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Chapter Three

"Hold it, Nyaillah! Control it!" The voice of her Master Uittan somehow punched through the whirling storm of chaos and found its way to her. She gritted her teeth and focused, pushing her will into the seething vortex in the middle of the summoning chamber. She couldn't afford to fail this test!

Breath by breath the chaos settled down, condensing and reforming, gaining definition. She wanted to stop and gloat, but doing so before absolute victory was in hand was a mistake that only Novices at the Academy made. It was a lesson that she had learned long before she had found her way here, back when she was still scrounging around in the streets of this miserable city for her next meal.

Rhydesias, center of all knowledge and home to a varied mixture of the races of the world. Some would say that all races had at least a representative here, but Nyaillah was just skeptical enough that she believed there were at least a few that kept to themselves. And were probably happier for it, at that. For all of the city's splendor there was filth too. She had spent her life among them, thieving and scrabbling her way through each day, filthy and diseased and rushing headlong to an early grave.

All before she had unsuspectingly cast a glamour on Master Uittan so that she could get close enough to sneak a small paw into his voluminous robes. She wasn't sure how she did it, all she knew was that no one could see her when she concentrated on it. They would always look the other way. She had picked the small mouse man as her mark, and guessing from the size of his pockets there had to be riches beyond counting within them!

Everyone always faced away from her. Everyone except him. His large, rounded ears had flicked up and away, his head had started to follow, and just as her hand was knuckles-deep in his pocket-

He had turned back to face her. His large, black eyes had latched onto her mismatched ones and he had raised an eyebrow. "Casting a glamour so freely, so young, hmmm? Well then, m'dear, nothing to do for it but get you some supper!" The short mouse had reached a paw out to her then, grasping her skinny arm, and muttered something below his breath while making a small motion with his free paw. The world around her had shifted, sickeningly so, and the noisy, stinking alleyway leading out to the noisy, stinking and crowded street was replaced by a quiet room filled with books.

She had yelped and pulled away from him, for all that she was half-starved she was still a feline, and he was still a mouse. He had watched her, whiskers twitching rapidly. "Now, m'dear, no need for that. We'll just get you cleaned up and then we'll talk over supper!" He had clapped his paws, and a small, black fluffed canine had appeared , smiling brightly.

"Ah, so you found the cause of the disturbances! Excellent work Master! Do you want me to get her set up?" The diminutive girl had walked brazenly up to Nyaillah, smiling all the way, and extended a paw. "Come along now, need to get you washed up!"

Nyaillah hadn't trusted her enough at that point to take the proffered paw, but had followed her out of the room, her eyes constantly scanning the area for the suspected trap. She learned that the place she had been taken to was the Archmagical Academy, and that it was located a short distance beyond the edge of Rhydesias. There were many small buildings on sweeping grounds, each one lived in and taken care of by a Master and his selected Apprentices. Taicara, the canine, was the Apprentice to Master Uittan. "And happy to be here, believe you me. There is a reason I wasn't with him in the marketplace. I'm afraid of crowds, and open places." The small dog had chatted glibly while explaining life at the Academy to Nyaillah.

To this day there was still a part of her constantly looking over her shoulder for something to come and get her, to take her away from this happy dream. She had thrived here, had grown beyond her skinny, flea-bitten, rag-wearing self. Had proved her power could be tamed and turned to something useful with hours of dedicated study. Through the years she worked hard, moving from subconscious glamours to where she was now, working a summoning for her very own familiar.

The whirling cyclone condensed still further, shrinking down within the circle, turning and folding in on itself. The random flashes of light with varying shades of color, the gusts of wind carrying an occasional scent and ruffling her fur started to die down as the whirling chaos shrank, a solid form becoming visible amidst the motion. She grit her teeth and focused, pushing harder and farther than she'd ever pushed her powers before. And with a sigh, the whirlwind dissipated, stranding the form of her familiar.

A croak and a shift of midnight-black feathered wings caused her to smile. The great bird croaked again and then rose into the air with a flapping of its mighty wings, settling down on her shoulder and staring at Nyaillah with one great black eye. "Well, hello there," she whispered softly, her throat feeling raw from the sheer strain of the undertaking.

A sound of soft applause reached her then, and she remembered she had an audience. "Well done, Nyaillah! Well done! I must say, you've come a long way from the scruffy street urchin I pulled in here. Now, I'll just head on up to my chambers and pen a letter to the Archmasters, and we'll see about having you moved to their tutelage." Master Uittan smiled broadly, rubbing his paws together. "In the meantime, I'm sure you'd love a bath and a meal."

Right on cue, her stomach gurgled loud enough to echo around the room, and she laughed. "I'd almost say meal first, but you know how I've felt about baths since I've been here."

"Quite right, m'dear. Now, if you'll excuse me." With another grin he trundled out of the room. Nyaillah set about tidying up her mess, cleaning up her parchments with her spell notes on them and cleaning up the various reagents around the room. The raven cawed again and took to the air, flapping lazily about the room, peering at every aspect of it, from the gilt summoning circle with various runes inscribed onto the floor to the rafters placed high above and covered in a substance the mice swore was flame resistant, with bright, curious eyes.

