children in a few years."

    The elf huffed making the Dwarf shoot daggers at him. "Anyways follow me so you can all go and touch a rock to see how bright it glows." Some of the children laughed and the man seemed proud of himself as he turned on his heels and headed down the hall.

    Rime picked Cyra off the floor as they headed down the hall that appeared to never end, they finally reached a tall stair case and headed up to the highest floor and walked further into the back of the building. The Dwarf stopped stretching out his hands and spoke a few words something in the room shivered and then the dwarf sighed and walked forward pulling open a heavy wooden door. The students all gasped at the sight of a very large purple rock that took over the face of the wall.

    "Ha you all look a bit stupid there; obviously this isn''t the glow rock, no that''s what you call a distraction." The dwarf waved his hand and then turned heading to the side of the room where a white door appeared. They were all lead in a room that held several white rocks that each stood on a stand of its own. ¡±Now these are the glow rocks, there''s so many of them because some of them get broken when we have a young prodigy but that hasn''t happened in a bit, so whatever."

    Professor Harlan stepped forward. "Okay you''ll each take a turn touching the stone doesn''t really have a particular order, this little box will measure the magic output and I''ll take note of it, so who wants to go first?" He asked looking around at his students Idina''s hand shot up and he gave her a nod as she stepped forward she placed her hand on the stone. It glowed brightly the box ticking for a few seconds before stopping as the professor made note. "Next."

    Burne stepped forward and once again the stone let off a bright glow with the professor taking note, it went on that way the other students stepping forward as Rime tried to keep his curious sister in check. "Okay last." Rime looked up and headed to the stone when his teacher nodded, he looked around at someone to hold Cyra while he tested his magic and everyone looked on reluctantly. Professor Drugi stepped forward to collect her and place her on his shoulder making her laugh.

    Rime smiled at her and slowly stepped forward he was pretty sure that he didn''t have any magic skills, his mother had proficiency in nature magic and that enabled her to become a farmer like her mother before her. But ever since he was small his mother has been trying to get him to do something like her but nothing ever happened, so that''s why he turned his sights on herbalism; it was as close as he could get to his family''s profession.

    He stepped forward and slowly placed his hands on the stone, at first nothing happened and Professor Harlan sighed. "Focus Rime there''s no rush; it''s just you and that stone okay?"

    Rime nodded and took a deep breath closing his eyes, Professor Harlan wasn''t really surprised, although rare, it was possible for a child to be born without any affinity to magic and it was normal for it to be a child that excelled in his or her academic studies. The student would be upset for a time but it was better that he faced this fact sooner than later. As the professor took a step forward to touch Rime he stopped in his tracks as he let out a deep gasp, the tiny box let out an ear ringing scream and he looked down to see numbers never seen before.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    "Ooh black!" Cyra squealed in excitement before jumping down from the dwarfs shoulder, she stopped herself from landing on her face and ran over to her brother. Rime was still holding onto the stone with his eyes closed completely unaware of the once white stone becoming as black as the darkest night sky. Cyra ran up and tiptoed placing her fingers on the stone that let of a pink glow before reverting back to its normal state she smile and then turned to Rime with a smile before he collapsed causing her to let out a scream "Ri!"

    +

    Professor Harlan was the first to react at the sound of the little girls screams as she ran to her brother and began to shake him continuously screaming his name. He ran over to Rime and turned the boy onto his back looking him over. His skin that normally had a tanned tone to it was unbelievable pale, sweat was running down his face even though his skin was cold to the touch, he pulled the boy into his arms and stood up rushing from the room.

    Professor Drugi broke out of his stupor and called for another Professor to look after the remaining students as he grabbed up the little girl who was now sobbing her heart out. He followed after the elf using a spell to lighten his steps and speed up his pace; they were down the stairs and out of the building in less than a minute. The Dwarf rushed up to the elf grabbing his arm and duplicating the spell so the two of them were now gliding through the school heading straight for the medical building. It was a large white building but instead of marble it was made from wood.

    Professor Harlan was thankful for the help from the Dwarf because despite of how the human child looked he was strangely heavy. They made it into the building and when the head healer saw them she quickly lead them to a large room where he was able to place the boy on the bed. Professor Harlan stepped back allowing the healers to move near the bed, one of the women dressed in a long white dress with a hood took the crying girl to her and slowly rocked her as she left the room.

    The head healer had just come from looking after a child who had miscast a spell and caused it to back fire on them. When she saw the elf and dwarf rushing into the building carrying two children, she assumed that they had been caught in the blast and lead them to the nearest room without asking any questions. She waited for the boy to be placed on the bed and the young girl to be taken to another room to be examined before she stepped forward.

    She and her assistant stripped the boy of his clothes pulling a blanket over him when they were done; her assistant chanted a short spell that raised the heat in the room to heat the boy¡¯s body. The head healer let out a small chant, passing her hand over the boy¡¯s body as she did, she scanned him for any physical injuries when she found none she checked internally and there was still nothing. So she chanted a spell to read the child¡¯s aura and found herself recoiling at the sight of the darker than black aura.

    She clicked her fingers instantly allowing candles to appear in the room along with the smell of river lilies. She sent everyone else out of the room and slowly moved around the bed touching different points of the boy¡¯s bodyand repeatedly did it until his aura faded to a dark blue.

    She placed her hand on his skin to see he was getting warmer but still sweating, with a flick of her hand the candles had vanished from the room and the heating spells had been canceled out.

    She left the room telling one of the younger healers to clean the child''s body, and went into the room next to his where the little girl was now fast asleep. The head healer did a quick check and smiled at the sight of the girls light pink aura that surrounded her and seemed to be reaching to the other room. She came to the conclusion that they were siblings, but wondered how the boys aura had been tainted like that.

    +

    Professor Harlan ensured that the boy and the girl were both okay before he left for the Head Master''s office, he was still a bit shaken by what he had just witnessed and was thinking of a way to explain it without of having the head master yell at him. The man had a very loud voice even when he claimed to be whispering. He rubbed his hands together chasing away the last of the cold that he had gotten of Rime''s at the time, ice cold skin.

    He could hear the dwarf behind him speaking to someone in his strange language probably requesting for them to bring the stone. Professor Harlan could even hear the quiet steps of the school head healer as she came after him to explain her findings straight to the Head Master himself. This was the first time this had happened and he started playing with the idea of the child being attuned to dark magic, but for all he knew no human had ever been found to have an affinity to dark magic.

    If the child did have the affinity from what he could see the boys little sister was his off switch, she would be able to bring the magic to a screeching halt if it were to ever get out of hand. But this was something that they had to keep contained if word spread of this, both him and his sister''s future could be at stake. He sighed and quickened his pace; he just wanted to get the whole ordeal over with.

 Chapter Six^

    Rime was in a dreamless sleep when he was awoken to a teary voice asking him a simple question. "Where you go?" His dark blue eyes snapped open and he took a deep breath trying to lift the pressure that was there only to realize Cyra was resting her head on his chest as she continued to cry. He tried to raise his hand up to rub her head and clear her hair out of her face but his body felt stiff. "Ri, where you go?"

    "...No..." Was all he was able to croak out when he opened his mouth, Cyra''s platinum blonde hair flew up in the air when she snapped her head back to look at her brother with her teary sapphire blue eyes. A small smile curved her lips as she looked into his soft blues; she scrambled up further on the bed and threw herself on him unknowingly knocking the wind from his lungs. Rime took a deep breath and slowly raised his hand placing it on her head; he cleared his throat. "I go... nowhere."

    He was able to wrap his arms around her as she began to sob into his neck, every time she asked the question he would give her the same answer, he wasn''t going anywhere. He promised that he would never leave her and he planned and keeping that promise no matter what. Rime ran his hands through her hair letting her cry as much as she wanted, he planned to calm her down and then try and find out what the hell had happened that would make her cry like this.

    The head healer was sitting in her office writing out some request for new herbs when a bell went off, she looked up and touched the bell jumping up when she heard the message. She quickly ran from her office and went down the hall to see one of the other healers waiting for her before they pushed open the door to see the boy trying to sit up while holding on to his sister who appeared to be asleep. She quickly went in and took his arm helping to pull him up as she placed a large pillow behind his back.

    Rime looked up at the woman that was wearing a white dress that had a hood extended over her dark brown hair. Her grey eyes watched him over as she sat on the bed placing her hand on his chest, she whispered something and then nodded collecting a pen and notepad from a woman that was standing dressed similarly to her. She wrote something down and the looked at him mumbling something else before nodding and taking more notes.

    Some time passed before the woman finished and told the other woman something who then rushed out the door, Rime''s eyes wet back to the woman that was sitting next to him with a soft smile on her face. "Good to finally see you awake young Rime; you gave everyone quite the scare." Rime gave her a questioning look and she smiled sadly nodding. "I guess you wouldn''t know since you''ve been unconscious for the past two weeks." Rime''s eyes widened and the woman nodded again. "Yes it''s the truth and everything will be explained to you properly when the others arrive."

    The woman got up going to the table and poured a large glass of water. "Your throat must be feeling dry, here have some water." Rime slowly took the glass the woman holding his hands to ensure he had a tight grip on it before letting go. He slowly drank the water until there was but a drop left; the woman collected the glass asking if he required another when he shook his head she placed the glass down. "Okay so we''ll have you eat something before the other''s arrive." With that the woman left the room.

    +

    Professor Harlan was in his class room writing notes on the board. "Okay so you''re to take down the twelve principals and put them in the correct order, then you''re to write the date of their establishments and what their purpose was, followed by the effects. The s is bracketed because one of these principles only had one effect but that is up to you to figure out which one. I''ll be giving a special treat to whoever gets all correct including the proper spelling and next to the names state the proper pronunciations, even if you get one wrong you''re disqualified from the treat."

    He cocked his head to the side at the sound of a quiet voice. "Permission to enter, Professor Harlan." He flicked his finger and the door opened revealing a young healer and he nodded and she quickly walked over him and signaled for him to lower his head so she could tell him something, when he did she quickly whispered. "Mr Rime Tagon has finally awoken and Master Healer Jessi Ssen is requesting your presence." Harlan nodded and watched as the woman quickly left the room.

    He looked forward to his class. "Okay students, I want you to complete the exercise I just gave to you and then you may all leave for a break, I don''t know when I''ll be back so take your time." With that he turned and left the class. Professor Harlan quickly walked down the hall and went to the supervising teacher and gave her the information then headed for the medical building; he went to Rime''s room and hummed at the sight of him slowly eating some soup.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    He looked at the small bundle that was curled up next to him and smiled slightly he was happy to see the small child finally in peace since her brother''s accident. He walked down the hall going to the Master Healer''s office; he knocked and entered when she hummed. Professor Harlan went and took a seat in the corner of the room as he watched her quick hand as she took some notes. It took a few minutes before Professor Drugi walked into the room carrying a glass case that held the stone that the boy had touched.

    Professor Drugi nodded politely to both of them, the elf and he had decided to put aside their differences until the situation with the boy could be settled. He placed the case on the Healer''s desk after clearing a small space. ¡°So who else are we expecting?" He grumbled while dropping into a chair in front of the healer desk.

    She glanced up at them for a second before returning to her writing. "The Grand Head Master, of course and then surprisingly the Arch Mage will be coming as well for reason''s unknown to us. Then a specialist in dark magic that was requested by Professor Harlan, I myself did suspect it might be that and the only reason the boy gave such a reaction to it was because he was simply too young to control it. If, from what you both said, for some reason the little girl wasn''t there he would have died, but that''s purely suspicion, we''ll have to wait for confirmation of course."

    It was another hour before the Head Master came walking into the room he gave a quick apology stating he was in a meeting, soon after a tall woman with long silver hair, almost white eyes and long pointy ear entered the room, she gave everyone a small bow. "My name is Master Solji Grace and expert on dark magic, my presence was requested because of the appearance of a possible dark master, such as myself."

    Professor Harlan stood and went over to the woman who gave him a soft smile. "Well if it isn''t big brother Harlan, it has been many years since I was in your presence; it¡¯s a blessing to see you again." She spoke with a smile on her face and he nodded returning the smile before leading her to sit in a chair next to his.

    A bright flash came from outside the office followed by a loud thump; the Healer Jessi''s eyes widened and she jumped up from behind her desk and rushed to the door opening it. She sighed at the sight of the Arch Mage, the old man loved to make quite the entrance. She stepped aside and allowed him to enter, he walked briskly going and taking a seat in her office chair making her pout, her old professor was quite the ass, but she would never say it out loud.

    "Well what''s all this I hear about a new dark master appearing in this school?" He asked without giving a single greeting to anyone. ¡°I got the news from a friend of mine on the board about a boy being contaminated by a stone and them not being sure if it was not the other way around." The healer nodded the Professor Harlan who stood up causing the arch mage to look at him. "Ah an elf, wonder what one of you buggers is doing on our continent, what looking to steal a new prodigy from us, what the last one died too soon for you?" He said sarcastically causing both the elf''s to sigh in unison.

    Professor cleared his throat. "Let''s not bring up matters that any of us in this room at the time would have been too young to be present for." The Arch mage huffed but nodded. "Okay so I''ll recount what happened for the thousandth time since the past two weeks." The elf spoke with an exasperated sigh earning a snicker from the dwarf. "I had taken my students to the Alchemy building to test their magic affinity, some of them had either high affinity for magic and some poor affinity, the boy, Rime Tagon, was the last to test his affinity.

    "At first when he touched the stone there was no reaction, so I thought that maybe he wasn''t focusing and gave him some advice. It took a bit of time before anything happened making me think that the boy had zero affinity and I stepped forward to stop him from further hurting his pride, but was stunned at the sight of that very stone turning pitch black. It was quite scary and the boy didn''t look as if he knew what was going on, everyone was frozen. His little sister, Cyra Tagon , who was in the room at the time ran out and touched the stone, it then glowed a bright pink before going back to its original color. The boy collapsed and the girl screamed bringing everyone from their stupor to which I quickly brought him over to the healer."

    The female elf stood up and went to the stone she lifted the glass case off and handed it to the dwarf that had moved to stand next to her. Grace picked up the stone and channeled her magic into it checking it for any defects before handing it to the Arch Mage who did the same thing but shook his head. "The problem isn''t the rock, it''s as fine as can be, I need to see this boy the suspicion of him being a dark master grows closer to being the truth, where is the little one?"

    "Follow me." The healer said before leading everyone out of her office and heading down the hall, the female elf collected back the stone and pressed her palms against it causing it to turn black. "Was it as dark as this?" She asked turning to Professor Harlan who shook his head.

    "It was much, much darker." Solji''s eyes widened and she quickened her pace; if it was the case then she had to meet the child as soon as possible for his dark magic might have been greater than hers.

 Chapter Seven^

    Two years had passed by since the incident with the affinity stone and Rime was finding his life to be a lot more difficult that he had expected it to be. He hadn''t really expected to be able to use magic much less dark magic. He was the first ever human to be able to wield dark magic and so all the master''s and mages especially the Arch Mage had found a sudden interest in him and attracted attention that he didn''t want or need for that matter.

    Just after the confirmation of his affinity there had been a meeting deciding whether or not he would remain on the human continent and study under the Arch Mage or he would be sent to the Elven Continent to study under the Dark Master''s. A whole debate had broken out causing the Emperor himself to have to set in and state the most obvious thing to these people that were supposedly the greatest living minds. "Let the boy decide." Was all he had said before leaving the room with the Empress.

    And so Rime, who was still recovering at the time, was brought to the royal assembly court with Cyra and was told to announce a decision for a topic he didn''t even know the old farts had been discussing, all these strangers were gathered in a room deciding his future for him. This caused Rime to reprimand each and every one of them since he was able to talk his mother had been allowing him to make his own decisions even about what snack he was going to have. And he''d be damned if he would allow these stranger''s to make any decisions for him.

    He stated plain and clear that he had no interest in studying magic and just wanted to become an herbalist but his Professor had told him that he had to study magic. As a safety measure so he would be able to control it so he decided he would remain in the Royal academy to continue his Herbalism studies and begin his studies on Dark magic. So now his work load had tripled and they even said that Cyra had to begin her training on light Magic so she would be able to help him any time the need arrived.

    So little Cyra became a student of the Royal Academy at the age of two and of boy was she mad. She threw the biggest tantrum he had ever seen and he became grateful that it wasn''t at him; she tore off in the royal council and called the Arch Mage a retarded poop head leaving everyone but the Arch Mage himself in shock. The old man broke out into wild laughter and said he was happy to have them as his apprentices.

    ^

    So now they had awoken before the sun was even up and changed into their new uniforms. Rime in an all-black suit with a blood red tie, the jacket collar had a fine strip of green running around the edge, he had a blue pin on his front pocket signaling he was a third year. A red pin that read he was the Arch Mages Apprentice and a silver clip that said he was a Dark Master in training and most times he would move around in a long black cloak with his head covered. His long silver hair that he wore in a loose pony drew too much attention.

    Cyra on the other hand wore a dark blood red dress that stopped just below her knees, and had a high neck and long sleeves, black tights and high black boots; with a black sash going around her neck. She had the same blue and red pins as him but instead of silver she had a white pin stating she was a Light Master in training and wore a red cloak that covered her completely. Only the bottom half of her face could be seen, not that it helped much because she was the shortest student in the entire Academy.

    Rime sighed as he took her hand and lead her out of their room, the room they were in before had been moved and now they lived in the same quarters as the Grand Head Master. Their room was designed to be the exact same as the old one, to give them some sign of peace, it didn''t really work. They made their way downstairs in silence and went straight for the kitchen; the chef was the first person to greet them and asked what they wanted for breakfast and lunch.

    They never had much time to stop for lunch so they usually packed it to carry and eat while they worked. Cyra got her usual spicy chicken noodles with six sweet buns and a large jug of berry juice for breakfast while Rime got his beef noodles eight meat buns and a hot jug of tea.

    They eat while the chef packed their lunches which were a large serving of egg fried rice, baked chicken, two jugs of juice and two of water. Two meat and sweet buns each, a jar of sweet plums for each of them and a jar of jelly beans for Cyra.

    The food that they eat would be able to get them fat under normal circumstances but over the past two years they had only gained a slight amount of weight that didn''t even show. Because the amount of classes and training they had to attend burnt energy like you wouldn''t believe and most nights they would collapse into their beds without eating anything.

    When they were finished Rime cleaned off Cyra''s face and hands and then did his own before collecting their lunch sack and leaving for their first class, which was with their Dark and Light Master''s that began and lasted for the two hours before their normal classes. They walked in on their two Elven teachers who were preparing their work for the day. The teachers were Twin sisters, it was odd that they were opposite only thing Solji shared in common with Soyou was the shape of her face and almond shaped eyes. Other than that where she had almost white eyes her sister''s eyes were a rich hazel and she had dark silver hair while her sister''s was snow white.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Rime often found himself hoping that Cyra''s hair won''t turn white; her platinum hair was giving her enough stares as it was. They both took their seats on behind separate desk after greeting their teacher''s, Rime pulled out his notebook, pen and jar of ink. He felt his teacher cast a spell so that only the two of them could hear what she had to say before she began her lecture and he had to keep up with her pace.

    The two hours passed quickly and they ate their sweet buns on the way to their regular class, Cyra was the first to notice the other students and quickly pulled her hood over her head Rime taking this as a signal to do his as he was digging through the bag to get her, her water jug. She drank slowly as they headed down the path to the herbalism building, Cyra had to sit through all of his classes and learn whatever he learnt. It was a rule to ensure that the two of them were never too far from each other, she drank down half the water before handing it back to Rime who packed it away.

    When they reached the Herbalism building they bumped into the rest of their class mates that were in the green dragon class, their teacher; a short Fae woman with pink hair that was styled into a bob and wicked green eyes, was the first to greet them as they walked in and took their seats. "Okay good morning my little ones, today we will continue our notes from yesterday that covered the different uses for the herbs. We have to work quickly because I was just given the go ahead to take you out to the filed today where we''ll be working with the other classes.

    "Also today the Fire Casters and Water Guardians will be doing some training and we''ve been requested to be present for their training, I think it has something to do with my top dragons." She said looking towards Rime and Cyra who let out a sigh in unison as the rest of the class groaned. The students knew they were treated specially but mostly had no idea why because the topic of Rime being a dark master was kept under wraps. The only thing they could really link it to was Cyra being considered a young prodigy.

    Also no one outside of the board knew they were the Arch Mages apprentices or that he liked to show unbelievable favor with them. Rime thought the old man treated them as if they were his blood when they weren''t training; he always had some strange sweet to give to Cyra and a rare book for Rime to read.

    Rime knew the reason they were requested to watch the Fire Casters and Water guardians train was because they were being forced to learn everything, literally all the different types of magic even the ones they weren''t very good at, they also had to study every single subject, from Herbalism, to Alchemy to warrior history. They had to undergo rigorous training and learn to work with all types of weapons, that¡¯s right four year old Cyra already knew how to wield a sword that was twice her size and it put most of the warrior students to shame because she was currently on the same level as them.

    The siblings didn''t even have the weekend''s to themselves, no they had to be going to royal proceedings and being thought politics, law, the rules and regulations. Rime was certain that they were being thought more than was necessary especially little Cyra but couldn''t say anything or they might lock him away and send Cyra off to the Elven continent. Rime was already plotting the murder of several of the officials on the royal council, make them all look like accidents was the main plan so far.

    The teacher moved to write notes on the board and Rime and Cyra both thought she was moving at snail¡¯s pace, they sighed and Rime just flipped open the text book he had bought for them. They took notes at light speed only stopping when the teacher needed to explain something or made them aware of a topic that would be in the upcoming mock exams.

    The teacher turned from the board and clapped her hands. "Okay you''ve got five more minutes to finish with your notes and then we need to be on our way." she said looking around her class and was surprised when she saw the Rime had already packed away his and Cyra''s note books and they were now quietly eating their meet buns while sipping on their juice. She wanted to tell them to stop eating but they had received special permission from the head master so there was nothing she could do.

    "Okay how many of you brought your tools for herb collecting and how many of you need time to get back to your rooms to get them?" Rime shot up his hand and she smiled. ¡°Did you forget your collection tools?" She asked in a mocking tone and Cyra immediately picked up on it snapping her head up to give the woman a bitter look.

    "No we actually have them, we were just checking to see if you had extra to give the students that didn''t have their tools and couldn''t return to their rooms to get them because the live off the Academy grounds." Cyra spoke in her cute voice but everyone could hear the acid coming off of it.

    The woman flinched but turned to her students. "How many of you will be unable to return to your rooms to get your tools?" Half the class raised their hands and the little girl giggled triumphantly, making Rime give her a soft smile. "Okay those who can, return to your rooms and bring your tools, and bring any extra you can and just write a list and I''ll have the faculty replace them." She watched as the children quickly got up from their seats and left the room as the siblings just sat quietly and continued to snack on their plums.

 Chapter Eight^

    Rime held Cyra''s hand to keep her close as they made their way out of the class and headed for the back of the head Master''s and Faculty''s building. Where there was a wide field that stretched as wide as the eye could see; only stopping at the back fences for the Academy that was far out of sight. But everyone knew it was there so the teachers felt comfortable allowing the students to wander the field unattended.

    "Okay so I''ve given each of you a list of five herbs that I want you to go out and find, you''re to bring an undamaged sample back of each of them. When you return you have to sit and make a sketch of the herbs to store in your notes and label your storage jars with your names and classes. Okay so each one of you have a timer and when it goes off I want you to make your way back to me, take too long and I''ll deduct marks, pair up if you wish and go on your way."

    Before she even finished speaking Rime and Cyra had already left to wander the field they''d say the teacher had it out for them after Cyra''s little outburst because she gave them the rarest herbs to find. They were the ones that were easy to miss because of their size and ability to blend in with the plants that surrounded them. But Rime had a bit of an advantage; because the Arch Mage seemed to have taken a liking to them he had information that could be considered to be of high value.

    The first plant they had to find was the willow weeper, it was a plant that grew close to the ground and had dark purple leaves and the scent of feline piss. The slightest sound caused the plant to burrow into the earth, so it was hard to find but if you knew to read the signs of their presence it would be a simple enough job. He decided to let light footed Cyra go and find it because it was on her list, she soon waved him over and he went to see her holding on to a brown plant stalk.

    He set his backpack down and pulled out a small box, he set it on the ground and whispered herb. The box suddenly grew three times its original size and then the clasp unhooked itself sending the top of the box flying up and then landing on the ground next to it. Inside the box was the storage jars and the equipment he needed to collect the herbs, he pulled on a pair of gloves and clamp. Using his fingers he dug into the dirt that surrounded the plant and then reached the clamp to the bottom of the plant grabbing it by the root and pulled it out.

    The smell of feline piss filled the air just before he placed it in a jar that had holes in the cover, he closed it in and Cyra who had already written out the label stuck it to the front of the jarbefore setting it back in the box. When they were finished they went for the next herb, tally soul, it was a dark green plant and every visible part of the plant was the same color but when you got to the root it was a ghostly white. Whenever the plant was plucked from the ground it let out a horrible scream, which it had when they took it to place it in the jar, but luckily they had already covered their ears.

    The next herb was a widows will, it was a very poisonous plant but the bottom of the plant at the center of the root was a little bulb that was used to help increase the power of certain spells that required powder to be cast. They made sure that their hands were completely covered along with their faces before finding the plant near a small stream. It was easy to dig up because of the loose dirt and they were able to get it in the jar before it spurt it''s poison, they made sure it was a jar with no holes or openings.

    They quickly gathered the rest of the plants and placed them each in a jar before they stood up and headed back to where the teachers were gathered, all sitting and having a chat with each other as if their students weren''t out in a field searching for dangerous plants. Their Professor looked at them and sighed before she came over with a plastic smiled on her face. "Well the two of you appear to have finished early; I trust that you were able to get all of them." She said and Cyra rolled her eyes.

    Rime nodded and opened up his box pulling out the ten jars that were each labeled, he set them down on the ground in front of her and handed back their list, the teacher looked them over quickly and made a note after examining their condition. "Okay they are all well-kept, now you can complete your sketches for them and the put what they are used for. If there is enough time state the proper way to prepare each and every one of them, this shouldn''t be too hard for you right?"

    They didn''t bother giving her an answer as they sat to do their work, Cyra doing the sketches while Rime handled all the writing, he took his time going in debt for each and every one of them. By the time they finished a few of their class mates had returned and began their own work. Rime and Cyra moved to a nearby tree and decided to catch up on some much needed rest before the presentation.

