A little creature neighed and playfully stood on its back hooves, spreading its wings out. 

On the clearing in the forest were about a dozen of these creatures, elegant, powerful and full of magic. Neither a horse, nor a unicorn, nor a pegasus, but a powerful mixture out of all three. 

The female Alpha of the herd whined and alarmed the rest of the herd. With her silver fur and long silber wings she glowed in the gloomy light of the dark forest, where only bits of the full moon brightened the ground. On her head was a long, twisted horn which sparkled and reflected the moon light. 

The Alpha whined again and stomped with her hooves on the ground. The others nervously started to dart into the bushes, then panic broke out. 

A group of people jumped out of the bushes, holding long swords. 

„Kill them!", one of them yelled. „Get their hornes!"

The nostrils of the Alpha twitched as she recognized the scent of the firgures. Humans, she thought disgustedly. 

The Alpha spread out her wings and signaled her herd to follow her. As the the creatures ran into the forest, in panic and some wounded by the swords, the Alpha kept looking for her foal. She found it hiding and shivering behind a bush, and galloped to it. „Come on!", she neighed. „Follow me!". The foal followed its mother, leading it into the forest. Behind them the men were tracking down the herd, stomping and yelling. 

The Alpha lead its foal into a cave, where she hoped they would be safe. 

The foal shivered and pressed itself against her mother, who worryingly looked down at her foal. With the black horn, black fur and black wings it looked completely different from the rest of the herd, and it was not able to do any magic yet. 

Outside they heard the men coming closer, one of them yelling. „We found the herd, but the Alpha is missing! Search everything!"

On the ground the Alpha and her foal saw the shadows of men approaching, and she knew she could not hide her foal from them, unless...

She turned to her foal and whispered: „No matter what they say, you will be a strong and powerful Silberwing." The foal looked at her mother with dark eyes and whined. Her mother bend down her head and touch her foal's horn with her own. A jolt of energy rushed through the body of the foal, then it fainted and collapsed onto the ground. 

Her mother was panting from the loss of energy, but quickly turned around to face the two men which had almost reached the corner of the cave. 

„The Alpha is here!", one of them yelled and lashed at the Silverwing Alpha with his sword. She stood on her hooves and spread out her wings, and with a loud whine her horn started to glow and shoot out light against the men. The light filled the whole cave, shielding her foal from the views of the hunters until she collapsed onto the ground. 

As the light vanished, the lifeless bodies of the hunters and the Alpha became visible in the cave. 

The cries of the other Silverwings grew quiet and finally stopped. 

Then the rest of the hunters gathered the horns of the dead Silverwings and left, without seeing the little foal unconscious in the cave. 

Hours later, the black foal started to glow in a week white light, which swirled around its body. 

And then the magic of the foal's mother fulfilled its purpose. 

On the ground, where the foal had layed, was now a little human girl.

 I slowly walked up the steps, keeping my eyes focused onto the entrance. There were two very big doors, made out of wood with ancient carvings in it. The doors seemed too big to be opened. And they were supposed to be the entrance to a new start. 

It was very windy, so my hair kept blowing into my face. 

When I reached the end of the steps I took a closer look at the building in front of me. 

It was a very old building, a castle with many towers and windows and stone figures like gargoyles guarding the roofs. 

I brushed my hair behind my ears and took a deep breath, then I knocked at the door. 

Nothing happened at first, then with a loud screech the doors opened.

Behind them they revealed a small lady standing in the middle of a hallway, with a friendly  look on her face. 

„Ms. Lilac Lane?", she said. 

I nodded nervously. 

She seemed to sense my nervousness, and smiled softly. 

„I am Professor Jackson. Follow me."

With that, she turned around and quickly walked into the castle. 

I took another deep breath, then I stepped over the threshold and into my new school. 

I followed her silently while we passed many hallways and statues of people and creatures. 

After a while I was starting to wonder how big this castle was, then we finally stopped in front of another large door. 

Professor Jackson pointed at the door. 

„The headmaster will be waiting in there."

I did not move, I was frozen to the ground, staring at the door. 

I suddenly thought „this was a stupid idea, maybe I can run out of here before she catches me."

She seemed to have understood what was going on inside my head, and said: „Come on, off you go. The headmaster will not hurt you."

She smiled again, then walked along the hallway and disappeared behind the corner. 

„Come on, don't be such a wimp", I told myself. „It can't be as bad as the last school." 

I knocked at the door again.

A voice said: „Enter", then I opened the door and stepped into the room.

Inside the room were a lot of shelves, filled with books and other obstacles, like tiny statues, stones and stuffed animals. One of the walls was covered with bookshelves, and had a latter to climb to the top shelves.  The room had so many different things to look at, that I completely forgot why I was here. 

Somebody cleared his throat and then said: „Why don’t you take a seat?“

I flinched and turned towards the middle of the room, where a tall woman was sitting behind a desk. She had red hair which was cut in an oldfashioned bob. Her eyes were priercing green and her face had a stern look. 

She folded her hands on her desk and said: „I am Professor Roilan, headmaster of the Magic Academy. 

And you must be the new girl Ms. Lane.“

I took a seat at the desk. A few minutes of silence passed, then Professor Roilan looked at me and said strictly: „This Academy is a magic school, where we invite everybody who wants to learn about magic, but we do not tolerate any kind of bad behavior, since this is an elite school.“

I nodded. 

Professor Roilan paused, then went on: „We not only accept human witches and magicians, but also other magical creatures. We have nymphs, vampires, werewolves and werecats, dwarfs, elves, giants and also merpeople to name a few.“

I nodded again, trying to sort the information in my head. 

„Since we have so many students, the students are assigned to certain areas“, Professor Roilan continued. 

„For example the merpeople are at the bottom of the castle, closer to the river.“

„Professor Roilan, which area am I assigned to?“, I asked. 

She looked at my back and said: „Well, since you seem human we will assign you to the dorm of the witches.“

She thought for a moment, then spoke: „So it is correct that you got them through an accident with magic when you were young?“

„Yes Professor.“

Professor Roilan looked at my back again. 

„Very well, that will be all then. A student will show you to your dorm.“

I stood up and with a quiet „Bye Professor“ I walked out of the door. 

The door shut quietly behind me.