With much haste Grand Mage Demeer had appeared in the ruined courtyard with Belle and Azzy at his side fully aware of the situation thanks to Belle's quick explanation. Leotomas and Jefferson had already set to work shutting off the area and evacuating the injured to the healing wing, though there had been surprisingly few injuries. With the immense speed they'd come to expect from the White Inferno, Ognyan, chubby little thing that he was, scurried from inside the building and up onto Demeer's shoulder.

Without hesitation Demeer ordered that the snake girl was taken to the Valkyrie training room as it was out of the way and re-enforced with wards – not that he was a hundred percent sure it would hold her after the hole she'd turned his courtyard into.

In under a hour, Leotomas had contained the panic and gotten repairs underway to seal off the vault using mages skilled in earth magic before anybody got the idea to attempt a robbery. Professors escorted students out of the area while the Valkyries secured it. Meanwhile, Rumple had surprised even himself by sitting on the training room's floor, his back against a pillar and the snake-like creature's head rested comfortably in his lap while her tail had coiled around them. Belle hadn't said much, just sat quietly not too far from them after she'd checked on Amicia, since she didn't wish to disturb the unconscious girl.

Only when things had calmed down did Demeer show his face again, this time accompanied by Phria, Vice-Captain Stonecrop and Ognyan who still perched on his shoulder. For a moment the man just stared down at the display before him unsure of how to react. All lay silent for several moments. Silence was a strange thing indeed. It could signify a void of absolute nothingness whether living beings were present or not and, just because it signified nothingness didn't mean nothing was there; the word was practically a paradox. Silence wasn't simply a complete absence of sound, no, it was also a body's emotional response for when it didn't quite know what the correct emotional response was. Sometimes it even went hand in hand with shock. Silence and Shock, the two sons of Sentiment just as Anger and Courage were the daughters of Hope.

"I've never seen a creature such as this before."

Belle pushed herself to her feet while Rumple continued to pet the girl's raven hair. "But you knew the egg was there?"

He nodded with a sigh. "Several generations of Grand Mages have. The egg has always been thought of as … dead. Though now I suppose dormant would have been a more apt description. Hilda Talinum was the Grand Mage who took possession of it all those years ago, she regarded it as a paperweight from what I understand but locked it in the vault anyway. How did this even happen?"

Finally Rumple looked up. "Jefferson and myself are to blame." Cynthia grumbled out an 'of course you are' but she went ignored. "Jefferson has tried to gain entry to the Arcane University several times, yes?" Demeer nodded. "In this realm, Jefferson's abilities are classified as dark magic just like my own and the dragon who sired her. Leaching energy from the artefacts down there sustained the egg but his arrival acted as a catalyst for her hatching. The egg began absorbing the remnants of magic he left behind and then from myself once I arrived."

"And you are significantly more powerful than him."

"Indeed, dearie. I got here and suddenly there was a much larger supply of cast off magic for the egg which just kept on absorbing. When I touched the egg though, it took too much too quickly and directly. That is what caused the extreme growth after she hatched."

"That must have been terrifying, especially for one so young." Belle almost whispered.

"Will it happen again, Master?"

"No, Phria. Once she hatched, she lost the ability to absorb magic because the sigil had broken. I collected the excess inside her before it became too much and killed her."

"What are we meant to do with it?" Cynthia demanded with a hiss of disgust. "Do we tell King Nathaniel? Can we have dwarves craft chains strong enough to hold that thing?"

Belle paled. "Chains? Why do we need to chain a child? A child whose first minutes of life were filled with Valkyries trying to kill her. Is it any wonder she lashed out?"

Cynthia's mouth opened to say something else distasteful but Rumple's comment caused even her to face him.

"She called me papa." That had Belle's expression soften as she knelt at his side comfortingly. Phria's eyes softened as well, though she managed to prevent herself going to hug him. "She trusted me because of the amount of dark power I possess. It was familiar to her, comforting even. It seemed … parental."

Demeer raked a hand down his goateed face. "You want me to entrust this creature to your care, don't you?"

Cynthia was quick to object. "I know it may not be my place, Grand Mage, but as far as we know this thing is the only one of its species and has already destroyed two levels of the vault and the courtyard in what was apparently a tantrum. What if it's as violent and evil as its parents and brother? Then there is the public to worry about. What will they think if we harbor a monster to satisfy the whims of a demon lord? It's bad enough having the Dark One swanning around without whatever this snake thing is as well."

