Eye of the Eagle Chapter 3 "We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success." Henry David Thoreau I shuddered a little as the smooth composition of the shield washed over my body. My feet found cracked and broken ground, and my eyes finally opened to the challenge I was about to face. Why had this happened? Why had everyone seemed to know this but me? Had I somehow missed the mention of a no holds barred battle royal? And most importantly how the hell did I agree to this. I will be lucky if I don't get smashed to putty before the sun goes down. Despite the confusion, bitterness, and anger swirling in my head, my face was a mask of indifference. When they told us to show our first weapon and I came up empty handed while he pulled out a glowing bow as tall as I was, I barely batted an eye. When we were asked for our final words in case of an accident, I merely shrugged and said something about how thankful I was for my friends. By the end of the extensive preparation, my rage and confusion had cooled into determination. I was ready. "Mr. Evans, any last words of advice to your champion?" He looked at me for a moment, and I stared back in amusement. He hadn't given me any help with this before, why should he now? "Well Mr. Evans?" He frowned at me for a moment then said, "I'm sure you know what you're doing, but I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something," On the outside, I smiled nicely, but I internally I was rolling my eyes. Wow, THAT was helpful. He had only forgotten to tell me anything! "Begin," the cool female voice announced. I didn't think, I reacted. Leader #1 had shot his golden bow directly at my face, but I quickly dodged and found myself face to face with his assistant. "Duryon," I hissed, and a grey substance coated his body and hardened, leaving him completely motionless. One down, five to go. The next few seconds were spent dodging a flurry of arrows and shafts of light. I then picked up one of the many arrows littering the ground and threw it. My aim was true, and it skewered his hand. In the second he was distracted, I threw a stun beam at him, and he fell to the ground unconscious. The flaming assistant of leader two began throwing fire balls at me. I quickly countered with a quick "aqae," and they were quickly doused. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw streaking brightness of Leader two heading directly for me, but I saw her thud into an invisible wall seconds before she hit my face. "Duryon," I muttered again, and soon she had been encased. "Ana," I heard someone gasp, and I saw Iyushi crouched in front of me, trying to keep the fire balls away from me with her shield. "Cryaqae Duroc," I whispered, and I heard a loud hissing noise as the flaming headed boy was encased in ice, then rock. Out of nowhere, a leopard leapt for us, her golden eyes fixed intently at Iyushi's throat. Iyushi screamed and kicked the leopard's face. "Oblique!" I growled, and the cat blinked at us, and then collapsed. "What did you..." "I have absolutely no idea." I saw a purple beam streak out of nowhere, and suddenly I was back in battle mode. The last leader was meditating in midair while a strange purple haze pulsed around him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a wall of fire headed right towards us. Iyushi and I ducked as one, and suddenly everyone was streaming out of the shield, pounding the meditating figure incessantly with fire, energy, and mental prods. I even saw a few people pick up pieces of the broken floor and throw them at him. Then the plant people called up all kinds of vines and roots to bind him tightly. Finally, the metal and stone workers encased the man. There was a moment of complete silence, before the tomb we had created began to pulse purple. After a few seconds, it exploded. People screamed and dove for cover as debris flew everywhere. The man stood up, rocks, roots, and various other substances crumbling off of his body. He raised his hands, and they started to glow. I was dead tired. My legs were trembling, my vision was swimming, and my head was pounding but I had to try. I gathered up the last scraps of my power and took a deep breath. "Oblique," I shouted, putting all of my strength into the spell. My legs buckled beneath me as the last enemy fell to the floor unconscious. My vision flickered and I could hear my heart pounding in my head as my team mates cheered and pounded each other on the back. There were a few like me lying completely spent on the floor, but all of us who had given everything seemed below the notice of those cheering. I quickly revised my kneeling position and sat next to Iyushi. "We did it," I whispered hoarsely. Iyushi hugged me tightly. "Ana, I think you did it." I smiled wearily as the female voice announced us as the winners, the first to beat the power round since 1942. Most of the leaders were standing in the middle grumbling as the space reverted to it's original soft carpeted comfy couch form. In the middle of the bus, a large table heavily laden with food appeared. Everyone flocked toward it, but I did nothing. My legs were numb and immovable, and nothing I did could change that. "Hey," Zac said as he plopped himself down beside me, "wanna go grab a couch?" "Can't, I replied glumly. "I used too much of my power and now my legs refuse to work." Without a word he scooped me up and carried me to a soft couch. "Um thanks?" I said as he plopped me down. "You're welcome!" He replied as he popped a chocolate covered strawberry in his mouth. "Well I guess we can get you a wheelchair for today," Zac said casually. "A wheelchair?!?" I repeated, completely taken aback. "Yeah so you can get around and stuff," He said calmly, continuing to eat more. "Zac, I'm not a paraplegic. I'll be fine in like a half an hour." He rolled his serpentine eyes, and replied, "Now there is no shame in using a wheelchair. Some of the people here might be carried out on stretchers." "No way," I stated firmly as a glared at him, daring him to argue. "Ana, you will not be any less in people's eyes if..." "I am NOT sitting in a ******* wheelchair Zac, and nothing you say can change my mind!" "Ana, don't be..." I quickly grabbed a brownie off of his plate and shoved