Woodbridge Recollection : The Hidden Kingdom

Chapter 6: Warriors

The inside of the academy seemed to terrify me more than the outside. Just like the exterior of the building, the interior was old fashioned and ancient looking made from bricks. Crystal chandeliers and simple ceiling lights lit up the corridors and rooms, powered by electricity.

Weirder and weirder. Old fashioned architecture that functioned like modern technology. This place was just becoming more and more out of the usual.

Zacarias lead me through the halls, passing by many different people all wearing a rather specific look which included those tailed leather dusters. Most were white, but there were a few wearing the black ones too.

People looked back as they passed us. Several greeted Zacarias, but he never responded back. Most just stared or avoided us until he lead me into a very large room; an auditorium of sorts. It was anciently fashioned with flags and bricked walls, lit with the ceiling lights and adorned with a massive round sky light in the very middle of an extremely high ceiling.

The auditorium was rather empty, decorated with only flags and a long blue carpet that lead right across the hall. From the door to a long wooden table at the other end. The table was dark polished wood that had only five large thrown-like seats behind it. Books and scrolls cluttered the table.

Only several people were within this auditorium. Two of which were men, seated behind the long table working with the books around them. Another was a woman with long blond hair braided back. She was standing before the table, talking to someone else; a younger man with curly blond hair and a massive beard. Another woman, with short pixie red hair, was pacing around, her hand tightly gripping a bow. She seemed to be deep in thought as she stared up at a massive chart hanging on the wall.

As Zacarias and I walked up the blue carpet, the people around us seemed to take notice. The woman with the bow paused in her steps and her attention fell on me. I now noticed that she had long pointed ears.

The man and woman talking before the table came to a stop and turned towards us. As though it worked like dominoes, the two men working behind the table noticed the silence and looked up. First the more muscular man with long brown hair, then the older man with grey hair and a fine mustache.

I would have been more open to the arrival if it weren't for the sudden staring. From everyone, I received strange looks. Some look confused and others seemed to be shocked. The most noticeable of the five were the blond woman and the stronger man behind the table. The two of them each shared a look of pure flabbergast.

The blond man beside the woman immediately stepped from her side and passed by us as we continued up the blue carpet. He walked swiftly towards the door. The woman with the pixie hair seemed to be doing the same thing, heading towards the door.

Zacarias came to a stop several paces before the blond woman and bowed his head. I paused beside him, unsure of what exactly I was meant to do or say.

The older man behind the table closed his book and got up. He, too, walked passed us and made his way towards the door. The stronger man behind the table simply stood up, scraping his chair back against the floor.

"Zelena," the blond woman said, her eyes never leaving me.

I swallowed against the lump building in my throat. Did she know me?

All at once she crossed the carpet towards me, quickly closing the space between us.

I gasped and stepped back from her. The sudden charge had been rather unusual for a first meeting. My feet seemed to react before I knew it. I stumbled back in my action to retreat from the woman, and lost my balance for a second. When she paused and stepped back from me, I managed to steady myself on my feet.