[color=7ea7d8][b][i]Nodah Listig[/i][/b][/color]

Nodah trekked past a boulder with moss growing on one side in the choking fog, blinking against smokey arms that reached forward to blind him. His footfalls were all but silent; Nodah was no elf, but he had learnt early how to tread quietly, cautiously, that his movements made no more than a spirit's whisper as he crept through the trees. The foot he had raised froze, inches from stepping into a murky puddle of water. Its surface made for a poor looking-glass, but as Nodah withdrew his leg and landed it elsewhere dry, he could see through the gloom a shining pair of eyes that glowed yellow. He blinked, and the cat's glare was replaced by two glittering jade gemstones. 

A rustle in the bushes. Nodah's breath caught in his throat. He whirled around, one hand ghosting to his waist, and the other adjusting the strap of his travelling bag on his shoulder. The possessions he'd brought were few to speak of, but they existed to burden him now, in the dense vegetation where Nodah knew not the beasts and threats. He lifted the bottom of his shirt, breaths shallow and eyes flickering in the darkness. One finger traced the handle of a blade, tucked neatly into his belt beside its five other brothers. His skill did not lie in dagger-throwing, but in corrupting the laws of gravity and flinging objects around for his amusement. Yet, what good were his powers if he lacked proper fodder? Here in the forest, Nodah did not think pine cones and leaf-litter would deter a fanged predator thirsting for blood, no matter how forcefully he cast them. 

Nodah stretched out a hand to the forest floor, and his fingers flexed. A fallen branch whizzed into his grasp, and his fist curled clenched around it. Crouched into the hunter's stance, he held it before him, ready to beat at the beast that hid in the shadows if it pounced on him. He peered around him, surveying the arena for the lion to his Roman, and stilled when his gaze swept over Rosewood. 

Up ahead, towering above the fog, was a tall regal structure. The archaeology was excellent, its design breathtaking. Most of all, it was his harbinger of safety and security, and only a few yards away. 

Relief flooded his throat and threatened to make his words thick. He did look forward to a night in a bed after his journey. Letting his breath out in a detoxifying sigh, Nodah stepped forward, abandoning the stick he had picked up in a frantic, senseless moment.

It was the wrong move. Something bellowed in his ears, and Nodah spun on the spot, heart quickening. [color=00aeef]"Wha - "[/color] He felt the hurricane-gust of wind toss the locks of his hair carelessly, felt the grit of kicked-up sand drag its raspy hand over his cheeks. Nodah's eyes narrowed against the dirt. His right hand snatched up a dagger, and he raised it to his brow, shielding his face. But this did not obscure from his vision the featureless silhouette that roared towards him. With his heart in his throat and curses on his tongue, Nodah leapt to the side, slashing at the chest of the silhouette with his dagger. The steel blade parted through it, like smoke. Nodah's mouth went dry. How was he to defeat a shade?

He swung out the hand that held the knife, and concentrated, remembering the boulder he had passed. The silhouette had turned its head, and its smooth, blank face stared at Nodah. Like something from a dream, it slanted itself, facing Nodah with languid movements. Nodah jerked his outstretched arm and folded it over his chest. With a scream of protest, the boulder came flying past the trees. The shade was right in its path. His other hand reached out, and just before the boulder could smear the silhouette, Nodah made a violent fist. There was a split-second of pause, as the atmospheric pressure surrounding the boulder peaked dramatically, and the granite surface crumpled, like a sheet of parchment that had been crinkled wastefully into a ball. There was a deafening [i]crash[/i]. Nodah ducked, curling his body away from the torrent of stone fragments that pelted his skin. He felt one strike his elbow, and gasped at the sharp dash of pain and release, as blood undoubtedly rose to swell. When Nodah looked up once more, the silhouette was gone, and he was alone.

Plunging the dagger back into its sheathe, Nodah looked down at the unevenly-shaped pebbles that now lay scattered. He rose his foot and took a step, the forest-floor crunching like gravel beneath him now. As he walked towards the school, he inspected the cut on his elbow. It was neither fatal nor worthy of concern, an accident, was all. 

An echoing voice rang, "[b][i]Congratulations, Nodah Listig. You have successfully completed the final step for your acceptance into Rosewood. Performance rank: Ａ.[/i][/b]" Nodah did not break stride, eyeing the open iron-wrought gates that loomed before him. [color=00aeef]"Hooray for me,"[/color] he muttered hollowly, flashing eyes flat. 

Nodah was going to step over the threshold, into Rosewood. Why could he not summon the joy, the triumph, the relief, of having acquired a position in a prestigious school, where attendance was a privilege? He thought of what he had left behind. He should have been overwhelmed by emotions to have successfully escaped his past, that treacherous monster that had until so recently been his present. Except, Nodah wasn't. Nodah could not muster the feelings required of him.

He almost walked right by the pixie. Eyes shuttered close, clothes green, and hair the colour of emerald, the creature was breathing, curled up on the ground. He was stained crimson, from a wound on the head. It was the blood that compelled Nodah to kneel - he who summoned everything to his hands before he bent. The pixie was no larger than a fruit. Nodah's lips quirked in bemusement, and he leaned forward to inspect the pixie further, eyes flashing indigo, then blue, then yellow, as he took in every detail. One finger brushed the pixie's hair aside gingerly, looking for the wound. When he was satisfied with what he'd gathered, Nodah prodded the minuscule shoulder for a reaction to gauge his degree of consciousness.