When they passed the gates and headed into the society Rime and Cyra glanced at Burne and Idina to watch their reactions; as they came face to face, with over a dozen cottages that surrounded a large oak tree which reached into the sky. Burne’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open while the only response Idina gave was a raise of her eyes brow.

The sight was not something that anyone would expect to see when they visited the Mage’s Society and that was exactly why it had been built like that. On the outside it looked friendly and welcoming but when you went into the cottages and passed the barrier you would be met with a sight that would frighten any untrained person.

Rime and Cyra had been there on many occasions for both their training and to carry out their apprenticeship that every Mage in the society knew was just for show. It was because they had been there so many times they knew which cottage to go in to get to the Arch Mage.

It was the one that was furthest away from the entrance but closest to the tree and while all the other cottages were painted in soft colors this one was painted in a deep mauve. Rime and Cyra knocked on the door twice and then pushed it open; they were met with the sight of a cozy sitting area that smelt like freshly baked cookies.

They walked straight through the door that was across the room and headed down the stairs that every single cottage had. Each cottage was connected to the other by a large area by a set of cellars that all lead to an underground city. Only Mage’s and those they seemed fit were given entrance to the city and anyone who forced themselves in soon wished they hadn’t.

They walked down the stairs and straight down a hall and up another set of stairs going straight into an office. The Arch Mage sat at his desk and next to him stood his wife, Marsala the second high witch to have ever existed. She was a gorgeous woman that had long auburn hair, honey gold eyes, porcelain skin and a stare that would turn any man to stone.

She looked them over and gave them a kind smile once she recognized Rime and Cyra from the Academy’s Graduation. “Well look how the little ones have grown; you’re all looking strong and ready for anything. That’s a good thing seeing that you too might have to go to war. Anyways I must be going, a lot to do in so little time.” Rime and Cyra couldn’t get a word in because as soon as she finished speaking she vanished from the spot.

The Arch Mage looked from where his wife was staring to them and then his eyes flicked to Burne and Idina. “Something told me I was going to be seeing the two of you again but I didn’t expect for it to be here. Are these two the one’s you’re picking to go with you, I mean you have so many other options, if you want I could even get two mages to go with you.”

“As much as we wouldn’t call them our friends, we would never be able to doubt the fact that they would never stab us in our backs. And most of the Mage’s in the society never thought that we were deserving of the treatment you gave us. If we go into battle with them, they could kiss us and blame it on an intruder; I won’t take that chance especially when it comes to Cyra.”

The Arch Mage nodded and gave a sigh. “There are foolish people all around, I trust your judgment Rime but if anything happens to the two of you I’m wiping out their entire side of the Royal family and there would be nothing the Emperor could do to save them. Anyways we have much preparing to do, your group will be heading out long before the others because their giving you the more troublesome area to handle.”

The Arch Mage stood up and headed out the very door that they had come through, the siblings knew where he was going. But Burne and Idina followed behind in astonishment at the fact that the Mages seemed to have an entire kingdom of their own that was ruled by the Arch Mage.

It was basic knowledge in every continent that Mages only bowed to those they deemed stronger than them even though in most cases they would never say it. If the Emperor was to call on them to go to war they wouldn’t budge until they were given the go ahead by the Arch Mage. If the Mage decided that he wanted nothing to do with the war there would be nothing the Emperor could do unless he was looking to start a war between their two kinds and that’s a war he would be sure to lose.

A few minutes later they came up on large wooden doors that a cloaked mage stood in front of. The mage looked them over and with a wave of her hand the doors opened and she stepped to the side. The Arch Mage lead them into the giant room, a light flashed on and lit up the whole room.

Rime and Cyra looked around the room that was stocked with everything imaginable, anything the Mage population of two thousand needed to survive for a million years could be found in there. Idina showed surprise at the sight before her before her mind went to work and she started gathering what they would need for their trip.

