The Clandestine Six- The Gloom Horde

Chapter 7: Shop Your Weapons Here!

Ugh. I fell through a trapdoor, then drowned, then was sick with a weird disease named "Zenstash" and still I was here flying towards the Crystal Chamber to get another bad news. Wasn't this much bad news enough for the day? During my years at my College if I learnt one thing then that was, bad news can never stop flooding your peaceful day until this "peaceful" turns into "horrible".

But this situation was different. These bad news were not only bad but also weird. I still felt as if I was having a nightmare but a part of me knew that it is true. Could a normal human process so much of this bizarre stuff? No, I don't think. But there was I, bearing and processing this thing.

Seriously, I wanted this whole thing to sto- "Stop whining in your head Amy. You will have to endure it." Came a familiar voice from somewhere behind me, it was Lisa. How did this girl get to know that I was whining? Is she crazy or something? "No Amy, I am not crazy. I just can read people's mind when they reach a peak of their emotions. And currently all of your minds are flooding with anxiety and nervousness along with curiosity. I'd like to say, this is nothing. You will see weirder stuff than this in future, trust me." She said.

Okay, I won't think about anything from now on. "What a pep talk!" snickered Roselle. "We're here. Let's go inside." Ira interrupted. I sighed and stepped on the ground, what a relief! I had never been so happy to be back on ground, those Hoverboards... really were difficult to operate. I followed them into the Crystal Chamber.

Surprisingly, this time the Chamber was still in 'Parlour mode' and Mr. Almond was not the only one there, beside him was standing a boy of my age (seriously? Were all the people there of my age only? I was wondering that too. We can take Mr. Almond as an exception.) he had cognac-coloured eyes, pale skin-tone and blue hair (yes, it was a strange hair colour but honestly, it suited him). By the looks of the group none of us were ready for the news that was awaiting us.

"My dears. We have some bad news for you. Keres's forces are marching towards the Academy at a fast pace. I think we can hold them out for maximum two days more but soon they will outrun us. Many warriors are dying out there. Ira I hope our students are ready for the battle?" He asked.

Ira replied "Yes, they are ready." Mr. Almond nodded "Hmm.. good. Adrien, explain the six of them what they have to do. I have an emergency meeting with the Board, Ira and Lisa you need to come with me. Oh, sorry I didn't introduce Adrien. Guys, this is Adrien Mc'Klein and he will be leading you from now on. Ira, Lisa come." They nodded and Lisa said "Adrien, we need to do the meeting here, can you please go to the Grounds with them?"

He led us to whatever place "the Grounds" was and well, if I try to tell how magnificent that place was, I would probably fail to explain it all. But let me try, first of all, it seemed like a normal field to me, when we first reached that place which was just a few yards away from Crystal Chamber. But suddenly the aura of that place changed, flowers sprouted all around us, little elves, rabbits and birds appeared and began to play all around us.

"Whoa! What just happened to this place? A minute ago, it was like any normal field and now... all these flowers, elves and all!" James exclaimed and bent down to fondle the baby rabbit jumping near his feet. "Yes, this is the Charmed Lea also known as the Grounds. It changes its aura according to the nature and feeling of the visitors." Adrien explained "I would have let you enjoy the scenery but we don't have time. Keres's army is picking up pace as Mr. Almond told you. The Six of you have to go to the Guarding Grotto, I mean, the cave where you will find the gems tomorrow. We originally planned to send you after 2-3 days of training but, keeping the current condition in mind... we can't wait any further. So today, you will be trained for tomorrow's pursue and as Ira is gone I will be your guide. Okay? Well, take your to adjust and process all this but please, we usually don't take no as an answer." He said.