"Get back here you bandit!" Miss Alexandria shouted as a cloaked youth sprinted out of the kitchen of Ilbinum's Caster School.

"I will get right on that." The boy chuckled under his breath as he rounded the stone wall that led towards the dorms. A crash behind him indicated this time Miss Alexandria wasn't going to give up the chase as easily as she usually did. Zeke put more length in his stride trying to put distance between them as he ran towards his room. Having been caught not two weeks ago he did not want to see the Headmaster again so soon.

"I will get you this time!" Again she had shouted and in spite of his increase in speed, she was still gaining on him. it was risky, but he was in the dorms now and if he could get to his room he would be safe.

Under his breath Zeke whispered a prayer of speed, "Fleet of step, surge of power, hasten my fleeing form and grant me my escape." A familiar tingling coursed through his body as the wind magics took hold and sent him ahead at nearly twice his natural speed. At least until he reached his hallway. While still quite alone save his pursuer the wards were still up. His pace instantly slowed to a crawl as his casting was rebounded. "Ream!" he cursed at himself for not thinking ahead. Barely able to move he got to the closest door he could while he was still out of sight. Silently he thanked the Great Spirit it was her room. Touching the flat panel on the wooden frame the door swung open. In slow motion he fell through the door and slid it silently shut just before Miss Alexandria could catch up.

For a few minutes Zeke pressed himself to the door, eyes shut listening for her. When at long last he was sure he was safe Zeke opened his eyes. "Zeke! WHAT are you doing in my room at this hour!?!" a feminine voice nearly shrieked at him. Tamra, his childhood friend had chosen that precise moment to come out of the wash room clothed only in her bath towel to find him pressed up against her door like some kind of pervert. As he averted his eyes, hers searched his cloaked form for a moment quickly discovering the purpose of his visit. With a sigh she walked back into the wash room, dressing while he composed himself. Clad in her usual blue and white embroidered shirt, wearing her black puffy pants she plopped down in one of the chairs she had in the main area of her room. He steeled himself for what was going to come as he took up the seat across from her. "You know just once you could go an entire week without causing some kind of trouble around here." He started to open his mouth, but she wasn't nearly done so soon. "I mean seriously, stealing food after hours... you could really get in trouble... again. Do you think the Headmaster really needs to see you every day?"

For a minute she glared at him. At least until he started to laugh. For a few minutes she kept glaring until she to gave into laughter. "You almost had me going there Tamra." They both knew that he never would listen to her scolding, but she gave them anyway, it made her feel slightly less guilty for harboring a fugitive.

"Well the least you could do is give me a cut." She snickered at his shocked look. "I mean if you got caught here some late night snack might be the least of your worries." They laughed together for a few minutes and he pulled out a loaf of still warm bread from his cloak and tore it in half. Zeke did want to stay longer but he knew she was right, there would be a lot of trouble if he did get caught here at this hour so they said their goodbyes for the night and carefully he crept back to his room.

Once safely inside his lair the boy took a deep purging breath and started to relax. Tilting his head back Zeke ran his fingers through his jet black hair. It was one of the nervous habits he had yet to break himself of, but seeing as it didn't do any harm he never really bothered either. For a moment he scanned the main area of his room and as expected piles of things lay strewn everywhere. Tamra often told him he should clean the deathtrap he called a room, but as it was he knew where everything was. It was only when his room was clean that he could never find what he was looking for. Still he had now resided her for the better part of a year and it was home. Most every day Zeke studied the flow of the Ether and soon he would be required to decide on a discipline. It wasn't something he was looking forward to. There were no subjects he was bad at per say, but nothing he had learned so far had particularly impressed him enough to sway him one way or another. Some studied one of the elements a rare few were approved to study the Ether itself. While talented for his age Zeke knew he didn't have the dedication to Master the Ether.

Restlessly he made his way over to his favorite chair. it was dark brown with large cushions. It was almost over large, but Zeke found it amazingly comfortable and did most of what 'thinking' he did, in that chair. Pulling his pilfered break from under his cloak Zeke took a bite and looked up at one of the few pictures on the wall. Almost everyone had one of these. It was a Sword with gems set at the base in a circular pattern. Each was a different color representing a different element. Up the shining blade intricate runes were etched glowing a soft blue. It was the symbol of the school, what everyone secretly or openly strove for. To be the best. For only the best were ever able to unlock the secrets of the Caster blade. A Caster blade is a weapon unlike any other, and to his knowledge was the only thing made of metal that would not bounce a spell. In fact it was said the blade enhanced a natural persons abilities beyond what would be normally achievable. And if you believed such things it could bend reality as it was perceived.

With visions of grandeur on his mind Zeke slowly fell asleep.

In the warm embrace of the night a chilling voice echoed. Eerie and Distorted it tugged lightly at the corners of a boys mind. Slowly it became more and more insistent until finally Ezekiel had no choice but to pay it heed. Zeke cracked his eyes open slightly peeking out into the night. It was still dark so he couldn't have been asleep to long but still something didn't seem right. Little by little, he regained his wits and then peered around his room... or the total darkness that should have been his room, for it was now so dark he could not see anything. Silently Zeke cursed willing a small light into existence. Instantly a soft lighted orb sprang forth for him and just as quickly it was gone. That voice echoed again, louder then before and more clear as well. It cackled darkly at his foolishness. More then the voice it was the place he was in that began to make fear swell up inside his breast. He has seen it before but it wasn't the same at all. Somehow Zeke was sitting in the center of the awakening room. While it had always given him and anyone he knew shivers it had never before instilled him with this kind of terror.

As if mocking him the runes on the flow began to glow forcing him to see more. Line lit up and connected themselves curving and turning as they willed until he found himself inside a circle of pulsing velvet red. As panic started to grip him Zeke realized the pulsing of the circle matched his own and steadily it quickened. All along the walls just out of site he could feel things watching him. He could hear their whispers and feel their eyes upon him. Trying to move Zeke found that he could not. It was as if some invisible force held him fast for what ever horrid ritual was about to happen. Whispering softly Zeke called forth the spirits of wind and stone. "Land and Air that envelope me, break my bonds and set me free." For a moment his spell ignited, but in a flash it was gone. Again the voice laughed menacingly drawing close to him. Its form while indistinct was now almost visible. It seemed to float in mid air swaying in a breeze that could not be seen or felt. After a time he realized it wasn't that it was to dark to see the beast, because of the light from the circle now made it fairly easy to see... but that it absorbed the light around it. Only then did Zeke discover what it was... a creature born of the void, a Ky'tar. A demon that feeds off of magic. How such a thing had gotten into the school was beyond him but as it closed the distance between them he knew he was helpless to stop it.

Slowly it lifted a tail like appendage and caressed his face almost lovingly. Zeke was surprised to find it had a soft kind of fur hidden inside that void of a body, but it did little to calm him. The tail lowered and parted his cloak the cut open his shirt with ease. Looking carefully Zeke spotted a small spike had emerged from the tip of its tail. That would really hurt. Was the last thing he thought before his chest exploded in pain. All at once it burned and felt chilled as the Ky'tar tried to impale him on its tail. Crying out in anguish Zeke collapsed still unable to control his body as the world slowly went dark again.

Hours later light... real light peeked in through Zeke's window. The young man slowly stirred to find himself lying on the ground next to his favorite chair. Wincing in pain he touched his chest to find he had fallen onto one of the various piles in his room... this one containing towards the top a fork which now had a fair amount of his dried blood on it. It was with great relief that Zeke sighed brushing himself off as he stood up. It had all been a dream and it was one he was eager to forget.