Phantoms

4. Tasha

I walk into the village, tired and hungry. I had been walking for days with little rest but Blaz was there for me. I look up at a sign on the corner of the road and look at a specific word on one road sign, magic, I repeat in my head. Magic? I ponder on what that means. Earth magic? Mermaid Magic? What magic? Then it hits me. Demon Magics! I stumble up the path a little bit more and for at least five minutes I begin to think it was a trick and endless, but I come to a halt nearly crashing into something and gaze up at the enormous stone grey wall lined with gold swirly patterns, the huge door at least the size of a two story house lined with silver, lapiz, ruby, gold, amber and emerald gems to make a collage of a flaming tiger.

I look at the small fragile firefox next to me, I roll my eyes at him as he stares at me smugly. "Tiger" He says, his voice whispering through my head as if it was a breeze through trees.
"Yeah Blaz. I know it's a tiger. We were educated at the institute." I say to him in a sassy tone.
"No. I mean it's a Hex Tiger." he looks at me up and down, "Calm down master, you're too tense." He looked at me sympathetically, not feeling as tense as I was but he was still anxious.
Before I could go back at him the massive doors open. I look at the doors moving slowly open to reveal a man standing there in the doorway, his slick black hair and pale blue eyes shimmered in the sunlight.
"Welcome to the Demon Magics Academy. I'm Hunter, a water phoenix demon, I'm also prime demon here. You are?" He stood up in a prompt manner looking at me softly but expectantly.
"I am here because my friend sent me here." I said looking him up and down avoiding his question, "And by 'prime demon' you mean director or alpha right?"
He nods, "So what are you and why are you here?"
"I don't know. A friend told me to come here" I say slowly and cautiously. Blaz glares at me, knowing that he has told me numerous times I'm a 'demon tiger'.
"I feel there is something off about you but I can't quite put my finger on it." He says, staring at me and practically into my soul.
"Demon Tiger" Blaze's voice dashes through our heads and almost takes us by surprise.
"what?." Hunter tenses, not taking his eyes off me, "Come in, we will have a room prepared for you." he sputters out but then gestures for us to come inside.
As I step inside everyone in the courtyard stops and looks at me, everyone from great rotting demons like the one I killed in the forest to familiars like Blaz. My fighting instincts kick in and I tense and keep my hand near my pocket where my pocket dagger is. Currently every enemy I know is in one massive place, restricted to walls.
"Where did you come from?" he asks, turning his gaze to me while still walking.
"We were running" I say looking down to the ground feeling a little ashamed. In the Guild, if a phantom ran away, they would be looked down on.
Hunter huffs again and looks forward. He clearly didn't have the time right now to ask the important details but would probably question me like a machine gun later.

When we get to the entrance of the building he opens the doors with a big creak. The amount of demons outside were only a fraction of the amount in here. The hallway was crouded but there was something off. I had a feeling they rarely saw their Prime Demon but the fact that everyone started whispering as soon as they saw me and Blaz trail behind him. What were they thinking at this moment?

We walk down a corridor and turn left and on some more until we get to an oak door that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight. He opens it and indicates for me to go inside.
As i pull up a seat and my small firefox jumps onto my lap, he instantly starts drilling we with questions,
"Who are you?" He demands.
I stare at him without breaking eye contact "Tasha..."
"Who sent you?" he asks.
"I already said...A fiend." I say a bit annoyed that I have to repeat myself. Although To be honest I bet Hunter is a bit annoyed as well that i'm not giving him any detailed answers. I get that he wants to protect the demons in this academy but I can't give away Llexis.
"So you're a stubborn one..." he sighs and rubs his temple in frustration.
"What's that supposed to mean?..." I mumble.
He slams his hand down on the desk looming in front of me and growls. He moves forward and whispers in my ear, "Don't test me woman."
As he moves away from my ear a spark shoots through my body. All the breath gets knocked out of me as a searing pain lingers and carves its way into my skin on my shoulder. I bite my lip from the pain.
I look up at Hunter to see him holding his shoulder wincing in pain.
"So you feel it too?" I spit out while the after effects burn like fire on my skin.
He nods, "I suggest we get you to your room and continue this later."
A guard steps into the room and says "Follow me please,".

When we get to my door the guard vanishes, cool, I think to myself. Blaz starts chuckling. I guess he heard me.
I open the door and before I even step into the room Blaz is already laying on the bed. I close the door behind me and drift into the room. The walls around start to expand and form with wardrobes, dressers and paintings lining them. The Thin grey paint on the walls descend into a dark navy blue. As I sit down on the bed, the mattress and bed sheets swallow the bottom half of me up. I head toward what I think is the bathroom and open the door. I was right, the small toilet tucked in the corner and the huge bath on the side with a warm seashell coloured circle mat in the middle.
I walk up to the mirror and pull my shirt down enough to reveal my shoulder. There on my shoulder outlined in red is a mark, a black phoenix and purple tiger circling each other in harmony. What on earth is this? I decide to let this go and wash up, maybe I'll ask Hunter tomorrow because I still don't know what to do. Do I have lessons or do I look around?
As I climb into bed I tug Blaz to my chest for comfort. He sighs and makes some squeaks of what i think is joy but i'm not an expert in speaking fox. As I close my eyes and lay there, events of what has happened in the past few days replay in my mind. Why did Llexis send me here? As I ponder on that for a while I start to drift off into a blissful sleep.