As Nyaillah watched the raven she felt a pang in her chest. Master Uittan was going to summon the Archmaster's Council to peer over her credentials and see if any of them would take her on to further her Apprenticeship, hopefully moving her from Apprentice to a Master herself. That meant leaving this place. She had oftentimes worried that she was going to lose this place, awakening to find that it had all been a dream and she was back in her grubby alleyway eating scraps, but to actually consider leaving left her slightly breathless.

But I'll be moving on to bigger and better things. I can't continue my studies here, this is the end of the line. And unlike Taicara I'm meant for more. I just know it. The thought did little to warm her, and right on cue the small canine Apprentice came bustling into the room.

"Bathing room is all ready for you! Master Uittan told me all about your success! And my, what a fine raven he is!" She beamed brightly, her white teeth flashing out and showing starkly against her dark, fluffy fur. "Well, part of me wishes you'd be staying, but I know you'll do more out there. Keeping you cooped up here would be a waste." And seeing Taicara's eyes moisten caused her own to sting in return. "Now, now, let's not start blubbering! I'll handle the rest of this mess here! Off with you now!" With her usual bustling energy, and her not letting anyone else get a word in, Taicara shooed Nyaillah out of the room. Nyaillah shook her head softly. Although at first glance she hadn't been willing to trust anyone, this was the closest to family she had ever had.

The bathing room was steamy and inviting by the time Nyaillah had gotten there. She shrugged out of her robes with a sigh, stepping into the hot bathwater, looking forward to an invigorating scrub. She admired her now toned form, her white fur covered in blotches of tortoiseshell and black. She looked down at the surface of the water, and her face stared back up at her, one eye brown and one eye hazel. She settled down but was startled when a soft laugh and a loud caw hit her ears. "I can't believe this is going to work!" was the last thing she heard before she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head followed by blackness.

"Apprentice Nyaillah! Apprentice Nyaillah, wake up!" Taicarah's voice and small paws shaking her shoulders caused Nyaillah's eyes to snap open. The tub water had gone cold and a piercing pain stabbed her right behind her left eye.

"Ugh. What-" Nyaillah moved a paw to rub at the back of her head, feeling a knot swelling there.

"I had assumed you'd wanted to take a long bath, but once dinner had gone cold I knew something was afoot! And here you are with a giant lump on your head!" Taicara's voice wailed, causing the throbbing in Nyaillah's head to double in frequency. As she moved her paw to help herself out of the tub, her eyes widened in shock.

On her right palm was a black circle, bisected by four lines, dividing it into eight equal pieces. One of the pieces was colored in black, but the rest were blank. "Wha-"

"Is that?" Taicara grabbed Nyaillah's paw and stared at it, her brows furrowing. "I've never seen anything like it! You get yourself out of that tub, and dried off, and I'll go fetch Master Uittan. If he doesn't know he'll at least know who knows, you know?" Taicara went to dart off, but stopped at the door, looking back with concern on her small fox-like face. "Can you get out all by yourself?"

Nyaillah braced herself and heaved up and found that she could get her legs under her, even if they were a bit wobbly. She nodded weakly and Taicara took off. Nyaillah eased her legs over the edge of the tub and sat for a second, catching her breath.

An ugly thought blossomed up in her mind, that Taicara had done this somehow out of jealousy. Just as quickly Nyaillah squashed it, never in all of their friendship had Taicara been anything but kind, if a bit overbearing. Master Uittan was out, because the voice she'd heard didn't match up. She shook her head. They were the only three in this part of the complex, so unless someone had travelled to this building and had placed an ambush.,,

She sighed and picked up the towel, drying off her multi-hued body. Her earlier hunger was replaced by queasiness, and it was all she could do to not crumple up and dry heave. Shaking, she pulled her soft robes up and over her head.

She made her wobbly way down to the small kitchen and slumped down at the table, placing her head in her paws. She closed her eyes, ignoring the mysterious circle, until she heard soft pawfalls behind her. The sound of a mug being placed on the table followed, and Nyaillah raised her head, staring blearily at Master Uittan. He gestured to the mug sitting by her left paw. She grabbed it and took a hesitant sip. It tasted of lemon, and honey, and some various herbs.

The first sip was the hardest. Her stomach roiled under it and Nyaillah was sure it was going to come up. But it didn't, so she took another small sip. That stayed down too. After that it only got easier.

"Something I discovered during my younger days, when I had a weakness for the drink that the Badgers brew. It should take care of that headache of yours." He folded his paws and waited patiently for her to drink it down, not pressuring her to talk just yet. The silence was welcome, and she found that by the time she had finished the mug her head had cleared considerably.

She just looked across the table at the small mouse and extended her right paw. He looked at it and a small frown furrowed his brows. "Well..." he said thoughtfully, "Well. I was going to have all of the Archmasters over to talk to you, but I think this settles where you'll be going. I'll just have to write a new letter, and get it out to Archmaster Mayce. He'll know what to make of this." Master Uittan stood. "Rest up, as soon as you're well enough to travel you'll have to be on your way."

Nyaillah sat there, fear and desire welling up in her. Master Uittan paused again. "Nyaillah, I don't say this to you lightly. In some people who know privation they hunger for things once they have a little. It drives them to a point of obsession. For some people it's physical things, for others it's money... But for some it's power and knowledge. Always be motivated, but don't let your hungers control you."