Ch 1b - Oceancrest - The winds of change (Rainlance)

Lirael Montreve had been discovered from an early age to have an affinity for water. This normally manifested itself by the age of thirteen and typically appeared in minor ways. The most common was the ability to move water without the use of bucket or hand. More often than not it was accidental. Thus was the case with Lirael. While farming with her family one day, she unintentionally caused some of the irrigation to run onto one of her brothers who was irritating her. But That was all a thing of the past. Life changed for her then, other than the few punches on the arm, she was eligible to become a student at the College of Water. This was a great honor for the Montreve house, since she was the first and only member of the family to display any sort of elemental affinity. Sure, the post graduation tuition would put a dent in her career as a Mage, but it would put her leaps and bounds ahead of her farming family.

Her family was sad to see her go, but once a month after a long trip down the mountain, she was able to see them. And this brought joy to the common folk.

Lirael, over the past three years, had a bit of trouble adjusting to life at the college. She hadn't received any formal education, so learning was tough. She worked at it, though, and was able to excel more often than not. She had even made a few friends but also a few enemies. The College, like anywhere else, was very cliquish. And from any reasonable outside observer, she would most likely be considered one of the outcasts. However, even outcasts had friends. She had a few, an overly intelligent and homely looking girl named Alica Polk, one of the only women she could reasonable relate to. Two others were boys and were more interested in books than women: Gabe Tenner and Maxwell Young. All members of small common houses in Oceancrest.

The most unfortunate part of her position was that she shared many of the same classes as Mordin Oceancrest. Needless to say, coming from such a powerful house offered Mordin certain luxuries that others were not accustomed to. He was an ambitious young man who took every opportunity to suck up to teachers and make friends with equally powerful or populare students. He had an entourage of students willing to do just about anything he said and he tended to prey on the more common of students, namely Lirael and her friends. This was a point of misery for the poor tomboy during her three year career at the school. Mordin was by far the most popular and, somehow, the student in her year that received the highest marks. It was difficult to see how this was possible due to his continuous lack of effort and study. Most likely, money was changing hands or status was getting the best of an organization that had nothing to do with the city itself. Not many had the ability or the will to stand up to House Oceancrest. Plus, how many students had their own personal slave. The poor Wolfen, who was publicly abused frequently, was named Malin. It was one of Mordin's lackeys that Lirael got into a fight with over teasing on a number of occasions, Elric. It would be foolish to attack the next in line for House Oceancrest, so she never struck back at Mordin himself.

Lirael had learned a lot, however, being instructed in navigation, literature, mathematics, history, geography and wizardy. Life was tolerable and she was only one year away from graduation. If she kept along the same pace, she would graduate with good marks. This would provide her with opportunities she wouldn't normally have access to.

Her dorm room had become home over the past three years and through some creative begging she managed to share her room with Alica. The dorms themselves were divided by gender and status.

The College itself existed in the basin of the top of the Oceancrest Mountain. A large lake was in the middle of the basin and was used for a great deal of practice. The ground was fertile and had lush grass all about the basin, various stone pathes preserved the flora. Various tress and gardens existed around the basin. Each Dorm had it's own garden ranging in quality based on the status of the students who lived there. Several libraries also existed in the dorms along with gathering and eating areas. Dorm Bathhouses were public. The stone the buildings were carved into worked to keep things cool and warm when respectively needed. The windows only had shutters to block the wind or the rain in the wet season. Rooms sizes depended on status, but her room could comfortably fit the two of them and the furniture involved. Since they were three year students, they actually had a room with a window.

Classes took place mainly in the large seven story tall wooden building near the lake. All of the floors in the building were dedicated to education except top floor which held the teachers living quarters and offices. The class rooms had wooden desks which was a sign of great status and they used paper very frequently. The third floor of the wooden building, had one of the largest libraries on the island. The entire floor, other than a small gathering, was dedicated to books, studying, and knowledge.

Entertainment on the College was slim and students were encouraged to make the long trek down to the city in order to partake in anything that wasn't education related. There were fairly serious here, but that didn't mean that card, dice, and strategy games didn't take place. They were kids after all.

[Feel free to add anything or fill in any gaps you want. More is ++ (but I can't give eeps because we're doing freeform)]

Setting: The College of Water, Lirael's Dorm Room. The room itself was decorated with whatever they chose to decorate it with. To beds and two desks were carved from the wall. Some straw mattresses were placed on the bed and probably a down pillow or two. Her and her roommate had a wooden chest each in which they kept their belongings. A few shelves were carved in the wall and housed a few books. A window looked outside onto the College Campus and for a Dorm with low status, she had a good view. The shutters that were used to block the wind and rain, painted blue, were currently open.

