A Life Beyond by Mark Church (ebook reader web TXT) 📕

the sight of the Shadow Blaze dormitory right in front of them,

'Step inside, children..' she said as her smile grew even wider.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twenty-Four

Let's Get You All Settled

 

As the children stepped inside their dormitory they were met with the sight of a slightly darkened room, dimly lit lanterns filled the corners of the room, a huge stained glass window sat proud at the end of the room overlooking the Hills of the Howling Wind and the Lake of the Frozen, the wind howled against the window as they all stood there waiting nervously for Lady Willo to enter the room,

'Doesn't look like much to me' said Daniel to Tobias 'bit of a let-down I'd say!!'

'Shhh Daniel…' replied Tobias 'I want to believe in this place, don't ruin it for me!!’

'I was only saying!!!' Daniel replied

'Well please keep your comments to yourself, I have waited my whole life to be given this dormitory, I don't care how awful you may think it looks because to me this is the most magical room in this whole castle, can't you just feel it's aura??' Tobias said with a huge smile as he rubbed his hands up the wooden door frames trying to take everything in,

'The only thing I'm feeling is cold!!, surely this can't be the right room??' just as Daniel said that Lady Willo made her way into the room after a lengthy discussion with Garin who was now walking off down the corridor,

'I'm sorry for the delay children but Garin and I just needed a little chat about an important school matter' Lady Willo said as she stepped a few paces further into the room and stood in front of a large table which was placed in the centre of the room 'oh I wish someone would of cleaned this place a little beforehand, it's so…..dusty!!' she said wiping her hand over the table, picking up a dusty layer as she did so,

'Errrm excuse me' said Daniel as he raise his hand high in the air

'Yes Daniel, please speak' Lady Willo replied,

'Is this the actual room we are staying in as I think it looks nasty and dirty, feel I might catch something horrible if I stay in here too long' Daniel replied as he pulled a disgusted face towards the teacher.

'Well Daniel, first of all yes this is the dormitory you and your class will be staying in for the entire term, Ahhhh my favourite place in the castle' Lady Willo said as she wandered around the table slowly, taking in the feel of this mighty room 'and secondly, welcome to the dormitory of Shadow Blaze!!!' as she clicked her fingers something magical happened. The dark room that they were in was suddenly transformed in front of their eyes, a shimmering light filled every inch of their dormitory, colours filled the room swooping around like a bird on the wind, brightening up every wall and glistening in the light. The children stood there mouths wide open as the room kept changing beneath their feet, Lady Willo was flicking her hands around, casting a spell on the room,

'WOW!!!' the class shouted out at once, Tobias was on the verge of falling over due to the excitement and had to hold on to Daniel as they stood there still open mouthed,

'Oh it's better than I imagined!!' Tobias screeched excitedly

'We aren't done yet' smiled Lady Willo as with the flick of her hand the walls in the dormitory creaked and groaned and all of a sudden started to move sideways, making the room they were in as big as any room they had ever seen, new rooms were appearing before their very eyes, huge comfy seats filled every corner of the room and a table as big as the King's sat at the far end of the room with huge chairs lining each side of it with plates and cups and cutlery laid out in complete symmetry across it. The last part of the room to be changed was a corner of the room which had been filled with a huge wooden door with the Shadow Blaze crest right in the middle of it,

'That looks creepy!!' one of the children at the back of the group said,

'Bet that's the best bedroom in this dorm' said another smartly, but none of them were anywhere near close to what was actually behind the door, something which Lady Willo was quick to point out.

'Children..' she started as the final pieces of the room revealed more

and more space 'as you can all see now that this room is yours for the rest of the school term, only this class can enter here and no one else, many of you who know this room once housed some of the most fearsome soldiers that protect us, even to this day may I add, so I want you treat this dormitory with the utmost respect and care ok!!'

'YES LADY WILLO' came the collective reply as the whole class were still in awe at the beauty of the room they were standing in compared to how it looked earlier,

'Err Miss…' said Daniel with a raised hand causing everyone to turn round to look at him as he did so, something which made him feel slightly uncomfortable 'what just happened?'

