The figure slowly crept forward, aware of her device which displayed the active detectors. She didn't bother searching for the magical alarms, confident that her unseen partner would alert her as to their presence.
Closing the distance between two walls, she halted abruptly as the laser net suddenly changed positions. She held her breath as she realised that she was extremely close to breaking the beam of light, and slowly inched back as she berated herself for being careless. The laser net was invisible to the naked eye. However, she wore a set of homemade spectrometer goggles. To configure the spectrometers, she had to know the exact frequencies of the crystals used in the system. It was simplicity for someone in her position to obtain the frequencies and she deftly slipped past the laser net. She knew the thermal sensors would not detect her presence, thanks to the skin-tight suit she wore, fashioned from the interior of a hostile-environment suit used by divers and miners everywhere.
Careful. An alarm's in the next room. You normally bypass it with that necklace of yours, but its night-time and you shouldn't be here, so the alarm's tight. As far as I can tell, the alarm covers the entire room except for the ceiling. Slip in through that window over there. Rather convenient, isn't it? I suspect that it's intentionally there to let people like us through.
The figure heeded it's advice and utilised her own magic to hover along the ceiling, just barely avoiding the edges of the magical alarm.
The stairwell was wide and spacious and familiar to the figure. The steps were well-worn and smooth, not giving a hint of the owner's true nature. She quickly moved up the stairs. The corridor that faced the figure was long, far too long to fit inside the mansion. Carefully, but with barely restrained eagerness, the figure slinked forward, heading to the door at the end, marked with an ornate fiery letter 'K' on it. Impatiently checking the door for any signs of traps, magical or otherwise, she opened the door with scarcely a sound. As she stepped in and closed the door behind her, the lights turned on. She froze. A chair in the center of the room swiveled around to reveal a stern woman covered randomly with azure blue scales and fire-red feathers with a large pair of leathery wings, ablaze at the edges.
"I suppose you thought you were very clever."
The figure took off its mask, revealing the hawk-nosed visage of a youthful eighteen year-old, having a scalp of long, silky onyx hair, half of which was dyed to a deep violet. Her skin had a slight sheen to it, as if she were covered in a thin layer of oil. She turned her gray eyes, seeming to change colour as the light reflected off it, on the woman.
"As a matter of fact, I did think that was very clever of me." Raewyn Aesiflay said.
-
"You appear to be testing my patience. That would not be very smart of you, would it?" Karasondrias said with a wide, toothy grin that seemed out of place on her humanoid form. There were far too many teeth to seem proper and the mouth had stretched further, much further than the normal width of any humanoid's mouth.
"No," Raewyn agreed. "No, it wouldn't. I would like to point out that I was merely testing out your security and I-"
"Oh, we both know what you were trying to do. You were playing a prank. Pure and simple. Please. Do not doubt my intellect. I'm much older than you. However, I am but a youngling in terms of my people." She paused. "Both, of my peoples. I do enjoy fun. But do not take it too far. I assume that Libys urged you to do it?"
"Not really urge, he just provided the instruction."
"Be careful of your actions. It would be well for you to remember your place." Karasondrias looked at her with those piercing azure eyes, no longer grinning but solemn and still. "As my apprentice, appearances can be everything. I don't just mean illusions." She sighed. "Politics, dear child, politics." Karasondrias said the word with such disdain as if her mouth needed to be thoroughly disinfected before she could speak again. She started walking down the corridor slowly, Raewyn following her pace. "I wish I'd never accepted my mentor's invitation to that hunt. Then, I wouldn't have been one of the first to make contact. Choices and consquences. Everything you do has an impact, typically far-reaching and frightening. Weigh your actions carefully, don't just give in to your pet demon's so-called 'advice'. Do remember that he is a demon."
"Yes, ma'am." Raewyn said, rolling her eyes. "I won't forget it ma'am."
The grin returned to Karasondrias' face. "Ah, the insolence and temper of youth. How you remind me of myself. And do try not to break into my house again. Ah, I have a better idea. You, shall stay with me. Problem solved. This mansion is more than large enough. Hah. It can be as large as I want it to be on the interior at any rate." Karasondrias roared loudly, frost covering the walls she faced. "Morinth! Prepare the guest room beside mine!"
"Of course, mistress. Your will be done." A zombie appeared, seemingly from nowhere, but Raewyn knew better. Morinth was the singular caretaker of the house and was adept at being hidden so as not to disturb any conversations taking place. He walked quickly, somewhat of a rarity amongst the dead as they mostly just shuffled along.
"Your lessons, such as they were, shall be continued tomorrow. You will need all the rest you can get, considering how much energy you have surely wasted in attempting to infiltrate my house. If I know Morinth at all, the guest room should already be ready for you."
Raewyn blinked. "But, he just walked past us..." She trailed off uncertainly.
Kara's grin grew even wider, if such a thing was possible. "He is much more than he seems."
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