II. The Birdy

Fast steps echoed in long corridors. An old butler entered the bedroom and quickly opened heavy, velvet curtains letting coldly yellow, morning sunlight inside the bedroom and lighting up all sorts of the most unexpected things chaotically scattered everywhere around. Fresh air from an open window like a knife cut thick and viscous smell of tobacco and cherries.

"Danielle, why..." a devastated male voice came from under the blanket.

A young man raised from the bed angrily staring at the butler.

"Sir, it is already almost ten. And You have received several letter butterflies," the servant replied calmly. "I guess, it was a long night, but now it's time to start a new day."

"Ugh…You know, it was indeed a long night..." mumbled the young man. "Yesterday evening...I felt something strange..."

"I assume, a food poisoning, Sir," said the butler disapprovingly glancing at the plate with last week's meal.

"No, Danielle...Although, maybe this as well. But I felt something else. A very strong wave of magic… I couldn’t fall asleep almost the whole night long after that…” said the man falling on the bed again.

“I am very sorry to hear that, Sir. But breakfast is already prepared, You should get up now.”

A flock of big butterflies entered the room through the open door. Instead of intricate muster, their white wings were cowered in illegible inscriptions. One of the butterflies landed on the man’s hand instantly turning into a letter:

“Dear Felix,

I urgently need your help. Pay us a visit as soon as you can. It is something extremely important! Lilac was horrible injured! Our healers are not sure if they can help him!!

Yours faithfully,

Cousin Annabelle.”

Danielle waved his hands scaring away irritating butterflies curling in front of his nose.

“Judging from stamps on those annoying creatures: they are all from Mrs Woodward. I believe, Sir, You better hurry up,” kindly suggested the butler leaving the room.

Felix stretched himself, slowly walked to a huge mirror and looked at his reflection with displeasure. He tied his shoulder-long, copper hair in a ponytail, exposing his sharp cheekbones and once again examined his still sleepy face. It was freckled and calm as usual, however, today his magnetic, dark brown with amber rim eyes were underlined by blackish bruises – evidence of the sleepless night. The man huffed and swiftly threw a vivid shirt over his tattooed shoulders hiding pictures of snakes, spiders and skulls scattered all over his arms.

Half an hour later Felix stepped out of the widely opened, giant, wooden door of the ancient mansion, situated on a rocky hill right above a small town in a mountain valley. The man stopped for a moment on the porch basking in the sun and then suddenly disappeared in clouds of dark fog.

In less than a second Felix was already standing on a sandy path in front of an ivy-covered cottage, hidden in the middle of a mountain forest. A round maid’s face glanced out of the window and mumbled something. A heavy, wooden door decorated with forged floral pattern opened with a loud creak letting the long-awaited guest inside.

A tall, well-built butler, who looked more like a bodyguard than a servant, silently pointed at the wide corridor to the left of the entrance. Felix nodded and slowly walked towards the hallway shortly glancing around. He spotted two pairs of curious, hazel eyes peeping out from behind a thick railing. The man slyly smiled and waved his hand, making the two small spies squeak in surprise.

Loud female cry filled the narrow corridor. Felix instantly knew where he was supposed to go. He opened a door to a small room and looked around. A small woman jumped up, wiped away her tears, pushed back her caramel curls and gazed at the man.

“Cousin! Thank God! Look! Look at my boy!” she nearly burst into tears again pointing at the bed behind her.

Felix looked at the young man lying there. One of his hazel eyes was motionlessly and quite unnaturally staring directly at the ceiling. Seemed like it was blinded by something, that also left horrible bleeding burns all around the boy’s face. Lotions and various potions that were lined up on the bedside table obviously didn’t help, blood mixing with tears from the second eye was running down the boy’s cheek that was slightly twitching in pain.

“What has happened to you?!” Felix’s voice gave out his worry.

“Last night we found him like that at the porch. Our healer couldn’t help…He said the electricity that has hurt him is still wandering around Lilac’s body and hurting him,” answered Annabelle.

“Who did it?!” the man croaked viciously.

“A Caladrius!” replied the woman handing her cousin a long, snow-white feather.

“What?” Felix raised his thick eyebrows. “There is none of their kind here.”

“Ah…They…The boys were…They went to a human city yesterday…” confusedly muttered Annabelle.

“They did what?” Felix closed his eyes in an unsuccessful attempt to calm down. “Who allowed them to go outside of our land?”.

“Cousin…They are just boys…They just wanted to relax after school,” Mrs Woodward’s voice sounded disgustingly sweet.

“They didn’t get any permission!” shouted out Felix. “I know, youth is rebellious, though,” after a moment he continued calmly. “I could have ignored the fact that they ran away. But tell me, dear cousin, what made such a peaceful creature as Caladrius attack your son?” Felix’s hypnotizing eyes glared into the woman.