it in his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise, and I realized that the entire bus was silent and everyone was staring at us. "Ana," I heard Alex call from across the room. I heard everyone tense a little as they heard him. Was I in trouble? "Sorry," I muttered, and I felt my face began to flush as a stared at the ground. "And he was doing so well," Alex said with a sigh, "He even began to eat broccoli!" I blinked, utterly confused. Zac attempted to speak again after successfully chewing and swallowing. Without thinking I picked up a large chunk of watermelon and shoved it in his mouth. "Better?" I inquired, and a few people chuckled. Alex nodded his approval, and everyone returned to their previous conversations. The next few hours pass with little incident, but finally a creaking noise signified the end of our travels. "Welcome to Menderith!" Someone cheerfully shouts, and before I knew it I was off the couch, on my (now working) feet, and out the door.
Eye of the Eagle Chapter 4 "Our business in this world is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits." Robert Louis Stephenson As we all crowded, squeezed, and pushed our way out of the bus, I heard a woman making an announcement. "Tonight you will be sleeping in Merwich, the temporary dorms while we confirm your rooming assignments. Tomorrow at 9 am you will meet in the Merwich cafeteria to say your goodbyes and get directions to your new dorms. Your luggage will be shipped to your rooms, and you can get your keys from these lovely ladies..." I noticed a few bored women sitting at a desk in the middle of the crowd of students. "So good luck and enjoy your time here," I immediately found Iyushi, and we pushed our way to the front. It seemed we weren't the only bus coming in, there were around 4 more all parked in front of ours. Each bus held over 100 students! Iyushi and I got a room together, one of the last 2 person dorms left in the building. We ran up the stairs (the elevators were crazy) and opened the door on a cramped bland room with two cots. "I am so tired!" I muttered, and I quickly pulled on my pajamas that I had remembered to pack in my backpack. Iyushi did the same and without a word we collapsed into our respective cots and fell asleep. I passed through the night without dreaming for the first time in months. In the morning, Iyushi and I plodded down to breakfast. We grabbed our trays of tasteless lumpy oatmeal and quietly sat down at our table. I noticed that we were one of the largest groups, around 75 people. Alex arrived a little late, and when he sat down our plates disappeared, and little white envelopes poofed into existence. "Now," Alex said with a grin, and I could see the change that had come over him after one night here. He was more arrogant and snarky, and I could see the same thing had happened to Zac. "I know that unlike Zac all of you haven't ever been here before. Because we won the Power Round, you all will be enrolled in at least the Kavlor dorm which is the second highest dorm summer boarders can possibly get into. I predict that some of you may go higher, because I'm guessing most of you would have gotten Kavlor anyway, but we'll see." He smiled at all of us for a moment before continuing. "In front of you, there are envelopes. In each envelope is your housing arrangement. It may also contain a notice if they've decided to move you to a year round scholarship. For those staying the summer, you can be living in Kavlor or the highest option Doniaton. For Rory and Ana and anyone else who may have received a scholarship, the three other buildings are Quostrae, Worth, and Afruq. There is also another building called Evanae, but it is unlikely you will be rooming there because it is the highest level you could possibly get, and most don't get there unless they're freaks of nature." "I guess that's why you and Zac are living there," Iyushi commented with an innocent expression. Zac and Alex both rolled their eyes as a few people around the table chuckled. "Your level is determined not only by the building you're in, but also the floor the higher the better. All dorms have 5 floors with the exception of Afruq which has 8 and Evanae which has 12. 2 of those 12 are for my family however, so you'll only have to worry about 10," "If you ever get there of course," I heard someone mutter. "Enough chitchat!" Zac exclaimed. "Open your envelopes!" There was a moment of silence before the sounds of tearing and squealing joined in with the squealing of all of the other groups. Seems all the leaders had ended their explanations about the same time. "I got a scholarship!" Iyushi whispered as she looked at her paper. "Of course you did. You saved my butt!" I replied with a grin. She giggled, and beamed at me. "I got on the third floor of Worth!" She added with a pleased smile. "So did I!" Rory yelled. "So where'd you get Ana," Iyushi asked cheerfully. Her eyes were glowing brightly, and she was obviously excited. "I don't know, I murmured, and I began to tear open my envelope. I gently pulled out the sheet of paper. It had my name, a student ID number, and Alex's name. Alexander Evanestri. Seems his previous name didn't quite match up. I vaguely wondered if he had an arch nemesis. I glanced down at the name. "Room 5252. Evanae." I sighed quietly as I put the paper down. Figures I had to be a freak among freaks. Nobody was really paying attention to me now, they were all chattering excitedly about their rooming. Rory was stuck with Michael, and Iyushi was rooming with Cassandra. I glanced over at Iyushi's roomer again, and my heart skipped a beat. It was the girl on the Osnakhan, the one I thought was dead. I wasn't sure if I was glad at her return, but the fact that she was still alive caused no foreseeable problems. I hoped Zac caught my eye and noticed my expression. He quietly got up and walked around the table. "Do you want to walk with us to the Evanae building," He whispered. I nodded absently. He in turn nodded at Alex. Alex then cleared his throat. "Good Luck!" He announced with a smile, then stood up to leave. There was a scraping of chairs as we all stood up to begin our various journeys. I glanced once more at Cassandra as I walked out the door next to Zac. "Good luck," A little voice echoed in my head, "You're going to need it,"
