Yictocy and Ararenus led Poppy, Nevyn, and Hunter out the room. They went down a long flight of stairs leading to another part of the building. That part of the building was built into the mountains.
In short, they were going to where the vampires and werewolves lived and attended Greywyn Academy.
Poppy shivered as she noticed the air was getting colder. She said, "Why is it so cold down there?"
"Because this area receives no sunlight," said Yictocy. "The witches who built this place had secretly kept and tormented many vampires and werewolves during their reign. The vampire and werewolf clans have not forgotten the torment; many of them were responsible for killing many surviving witches as they fled from the purges."
"So, is it true what they say about vampires?" said Nevyn. "Do they burst into flames when they stand in the sunlight?"
"No, but the sunlight irritates them," said Yictocy. "Also, most of them rarely leave this part of the school for safety reasons. Vanessa Morvant is one of the few vampires who can travel safely throughout the school."
"And werewolves live in the dark because..." Nevyn continued.
"They fear the full moon," said Yictocy. "They fear that once they step outside during a full moon, they will lose control of themselves and maul as many students as they possibly can. Although nothing of the sort has happened here, we can't be too careful. This is why they also stay here."
Soon, they reached the door to the school in the mountains. A vampire stood by the door. He had green eyes, a fair complexion, and braided curly blond hair. He wore a pair of trousers, a shirt with mid-length sleeves, and a pair of leather shoes. He also wore a feathered hat and a mid-length cloak. He said to them, "I take it you're bringing the new guardians here?"
"Indeed I am," said Yictocy. "They're to meet the teachers and students who live here."
"They may pass, if you would keep an eye on the little cat-boy here," said Uriah Montague. "He has caused more than enough trouble the last time he was here and Vanessa claims that he has been in confrontation with Trovald."
"Oh, I can control myself well enough," said Ararenus, "only if you promise to do the same."
"Silly cat-boy," said Uriah as he banged on the door. The door swung open and Poppy gasped as the interior revealed itself. The place seemed more like an ancient castle than a school. The entire place was filled with paintings and priceless treasures. Several huge hallways led to the classrooms, dorms, and a huge hall where the students gathered for meals.
Nevyn said, "Does the headmaster know about this place?"
"He most certainly does," said Uriah, "and he has requested that no student be allowed to come here, unless they're the guardians, of course. But we haven't had anyone bitten...yet."
"Still, have any regular students been down here?" said Nevyn. "What do you do when this happens?"
"The guardians are notified and they escort the student back to their dorm," said Uriah. "Now, that's happened before."
"So do they join the other students in Greywyn for meals?" said Poppy as she tried to swallow her apparent fear of vampires.
"Only on special occasions," said Uriah, "and those are indeed rare. The vampires and werewolves must be kept away from the general population of the school, lest something disastrous were to happen. Not that we've had any disasters, of course. Still, as guardians, you must know how to handle situations such as these."
He led them to the hall, where the children saw a huge gathering of young vampires and werewolves sitting everywhere. Most of them were chatting and took no notice of the guardians. That was, until Uriah rang a gong and the entire place quieted down.
He said, "I would like you to welcome Rhiassa Twilight and Nevyn Meler here; they're currently being trained as the new guardians of Greywyn Academy." The students frowned as they stared at Poppy. She was about to say that her name had been changed when she remembered. The students had chosen her name and Skefan had apparently refused to allow the witches Kyler Dawn and Rista Blueflame to change her name.
At once, another vampire approached the children. She was tall, had crimson eyes, a fair complexion, and curly black hair. She wore a cocktail dress and a pair of short embroidered vintage boots. She also wore a jeweled pendant and a top hat. She said, "I'm Coraline Ravenway, the headmistress of this section of Greywyn Academy. I understand that you're the guardians and we'll see you around here as you go about your duties."
"We'll be here a lot?" said Nevyn.
"Well," said Coraline, "you'll have to keep order near these parts of the school, as we've had a number of students trying to sneak into Darkside Hall for a few weeks now."
"Darkside Hall?" said Poppy.
"This is the name of this part of the school," said Coraline, "and it was named that when the vampires and werewolves imprisoned here were freed by Garbur Greywyn when he defeated Lucrezia Grendel."
"So, why do they still stay here?" said Nevyn.
"There's nowhere else for them to go," said Coraline. "Besides, why would we want to go out where the Silver King and his foolish friends rule and control the world? They would easily control us and I know that many of us on both sides would be killed if we fought him."
