CHAPTER FOUR

He finally caught his breath and calmed down when Henry entered the bathroom, with Maddie as well, as they were worried about him.

“Are you alright?” Henry asked.

“I think so,” Cyrus said.

“What happened?” Maddie asked.

“I have no idea," Cyrus said.

“Whatever it was, it saved us," Henry said.

“I have to go see Professor Whitlock, l’Il see you guys later," Cyrus said.

“Ok. Meet us in the library," Maddie said.

Cyrus nodded and he made his way upstairs to Professor Whitlocks office. He knocked and entered. Cyrus always loved Professor Whitlocks study, it was a big room filled with magical energy. When you entered the room, you felt no hurt. It was a room of peace that was also visually appealing with a big fireplace that gave off a warm feeling and a big rug in the middle of the room. Any leftover angst he had from what had just happened had evaporated. Professor Whitlock was sitting at his desk doing some paperwork.

“Cyrus, what can I do for you?” He asked.

Cyrus sits down in front of Professor Whitlock.

“Professor, something happened," He said.

“What happened?” Professor Whitlock responded.

“My friends and I were in the sewers under the building, searching for clues about the hourglass and we found a room. We were attacked by men and when they grabbed Maddie, I got angry. My body heated up and my eyes turned yellow. The dark room became bright, and I think I blinded all of the men attacking us. My body went on auto pilot and I started attacking them. I had almost no control,," Cyrus said.

Professor Whitlock closed the book he was writing in and put his pen down.

“That explains why they sent a letter," He said. “Cyrus, I’m not the best person to explain this to you. But you are old enough. You have to go see the Midnight Elders up on Ancient Peaks. They can explain this," Professor Whitlock said.

“Wait what, what do you mean they sent you a letter?” Cyrus asked.

“The Midnight Elders can feel a certain power when it’s used. Just go there tomorrow," Professor Whitlock said.

Cyrus tried to ask more questions, but Professor Whitlock just repeated himself, telling Cyrus to go and see The Midnight Elders. Cyrus thanked Professor Whitlock and left his office. He met his friends down in the library who asked Cyrus how it went. Cyrus explained that they had to go to Ancient Peaks. Before he could explain anymore, the bell rang. It was time for the late evening class which happened to be Potions for them. They all went downstairs and entered potions class. They sat down at their table and Professor Ambroz entered. He had a glare that made him look mean, but if he was respected, he treated you with the same respect. He liked Cyrus and his friends as they all had a love for potions and usually performed well in his class. He stood at the front of the class.

“Today, I will be teaching you the Dinrize Potion. Which is used to give you a boost of energy when needed. You could be awake for forty eight hours and this potion will give you a few more hours of energy," Professor Ambroz said.

The students began to look at each other smiling as this would help with late night study sessions.

"However! Be warned that there is a limit, you can't use this to stay awake forever. Your body will eventually shut down and be forced to sleep no matter how much of this potion you drink," Professor Ambroz continued.

He explained the ingredients needed to make the potion. Sugar and blood from a Jaxlanx. A Jaxlanx is a magical creature that has the body of a rabbit, but the head of an eagle. Some of them can even grow wings and fly, but they are rare to see. He handed out syringes to all the students. He explained to keep these syringes with the students at all times. When out in the wilderness, it was to be used to draw blood from unconscious animals for potions before the animals woke up. Knocking the animals unconscious was done by simply hitting the animals with a simple sleeping spell that was designed for animals only. It's one of the first spells a student learns. It places the animal in a slumber for around fifteen seconds before they awake and run away. Animisno was the spell. Professor Ambroz brewed the potion and when he was finished, instructed the students to light their cauldrons. Cyrus lit the cauldron at their table using a small fireball.

"While the water is boiling, open up your books and read about the potion, and follow the brewing instructions," Professor Ambroz said.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Cyrus, Maddie and Henry pulled out their books and began reading about the potion. The water began to boil and Cyrus began following the instructions. Three tablespoons of sugar, five ml of Jaxlanx blood, one more tablespoon of sugar, three drops of Jaxlanx blood and then finally, a small pinch of sugar, then mix. Maddie executed perfectly in her first try. Cyrus had accidentally poured four drops of blood instead of three, rendering the potion useless, forcing him to dump it and retry. After Cyrus completed it he realized Henry was still struggling.

"Henry you alright over there?" He asked with a chuckle.

Henry looked over smiling.

"I don't get it. I'm doing what the directions say," He replied with laughter.

Cyrus walked over and told him to do it again while he watched. He realized immediately his mistake.

"Henry, when they say a pinch of sugar, they literally mean to use two fingers and pinch some sugar. Don't use the spoon and only grab a small amount equal to a pinch," Cyrus said while laughing.