Eye of the Eagle "It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them." Pierre Beaumarchais It was without a doubt a beautiful day. The birds were chirping wildly in the trees and the sun beat down on our heads in a warm but affectionate manner. The path beneath my feet had abruptly changed from asphalt to brick, but I hardly noticed as I walked. Zac and I were having a deep and thought provoking discussion on the deliciousness of a chocolate covered marshmallow verses a chocolate covered cherry, while Alex was walking next to us attempting to look bored but shaking from his attempts at reigning his laughter in. Finally we had once again agreed to disagree, and after a few moments of silence, Alex finally allowed himself to burst out laughing. Zac and I stared at him for a moment, the Zac commented, "He just does not seem to grasp the importance of philosophical discussions!" This caused even more laughing, until we had to stop because he was practically in tears. "Where's a plate of brownies when you need it," I said with a sigh, and finally Alex managed to control himself. We continued walking in companionable silence as I looked around at the beautiful tree lined street that we were walking on. It didn't seem to have any cars on it, but it was a madhouse all the same. People bustled around us as we walked, some calling out to friends while others were trying to get into various buildings. There were even a few out walking their dogs in the madness. "Hmm," Zac said, "Not normally this busy. "It's the first day," Alex replied with a grin, "It's when all the newbies come out to gape at their new homes." "I'm not gaping yet," I said softly as my heart began to pound. So many people! Alex smiled evilly. "Don't worry you will!" We finally pushed our way out of the crowd of people and began to walk up a steep road. High up on a hill, the Evanae tower shone. It was a marble structure covered in statues, mosaics, and beautiful gold gilding. The roof was made of a shining glass, and around the very top of the tower many winged people flew. "Well this is where I leave you." Alex said as he spread his wings. "I do have a few words of advice, though I doubt you'll need most of them. First off, be careful who you befriend. Every from Croton was really nice and kind, and deep down were good people. That changes a bit here, especially on floor 5." "Why floor 5?" "Floor 5 has the highest wards on campus. You will be tested on your control tomorrow, and you may be moved even higher. So watch your back." I nodded then frowned. "Is there a chance I'll be moved down?" Alex hesitated. "Possible, but unlikely. Remember you singlehandedly took down the best fighters of each district, not to mention two of the leaders." "Two and a half," Zac corrected with a grin. "I have given Zac permission to walk you to your room. He will have 20 minutes," he paused and glared at Zac, "to be up IN THE ROOM," he paused and glared at Zac again, "and no longer." Suddenly, two more winged people landed behind Alex. "Oh look at my wrist, I better get going," Zac said quickly and grabbed my wrist. We quickly hauled butt out of there. "Those guys are ass holes," Zac muttered. As he glared back at the two newcomers. "So I take it Alex doesn't like walking up?" I asked curiously. "Oh no not at all," Zac said with a grin. "Neither do I but for... Different reasons." "I'm guessing his reason is because he enjoys flying and hates cramped elevators?" I asked. Zac nodded. "What are your reasons?" I inquired. Zac blushed and we were almost to the door before he finally answered. "Well... I kinda get... Hounded." "Hounded?" I asked innocently but I already had a good idea of what he meant. His green eyes were embarrassed as he held open the door. "Girls," he said shortly, and I noticed as he walked in 90% of the eyes of girls standing around were staring at him. We walked into an elevator and as the doors shut he let out a sigh of relief. He pressed the golden 5 on the wall and leaned against the marble wall. "What?" I asked. He seemed really relieved. "Normally the follow me in here whenever I have to walk," Zac replied in disgust. "I'm sure I won't have that problem," I said with a chuckle. He looked at me in disbelief, then shook his head. "What?" I asked again. "Ana I don't know if you noticed but you're kinda beautiful," My jaw dropped. The elevator dinged as I blushed, and we both walked out. "Did you even see how many guys were staring at you?" He asked as we walked down the deserted hallway. "No, I was kinda looking at the floor," I lied. I didn't want to admit i was counting how many girls were checking him out. Thankfully my voice sounded normal. He cocked an eyebrow. "What color was it?" "White?" I replied, completely guessing. He grumbled and looked away, so I guess I was right. Suddenly he stopped, and I knocked right into him. "5252 right?" "What?" "Your room number?" "Oh yeah." "Touch the door." he said, and when my fingertips met the wood it swung open. "Cool." "Well I have to go see Alex," He said. I nodded. We stood there staring awkwardly for a second, then we both reached for a hug at the same time. I watched him walk away with a funny feeling in my stomach. Then I turned and walked into my room. It was unlike what I expected. There were three rooms. A good sized bedroom, a bathroom, and another room consisting of a chair, a small flatscreen TV, a stovetop, a mini fridge and a microwave. My bedroom had a queen sized bed, a nightstand, a closet and a desk. On my desk there was a manilla envelope. Inside there was a "Welcome to Evanae!" Brochure, a map of campus and a letter. I opened the letter first, figuring that was the most important. "Anala Oriko, This is a note informing you that your name has been changed to Annalise Grey for safety reasons. You are summoned to testing room 602 in the Evanae building at 8:30 am. Please bring only necessary artifacts required to channel your energy through if you have any. Be prepared, Jonathan York" I sighed in dismay at Annalise, but turned next to the brochure. I immediately skipped to the floor 5 section. "Your cafeteria pod is the second digit of your room number. The cafeteria food list is posted on the cabinet over your stove." It said virtually nothing else, so with a sigh I folded it shut. I found the location of my testing room on the map, then realized that day had turned to night. I got my clock out of the baggage that had appeared by my bed, and set it for 6:30 am. I ate a few granola bars that I found in the cabinets, and then sunk into my bed in a deep sleep.
