The next day, Poppy, Nevyn, and Hunter found themselves facing Salvatore, Skefan, and Ararenus. They wore outfits consisting of a dress for Poppy and suits for Nevyn and Hunter. The dress was a simple blue and light gray dress; it was matched with a pair of knee-high lace-up boots. The suits were dark brown and matched with a pair of short lace-up shoes and a medium-length copper cloak.
Skefan said to them, "Today, you three are going to meet the guardians, and they're going to tell you how and why they're guarding the secret library."
"Do the other students know anything about the library?" said Nevyn.
"No, and we would like to keep it that way," said Salvatore. "It would be nothing short of a disaster if the entire school knew about the library. Greywyn knew the risks of keeping the secret when he made the rule that only the guardians should know the location of the secret library."
"So, you're telling us that Greywyn created the Secret Library Guardians?" said Poppy.
"Yes," said Skefan. "He also built the library and charged the guardians with keeping its secrets."
"So, what's the point about the school taking humans from Earth and bringing them here?" said Nevyn.
"Among the captives of the witch Lucrezia were two humans named Edmond Arroyo and Shellie Kerns, who claimed to have come from Earth," said Salvatore. "Greywyn charged them with keeping the library a secret, while he and the others began building the school and destroying everything that the evil witch had done."
"So why are Kyler Dawn and Rista Blueflame here?" said Poppy.
"Well, that's a difficult story to tell," Skefan said. "When Greywyn killed Lucrezia, her entire clan found out about it and sought to destroy him. Using the magic he developed while in captivity, he was able to destroy Lucrezia's clan and every witch clan in Ostlea. He persuaded King Ozgiebill Earthchaser to ban the practice of witchcraft and to declare that anyone who practiced witchcraft would be executed.
"For the next 200 years, many witch clans were found and destroyed. While many people cheered for this reformation, a witch clan refused to surrender. They abandoned their haunt and went to live in the woods."
Poppy remembered how Kyler and Rista reacted when she revealed her name as Rhiassa. They were upset to know that a human girl used the same name as their clan leader. She said, "Rhiassa was the leader of the clan that had fled into the woods."
"Indeed she was," said Salvatore. "I was sent to find her and destroy her, but she refused to surrender. I took her name and gave it to human princess Rhiassa Earthchaser of Ostlea, the last princess who was born before the destruction of the royal family."
"So it is true that anyone other than a witch who uses the name Rhiassa is doomed because the power in that name would destroy them," said Poppy.
"That was a serious mistake on my part," Salvatore said. "Princess Rhiassa was four years old when she died during the rebellion. Her mother, her father, and six siblings, many of their relatives, and most of the noble families, had died that night. I realized my mistake and saved her two-year-old sister Emerald Angel from death, handing her over to a kindly peasant family to raise her and keep her safe from the Silverheart family, who would kill her as they killed little Rhiassa.
"I then promised to destroy Rhiassa and take control of her clan, because my father was an elf, and my mother was a witch of her clan..."
"Not to be rude or anything like that, but some witches had to survive the purge, didn't they?" said Nevyn.
"There were very few," said Salvatore. "Sometimes, it would have been five people who survived, and sometimes it would have been less than two people. No more than ten people from each of the 300 witch clans survived; in some cases, the entire clan was destroyed. Out of the 200 current members of Rhiassa's clan, there are now less than 100 witches that had survived the purge, as most of them are now dying or becoming a part of the forest. Because witches usually took human children to reproduce, the King's decree that any "ugly" child was to be put to death has also hastened the end of Rhiassa's clan."
"So why don't we go help the witches?" said Nevyn. "We're not you, and we're not going to repeat your mistakes."
"Maybe that can be done, man," Ararenus said to him. "Right now, Rhiassa is not going to be too forgiving because we stole her name and took two of her students from her. She'll be less than pleased to discover that the human girl who bears her name is still alive. Something needs to be done about this."
"Kyler and Rista have changed my name," said Poppy. "They did that because they were worried that their leader would wreak havoc on the school if I didn't agree to change my name."
"Yes," said Skefan. "I will seek out the girls and make them give you back your name, the name that the school had given you. It's not up to them to decide what you can and cannot be named at all."
"Now, if the history lesson is over, I believe I have to take the children to the next part of the school tour," said Ararenus. " In a few days, they'll begin their term here. Next week, the students are coming here, so it's imperative that they learn as much about the school as they can, so that they can show the regular students where to go."
"As you will, Ararenus," said Salvatore. "Come on, Skefan, let's go deal with Rista and Kyler. While we allow them to attend our school, we will remind them that they must obey our rules."
"Perhaps they'll be willing to explain why they changed Rhiassa's name to Poppy," said Skefan.
Ararenus led Poppy, Nevyn, and Hunter out of the Greeting Room and down the hall to the library. Vanessa was standing at the door, ready to greet them. "I hope Brother Trovald learned his lesson that you taught him yesterday, pretty cat," she said.