    +

    The remaining students had finally returned after the timer went off all bringing back their different works before the teachers began grading them and placing down notes of how well their students had done. When they were finished they decided to get everyone back to their classes before heading to the Academy''s Arena. One of the teachers noticed the sleeping siblings; Rime was leaned against a tree fast asleep with his hood covering most of his face while Cyra was curled up in his lap also asleep as she was snuggled up in her cloak.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.

    Rime was woken by the teacher and he looked down at Cyra and thought about letting her remain asleep. He had no choice but to wake her when he realized that he wouldn''t be able to carry her and all the bags and he didn''t trust anyone else with her or their things, so he reluctantly shook her awake. Cyra woke with a grumble but quickly stood and adjusted her cloak before collecting their lunch sack and her haversack as Rime held onto his own haversack and the now heavy box.

    Their teacher lead them back to the class where they were told to leave all of their things before they headed off to the Arena but Cyra decided to keep their lunch sack because something told her that they would most likely need to take part in the training. This was because of the simple fact that they were students of the Fire Caster''s and Water Guardians; Cyra herself was able to manipulate water because it fell under the category of Light magic while Rime was able to create fire out of nothing he suspected this was because of his affinity with dark magic.

    It took them some time to reach the arena because it was situated close to the building where the warrior students studied the academic part of their training. These were the students that would go on to be part of the Royal guard, the hunting party, the army and so forth, so they spent most of their time in the arena as Rime and Cyra had come to know.

    Some of the students recognized them as they made their way towards the arena giving them a respectful bow while the glared at the other students. It was known that Warriors and magic users were always at each other''s throat until they needed to fight side by side on the battle field. So the magic students just gave them ugly faces in return some sneaking in crude gestures that would make a priestess blush.

    Rime shook his head and sighed when they finally reached the Arena the other students piled into the stands while he and Cyra made their way over to their respective teachers, who marked their presence before sending them to change. They each went under a tent that was designated one for boys and the other for girls, Rime was the first to change coming out in black tights that laid flat against his skin and a red long sleeved high neck t shirt that fit just the same with black running shoes.

    Cyra wore a similar outfit with her t shirt being blue and fitting her a little loosely, she came over to Rime who quickly braided her hair and clipped the bottom of the braid to her shirt so it didn''t come undone. He pulled his hair up into a similar style before hurrying both of them back to their classes.

    The Fire Caster''s were told to go first starting with the worst student which was a short boy with a strange buzz cut, they were told to hit a rock statue that was in the shape of a man to see how much damage they could do. The boy was able to make a small burn mark on the statues chest earning a nod from the red head male teacher. They went down the line the person before Rime being able to turn the statue black which caused it to crumble earning a clap from the students in the stands.

    Rime had to wait for the Head Earth Former to make a similar statue before stepping forward, to which everyone in the arena stepped back. He sighed and former a small ball of fire in his hand some of the student from the arena booed him unaware of the destruction that such a small flame could cause. He stared at the statue and then tossed the ball causing it to hit the target''s chest, it was instantly absorbed and everyone waited in silence.

    Cyra took a few steps back as the statue vibrated before exploding into tiny fragments that shot everywhere. The Earth Former was able to capture each fragment before it could do any real damage. Rime flexed his hands and nodded to himself the fire seemed to be more powerful the smaller it was. The teacher told him good job and took his notes before leading his students off the field to the stands where Rime could feel many eyes on him.

    The Water Guardian teacher ran her hand through her dark blue hair that was styled in a pixie cut before telling her students to step forward. For them they had to see how large a water ball they could form without using anything else but their own power. She was pleased with most of the results she got, but her mouth dropped open as she watched the tiny four year old girl that had been assigned to her step forward.

    Cyra took a deep breath, she knew she wasn''t able to make water out of nothing but about a year ago she learnt that she could draw water from living things. As she had no interest in being locked away for committing mass murder just to prove she could for a water ball. She focused on the ground below her feet and slowly imagined the water being sucked from each grain of sand and just like that a large ball of water began to form above her. Cyra stopped drawing from the earth and with a click of her finger the ball burst and drenched the ground and the other students that were still on the field, luckily she and the teacher had put up a veil just in case of an accident like this.

    Cyra snapped her head to the side when she heard someone whistle and smiled at Rime who was cheering for her. She laughed and ran over to him, he picked her up and placed her on his shoulders as everyone watched on in silence.

 Chapter Nine^

    Rime spun the staff in his hand; he flexed his fingers and then gripped the staff before looking over at his opponent a tall human woman from the hunter¡¯s guild who had agreed to be the teacher for her former master¡¯s apprentices. Her brown hair flowed in a long braid behind her and her dark green eyes squinted at the young man that circled the filed just as she did.

    The sound of single clap echoed through the field and she rocked her body forward taking one powerful step, just like that she shot her body forward, her glaive cutting through the air as she headed in the direction of the young man that just stood still, a blank look masking his face. She swung her weapon aiming for his neck but within a second he vanished as if he had not been there.

    She spun bringing herself to a stop and swung her glaive behind her, there was a loud thwack that signaled that she had successfully blocked his attack, and she turned around grabbing her long blade out of his sheet and swung for him but he jumped back out of her range. She jumped again as he swung his staff at her and just as she was about to land the head of the staff connected with her stomach causing her to stumble back.

    She coughed and looked back, she dropped to the ground just as his staff swung for her head and flicked herself onto her feet listening as the staff connected with the earth where she had just been sitting. She flicked back three times and then spun and threw her glaive at him but he jumped into the air one of his feet landing on her outreached weapon using it as a base for him to push himself forward.

    He ran to her and swung his staff at her head, she raised up her had that held her blade and it blocked the hit but the momentum of the swing sent her to the side, he used this to his advantage and within a second he knocked her to the ground and sat on her chest holding his short blade to her throat. She glared at him and he put a slight pressure on the blade causing her to his as the sharp blade pressed on her flesh. ¡°Fine I give, get off you bastard!¡±

    Rime smirked at her and stood up he stretched out his hand and she grabbed it allowing him to pull her up, she rolled her eyes at the sight of his boyish smile. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten better, much, much better, you¡¯re going to need a new teacher soon because it looks like I¡¯ve taught you all I can.¡± She sighed and they walked over to the benches where Cyra was sitting sipping on her juice as she munched on a meat bun.

    ¡°Same goes for you little one, you¡¯ll need a new teacher and in future you¡¯ll be a better fighter than your brother because you started at such a young age. Maybe I could get one of the generals, or gold leafs for you too also I still don¡¯t understand why you need to be a master of all weapons.¡± She shrugged and dropped down on the bench taking her towel to wipe her face.

    ¡°So are we done for the day?¡± Cyra asked as she handed her brother his lunch bowl.

    ¡°No you¡¯re required to put in forty eight hours of training a week we haven¡¯t covered all of it, so you got to stick around ok. Maybe you can spar with each other or I can take you over to the arena and you can spar with your fellow students, it¡¯s up to you.¡±

    ¡°I have an idea, let us eat our lunch first and then you can brutalize us.¡± Cyra said with a cute smile and her teacher laughed.

    ¡°Okay I¡¯ll be back in a bit, eat well.¡± With that she ran off and the siblings were left staring at her vanishing figure.

    ¡°I¡¯m tired, I want to go to the park today, and they said we were going to have a break soon but it hasn¡¯t happened.¡± The sadness in his sister¡¯s voice had Rime setting aside his glass noodles to pull her into a hug.

    ¡°I know and I¡¯m sorry but think of it like this, just two more years and we¡¯ll be able to do what we want, I promise it¡¯ll get better, we just got to stick with it.¡± Rime ran his fingers through his sister¡¯s hair that had grown a great length as he spoke in a soft tone. ¡°How about a haircut, maybe a little change will make you feel better and we can ask one of the maids, I need mine cut too.¡± He watched as she twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers and then nodded looking up at him with a soft smile.

    They went back to their lunch clearing out their respective bowls and jugs before their teacher returned and they decided on sparring with the other students. It was a bit of a walk before they reached the other students and they were all too eager to spar with the mages apprentices. They had already picked out the students for the sparring and Rime noticed some of the students placing bets of who would win. He sighed he didn¡¯t think after today they would be so eager especially when they got their asses handed to them by a four year old.

    +

    Rime chocked back a chuckle as he watched his little sister jump off the round and slap the older girl in her face with the side of her blade. The girl looked a bit stunned as Cyra landed on the ground and ran through the girl¡¯s legs knocking the back of her knees as she did. The girl dropped to her knees and Cyra grabbed her hair and placed her blade at the front of the girl¡¯s neck.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    One of the sparring teachers stepped forward to call the win but was interrupted by the sound of loud clapping that caused Rime to turn around; he grimaced at the sight of the mage entering the arena with a smile on his face. ¡°That a pleasant sight, I¡¯m always surprised at your progress every time I watch you fight, it was almost like watching my little girl fight again.¡± Cyra nodded and released her opponent¡¯s hair and removed her blade before she went over to stand by her brother.

    ¡°Now I¡¯d like to stay here and watch the two of you dispatch each one of these brats, but apparently that¡¯s not a nice thing to do and also we have some business to attend to, so go ahead get yourselves cleaned up and grab your things we must be going.¡± Rime and Cyra didn¡¯t need to be told twice as they quickly ran to the stands to grab their things and then off to the arena showers.

    The Grand Mage watched with a crocked smile as his apprentices ran off before he turned to looked at the brunette woman that was approaching him. ¡°You know every time I see you old man I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re still alive.¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re still married, what did you brainwash my poor grandson into thinking you¡¯re a gem when you¡¯re just an un-killable bug that won¡¯t go away.¡± He laughed at the sight of her face going sour. ¡°I told you not to trifle with me, I¡¯ve been at this longer than you and I¡¯ll always be twenty steps ahead of you little girl, so turn your ass around and take that attitude to your pathetic husband.¡±

    He watched triumphantly as she frowned and looked down at her feet. ¡°Anyway aside from your poor attempts to one up me, how are my apprentices doing?¡±

    The woman shook her head and played with her braid. ¡°They are amazing as I suspected, I¡¯ve been teaching them for less than a year and they¡¯ve already absorbed everything I can teach them. I was thinking of asking my brother to train them, after all he is a Gold Leaf and he¡¯ll be able to handle them better, by the end of a year they could be gold leaf ranked.¡±

    The Grand Mage nodded. ¡°Well I suspected as much, those two are far too talented for the likes of you. I really wandered who their fathers were I researched on their mother and she wasn¡¯t anything special but she did bring two prodigies into the world so I¡¯ll give her that. But if I could trace their fathers then maybe everything would explain itself.

    And I was thinking that maybe I should train them myself but the combat I know is leaps ahead of your gold leafs and I¡¯d probably end up killing them, prodigies or not. Anyway I am going to the council today so I¡¯ll speak to your brother myself, he¡¯s one member of your family that I¡¯m happy to have a connection with. I would have Cyra wed him but he¡¯s too old for her and her brother would drain the life from my old bones and I quite enjoy wreaking havoc on you young lings to die just yet.¡±

    He looked up at the sight of his students approaching, fully covered in their cloaks, the only parts of their face that was visible was from their nose down. ¡°Well at least they look the part of your apprentices, hopefully when you¡¯re done training them they¡¯ll use what you thought them to kill you, but I¡¯m sure with how twisted you are you would be proud.¡± He smirked at that because he knew he would.

    He looked at the pack Rime was carrying and frowned. ¡°Where are your things hatch lings? I told you to bring extra writing equipment because I¡¯m taking you somewhere important.¡±

    ¡°We had to leave them in the class, when we came for training.¡±

    The grand mage nodded. ¡°Okay go quickly and fetch them then meet me at the Academy gate and hurry we must not be late.¡± With that the old mage turned and walked to the gates not bothering to use his magic, the children would take some time after all.

    +

    Rime and Cyra looked at the Grand Mage and glanced at each other; Cyra rolling her eyes, Rime shrugged and took her hand so they could quickly run to their class. When they got their, they had to knock on the door and Rime to Cyra to wait while he went in. He didn¡¯t want to have to deal with the teacher¡¯s spitefulness when the Mage was way more childish and had the authority to do as he pleased.

    The teacher looked from the board to him as he walked up to her and leaned in close so they could speak quietly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry professor but it seems Cyra and I have been summoned by the Grand Mage, I just came to get our things and be on our way.¡± The teacher scowled at him but nodded anyway, he gave her a slight bow and went to his desk. He ignored the stares and grabbed up everything including their trunk that still held the plants in it, and he gave the teacher a nod and then went out the class.

    He handed some of the bags to Cyra and they quickly headed to the gates where they saw the Mage speaking to the woman that was always in a gold dress. She was scowling at him while he had his usual playful smile on his face as he leaned in and told her something that made her throw her hands in the air before stomping off causing the Mage to laugh with glee.

    When they approached he smiled. ¡°Oh good, I thought I was going to die before you got here, but I was surprisingly wrong, anyway take my non-wrinkled hands so I can guide you to a better place.¡± They both stared at him blankly and he rolled his eyes. ¡°Learn to take a joke hatchlings.¡± He went over and grabbed their hands giving them a smirk just as they vanished from the school.

 Chapter Ten^

    Rimes vision was spinning when they appeared next to the capitals massive gold fountain, he leaned on his knees and took deep breaths as he tried to keep himself from throwing up, he ha never teleported before and now he wished he never had, he wondered what was so wrong with taking a carriage. He hadn¡¯t even notice Cyra who was stumbling around nearly falling face first to the ground, the Mage having to hold her shoulders until she got her bearings.

    When they looked like they would live the Mage chuckled ¡°I honestly thought you two would handle my transportation spell better but I guess you can¡¯t be good at everything, unlike me, oh well, now that the two of you seem okay we must be on our way.¡± He patted his student¡¯s backs and smiled at them before walking ahead.

    Rime sighed and took his sisters hand so they could follow along, he wondered where they were, he was pretty sure he had never been around here before, in fact he had never been far from the Academy since he had started his studies and that was a little over two years ago. So he didn¡¯t really know much about the place he had been living in for such a long time.

    They had been walking for a few minutes when he stopped in his tracks Cyra letting out a small gasp, they were both staring up at a massive gold palace, the highest point stretching into the sky. The palace was made of several tall towers that stretched into the sky, lined off as if you could jump from the center tower down to the other but that were far apart connect by golden buildings that shined in the light.

    They could hear the mage chuckle as he walked back to stand next to them ¡°you looked awe struck and I want to do something wipe that stupid look off your face so I¡¯ll tell you a secret. Everything you see there is made of thick marble but they had a lot of gold melt down and put a very thin coat of it over the structure, but then again even if you took that layer off I could buy you a trillion times over and you¡¯re a rare being all together.¡±

    Rime scowled at the Mage and he smirked at him ¡°now that that¡¯s done with we must be on our way, there¡¯s lot to be seen today and please when we enter the council hall don¡¯t gawk it¡¯s embarrassing, act as if you¡¯ve lived in the place your whole lives and that goes for the both of you, got it?¡± Rime and Cyra nodded and the Grand Mage looked them over before continuing on their way.

    When they reached the gate they were stopped by a guard that stood tall in a gold armor a black cape hanging from his back and black feather hanging from his helmet, the only thing you could see were his piercing grey eyes. He bowed his head slight at the Mage but looked at Rime and Cyra with suspicion ¡°my apprentices Our Great Emperor has given permission for them to enter.¡± They watched as the guard cocked his head and then stepped aside.

    The Grand Mage nodded and they followed him in Rime glancing back to the guard that now had his back turned to him, the back of his cape had the form of a dragon painted in gold ink. They were the royal guard, Rime would recognize the symbol everywhere because it was ingrained in him that the first king that was said to be the son of a dragon was the one to create the royal guard, he had read it in every book that had to do with the capitals origins.

    He looked forward stopping when a woman in a black cloak appeared in front of them the only thing that proved she was a woman was her red painted lips ¡°Our Great Emperor has requested that you not walk them through the main palace hall, we have unwanted guest, the secret must remain as such.¡± She bowed low and then vanished as if she had not been there.

    The Grand Mage turned to them ¡°it seems the tour will have to wait, so as you don¡¯t puke in the Council Hall, close your eyes and hold your breath this will last but a second.¡± Rime and Cyra did as they were told and the Mage grabbed them and then he let go ¡°open your eyes hatchlings and fix your cloaks so as only your lips show.¡± They opened their eyes and took a breath before doing as they were told, Rime moved to hold Cyra¡¯s hand ¡°don¡¯t do that, they will be suspicious, just walk close to her.¡±

    They nodded and he stepped close to Cyra and he felt her tug his cloak making him release a sigh, he¡¯d know if she ever let go so he felt a bit relieved. They followed the sound of the Mages footsteps and all they could see was the metallic epoxy floors that held a golden hue. He wanted to know why they weren¡¯t allowed to look around but decided to save the question for later.

    As they walked the halls got narrower and narrower until they were walking through a black obsidian door that blended with the walls ¡°raise your hoods, take a seat and get your writing equipment out your lesson begins now.¡± They quickly did as they were told and he looked around and saw that they were sitting in a small boot that hovered above a room that had rows upon rows of sets, in front of that row was what looked like a raised platform with two large thrones and a small one.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    ¡°No one can see you only I the Emperor and Empress know where you are, keep silent and write down anything you see as important and remember not a sound, I must go sit with the Emperor and I will be keeping a watch on you, do you understand?¡± Rime nodded and the Mage vanished.

    Cyra looked at him and quirked her head ¡°what do you thinks about to happen?¡± her voice was silent but he picked up on it because she moved closer.

    ¡°Apparently something important.¡± He spoke shrugging and she smiled.

    He quickly pulled out their writing pens, jars of ink and two note pads each, they would be writing everything down, because anything that required them to be hidden away while the council spoke would be important. The had been sitting down for some time before a door was opened and men and women filed into the room all of them wearing black, it was as if they had mask on because Rime couldn¡¯t make out their features, he wondered who exactly were these people.

    Soon another door was heard opening and he could see the people in black cloaks enter first, some of them dashed around the room seeming to look for something, when they were done they moved to the corners of the room. Rime looked over to where the thrones sat as he watched a couple walk in he immediately guessed that they were the Emperor and Empress because they were decked out in gold.

    The man stood taller than any human he had seen before and he wondered if he was really hum but was confirmed when he saw the man¡¯s ears, his blond hair was cut close to his scalp his gold eyes roaming the room and for a quick second they landed on him before moving out. The man had gold piercings clothes and even a cloak, he could see swirls running on the back of his hands and figured that maybe they covered his entire body.

    The woman on the other hand was completely covered in a gold cloak just like before the only thing visible was her gold painted lips. He was wondering why they hid her face because he had already seen the empress when they had been summoned to a meeting to decide their fate. The woman at the time ad long flowing blond hair aqua marine eyes her face was small and her lips were a small heart shape and she was quite tall almost as tall as her husband.

    But this woman was short and she was quiet unlike the Empress he knew, the woman had spoken her mind and given the elves a dirty look, she looked really insulted that strangers were trying to make a decision for Rime and Cyra as if they had been dealing with her life. But this woman was quiet and she looked so dainty next to the Emperor.

    They took a seat and Rime felt Cyra shift closer to him when the Emperor spoke with a booming voice that promised pain to those who didn¡¯t listen to him ¡°we will now commence the councils gathering, normally I would allow the council members to speak first but as you know we could be on the brink of war so our Gold Leafs and Generals will speak first anything else after, you may begin.¡±

    Rime looked at a woman in black armor that had a silver dragon painted on the chest plate stepped forward ¡°Unfortunately General Shifra is not able to be present because she is still carrying out orders and I Field Officer Calidar will speak in her place as she requested.¡± She looked at the Emperor and he nodded, she bowed before raising her head and looking around the room before he eyes landed back on the Emperor.

    ¡°Reports of the Beast Men moving in from the West have been confirmed. Our Whispers who have managed to infiltrate their ranks have confirmed the increase of weapons made the shipping of these and armor along with grains, greens and bread. They have confirmed the transport of resting equipment and supply carriers. Messengers have been spotted moving between the Beast Men Twelve Tribes that says that they are all working together. It was also confirmed that they had a head start on their winter preparations and it will be completed by the end of the month so what they are producing now is being sent to the lines with them.¡± She bowed and then took her seat.

    Rime had managed to write all of it down so he turned his attention back to the emperor who spoke again ¡°what of the Fae¡¯s, Elves and the other continents.¡±

    A woman in a red dress stood ¡°The Fae¡¯s and the Elves have signed a peace treaty and the other races are keeping to themselves, the sky dwellers state that they will not involve themselves again.¡±

    He watched as the man stroked his beard and then sighed ¡°tis good that they are not in with the Beast people but for them not to want to assist us makes something seem a bit off. What of our preparations.¡±

    Officer Calidar stood again ¡°well as soon as we suspected them we had upped the speed for the winter preparations and half of everything being made has been shipped out to the lines. The barricades have been set and at the command of our Grand Mage the Warrior Mages have been sent to the front and have been able to put up a magical field that is being strengthened with every second that passes. Our weapons and armors are more than enough but some of our black Smits have begun to reinforce them, the horses have been well prepared and even if we were suddenly attacked we have enough provision to last us through a three year war, of course with some magic to make them last that long. So all in all if we wanted we could start the war ourselves.¡±

    ¡°What of the new batch of soldiers, hunter and the like?¡± the Emperor asked in a low tone after he nodded at the officer.

    ¡°They have been trained to the max and are ready to move at any second. Our Fire Casters and Water Guardians are a bit behind but they would still be able to cause some damage if we had to send them out. But I do have word of two students that have excelled past there grade so in case of anything, we can use them and bring the war to an end in days.¡±

    Rime looked at Cyra and pulled her close as she looked on the verge of tears, he really hoped they were wrong.

 Chapter Eleven^

    The Grand Mage looked over at the emperor and then glanced up to where the booth would be before he refocused on the crowd before him, he didn¡¯t care for any of their opinions but anyone that dared to send those children out to war would be faced with him and he hoped that no one was stupid enough to even fathom the thought.

    He would never tell this to anyone, especially Rime and Cyra but he considered them his own and he would never let his children go into war not even his own son who had been a Captain for The Armored Vipers he had never been out on a real battle field, he would rather his children die of old age before he did than them being returned to him as nothing but corpse from a battle field.

    And Rime and Cyra as he saw it was the future of this great continent why would he risk them being dead just to get rid of a few pesky beast men who from what he witnessed could do nothing to him and his people, he would wipe their filthy kind from the planet before he let them anywhere near his apprentices, they were his and as long as he drew breath no one would hurt them, and he intended to live for a very long time.

    He watched on with lost interest as the meeting dragged on only putting in his input when it was requested, like when one of their towns in the west reported a heavy drought, simply build a water reservation, and run pipes along the earth that would keep the land wet and the crops would grow without issue, and insulate the pipes so there¡¯s no chance of the water freezing when the winter came, some humans were dullards.

    The meeting was finally drawn to a close and he waited for the Emperor and Empress to leave followed by the council members before he vanished from the spot and re-appeared where his apprentices were , he watched as Rime packed their things and he sighed at the amount of things the child was fetching around with him, he really needed to give him a carrier that could hold all that junk, maybe a chain for him and a ring for the little one, but of course he needed a reason, he can¡¯t let them think he wanted to spoil them, even though he did like he had done his children.

    He looked at Cyra and frowned at the redness of her eyes, the little wisp had heard what they said about sending them off to war and was scared enough to cry, he wanted to find that field officer and turn her into a bug or something, he guess he could give the girl some of the Elf chocolate he had been gifted, who knew elves could be good at things.

    He got them out of the room and then decided to just vanish to his study; the children had been hard at work doing whatever they were told so a little break would be good. He lead them to a small sitting are and let Rime place the things down, he went and retrieved a few books and games for the children even grabbing the chocolate and placing it on the table in front of them.

    ¡°You can rest for a bit, the council meeting was supposed to run for a few hours but was cut short so just enjoy your break and I¡¯ll take you back to the academy in two hours.¡± He watched as the children nodded and then vanished from the room, he had his own work to take care of and the first task was to go speak with the emperor to cut a certain idea out of his head before it festered and he had to kill someone.

    +

    It didn¡¯t take long for the Mage to appear in front of the Emperor¡¯s office, he didn¡¯t even bother to knock as he pushed the door open and arched his brow at the sight of the Emperor sitting on a chair on his balcony with the Empress sitting next to him as they spoke quietly. He wasn¡¯t impressed by the new empress and though she was sorely lacking when placed against the late Empress.

    The Late Empress Samra was everything an Empress should be, Smart, Powerful, dependable, and as perfect as a woman could be, he might have been a bit one sided because his beautiful Ciara was just like her but that¡¯s just how he was. He was the one that officiate the late Empress marriage to the Emperor and the two of them were made for each other, both strong willed and the perfect leaders.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    But the new Empress, Elmira she was but a child, a decade younger than the Emperor, a timid mouse, she wasn¡¯t all that smart even though she loved to read, she was all about fairytales and romances, of course there was nothing wrong with that but it was good to read books about science, magic, war, medicine the history of the goddamn continent you were supposed to rule, she was a child through and through.

    And god help him if she were to get pregnant the Continent would be bloody doomed if the child wasn¡¯t raised by the Emperor. He didn¡¯t really blame the child for the way she was, she was raised by a spoilt whiney excuse for a Duchess who couldn¡¯t even run her own house, so it was expected, like mother like daughter and all that, and the child didn¡¯t want to be wed to the Emperor but the Emperor needed an Empress by his side and after Empress Samra sudden death while in child birth the process had been rushed along.

    He went up and knocked on the side of the entrance that leads to the balcony, the Emperor looked back at him, the younger man¡¯s gold eyes seemed to pierce into him but after working under three different Emperor¡¯s it had become easy for him to ignore their stares. If he couldn¡¯t resist the look he received from them then how was he going to be able to face them with the facts and tell them when they were going wrong?

    The empress also glanced back at him, the nineteen year old smiling at him in a polite greeting and he simply nodded at her, The Emperor was the first to stand taking her hand to help her stand and the sight of her was just pitiful; she was half the man¡¯s size and didn¡¯t share any of his refined looks. Her hair was dark as coal, her eyes a deep swirling pool of chocolate and she had this face that made her look like a child and them Emperor a pervert.

