Post by sion on Sept 26, 2008 21:29:19 GMT -5
Ive been fiddling around with the chapters, joining the shorter ones together etc. This chapter is based on my new chapters. It would have been 15 but is now 13, it doesnt replace the previous chapter 13, just continues on from chapter 14.
13
Training
Kreigan woke her early the next morning, waiting in the main room as she got dressed. She was exhausted from spending the entire day before flying. Again she was left only with her short dresses, she grimaced as she noticed the vivid mark and she tugged in vain at the hem, trying to cover it, she gave up and sighed.
‘Is something wrong?’ Kreigan called, hearing her sigh. She pulled back the curtain and smiled at him, still tugging at the hem, ‘Hm? No not really.’ She said with false brightness. He noticed her tugging and his eyes rested briefly on the mark, he then slung his arm around her shoulders and grabbed his bag from the floor. Lizze grabbed her own and allowed Kreigan to steer her through the door.
‘What’s going on?’ Lizze asked as they walked, the corridors were filled with fairies, all seemingly in a hurry, ‘it’s not lesson time yet so where is everyone going?’ she saw China, Slivy, Aran and Denal running towards her and waved, they waved back but didn’t stop.
‘Hey Lizze,’ China said as she rushed past.
‘Hey, sorry, can’t stop,’ Aran also didn’t pause but kept running.
‘See you later,’ Slivy gasped, she was flying over the others heads.
‘We hope.’ Denal added, taking a page out of Slivy’s book and launching himself into the air.
‘Oh um, see ya,’ Lizze murmured, glancing uncertainly at Kreigan.
‘Everyone in the school and castle has duties during the time of an attack. Initial preparations are taking place now, within the next couple of days the evacuation will start, during the evac, preparations will continue and duties will change depending on how events take place.’ A couple of fairies Kreigan’s age ran up to them, almost colliding when another student tried to duck between them.
‘Hey Kreig’ where have you been? We need your help!’ one of them exclaimed, ignoring Lizze.
‘Sorry Gensta, I can’t help you this time, I’ve got something else-’ Kreigan was cut off by one of the other guys.
‘Taking care of her I’ll bet?’ he jerked his head at Lizze who shrunk back slightly at the accusing tone, ‘can’t someone else do that? Just because she used to be a human doesn’t been she need you to baby-sit her, there are plenty of other fairies that could do such a simple thing.’
‘I’m not just “taking care of her”’ Kreigan retorted, squeezing Lizze’s shoulders reassuringly, ‘I’ve got my own duties to carry out and this time they happen to involve Lizze. And she certainly doesn’t need baby-sitting’ the guy sneered slightly and opened his mouth to say something that would no doubt have been rude. He was interrupted however by the arrival of a girl, also the same age.
‘Oh give it a rest,’ she snapped, ‘you guys are so stupid you don’t even know what’s really going on here!’ the guys stared at her as she flashed a grin at Kreigan and Lizze, ‘don’t worry about it Kreig’ I know what’s happening and I’ll take care of everything!’ Kreigan smiled gratefully.
‘Thanks Terra, I appreciate it.’ The girl grinned again and with a push got the guys moving again. They were about to head off again when another voice hailed them, they turned around as Marla skidded to a stop next to them. Bir was right behind her but he didn’t stop, just kept running with a wave as he passed them.
‘Master Fanad wants to see you Lizze.’ Marla gasped, out of breath, ‘you’ll have to keep her company Kreigan, I’ve got to run!’ she ran off again without waiting for an answer, yelling at her brother to wait.
‘Uh who’s Master Fanad?’ Lizze asked as Kreigan pulled her along, ducking onto a narrow staircase that spiralled its way up. The sound was muted and Lizze felt strangely secluded from the hustle and bustle in the hallways.
‘He’s the combat teacher; he teachers every type of combat you can think of, magic as well as physical.’ Kreigan answered, tugging her up the stairs, ‘Taine sure got that timetable set up quick for you!’
‘Yeah, I just hope I get a copy!’ by the time they go to the top of the stairs Lizze was gasping for breath, but didn’t feel as bad when she realised that Kreigan was also out of breath.
‘Uh…’ Kreigan glanced around blankly for a moment and Lizze had the sudden shock of believing they were lost.
‘Um Kreigan?’ she said after a moment, ‘are we lost?’ he glanced at her with an impudent grin and pulled her along.
‘Nah not really,’ he laughed as she rolled her eyes, ‘I just haven’t been up that particular short-cut in a while. Everything looks kinda different. But I know where I’m going now so never fear!’ Lizze laughed as they stopped in front of a door. Kreigan knocked and the door opened. He pushed Lizze in front of him and steered her into the room with firm hands on her shoulders.
‘Ah Kreigan, it’s been a while, I trust you have been doing well.’ The voice came from a man sitting at a desk in the middle of the room. Master Fanad was a lean blood red fairy in his early thirties. She had seen the man around the school but had never known who he was or what he taught. ‘ah, this must be Miss Lizabeth Dale. Taine told me that I would have a new student.’
‘Uh yes I’m Lizze.’ Lizze muttered with a bow of her head. Every one of her teachers were different and she was a little nervous as to what this new one would be like.
