Tiernan was lying on his settee, with his head leaned back against some pillows, Erik was in his office searching through some papers for Coriliat's information sheet, and Josh sat beside him, and quietly but gently handled a cold cloth to put on Tiernan's injured eyes. It helped relieve the pain, but it didn't stop Tiernan from thinking. He was tiered after the ordeal of having to deal with the press and students while he couldn't see, but there was still more to deal with.
Once everything had settled down, and all the students were back in their seats the press started bombarding him with questions. His head was still reeling from questions he had no answers too. Who was the initial target? Why would they come after him? Who sent them? What was he point of putting so many other students in danger? Had anyone been injured? Where had the fire come from? Was it a danger to fellow students? Would there be more attacks? Was the school still save? What would happen to the girl who controlled the fire?
The latter was of more concern to him at the moment. As soon as the healers would let her go she was to go see the headmaster. Tiernan on the other wanted to know whether she had informed him in her application of her power. And if not, why? Tiernan yawned.
"Josh?" With embarrassment the proud man's voice cracked as though he was a teenager.
"Yes sir?" Josh answered quietly. Concern rang in his voice. And no wonder, Tiernan looked tiered. His hair had become all ruffled from the pillows and was now hanging loosely around his face. But it was his eyes that gave him the look of long illness. They were severely bloodshot and were framed in dark circles. The embarrassment of his master just added insult to injury. Josh, Erik, and Salem knew how hard it was for Tiernan not to be able to see. And now he was not even master of his own voice. Very soon he would loose his temper with himself, and then blame himself for what happened. Tiernan was a proud man who didn't take well to failure.
"What time is it?"
Josh glanced at his watch: "4:30 sir. It's getting late. The students are going to assemble for the welcoming party in two hours."
Tiernan nodded then stopped as a sharp pain reappeared behind his eyes. "I will not be attending. I leave the details you and Erik." He paused to think. "What to do with Coriliat however? I could not have possibly missed the fact that she can control fire in her application. I am usually very through."
"Ya didnea laddie." Erik walked through the open door shuffling through some papers. "She didnea mention it in her application."
"She didn't?" Tiernan frowned. "I'll have to have words with her. Her ability is something that is a danger to students and teachers alike and-" "Sir." Josh interrupted quietly, but Tiernan did not hear him, and so Tiernan continued, uninterrupted. "And I do not see a reason for not mentioning it. Fire itself is dangerous and needs-" "Sir." Josh interrupeted once more, louder. But once again the headmaster ignored him. "To be controlled or else it may become more then just a severe danger to others. And one more thing-"
"Laddie!" Erik shouted dropping the papers into the lap. Tiernan jumped and looked towards Erik. "Yea have a visitor." He said slowly and meaningfully.
Immediately Tiernan fell silent and closed his eyes with a groan. He was such a blabbermouth. Why couldn't he think things through?Josh and Erik mistook the groan and instantly asked if he was alright. Only by raising his hand could Tiernan get them to fall silent.
"I imagine it is Coriliat standing there? Excuse the darkness in the room, but my eyes were injured." He stopped, unsure where to go from there and also greatly embarrassed.
"They are?" The little elf gasped. Her voice flowed like water, and was soft as a feather pillow. "Oh no! I'm so sorry. I didn't know!"
"Calm down lassie." Erik walked over to her. "No one 'ere be blamin' ya. Now how bout ye sit doon and we be talkin' an try to work this oot eh?" The old werewolf smiled warmly at Coriliat. She blushed slightly, casting her eyes down, and smiled back. She was a bit frightened though. Erik's teeth were slightly sharpened, and almost looked like fangs. She didn't want to offend anyone though so she sat down and scanned the room.
There seemed to be no windows whatsoever in this room. The walls were covered in rich, but dark purple and golden drapes. In the centre stood a king sized poster bed. As she looked closed she could distinguish strange, but human looking carvings in the wood. The frame seemed to be held up by two figures. One appeared to be a woman with a long dress and flowing hair holding a star and crescent moon. The other was a man, dressed in a rather peculiar looking robe, the peculiar thing about it was the symbols on them. Even through the gloom Coriliat could distinguish the rather strange, flowing symbols carved all over the robe unlike anything she had ever seen. It was no elf script, nor was it the tounge of man, or the dwarven runes. It was unlike the orc language, and even the hyroglyphs of the were-creatures did not match it. And yet, they seemed to be all of them at once. As she took in more of the strange figure she noticed that the man held something that appeared to be a sun in one hand, and a beautiful mountain flower in the other. Both figures appeared to be some kind of powerful entities. As she let her gaze flow across the room she noticed that the bookshelves, wardrobe, and bedside tables all had similar carvings. Carvings of strange people. One was a carving of another women, scantly clad in fur, holding a bow and surrounded by air, water, fire, and earth. Another was a man with a long beard, and long hair, wearing a hooded robe and holding a...Coriliat looked closer. Was he holding a pocket watch? She shook her head, and her eyes fell on the floor. Much unlike the office she had come in through, which had dark green marble slabs; here, the floor here was covered in a soft black carpet. As she looked up she noticed that the settee the headmaster was lying on had its back to a fireplace, the only source of light in this dim room. There was no indication of any electricity in this room, which was strange. The rest of the castle, albeit old, was technologically up to date.
