Ashlyn POV

Cade tugs my arm so I twist round to face him slightly. I focus on him, but some of my attention is entrapped by the escalating rumours as more and more students pour down the many staircases and through doorways I never noticed were there.

My brother gives me a sympathetic look and whispers, "Ignore it. It'll eventually settle down," I follow him now, weaving our way fairly easily through the parting wave of teenagers, many whirling round to catch a glimpse of us as their friends hint at us in what they think are subtle gestures.

I close my eyes and open them again quickly. Cade is trailing Naomi, who occassionaly yells at the slightly more boisterous pupils to shut their traps.

Naomi turns down a side corridor, which is lined with yet more, but smaller tapestries depicting many animals. Panthers, lions, wolves, great birds the size of trees. Others trap beautiful figures in woven vines of earth. Gods engulfed in flames and fire. Mermaids twisting and turning so gracefully in the deep hues of blue and Goddesses frozen in ice.

The tapestries are so life-like that they appear to move, eyes sloping to follow the few people in the twisting corridor. Each thread enchanted to twist ever so slightly at any movement.

Great dragons paint the walls, their wings spanning the lengths of castles, their gums gleaming with triumphant scowls. I shiver. The dominant painting follows me, the ice blue eyes trailing me with knowledge, pain and sacrifice as it cradles the body of a child in its gleaming wings, the cave around it swathed in jewels of gold and silver that seem to be a part of the beast.

The echo of our footsteps is loud in the quiet hallway, but diminish as we emerge into a large circular lounge. Sofas lie around an open fire, which is roaring in the large stone hearth. They look well used, the cushions sunken in but still plush looking. Books lie on the floor, their spines bent with the pressure of waiting for there reader to lick them up once more. Students were obviously to lazy to place them back on the bookshelves that sit beside the fire.

"Over here, guys," Naomi waves her hand, silver bangles clanking together, "This is Mr. Matholeil's class. He's an elf, so he's very... I don't even know. But he's good at that history thing, since he's so old."

The girl didn't even knock, she just flung the door open, cool as the other side of the pillow. I cringe as it cracks against the wall, already an obvious dent signalling this motion had been recreated many times before.

"Naomi Spring! What have I said about dramatic entrances? That door isn't a springy as you anymore." The teacher hadn't even turned around in his chair as he says it.

I snigger as Naomi rolls her eyes and grabs my hand to drag me up to the great mahogany desk, with Cade lagging behind us, chewing on his stubs for fingernails.

"Oh come on, Mr. Matholeil, you have that door enchanted specifically for mwa. I know you enjoy my flourishes," she twists her wrist in a flicking motion, highlighting her statement, "besides, I have I reason today. We have two new students joining us from here on out, I know you'll like them, they're very likable indeed. They even caught the attention of my big bro, and you know how hard that is. Well, actually it's not, but-"

"Hush, my dear," Mr. Matholeil swings round in his chair, his long hair nearly floating like a halo around his head, white as snow.

His features surprise me. There is no sign of aging in sight, but I couldn't gauge his age. He could be only twenty, or going on fourty, I couldn't tell. But the piercing violet of his eyes was kind and immeasurably old. They held amusement, and wrinkles slightly at the edges as he smiles, chuckling slightly.

"Miss Spring, I see you have brought me the latest whispers of The Academy," he ruffles Naomi's hair with his slender fingers as she protests, "Ashlyn and Caden Edencorn, have I heard much about you both."

His gaze is soft, but I can see it harden slightly as he gazes upon my brother, who waves slightly awkwardly at the teacher. I can guess why, that's for certain.

I step slightly forward, breaking Mr. Matholeil's gaze from Cade's.

"Hi Mr Matholeil, it's very nice to meet you, I'm Ash, and this is Cade," I reach out my hand to shake his. He takes it, his grip warm and reassuring, smiling gently and tilting his head.

"It's wonderful to meet you to, Miss Edencorn, I'm sure you will be a pleasure to teach, as long as there isn't any sort of... trouble," his gaze flickers  to Caden for a millisecond, almost quick enough for me not to notice.

He releases my hand after what seems like a lifetime, and I smile lightly before taking Naomi's hand as she drags me somewhere once more, this time to the back of the classroom, which seems to be themed around nature and art, elves dancing around a fire and dwarves in full battle armour, nymphs and sprites flitting through trees. This school sure likes art.

~~•~~

"Today, we will start with a new topic of our beginning," Mr Matholeil's voice weaves through the room like a stream, and I am instantly enraptured in the way he tells this story, a though he was there himself.

~~•~~

The earth was there, full of greenery and water and beauty, but only one breathing life form resided on this planet, the soul of the first shape-shifter, Aislinn.

She was alone in the world, so she stayed holed up in her cavern, surrounded by walls of glittering gold and untouched gems, her golden soul blending with the treasure as she was the treasure.

The world grew and mountains soared into the sky, nature ruling supreme.

After millennia of slumber, Aislinn awoke, and with her creatures of whom she had dreamed of. First, there was the creatites of light. Sprites, nymphs and faeries flitted through the very being of the earth and mermaids found there habitat in the water. Birds filled the air with song and fish painted the sea with colour. The light of the shadows basked in the warmth of day and luminescense of the moon. Many other creatures were created from the light in Aislinn's soul. But many were also born from darkness.

Wolves were ruled by the light of the moon and hunted by the darkness of the night. The shadow beings twisted their way into the light and darkened it. Vampires drained many dry and hid from the brightness of the sun. Banshees flitted through shadows around the dying, shrieking their song.

Many of these creatures had an equal amount of light and dark among their souls. Warlocks could choose to work the elements or be servants of death. Sirens lured humans to their deaths from the sea.

The elves carved the forests, and decided whether it was to be bright with the many creatures of the forests, or a husk of life, empty of anything except for the plants and the ones who chose to stay there.

Aislinn weaved this world over a long time, millennia upon millennia. By the end, she had sewn each soul with another, only to rip them apart for them to find one another again. She did this with every soul, good and evil, strong and weak. Including her own. She didn't choose, she wasn't aware of this. When she found out, she was weak and dying, but she made sure that at any instant she fell in love with this soul, that she would die. She didn't want to feel the pain of love. She had seen enough of it in her own creation to last a lifetime.

So she cursed their souls to a repeating cycle of reincarnation, where it only took a glance with eyes that held love towards each other, that Aislinn would crumble to ashes and rise like a Phoenix from them, in a different place and at any time.

But this is but a legend. Many claim to have seen the life mates, but it is described as a myth, and only a myth.

Remember this, as it is the foundation of our world, the very being of it.

~~•~~

My head was swimming thoughts as the bell tolled through the arching hallways, reverberating through the towers. We were heading towards lunch, history having taken up three periods of the day. My stomach was grumbling and I was craving chips to be honest. My head was filled with the thought of them. Oh, and how this world was created as well, of course. But mainly chips.

"Naomi-" I twist slightly to look at her beside me, our arms linked in a tight grip,"-are there chips in the dining hall, I'm kinda craving them, an hour and a half of history is a bit much in my opinion," I rub my eyes slightly with my free arm. I hadn't had much sleep last night, which was normal, considering I had just gotten back her after being kidnapped by God-knows who. Or what.

"Oh yeah, of course there are, anything you want, you get-" Naomi grins,"-food wise, of course."

"Well then," I take a deep breath,"you better prepare yourself for a loaded dinner table. Mama's starving."