In a spacious room littered with glittering instruments of magic, at Regis Academy, a male stood in front of a partially closed window in a room. His dark silver hair was pulled back into its usual style of a high horsetail. His lithe build was evident beneath his white uniform.

"She's coming." he said in a light, mellow voice.

Turning, the male faced the room.

"You saw this?" another male asked in a deep, gravelly voice as he stepped forward from the shadows. He raked a hand through his short, military style, red hair. The silver-haired male gave a tight nod. The redheaded male crossed his thick arms over his broad chest.

A third male eased out of the shadows in the opposite corner of the room. In the dim light, his hair and skin seemed to glow like a blue star, "Then it's beginning?"

The silver-haired male lowered his chin and a white light seemed to flash in the depths of his eyes. "Yes," he said gravely, "the Fall has begun."

**

2 days before Week 1

Sky's eyes traced the fine grains in the wood of the desk in front of her. A polite smile was plastered on her face. This was her mask. She'd learned to wear it at a young age, but the years still hadn't perfected it. Only those who knew her well could detect the tightening around the edges of her upturned lips. Although her tinted glasses concealed her eyes, they could tell from the way the glasses caught the light that her head was slightly bowed. Her friends knew that when she was amongst people with whom she was comfortable, her posture wasn't stooped like it was now. A person who knew Sky well would know just how disappointed and unhappy she was.

"Your desk is very nice," she said. She quietly interrupted the male who'd been speaking for the last five minutes. He was a creature, and she'd known just by looking at him exactly what he was going to say. Sitting at his desk, his face betrayed his thinly veiled disgust. She recollected that he looked like her father. When he spoke, he even sounded like him.

"Have you even heard a word of what I said?" he demanded. Sky glanced up into his face meeting his angry, gold eyes. She smiled placidly at him.

"No, but I know what you were saying," she said. The male in the chair to her left shifted in his seat.

"Then what was I saying?" the male across from her asked.

"You were saying that I am worthless, that I am the lowest of the low and that no one wants me here," Sky spoke evenly in her voice smooth. The male across from her frowned.

"Do you believe that?" he asked, looking at her. He waited for several moments. Sky's eyes had returned to the desk, not that anyone could tell since they hid behind her glasses.

"Well, you should. After all, this is Nefferal, the Demonic plane, and you are a human. We care about magical strength above all things. And you, because you are a human, will only be weakly gifted in the pathetic Spoken Magic. My school, Regis, is the best school of magic on Gothe. Our tuition is," the male scoffed, "well it's more than your entire family will ever have. The only value you have is in your pathetically weak and slow body. Creatures are faster. Creatures are stronger. Creatures are smarter. If a person of value doesn't mind being with an animal, then the human can only provide occasional relief. Sure, there are some humans who have value. Those who are unusually gifted in magic, or those who are exceptionally good-looking. You are neither. You can provide nothing of any value to my school," he said. When he finished speaking, he pushed his glasses up his nose. He was as handsome as all creatures were when they were in their humanoid forms.

"Now, I know you are probably thinking that as a female getting sent here was the luckiest thing that could have happened, but you're wrong. No male here is going to want to claim you. You will not be able to find a protector. You are plain, and your curves are in all the wrong places," he continued. Sky put a hand on her stomach and felt the reassuring firmness of her padded corset under her plain woolen dress. Her hand tightened over her stomach, and she stopped listening to the male. She stopped listening to the Chancellor of Regis.

Everything he'd said about her was wrong. She was there to study magic, but Sky understood his confusion since most females didn't go to Regis to study. In fact, most females went to school to find the best mates. Rather than study, they would flirt and pursue relationships with the males at the school in an attempt to win a mate. In Regis, a female was only as good as the mate to whom she belonged.

Sky's eyes studied the desk. The Chancellor's harsh words faded from her ears as her eyes focused on a beautiful knot in the wood. The desk was exquisite. Even in dim light, she saw its rich, deep reddish color. I'd like to own something made out of it, she thought. That was if she could manage it.

"What kind of wood is that?" she asked interrupting the Chancellor once more. The chair beside hers creaked again as her escort crossed his long legs.

"What?" the Chancellor asked sharply.

"Your desk, what kind of wood is it?" she repeated. The Chancellor's jaw clenched, and his nails began making sharp staccato clicks as he drummed them on the wood. He watched her with hard eyes. Uncomfortable, Sky resumed her study of the desk.

"Vludlah," he said finally.

"Oh," Sky replied with a small frown. She'd never heard of that kind of tree before, so it was probably expensive. "And the bookshelves, are they the same?" she continued. The Chancellor slammed his palm on the desk, and Sky jumped back, flinching on reflex.

"You damned rizzeh-"