Light soot fell from the rafters of Teacher's personal chambers. The only room I have ever seen wood used so vainly and wastefully. It landed directly onto my snout. There were better ways to use wood, I knew and I was very much sure Teacher knew as well.

This had to be another one of his tests. Something to judge those quick to speak and weak in judgment. If I was more petulant, there is a quite few things I would have said. But there is no reason to rebuke him about wasting wood while others in the lower covens were going without. Purely, the idea of a need for a wooden ceiling in a cave was ludicrous. Teacher had to be aware of that. He knew and decided to make a trick for the sake of culling the wordy and the disrespectful.

Squinting up at the ash-painted ceiling and letting my eyes inspect the blacken roof, I tried to reassure myself that it wasn't wood material. Obviously, Teacher had carved and sanded the stone to resemble it. Teacher was a clever stallion and quite a trickster too.

My eyes flickered to Teacher. He was still caught in the revelation of his floral wines and ranting wildly at spirits she couldn't perceive. I rubbed a free hoof along my nose as quietly as I could to remove the dust. But in the end, I sneezed and interrupted Teacher's sermon. Such a small sound shouldn't have disturbed him. It didn't disturb the others in my nesting when we laid down at night but Teacher was never one to let minor ills go.

He once said, “I prefer to catch the tails of rats than to allow rats to catch mine in a moment of mercy.” I often think about what he said and the meaning always eluded me.

The bewildered stallion open his crazed eyes. His true eyes. Not the ones he painted on his eyelids. He looked towards me, inspecting my soul, with an unfamiliar glare. Perhaps, it was a sight I should have turned from but instead, I was entranced. Teacher's eyes, ablaze with blessed Lamia gold, withered to his ordinary brown ones... A sign that the spirits present and using my dear Teacher as a vessel had indeed left him.

I am not sure if I like what Teacher becomes when he is released from his mixes.

He has a habit of being quite unpredictable. And pitiful. He cried for strange creatures I have yet to see with my two eyes. I do not know if they are real creatures but their names sounded odd. Rose Mary... Sugar Whip... Tangle Twist... I do not know what to make of them and thus, I never bring them up.

Poor Teacher.

Even the betters of us are still slaves to the unholy flesh.

“This calls for a change in subject.” Teacher droned, his voice already losing his unrelenting edge and dulling into a thin and weary whimper. I inched my myself closer to where he was sat his bedding, trying to hear him over the exhaled shrieking of those celebrating in the nearby tunnels.

“Do you remember...?” He asked in that clever way of his. Teacher never played fair. Instead of answering him right away and falling into one of his tricks, I allowed my mind to drift as I considered what Teacher might want as a response.

The coven was in a uproar.

Has been for three whole days since one of the sentries confessed their glee of there being tightly-lipped news of a trespasser on Lamia soil. In most cases, this would have been seen as a bad omen. Our hated enemies, the Empusa, could have rallied together from the pits and begun another blatant siege. They desired our hills, our valleys, our nests and most importantly, our lives most of all.

However, the Empusa will never win. They are damned. Doomed to fail and cursed to remain in their hole until their bodies have rotted into sand.

Regardless of their certain fate, they've been stealing and killing those from the lower tunnels. It is all they are. Monsters. But... Far more lately but not enough to interfere with the daily work, they've begun increasing their attacks. And of course, the Empusa are smarter than to allow one of their own to get caught and  tortured for information despite their insane ways. If one had indeed been caught... It would be absolute proof of an incoming siege and nothing good ever came from that.

My spear-work wasn't good enough to guarantee my survival should there be another... And there wouldn't be enough room in the graveyard to place any more bodies should I live passed that...

It's been said that the Lamia, our dear elders, had caught an outsider that had come from the Sacred Forest. What wonders would the strangers would have to tell? Oh, I hunger to hear the stories and information beaten out of their flesh. If only I could hurry Teacher up quickly, I, too, could get a good seat before the ceremony started. There was always a chance that the Lamia would feel merciful and rip the stranger apart if the stranger had nothing interesting to say. I at least wanted to see the stranger whole and undone before anything else.

Thinking over Teacher's typical tricks, I thought it was time for him to try a surprise quiz upon me. What did Teacher say I was weak in? My oral knowledge? I decided to play it say. If he rebuke me, that too was fine. I am distracted.

“I remember the 232 scriptures, 80 laws and 1 ordinance of Severance, Teacher.” I recited. “Shall I go through the scriptures?”

“That isn't what I meant, Fifty-Six.” He chided, his eyes growing in good humor of his apparent superiority. “And there are 231 scriptures.” Teacher corrected. “You've been slaking in your reading.”

I do not think that I am completely wrong. There are 232 scriptures if one counted the Herald's Sin but I would not stoop to undermine him. My silence was the best I could do. I hoped he felt my disapproval and Teacher usually notices but in this instant, he seemed more interested in what he wanted to explain. Than to yell at me as normally does. That too was fine. Teacher's rebukes can last up to an hour if he was inclined.

“You once said that your name was Fluttershy.” Why would he bring that up now? Does he wish to hurt me by bringing up old faults? “I remember when you were first brought to our coven. A little thing crying at everything. Even the things that didn't move. You cried even harder when you saw those.”

“Teacher, I supposed I did share in that delusion like most fledglings and I have corrected those childish thoughts.” I said firmly, careful to keep my voice leveled. Did Teacher distrust me? Why does he have to continue these tests with me, his most noted pupil. One thought that being noted meant special attention but for me, it often means special abuse. Maybe, he needed her to remind him that she knew her place.“I am well aware of my place amongst the Lamia and-”

“None of that rhetoric for today.” He interrupted, waving a hoof in the air as if my words were disgusting. I felt my face boil and breathed in a calm breath. He must be attempting to wind me up... “I'm trying to do something a little unorthodox, Fifty-Six.” He waited, staring at me closely before- “May I call you, Fluttershy?

“Teacher, have I not proven myself to you? I do not need to be tested-”

“This isn't a test. Can you humor me? I know that I may be treading on sacrilegious ground but I still-”

“Lies! You are trying to trick me! I am not Fluttershy. I do not know that child who fell from the sky and never stopped falling. I do not know that child fell into the dark forest and was caught with many lies. If I knew Fluttershy, I'd end her life to spare her from this that is so different from what she knew! And you know me Teacher, I can't kill so cleanly!” I cried out. “I can hardly hunt or fight.”

“Fluttershy...”

“Do not call me that name.” I warned, my hackles raised and this fury boiling within my lungs. “You'll make a liar, a sinner, out of the both of us. I am Fifty-Six, a fledgling from Nesting five and I pledged my shameful, unholy existence to the Lamia, blessed are those in snakeskin and gilded light. I give my life for the sake of the Lamia, they who keep the world from plunging to true darkness, uglier than the night we all praise. Do not, Teacher, make light of my devotion.”