Ravenfire

Thank goodness. It’s a Sunday.

The sweet temptation of sleep embraced me like an old friend. I managed to regain the hours of rest I lost from last night’s nightmarish adventure. As a result, I woke up with a terrible headache and fatigue. Nevertheless, I was glad to be alive and out of that dangerous library.

“Ugh. I feel terrible,” I said when I finally got out of bed.

Emma looked up from her desk, looking as fresh and pretty as always. “What were you up to last night?” I doubt she noticed that I slipped out of the room.

“Living a nightmare,” I replied.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have stayed up so late. Why don’t you relax today? It’s a Sunday. We don’t have classes.”

“True, but we’re stuck in the academy. We’re not even allowed to visit the nearby town yet.” There wasn’t much to do here besides studying and club activities.

“The academy is quite large. There’s enough places for us to sit and relax. I’m satisfied with just the greenhouse though.”

“That reminds me. I should probably re-pot those death flowers. But first, I’m getting myself a cup of coffee for this headache.” I yawned and began my morning routine.

“I’ll head to the greenhouse first then. I’ll see you there.” Emma finished up her diary entry before picking up her bag and leaving the room.

After leaving the dormitory, I went to the dining hall and had a cup of coffee. As I took my time to finish it, I tried to process everything that happened at the Endless Library. I really didn’t achieve anything last night besides learning two important things: the diary was still out there and Salamander was also looking for it.

Why would Salamander be looking for the diary anyway? That I did not understand. I did not have a single clue that could point to his motivations. I decided I should be wary of him. After all, he seemed knowledgeable about not only the first headmaster, but also about the horned serpent and its forbidden gifts. For all I know, he could even be the culprit Emrys Blackthorn was referring to.

I held my necklace and stared blankly at it. If only Emrys Blackthorn would give me a hint. I needed to find the diary before Salamander.

When I took another sip of my coffee, I saw Lysander’s friend, Cy, sitting across me and staring at me creepily. He gave a little wave. I was a little weirded out, so I hurriedly finished my drink and walked to the greenhouse.

“Hey,” Elliot greeted me with his signature shy smile when I entered. He was carrying a tray of seedlings to a table.

“Good morning, Elliot,” I replied with a yawn.

“It’s already afternoon.”

“What? Really?” It looked like waking up late messed up my sense of time.

“Did you just wake up?”

“Not too long ago.”

“I don’t blame you. I woke up late today as well.”

I looked around. Elliot and I were alone in the greenhouse. “I’m surprised I got here before Emma did.”

“Maybe she got distracted on her way here.”

“Maybe. She probably stopped to look at some flowers.”

I watched Elliot as he carefully moved each seedling to a bigger pot. He was so into it that he didn’t notice me observing him. I began to realise that I never did see him use magic within the greenhouse. Emma, on the other hand, freely used her Spring spells to revitalise the plants.

“Elliot, why is it that you never use spells on the plants?” I asked out of curiosity.

He turned to look at me, becoming a little self-conscious when he realised I had been carefully observing him. He replied softly, “I’m not exactly good at the spells that involve plants.”

I found it hard to believe. “Aren’t you a Spring student?”

He shook his head. “I’m not. I’m an Autumn student.”

A rare Autumn student was actually under my nose this whole time! I was surprised to find out.

“You’re an Autumn student?” I repeated.

He nodded with a polite smile. “Here. Watch this.”

He took a sheet of paper and cast a spell on it, transforming it into a small dove. It flew and perched on his finger.

“That’s incredible,” I said, smiling. You’ve got to admit, seeing paper turn into a living being was pretty cool.

He then transformed the dove into a paper flower and handed it to me. “They don’t hold shape for too long, unfortunately.”

I received the paper flower. “I don’t think I can even replicate that spell.”

“Have you given it a try?” He gave me a piece of paper.

I concentrated on the piece of paper. It began to transform, but only into an animated paper bird. It was the best I could do.

“Close enough,” Elliot took the paper bird and transformed it into a real bird. It flew out of the greenhouse and continued to fly up to the sky.

“So, what else can you do?” I asked while leaning on the table.

He laughed softly, probably at my eagerness to obtain information about the capabilities of Autumn students. “That was unfortunately the most interesting spell I can do. I’m not really good at more complicated forms of transformation. Perhaps one day.”

“If you’ll learn an interesting spell, you’ll show it to me, right?”

He nodded. “Sure. If that’s what you want.”

At the corner of my eye, I noticed Emma’s bag on the floor with its contents spilled. My expression immediately changed. It didn’t look like it just fell off the table. Something told me that this was the result of a struggle. I walked closer to it and examined the scene.

“Something is wrong,” I said. A neat person like Emma wouldn’t just leave her belongings sprawled all over the floor like this.

“That’s Emma’s bag, isn’t it?” Elliot moved beside me.

I recalled Rose’s disappearance. What if this might be related?

“We have to find her,” I told Elliot. I looked around the greenhouse for any other clues, but found nothing else. “There’s no trail, but she couldn’t have gotten far.”

“She must have left through the other exit,” said Elliot.

“Let’s go.”

Elliot and I searched around the nearby vicinity, but couldn’t find any traces of Emma’s whereabouts. I pressured myself to think of every possibility. It was then when we found a wooden door leading to the outer walls of the castle. We decided to go through it and search there.

Elliot suddenly stopped in place. “Remina, do you hear that? I can hear banging.”

I focused on my hearing. Indeed, there was a faint banging sound. I tried to follow the sound until it led me to an area where it was a lot clearer.

“Emma!” I shouted her name.

“Remina? Is that you?” A reply came from under a trap door at the side of the castle walls. “I’m trapped. Could you please help me get out?”

I ran to the door. “Emma? Hold on. We’ll get you out.”

“It’s locked tight!”

“Should we look for a key?” Elliot was about to go ask the school gardener for help until I stopped him.

“Stand back!” I hurled fire balls at the door until it broke.

Emma crawled out of it looking shaken by the whole ordeal. “Remina! Elliot!” She looked like she was about to cry. “I didn’t think anyone would come rescue me. Thank you for getting me out of there.”

“What happened?” I asked with a serious expression.

Emma first tried to calm herself. “I… I was at the greenhouse. Someone came and threw me in there.”

“Who did this?”

Emma shook her head. “I don’t know. I couldn’t see them.”

“Can you think of any reason why anyone would do this?”

She shook her head again. “No.” She paused for a moment then changed her answer. “Maybe. It could be a mean joke. I always seem to earn the ire of female classmates anyway.”

I felt a little sorry for her. “Let’s go back to the greenhouse and talk there.”

She nodded silently.

We were about to leave when Elliot tapped my shoulder. “Remina… I think you should see this.”

A fresh mound of dirt stood out in the landscape, suspiciously large enough to fit a body. The ground was obviously patted down at one point, but now it was bloating with cracks. Almost like a shallow grave.

“I’m going to need a shovel,” I said.

I found a shovel conveniently nearby, probably left behind by whoever made this dirt mound. I began to dig. Emma stayed far away from me, fearful about what I would dig up. Eventually, I found what was buried underneath. It was a grotesque sight, enough to make Elliot feel like throwing up. Immediately, the stench of decay attacked my nostrils.

Long red hair. A female’s school uniform.

I turned my head. “Elliot, could you please bring Prof. Ariston here? Tell him we found Rose.”