Demeer tickled Ognyan's cheek with a single finger as he sighed deeply. "I understand your concerns, Vice-Captain, I do and you make some very good points, but Rumpelstiltskin is likely the only one who can understand this girl and he is right that she is a child. She is not responsible for the sins of her father. Rumpelstiltskin is here as an ally despite the legends, so we clearly cannot judge a book by its scaly cover. This institution exists to discover rather than destroy." Demeer turned his head to Rumple. "I will not let her out onto the streets with the public though. I won't put people at risk, or her for that matter.

"That seems fair," commented Belle.

Phria straightened up knowing that her not insisting the girl was slaughter while unconscious had only made Cynthia hate her all the more.

"Grand Mage, what do you recommend?"

There was a momentary pause as Demeer assessed his choices but, when he finally settled on a course of action, he made sure his tone left no room for doubt.

"She stays here. Rumpelstiltskin and Princess Belle will assess her along with Jefferson, myself and Leotomas. Captain Federlord, please place guards on the training room door. Other than yourself I want no other Valkyries in here unless there are unmitigated circumstances. You will oversee the guards personally."

Phria nodded. "Of course, Grand Mage."

The brown eyes of Demeer again turned down to the little girl. "I don't even know what she is."

"A lamia." Rumple supplied much to everybody's astonishment.

"You've seen a creature like this before?"

Rumple shook his head but didn't cease petting her hair softly. "No, but I've heard about them. They live in a realm I've hardly visited. A place of gods and monsters."

Cynthia snorted. "Are you suggesting this thing is divine? How preposterous."

Oh, Rumple may have felt the constant urge to murder, torture and berate fade since he'd been summoned to Dreymyr, but Cynthia Stonecrop did her best to bring it all back to him it would seem. To be perfectly frank, he thought Phria let her get away with far too much.

"I'm saying she's a lamia rather than a thing or an it. Though, from what I understand of this realm's view on dragons, maybe she is a little divine."

"Do you think she actually understood you and can speak?"

"Yes, Belle. She listened to me and she called me papa, but what newborn is capable of full conversation?"

Cynthia shook her head as though not killing the little girl was the outrageous suggestion.

"I'm sorry, Grand Mage, but this is insane. This lamia just wants to kill people. Jayne, Josephine and Scarlette were all injured, Josephine seriously so."

Phria finally chose to rein her Vice-Captain in. Her hatred for non-human species had taken over her argument and it needed to be brought to a close.

"Leave us, Cynthia."

If looks could kill, Phria would have dropped down dead. Belle and Rumple had always known Cynthia had little respect for her superior, but with that death glare they'd finally caught on to the fact there was much more going on. Annoyed, Cynthia stormed out slamming the door behind her but the lamia didn't wake.

"You must realize," Demeer began. "Vice-Captain Stonecrop's concerns are not unwarranted and many will share her opinion."

"Grand Mage, you should know by now, if anybody wants to hurt her then they'll have to go through the First Demon Lord."

That actually made the goateed man smile. "I am fully aware of that, Princess. That is why I would very much like to keep this under wraps to prevent Rumpelstiltskin proving that."

"I'll place Isadora and Ashuna on the door for now then organize a guard rotation. Please excuse me."

With that Phria departed, though she closed the door with significantly less volatile force. Cynthia Stonecrop truly was a virago who had few friends.

"I must excuse myself as well. I have an entire school to calm down and need to figure out how much of this has reached Bichelberger's streets yet."

With Demeer gone, Belle settled back down beside Rumple and watched him comfort the sleeping girl. When a regular size she was actually rather adorable even with the snake tail and wings. Others saw a monster, a creature to be cautious of, but Belle had seen him sooth Amicia to sleep after a nightmare, so knew all he saw was a little girl. She rested her head against his shoulder; every time she thought she couldn't, Belle fell more in love with him.

~X~

A few days had passed since the lamia was born. In that time the training room had been closed off from just about everybody and Belle had taken to distracting Amicia by taking her into Borobello Market. Rumple had summoned a simple bed into the training room for the lamia to sleep in, though she'd not woken up since she'd collapsed in the courtyard. He'd remained by her side for the most part since he'd been sure she'd have panicked if she woke to find him absent. While certain she'd not be able to absorb more magic, Rumple couldn't be sure how strong she was innately.