"Better to go into hiding in places when we can never be found then to live openly and risk being discovered by the Silver King," said Uriah. "If he doesn't know about us, then we are safe. But those who insist on hiding in plain sight do risk being discovered and slain by the Silver King unless they pledge loyalty to him and his lackey."
"Exactly," said a werewolf named Abram Dagworth. "I absolutely loathe Shadowwolf. I wish for nothing more than to tear out his heart."
"What did he do to you?" said Hunter, who had been feeling quite intimidated at the sight of werewolves and vampires alike.
"He almost destroyed my clan," said Dagworth. "Little more than half of us escaped and came here. I do hope that if Shadowwolf comes here, I'll rip him to shreds. No one messes with my clan and lives!"
"Shadowwolf really has it in for you," Nevyn said.
"He does," said Uriah. "He's tried to kill vampires and werewolves before, but the people he sends out to do his bidding return to him torn to pieces or traumatized for life. Recently, we've taken to draining their bodies and sending them back to the Silver King with threats of death and destruction of him and his family. The Earthchasers were respectful enough, but the Silverhearts turned us into monsters."
He stared at the children and said, "I do hope I'm not scaring you all too much. I want you to know why we're hiding here and what we plan to do in case that monster returns here."
Nevyn said, "I've taken it that you've heard about the prince?"
"Indeed we have," said Uriah, "and to be perfectly honest, he's just as bad as his father! He killed an innocent child while Salvatore rescued another! He should have been put to death just for that! Instead of doing that, his father chose to reward him with a castle in the country of Jaezel Mountain, give him all the human slaves that money could buy, and even allow him to torment people as he pleased! Prince Evidizan Silverheart is not a good man; as all Elves are evil and irredeemable!"
"But Salvatore is good!" Poppy cried out.
"He's one of the few Elves who are good," said Uriah. "Other than that, they're so evil that it'll take a miracle to make them see any sort of reason!"
"That or wipe them all out," said a werewolf named Erwin Durham.
"Indeed," said Dagworth.
Coraline raised an eyebrow and said, "Now, let's not scare off our new guardians; we'll be needing them once the school term begins. We can't have them not guarding our doorways, or can we?"
Poppy shook her head. "I'm not scared of any Elves," she said stubbornly. "The only thing in the world I'm scared of is cruel people who steal children from their beds at night. The kid may think he or she is safe in their room, but these people know how to sneak into a completely locked room and snatch the kid. Now, that's what I'm afraid of."
"You won't have to worry about that here," said Coraline. "Here, you are safe. Now, put your fears aside and let us go on the tour of Darkside Hall. I'm sure you'll feel better after the tour has begun."
She turned and walked down the hall, with the children following her. Most of the students and teachers returned to their classrooms, but some preferred to stay with the headmistress and the guardians. Poppy was certain that her hidden legacy was more than just a long-lost father who had no idea that his daughter existed. In fact, she had no idea that her family history contained several dark secrets, secrets that should have stayed hidden.
That knowledge of her secret past left her feeling unsettled.
* * * * *
That night at dinner (which consisted of broiled frog with hickory nuts and blackberries, and was served with salted mild cheddar, soft-boiled eggs, brown bread, calf soup and rice wine), Poppy related what happened in Darkside Hall to the other three guardians. Dlav said to her, "Consider yourselves lucky; Chas and Brummett didn't get to see Darkside Hall until six months had passed when we first became the guardians."
"And what about you?" said Nevyn.
Chasica said, "Dlav snuck off and went to Darkside Hall; he was gone for three days. Salvatore and Skefan were frantically searching everywhere for him and Aciakyla and Yictocy were arguing over who was supposed to be watching him. On the fourth day, someone spotted Dlav with some huge cat in Darkside Hall. We had no idea that the cat in question was a cat-boy, and we had no idea that cat people existed until we met Ararenus."
"Oh," said Poppy. "I had no idea that Darkside Hall had cat-people running around in it."
"Well, Darkside Hall has all kinds of creatures in it," said Ararenus as he walked right by them. "I was a student there, as my parents had some wealth and the means to provide me with a comfortable lifestyle. But that confounded boy just had to show up and stay in the hall for three days. He claimed that his father was a werewolf and his mother was a fairy. It might as well be true, as I see nothing even remotely human-like about him."
"Awww, you flatter me, Brother Cat," said Dlav with a mischievous grin on his face. "Don't be like that."
"What else can I say?" said Ararenus. "You've been a thorn in my side since you knocked me down and forced me to take you on that tour. Even my parents thought you were touched in the brain. Why do the gods torment me with such an annoying boy like you?"