When they had finished taking all that they needed for the trip, including a bag of gold, silver and copper coins, they followed the Arch Mage out of the room. They went up one of the stairways and into a cottage where a woman with silver eyes met them at the door. She bowed lightly to the arch Mage and then handed him four envelopes.

The Arch Mage turned to them and gave a light smile. “Now I want you all to go home and get some rest, you will head out tomorrow. These are your passes not that you will need them much and here are extra storage rings for you and your companions.”

Rime and Cyra nodded to the Arch Mage and then headed out of the cottage and exited through the society’s gates. They turned to Burne and Idina “We’ll meet you outside the Academy gates tomorrow morning, we need to head out early without anyone seeing us, word could spread of what we’re trying to do if we’re not careful.”

Idina nodded to them “No one will hear a word of this from us; if they do you have free rights to do as you please with us.”

Rime and Cyra needed to her and then vanished from the spot, they appeared in front of the Academy gates and the guard quickly let the through. They appeared in front of the spot where the Castle stood but when they called to the Grand Mother the castle would not appear.

Rime and Cyra looked at each other before trying again but once again nothing happened. As they looked around they spotted one of the Ravens that she kept sitting on a tree nearby. When it realized that it was spotted it flew down from the tree and landed on Rime’s arm before it opened its mouth.

They were surprised when the voice of the Grand Mother came from the raven. “Hello Rime and Cyra, I am sorry to inform you after the fact, but I had to leave, I now have the Empress and Princess in my care and it is my duty to protect them, so I had no choice but to leave without you. I wish I could tell you where I have gone but in case you are captured I cannot risk that you will let slip the location of my castle. So goodbye for now children and I wish you well, until my return.”

As soon as the message was read the Raven took to the sky and flew from Rime and Cyra’s view. They were a bit surprised at the message that the Grand Mother had left them and the fact that she would leave and not leave anything for them. Even after their graduation they had continued to live with the Grand Mother, one because that had become home for them and because she had never asked them to leave.

They had nowhere else to go and nothing else with them except for what they had just collected from the Arch Mage. Rime nodded to himself after coming to the decision that they would stay at an inn for the night. When they got back from their trip they would figure something else out until the Grand Mother returned, if she did that was.

It didn’t take them long to find a suitable inn because the Academy wasn’t that far from station where the carriages that traveled to other towns stopped to load off. It was a three story wooden building painted in off white and stood three blocks away from the academy, which meant that its usual guest were either students, teachers or parents.

When they went in they were greeted by a stout woman with braided blonde locks and soft brown eyes, she had the aura of a mother and Rime guessed that was why she had the type of guest she did. When she saw them enter she was quick to greet them and offer them something to eat before she signed them in and then escorted them to their room.

The room was a reasonable side, painted white and had two beds that were big enough to fit one person each. There was a small bathroom attached to the room that had a small shower, a toilet and sink. A wardrobe sat in the corner of the room and next to it were two large windows that gave a view of the streets and all the other buildings in the surrounding area.

Rime waited for the woman to leave before he locked the door and turned to Cyra who was removing her cloak. They agreed that it was best to keep their things in their ring and chain. Rime helped Cyra to settle into bed and waited for her to sleep before doing the same.

^^^

The next morning they woke before the sun so they could prepare and head out early, not only did they have to get to the Academy early but they also needed to stop in town to buy some clothes for their travels. Rime was pleased to find that some of the stores had opened early so they had no trouble buying the things they needed.

When they reached the Academy gates Burned was standing off to the side while Idina spoke to her guards who seemed restless at the fact that she would be traveling on her own. The fact that she was descended from the first Royal Family didn’t help her in anyway.

The Beast men would be more than happy to have a descendant of the Great First as their captive, a lot of people would give anything to keep her safe and if anything happened to her while her guards weren’t around they would still be blamed for it and they would be punished swiftly.

The same went for Burne even though he is a member of the current royal family, but because he was one of five sons his guards were allowed to be a bit more lax with him. The guards finally nodded to whatever Idina had told them and so with a smiled she turned to the others. “Are we all ready to go?”