Henry did as Cyrus said and brewed the potion. Henry began to laugh.

"How was I supposed to know they were being literal, everything's cryptic in these books normally," Henry replied as the three of them began to laugh.

Professor Ambroz walked over and graded each student, giving them an A for being able to successfully brew the potion without having to ask him multiple times. Cyrus and his friends grabbed some empty bottles from the stock cabinet in the classroom and bottled up five bottles each filled with the potion. After potions class, the day was officially over. While they were on their way back to their dorms, Cyrus was stopped by Professor Whitlock. He pulled them aside away from any other students.

"Cyrus, I didn't get a chance to ask you earlier but, who were the people you guys ran into earlier?" He asked.

"I don't know. They had all black robes, with hoods up and their faces were covered by a black cloth mask, only their eyes were visible but only just," Cyrus said.

"Did you happen to find anything?" He asked.

"Yes, there were Maps all along the wall with paths drawn specifically to get to the door in the Hall Of Magic History. Whoever stole the hourglass is someone who knows the school. They know the direct paths," Cyrus said.

Professor Whitlock just nodded and wished Cyrus and his friends a good night and a safe journey.

Cyrus and his friends walked to the library, where he explained that he needed to go on a journey to Ancient Peaks.

"The mountain?" Henry asked.

"Yes, apparently there are people there who can explain to me what happened earlier with my eyes," Cyrus said.

Both Maddie and Henry both agreed to go without hesitation. They decided to get some sleep before the journey. Cyrus and his friends left the school and walked to the dorms. The dorms were separate buildings from the school. There was a boys dorm and a girls dorm and they sat right across from each other. Cyrus and Henry split off from Maddie and they went into their separate dorms. Cyrus and Henry entered the boys dorm where Cyrus walked to his room, closed the door and laid down to get some sleep. The next morning he awoke, feeling ready for the journey. He got up and got dressed. Cyrus opened his door and saw the other male students walking around, not dressed in their school attire. Cyrus walked over to Henry’s room and knocked on the door. He had to knock several times before Henry opened the door, looking half asleep.

"Time to wake up gorgeous, we got a big day," Cyrus said.

Henry just groaned and fell back onto his bed. After they had both showered and gotten dressed, they grabbed a map, and laid it out on a table in the lounge. Cyrus laid out a path that led straight to the mountain.

"How long do you think this will take us?" Henry asked.

"We should be there by tonight if we move at the right pace," Cyrus said.

They left the dorm and saw Maddie standing outside. She always met them every morning outside of their dorm.

Before they left, they went down to the Ilymere. As they entered, the tip of a sword was raised to Cyrus's throat.

"One more move, and I'll cut your head off," A man said.

Cyrus looked over at the man.

"Yeah yeah, congratulations Lex, you got me. Where's Ajax?" Cyrus said.

Lex looked at him and lowered his sword. Cyrus grabbed his arm, and disarmed him.

"You shouldn't drop your guard Lex," Cyrus said with a smile.

"No one can ever get the upper hand on you," Lex replied with a smile.

"Where is Ajax?" Cyrus asked again.

"In his room," Lex said while pointing behind him.

Cyrus and his friends walked up the stone stairs to Ajax's study. He opened the wooden door and saw Ajax standing at his bookshelf reading a book. He looked up at Cyrus and his friends.

"Ah, hello kids. How can I help you?" Ajax said.

"Listen. We are heading out. We just wanted to let you know, we won't be around for a few days," Cyrus said.

"Out? Where are you going?" Ajax asked.

"Ancient Peaks. It's a long story," Cyrus said.

"Hmm, well if you kids are heading out over there, you will need weapons. Come here," Ajax said.

They walked over with Ajax as he held his hand out and a wall opened. They entered a small room with swords and small fixed blades along the wall. He handed a blade to Henry and one to Maddie. He then handed one to Cyrus. Cyrus looked at it.

"I know. It's not your switchblade, but you'll need something to defend yourselves with other than just magic," Ajax said.

Cyrus took the blade.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about your switchblade, whatever happened to that?" Henry asked.

"I lost it years ago, that's another long story. Anyways, thank you Ajax," Cyrus said.

"Here, you'll need these as well," Ajax said.

He handed them scabbards. They put them on their sides and inserted the blades into them. Ajax wished the three of them well. They packed their backpacks with the essentials, and went to leave the school. Professor Whitlock stopped them, telling Cyrus that to prevent any possible further infiltration, sealing the sewers and putting extra guard around the school. Cyrus agreed, and Professor Whitlock put his hand on Cyrus's shoulder and wished them well. With that, they exited the front door.