Eye of the Eagle Chapter 6 "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." -Voltaire The greys, blacks, and whites swirled around in all shades and all forms. The world I was spared yesterday had come back with a vengeance. Before me was a glowing grey orb of light the size of a baseball, many times the size of the normal beads. I stared at it for a moment, then plunged my hand into its depths. Water tumbled and swirled around me as the dream carried me to a small island. Screaming wind whipped the waves into a foam, the slammed them mercilessly against the sand. Trees bent parallel to the ground, and sand, dirt and debris flew everywhere. The dream focused on a small hut in the midst of this typhoon, and a woman could be heard screaming "No! Please no!" Then an unrecognizable dark shape flew out of the door and into the night. I saw that dream over and over again, always from different angles until finally, I saw the shape to be a darkwing. "Aaron," I whispered softly, and suddenly the dream continued. It followed Aaron as he flapped across the sea. The wind calmed and the storm died down, and I saw my exhausted brother shakily land on another small island. "Do you have her?" I saw nana flap over the beach with a toddler Quinn in her arms and peer at the little bundle in Aaron's arms. "Wonderful," she hissed, and as I got a glimpse of the baby's face I understood. The baby in his arms was me. The dream continued to repeat itself over and over, and I screamed in agony over what I witnessed. Everything I had done was a lie. Everything I had ever been, everything I am, "But not everything you will be. You have a choice, and you can choose what you do. Make it right, after all nothing you have done is permanent" A woman's voice echoed through my dreams, sounding so much like my own I figured it was the small portion of my mind fighting against the overwhelming waves of agony, sorrow, and bitter regret sweeping across ever part of my being. I wished it to be true, and the waves settled. My mind formed. I was whole. Then, as it often does, my alarm clock brought me back to reality at the worst possible moment.
Eye of the Eagle Chapter 7 "Run straight ahead, And if anything gets in your way...turn" -Anonymous The beeping of the alarm brought me harshly into reality. My clock read 6:32 am. I sighed as a got up, and with the greatest amount of effort I've ever put into anything I pushed the dream to the back of my mind. I took my morning slow. I ate a bowl of cereal, brushed my hair and teeth, and washed my face. By the time I was finished it was 8:00 and I began my walk up. I took the stairs seeingas it was only one floor. I saw a woman sitting at a desk in front of the room. "Are you here for the final room placements miss?" She asked softly. I could see that she was anxious. "Yes," I said quietly. "Name," "Annalise Grey?" She looked down her list. "Wonderful you're 20 minutes early," she said, obviously relieved. "You can just sit and wait to be called!" I nodded, then sat with my back against the wall. I waited for a while as people were called in, and then walked out. I scrutinized the faces of those that came out. One walked out in tears, but most people just dragged their feet with the dead look of exhaustion in their eye. "Annalise Grey," a cold male voice called out. I got to my feet, startling the boy on the other side of the table. He was tall and blonde with pale blue eyes and an arrogant face, temporarily surprised by my appearance out of nowhere. "In the room, he stuttered. I nodded and quietly walked past him. It was a rather small room, containing only a wooden table and a few straw dummies. There were three people sitting at the table. The first was a grumpy looking old man wearing thick mahoghany glasses, the second was a younger man, looking around thirty, who had navy blue skin and dazzling green eyes, the third was a women who had messy brown hair, and looked to be the sort who is always frazzled and unorganized. "Your name?" The old man asked as he typed boredly on his computer. "Annalise Grey," I replied, and my voice echoed confidently around the room, sounding much more cool and collected than I felt. To be honest, I hated auditions. "Alright Miss Grey," The old man said slowly, "I want to to obliterate the dummies." I took a deep breath and glanced at them. "Whenever you're ready," the woman said with an encouraging smile. I was about to shoot when I noticed the reflector spells cast around it, designed to rebound any spells I could just bypass it but... "Duroq flaeis," I hissed, and the shield cracked into pieces while the straw men exploded into flame. "Whoa," I heard the blue man mutter, and I sensed a lot of pens scribbling. "Miss Grey, would it be possible for you to do the same thing in silence?" the grumpy old man growled. "Yes," I responded, and in a matter of seconds the men were replaced and the shield was up. I concentrated intently on the straw men, and suddenly the shield cracked and the men flared up as before. "Now put them out," the old man commanded. I raised my hand, and the fires were doused. My head was pounding. Without my voice, the spells took much more energy. I turned to face the judges. The old man looked unimpressed, while the other two were busily scribbling in their notebooks. "Alright Miss Grey," The blue man said kindly, "I'm Astor Franklyn, the head of the DPM, which deals with physical abilities that arent the norm. Do you have any?" I nodded tiredly, and without thinking I spread my wings. I mentally winced as I realized that my wings had dark feathers. "Butterfly, very nice," he muttered. "Butterfly?" I blurted out. I craned my neck, and sure enough my wings were as colorful as the rainbow. "Is that not normal for you?" the blue man asked. "Oh, uh last time they