Damian woke up as the sunlight jabbed at his eyelids. The sky was light blue with no clouds in sight- almost as if it's washed by a giant. In place of the moon stood a radiant sun. Birds chirped in nearby trees and the atmosphere smelled of earth and smoke- last night's fire he noticed. Aydha gave a loud yawn, one that exhibited the pinkish-red mouth and the array of giant white dagger-like teeth that were around a blood red forked tongue. Damian stared at the little marble white horns around her eyes, the diamond shaped one on her forehead and the two large carved ones behind her ears- she truly was a magnificent creature, and he was glad she was his companion.
Aydha gave a cry of pain as she banged her head against the roof of the cave- her antics made Damian laugh. Mists escaped from her scales that swirled spirally around her. Moments later she was a sleek young woman with a cascading hair, the same color as Damian's, and her beauty enough to make any man crazy. She was more beautiful than the maiden heir of the Ortycars royal family.
"Tone it down a bit we don't want to be noticed" Damian complained.
"Fine" she said and formed a few wrinkles here and there on her face along with freckles.
"Better?" she asked him, and he nodded eagerly.
The guards eyed the would-have-been-perfect-woman-without-wrinkles-and-freckles and her otherwise sour-faced son with a dazzling shock of white-hair. They let the mechanized drawbridge down. They knew why these two people were here- everyone knew. The registration and admission of kids- specifically late teenagers, into the shire's prestigious magic academy. As they crossed the drawbridge which further led to an expertly built aqueduct that also led to the towering and wide polished double-door that bore the crests of the royal families and the capital's seal. Way below the drawbridge and aqueduct and around the city walls resided a large stretch of water that meandered into canals, rivers, streams, ox-bow lakes and finally led to the sea. Around and attached to the city's walls, were ports and shipyards for the normal ships and above this structures were docks for the airships both massive and small. Sentries stood guards at these various places. Some went round running checks with scrolls in hand. Some inspected and allowed entry into the great city by large stone platforms which acted as elevators that soared from the walls' bottom to the big door that Damian was approaching. The great door was flanked by at least twenty imperial soldiers- elmans that handpicked from the large royal armies. They were clad in blue, gold calligraphed armor and each had a spear that matched their attire topped with topaz glowing spearheads. Their faces were obscured by expertly crafted garnets- Damian was overwhelmed- this city was truly fit to be called a capital. From, Aydha he knew the walls were rendered impenetrable by a dozen layers of arcane magic barriers. The doors gave way to resplendent buildings that towered the city's skylines- most of them reflected the undulating cloud-covered mountains, some snow-capped and others bare, that were on the southern end of the city.
Damian brought a map from a nicely dressed old man who gave him a toothy grin when asked to keep the change. He walked into a thrift shop and bought some clothes- he couldn't afford to wear the same thing over and over again. Finally, he made it to the famed academy. It was grander in comparison to the buildings he had seen so far with the exception of the royal mage museum which he was yet to see. The academy was way beyond the capital's square, it was in some valley bordered on the east and west side by two mountains, one was snow-capped, the other not- it was full of greenery, and on the southern side dominated a forest that stretched beyond the capital's border. The large fountain with light-effects did a splendid and ethereal water ballet. Damian was roughly pushed out- of the way as dozens of soldiers lined the entrance into Grylock's. The royals have finally arrived and as usual they were given the special treatment. The Nyx family paraded along, followed by the Cahlex, Mehlyns and the Ortycars. He had to wait until the procession was over before he could sign up- what a drag. Aydha filled out his registration form as a mother would, in no time he was a student of Grylock's but of Noble descent- this took a lot of convincing and Aydha's gold coins, which she more than willing to offer. Parents were not allowed entry at this point, so they went outside faking last goodbyes. They were obscured from the academy's security guards by the beautiful cherry blossom trees that lined in front of the academy's walls which were golden pillars that undulated at their tops. Aydha transfigured into a snow-white ferret and cuddled around Damian's neck.
"Don't over do it" Damian said, and the little ferret rolled its eyes. Grylock's policy allowed pets- so this was the only she could sneak in unseen. Damian retrieved his uniform robes, dormitory room number, official Grylock's Academy map, and his bag with the thrift clothes and entered into bowels of Grylock's. Nothing prepared Damian for the sight that graced him- the graceful dormitories, the tall imposing glass structures that just had to be where lessons took place, the large arena that looked like an amphitheater and in the middle of it all stood the larger-than-life statue of the Grylock- a beast that resembled a lioness with scales instead of fur and a long tail that split into two slender stings. Under its monument shone a silver plaque that said "HERE LIES OUR MAJESTICVICTOR- TERRABEUS". Khorpius bowed at the enormous statue before Damian could ask "There Lies Terrabeus- The Matrix's Greatest Ancestor And Alpha" Khorpius informed him. He had to follow the map in great detail- he had gone to the infirmary thrice and the healers there laughed at him every time he came in by mistake. By the time he reached his dormitory it was nearly eventide- time for supper. He was on the eight floor in the Lubeck house, which was mainly for people of noble blood. From pieces he had heard from conversations, that the circular platform on which the people he had seen to levitate up the city walls to the grand entrance into the city was called an elevator disk. His stomach gave a low rumbling, no time for stairs! Damian hopped onto an elevator disk, the ceiling to floor glass window in front of him silently rolled up. The evening breeze felt deliciously cool on his skin. He leaned a little bit forward and he shot out at a breakneck speed. The dining hall stood out like a mongrel in a group of pure breeds, and he navigated the disk towards it. Perhaps, he leaned in too much, the next thing he knew, everything was a blur- then, he tipped off the disk. Damian hurtled through space, Aydha couldn't save him- because she will risk detection and that could be disastrous. He crushed through a sturdy opus-looking wall, slid across granite tiles and crushed yet again into a hard-polished grained table. The elevator disk was right behind him- it knocked out all of the air from him, the only thing he felt was liquid dripping on him and fierce gazes on him.