‘Don’t look so scared.’ Fanad said kindly and Lizze couldn’t help a blush filling her face, ‘I may be the combat teacher but that doesn’t mean I bash up my students for no reason.’ Behind her Kreigan snorted in disbelief causing Fanad to chuckle, ‘well I suppose I might every now and then.’ He waved to a chair and Lizze sat down as Fanad stared at Kreigan, ‘I am getting the impression that you will not be leaving.’ He said with raised eyebrows. Lizze twisted in her chair to see Kreigan grinning, ‘Yup, I promised her and Master Taine and Marla Sevilla that I’d help her and keep her company.’ A slight smirk appeared on Fanad’s face as he locked eyes with Kreigan who continued to grin.
Fanad sighed, ‘Oh very well, it doesn’t make a difference to me whether I teach one or two.’ He stood up to pace behind his desk, walking the distance of the fairly small office in long strides. ‘Taine has already briefed me on what will be needed so I think we’ll begin today with some basic defence spells. No point in having an offence if you don’t have a defence. Some of this you will know already Kreigan but there is no harm in going over it all.’ Kreigan nodded as Lizze stood up, ‘I have you for three hours this morning so we might as well get started.’ He gestured for them to follow him as he walked out the office, the door shutting on its own as Kreigan stepped trough, his hands once again on Lizze’s shoulders. Fanad led them to a small empty classroom, the tables and chairs were stacked up against one wall leaving most of the classroom empty.
‘No one uses this classroom much so we won’t be interrupted.’ Fanad said, shutting the door behind them, ‘The first spell I will teach you is a very simple shield spell. It will protect you from magical and physical attacks. It’s not really all that strong and it’s not all that practical but it’s a start. Now draw your wands’ the three of them all drew their wands and Fanad turned to face away from them, he muttered an incantation that was fairly long and waved his wand in complex motions at the same time. A bright flash of light exploded from his wand and circled round him, leaving a shimmering bubble in its wake.
‘As you can see, it takes more time than is practical to produce.’ Fanad’s voice was slightly muffled from behind the shield, ‘the incantation is fairly long but it’s not all that hard to learn, it’s quite repetitive, I’ll write it down for you to look at for the moment.’ He lowered the shield at the same time that a scrap of parchment and ink fountain pen appeared in his hands and he wrote the incantation down, handing it to Lizze. Kreigan glanced over her shoulder and quickly read it before stepping back and raising his wand. A second later the light exploded from his wand to create the shield causing Lizze to glare at him, ‘Hey, how come you can do it so easy, ‘ she said as she raised her own wand. Fanad lead her through the wand movements as she read the incantation, a small glimmer of light appeared at the end of her wand, slide down and burned her hand. She shrieked, more in shock than in pain, causing Kreigan to burst out laughing, he laughed so much that his shield fizzled out, Lizze glared at him, ‘Oh shut up you its not that funny!’ she stared reproachfully at him and sucked her hand.
‘Sorry, sorry.’ Kreigan said, getting a hold of himself and coming over to drape an arm over her shoulders, ‘it’s not that it’s funny, it’s just that it reminds me of when I first learnt it. Remember that guy who spoke to us before, Gensta?’ Lizze nodded, scowling at the memory, ‘well the first time he did it nothing happened and the second time his wand tip exploded, burnt all of us standing next to him.’ Lizze sighed and took her hand out of her mouth, glaring at the burn mark, ‘so you’ve already learnt this spell huh?’ Kreigan nodded, ‘no wonder you could do it so easily.’
‘Well my first attempt was basically the same as yours, took me a few times to get it right, don’t worry it wont take you lo-ow!’ a sharp crack interrupted them as Fanad’s wand came down heavily on Kreigan’s head.
‘Enough chatting, this is supposed to be a lesson, not a social gathering.’ Kreigan rubbed his head and stared accusingly at the master, ‘I thought you said you didn’t bash up your students for no reason,’
‘I don’t, I always have a reason, now!’ Kreigan sighed and stepped away from Lizze, ‘your shield is no way near good enough for you to slack off, you must practise more until it is perfect. You must try again.’ He added to Lizze who nodded and raised her wand.
For the rest of the three hours they practised defensive spells, at the end of the lesson Lizze could produce an adequate shield, perform a spell to deflect spells away from her and she had began learning how to extend both shield and spell to encompass other people.
‘You are a quick learner Lizze, I believe I will be able to do much with you.’ Fanad said at they left the classroom, ‘you seem to have quite an aptitude for defensive spells, you make quite the match to Kreigan here who has for more of an aptitude for the offensive spells.’ Lizze smiled wearily, she was too tired to speak and Kreigan slipped an arm round her waist to support her, ‘go have something to each, both of you.’ Kreigan nodded and helped Lizze back down the corridor and down the stairs.
Much of the mayhem had subsided and there were only a few fairies left hurrying around. A fairy a little older than both of them almost collided with them as they stepped off the staircase.
‘Ah there you are, Taine wanted me to pass on a message if I saw you, you have an hour break then you need to head to Demers,’ she rushed off without waiting for an answer.