    He stepped aside and allowed the Emperor to pass leading her to the door and wishing her good bye before turning to face him. The man gestured for him to take a seat and he did just as the Emperor moved around to take a seat at his desk he looked up at the mage and smiled ¡°okay so what does my teacher have to say that was so important he couldn¡¯t wait for me to finish talking to my wife?¡±

    The Mage arched his brow and shook his head ¡°the poor thing makes you look like a cradle snatcher and I still don¡¯t think you should have married her but that¡¯s a conversation for another day. I came to tell you that you¡¯re not sending my apprentices to war I¡¯ll go and eradicate the Beast men if I have to, but you won¡¯t be sending them out there, especially not Cyra, for god sakes the child is only four.¡±

    The Emperor arched his brow and shook his head ¡°you know teacher I always knew you thought I was stupid but I can¡¯t believe you think I¡¯m that stupid.¡± The mage huffed and the Emperor rolled his eyes ¡°they are literally two of the most powerful people on our continent and one of them literally has a dark secret that could bring hell upon us if anyone were to find out, do you honestly think I would risk that happening just to shorten a war?¡±

    The mage huffed again ¡°You were always unpredictable Taranis, even as a child, so I never know what to expect from you, your marriage to that child wasn¡¯t the first heart attack you¡¯ve given me and I have a right to believe it won¡¯t be the last. But I will tell you this, you will literally have to get through me before you send those children anywhere, they are mine, got it?¡±

    The Emperor huffed and nodded ¡°Yes I got it.¡± The mage gave him a quick nod and he smirked ¡°okay so besides you coming to lecture me about your new children what else did you come here for?¡±

    The Grand Mage hummed to himself and stared ahead before shaking his head ¡°nope, nothing comes to mind but be sure that if I think of anything I¡¯ll be back to yell at you, as always.¡± He smirked and the Emperor shook his head before nodding and in a second the Mage had vanished from his office and appeared in front of his study.

    He went back grabbed the handle and slowly pushed the door open smiling at the sight of the two children that sat in the couch in the corner. Their cloaks had been removed and Rime was laid back in the chair reading something while Cyra sat on his lap with her head bracing his chest. He was speaking in a calm voice while she seemed to be dozing off.

    The grand mage nodded to himself and pulled in back the door deciding to go to his office and deal with some of his work that had been piling up for a few weeks now and practically covered all surfaces in his study. He quickly made his way there and ditched his own cloak, opting to sit around in his tunic and black slacks with his hair pulled up in a lazy bun, now that he was comfortable it would be easy to focus on his work.

 Chapter Twelve^

    Rime ran his hand through Cyra¡¯s hair as she lay in his lap fast asleep, he smiled at the sight of her puffed cheeks and pouting lips, after everything that had been going on it was nice to see her like this. She actually looked like she was a four year old and not some really short scholar that was studying o solve some disease that was ravaging all of mankind.

    He wanted to see her like this all the time; he wanted her to be able to have a carefree life like any other child her age. At the age of four she wasn¡¯t supposed to be focused on the Light magic, she wasn¡¯t supposed to be focused on combat or herbalism or anything that he was doing. She was supposed to be out playing in the mud, eating as much as she wanted, dancing in the rain, sleeping as late as she wanted and playing with children that were her own age, but she wasn¡¯t able to do that and Rime couldn¡¯t help but think that it was his fault.

    May things would have been better for her if he had left her in the village to live with one of his neighbors who had always seemed fond of her or if he had left her in the children¡¯s home. Things might not have been comfortable for her but she would have been able to live as the child she was and enjoy life the way she should have been.

    He sighed and leaned down placing a kiss on her head, the things that lead to her being here with him and being the person she was had already passed and as much as he wanted he couldn¡¯t go back and change them so he and his sister would have to live through it. He felt good knowing that in just two years he could free his sister and she would go back to being a child while he worked to look after her.

    He sighed and glanced around the room, he was feeling tired, they had been studying since early in the morning, attending lesson after lesson and writing till their fingers hurt and then to have to switch to magic display and then martial training, it was just too much and he was tired of it, if he could he would pick Cyra up and go, but there was no where he could go and he was sure everyone would hunt them down.

    +

    Rime had no idea when he had fallen asleep but he was awoken by the shake of his shoulder. He looked up to see the Grand Mage looking at him, the man had passed a hundred and looked as if he was in his early thirties and Rime wondered just how that was possible, he¡¯d seen a lot of Mages that were young but looked old because of them stress their work caused.

    He slowly sat up and looked at the man as he went to the table and grabbed up their things, he came back and helped him to stand as he held onto Cyra. With a snap of his fingers their cloaks were on them with the hoods drawn up and the Grand Mage smirked at him before they appeared in front of the Dean¡¯s residence where they were staying.

    The mage nodded to him and he quickly entered the home going straight up to their room, the Mage seemed curious as he went around the room, taking a look at everything particularly the bookshelf, even mumbling that he had the fifth Volume for a book set that Rime had been collecting. He arched his brow as he wondered how the man¡¯s attitude could change just like that.

    He shook it from his head and placed Cyra down on her bed, he took her cloak and shoes off and decided to just let her sleep in everything else as he tucked her in. He turned to face the mage that was staring out the window before he turned to face Rime ¡°the two of you have been working hard lately and today you were forced to take in a lot of information at once, but since you were able to get through it I decided that the two of you can have the rest of the day off to do what you want, but tomorrow it¡¯s business as usual, anyways I¡¯ll be taking my leave, see you again.¡± Rime watched as the older male vanished before letting out a sigh as he dropped down his bed and he was out in a few seconds.

    ++

    It was Saturday and as usual Rime rose early but he felt more rested than usual, he couldn¡¯t believe he had actually slept through the afternoon and night without waking once. Rime stretched all of his muscles even going so far as to crack his back and neck. When he was finished he looked over to where Cyra was still fast asleep, hugging her pillow as she sucked her tongue, he almost cooed at hoe cute she was.

    He went over and ran his hand through her tangled locks and pushed them out of her face, he slowly shook her and she huffed turning over as she mumbled something, he tried to shake her again but she kicked out and scrambled closer to the wall taking her blanket and pillow with her, he watched as the tiny thing curled herself into a ball and her body slowly started to relax back into slumber.

    ¡°Unbelievable, Cyra it¡¯s time to wake up.¡± He said as he moved onto the bed and started to shaking her ¡°I know you don¡¯t want to get up but you have too and I don¡¯t even understand why I woke up earlier than you because you¡¯ve been asleep the longest.¡± She swatted his hands away and made a whining sound before trying to curl in on herself.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Rime smirked as he slid back off the bed and quickly went to the bathroom and back, she was probably going to be pouty after he did what he had planned but he knew he could just cheer her up with some sweets and the Mage did give them some chocolate that she didn¡¯t know about so that would so just fine.

    He watched as she slept for a second before tossing a bowl of cold water in her face. Within a second she had shot up as if lightning had bit her ass and Rime couldn¡¯t stop laughing at the dumb look on her face. She looked at him and then she started crying, Rime choked back a chuckle and moved to pull her into a hug, rocking her as he rubbed her back.

    When she had finally calmed down, Rime left her on the bed to wake up a bit more as he quickly went through their draws, he decided that since it was a Saturday they could wear something simple and if anything they could just pull their cloaks shut. He pulled out black fitted pants and a blue tunic with follower designs on it for Cyra and the same outfit for him but his tunic was black and had red designs on it.

    He grabbed a blue cloak for Cyra and a Red for him setting it on his bed and turned around to see Cyra running a brush through her hair as she yawned; he went over and quickly helped her frowning because her hair was more than half her height. He watched as she winced every time he passed the brush through it and sighed ¡°We have some time before the lesson begins how about we go see if we can get that haircut we were talking about.¡± Cyra nodded and he smiled ¡°we¡¯ll tidy up first though.¡±

    They got all their things and made it to the bath, Rime sat down behind Cyra and soaked her hair before running a comb through it; it didn¡¯t seem to hurt as much as before, she was even falling to sleep as she stood. When he was finished he scrubbed both of them down and washed their hair and the rinsed off before helping Cyra to brush her teeth and then did his own.

    He dried them down and then they were dressed, he returned their dirty clothes to their room and went down to the kitchen where the Chef was hard at work preparing what looked like pudding and other meals. The man turned around and smiled at them coming over ¡°I know you children don¡¯t have to go early today so I decided a more elaborate breakfast was in order and also because I was given the heads up that you two would be practicing your magic today, so you need plenty to eat.¡±

    They smiled up at him as he moved and set down a large bowl of Baozi, two bowls of rice, a plate of stewed vegetables, large grilled cuts of beef, chicken broth, juice and tea and of course meat and sweet buns, the man smiled ¡°be sure to eat everything while I pack your lunches, let¡¯s see on the menu for lunch we have chicken fried rice, two more grill beef each, of course we have your favorite dumplings, shallot soup and fresh berry juice and water.

    And for your treat a crate of fresh cherry plums arrived this morning so you both will have a few, yesterday I had roasted some caramel nuts for a study snack for you but you were out cold and didn¡¯t even wake when I doused you in cold water.¡± He laughed as the two of them gawked at him ¡°so you¡¯ll have that, we have mango sauce it was made extra sweet for little Cyra and finally I have pudding that will be ready soon and Someone called Professor Harlan had sent two large boxes of white elf chocolate so I guess you can carry that.¡± Cyra literally jumped for joy and almost fell off her stool at the sound of chocolate.

    Rime smiled as they ate, it had been years since they heard from their old professor who had saved his life, they were told that after the incident and then the meeting with the two people professor Harlan had returned home to work with The Elven Royal Academy. He honestly never thought he would hear from him again but every time his dark magic teacher got the chance she would tell him how the man was doing and asked how he was on behalf of Professor Harlan, he was happy the man wasn¡¯t a hard ass like he had thought.

    Soon they were finished eating and their lunch had been packed away the Chef setting it one the counter before collecting their empty dishes ¡°you know I never thought my work here was appreciated because the people that hired me never really sat to eat a meal I cooked but since the two of you came I can rest easy that my talent hasn¡¯t gone to waste, now if only the two of you would get plum I¡¯d have some physical proof.¡± They broke out into laugher.

    Rime smiled ¡°well we¡¯d probably be dead by now with anyone else so thank you.¡± The older man nodded ¡°oh and Cyra and I want to get our hair cut before we head off to classes do you know anyone that can do it?¡± the Chef nodded and went to the door that lead out the kitchen, he smirked at them before yelling someone¡¯s name really loudly causing them to cover their ears.

    It wasn¡¯t long before a woman in a white tunic dress, black socks and boots walked into the room, her white hair pulled up into a stylish bun that had a few clips sticking out of it ¡°you know old man the next time you call my bloody name for the whole realm to here I drown you in a pot of your famous chili soup.¡± Rime and Cyra¡¯s eyes widened and the man laughed shaking his head ¡°what can I do for you?¡±

    The Chef gestured to Rime and Cyra and she turned to them with a smile ¡°we were looking to get our hair cut.¡±

    The woman seemed to beam ¡°really you mean it?¡± Rime nodded and she smiled running over to hug him ¡°I thought my shears were going to go dull in this freaking house, come lets go to my room and we can discuss the latest styles.¡±

    ¡°Sara the children have to be out to classes soon, don¡¯t dilly dally.¡± Sara stuck her tongue out at the chef before taking both of their hands and leading them out the kitchen.

 Chapter Thirteen^

    Rime found himself standing in a large room in a part of the house that he had never seen before, the halls that lead to the room were the same as any other in the house and would draw no interest but the room itself was an explosion of different colors that drew a child like excitement from Cyra, something Rime had not seen in a while and it made him smile.

    The room was designed similar to theirs, except there was only one bed and also the fact that on one side of the room had a large mirror that hung above a chess that stretched the length of the wall, with different things that Rime could only assume were used to style hair, neatly placed on it and the six barber chairs that sat in front of the chess all aligned perfectly.

    Sara smiled at them and told them to have a seat, Rime moved to put Cyra up in a chair before sitting in one next to her, when they were seated, Sara pulled a black cloth around their necks that covered their entire body.

    Rime was paying attention to the cloth to notice Sara taking a few steps away from them, she clasped her hands together and closed her eyes and within a second a second her had appeared and turned to her with a smirk on her face, Sara was going to jump the children. This was the first time in months she had had a customer so it was best to have as much fun as she could.

    Rime looked up from the cloth when he heard footsteps behind him and looked around just as Sara spoke "okay so what do you guys need to be done with your hair, do you need, it to be cut, styled, primed, what?"

    Rime opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he realized that two person''s had spoken at the same time and found himself looking between the two Sara''s who snickered at him, he arched his brow and shook his head, it wasn''t the first time he had seen a duplication spell, many of the so-called important people of the realm used it as a means of keeping themselves safe, if it was too much of a risk to go to a certain area.

    Sara pouted at him and he shook his head again, he turned to Cyra "Cyra needs her hair cut, so it''s easier for her to handle, maybe cut it so it''s just above her ears, and mine can be about the same but you have to keep the hunter style, okay?" Sara nodded and began her work.

    It was some time before she was finished and Rime took Cyra by her hand quickly leading her out the room, they made their way down the halls, stopping at the kitchen to grab their lunches before heading out the house. It was sometime before the reached the arena and had to quickly change their clothes.

    First they were going to complete their sparring hours and then they would have to go somewhere else so they could test their ability to control their magic. They returned to the arena waiting to see their usual trainer standing there with their assigned training ready. Instead they were faced with the sight of her leaning against a wall talking to the Arch mage along with another male that they had never seen before.

    The Arch Mage was the first to spot them drawing the attention of their trainer and the other male who turned to face them and Rime picked up the uncanny resemblance he bared to their trainer. His short auburn hair and piercing green eyes were the only thing that stood out from his otherwise bland appearance.

    "Rime, Cyra it''s good to see you well rested and from what I can see a bit of change, it suits you." Their trainer said in a calm tone as she walked over to them "I would like to introduce you to Sic, my older brother, one of the now four Gold Leaf''s and your new trainer as of tomorrow." Rime looked over to the Arch Mage who nodded at him to assure him that what his trainer had said was true.

    "The two of you have made great progress in such a short time that it would be a crime punishable by death to leave you in a stagnant situation, with someone that is no longer of any use to you, so we decided to get you a new trainer that held a higher martial skill than your current one." The Arch Mage spoke with a hum to his tone.

    Rime nodded and focused on Sic as he stepped forward to shake his hand "it will be a pleasure working with you, but for today I''ll just watch and see what skills you have attained thus far and knowing my sister it would be quite a bit, at least that is what I''m hoping." Sic spoke with a rough voice that commanded anyone to stop what they were doing and pay attention to him.

    "Okay Rime you''ll go first and then we''ll test Cyra." Rime nodded and quickly collected twin wooden blades that were made especially for training. He could put as much strength as he wanted into them and they wouldn''t break. He watched as Cyra made her way to the stands with the Arch Mage and Sic "okay we''ll start with the blades and then we''ll make our way through the others."The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ^

    Rime watched his trainer completely focusing all of his attention on her movements, she was the first to move, taking stance on her left foot and using her right to propel her forward. Rime had used that move a few times so he knew just how to get around it, he waited until the last second and twisted out the way.

    His trainer moved past him but before she could get clear he was able to slam one of his swords down on her right wrist. She yelped and moved aside going a good ways away before taking her stance again but before she could focus Rime had rushed to her and slammed the back of one of his blades into her shoulder, she didn''t cry out this time but Rime could see the pain radiating over her face.

    She swung her blades slashing them down, aiming for Rime''s face, but he quickly dropped to the floor and rolled out of her way. She slammed her blades down aiming for Rime missing him by a millisecond as he rolled out of the way, doing a back flick to move out of her range as she swung her foot around to try and hit him.

    She dashed forward aiming for the spot he would land not expecting him to land on one foot and use the other as a hammer bringing it down on the back of her head and sending her into the dirt. He rose his foot to bring it down on her again but she jumped up and rolled back out of his way ending up on her knees as she used the back of her hand to wipe the blood from her face.

    Rime didn''t give her time to breath as he appeared behind her grabbed her hair and placed one of his blades at her throat. She sighed and shook her head "okay I give, now let go of my hair." Rime let go of her and stepped back before looking up at Cyra who was squealing and waving her hands at him, a gesture he returned.

    His trainer stood up and headed to the stand that held different weapons, she pulled out a heavy sword and threw it to him, he caught it without issue and watched as she made her way to the stands, before he could question what she was doing, he heard Cyra cry out his name and he quickly span around throwing the sword in front of him to stop another sword just like it from slamming into him.

    A grey spiky haired man, gave him a cold look as he swung his blade again this time aiming for Rime''s neck. Rime used his left foot to push him back out of the way of the blade just in time and then used his right foot to propel him forward but instead of going straight ahead, he jumped up and slammed his sword down on the man who quickly used his arm to block the hit from reaching his head.

    Rime flicked his body forward landing on his feet before he quickly spun the sword around to hit the man who had swung his sword at the same time causing them to slam into each other. Vibrations traveled up his arm but Rime ignored it and propelled himself off the ground kicking his opponent in the head sending him back.

    He didn''t wait for the man to regain his balance before he rushed forward and delivered a blow to the man''s ribs, that sent him flying sideways. Rime ran and delivered one last kick to the mans chest sending him sprawling onto the sand, before he rose his sword and pushed it down, making it stop just before it made contact with the man''s throat.

    The sound of Cyra cheering was his cue that he had won the fight, he moved the sword and took the man''s hand pulling him onto his feet. The man collected both the swords and made his way to the stand, he tossed him a large battle axes and made his way to the stands. But Rime din''t pay attention to him, he wasn''t falling for that trick again.

    He looked around and saw nothing coming to him and decided to roll out of his position, letting out a sigh as he realized that was the right move, he watched as a giant axes slammed down on the spot where he was denting the earth below it. Rime watched as a dwarven woman heaved up the axes a spun around with it.

    He dropped to the floor as the axes flew towards him, barley missing the blade as it cut through a strand of his hair and went flying into the stand. Rime decided to use this as his opportunity, he pushed himself off the floor pulling the axe with him and spun himself just as the woman did, sending the axe flying forward but instead of making the same mistake she did, he didn''t let go and allowed the axe to pull him along as it rushed to slam into the woman that barely dodged out of the way.

    Rime stomped his foot into the ground and used the momentum to bring the axe to a stop and then send it spinning in a circle, he aimed for the woman who dropped to the floor and quickly ran to collect her lost weapon before she sent it at him again. As it came flying Rime used his own axe to knock oit away sending it into the air and then throwing his axe into the now distracted woman and sent her flying back into the weapon stand where she collapsed.

    The rest of the training went just about the same, with him going through weapon after weapon using it to face one opponent after the other and winning against them. He would later find out that they were members of Wolf''s Bane who specialized in the very weapons he used to defeat them.

    By the end of it Rime was sweating a river, panting for breath and had a few bruises to prove that he had fought against and manged to defeat many of the kingdom''s great fighters. Rime made his way to the stands and dropped himself on one collecting a towel from his trainer. He dried himself off and threw the towel over his head as he watched Cyra make her way into the arena to defeat people that were maybe eight times her age and much much bigger than her.

 Chapter Fourteen^

    Cyra was all too happy to prove herself after she watched Rime beat their so called teachers to a pulp, she knew that they wouldn''t put her against such people, after all in most of their eyes she was nothing more than a child, but she would prove herself capable of being more than just that, after all Rime needed her as much as she needed him.

    She collected her Ch¨²i from one of the instructors that Rime had just beaten up and walked to the center of the arena to stand from across her trainer who would be her first opponent, and most likely the only adult she would face until she was a bit older. The four year old took a deep breath and slammed one of the hammers into the ground and used the momentum to propel her tiny body into the air.

    She threw one of her hammers at her trainers head and watched her foot before throwing the other one to the spot she predicted her teacher would stop. She was right with her assumption but her trainer used one of her hammers to knock Cyra''s own away. Cyra pouted and quickly dashed forward snatching up one of her hammers as she moved past her teacher, she threw herself forward and snatched up the other before dashing to the other side of the ring and turning to face her trainer.

    She watched as the older woman smirked, feeling happy with herself at the thought of defeating a four year old. Cyra rolled her eyes and dashed forward, she used her teachers moment of distraction to slam one of her hammers down on the woman''s foot, her trainer hissed but didn''t have time to focus on that pain before the other hammer was broth down on one of her knees.

    The older woman tried to move out of the way but with how small Cyra was it made her quicker and more agile and within a second she had shot herself up in the air and was able to come face to face with her teacher, effectively using the moment to punch her teacher in the face, her hands were small but she was able to put enough pressure into it to send her teacher stumbling back.

    Cyra dropped to the ground and pushed herself forward, she ran up her teacher effectively pushing her onto her back before she rest both of the hammers on her neck. She heard a whistle and smiled as she removed the hammers and stepped back. She watched as her trainer stood up and leaned down patting Cyra on her head before collecting the weapon''s and making her way to the the stands.

    Cyra looked over at Rime and waved at him with a big smirk on her face. She ran quickly and collected her Sai before running back to face her opponent, she smiled at the sight of the older boy glowering at her. She could see that he thought they were mocking him, which meant that he would be too easy to defeat, she always felt bad for the people that underestimated her.

    Cyra gave the boy a once over deciding quick attacks would bring a quick end to the match, because once he realized she wasn''t a joke things would get tougher for her, after all he had maybe twelve, fourteen years of training on her. Cyra propelled herself forward and dropped to her knees sliding between the boys legs, she slammed her elbows into the back of the boys knees effectively bringing him to the ground.

    She swished around and moved to slash his back with the sai but the boy rolled forward out of her reach. She didn''t wait but pushed herself forward, slamming her tiny body into his, the boy thought it was a good idea to lock her against him but was proven wrong when Cyra slammed her head into his.

    Ignoring the pain she broke free of his hold and pushed him back onto his back after punching him square in his nose and listening for the sound of his nose breaking. When she finally got him on his back she used the time to climb onto his chest and put the pointed edge of her Sai against his throat.

    The match was called and Cyra stood up watching as the boy did the same, instead of stomping off in a fit like she expected him to, he simply nodded at her and went on his way. Cyra shrugged and looked to get her other weapon, she smiled at the sight of her favorite weapon, she was told not to specialize in one weapon but if she could she would pick this one.

    The Kusari-gama was a long chain with a shyte like blade on one end and a blunt peace of metal on the other. It required a person to be swift, balanced and have great control over the weapon so it did not come back to injure themselves instead of their intended target. Cyra moved to the center of the ring and wrapped some of the chain around her hips.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    She looked over at her opponent, who was a tall, lithe girl with metallic eyes, Cyra could tell the girl was easy and guessed the eyes were most likely acting as a distraction one she would not fall for. Cyra took a deep breath and pushed herself into a spin as she went straight for the girl who had also done the same thing.

    Cyra''s eyes followed the older girls moves and with a single flick of her finger the blunt end of her chain was headed for the girls face, who barely manged to pull away in time the blunt end only grazing the tip of her nose. She didn''t wait for the girl to regain balance as she flicked her wrist and sent the bladed end of chain flying towards the girls ankle while the other end of the chain caught the girls own that was heading straight for her stomach.

    In a second the girl was knocked off of her feet and and her chain was sent sent flying across the arena into a vacant are of the stand. Cyra spun her chain and brought the blunt end down on the girls rib cage causing her to cry out and the match was called.

    One of the teachers collected the weapon and allowed Cyra to head over to Rime and the rest while the other opponents went to help the girl. When she reached the Arch Mage watched her and smirked "what a show, you were absolutely perfect, I wish we had more time to watch you beat the older students to a pulp, but time is of the essence." Cyra nodded at the smirking Mage "with that said, the two of you go prepare to leave."

    ^

    Rime smiled down at Cyra who held onto his hand as they headed out of the arena following behind the Arch Mage, their trainer and Sic, who were discussing how their training would go from now on. Cyra was eating one of the chocolates that the chef packed in her bag as they went along.

    When they reached to wherever the Arch Mage was taking them, they would be able to eat their lunch before beginning their training for their magic. They followed the others to the front gates, where there seemed to be a crowd of some kind. As far as Rime knew the area was supposed to be almost cleared like the rest of the school because it was the weekend and even the children that stayed in the dorms would not be found in the school.

    Rime reached down and pulled Cyra''s hood over her head before doing the same with his, he pulled her closer to him and sped up his pace so they were closer to the Arch Mage, who simply gave the crowd a simple glance before walking past. He had much more interesting things to do than trying to find out why a crowd was gathered where they should not be.

    They were able to pass through the gates and a large carriage was waiting for the them, the mage stepped back allowing Rime and the other''s to go first. When he got in he pulled the door closed behind him and took a seat next to Cyra who was sitting next to Rime across from Sic and their now former trainer.

    Rime gave Cyra a few more chocolates and focused his attention outside on the passing buildings as the older companions continued their conversation "What strengthening exercises have they been doing, since their training began?" Sic asked staring at his sister who looked away from Rime to him.

    "Just the basics, they had never done any before so I started from the bottom, so it would be able to stretch them out and help them to be lighter on their feet." she shrugged "and they haven''t done any muscle strengthening exercises because that just kinda worked itself out when they started training with me."

    Sic nodded and sighed taking notes in a book he had been carrying around "well I should get them started with some of that first it would help them greatly, especially Cyra and she wouldn''t have to focus so much on using tricks in order to survive. The only reason she left the ring without any bruises was because many of the opponents were frightened by the murderous looks they were receiving from Rime and the Arch Mage."

    The Arch Mage smirked at him "she''s four years old, this isn''t even supposed to be a conversation we''re supposed to be having around her. We should be talking about getting her paints and papers and the mess she made in the living room and how late she slept, even my daughter didn''t have it this bad when she was her age, if I think about it she didn''t begin her training till she was ten."

    Sic shook his head "That was her reality and this is Cyra''s and if we said we didn''t want it to be done, the elves would be all too happy to take her and have Rime locked away or maybe they''d take him too. Whatever I do is for them to be able to protect themselves in the future, because I''d be stumped if people didn''t move to snatch or kill them if this were to get out."

    The carriage came to a stop and Rime turned his attention back to the inside of the carriage "okay this is my stop, I''ll get in touch with you tomorrow, by then I should have worked out what to do with them." with that he was out the carriage and it was moving again.

    The carriage was silent until it pulled up to a large silver gate that looked as if it had fangs running the top, the trainer looked out the window and said something, the get vanished and carriage moved forward before the gate reappeared. That was the first time Rime had seen something like that and it had him wondering where they were.

    The carriage soon came to a stop again and this time the door opened, their trainer was the first to exit followed by the Arch Mage and finally Cyra and Rime who carried their packs. He looked up at a large building that was made out of a black stone that shone silver in some area''s, the trainer''s voice drew Rime''s attention to her "Welcome to the home of the Lycan."