"Now, Coriliat." Hearing her name, the elf looked up at the headmaster. His eyes were closed and his face was turned to the ceiling. "Tell me why you neglected to tell me about your power in the application."
Coriliat fumbled with her blue skirt. Nervousness practically radiated from her. "Well sir, I had meant to. You see, my...uhm..." She frowned.
"Listen, I understand you may not want your power to have been publiciced, but you should have told me. There are many confidential matters indicated on every students application form. Those do not leave the office at all at any point in time." The headmaster paused. "What you did endangered everyone in that room. It cannot happen again."
"Yes sir." Coriliat frowned and looked at her hands. "But if I may sir." She paused, tears in her eyes, but she tried so hard to not let them spill over. "I don't...well...I don't have any real control over it. If I get scared, or angry it just...happens. I've been trying so hard to control it for years. But it never seems to work out really. My parents suggested I come to you immediately after the welcoming to tell you personally."
Now it Tiernan's turn to frown. What was he supposed to do with Coriliat? No one here knew how to control fire, and so no one could possibly teach her. He was under oath to keep his students save, but he also swore that he would teach anyone no matter what the problems were. There was someone he could call; however, the problem was getting ahold of him. He tended to move around a lot, and one phone number could last for a few days or a few years.
"Erik, try and get ahold of Richard. Coriliat, Josh will show you to your room. Set yourself up there, and then come to dinner. I won't let you leave the school without at least trying to help you." Tiernan smiled encouragingly at Coriliat. "Enjoy the evening. That is what today is all about after all." Coriliat smiled and got up. As she was about to leave the room with the other elf, the headmaster added. "Tomorrow is your first day of school. I expect to hear god things from you child."
"I won't disappoint you headmaster." Coriliat added firmly. Finally she had found a place where she could possibly belong and didn't have to be afraid of burning down the trees she loved so dearly.
As soon as Coriliat and Josh were out of the room, Tiernan sat up. Erik place a hand on his shoulder, only to have it shrugged of. "Phone." Tiernan commanded. Erik frowned. "Erik, phone, now! The least I can do is make up for my mistake."
"Laddie, this wasn't yer mistake." Erik spoke slowly.
"Perhaps not, but I did make the decision as such I hold the blame. People were injured due to my failure, and I must deal with the consequences. Phone Erik." Tiernan ignored the pain the shot from behind his eyes and seemed to flow through his entire head with enough force to trump an elephant.
"Och aye, as if I'm aboot to hand ya the phone while yer in sever pain." Erik paused momentarily. "No, I be makin' the call to Richard. Ye just be layin' back doon."
"Might I remind you just who is in charge here?!" Clearly frustrated Tiernan exclaimed.
"Aye ya could. But I ain't gonna listen laddie." Erik replied with the same authority. But then he sighed and his tone softened. "I cannea let yea destroy yerself. Aye, ya may be in charge, but that don't mean yea cannea listen to me. Yea need rest or yer eyes may get worse. I just be worried about ye, don ya understand that Tiernan?"
Tiernan nodded and smiled softly. The deep caring mortals could develop in such a short period of time struck him as simply astounding, as did many things about them. Not that his people were immortal in that sense. They were still mortal in their eyes, but ask any of the other races that now so proudly walked the earth and they'd say that him, and whatever remained of his people, was the definition of immortal.
"I'll go an' make the call laddie. Yea should get some rest." Tiernan nodded and laid back down. He heard the door shut and his thoughts drifted back to his youth. How could a people that walked the earth once upon a time before the dawn of man so mightily be brought down to so few? A society that once stood proud and tall before the gates of the gods of time and space was brought down in a single day. Now they hid, in darkness and shadow. How had it come to this?
When Erik walked back into the room, Tiernan was fast asleep. The old scotsman smiled and shook his head. Erik had come to be High Protector at a very young age. His own master had died protecting the school. It was a memory Erik tried to forget even now, years later. The headmaster had been very nice and continued to teach Erik, despite Erik having the duties of the High Protector. The two had become close friends, and now Erik looked after Tiernan just like Tiernan looked after him. Tiernan meant everything to him, he was his life. Well Tiernan and Erik's mate. Sadly, the two were not blessed with pups and as such the two were very devoted to their duties. Erik cared for Tiernan, and for Josh. He grabbed a blue blanket that was hanging over a chair, and pulled it over Tiernan. Then he grabbed a book, sat in an armchair by the fire, stretched himself out, and started to read.
