Prologue

"Miss Skullblade, what are you doing?" My potions teacher, Mrs. Brady, asks as I stir my supposed to be sleeping potion(I'd made one last night). "Making the potion," I smile innocently. "Good," She eyes me suspiciously. I add a bit of mandrake root to my concoction of nightshade, ore, diamond shards, and lava. The potion is in a medium sized flask with a hole for the stirring stick. I finish stirring, take it out, and cover the hole. "Mrs. Brandy!" Its an exploding potion, reacts to oxygen ten seconds after you finish stirring, hence the lid. It doesn't effect small amounts, like on the stirring stick. I have a few extra flasks with a pull release in my pouch belt along with the sleeping potions and a healing potion.
I slip the sleeping potion out and replace it with the exploding one in my pouch. Mrs. Brady has red hair in a bun and grey eyes with a blue knit long sleeve turtle neck and suit pants on. She uncaps it, sniffs it, and passes out. I snatch the flask and its lid from the air and recap it. "Wow, she is an idiot when it comes to not sniffing sleeping potions," I lean back in my chair and cross my legs. "Alura," Someone hisses in my ear. I turn around in my seat to see Starr Spiritblade, my best friend, cousin, and bondmate, looking at me with a look of amusement. She has on a black "bite me" tank top and jeans. People don't usually think we're cousins, because they think we're sisters. We don't look alike, with her short black hair, death pale skin, and hazel eyes and my long dark hair, fair skin, and brown eyes. They think we're sisters because how close we are. Also Starr, sixteen years old and a fire wizard, is a year older then me. "What? She sniffed it," I smirk and put the potion back in my pouch. "When will she wake up?" Sylvia Drake, another best friend asks with a note of concern. Sylvia is in her mid-twenties with long, wavy red hair and green eyes as well as a life wizard.
Yes, I know, big age difference. We're in an elite class for the best wizards at Ravenwood, and any age is allowed in if their good enough. "Don't worry, Sylves, at about, next morning," I inform her. She sighs. "I'll tell Headmaster Ambrose she sniffed your sleeping potion from the vial, and yours are always strong in the first place," She walks off to the crystal ball on the desk in the back of the room, the skirts of her old fashioned emerald dress swaying. I have on a black leather corset halter top, a bunch of necklaces, black leather pants with my pouch belt, and black combats. My hair is in a plait. "You made that last night, didn't you? I saw you mixing an exploding potion," Starr smirks. "You know me to well," I say lightly. "Comes with the bond, girly," She replies. "Yep, and I wouldn't have it any other way," I laugh. Sylvia comes back over with her hands on her hips. "Help me move her to her desk chair."
We nod and stand up. "I'll grab her arms, you two get her legs," Sylvia says. I grab her left leg as Starr grabs Mrs. Brady's right leg and Sylvia her arms. We drag her to the chair and sit her there. We let go and her head slumps painfully onto the desk, where her ink well is. And its full. Starr supresses a laugh. Sylvia blushes. I crack up. The class looks at us weirdly. "Someone's coming?" I ask Sylvia. "Yea, my husband, Malistaire," Sylvia says. Malistaire is the death professor, the professor of my school. "So, we ditch or stay?" I offer cheerfully.
"Ditch."
"Stay."
"Sylves can stay then. Starr, where to?" I ask. "Arena, should be interesting," Starr shrugs. "Ok then. Sylves, say we're studying dueling strategies," I smirk. "Got it," Sylvia says. "Lets go, girly," Starr heads for the door. "Tell Drake I say hi!" I call to Sylves as I follow Starr. "Race ya to the arena!" Starr races off before I can respond. "Ok, not fair!" I take off after her. I round corners, dodge people, pets, and whatnot until I reach the arena gate. I burst through it and into a guy with spiky red hair in red pants and shirt. "Oof!" I get up and brush myself off. I spot Starr by the entrance to the Dragonspyre arena. She smirks as I come over. "Lets go in," She shrugs and we go through the lava colored curtain to a space made up of dark stone. We head over to the bleachers and sit down. There's wizard with blue hair and green eyes with fair skin with a white tunic with a icy blue cape on the left who might be ice, or might just like that look. On the right is a female wizard in yellow and dark blue armor with an arrogant smirk on her face. She has short dark hair. "Bring it, of course, I'm so going to win," She boasts. She's obviously myth 'cause the look on her face, her armor coloring, and how she said that: like she was so much better then him. Aka in my guidebook, usual myth attitude: snobby, arrogant, stuck up, thinks their better then everyone else. Now there's some good ones, but I've only met a few. Most of them are my average vocab term and description. They also like their looks and love mirrors immensely. My definition for the bad ones, that is.