‘Oh sure that’s fine, your wish is my command, ‘Kreigan muttered under his breath, ‘don’t worry about us, we don’t mind rushing round from one side of the school to the other.’ Lizze giggled and he grinned, steering her in the direction of the kitchens. ‘Nothing’ll be left in the dining hall so we’ll head straight to the kitchens and beg off some food. In the next couple of days there will be a constant supply of food in the dining hall. Everyone ‘cept the youngest students don’t have lessons and its hard to set up consistent meal times. People will be coming and going at all hours, doing all sorts of different things, they’ll eat and sleep whenever they can, in between trying to mentally prepare themselves for what’s going to happen.’ They reached the kitchens and Kreigan stuck his head through one of the massive doors. It was the first time Lizze had actually been to the kitchens and was amazed at how quiet it seemed to be; she had always presumed that they would be bustling and noisy. She slipped next to Kreigan and peered into the huge rooms. As she her head passed the threshold her senses went under a massive assault, her ears were assailed with all sorts of noises, yelling and shouting, good natured abuse and insults were flinging from fairy to fairy as they worked. Too many smells to name or describe filled her nose and her eyes couldn’t keep track of the activity, fairies flew and hurried all over the place, dodging past each other and ducking as plates and platters soared over their heads. Lizze pulled her head back out and the sounds and smells disappeared. She realised it was like the doors in the stables, magicked to keep the sounds in. Kreigan ducked into the huge room and cam out again a moment later, his arms now filled with plates and dishes.
‘It’s always complete mayhem in there.’ He said with an amused shake of his head. ‘Let’s head back to your room and eat.’ He suggested, Lizze nodded, taking a couple of the plate from him and led the way.
‘Kreigan I’ve been wondering,’ Lizze said as they ate.
‘Mm?’
‘Where is it that He will be attacking? Taine said the knowledge would distress us unnecessarily but I really wanna know.’ Kreigan sigh and put down his knife and food, he stared hard at her for a few moments and Lizze could tell he was deciding whether or not to tell her.
‘Well I suppose you’ll find out eventually and at least if I tell you I know that all the facts will be right.’ He sighed again and his gaze wandered out the window, his eyes slightly unfocused. ‘I can’t confirm exactly where He will attack, that information hasn’t come in yet, but we can narrow it down to one of two. The first is a small town not far from here, a five or six hour fairly fast flight. It’s called A-Ansara.’ His voice faltered as he said the name and Lizze threw him a sharp look which he seemed not to notice, ‘the other place He may attack is…’ his voice trailed off for a moment before he took a deep breath and kept on, ‘here, right here in the capital.’ Lizze stared at him shell-shocked.
‘N-no way!’ she stammered, unable to grasp what he was telling her. Kreigan glanced at her pale face and shifted slightly to wrap his arm round her shoulders.
‘Don’t worry about it, all the preparations are designed to minimise the impact and I’ll make sure you’re evacuated long before he arrives.
‘But I’m supposed to do something about him, not run away while others get hurt or taken.’
‘That may be true but no one will expect you to do anything this time.’ He wrapped his other arm around her and hugged her tightly, ‘and besides, I don’t think He will attack here, the defensive spells are the strongest here and while He could get through them it would take him ages. He’ll be more likely to attack A-Ansara.’ Once again his voice faltered but he ignored the look Lizze gave him.
‘When will everyone find out?’
‘Some will already know, others will find out when we know for sure where He will attack.’ He glanced at the clock on the wall and stretched, ‘We better take this stuff back to the kitchens and head off to Demers, he’ll get cranky if we’re late.’ He stacked the dishes and with a wave of his wand, set them floating.
‘Demers is always cranky,’ Lizze said with a slight giggle as they walked out her room, Kreigan glanced at her with approval for her determination to stay cheerful.
They dropped the plates off in the kitchen and headed off in the direction of Demers office. Several fairies glared reproachfully at Lizze as they hurried past and she couldn’t but shrink away from the glares. Kreigan casually slung his arm around Lizze’s shoulders and glared back at the fairies.
The door to Demers’ office was open when they arrived and they walked in, knocking on the doorjamb. Demers was sitting at his desk looking through piles off parchment he was scowling fiercely and the scowl increased when they walked in.
‘I would have thought that Lizze knew her way to my office by now Kreigan Hiaten. I do not see the need for her to have an escort’
‘Lizze knows her way around just fine Master Demers, that’s not why I’m here.’ Kreigan replied, unperturbed by the murderous glare the master was giving him.
‘And what would be the reason then,’ Demers asked, his expression unchanging.
‘I’m here to keep her company and to help her.’ His hands were resting on Lizze’s shoulders again and he squeezed them reassuringly.
‘To help her? Is that so?’ Demers’ eyes fixed on Kreigan’s hands on Lizze’s shoulders and they could see him putting things together, ‘So that is how it is then?’ he sighed slightly and allowed himself a small smirk, ‘very well, but you better not complain when I teach Lizze things that you already know.’
‘Don’t worry about that Master, I know the value of practice.’ Kreigan’s response was flippant but Lizze could feel him relaxing and realised how nervous he had been about Demers kicking him out. Her heart swelled with affection at his determination.
‘We shall begin at once.’ Demers said standing up and drawing his wand, the other two mimicked him and prepared for the lesson.
Taine wandered into the room four hours later and glanced around with amusement. Demers was guiding Lizze through a spell to detect danger, Lizze herself was panting. Kreigan was standing off to one side practicing another spell which was causing small explosions at the end of his wand. Taine grinned as one went awry, landing near Lizze and Demers, Lizze shrieked in surprise and her own spell flew out of her control. Smoke filled the room causing them all to cough and splutter.
