Finally, an invitation letter to Khayal. Haya’s blood, sweat, and tears paid off. Secondary education was brutal.

Haya knew it was only going to get uglier the moment she enrolled in her dream academy in a few minutes.

She didn't have the privilege to go to a more diverse secondary school. She was only ever surrounded by crows back in her village on Mount Crow.

Khayal was different. Every species was here. Everyone was different. The food chain was much more intense.

Goodness, even the building was different in comparison to her secondary school. Khayal was a castle. Haya felt like an ant standing in front of the towers that stretched all the way to the sky with their pointy ends.

The castle was afloat in the middle of a parting waterfall in the middle of the Khayalan Ocean. There was some kind of ancient magic that made it in this manner, untouched by land and water, forever hanging mid-air.

There was a suspended bridge, crafted from the entrance. It awkwardly ended halfway above the seawater for anyone's arrival.

"You're drooling," Professor Stella mused beside her.

Snapping her mouth shut, Haya shifted on her feet a tad bit uncomfortably, embarrassed of her gawking. "Sorry," she said, a blush colouring her cheeks.

A few of the new students beside her giggled before walking along the entrance. She didn't waste any more time and followed them, ignoring Professor Stella, who only watched her with narrowed eyes.

They all gathered at the dining hall. Haya tried not to leave her jaw hanging again, especially at the sight of a thousand faelights floating in the air. They lit up the room with their presence that resembled stars sprinkled in the night sky.

Round dining tables decorated the hall with seven seats occupied each. The tutors had their own seating on the balcony lining the hall. Some of them were already assessing the new arrivals with curiosity.

"Look! It's them!" someone whispered excitedly behind her. Haya looked over her shoulder towards the girl and followed her line of sight.

They came in from the other side of the hall, completely ignoring what was happening around them. The squeals and the sudden uplift of atmosphere came with their presence as everyone turned to look at them. They were like magnets.

Lo and behold, the royalty.

At the centre of the table, whose back was now in her view, was Azriel Darkmore. Wide shoulders and clean-cut dark hair that fell messily from his head. Even from the back, his energy waved against Haya’s consciousness like a tsunami. His wings were hidden. The fact that he could mean that he was on a different power status than the ordinary phoenix.

Sitting right next to him was a white-haired woman who had butterfly locs decorated with little butterflies. Her hair shimmered in the light, and that was telling enough of her Medusa nature. Her skin was as dark as night.

Her nails were painted black and were menacingly sharp. Her eyes were light blue, and she was devastatingly beautiful even from afar. Suki Everlast, the most stunning Medusa, as claimed by a top fashion magazine Haya saw in a corner shop.

She was laughing at what was said by another woman beside her. The pale skin, blood red eyes and lips, and tattooed sleeves - a bold disregard for school uniforms - she was Shiloh Qamarin, the only daughter of the strongest Vampire lord in Imajin. She was rumoured to have killed a participant in her secondary education final. Haya remembered the news only lasted a week before folks went on with their lives. She suspected the death was covered by the Qamarin.

Before she could dwell longer on the subject, Haya stumbled backwards when someone suddenly stood in front of her in the blink of an eye. She trailed her eyes up from his loose tie, to his throat, to his full grinning lips and lastly his brown eyes.

He had his powers unleashed to its full extent. The new arrivals parted around them as if they sensed an assault incoming. Haya gulped hard enough to be heard by this predator standing in front of her.

Orion Ryder, the lonely prince. The only royalty in here that lost his parents on the day of his birth. Hence, the title.

A Siren. Hell, the deadlist siren in Imajin after his parent's death.

But most importantly, the only person whose name was written in Haya’s dead sister's diary.

"You look oddly familiar, crow. What's your name?" he asked, towering over her as a show of obvious dominance.

"Haya Silkdrop of the Maeve."

"Do you have a sister?" he asked.

"I'm an only child," she lied.

"Huh," Orion nodded. "Welcome to Khayal, Haya," he simply said as he turned, the grin unfaltered.