Life was beginning to flash by, routine kicked in and her small group of friends helped things be move quickly. One more year until graduation, her life was almost ready to begin. She would become and adult.

On one particular day, just shortly before the wet season, while she was studying quietly in her room, her concentration was broken momentarily by a brief flash of golden light coming from the old cracks in the door where some of the older and more desirable students went to fool around. Some of the teachers gave them lectures about that small building up the cliff walls being a Shrine, but kids are kids and they never listed anyway. A couple known to use it often, having such a good view herself, were heading up there now. Maybe something had caught on fire in there, that would be ironic since this was the College of Water. That would at least explain the flash that she say. However, She thought little of it and went back to her work.

Her attention was forced from her books once again as the young man who went towards the door was running screaming through the school grounds heading towards the College proper. "MAAASTTTTERRRR" his voice echoed out around the basin. The woman with him was trying desperately to keep up. What was his problem? Since she had such a good view, she could see someone else coming out of the 'make out room' dressed in a dark blue dress. She was hard to see from this distance, was there someone already in there? Was that really a reason to go shouting throughout campus?

{{Okay so I'm not used to this style of forum RP... if I'm doing something wrong or something let me know and I'll try to fix or do better. ^^ )

As Lirael lay on her bed reading, her mind kept wandering, her eyes drifting towards the open window. It really was a beautiful day... It would be much nicer to take her books and notes outside and sit under a tree. But if she went out there... well then she would run the risk of Mordin and his lackeys stumbling across her... they seemed to have an uncanny knack for finding her, or maybe it just seemed that way because they were inevitably unpleasant encounters. And while Lirael wouldn't be adverse to a scuffle with Elric or any of the others - they deserved whatever blows she could land, physical or otherwise, and then some - she didn't like to contemplate the consequences of another disciplinary meeting. So... indoors it was. Focus, focus.

And then the screaming - what in the world? She didn't spend too long watching the young man run across the basin, scanning the view and spotting a third person exiting the "shrine," before she decided to head down and investigate. If she hurried, she might even be able to overhear whatever the other student was so keen on telling the Master. Lirael was curious by nature, and this was just too interesting to pass up, so she would do her best to move swiftly and dodge the other students likely trying to do the same.

[What instead are you used to? No GM? Don't worry, in the beginning I am exerting more control over things than I should. It's just to paint the picture for now. Soon I won't have to post as much =D]

It was a nice day, to say the least. The days just before the wet season were always cool and comfortable. A little slice of paradise before the all too frequent downpours. However, Lirael was wise to stay inside, it was on the small breaks between classes that inconveniences normally hit.

Since she was a third year, she had the benefit of having a room on the upper floors of her dorm. This was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the fact that it offered more privacy, but a curse in the fact that it she had stairs to deal with on a day to day basis. With curiosity guiding her, she took to the dorm stairwell and dodged her way passed students to make it down to the ground floor. With a bit of side stepping and weaving, she happened to exit the building to see a few of the students pausing in the basin to look at the third person that came from the Shrine. She wasn't able to catch up with the panicked boy, but when she exited her dorm she noticed that Koben, the Arch Mage's Wolfen servant came loping out of the College proper at great speeds. Apparently this other person was causing quite a stir. She hadn't see the Wolfen move much faster than the Arch Mage since arriving at the school, so this was unusual.

Others were coming out to join her in the basin and she, like many of the other curious individuals were trying to get a better view of what was going on. Rumors were being muttered all around and an unspoken student wall had formed. With some creative maneuvering she managed to get close to the front of the crowd of students forming. This occurred in time to see Koben approach the stranger, a few words exchanged between them before the pair began to walk towards the Shrine once more. But she caught something, for the little time that she saw that stranger as close as she was. Solid golden eyes. How terribly bizarre. She had never know anyone with such a...condition. Of course a fuzzy memory existed in the front of her mind, something from her first year in history class. No, that's a ridiculous thought.

But the students around her were murmuring her exact thought. 'Skylord' they whispered, 'Dragon'. It was at such a time that one of the instructors came by to shoo everyone back to their dorms.

"Classes are put on hold for the time being, everyone back to their dorms." The older man stated loud enough to pierce the murmuring crowd. With that, things began to slowly disperse, but the rumor mill continued.

