Notice: This is Delta here and me and CrazedFalcon17 are writing this as a collab. All feedback is welcomed, but mind that this is a work in progress. Enjoy!
Note from CrazedFalcon17: I have moved on from this story. I might revamp it in the future, but I have also written The Misadventures of Burnewt.
Hi guys! I'm CrazedFalcon17, the author of this fanfiction, Smart-Alecky. ATTENTION! This story may include romance, but if so, nothing major. If you've read a Harry Potter or Percy Jackson book, you're all set to read this!
Also, you must know what LGBTQ+ is. If you don't, don't search it up on Google. Instead, ask your parents or a teacher (a guidance counselor would most likely be the best choice).
Enjoy the story! (Which is still a WIP)
List of Characters[]
OCs (Wizards and pets) -[]
Peregrine: Peregrine is a perky, dyslexic girl who struggles with her math. Luckily, in the Prodigy realm, Noot can cast a spell that shifts letters so she can read better. She travels between two universes (Prodigy and real-life). Peregrine is actually very witty and smart, despite her dyslexia. She is good at logic, memorizing, learning, and thinking outside the box.
Sam Lightningsong: Sam is from a different world. She is transgender and has two very different personalities. Usually, she's a dorky, nerdy tomboy who tends to make jokes that no one gets. She has a high-pitched voice and sometimes paints her nails. Her other side is a parental, protective one, which she got from her kind parents while she was converting. As a result of her conversion, she was often bullied at school. Sam is homeschooled and owns a Tarragon.
Cria Flametalon: Crios' half-sister. She's a wingless fairy who's often teased, but good friends with Mira. She's sarcastic and overall deadly when armed with water spells. When she and Crios are together, they're like yin and yang... literally. Peregrine managed to make an enemy out of her upon their meeting, which she doesn't quite understand.
Visus: Visus is a blind, heterochromia-eyed Embershed who earned the interest of Peregrine. He has multiple scars on his body from crashing into things. Visus accidentally ran away from his pack of Burnewts because he was blinded in a wizard battle, but that same wizard took him in after realizing what he had done.
Liza: Liza is Crios' Infernewt and a bit of a guide for Visus. She always helps the blind Embershed when she can and is quite wise. For some reason, she could not evolve, so many wizards did not want her, but in the end, Crios took her in saying that how she looked didn't matter. She often repeated a paraphrased version of this to Cria, possibly the reason why the half-fairy turned down the offer the Order gave her.
Genesis: Genesis is a Gloricious who always strives to do her best. Nevertheless, she has to learn to control her thunder. Since she can only handle 900 watts, there is "limited power" here. She was released from her trainer when the trainer found out she wasn't capable of handling her electricity.
Bobby: Bobby is Sam's Tarragon. He was kicked out of his pack of Dragics when he cowardly ran away after he saw a wizard equipped with water pets.
Acromi: Gale's Acromi. Sam finds it unusual to name your pet after what it is, but Gale insists that Acromi is the only name that would do. She collects the golden pages to repair Gale's personal spellbook and will spin her wheel to reward you, though she prefers to stay near her owner and the two are rarely seen apart... unless she has business elsewhere.
Key and Ice: Gale's Keepers. Apparently, it's an Academy tradition for the Keeper to have a pet Keeper. Key is the dignified twin. He does not enjoy a mess of things or a badly thought out plan. Ice, on the other hand, is the adventurous twin, and she enjoys coming along on errands.
Tita: Gale's titan (feel free to say what the heck). A playful Astral lion cub made of stone. She was accidentally summoned while Gale was fixing the Earth pedestal, which with some difficulty (and the Academy Merchant's help) he had managed to hide until now.
Mystyyk: Former Keeper mount. She descended from a line of Mysts, which are now known as the common day Mystyyks, Mystiles, Mystembers, Mystys, and Mysticles. Currently presumed dead. No Academy Keeper had a mount since her passing, which had lead up to the rumor of the "Keeper's curse", a curse that causes any horse-like steed to reject them upon approach.
OCs (Non-wizards) -[]
Mrs. White: Peregrine's homeroom teacher
Mackenzie: The mean girl at Peregrine's school. There is no telling what had gotten her to the point of enjoying other people's misery, but nobody sees her as a real friend except Peregrine, who thinks she is an outcast, just like her.
Brian: MacKenzie's "boyfriend" and her overall servant.
In-game Characters -[]
Crios Flametalon: An albino eyed, red-haired boy with a fiery temper. Besides being a prodigy, he's the most popular guy at the Academy and many girls think he's "hot". He and Sam have a makeshift treaty with each other, which is why he doesn't tease her. Peregrine thinks he has a decent personality.
Mira Shade: Mira has a huge crush on Crios (ship fuel!). She does not attend the academy and instead lives in her own tower. Peregrine respects Mira but does not agree with her harsh ways of training her pets. Peregrine says that it is abuse, while Mira argues that it is the only way to train.
Noot: A fairy guide and loyal friend to Peregrine. He's a peacekeeper between Gale and Florian and their many disputes, which always causes Peregrine to wonder...
Florian: The Earth Warden. He's a friendly teacher who enjoys a good joke. He's friends with Gale, but they have their differences and normally wind up arguing. He never quite approved of Gale tinkering with magic, but it fixed his keystone for which he is very grateful for.
Gale: The Academy's ex-Keeper, for he tells people not to call him that until the Academy is fully restored (but people have always known him as Keeper and ignore this preference). He is an odd, dyslexic, polite, defiant, and educated fairy who is trying to fix what he insists is his fault. Noot always tries to comfort him but usually fails. He's known to most as a bit insane, seeing he's always talking to some bird. Unbelievably, he's eighteen despite his random moments of behaving like an adult or mere child, and quite understanding toward Peregrine and knows what it feels to be out of place.
Pippet: A member of the Order of Influence and semi-loyal to the Puppet Master. He's always trying to impress his current master while trying to preserve his relationship with his original one, even if he ignores him and is constantly driving the puppet away.
The Puppet Master: The oldest and one of the first members of the Order of Influence. He's currently in charge and shows a certain disdain towards Astral magic, especially since Shadow magic is never balanced by the other types and considered lowly... despite what the Ancient says.
The Ancient: The one who is in charge of balancing the magic of the islands. She gives Peregrine a special relic because she reminds her of someone. She does not remember who or what she originally was, but there are people who do...
Makulu: An ice wyrm who takes residence in crystal caverns. Has an odd relationship with Gale and feels heavy in debt toward him.
Crystal Golem: A crystal monstrosity who isn't what he seems.
Academy Merchant: A floating who has sworn not to tell anyone about Gale's mishaps. He rewards you when you give him the Academy pages, which he gives to Gale as he slowly repairs the many Academy spellbooks. He takes care of Tita until she's discovered by Noot.
Prologue[]
“You may login to Prodigy now,” Miss White smiles as she heads to her desk. I open up my shiny new school computer and went to the Prodigy website. As I log on, I look out the window and notice a tiny speck of snow swirl down and land on the bushes that surround the school. I squint. Was that snow? In the middle of summer? I look again. A few more glistening flakes rain down and I gape in surprise. The snowflakes weren’t white. They were blue, but interestingly enough, it wasn't rain.
“Staring at another fairy, fish eyes?” whispered a snotty voice from behind me. “Geez. You don’t know the difference between a myth and a math book, do you?”
I turn around and the girl behind me, Mackenzie, snorts, and returns to her member account. I ignore her, but I wonder if it was fairy dust. Maybe fairies are real, despite what everyone says.
The numbers on my screen start to mix up and swirl around. Letters start to become confusing as dyslexia rakes my vision, the audio helps, but not enough. I decide that staring out the window and thinking is a good use of time, and began to ponder the many mysteries of the universe. Is there a liquid lighter than water that I could stand on? Could tornadoes light on fire? Could weeds kill you? And could electricity-
"Peregrine," snaps Mrs. White, "Come to my desk." My teacher looked annoyed, unlike the friendly Florian on my computer screen.
My mouth turns dry. Obediently, I trudge over, a sense of dread overpowering me.
"You must pay attention to me, young lady," Mrs. White whispers harshly. "You are a straight-D student. There is no time thinking about silly fables about wizards and monsters when there is studying to be done. Do you understand? Go straight back to your desk and pour over those math books, and in the name of the Lord, stop looking out the window!"
"Why?" I manage to squeak out. "There's nothing to lose when you imagine. I was just thinking about-"
Mrs. White glared, "Do NOT talk back to me, young lady!" Now forgetting to whisper she continued, "You will not gain anything from your imagination either! Will your little fairy friends tell you how to get out of detention?"
Silently, I shake my head as my classmates begin to snicker, the shame surrounding me. I stumble to my desk and notice the pink, sticky, saliva-coated wad of watermelon bubble gum already affixed to my chair. I force myself to get a paper towel and tug it off. As the gaggle grows louder, I glance at Mackenzie, who is already reloading her ammunition. She blows a bubble out of the pink gum and snaps it viciously. I sit down and try to stop the stinging tears forming in my eyes. It's fine, I thought. When I get home I can just forget about it, just like I do on other days.
I was nothing more than a dyslexic girl. Left alone as an outcast and used as a punching bag at my school. Sometimes I really, truly wanted to be at home, even though I loved learning. Even my mom didn’t understand me completely. Practice didn’t always make perfect. Practice made permanent, and if your whole life you've been practicing something wrong, you'll never escape from it.
I wished that I was at home. I wished that it was the weekend. But most of all, I wished that there was somebody who could really, truly understand me in this out-of-place universe.
Chapter One[]
After school, I walk down the twisted roads down to my house. I stare at everything - the hedges, the birds, every blade of grass. I think about what the trees and the grass and the birds must be feeling. Maybe pain, I guess, as I watch the lawnmower slice away at the dark green grass.
I watch the trees' leaves sway in the summer breeze. How long, I wonder, will this planet last? How long until we fly out of Earth in rocket ships and become citizens on Mars? And will its inhabitants even accept us? Perhaps if we were to travel to a different planet, we'd be traveling to a different time. Maybe days on Earth would become seconds on Mars. How intriguing to think about, and how wonderful it must feel to be away from the whole entire world!
I decide to think about writing, for a change. Writing is like taking a walk. Every letter is confusing unless you keep calm and thaw out your emotions. So taking a walk is like writing. You must thaw out your emotions to make every letter.
I make my path swirly and curl every step into a cursive letter. Every stride makes me feel like my life is worth living. My name is Peregrine, I think happily. No one can prevent me from being myself. I'm just one girl, and the whole world is against me. There's no point in fighting, but no point in giving up, either. I am me after all.
Suddenly, something stops me. It was instinct. The instinct that something was wrong.
A lustrous golden glow seeps from the soles of my shoes. I look behind me. Golden light forming the path I’d been tracing. The words let off a steady glow, it wasn’t English, was it? I focus my vision through the blinding haze. The gold starts to pool on the ground before me.
I look around. No one was in sight. Not even the lawnmower man. No children, no adults, nothing.
The pool of golden light surges upwards and forms a ring around me. I find myself levitating off of the ground, my hair blowing in my face. I brush it out and the yellow aura shines around my body. Even my backpack glows and I hold on as the ground repels me. Was death coming to me with his scythe in hand? But I didn't feel weaker, did I? I felt stronger. There was no telling what had happened for after that, I lost all five of my senses and plummeted into nowhere.
Chapter Two[]
I think I must have blacked out after that because I don't remember anything that happened. I was definitely lying down. But where was I lying down? And were those...blankets that were covering me?
Friendly hazel eyes peer into mine. "Oh, good, you're awake."
I almost had a heart attack. I sat up so quickly from the bed that it practically gave me whiplash. "Who are you?" I ask, startled.
The person backs up so I can see them better. "Hi. I'm Sam Lightningsong. And you are...?"
