Blake had crossed Gareg du dam and went along the road to Elan Village but turned to walk to the Elan Valley Visitor Centre. He had decided to walk instead of taking the bus but it had been further away than he first thought. He had never been to the Visitor Centre even though it was a bit of a gathering spot for the students of Elan and Vale academy. It had a café and picnic area which was popular among the students.

He arrived later than he had expected, and Leon was already waiting.

“I’m sorry! I thought that it wouldn’t take so long to walk here.”

Leon gave him a surprised look when Blake mentioned him walking there.

“You walked? Why didn’t you take the bus?”

“It didn’t look so far away on the map,” Blake said embarrassingly and Leon looked horrified.

“I should have mentioned it. I assumed that you would have already visited the Visitor Centre so it didn’t even occur to me that I needed to come with you.”

Blake looked around. It was a beautiful place with hills covered in forest and a river flowing along the forest.

“Why are we here, though? I asked you if you could take me to Elan coven’s Library.”

“We in the coven calls all libraries with arcane knowledge for Atheneum but to answer your question. The coven is located here.”

Blake frowned as he looked around a second time.

“In the Visitor Centre?”

“Not quite. Follow me, please!”

They walked over to the Caban Cock dam and went over a narrow bridge. They went down a road away from the dam and into a thick forest. Blake was just about to ask where they are going when Leon stopped in front of an enormous oak. It might just be as big as the World Tree in Vale Academy.

It was very similar to the World Tree but unlike that tree, this one was not dying. Blake could feel magic emanating from this Oak. He went closer and froze as he looked upon a wooded face of an old man with a long beard in the trunk of the Oak. It looked eerie and so lifelike that it cannot be natural.

Leon stepped in front of it and the face opened its eyes, dark and empty,

“Focal faire?” a musky voice came from the head. It was neither male nor female and send shivers through Blake’s body.

“Crann Eolais,” Leon answered, and the head let out a groan as it transformed into a doorway decorated with carved mistletoes.

Leon opened the door for Blake who entered in a daze. He stared at the interior as he was awed by the sight.

“Bloody hell,” he gasped, and Leon laughed at his outburst. “Welcome to Crann Eolais. The tree of knowledge.”

They must be inside the trunk but the place was enormous. Blake could spot two gates on the bottom floor. One had carved roots over it with the sign Atheneum over it and the other had two carved druids guarding the gate. It had a sign with the words An Ciorcal over it. Both these gates seemed to have halls beyond them and if he looked up there were circular stairs going up. He saw shops and apartments on each floor and at the nonexistent ceiling, he spotted the sky among green leaves.

“How? Why? What?” Blake was into much of shock to be able to formulate a question. Fortunately, Leon answer anyway.

“We created a haven between the two planes inside the Crann Eolais. We needed to as the human was not sympathetic to our kind. This is the home of the Elan Coven. The chamber with the sign An Ciorcal, the circle, is where all the leaders of the coven assemble. Our council so to speak.”

“I assumed the Elan coven were located in Elan village along with the Graycrests and Elan Academy,” Blake admitted as the two started to walk to the gate with the Atheneum sign. Leon had said earlier that it was the coven’s word for library.

“The Graycrest created the Elan Academy in order to get a foothold in the human world and not lose our roots. Elan Academy has become the ambassadors for the witches and fae. They teach us about the outside world.”

“But Elan Academy is an all-girl school.”

“Indeed. Though the old ways have started to vanish, but all covens were once led by women. We were matriarchial as women often have greater magic and control than men. It was also one of the reasons why we didn’t get along with the shifters who are a patriarchal society.”

They entered the Atheneum and Blake almost walked into a young girl with pink hair and glowing butterfly wings in a million colors. She yelped and backed away with a laugh. Blake tried not to stare but it was nearly impossible.

“You’re a fairy! But why aren’t you small?”

The fairy giggles and flew up in the air. Blake noticed that the flapping of the wings did not create any gusts.

“Why do you assume that I am not?”

Blake frowned at that and was about to argue before it hit him.