"You don't really mean that, do you?" Dlav stared at him.
"He's just kidding," said Aciakyla. "As for you, Dlav, you must learn to use some discretion when you clean up the student dorms, as your insistence that no one is to use magic almost caused a disaster for the cleanup crew."
"Well, if we use magic all the time, we might grow lazy," said Dlav by way of an excuse. "My grandmother didn't believe in using magic because it makes people lazy. She might have been a backwoods witch, but she insisted that I must do all my chores by hand. So there you have it."
"Aciakyla, please, just leave and go bother another student," said Ararenus. He didn't like her; fairies and cat-people always had a rivalry, one that humans had tried to help resolve on multiple occasions and failed miserably. "I have to deal with them myself."
"You silly cat-boy," she snapped at him. "You're just too serious."
"And you don't take things seriously at all," Ararenus snapped at her. "Now will you be going or will I have to turn your wings into tar?"
"Try it and I'll turn your fur pink," Aciakyla snapped back at him.
"Dlav, do something," Chasica cried out.
"What do you mean me?" Dlav snapped. Then noticing Poppy and Nevyn staring at him, he said, "The guardians also help resolve conflicts that might arise from so many diverse creatures attending this school. It's not so easily done, as you children might never know a conflict like the ones you see here. Now, watch how I resolve this one and count how many cares that I will give when I dump this tub of tartar sauce on them."
"Tartar sauce?" Brummett cried out.
"Are you nutters?" Chasica yelled.
"Just watch," said Dlav as he summoned a huge bucket of tartar sauce and approached Ararenus and Aciakyla as they prepared to cast spells on each other. Within a few seconds, Aciakyla was screaming her head off and Ararenus was hissing several words that could be considered unfit for publication. The other students gasped as they stared at the duo, then quickly returned to their meal.
Aciakyla glared at Ararenus, who glared right back at her. "Now you two have finally found some common ground," said Dlav as they stared at him. "You're all covered in tartar sauce. Now go clean yourselves up; the children will need you tonight and the headmaster expects you both to be presentable when that happens."
As Ararenus and Aciakyla stormed away from the great hall, Dlav said to Poppy and Nevyn, "And that's how you handle Aciakyla and Ararenus. They can't be in the same room at the same time or stuff like this happens. If this happens, remember to get them both dirty and tell them to take a bath. Although Brother Bluehair doesn't approve of my methods of resolving conflicts, he also doesn't approve of fighting at all, especially between two staff members. Now you know."
"We do," said Poppy, "and I wonder what's going on between them?"
"It's a conflict between fairies and cat-people," said Chasica. "No one knows why they have this conflict, as it's been going on for many years now."
"Uh, maybe some other time," said Nevyn as the others stared at him. "As much as I would like to hear about the conflicts between fairies and cat-people, I think the headmaster would appreciate it if we saw the dorms where the guardians stay when they aren't attending classes or on guardian duties."
"And I'm going to show you the dorm tonight," said Skefan as he approached the group. "Dlav, I saw Brother Ararenus covered in tartar sauce, again. I won't ask why, since I already know the reason for this incident."
"Well, if Brother Cat and Sister Fairy Girl would quit fighting so much, then I wouldn't have to reach for the tartar sauce," said Dlav. "Can't we PLEASE make them get along?"
"I also wish they would stop fighting," said Skefan. "Actually, the main reason for the conflict is so deep in the past that they've forgotten about it. Yet why they keep fighting, we'll never know."
"Sooner or later, they'll get sick and tired of Dlav pouring tartar sauce on their heads," said Brummett.
"I hope so, Brummett," said Skefan. "I certainly hope so."
While the other children were speaking to the headmaster, Hunter was busy taking notes. He had observed the students and was determining who could be a potential ally or an enemy. Soon, there would be a flood of children arriving at the school and some orphans would be among them. He knew that time was running out for him to sneak Shadowwolf into the school undetected; if he failed to do that, then his future would be erased.
"It's time for Plan B," he muttered to himself as he silently slipped out of the Great Hall. "I've got to find a way to get him inside the school without so much as a sound. But how?"
He saw the answer to his problems; there would be more human students enrolling at Greywyn, the most since the end of the Golden Age of the Earthchaser Empire. And with the new students would be a new teacher.
Shadowwolf would make a great teacher, Hunter thought to himself. He taught me everything I know about magic, and he would be willing to help teach the new generation of human students. Maybe he could teach the new guardians as well. That would be nice, wouldn't it? To have him teach the guardians. Now I must convince him of the plan.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Shadowwolf's number. Things were looking up for him now.