Shina and the Wizard Academy

The stone walls of the large castle rose high into the sky, a grand sculpture of beautiful architecture. The impressive towers stood tall and mighty over the surrounding landscape, while the thick fortifications seemed to reinforce them even more, making the entire structure impenetrable.

Yet, at least in some places, that wasn't exactly true. There were weak points in the massive walls. Cracks here and there; places where I could squeeze through. They were too small for most people, but for my slender form they would be easy to sneak through... They'd also be impossible to spot from the outside.

This was a secret that only I knew about my current home: The Wizard's Castle. It had been years since I found out about it, and it had taken me quite some time to find these weak points. But now that I did, I'd also made it my goal to prepare for an escape route in case things went awry here.

I checked out of my room one last time, making sure that nothing was left behind that could possibly give away my plans. Then I took off running down the hall, making as little noise as possible with every step on the cold stone floor. In this place where magic ruled supreme, stealth and silence were key traits for survival.

When I reached the end of the corridor, I placed one hand on a wall and used it to push myself through a small crack in the wall, my body squeezing through like a snake passing through a narrow slit in some rocks. While doing this, I tried to keep my face turned so that it wouldn't get scratched by jagged edges of rock or cut by metal spikes embedded on the other side of this thin wall. When I passed through safely and stood up on solid ground once again, I felt relief wash over me; just seeing this part of our castle was enough to make my heart race faster than normal!

Then again... This was not something unusual any longer. After all this time, sneaking around our castle was practically second nature to me now! And after all this time... So much seemed to have changed here...

The wizards who ruled this place were no friends of mine. They always disliked me for being smarter than everyone else - despite how hard they tried to hide it - and they hated me even more because of Lady Azareth's wishes.

They'd wanted her daughter dead from day one... At least that's what she told me during our last conversation before she died a few days ago. She'd given me her powers before dying though... The powers she used to rule over us these many years we spent here together! Now I was forced to use those same powers for an escape attempt tonight! This was my final chance... If I failed tonight then there would be no other chance left!

With heavy feet and shaky legs I ran further down into the depths of our castle... Towards the magical chamber where Azareth had lived all these years while ruling over us all as a true queen! Azareth herself had made sure that nobody could enter without proper permission first; if you didn't know your way around here then you would be turned away by her magical traps in no time! Luckily though... I knew exactly where everything was supposed to be laid out! It had taken me years to figure it out after all... But now that knowledge would finally pay off!