COBALT: The Red Phantom (Book One)

Chapter 4: The Unorthodox Entrance Examination (Part 1/3)

          Mariel Strylaz stood patiently outside two large silver doors. She awaited the moment they would open, for her sister was behind them, doing who knows what in her test. Mariel was a respectable third year who stood above ordinary, but nowhere near prodigious, except in her skill set. However, her sister Vera was cause for concern, with her mischievous experiments and lack of taking the time to hone any of her skills. The thought of her being put in a rank below her potential was haunting at the least, it would do anything but improve her attitude.

          She was surprised the room hadn't burst into a fit of uncontrollable flames by now, which was good. She watched the huddles of people traverse the large lobby room; most of them were chatty teenagers, with the exception of a few parents and teachers that scoured the crowds for punishable misbehaviour. The lobby room itself was substantial in surface area and height, but didn't come close to comparing with the main chamber in size, or beauty. The building —or in proper terms, Cobalt— was primarily composed of solar stones, and these beautiful gems, along with pleasing any gazer's eye, helped with capturing the energy powering this architecture, and acted as a perfect compliment to the skylights decorating the ceiling.

          The doors whipped open and a girl bounded out, followed by a wispy trail of smoke that carried the fetid stench of burning hair. Mariel grabbed Vera and brushed her fingers along the tips of her sister's smouldering locks. The streams of smoke vanished and left it looking as healthy as it had been when she walked in. "How'd it go? Did you pass?"

          Vera looked at the floor and brushed her crimson hair behind her ears. "Well... Yeah I suppose." She pulled a blue piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to her sister. "They used molves, but I managed to blast them in the face a couple times before they got me. So I got a C."

          Mariel pulled in her sister and gave her a cheerful hug. "You passed! That's all I care about." Vera was too hard on herself, any first year would be lucky to get a D on their entrance exam, especially if they were put up against a pack of molves.

          Mariel grabbed her sister by the hand and maneuvered through the hustled crowds until they popped out of the lobby and into a vacant hallway. The feeling of being in a large, unpredictable crowd didn't suit her fancy at the current time; a pressing weight had been lifted off her shoulders, now that she knew her sister passed the entrance exam.

          "Heeey Strylaz, how'd your betting piece do?" a husky male voice called out from behind her.

          Mariel turned to face the voice's origin with an unamused frown. "I would prefer it if you didn't refer to my sister as a betting piece." She folded up the blue paper and slid it into her pocket. "She passed."

          The boy leaned against the wall, scoffing at Mariel's hostile tone. "Well mine wasn't too shabby, she would've aced it if one of those molves hadn't jumped her from behind."

          Mariel looked past the boy, scanning the huddle of people in the lobby. "By the way Draven, where's Ray? I haven't seem him since this morning."

          Draven traced his thoughts back to the early morning when he'd last seen Ray. He recalled him being in a mad scramble to find his betting piece, until his 'detector' went off and he was more inclined than usual to retrieve his person, but didn't specify where he was off to. However, Draven could have sworn he detected a hint of triumph when Ray tauntingly wished him luck on the bet they had made. "He told me he was getting his betting piece." Draven looked at his timepiece and sighed. "He'd better hurry though, testing time'll be over soon."