“What do you mean?” Annabelle huffed resentfully. “They just…I don’t know. Maybe that damn bird has something against wizards!”

“I bet it does. Especially against of those, who hunt it,” the man neared his cousin paralyzing her with his harsh gaze.

“Lilac…He would have never…It is forbidden, he knows…” Mrs Woodward sounded strongly uncertain.

Felix grabbed the feather from his cousin’s hands. It slightly struck him with electricity and then suddenly became cold as ice.

“So, what do you want me to do, dear cousin?” the man calmly asked.

“I want to heal my beautiful boy!” the poor mother cried out feigned tragic. “If healers can’t help, you know what can!”

“Ah…” Felix sighed quietly and emotionlessly. “You want me to kill the innocent bird…Nice.”

“It is not innocent!” shouted out Annabelle and immediately covered her mouth with her hands as Felix ragefully glanced at her. “It has injured your nephew. Please. Have some mercy on him.”

Felix silently turned away and before Mrs Woodward managed to blink, he had already disappeared into clouds of dark fog. As an experienced warrior wizard, he didn’t have any difficulties finding the trace of the Caladrius, especially having its feather. The bird didn’t use any magic to hide itself, so soon enough Felix was already standing in front of a shabby door in a house somewhere in Basel’s suburbs.

The man listened carefully. He put his hand on the keyhole and whispered something. The mechanism obediently cracked, and the door slowly opened. Nobody was home. Felix went inside and looked around. It was a very small and slightly empty flat. The sofa in the living room had already lost its colours, and its springs were already clearly visible under the upholstery. In front of the sofa was standing a cabinet filled with books, mostly dedicated to linguistic, and in the middle of it was standing a tiny TV. The kitchen was separated from the living room with a narrow but tall counter. Right behind it an old and obviously tired of its existence fridge desperately tried to produce enough cold to keep its scanty content fresh.

Felix neared the window, opened thick curtains, and winced. The sight of a human city with all those cars, sparkling billboards and dark smog made the wizard feel sick. He walked around the flat once again and then sat down on the sofa. The spring unpleasantly pricked him, forcing him to get up immediately. Felix huffed irritatingly and mumbled: “Invisibilia in Oculis” becoming invisible in the same second.

Somebody twisted a key in the keyhole and the door opened again. A rather short and a little chubby girl with a long, thick, snow-white braid entered the apartment. She quickly walked towards the bedroom carelessly throwing some books on the counter. One of the folios slide along the desk and pushed a small snowball globe.

Felix quietly walked to the kitchen and took the globe. There was a pretty, dark-red house inside of it surrounded by small, neatly trimmed bushes. Glittery snowflakes were slowly floating around, landing on ceramic snowdrifts. Felix turned the globe upside-down. A strange combination of numbers was scrawled on the globe’s bottom right under a tiny lever: “9.12.19.2

22.12.18”. The wizard carefully examined it and then slightly twisted the lever. A beautiful, but a little dreary melody filled the room.

Something rustled in the bedroom, and the white-haired girl carefully stepped out of it. She looked around, slowly moving around her apartment and yet managing to stumble upon the counter's corner. The girl shortly squeezed her eyes shut and the next moment when she opened them, she saw a sharp, thin dagger held up to her neck by somebody, standing behind her.

"Well, hello, birdy," Felix had to bend almost double to whisper it in Ragna’s ear.

The girl shivered, threw her head back and stared right at the wizard. For a second Felix got confused. One couldn't call the young woman standing in front of him particularly beautiful, but her big, crystal blue eyes full of childish naivety and accented by dark black eyebrows together with thick lips, naturally curved in a slight smile made her strangely adorable.

"Let me go," Ragna attempted to sound harsh, but her voice treacherously trembled with fear.

"To let you roast me with your lightnings? Sounds like a fair deal, right?” Felix chuckled.

"Would you like rare, medium-rare or well done?" the girl frowned closely staring at the intruder.

The wizard smiled confidently and slyly. He moved the dagger closer to Ragna’s neck, making her shiver again. Felix kept his weapon like that for a few more seconds and then suddenly hid it in his belt.

"What do you need here?" Ragna exhaled with relief.

"Ah birdy, you see, you've recently injured my nephew...What a pity..." Felix said thoughtfully following the girl with his hypnotic look.

"Your nephew broke the law and attacked me!" the young woman replied angrily.

"Yes, I guessed that it wasn’t Lilac’s zoological interest that brought him to you."

"Right. So, you better leave me alone and do something with that boy!" Ragna frowned.

"I would love to, actually. But you know, it's easier to present somebody in court when this somebody is...a bit more alive than Lilac now," Felix shrugged nearing the girl.

"Oh, come on, I didn't strike him that much!" Ragna proudly huffed.