"Peregrine..." I answer him hesitantly, what was I doing? For all I know, they could have kidnapped me.
He smiles, having no clue of what was on my mind. "Whoa, cool name. I've never heard it before. The island is just full of Steves, and Daniels, and Marys..."
I could now see him more clearly. Sam was about a head shorter than me, so he came up to about my neck. He had untidy brown hair that was messed on each side. And his hazel eyes were much bigger than mine, giving him an adorable puppy-eyed look. You could almost see the halo floating above his head as he gives me a full, genuine smile. His voice was so high-pitched!
"Thanks, but... where am I?" I croak, my head spinning.
Curiosity flickered in his gaze, but it eventually faded. "The Academy, of course. I'm assuming you're new here?"
"Well, of course, I'm new here," I reply. "I have no idea where I am."
"How are you feeling?" Sam asks, actually concerned.
"Dizzy," I supply, "and a bit light-headed."
"Oh, then you should get some rest," he says anxiously, his face careworn. "First-time travelers always have symptoms like this. Don't worry about it, though. Noot will see you soon."
I lie back down because I don't want to disappoint him, he clearly expected me to know something about this place.
I'm not sure how I would describe Sam's face, but let's just say he looked kind of... feminine. Sam had already begun to bounce on the balls of his feet, which was considered a flirty habit for girls at my school, but certainly not for boys.
Sam noticed me staring at him and stopped bouncing. Red rose to his cheeks immediately and he ducked his head down, feeling ashamed. "What's wrong?" I ask. "Did I embarrass you? Oh, I'm really sorry."
"It's fine," he says. "I have to be careful about who I welcome here."
From what I could understand, "here" was a palace. The floor had a huge carpet laid down on it, and I couldn't even see where it ended. It even rolled over the stairs that led beyond my vision. The carpet was royal blue and huge yellow stars were intricately woven into it, most likely the symbol of this place. I noticed that golden dust littered the floor, and a staircase going down to what seemed like a library let of an eerie purple glow.
Sam saw where I was staring and sighed, "Those are the archives, if you were wondering. It's no longer a place you want to be, but I sometimes go down there."
I blinked. What could be in there that's so bad? Yet I had to admit, it gave off a sickening feeling. "Why would you go in there?" When he didn't answer, I continued to look around.
The walls looked like some sort of Greek architectural structure. Pictures of monsters and humans with wands and swords were mingled onto the walls as stained-glass windows. The ceiling reached even higher than my school's library. The sound of someone arguing distracted me for a minute, but the warm breeze caught my attention.
Behind me, light glowed and I saw the exit to the area. The wide-open door only exposed a light blue sky and fluffy clouds. Weird. I thought that there would be stairs there.
Abruptly, something flew past my face, whipping a slight breeze towards me and causing my hair to sway gently. Bluish dust came from it, and some of it landed on my wool blanket. It was the same dust that I had seen at school.
Chapter Three[]
I peer into the dark blue eyes of the creature, which appears to be floating in midair. "Hello there," I say.
"Hi. I'm Noot, your fairy guide." His voice sounded like a nine-year-old child, but he looked like he'd seen more than one... and was tired of it. Then he quickly added, "Well, technically I'm everyone's fairy guide, but right now I'm yours."
Fairy guide? So this was what fairies looked like?
Noot didn't look like one of those tall, pale figures usually drawn in stories. Instead, he was about the size of a baby and wore a small red-and-blue tunic. A cap was fitted onto his head, making it look bigger in comparison to his body. The cap was blue - made of cotton material, maybe, with a fluffy white trim at the bottom. An amber medal was placed in the middle of the hat, and a small, silver bell hung at the end, surrounded with soft cotton.
Noot's wings were semi-transparent, and light blue in color. A tiny curl of brown hair poked out from under his cap, and an adorable brown, furry tail waved behind him.
"Your symptoms should be gone in about ten minutes, thanks to Noot's magic," Sam announced. "In the meantime, I'll explain what's going on."
While Noot began to sprinkle his fairy dust onto me, Sam spilled everything, "So, you see, I'm not a person that fits in well with society. Not many friends...but that really doesn't matter, does it?" He whispers. "It's because I'm not exactly the gender I was assigned to at birth." Looking upon my confused face, he continued, "...In simple terms, I'm a girl."
"Did you get bullied because of that?" I ask.
"Yeah," she replies. "Everyone called me a 'crybaby' and that I 'like playing with Floatling dolls. And that," she added, "is the most untrue thing that I have ever heard."
"We have a lot of people like that on Earth," I say. "They get bullied too, unfortunately. But some of them are accepted by kinder people."
She hesitates for a moment, "Where's Earth? Is it a moon?"
"You don't know where it is?" I asked, surprised. Was I on another planet?
"No, but I've heard stories about it," she responded. "My mother said that you could only get to it if you fell off the edge of the world. And she also said that there were humans there. I know this seems weird for you to know, but humans have a long history of joining with the Order of Influence. And, well, I have to cut to the chase now. Are you human?"
"Yes," I say, my voice taut. "I'm a human."
"Oh. However, I'm sensing a strong aura of magic coming from you. Wherever you came from, your definitely wizard blooded, or at least related to some magical race."
"Really?" Interrupted Noot, shooting in from out of nowhere. "Well, in the name of the Wardens, why didn't you say so? A hybrid? I've got to tell this to Gale right away. And while you're here, make yourself comfortable. We have to do some testing on you." He shoots toward the corridor and disappears out of sight, despite Sam calling to him about not having false hopes.
Sam shrugs, and a smile spreads across her face. "Don't worry, it's all magical. There aren't any human-wizard hybrids to date. Everyone is going to jump at the discovery. I'll bet Gale will be taking his time off of the pedestals just to research this, that is, if he isn't in one of those moods."
I blinked. All these names were beginning to sound familiar. "Gale?"
"The Academy Keeper," she explained, "He's a bit odd, but friendly. I'm sure he'll be working to send you home." She sighed, "To tell you the truth, I really want you to stay a little bit longer. The fact that you came here, willingly, shows that you're an outcast, just like me."
My mouth flew open. "Oh, no, no, no. I didn't come here on my own. It was more like I was summoned. When I was minding my own business and being really depressed, I suddenly started floating, and then-"
"You woke up here, didn't you?" mutters Sam, rubbing her chin. "But it seemed like you knew what you were doing. I mean, the teleportation spell requires specific, fancy footwork. There's no way that could just be coincidental, right?"
I was getting frustrated, she was really driving me, "So do you want me to stay for a while, or do you want to teleport me back?"
"You're staying. For sure. First, we need to fly you down to Lamplight Town to visit Sir Vey. If you actually are magically blooded, then if you stop eating our food then you'll eventually forget about Prodigia... and us."
"All finished!" Noot interrupts, flying in with a clipboard and sheet. He sounded happy, but his expression said otherwise. "Let's head to Lamplight Town, okay?"
"Noot, it probably isn't that easy," Sam says. "She's a human from a different world."
"Right," he mumbles and flies out the wide-open door, the bell on his cap jingling merrily.
Chapter Four[]
"Here's your ride," Noot announces, leading in two majestic-looking winged creatures.
The creatures- lavender-colored griffins, at least in appearance, had brown saddles strapped onto their backs. Their stirrups, I observed, were a bit closer to their backs than that of a normal horse's. The strategic placement was for their wings. Spread to their full length, they were about eight feet in wingspan. Their front legs were razor-sharp talons that were purple in color. Their back legs, which were also purple, were rippled with muscle. Those things could probably do a lot of damage.
"Sam, I'll leave you for the introduction," says Noot tiredly, "I need to get back to healing. There's a fresh batch of pets to be treated at the Lodge. Another ambush from the Order of Influence." He flies straight out the door in a hurry. I notice that he dives straight down after a few meters of flight.
"Meet Gray and Genesis," Sam says as I turn my attention back to the griffins. "They're our Glorici. Plural for Gloricious, of course." So that's what they were.
I suddenly notice something that I hadn't before. The Gloricious on the left had radiant, red eyes and a tall posture. But the one on the right had watery pink eyes and was standing in a hunched-over position as if it was in need of sleep.
What is going on? I wonder.
Sam notices my confused expression, "Oh, right. They're for flying you down. The Academy is a floating structure," she gestures all around us, "and you wouldn't want to fall from here, right?"
As I open my mouth to ask why the one on the left looked in poor condition, I decide not to. Instead, I ask the more practical question. "Which is Gray and which is Genesis?"
"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner," apologizes Sam. "The one on the left is Gray. He's got whiter feathers. The one on the right is Genesis. She's still working on her wattage control." Wattage control?
"Your right or my right?" I ask instead, avoiding the question.
"Your right," she says, raising her eyebrows. She definitely knew that I was about to say something, "Which one do you want to ride?"
"Uhh..." I didn't want to offend Genesis, but Gray looked much more confident. As he notices me staring at him, he lifts his head regally, clearly wanting me to pay attention to him.
"They can't understand you," Sam says quickly, noticing I was hesitant, "You won't offend them. I can cast a prodilinguism spell once you mount your steed. I hardly talk to pets, though, so usually, I mute myself."
"Okay," I say reluctantly, "I'll take Gray."
"Alright, then, walk over to him and be sure to pat him on the head before you try to mount him."
I walk over to Gray and pat his head. He sinks to his knees and lets me climb onto his back. The texture of his feathers was what I assumed to be a mixture of downy fluff and a lion's pelt. It all seemed very strange, sitting on the griffin-like creature.
Gray shakes his wings out and I almost fall off the saddle, "Whoa, boy." He plods around in the hall for a while, impatient. Surprisingly, his front talons did not make a harsh, metallic sound, like the one I was expecting. In fact, he made hardly any noise at all.
Sam got onto Genesis. "It's time to go. Since Gale is probably busy figuring out how to send you back to Earth, we can steer these two down to Lamplight Square. We need as many wizards as possible down there. Since you might be stuck here for a while, we can show you our customs so you'll fit in more properly. And besides, Bobby is waiting for me. I've been keeping him at the pet lodge for too long."
I suddenly felt nauseous. "If you said this was a floating structure, does that mean we'll have to dive down just like Noot did?"
"Bingo," she replies with a smile.
Uh-oh, I think.
"Here, if you're feeling nervous, I'll cast the prodilingual spell right now," Sam assures. "Better safe than sorry, we always do this to first-time riders, anyway." She raises his index finger on her right hand and utters a spell.
A beam of dark blue light emanates from her fingertips and she traces it in a weird blob-like shape. At first, I thought it was some sort of magic picture, but then I realized that she was tracing around my body, then Gray, and then Genesis. Finally, she touched herself, and the blue light disappeared.
"Greetings," Gray's head rotated slowly so he could speak to me better. His voice was startlingly deep and monotonous.
"Hello," I answer carefully, "Did I hurt you somehow while I was climbing on?"
"No, of course not. It was quite pleasant, actually, I do detest wizards holding on to my feathers. They get dreadfully rumpled." He clicks his beak disdainfully, "Please move your hands to my neck and lean forward a bit."
I remove my hands from my lap and wrap them around Gray's neck, scattering a few downy feathers in the process. "Is that better?" I scoot further up the leather saddle and relax my grip.
"Yes, quite," he replies. He turns to Sam, "That performance has excelled that of many wizards in my past."
"Wow!" exclaims Sam in a sudden outburst. Then her face flushed, embarrassed. "I'm really sorry. I can act really girly sometimes. I think it's best if you don't talk to me." She drops her gaze and doesn't speak for a moment, then, she takes a breath and says, "Let's head out the door."
