Soon they were soaring over the mountains as Portland vanished in the distance behind them. After a few hours of flying - and a descent or two for bathroom breaks and lunch - they passed through an invisible magical barrier and could see Mythwood Valley below them. The Unicorn River curved its way through as well, named for all the unicorns who came out of the Mythwood Forest to drink from it. They descended towards the center of the Valley as the bustling magical town of Pixiewick came into view. 

A plethora of flying vehicles were coming and going as students arrived. A tall clocktower sat in the center of Spiral Market, named for the dark brick streets that extended out in a spiderweb fashion. They were lined with wooden buildings that were reminiscent of 17th Century Salem, Massachusetts, housing a myriad of shops and businesses. This was the heart of Pixiewick. 

The Jeep flew just north of the town, where one of the brick roads led into a huge parking lot. They landed, gathered their things, and walked towards the enormous gothic-style mansion at the other end of the lot. It was mostly dark in color and had multiple towers jutting up. A sign above the main double doors displayed the school logo - a silhouette of a crow spreading its wings and the words Qrowdell Academy contained within. 

“We’re finally here!” Mallory cheered excitedly. Nyx meowed from his shoulder. 

“I can’t wait to meet our dormmates!” added Emmett. 

“I used to love starting a new school year,” Zeb recalled fondly. “It’s good to be back.”

“How long ago did you go here again?” Emmett inquired. 

“I graduated about five years ago,” he explained. 

“For some reason our parents had him and then waited nine years to have me,” Mallory added with a chuckle. 

They followed an influx of people through the front doors and down a long hall, Pegasus trotting close behind. It seemed many types of otherkin were present there - humans, elves, dwarves, catfolk, dogfolk, foxfolk, goblins, tieflings, etc. The hall opened into an absolutely massive octagonal Atrium that rose up seven stories high to a lattice glass ceiling. Curved staircases sat at the northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast walls, looping around stone pillars to give access to all seven floors. Each level had an interior wraparound balcony overlooking the polished wood floor of the Atrium, and numerous pointed archways and halls leading to other parts of the mansion. The walls were lined with cast-iron sconce lamps holding magical purple flames, but they were rather dim because it was still daylight.

“If you haven’t checked in yet, please let us know!” called out a man in an elegant suit and tie as he addressed the swarms of people. There were several faculty members walking around with clipboards, all dressed just as formal as the first man. Mallory, Emmett, and Zeb walked up to the closest person. 

“Do ya’ll need to get checked in, darlin’s?” asked the woman in a southern accent as they approached her. She had lavender hair pulled into a long braided ponytail, bright violet eyes, lightly-tanned skin, and was clad in a blue dress and brown cowboy boots. 

“Yes, please,” Mallory responded with a smile. 

“Aww, you got some furbabies too! Names?”

“Um, this is Nyx and that’s Pegasus,” Mallory replied. 

“No silly, I meant your names!” She chuckled. 

“Oh! Sorry. Mallory Dane.”

“Emmett Haldeman.”

“Well, wouldya look at that!” she said with a grin as she looked over the clipboard. “Ya’ll are both assigned to Tamreon Hall!”

“Yeah, during registration me and Mallory asked to be placed in the same room,” Emmett confirmed. 

“Well I reckon you’ll be seein’ a lot of me then, on account of me being Head Dormitory Monitor for Tamreon Hall! Miss Bailey, at your service!” She flashed a toothy grin, then turned serious. “But don’t let me catch ya’ll misbehavin’, ya hear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the teens both said in unison. 

“And you are, sir?” she asked Zeb.

“Zebastian Dane. I’m the new Arcane Martial Arts teacher.”

“Oh, new blood! Welcome!” She smiled as she finished checking them off on the clipboard and then snapped her fingers. Three sheets of paper manifested in flashes of light, just floating there in front of her. She handed one to each of them. “Your rooms and startin’ class schedules are listed there, as well as a map of the campus. Be sure to change into your school uniforms before the Welcome Dinner starts at six in the Dining Hall.”

“Do we need keys or anything?” asked Mallory. 

“Nah, your doors are enchanted to sense your presence,” Miss Bailey explained. She then turned to Zeb. “And I s’pose you got somethin’ nice to wear too, darlin’?”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied with a grin.

“Alright then, off ya’ll go! See you at six!”

Miss Bailey turned to address other students, and the three guys - plus Nyx and Pegasus - headed out the doors at the far end of the Atrium, which opened up to a spacious courtyard and garden. Green hedges and rows of multicolored flowers lined the outer perimeter, and a stone dragon fountain sat in the center. A brick road led from the back of the main building, through the courtyard, and then forked off into multiple paths. Some led to eight smaller mansions on the other end of the grounds, while others veered off into the forest. 

“So the map says those mini-mansions are the eight dormitory halls,” Emmett said as he looked at the paper Miss Bailey had given him. “Tamreon Hall should be the one on the far left.”

“Yep, that’s the right one,” Zeb confirmed. 

“Oh, that’s right! I forgot you were at Tamreon too!” Emmett recalled. 

As they walked through the courtyard towards their Hall, Mallory looked over his class schedule. Mornings were reserved for normal faeless subjects like Math, Science, and English. They had an hour lunch at noon, and then the rest of the school day was devoted to magical subjects. He would get to branch off into different classes in later years, but as a freshman, it was just three basics - Magibotany, Enchantment, and History of Arcana. Electives were only available for sophomores and up, so he wasn’t able to officially take Zeb’s Arcane Martial Arts class until the following year.

“Do you guys need anything before I head to the faculty apartments?” Zeb asked.

“Nope!” Mallory replied. “We’ll see you at dinner!”

Zeb nodded and left, Pegasus close behind, his tail wagging. Mallory, Emmett, and Nyx headed inside Tamreon Hall. The first floor was a large Common Room with quite a few plush sofas and recliners facing an enormous flatscreen television. The walls were covered with photos of various Chimeraball lineups from over the years. At the far end of the Hall was a kitchen with a few tables and chairs, but most meals would be eaten in the main Dining Hall. There were four additional floors above the first that were split into a boys’ wing and a girls’ wing, each one accessed by a separate staircase at opposite ends of the Common Room.