- - - - - - - -
Josh led Coriliat through the inner courtyard. She wanted to stop and look around but Josh had a quick step about him. Especially for an elf. Plus it was snowing severely. He marched her through the gates and into the outer courtyard like he was flying. Coriliat found herself running after him to keep up quite a lot. They stopped in front of a long stone building. It looked like a small apartment block. Coriliat stopped behind him and glanced past his shoulders to the house.
"What is this place?" She whispered.
"This is the girls dormitory." Josh answered simply. "You'll be living here from now on." He walked up to the door and knocked. "Smruti, you in there?"
The door opened and a woman opened the door. "Yes I am Josh. What is it?"
"I have a new student for you here. Sorry she's a bit late. I am sure the headmaster has made sure you have been informed of the reason." He grabbed Coriliat and gently pushed her towards the door. "This is Coriliat."
The door open further and now Coriliat could see that the woman was only half woman, and half...snake. "Hello Coriliat." The woman smiled. "I'm Smruti. You can think of me as a house mom. And yes I am a Naga away from the Hindu Temples we were tasked to guard." She took a stunned Coriliat by the shoulders and pulled her into the hallway. "Thank you Josh, go back to your duties. I can handle it from here. Bye!" She closed the door and looked seriously at Coriliat. "So, you're the girl who can control fire." Then she smiled warmly. "As long as you don't set anyone on fire I don't care. There are only a few house rules, and they are posted on everyones door. Now, come on I'll show you around." She opened another door and led Coriliat into a massive common room. Smurti was dark skinned, with beautiful short black hair. Her tail was a bright blue. She moved silently and smoothly across the hardwood floor. In the large room were 4 TV's, two of which were hooked up to gaming stations. At the end was a massive fireplace with couches and armchairs infront of it. They were all nice warm and rich colours. In the centre was a massive table that would propably house the entire dorm. The walls were lined with bookshelves, and DVD shelves. Several sitting pillows and those weird sacks were dotted all over the room.
"Wow!" Corililiat looked around. The room was practiaclly empty, but there were a few students around.
"Welcome to the girls dorm room. My office is that door on the right, and the staircase on the left leads to the rooms."
"Coriliat!" A redhead shot at the little elf and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Man! I been wondering where you went."
"Uhm...Sophia right?" Coriliat blushed.
"Yeah." Sophia let her go and smiled. "Smurti, Coriliat's room is right next to mine right? Can I show her?"
Smurti just smiled. "Of course Sophia. You two seem to know each other, and I still have some paper work to go through anyways. So you go ahead, show her around. But make sure you two are ready for supper alright?"
"Yes Smurti." The girls answered in chorus and then giggled. Sophia grabbed Coriliat's hands and dragged her to the staircase. When the door shut she started asking questions. "So what happened? I mean, I know you were let go from the doctors office. Dekker and I went to check on you. To see if you were alright. They said you had gone to the headmasters office." Sophia shrugged and led Coriliat up to the second floor.
"Uhm...not much really. The headmaster wanted to talk and stuff." Coriliat frowned. "Aren't you afraid? I mean, I could burn you at any moment."
Sophia looked down, with her hand on the door handle and stopped. "No. But I never really had any friends. I guess I saw a chance with you and Dekker. All three of us are kinda weird. I get stared at because I'm such a redhead. Dekker is apparently the only white wolf in the school, and they are already rare. And you're a wood elf that controls fire. We're all going to get stared at. Figured we could hang together and handle that crap." She opened the door into a purple hallway. "Well, actually it was Dekker's idea." Sophia smiled shyly. "Uhm your room is down that way, opposite to mine actually. Come on, all our rooms are designed to look like our favourite place." Sophia opened the door to a room. The number above it red 208. "There are 10 rooms on each floor. Mines 209."
Coriliat walked into the room and stopped dead. She had a large desk with a brand new computer sitting on it, beside it stood a wi-fi router. A large poster bed with green fabric stood against the wall, her suitcases were set in the middle of the room. The wallpaper was a beautiful lush pine forest, and the carpet was so soft. There was an empty bookshelf standing beside the desk, and a closet standing opposite to the bed. Two windows framed a glass door that led out to a-
"No way!" Coriliat ran over to the door and opened it. "A balcony!"
"Yeah every room has one." Sophia smiled. "Anyway, I still have to sort my stuff out. You do to. Don't forget we have to be in the castle at 6:30. Knock on my door if you want help." Sophia waved and left the room. Leaving the little wood elf standing there looking around a room unsure where to start.