"I don't know, birdy, his face looks like a burnt sole. Our healer said he can't heal the boy, your electricity is still inside, destroying his body."

"Then you have a bad healer!" the girl stated dryly.

"Well, that's also highly possible..."

Ragna jumped to the counter, grabbed a small piece of paper and a pencil, and wrote something.

"Swear to me, that those kids will be punished," Ragna strictly demanded. "One of them attacked a human child with a very painful spell!"

"I will take care of it, don't worry. From now on they won't even be able to breathe without my permission," Felix's smile looked so cruel, that the girl instantly believed him.

"Here. This potion will heal your nephew," Ragna handed the wizard the piece of paper. "Also put a lotion of Calendula and metal crumb on his face. It will neutralize the electricity."

Felix bent forward and attentively gazed Ragna right in the eyes, then carefully took the paper with his long fingers and smiled charmingly and at the same time somehow frighteningly. The girl shivered and backed down, trying to escape this strange look.

"Thank you, birdy. I owe you," the man pronounced slowly and softly.

"Well, do me a favour then, disappear!" Ragna angrily ordered turning around. She absolutely didn't want the wizard to see, that her cheeks got flushed.

The wizard glanced around once again, smiled and in a second, he vanished in the air.

A moment later Felix stepped out of the dark fog far away from the noisy human city. The man sighed with relief. He was standing in a yard of an old, yet still majestic, huge mansion, situated on a rock right above a crystal-clear mountain lake. For a moment the wizard stared at a town further on the lake’s shore. Neat houses with tall, slim towers; people slowly walking along cosy, paved streets; and endless sea of green trees and colourful, blossoming flowers. Everything here was saturated with peace and tranquillity and reliably protected from prying eyes by cold and harsh mountains surrounding the area.

The wizard looked at the paper that he got from Ragna and walked towards the great building. Unexpectedly for the wizard, the mansion turned out to be in turmoil. Loud talks filled long and wide corridors; people were running from room to room, hastily checking something. Some of them dragged along garbage bags stuffed to the brim.

“Aya…Mr. Calliophis! We didn’t expect to see you, today!” a loud bass voice suddenly shouted out.

As Felix turned his head, he saw a big, no, giant man in a strict suit. He looked very lively and rather youngish, although grey hair in his masterfully curled moustache and several quite deep wrinkles on his dark brown skin gave away his actual age. The man kindly smiled, yet guiltily hiding his brown, almost black, eyes.

“Alastair! My friend! Are you trying to rebuild the whole school over the weekend?” Felix gazed around in surprise.

“I am terribly sorry… You shouldn’t have seen this place in such a mess…” awkwardly apologized the giant man. “We had a strange accident yesterday evening. I had to call almost all the teachers and service staff today to fix it…” he continued trying to lead his guest to a quieter place.

“What has happened?” asked Felix following his friend.

“I don’t know yet. Some blast of energy last night exploded almost all bottles with different healing potions and lotions. Some of the healers’ artefacts trembled and shone whole night long after that, even those that were asleep for dozens of years,” explained Alastair.

“Ah, I see. Do you want me to tell you what that blast was?” Felix grinned with undisguised superiority.

“Sure! Have you also felt it?”

“Yes. And today I have met the cause of that blast,” the wizard’s voice sounded triumphantly proud.

“Well, feel free to tell me. I am really curious what was the reason for those shameful destructions!” Alastair adjusted his moustache and impatiently glanced at his friend.

“A bird. One of those, that we never thought we would ever see. A Caladrius,” Felix whispered the last word bringing his finger to his lips.

“What?” the giant man exclaimed in surprise. “Are you sure?” he asked lowering his voice.

“Yes, absolutely. Some of your students, including my dear nephew Lilac, escaped to a humans’ city yesterday and came across her there. The idiots acted aggressively, so the birdy showed them her rage,” laughed the wizard.

“I can’t believe…We haven’t met any of their kind for ages…” Alastair replied thoughtfully. “And those fools attacked it…How did they manage to leave Occultikon without us noticing it?”

“Those are the results of Dorian’s work. You remember yourself, he never cared about discipline,” Felix breathed out irritatingly.

“I know… He was a powerful wizard and eccentric man. Who could have guessed that it is not the best combination for the Academy’s principal?” the giant man closed his eyes and rubbed his wide forehead.

“Meh, he was just a lazy, crazy old man,” Felix shrugged.

“Don’t be so strict with him. He was your teacher once as well!” Alastair pronounced slightly reproachfully.

“He was. But now I’ a grown man over thirty and I’m allowed to have an opinion” huffed the young man. “He didn’t bother controlling difficult students, and now we have gangs of aggressive teenage wizards, attacking humans and magical creatures!”

“Felix…There are no difficult students, they are just kids who lost the right path,” Alastair said softly.