The girl was really rather cute as she lay there on the small bed; jet black hair down to her waist, pale skin and tiny black claws similar to Rumple's own. Her eyes were black as onyx and her little fangs were much sharper than they looked. While Amicia was roughly ten, the lamia appeared to be about six despite being only a few days old. Adorable, this girl was adorable and reminded Rumple of Bae when he'd been tiny. Rumple's mission was the same as it had always been, to find his son and repair their relationship, yet he'd fallen in love with a beautiful woman, adopted a child and now seemed to have found himself stood guard over another lonely child.

Rumple sat reading one of the dozens of books on dragons, basilisks and other creatures the lamia was related to when Phria entered quietly so as not to disturb. For the briefest of seconds the pantherian watched him with a small smile. Such a powerful man was the Dark One, a man she'd assumed to be a monster at first just like everybody else, but he didn't flaunt his power like most, didn't need reminding of his overwhelming omnipotence. He treated Belle and Amicia with love and respect despite their elven blood and had gone so far as to adopt little Amicia. A kindly demon he was. Phria didn't know what the black-haired girl was capable of, but she knew she'd be safe with Rumple. Cynthia had continued to grumble and call for the child's slaughter but the Grand Mage had firmly denied it.

Rumple's head was lowered as he read which had caused his messy hair to pool around his face; there was something strangely adorable about it, then there were the leather breeches. Phria felt her cheeks flush. Didn't matter because Rumple loved Princess Belle. She was smart and feminine, perfect really while Phria chose to be a soldier. Phria wasn't dramatically muscular or anything, but her body was hard and more angular than soft and supple. Her long white hair had always been the most beautiful part of herself in her opinion but it couldn't hold a candle to Belle's luscious chestnut curls. Then there was Phria's scar over her eye.

"Did you need something, dearie?"

That jolted the pantherian out of her thoughts and back to the world around her. She moved further into the large room and cleared her throat.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hover, Master. And I though you'd stopped calling me that."

He closed the book, set it aside and glanced upward to the white-haired woman with a smirk.

"I make deals, I don't take requests no matter how pretty the girl asking. I'll drop the dearie if you cease calling me master. Deal?"

"First Demon Lord then?"

"Try again."

"Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Better. We have a deal." He giggled. "I do love a good deal."

With that issue finally behind them, Phria moved to the foot of the lamia's bed and brushed her ponytail back over her shoulder. Were she not able to see the child's chest slowly rise and fall, Phria may have assumed her dead. She may have been sired by Isra, but the girl was little more than an innocent.

"How is she?"

"Still unconscious," he answered plainly. "She seems healthy, if that's what you mean."

"Now she's a normal size, I can see just how beautiful she really is." Phria rounded the bed to crouch down beside it to stroke the girl's hair with her back to Rumple. "Her hair is so soft as well, could probably use a comb though."

"How about we focus on her waking up first?"

The pantherian glanced over her shoulder only to realize just how close she'd placed herself to his leather-clad legs. His scales shined a dramatic golden-green unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Phria flushed again and stood.

"Everything all right, Phria?"

"Fine. Perfectly fine." She said a little too quickly. "Em, do you think she'd need a healing potion or something to help her?"

"No." Rumple shook his head. "She's healthy, just been through a lot. She's exhausted because of the magic fluctuations inside her, rest is all she needs.

At first Phria honestly had expected him to be a monster there to corrupt the Grand Mage, but, unlike Cynthia, she'd seen he was more than just a scary title. He had a unique sense of humor and didn't treat Phria like she was less simply because she was a pantherian. Yes, she honestly had come to respect Rumpelstiltskin.

"You sure you're all right, Phria? You seem … different."

Phria nodded. "I'm fine, I promise. Is there anything I can do for you or her?"

A pause lingered a second or two as he thought. "Aye, I suppose there is one thing. The books I've read mention that the cardinal dragons could take human form from time to time using a talisman to facilitate that."

"Isn't that just a myth?" Phria queered with an upward quirk of her eyebrow.

Rumple shook his head. "There is something similar in my realm, I've crafted these items before. Things that could give mermaids legs, human's tails and I actually know a woman who can turn herself into a dragon."