 Chapter Fifteen^

    Rime could hear a slight bit of excitement in his trainers voice before she spun around to lead them into the building. He wasn''t sure what she was so excited about the place didn''t look all that nice and the feeling that it gave off was not the least bit inviting, but the mage had always told him and Cyra that his trainer had a few bolts loose so it wasn''t hard to believe that she would feel comfortable in a place like this.

    Rime started to understand her just a tiny bit when they went through the large metal double doors and they were met with the rich sent of honey tea and what smelt like red bean paste buns. It was confirmed when he saw a hot steaming mug of tea sitting next to a basket that was filled with both the white and brown ones.

    A woman with long blonde hair that was pulled into twin pig tails and half rimmed glasses sat on the other side of the desk that the food was sitting on. She looked over at their trainer first and gave a girly smile before her eyes landed on the Arch Mage and she shot up from her seat, she stood with her back straight and saluted the man who just gave her a simple nod before gesturing for her to sit.

    Rime noted that the woman didn''t sit until the Arch Mage was out of the room and that was followed by her releasing a deep breath. Cyra chuckled at that and Rime shook his head before they refocused their attention on the two adults that were walking in front of them and talking quietly about something or the other, Rime guessed it had to do with him and the test he would have to do soon.

    They went down a short corridor that lead into a grand hall, Rime could see a large double door across from them and alongside them ran many doors that were made of different materials and painted differently from each other.

    In the hall itself was different levels which each door done just like the others, there were a few seating area''s scattered across the halls and Rime could see people lounging about in them, some were fast asleep, some were talking with other people and a few of them had stacks of books in front of them and were busy taking notes.

    When they all walked past only few people spotted them, but when they shot up and saluted the mage just as the woman with the glasses had, those that were unaware of the reason followed suit and Rime found himself thinking that they were just like a small army and knew just who to show respect to and who to ignore just like any other.

    They made their way to the large double doors that were made of some glass material but no one would be able to see through it. Two guards that stood by the doors were quick to move their hands outwards and the doors copied the motion opening for the guest and Rime was dumbfounded to see that potential wizards were working at house of the Lycan.

    When they went through the double doors they immediately closed behind them and they were standing in hall that was a bit like the other except that it was smaller, had less doors and all of the doors were made up of the same glass material and colored black. The hall was shorter and soon they were walking through another set of double doors that were only half the size of the last one.

    This one lead them into a office and Rime had to squint at the light that was coming through from the glass walls that was across from where they were standing. A desk sat in front of it facing them and it was also made of glass, behind the desk sat a woman with deep raven hair that had streaks of white running through it and was pulled into a high one.

    Piercing Silver eyes looked up at them, a rim off coal was set around them and made them feel even more dangerous. Thick lips that were painted black curled into a slight frown and a button nose suddenly rose a few inches as if their presence caused it to recoil. Short, slightly pointed ears flicked and the woman stood up.

    The first thing Rime noted was that the woman didn''t salute the mage, instead she folded her arms over her quite large steel plated chest. Rime found himself looking up at the Arch Mage who simply put a soft smile on his face and he wondered what type of relationship the two people shared and if it was something he should worry about.

    The woman was the first to speak as she shifted her stance "you know when you said you were coming here old man I couldn''t believe it for one bit and I was actually hoping that it was just another one of your attempts to dispatch me into an early grave. But the fact that you actually showed up and then walked yourself into my office is much worse than what I expected."The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Rime was waiting for the Arch Mage to hit her with some awful comment about her attitude or the sight of her making him sick, but instead all the man did was shrug his shoulders and move to take a seat in one of the chairs that was across from the desk "I thought I would give you a heads up but if that''s how you saw it then there''s nothing I can do about it, except feel proud that you were expecting the worst before the best, I always told you and your siblings to not be too trusting and you were the only one that seemed to heed my advice."

    The woman rolled her eyes and shut the book she was writing in, she shoved the pen into a cup that was filled with other pens and then picked up the large book "alright so what''s your reason for paying me this unwanted visit?" she asked as she walked to the side of her desk and stomped her foot.

    The piece of floor she was standing on disconnected from the rest and sent her floating up into the sky, Rime watched as she floated through the roof and didn''t come back till a few minutes later, but this time she was carrying a different and much smaller book. The piece reconnected and she moved around the desk to sit in her chair and grab up a different pen to write in the book.

    The Arch Mage waited for her to do that before he spoke again "I''m sorry, but I can''t exactly tell you my reason for being here and even if I did I would have to wipe that piece of information from your mind, so in turn it would make no sense. Anyways aside from that I cam here to use your lower vault."

    The woman looked up again with squinted eyes "tell." the Arch Mage shook his head and her frown deepened "but why?" she was whining and Rime wondered if the woman that had been sitting there a minute ago was somehow replaced by another childlike woman.

    "You know I only answer to one person, well two if you cont your grandmother, and if I don''t tell you something it was because I was ordered to." The Arch Mage said with a shrug.

    The woman from before seemed to return as she fixed her face into a stoic expression and stood, up, she grabbed a bunch of keys from a draw and then walked around the desk "why didn''t you just say that you came because of the emperor, that could have gotten rid of that very uncomfortable conversation we just had."

    The Arch Mage shrugged and stood up from where he was sitting before turning to follow the woman that was apparently his granddaughter out the room. Instead of going down the hall they made a swift turn to their left. The woman pulled open on of the black glass door and went into a small room that was lit up by floating lamps.

    The woman stopped and Rime arched his brow in question before he felt the floor start to lower itself causing Cyra to rush over to him, he picked her up and stared at the woman that gave them a strange look. "Who are they, exactly, I mean I could tell their following you for some reason but what is it." The Arch Mage shook his head and she sighed "you know I should be included in your secrets, I''m a Silver Petal for god sake and the first female Lycan ever."

    "Lauv, you know I would tell you if I could, but the order of the Emperor is something even I wouldn''t trifle with and if the time comes when telling you is the only option the you will be made aware of what you need to know and nothing more, okay?" The Arch Mage had spoken in a tone that Rime had never heard him speak to anyone in and it was a bit strange if he said so himself.

    Eventually the floor came to a stop but Cyra refused to go down on the floor so Rime carried her along as he followed the older adults down a small hall that was made of black obsidian. Floating lamps lit up as they made their way through and finally came to a stop in front of a black steel door.

    Lauv, pulled out her keys and used it unlock the three locks that held the door shut, they went through the door and she pulled it in behind them, they went through three more doors before they found themselves in a large room made entirely of black obsidian. Lams that were maybe four times the size of the ones they had seen before brought the room to life.

    "Okay, here we are and since it seems I''m not needed here I''ll just be on my way, I''m sure you know where to find everything you need. Oh and I''ll be out on a hunt for the next half an hour so you can just keep the keys and I''ll get them from you when I need to. Anyways ciao." with that she turned and walked out the room shutting the doors behind her.

    Rime stared at the door wondering if more than one soul shared a body or that was just how Lycan Lauv stayed. He turned to where the arch mage was and watched as he walked to a bare wall and kicked the bottom of it, piece of the wall shot out barely missing the Mage who jumped and landed on the surface.

    "Okay Rime, you and Cyra''s training will begin soon but in the mean time your trainer and I have some setting up to do, so while we''re doing that, you and Cyra can have your lunch, trust me, you''ll need the fuel."

    Rime carried Cyra over to the stand and put her to sit down before taking his place next to her and unpacking their lunch. He looked up to see the Arch Mage using magic to move things around the room before he decided to just focus on his lunch.

 Chapter Sixteen^

    Rime and Cyra made sure to take their time eating as they watched the once empty room become a trainers paradise and a trainees worst nightmare. When they were finished they got up to go change but the Arch mage simply clicked his fingers and they had switched from their normal clothes to their training clothes.

    The Arch Mage walked over to where they were and took a seat folding one of his legs over the other allowing the rest of his cloak to fall where it may "The original intention was to have you come here and test your core affinity, to see if you''ve grown your ability to control it or if I would have to add a bit more training to your regimen.

    But then I decided that instead of travelling all the way here just to have you test how bright or dark you can make this room, I would make this into your personal training. So from now on you won''t be training in the arena unless it has something to do with your schooling and to be honest most of what you''re going through has nothing to do with that.

    I don''t know if you picked up on it but the only reason you''re going through all of this trouble instead of going about your days as if the day that started this mess never happened, is because of one simple four letter word, that no matter how "advanced" the human race became they couldn''t shake it and that word is fear.

    I know I probably shouldn''t be saying this to a four year old and in normal circumstances I wouldn''t. But unfortunately for you little one, you are as much as involved in this as Rime and you need to know this because I promise you the more the two of you know is the longer you''ll be able to live, it''s your only chance."

    The arch Mage sighed and played with a lock of his hair before throwing it over his shoulder "Do you know what happens when ignorant people feel fear?" he asked as he looked from Rime to Cyra making sure to look straight into their eyes "no, well I''ll tell you, when they feel fear one of three things can happen.

    They either give into it and hope that nothing happens to them. Two they try to control it and if they aren''t able to control it, they seek to destroy it, no matter if they get that fear from an animal or a fellow human being.

    Now for the first option that hasn''t happened in a very long time, since the human race decided they would unite under one emperor and band together to destroy or control those things they feared. A good example would be the beast people, a very long time ago, a time before we humans discovered that we had the ability to control the elements, we were slaves to their kind because at that time they were seen as the strongest on this planet and we were the weakest.

    So it''s only natural for the strongest to take control of the weak, until we found out that we weren''t as weak as we were made to think we were and do you know who was the first of us to make the discovery?" Rime and Cyra shook their head and the Arch Mage hummed "it wasn''t one of our oldest who had had the mentality of a slave beaten into them, no it was one of our youngest, one''s who''s mind was free and had not yet been altered to suit her masters, but that''s a story I''ll tell you another time."

    The Arch Mage shifted and hummed "let''s see the second option was what came after our minds had been freed, we fought back and turned the tables, we were no longer slaves or followers, no we were the masters and the leaders and we used everything we had been taught and turned it on them.

    We learned to control and that has been the way of life for us for a very long time, but of course even a fool would know that we do not have the ability to control everything we feared. No when that one thing comes along and we feel that they are a danger to us, our children and our way of life there is only one thing that will come to mind. Destroy.

    And if the people that seek to control you find that they do not have that ability they will seek to destroy you and then everyone you thought would be there to protect you when you needed them will turn their back on you and the only thing you could do at that point is defend yourself, you''ll have to take another human''s life if it comes to that and I have a feeling it will.

    So I''m going to help you get everything you need to protect yourself, because when the day comes that the powers that be want to destroy you I may not be able to help you, because believe it or not, as powerful as I am there are things that I fear." he stood up and took off his cloak tossing it on the platform "so let us begin."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    ^^

    Rime found himself standing in a ring that was encircled by bricks as he stood across from a wooden man. The Arch Mage sat on the wall watching him "it is not very often that this happens and to be honest it hasn''t happened to me since I had graduated from the royal college, but there comes a time when you will not be able to use your ability and unfortunately sometimes you will not have a weapon on hand, so you will have to use what you were born with to defend yourself.

    This is a test to see if I will find you alive, barely hanging on to life or as dead as a door nail. I will simply pour some of my magic in the dummy to bring him to life, I will not be fighting you, the dummy will be out for blood and will use anyway it knows to get it, it is for you to destroy it before it destroys you and don''t worry if things get out of hand I won''t let it kill you... this time."

    A single whistle could be heard before Rime found himself dodging back and flicking out of the way as the wooden man dashed forward and reached for Rimes head, barely missing his head. In that moment Rime was thankful he had decided to cut his hair, he dashed, curled, flicked, drop to the ground and ran in a circle all in the name of getting away from the wooden man.

    "Rime, don''t be foolish it is nothing but a piece of wood, it will not grow tired of going for your blood but you soon will, so fight back!" The Arch Mage yelled out growing frustrated with the young magicians antics "Rime listen to me and picture what I say, because this may be the only way you fight back.

    Rime didn''t react but the Mage knew he was listening "you and Cyra have been on the run for days, she is injured and needs help, you''re on your way to get it when a large man attacks you, you''re holding onto Cyra and you''re dodging but the man is still coming after you and Cyra is running out of time, the only way you can help her is if you defeat this man, that dummy is that man, so kill him!"

    That was all it took and the next thing Rime knew the dummy had thrown a punch at him, he quickly dodged it and grabbed it''s wrist, he threw his body and used the momentum to throw the dummy across the ring. The thing landed on its back and Rime dashed forward he used his left foot to propel himself into the air.

    The dummy was now trying to get up when Rime landed on it his foot coming down so hard that there was a loud cracking sound that echoed through the room before Rime retreated and he could hear cheering "do that again, you''ve got no time to waste because you just pissed it off!"

    Rime knew the Arch Mage was telling the truth because the dummy started to move faster, the thing dashed forward and Rime came up with an idea he didn''t think would work but it was all he could come up with in such a short time.

    Rime let out a cry as he dashed towards the dummy and just as it was about to grab him he dropped onto his back, the dummy ran past him and Rime used his hands to push himself into the air, his feet going first, just as it turned to face him his feet made contact with the crack and the impact caused the front of the dummy to shatter.

    Rime wasn''t going to take any chances, with the dummy coming back to hit him so when he landed on the floor he jumped and spun a kick straight into the dummy''s head causing the side of it to crack. When Rime landed he swung his other foot into the dummy''s side and set it flying sideways, it flew into the brick wall and when it''s head made contact with the surface it shattered and Rime let out a sigh of relief as the thing stopped moving.

    He heard loud clapping and looked to see Cyra, the trainer and the Arch Mage clapping for him "beautifully acted out, I wish I could play it back but I don''t want you to break something, I''m sure your feet are already hurting as it is." the mage looked down and Rime followed his gaze hissing at the sight as the pain finally caught up with him.

    The trainer lead him to the platform to heal his feet while the Arch Mage lead Cyra into the ring. Rime nearly jumped up to go get his sister when he saw the mage reforming the dummy. The trainer held him and put him to sit back "don''t act so worried, he won''t let her get hurt, he cares for her too much, so have some confidence that your sister will be safe, okay?"

    Rime grit his teeth and watched on as the Arch Mage left the ring and Cyra stooped down causing Rime to give her a strange look just before the dummy came to life and he was back to freaking out. The pain in his leg was no longer on his mind as he watched his little sister shoot into the air and went flying into the dummy.

    Rime almost screamed until it hit him what Cyra was trying to do, if he was guessing right then it could work for her, because of her size and amount of strength it would be the only way she could defeat the thing that was seven times her size.

    Cyra landed on it''s face and just as it threw it''s hand to knock her off, she jumped up into the air, and the dummy''s hand connected with it''s own face causing it to fall back. Rime watched as Cyra pulled her feet to her thighs while she was still in the air and dropped down on the dummy, her knees making contact with it''s chest.

    It wasn''t enough to cause a break in the wood but it was enough to send the dummy''s head falling down onto the brick that formed the ring and that broke the back of his head, Cyra jumped off at the last minute to avoid causing more damage to her knees and landed on her feet, cheering as the Dummy stopped moving and she turned to him with a big smile on her face, one he returned.

 Chapter Seventeen^

    Rime and Cyra took a small break to heal themselves before they were back out in the training ring. But instead of training with weapons or their bare fist, they were going to test their ability to control their magic, the original reason they were even in the vault. Cyra just sat down on the ring as she watched the Arch Mage walk over to Rime with an affinity stone.

    Rime frowned at the thing, he hadn''t seen on of those in years and he was hoping it keep it that was but that apparently wasn''t going to happen. The mage walked over to a stand and set the stone on it before walking over to Rime "your task is simple I want you to turn the stone black without closing your eyes and also without passing out, okay?"

    Rime nodded and stepped forward as the Arch Mage stepped back, he took a deep breath and visualized turning the stone black. He placed his hands on it and waited but nothing happened, so he shook his hands and tried again, once again their was no reaction from the stone and Rime stepped back to frown at the Arch Mage.

    The Arch Mage stroked his chin and nodded "okay, try closing your eyes okay and open them when I tell you." Rime moved forward and placed his hands on the stone as he closed his eyes and tried to think back to the day that he had first discovered his ability, he didn''t remember much of it but he was sure it could help him now.

    Rime was right in his assumption as the Arch Mage''s face lit up with a smile and Cyra jumped down from the ring to make her way over to the Mage and her brother. The trainer opted to just watch from afar as the stone turned darker than black and then let of a strange humming sound that hurt her ears no matter how far away she was.

    "Open your eyes." The Arch Mage commanded and Rime tried his hardest to open them and they slowly came apart. When he did that he could see the stone and hi eyes widened, in his surprise more of his power surged into the stone and a loud crack echoed through the vault, just a second later and the stone shattered sending tiny shard flying all over the room.

    The Arch Mage was quick to put up a shield that covered him and Cyra from the blast and the trainer had moved to hide behind one of the obstacles. Rime was the only one left exposed to the blast but to his surprise he escaped without a scratch. Instead a thin layer of black had formed around him and all the shards had hit it before falling to the ground.

    The Arch Mage arched his brow at this and lowered his shield and walked over to Rime as soon as he touched the layer of black it vanished and the Arch Mage stepped back with a puzzled look on his face. "Well that is strange, even though your magic destroyed the stone it immediately acted to protect it''s master from it''s own destruction, impressive."

    "I need to get a stone and I''ll be back in some time, you may rest in the mean time." with that he vanished and Cyra ran up to Rime. He picked her up and they moved over to the sitting area where their trainer was lying down as she watched them with curious eyes. Rime looked away from her and got out some of the plums for Cyra to eat as they waited.

    Soon the Arch Mage reappeared and he was carrying a large box that he dropped on the floor, Rime went over to the man as he opened inside and looked to see five more affinity stones but only one of them was white while the rest were different colors, one of them was even a little pink.

    "I''ve had this case with me some time now and had no use for it and was actually thinking of getting rid of it and I''m glad I didn''t" He leaned down and pulled out the white stone "okay you''ll do what you just did, but this time you''ll try not to shatter the thing, as easy as it would be for me to get more I''d rather not deal with it."

    Rime nodded and stepped up to the stand when the Arch Mage placed the stone on it "try to get it with your eyes open and hold back on your surprise okay?" Rime nodded again and then placed his hands on the stone, he kept his eyes open and tried his best to do it but once again it wouldn''t work, making him sigh as he walked away from the stone.

    The Arch Mage hummed "don''t get so frustrated, it isn''t always easy to control your magic at first but I do have an idea you can try." Rime tilted his head in question and the Arch Mage walked up to him "okay so stand at the stone." Rime did as he was told "place your hands on it and feel your power flowing through your body, tell me when you feel it."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    Rime did as he was told and it was a bit later that he said he could feel it "okay now feel the power connecting with the stone and flowing over into it, try not to let it surge and to do that you need to control your emotions. So if you suddenly feel excited stamp that feeling down and focus on flowing the magic into the stone, now try it."

    Rime could feel the flow of power as it moved around his body and he took a deep breath before pushing it down his hand and through his palms. He watched on staying a calm as he could as the tone started to slowly turn black and as soon as it was darker than the night sky he cut off his powers and listened on as the stone let out a humming sound like no other.

    The Arch Mage hummed and stepped forward to touch the stone but he wasn''t allowed to as some sort of field that had surrounded Rime before now surrounded the stone and another idea came to his mind. "Rime do me a favor and try to pull all that power back into you, I want to see if I''m right about something."

    Rime nodded and felt the power as it flowed around the inside of the stone and tried to pull it back in but it didn''t work instead, the magic burst out of the stone. The stone didn''t shatter this time but Rime watched on as the power floated around the room before twirling and then coming to surround him, creating the same shield from earlier.

    Rime suddenly felt a heavy impact on his back that sent him stumbling forward into the stand, he whipped around to see his trainer standing across from him with a smirk on his face. He looked down and saw a heavy sword lying on the ground and looked towards the Arch Mage that just chuckled "It seems I was right."

    "And if you weren''t?!" Rime yelled at the Arch Mage who just laughed at him before turning to walk away. Rime looked away from him and went over to Cyra who was still eating her plums as she watched on. He sat next to her and took out a chocolate opening it and stuffing it in his mouth.

    "Okay Cyra we''ll test your magic and then we must be on our way, it seems we have a bit of an emergency at the royal palace and I need you to always be aware of what to do okay?" Rime and Cyra nodded. Cyra finished off her plums and wiped her hands with a rag that Rime gave to her and then went running over to the Arch Mage.

    She was going to use the same stone that Rime had used and see how pink she can get it. There was only one problem with that, was that Cyra was affiliated with light and that meant that when she touched the stone and it began to turn pink. The room also began to light up and it grew brighter and brighter until everyone had to cover their eyes.

    They all looked back when the light died down and watched in awe as the stone started spinning as it floated into the air and made the whole room brighter, also dumping a hue of pink over everything. The Arch Mage and Rime looked at Cyra and she looked back at them with a huge grin on her face.

    ^^

    Rime walked out the shower with Cyra and quickly dried them both down before getting dressed in the clothes they were wearing earlier. He took her hand and grabbed up their stuff before meeting the mage back at the training area. The man was standing there talking to their old trainer, the woman nodded along to whatever he was saying and then she vanished from sight.

    Rime and Cyra walked over to him as he picked up their lunch packs and handed them over to them "come along, it is time for us to go." The Arch Mage touched Rime''s shoulder and then within a second they had moved from being in the vault to standing just out side the royal palace where the guards seemed to be on extra alert.

    They were lead through the gates and down the path they had taken to get to the main hall, the Arch Mage stopped and flicked their hoods over their heads and with a click of his fingers they were wearing mask and their cloaks had turned black. Rime glanced at the Arch Mage who said nothing as he turned and headed into the main hall of the palace.

    They followed behind in silence, not speaking a word as they were faced with the glare of the Royal Guard that lined the hallway going all the way through and Rime wondered if something happened. They didn''t get to look around for as soon as they reached the main double doors that lead further into the palace they were flashed from where to stood.

    They appeared in front of golden glass doors and the Mage pushed them open to reveal an office but it was three times the size of any office Rime had ever seen before. Everything was covered in gold with trimmings of pearl white. One side of the wall was made entirely of rose gold glass and had a large double door that lead out to the balcony, but the doors were closed.

    Rime''s eyes widened when he noticed that the Emperor was sitting behind the large glass desk, as he sat back in his chair yelling at a few people who stood in front of him including the head of the Royal guard. A tall heavily built man that had white hair and striking hazel eyes and was dressed in gold armor from head to toe.

    A white cape hung behind him with a golden dragon on it and he held his helmet in his hand. His face was serious as the Emperor yelled at him in uncontrollable anger. Next to him stood a tall figure that was dressed in black from head to toe and from further inspection Rime saw that it was the woman that had spoken to them the last time they were here.

    They stood very still until the Emperor said his last piece and they were dismissed, the woman simply vanished and the Golden Dragon turned stiffly and walked out the office. Rime watched as the Arch Mage walked around the desk and placed a hand on the Emperor''s shoulder before leaning down to whisper something to the man, who''s eyes then flashed to Rime and Cyra.

 Chapter Eighteen^

    "Don''t you think that you brought them to see me at the wrong time, I have no time to spare for them right now, I have a security issue to take care of and a spy to torture." The Emperor huffed as he turned to look at the Arch Mage before he stood up and made his way to a rack that held his golden cape.

    The Arch Mage helped him to put it on and then smiled when the Emperor turned to face him "I know and that''s why I brought them, we could use this as a learning experience." The Emperor scowled at him and shook his head before slipping his sword into it''s sheet and picking up his crown to put on his head.

    "Oh so you think it''s all fund and dandy to use an assassination attempt on my wife and child as a learning experience for your two apprentices." he shook his head "you''ve got a few screws loose old man. And I don''t care what you see but all I see are two small children who shouldn''t be exposed to things like this, especially the girl, she might be a year older than my child but she still shouldn''t be exposed to it so no."

    The Arch Mage let out a sigh before shrugging "aside from that I need you with me, I need the bastard to talk and tell me if anyone else was involved. Because as much as I''d enjoy torturing the shit out of him I need to be able to tell my wife the palace is safe and she has nothing to be afraid of, so put them somewhere and come along."

    With that the Emperor turned and walked out the door leaving Rime to stare at his back before turning his head to the Mage. "Okay well it seems our little plan has been stopped and I can''t take you back to the training room to train because I can''t leave you on supervised so I guess you''ll be staying here until I get back. Feel free to read anything and also have something to eat."

    Rime looked at the table where a mug of berry juice, two glasses, three different plates filled with mandu, dragon beard and gimbap appeared. They looked around back just as the door closed in and decided to just take a seat and eat. Cyra went straight for the dragon''s beard as Rime poured both of them a glass of juice.

    When they were full and Cyra was just snacking on some roasted nuts, Rime decided to go to the wall opposite the doors that lead into the balcony. From bottom to top the wall was covered in books. Rime went to one of the shelves he could reach and pulled out a gold covered book. All the books were covered in gold.

    When he flipped it to the front he saw black writing on it and mumbled the name to himself "Master''s." He went back to where Cyra was pouring another glass of juice before and sat down, she handed him a chocolate and took one for herself before climbing up in the chair with her drink in hand.

    A few hours passed and Rime was on his third book and Cyra had cleaned out all the nuts and chocolate and was working on her pudding. The glass doors opened and Rime looked up to see the head of the Royal Guard who walked in the room and pulled out his sword as soon as he spotted Rime and Cyra, pointing it at them.

    Rime stood up and pulled Cyra behind him the man rushed over to them and placed the sword at Rime''s neck "state your names and reason for being here or I''ll take your head off." the man hissed and Rime just stared at him, before answering. When the man heard that they were here with the Arch Mage he sighed and put away his blade.

    He didn''t say sorry to them as he went to the door and spoke to someone, a girl that looked maybe a year older than Rime walked in the room. She wasn''t tall, she stood shorter than Rime and her long wavy raven hair was left to run down her back hanging just above her knees. Her chocolate eyes seemed to take him in and her thick lips that were painted red quirked up in a smile.

    "Hello and who might you be?" she asked in an innocent voice and tilted her head in question, Rime was surprised that the golden crown she was wearing on her head didn''t fall off. Rime stated his and Cyra''s name and the girls smile seemed to widen "Greetings, I am Empress Elmira, you may return to whatever it is you were doing."