had feathers," I stuttered. He nodded and scribbled something on his notepad. "Now sweetheart, just one more question. Do you ever have oracle moments or dreams?" The woman asked "Yeah dreams sometimes," I said quietly. She looked surprised, then typed something on her neon green laptop. I noticed Alastor was the only one without a computer. "Okey-dokie!" The woman said cheerfully. "You may go!" I smiled, relieved, and quietly made my exit. "You were in there a long time!" the girl at the table out front said. I smiled tiredly but said nothing. I quietly ambled down to the fifth floor cafeteria, and jumped a little when I heard a lot of noise. I checked a nearby clock, and realized that even though I entered an hour late I'd been in the room for nearly three hours. It was 11:30. My stomach grumbled, so I turned and entered the cafeteria. It was set up a la carte, so one could just grab what they wanted. I began to feel nervous, so I quickly turned around and headed for the elevator. I let out a sigh of relief as my face hit the warm summer air outside. I walked among the people, just wandering aimlessly, when I heard someone yell, "Anna!" I looked around, and seeing no one I continued to walk. After a while I sat down on a bench. I heard something snap in a pocket as I sat down. I reached in, and pulled out a bag of celery. It had to be at least a week old, but thanks to the freshness spell they looked as if I had just harvested them. I began absentmindedly munching on them, admiring the cracking and snapping sounds that came from eating the crisp celery. Suddenly I realized I was in the middle of the flower garden. Mages who were involved with plants came here to practice, while those who mixed potion often came here looking for ingredients. I looked around and noticed a beautiful flower patch growing a few feet away. A few flowers had not yet bloomed, but the ones that had looked incredible. The plant started out with a gentle white stem, and the leaves were a crisp mint green. The head of the flower opened up like a rose, except for the lack of thorns. The inside of the flowers (aka the anthers) was a golden color that sparkled in the sunlight. The petals were a soft pink, like the color of the inside of a seashell. The edges of the petals were gilded in a beautiful golden pattern. I stared at one of the unopened petals and after a while, I realized that I was chanting. The bud swelled to twice, then thrice, then quadruple its normal size. Then, one after the other, the petals began to open. The flower head was huge, but I barely noticed it. Sitting on the flower was... A fairy. She had golden hair, and minty green eyes. Her skin was pale and delicate as the stem, and a light mother-of-pearl pink dress was draped across her body. She sat up, then yawned blinking sleepily at me. Without a word, I held out my hand, not quite sure what I was doing but trusting my instincts. She immediately stood up, and flew over me. Her butterfly wings were the same color as her dress, save for the golden designs on the edges. She landed delicately on my hand, and began to let out a trill of bells. It took me a second to realize I could understand the cheerful language that spurted out of her mouth. "Hi I'm Rusia. What's you're name?" "Mine name is Annalise," I replied, but all that came out of my mouth was a symphony of tinkling bells. "Are we going to go home now?" she asked. I looked up at the sky and realized that the day was almost gone. "Yes," I replied, and I threw her gently into the air and continued to walk back to Evanae. On the way back my stomach grumbled, reminding me that I hadn't eaten hardly anything all day. I went into my room and flicked on the lights. I casually milled about before walking into my sitting area and checking my fridge. Inside was nothing except some milk, a pitcher of water, and a bottle of rootbeer. I heard a creak begins me, and without thinking I grabbed the rootbeer and threw it towards the source of the sound. I saw a hand reach out and catch it. My heart was beating fast as Zac stood up and turned to face me. "Good reflexes, bad senses," he said, still chuckling. Without warning, Rusia went swooping down, screaming like a kamikaze, to yank his hair and poke out his eyes. "Rusia, it's alright," I said quickly. She immediately flew to hang from my hair, still glowering at Zac. "I brought you dinner," He said, gesturing at a paper sack on the counter next to me. The delicious smell of meat wafted from the bag, and my stomach growled loudly. "Alright I guess I forgive you," I said with a grin as I sat down on one of the stools. He smiled back and pulled up a stool next to me. We dug into our gyros, and I thanked him for bringing me food. "No problem," he replied with a grin. "I love gyros," "Zac," I said as I rolled my eyes. "It's pronounced yur-oh." "Oh," he said. Suddenly his phone began to ring. He looked at the caller ID, sighed, picked up, and said, "What?!?" I heard unintelligible talking for a few moments before he said, "Alright, be right there." We both stood up at the same time. "It was Alex," Zac said as he made a face. "Duty calls," I said and hugged him. He laughed, hugged me back, then turned and jumped out my window. It was only then that I wondered how he had gotten in. I sighed and shrugged. That's when I noticed it was nearing 10:30 pm. Rusia asked me for a flower pot which I summoned for her, and I promptly went to bed.
