Mrs. Oak lectured us on the many dangers we would be facing, and maybe I should have payed a little more attention than I did, but I was to busy anxiously waiting to get going. My foot was tapping anxiously the entire time, and all I could think was come on, come on, I don't care, let's go, come on, etc. etc.
“Can everybody step outside real quick? I would like to have a word with Ms. Aurelia before the trip,” Mrs. Oak said, snapping me back to reality. What was she going to tell me? The second the door slammed shut, and everybody was outside, Mrs. Oak fixed me with her scrutiny. “As I just explained, the Dusk is a very dangerous place,” she began. Oh, please, please tell me she isn't going to quiz me on what she just said...I paid absolutely no attention “Any one of y'all could be seriously hurt, or perhaps even killed.” she paused, as if for emphasis.
“If this were to happen, and it probably will, I have a potion you could give to the person who is seriously injured. It will not work if they are dead, and it should not be wasted on something that is not very serious. The person must drink all of the potion for it to work.”
I watched as she pulled a small key from her shirt pocket, and stuck it into her desk drawer. The second she turned the key, the drawer sprung open, and a bright light shown from within it. She moved around a few things, before finally finding whatever it was she had been looking for. “Aha! Here it is!”
From the drawer, she pulled what looked like a test tube with a cork stuck in the top. It was filled with a dark purple mist, that floated lazily around the tube. She handed it to me, and I quickly stuck it into my jeans pocket.
“Do not let that break,” she warned, and then spun around and walked quickly out the door, leaving me to follow.
“Now, we will go to the weaponry room,” she announced to us all in the hallway.
“Weaponry room?” Jane asked, looking excited.
“Weaponry room,” Mrs. Oak confirmed. “Now follow me! It's right this way.”
She led us to the stairwell that led into the Intro To Sword Play classroom. There was a class going on at the moment, and they all stopped what they were doing to watch us curiously. Mr. Stone smiled and nodded, and I waved awkwardly. “Get your swords,” Mrs. Oak said, gesturing to the sword table. I smiled as the vine of my sword eagerly wrapped around my arm, and I could feel the living steel buzzing beneath my fingertips, awaiting command. A few awed gasps came from the students in the classroom, but I hardly registered them. “Sheath your weapons, and follow me,” Mrs. Oak said, interrupting my reverie, and snapping me back to reality. I heard the sound of metal scraping into the sheaths around me, and, carefully, I picked up one of the sheaths sitting on the table, and gingerly glided my sword into it after I strapped it on my hip.
We followed Mrs. Oak into a part of the classroom I had never noticed before, hidden from the other students, and watched in curiosity as she placed her palms flat against the stone wall. Alex leaned closer to me, and whispered “What is she doing?” I shrugged, and felt Ethan tense up beside me. I hated that him and Alex couldn't just get along, and act civilized, and would stop jumping down each others throats every time the other said something to me. Gosh, it was nerve wracking.
Alex elbowed me, and I shot him a confused look. “Look at the wall,” he muttered, pointing to the wall.
“Oh my gosh..” I whispered.
The entire wall was vibrating, and had begun splitting down the middle, light seeping out from the crack in the wall that was slowly widening. “Amazing,” Ethan breathed on the other side of me. Everyone had begun muttering in hushed tones, I couldn't make out the words, but the shock and awe was palpable as the stone beneath our feet. The doors creaked as they opened, gliding roughly against the stone floor, like elevator doors. What was even more amazing was the room inside.