{{Yep. No GM at all, basically just a mod who plays and intervenes when needed. This is cool though. ^^ }}

Lirael was for actually grateful for her small stature as she wove through the mass of students to the forefront and get a good view. And there went Koben... damn, the Wolven was putting on some speed! It must be something important. Lirael always tried to watch servants to gauge the mood of a place or event. It could be quite telling.

As her gaze followed his progress she caught sight of that third individual again. A woman with golden eyes? Wait... what...? A vague memory was tickling the edges of her mind, something mentioned a while back, a legend- No way! Apparently the other students had the same idea though, because the slowly growing murmur was of Skylords and Dragons. But there hadn't been one of those in centuries! If there was any chance that woman Koben was racing towards was indeed a Skylord-! Ooooh how she wanted to get a closer look!

And then the instructor chased them all back inside. Gah... but Lirael could understand why, after all, the milling mass of students would only be chaos, and it had been a long, long time since there was a Skylord, if indeed it was one, what if it was hostile? And they didn't know the proper protocol - was there one? Ah, where was Alica, she would likely know all that there was to know on the subject.

Well... there wasn't really anything for it but to head back towards her room and hope Alica was there, or would be soon.

Lirael had to again fight her way passed the throngs of students heading back into the dorm rooms. Apparently the entire basin was to be cleared out. What manner of thing would require that?

It didn't take long for her to get back to her dorm room, thankful to have a window that looked out onto the scene. At the window, Alica stood watching the basin with some manner of fascination. She was dressed in her student robe and turned to greet her roommate when she head Lirael enter.

"Have you heard?" she asked, "You must have heard." She sounded excited, which was odd given the fact that she was normally hard to excite. Although Alica turned to greet her roommate, she turned almost immediately back to the window, trying to see what all was happening. "Koben is standing outside that room." When Lirael went to the window, she would see the Arch Mage come from the College proper with an entourage of aides behind him. Most of the students had been cleared out of the basin by now, and the old man made his trek towards the Shrine where Koben was waiting.

Lirael didn't think it was too odd that the basin was being emptied, if the woman out there really was a Dragon, it would probably be wise to keep the students away from it. Of course, that was also the best way to make them as curious as absolutely possible, and quick to circumvent the measures put in place to keep them away as soon as they got the chance, as Lirael and many others no doubt would.

Ah good, Alica was in their room. That saved Lirael the trouble of looking for her or the impatience of waiting. She joined Alica at the window and looked down at the scene. "Heard what? That everyone is saying there's a Dragon in the shrine?" Lirael smiled a bit smugly, oh how jealous Alicia would be! "Well, I got down there where I could see her eyes. They're pure golden Ali! It looks rather bizarre."

Alica huffed in disappointment, her hands moving onto her hips, her eyes narrowing into a bit of a glare. "Shut up" she stated, partially between meaning and kidding. "You only know that because you heard someone say that. You weren't there, you're just making this up." She considered it for about one second and moved a hand to lightly slap Lirael's shoulder. "You were there! What was it like? What did you see?" she asked, suddenly more excited.

She moved her attention back to the window, keeping her eyes on the Shrine as the Arch Mage made his way up the stone path. It was a slow trek. "Some of the boys are already talking about being the Rider. Like they know, bullshit I say." she grumbled out. "It could be any of us...if that's what the Dragon is here for." She glanced over at her friend. "What she pretty?"

At Alica's denial, Lirael was quiet, waiting while still smiling. She knew her friend. Heh, and there it was, Ali slapped her shoulder and plied the questions. "What was it like? Hmmm... crowded? Someone stepped on my foot and I think I have a bruise on my shin from- oh that's not what you meant, is it?" If any mock blows or such were thrown, Lirael would duck out of the way before continuing.

"Well... other than the eyes, she looked fairly normal. It was odd. I'd think... well I'd think a dragon would be... more powerful looking or frightful or I dunno... more dragony?" It sounded stupid but there it was. "But yes, she was pretty. She had on a big blue dress that flowed towards the ground, and long blonde hair and..." Lirael realized something and stopped, scowling and flopping down on her bed semi dramatically. "And even the damn sacred reptile has a bigger rack than me!"

The thought of the dragon finding a rider pulled Lirael from any sort of despondency that last notion might cause. A rider... Hmm... She wondered what that would be like. It would certainly be a way to prove oneself... And certainly no one would harass a Dragon Rider. "A rider, huh? I wonder who chooses that... If the instructors choose who they think best, it will probably be Elric, or maybe his influence won't help him there.... Could be you, you know. You're among the very best in our class."

