Anrod sat in his office, relaxing in the lounge he kept for more casual meetings. He had just finished another one of his monthly meetings with several of the heads of each department. It was a much-needed meeting most of the time to ensure they had everything they needed to properly run their departments and teach their students to the best of their ability. As the headmaster of the college, it was his responsibility to check in with each department and ensure that they both had the resources and knowledge to run smoothly and a monthly meeting meant he was able to jump on top of a problem before it caused the learning and research to fall behind to a disastrous level. Most meetings would be over relatively quickly as after so many years in charge he knew what needed to happen to keep everything on track however, this month a single discussion had wholly dominated the meetings and he knew it was coming before he stepped into the room, the Seraph. It was never a good thing when a celestial creature made their way into their world, they were mighty and capable of vast amounts of destruction. The entire school was still talking about the girl who defeated a creature whose power rivaled the gods.

The power that corrupted such a being scared Amelia Dumein, Anrod’s head mage. She did not understand what kind of power could do such as thing and did not like the idea of it being out there and now potentially aware of the College of Silversong. “The Augurs all agree for a change.” She said in the middle of the staff meeting. “They see the corruption as an apocalypse omen, something that has not happened for thousands of years.”

Omens were a common practice used in the college, many of the local farmers used them to determine the crops to plant each year. They indicated the monster manifestations likely to occur, but the augurs that divined the future rarely agreed with each other. The process would often come down to what the majority of their number were saying at any given time. While not entirely accurate, it did give them the best chance at being correct. In the past the few times that they had all agreed, it always ended badly, plagues, famine, war, and apocalypse events, and they always came to pass regardless of how they tried to intervene.

The Seraph appearing in front of everyone had become a clear sign of some impending disaster and then it was so swiftly defeated by one of their students, a child no less, one of their youngest students who wielded no magic potential that could be seen but somehow produced a magic unknown to anyone who had seen it. This had made the child the talk of the school and everyone was dying to know how she had done it when a member of the order had not been able to defeat it.

Izora by extension had enjoyed a modicum of popularity as the best friend of the girl that defeated the Seraph. No longer excluded by the other students, all of whom were much older than the pair. They were invited to join the cliques that had formed among the various learning fields, a meal where they were bombarded with a million questions about the creature that almost destroyed the college.

As more days passed Zoe and Izora’s fame started to dim as they retold the story time and time again. They sat enjoying an afternoon of peace in the yard by Zoe’s favourite spot in the entire grounds, by the old redwood with the indentation she perfectly fit into.

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“Since you have been here, I have met a queen, killed a monster, and done some things I am not proud of…” Zoe mused.

“So without me, your life would be boring. You’re welcome.” Izora retorted with a cheeky smile. She looked back towards the college, something clearly on her mind at that moment, “What would it take for us to join the Order?” She asked.

“Us… Probably a miracle.” Zoe said, “We don’t exactly look like Tamond.”

Meanwhile Someplace far Away

"Can't you feel it?"

“It is very powerful, isn't it?"

"The shift in its aura doesn't concern you?"

"It shows us she is ready."

"This soon?"

"Her power is growing, it's time." The shadows were watching over the college, having just witnessed the Seraph. It had just broken through the magical shielding of the college with ease and then been so swiftly defeated by a small child wielding untraceable magic not seen in this world for thousands of years, since the days of those mortals that dared to spread into the realms of the demons and the gods. From their vantage point in the shadows of the forest trees, the ghostly black tentacles spread out from their bodies, ebbing and flowing around touching nearby trees causing the individual leaves to wither and die.

The meeting of the school professors continued well into the night and Anrod was becoming exhausted with talking about the same thing over and over. "The mages are busy repairing the magical wards, but they feel it needs some improvement." Dorn Stavanger said as he and the teachers sat talking.

"What sort of improvements?" Anrod questioned, "Not those scrolls you have been pushing on me for years now?"

"You mean the scrolls of magic enchantments I have been working on for years that you just ignore."

"Fine do what you need to do."

For weeks Zoe had continued to work under Katherine Mercer in the college’s hospital. She had no clue how mean Katherine could be when she needed to be. This was the consequence of her attack on Izora’s former adoptive father and Katherine was making she that Zoe regretted the actions. Katherine insisted that Zoe learn to clean the hospital from top to bottom and when she did not get it right Zoe would need to start the process all over again. This kept up until Zoe either got the process correct or passed out for the day, Katherine did not care which happened first.

Katherine assumed that Zoe would break under this level of punishment but after a week when Zoe’s will was still strong, she insisted on making her work in the clinic itself hoping this would be just horrible enough for her to understand the punishment she was receiving. The work started small to begin with, with simple jobs like changing bandages and delivering potions to patients. Zoe found the job somewhat rewarding, even occasionally taking the time to read a few medical books when she could sneak a few moments. While Katherine thought some of the jobs in the hospital were far beyond what a six-year-old should be doing, Zoe was willing to give any job a go, including sitting with the dying patients until they finally passed without question, just being with them in their final moments to comfort them as they grew scared. Having had everything Katherine Mercer could throw at her, and taking it in her stride, Zoe was eventually released to go back to normality. Katherine enjoyed seeing the level of respect she gave to the tasks but was ultimately disappointed she was not able to break the child's will.