Chapter Five[]
Sam casts an oxygen spell before we leave so that the air wouldn't get too thin for us to breathe. Gray and Genesis pad out of the wide entryway and step daintily down the tiny flight of stairs onto the brown, sandy ground. I gape as I see that a small town is below me. To the left of the town was a dark and dreary tower made of black and gray bricks. It was so tall, it almost seemed to scrape the clouds down in its perpetual gloominess. And then there was the not-quite-exploding volcano, the cloud growing from a huge beanstalk, the huge icy peaks that reached to the sky, a small desert which seemed to be an excavation site, a forest made up of multicolored trees, and a small piece of land which seemed like it was something out of Angry Birds. But all of these places were joined together in a single island.
"It's a nice view, isn't it?" Sam grins. "Prodigy Island is truly amazing."
"I thought you called this place Prodigia," I say, confused.
"That's true," she replies, "but Prodigia is made up of several islands. This one, along with Shipwreck Shore, is inhabited by wizards and monsters."
I look around and see a small island flicker and fade, "Did that island just disappear?"
"Yes," answered Sam, "that would be the Lost Island, it never stays long enough for someone to go there anymore. The one floating over the sea is the Epic Subspace, the island with massive sunken ship is Shipwreck Shore, and do you see that one in the distance?" She points to the horizon.
My eyes adjust to see a gray shape far away. The fog that came from it was dark purple, and it obscured my vision. From just the portion I could see, the island looked like a melancholy place. "It looks sad," I remark.
Sam nods. "It is. That's Shadow Isle, a dark island where the Order of Influence takes our monsters. There they do some dark magic or something," she huffs contemptuously, "and then they bring the brainwashed monsters back to Prodigy Island. It's not the monsters' fault they're being toyed with."
"Oh," I say. Quickly gathering my thoughts, I add, "Are these monsters... feral?"
"Precisely," Sam says, nodding her head. "They can be tamed if you use a very powerful spell. However, only certain wizards can capture more than ten monsters, for some reason."
"Isn't that unfair?"
"Yes," Sam replies. "Either you're born with it or you aren't. Even the Wardens can't explain this phenomenon... they just call it the 'Gift'. Recently, Gale has proposed a theory that those born without the Gift are able to tame more than ten monsters, as long as you have special connections with that feral monster. His theory is still being tested, and the results so far are disappointing. Yet he still seems rather sure of himself, which makes me wonder a bit."
"Then," I realize, "aren't those born with the Gift going to grow up thinking they're better than those who are...Non-gifted?"
"Yeah, but you may be thinking too hard Peregrine. We've seen unexpected peace in Prodigia, despite it being broken into two. I think it's because we wizards share a common enemy, the Order of Influence. We have a special training ground in which first-time wizards go to."
"Is that where you're taking me now?"
She smiles, "You got it, girlfriend."
I hold on for dear life as the Glorici glide down. Like hawks, they swooped down and circled in a lazy spiral. Suddenly, turbulence hit, and Gray started to jerk downwards. I notice something wrapped around his back paw. My heart rises to my throat, a glowing purple chain was wrapped around it.
Gray screeched and churned the air with his hind paws. The chain was hopelessly clamped around it. The temperature in the air dropped so swiftly that a chill slithered down my spine and seemed to stay in there, stubbornly aching, a nauseating feeling overpowering me.
Sam realized what was going on and commanded Genesis over, "What is this thing?" She gasped, "It has to be from the Puppet Master. This chain's been enchanted with so much dark magic that its magic capacity is overflowing. It's that purple glow that's bothering me."
"If it's a chain, and we're flying," I reason, "then doesn't it have to be attached to the ground somewhere? It can't just come out of nowhere, right?" I was a bit unsure, I didn't quite know the rules of this place.
"You're right," says Sam. "but we don't know what length it is, and the temperature is decreasing fast. I think I can use my fire relic to warm the air up, though." She pulled out a ring with three crimson stones in the middle, it hanged from a chain necklace around her neck, the type boys sometimes wear. Concentrating, the ring begins to glow. Gray immediately stops struggling and keeps flapping his wings.
"These aren't two different problems, Sam," I conclude as the air gets warmer, "I think the cold air is coming from the chain."
Sam was busy examining it, "What makes you think that?"
"Look at the cuff of it," I say, pointing to the part that was clamped around Gray's paw. "It's got five stones, and they're all differently colored."
"Of course," Sam murmurs as she looks at it closer. "Five shards...Earth, Ice, Storm, Fire, Water..."
"The white one is glowing," I say. "That means that the chain is producing ice somewhere. I think the chain is freezing from the bottom point. If we can destroy where it's freezing, the whole thing will melt into water. And since we can feel the cold up here, that means it's really close by!"
I look down. "Oh, no..."
The frost was slithering up the chain steadily, and still going strong. Soon it would freeze us all in the air and leave Gray fatigued and unable to move. Then...
I shivered, trying not to think of what would happen, but a sickening image flashed in my mind.
"Gray, you need to make an emergency landing," Sam says. "Peregrine, get on Genesis with me. There's a high risk of you falling from the diving angle."
I try to keep myself steady as I get off of Gray and climb onto Genesis. I almost slip off of the saddle, but Sam catches me just in time. "Don't you dare die on me," she growls, "It'd be painful for you, and I would be fired from my job."
"Yes ma'am," I reply, a bit frightened by her tone.
Sam commands Gray to dive, the chain twirling around in a worrying manner as he shoots down.
Genesis dives as well, and I wasn't prepared for it at all. I shriek as the wind buffets my face, and my stomach does a huge flip. It was like a rollercoaster ride, except I knew that I would face certain death if I dared lift my arms. I squeeze my eyes shut because they stung from the whistling wind, and wondered how the Glorici could stand it.
My hair felt like it was lifting away from my head. I was glad Sam's hair was short because at the speed we were at, a lock of long hair might as well have been a leather whip.
Genesis lands on the pavement of the town, but not perfectly. The shock of the landing caused me to shoot forward in the saddle, and I crashed headlong into Sam. "Ow," I mutter.
"Could you...um..." She tried to speak, "Could you let go of me?"
I realized I'd been clinging onto her body since we'd dived, and I felt red rise to my cheeks, "Sorry..." I slide my arms back into my lap. Sam turns away so I wouldn't see her face.
It was one for one now, as we were both embarrassed and flustered. "Let's go find Gray," Sam muttered. As Genesis plodded along, she whispers under her breath, "I don't get paid enough to deal with this..."
Chapter Six[]
We were now in the middle of Lamplight Square. Wizards drifted about, occasionally complimenting each other about their clothes, hair, and pets. Two huge wheels stood on opposite sides of the square. Wizards were lining up to spin them.
"We need to ask people before I send a tracking spell," Sam says, "they drain too much of my energy. I won't be able to do area attacks when I'm so weak." She walks up to a girl, about sixteen or seventeen, who was holding a huge staff, topped with a teal orb, with a maroon dragon creature curled around it. "Excuse me-"
"No, I don't want to be your friend," the girl replies rather flatly. "I have enough of those." I was flabbergasted. What? You can't just say that... that's so rude of her! But, then again, maybe things work differently here...
"Hmm, no luck. I'll try again!" Sam grins at me and walks up to a teenage wizard with radiant blue eyes and dazzling blue hair. He was already attracting a crowd. "'Scuse me, have you by chance seen a Gloricious-"
She was interrupted by a tidal wave of voices. "Whoa, no way, dude! You beat the Dark Tower?! I heard that there was a super-powerful wizard on the hundredth floor. Is that where you got that awesome outfit?!"
"OMG, what's your name? Treasure Hunter Bryan? Wanna be friends?" Asked someone else.
"Can I try your hood on? Pretty please?" Begged a persistent admirer.
A red-haired girl looked at him, "Bro, I need some advice on beating the Tower. Please, tell me who's at the top of it!"
Treasure Hunter Bryan dismissed these questions, "Sorry, ladies, the friend requests will have to wait." He winked at the crowd, "And, well, the wizard told me to keep his identity a secret." He gave the crowd a dazzling smile, "Line up for autographs if you want them, though!"
Sam trudged back to me, disappointed, "Ugh... seems like this guy isn't who we're looking for either."
"Why couldn't you ask one of the more...normal people?" I questioned. Before she could answer, I tapped another boy on the shoulder. He was wearing a gray-black dog mask with eyes cut out and a yellow crescent moon on its forehead. Tiny fangs poked out of its snout.
The boy turned around, "Oh, hi! Do you need anything?"
"Oh, yes. We were wondering if you'd seen another Gloricious like this one going somewhere." I patted Genesis on the beak.
The boy looked confused, "No. I'm sorry. I can't even go near another monster without it attacking me. I'm not Gifted like some people are."
"I see," I reply. "Thanks anyway, though." So this is what Sam meant. I thought, feeling bad for him.
I feel the same way. I blinked, glancing around for the source of the voice. Shaking it off I concluded that I must have been hearing things.
Chapter Seven[]
Finally, after ten minutes of asking, an exasperated Sam sent a tracking spell in order to find Gray. We had come upon a small clearing at the edge of Firefly Forest. There was overgrown foliage everywhere. Bushes came up to my head and obscured my vision completely. Thick, purple vines twisted around rotting tree trunks. The sunlight was completely blocked from sight. Not even a ray of sun was coming down.
Sam halted Genesis and headed toward the brush. "Something's wrong," she whispers, "but I don't know what. Gray would never land in a spot like this."
I pulled the pieces together. "Sam," I whisper urgently. "I think I know what it is."
"What?"
"If Gray was struggling to stay in the air," I say, "and we didn't know what the length of the chain was, that means that it came up from the ground. Since it's not alive, it's got a fixed length that can't be changed. In other words, something, or someone, must have been operating the chain!"
Sam's eyes widened. "Peregrine... you're a genius! I mean, we're all geniuses here, but I wish I could have thought of that on my-"
"Shh!" I say.
She claps a hand to her mouth. "Sorry!"
"We can assume that the attacker used magic to get the chain up to where it was," I say, "but it was dragging Gray down."
"Most of the time, you can only cast one spell at a time," Sam replies, "you can apply the exact same spell to multiple different things; that's how I enchanted you and Gray, and only that one spell will work. Once you cast another spell, depending on what it is, the previous one fades. That's why Gray was screeching and not speaking."
"Then that leads to that someone enchanted the chain up to grab us," I say. "Then when that was done, they cast the spell to freeze the chain and started pulling it down, maybe on a pulley of some sort."
Sam rolls her eyes. "Genius..."
"So..." I proclaim, facing the bushes, "Gray made that emergency landing and couldn't get the chain off. So obviously, the attacker dragged him here. In other words, he was kidnapped. And the guy is right here."
We had decided that backing away from the bushes to prepare our supplies was a better idea than whispering right next to them.
"Let's go, then," Sam smirked, digging around her bag, "you can borrow a wand from me. Unfortunately, since you're a beginner, you would need a training wand, but..." She tossed me something pink and purple and winked, "I'm feeling generous today."
I examine the wand. It was extremely light. It had a pink handle on it, and on top of it was what seemed to be a purple bird head. The bird's eyes looked like googly eyes that you could buy from an arts-and-crafts store. Its yellow beak had a hinge that let it open and close its mouth.
"Sam," I say nervously as she pulls out her own wand, an ordinary-looking rod with a paw print on top, "are you sure this wand does actual damage in battle?"
"Yep," she answers confidently. So she's not pulling my leg...I think.
"How come it feels like plastic?" I ask.
Sam laughs lightly, "I bought this one for only a hundred gold coins at the Shipwreck Dealerships. An old fellow named Cheeple was willing to trade it off to me. It even squawks when you cast a spell," she boasts. "Don't question the way it looks. It's a real powerhouse when it comes to monsters."
"Alright, I'm counting on you," I say skeptically, glancing at the plastic wand. I was starting to have doubts, but Sam was a real friend - and my only friend, at a time like this, I couldn't afford to lose her.