"You know a dragon?!" Phria exclaimed. "A real dragon? That's amazing."

He smirked with a tease. "Please, darling, hold your applause. I'm assuming that transformation magic would be classified as dark magic, yes?"

"Yes," Phria nodded. "If it isn't connected directly to an element or the spirit, then it's dark magic. If this talisman can be made, it would surely be dark magic."

Rumple let out a long hum and tapped his chin. "Yet all the dragons were supposedly capable of it. I'm starting to think dark magic is more ingrained in Dreymyr than this realm thinks. Maybe somebody somehow tried to banish it."

Even Rumple thought such a suggestion sounded strange and a bit of a stretch, but without any other information to go on he couldn't really draw any other conclusion.

"Who would do such a thing?"

"I have no idea, it's not important right now."

"If you're going to attempt making this talisman for Valdis, I'd like to help."

Rumple's face scrunched in confusion. "Valdis?"

Phira's lovely green eyes turned to the child for a moment before they drifted back to Rumple. She'd not wished to be presumptive, but Phria had grown sick of only referring to her as 'the child' or 'the girl' as if she were less than a person.

"It's a Valkyrie name, a strong name and I think she needs that."

Honestly, Rumple felt much the same as Phria did on the subject. She deserved a name and he had no objections to Phria giving her one.

"All right, Valdis it is. Belle is terrible at naming things anyway." The pantherian flushed again because they'd just named a child together but shook her head to toss that thought from her mind. "Were I in my realm, I'd just whip such an item up as I normally would, but magic has different rules here. It'll be more difficult."

"Well," Phria folded her arms over her chest. "Why don't you just craft this talisman as you would in your realm then alter it from there?"

Rumple finally stood. "Do you have any idea how many edits that could take?"

"Sorry." Phria's head lowered. "I'm not very good with magic, never have been, I just wanted to help."

Rumple watched the young woman subreptitiously a moment or two. He'd started to notice that Phria seemed to have a slight uneasiness to her personality and seemed to think herself unworthy of her position as the Valkyrie Captain. He'd also observed the way Cynthia spoke to Phria despite being her subordinate.

"No, it's a good starting point and will probably be better than using the slightest hint of information these books have given me alone."

That perked Phria up somewhat and she quickly offered to help again. "What would this talisman even look like?"

"Something small would be best, something easily transported and kept close." The emerald-eyed beauty suggested a ring but Rumple shook his head. "No, it would need to be something Valdis won't grow out of."

"A necklace then?" That was a fine suggestion that Rumple quickly agreed to. "How would you make it? What do you need?"

"First I'd need a base, something made from a metal good at retaining magical energy."

"Crimson steel? That's what my sword is made from."

"That is designed for offensive and defensive spells, it's also temperamental from what the Lyrelocket brothers tell me. Normally I'd just make some gold so it was imbued with my magic, but I haven't yet figured out how to make it here."

"That's alchemy! You're an alchemist?"

Rumple waved her off. "Amongst other things."

"Well, how did you learn to do it in your realm?"

"I didn't, I was just spinning … and thinking about my son."

Phria's expression turned serious then as a genuine concern settled over her. A son? The Dark One had a son.

"You have a son?" When he muttered out only the word 'somewhere', Phria had bit her tongue to avoid asking questions which would only hurt him. "Maybe you should try doing that here. Maybe you could learn it again."

Rumple had no desire to talk about his son though, just thinking of Bae hurt what remained of his dark heart. Yet, when he looked at Valdis still asleep in the little bed, Rumple remembered cruel people like Cynthia Stonecrop had already called for her death. Valdis wouldn't be safe without that talisman to disguise herself. Rumple's eyes slipped shut a moment as he held in a sigh; he supposed it would be worth the pain if it meant a child was protected. A wave of his hand summoned his spinning wheel from his room back at the Teapot Inn which startled Phria a little, she hid it though and watched quietly as he sat down and began to spin with a practised hand. Much to his annoyance, but as he'd expected, the straw only managed to become lead; the pantherian seemed suitable impressed regardless but Rumple hardly noticed.

Silence lingered for quite some time before Phria plucked up the courage to shuffle closer and make a suggestion she was sure couldn't be easy for him.

"Em, perhaps you could talk about him?"

"I don't want to." He said quickly but without malice; Phria could understand his reluctance so she opted to help.