Most of them take after the myth professor and Malistaire's brother, Cyrus Drake. Unfortunately. "You'll regret that," The boy grins. An ice staff appears in his hand and he makes the ice symbol with it. A frost giant materializes beside him. "Your not allowed to do that!" The girl screeches. "The arena didn't stop me," The frost giant bellows loudly, bits of ice flying out of its mouth. He looks around eighteen, maybe nineteen. The girl scowls. The girl makes the myth symbol(told you. Either that or she just uses myth as a secondary school) and crosses through it. A myth flare hits the boy. He stumbles but then gains his balance. He smirks at his minion, the frost giant. He summons a stun and the girls scowl deepens. "You will not win!" She half hisses half shouts. "We'll see," The frost giant hits the girl with an ice shot. Her turn comes around and she does nothing. Then the boys turn comes. He makes a life symbol and a centaur appears, attacking the girl. The girl falls to her knees and the duel ends. She gets up and scowls. She just turns around ports out.
There's something...different, about this boy. Something special. Something familiar. He turns around and I gasp. "What is it girly?" Starr asks. "It-its..." Its a friend that I thought I'd never seen again. After my mom and dad disappeared, my brothers and sisters and I had moved here, in with our uncle Sherlock. Yes my uncle is a blood hound, problem with that? "Its a friend I thought I'd never see again," I whisper. His names Jeffrey Nightpyre, and it'd been five years but I'd reconize him anywhere. "Jeff!" I call. He turns around and spots me.
"Alura?" He asks in amazement. "The one and only," Starr gives me a confused look. "Ok, confused, who's this?" She asks. "Oh yea, this is an old friend from before I moved. Jeff, meet Starr, Starr, meet Jeff," I gesture to each of them in turn. He jumps over the crack that surrounds the duel ring with lava like a mote and comes over. "I thought you lived in Marlybone," He laughs. "I go to school here, I use the world tree," I explain. "Cool," He comes over and sits next to me. "So what brings you to Wizard City? Moved from Dragonspyre?" I ask.
"Yea, I live on Unicorn Lane," He says. "Cool," I reply. "How's your sister?" I ask. "Oh, Kris is great. She's in school at the moment," He smiles. "We were. We ditched," He laughs. "You never change, do you?" I smirk. "Nope," I respond. "So how's life? That girl got her butt kicked!" I pump my arms. "Yea, I've been practicing."
"Well its paid off," Starr remarks. "Myth is incredibly difficult to beat," I add. "Ahem," An impatient, stuck up voice says behind me. I turn around to see Cyrus Drake. "Why aren't you in class?" He asks, his face stern. Cyrus Drake is a tall man with a long yellow robe with blue trimming. He's bald with blue eyes. "Watching duels for strategies. His just ended, and he's a friend I thought I'd never see again."
"Your teacher gave you permission?" He asks stiffly. "She passed out after sniffing my sleeping potion she assigned the class to make. I don't know why, obvious what would happen," I shrug. "I figured this is more to our benefit then watching the teacher drool into the ink well, Sylvia called and told the Headmaster and she said she'd tell Professor Drake where we are," He crosses his arms. "I just found out," He sniffs. "I mean your brother, the death professor," I clarify. "Oh," He says stiffly. He aways assumes he was the only Professor Drake anyone meant. "I'll have to talk to the Headmaster about this," He says. "Ok?" I shrug. "I already know," Merle Ambrose appears behind us. Is this appear out of thin air day? Ports are easy to notice! Merle Ambrose is the Headmaster. He has silver hair with a long beard and a robe on, with Gamma, his owl, on his shoulder.
"Professor, I caught these two-" The Headmaster holds up his hand. "I already know, and I approve of it," He says. He knows Cyrus Drake is always trying to get us in trouble. "It is better then watching their passed out teacher, and her potions are extremely strong," I smirk. "She should wake up about tomorrow morning," I say sheepishly. "She'll have a good nights sleep," Ambrose smiles.
Cyrus's face is redder then a tomato, but he keeps his composure. "Yes, Headmaster," He says in the least steady voice possible. "Good. Ladies, young man, Professor, good day," With that he turns around and walks out. "I'll pin you for something one day," Cyrus growls and stomps out after the Headmaster leaves. Cyrus and I have been enemies ever since he accidently hit me in the head with his staff(I thought it was on purpose) and we'd gotten in a fight. The building we were in had burned down while it happened. Lets say I have, ahem, ways. We hang out in the arena for the rest of the school hours, making jokes about what their doing and critisizing their strategy. "Hey, you two wanna come over to my place?" I ask them. "Sure," Jeff shrugs. "Ok," Starr agrees.

