92 Chapter 91: An unwelcome fourthwheel

"I-" Elize stuttered.

This was her worst day ever, she cursed in her mind. The dwarf smirked, seeing her helplessness. 

"Stones child. I was talking about stones." He said, shaking his head. "The same thing that is inside your head." 

"Yes sir!" Elize said nervously. "I mean no sir. I-"

The whole class burst out laughing., filling the hall with the sound. Elize turned towards Logolas and Agatha helplessly. The elf was trying hard to suppress his laughter while the witch was staring at her with an incredulous expression. 

"Help me." She mouthed.

"Just keep your mouth shut." Agatha whispered, leaning in. 

"Silence!" Runebreaker commanded, thumping at the surface of the podium. Immediately, the class went silent. But everyone's head were still turned towards Elize, waiting eagerly for her to say something stupid again. 

"Tell me Elize," Runebreaker began, leaning in. "how can we, who do not have the sight of the witches differentiate between the Dam Sehlah and the Toahr Sehlah just by looking at it from afar?" 

Hearing the names of the stones startled her for a moment, filling her with dread. Was that supposed to be a trick question? Did the dwarf know of her identity? Was he trying to expose her in front of everyone? Did someone else have a hand in this? Her gaze spanned the class, finally landing on a certain blonde haired elf with abnormally purple eyes. Aerin had a proud smirk on her face, as if seeing Elize humiliated in front of the class was a huge accomplishment. Although her face screamed arrogance, Elize knew that there was no way that the elf knew about her identity. 

"Elize!" Agatha whispered, bringing her mind back to reality. 

"Miss Gurg?" Runebreaker called, in a condescending tone.

"I-" Elize stuttered, her mind suddenly going blank.

"The color! Tell him about its color!" Agatha whispered.

"Am I to assume that your conversation with your friend here was more important than my class?" Runebreaker asked, pointing towards Legolas.

Elize shook her head, denying his accusation. "No sir." She said with her head bent low.

"If you don't answer him, you know what will happen to you." Legolas whispered, reminding her of the rumor surrounding the dwarf.

"I'm scared." Elize smurmured, a drop of sweat sliding down her forehead reinstating her claim.

"Tranquillitas." Agatha whispered, pointing a finger at her. 

The spell started working on her immediately, calming her nerves with a smooth touch. Her heart was steady once again. Elize took a deep breath, relieved. She nodded towards the with gratefully.

"The Dam Sehlah is deep red in color." Elize spoke up, interrupting the dwarf midway.

"What?" Runebreaker asked, his head snapping back to Elize.

Elize took a deep breath. She repeated her answer, this time raising her voice a bit more. "The Dam Sehlah is deep red in color while the Toahr Sehlah is pure white."

Mister Runebreaker's eyes grew wide in surprise. The man was mind blown at how a wolf knew about the intricacies of such things that he hadn't even mentioned in the class. Earlier, he had asked the question to her simply to humiliate her in front of the class as a punishment for being inattentive while he was teaching. Within the span of a minute, his opinion about the black haired girl who was nervously staring at him with her big gray eyes changed for the better. 

"That is absolutely correct! Well done Miss Gurg." He exclaimed with a huge smile. Looking around the classroom, he shook his index finger at the students who suddenly looked stupid, he reprimanded. "You bunch should learn from her."

Elize grinned, seeing that she had come out of the situation with flying colors. She remembered how Luna had told her in the spiritual realm that what she had encountered at the clearing was the Dam Sehlah. Remembering its deep red color was not a huge deal for her since its haunting memories still remained with her. She also remembered being privy to the pure white interior of the mystical cave at the Island and her conversation with the Tohar Sehlah. 

"You must have read the grimoire Aileen had given you. I don't remember telling you the Tohar Sehlah." Agatha said with a wink. 

Elize laughed awkwardly, knowing that she could not tell anyone else about what happened in the cave.

"Nerd." Legolas taunted, poking her hand. 

Elize stuck her tongue out at the elf, ignorinng a certain cold glare that she was getting from the front row. 

"Mister Nightwing?" Runebreaker called, turning his attention once again back to him.

