The Whisper of the Nightingale

Chapter 35: The Dare

The three boys managed to shuffle Raven out of the banquet hall with perfect timing; just as the doors closed behind them, Raven could hear Dunlin and his crew getting details about her. It was a shame she couldn't see them, considering the sudden change in their breathing.

As it was, Raven got away from the banquet without a fuss. Her new insights and whatever information Hoatzin would bring her, had given Raven some options for her next move. Now, however, was not the time to consider them.

"Now what?" she asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

The two twins looked peevishly at each other, and Javelin sighed.

"Well, there is this tradition . . ." started Lark.

"It's more of a dare really," inserted Martin.

". . . where new students try to climb as high as possible up the Spirit Hall tower back at the northern area of the Academy," continued Lark, "Normally you would have found out about it tomorrow during your first Spirit Control class . . ."

". . . but wouldn't it be awesome if your mark was already on it when the others hear of it? Besides, you will have your first control lesson with us so tonight is your only chance, really," finished Martin.

Raven stared at the excited twins with raised eyebrows; 'they are quite synchronized, these two. . . .' she thought, but instead asked, "why not just take a spirit beast to the top?"

"Due to the nature of the tower there is a strong suction of spirit essence outside, normal spirit beasts won't go near it," explained Javelin, "this also restricts the use of spirit essence during the climb; you will have to rely on body strength alone going up."

"It doesn't sound like much of a dare. . . ." muttered Raven.

The twins smirked slightly. "So you'll do it then?" they echoed.

Raven shrugged and nodded her consent, causing the Griffins to light up triumphantly while Javelin just smiled apologetically.

'I wonder what they have planned?' mused Raven as the twins dragged her through the palace halls, likely towards an appropriate exit.

How could she not notice that they were hiding something from her? Nonetheless, she obediently followed along; no matter what the hidden detail was, she was confident that she could handle it. Even though she saw few benefits in making friends with her preteen classmates, alienating them would bring no benefits at all.

The departure from the palace was swift and before long Raven and the boys were seated on the back of a large Everest Hawk, headed for the north side of the Academy Tier. As they approached, Raven couldn't help but notice a huge tower standing at the northern ledge of the Tier, looking as if it would topple over the edge at any moment.

The architectural structure of the tower was a complete opposite to all the other constructions in the area. Whereas the other buildings had a very Asian feel to them, this tower was more medieval Gothic in nature; it was built out of smooth black bricks and had multiple large windows - decorated with intricate traceries - and ornate spires in abundance.

Every twenty meters or so, the tower changed shape; the base was square, the next level was slightly smaller but with five sides instead of four, the level after that was smaller still but with six sides. This pattern was repeated a total of six times, giving the smallest top-structure nine sides. All in all, it looked quite menacing.

"That is the Spirit Hall Tower," Javelin, who was seated being Raven, pointed at the black building, "it had to be placed as far away from the southern dorms as possible, or it would have sucked the Starlight wood in our houses dry ages ago."