‘Well done, Kreigan, I must congratulate you on this monumental stuff up.’ Demers’ voice was acid as he and Taine both waved their wands to clear the smoke, ‘and you can just wipe that grin of your face before I do it for you!’ he snarled to Taine who ignored him and pulled Kreigan to his feet.
‘Master Taine what are you doing here?’ Lizze coughed, staggering upright and leaning on Kreigan for support.
‘I just wanted to check on you. I know that Demers has the amazing ability to completely lose track of time and I thought that if I didn’t intercede you’d all still be here at midnight.’
‘I’m not as bad as you so pack it in.’ Demers snarled, seating himself back down at his desk, ‘why are really here?’
‘I really did come to check on Lizze and Kreigan.’ Taine was grinning, ‘but I also came to drop these off.’ He handed a timetable each to Lizze and Kreigan, ‘this will be you timetable until further notice. It is charmed so that any changes will appear on there straight away so you don’t have to get new ones.’ They glanced at them and saw that they had Fanad in the morning, Demers after lunch and Taine after dinner. ‘The slot where you have me will be the one that will change the most, whenever a teacher’s free to teach you it will appear. The magic you learn from Master’s Fanad and Demers will be the most important so they will mostly be consistent. There is also a space at the bottom were messages will appear,’ Taine smirked at Demers who rolled his eyes. ‘unfortunately he has stolen out time for today so we’ll begin tomorrow, for now I think you two should get something to eat then rest, I can see that your exhausted.’ Lizze nodded and as if to prove the point yawned widely.
‘Oh good going,’ Kreigan muttered as he too yawned.
‘He has a point, it is later than I realised you must eat and rest so you can begin again tomorrow.’ Demers admitted grudgingly, ‘now go!’ he pointed towards the door and they trudged out, too tired to respond. Taine said goodbye to them and shut the door behind them, he then turned to Demers, his face losing its grin and becoming grave.
‘We have received more news.’
Kreigan ordered Lizze to head to her room as he went by the kitchen. Lizze was half asleep at the table when he arrived, accompanied by Bir and Marla.
‘Lizze, how are you?’ Marla asked hugging her friend.
‘Uh, tired.’ Muttered Lizze reaching out to take the plate Kreigan was handing her.
‘Sorry for not stopping earlier,’ Bir said as he began shovelling food into his mouth. Marla saw him open his mouth to try and talk and got in before him.
‘We were in a bit of a hurry, we had urgent jobs to do that couldn’t wait even for a second.’
‘That’s ok, Kreigan explained that everyone has duties to do.’ Lizze said between mouthfuls. They ate in silence for a while before Marla stood up again, glancing at the clock.
‘Sorry guys I gotta head off again,’ she gave Lizze a quick hug and waved to the others as she walked out the room.
‘I gotta go too,’ Bir said a few minutes later, he crawled over to his bag and rummaged round in it for a moment, ‘Her Majesty asked me to give you this Kreigan.’ He said handing Kreigan a letter before walking out with a wave.
‘What does it say?’ Lizze asked curiously as Kreigan skimmed the letter.
‘They’re beginning to evacuate people from the surrounding areas and some of them are coming here until they can go somewhere else, space will be tight and all the students who are in the boarding room like me have to find somewhere else to sleep so the fairies arriving have somewhere to sleep.’ He tipped his head back as he thought, ‘hmm,’
‘You could sleep in here!’ Lizze blurted out without thinking. Kreigan slowly lowered his head to gaze at her as she blushed and looked away, ‘um that is, unless you don’t want to – or if-if someone doesn’t approve, I mean it was just a thought…’ She stammered as he continued to stare at her, ‘there’s enough room for you to set up a bed out here in the main room so if you don’t mind and if you have nowhere else to sleep...’ her voice trailed off.
‘Well that makes life easier.’ Kreigan said finally, ‘I was struggling to think of where I could go so this is good.’ He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, ‘thanks Lizze.’ he murmured, ‘I’ll go sort it out now then I’ll be back.’ He said after a moment, he grinned at her and slipped out the door before Lizze at really realised that he was gone.
He was back in ten minutes with a mattress, blankets, pillow and a bag slung over his shoulder. ‘Most of my stuff has been moved to a storage room but I’ve grabbed most of my clothes and some other stuff.’ He dumped the stuff in corner, ‘thanks again Lizze.’
‘That’s ok, you’ve been helping me so much lately so I wanted to help you a bit too.’ Kreigan grinned and ruffled her hair affectionately.
‘So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?’ he asked.
‘I was thinking of practicing my flying again, I still need to get better.’ Lizze said fiercely. Kreigan waved his wand and the dishes that Lizze had stacked on the table flew out the room.
‘Flying it is then!’ he exclaimed, he grabbed Lizze by the hand and dragged her out the room as she laughed.
They practiced until the light faded and it got to dark to see, there was food and several fairies in the dining room so they ate in there before retiring to Lizze’s room.
Kreigan set up his bed on the floor as Lizze got changed and brushed her teeth. When she was done Kreigan took his turn in the bathroom before dousing the lights and slipping into their beds.
‘Goodnight Kreigan.’ Lizze called softly.