"Put this over your sweatshirt before we go," Sam urges, pulling out a fuzzy white garment from her bag. I did a double-take. Her bag must have been enchanted because there was no way she could have stuffed that huge robe inside her miniature traveling bag.
The robe had soft little stuffed animal heads resting on its shoulders. They resembled pandas crossed with dogs in a sort of way. "Hey..." I mutter. "How's this going to protect me? I look like a volunteer at a Furry convention!"
"Just put it on," she said drily, ignoring my comment.
I slipped on the robe and instantly felt invincible. Somehow, the robe seemed to tell me that everything was going to be okay as long as I was wearing it.
"Genesis," Sam orders, "stay out here and guard the entrance. They'll be attacking us at a chokepoint, so we'll have to establish the element of surprise."
Sam whispered another spell then directed her wand at the bushes. Beams of faint blue light come from it, making them visibly shiver, then part to let her step through. She gestured for me to follow.
Chapter Eight[]
I follow Sam through the parted bushes. She freezes, then mouths, "Wizard". She then casts a spell. I couldn't tell what it did, but her lips were moving. It was as quiet as she could muster without it being completely silent. So some spells have to be verbal, no matter what I think. Bummer. But, wait... a wizard? Sam mentioned this before, but I can't take my brain off the fact that Prodigia is split into 'Gifted' and 'Non-Gifted'. Maybe one group is less good than the other? The Gifted people we met in the town square seemed so snobby when they refused to give us directions...
That isn't the case! a voice snaps back in my head.
I almost jump out of fear, but Sam glares at me and I do a double-take. Sam...I think. Oh my god. You cast a spell just so you could read my mind?
Yeah, Sam admits. I'm sorry about lashing out at you like that. I'm one of the Gifted ones. And I'd like to remind you that we're not all like this. I only cast this spell so we wouldn't have to communicate verbally. But the downside is that I'll have to hear all your thoughts.
Suddenly, a cloud of darkness slammed her in the face and she stumbled. Quickly regaining her footing, she yelled, "It's Pippet! I know these attacks. Don't worry, I'll hold my own even without protection." A flurry of stars showered the clearing, doing a good job of lighting the dark space up. Sam's spell revealed a puppet-like creature hunched over Gray, fitting magical marionette strings over him as he struggled to avoid it.
The puppet creature leaped to his feet and whips another solid shadow at her, which she easily dodged. "Your turn," she said. "I don't exactly know any advice to give to a human beginner, but focus on the beating of your heart and you'll be fine!"
Trying to keep my breathing steady, I aimed my pathetic parrot wand at my attacker. I was not prepared for the deafening squawk that exploded from the bird-wand's small beak. A tiny star shot through the air, sizzling and popping on the creature's clothes. He shot another one of his shadow attacks. It hit, but I was barely fazed since my powerful dog robe kept me from taking much damage. Suddenly, I noticed a shroud of shadows enveloping the puppet-like creature. Sam seemed oblivious to it.
Please, no, not again! Rang the voice earlier, causing me to realize they were doing the same as Sam.
Who are you? I thought, ignoring my friend's confused expression as she cast another spell.
That doesn't matter. What matters is that you and your friend over there might not make it through this! I blinked, the voice was male and he sounded... educated, maybe even slightly British.
Wanting to know what he meant, I asked, What do you mean?
He internally groaned in pain, That spell - I know you can see it. It charges as they cast. It's a shadow version of an Astral spell. There is something that can help you.
I cast a spell again, my heart beating faster. A prism appeared from nowhere, causing a beam of light to hit Pippet. The triangle of glass faded instantly and Sam cast another round of spells. What is it? I thought, becoming nervous at the sight of the charging magic.
Say 'veni ad me Acromi, et impetus'. It's a powerful spell, but I will help you. Wondering how he would do so, I began to whisper the words, feeling surged with an unexplainable force. Saying the last word, impetus, an owl-like creature appeared in front of us just as Pippet cast his final and darkest spell. The bird summoned an arrow of light that crashed into it, destroying the dark magic.
Pippet gulped, seeing the creature. "Master is not going to be happy about this, not at all." He vanished, and Sam ran to get Gray unchained, who was struggling with marionette strings.
Bother, he thought at me. I'm afraid I have to go, Peregrine. I will speak to you soon, don't worry.
She looked back at me and raised her eyebrows, watching as the flying creature faded from existence, "How did you do that?" Her voice was curious, but I saw her eyes become dark.
Wondering how British Man Extraordinaire knew my name, I began to feel fatigued as his magical energy left me, "Uh, I'm not sure. But I'm fine now, and Gray is safe, so that's that."
"Who were you talking to?" Sam asked, her brow furrowed in concern. She looked like my mom, with her hip leaning to one side and her hands on her waist. It would have worked on me if she weren't so short.
"No one, just...myself!" I responded, the lie feeling heavy on my shoulders. I didn't want her to think I was crazy, but I felt a need to hide the fact I was hearing voices, and somehow I knew it would only make things worse.
"Okay, I know you're lying," Sam sighed. "Spill the beans. You've been talking to someone else in your head. I've heard the excuse 'No one, just myself' a million times already, and you look like you're lying."
I surrender. "Okay, I admit it. I've heard someone, but I have no idea who it is! I swear!"
Her gaze only darkened. "How long have you been hearing them?"
"Since we were in Lamplight town. I thought I was just hearing things, but then he told me to cast that spell and-"
"Did it stop?" she interrupted, not wanting to hear my excuses.
Even though, yes, she was glaring upwards at me like an aggressive, red-faced chihuahua, I looked at the ground, feeling ashamed. "He said he had to go as soon as Pippet left."
Sam swore. "Why in the Wardens did you talk to him?! Or listen to him for that matter! They're probably from the Order and trying to recruit you. Why else would he show up when there's Shadow magic?" She kicked at the ground.
"What?" I croaked, my voice barely a whisper. So far all I heard about the Order was bad.
"Exactly," she explained, regaining her composure. "They probably hid from me because they didn't want me to warn you. I've never seen that spell before, and it definitely wasn't normal. Acromi do not cast Astral spells and never will." A dark mood filled the clearing. Sam heaved a sigh, tacking the two griffins and saddling Genesis.
Chapter Nine[]
Gray swooped down and landed near some crates, Genesis coming close behind. Earlier, Sam redid the prodilingual spell, but I was too ashamed to talk to anyone, nevertheless a Gloricious. There was a small sign with a forest on it, and another sign with a town. Firefly Forest and Lamplight Town, I thought, beginning to memorize the place names.
Sam hopped off of Genesis. "You stay here. I'm going to pick up Bobby. Shadow magic taints the pet lodge. Whatever you do, do NOT talk to you-know-who. Understand?"
"I understand." Sighing, I kicked the ground.
She placed a hand on her forehead. "Noot's probably done by now. Maybe he'll know what to do."
I watched as she walked toward the crates. Taking a deep breath, Sam walked through them. As I waited for her to return, I saw a wisp of green light. I was about to approach it, but Genesis stopped me.
In a tired voice, she reminded me, "Sam is going to take you there soon. We have to wait for her." I sighed. It's official. I managed to lose Sam's trust on my first day in an unknown world. Just when I thought I made a friend.
I'm sorry. I didn't realize I'll ruin your friendship. Glancing around to see if Sam was back, I ignored her instructions.
Why did you help us?
I would have felt horrid if I didn't. Everything I created has already been turned around, and I didn't want to see someone killed by it. Also, I'm sure you both have parents who would wonder what had happened...
He said that last bit longingly. Did he not have a family?
I'm sorry, but I'm not supposed to talk to you. I truly was sorry. He sounded lonely.
Oh. I'll...I'll go then, but I have to warn you - if you hear from me again, it'll only be because you need to.
I felt his magical aura leave me, signaling that he was gone. Then I realized I still didn't know how he knew my name... or whether or not he worked for the Order. But I don't think he does. He sounds too friendly to do something like that. Then again, friendly people can be deceiving. I'll just turn away his offers if they sound too suspicious.
Finally, Sam walked out from the crates, a wyvern-like creature following her. Noot was flying close by, with a concerned look in his eyes.
It was Sam who spoke first. "I'm really sorry about how I acted earlier. I shouldn't have reprimanded you when you barely know this world, how it works, and what's right and wrong. Let's just have lunch over a picnic. You have to eat our food to stay here. Otherwise, you'll probably fade away into your own world again." Sighing, she added, "You hearing voices might just be... a bug in the system. I want you to tell me and Noot everything you heard the voice say." She gestured for me and Noot to follow, leading her dragon friend along with her.
I watched them for a second. Would it be that bad to leave this world and never come back? I didn't even know whether or not Sam was supposed to be my friend. I'd never had friends before, so I didn't really know who to trust here, especially since Sam was going against someone who had tried to help us. It sure was safe to depend on her, since she knew a whole lot more than I did, but would trusting the voice hurt anybody? It knew a lot more than I did too.
I sat down, beginning to tell them what I heard so far, except the recent bit. "He said that Pippet was charging a spell that could have killed us. He also mentioned something about it being another version, a darker one, of an Astral spell. The odd thing is, I could see it while Sam couldn't."
Noot looked thoughtful as he put his palms on his peachy cheeks. "I wonder how he knew that. It's like he was there." After a long, thoughtful pause, he offered me a slice of turkey.
"So are you suggesting it was Pippet?" Sam asked through a buttered roll.
"No! Why would he hurt himself? Pippet isn't smart enough to come up with something like that. Though it might have been the Puppet Master," the fairy pouted, stuffing his cheeks with apple slices.
I took a deep breath and continued slower. "Then... he told me the words to the spell and used his magic to help me. After Pippet left, he said he had to go as well."
Noot gazed at me in surprise. "A magic exchange is a powerful spell. I don't know what to say about this, but if it's connected with Shadow magic, maybe you should stay in warded areas, like the training ground."
If a magic exchange is such a powerful spell, wouldn't he be able to get past their magic? I didn't say anything, thinking of how lonely he sounded. Maybe he was like me, friendless. I knew Sam was my friend, but I was still getting used to it. But why would he talk to me? I was just one girl, someone new in this world.
I looked at Noot, a question burning in my thoughts. "Noot, are there any rules to talking to people with their minds?"
He slapped his forehead with his short arm. "Why didn't I think of that? You need to know that person or have a connection with them, like having something in common or being related."
Sam began to count on her fingers, which were coated in butter from the rolls. "They're definitely from here, you're not a boy, the chances of you being related are slim, so what could you possibly have in common?"
I looked at the ground. "I'm dyslexic." I watched as Sam absentmindedly slipped Bobby some turkey, which he snapped up with his wickedly sharp teeth, startling me. He didn't look dangerous, but then again, he was a dragon.
Noot stared at me with his childish demeanor. "I'm sorry Peregrine, but we just don't know enough. I'm afraid that the voice, whoever he is, might be the Puppet Master."
I stifle a sigh. Something was off, because if both Pippet and the Puppet Master was part of the order, and Pippet isn't smart enough to be part of such a plan, then why did he say that his master wasn't going to be happy? Isn't the Puppet Master in charge of him? What if the Shadow magic was just a coincidence? What if he wasn't a dark wizard? I know they wouldn't like it, but... I was going to trust the voice.
Chapter Ten[]
I glanced around the training ground. All over were wizards of all ages, practicing all sorts of spells. Toping the wall surrounding the area were four gemstones, two emerald and two citrine. Are those wards? They don't look very magical.
There was a giant Roman-like structure to the far right. Some of the kids were heading in through a back entrance. Multiple fields were filled with lined up scarecrows, and some teens were showing off their spells on them. To the far left floated the Academy, but was blocked off by suspiciously dense woodland.
"What are you doing?" I turned to see a red-headed teenager in fiery robes. He was sided by two dragons. One with a slim body and bat-like wings, the other a huge muscular creature with a bulky look.