Eye of the Eagle Chapter 8 "All God's children are not beautiful. Most of God's children are, in fact, barely presentable." Fran Leibowitz The alarm clock once again woke me from the grips of my nightmares. The island and the storm still swam in front of my eyes as I sat up gasping. With a jolt I realized I was safe in my own bed. I yawned and rubbed my eyes as I swung myself out of bed. I walked tiredly out of my room, and as I did so, I noticed all of my things were gone. I plodded out to my sitting room, too tired to care, and noticed a white envelope sitting demurely on the counter. It contained my schedule. My day consisted of 8 one hour periods. One of those periods was for lunch. I noticed a small note handwritten at the bottom of my schedule sheet. "You have been moved to 7252," "Thanks for the warning," I muttered and grabbed my alarm clock (the only thing that hadn't been moved) and trudged out of my door and into the elevator. I arrived on floor seven, and quietly made me way to my room. Room 7252 was huge, bigger by far than my 5th floor room. In the bedroom was an enormous 4 poster bed covered in a silver spun cover and dark red sheets. The sitting room had an entire wall devoted to a TV/farseeing orb hybrid. I could scry and surf the channels at the same time! Behind that was a fully equipped kitchen with a chute on the wall for ordering any food or ingredients I wanted. I flipped briefly through the list, seeing some weird things like "knucklebone of troll," or "plastered rat," but I just shrugged and moved on to the last room. This room was large and had a domed ceiling. There were many gas burners and cabinets that covered the space, but there were also freezers and incubators. I glanced down at my watch, and realized that my first class started in 30 minutes. I brushed my hair and gathered my stuff in a rush, and literally ran up the stairs to the 9th floor. I arrived in my first class with 15 minutes to spare. The room was mostly sized, but it had a huge domed ceiling much like the room that I had been previously searching in. The walls and floor were made of a nondescript slate grey, but that was only where the abnormalities began. In the room there was a set of 20 identical stations. Each station had a huge fire pit on the floor with a large cauldron hung over it, a counter with a gas range, a table for chopping ingredients, and cupboards for storing pots and bowls under the gas ranges. At exactly 8:30, the teacher at the front of the room stood and cleared his throat. The few murmurs in the room subsided. "My name," the teacher said, and paused as he turned to the board at the front of the room is Dr. William Kent. You will call me Dr. Kent, or Professor Kent. I will not answer Will, Bill, K-dawg, PK, Billy boy or anything of that nature." There were a few titters around the room as he paused to spell his name on the chalk board, the yellow piece in his hand making a horrible squeaking noise. He turned to face us. Professor Kent had deep black eyes framed by wire glasses that peered out at us with a cold uncaring expression. His dark skin was smooth and flawless, shiny even on his bald head. He was wearing a classy white collared shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and simple black pants. His shirt was covered with a simple gray apron. "My rules in here are simple," he began again, his deep voice echoing throughout the room. "Follow directions, use common sense, and do not put the guinea pigs down other students' pants," a few people snickered as he glared around the room. "I will now assign you your lab stations and potentially your partners. There are thirty five people in this room. Thirty of you will be paired up." He then proceeded to assign us our stations. I got station 14 and as luck would have it, I was partnerless. I didn't mind in the least of course, but I rather envied those who were paired up with their friends for I knew no one. "Now," he said, "turn to page twelve and attempt to create the mood booster potion. This is a pre-assessment, and allows me to grasp the various levels of proficiency we have in this class. I opened our so called "Applicable chemistry," text book to page twelve and began to read. I gathered after my first read through that this was a fairly simple tincture, so I began to pour the ingredients from the cupboards in to a simple wooden bowl. As I mixed them and chanted the spell required, the mixture began to turn a frothy pink color and emit a tantalizing aroma. The people on either side of me began to cast jealous looks. The two sandy haired boys on my right had something that looked and smelled like rotten milk, and the raven haired girl on the other side had a light pink mixture that looked like a watered down version of mine. Professor Kent walked around the room making suggestions and giving feedback. Finally, he got to the back of the room. I was basically done with mine, so I just stood and waited. He nodded in approval at the dark haired girl's creation, and I began to get nervous. I quickly read through the recipe for the hundredth time to make sure I hadn't missed anything. "Miss Grey," Professor Kent said, and I jumped as I realized that he was right in front of me. "Yes Professor Kent?" I squeaked. "Do you have any background in alchemy or concoctions?" "No sir," I said softly. He nodded. "Interesting. You were the last person I expected to be good at anything." I flushed and looked at my feet. That comment stung like hell, but I kept my mouth shut. He moved on to the sandy haired boys, and I commenced cleaning up. The rest of my morning classes went smoothly. I had a self study period where I basically annihilated straw dummies for an hour, and history which I found very interesting. Nobody talked to me, and since I was too shy to make an attempt at speech, I basically sat isolated. The raven haired girl who I was next to in Concoctions 1 was a few rows down from me in History, and throughout the class she kept shooting glances at me. When lunch finally came during 4th period for me, I practically ran to the door. When my face hit the warm fresh air, I let out a sigh of relief. I trilled for Rusia, and she came shooting out of the sky to land on my shoulder. "You don't look happy," she said in her bell language. I shrugged, and began to walk toward the flower garden. "First days are always hard," I replied after a while, and she frowned but said nothing. I wandered through the garden until I found her birthplace. I checked my watch. It had only taken me 15 minutes to get here, I still had 30 to eat before I had to head back. Rusia let out a giggle of delight, and sat down on one of her flowers. I quietly pulled out the small bag lunch I had packed for myself the night before (which had miraculously appeared in my fridge) and began to crunch down on celery. I had gotten five minutes into my lunch, when all of a sudden someone dropped out of the sky to land directly behind me. Judging by the fact that Rusia was not flying into attack mode, and the laziness