‘‘Night Lizze,’ Kreigan called back. Lizze had left the curtain open slightly and she could see him lying with his face turned towards her. Lulled by his presence she fell asleep in moments.
13
Training
Kreigan woke her early the next morning, waiting in the main room as she got dressed. She was exhausted from spending the entire day before flying. Again she was left only with her short dresses, she grimaced as she noticed the vivid mark and she tugged in vain at the hem, trying to cover it, she gave up and sighed.
‘Is something wrong?’ Kreigan called, hearing her sigh. She pulled back the curtain and smiled at him, still tugging at the hem, ‘Hm? No not really.’ She said with false brightness. He noticed her tugging and his eyes rested briefly on the mark, he then slung his arm around her shoulders and grabbed his bag from the floor. Lizze grabbed her own and allowed Kreigan to steer her through the door.
‘What’s going on?’ Lizze asked as they walked, the corridors were filled with fairies, all seemingly in a hurry, ‘it’s not lesson time yet so where is everyone going?’ she saw China, Slivy, Aran and Denal running towards her and waved, they waved back but didn’t stop.
‘Hey Lizze,’ China said as she rushed past.
‘Hey, sorry, can’t stop,’ Aran also didn’t pause but kept running.
‘See you later,’ Slivy gasped, she was flying over the others heads.
‘We hope.’ Denal added, taking a page out of Slivy’s book and launching himself into the air.
‘Oh um, see ya,’ Lizze murmured, glancing uncertainly at Kreigan.
‘Everyone in the school and castle has duties during the time of an attack. Initial preparations are taking place now, within the next couple of days the evacuation will start, during the evac, preparations will continue and duties will change depending on how events take place.’ A couple of fairies Kreigan’s age ran up to them, almost colliding when another student tried to duck between them.
‘Hey Kreig’ where have you been? We need your help!’ one of them exclaimed, ignoring Lizze.
‘Sorry Gensta, I can’t help you this time, I’ve got something else-’ Kreigan was cut off by one of the other guys.
‘Taking care of her I’ll bet?’ he jerked his head at Lizze who shrunk back slightly at the accusing tone, ‘can’t someone else do that? Just because she used to be a human doesn’t been she need you to baby-sit her, there are plenty of other fairies that could do such a simple thing.’
‘I’m not just “taking care of her”’ Kreigan retorted, squeezing Lizze’s shoulders reassuringly, ‘I’ve got my own duties to carry out and this time they happen to involve Lizze. And she certainly doesn’t need baby-sitting’ the guy sneered slightly and opened his mouth to say something that would no doubt have been rude. He was interrupted however by the arrival of a girl, also the same age.
‘Oh give it a rest,’ she snapped, ‘you guys are so stupid you don’t even know what’s really going on here!’ the guys stared at her as she flashed a grin at Kreigan and Lizze, ‘don’t worry about it Kreig’ I know what’s happening and I’ll take care of everything!’ Kreigan smiled gratefully.
‘Thanks Terra, I appreciate it.’ The girl grinned again and with a push got the guys moving again. They were about to head off again when another voice hailed them, they turned around as Marla skidded to a stop next to them. Bir was right behind her but he didn’t stop, just kept running with a wave as he passed them.
‘Master Fanad wants to see you Lizze.’ Marla gasped, out of breath, ‘you’ll have to keep her company Kreigan, I’ve got to run!’ she ran off again without waiting for an answer, yelling at her brother to wait.
‘Uh who’s Master Fanad?’ Lizze asked as Kreigan pulled her along, ducking onto a narrow staircase that spiralled its way up. The sound was muted and Lizze felt strangely secluded from the hustle and bustle in the hallways.
‘He’s the combat teacher; he teachers every type of combat you can think of, magic as well as physical.’ Kreigan answered, tugging her up the stairs, ‘Taine sure got that timetable set up quick for you!’
‘Yeah, I just hope I get a copy!’ by the time they go to the top of the stairs Lizze was gasping for breath, but didn’t feel as bad when she realised that Kreigan was also out of breath.
‘Uh…’ Kreigan glanced around blankly for a moment and Lizze had the sudden shock of believing they were lost.
‘Um Kreigan?’ she said after a moment, ‘are we lost?’ he glanced at her with an impudent grin and pulled her along.
‘Nah not really,’ he laughed as she rolled her eyes, ‘I just haven’t been up that particular short-cut in a while. Everything looks kinda different. But I know where I’m going now so never fear!’ Lizze laughed as they stopped in front of a door. Kreigan knocked and the door opened. He pushed Lizze in front of him and steered her into the room with firm hands on her shoulders.
‘Ah Kreigan, it’s been a while, I trust you have been doing well.’ The voice came from a man sitting at a desk in the middle of the room. Master Fanad was a lean blood red fairy in his early thirties. She had seen the man around the school but had never known who he was or what he taught. ‘ah, this must be Miss Lizabeth Dale. Taine told me that I would have a new student.’
‘Uh yes I’m Lizze.’ Lizze muttered with a bow of her head. Every one of her teachers were different and she was a little nervous as to what this new one would be like.