A terrified kid stood before him, "P...P...Practicing?" The poor boy managed to stutter. The larger dragon whispered something in the teen's ear, causing him to roll his eyes. Letting out an impatient snort, it whispered something else and he sighed.
Softening his tone, he responded, "My old wand won't do you any good. If you must copy me, Cameron, use this instead." He held out a red and orange wand, topped with a stone bird, wings outstretched.
Cameron took it cautiously, "Thanks, Crios."
He pushed away his messy bangs, "No prob, just don't burn yourself...again." At that, he noticed us and walked over, leading the larger dragon in a careful manner. "Hey there Sam, who's this?"
"Peregrine," Noot answered for us. I waved shyly. Something about that kid terrified me. His posture and red eyes only strengthened it. He was, in a way, reminiscent of MacKenzie and her very visible ego.
Crios noticed I was staring. "Hey, there's no reason to be scared of me. I'm just an albino, not some monster." I looked at the ground, embarrassed.
Sam crossed her arms, "How's Visus?"
He stroked one of the dragon's scales gently. "Fine. So what brings you to the grounds?"
"Well, Prodigy of Prodigia, I was wondering if you can train my friend here. We had a bit of Pippet trouble earlier," said Sam, pointing at me.
He harrumphed. "You remember our deal. I won't tease you if you don't tease me, which means don't call me that, but yeah, I can teach her the basics. Have you ever cast a spell before?" The smaller dragon gazed at me curiously before approaching. I noticed that the second one was scarred, his heterochromia eyes were dull, and he looked overall confused by us talking.
It took me a minute to respond. "Yes, I have."
"So you probably already know the easier spells are silent." He replied, blowing away a strand of hair that kept bothering him.
"What about verbal spells?" I asked, wanting to learn about what happened earlier. Maybe greater knowledge of the concept will help me figure out who the voice was.
He nodded, "Yeah, but those are way harder, especially the ones that are a mix of both. We measure magic in levels if you didn't already know, only level one hundreds can do those without fainting. There are some who are considerably more powerful but still grouped into the hundreds place. Speaking of which, do you have a level relic?"
I blinked, "A what?"
"This," he held up his wrist, a leather band was tied messily on, "is a level relic. Large beads stand for ten levels, small beads stand for one level. It changes magically as you learn new spells and become more powerful. That way it's easier to teach you spells you can handle."
Sam looked at Noot, "I don't have a spare so..."
The fairy guide dug around in his pocket, "I'm out, sorry."
Crios sighed before handing me a blue leather necklace, "Here, you can have this one, Cria won't mind. She's just as powerful as me anyhow."
"Cria?" Sam and Noot asked in unison, surprising each other.
"My sister," he roughly explained, distracted. I watched as the necklace changed magically in my palm, going from ten large beads to three large, five small.
"That's odd," muttered Noot, "I expected you to be at least a level two, but thirty-five?" Sam gazed at me curiously but said nothing, most likely thinking of the voice.
Crios on the other hand, knew nothing of that sort, "Well then, we're going to have to do this the hard way."
"The hard way?" asked Sam blankly.
He pointed at me, "You, my friend, are going to hit me with all you got." I gulped. Why did I have a bad feeling about this?
Chapter Eleven[]
"Are you sure about this?" me and Crios were in a hidden field, while Noot and Sam took care of business elsewhere.
He nodded, "One, you're not my sister, so I don't have to worry about dying. Two, you have no spell-bearing relics. Three, I'm immune to fire so if you somehow manage to set me alight, I'll be fine. Four, any spell you manage to do won't cause much damage, because I'm sort of a level hundred."
I was still skeptical. "That's not very comforting. In fact, I'm feeling considerably worse about this."
Crios rolled his eyes for the fifth time. "Just do it already."
"If you say so," I muttered. I blasted him with the training wand he gave me. A ball of charging energy rose from the ground, smashing upon him. Then a quick round of stars hit him in the chest.
Losing his balance, he fell into a ditch. "I'm okay! Sort of." Crios got up and dusted himself off. "How in Bonfire did you do a dual?"
I blinked, trying to clear the spots in my vision from the blinding light. "I don't know. Honestly, that's my answer to most everything." A ripple passed in the ground below us. "What was that?"
He looked nervous. "I think I know. Follow me." We ran into the forest, being followed by the dragons. I noticed that the Visus was listening carefully, as if he was using sound to navigate. Is he blind?
We soon wound up in Firefly Forest, overlooking a valley. That's when I saw him. A robed man was floating a few feet above the ground, holding a staff. As we neared, I was struck down with fear and nausea. He wasn't a man at all. To wicked yellow eyes stare out from a mass of shadows, his robes serving only to give him a shape. Marionette sticks replaced hands as he gripped the darkened staff, which was topped with a dark tanzanite crystal. He radiated with pure evil as he performed a complex spell. One name rang in my mind. The Puppet Master. It has to be.
No, no, no! The last no was yelled, immediately followed by moaning. It was the voice again, and he sounded traumatized. Closing my eyes, I wished to know why he was so upset...and found myself in his memories.
He was surrounded by a ball of golden light, swirling around him. Flying yards above sea level, his blue wings fluttered to keep him aloft. Behind him was the Puppet Master and the Order, while in front was the many wizards willing to die to protect their home. Below was a vast ocean, its dark waters only reminding him of what will occur if he does this. He never felt so torn in his life. To support his father or mother? To live or to die? To follow the rules the Academy set or to break them? Yet he knew deep inside, he had to do the right thing, despite who or what he was. Charging the spell between his palms, all the Astral energy surrounding him began to be drawn near the magical core. The spell blasted in a ball of golden energy, landing on an island with a crash. A great stone creature rose up, releasing an elemental storm. Feeling drained, he was no longer able to fly and fell limply toward the churning water's maw. Using the tiny bit of magic he had left, he cast a spell to protect him from the deep, his brown hair flowing in the water as he was sucked into a current. Slowly, he drifted into unconsciousness, not knowing if he'd wake again.
At that I was ejected from his mind with such force, it felt almost physical. A roar caused my eyes to snap open, revealing a giant stone lion. It had bushes for a mane and was made of brown rock. Shadowy marionette strings hovered above it, signaling who had summoned it. The Puppet Master was nowhere in sight, but we were.
Crios gulped. "It spotted us! I'll go around and distract it. You run and tell the others!"
"What?!" But he already ran off, throwing fire spells from behind the creature.
"Hey, you! You overgrown cat! Come and pick on someone your own level!" It roared in outrage while he fled, leading it into the woods. I ran the other way, legs pumping as I almost flew across the terrain. Soon I arrived at the training ground, where Sam said she'll be.
She stopped what she was doing, "What's wrong?"
Panting for breath I answered, "Giant stone lion. Firefly Forest. Crios is distracting it. He said to get the others."
"He took on a Titan!" She exclaimed. "He knows better than to try that by himself. Noot! Where are you? I need your map!"
He zoomed over, "Here, what is it?"
"The Puppet Master rose an Earth Titan and Crios was stupid enough to fight it!" She muttered a spell as she placed her hand on the map, creating a black and purple lion appear on the marker for Firefly Forest. Instantly multiple wizards wisped away or ran to the valley, joining in on the fray. More roars filled the clearing, reminding me of exactly how much danger Crios was in.
That's when I remembered the voice. Why did you kick me out?
You weren't supposed to see that! If I didn't, you and Crios would have been squashed by now!
How do you know his name? Better question, how do you know my name?
I have my sources. And to answer your next question, I'm not the Puppet Master. You saw that he doesn't have a shape and that I do, is that enough evidence?
Maybe.
Blimey! You sure are stubborn, yet that can be a good trait...if you apply it to the right situation. I guess this works, me being a stranger to you and all.
I thought you wouldn't talk to me again.
You talked to me and I responded. It was the polite thing to do, despite the fact you wandered into my memories uninvited, He argued.
So who are you? I asked for the second time.
It doesn't matter. You'll meet me eventually. In fact, you already met me. You just don't remember.
What do you mean?
Oh, you'll find out eventually. The lost will always be found.
Do you know how I'm a level thirty-five?
You ask a lot of questions, don't you? That's related to our meeting before.
Oh. I sighed, I had more questions than I began with.
Now, I best be going. I don't want you walking in my head again, especially when I'm in this state. His familiar aura faded, but I could still detect a faint trace, allowing me to know that I could easily call on him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Crios covered head to toe in ash, his dragons propping him up.
He collapsed on the ground, "Remind me never to do that again."
Sam rolled her eyes, "You knew better."
Noot was about to approach him, but Crios waved him off, "I'll be fine. There are worse cases on the Titan Grounds. The Titan used a few ancient spells, like Mudball."
"What?!" Noot exclaimed, "But that shouldn't be possible! Florian dealt with that years ago!"
He sighed. "I know."
The fairy looked anxious. "How much did you teach Peregrine before this happened?"
Crios looked at me with respect. "She doesn't need my kind of teaching. What she needs is a decent spellbook with non-battle related magic, and she can handle the rest on her own." I nearly beamed with pride, but I wondered how I was supposed to read a spellbook. Are they even in English?
Noot looked at us. "Well then, Crios and me will stay here while you two head to the Dark Tower and convince that lazy wizard to get down here! He supposedly knows plenty about magic and we need the help."
Sam gazed at me worryingly. "Let's get Gray and Genesis."
He sat up. "Take Visus and Liza with you. I know that wizard and they might challenge you to earn their respect. Also, stop at Pallet Pass. I noticed you don't have a starter pet, Peregrine, and you'll need all the help you'll get in that tower."
Sam glanced at him suspiciously, "Fine, we'll make a stop there." We headed to the stable where the Glorici were kept, ready for flight. Saddling them up, Gray huffed impatiently.
"I thought we would get to rest."
She sighed. "Sorry Gray, we need to go to Pallet Pass, then the Dark Tower." He grumbled before crouching, allowing me to get on.
"Well, we better be going then," said Genesis as Sam mounted.
Sam glanced to the side. "Bobby! I need you to help Liza guide Visus." The blue scaled creature reluctantly got up, hobbling over to the other dragons.
"I don't need guiding," stated Visus, surprising me.
Liza bonked him on the snout, "Yes you do, you blind bone bag!" Bobby let out a series of growls and snarls, which reminded me of my question.
I glanced at Sam. "How are we understanding those two?"
"All creatures of the Embershed evolution line have a knack for languages," she answered as the assembly of creatures walked out the door.
"Evolution line?"
"That's what we call species who go through intense changes as they grow up." Bobby suddenly let out a frustrated screech before he and Liza grabbed Visus by the wings. They launched into flight, the Glorci startling us as they flew after them.
Gray flew by the dragons, who were now flying side by side. "You should have waited for the command. Now, none of the children will be able to understand you." Bobby bared his small fangs before nudging Visus, guiding him in the right direction. As the wind rushed past us a sense of belonging overcame me. I closed my eyes, wanting this wondrous feeling to last forever.
Chapter Twelve[]
We were on a dirt road. Behind us were lined up houses, to the sides were trees... and eyes. The eyes were multiple colors, revealing nothing of what the many creatures might be. As we stood silently, they began to creep out of the woodland.
"Snowfluff, Charfoal, Mermina, Wott, Sproot, Creela, Dragic, Peeko, and Soral." Listed Sam. I eyed them carefully as they curiously watched us.
One was as fluffy and white as a cloud, creating snow and scraping it into a snowman. I assumed it was a Snowfluff, for its lovable round blue eyes and adorable ice plates seemed to suit the name.
Another was a fiery pony, just a foal. Its aqua eyes were bright, but it charred the ground below it. Clearly a Charfoal, it romped over to another creature, who soaked it before allowing the horse to come close.
The one who drenched the Charfoal reminded me of a mermaid, and it had three cute nubs of a horn. Its rose-colored eyes were gentle as it cuddled with the horse. I guessed it was a Mermina as a bat-like creature swooped in.