“The doorway? It shrank us!”

Both Leon and the fairy laughed at that. The fairy was so overjoyed that she clapped her hands and made a somersault. It was fortunate that the library had plenty of room for such a maneuver.

“It is an old trick from the gnomes. They live in small, invisible houses beneath trees and houses. You probably saw them as a human as well. They look like ordinary humans merely homeless as they can shrink and enlarge themselves with magic.”

The fairy landed in front of Blake and leaned towards him. She was a bit too close for his comfort and he backed away. Unconsciously, he had grabbed onto Leon’s arm. Leon merely patted his hand.

“Pull back, Clary! You frighten him.”

Clary frowned and straighten herself. She looked from Blake to Leon before shrugging.

“I didn’t mean to. I was just curious as I have never seen him before.”

“This is Blake Oakley. He was an ordinary human merely a couple of weeks ago before being attacked by a wolf-shifter and uncovered the magical world.”

“Oh my? A human. No wonder you looked so innocently adorable. My name is Clary. I’m a resident of Crann Eolais. Do you want me to help you navigate the Atheneum?” she said sweetly and flapped her wings. Blake started to violently sneeze, and Clary backed away. She looked horrified and insulted.

“No need, I’m here to help him.”

“Fine. Suit yourselves,” She huffed and left with a pout. Blake was able to get his sneezes under control. Leon looked at him with a peculiar look on his face.

“What?”

“I shouldn’t ask but… Do you happen to like men?”

Blake started to cough violently, and it took him a while before he was able to gather himself.

“Pardon? Why do you ask?”

“Fairies have a special, flowery scent that attracts people. But you backed away from her. Then she let out dust which fairies use to make men or women fall in love with them. If you aren’t attracted to the fairies gender you are automatically immune, and you start to sneeze out the dust.”

Blake looked over at Leon who didn’t look bothered by him being gay.

“I do like men but you didn’t seem to react either.”

“I put a charm on myself to avoid being affected. Though it’s said that a person who doesn’t fall in love with a fairy through her dust is already in love. But that may just be fairytales,” Leon said and winked at Blake who turned red. Leon chucked and then turned towards the library who was several floors high and filled with books.

“Magical sources and their summoning rituals can be found in 4B on the second floor. Follow me, please!”

Blake followed Leon to the second floor and looked upon the thousands of books on sacrificial rituals. This is going to take a while…

……………………………………………………………………………………….

Jaxon knocked restlessly on Elliott's door. His office was normally off-limits but he needed advice. He entered when he heard Elliott tell him to go ahead. His brother didn’t even lift his eyes to watch him. His wolf senses had already picked up on Jaxon’s scent and his anxiety.

“What do you need?”

“Advice, mostly. I tried to ask Aeron and Kai but they were-“

“Not very helpful.”

“Exactly.”

Elliott looked up from his papers and perused his brother with an intense gaze.

“What’s the matter?”

“I fear I might be the wolf that attacked Blake?”

“You mention that before and I said it was unlikely. You weren’t in a position in either attack to be a suspect. You were too far away the first time and busy with dancing with your girlfriend the second time. We were there you know.”

“But I wasn’t there! I got drunk after one dance and blackout!”

Elliott sighed and shook his head.

“Though I have a lot of things to say about that confession still I already knew that. I was the one that took care of you. I found you in the grass behind the festival.”

“But I-“

“Why don’t you tell me the real reason you are trying to convince yourself that you are the villain.”

“I… Apparently hurt Blake.”

Elliott frowned at that.

“Apparently? You are not sure?”

“Well, he’s mad at me. Told me I left him in shambles. I merely said I would dance with him at the festival.”

“Then did you?”

“No, Jessie showed up. She had told me she wouldn’t come. I couldn’t say no to my girlfriend.”

Elliott leaned back and watched his brother with a gaze often reserved for Kai. A gaze that declared him an idiot.

“Breaking a promise can leave a wound you know.”

“Yeah, well. Blake might have mentioned… something… about not flirting with the gay lad when you already have a girlfriend.”