‘Don’t look so scared.’ Fanad said kindly and Lizze couldn’t help a blush filling her face, ‘I may be the combat teacher but that doesn’t mean I bash up my students for no reason.’ Behind her Kreigan snorted in disbelief causing Fanad to chuckle, ‘well I suppose I might every now and then.’ He waved to a chair and Lizze sat down as Fanad stared at Kreigan, ‘I am getting the impression that you will not be leaving.’ He said with raised eyebrows. Lizze twisted in her chair to see Kreigan grinning, ‘Yup, I promised her and Master Taine and Marla Sevilla that I’d help her and keep her company.’ A slight smirk appeared on Fanad’s face as he locked eyes with Kreigan who continued to grin.
Fanad sighed, ‘Oh very well, it doesn’t make a difference to me whether I teach one or two.’ He stood up to pace behind his desk, walking the distance of the fairly small office in long strides. ‘Taine has already briefed me on what will be needed so I think we’ll begin today with some basic defence spells. No point in having an offence if you don’t have a defence. Some of this you will know already Kreigan but there is no harm in going over it all.’ Kreigan nodded as Lizze stood up, ‘I have you for three hours this morning so we might as well get started.’ He gestured for them to follow him as he walked out the office, the door shutting on its own as Kreigan stepped trough, his hands once again on Lizze’s shoulders. Fanad led them to a small empty classroom, the tables and chairs were stacked up against one wall leaving most of the classroom empty.
‘No one uses this classroom much so we won’t be interrupted.’ Fanad said, shutting the door behind them, ‘The first spell I will teach you is a very simple shield spell. It will protect you from magical and physical attacks. It’s not really all that strong and it’s not all that practical but it’s a start. Now draw your wands’ the three of them all drew their wands and Fanad turned to face away from them, he muttered an incantation that was fairly long and waved his wand in complex motions at the same time. A bright flash of light exploded from his wand and circled round him, leaving a shimmering bubble in its wake.
‘As you can see, it takes more time than is practical to produce.’ Fanad’s voice was slightly muffled from behind the shield, ‘the incantation is fairly long but it’s not all that hard to learn, it’s quite repetitive, I’ll write it down for you to look at for the moment.’ He lowered the shield at the same time that a scrap of parchment and ink fountain pen appeared in his hands and he wrote the incantation down, handing it to Lizze. Kreigan glanced over her shoulder and quickly read it before stepping back and raising his wand. A second later the light exploded from his wand to create the shield causing Lizze to glare at him, ‘Hey, how come you can do it so easy, ‘ she said as she raised her own wand. Fanad lead her through the wand movements as she read the incantation, a small glimmer of light appeared at the end of her wand, slide down and burned her hand. She shrieked, more in shock than in pain, causing Kreigan to burst out laughing, he laughed so much that his shield fizzled out, Lizze glared at him, ‘Oh shut up you its not that funny!’ she stared reproachfully at him and sucked her hand.
‘Sorry, sorry.’ Kreigan said, getting a hold of himself and coming over to drape an arm over her shoulders, ‘it’s not that it’s funny, it’s just that it reminds me of when I first learnt it. Remember that guy who spoke to us before, Gensta?’ Lizze nodded, scowling at the memory, ‘well the first time he did it nothing happened and the second time his wand tip exploded, burnt all of us standing next to him.’ Lizze sighed and took her hand out of her mouth, glaring at the burn mark, ‘so you’ve already learnt this spell huh?’ Kreigan nodded, ‘no wonder you could do it so easily.’
‘Well my first attempt was basically the same as yours, took me a few times to get it right, don’t worry it wont take you lo-ow!’ a sharp crack interrupted them as Fanad’s wand came down heavily on Kreigan’s head.
‘Enough chatting, this is supposed to be a lesson, not a social gathering.’ Kreigan rubbed his head and stared accusingly at the master, ‘I thought you said you didn’t bash up your students for no reason,’
‘I don’t, I always have a reason, now!’ Kreigan sighed and stepped away from Lizze, ‘your shield is no way near good enough for you to slack off, you must practise more until it is perfect. You must try again.’ He added to Lizze who nodded and raised her wand.
For the rest of the three hours they practised defensive spells, at the end of the lesson Lizze could produce an adequate shield, perform a spell to deflect spells away from her and she had began learning how to extend both shield and spell to encompass other people.
‘You are a quick learner Lizze, I believe I will be able to do much with you.’ Fanad said at they left the classroom, ‘you seem to have quite an aptitude for defensive spells, you make quite the match to Kreigan here who has for more of an aptitude for the offensive spells.’ Lizze smiled wearily, she was too tired to speak and Kreigan slipped an arm round her waist to support her, ‘go have something to each, both of you.’ Kreigan nodded and helped Lizze back down the corridor and down the stairs.
Much of the mayhem had subsided and there were only a few fairies left hurrying around. A fairy a little older than both of them almost collided with them as they stepped off the staircase.
‘Ah there you are, Taine wanted me to pass on a message if I saw you, you have an hour break then you need to head to Demers,’ she rushed off without waiting for an answer.
