Rimholm University: Clandestine

Chapter 2

"Why don't you take him instead of me?"

"You can't refuse, Midari."

"Oh yes, I'm refusing." After a few minutes of staring contest, the guy wearing a cloak kicked the table in front of her.

"That's it! Just come with me or do you want me to drag you out of your cave-sh*t, Midari?"

"Take Ifs with you," Midari said before getting back to her slumber.

"He's out. Aside from that, we're going to find someone."

"I don't want to go outside for a search but I sense something so I'm in."

Years after they escaped from the world of Mashiripiti nyika, they lived in a small cottage in the forest in the human world. When Mira reaches the age of six, Lily teaches her how to read, write and how to use a little bit of magic while Winston teaches her how to fight. They become Mira's foster parents. Now, Mira seventeen years old and it's three days before she turned eighteen but still, she grew up obeying what her parents told her. One of those is don't go to the west part of the forest where a mysterious arch can be found. Lily and Winston treat her like there's no dark past that exists like there's no scenario from the past that may affect not only her but both worlds.

After their training, Mira sneaked to escape from her mother to teach her embroidery. It's not like Mira doesn't want that kind of work, she's just tired today and all she wants to do is to rest. Mira runs a little bit far from the cottage to watch the wild deer and also to have fresh air for herself.

"The training is pretty hard for today," Mira said and slumped herself on the root of the tree behind her then closed her eyes to rest. Her eyes popped open after hearing the clanking sound of metal and footsteps indicating that they're many. The girl stood up and about to warn her parents when an arrow is coming in her direction that hits the cloth on her shoulder and made her pin on the tree because of the impact. She tried to use her magic but an arrow flew like a lightning and hits her hand. She screams in agony as the crimson-colored and thick liquid dripped from her hand.

The rest of the knights gathered themselves and form a formation to surround Mira. They put their shields at a 120° angle that made the sun's ray hit the middle part of the shield with composition, to successfully blind Mira temporarily. They also hit their swords on their shields to make Mira lose her concentration. The deafening sound of their shield that calls the attention of every person who passed the woods also draws Lily and Winston's attention more.

Lily and Winston immediately run outside their house to search for their daughter after hearing her agonizing scream of Mira not from afar.

"This can't be. It's far from the bridge." Lily said while running in her daughter's direction. Winston and she split into two and take different paths.

"A mage from Chrono, I see. What's your name?"

"Why makes you think that I'm going to answer you?" Mira spat.

"Feisty lady. I'm Yena and I'm from the kingdom of Aarde." The leader of the army smirked before lifting both of her arms in the mid-air, causing all of the rocks that surround both of them to rise. She has a scar on her left jaw and sharp features.

After their year-long search for the three strays of the fallen kingdom, knights in the kingdom of the remaining kingdoms found the three of them and about to arrest and surrender the three of them to the council of mages to annihilate them.

"Ari, you know what to do." A mysterious woman wearing a cloak with golden linings accompanied by white as snow fox and black as the void giant wolf. The rocks flew in another woman's direction, making her dodge it all. She shoots a dagger to Yena before gold and shining lights surround Yena and her comrades. The fox prevented the knights from taking another step towards Mira by scowling at them and started spreading the blue flame that surrounds the knights while the wolf guards Mira and her parents as the mysterious woman is talking to the knights.

"Knights from Mago. What's your business here?"

"Do you think we're going to tell you that?" Yena spats. The golden lights flicker more but the hooded person smiled.

"Oh right, I apologize for my rudeness." She giggled. The rocks flew on the mid-air, ready to hit her but one of the golden lights turned into golden spears and pointed themselves on Yena.

"I didn't know that the knights from Aarde treat other individuals like this. We're just to have a research." The lady said. Yena furrowed her brows and laughed sarcastically. The blue flame whose surrounding them turns into giant monsters that aiming their weapons at the knights.

"Yield or they kill you."

She pulls down the hood of her cloak after threatening those knights with her magic and by those monsters. Mira didn't expect that under the hood, there's a beautiful face hiding.

"Nonsense! We got knights from Hûo, they can control fire!" Yena shouted. The hooded woman throw the black cloth on the fox and smirked. Lily and Winston witnessed how the fox turns into a girl that's why they immediately averted their attention back to Mira. She snapped her fingers before pulling down the black cloth. She has a beauty that can compete with the woman next to her but Mira's face looks more innocent than hers.

"Is that the one you're thinking?" She asks them with a smile of mischief on her face. Her pair of golden eyes and her voice give the knights chills.

"Then try to control it, fool."