'What do you mean Daniel?' came the reply from Lady Willo

'Well one minute we are standing in one of the most grottiest rooms I've seen, apart from my bedroom, then the next thing I know we have been transported or something to this place!!' Daniel was totally confused by this and made his brain spin,

'Oh Daniel' laughed Lady Willo 'we haven't gone anywhere at all, this is the same room, with a few upgrades...shall we say, call it the Kings personal touch' as Lady Willo stood there arms outstretched looking pleased with what had been created before the children's eyes,

'Nope...still totally lost' Daniel replied as he shrugged his shoulders heavily,

'Daniel...this room is sort of an extension of the Arena' Lady Willo felt that her explanation would clear this all up for him 'you see this room is exactly the same size, it hasn't altered in size or shape on the outside but inside it sits a protective dome, just like the one which is protecting the Arena, so we can make this room as large or as small as we want to and make it into any shape too, whatever suits your requirements',

'Oh right, I think I get it...well sort of...maybe just a little bit...my brain hurts' said Daniel holding his hands on his head as if he was feeling woozy,

'It really is that simple Daniel, we just use the Dome to make the most of the space we have so it gives you the best chance of being totally relaxed in your own space, free from the pressures of school lessons and the ability to form close friendships with your fellow students which will help you in the future I'm sure' smiled Lady Willo as she felt just by looking at Daniel that he was now more up to speed with what was going on,

'So this place won't get any bigger than this?' he asked again as a groan filled the air as a few of the children were now getting slightly annoyed with Daniel's lack of understanding,

'Leave Daniel alone!!' barked Tobias, sticking up for his friend 'it's not his fault he doesn't know anything about this place, I mean he might not be the cleverest one here but….' he didn't get to finish what he was saying as Daniel whipped his head round rather quickly,

'Oi!!!!....thanks for that TOBY' came Daniel's stinging reply 'blooming cheek!!'

'Oh I'm sorry Daniel I didn't mean it in that way…' came the apologetic reply 'and please call me Tobias...not Toby, I can't stand that name!!',

'Don't call me thick then!!' Daniel replied angrily at his lack of knowledge being questioned 'and Miss...What’s that in the corner there??' he asked pointing to the large wooden door that was now fully unmasked and shining like a beacon for all to see,

'Ah ha!!' said Lady Willo 'I was hoping that you would see that, that room is a fairly new addition to this school, it has taken many years for the leading wizards to perfect the programme used behind this door, we needed to make sure it was safe before we let you children loose in there',

'So what is actually in there then??' said Daniel 'Is there a huge dragon or something' he laughed out loud at the thought,

'Well there may be some sort of creatures lurking in there but it's not what you think Daniel, but the truth is children that is what we call the ‘Acceleration Chamber’, it's a room designed to allow you to express yourself to the maximum without the stresses of actual physical contact' Lady Willo explained, but the children still looked totally lost,

 

'Eh??, Miss...Still not getting it' replied Daniel, who's face had a look of complete confusion now,

'Ok children..I understand that this does sound confusing but in time you will be able to see what we are trying to achieve here, but this room will allow you to perfect any skills or such at an accelerated rate, meaning anything you have learnt in the wizardry lesson you can practice here without getting hurt, one minute out here equals one hour in the chamber, so time speeds up for you allowing you to put maximum effort in and making your transition into a soldier, or whatever it is you want to become, a lot less daunting', Lady Willo felt the children were a bit more clued up on it now so explained to them that the room would be shared equally amongst them all so no one is seen to have it more than anyone else, 'In time you will come to respect the Chamber and it will come to respect you and your choices, but do remember that we monitor this room every day so please behave and show us that we can trust you all to do the right thing, ok'

'YES LADY WILLO' the class said in unison,

'Right children..' she said again ' I shall now be leaving you to become better acquainted with each other, but the Chamber stays locked until required so no trying to sneak a look or else there will be serious consequences'

'No problem' Tobias smiled 'I shall keep an eye out for you and let you know if anyone tries to get into it' as he saluted towards Lady Willo a sniggering started amongst the children, Daniel included

'Yes, very good Tobias' Lady Willo replied gesturing to him to lower his hand 'thank you, but there is no need for you to do that, as I said earlier all rooms are monitored by the Elders so be warned that you ARE being watched'

'Lady Willo..' shouted one of the boy's in the small group that had gathered by the table,

'Yes Samuel what is it?' she replied

'Well...so this room is only able to be used by us?...I..I mean what if someone from another dormitory comes in here and mucks about' Samuel replied nervously as he stood there looking awkward,

'Well, these rooms are designed for you and you alone, if, per say, someone other than this class did manage to get into here then the room would instantly revert back to the state it was when we came in'

Lady Willo said as each pupil seemed very interested in how the room worked,

'Sort of like a security thing Miss' said Daniel as his eyes lit up 'so what happens to the people left inside?, do we get vaporized or something?' Daniel laughed out loud at what he had just said causing more laughter to follow from the rest of the class,

'Oh very good Daniel, but no such luck there, what happens is the person who isn't meant to be in there is met with the room only, any of your class that is in here when this happens will stay in the adapted room and