‘Oh sure that’s fine, your wish is my command, ‘Kreigan muttered under his breath, ‘don’t worry about us, we don’t mind rushing round from one side of the school to the other.’ Lizze giggled and he grinned, steering her in the direction of the kitchens. ‘Nothing’ll be left in the dining hall so we’ll head straight to the kitchens and beg off some food. In the next couple of days there will be a constant supply of food in the dining hall. Everyone ‘cept the youngest students don’t have lessons and its hard to set up consistent meal times. People will be coming and going at all hours, doing all sorts of different things, they’ll eat and sleep whenever they can, in between trying to mentally prepare themselves for what’s going to happen.’ They reached the kitchens and Kreigan stuck his head through one of the massive doors. It was the first time Lizze had actually been to the kitchens and was amazed at how quiet it seemed to be; she had always presumed that they would be bustling and noisy. She slipped next to Kreigan and peered into the huge rooms. As she her head passed the threshold her senses went under a massive assault, her ears were assailed with all sorts of noises, yelling and shouting, good natured abuse and insults were flinging from fairy to fairy as they worked. Too many smells to name or describe filled her nose and her eyes couldn’t keep track of the activity, fairies flew and hurried all over the place, dodging past each other and ducking as plates and platters soared over their heads. Lizze pulled her head back out and the sounds and smells disappeared. She realised it was like the doors in the stables, magicked to keep the sounds in. Kreigan ducked into the huge room and cam out again a moment later, his arms now filled with plates and dishes.
‘It’s always complete mayhem in there.’ He said with an amused shake of his head. ‘Let’s head back to your room and eat.’ He suggested, Lizze nodded, taking a couple of the plate from him and led the way.
‘Kreigan I’ve been wondering,’ Lizze said as they ate.
‘Mm?’
‘Where is it that He will be attacking? Taine said the knowledge would distress us unnecessarily but I really wanna know.’ Kreigan sigh and put down his knife and food, he stared hard at her for a few moments and Lizze could tell he was deciding whether or not to tell her.
‘Well I suppose you’ll find out eventually and at least if I tell you I know that all the facts will be right.’ He sighed again and his gaze wandered out the window, his eyes slightly unfocused. ‘I can’t confirm exactly where He will attack, that information hasn’t come in yet, but we can narrow it down to one of two. The first is a small town not far from here, a five or six hour fairly fast flight. It’s called A-Ansara.’ His voice faltered as he said the name and Lizze threw him a sharp look which he seemed not to notice, ‘the other place He may attack is…’ his voice trailed off for a moment before he took a deep breath and kept on, ‘here, right here in the capital.’ Lizze stared at him shell-shocked.
‘N-no way!’ she stammered, unable to grasp what he was telling her. Kreigan glanced at her pale face and shifted slightly to wrap his arm round her shoulders.
‘Don’t worry about it, all the preparations are designed to minimise the impact and I’ll make sure you’re evacuated long before he arrives.
‘But I’m supposed to do something about him, not run away while others get hurt or taken.’
‘That may be true but no one will expect you to do anything this time.’ He wrapped his other arm around her and hugged her tightly, ‘and besides, I don’t think He will attack here, the defensive spells are the strongest here and while He could get through them it would take him ages. He’ll be more likely to attack A-Ansara.’ Once again his voice faltered but he ignored the look Lizze gave him.
‘When will everyone find out?’
‘Some will already know, others will find out when we know for sure where He will attack.’ He glanced at the clock on the wall and stretched, ‘We better take this stuff back to the kitchens and head off to Demers, he’ll get cranky if we’re late.’ He stacked the dishes and with a wave of his wand, set them floating.
‘Demers is always cranky,’ Lizze said with a slight giggle as they walked out her room, Kreigan glanced at her with approval for her determination to stay cheerful.
They dropped the plates off in the kitchen and headed off in the direction of Demers office. Several fairies glared reproachfully at Lizze as they hurried past and she couldn’t but shrink away from the glares. Kreigan casually slung his arm around Lizze’s shoulders and glared back at the fairies.
The door to Demers’ office was open when they arrived and they walked in, knocking on the doorjamb. Demers was sitting at his desk looking through piles off parchment he was scowling fiercely and the scowl increased when they walked in.
‘I would have thought that Lizze knew her way to my office by now Kreigan Hiaten. I do not see the need for her to have an escort’
‘Lizze knows her way around just fine Master Demers, that’s not why I’m here.’ Kreigan replied, unperturbed by the murderous glare the master was giving him.
‘And what would be the reason then,’ Demers asked, his expression unchanging.
‘I’m here to keep her company and to help her.’ His hands were resting on Lizze’s shoulders again and he squeezed them reassuringly.
‘To help her? Is that so?’ Demers’ eyes fixed on Kreigan’s hands on Lizze’s shoulders and they could see him putting things together, ‘So that is how it is then?’ he sighed slightly and allowed himself a small smirk, ‘very well, but you better not complain when I teach Lizze things that you already know.’
‘Don’t worry about that Master, I know the value of practice.’ Kreigan’s response was flippant but Lizze could feel him relaxing and realised how nervous he had been about Demers kicking him out. Her heart swelled with affection at his determination.
‘We shall begin at once.’ Demers said standing up and drawing his wand, the other two mimicked him and prepared for the lesson.
Taine wandered into the room four hours later and glanced around with amusement. Demers was guiding Lizze through a spell to detect danger, Lizze herself was panting. Kreigan was standing off to one side practicing another spell which was causing small explosions at the end of his wand. Taine grinned as one went awry, landing near Lizze and Demers, Lizze shrieked in surprise and her own spell flew out of her control. Smoke filled the room causing them all to cough and splutter.
