Free Faculty of Fire by Alex Kosh Page A

fury in her voice.
     
    “That’s understandable,” I said thoughtfully. “If you’d like to, please be my guest. You can stay as long as you need to,” I told her with a wink.
     
    “That’s not a good idea,” the beautiful stranger said with surprising firmness. “If you have no objections, I’d better be going.”
     
    I gave her a mocking look.
     
    “And how are you going to get past me?”
     
    Suddenly I heard footsteps downstairs and my aunt’s deep voice called.
     
    “Zach, are you home already?”
     
    “Yes,” I shouted, distracted from the girl for a moment.
     
    When I turned back, the vampiress wasn’t on the bed any longer. Somehow or other, she had managed to slip out of the room. The only reminders of my charming visitor were the open window and the miniature crossbow in my hands.
     
    I shrugged, deciding not to fill my head with other people’s problems, and went to delight my aunt with my news.
     
    I’d got into the Academy!
     
    Scene 4
     
    Incredibly enough, my aunt didn’t seem at all enthusiastic about my wonderful news. “Glad to hear it,” she replied, giving me an icy glance, and went off to her room. And the girls took absolutely no notice of the good news either. So there I was, all on my own, feeling happy for my own beloved self, because no one else could be bothered.
     
    To be quite honest, I felt rather hurt. What was going on here? I’d been enrolled in the most prestigious educational establishment in the entire world, and no one seemed to give a damn. Not to mention the small circumstance of girls firing crossbow bolts at me in my own room. As if I was so gruesome, I had to be fought off with crossbows. Chas had gone missing at just the wrong moment too, and now I was desperately curious to find out whether he’d got into the Academy or not.
     
    All in all, I was feeling pretty annoyed with whole wide world, so I decided to take a doze. And I made an honest effort, but the very moment my head touched the soft pillow, a stone hit the window. From the way the glass rattled, I reckoned it must be more of a cobblestone than a pebble.
     
    I warily opened the window a bit and glanced out. It was completely dark outside, but I still spotted a very familiar-looking figure with broad shoulders standing in the shadow of the house.
     
    “Chas, is that you?” I asked in a whisper.
     
    The figure stepped out of the shadow into the light of the nearest streetlamp.
     
    “No, it’s some other halfwit with nothing better to do than hang around under your windows,” Chas replied loudly. “Would you like me to sing you a serenade or recite a few love poems?”
     
    “What in the name of a dragon was that?” I asked just as loudly. “Couldn’t you find a bigger stone? My ears are still ringing.”
     
    “I’m sorry,” Chas answered, without the slightest hint of regret in his voice. “Only it wasn’t a stone, it was my shoe. There’s not even any dust round here, never mind stones. That’s life in the city centre for you,” he added, with a slightly envious air.
     
    “Big deal,” I grunted as I climbed out the window. “But then, I can’t even set foot outside the door after eight in the evening. If they realise I’ve gone out, they’ll comb the whole city until they find me. So stop shouting, will you.”
     
    Chas stepped back into the shadow and kept quiet.
     
    Amazing.
     
    I climbed down and dusted myself off, then tiptoed past the windows and joined Chas. I should mention that it really was very difficult to find any dirt in the centre of the city – the streets were kept clean by special spells developed by the faculty of earth.
     
    “Well then?” I was finally able to ask. “Did you get in?”
     
    Chas would clearly have liked to act mysterious for a while, but he couldn’t manage it, and he smiled happily instead: “Easy as pie. No sweat.”
     
    That was pretty much what I’d been expecting.
     
    “Congratulations,” I said