The little bat had big blue eyes and antennae-like ears, which buzzed with electricity. It zipped around, startling a smaller green creature. Deciding the bat was a Wott due to its energetic nature, I moved onto the green, beaked creature.
Noticing I was staring at it, it ducked under a leaf, quickly being accompanied by a bug. Its little beak only added to its cuteness as it watched me with its dark pink eyes. Green plumy feathers served as a hairdo for the little thing, pink heart-shaped splotches of color tipping its ears emphasizing its feminine nature. As it hid, little flowers sprouted where it walked, confirming it was a Sproot.
The bug, who was still under the leaf, let out a Creela sound. I immediately figured out what it was as it fluttered its heart-shaped wings. The pink insect had light green eyes, filled with loving gaze for those around it.
I heard a sneeze, a baby dragon cindering a twig with its flaming discharge. Bobby cooed, it cooing back, bringing a toothy smile to the wyvern's face. The dragonet's big red eyes were sure to capture anyone's heart, but also proved its being as a Dragic since they gave a peek at its fiery nature.
My attention was drawn to a little brown cat, its legs so short I could barely see them among the fur. Its ears wiggled happily as it played peek-a-boo with a plump bird, its amber eyes bright as the bird chirped happily. I had a feeling that it was a Peeko, which only left the bird.
The Soral's cerulean blue eyes captivated me as it chirped its song. The melody reminded me of what it felt to be riding on Gray, the wind flowing past me and giving me that amazing feeling - the feeling that I belonged up there. A fierce image flashed in my mind.
There was a boy. He giggled as Mystyyk's loving rubs tickled him. The winged horse was his, and he was her boy. She proudly bared a star-shaped crest on her gold-colored harness, which was soft to the touch. The fairy walked her out of the stable, wanting to be by her side.
The image flashed again, changing.
Myystyk romped through the clouds and the boy was riding her. He only rode her when she let him, otherwise they flew side by side. They were connected in an unexplainable manner. They were two different creatures with many differences, but in moments like these, they were one and the same, with only one thought in mind - they belonged up here.
One last image drifted in my mind, filled with sadness.
"I'll be back, Mystyyk," he told her, stroking her pink mane. She pawed the ground, her feathered hooves a soft purple. She nudged him, making a point that he should go before he was late. He waved goodbye as he flew out the stable door, hurrying to class.
That's when I realized that I had done it again. These feelings were not mine at all.
That you did, he scolded, clearly not enjoying having to share his memories. I told you I wanted to be left in peace, and I trusted you enough to leave a link in case you had to call on me. Instead, you parade through my emotions and memories!
I'm sorry...
He mentally sighed. I was going to have to talk to you anyhow. These creatures, despite how friendly they look, are a bit feral. When you choose one, you will have to battle it. Be careful to use weaker spells and when they tire, focus on their shadow. I know this sounds preposterous, but there's more than what meets the eye. Stay calm, and think about them being...well, friendly. It will break the Shadow magic and allow you to calm it, hopefully, it'll choose to stay with you. Goodbye, Peregrine, and please, stay out of my head. There are some things that are private...like memories.
I looked at the many baby animals. How was I going to choose? They had all managed to capture my heart, but I could only pick one.
Sam eyed the collection of cuddly creatures, "So, what's it going to be? We don't have all day, Mira stops letting wizards in at sundown."
"Okay, give me a moment," I said. "What are the Soral's evolutions?"
She began to describe them. "Well, once evolved, she'll become a Solarix, and her body will have more... balanced proportions than she has now." I giggled as the bird began to tweet indignantly. "And then she'll have Solarasis as her final evolution, which will look sort of like one of your eagles on Earth."
"This may be a bit far fetched," I said cautiously, "but when I that cool spell I did last time we were fighting Pippet, I was aided by the mystery voice and an Acromi. But I figure if I got an eagle-like bird as a replacement, maybe I won't need the assistance of the Acromi, who belongs to the mysterious voice, who you told me not to talk to."
"Huh," Sam watched as the baby Soral hopped closer. "That does make sense, but I have a feeling there's a bit more at play here. You shouldn't cast that spell again, but... a Soral would make a good pet."
I breathed, remembering what he told me. "Then I pick the Soral." The other creatures scattered, leaving only the Soral, who screeched irritatedly.
Sam took a step back. "She looks a bit upset." A spark flew at us, which we narrowly avoided. "Make that really upset," She quickly corrected, surprised by its magical outburst, "I think you may have to battle her!"
I gulped. Breathing to slow my heart rate, I somehow managed to stick to the weaker starbit spell from earlier. Quickly, it began to droop, worn out by the magic.
Following his instructions, I focused on the Soral's shadow, thinking of how it was acting before - friendly. The bird's shadow, which was oddly shaped, warped to match the Soral, the only evidence that the spell even happened. She tiredly flopped at my feet, yawning. Cautiously, I picked her up, and she snuggled up to me.
Sam looked at me, confused, "Well, that was odd. What do you want to call her?"
I looked at the sleeping bird in surprise. "I don't know, doesn't she have a name? I mean, you wizards have spells and everything, but don't you ask all these creatures their names?"
"She's just a baby, and most pets on Pallet Pass are orphans," she replied flatly.
Liza snorted impatiently, reminding us she was here. "You just don't want to admit she's right. I was turned down by five wizards because I couldn't evolve. Five! All you care about is how powerful we are, not that we have feelings." She sighed. "Gale has a way with birds, so maybe you should ask him."
Sam rolled her eyes. "A way with birds? More like he's a total nut job, talking to his pets all the time. He doesn't even use a prodilingual spell!"
The dragon lashed her tail. "You should be more respectful."
Ignoring the dragon, she mounted Genesis. "I can buy you a leg band for her from Mira. She's obsessed with pets for some reason, especially the bounty ones." Liza sighed before walking over to Visus, who huffed in annoyance.
Sam looked at Bobby, "Now will you let me cast the prodilingual spell?" He moved his wings in a way I could only describe as a shrug. Doing the same motion from earlier, she drew a glowing blue outline around him. Silently, I mounted Gray and we took off, leaving pallet pass behind, the melancholy tower looming before us.
Chapter Thirteen[]
As I waited for Sam, I petted the tired Soral, trying to think of a name for her. I was sitting under a tree with the Glorci and dragons resting nearby, and I began to wonder how long I was going to be stuck here. I wondered where I was supposed to stay, if I could bring the little Soral when I go back to Earth, if a day here equaled years back home, and-
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crying. I gazed around, trying to find the source of the sound. The tower was made of a dark grey stone, gargoyle statues lining the windows, and an eerie purple glow pulsing from it. In front of it was a stone path, a grassy field littered with stone rubble surrounded it, but I still couldn't see anyone crying. Something moved at the edge of my vision, and I stood up, allowing me to notice a cloaked figure heading into the forest. Putting down the Soral, I got up and headed toward the woods.
Following it, I watched as they lowered their hood and scooped up the crying creature, comforting it. I eyed the figure, confirming that they were a girl. She had deep blue eyes, fair skin, and wore an odd ocean blue dress with crystals decorating it. Strapped in a leather sheath was a silver staff with sapphire gems was embedded in it, but what surprised me the most was her striking sky blue hair. Wow. She really likes blue.
The small creature was humanoid, but ironically also blue. It reminded me of a water droplet with its curled tuft of hair, it's bawling only further doing so to make it look dreary. The girl whispered something in its ear, soothing the creature. Deciding that the situation was taken care of, I turned to leave. It was hard, considering the amount of foliage covering the dense forest, but I managed to take around twenty steps before I stepped on a twig.
I was at wand-point in a snap, and the girl's eyes were cold and hostile. "Who are you?"
"P...P...Peregrine." I stuttered, something about her told me she was going to blast me if I didn't give her the answers she wanted.
She stood tall in a manner that reminded me of Crios. "And what exactly are you?"
I was filled with the need not to tell her what I was. From what Sam told me, humans weren't welcomed here. "A wizard."
The girl harrumphed in a familiar manner, "What are the chances of that? You're clearly lying." I gulped before she continued, "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, otherwise, I would have taught you a lesson. So do yourself a favor and leave."
Nodding in a terrified way, with some difficulty I left the forest, coming out next to a crossed looking Sam. She sighed, "Where were you? Is it too hard to sit down and wait?"
I looked at the floor. "I'm sorry."
Sam pressed a hand on her forehead the way my mom does. "It's- it's okay. Anyhow, we better head over, because Mira's waiting."
I didn't like Mira as soon as I met her. She wore a black dress with gold trimming, similar to the one I saw the girl wearing. She also wore gloves and a gray belt, from which hang a wand studded with crystals. Her violet eyes were cold as she looked me over, and her smile only disturbed me.
Her laugh was almost a crackle as she addressed Sam, "So you're saying Noot sent you, along with this kid, to climb the tower? I'm surprised Crios let Visus and Liza come along."
Sam glared at her. "What? Think we can't climb it?"
Mira grinned, "You're welcomed to try, Academy scum."
"What did you call me?!" Sam bristled at her comment, while Bobby bared his teeth, clearly trying to restrain himself.
"Academy scum," she replied, "Now are you going in or not?"
"In," I answered, since Sam looked like a steaming kettle. She thrusted a pouch of gold into Mira's gloved hands.
Mira opened the door, walking in behind us. The inside of the tower was just as gloomy as the exterior. The gray brick was cracked and crumbling, the glass windows were shades of purple, and a magical barrier blocked the staircase. A well was in the center of the room, emitting an eerie purple glow as a purple sphere hovered above it.
Mira flicked her light blue hair over her shoulder. "Well, Sam, you can start at floor fifty-one, since that's where you left off, but your friend over there needs to start here."
Sam glanced at me. "No. We both go to floor fifty-one."
She cackled once more. "Sorry Sam, she'll need to prove herself."
Sam clenched her fists angrily, "What do you want us to do?"
Mira simply smiled in a manner that made me think of Mackenzie... and how she enjoyed others' misery. "You two can climb the first ten floors as a test, but Miss Beginner here has to cast most of the spells."
"My name is Peregrine," I said, angry at how she was treating me and my friend.
Scoffing, she dismissed me with a wave of her hand, "Okay, Peregrine, let's not delay the inevitable. By that, I mean your defeat." She spun a wheel on her stone ring, clicking her tongue in disdain. Then she blasted the sphere and with a burst of light, a small fish-like creature hovered in the air, while she, on the other hand, was gone.
The creature looked aggressive... for a fish. It let out a gurgly growl, causing a torrent of water to hit Bobby. He yelped, cowering in a corner. "Get away from me, ye fearthainne fiend!"
Sam rolled her eyes before sending a round of spells at the creature. "You'll have to finish this one."
I glanced at her, "I know." Breathing in deeply, I cast the final spell, stars falling into the fish, causing the creature to whimper in it's gurgly way. It swam through the air and back into the well, causing the magical barrier on the stairway to drop.
Sam took a deep breath, "Let's go."
Chapter Fourteen[]
Mira was there for every floor. Every time she'd spin her spinner and blast the sphere. Every time she'd vanish and get madder as soon as we arrived at the next floor. Usually, Mira would comment, keeping her cool, other times she was red with anger, and simply got on with it. So when we reached floor ten and saw her smiling, I knew we were in trouble.
Her grin was what you would see on the most misguided tyrant, but her gaze was pure fury. "Well, well, well, look at you, already on floor ten. You know, The wizard of this tower was once a student at the Academy, just like you... But the wizard was MUCH stronger! WAAAAAY stronger!" She cackled hysterically, causing me to cringe. "So, he and I had a chat. You can skip to floor 95, but you'll have to defeat him... which is impossible!" She laughed again, unnerving me.
