We arrive at the school. Large rusty iron gates block anyone from entering without permission. Behind the gates is a gigantic black castle with cathedrals and windows, gates and gardens. Trees grow around the yard and kids sit in the shade. It's not winter here, but summer, apparently. Wish I had known. I would have brought shorts.
"Welcome to Dark Pillar Academy." says Nightshade holding her arms out dramatically. She approaches the gate and opens it with a flick of her hand. I follow her through the yards. I hadn't noticed before but every kid here has a dagger or sword on their hip. Lovely.
We are almost at the door, when a group of people Nightshades age (turns out she is eighteen) walk up to us. They are a group of brutish kids, both boys and girls with big builds and are all very tall."Hey, Nightshade! Got a new kid do you?" asks a particularly scary boy with tattoo of a snake on his arm. When he laughs, it wiggles. "Yes, I do, and if you so much as poke her, I will cut your arm off!" she yells. This makes the group smirk. I learn quickly that this group and Nightshade are not friends. Nightshade begins to walk away. I follow, running to catch up. "Who were they?" I ask.
"Just some dumb kids. They bother everyone. If they bug you, tell me. I'll give them a piece of my mind!"
We bound up the steps towards the entrance. We walk up 4 flights of stairs and walk down a hallway, through groups people talking about battle strategies and how to behead a giant in several different ways. On either sides of the hall there are gigantic paintings depicting battles at swordpoint, with guns, etc. The roof is decorated with chandeliers and the wood that goes around the doors and the frames, are intricately carved with swirls, and designs that no normal could create with a simple dagger or tools. Magic runs through these walls, and I can feel it. This place is where I belong.
One group blocks the hallway and Nightshade, obviously still upset with our run in with the brutish kids, screams at them to "GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE I TURN YOU INTO DRAGON FOOD!" The kids part a way for us to walk and she stomps past them. This seems normal for the students because none of them look phased. Some don't even flinch when she storms past them.
Finally, we come to a large mahogany door with golden handles. She knocks and we hear a muffled, "Come in!" She opens the door and walks in. I follow suit.
Inside, a large desk with candles and flowers, papers, pens, pictures, and things of that sort are spread out on the desk. Behind the desk is a plump man, with red rosy cheeks and circular glasses in a red, plush chair. "Ah. You must be Spring! Welcome to Dark Pillar Academy!" he says, sweetly. "Nightshade, please show Spring to her room." he smiles. I look around while they talk and I see more paintings. The inside had a window that looks out upon the entire grounds. I crystal ball sits on a brown table on the opposite side of the room and books line a maginificent book shelf.
She nods "Yes, Mr.Pillar."
We walk back through the doors, up some more flights of stairs and down a hall. We stop at yet another mahogany door and above it, it reads,
PROTECTERS
"I assume that you are already trained?"
"Yeah." I nod. Before my dad disappeared, he taught me how to fight. I am good. Really good, actually.
"Ok, you are a Protector. Basically, what you do is patrol the grounds at night. Sound easy enough? And you practice with the other Protectors. Even though we have gates, that is only to keep humans out, not monsters. "
"Ok, I patrol at night, and when do I practice?"
"Whenever you want. When you have free time. As long as you do it once every week, your good. You start tomorrow."
"Do monsters come often?"
"Not really."
"Alright, I think that's all I have to ask." I smile.
"Great, I'll show you your room." she smiles back.
She opens the door and walks into a room filled with couches and plush seats, tables and bookshelves.
"This is the common room for protectors. You can just hang out here when you have nothing else to do."
She keeps walking into a hallway, with doors on each side. Dorms. She stops at number 4. "This is your dorm." She stuffs her hand in her pocket and starts fishing around for something. She pulls out a key. She opens the door and then hands me the key.
"Just so you know, I live in number 17 so you can drop by whenever. Luck!"
She walks away. I turn back to my room. The walls are white and a bed is in the corner of the room with a purple quilt and 2 pillows. The rug is grey. A bedside table is placed beside my bed and a whitewashed dresser is in the other corner, diagonal from the bed. My stuff is already at the foot of my bed. Inside, though, is not my stuff. Instead, shorts of multiple colors and tank tops, t-shirts, sandals and sneakers of many varieties are in it's place. My books and sword are still there, thankfully.
On the bedside table is a clock and it says it is 9:00pm. I put on some pj's and crawl into bed. I fall asleep almost instantly. I guess leaving your friends, family and everything you know can be tiring.