"Oh, he most certainly has," said Ararenus. "Anyway, is the library empty?"
"Save for the guardians, no one else is inside the place," said Vanessa. "The guardians have my permission to enter."
As all three children prepared to enter the library, Ararenus grabbed Hunter's shoulder. "Not you, Mister Frost. You have some explaining to do, as Sister Yictocy wants to know why you are here."
"You mean, no one gets into Greywyn without getting past her?" said Poppy.
"Nope," Dlav said as he came to fetch the children. "She's probably going to find out the truth about our friend here. Once she does, there might be one less student here at Greywyn Academy."
Ararenus nodded as he said to Poppy and Nevyn, "I'm coming back to pick you up in a couple of hours. Right now, I have to deal with this miscreant and find out why he infiltrated our school." With a tug on Hunter's arm, they both walked away.
Dlav said, "So, are we going now?" The others were nodding. "Good. Chasica and Brummett are waiting for you. It is a tradition for the previous guardians to teach the new guardians. Pay attention now, as the day will come when you will have to teach the guardians who will come after you."
He took them to the table where Chasica and Brummett were sitting. There were books and papers scattered all over the place, and chairs were filled with various kinds of magical objects. Chasica and Brummett were getting everything ready for the meeting.
"Please pardon our dust; we didn't know they'd be coming here this early," Brummett said as he tripped over his own feet.
"Well, if you weren't carrying so much stuff, then maybe you wouldn't be falling down so much," Dlav said as he waved his wand, setting up the place. "Now, let's get started, shall we?"
"With what?" said Nevyn.
"Your training, of course," said Dlav. "Why else are you here?"
"Well, I was only asking," said Nevyn. "What's the point of us being here?"
"Where are the older guardians?" said Poppy.
"Oh, they?" said Dlav. "Well, they have guardian duties or classes, and the witches usually do their own thing. So, they couldn't be here. It's usually the previous guardians who train the new guardians, as I've already told you."
Chasica pulled out several objects, consisting of a pocket watch, a flashlight, and a short sword. She said, "These are the objects we were given when we first became guardians. Bepherz, Tewand, Sara, and Susan were the ones who trained us when we came here."
Nevyn looked at the objects, saying, "So, why do we have the objects?"
"Well, the pocket watch does more than just tell time, and the flashlight can be seen in the dark," said Chasica. "However, the sword was to remember the early days when the first guardians had to fight off any enemy who tried to gain access to the library. While there are no enemies here at the Greywyn Academy, we always have to be vigilant. Now, gather your weapons, as you're going to need them." Nevyn and Poppy frowned as they reached for the objects.
* * * * *
"Now, explain to me why Rhiassa's name was taken from her," Skefan snapped as he confronted Rista and Kyler. They were in the Greeting Room, having taken the girls from their class. The two girls frowned as they stared at the headmaster.
"Oh, you know," said Kyler.
"You gave her the name of our mother's leader without our permission," said Rista. "You didn't think there wouldn't be any consequences for that, or did you? Right now, Shadowwolf is trying to infiltrate the school, and he's already sent a spy here. Because of this, we're going to be compromised and the library will be attacked. Perhaps even broken in. You know not of what you have done when you named the girl Rhiassa!"
"I see," said Skefan.
"You don't remember what happened to the last Rhiassa, do you?" said Kyler. "Princess Rhiassa Earthchaser was killed during the war almost 25 years ago, when the Silverheart family took the throne. Whose fault was that? None other than yours, Salvatore Benat!"
"We should have captured you and handed you to the mother leader when we saw you, but we didn't," said Rista.
"You girls were not yet born, and I regret that I failed to save Princess Rhiassa from death," said Salvatore.
"Indeed," said Skefan. To the girls, he said, "Now, you girls don't need to worry about anything; I can handle anything that Rhiassa can bring. Now, let this incident pass and go to class; Sister Laurette is not a patient person."
As Rista and Kyler left the office, Salvatore said to Skefan, "Hopefully this is not true about what they claim about Shadowwolf trying to infiltrate our school. We barely survived the last encounter, and if it wasn't for Dlav, we would have lost too much. Now, the fact that a spy is in school makes me feel nervous, and with the students coming here in a week, we won't be able to tell who's a spy and who's a student."
"It's not like our guardians are the spies," said Skefan.
"No, they're not, as we examined them and found them to be the true guardians," said Salvatore. "This Alex Frost kid, now he worries me."
"I suggest keeping him on a tight leash," said Skefan. "Maybe alert the guardians to his presence. He must be corralled before something happens."
"Indeed," said Salvatore. "Now, let's find the boy and deal with him. I have a bad feeling that if we don't do something now, he could do some serious damage."
The Elves left the room and started walking towards Sister Yictocy's office. Right now, she would be dealing with the boy. If she knew anything, it would be the fact that she didn't trust any of the students to squeeze past her on the way to Greywyn Academy.