Sam arched a brow, but was clearly disturbed, "So you're letting us go up, without battling anything?" I wasn't normally quick to judge, but Sam was right to question her. From what I've heard so far, Mira liked to see others suffer, and she wasn't going to be satisfied until she watched us fail.
"Oh, I didn't say that," Mira smirked, keeping up her attitude, "You see, the only teleportation spell that works here is the wizard's, which he personally taught me, but anything you try won't work. So I'm turning off the barriers."
Sam looked at her, hazel eyes pooling with distrust, "Meaning?"
She chuckled, clearly enjoying our uncertainty. "You'll have to climb the stairs! You have ten minutes before every creature in this tower turns against you!" Laughing maniacally, she vanished. We exchanged a panicked look before running, the pets nimbly flying upstairs. It was not long before we heard a roar echo through the tower.
Sam gulped, "Grandoff doesn't sound happy today."
As we sprinted up yet another flight of stairs, I dared to question her. "Who's Grandoff?"
"A Dargon on floor fifty. Big, fiery, deadly, and pretty much everything else you'll expect the father of dragons to be." She picked up her pace, "Unless you want to be fried, I recommend hurrying up!" We skidded to a stop at floor fifty, where a massive a massive dragon-like creature blocked our path.
It had red scales, black feathered wings, spikes on its back, and huge ram-like horns. It's cyan eyes glittered nervously as it glanced at the well, then us. Fire circled around it and the well, only further expressing that we weren't going to get past him anytime soon.
"Our ten minutes aren't even up," Sam muttered before raising her voice. "Grandoff! Will you let us pass? Please?" He roared angrily in response, snarling.
I glanced at her, "I take that as a no."
"Actually, he said that the wizard swore to hurt his young if he didn't do this." We turned to Lisa, whose scaly snout was wrinkled in disgust.
Sam sighed. "Okay then. Looks like I'm going to have to blast this guy." She muttered something, causing a torrent of water to hit Grandoff. He jumped out of the way and we ran into the opening. The Dargon roared angrily and aimed to stop us from reaching the stairwell, but it was too late. We had ran past it. A cascade of lighting struck the well, and a whimpering sound reached us. Sam shoved me forward, reminding me that despite everything, we had to keep going.
We nearly reached floor 95 when I stopped her. "Sam, we should have helped Grandoff."
She sighed, "We need to keep going. If we had helped him, we would be dead ten times over! That's what that stupid wizard wanted us to do, get distracted, get beat up till we're half dead, and no one would get any help and it'll be all our fault." Pressing a hand to forehead, she managed a weak smile, "Let's just get to the next floor. I bet Mira's furious."
And boy was she. Mira was as red as a tomato, and for a moment, I thought she'd explode. Taking a deep breath, she finally managed to say, "Congrats, you managed to reach this floor." Her words dripped with hostility as Mira approached us slowly, keeping in her fury. "Listen you two, you made it this far, but you're nobody. You and your big fancy Academy are just a sorry attempt at being the best, and you'll never beat this tower, NEVER!"
Sam looked her in the eye, "What makes you so sure about that?"
She turned her back toward us, "We'll see." And with a burst of light, she vanished, and we were left to face the next monster.
Chapter Fifteen[]
"That was too easy," I stated as the three little creatures ran off. They were just like the one I saw with the girl in the woods, but different.
Sam watched as the magical barrier fell. "You're right. Liza, what do you think?"
"Amazing," the dragon started sarcastically, "a wizard other than Crios actually asked my opinion." Visus and Bobby rolled their eyes in unison, and the little Soral clacked her beak annoyedly. Ignoring them, she continued. "It was too easy. I believe this 'wizard'," she paused to air quote with her dangerously sharp claws, "has set this floor up to make us overly confident and reckless, instead of strategic."
I blinked, confused. "So you don't think it's a wizard?"
Without another word, Liza began to pad toward the stairwell, clearly baffled as well but didn't want to hurt her pride. "Now, let's climb shall we?" Sam shrugged at me before silently following the dragon, the pets following tiredly. Soon we were at the top, and I squinted against the blinding light of the setting sun.
"Astounding. You have made it to the top of my tower..." said a cold voice. We turned around to see Mira.
Sam stood hesitantly, "Where's this 'powerful' wizard Mira? Or was it just a lie?"
To my surprise, Mira allowed herself a smile. "Oh Sam, ever-so-foolish Sam. The wizard is ME! THE GREAT AND POWERFUL MIRA SHADE!" We exchanged an uneasy glance as she laughed hysterically. "It was me all along! You should see the look on your faces right now!" She continued laughing, indicating we were in for trouble.
Liza rolled her eyes, "Mira, get on with it." A great light rose from the floor and swirled around her, when it faded, I was in for a shock. Liza was right. I'm not sure Mira's a wizard after all.
She was levitating and had a great set of wings made of crystals. Her eyes, which were purple before, were now a steely red that matched the color of the sunset looming before us. But what surprised me the most was that she had a familiar aura, like that of the voice, but different.
Mira blasted us with her first spell, and a beam of light hit us. As usual, my robes absorbed most of the damage, but I began to wonder why the voice hadn't interrupted yet. Liza and Sam cast a fiery spell in unison, which she countered with a water spell. Bobby cast a spell, but Mira didn't even seem bothered by the damage she was taking. I finally managed to get a shot at her, which caused her to roll her eyes smugly before casting a spell similar to lightning.
My heart raced as I realize exactly how much trouble we managed to get ourselves into. Casting another spell, I managed to do the same thing I done against Crios earlier. That time, she looked at me in interest before summoning spiked vines out of the ground. Visus jumped back, clearly irritated that he couldn't see what was going on.
The little Soral chirped, causing a pitiful spark spell to fly at Mira. While she was distracted by the wrathful bird, I looked back at Sam. Sam's eyes burned with an indescribable fury. On our the way up the tower, Mira had targeted her in manner that was almost personal. It set me wondering if it was. Rubbing her scorched arm, my friend's gaze met Mira's, then a blue ball of energy appeared between the two of them.
It pulsed, cracking each time before exploding with a blinding flash of light, leaving only raging hot flame. As the blue tongues of fire died out, I noticed that Mira was finally beginning to tire. What exactly is that spell?
Despite what just happened, I managed to cast one more spell.
Chapter Sixteen[]
Mira was on the ground, short of breath. "I can't believe it.
Sam glared, "Can't believe what? That a piece of "Academy Scum" beat you?"
"That," she began, "and how you don't know."
I looked a her, "don't know what?"
"Oh it doesn't matter, no wizard knows, and it's best to keep it that way. Now, do you want me to help you or not? Since you won..." Her violet eyes hinted that she was worried, but about what? Why are there so many secrets on this island?
Sam sighed, "Yes, we need the help."
Mira thought for a moment, "Have you tried asking Florian?"
My friend crossed her arms, "Of course not, why would he do it?"
"Well, I believe a friend of his tampers with magic, to the extent that it might potentially disturb the balance of the island and-"
"Okay, okay, I get it." She rubbed her forehead, "Sometimes I wonder how he became Keeper in the first place."
Mira sighed, "That's a long story, and it's not my story to tell. Anyhow, you might want to get your little human friend over there to the Academy before someone else notices."
I stared blankly, "How did you-"
She tossed something at me, "You're not exactly blending in very well. That should fit you." Returning to her grouchier attitude, she pointed at the staircase, "Now go!" Taking her advice, we ran down the stairway.
By the the time we exited, the sun already set and the moon began to rise. My little Soral chirped tiredly, and Genesis and Gray were napping. "So why are we going to the Academy again?"
"Because someone needs to yell sense in that lunatic fairy's ear and we need to find a better way to keep people from noticing you." Sam replied, shaking the Glorici awake.
I blinked, confused, "Do you mean Gale?"
As Gray harrumphed in annoyance of being awakened, she glanced at me, "Yes. Frankly, I wished I didn't mean him. He has enough to worry about already." She mounted Genesis as the dragons watched.
Gray padded over to me, "Sam always had a certain dislike towards Gale, but that's personal. I honestly don't know what happened between them, I suppose it was when she still studied in the Academy."
Lisa grumbled, "That's obvious, Gray. Now, Bobby, are you going to help me with Visus?"
"I'm fine!" The blind dragon snapped, but the reptile simply rolled her eyes in response.
Bobby looked at Sam, who nodded, "Ask Crios to drop you off. I don't need to save someone else from Pippet." And with that, the Glorici took off, with the Dragons heading in the opposite direction.
As the moon rose to replace the sun, a cool breeze taunted the night, causing me to shiver. The island looked ever so different after sunset, to the point it took my breath away. Despite the lack of sunlight, the island remained lit. Glowing mushrooms lighted the forest trails, causing swirling patterns to be seen from above. A cloaked wizard lit the lamps of the town, and the towers were bathed in a welcoming light. The volcano shined warmly, and snow reflected the moon just right.
Gray noticed me gazing down at the island and suddenly veered up, "I think you might like this."
"Woah-" I had no words for what he had shown me. A misty, luminous, golden-colored stream twisted and twirled through the air.
He chuckled, "It's a Faen wind, they used to be quite rare, but now..."
I dared to lift a hand and touch it, "What causes it?"
The Gloricious sighed, "A dark thing, at least from a wizard's point a view. So make sure you don't tell Sam we're flying under one, she's a tad superstitious about these sort of things, and has reason too. According to Faen myth the one casting the wind can change a person's dreams."
I looked at him in surprise, "Did you say casting? But I though these used to be rare."
"No one knows how to cast one," he eyed me as he veered back down to join Genesis, "but there's an old tale about the son of Luki-"
"Oh stop," Sam glanced back at us, "it's not even true. Even the Fairies despise that story."
Gray sighed, "But they chose to hide the truth, rather then embrace it. Sometimes the truth can be hard to understand."
"Even so, it's best not to bring it up. Besides, we're here." She stated as we landed outside the Academy entrance. "There are wards here, we should be fine for the night, you can stay in the same room from earlier."
Now in a bed, a tiredness swept over me, and I quickly fell asleep.
Chapter Seventeen[]
I awoke to rapid, attention pleading chirping, which was surprisingly loud coming from such a small Soral.
"Oh! Stop that racket, you'll wake - too late..." I wondered who the voice belonged to until I realized it was coming from a bird. Remembering where I was, I decided to deal with the situation before anything crazier happened.
I glanced at it cautiously, "Where did you come from? And what are you doing here?"
"The Arch-" began an icy gargoyle-like creature, but another slapped a paw over her muzzle. I had just noticed that they were in here.
The bird stared at them briefly before responding, "Sam's arguing with Gale if that's what you're wondering. Also, no, we did not kidnap you, why would we want to do that?"
"Oh," a little embarrassedly I added, "would you mind taking me over to see them?" She nodded then flew out the door. The little Soral hopped behind me energetically, eager to explore. As we neared an odd structure of pedestals, one which was adorned with a mysterious green gem, I spotted Sam having a heated argument with who I could only assume was Gale.
Knowing that he was a fairy from what Sam mentioned the other day, I was struck by how different he looked from Noot. He was obviously taller, had a tail that was more ribbon-like, deep amber eyes, and had platinum colored hair. Yet what startled me the most was the fact he was gray.
"I told you that I have nothing to do with it!" He snapped, irritated Sam wasn't believing him.
"Yet you're the only one touching the keystones, not to mention the pedestals!"
"So I'm suddenly responsible? That's right, blame the dark fairy, I always ruin everything - No."
"Then who do you think did it? Wait- Did you say dark fairy?"
He simply crossed his arms, "If you think I'm going to blame Florian, you're clearly mistaken."
"Then who did it? And you're not answering my question!" Asked Sam, now less sure of herself.
"Have you ever bothered to read? You're so superstitious that you're oblivious to-" at that point, he noticed me and made a quick gesture at Sam.
"WHAT? Oh, good morning Peregrine." Sam looked tired, and aggravated.
