Pursha's pushing it

Confused Aaralon left the stables and headed back to the main buildings of the arcane college. Whatever he did, whatever he envisioned, Pursha always came up with some totally different plans fo her. 'I need to understand the way she thinks.' Aaralon was well aware, that he had to get better, more reliable knowledge of the succubus ways to think and act. 'If that was so easy...' Aaralon shrugged. He couldn't do a thing about it now. After all, Pursha was right: Why didn't he grab lunch before they tried to get out of the magical academy?

The great dining hall was already very crowded. The moment Aaralon's nose caught the scent of today's dinner, he noticed that he was really hungry. 'Pursha's keeping me quite busy,' Aaralon thought quietly to himself. He greated some distantly familiar faces with a brisk nod, said 'Hello' to some of the students he knew a tad better. Luckily, Aaralon didn't have to cultivate too many acquaintances. He had always taken care not to get too personal with other students - the less they knew about him, the better. This very day, Aaralon considered this a wise choice.

After he had filled a dish with roast chicken, baked potatoes with parsely and salt, and helped himself to a tin cup of water, he looked for a vacant table. By chance, two younger boys were finished and in a hurry to leave - probably for a quick rehash of their lectures for their next classes. Else Aaralon wouldn't have hesitated to boss those kids away. Quickly Aaralon seated himself on one of the empty chairs and donned his well-trained mask of alloofness. He knew, on a day like that, he didn't have to do much acting. His foul mood and his lingering attentiveness would do the work for him just fine.

Once he had started to eat, his eyes darted around in search of any sign that something might be different than usual.

The large dining hall was one of the college's biggest gathering places. It was a domelike chamber, with six long rows of dining tables lining-up from the entrance to the tutor's dais beneath three huge and colorful window glasses. The whole hall was huge, or at least big enough to offer dining places for about half of the students and nearly every teacher of arcane knowledge. This meant, the hall was crowded at peak times; and early dining time was one of those.

Up on the teachers' dais, Aaralon discovered almost every professor and mage of any importance. Master Lastran, the head wizard. Master Cullon, head analyst. Master Gerlion, Lord of the Elements and First Mage of the White Robes. He also spotted the crooked figure of old Lady Krizzsha, the gnomish mage Aaralon had picked as an excuse when Pursha had ambushed him in the form of Master Readner. Speaking of that, Aaralon couldn't find the Master of the Keys. And Lady E'fandriel, whom Pursha had asked about, neither. He also couldn't catch a glimpse of Winna, who should have been servicing this evening. Everybody he could link to Pursha to some degree seemed absent - except himself, of course.

Aaralon lifted a brow. He wasn't too surprised: Everything to be linked with the succubus queen would not come as usual. Everything else seemed to run it's natural course. Aaralon was relieved: At least there was no imminent danger lingering. The young magician relaxed and turned towards his meal. If something would happen, at least he had a full stomach.

Whilst Aaralon satisfied his appetite with chicken and baked potatoes, Pursha rushed through the corridors of the main building. Her slender feet barely touched the floor. She was nothing but a blur of moves and a breeze of wind brushing through autumn leaves. She was a deadly ghost, cloaked into one of her most potent veiling spells, on a task leaving no room for mistake. At one of the major intersections, she turned to the right, dodging two minor warding spells and dismantling another with her knowledge from Readner Frombolts vast memories. Reyling on the sigsaw of memories from the vanished Keeper of the Keys troubled Pursha. He had been a parody of a wizard and she had already stumbled across fragments of knowledge where details of informations had been missing. It made things a bit more chancy. Nothing the succubus queen wouldn't be able to deal with. At least she thought so.

The task ahead was one of the most daring parts of her escape plan. She had tried to think of any eventualities, tried to figure out the best way to deal with this. Getting out of the arcane labyrinth of wards and defensive spells was one thing. Achieving what she was aiming for as a surplus was another. Pursha didn't know weakness nor failure - not when she had feasted and felt so strong. She could have just sneaked her way to one of the less strongly defended gates of the arcane college and **** herself out through the last ring of wards. She didn't doubt she'd be able to do so, but she had other, way more challenging plans.

Eventually her course led her to a flight of intertwined stairs, that posed something of a maze but it was just a minor distraction but a real mystery. The maze of stairs lead to a massive, round tower, who had one entrance and would lead to her destination. Soon enough Pursha stood in front of the large tower, aware beyond this very point, she might face magic of most potent ****. The tower looming above her, was the Tower of Arcane Wisdom, the perpetual residence of the head wizard of the College of Light Shadow.

From what she had learned from Master Readner's memories, there was only one wait in. Through this very door. Strangely, Master Lastran had shared with Readner the arcane password for the first ward at the door. Pursha recalled how Readner had beamed with pride for being shared such an important secret. Why Master Lastran had done such a thing had been left unclear, but Pursha had neither found a hidden mystery nor a trap of some kind.

'Puny, stupid humans and their love for mysteries and the gossiping of such. They're weak and just ask for destruction.' But at the same time Pursha weeped. There were mysteries so paramount they'd kill you if you ever uncovered the truth behind.

Pursha sighed. Amazing enough, a thing such a 'sighing' existed in the nature of a demon queen. But Pursha was different, and she knew why. Another mystery better left to stay alone... at least until the right time had come. And that's what Pursha was aiming at in the long run.

However, first she must get into that fucking tower, get what she needed to accomplish one of her goals, and be off in time to seal it.

"Sharazzar na-elliena. Sharazzar mar escillia. Sharisar ar-breberis!"

Pursha slung the code words towards the door, anxiously waiting for their impact. Nothing happened at first and Pursha wondered whether that drooling idiot had understood the words falsely. Finally, a faint shimmer came to existance along the frame of the entrance door. The gleam intensified and finally became stable.

She didn't waste any additional second. Once the shimmer didn't change color or intensity, she pushed the door open. Soundless the stone door swung inside and Pursha entered. Once inside, she closed the door again. Lit by soft, creamy magic light, a spiraling stairway curled upwards. Pursha didn't know how many other wards were waiting for her, but one she detected instantly. She could smell the demon guard from a miles' distance.