The Fairy Isles

8. Bryxton Academy

We finally make it to the village and realize how large it is. It takes us a whole 30 minutes to travel to the academy, which blows my mind! Daekrahm village must be at least four times the size of Azalea village back home. But don't even get me started on the size of the Academy and the number of buildings! As Kingsguard Conroy points out the names of the buildings at the Academy, I turn my gaze to the Castle, and I can not help but be amazed. The castle is humongous and the most beautiful building I have ever seen. There is an iron fence covered in winding vines, almost completely hiding the fence in some spots with an array of colorful flowers growing from the vines. A massive, beautifully green lawn surrounds the building, which is filled with more windows than I can count. I hope one day that we get to see the inside of the castle, that would just be incredible! My focus snaps back to what's happening when the carriage stops, then Kinsguard Conroy and Lucy get out, so I follow along. "Welcome to Dravenswood Isle and Bryxton Academy ladies, I will show you to your rooms and be on my way. You will have two other roommates but I've been assured by Kingsguards Winslow and Roscoe that they will be a great fit for you but you will be the ones to determine if you can all trust eachother so continue to be careful." We both nod our heads to show that we heard him, and he begins leading us onto the Academy grounds to the buildings in the east, which also overlook part of the castle. We head into a building, and Kinsguard Conroy explains, "The building will be locked to outsiders after today, and there will be key cards for access waiting in your suite. Only residents of this building will be able to get in. The key cards will be activated by your own magic, and only you will be able to use it. Those same key cards will also unlock your suite." We walk to the center of the building where the elevators are located, and he presses the button. The elevator doors open immediately, and we all get in. The button to the top floor is pressed, and we wait in silence to be brought up. Once we exit the elevator, I gasp from all the art lining the walls. It's like a museum in here, and I can't wait to spend time admiring everything I can see. Since I got distracted for a second, I have to hurry after Kingsguard Conroy and Lucy to catch up to where they are waiting in front of a door. We enter, and I am again amazed by the beauty and sheer size of the space. We enter into a large living room with a decent sized kitchen to the side. There is a hallway with four doors that Kinsguard Conroy points to and says, "You and Lucy may pick your rooms, each has its own bathroom. You will have two other roommates who should be arriving soon. Get comfortable with the layout and read through the packets of information so you are prepared for the following days. I will see you after your first day of lessons." He turns around and walks out. that seems to be his thing, just leaving after he is finished speaking like there is nothing else to be said. I wish I had that kind of confidence. Maybe after four years of schooling here, I'll have that. Lucy and I drop our bags and begin exploring the suite. We go down the hallway and notice two doors on the left and two on the right. After a quick peak we notice all of the bedrooms are replicas of each other and we pick the ones on the right so we can be next to each other. We grab our bags and plan to unpack before meeting in the living room to go over the packets of information in our rooms together. Once done, we meet, and both open our packets at the same time. The first page is all about Bryxton Academy and its past about how it was created. Bryxton was the Academy that the fairies created on the Isles and has always had the best reputation. The next page shows the schedule the dining hall runs on. Breakfast begins at 5 am and goes until 9:30 am, then transitions straight into lunch, which ends at 3 pm when dinner begins and goes until 10 pm. It also states that snacks and cold food are available at all times. The page after has explained the class schedules. Year one students have six 45-minute classes. Year two students have seven 30-minute classes. Year three students have three 1 hour classes. Year four students are delegated a aprentiship to complete schooling. There are only 10 students from each Isle for year one, and only the top 50% of the students pass and continue onto the next year. Every semester ends with a school wide obstacle course along with tests in each class that you earn points on. Those points determine your standing for the year. Each suite has 4 students, and they will be teams through the year that work together on the obstacle course, but the tests for class are done separately without help from each other. After that, information is our schedule. We read through those and then compare our classes to see if we have any together.

My schedule reads

8 am History on the lost Isles: Warlocks and shapeshifters with Professor Malone

8:55 am Potions 101 with Professor Carrington

9:50 am Physical training and combat with Professor Sloan

10 am lunch break

11:30 am Fairy portals with Professor Marigold

12:25 pm Magics of Fairy with Professor Freya

1:20 pm History on the Fairy Isles with Professor Forrest

Lucy and I are happy to notice that we have all the same classes, and I have a feeling that our other suite mates have the same schedule as well.