"Yo! Holmes, I'm home!" I walk into my house in Marlybone where my brother, Jonas, is staring at the fire as though to will it to do something. "What are you doing?" I sigh. "I'm bored so I'm trying to make the fire grow," He says. I turn to Jeff. "He's lost his mind officially apparently," I say. "Hey!" He jumps up in outrage. "Wait, Jeff?" He looks at him in confusion. Jonas has short dark hair and grey eyes and is seventeen. He has on a blue t-shirt and jeans on.
"Its me," Jeff admits. "Man, haven't seen you in years, sis here used to go on an-OW!" I threw rock I'd found in the arena(don't ask why I grabbed it) at Jonas. "Anyways," I interject with a mock sweet smile. "Your home, I know, I heard your brother cry out in pain," Uncle Holmes trudges down the steps, smirking.
He's a blood hound(again, you have a problem with that? Species doesn't change family and how you feel towards them), as you all know. We don't know why he is. He was just born that way. We have pictures of the look on grandma's face when she found out she gave birth to a dog, literally. Its some family gene thing nobody can explain. He has on a tweed jacket with a white cotton shirt underneath, tweed pants, black leather dress shoes, and a briefcase in his right hand. Jeff just stares. "No one knows why he's a blood hound, its some unexplainable family gene thing," I explain to him.
"I see your going out. Gonna break more train windows because enemies are chasing you on one?" I ask. "I wouldn't bring the suitcase if I were, unlike the last three times," Holmes shudders at a memory. "Its quite painful when wedged into your gut," I smirk. "Gonna call Watson for backup? It'll be funny to hear his reaction," I laugh.
"Already did. He said that I made his last honeymoon a wreck with a case, and he wouldn't let me make another one such way," He explains. "Where you dressed as a woman in disguise?" I ask. "How did you know that?" He asks.
"I'm good at placing things exactly where they are around your journal," He gapes at me. "Yes, I'm good enough to fool even the brilliant Sherlock Holmes," I mock bow. "Anyways, this is my old friend Jeff, you know Starr," I step aside to let them in. "Nice to meet you, Jeff," He holds out his hand to shake. They shake. "Man, Watson's made you more of a gentleman," I mutter. "No, I'm just acting for practice. This is going to be a...tricky plan," He explains. "Your not gonna dress as a lady again, are you? 'Cause if you are, please take a pic for me."
"No way," Uncle Holmes goes outside and closes the door. "He's really dressed as a woman?" Jeff asks, surpressing a laugh. I take out his journal from my pocket. "Go ahead and read it," I smile. Starr cracks up. "Good one, girl," She says. "Thank you, I'm Skullblade, Alura Skullblade, cat burglar extroidinaire," I crack up at myself. "Page eighteen, by the way," I tell Jeff.
"Thanks," He turns to that page and raises an eyebrow. "You have an exciting family," He remarks. "Yep," I agree. He hands it back. We go over it for the next ten minutes. The phone rings. "Hello?" Jonas answers the phone. "Wait, uncle, the connections breaking up," I turn around. "Wait, what do you mean let go of my petticoats?" Jo gives me a confused look. "Are those gun shots?" I run over and seize the phone from him. "Sherlock, where are you?" I demand. "Ow! Don't yell into my ear. Their sensitive you know," He complain's. "I'm not, I'm yelling into the phone," I counter. "Well the phone is against my ear, so don't yell into the phone!" He hisses in reply. "Where are you?" I yell louder. "Get out of the hous-" The call drops. "Hello? Hello? Holmes, I swear, if you don't respond..." I mutter. I wait ten seconds. I hang up and mutter a string of curses.
"Well this is just great," I exclaim sarcasticly. "He said to get out of the house and then the call dropped," I say grimly. "I'll call Watson and ask him where it is Sherlock went," I start to dial Watson's number. "No, we'll call from my place," Jeff hangs up before I finish. "We need to follow his instructions first," He looks me in the eyes. There like a vast green sea full of mysteries. Gods that sounds corny, focus girl, and don't say anything corny! "No, it'll put your family in danger and at Starr's place it'd put the others in danger."
"Then how abou-" The door crashes down.