"A shifter that using a black magic." Ari's laugh gives them more uneasy feelings.

"Black magic? Since when the fire becomes black magic? Like what this teacher said, we're here for research not to fight." Ari explained. She covers her mouth as she yawned then stared blankly at Yena and her comrades.

"We won't listen to both of you. That mage from Chrono should die!" One of them shouted.

"If it's that so then." She snapped her fingers before the monsters attack the knight mercilessly. Ari yawned and turn into a fox once again.

"Who are you?" Lily asked while healing her daughter's bleeding hand.

The flame slowly disappears and the fox jumped on the giant wolf's back just to sleep yet the wolf shakes its body, causing the fox to fall off yet it does remain asleep. The mysterious lady laughed and lifted the fox before she introduced herself.

"My name is Selene, a teacher and a traveler from the Rimholm University. My current task is to find peculiar youths and recruit them." She said while walking along with the family. Lily invited her inside of their cottage and served her food also for the wolf and the fox.

Selene offered Mira to study there without paying for anything. Mira didn't think twice to say 'no' because she doesn't want to be away from her parents but something is telling her to accept it. Even their daughter says 'no' Lily and Winston starting to hesitate if they are going to talk to or say no to the offer too. They talked to Mira and convince her. Both of them knew that Rimholm is the prestigious school in Mashiripiti nyika and they can't risk Mira's life back in their original world since the remaining kingdoms in the land of Mago are still a threat to the youth's life. She explained everything to Lily and Winston that Mira will be protected as long that she's inside of the University. They talked to Mira and convince her. Since Mira can't say no to her parents, she turned at the lady then tell her that she's accepting the offer. Furthermore, Selene told to them that they can work there too if it's very necessary. Selene gives them time to think for a while and went outside where are the two peculiar creatures are laying on the grass, silently observing Mira who immediately goes outside after making her decision.

The girl immediately stood up as she heard the growl not far from them and the crackling sounds of dried leaves and twigs on the ground, indicating that there's a savage beast is coming. As it steps forward to reveal itself, Selene smile. It does reach almost six feet in height and its body also reaches almost six feet like the black wolf.

"Matt, it's nice to meet you again." The beast snorted that made Selene laughed. Mira looked at her with a questioning expression that can be seen on her face. The wolf growled at the lion while the fox remained sleeping under the bush. Selene tapped the younger's shoulder to calm her down when Matt sit beside her.

"Come on, Matt won't eat you alive. Well, he has almost done that to my student when we met him at the first." Mira anxiously smiles and slowly distancing herself from the certain creature.

"By the way, Ms. Gloucester, this big wolf named Ash while this fox named Ari."

"They're quite big for the normal sizes, are they your pets?" Ash growled while Ari ignored them. Selene laughed then shook her head.

"No, but these three are more powerful than me." The maiden is about to ask Selene again but her parents called the educator and talked to her about their conditions. She looked at her and smiled before mouthing that they're going to the place now. The girl gleefully lay on the ground before imagining what is waiting for her inside the University. Ash growled as the bush shakes, indicating that something is behind it. Matt remained sleeping like a corpse while Ari wakes up from slumbering on the top of the unconscious knights and hopped on the ground. An armored man yelled and run in her direction while carrying a sword but he stops on his midway when a blue flame spread around him, preventing him to attack Mira.

"You should be dead! You should be dead!" Mira stood up, confused, she walked towards him and try to talk to him nicely, "Sir, I'm sorry but I can't understand what are you talking about," but the man didn't listen to her and laughed like a maniac. She accidentally touched his hand to prevent him from swinging his sword and to the girl's surprise, the knight turned into a weak and defenseless old man.

"Mira?! Mira?! What happened?" Her father bombarded her with questions despite her hands are quivering in fear, she pointed to the old man who's now draining his life away from his body.

They went to the deepest part of the forest where the arch is and also the place that Mira got restricted by her parent to not go. Her mind is still blank and she can't process everything properly because of what happened to the knight. Selene tried her best to calm her down before they pass to the arch. The arch is like a normal one as if there's no magic on it, you can see the whole forest yet it's cunning. Once you pass through it, you'll get transported into another world.

"This is the way. Ari, Ash, and Matt, three of you go first." They stepped in and immediately vanished. She talked to Mira and cheer her up. Mira walks towards in front of the arch to examine it but something hauled her from the other side, causing her to hit the ground while her eyes closed. As she opened her eyes, the two gigantic gates with snow greeted her.

Selene smiled at her and motioned her to the gigantic and golden gates.

"Welcome to Rimholm."