"How about I tell you about me first?" She sat herself down beside his wheel on the chair he'd been reading at only a few moments earlier. "Can't hurt."

He nodded and simply looked at the emerald-eyed beauty. "Aye, all right. So, where did the great Captain Federlord come from?"

Phria shrugged. "Nowhere special. There isn't exactly a rule against it but, traditionally, all Valkyries come from noble families. Cynthia's father is a count, Scarlette's and Excella's is an earl, while I'm just a commoner. My parents were kind and loving but they were adventurers so, one day, they just … didn't come home from a quest." A child left alone, Rumple understood that all too well. "I was sent to my Uncle Hamish after that and I quickly realized why I'd not known I had an uncle." Rumple turned more to face her fully as Phria's voice grew sorrowful. "He only cared about money, drank and gambled too much and got violent when he didn't get his way." A pale finger gestured to the scar over her left eye, the only blemish on her otherwise beautiful face. "That's how I got this. He found a use for me though. Nights on those streets were cold, I tried to refuse the men but – but my uncle wanted his money and I was too small to fight back."

Rumple forced himself to start spinning to avoid hunting the bastard down and ripping his scrotum out through his throat. He'd done horrible things but he'd never understood those who could harm children; surely something had to be sacred.

"You're not to blame, darling."

Nobody had ever actually told Phria that but it caused tears to prick in her eyes once she'd heard it, Phria held them in though and carried on with her story with the wheel turning as a comforting background noise.

"… One night, a man found me being beaten by some guys who hadn't wanted to pay. He helped me, brought me to the University and used his magic to heal me. I've been with the Arcane University ever since." Phria's lips curled upwards ever so slightly as a happier memory flashed through her mind. "He tried to teach me magic but I have little aptitude for it, so he gave me to the last Valkyrie Captain to see if I'd take to a sword, and I did. She became my master, taught me everything and made me who I am now. I owe everything to the two of them. When Iris retired two years ago she surprised everybody by naming me as her replacement. There were objections but Grand Mage Demeer agreed to it, so here I am." Phria shrugged again. "I know I'm young, but I try to be a good leader – doesn't matter, I'm still a commoner."

"And that is why Cynthia is quite so rude," he surmised as the wheel continued to spit out only lead thread. "Because she's a count's daughter and you're beneath her."

Phria sighed and pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "That's about the sum of it."

"I bet being a pantherian doesn't help either."

"Not really. Some are more tolerant than others but those who hate demi-humans never allow me to forget I'm not as good as the rest."

"No, darling, you're not as good as them, you're better." Green eyes snapped to him. "The position their birth afforded them is the reason they're Valkyries. You are here despite yours. It's to be admired."

The white-haired woman smiled softly at him; had anybody ever expected a demon lord to be so kind?

"You speak as though you understand."

"I do." He told her as he glanced down to the basket of lead thread with irritation. "You're not the only one born a commoner."

Phria was taken aback for a moment. "But you're a demon lord. The First Demon Lord."

"True and maybe the Dark One who gave you your legends was an actual lord, but I started as a boring peasant in a tiny village."

The woman was simply easy to speak to, that was surely the only reason he gave up so much of his past so freely. Normally, he'd have hidden every scrap of his history before becoming the Dark One, but pieces just kept tumbling from his lips as he conversed with young Phria.

"Wait, there is more than one Dark One?"

He remembered having a comparable conversation with Belle late one night back at the Teapot Inn, she'd had a similar reaction at first but, Belle being the smart one she was, had quickly gotten her head around the idea.

"Aye. In Dreymyr you all learn magic as best you can up to your natural limit." Rumple explained. "We do the same if we can find somebody to teach us. You see, we don't have schools like this or guilds. But that isn't how I got my magic. Being the Dark One is to be cursed. A curse that passes from person to person if certain criteria are met."

"Certain criteria?"

"You have to kill the previous one." He looked back to Phria. "Then your reward is becoming a monster and looking as I do. I wasn't born a demon, Phria, I used to be human."

Rumple tensed when Phria rested a hand comforting on his thigh and smiled assuredly at him. "You're no monster. I've battled monsters and you aren't one of them."

