I woke early the following morning, stretching and yawning I clambered out of bed rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Still groggy I made my way into the small bathroom that each of the apprentice chambers have along with a bedroom and a living quarters. All were plain and simple if you wanted a homely feel you had to adorn the room yourself; I had placed small potted plants in each of the rooms. The cold from the stone floor seeped through my bare feet as I quickly washed and made my way to the small mirror. I ran a comb through my long chestnut hair; I could have used a blast of air from Jet now to dry it faster. Examining my bright green eyes I prodded the morning bags under them sighing deeply, luckily living in the forest gave you useful knowledge about the properties of various plants. I smeared an ointment on the purple blotches under my eyes; they should be gone in half an hour. Pulling my hair back into a messy knot on the back of my head and securing it with a vine I smiled at my reflection and left the small room, I stopped when I entered the living quarters. There was a large hole in my floor with bits of broken stone littering the room by bathroom door, unfortunate my magic may have caused the mess but could not repair it I would have to seek out the maintenance workers. Sighing I collected my boots and pulled them on, deciding I would go for an early breakfast, I left my quarters.
The weather was still miserable but it always was at this time of year when the winds swept the rain clouds over the Dagan Sea towards Thane where the heavens opened. Pulling my hood up I marched on towards the dining hall. Reaching the hall I hastily opened the door and slipped inside as another downpour began. The room was quiet at this time in the morning I scanned the many tables set out in the vast room for a familiar face, a blaze of colour in the far corner had me automatically heading in that direction after detouring slightly to get myself some pancakes. Gyn looked up and smiled evidence of a bad night's sleep was clear on her face and she too supported purple bags under her eyes and her vibrant hair was untamed giving her a slightly feral look.
"Bad night too?" she asked appraising my fading bags and sloppy hairstyle. I nodded.
"Your news had me tossing and turning" I explained giving her a rueful smile. I picked at my breakfast as we sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Why would they come back after their defeat last time I mean ..." Gyn began then trailing off.
"No idea but to be honest I think we should push this news from out mind we don't know how much of it is true and has been amped up by gossips. We should just continue as normal it does not concern us ... yet". Just as the words left my lips a page made his way across the hall right towards us. Gyn shot me a panicked glance I motioned for her to calm after all this may have nothing to do with shadow mages and could just be another assignment for us.
"Miss Keera Earthen and Gyn Inferno?" the page asked formally. We looked at each other.
"That's us" Gyn replied.
"you are to report to conference room 11 in half an hour and are to bring Mr Jet Airwalker with you" he said reading from a small slip of paper which he then handed to me, bowed to us both and left. Gyn and I glanced at each other again perplexed, why were we being summoned to a conference meeting.
"We had better go and wake up sleeping beauty then" I said getting to my feet. Gyn laughed we both knew that no one could sleep like Jet could.
We made our way through the rain towards his quarters. The land surrounding the Elders tower was filled with buildings some were public others were training rooms but most were living quarters for the apprentice guards and Elder guards. Weaving our way through the collection of buildings we made it to Jet's room. I rapped on the door loudly and waited a moment.
"He is not going to answer" Gyn said confirming what I had also thought.
"What a surprise" I replied.
"Allow me" she said conjuring up a blaze in the palm of her hand and holding it over the metal lock careful not to ignite the wooden door she melted the metal so it liquefied and dripped into a pool on the floor. I smirked and raised an eyebrow at her. "Think of it as me extracting revenge on him for you, after all it's because of him that you now have a gaping hole in your living quarters" she said.
Without the metal lock the door swung open effortlessly, we entered his quarters dodging the mess he had left strewn all over the floor we edged our way into his bedroom. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. He woke with a start sending a blast of air at us in his panic, we were sent sailing across the room and into the wall where we landed in a heap. I groaned detangling myself from Gyn; pain throbbed along my shoulder blades from the impact with the wall.
"Damit Jet who needs enemies when we have a friend like you!" I snarled clambering to my feet and pulling Gyn into a standing position. He looked at us sheepishly having the courtesy to look ashamed.
"To be honest you did break into my room and wake me up I could have been under attack, it's natural for me to react" he replied regaining some of his swagger. We could not argue with that fact so I left the dispute and decided to tell him about the summon, it took a great deal of control.
"Why? What for?" he shouted from the bathroom finally deciding to address the information we had given him. We sat in the living room waiting for him to get ready.
"How are we supposed to know, that's why we have to go, to find out what they have to say" Gyn answered.
"Hurry up at this rate we won't get there, what are you doing? I can get ready faster than this" I snapped, I was still unhappy about being blown across the room. Jet emerged from the bathroom looking no different to when he had climbed out of bed. I shook my head in exasperation.
"Come on or we will be late" I said wrapping my cloak around my body I swiftly left the room. Leaving the others to follow it was amazing how quickly my mood could be soured. I heard Jet complaining about his door handle however and this did make me feel a bit better, a smug smile spreading across my lips as I made my way to conference room 11.