Chapter 10 - First Day In Grylock's
What was supposed to be an hourglass, looked like a circle glass tube with the sand in it. At its center were numbers that showed time of the day- it read 8:00 am and Aydha- the ferret nudged against Damian until he woke up. A glance at the hourglass told him breakfast was in thirty minutes. He walked out of his room and opened the door that led to the common room. Immediately, he detected three people in it. They were playing some sort of game with a heavy flat round objects flying and zooming past and round them. They glanced at Damian when he closed the door but were still focused on whatever they were doing. They were all boys after all- not surprising.
They chorused "Sup, roomy" in an animated way. They introduced themselves as Eitan, Cole and Keith. The discus-looking objects ferociously zeroed in on them- as if they didn't wish to be ignored. Eitan gracefully sidestepped them as did Cole but Keith ducked just in time. Since they all avoided them all the disks headed straight for Damian who dodged by jumping.
Eitan and Cole had jet-black hair- Eitan's spikey and Cole's straight. Keith had dark-blue eyes that matched his hair color, both Eitan and Cole had ordinary brown eyes. Damian entered the bathroom, freshened up and returned to his room, where he threw on some clothes- white pants and a faded black leather jacket on a brown shirt. He pulled on dark boots and slouched a little for Aydha to climb onto his shoulder.
Immediately he stepped into the common room again, the boys told him to tag along- after all they were all going for the orientation. They all hopped on elevator disks except Damian, Eitan earnestly tried to convince Damian that he could teach him.
"No thanks" Damian said, "I will be right behind you" he assured them though he wanted to go alone. Eitan shot out the disks' passageway through the windows in front where they were parked. He was followed by the rest. They looked behind, wondering how Damian was supposed to follow them. They gasped with wide eyes as Damian jumped from the balcony.
"Ready?" he asked Aydha as he readied himself for the jump. She vaporized into mists that covered Damian's legs. "Let's go" Aydha replied and Damian jumped into the air. The next thing Eitan, Cole and Keith knew, Damian was flying towards them.
"Tardy much?" he asked them as he whistled past them. They tailed him on their respective disks- but the gap was ever increasing each seconds. When Damian realized he was unaware of the actual venue where the orientation commenced he slowed down- for the others to catch up. They had faces of awe and shock on their faces as met Damian in midair.
"Where are we going?" Damian questioned them.
"Oh no no no" Keith said. "If we are gonna be late we're in this together." He thought Damian was planning to get there earlier. Together they tore through the air, Damian at a not so friendly speed. A concrete and glass structure supported by a framework of steel- just like the other buildings approached them. It was ovoid with blue glasses that were crisscrossed by metal frames.
That's the orientation center" Cole told Damian. They were now zooming at ground level, which Damian made a little worried as to how Cole and the others were going to land. He kept quiet and looked on pavement below vibrated and shuddered. A large rectangular wall with circular depressions arose from the ground, the outline of their discs glowed red and shot out from beneath their feet. The discs stopped midair and entered the wall which was sinking back into the ground. Another wall appeared yet again but only Damian saw it. He easily dodged it with Aydha, the others were intentionally directed towards it. Damian watched in fascination as his acquaintances stopped abruptly in the wall that lowered them gently unto the ground.
"Got to give to the Aryks and Atiers, their magic are as useful as any day." Eitan announced. "And I don't think you will ever be a condition to fight one" Keith smirked. That shut Eitan up. They glanced up at the massive glass door that had closed- Damian had gone in without them. The gang hurried up the stairs, walked into complex, into the vestibule that had transparent glass walls which displayed numerous neatly arranged velvet chairs filled with young people staring at a not quite young man who wore white trimmed robes with a steel mantle that emblazoned with the academy's crest- a professor. They scurried inside and took seats at the last row in front the door they had just entered through.
The orientation went on for hours until everyone including Eitan, Cole, Keith and Damian were bored out of their minds. From where he sat Damian was completely incognito- only strands of his hair were visible! Aydha had transfigured into a sprite that was entirely mischievous. She tickled people behind their ears and occasionally boxing them too. A thin smile formed on his lips- he was dying to laugh. The professor mentioned one fascinating place that made Damian look up at him- he spoke of a holding ground, that was more like a magical beast reserve, it housed varieties of beasts that made him tremble with excitement.
He opened the glass doors, and was immediately greeted by a cold breeze. He slipped in between the stream of people and walked along the pebbled pavement, he felt that a familiar presence was missing Aydha! Damian turned to see a wicked sprite banging someone's against another person's- she flew towards him and sat on his shoulder. "Should we take to the skies?" Aydha asked.
"Nah, I want to wonder round for a while."
He skipped breakfast and lunch lost in the beauty of the academy. Eitan and co. had stopped bothering him- good riddance. With nothing left to do, he retrieved his schedule only to see that he had only two classes- Pre-awakening Class and Artefacts craftmanship. He had no idea what those were- he also had ample free time- yes, he could visit the beast reserve. He climbed the spiral metallic stairs that winded in its compartment leading to floors at intervals.
Up high in the sky, a giant translucent glass sphere rotated lazily on its axis. It had beautiful silver calligraphies coupled with pure gold gears and wheels, it resembled the insides of a clock that has been shaped into a ball. It gave a soft tinkling sound whenever it announced eventide, a booming sound to signal morning and clanking sound like that of church bells during noon. When it tinkled Damian realized he was hungry and rushed to the dining hall. After dinner, he went back to his dorm, showered and slept fitfully.
Damian groaned as he woke up to Nox's distant booming call for morning. No class today! He noted as he glanced at the schedule. He shrugged off his clothes and took a long hot shower. He was steaming by the time he got out and headed to his room. The window was opened, which meant Aydha was out hunting. Damian wore faded pants and a blue jacket to match, grabbed the school map and shoved it into a leather satchel bag which he had, slung on his shoulder. On his way out of the room, he shoved his feet into grey furry boots made of cayden wolf fur. Just as he was about to close the door behind him, Eitan called his name. He turned to see him grinning stupidly.
"How the hell are you going to get back inside without a key, genius" he chuckled and tossed the entry medallion into Damian's slightly opened bag.
"I wouldn't have one of my room mates sleeping in the stables you know" he added and went back to whatever he was doing. Damian gave a silent chuckle at his forgetfulness and thanked Eitan on his way out. He looked at the map and traced the waypoint to the beast reserve and holding pens. He had not seen any of the so-called royal folks and felt quite happy. The entrance to the beast region of Grylock's was barricaded by a permime barrier- a magical wall that permitted all registered races in the academy but not beasts. It serves as a protection from the beasts should they be able to escape their pens and cages.
After stepping through, the sight before him left Damian dumbfolded. He was in some sort of room that was almost entirely of glass woven with branches, mosses and vines with the exception of the floors and occasional doors including elevator ones.