In that moment he saw in Phria the same kind soul that Belle had. Rumple being a monster had long ago become an axiom, but these women insisted he was no beast. Phria was just as beautiful as Belle as well, though in very different ways. Then there were the ears; normally he was more of a dog person, but Rumple constantly found his attention turn to pantherian ears, they just looked so soft. He only jolted out of his thoughts when Phria prompted him to tell her about his son.

"… His name is Baelfire, I called him Bae though. I was at war when he was born but, when I finally met him, I fell hopelessly in love with him. Bae's smart, compassionate and brave. His mother abandoned us when he was tiny, just vanished with another man uncaring of how much she'd hurt him. I did my best and we were happy together. The war though – we have ogres too and the war just didn't stop. Our Duke lowered the conscription age – they were going to take my boy the next day so I had to do something." Rumple sighed deeply as the wheel turned. "I was tricked, lied to and desperate, all of that led me to killing Zozo, the last Dark One, and I ended up what I am. There's evil in the curse, Phria, it corrupts even the most noble. I became what I am to protect children, end a war and save my son. The road to hell is paved with good intentions though as they say. Bae-"

"You made gold!" Phria suddenly announced, voice laced with astonishment. "You actually made gold! That's amazing."

Sure enough, when Rumple peered down at the thread, it had slowly transitioned from dark lead the to glittery gold he was so used to. Rumple kept spinning, made as much as he could as quickly as possible until there was a long coil of it pouring over the side of the bowl. A cowardly part of Rumple relaxed at the sight of the gold, he'd regained a power which, until his summons to Dreymyr, had been as natural as breathing to him. Meanwhile, Phria snatched up some of the thread with wide eyes, she'd never seen alchemy before or even known it truly possible until that moment.

"I see why you're the demon lord." She wrapped the gold around her fingers amazed at just how light and delicate the thread was. "Now you have this, can you make the talisman for Valdis?"

He nodded while continuing to spin furiously. "I can fashion this into a base, yes. I'll incorporate some of this lead I've made. I'll need a core for it though. A stone which can retain a lot of magic, a power source."

"Ruby dust is in crimson steel, but you already said no to that. I have heard some mages speak of diamonds being particularly good at containing magical energy."

"I appreciate your attempt to help, Phria, but the talisman would require something in keeping with what Valdis is." Finally the furious spinning came to a close and Rumple leaned back in his stool to see the copious quantity of gold he'd produced. "Were I giving a mermaid legs, I'd use a pearl. Understand?" Phria nodded, she supposed that made sense. "Onyx. Onyx would work nicely." Those impossibly big eyes of his turned away from gold to the pantherian at his side. "I assume there is somewhere in this city I can acquire some? It must be of good quality, reasonably large and smooth."

Phria thought for a few moments. To be perfectly honest, she didn't often leave the Arcane University and, when she did, it was on official business so there hadn't been all that much time for shopping. However, Phria was familiar with the city since she'd lived there since her birth.

"There's probably a trader in Borobello Market but I don't know if they'll have a piece of the quality you want. There are two or three jewelers in the city I know of though."

Rumple suddenly rose to his feet then startling the soldier, though she hid it well, and made his way to the small table he'd piled some books up on when he'd begun his watch over Valdis. He quickly unfurled a map he'd pilfered from somewhere in the University and gestured to it as he looked over his shoulder to Phria.

"Show me."

"This is a lovely map." She remarked once by his side but Rumple didn't seem much in the mood for pointless niceties and observations.

"Yes, I've been acquiring one for every location I've been to."

A delicate hand moved over the map for a second before Phria finally pointed to a spot not too far from the main market, then another much further away on Trident Street; so named because it branched off in three separate directions at the northern end.

"Those are the two I know about."

Rumple hummed to himself as a clawed finger tapped his chin absent-mindedly. "A reasonable walk from the inn I got a room at when we arrived."

Though they'd paid for that room, they'd not remained long thanks to Demeer insisting that they stay at the Arcane University. That had been a boon for everybody as it was free and meant Rumple hadn't needed to constantly go back and forth; it had also been the first time Amicia had ever had her own room and she'd become quite proud of it.

Abruptly, the map vanished and Rumple turned to face Phria fully. "Still wish to help?" She nodded, confirming that she did. "Then come here."

Before Phria could question the demon lord, he'd snaked an arm around her armor-clad waist and magicked them out of the University grounds. He doubted Valdis would wake and trusted the faith Phria had in Isadora, Halcyone and Excella to guard the little girl well.