I was feeling, the sky diver was probably not a threat. Zac calmly waked out from behind me and plopped down next to me. I felt a certain satisfaction in the fact that I was right, but i couldn't help but notice his appearance. He was shirtless, because he couldn't possibly fit his enormous feathery jade wings under a normal shirt. His dark hair was tousled and windblown, and his serpentine eyes were gleaming. I smiled at him and offered him a typical greeting pretending to not notice his gleaming body. He returned it with an equally typical salutation, and we began to talk. He asked me about my first day, and after giving him a summary, he asked how I liked my Concoctions teacher. I told him about the, "You were the last person I expected to be good at anything," comment, and he responded with an angry, "That's bull **** just ignore him!" and commenced glowering. I laughed at his grumpy expression, and changed the subject. We discussed lemmings for a while and a few other arctic mammals and when I checked my watch I realized it was nearing time for my return to class, so he offered to walk me there. I accepted his offer, so we casually strolled in the direction of the tower. The sun seemed to glow brightly on my face as we made our way through the crowded streets to Evanae. We had gotten to the base of the glowing tower, when we heard a gruff, "Zac, Ana," I looked over curiously to see Alex standing off to the side, being flirtatiously glanced at and being subject to the passing interest of every girl in sight. More than half of those eyes were drawn to Zac after he called our names, and as we walked over to talk to them, I did my best to ignore the crowd. "What's up?" Zac commented casually with a cocky grin. "Ana you're excused from your afternoon classes to go get interrogated by my family," Alex told me bluntly. "Umm ok?" I said softly, trying to gauge his expression to see if he was serious about the whole interrogation thing. He kept his face carefully blank, so I saw nothing. "I will accompany you while Zac flies up..." Zac made a noise in protest. Alex glared at him, "... to announce your impending arrival and he will do so without whining." The last part was accompanied with another glare. I heard a flap of wings as Zac took off without a word. "Shall we?" Alex said formally, gesturing toward the door. I nodded, and feeling awkward around him for the first time in months, I walked through the door he held open for me, and went into the elevator. I had a feeling this was going to be a long afternoon.
Eye of the Eagle Chapter 9 "Experience suggests it doesn't matter so much how you got here, as what you do after you arrive." Lois McMaster Bujold We walked through the crowd of people, attempting to avoid a lot of attention. By the time the elevator doors had closed behind us, whispers and rumors were flying around. As the doors closed, there was complete silence. We stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Alex began to talk. "They are going to do everything in their power to scare you." What a wonderful way to start out a conversation. "They will throw ceremony, expectation, tradition in your face. They want you to mess up, to prove to yourself and them that you aren't nearly as powerful as you seem. That what happened on the bus was a screw up, a trick." I looked up at him, and for the first time since I reentered Evanae, we make eye contact. He looked at me with determination, and I realized that far more was on the line here than my rooming assignments. It was as if he had a stake in this somehow. "I believe in you," He said quietly. With that last comment the ivory doors dinged and slid open. The hallway seemed a mile long. I passed painting upon painting of leaders and their second in commands. The walls and ceilings were a pulsing golden color, and the floor was covered in a luxurious white carpet. Their were a few statue-like guards standing at certain intervals along the hallway that glared at me as if to say, "You don't belong here," but I kept my face impassive, and stared straight ahead. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally arrived at the gilded doors, and it glided open. Inside those large gilded ivory doors was an enormous coliseum. There were what seemed like hundreds of thousands of seats, all made of white marble, plus a few boxes at the top for more prestigious people. The arena would have been completely intimidating had it not been so empty. I noticed that the arena was divided in threes. The largest section was the one with a white eagle banner flapping over it. The raptor's golden eyes glared down at me with a furious fiery gaze, as if I was a small rodent about to be torn apart. The second section had a sky blue banner with the symbol of a ferocious bear glowering down at the contestants. The third section had a silly walrus flag. I was most confused. The entire place was empty, save for a few dummies and targets on the arena floor, and a Mage standing in the middle of it all. He was tall and frightening, with a well kept black beard and eyes to match. He wore robes of white linen, and a fancy golden belt circled his waist. "Hello Annalisse," he said as his deep voice echoed around the arena. "I am Archmage Evaunt, Chief mage of this tower and cousin to the Evanestri family. Today I am responsible for testing you in your proficiency in a few basic areas of spellcasting." And with that simple introduction, my trials began. Some of the stuff was pretty basic, like summoning and turning water into other liquids. He also asked me to do some basic destruction spells on the targets and dummies. He sniffed and attempted to look critical throughout, but I knew I did everything perfectly. After a while, things seemed to get tedious. None of the stuff was really that difficult for me, just complicated and time consuming. "Could you send these stones flying into the target?" The Archmage asked. I complied, mentally sighing as I fought to get the stones to the target. The constant barrier breaking was beginning to wear me out. I did more and more simple seemingly useless tasks for what seemed like forever. Finally, after I had blown up what seemed like the billionth dummy that afternoon, Archmage