"Yes sir?" Legolas answered, putting on a blank face.

"The next time I see you disturbing one of my brightest students, I will personally escort you out of the class. Do you hear me?" The dwarf said, pushing his googles up his nose. 

Elize's jaw dropped in surprise. Brightest student?! Although she sensed that the compliment was not heartfelt, it was the first time that someone called her that, she thought, her heart filling to the brim with a newfound appreciation for the graying dwarf. At the same time she felt bad for the elf, although he didn't look like a sorry figure himself.

"Yes sir." Legolas replied, scratching his head awkwardly.

"You both may sit down." Runebreaker said, flicking his notes once again. "Now back to what we were talking about.."

"Sorry." Elize mouthed, as she sat down once again next to Legolas.

The elf chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. 

"You're so helping me with my studies Gurg." He said smiling. 

"Don't call me that Nitghtwing." Elize said poking his arms.

"Fine fine! I won't." Legolas said, horrified. "It's a deal then. Isn't that so Agatha?" He asked, turning to the witch with a sweet smile.

The witch shrugged. "Of course I'll join you- that is, if you get down on your knees and plead for it." She replied, her chin raised.

"Of course of course! I will do just that after I take you out to the town with me today." Legolas said with a wink.

"We're going out?! Just the three of us?!" Agatha asked excitedly.

"I can't make it you guys. You know right Agatha?" Elize apologized, looking pointedly at her friend.

"Oh yeah right.. you had that thing.." The witch replied awkwardly.

"Wait wha-" Legolas asked, looking at Elize with narrowed eyes. 

"Yes exactly! I have to study!" Elize quickly said, before the elf saw through Agatha's bad efforts at lying. 

"Why do I feel like you guys are hiding something from me?" He asked, crossing his hands on his chest.

"What?! Why would you think so?" Elize asked, faking surprise. 

"Yes Legolas!" Agatha exclaimed, catching on. "Why would we hide anything from you?"

"I don't trust you guys." Legolas said, looking back and forth the girls sitting on his either side.

The girls laughed, pulling the elf's cheeks and hair amidst his protests. Mister Runebreaker's attention was now solely on his notes, flipping through them while saying something about lost stones and their owners. Excluding the few front rows, the whole class was in a world of their own, passing notes and throwing paper planes at each other. As Elize looked around the place, a sense of relief came over her. Finally, she was just another student in the class- just another normal student like every one else, she thought happily. 

"Hey," Suddenly someone called her from beside. 

Elize turned to her right, to where the she elf was sitting. Firyr looked at her nervously. With her brows raised and her eyes wide, she looked quite innocent at that moment. 

"Yes Firyr?" She asked politely. 

"Umm.. Can I join you guys today? I really have something to get from the town." Firyr replied shyly.

"Uhh.. I don't know. I'm not going. You should ask Agatha." Elize said suddenly feeling awkward. 

Although she had suggested Legolas earlier to take Firyr along with them, even though as an afterthought, now that she thought about it, she felt like Agatha wouldn't be comfortable with it for some reason. Maybe Agatha like her, didn't really want an addition to the group, although she was quite nice to the she elf whenever they talked in front of her. She knew that there was some emotional tug of war going in between the two, but she couldn't place it.

Firyr nodded innocently, leaning towards Agatha. "Hey Agatha?" She asked.

Elize noticed how Agatha who was till now laughing at something that Legolas had said suddenly had stopped, a blank expression taking its place.

"Yes?" The witch asked.

Firyr began, "I have a few things to get from the town.. can I-"

Before she could finish her request, Legolas quickly said, "Yes yes! Why don't you join us?! We're going into town later on. This way, Agatha will not get bored with me." He paused and turned towards the witch with a wide grin. "Right Agatha?" He asked.

Elize rolled her eyes at the stupidity of Legolas. Was he really that clueless?! Didn't he sense that something was off between the two, or was his skull that thick?! She watched, as Agatha's jaw clenched and relaxed in quick successions, as if she was trying her best to remain on her happy character. 

"You're right Legolas, she should come with us." The witch said, with a forced smile.