Chapter 6 The Prophecy

Deep inside Bloodmoon Academy, past long halls no student ever dared to wander, was a building, only a few had ever only entered.

THE OBSIDIAN WING.

It looked cold and quiet from the outside. It also looked cold and quiet inside so...

The walls were filled with old paintings and there was a shelf with books. The fireplace had blue flames.

In the sitting room, five students sat inside.

They weren't just any students. In fact, they may not be students at all.

These five are what the school calls, The Top Five.

They sat in loose circles lounging on velvet chairs that looked far too elegant for students. But then again, it is rumoured that they may not be students in the first place.

Caspian and Selene, also part of the Top Five, were seated.They didn't look the way they had during the school tour. Not even close.

Caspian Hale leaned back in his seat, legs crossed lazily, the refined and gentle look he had during the tour was long gone. His jacket was tossed over the armrest, and his once-perfect tie was now hanging loose around his neck. He had dark rings under his eyes and his shirt was unbuttoned at the top. He looked nothing like the perfect student guide the students had met earlier. He now looked dangerous and unapproachable.

Selene Morano leaned against a window ledge, she twirled a silver dagger between her fingers. Her long brown hair was tied back, and her bright red lipstick gave her a colder look than usual. She wasn't wearing her school uniform jacket either. Just a tight top and combat boots. Her polite and elegant mask was torn off too. She now looked deadly. It's not like she didn't already look deadly when she was touring the first years.

One of the five Tyla, ran a gloved hand through her perfectly groomed hair and chuckled.

"So... the new batch arrived," she said. "Any guesses on how many will survive the initiation?"

Selene shrugged. "Not more than fifty.. Most of them look weak and soft. " She said, still staring out the window, twirling her knife.

"And humans," Caspian added with disgust. "You could smell it on them. At least six of them are definitely not one of us."

"I bet ten bags of gold coins that ten drop out before the first trial," said Dorian, the tall boy with spiky hair and two piercings on his lips. He smiled like it was all a game. His leather gloves had dried blood on them. No one asked why.

Tyla smirked. "What do you think, Caspian? Think the Headmistress is hiding another one of her little experiments among them?"

Caspian didn't answer at first. He took a slow sip from a silver flask, then said, "There's one. A girl. Small, quiet. Didn't flinch when Selene gave her warning. Either she's brave... or too stupid to understand what she walked into."

"She's not brave," Selene said, her voice low. "She's hiding something. I saw her too."

"And if she's the one?" Tyla asked with a dangerous grin.

Everyone went quiet. The question hung in the air like a blade.

Dorian chuckled darkly. "You mean the Phoenix Star?"

Selene's jaw tensed. "Every decade someone claims to be her. And every time, we crush them. She'll be no different."

Caspian's eyes narrowed. "This girl hasn't claimed anything yet, but we'll keep an eye out for her."

Dorian snorted. "Please. The prophecy is centuries old. No one even knows what it truly means."

"When the Phoenix Star rises, five shall shatter or rise with her." Selene said the line that has been haunting them for decades.

Tyla scoffed. "I don't like that line. I don't want to be shattered because some chosen brat finds her wings."

"Exactly," Dorian muttered. "If she is the one, we crush her now, before she has the chance to rise."

They subconsciously glanced at the person sitting down at the far end of the corner turning the pages of a dusty book.

The fifth guy Lucien, was silent. He always was. He seldom talked during these gatherings, yet he was the most feared. He always wore black, and that corner was his. No one was allowed to sit on his chair or use anything of his.

They peeped at Lucien and resumed their conversation.

"She's just another prophecy girl. They come every five years." Tyla said, cracking her knuckles as if she was ready for a fight.

"But this one feels different," Selene said. "She might actually survive."

"Let's see if she bleeds first," Caspian whispered, a grin creeping across his face.

"What is her name?" Dorian asked.

"Sophie Whitmore."

Far away, still inside the academy. In a tall tower, Headmistress Valeria Nightbane stood in front of an old painting, the painting was of a girl standing in fire, five shadows behind her. The flames didn't burn her. They just surrounded her. Behind the headmistress, a man stood quietly. A hood covered his face preventing people from recognising him.

"She's here," the man said. "The one born under the cursed moon."

Headmistress Valeria nodded. "Yes. I saw her today. She carries the mark, though she does not know it yet."

"The Phoenix Star" The man said.

"That is what the prophecy calls her," the headmistress said.

The man moved closer. "Are you sure it's her?"

"No," Valeria said. "But .... She carries the mark"

The man sighed. "Every five years there is always someone that bears the mark of the Phoenix Star, yet they are not her."

"We don't have a choice" She pulled out an old scroll from a locked box. The paper looked thin and yellow with age.

She read aloud:

"When the child born under the cursed moon

Steps through gates of blood and ash,

Five shadows will stir,

Five truths will shatter,

When the Phoenix Star rises,

Five shall shatter or rise with her.

The sealed fate shall awaken,

And death shall wear a crown of flame"

The man stepped closer "what if the five choose to go against her?" he asked.

Headmistress Valeria turned her sharp eyes to the man "then they will fall."

Back at the dorm, Ivy had just finished bathing when she heard a knock on her door, she glanced at the wall clock in the room. It was almost midnight, and she knew no one here.

So who on earth was knocking at her door?