Sam looked up. She could see heavy stones being lifted up. It was impressive work. They were rebuilding the Mansion. The previous had been destroyed with the help of the King’s army. The king wasn’t a fan of light magic and how the witches were helping the resistance against him.
The Mansion was a little misleading. The area would have multiple buildings. Two houses were going to be dormitories. One for nonmagical people who were helping with the witches. They included highly trained personal guards for the highest-ranking witches. They also made sure that everyone in the Mansion would be safe. There would be a huge garden behind the main building. They were going to grow much-needed herbs in there.
Sam had never seen anything like this in her life. They used old fashioned cranes to lift the stones. No normal rope could lift such a heavy stone, but the ropes were infused with magic. They were almost impossible to break. Sam could feel magic radiating from everywhere around her. The grounds were infused with magic which was the main reason the council had chosen this site.
Sam looked in amazement at the first-floor stones being lifted. She could see the woodwork disappear behind the heavy stones. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long for them to build the whole building. Sam predicted it would take a week before they would be moving in furniture. It wouldn’t be a small building. It was going to look more like a castle. They had said it would house the council, plus their apprentices. It would be easily more than dozen people at this point and the council wasn’t fully assembled yet. It would also house a war room and library for more dangerous artefacts and books. Witches didn’t fight in wars as such as they are being of light magic, but they needed to protect and heal in battle. Their magic prevented them from killing others. Which was the main reason why they had their own protective forces.
Sam looked around. She was standing quite a far away from the main building in case the crane went down. She looked the opposite way and saw the finished houses. Opposite the main building was the school. It was already mostly finished. Sam could see people on top of the building finishing the roof. Sam walked towards it. It was a fair walk. After a few minutes, she was in. The school also had walls made of huge stones pieces and the floor and ceiling were made from wood. Sam could feel the wards on the wood. They protected against fire and pestilence The main hallway had two entrances, and Sam had come through the back one. In the middle of it was a huge staircase going upstairs. On the left side, they had the main hall. It would fit all the students. It had a theatre stage. Sam had an understanding they did allow the students to perform music and theatre to the other students. Sam walked away from the hall towards the food hall on the other side. It had a great deal of small tables in neat rows. Sam had half expected to see a few rows of long tables. Apparently, the school encouraged them to make bonds of friendships with each other no matter how long they had been studying. The witches found new students by accident some of the time. Some of the students started older than others. Normally they started their first magical lesson at 12 or 13. Their bodies needed to be mature enough to handle the magic.
Sam walked upstairs. She ignored the door next to the main hall. It went to the teachers’ quarters. Upstairs were many classrooms as well as a huge library. The library took two floors, one going up towards a ceiling made from glass. It was a beautiful sunny day and Sam stood there in the sunlight for a few moments. There were few books on the shelves. Most of the books were still in huge chests. Sam giggled a little. Every time she saw one of those, she kept thinking of pirates’ chests full of treasures.
Sam walked out. She could see a woman with long black hair coming towards her. She was older than Sam. She looked to be in her 40s with some grey streaks going through her hair into her ponytail. She was short but no one wanted to mess with her power. She had been a teacher in the Mansion for 2 decades before starting her own journey elsewhere. That’s who Sam met her in the first place.
‘I can’t believe a month ago there was nothing here!’ Sam exclaimed in wonder. Aena smiled at her.
‘We can do things quickly when we put our minds to it. Are you ready to go? Aurora wants to see you,’ Aena responded.
Sam smiled at the thought of seeing Aurora. She was her favourite kid in all the worlds.
Katrina writes 