‘Well done, Kreigan, I must congratulate you on this monumental stuff up.’ Demers’ voice was acid as he and Taine both waved their wands to clear the smoke, ‘and you can just wipe that grin of your face before I do it for you!’ he snarled to Taine who ignored him and pulled Kreigan to his feet.
‘Master Taine what are you doing here?’ Lizze coughed, staggering upright and leaning on Kreigan for support.
‘I just wanted to check on you. I know that Demers has the amazing ability to completely lose track of time and I thought that if I didn’t intercede you’d all still be here at midnight.’
‘I’m not as bad as you so pack it in.’ Demers snarled, seating himself back down at his desk, ‘why are really here?’
‘I really did come to check on Lizze and Kreigan.’ Taine was grinning, ‘but I also came to drop these off.’ He handed a timetable each to Lizze and Kreigan, ‘this will be you timetable until further notice. It is charmed so that any changes will appear on there straight away so you don’t have to get new ones.’ They glanced at them and saw that they had Fanad in the morning, Demers after lunch and Taine after dinner. ‘The slot where you have me will be the one that will change the most, whenever a teacher’s free to teach you it will appear. The magic you learn from Master’s Fanad and Demers will be the most important so they will mostly be consistent. There is also a space at the bottom were messages will appear,’ Taine smirked at Demers who rolled his eyes. ‘unfortunately he has stolen out time for today so we’ll begin tomorrow, for now I think you two should get something to eat then rest, I can see that your exhausted.’ Lizze nodded and as if to prove the point yawned widely.
‘Oh good going,’ Kreigan muttered as he too yawned.
‘He has a point, it is later than I realised you must eat and rest so you can begin again tomorrow.’ Demers admitted grudgingly, ‘now go!’ he pointed towards the door and they trudged out, too tired to respond. Taine said goodbye to them and shut the door behind them, he then turned to Demers, his face losing its grin and becoming grave.
‘We have received more news.’
Kreigan ordered Lizze to head to her room as he went by the kitchen. Lizze was half asleep at the table when he arrived, accompanied by Bir and Marla.
‘Lizze, how are you?’ Marla asked hugging her friend.
‘Uh, tired.’ Muttered Lizze reaching out to take the plate Kreigan was handing her.
‘Sorry for not stopping earlier,’ Bir said as he began shovelling food into his mouth. Marla saw him open his mouth to try and talk and got in before him.
‘We were in a bit of a hurry, we had urgent jobs to do that couldn’t wait even for a second.’
‘That’s ok, Kreigan explained that everyone has duties to do.’ Lizze said between mouthfuls. They ate in silence for a while before Marla stood up again, glancing at the clock.
‘Sorry guys I gotta head off again,’ she gave Lizze a quick hug and waved to the others as she walked out the room.
‘I gotta go too,’ Bir said a few minutes later, he crawled over to his bag and rummaged round in it for a moment, ‘Her Majesty asked me to give you this Kreigan.’ He said handing Kreigan a letter before walking out with a wave.
‘What does it say?’ Lizze asked curiously as Kreigan skimmed the letter.
‘They’re beginning to evacuate people from the surrounding areas and some of them are coming here until they can go somewhere else, space will be tight and all the students who are in the boarding room like me have to find somewhere else to sleep so the fairies arriving have somewhere to sleep.’ He tipped his head back as he thought, ‘hmm,’
‘You could sleep in here!’ Lizze blurted out without thinking. Kreigan slowly lowered his head to gaze at her as she blushed and looked away, ‘um that is, unless you don’t want to – or if-if someone doesn’t approve, I mean it was just a thought…’ She stammered as he continued to stare at her, ‘there’s enough room for you to set up a bed out here in the main room so if you don’t mind and if you have nowhere else to sleep...’ her voice trailed off.
‘Well that makes life easier.’ Kreigan said finally, ‘I was struggling to think of where I could go so this is good.’ He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, ‘thanks Lizze.’ he murmured, ‘I’ll go sort it out now then I’ll be back.’ He said after a moment, he grinned at her and slipped out the door before Lizze at really realised that he was gone.
He was back in ten minutes with a mattress, blankets, pillow and a bag slung over his shoulder. ‘Most of my stuff has been moved to a storage room but I’ve grabbed most of my clothes and some other stuff.’ He dumped the stuff in corner, ‘thanks again Lizze.’
‘That’s ok, you’ve been helping me so much lately so I wanted to help you a bit too.’ Kreigan grinned and ruffled her hair affectionately.
‘So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?’ he asked.
‘I was thinking of practicing my flying again, I still need to get better.’ Lizze said fiercely. Kreigan waved his wand and the dishes that Lizze had stacked on the table flew out the room.
‘Flying it is then!’ he exclaimed, he grabbed Lizze by the hand and dragged her out the room as she laughed.
They practiced until the light faded and it got to dark to see, there was food and several fairies in the dining room so they ate in there before retiring to Lizze’s room.
Kreigan set up his bed on the floor as Lizze got changed and brushed her teeth. When she was done Kreigan took his turn in the bathroom before dousing the lights and slipping into their beds.
‘Goodnight Kreigan.’ Lizze called softly.
‘‘Night Lizze,’ Kreigan called back. Lizze had left the curtain open slightly and she could see him lying with his face turned towards her. Lulled by his presence she fell asleep in moments.