    Rime nodded and took a seat, Pulling Cyra with him and making her take a seat as an older woman walked in the room carrying a small child. The woman set her down and the child ran over to the girl that was apparently the Empress. "This is Princess Jenirus, Jenirus say high to Rime and Cyra." the little girl mumbled a hello in her baby voice.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    The Empress moved to the wall with all the books and pointed to a book on a shelf that even the Arch Mage couldn''t reach and the book just floated from the shelf and landed on the table. The Empress moved and took a seat opposite them and opened the book half way and began reading to the princess.

    Cyra was very interested in what she was reading and before Rime could stop her she had moved and was sitting in the chair next to the older girl who smiled at her before reading on. The head of Guard stepped forward but was stopped with a simple wave of the Empress''s hand "it''s okay Jisel, I will read to her."

    ^^

    By the time the Emperor and Arch Mage came into the room both Cyra and the princess were fast asleep and Rime and the Empress were drinking juice as they talked about his and Cyra''s training. The Emperor looked over at the two causing the Arch Mage who had not yet seen them together to look also but his only reaction to the sight was to arch a brow.

    Rime looked to where Cyra was laying, her cloak had been removed and was thrown over a large chair where she and the princess slept cuddled up to each other. He then looked towards the Arch Mage who looked at him and then turned to face the Emperor who was removing his cloak, the Empress quickly made her way over to help him.

    "What are you doing here my love?" the Emperor asked as he turned around to face his wife.

    "Jenirus had been asking for you, so I brought her over but you weren''t here so I deiced it was best to wait in the company of the two young Mages." The Emperor nodded and placed a kiss on her head before going to his seat as his wife placed his cloak on the rack and then went to stand by his side.

    The Emperor waved his hands and all the guards that had been waiting with the Empress and the set that followed him left the room quickly. When they left the empress poured him a cup of honey tea and reclaimed her position by his side. "Where you able to take care of our little pest issue?" she asked in her soft voice.

    The Emperor nodded "yes, it turned out to be just that one and he came on the orders of someone who wiped his mind, so there was nothing we could do except cast protection spells throughout the Palace and that took some time." his wife smiled at him and he turned his attention to where his daughter was sleeping still wrapped around Cyra.

    "How is she, is she still frightened?"

    The Empress shook her head and smiled "she was frightened for a bit but I was able to calm her down and then she kept asking for you so here we are." The Emperor hummed and said that he could see that his daughter made a friend "yes she did, she was very interested in the way Cyra dressed and carried herself and asked if she was small like her in age or just height, I spent quite sometime explaining the siblings to her before she fell asleep."

    The Emperor hummed "that''s good to hear, hopefully when the child has finished her training she will spend a lot more time in the palace and Jenirus can have someone trust worthy as her friend." The Empress nodded in agreement "and you seem to have found some company in Rime as well."

    The Empress smiled and told him what they had been talking about and decided that later they could discuss some ways to make things easier for Rime and Cyra, something that made the Arch Mage frown. When the Emperor agreed, she made her way back to Rime so they could continue there chat as the Emperor and Arch Mage spoke quietly among themselves.

    ^

    The Arch Mage decided it would be best to take their conversation outside and the Emperor agreed, they sat in the chair and the Arch Mage looked up at the sky before looking back at the Emperor "why did you lie to her, she needs to know about what really happened so she will know who to and not to trust."

    The Emperor sighed "You know Elmira is not as strong as Samra was, you know how sensitive she is and how easy it is to hurt her. If I were to tell her that her uncle was the one that head sent the man to take her and the Princess''s life it would crush her. And then again you and I can both agree that she is still a child, she shouldn''t be exposed to things like betrayal so soon."

    The Arch Mage chcuckled "I understand what you mean but the minute you made Elmira your wife she was no longer see as a child in the eyes of everyone else. No to them she is their Empress and as an Empress she needs to be strong, brave, powerful and intelligent otherwise she does not deserve the title. Many people already think that and the more you shield her is the more right you will prove them and that''s the last thing you want."

    "And I have to give her credit where it''s due because the girl is very resourceful, even if you, no one in the palace or even her family tells her that her uncle had tried to kill her, she will find out and it will hurt her more. Because she will think that you don''t trust her enough to tell her something that concerns her safety."

    The Emperor sighed and sat back in the chair before running his hands through his hair "you know sometimes I really hate you, you could say the stupidest thing and still be right. Not that what you''re saying now is stupid, it''s just that she just got a scare and she''s finally okay again I don''t want to see her frightened again."

    The Arch Mage shook his head "you don''t have much of a choice, it''s either she gets upset for a little while when you tell her or you don''t tell her and she finds out and she becomes angry and she doesn''t tall to you for a while."

    The Emperor let out another sigh "fine I will."

    The Arch Mage stood up "Okay I''ll take Rime and Cyra and leave so you can have some time to yourselves."

 Chapter Nineteen^

    Rime looked up when the Arch Mage called his name as he walked in the room "Get Cyra and your things, it is time for us to go." Rime was quick to put the books he had taken down back in place and pack his and Cyra''s bags before he went over to her and untangled her from the princess. The nanny collected the Princess so Rime could pull Cyra''s cloak over he before picking her up and holding her close to him.

    By the time he turned around to go grab the bags he saw that the Arch Mage gad already picked them up and was making his way to them. He pulled Rimes mask over his face and did the same for Cyra, before he turned and lead them out the room. They headed down the long hall that was lined with guards and then they went through the double doors. There were many members of the war council making their way through the hall and gave the Arch Mage and his two companions strange looks.

    One look from the mage and they were on their way, they eventually made it out to the gates where the Golden Dragon was standing as he spoke to one of his guards. The man gave them a nod and they were out the gates, as soon as their feet touched the soil they were flashed from the spot to Rime and Cyra''s room. Rime placed Cyra down on her bed and took off everything she was wearing and then changed her into her sleeping clothes before covering her up.

    He turned around to see the Arch Mage was still standing in the room and followed him out to the hall when he was signaled to. He pulled in the door behind him and watched as the Arch Mage scanned the hall and then turned back to him. "Rime I do not think it wise to make friends with the Empress and I think it is even more foolish to involve her in your training and studies. She and the Emperor do not see you for what you are and so they will not understand the threats you will face in your life."

    "They only see you and Cyra as children and in normal circumstances that would be a wise assessment, but your lives no longer carry normal circumstances. I already told you the three options you have and I told you what it necessary for you to survive, I can only help you as long as you want my help. But if you don''t want my help while you can get it then there is nothing I can do for you but bid you good luck. So I need you to stick to the training Sic and I will work out for you and just keep in mind that it is for your own good."

    The Arch Mage didn''t wait for a response before he vanished from the spot and Rime was a bit miffed by his actions, but deep down he knew the Mage was right. The lesser the training meant the lesser the advantage he would have and he couldn''t afford to have his advantage lessen. It would mean trouble for him and Cyra when the wheels truly started to turn.

    ^^

    The sun was just raising above the Horizon when Rime and Cyra made their way down the hall and went straight for the kitchen. They greeted the chef who returned the gesture before putting a large bowl filled with udon noodles, fried vegetables, pieces of roasted chicken and a large cut of beef. He placed a large cup of honey milk next to it and left them to eat while he went about making their lunches.

    The Kitchen was quieter than usual and that was because the night before when Rime had thought the Arch Mage had left, he had actually made his way through the house and had a word with everyone that worked there. But no one would tell the siblings because they were told not to. "Okay today for lunch you''ve got barbecued chicken, grilled beef, a hefty amount of garlic rice, fried chicken patties, and finally stir fried vegetables and to wash it all down, passion juice and water."

    That was all he said and Cyra pouted because the whole time she had been listening for what she would get as a snack and he didn''t say anything. The chef picked up on this and mumbled that there were red pickled mangoes, honey apple custard and some chocolate and that made Cyra brighten up even though she couldn''t understand his behavior. Rime on the other hand immediately picked up on what had happened and it made him frown.

    He decided to just leave it be because he knew it he brought it up it would only piss the mage off and he would be dealing with extra drama that he didn''t need. He got Cyra down for the stool and helped her to slip on her back pack before grabbing his bag and their lunch packs. They headed out the house and pulled their black hood over their heads and pulled up their mask. When Rime had searched their draws this morning, he had found all their cloaks were now black and had mask attached to them thanking whoever was watching that there clothes hadn''t been changed as well.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    It didn''t take them long to get to there first classes only to find the Arch Mage waiting for them at the door, the man said nothing as he took hold of their shoulders and lead them away from the class. Rime was puzzled as to what was going on but decided to just wait and see what would happen. They walked out the building and went around the left side, they were walking into an open field and stopped, Rime looked around to see that they had gone quite a bit away from the other buildings.

    "From now on you will not be attending your regular classes, unless there is an exam for you to take, no from now on you will attend your academic studies here, so pay attention to what I say or she won''t let you in." Rime was puzzled by what he meant until he spoke again "Call of the Crow."

    Rime watched as an outline formed in the air and then something shimmered before a large building appeared in front of them, it was made entirely of black obsidian that had line of blue running along the surface. It looked like an old castle he had seen when he was first making his way to the capital, but it had a different feeling to it. All the windows that had been dark suddenly lit up and then the large metal doors at the front of the castle opened.

    They were lead up the stairs to the door where a woman was standing, she had silver eyes that seemed to swirl, her long black hair ran down in curls stopping just above her butt. Her regal eyebrows arched before a smile formed on her thick black painted lips, she stood tall in a elegant black lace dress. "Well if it isn''t our Arch Mage, it''s been such a long time since you visited me and now you''re here to ask me a favor, I''m afraid to say that I''m feeling used, I hope that is not the case." she spoke with a sultry tone and folded her arms under her breast.

    Arch Mage bowed to her pulling Rime and Cyra to do the same before he rose up "that is as far as the truth as you can get, it is just that I don''t trust anyone with them, they are too important for us to just give to anyone to teach."

    The woman nodded and turned around gracefully to head inside, the Arch Mage, Rime and Cyra coming after her. "You know the last time you were here was when your third born grandchild had shown great academic potential. So I guess these children are just as important to you as he was, let me know if I''m wrong."

    The Arch Mage nodded "yes to me they are just as important but to our kingdom they are even more so, that''s why I need you now just like I needed you back then."

    The woman just gave a slight nod and that brought a conversation to an end as they made their way down a hall, they stopped in front of large double metal doors. The woman pressed her hands lightly on them and just like that they flew open and the dark hall had a burst of light that suddenly rushed through it. Inside the room was a library but not a small one, no from head to toe shelves ran over the gold painted walls and each shelf was filled with book after book.

    Some of the books had golden covers, black obsidian covers, silver covers, marble covers and ruby covers and as you looked at each they seemed to call your name, singing a silent tune that commanded you to pick them. The floors were made of black obsidian and throughout the grand room had different sitting areas that were build from gold but had red and black cushions. You could see floating lamps and shelves that had writing material on them.

    The entire thing was breathtaking, straight across from them the only wall with no books was made of clear glass that allowed you to look out a breathtaking view of a lake that was surrounded by different plants of many different colors. Rime held Cyra''s hand and moved to walk to the glass but was stopped by the woman who tapped his shoulder lightly.

    "Do not ever go out there without me to accompany you, sometimes dark things hide in beauty, remember that and you''ll live a long life." Rime nodded and turned away from the glass and followed after the woman as she lead them through a smaller set of double doors. The room itself was small and only had a seating area, the woman walked over and took a seat and waited for the Arch Mage, Rime and Cyra to do the same. "I''m sure you came here with a plan for their academic training."

    The Arch Mage nodded "I would just like you to run over everything they had been thought and get them more in depth information and also continue from where they left off on their course work. And if you could help them carry out there practical training like casting spells and such it would be good."

    The woman tilted her head and nodded before looking at him "it will be a lot but I''m sure I can help them go through everything, but I might have to use that room. So I would need to train their mind to accept the training for that to happen, you must let them stay with me or there is nothing I can do for them."

    The Arch Mage nodded and stood up "well then I will go and speak to the dean and then bring their things to you in the meantime you can get them settled." that was the last thing the mage said before he vanished from the room.

    The woman looked from the spot where the man had just been standing before she turned to Rime and Cyra "well children shall we begin?"

 Chapter Twenty^

    The woman stood up and began to walk out the room before turning around and smiling at them "so sorry it seems I was so caught up with the Arch Mage that I forgot my manners, my name is a secret and what is your''s?" she asked clasping her hands as she tilted her head in wait for Rime and Cyra to answer who quickly stated there names. "What wonderful names you have, strong names indeed."

    They nodded in thanks and the woman watched them with a smile before turning around once again and heading out the door, the walked back into the library and the woman pointed around "obviously this is the library, it''s filled with the original copies of every book ever created. From children stories to books about those who sit above us, it has everything and you don''t even have to look for it, if you know the name of the book say it loudly and it will come to you."

    The woman demonstrated and then sent the book back before leading them through the same door they had went through to get to the room with a sitting area but instead when they went through they were standing in a large kitchen. "Do the two of you realize what just happened?" she asked with an arched brow and both Rime and Cyra nodded "good that is how every door in my Gothic castle works, every door can lead to anywhere you just picture where you want to go and turn the handle and there you are. It also works if you need to find me, picture me in your head and you''ll appear wherever I am except for if I''m in the toilet."

    Cyra giggled at that joke and the woman smiled before she waved her hand around the kitchen "okay so this is the kitchen, but unlike the others that rely on a being to cook at it for it to produce anything, this one doesn''t do that. "Just stand right here and asked for what you want the kitchen will come to life, here''s an example, today I think I''ll have  banana split."

    Rime watched as the ice box opened three small tubs of ice cream floated out and landed on the counter, then came a container of cherries, a single banana and finally berry syrup. It wasn''t long before the ingredients came together and the bowl came floating into The woman''s hand, she collected it with a smile and said thank you before turning to Cyra "and this is for you little one." Cyra collected the bowl with a wide smile on her face.

    They went through the kitchen door and came out in the bathroom that was just as big as the one in the school dormitory "your standard shower, just use it how you used the other''s you''ve been in before." They went out the door and came through a door that lead them to the roof of the castle that was set up like a cute cafe. "Come here whenever you like after your studies are complete and relax, the kitchen in the cafe is just like the main one except it only cooks what''s shown on the menu that day."

    They went through the door and came out in an overly large bedroom, it had two large beds that were covered in white silk sheets, and black and white pillows. In between that was a small sitting area, across from each bed held a large closet, braced to the left wall was a large desk with two chairs pushed in and running over it was three shelves. There were floating lamps in the room that were just a bit smaller than the ones in the other rooms.

    On the right wall were windows that looked out at the lake and Rime noticed that one of the windows was actually a door that lead out onto the balcony that also held another sitting area. The walls were painted black with gold trimmings and gold leaf designs  that ran all along it "while we were going around the castle I had the room make itself and it has done a wonderful job don''t you think?" she looked at Rime and Cyra who nodded.

    "Okay well it is time to return to the library and you children can tell me how far you''ve gotten in your studies." they followed her out the door and walked into the library. Rime pulled out one of his notebooks that also worked as a planner and handed it over to her, she flipped it open and started reading as she walked around the room while Cyra found herself in a small couch and began to est the treat she had been given.

    Rime set all of his books down and went to one of the shelves calling a name for a book that floated down from the other shelf and landed on one of the tables, he went over and picked it up and went to sit next to Cyra who offered him a bite and he took it. He sat back and began to flip through the pages until he found where he had left off when he was at the Royal Palace.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    The place had gone silent as Cyra finished her bowl and moved to go get a book for herself, one of the children''s books that the woman had spoke of. She took her place back next to Rime and started her reading mumbling just a little to keep track of where she was. Rime didn''t mind it too much because it let him know that she was sitting right next to him and hadn''t run off to god knows where and also comforted him in the fact that even though she was going through the same training as him she somehow still remained a child.

    "Okay Children, I was able to come up with a study plan for you but it seems we have less time than I thought. Apparently the two of you would be graduating in a year and that means that you have your exams coming up very soon so I need to move fast." The woman spoke as she walked towards them and handed Rime back his planner "We have four years of studies to cover because the test that they give you will pull different things from each year and test you on it and I don''t want you to just pass the test I want you to dominate it, no matter if you have three times as much as the other students."

    She signaled for them to follow as she made her way to the door and they jumped off the couches going after her leaving the books to return to their rightful places. They stood at the door and the woman turned around to face them "okay I''m about to take you somewhere that is not here and isn''t exactly anywhere. It is frozen but not cold and will not move even though it is not old, time does not flow here for no time exist here. And I will give you only one warning, do not ever enter this room without my permission or me knowing, because you will not be able to leave without me and if I don''t know you are here you will be stuck and time will flow right past you, okay?"

    The stern tone her voice carried made Rime and Cyra nod quickly and she nodded in response before turning to face the door. She rubbed her hands together and took the handle with both hands, her eyes closed in and she whispered something. Rime and Cyra watched with wide eyes as the singled door broke into too with a loud bang and she quickly pulled the door open, she ushered them in and then went behind them letting the door slam back in.

    The dark room they had been standing in came to life and when Rime looked up instead of seeing a lamp he saw what looked like the sun, but it wasn''t hot or burning his eyes it just simply provided light. On closer inspection Rime saw that they had a giant glass dome surrounding them. He looked around the dome and found that it was set up just like the library they had just been standing in except the books were floating and there wasn''t a shred of gold in the room.

    As the woman walked forward a wall appeared across from her and on it a blackboard, a stand for her to stand on appeared and on it was a desk and chair. On the lower floor two desk and chairs appeared on either side two bookshelves appeared and they carried writing materials. The chairs pushed themselves open and Cyra and Rime quickly made their way over and took a seat before the chairs re-positioned themselves.

    Writing ink, a notebook and a pen floated to each desk and a box of chalk floated to where the woman was standing and she took a single piece out before the box went back and she turned to face Rime and Cyra.

    "First lesson, the discovery of the four main elements." She turned and started writing on the board "It is said that the four elements were first discovered by the beast people because there god decided to give them something that would make them less animal like and that children is utter bullshit." Rime arched his brow and Cyra just giggled at the woman''s use of language "that''s right child the beast men were actually one of the last set of beings to discover their abilities to control the elements, followed by the elves and then us humans."

    "The first to discover the elements were actually the Dwarven people." She turned and signaled for Rime and Cyra to write before turning back. "Now it is known to everyone that the Dwarves are the first alchemist ever, the little bastards love to create and fiddle with everything they see, their actually quite childlike. The reason I say this is because children of any being are just naturally curious and when they really want to find out about one of their curiosities they will run little test and then they will come to a conclusion about the thing. They will either lose interest in it or become even more curious about it and fiddle with it until they no longer can.

    "And the short little bastards are just like them, that would explain the height but I wouldn''t be surprised if their god is a short little shit that just wanted someone that looked just like him." she shrugged "okay now a few people will say that everything I just said is wrong and I will just say that I am never wrong so they can kiss my ass. But the reason they will say this is because they think the dragons are the first to discover their ability to use the four elements and that is just plain wrong.

    "First of all the Dragons can''t use all the elements they can only use one and secondly they didn''t discover it because they were literally born with it. While for any other being our magic grows in us over time depending on our environment or the parents we have, as example you Rime are a very special case that only happened because of your parents otherwise you would have just been a fire caster or one of those other stuff.

    "And just one little note there are only two original elements, but they aren''t really considered elements and that is light and dark, the first two things ever in existence. You can try and find out which came first but just know that there cannot be one without the other, it''s like that whole chicken and egg bullshit that I hear people still going on about and I will tell you now I don''t care as long as at the end of the day I get to eat the chicken."

 Chapter Twenty One^

    "Okay so back to the dwarfs, we got that they were alchemist and that was because they were curious. But the how they discovered it is one of the questions that you are going to be asked. It''s going to go what are the four elements and you write, Fire, Water, Air and Earth. Who first discovered it you will say the Dwarven People, they do accept the beast people as an answer because that''s what most of our children are being thought but you will only get half of the given marks and that is just bad.

    "So you say that Dwarven people and then comes the how it was discovered and I will tell you they aren''t really looking for an exact answer. They will give you full answers if you give them a kind of right vague answer but if I look at your paper and see that shit I will hurt you. Okay so the reason they accept any vague answer is because even the dwarfs aren''t sure of how the original person discovered it because they lost most of the notes they had made." she smirked and Rime and Cyra watched her strangely.

    "Before our ancestors discovered they could control the elements and use it to get whatever they want, they were weak little slimy bastards that could slip through any crack and take whatever they found interesting. And that''s how I have the information because I collected the book from someone''s old crusty alcove after they had died." Rime followed the woman''s hand and watched as a new yet old looking leather covered book floated to her.

    "Okay so I keep this baby here because it is very old and If I leave it exposed to the elements that are outside of this room it would wither to nothing and I love having pieces of information that no one else can get there hands on. Okay so if you skip a few pages you''ll come to realize that this actually someone''s diary and if you flip nearly half the pages you''ll find a note he made." she flipped the pages and then moved around to take a seat on her desk crossing her legs.

    "Take not children. Yesterday I had found a large heavy stone near the river and with some help from my brother I was able to bring it back home, we had to keep it outside for if we brought it in it would break the floor. When I woke up I gathered my tools and smashed the rock until it was in small shards so that I could grind it down to make the stone paste. But the rock wouldn''t let me grind it down in fact when I tried to grind it, the grinder rubbed against one of the stones and there was a flash of light.

    "So I put it aside and rubbed it again and the light flashed again, my brother saw they and had an idea, we gathered bush from the forest and made the flash again and dome of the light landed on the bush and then a bigger light formed on it until there was no more bush and the light vanished. We decided to try and use this to make a longer lasting light and spent the rest of the day testing all our options. Note: wood and bush work well to make light.Note: We called the flash a spark.

    Note: The light is now fire."

    She stood up and went back to the board still holding the book in hand " okay now it doesn''t state here how they first discovered it could be controlled by us physically without things like wood and bush. And that is because on of this man''s children, was angry one day, it never said what caused the young child to be angry but suddenly there was fire in the air and they spent the next few days rebuilding there home."

    "Now how to answer the question, how was fire discovered? You put a simple word curiosity and then you follow it up with a rock was discovered, two pieces were rubbed together, a spark was found, a bush was used and fire was made. Now for the question how was it discovered that beings could control fire? You state the word Anger and follow it with a child was angry and for he was too young to know how to control, his anger built and then there was fire in the air."

    She looked back and waited for Rime and Cyra to finish writing before she smiled "oh and when you list the first four elements you list it in the order I gave you or they''ll take a mark and that one mark could be the difference between me cursing you or gifting you. Okay side track here but do you notice how every answer is stated in story mode?" Rime and Cyra nodded "well that is how the testers prefer to have their answers and if they enjoy reading your answer, you''ve got potential to gain a few bonus points."

    "Okay Next on the list is water, that''s easy someone saw a stream of blue and decided to taste it and who discovered it? state everyone because without that clear liquid we''d all be dead. Okay how it was discovered we could use it? Peace, follow up with, just as anger controls fire, Peace controls water for it flows. A woman with child had found peace by a river, she faced danger but remained calm in the face of it and because of this the water formed a shield around her that kept her safe until her mate arrived, simple."Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    The lesson went on and one until the woman decided to bring it to a stop after she had ran through back the questions and the proper answers and how they must be stated. "Okay so that''s enough for now I can see you''re both hungry and I wouldn''t advise for you to eat in here because it will mean nothing out there, so let''s go." Rime and Cyra nodded before getting and up and following the woman out the dome.

    They appeared up on the roof in the cafe like area and set their packs on the table, Rime helped to set out Cyra''s lunch before taking out his own and they began to eat. "Oh wow that looks lovely, I''ll go have the kitchen make that for me and then I''ll be back and I also need to see what you Arch Mage is up to, he''s wondering around my castle and I don''t like it." Rime and Cyra nodded to her with stuffed mouths and watched as she made her way out the now single door.

    "So what do you think about her?" Rime asked Cyra through the food in his mouth because it was too good to stop eating.

    Cyra smiled and chewed, swallowing before she answered him "I think she''s just like mommy, but not, I don''t know how to explain it but I like her."

    Rime smiled sadly at his sister who went back to her food only stopping to guzzle some of her juice before continuing. It had been years since his mother had even come to mind. Things were just too busy and he realized that it was so busy he didn''t have time to go into one of his crying fits that he used to have every morning after her death. He smiled as he remembered her, she had Cyra''s smile and hair and his eyes and tough attitude, she was strong and let out an air of confidence that no one could break.

    And Rime could understand Cyra''s statement, the woman was like his mother incarnate but with different features. He thought about it and found out that he had started relaxing the minute he came in her presence, he guessed that he wouldn''t have an issue living and learning from her. And then she did have an air of a mother and Rime wondered if she had any children of her own or she just gained it from looking after other children like the Arch Mage''s grandson.

    The woman soon returned and as she said she would she came back with two plates filled with the same meal that Cyra and Rime had in front of them. She hummed as she bit into her meat and then they fell into a comfortable silence until their plates and bowls were clean and it was time to get back to class. The woman made all their dishes vanish only leaving the container that held their snacks so they could take it to class.

    Soon they walked back in the room and took their places at their desk "Okay children we just went through everything you would need to know about the elements, every question they would ask you, what the answers are and how to put the, and you filled up a notebook while doing it." Rime and Cyra''s notebooks floated off the desk and went back to the shelf and they were them replace by empty ones and the jars that was filled with ink refilled themselves.

    "Okay we also covered the information on our first Mage and all the questions they would ask about her and so forth. So now we move on to the great war, the one that was able to help our people gain their freedom and land. Okay so we know who started the war and why, now we must go on to how it was carried out. Back then humans didn''t know what a war was or how to handle it so it was safe to say that there were many casualties on our part."

    "Eventually everything was getting too out of hand and our First Mage also took the position of our first general. It is said that she had spent days observing how the beast people carried out their side of the war before returning. They are going to ask you why she didn''t just use her abilities to kill out the beast men and bring the war to an end, your answer will be. Young followed by the first Mage was still in her early teen years when the war started and because she had had no one to teach her, she had not yet known how to control her magic and make it last for a longer period of time, so she simply couldn''t."

    "Okay so they will ask if she observed and found the answer she needed to save her people? State yes, a many day and night were spent in the shadows and that time birthed the answer that saved them all. Next is what was the answer? Now for this bad boy you have to give a very long and satisfying answer, one that will sweep them off their feet and have them spitting out the bonus points for you."

    "Answer goes. After a many day and night spent in the shadows, the answer to saving our kind was born and that answer was, Control. in order to win the War the first Mage had to bring all of her forces under control, with a certain set of commands.