Alica did give a light blow at the first answer but then listened intently as she kept one eye focused on the scene outside. A laugh escaped her at the mention of the rack and she shook her head. "Well if a dragon was going to pick a human form, why not have a big chest?" she stated, snickering to herself. "It's fine! I wonder why the eyes were golden. Any why blond hair, yuck. How cliche!"

She huffed once again and turned to look at her friend on the bed, her arms coming to her hips once more, trying to look very serious. "Yah, right, me." she scoffed. "You know with our luck it's going to be some asshole, you're right. Some stuck up little rich boy...maybe that Oceancrest swine." She glanced back towards the window, placing her hands on the edge of the to lean about a bit, trying somehow to get a better view. "I wonder when they'll tell us anything." she sighed. "The Arch Mage seems to be talking to the Dragon...if only we could hear what was going on."

She grinned to herself, "At least our Theory of Elements test is canceled." she paused, looking momentarily gloomy. "For now..." Since Lirael flopped on her bed, she could hear a number of side murmurings, mainly the rumors were bleeding over into the joy of class being canceled. So fickle were the minds of teenagers.

Lirael could picture Alica as quite the fine Dragon Rider but she kept that thought to herself. "Like his ego needs to be any bigger... But at least that would get him away from us. But you know... It probably won't be a student at all. Why not go with an instructor, someone more skilled and knowledgeable about things? They would be way more useful than any of us." She tucked her hands behind her head.

"Too bad there isn't a spell for hearing things happening at a distance..." Lirael mused in agreement. Now that would be useful. She rolled over, hopping up and going to join Alica at the window again. "He's probably sucking up big time. After all, she could take on her real form and eat him on a whim, couldn't she? I would." It wasn't clear whether she meant that she would suck up or transform and eat the Arch Mage on a whim but it was better that way.

"Ugh... the test..." Lirael looked over at the books and notes scattered across her bed and grimaced. "I need to study more." She was torn between staying at the window and trying to study. In the end, she would settle for something somewhere between the two, returning once more to her bed and her books but glancing over at Alica every few minutes until she was interrupted.

Alica nodded slightly. "That makes sense. Why would a Dragon pick a student for anything. There are plenty of actually skilled mages around." she sighed softly moving to sit over on her bed as well, the wind removed from her sails for the time being, watching her friend study.

"I thought I heard of a spell that lets you see and hear things from far away. But I haven't seen it tough here" she stated, shrugging. "Probably for this particular reason. So snoopy people like us are kept in check." She laughed softly. "And no doubt the old man is sucking up. I bet they give the Dragon a posh room and she gets to eat what the Arch Mage eats. No doubt she'll also have an army of servants." She stuck her tongue out in disgust.

When Lirael went back to her books Alica shook her head. "There is no way they are going to have that test today. No one would be able to focus. I'm sure if it." she stated, with a minor degree of confidence as she got back up. "The Arch Mage is taking her into the College" she said, as in fact that was what was happening down below. She then glanced back to her friend. "How long are we supposed to stay in here?"

Lirael gave up trying to study, having just read the same sentence for the fourth or fifth time and still not knowing what it said. "Yeah... and they'll put her in the best rooms, for sure." Lirael hopped up after Ali's last question with a mischievous grin. "I reckon it's been long enough. Whaddaya say we take to the servants corridors and see what we can see?" In her time at the School, Lirael had become fairly adept at navigating the narrow labyrinth of the servant's corridors - they often provided a quicker way from one point to another, and it was a good way to avoid those she wanted to avoid. So what if she got swore at from time to time, she always tried to get out of a servant's way if she encountered them in the corridors, so she figured it was all right.

{{If that last part isn't all right lemme know}}

Alica shrugged lightly and considered the proposition of her friend. "I agree, it's been long enough. Lets go see what we can find out."

[PS, going to fast forward a bit here, deal with it =D]

The pair of girls escaped from their room, several of the other females staying in this particular dorm were milling about in the hallways talking about the current days event. As they made their way to the stairwell they could hear an announcement from below:

"The Final class of the day will continue as usual. However, prior to the classes, the Arch Mage will address everyone in front of the College. Attendance is mandatory!" And that message repeated from down below, echoing upstairs and was passed on by resident advisers to their respective floors.

