Under the starry night sky, near the front gate of the Korax estate, Ray and the others stood surrounded by masked figures. The only weapons the children had were brooms. Ray gulped. “Who are you?” The shadowy figure behind him chuckled. “Questions? Hah. Most kids scream.”

  It’s a woman.

  Elaira looked around for an escape but noticed that they were surrounded. Ray glanced at Sera, who was near an open space between the shadowy figures.

  Sera’s fast. If anyone can reach the mansion, it’s her. A hand landed on Ray’s head. “What are you thinking, kid?” Ray stared at Sera until she noticed him and gestured with his eyes towards the open space. She nodded. Elaira noticed Ray’s gesture to Sera and smiled. The faint moonlight was enough to hide their expressions from the shadowy figures.

  Ray slowly turned around, the woman’s hand still on his head. He clenched the broom. Elaira gestured to Aidan and Jon, who nodded in unison.

  “You want to know?” The moonlight landed on his smirk as he looked up at her.

  The woman leaned in to speak, but Ray jabbed the broom into her teeth before a word escaped, then sent her chin skyward with a kick that echoed through the night.

  That was the signal. Elaira and Aidan threw their brooms at the two figures near Sera, giving her enough time to sprint towards the mansion.

  The woman coughed as she stumbled back. One of the shadowy figures grabbed Ray’s head and slammed him to the ground.

  Ah! That hurt!

  The other two caught Elaira and Aidan while the woman started laughing.

  Blood and dust covered Ray’s nose as he tried to look up at her through his blurry eyes. Then a loud thud caught Ray, Elaira, and Aidan’s attention. It was Sera who got caught. “I’m sorry, Ray.” Sera lowered her gaze. A dark bruise was already forming under her eye.

  The woman kept laughing, then her laughter died in her throat as she stepped on Ray’s head.

  Elaira and Aidan tried to fight back, but one of the shadowy figures punched Elaira in her gut, and the other choked Aidan.

  The cool night air suddenly started freezing, and the woman glared towards the mansion. The shadowy figures near her choked under the intense pressure of someone’s glare.

  It was the duke. Standing next to the Duke was Jon. And other shadowy figures stood still, their skin pale and limbs frozen. She smiled. “We’ll meet again, brat.” She slammed her foot on Ray’s head one last time and jumped over the gate. The air stilled around her, and Julia appeared near her and swung her sword. The shadowy woman blocked it with ease. “You need more training, White Swan.” In a blur in the air, the woman disappeared. “I’ll look for that artefact later.” Her voice echoed. Julia looked around, but to no avail.

  Ray lay on his back and glanced at the shadowy figures; their faces had a ghastly expression, as if they had frozen to death. He touched their bodies, which were as cold as the northern glaciers. Glancing at the Duke, he wondered. What did he do? From so far away at that.

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  Jon rushed towards Ray and the others, helping them up one by one. “How did you even get there, Jon?” Elaira asked, coughing.

  Jon smirked. “I slipped through the wall’s shadows.” As he pointed to the front wall.

  Elaira smirked, “So you aren’t useless?” Aidan interrupted, “You blabbermouth, I gave you the idea.”

  Jon chuckled nervously, and Elaira sighed. Ray walked towards Sera and knelt. “Are you okay?”

  She looked at him with dead eyes. Ray sighed, “Alright, I get it. You’re not okay.” He wiped the blood off his face and sat next to her. “How did you get caught?”

  Sera looked down. “I ran as fast as I could, but somebody suddenly punched me. He glanced at the mansion and handed me to one of the men near him and disappeared.”

  So, there were two leaders.

  The frozen man next to Ray suddenly moved, grabbed him, and shouted, “Let me go, otherwise I’ll kill this brat.” He started clawing Ray’s neck.

  The air stilled around him, and his head tumbled to the ground, splattering blood all over Ray. Julia sheathed her sword. “Go take a bath, Ray.”

  What was that? The air stalled for a moment. He looked at Julia, his blonde hair matted with blood, and wondered.

  Pointing at the other frozen men, Ray asked, “Are these guys not dead?”

  Julia shook her head. “We will ask them questions.”

  All these guys for questioning? The duke could’ve kept only one alive. He shrugged and slowly stumbled towards the dormitory. Elaira, Sera, and Jon followed him.

  Julia glanced at Aidan. “You’ll be staying at the dormitory as well from today.” He nodded and followed Jon.

  Guards surrounded the intruders, and the Duke let his cold aura fade. The frozen intruders slowly moved and passed out. The guard moved them one by one to the cellar underground.

  “You’ve gotten better at controlling Cold,” Cedric said, standing in the doorway. The duke chuckled, “I hope so.” And both walked towards the cellar.

  On his way, Cedric spotted Julia. “Look after the children.” To which she nodded and left.

  “You could at least praise her, Gordon. She is way ahead of her peers.” Cedric said with a bitter laugh.

  “Too much praise is blinding, Uncle. That is what you used to say to me.” The duke said gravely.

  Cedric frowned. “Are you twisting my words?”

  “No. I simply am pointing that out.”

  Cedric scoffed as they entered the cellar, and the guards shut the doors behind them.

  Julia silently walked towards the dormitory. She glanced at Ray and the others, who were walking ahead of her. “The children got hurt because of me. I shouldn’t have punished them.” She muttered to herself. “But this could serve as an experience.” She reassured herself and smiled, “I’ll need to train them harder from now on.”

  A sudden chill made Ray and the others shiver as they continued towards the dormitory.

  The other children and maids rushed out to support them and led them inside. Ray had a broken nose, Sera’s jaw was swollen, and Elaira had some of her ribs broken. Jon was fine, and Aidan only had some trouble breathing.

  The maids put Ray, Sera, and Elaira to rest in an empty room on the first floor while the healer arrived. Jon and Aidan waited near the window.

  Julia took a deep breath and said, “Good work in stalling them long enough for us to interfere.” She smiled. “You guys were brave.”

  Ray and the others smiled, and Julia added, “But you are extremely weak.” Their smiles faded immediately. But they didn’t argue.

  She is right. We could have died tonight.

  “So, what should be your next step?” Julia asked with a bitter tone. “To get stronger.” They all said in unison.

  “Yes,” Julia smirked. “You have three years before you can enter Acacia, the knight academy.” She turned around. “Don’t slack off.” And walked away, leaving the children with their own thoughts and the chirping of crickets in the filtered moonlight.

  Elaira stared at Ray, squinting her eyes. So did Sera and Jon. Ray frowned. “What?”

  “Listen here, I didn’t think you could ever be motivated,” Elaira said with a smug face.

  Sera added with a smirk, “Didn’t you say that you won’t become a knight because you can’t be honorable?” Jon and Aidan chuckled, then glared at each other.

  Ray sighed, “You don’t understand me.” Smirking, he added, “I’m smarter than all of you put together.”

  Elaira and Sera’s smirks faded, and they frowned and turned away. Jon and Aidan started wrestling in the back near the window.

  Ray’s smirk turned into a warm smile as he lay down. I guess I can try. He thought, staring at the ceiling.