    First command was for them to return to her. Second command to create a place of rest for the tired, sick and injured. Third command was to gather food and other supplies necessary for survival. Forth command create weapons."

    "Now the Forth command has a follow up answer and it is. The weapons to create which the Mage had seen from the shadows were as followed. Bow and arrows, spears, slingshots, whips, blunt striking weapons, throwing knives, throwing hammers and finally blowguns and darts dipped in poison. They''ll ask what materials were used, you say, wood, stone, glass and different type of plants and then we move on to the fifth command."

    "That was align, they had to create fighting formations and decide on the ways they would attack, And the final command Attack."

 Chapter Twenty Two^

    "Okay the next thing they will ask is what was the speech the Great First had said to encourage her army. Note that they will ask you at some point why they called her The Great First and you will say, because she was the first. First what? Your answer the First Mage, First Arch Mage, The First Commander, The First Empress, The First General, The First Gold Leaf, The First Protector and that First Priestess. There are many other things for which she was the first, like first hunter and teacher but those that I listed before are the main set and count as one point for the eight point question."

    "Okay back to her speech, it wasn''t a long and overbearing one, in fact it was short and sweet and showed her newly formed blood lust nature. It goes They thought us weak, they trapped us in their chains and put us under their command. But then they took from us the ones we loved and held close and for that they must pay. They must pay with their blood and the blood of all their kin!" The woman''s voice dominated the room as she shouted and Rime and Cyra covered their ears until she was done.

    She smirked at them "I''ll write that on the board so you get it down, don''t get this speech wrong because you''ll lose a lot of marks. This speech saved our kind so everyone is a bit touchy when it comes to getting it right. Okay next question, how long was the war, what was the number of casualties and how did we finally win? Answer the war lasted four full moons which in current time it would be a year and a half. The number of casualties were uncountable because back then our people could not count."

    "The final part of the answer is a bit longer. The War had finally come to an end when the Great First had grown tired of the battle and decided the cowards way was the only way to save her people. So at the end of the Fourth full moon when the night sky had grown darker, the Great First Mage made her way into the beast men war camp. She snuck into the tent of the sleeping war commander and took his life by drowning him in his own blood, in other words she slit his throat."

    Rime cringed and the woman rolled her eyes "yeah there is no nice way to put it when they''re asking for all the details, for this question you get your full points and more for stating it like it is. Okay so that brings us to the end of the war section of your question paper. Next we move on to the creation of our land and capital and then how the principals were created and all that bullshit. Okay so after the war the first thing our people did was clear the land of any beast people, dead or alive."

    "When we were finished we claimed their homes as our own and got rid of anything the reminded us of their presence. Like for example the huts we used to live in before the war started, they were destroyed and things like that. And no we didn''t destroy the fields and fruit trees, we were bloodthirsty not stupid. It is kind of obvious but because she was now their savior and protector and shit like that she was given the best of everything."

    "So she got the biggest house and some of the humans that worked as maids before worked with her and so forth. But we''ll skip all of that and get to the establishment of our home. Okay so because of the ''privileges'' she had while she was a slave, she was the only one of us that knew how to read and she put that to good use. She went through the books she had found on how the beast people went about creating their own place and she used that to help us, so she didn''t just slaughter them and chase them away from their home but she also stole from them."

    "Okay so the first thing she did was search for the storage area in the different locations, most of it had been raided so they brought together what they had and she calculated it. Then she went through her people and created teams to do different things, some went into the mines, some went into the fields. Some she thought to read and keep stock of everything that they had. The children were allowed to run about and do as they pleased, until she created a school from them and started to teach them herself."

    "One thing you need to remember is that all of this is being done and lead by someone that was maybe sixteen, seventeen at the time, so to the Humans of the time she was also seen as a goddess. Eventually they were able to establish our capital, our laws, our own currency, and that was all done under her rule and protection. She was even the one to create the Royal Academy, we all know that we''re supposed to be talking about the building up of our people but her life and our country''s history overlaps, once again you can''t have one without the other."

    "Alright so most of the answers that you need for this section of the exam you can find by reading back your answers for the section on our Great First. So aside from that we go to out principals. First question how many of them are there? this is too easy and that''s why it only gives you one point. There are twelve Principles. They will ask you to list them in their correct order and all you have to do is list their names so it''s, Cultivation, Protection, Health, Strength, Knowledge,  Law and Order, Honor, Loyalty, Responsibility, Respect, Peace and Love."This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    "All right then you state the words that follows each, at first they start off really simple but then as our people got more advanced so did the Principals so. Cultivation - Cultivate the land, harvest the crops and feed our people. Protection - Protect the ones you love by any means necessary. Health - Keep our children strong and healthy so our people can have a longer future. Strength - Work hard, gain strength and keep strength.

    "Knowledge - Yearn for knowledge and fight to gain it for you and your children, so you can also be strong in the mind and not just the body. Law and Order - Learn the Laws of this here land and practice them so there can be order among our people. Honor- Honor the Empress of the land as you would honor your mother, the one who gave you life. Loyalty- Stay Loyal to your Empress, your people and land and you will never face betrayal.

    "Responsibility - Accept the responsibility given to you by your Empress and land. Respect - Respect Your Empress, your people and your land and you will receive it in return. Peace- We gave the lives of our people to gain peace be sure to keep it or it will all have been for naught. Love- Love your Empress, your land and your people because they will always love you. And that is about it, I hope you got it."

    Rime and Cyra nodded and the woman moved around the desk to sit on it as she faced them "okay so there are two of our principals that carry a second meaning and that is Love- Love your freedom for if you love it you will fight to keep it. And Cultivation - Cultivate your mind and body as you cultivate the land for when it is time to harvest you will gain just as much as you gave. Now they will ask you why Cultivation carries a second meaning? Your answer, because Cultivation is the first Principal that came about when we first started to build our people and it was meant to cover, things such as, strength and knowledge that later got their own principals."

    She watched as Rime and Cyra flipped to the last pages of their notebooks and waited for them to finish writing before she replaced them. "Okay next question will say what is the purpose of the twelve principles and the simple answer to that is. To ensure that our people and land do not fall under the control of a different species ever again."

    "Now lastly they will ask for the effects that the creation of the principals caused and why it worked? This is a long answer so I''ll write it down." She went to the board and cleaned it off before picking up a new chalk stick "Okay, you just need to put this and it will cover everything, it will either come up to one or two paragraphs in the paper but make sure you get word for word or it''s a no go." Rime and Cyra nodded before she turned to the board and started writing.

    "So after the creation of the twelve Principles or Laws Of The Land as it is known in the royal history. The advancement of our people had excelled beyond what they thought was possible because these principals pushed them to do their best. The number of fields grown had expanded and our people were able to grow and harvest many more different types of food. Our people always felt that they would be protected by one of their own if they so needed it. Advancements were made in gathering herbs and turning them into different medicines to keep the people healthy. Schools were built all over the land and eventually the Royal academy was created for people of all ages. As our land expanded laws were created to keep everyone within it safe.

    "After the title of Empress had been created the Honor principle was created as a form of protection for both her and the people. The people became loyal to the Empress and listened to any command she passed because they knew it was only for their good. Positions such as the Gold Leafs were soon created and that gave the people responsibility and because of the principal they always made sure to carry it out."

    "The people learned to show respect to people that worked in certain categories, such as the Empress, The Gold Leafs, the Mages and so forth. And finally because of how they had advanced the people were soon able to find peace in the way they lived and wanted to keep it that way, for they had learned to love like no other." The woman put down the chalk and stepped away from the board, she waited for her students to look up before smiling at them.

    "Okay so that takes care of the entire History subject and the exam and everything we need to know for that. I''m sure that was a lot to take in, but as much as it feels like you''ve been sitting here for days in the real world maybe just an hour had passed and you were able to retain all that info. But that doesn''t matter, we''ll go get something to eat, the two of you can get some rest and then we''ll be back in a few hours, that sound good?"

    Rime nodded as Cyra let out a yawn that mad the woman chuckle. She lead them to the doors and out the room where they appeared in the kitchen. "Okay so tonight I was thinking twelve beefy meat buns and a warm mug of honey milk." Rime and Cyra watched as the kitchen came to life and soon they were eating before they had to take a bath and were left to fall asleep in their very spacious new beds.

 Chapter Twenty Three^

    Rime and Cyra had awoken to the sound of their door opening and looked up to see the woman standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. She watched as they sat up and leaned against their bed heads before she made her way over to them "It is good to see you can be awoken by the smallest of sounds, so in case of an emergency I won''t have to worry about you dying on me." As she spoke she made it across the room and stood by one of the windows, she took hold of the blinds by one window and snapped them open, the motion was copied by all the other blinds in the room.

    Rime hissed and Cyra whined turning over in her bed to bury her face in it, the woman giggled at the sight of the young child''s antics and shook her head "Come on now, there is much to do and so little time to do it, after all I have only had the pleasure of being your teacher for the past three months." Rime sighed and slid off his bed, he walked past the woman and went to pick Cyra up in his arms allowing her to snuggle into him as he sat in her bed.

    "Why do you find it necessary to wake us so early every morning, I mean we have the room so what''s the point, can''t we have a break, we could really use it."

    The woman shook her head and made her way over to the Cyra''s closet flipping through what she had "There is no time for a break until your exams have come and passed and you two have graduated with the schools top ranks." She pulled out a blue sweater that had gold leaf designs on them and changed it into a pair of wings. "Don''t worry I''ve spoken to the Arch Mage and if the two of you graduate at the top of your peers you''ll be given two months break before you officially begin your apprenticeship."

    She placed it on the bed and pulled out black shorts and knee high black boots with thick soles, she smiled at the outfit and held out her hand blowing on it and a gold wing hair clip appeared in it. "What do you think?" she asked pointing to the outfit and Rime nodded before turning his attention away. "I know you think it''s unfair, but I think it''s absolutely fair because this is just a small sacrifice compared to the ones you would be making if they had just locked you away and sent Cyra away."

    Rime frowned and then watched as she went into his closet and pulled out a blue shirt, she waved her hand and black glittering horns appeared on the back of his shirt making him scowl at her and she only laughed. She pulled out a pair of black pants for him and tall boots with thick soles and then a small horn piercing appeared in her hand and before he could object it was in his ear with a sharp sting.

    He rubbed at the piercing and she giggled "Okay well enough of that, I need you to wake Cyra and the two of you need to prepare for your day, because we''re gonna cram a weeks worth of work into one day so come on." She turned and headed out the room and just before the door closed she cast him one last look "I''ll be in the kitchen when you''re done come find me." Rime nodded at her and watched the doors closed in before he released another sigh.

    He woke Cyra up and grabbed the outfits that the woman had picked out for them, he grabbed up their towels and headed to the doors pulling them open. He walked straight into the bathroom and placed Cyra to sit on a stool so he could strip her and him before he began to wash them down paying extra attention to their hair. It had been a while since they had cut it and for some reason it seemed to grow faster than before which meant that in a few months his short hair had grown shoulder length and Cyra''s hair had about two inches on his.

    When he was done he dried them down and got them dressed quickly after brushing both of their mouths. When he was done he just brushed through his and Cyra''s hair and moved a few locks from her face using the clip to keep it in place. For his hair he just tucked the locks behind his ear and dumped their dirty clothes in a basket before picking up Cyra and heading through the doors, they went into the kitchen to see the woman sitting on a stool as the kitchen went to work on their breakfast.

    "I went ahead and ordered us some Donburi, so the two of you can have a full stomach to keep you focused." Rime and Cyra took their seat and watched as the kitchen served out three large bowls of rice, before three frying pans floated from the stove top and their meat was dished onto the rice. Three glasses came out the cupboard and a mug of sweet tea floated from the fridge and the glasses were filled before the mug was set on the table, the glasses and bowls were set in front of them and chopsticks floated into their hands, they all said their thanks and began the meal.

    When the were finished the dishes floated to the sink and the tap came on, just as the fridge opened and two large boxes floated out, they were opened to reveal white and milk elven chocolate and cherry plums. "A professor Harlan keeps sending these things and I can''t help but wonder what his fascination is with the two of you." Rime gave her a strange look and decided to just ignore her word vomit as he turned to watch some of the chocolate and plums float into a bowl.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    When they were finished the woman picked up the bowl and she headed to the door, she left the bowl floating and grabbed the door handle with both hands and pulled and just like it had many times before on door became two and then burst open. The woman took the bowl and headed inside the room leading Rime and Cyra "Okay children have a seat." She said resting the bowl on her desk before she went to the board and grabbed up the chalk.

    She wrote at the top of the board in capital letters, spell casting. "Okay so today''s topic, or more like to week''s topic is spell casting and the reason that is, is because for some reason it was taken off of your curriculum. Apparently it''s only offered to certain children from certain family''s because they are most likely to be able to excel at the subject rather than be stuck at the beginning faze for the rest of their lives.

    "But I don''t discriminate because for one I don''t see the reason why they would say that they''re teaching you everything when they really aren''t. Okay aside from that, the first thing you need to ask yourself is what is a spell? And then you find the answer to that which is, spells are procedures that require different components in order to be carried out. The sub answer to that is, these procedures depending on if they are carried out in the right manner can either do great good or great harm. Spell Casting is simply carrying out that procedure.

    "Then they are going to ask what are the steps you need to take to cast a spell? You simply list the answers and in the following question you will explain them. So it goes, Assessing, Finding Or Creating, Gathering, Preparing and Casting. Next question will ask you to explain each step and it will go as follows. Assessing, asses the situation you are in and the type of spell you will need for that particular situation. Example The situation is you''re in need of fertilizer, but you''re unable to go get it or it is unavailable, the spell you will need is a fertilizer creation spell, which falls under the first class of spells.

    "Okay next we have, Finding or Creating, you look through the area for a lower level spells, spell book and you can find that spell in there, if you don''t have that, you can try to create one for yourself but as easy as the spell is, it will take enormous time and effort to create another. Gather, when you find the spell that you need for the situation, there will be a list of ingredients and you go around and gather them, but if you can''t cast a spell to create the ingredient.

    "Preparing, prepare yourself; mind and body and your surrounding area to cast the spell. Example one of the steps say for a hexagon made of salt on the earth, you must go ahead and create the hexagon. And Finally Casting, you have successfully assessed the situation, you have found or created the spell, you have gathered the necessary ingredients and you have made all necessary preparations, now you can go ahead and cast the spell."

    "Now here''s what I''ll tell you, spell casting is the last exam given a month after all the other exams and taken each year and that is because. One they don''t want it to mix with the other exams and two in case a students spell backfires and they get injured, they don''t have to worry about them having to attend any exam after." As she spoke she made little notes on the board and then turned to look at Rime and Cyra before going back to her work.

    "Okay so all that I just told you what a spell is and so on those are part of a four question test for Spell casting and the last question is What are the levels of spell casting? Now do you remember when I told you that a fertilizer creation spell is a first class spell, well that''s what they mean so your answer will be. There are four classes of spell casting and you follow it by listing them. Class one, creation spells, used to make simple things such as fertilizer, flour and wheat."

    "Class Two Helpful spells, spells that are used to make certain productions in factories go faster, like say books and ink. Class three Battle spells, spells that are cast when the caster is facing an opponent in a fight, like when you see your opponent is in a suit of armor and he has one up on you then you cast a fire spell to make his armor hot and that will serve as a distraction so you dish out the real spell."

    "Class four healing spells, these are used by healers and priestesses. And then most students will close it off after that but there is another spell class and it isn''t stated too often, but it can get you an extra ten marks on you written test because the grading for the practical test is iffy at best and it will help and also I had said that the Spell casting Exam is held a month after the other exams and that is because it doesn''t really add to your overall graduating grade, but is simply used to see if you should be allowed to cast spells or you need to redo the training."

    "Okay so back to where we were, The fifth hidden class is Death spells, now the reason this has a class on it''s own and is hidden is because every spell ever created can be turned into a death spell. Ways that can happen, is you either add too much or too little of a certain ingredient, if the spell requires say a hexagon and instead you make a pentagon, or you create the hexagon but with the wrong material. Before starting the spell you didn''t mentally prepare your mind and well yeah, and if you asses the situation wrongly and chose a different spell that could spell disaster."

 Chapter Twenty Four^

    "Okay so the Death class of spell casting have two subclasses and they are broken down like this. Class one accidental death spells and purposeful death spells. The first one goes you cast the spell for maybe a helpful situation and because of the variables stated earlier it backfires, second Purpose death, you meant to cast a death spell and you were quite happy with the outcome. Now there are three types of death spells and they are, Outwards death, Inwards death, and Mass death.

    "Now outwards death spells, you either do these by accident or you meant to cast them and they cause the death of someone you''re facing or was in the room with you. Inwards death, either by accident or the person meant for this, which is never the case, the spell backfires and the person that cast the spell dies. Lastly Mass death either by accident or it was meant to happen, the person takes out everyone in the room or if you''re in an open space, they take out everyone within a certain distance from themselves."

    "Now I''m sure you notice but delving into the fifth class is like sitting another exam and I will say you''re going to write all of this, or I will accidentally cause your deaths." Rime arched a brow and Cyra giggled making the woman smile  "Now there are counters for death spells, the ones that are cast on purpose a simple protection spell will do, but depending on the level of the death spell is the level of protection spell you will need or you''ll be hurt.

    "And for accidental death, we have recollection spells, which are class two spells and are used so the person that cast it can see what happened in the room or area, this is used by law men most times. And another counterspell is a Revival spell and this spell is restricted to people such as the Arch Mage, The Emperor, The Empress, The dean of the Royal academy , the Temple''s head Priestess and our Lycan.

    "To cast this spell it takes great power and great knowledge for it to come out perfectly, people found casting this spell without permission will be punished, either by death, some time in prison or a fine. Okay so when death is caused accidentally say in a building before the revival spell can be cast, a seal must be created so when the revival is cast we don''t resurrect someone that died in the first war. Now since the sealing spell is a class two spell, depending on the size of the seal it only needs one or two person''s to cast it.

    "And you can either create a seal by using things such as chalk, salt, sad and so on or you can do a body seal, which is a group of people can link their hands and form a circle around the blast area, someone will chant whatever they need to and then the seal will be formed.

    Okay so after the seal is formed, the person doing the revival spell needs to cast it and they would already be in the blast area before the seal went up, I''m not going to teach you a revival spell because it is for the Arch Mage to decide whether or not he wants you to learn it."

    Rime and Cyra nodded and the woman stepped down from the stand "let''s go get something to eat and then we shall return to class because the next step I have to show you is the practical side of spell casting." When she lead them out of the class they appeared on the rooftop and she went into the cafe, leaving them to sit outside.

    It was a few minutes before she came walking out carrying two plates that she placed in front of Cyra and Rime "Okay so you''ve got two chicken Caesar wraps each-" Rime watched as she held out her hands and two glasses appeared in them "and we have some peach bubble tea, so eat quickly and we''ll get back to work."

    Rime watched as she disappeared and the turned to his food, he and Cyra wasted no time in eating out their food, when they were finished they got up and went to the rails on the roof so they could look out at the vibrant wild life that surrounded the castle. Cyra stood on the rail and closed her eyes letting the breeze rush through her hair as she and Rime found comfort in the silence that washed over them, but it was cut short when the woman returned.

    "Alright kids let''s go." They followed her into the classroom that was now missing the board, chairs and anything else that would make it a classroom. Instead it was once again the open area that was surrounded by floating books, Rime and Cyra''s notebooks appeared in their hands along with their pens. "Okay so when the testing begin you will have to cast spells from each class, yes that includes death, but don''t worry the dean and Arch Mage will be present in case anything happens."

    "Okay so you will need to cast four spells from class one, three from class two, two from class three, two from class four and one from the death class." Rime and Cyra took their notes "Okay so before you begin the testing they will give you a sheet, that will say Class one, then a big space, then class two and it goes on like that. So in these spaces you will list the spells you''ll be casting for each and I''ll tell you the spells you will cast, for the first one You''ll cast the Fertilizer creation spell, the flour creator spell, the water well spell and ink creator spell."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "The second class you''ll be doing the Inkwell spell and it is somewhat similar to the water well spell, next the page copier spell, and finally the cleaning spell. Class three the Fireball spell and the water orb spell, class four The heal spell and the blessing, class five the life drain spell." She looked as Cyra and Rime took there notes "okay so as for the spells you''re casting they will instantly make the ingredients appear it is up to you to do the preparation and casting."

    When they were finished they looked at her "Okay so the fertilizer spell is one of the most simple spells out there and it only requires four ingredients, one you need seeds any type of seeds from any plant, then you need dirt, you need a small amount of cow droppings and some water." As she spoke the ingredients appeared "then you need a bucket, the size of the bucket will decide how much fertilizer you make and since it''s just a test we''ll use a small bucket so you can get maybe two or three handfuls of fertilizer."

    The bucket appeared and the ingredients floated into it, and the woman moved to stand over the bucket "It makes life for grow for us to eat, so make it quick and make it sweet." She stepped back and Rime and Cyra watched as the bucket spun for a few seconds and then it stopped and the smell of fresh fertilizer took over the room. "You see it''s that simple and just a side note this spell was invented by our first, in fact most of the simpler ones were."

    "Next we have the flour creator spell, now this one was used when all you had were wheat and we didn''t have anything to eat, none of the fields or fruit were ready and we were out of bread and making it would take too long. So all you need is some wheat, again throw it in the size bucket of the amount of flour you want and say Bread you make, so grind yourself and we can bake." Once again the bucket spun and then it stopped to show that it was filled with flour.

    "Okay next one is the water well and all you need is a small glass of water, place it in the center of a tub and say Flow like a river flows to the sea, flow in the basin so you may flow in me." At first nothing happened and Rime looked up at the woman who pointed at the glass making him look down, the glass began to shake and then the glass began to overflow all the water pouring into the tub. The glass didn''t budge no matter how much the tub filled until the water was balancing on the edge of the tub and the glass came floating to the top.

    "Now for the last spell for class one which is the ink maker, ink is a very complex thing to make in some cases, because the ingredients also need to be made before you can make the ink.

    Okay so we''re not going to look at making the ingredients but just the ink, okay so we need an egg yolk, gum Arabic, honey and black dye.

    We''re gonna put all of that stuff in a small pale, and say black as night, black to write, create yourself to paint a picture with a thousand words." The bucket shook and then stopped, Rime and Cyra watched as the pale was filled with ink.

    "See now that is all for class one let''s move on to class two."

    ^^^

    Rime pushed open the door and walked into a class where he saw the Arch Mage, the dean and the spell instructor all standing waiting on him. The woman was short with her black hair pulled into a braided bun and her brown eyes were rimmed with a thick line of coal and her lips were painted in red. She gave him a soft smile and reached out to collect the paper he was carrying "ah wise choices you have made, I hope you''re successful in casting your spells."

    The ingredients appeared and one by one he smoothly carried out each spell for class one and each time the woman wrote something down a notepad she was carrying around. He moved on to class two and the ingredients for ink well appeared, which was a glass of water and a glass of ink placed in a bucket and he chanted "Flow as black as the night, take this space as yours and flow till you can flow no more." The ink bubbled and then went over into the glass of water, the two swirling around each other before the glasses over flowed and the bucket was filled with ink.

    The teacher nodded and wrote something down before the ink vanished and was replaced by a single page and Rime got on his knee and placed a finger on the page. "May one become two and two become many, so that this place may be filled with more than plenty." He slowly rose with his finger on the page and as he did papers started to appear above it until the page stopped as high as he could raise with his finger still resting on it.

    With a click of the Arch Mage¡¯s finger the room was a filthy mess filled with garbage and was taken over by a foul smell, Rime coughed and hissed "Make this mess disappear, make it as if it was simply never here." The room was clean again and Rime stopped to take in a few breaths making the instructor giggle and the Arch Mage give him an unimpressed look.

    It was nothing for Rime to burn through the other spells but soon he was standing under a small dome, where a sheep that reeked of death was barely standing on its feet. He clasped his hands together and closed his eyes "Reverse the pain, reverse the sick and make this creature whole again." A bright light appeared and engulfed the sheep and when it disappeared the sheep started to bleet and jumping around.

    And then he was told to drain the life from the sheep and he did just that without a blink of his eye.

 Chapter Twenty Five^

    It was sometime in the afternoon when Rime stood in front of Cyra''s closet going through her things so he could find something for his now six year old sister wear. He flicked through her things looking at all the clothes she had worn throughout their school days and realized that none of them would suit the occasion that was today. So he stepped back from her closet and went to their bedroom door twisting the door open and instead of walking out into the hall he walked into a large bedroom.

    The woman was sitting on a chair in on her balcony and went inside when she heard her door open and was met with the sight of Rime walking in her room with a puzzled look on his face. She braced on the wall and asked him what was it that he wanted "I need to take Cyra in town today, I just went through our stuff and realized that we don''t really have anything nice and I would feel bad having her wear the same clothes today."

    The woman nodded "so you want to go and buy something for the two of you to wear today, but I think it would be better if you just made her something. Otherwise she might end up in something similar to what one of the students little sister will be wearing and it won''t be so special after all." As she spoke she made her way over to him and folded her arms over her chest so she could watch him as he thought it over.

    Rime nodded giving a yes to the idea causing the woman to smile, he watched as she looked up and stroked her chin, before her smile seemed to widen and she looked back at him. "It seems I''ve just come up with the perfect idea, you can go and get you and Cyra ready and I''ll bring down your clothes when you''re finished." Rime gave her a skeptic look, she rolled her eyes, took him by the shoulders and turned him around opening the door and shoving him into his room.

    Rime sighed because he wasn''t too sure what the woman was thinking but then he remembered the way she would dress and carry herself and figured that they were in good hands. He looked over to his bed where Cyra was cuddled up in his sheet with her arms tightly wrapped around his pillow. He smiled at the sight and walked over taking a seat on the bed so he could pat her arm to make her wake up, but Cyra didn''t give him a reaction as she slept on.

    Rime sighed and tried to wake her again but again he received no response so he got up, went into the bathroom, got a cup of cold water and returned to the room pouring it on her. Cyra jumped up with a start and her eyes flashed around the room until they landed on Rime and she pouted making him roll his eyes "Don''t give me that look, I let you sleep all morning but now we have to prepare, today''s a big day and it won''t do for us to be late."

    Cyra took a few more minutes stretching and yawning before she stretched her hands out in a gesture for Rime to pick her up and he did. He carried her to the bathroom and stripped them both down and placing her in a large tub that was already filled with warm water and got in behind her. He took a soap liquid and poured it on her head after telling her to close her eyes, he scrubbed it into her hair that had grown just below the middle of her back.