Alica huffed slightly and glanced at Lirael. "I guess the old man is going to tell us what is going on. Lets go find out, we can poke around later when things have calmed down a bit." But it's not like they had much of a choice.

With that, unable to help themselves from following the crowd, they were shuttled outside to meet on the basin floor where most of the instructors and all of the students had gathered to hear the Arch Mage speak. It took a few moments to quiet the students down and when the Arch Mage had their attention he began. To make short of a long winded speech, the Arch Mage confirmed that the Skylords have returned to the world and that this one in particular, name Azalla, was here to pick a Rider. The process for evaluation would begin tomorrow. If any of the student were to encounter the Skylord, they should avoid direct eye contract unless the Skylord speaks to them directly. He stressed that everyone should be as polite as possible and any unbecoming behavior could result in being expelled from the school. It seemed like a very serious ordeal. Along with his speech, he impressed that classes will continue as normal, any missed work today would be made up one way or another. The appearance of a Skylord was no reason to slack off.

What could have been summed up easily ended up taking a bit of time, in which classes were to resume as normal. Which unfortunately, gave Lirael just enough time to run back to her room, get her books, and then dash off to class. This class, Mathematics, was not shared with Alica, so the two parted ways with promises to meet up for dinner. Not wanting to get in trouble, which surely she would do if she skipped Mathematics, Lirael attended, like a good girl.

The class, consisting of about twenty students, half of which she didn't know and another forth of which she didn't like, was painfully slow. The instructor seemed so distracted that no mathematics were actually taught. More often than not the hour long process would break down into discussions about the Skylords, some minor history lessons about them (what little was known) and a lot of queries form the students about what the Dragon was looking for in a Rider. Of course the instructor gave his opinion and then guessing further destroyed the structure of the class even more. Regardless of the minorly interesting discussion, the class drug on.

Afterward, it was time for evening meal, in which the students would retreat to their dorms and dine in the eating area or take their food back to their room. Most likely, Lirael took her food back to her room, tonight on the menu, surprise surprise, was grilled tuna with some vegetables that were in season. Nothing fancy.

When she arrived back in her room, she was met with silence. The silence only lasted a moment before Alica arrived with her meal in hand. "I think I'm starting to hate fish" she stated as she moved to sit at her stone desk and eat in a slow pace. "Guess what I heard?" she stated and waited just long enough to take a bite before telling Alica what she heard. "The Oceancrest boy intends to sneak up to the Dragon's room. Some of the students saw which room she's staying in and that little jerk is going to climb the walls. Can you believe that? He's making such stupid claims. I hope he gets eaten."

{{Hoorah fast forward! Crappy post but gotta go work so iz what you get.}}

Lirael endured the lecture and the class with as much patience as she could muster. At least she wasn't being expected to crunch numbers at a time like this. When she collected her dinner, she took only a moment to look around and see if Gabe and Max were around before retreating back to her room when she didn't see them. She settled into her meal with a good will, glancing up when Alica arrived. Lirael shook her head lightly at the fish comment "You say that every night." Lirael was quiet until Alica's comment about Elric. "Or falls.... That's so like him, the arrogant twit." Really, that was just insane. Go wake a sleeping dragon. And like as not, his lackeys were currently sitting with him somewhere telling him how bloody brilliant he was.

Alica shook her had as she ate slowly. "I hope he things he's going up there to tame the dragon, then no one will feel bad when his corpse is resting in the basin in the morning" she smirked, narrowing her eyes slightly before pushing a strand of hair out of her way. "You know, this does present us with an opportunity...we could throw rocks at him as he's climbing or something equally stupid." A short pause as she ate some more of her food. "I wonder if instructors will be out tonight."

As they two girls ate their meal, there was still a slight hum about the dorms, pairs whispering in the rooms. The sounds of crickets could be heard outside as the sun began to push passed the cliffs on the edge of the basin, evening was approaching and a few were out lighting the nightly torches along the stone paths. Alica signed softly as she looked out the window. "I wonder what it's like to be a dragon."

Lirael picked over the remains of her dinner, thinking. She took Ali's comment on throwing rocks as a jest and didn't respond. But if Ali looked her way, she could probably almost see the wheels turning, the gleam of mischief sparkling in her friend's eyes. Finally, when Ali made her last comment, Lirael stood abruptly, bouncing a little on her toes. "Well, why don't we go ask her?"

