Ronan had been cautious about recruiting Alestra and Talli, the thought of his plans reaching unwanted ears plaguing his mind from giving them any real specifics regarding the ritual. But, in contrast to his hesitation, Alestra had cooked up a small batch of pixie lures, strange rough candlesticks that reeked of old cheese with a metallic zing. Talli had held up her end with a list of do's and don'ts in catching pixies, the don'ts dwarfing their partner by a sheet and a half. Now, prepared to collect the second last ingredient, Ronan had discovered a new and unexpected obstacle. Truvius had mentioned that the teachers did not roam the halls through the night, and the safer route of a couple stairways and the closest exit was a tantalising alternative to falling off the roof a second time. However, his attempt failed the moment he opened the door to the silver dorm and found himself facing a bright blue flaming ball with Tella's voice. One of at least twenty floating about the expanse

Red looked around the scorched battlefield, night barely hindering his ability to see every tiny detail in the shadows. Evidence that gave away what had happened to Ronan.He wiped the speckles of blood that had dribbled down Ronan's chin, his gaze immediately drawn to the glittery dusting coating his bangs.Pixie dust."Shit," Red muttered, twisting around to pull Ronan onto his back. "Just keep breathing until we get to Cobalt." He sighed as Ronan whimpered out a response, tugging down his goggles to colour their path with the heat of their surroundings.He frowned at the view. Heat vision had only been useful for finding Ronan, a daylight filter would do the trick a lot better in getting back.He quickly flicked through the settings, nighttime becoming day through the lens of his goggles, and the giant red blob that was once Puff's heat signature still painted red by a figure looming a couple feet in front of him.Red tensed at the unexpected guest. Ronan was currently racing again

Were you supposed to swallow them all?" Phantom said, shattering the tune Ronan had been humming all the way to Zalius' tree. He popped a shrug, strangely giddy for his circumstance. "I feel fantastic. This planet has some killer medicine." "Yeah... that's the problem," Phantom muttered, watching the excitement grow in Ronan's eyes as the light of the spirit tree danced in his irises. Like an unruly child he broke into a sprint, arms outstretched to give its scaly trunk a full embrace. "I missed you!" Ronan coughed as his raised tone pricked his throat, clearing it to give out a dryer voice. "Zalius! I need your help!" He skimmed the empty clearing, his excitement dipping to confusion as he walked towards the little hovel Zalius had shown him before. "I need a winter tree branch so I can free Phantom tonight!" Phantom came up beside Ronan as he unstably crunched through the grass. "So were we getting your stuff you left by the pixie pond after this or..." Ronan froze, paying Pha

Six filled chairs before her, Samanthra had a rope around everyone's neck now, and the look on her face meant loosening it wouldn't come easy."The tip Red Peterson provided was proven correct, the room recently disturbed, and an ancient ritual and its used ingredients present." She stopped, focused on the chair at the end of the line that contained a shivering Talli. Spared from the weakest link by ignorance. "Ms. Fray, were you aware of this room's existence?"She pursed her lips, staring up at the headmaster like a deer in headlights. "No..."Veronica frowned as Samanthra took one step to stand before her, the same question lingering in the dead air. "I don't know what you're talking about.""She's lying," a voice boomed, its roof centered echo signalling Tella's presence.Samanthra took the information silently, taking another step to stand in front of Ronan.He didn't dare to lift his gaze, staring ahead as the world around him gripped his throat. There wasn't a point in lying, T

The entire journey back to the room had been silence, Truvius had nothing to say. He'd seen his friend, normal when he awoke, take the headmaster's letter opener and drive it into his arm to convince the room he was insane.Ronan knew it was convincing.Truvius was terrified.Now Ronan was on his bed, a new letter from his uncle splayed above his face as he read the words under his breath. His uncle had a paravelt, a temporary ticket to earth. But unlike a broken zodraic battery, he was somehow reluctant to share the harmless artifact in the mail. As soon as he finished the piece he scrunched it up, slamming the pile down onto his nightstand with a heavy sigh.He could see Truvius flinch from the movement, his roommate ripping his attention to the nightstand to make sure nothing else happened. Ronan hadn't heard him flip a page of his notes since they sat down. He was pretending to read them, or struggling to as something else haunted his mind."There was a tracker in my arm. That's w