    He scrubbed it until it was foaming and then ran a comb through it when he was done , he rinsed it out and did the same to his own hair that was just an inch shorter than hers before he scrubbed the both of them down and brushed their teeth. He got out and put the tub to drain leading him and Cyra under the fountain like thing that shot water out and rinsed them down. He got them dressed in their underwear after drying them down paying extra attention to their hair.

    When they walked in the room the woman was standing there with a smile on her face as she stared down at Rime''s bed where their outfits were. Rime saw his first the closer he got and realized that it was a simple black suit, with a black silk shirt and a red tie with a black chain. He nodded liking how simple it was and then his eyes caught Cyra''s outfit and all he could do was smile on as he watched his little sister go crazy over it.

    Her dress was the same shade of black and red as his suit and tie, the top was made of black lace with a black under layer, long sleeves and a high neck. While the bottom was a  high-waisted red satin skirt, the front of the skirt stopped just above her knees and got longer as it went around the back until if was hanging just behind her ankles and along with it there was a black gem jewelry set. Rime watched as the woman began to dress Cyra and decided to do the same for himself.

    When they were finished dressing the woman set Cyra on the bed and quickly oiled her hair running a brush through it, she brushed all of her hair over her left shoulder and then took a comb and separated the top layer from the bottom before she put the top in a pull through braid and let it hang along the hair. She helped Cyra put on her jewelry and then made her way to the closet where she pulled out her ankle leather sole platform boots and brought it for her to put on quickly. When she was done she got her down from the bed and put her to spin around clapping at how beautiful Cyra looked.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    She told Cyra to go sit in a chair and then called Rime to sit where she oiled and brushed his hair, she gave him a side part and brushed his hair again. Then on the left side where there was less hair she plated three braids and let it hang down before she attached gold rings to each. When she was finished she went to his closet and pulled out pointed ankle dress shoes and he slipped them on before getting off the bed and turning for her.

    She clapped her hands and made him stand next to Cyra before she clicked her fingers a few times, she went over and pulled them into a hug. "Have a good time and don''t stay out too late... not that you would."

    They smiled at her and she took their hands, with one step they were standing in front of the black metal doors that lead out of the castle. It was two months ago that they had left the castle to sit their exams and hadn''t left since their return because they found that they had more fun in the castle than when they were out of it. Rime turned to the woman who gave him a questioning gaze "aren''t you coming with us, I mean it is partially your fault that we''re standing here right now."

    She smiled and shook her head "no I will not be coming with you but don''t worry for I will be watching and protecting you from the shadows, not that you need much protection."

    She patted their backs and the doors opened just as their cloaks appeared on their shoulder and a sack appeared in Rimes hand with the woman telling him to spend wisely, then they were out the door. Rime held Cyra''s hand as they headed down the stairs and onto the open field looking back to see the castle vanish before they turned and headed on their way. They walked down the long path going past the school buildings.

    As they passed each one they were able to see people as they came into view, teachers students and their family were all lined off, some family''s stood to the side as they watched their children talk to their friends. Rime and Cyra were soon among the crowd and as soon as they were everyone''s eyes had gravitated to them. Rime pulled Cyra closer to him and his eyes roamed over the crowd watching everyone in warning to stay away from them.

    Everyone except for one person seemed to repel from his look as the person grew closer and closer to them, Idina was standing tall in a beautiful black gown that had a train running behind it. Her hair was pulled back in an elegant bun and she was adorned with gold jewelry and a gold hair piece. "well don''t the two of your look absolutely gorgeous, I never knew you had this much taste Tagon so I''m quite impressed, but what do you think." she asked turning slowly, she looked to Rime when she came to a stop and got no reaction from him making her shrug.

    "Why even bother asking him how you look when you know you''re not going to get an answer?" A deep voice came from behind Rime and he glanced back to see Burne approaching them. He wasn''t decked out in all gold like Rime was expecting instead he was dressed in a black tux with a white shirt and gold vest and tie. Idina shrugged at his question just as he came around to stand next to her placing his hand on her back.

    Rime arched his brow at the action and Burne gave a bright smile "she''s my fiance, it was decided last fall when our parents met up so soon after graduation we''re going to be getting married." Rime looked at Idina who shrugged but had a small blush tinting her cheeks. Rime shook his head at the sight and moved to walk around them taking Cyra with him who happily went along even speeding up her steps.

    Rime was hoping that his actions would deter them from wanting to talk to him and Cyra but he knew he was wrong when he heard them following behind them. It''s not that Rime and Cyra hated them it was just that they had spent most of their time either with each other or the adults that looked after them. So every time they were around the other students it just felt a tad overwhelming and they would need a way to get out, so in the end they just decided to avoid socializing all together.

    Rime and Cyra made their way into the auditorium where the graduation ceremony would be kept, everything had already been set up some time ago and had just been waiting to be used. They went along the seats looking for their names until they ended up on the front line and could see other students names but theirs weren''t showing up. Rime was starting to get worried that maybe the school would have forgotten that he and Cyra did go here, until he saw their names sitting on the two chairs that were on the end of the row.

    Rime''s name was on the very end followed by Cyra then Idina and then Burne, so he lead Cyra to the end and placed her to sit down before taking his seat. He looked up to see Idina and Burne frowning but moved to take their seats nonetheless only to be stopped by the sound of a loud shriek that echoed through the auditorium. All of them snapped their heads to the side to see a woman that was decked out in gold from head to toe.

    And a sense of dread hit Rime as he realized that was the woman he had had an issue with on his first day at the academy.

 Chapter Twenty Six^

    Rime watched as the woman slowly made her way over to them and his first instinct was to pull Cyra in his lap. The sound of the woman''s gold heels hitting the floor could be heard echoing through the auditorium and it drew the attention of everyone that was in the room including a few teachers. "Burne don''t you dare take another step, this must be some sort of joke!" she screeched again and Cyra whined at the sound.

    Burne looked at the woman and sighed "Mother it is okay, if this is how the names are then that is how we must sit."

    Everyone could hear the pleading tone in his voice but his apparent mother who looked very young for her age was having none of it. "No it is not okay and I don''t know who this rat thinks he is going to fool by switching the name, but no way in hell is a child who hardly showed up in school be able to top my child and my future daughter in law." Idina didn''t look pleased or impressed that she was pulled into the situation and Burne looked at her apologetically receiving a raised eyebrow as his reply.

    "Mother you need to stop, you''re making an unnecessary scene, Idina and I were with him when he came into the room and he was as puzzled as we were mother so there is no way he did such a thing as switching the names around."

    His mother scowled at him "he is a rat that should have never got into this Academy so of course he would be good at pretending along with that little pest that''s always following him around." Idina''s eyes widened and Rime shot to his feet putting Cyra down so he could pull her behind him. The woman folded her hands over her chest "What are you going to do, you have no right to be mad at me for stating the undeniable truth, you and your sister are nothing but blood sucking leeches who are only in this school because of your connections!"

    "Mother that is enough!" Burne yelled stepping up to grab her hand which she then yanked away.

    "No it is not, I heard his mother died, maybe he killed her just to make people feel sorry for him so he would be able to get in the school.!"

    A loud wave of gasp echoed through the room, followed by the sound of small cries and that was all it took for Rime to lunge forward in a fit of anger and grab the woman by her throat. Everyone was shocked even the woman, her eyes widened and she tried to pull Rimes hands from her throat but they weren''t budging. Idina ignored the situation and went to grab Cyra up to try and calm her down  as Burne grabbed Rime and tried to pull him away from his mother to no avail.

    All Rime could see was red as tears flowed down his face "How could you say that?!" he screamed loudly knocking everyone out of their stupor, the teachers ran to him to try and help tear him away from the woman. "You don''t know what happened, you weren''t there, we had to watch our mother die and no one cared, no one helped us!" He continued to let out the painful screams as the teachers were finally able to tear him away from the woman.

    The woman dropped to her knees gasping for air as she grabbed at her neck, while her son ran to her side and tried to help her. Two of the male teachers fought to keep Rime in their grasp as he tried to get back to the woman "everyone acts as if they know us, as if they understand us, when all they want to do is use us!" He stopped fighting and dropped to his knees to the relief of the teachers "Where were they when our mother was dying, where were they when we needed help, no one cared and they still don''t."

    He broke into a loud fit of sobs as he leaned over, his cries joining Cyra''s as she screamed her lungs out. Someone walked in the room and the sound of a staff hitting the ground could be heard, everyone turned to watch the person and then parted so they could make their way over to where Rime and the woman was. The woman was the first to see the person and quickly got to her feet using her son as support.

    "Oh grandmother, that thing there tried to kill me, he tried to kill a member of the Royal family he should be punished-" the woman''s ranting was cut off when the sound of a slap echoed through the room.

    The woman''s eyes widened in shock and she held her cheek as Burne pulled her into him and caste an angry look at the person that slapped his mother. "Don''t you give me such a look child, I was watching and I saw the whole thing, if I was here I would have strangled her myself!" The comment made another round of gasp echo through the room and the speaker shook her head "I am disappointed at every adult in this room, how could you claim yourselves to be these children''s protectors and do nothing when one of them needed you to?"This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    "That woman crossed an unforgivable line when she claims herself to be a mother as she said such unspeakable things to another child and you all just stand there and encourage her just because she is of Royal blood. For shame all of you, for shame." The person caste a disgusted look at everyone and they all pulled back as if she had struck them "Being Royalty does not give you an excuse to be a pig and not even the Emperor himself should be allowed to act in such a manner."

    She gave them one last look before going over to Rime and stooping down next to him placing a hand on his back "Look to me Rime, I promised I would be here, I''m sorry I''m late." Rime looked up and another sob broke free as he shot forward wrapping himself around the woman who massaged his back, Cyra looked and saw the woman and ran over to her throwing herself around her. "Shoo my children it will be okay, I will make the pain go away and this day as it should have truly been."

    She placed a kiss on each of their heads and Rime and Cyra fell into sleep, she placed them down and stood causing everyone to look at them in shock, before they looked up at the woman who no longer wore a smile. "Let tomorrow be as today, let the light shine bright, happiness be found and let evil remain in its dwelling place." As she said the last line she looked at Burne''s mother and then she slammed her staff on the ground three times knocking everyone out.

    ^^

    Rime and Cyra woke up and prepared for the day, they wished the woman good day and headed out the castle. They made it to the gathering of people and bumped into Burne and Idina who gave them the good news before they decided to head inside. They were surprised when they found their seats but decided, to just sit and Burne and Idina told them all the things that happened while they weren''t present until the Dean made his way onto the stage.

    The Mage wasn''t far behind him, followed by the minister of Education, Minister of Defense, the Lycan and the Teachers of the Royal Academy. They all stood in front of their chairs and watched as everyone piled into the auditorium before the Dean cleared his throat and began his speech. Soon he stepped back and the Arch Mage took his place to make his speech, he stepped aside and the minister of Education took his place and began calling out names, deciding to call Rime and Cyra up as one.

    They went up and collected their many Degrees, badges and awards for topping the whole academy, when they were finished they went back to take their seats allowing Idina to go up. She was soon followed by Burne and one by one the other graduating students made their way up, soon all the children had gone up and a few more speeches were made before the ceremony was brought to an end. Rime and Cyra had ruble lifting all their things as the other students servants came to collect there''s.

    But Rime jumped as he felt another chain appear around his neck and looked to see it was black with a red box like gem attached to it and a similar ring appeared on Cyra''s finger. Rime arched his brow and watched as the tiny box opened and everything he was holding vanished into the chain, Cyra''s ring did the same thing before they both shut and Rime and Cyra were left a bit dumbfounded but just brushed it off and headed out the Auditorium behind everyone.

    "So what do you want to do now?" Rime asked Cyra as he looked down at her with a smile.

    "Can we go to the fair, there''s this giant round thing that takes you around and around, I just wanna sit on that for a bit." She spoke softly and looked up at Rime returning his smile.

    He nodded and they decided to walk stopping to buy a few sweets and pickled treats for him and Cyra, when they finally reached the fair was in full swing. Rime could see children Cyra''s age running around the grounds with their friends, laughing and screaming, he could see them being hugged by their parents as things were bought for them and he couldn''t help but feel apologetic to his sister. Everything that she could have had was taken away because of him and now all he wanted to do was give her everything back, he was in debt to her and he would spend the rest of his life paying the debt back.

    Cyra was unaware of the thoughts that raced around her brother''s head as she pulled him along into the fairgrounds and headed straight for the ferris wheel. When they reached there was only a short line and Cyra looked so pleases as she rocked back and forth on her heels. Some time had passed but soon they were getting on the ferris wheel and it was going up into the sky, Cyra took out some of her sweets and ate as she watched up at the sky.

    They went on three times before Cyra wanted to switch to the merry go around, when it was their turn Rime sat her on a horse and stood next to it as the ride begun and the horse started going up and down making Cyra giggle. They went on several more rides and then played some games, Rime managing to win Cyra three teddies that were bigger than her. One of them was a long dragon that she wrapped around herself for the rest of the night.

    When it was time for the to go Rim decided it might be too dangerous to walk home so he jumped them to outside the school gates and they were let in quickly. They went to the house and the woman opened the door for them, congratulating them before she lead them to the roof so they could sit under the stars as she explained the chain and ring they had apparently gotten from the Arch Mage. Cyra was all too excited to get her things out and set them up in their room before she prepared for bed and went to sleep surrounded by the toys that Rime had both won and bought for her.

 Chapter Twenty Seven^

    A few months later.

    Rime pulled his hair up into a ponytail and grabbed up the shield off of the ground going over to the center of the ring "okay now attack me like you want to kill me, otherwise I''ll knock you on your ass." Someone gasped from the stand and Rime rolled his eyes not even turning to look at whoever it was as he kept his attention on his opponent.

    "Are you sure it''s safe?" Empress Elmira asked in an unsure voice making Rime sigh.

    "Of course it''s safe, I''m holding a shield I''m not going to hurt you with this, even if I did by accident your husband would have my neck." Elmira shook her head and said that she meant if it was safe for him because she knew he wouldn''t hurt her. "Yes I am safe, you''ve just begun learning to fight Elmira you can''t hurt me just yet and even if you scratch me or something our resident healer is sitting right there."

    He nodded to Cyra who was sitting in the stands with Princess Jenirus, who was sitting next to her showing as she showed her how to make a flower grow in just a glass of water. The Empress nodded and Rime smiled "okay so just attack me, say I''m trying to kill you and you have to defend yourself, what would you do?" Rime''s eyes widened and he ducked as the sword came flying through the air straight for him.

    "Okay fine that is one way to go but it is wrong and you could be killed in the next second if you had done that with an actual attacker." The Empress looked at him apologetically and shrugged, he picked up her sword and carried it back over to her placing it in her hands before he took a few steps back. " Okay now attack me by keeping your weapon in hand." The Empress broke into a run and tried to swing her sword but it was too heavy for her so it fell to the ground taking her with it and Rime had to bite back his laugh.

    Her attendants ran into the ring and quickly helped her up dusting her off, Rime sighed and went to pick up the sword. "As much as you''re royalty, when someone comes to attack you these attendants will not be there to pick you up when you fall because they''ll be too busy running for their lives, so get it together." The Empress nodded and dusted off herself after she sent her attendants back to the stands.

    "Can I get a different weapon, that is too heavy all it''ll do is put me in more danger rather than help me."

    Rime nodded "I get it, gimme a second and I''ll see what I can get you." The Empress nodded and went to the stand so she could get some water while Rime made his way to a large stand that held different types of weapons on it and decided to grab the double sided scythe. The Empress say him going to the center of the ring and quickly ran over to him. Rime spun the scythe around and tossed it in the air.

    He caught it back and then looked to Elmira "Okay so this here is a double bladed scythe, it is like fighting with a staff, which means it''s going to be light and it will be easy for someone of your size to toss it around and do some real damage. Better yet you can split it in two and that will give you more options on how to take down your opponent, but of course you can''t start off with the actual weapon so I''ll have them make a practice version and we''ll continue weapon training tomorrow."

    Rime went quickly to the Royal blacksmith and placed his order before he came back "Okay in the meantime we''ll do some simple exercises. In case your attacker shows his face before you can properly fight you need to be able to get away so you need to be able to run fast so all in all, you just need to catch me." Rime took off running soon as he finished the sentence and the Empress watched him in shock for a minute before she ran after him.

    They spent the rest of the hour doing that and it was safe to say that Elmira never caught Rime, even when obstacles were placed in front of him in order to slow him down. The Empress collapsed on the ground trying to take in air as she sweated bullets and Rime stood a ways away from her barely out of breath. He watched as he attendants rushed over to her and he shook his head deciding to call it a day as he headed to the stands where Cyra was waiting for him with a towel and a glass of water.

    "I can see that isn''t going as well as you''d hoped." Rime shook his head, he thought with being royalty the Empress would have at least had basic fighting skills but she had none whatsoever and Rime wondered what that was about. "Anyway we need to go to the Emperor and discuss her and the Princess''s training, the Princess is a fast learner when it comes to magic but I fear she might have the same problem as the Empress when it comes to the combat area."Stolen story; please report.

    "Yeah I think since she''s small and doesn''t have you aptitude for combat we should just have her learn some exercises that would just help with the flow of her energy and strengthening her muscles so when she does start training it won''t be a tragic mess." Cyra nodded and went over to the Princess taking her hand and leading her out of the stands with her guards and attendants not too far behind."

    Rime went back over to the Empress and escorted her out of the training area "I need to clean up myself and then make a trip to the Grand Temple, a few children have been born to the Royal family and they asked for my presence at the blessing."

    "I don''t think you should go my lady." One of her attendants spoke up drawing everyone''s attention "They could just be inviting you to gloat in your face, because you have not yet had a child by the Emperor.

    "I think that''s exactly why you should go, let them gloat and you can show them that at the end of the day you are the Empress and there is nothing they can do to change that." Rime ignored the stares as he went on "You not having a child as yet does not make you less of an empress, it doesn''t make you less of a woman or any of the bad things these people wish to say about you. No it makes you intelligent because you and your husband know that you are not yet ready to have a child and you''re not rushing it just because of some nosy rats that claim they''re better than you, knowing that they are not."

    The Empress smiled and rose her head just a little feeling happy that someone understood why her and the Emperor had not had a child as yet. They finally made their way to the part of the Palace that held all the rooms and Rime waited for the Empress to safely enter her room before he vanished from the spot appearing in the showers for the training area. He stripped down from his training clothes and took a quick shower.

    He dried down his skin and hair before he oiled and brushed through it, he got dressed quickly and pulled on his cloak before he headed out the shower area. He appeared at the head of the hall that lead to the Emperor and Empresses room, he watched as Cyra came down the hall with Princess Jenirus and her guards. He could hear their conversation as they got closer "Are you sure I can go with the Empress, uncle told me that little girls shouldn''t be involved in things like this."

    "That is the stupidest thing I''ve ever heard, those babies are your cousins, so that makes you family and family should always attend things like this, don''t listen to your uncle he seems quite foolish." Cyra spoke with a shake of her head and Rime smiled at the way she talked even though she was still six.

    "Little Princess I think you should listen to your uncle, he is older than this girl so he must know what he is talking about."

    "No one asked you anything so shut your mouth, you''re not allowed to talk to my friends like that because she''s smarter than all the adults combined." The Princess said stubbornly and Rime chuckled at their antics even though something was starting to bother him with the way the two attendants were acting, but he decided to just keep an eye on them for the time being.

    The Empress soon came out of her room decked out in a long gold gown that had a train flowing behind her, her hair was pulled into an elegant bun and her crown was sitting on top of her head. Rime looked to see she and the Princess were dressed similarly except the bottom of the princess''s dress was like a long tutu and her blonde hair was flowing down in massive curls with her tiara sitting on top.

    Everyone greeted each other and then headed down the way they stopped at the Emperors office, the Emperor sat behind his desk writing away on a parchment. He looked up when he heard the Empress and Princess enter and smiled at them, he got up from his desk and went over hugging each of them. "Have a safe trip and make sure you stay with Rime and Cyra so in case of anything they can get you out of there, I will not lose the two of you, okay?"

    The Empress nodded and kissed the Emperor softly before allowing him to palace a kiss on the princess''s head and then they were off. They headed down the halls and soon came to the entrance of the palace, where all the guards that stood there bowed to them, the doors open and just before they walked through two gold cloaks were placed on the shoulders of the Empress and Princess. They walked out to the Palace grounds where three carriages sat in wait for them.

    Rime helped the Empress and Princess into the carriage and then got Cyra in before jumping in himself and closing the door behind him not allowing anyone else to enter. There were a few objections but there was nothing they could do as the servants made their way to the other carriages that held the guards. The Empress stared at Rime questioning lee and he just smiled. The Carriage drivers commanded the horses to pull the carriages, pulling them through the gate and onto the main road.

 Chapter Twenty Eight^

    Rime looked out the carriage window watching as they passed the fountain and then they begun to go pass stores and homes, a mix of both. Then they passed the Royal Academy and Rime smiled at the thought of going to visit the woman and one of the few places he was happy to call his home, though it hit him that he had never been in the garden. He shook his head, it was probably for good reason but he guessed his curiosity could take him over another time.

    He felt the carriage come to a stop and he watched as Cyra set aside the book she and the Princes were reading and she started looking around, the eyes landed on him "an hour more before we reach the Temple, there should be no stops." Rime nodded and pulled his hood over his head and his mask over his face before getting out the carriage to see that a few carriages were passing in front of theirs.

    He walked forward and could see the guards trying to get the man to just stop the carts but the person refused giving them some excuse, his body was relaxed until he saw a mage approaching him and he went stiff. The man''s eyes looked to the side and Rime followed his sight to where a few more carriages were coming and he glared at the man. The man and the guards jumped when Rime made the carriage that was blocking their path shoot out of the way.

    The thing flew into the air and landed in front of the carriages that were coming towards them the one barely coming to a stop before an accident happened. Rime looked at the guards and didn''t have to say anything as they signaled for the Empress''s carriages to start moving, he watched as they went on their way. Then went to the carriage that he had sent flying into the air and with a flick of his finger the thing was on fire and a commotion begun allowing Rime to rejoin the others in the carriage.

    The rest of the ride was without incident and they finally arrived in front of a large white structure that seemed to stretch into the sky, Rime got out and helped Cyra down before Helping Elmira and Jenirus. The guards surrounded them and Rime and Cyra lead them up the steps of the temple and through the large columns. A tall curvy woman walked up to meet them and gave a light bow, before her river blue eyes met Rime''s.

    "We were not expecting the company of a young mage today, I should have been told of this, I would have made the proper accommodations." she spoke in a way that made Rime stare at her questioningly.

    "Whatever accommodations you have will work just fine, you can just pretend we aren''t here." Cyra spoke up not even look at the woman who seemed offended at what she said and another red flag shot up.

    Rime looked at Cyra and she nodded, they walked in the temple and followed the woman down the corridor into a large room where royal guards were lined off, ready to protect them at any sign of trouble. Rime''s eyes roamed over them and he realized that they were the actual guards which meant some of the people weren''t involved in whatever trouble was brewing. They walked to the front and the Empress and Princess greeted their family standing up to talk about the babies.

    Cyra kept her eyes on the Priestess the entire time trying to see what she was hiding because she too was smart enough to pick up on the fact that something wasn''t right. Everyone took their seats and Rime and Cyra stood on guard, the priestess spoke and asked for the first child and that''s when Rime and Cyra were sure they were right. The Duchess stepped forward with her child and the Priestess smiled reaching for the child.

    But before she could touch the baby Rime shot forward and slammed himself into her sending her flying across the room, everyone looked on in shock and the Duchess''s guards ran and surrounded her. Everyone was left staring between Rime and the woman, trying to figure out what to do, but the woman let out a loud screech and stood up with a start. She threw off her head dress and tore at the white gown so she was left standing in a black under suit.

    "Illusionist!" Rime heard Cyra shout it out before she got among the members of the Royal family and clasped her hands together, she shut her eyes and begun to say something fast until a transparent shield appeared around the family. Rime nodded and rushed forward as the Royal Guards and Golden Dragons formed an outer shield around Cyra''s own. The woman shouted something and suddenly four other people that were the exact copy of her appeared.

    They started bouncing around and soon Rime lost track of who the real one was, so he opened his chain and pulled out his large behemoth sword. He threw it at the first one he saw and she tried to dodge out of the way by flicking away but the sword followed her every step and then when she couldn''t move anymore the sword flew through her and she burst into a cloud of dust. He reached out his hand and the sword shot into it and he didn''t waste time in tossing it at another one.

    He pulled out his silver scythe and shot across the room to attack the next one, but the woman made her own sword appear the other hers doing the same thing, so they could fight off the sword that came after them one at a time. His scythe slammed into the woman''s sword and then he hooked it and threw it across the room, she looked stunned for a second and Rime used that distraction to spin his scythe around knocking her head off. The separated body parts burst into dust clouds and then vanished, he had managed to take down three of them when he heard loud yelling and looked to the entrance of the temple.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Everyone except Cyra turned to see what was happening and Rime''s eyes widened at the line of beast men that stood by the Temple "How the hell did they get through our borders?!" the head of the Golden Dragons yelled and Rime shook his head. The Golden Dragon let out a roar and his men moved from surrounding the shield to going and forming a line of their own across from the beast men. Rime closed his eyes and took a deep breath an image of the Arch Mage popping in his head.

    ^

    The man in question was still sitting in the Emperor''s office when he heard Rime''s voice echo in his head and he tilted his head to listen to what his young apprentice had to say. The Arch Mage shot to his feet startling the Emperor and other people that were in the room who all gave him questioning looks. "Some of the beast men have gotten through our borders and it looks like they had set a trap for the Empress and Princess."

    The Emperor shot to his feet and ran to grab up his cloak and sword "take me there, I have to get them!"

    The Arch Mage shook his head and the Emperor moved to protest but the older male was having none of it "That may be exactly what they want, stay here and have the Whispers make sure that none of them have infiltrated the Palace and I swear I will bring your wife and child home to you." The Arch Mage didn''t wait for the Emperors reply as he flashed through the palace and soon he was out the gate and flashed to the temple.

    ^

    Rime didn''t notice the appearance of his teacher as he attacked the illusionist, in the time it had taken the Arch Mage to get her Rime had managed to kill the last clone. And was now using both his sword and scythe to attach the original woman who was now wielding two swords to fight them off. Rime shot forward and then flicked over her swinging his scythe to run a long gash down her back, the woman screamed out and faltered for a second before attacking again.