“Well, okay. Now I will show them the right path,” the redhead smiled coldly.

“For some reason, I fear it… We will bring those children to court. They must be punished but according to the law. I will deal with it. As a new principal, I am responsible for them.”

“Right…I actually came to you to speak about that,” Felix handed to his friend a little piece of paper. “Can anybody of your healers do this for me?”

“Hmm…Rare ingredients, one needs a lot of magic to prepare such potion…” the giant man carefully examined the paper. “Who gave it to you?”

“The Caladrius girl. Lilac was severely injured, so she gave me the recipe of the potion to heal him in exchange to promise that those boys will be fairly punished.”

“I see. This is really a strong potion and honestly, not many wizards know such. Intriguing…”

Alastair quickly marched along the corridor, checking room after room. He opened a door to a big class hole, filled with the evening sunlight. The room seemed to be most affected by yesterday's blast: most of the shelves were completely empty; pieces of glass were still lying here and there; curiously looking objects in vitrines still slightly trembled. A short, round, old man in a thick, wide sweater and pants with large pockets was standing in the middle of the class, rubbing his grey hair, and chewing on a big chocolate bar.

“Isaac!” loud Alastair’s voice made the man slightly jump. “Come here for a second!”

“Sure, sure, Professor Alsiende,” Isaac hurried to the principal swiftly moving his little legs. “Ah, Mr Calliophis! Glad to see You!”

“Good evening, Professor Hofmann,” Felix replied slightly backing down. A sickly sweet smell coming from the man instantly made the redhead feel dizzy.

“What can I do for You?” Isaac smiled widely.

“Well, first of all, could You please finish tidying up your classroom. There are still some glass shards on the floor,” Alastair looked around appraisingly. “And then, I would like You to prepare this one,” the giant man showed Professor Hofmann the piece of paper.

“Sure, sure! Let me see,” Isaac carefully read the recipe. “Ah…Hmm…Let me think…Where did You get that from?”

“From a friend,” Alastair answered vaguely. “Do you know this potion?”

“Sure, sure!” the round man actively nodded. “It will…It may just last a bit…I must see.”

“No problem, could You please bring it to me tomorrow morning?” Felix smiled slightly aggressively. The smell of candies made him feel way too sick.

“Ah…Tomorrow…Yes, sure, sure!” the round man nodded again. “Is this friend… Are we getting a new healer teacher for the Academy?” Isaac widely smiled again.

“Hmm, I haven’t thought about it, but maybe that’s a good idea…” Alastair rubbed his sharp chin.

“Oh, so we are? Who is it if it’s not a secret?” Professor Hofmann piercingly looked at the giant man in front of him.

“No, no. It is just an idea. Nothing concrete…” the principal replied thoughtfully and slowly walked along the corridor staring into the void.

“Ah, I see. No worries, Mr Calliophis the potion will be ready tomorrow. You’ve asked the best healer of the whole Alpine Trinitas!” Isaac held out his short hand, holding a few small candies on his palm. “Do You want any? Professor Alsiende?”

Felix nodded negatively, mumbled something that sounded like “Thank you” and followed Alastair. He still remembered very well how Professor Hofmann used to stuff his students with candies all the time. Fortunately for the redhead and his teeth, he didn’t study healing magic, so he was mostly spared from this sugary torture.

Alastair marched along the corridor quietly complaining about dust and glass shards. Felix glanced at the man’s face: the principal’s eyes were focused on something invisible in front of him and slight wrinkles got a little more visible for a moment.

“So, this bird…Who is she?” the giant man finally asked.

“Hmm… As I said, a young girl. I would say in her twenties, assuming from all the books at her place – a university student. Don’t really know anything else…”

“I wonder how much she knows about healing magic. This potion is impressive, but does she know anything else?”

“I have absolutely no idea. I guess birds like her know quite some things,” Felix rubbed his roman nose. “Why? Do you think she could teach here?”

“Well, we need somebody for the healer specialisation,” Alastair raised his dark eyes.

“Do you think it is safe to bring the bird to Occultikon? I am not sure that local wizards will be polite with her…”

“Right but being alone out there she can meet poachers again. And next time real ones, not just school kids. Here she will be under my protection and later, hopefully, also under the protection of loyal and thankful students,” the principal explained slowly. “Could you tell her about my suggestion, please?”

“Sure, my friend,” Felix widely smiled with his most diabolic smile.

“I beg you! Talk to her normally! Don’t use your tricks! And be nice!” the man declared strictly. “I think a creature like her could be a very valuable teacher, we shouldn’t miss the chance.”

“Okay-okay. I will talk to her tomorrow. And we still need to think about punishment for Lilac and his friends!” answered Felix bowing to his friend before leaving him.

“Sure. Thank you, Felix,” Alastair waved the young man goodbye and disappeared in his office.

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