Elliott raised his eyebrows and his gazed turn into judging him.

“He’s gay and you promised to dance with him at the festival. Like in a date.”

“It was not a date!”

“He’s gay. You flirted and promised to meet up at a dance. That is a date. He assumed it was a romantic one. No wonder he’s furious. Did you apologize?”

“No… But it’s not a date. I merely wanted to dance with a friend.”

Elliott smirked at him and Jaxon got a feeling this would not lead to any good.

“How many times have you danced with Aeron? Or any of your teammates? For that matter, any boy at all?”

Jaxon grimaced at that.

“Fine, never.”

Elliott merely nodded and frowned at him. Jaxon almost winced when he heard him speak.

“Do you have feelings for Mr. Oakley?”

“What? NO! I-“

Elliott raised his hand to stop him and Jaxon silenced.

“This is me you are talking to. Not Kai, not Aeron and certainly not your teammates. Take a while and truly answer me. Do you fancy Blake?”

Jaxon shook his head before he pulled on his hair. Damn it all.

“I don’t know. I am straight. I have always been straight. I’m in love with Jessie. I know that but from the first time, I saw him. When he looked like a cute little rabbit and I just wanted to chase him around… Dammit. I don’t know!”

“Then let me ask you another question. Try to answer it as honest as you can. Is it you who are attracted to Blake or is it Nightmane?”

Jaxon was dumb-struck by the question. What does he mean? He is the host of Nightmane. Their wills are the same. Then it slowly started to dawn on Jaxon. It was Nightmane who saw Blake as a rabbit. Who was happy when he saw him, who was sad when he was hurt and angry when Jaxon ignored him.

“Nightmane… But that is impossible. Nightmane and I are the same!”

Elliott groaned and closed his eyes. He looked distressed.

“Then I need to tell you something we naturals like to avoid mentioning. Something that should be taught.”

“What?” Jaxon asked slowly and Elliott's blue eyes opened to watch him with sorrow.

“For centuries, we have encountered dilemmas when some wolves choose a host. Normally, the wolf spirits merge with the host but the older the spirit the more it keeps their independents. As such, their being can affect the host. The most common problem is when the host and the wolf have different genders.”

“Why would that matter?”

“After the merge, the host becomes unsure of its own gender. A man can suddenly feel like a woman and a woman can feel like a man. If a man merges with a female wolf then confusion can emerge as the wolf felt like a female and the male host will feel the same. In ancient times we merely killed those people and hoped that the next host shared a gender with its wolf.”

“That’s horrible,” Jaxon gasped. He had never heard of such a thing.

“We have stopped killing hosts, but we still refuse to talk about these problems which can occur.”

“I do think this should be common knowledge but what does this have to do with my situation.”

“Everything. If we assume that you are straight. Then maybe Nightmane is not. Which is why it likes Blake. Now you are confused as you can feel Nightmane’s feelings. You would probably be able to differentiate between your feelings and Nightmane’s if you hadn’t merged at such a young age. Now you are too used to feeling Nightmane’s emotions to know the difference.”

Jaxon frowned at one particular sentence.

“If we assume that I’m straight. You think I’m not?”

“I am not entirely sure that Nightmane is to blame for all of this. Wolves often only fall in love with other wolves. Blake doesn’t have a wolf for Nightmane to fall in love with. But that lad is… Strange. He doesn’t smell like magic but can still use it. He can speak to wolf spirits without a host. I have no idea what other powers that boy has but considering how Hadrien reacts to the boy I can only assume that Nightmane is not the only wolf who is enamored with Mr. Oakley.”

Jaxon grimaced at the thought of Hadrien’s interest in Blake and he could feel Nightmane growling. Someone was eager to show the new alpha its place within this pack. He rose from his seat across Elliott and was just about to open the door when he halted.

“Elliott?”

“Yes?”

“Your wolf… Silvergale. Isn’t it a female?”

“…Yes.”

Jaxon couldn’t continue this conversation and hurried to leave.