    She seemed to forget about the sword as she went for blood and Rime used that to his advantage sending the sword into her back, the blade piercing through her only stopping when it hit the hilt. The woman stopped her movement and coughed, black blood came out of her mouth and she dropped to her knees. The illusion of a human that she was wearing crumbled to reveal a viper beast woman who collapsed to the ground.

    Rime checked her to see she was still breathing and pulled a set of shackles from his chain placing them on her and setting them with a quick binding spell so she couldn''t o anywhere even if she was faking being unconscious. Rime ran over to where Cyra was still managing to hold the Shield as the Princess begun to grow a wall of poisonous flowers just inside of it, the flowers growing up the shield hiding them from view.

    Rime nodded and went to go join the fight as the Arch Mage rushed over to him and grabbed his arm making Rime stop and look at him "They are using the same magic that that woman had used, but this version is stronger for everyone that a guard takes out two more appears so you need to take them out."

    Rimes eyes widened and he shook his head "I am not allowed to use my magic in public if someone of them sees it and manages to escape, our back up plan could be ruined, so you do something old man!" Rime snatched his arm from the Arch Mage''s grip and ran to join the fight. He called for the guards to move back and once they did he reached his hand out a spark coming to life in each before fire exploded from his palms and caught hold of some of the beast men.

    They screamed and screamed until some burst into clouds of dust and vanished while some collapsed on the floor and Rime knew that he had taken out some of the real beast. They watched as for a second there was only a few beast men and then clones started popping up like flies and Rime''s eyes widened. They were twice as much people than there was before and all he could do was stare at him for a bit before the Golden Dragon attacked again and they all joined in.

    Rime moved to go fight but then it hit him, he needed to kill all of the original beast men at once and there was only two types of magic that could do that, His magic and the magic of a water Guardian, Rime pictured Cyra and called to her, he watched as the shield around the plants vanished and within a second she was standing in front of him. Rime got down on his knees and placed his hands on her shoulders "do you remember that time you sucked all of the water out of the soil and made it bone dry?"

    Cyra nodded and Rime gave her a sad smile "i need you to do that to those beast men, it''s the only way we can save everyone so do you think you can do it?"

    Cyra frowned but nodded Rime called to the Arch Mage and told him the plan, the older male frowned but nodded to the idea. With a click of his fingers all of the royal guards appeared behind them and a clear wall dropped in front of them separating the humans and then beast men. Cyra looked at Rime "I don''t want to see it." Rime nodded and turned her around placing his hands over her eyes.

    Cyra took a deep breath and she pictured what she had done with the earth and everyone watched in horror as a large orb formed in the air and all the beast men became nothing but dried husk who fell to the ground.

    Rime turned Cyra around and snatched her up vanishing from the spot.

 Chapter Twenty Nine^

    Rime appeared in front of the Royal Academy holding Cyra in his arms, the guard that was there gave them a once over and then the gates opened. Rime stepped through the seal that surrounded the academy thanks to the Grand Mother that lived on it''s grounds, he flashed to where the old castle was and spoke the pass. The castle slowly appeared and the doors opened, the woman rushed out and took Cyra from his arms before rushing them inside.

    She lead them into the library and a glass of water appeared in her hands, she handed it to Cyra and allowed her to drink it down. When she was finished she took the glass and it vanished, she placed a kiss on Cyra''s head and she drifted off to sleep. She was taken to their room and then Rime and the Grand Mother stood on the balcony in her office. "I saw what happened, she was never meant to use her magic like that, that was your job."

    Rime nodded leaning on the ledge with a sigh, she rubbed my back. "It''s okay, I do understand that it was never your decision to make, if you hadn''t done it our kingdom would have been in trouble. You too should rest, the Arch Mage is on his way here, I will have a talk with him, okay?"

    She ran her hands through his hair and placed a kiss on his head, Rime was out in a second and she flashed him to his room. She listened and could hear the Arch Mage''s voice, she felt her blood boil as she flashed to the door and opened them. The old man watched her with a slight frown and walked up, she couldn''t hold her anger back as the sound of her slapping him echoed through the room.

    "Are you daft Sigmer, how could you allow the girl to do something so dangerous?!" She snapped at him and the Arch Mage looked ashamed which she thought he should. "You know that doing something like that could corrupt her magic and would tear her apart, if Rime only found out he would kill you and I would not stop him. You ever put my children in such danger again, I will have your soul and you will live out eternity in agony!"

    She spun on her heels and walked into the castle the Arch Mage not far behind, she walked into the library and walked straight through the hall. She continued to walk even as she came up to the glass wall for the library, her body went through it with ease and the Arch Mage followed.

    "You know if I could Jasaara I would but these things do not lie in my hands, I have no right to make the decisions for this kingdom, all I can do is lead from the shadows." She walked down a path that appeared as she moved and the Arch Mage waited for her reply, she stopped walking and he sighed.

    "She warned us that leaving the kingdom in the hands of that family would be a mistake we would regret. I entrusted your family in taking back this kingdom from those who can not protect it, after everything she did to build it will you truly let it fall? She will never come home if that ever happens and soon we will need her, you have seen the disaster that going down this path will bring us, so why do you falter?"

    The Arch Mage sighed and sat on a chair that appeared behind him. "If I try and take back the kingdom now it will fall and she will never come back. I must wait till after the war and then I will begin the process, it will still damage the Kingdom but we will be able to rebuild it. That is the only way to save it, and as for the siblings I will try to keep them safe, but if the Emperor commands that they go to war then they must."

    The Grand Mother let out a scream and the plants around her shrunk before returning to their full height. "Do not mess this up, I want my mother back and I will not live without her, you fail and your life is mine, now leave!"

    The Arch Mage stood and gave a small bow before he vanished from the castle, the Grand Mother sighed and took a seat where the Arch Mage had just been. "Sibelius come to me my love." The ground shook and a large creature that looked like a cat but was made of night came and sat by her feet. She ran her hands on it and it seemed to vanish before it appeared, she just sat there until night fell.

    ^^^

    It was early the next day that Rime and Cyra awoke, they were ready in a few minutes and went to find the Grand Mother who stood in the kitchen. They watched as the kitchen prepared breakfast for them and then it floated on the table, they sat and ate in silence until they were finished. "How are you feeling children, were you able to rest well?" Cyra and Rime nodded as they left the kitchen and made their way down the hall so they could leave the castle.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    They wished her a good day and flashed to the Palace as soon as they left the Academy grounds. The Golden Dragon allowed them to enter once they reached the gates and walked with them until they were in the Emperor''s office. The man in question looked up at them with a smile and stood up to shake both of their hands. "I was told what you two had done to keep my family safe and I hope to pay you back well some day."

    Rime and Cyra gave a small bow and the Emperor sat back in his chair. "The Arch Mage is on his way, when he arrives we must go down to the grand hall. After yesterday''s incident I have called an emergency meeting, our generals, mages and everyone necessary will be there. Of course the two of you must be present, since it is thanks to you that this kingdom was able to resist a heavy blow from the beast-men."

    Rime and Cyra nodded standing in silence until the Arch Mage made his way in the room with the Empress and Princess. Everyone exchanged greeting and soon they were making their way to the meeting room. Rime could sense the whispers that encircled them as they moved, keeping pace with the Emperor. They soon came upon the room and the whispers entered first, they swept the room and then signaled for the Emperor to enter.

    The Emperor helped the Empress and Princess to take their seats and sat himself before the Arch Mage took his seat. Rime and Cyra sat in the stands with the other people, the Emperor begun to speak and the room went silent. "So the news of what happened yesterday has spread through the Kingdom, the people are frightened and chaos is sure to follow the panic if nothing is done. I need for my people to feel safe or the war might turn out to be one big disaster."

    The Golden Dragon was the first to stand and the Emperor gave him the go ahead to speak. "We were able to locate the Priestess, she was unharmed, they had put her in some sort of sleep and she was able to wake on her own. She said that they cane under the cover of refugee''s, they had asked her for some food and a place to rest. And then the next thing she remembered was waking up int the medical ward."

    The Emperor nodded and stroked his chin. "The report from the town came and there was no attack on any other buildings just the temple. Somehow they were able to obtain the information that the Empress and Princess would be there. We are currently screening all of the patrons of the Temple and anyone that would have access to it, the full report will be in by tonight." The Emperor hummed and the Golden dragon took his seat.

    A woman dressed in black from head to toe stood and bowed. "Word has come from the boarders, there is no breach in the walls and all stand as strong as they were when we first put them up. We scanned the mages and everyone there and found a shape shifter among the ranks, she spoke not a word. We still have her under interrogation along with the illusionist, they will break eventually."

    Rime stood and everyone looked at him, some mumbling that he shouldn''t even be in the room. "At the first meeting we were told that the barriers would grow in strength because magic would slowly be fed into them. But we were just told that they were only as strong as they were when they were put down. We would like to know why that is the case and if their was a problem why weren''t we told of it?"

    The woman looked a bit dumbfounded as all eyes turned to her and she cleared her throat. "The walls are growing stronger, what I meant when I said that was that they have not gotten weaker."

    Cyra stood and shook her head. "There is a problem at the barriers and it could cost our people their lives, speak now!"

    The woman swallowed and looked to the Emperor that was now staring daggers into her, even the Princess was paying attention. "We have been feeding magic into the barriers to make it stronger but it remains the same, I was told not to say anything until it was fixed, I''m sorry your Majesty."

    The Emperor frowned. "Who told you not to speak of this and where are they?"

    The woman looked around. "The Lycan." Her answer sounded more like a question and within a second the Arch Mage had his hand around her neck.

    Her back hit the floor and everyone was on their feet. "You lie, we know this because the Lycan has never been to the barrier, she is not in charge of the barriers, because her magic is not strong enough. Who sent you and how did you get behind our walls?!"

    The woman smiled and Rime and Cyra rushed over to the princess and the Empress flashing them from the room just as it went black. They appeared in the Emperors room and with a flick of Cyra''s hand all the windows and doors were shut and a barrier was formed around them.

    Rime formed fire balls in his hand and it lit up the room, the Empress pulled the Princess to her and stooped down as her eyes flicked around. "Mama I''m scared." The Empress nodded and continued to hold onto her.

 Chapter Thirty^

    It seemed like a lifetime had passed of them waiting in fear before Rime heard the sound of the Arch Mage¡¯s voice in his head. The Arch Mage quickly gave him the all clear before his voice vanished and Rime let the flames go out as the light came back to the room. He faced the Empress who was now holding the sleeping Princess, during the commotion the Prince¡¯s had become scared so the Empress asked him to put her to sleep.

    He walked over and took her into his arms and left his sister to help the Empress to her feet so they could head out of the room. Within a few minutes they were standing in the Emperor¡¯s office with the Arch Mage and the Emperor who made sure his wife and child were okay before he faced the other people in the room.

    ¡°Over the many years that I have lived in this palace, I have thought it to be the safest place for me and my family, today I was proven wrong. The palace may now be the most unsafe place for me and my family, because now that the beast men have infiltrated the Kingdom we will be their sole target. If I or any member of my family were to be killed the Kingdom would fall into panic and if that happens then it is the end of our kind.

    Everything that the great first had done would be for nothing, we would go back to what we started as and that is not a faith I would wish on anyone. The main problem we have now is finding these people, from what the shape shifter told us, we know that they only sent those of her kind. And that leaves us hoping that there aren¡¯t many of her kind but we could never be sure.

    That¡¯s why we¡¯re calling all of our available Mages in, we¡¯re going to purge this kingdom, but sadly we don¡¯t have time to check it one at a time. So I¡¯ve decided to make this as a form of training for our newly graduated students from the Royal Academy. Unfortunately we have to test and see if they are ready for war and this will be the perfect way to test it.

    We will form ten groups of six; they will consist of one seasoned Mage and one seasoned Fighter, whether they¡¯re from our Armored Vipers or Wolfs Bane. The other four will be our recently graduated pupils, one mage, one hunter, one soldier and one priestess. For the Arch Mage¡¯s new apprentices we¡¯ll make an exception and send them out with each other and two other students as per the Arch Mage¡¯s request.

    Now as for the Empress and Princess, I have been given the Grand Mother¡¯s permission to keep them with her until this is all over. It is best that they are with her, so just in case something that we are all praying never happens does. As for our citizens the locations for the inner barriers have been set up, when the ten teams have purged the villages, we will move out citizens from the outer villages to the barriers.¡± He looked up at everyone who gave a bow before piling out of the room.

    Rime and Cyra watched as the Emperor made his way over to the Empress and Princess who had just awoken, he pulled them into a tight hug and placed a kiss on each of their heads. The Princess held onto her father and started sniffling as he talked quietly to her. The Empress had a sad smile on her face as she listened to what he had to say, when they were finished talking they shared one last hug and kiss and then made their way over to the Arch Mage.

    ¡°I will take them to the Grand Mother, Rime and Cyra when I return you will tell me who you wish to partner with and then we will get you ready.¡± The Arch Mage didn¡¯t wait for a reply as he vanished from the spot with the Empress and Princess.

    Rime and Cyra looked to the Emperor who wore a frown as he stared at where his wife and child once stood.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll see them again and when you do everything will be better and you¡¯ll get to spend more time with them.¡± The Emperor looked at Cyra as she spoke and a small smile stole his features, he nodded to her in thanks and returned to his desk to continue his work.

    Rime and Cyra decided to leave the office and head out of the palace; they already had in mind who they wanted to partner with. Although they had spent most of their school life avoiding making any friends, there were only two people they could trust not to stab them in the back at any given time. It did cross their minds that they were both of royal blood and sending them off to hunt for infiltrators is not something their parents would be happy with. But at this point they were considered adults and could make decisions for themselves and Rime was sure they would want to do it.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    They appeared in front of large gold gates that were just a bit smaller than the ones for the palace, instead of dragons being carved on it there were Golden Pheasants. A female guard dressed in black from head to toe appeared in front of the gate and gave a light bow, she opened the gates and allowed them to come in. ¡°The Duke has sent me to fetch you, follow me.¡±

    Rime and Cyra looked at each other before following along, the woman lead them down a pathway and not too far off was a large villa. It was painted pearl white and seemed to have a shimmer of gold set around it, Rime looked at the guard and felt like she didn¡¯t belong. A male guard dressed in gold from head to toe opened the door and bowed lightly.

    They were lead into the villa and up a grand stairs that had golden banisters; they were lead into a large room just off the stairs where Burne and Idina were sitting next to each other. They looked up when Rime and Cyra entered the room and with a nod of Idina¡¯s head the guard vanished and the door shut. Burne was dressed from head to toe in gold and seemed to blend in with the room, unlike Idina who contrasted it drastically because of her usual getup of all black.

    ¡°You are the last two persons I ever expected to have knocking at my door.¡± Burne smiled as he spoke and Idina gave a short nod of agreement. Rime and Cyra walked further into the room and took a seat in the couch that sat across from the young couple. ¡°So what can we do for you or did you come around for a friendly chat?¡±

    Rime shook his head and gave a small smile of his own. ¡°There¡¯s a bit of trouble in the kingdom and we were told to pick two people we would like to go along with us to purge it. Naturally you were the only two that came to mind.¡±

    Idina had sat forward at the mention of the word trouble and her relaxed posture had changed to one of readiness. ¡°I hope it¡¯s not what I¡¯m thinking but then that would be the only reason you two would show up at our door step.¡± Rime and Cyra gave her their full attention as they waited for her to continue. ¡°We have intruders in the kingdom and the Emperor wants them gone before he moves forward with any plans for the Empire?¡±

    Rime and Cyra didn¡¯t have to ask how she knew, because she was happy to answer the unspoken question. ¡°My uncle works under the King Cobra himself and my father has asked him to keep us updated, so in case of any trouble we can be ready. He said there were reports of trouble at the borders and they had only recently gotten a report that there were a few holes in the barrier.

    My father called a family meeting and informed us of this, we¡¯ve been preparing for news like this for close to a month now.¡± She shrugged with the last word and Rime narrowed his eyes at her, Burne immediately put his hand in front of her.

    ¡°Hey we thought that this was a known fact among the Emperor¡¯s people, but they were just keeping it quiet as to not cause panic among the people.¡±

    Rime sighed and shook his head. ¡°No we didn¡¯t find out today and¡­¡± He quickly looked around and Idina nodded. ¡°What I¡¯m about to tell you is between us and you two, anyone finds out the Whispers have been given orders to take care of them.¡± Idina and Burne nodded ¡°Someone infiltrated the palace today; they got in one of the meetings where the Emperor, Empress and Princess were in attendance.

    Cyra was the one to pick up on it and I don¡¯t have to tell you the kind of commotion it caused, but because of that the newly graduated students from the Royal Academy are going to be sent to purge to kingdom of the intruders. We were given permission to go on our own but we need two other persons, so would you like to go with us, or not?¡±

    Idina arched a brow and clasped her hands. ¡°So we¡¯re being offered the chance to go on a field trip with the two greatest apprentices of our continents history and you honestly expect us to say no?¡± Rime sighed and she smirked. ¡°Just let us know what we need and when we have to go and we¡¯ll be there.¡±

    ¡°Okay, but we need to go now, the Arch Mage wants to see the two of you and we need to get ready, from what I gather we¡¯ll be heading out in a day or so.¡± Rime and Cyra stood up and watched as the couple vanished before returning with their cloaks on and each carrying a sack. Idina lead them out the room and down the stairs, as soon as the exited the door they were joined by five guards.

    Four of them decked out in black from head to toe and clearly women and one man that was dressed in gold armor that glinted in the sunlight as they walked. Rime wondered if it was truly necessary for the guard in gold to be with them, as far as he was concerned, the guard¡¯s only purpose was to draw attention to them and that was something he wasn¡¯t very fond of.

    Luckily when they reached the gate all he did was open it and let them out and locking it after them before he vanished from the spot. Rime took hold of Idina¡¯s and Burne¡¯s hands with Cyra holding onto Idina¡¯s other hand, a few seconds later all four of them stood in front of the palace gates. The Armored Drtagon looked them over and came to the gate to quickly tell them that the Arch Mage had told them to meet him at the Mage¡¯s society.

    With a nod they flashed from the spot and appeared in front of tall black gothic gates, iron Raven¡¯s sat perched on the gate and their heads were turned in different directions, with the largest one looking down at them. Burne gulped loudly and Idina rolled her eyes as the gates opened and soon they were walking through them.

 Chapter Thirty One^

    When they passed the gates and headed into the society Rime and Cyra glanced at Burne and Idina to watch their reactions; as they came face to face, with over a dozen cottages that surrounded a large oak tree which reached into the sky. Burne¡¯s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open while the only response Idina gave was a raise of her eyes brow.

    The sight was not something that anyone would expect to see when they visited the Mage¡¯s Society and that was exactly why it had been built like that. On the outside it looked friendly and welcoming but when you went into the cottages and passed the barrier you would be met with a sight that would frighten any untrained person.

    Rime and Cyra had been there on many occasions for both their training and to carry out their apprenticeship that every Mage in the society knew was just for show. It was because they had been there so many times they knew which cottage to go in to get to the Arch Mage.

    It was the one that was furthest away from the entrance but closest to the tree and while all the other cottages were painted in soft colors this one was painted in a deep mauve. Rime and Cyra knocked on the door twice and then pushed it open; they were met with the sight of a cozy sitting area that smelt like freshly baked cookies.

    They walked straight through the door that was across the room and headed down the stairs that every single cottage had. Each cottage was connected to the other by a large area by a set of cellars that all lead to an underground city. Only Mage¡¯s and those they seemed fit were given entrance to the city and anyone who forced themselves in soon wished they hadn¡¯t.

    They walked down the stairs and straight down a hall and up another set of stairs going straight into an office. The Arch Mage sat at his desk and next to him stood his wife, Marsala the second high witch to have ever existed. She was a gorgeous woman that had long auburn hair, honey gold eyes, porcelain skin and a stare that would turn any man to stone.

    She looked them over and gave them a kind smile once she recognized Rime and Cyra from the Academy¡¯s Graduation. ¡°Well look how the little ones have grown; you¡¯re all looking strong and ready for anything. That¡¯s a good thing seeing that you too might have to go to war. Anyways I must be going, a lot to do in so little time.¡± Rime and Cyra couldn¡¯t get a word in because as soon as she finished speaking she vanished from the spot.

    The Arch Mage looked from where his wife was staring to them and then his eyes flicked to Burne and Idina. ¡°Something told me I was going to be seeing the two of you again but I didn¡¯t expect for it to be here. Are these two the one¡¯s you¡¯re picking to go with you, I mean you have so many other options, if you want I could even get two mages to go with you.¡±

    ¡°As much as we wouldn¡¯t call them our friends, we would never be able to doubt the fact that they would never stab us in our backs. And most of the Mage¡¯s in the society never thought that we were deserving of the treatment you gave us. If we go into battle with them, they could kiss us and blame it on an intruder; I won¡¯t take that chance especially when it comes to Cyra.¡±

    The Arch Mage nodded and gave a sigh. ¡°There are foolish people all around, I trust your judgment Rime but if anything happens to the two of you I¡¯m wiping out their entire side of the Royal family and there would be nothing the Emperor could do to save them. Anyways we have much preparing to do, your group will be heading out long before the others because their giving you the more troublesome area to handle.¡±

    The Arch Mage stood up and headed out the very door that they had come through, the siblings knew where he was going. But Burne and Idina followed behind in astonishment at the fact that the Mages seemed to have an entire kingdom of their own that was ruled by the Arch Mage.

    It was basic knowledge in every continent that Mages only bowed to those they deemed stronger than them even though in most cases they would never say it. If the Emperor was to call on them to go to war they wouldn¡¯t budge until they were given the go ahead by the Arch Mage. If the Mage decided that he wanted nothing to do with the war there would be nothing the Emperor could do unless he was looking to start a war between their two kinds and that¡¯s a war he would be sure to lose.

    A few minutes later they came up on large wooden doors that a cloaked mage stood in front of. The mage looked them over and with a wave of her hand the doors opened and she stepped to the side. The Arch Mage lead them into the giant room, a light flashed on and lit up the whole room.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Rime and Cyra looked around the room that was stocked with everything imaginable, anything the Mage population of two thousand needed to survive for a million years could be found in there. Idina showed surprise at the sight before her before her mind went to work and she started gathering what they would need for their trip.

    When they had finished taking all that they needed for the trip, including a bag of gold, silver and copper coins, they followed the Arch Mage out of the room. They went up one of the stairways and into a cottage where a woman with silver eyes met them at the door. She bowed lightly to the arch Mage and then handed him four envelopes.

    The Arch Mage turned to them and gave a light smile. ¡°Now I want you all to go home and get some rest, you will head out tomorrow. These are your passes not that you will need them much and here are extra storage rings for you and your companions.¡±

    Rime and Cyra nodded to the Arch Mage and then headed out of the cottage and exited through the society¡¯s gates. They turned to Burne and Idina ¡°We¡¯ll meet you outside the Academy gates tomorrow morning, we need to head out early without anyone seeing us, word could spread of what we¡¯re trying to do if we¡¯re not careful.¡±

    Idina nodded to them ¡°No one will hear a word of this from us; if they do you have free rights to do as you please with us.¡±

    Rime and Cyra needed to her and then vanished from the spot, they appeared in front of the Academy gates and the guard quickly let the through. They appeared in front of the spot where the Castle stood but when they called to the Grand Mother the castle would not appear.

    Rime and Cyra looked at each other before trying again but once again nothing happened. As they looked around they spotted one of the Ravens that she kept sitting on a tree nearby. When it realized that it was spotted it flew down from the tree and landed on Rime¡¯s arm before it opened its mouth.

    They were surprised when the voice of the Grand Mother came from the raven. ¡°Hello Rime and Cyra, I am sorry to inform you after the fact, but I had to leave, I now have the Empress and Princess in my care and it is my duty to protect them, so I had no choice but to leave without you. I wish I could tell you where I have gone but in case you are captured I cannot risk that you will let slip the location of my castle. So goodbye for now children and I wish you well, until my return.¡±

    As soon as the message was read the Raven took to the sky and flew from Rime and Cyra¡¯s view. They were a bit surprised at the message that the Grand Mother had left them and the fact that she would leave and not leave anything for them. Even after their graduation they had continued to live with the Grand Mother, one because that had become home for them and because she had never asked them to leave.

    They had nowhere else to go and nothing else with them except for what they had just collected from the Arch Mage. Rime nodded to himself after coming to the decision that they would stay at an inn for the night. When they got back from their trip they would figure something else out until the Grand Mother returned, if she did that was.

    It didn¡¯t take them long to find a suitable inn because the Academy wasn¡¯t that far from station where the carriages that traveled to other towns stopped to load off. It was a three story wooden building painted in off white and stood three blocks away from the academy, which meant that its usual guest were either students, teachers or parents.

    When they went in they were greeted by a stout woman with braided blonde locks and soft brown eyes, she had the aura of a mother and Rime guessed that was why she had the type of guest she did. When she saw them enter she was quick to greet them and offer them something to eat before she signed them in and then escorted them to their room.

    The room was a reasonable side, painted white and had two beds that were big enough to fit one person each. There was a small bathroom attached to the room that had a small shower, a toilet and sink. A wardrobe sat in the corner of the room and next to it were two large windows that gave a view of the streets and all the other buildings in the surrounding area.

    Rime waited for the woman to leave before he locked the door and turned to Cyra who was removing her cloak. They agreed that it was best to keep their things in their ring and chain. Rime helped Cyra to settle into bed and waited for her to sleep before doing the same.

    ^^^

    The next morning they woke before the sun so they could prepare and head out early, not only did they have to get to the Academy early but they also needed to stop in town to buy some clothes for their travels. Rime was pleased to find that some of the stores had opened early so they had no trouble buying the things they needed.

    When they reached the Academy gates Burned was standing off to the side while Idina spoke to her guards who seemed restless at the fact that she would be traveling on her own. The fact that she was descended from the first Royal Family didn¡¯t help her in anyway.

    The Beast men would be more than happy to have a descendant of the Great First as their captive, a lot of people would give anything to keep her safe and if anything happened to her while her guards weren¡¯t around they would still be blamed for it and they would be punished swiftly.

    The same went for Burne even though he is a member of the current royal family, but because he was one of five sons his guards were allowed to be a bit more lax with him. The guards finally nodded to whatever Idina had told them and so with a smiled she turned to the others. ¡°Are we all ready to go?¡±