Alica had finished off her dinner and placed the plate aside, most likely it would be abandoned there until someone took care of it. She turned to face Lirael completely, her eyes narrowing slightly, suspiciously. "What's going on in that twisted little mind of yours?" she asked, and seemingly got the answer, "I don't believe that you are talking about tomorrow...setting up a meeting with the Dragon all formal like. You're thinking about something else."

Alica's tone became a bit more hushed, "Tell me!" she whispered out sharply. In fact, she actually got up from her position to the door to close it, offering them a bit of privacy, even though the window was still open (and it only had shutters so it couldn't be completely closed).

Lirael grinned. "Well we certainly wouldn't want to startle a dragon, so we do things simple. We sneak out to the main building. If the Oceancrest brat really is climbing the walls to get to the Dragon's room, we'll be able to tell which one he's headed for... Unless you happened to pick up which one it is?" Lirael waited for Ali's answer before continuing. Either way, they would hopefully have the location. "Then instead of climbing the walls, because WE have brains in our heads, we will head inside and use the servant's corridors to get to the Dragon's room. She'll likely have a servant or two but when they're running errands or sleeping, we could knock and see what happens. Now, we might spend the entire night waiting for a chance that doesn't come, or get caught or any number of things, but the chance to meet the Dragon before the others remains. You game?"

Alica added, when she was asked, "I heard she was staying was the one on the corner." She added a shrug to emphasis that she wasn't completely sure.

Alica sat and thought over this idea, momentarily weighing the pros and cons. She knew there were servants corridors somewhere, and they had been to the top floor before. This time, as opposed to other times, she actually thought about this plan of action for more than a few seconds. Almost an entire minute before Alica nodded her head firmly once. "Sure, lets give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?"

[You can respond then I will do some FF, if you want to add anything to your plan, feel free, if not I will run with your idea.]

Lirael waited with some degree of patience while Ali thought about the plan. It seemed that a rather impressive amount of time passed in contemplation - a full minute, mayhap two! - before Ali agreed to try it. "That's the spirit!" Lirael exclaimed in a hushed voice, clapping Ali on the back. Now that the plan was made and agreed on, Lirael was eager to get going, and would as soon as Ali was ready.

So the deal was sealed. They gave it a little time, milling in their room, for the college to go to sleep. A few hours later 'lights out' was called and the lanterns inside were extinguished. This was there chance to go.

The two women made their way down to the bottom of the dorm. There was an instructor watching the door but they were able to slip passed him using a downstairs window.

The basin was dark, only illuminated by the half moon and a few lit torches on the stone paths. The light was easy to avoid, all one had to do was not walk on the paths. They decided against going in the front door, no doubt someone would be watching. So they went to use one of the windows in the back of the College.

As the two worked their way around to the rear of the college, they could make out the shadow of someone climbing the wall. Alica picked up a rock, but then decided against it, dropping it in it's place. Mordin, if that's who the shadow was, was doing a good job making his way up there. Probably not the best plan, but he was almost at the open window, he would surely get there before them.

When they got to the rear of the College, Alica opened one of the small windows in the back, a candle was lit somewhere in the the servants quarter they were about to enter. The process was simple, the window was unlocked. With a boost Alica helped her friend inside. Lirael had a bit of a start when she slipped into the small room. There was a wooden table, a few chairs and a candle on the top of table. The odd thing about it, other than the smell of fish stew, was that Koben was sitting in a chair, eating from the bowl. He looked up at Lirael, the Arch Mage's servant. He regarded her for a few moments, her heart pounding as the prospect of getting caught was right in front of her. Koben stood up, picked up his bowl and walked towards the door. "This should be interesting..." he murmured to himself as he opened the door with his free hand and walked calmly out, his tail swaying slowly behind him. The hallway outside was dark and Lirael could hear him walking away, not raising any alarms. "Hey" she heard Alica sharply whisper from outside. That drew Lirael's attention and she went over to help her friend up.

Now they were in the College and all they had to do was scale seven stories without getting caught. Thankfully, the servants had their own set of stairs and most of them would cleaning elsewhere or sleeping. The stairs were connected to the room they were in, so it would take little effort to scale them. Thus is what they did, finding their way to the top floor with little hassle. Another door later they were in the instructor hallway on the top floor of the college.

This floor was still lit by a lantern here or there and a few of the doors were open. Not entirely impossible to pass. A few instructors were close calls, but they seemed to be busy with their work, Skylord or no. This brought the pair of girls to the corner room, the only thing left to do was knock. Oddly no problem other than the brief run in with Koben.

[PS: go to Ch 1c]