Evaunt held up his hand. "You are finished for the day. Please enter the waiting room. It's the one with the glowing door. If you wish to try anything else while you're in there feel free." Suddenly a door across the arena began to glow golden. I walked over (somewhat cautiously seeing the huge craters in the ground) and walked tiredly through the door. Inside were a few simple grey chairs. In fact, the entire room was the same shade of grey. "Hey Anna!" I heard a male voice behind call. I spun in shock, my hand lighting up like a torch before I realized it was Zac. "Jumpy Eh?" he asked I sighed as a reply and plopped tiredly into one of the chairs. "That was tedious," I said softly. That's when I noticed that there were a bunch of grey beads rolling around in my vision. "Really? Some of," I closed my eyes, and one by one I burst open the drops of grey. I was in a control room high above the arena. In front of me were a few Illistraee and mages. They were looking out a large window that showed them the expanse of the coliseum. Scattered around the room were TV screens showing my power levels, and the amount of energy I was releasing. "Mediocre," one of the mages snorted. "I could do that easily." The arrogant Mage was a young man with white hair. His back was to me, so I could see nothing more. "Arolus Evaunt" Something at the back of my mind whispered. "Look at the amount of power she's using though!" one of the Illistraee exclaimed. I jolted as I thought it was Alex, but realized that it wasn't. He was a little older, with cruel but experienced eyes. "Aaron Evanestri," Something whispered. "The one who was there when Nana died," I felt an enormous weight lifted off of me. The laughing boy WASN'T Alex. "Pffft," Arolus replied. "I could take her." A few other people rolled their eyes as they realized his cristisims stemmed from male testosterone wanting to be the best. The rest of the visions consisted of Arolus insulting me with comments like, "Sloppy," or, "Over complicated," with each dig, I grew angrier and angrier. 'Who did he think he was? Insulting me like that? Who died and made him king? Who put him on such an obnoxious pedestal of perfection?' With that thought I was thrown out of my vision, landing smack dab into reality. "That looked pretty hard," I heard Zac say faintly. "What?" I asked as I blinked. I was totally out of it. "I said some of that looked pretty hard," Zac reiterated. "Oh sorry, must have zoned out. God I'm tired." Zac looked at me with concern. "You okay?" "Fine fine," I said waving my last comment away. In truth I was smoldering over the hateful comments of Arolus. We sat in silence for a few seconds before the door swung open. In walked Archmage Evaunt, a few Illistraee including Alex, and Arolus. The Archmage cleared his throat. "Miss Grey, would you like to show your committee anything before you leave. "Yeah her boobs most likely. That's the only way she'll ever get promoted past student." I heard Arolus mutter. And for the first time since leaving Croton, I was furious. The entire world seemed tinged in red as my hatred coursed like fire through my veins. And I knew what to do. I closed my eyes, and in an instant, every light in Evanae Tower went out. In the distance I could hear the shocked murmurs of those witnessing the blackout, and the anxious mutterings of those experiencing it. "What did you do!" I heard one of the Illistraee shout. "I merely am suppressing the power source powering Evanae." I replied calmly. The aforesaid power source was an ancient generator that existed long before the school set up. "If you please Miss Grey, return the energy to it sources." Despite the "if you please" I knew it was an order. I reopened my eyes, and the lights flickered back to life. I heard a collective sigh fill the building, and I noticed all of the people in the room were glancing at me with more respect. Zac, unlike everyone else was smirking at Arolus, who was pouting like a little boy. "How did she DO that," I heard one of the Illistraee mutter under there breath. "Simple," I replied shyly. Time to go back to being a shy little girl. "I cut off the generator from its power sources, so the energy couldn't flow to the building." "How long to you think you could hold it?" the Archmage questioned. I shrugged, taking a moment to "think" about it. "Indefinitely provided I didn't have to concentrate on defending myself from physical attacks. I would just use the energy not being poured into the building that would have been, which would not only energize me, but keep the power source were overloading." "What about the wards," Arolus snapped. "The older ones were harder to bypass, but the newest ones seemed really..." I hesitated, as if in thought, "low quality. I could have easily shattered them, but I didn't want to hurt the feelings of the person who made them," I replied innocently. Everyone in the room knew that the newest wards were instigated by Arolus, so most people had to hide their smirks as Arolus' face turned an angry fiery red. Archmage glanced at his nephew, before turning to Zac and Alex. "I think that is plenty for tonight. If you men would please escort the young lady back to her room?" Alex nodded and he and Zac both walked with me out the door. We walked back through the gilded ivory hallway in complete silence. As soon as the elevator doors closed behind them they both began to laugh hysterically. "Did you see the look on his face?" Zac gasped, tears running down his face. When the doors opened onto floor 7, they were back in control. They walked me down the hallway, and when I arrived at room 7252 I pressed my fingers into the door and it melted away. "Good job," Alex said, patting me on the back and with that they were gone. I noticed that the sky was dark, and my clock read 1030. I noticed Rusia was already asleep inside her flower as I walked toward my bedroom. On my kitchen counter, there was a stack of papers. Curious, I walked over and began to flip through. They were the summaries of the classes I missed. "Oracle 1, Crafting 1, Foreign Immersion, and another self study period," I muttered. Thankfully, I had not received homework in any of my classes, so with a tired sigh, I went straight to bed.