Gale in the meantime, stretched out an arm, on which the bird landed on obediently, "I see you met Acromi. I'm sorry if she startled you."
I blinked, confused, "Acromi? Isn't that-"
"I know it seems redundant," he answered, "but I let my pets choose their own name."
Sam rolled her eyes at that, "You know what, I'm talking to Florian..." We both watched as she stormed up the staircase, clearly still a bit heated from the argument.
Thinking about something Gray mentioned, I decided to risk a question, "Would you mind helping out with my Soral?"
"Of course." Smiling to himself he added, "So that's what woke me up."
"Oh, sorry."
"It's fine. I'm used to it, just haven't heard a Soral in a while... so, what exactly do you need help with?"
I looked down at the little bird, who looked up at me, "Well, for starters, I have no idea how to take care of one, and I'm wondering if she has a name, but Sam thinks she doesn't." To my surprise, he stopped flying, crouched down, and tickled the Soral. It let out a startled chirp and hid behind me.
"Well that's expected, most pets are bothered by me. To answer your question, no, she doesn't, otherwise she wouldn't of called you mother just now."
"She called me what-" I stared at him blankly as the Soral snuggled closer.
Gale stood back up, and Acromi hooted her displeasure at his abruptness, "In other words, she imprinted on you." I barely recall what I learned about imprinting back at home, but I knew it meant I'll be stuck with the Soral for a while. "I have something you can use for her, wait here." he darted behind one of the columns, and I sat down as the little Soral decided to explore the room.
Are you alright? Rang a concerned voice in my head. Biting my lip, I was unsure whether or not I should answer this time, he hadn't barged in when I needed his help most. Peregrine? He asked again, sounding worried.
With I sigh, I knew I had to respond, otherwise I wouldn't get my answers. I'm fine. Why weren't you there when I needed your help?
I only got silence as a response, and was beginning to have my doubts about him when he answered, I have my limits, the Dark Tower is one of them.
But....
I know it seems unlikely, seeing how I got past the barriers, but Mira knows the same type of magic as me... and how to put up a proper barrier to keep me from popping in.
He said that a bit wistfully, nabbing at my curiosity, Do you know her well? I couldn't help but wonder a bit.
Not in that way! He snapped at me, I like someone else, and that's none of your business. He mentally sighed, I'm sorry, I shouldn't of snapped.
It's okay, I started, Really.
I'm sorry Peregrine, but I have to go.
Unlike it usual, his familiar Aura didn't leave with him, Huh, does that mean he's near by? Before I could figure out who was behind the voice, I noticed Gale leaning against the wall and giving me a look.
"I'm not even going to ask."
"Did you..."
"What do you think?" Embarrassed, I looked at the ground, and he sighed in response. "I'm not mad, just annoyed that this wasn't the first thing Sam told me when she arrived. If whoever's talking to you was a threat, then we would have quite the problem right now."
I perked at his last statement, "So they're trustworthy?"
"I simply said he wasn't a threat. I can differentiate Astral and Shadow magic fine, but whether or not you can trust them is another matter."
"Oh."
He shoved a bag into my hands which I could only guess that contained whatever I needed for the Soral, then added, "I think you might want to stop Sam before she drives Florian insane." As I watched him go, I couldn't help but feel like he knew something.
Walking up the stairs, I once again overheard Sam's arguing. "Then who did it?"
"I honestly don't know," responded yet another fairy, who I assumed was Florian.
He was green in skin tone, had brown hair with a dark green stripe, and wore a set of robes that reminded me of nature. His wings were a light green tone, and dragonfly-wing shaped.
Sam crossed her arms, "How come no one on the island with sense knows the answer, but only the lunatics do."
"Sam, I'm perfectly sane," retorted Gale, who had just flown into the room.
"Then why," began Sam, "do you refuse to give me a clear answer?"
He sighed irritably, "First labyrinth, 5 shelf to the right, box on the very left of the top shelf."
"Seriously?" Yet she still went down the stairs to who knows where.
"What exactly is on that shelf?" asked Florian with an eyebrow raised.
"A clear answer."
Now I had a question, "How come you didn't give her a direct answer?"
"Because," the gray fairy looked at me, "Sam hates those stories, even when they're true."
Florian, now noticing me, gave Gale a very obscure look before addressing me, "You must be Peregrine."
Chapter Eighteen[]
Meeting Gale and Florian was not what I expected. Florian was quite kind, but he always seemed to get strict around Gale. Is something going on between them...?
Gale was nice, but acted strangely around Sam. He was also tired all the time and kept disappearing sporadically. His pets provided little explanation, but the twin Keepers, Key & Ice, were quite talkative compared to Acromi. That is, when he bothered to cast the prodilingual spell so one could understand them.
I was still thinking when my Soral began chirping hungrily. "Okay, okay, calm down." I gave it some of the seeds Gale had given me for her to eat, when I realized I still hadn't chosen a name. Suddenly, I heard footsteps, but saw nobody. Is there some sort of passage way behind the walls? I heard footsteps before.
Just then, a door creaked open and a small, stone, lion-like creature rammed right into me, "Oof-"
"ACROMI!" The Acromi chortled, clearly enjoying this.
Shoving the surprisingly heavy creature off me, I saw... Gale? "Wait, you're the one sneaking around? And what on Earth is that thing?"
"I'll explain later. Just do me a favor and don't tell Sam about Tita?"
"Tita...?" I quickly realized that was the creature's name. Yet before I got a response, he was gone.
Acromi flew onto the stair railing and looked at me, "She's a Titan. You're lucky you didn't get crushed."
I couldn't help but think about that stone lion I saw in the woods. "Why doesn't he want Sam to know?"
The owl-like creature sighed, "Many things have been happening lately Peregrine, I don't even know anymore. Trouble keeps... coming and going."
"What do you mean?"
She chuckled, to my surprise. "He's always been a trouble maker. Polite in public, but a creator of chaos in private. One of his hobbies is irritating the heck out of the Council."
"Council?"
"An ancient group of wizards who are in charge of the island." Supplied one of the other gargoyle like creatures. The other started giggling.
Acromi ruffled her feathers, "What is it Ice?"
"Remember the time he dropped that letter out the window and they were looking for for weeks?" She finally said with a laugh.
The bird suddenly got serious, "He had a good reason for that. If he hadn't he wouldn't of had enough time to finish repairing the Earth pedestal."
The first gargoyle shifted, "Acromi has a point. It might of annoyed the council, but he was being serious at the moment."
"Wait, so is this Council bad or something?" I was quickly confused. From what Florian explained earlier, I could tell that the pedestals were important.
"Not exactly," he answered. "They try to protect the island, but the laws have gotten stricter. It's illegal for a wizard to go to Earth, and vice versa."
The concept of me being here was illegal swarmed my thoughts. Well there goes my crime free record. Yet if it's illegal, and Noot's right, then was my father a wizard? Mom always said he was a bit strange. And what about the Council? Will they be after me? I already have to worry about the Order.
Acromi placed a wing on my shoulder comfortingly, "It'll be alright Peregrine. Follow me."
Chapter Nineteen[]
"Why do you have a pet Titan? How come no one mentioned this Council?" I had so many questions, but I knew I wasn't going to get all the answers.
Gale simply stared at me in a sleep-deprived manner, "Acromi, what have you done?" The owl-like creature didn't answer but landed on his shoulder. He sighed, "Look, Peregrine, I had my reasons for what I asked Sam and Noot not to tell you. I will answer your questions... eventually. Yet for now, I need you to keep your mouth shut. I'm in enough trouble with the council as it is, and I'm pretty sure they won't be happy to discover there are half-humans in the Academy."
"Wait, half-humans? Exactly how many times has someone found their way here?"
"I don't know. Ask someone who's been alive and conscious as long as the Ancient herself been around."
"Who?"
"A creature from that story Sam hates, she balances the island and is as old as this world." He replied flatly. With that, he left, and Acromi shrugged her wings before flying after him.
I eventually shuffled back into the room, trying to sort through things and figure out the answers of my questions. Surely someone must of mentioned something.
I must of fallen asleep because someone shook me awake. I sat up, tired. It was dark out, the moon was still rising. I looked around to see what woke me up when an amber gaze met mine.
"Good, you're awake."
I bit back a yawn, "It's really late. How are you not tired?"
He shrugged, "Comes with being a Dark Fairy, and no, Dark Fairies aren't evil."
"Then why are they called Dark Fairies? It sounds..."
"Evil. Yeah, we get that a lot. To the point the Council sorta arrests us on sight." He crossed his arms, making it clear that he disapproved of it.
"Why? If you're not evil-"
"Because the Order often recruits us. Dark Fairies are just like any other fairy, except using Shadow magic won't corrupt us, and the conditions Shadow magic thrives in doesn't bother us like it would for most. So the Order of Influence recruits us for that reason." Wait, recruits? He hasn't joined the order... has he?
Seemingly reading my mind he added, "And yes, I had a few run ins with the Puppet Master. You'll be glad to know I refused."
"Why do you keep a pet Titan then?"
"Tita's an Astral Titan. The only reason I keep her is because one, the last thing we need is the Puppet Master aided by Astral Titans and two, I may have summoned her by mistake."
"Wait, Titans? Exactly how many are there?" By what Gale told me, I had a bad feeling about what that shadow might do if he was aided by an army of Astral Titans.
"Titans attract Titans. You have no idea how many times I wake up and nearly have a heart attack because there's a Titan outside my window."
"Yikes..." Remember something Sam told me, I frowned, "Are you actually insane? Can I even trust you?"
"Yes and No." I looked at him in confusion, which lead to him clarifying, "Yes because to most, being a Dark Fairy is something that makes me... untrustworthy. No because it's your choice, I can't force you to trust me. Also, no, I'm not insane, just... odd."
"Oh." Thinking a bit, I asked, "Who are the Council? How come no one told-"
"Sam didn't want to panic you."
"About Sam, is she-"
"Back yet? Yes, and she was quite mad at me too." I stared at him in surprise, Is this guy reading my mind? I thought he was faking it earlier...
"That I am, it's a bit of a habit really." I nearly jumped out of my skin while he simply chuckled, "I recommend getting used to it, Peregrine."
I recalled something mentioned about him, "Sam said you were the Academy Keeper, what does that mean?"
"It means I'm in charge of this place. It also means I'm supposed to deal with anything that happens... including fixing the pedestals."
"Pedestals?"
"Where the Warden Keystones are placed, in order to keep them safe and allow balance. Each Warden forms a bond with their Keystone, making them powerful enough to protect the island. Yet if something happens to the Keystones, the Wardens are powerless and the island is at risk."
"Exactly how old are you?" They wouldn't have trusted a random teen with that job, would they?
He ignored that mental comment, "It's rude to ask a fairy their age."
"Oh, I'm sorry-"
"It's alright," he looked a bit thoughtful, "the only real reason it's rude is because how long fairies live."
"And that is...?"
"A hundred to five hundred years."
I looked at him in shock, "Jesus Christ-"
He simply laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not that old. I'm eighteen... or seventeen, one of the two."
"Wait, you don't even know your own age?"
"I have trouble remembering what happened before I wound up with Florian. I honestly don't remember my own birthday."
"Oh," anyone else would of stopped with the questions by now, but that answer just made me more curious, "so Florian isn't your dad?"
"No, it's more like a brotherly thing. To be honest with you... I'm sorta an orphan."
"I'm sorry, I really shouldn't of pried."
"No, it's fine." We sat there silently for a few minutes, then Gale broke the silence, "Well, I best be going, good night." And with that, he left.
Chapter Twenty[]
At some point I had woken up, the sun was just beginning to rise.
Outside my door, Gale's "Keepers" as he called them, Key and Ice, were napping. Across the hall, staring out the window was the fairy himself, arms crossed and standing on his toes.