Que- whats this? the sequel is up? My god, it's a Christmas miracle!

I am sorry for the nearly year long absence my friends, one thing led to another and I just wasn't feeling it. But I am back! Not sure what the update schedule is going to look like. But I was thinking of maybe trying to get another chapter up by new years. So a weekish maybe.

Also temporary summery is temporary because it sucks.

Until then, enjoy the sequel to Snow Point: Academy of magic!

- the first true blow in the War for earth has been struck, but true damage may be only to our heroes enemies. Alive but tossed through time they must find their way home. But lunas words echo. "its doesn't matter what really happened, in the face of what people THINK happened."

White Out

Chapter 1

The Tower

"Alrright then Damien, he iss awake, what is it you wanted to tell us?" she demanded. The guy, Damien grimaced.

"While I am indeed happy to be alive." He inclined his head at Talyn, who only narrowed his eyes. "Your grabbing the gate the way you did has caused us a rather severe problem."

"I don't see how. We're not even all that far from civilization." The other girl pointed out. She waved off to the west. "The plains aren't more the two days flight that way." Damien snorted a humorless smile on his face.

"I think you will find that if you travel two days that way, the plains are not there." He almost growled. They all stared at him blankly.

"How is that." She demanded. Damien gave them all a look of frustrated aggravation before snapping out a spell.

"Tempus!" He hissed and a series of glowing numbers appeared in the air. Everyone stared at them in shock. Damien snorted. "As I said you will not find the plains there, Mistbird! What you might just find is Urthos tower!"

"Ten thousand years." Nick said somewhat blankly. "Ten thousand years." He turned to look at Talyn.

"WHAT THE FUCK MAN!" he snarled. Talyn glared back his jaws gaping open just enough to show off his fangs.

"Enough you two! We can't afford to fight right now. We have to find a way back without interfering with history!" Mistbird snapped. Something was niggling at the back of Talyns mind, he couldn't quite remember, but there was something…ah – yes, he supposed this did count then didn't it? she said he would know when he ended up in the situation she had seen. But her note was in his pocket in his other form. With a grimace he turned his senses outward and attempted a trick he had only recently learned. Locating a relatively weak layline nearby he carefully tapped into it and started to drain it. Compared to his normal reserve, it was barely a drop in the bucket, but he only needed a drop for this. Shutting off the line after a moment, he turned to concentrate. With monumental effort his form blurred and warped. Changing from serpent to humanoid. The others all blinked at him in surprise as he changed.

He was left gasping in his humanoid form a few moments later. "Why did you do that?" Mistbird asked, confused. "I thought you didn't have enough magic?" he just shook his head.

"A few months ago I ran into a seer, she gave me a note she told me was for when the truly absurd happened. A lot of mindboggling shit happens in my life, but this is just." He shrugged while they looked on, wide eyed, as he dug around in his pockets for the note. Considering it for a moment as the others waited with baited breath he opened it. Inside was a little scribble of a bizarre looking creature with a little arrow pointing to it and the words "LOOK! A crumple horned snorklack!" He blinked and blinked again, his mind blank for a moment before he started laughing. Ok, he'd needed that, he would admit it. in parenthesis under the drawing were the words (go find Uthro, remember what I told you!)

The others stared at him for a moment before Damien reached out and snagged the note to read it. He blinked, then snorted and passed it along. Pretty soon the entire group was either staring at the note in mystification or laughing.

"And what exactly are you supposed to remember?" Nick asked dryly. Talyn sniggered one last time before smiling wryly at them.

"It matters very little what actually happens, in the face of what people think happened." He answered. Damien nodded slowly.

"And we are to find Urtho." He added thoughtfully. "History says we were never here. And provided it continues to say that, well….then we weren't, were we?" The others all nodded thoughtfully. Vera brightened suddenly.

"This is perfect!" she all but chirped. Everyone stared at her, confused.

"How is this perfect?" Mistbird asked tiredly. Vera shook her head.

"Talyn can't learn to use his magic properly for many things as there is no one strong enough to fix his mistakes if he messes up! but Urtho could teach him!" Damien gave her a long look.

"Do you really think you can stand to be around him for the time it would take to teach Ashton anything useful?" He asked darkly. Vera hissed, insulted.

"How can you think to be near our creator would be a trial!" she demanded. Damien smirked at her grimly.

"Because you can't say anything about the assassin, Gryphon. And if you walk by that assassin in the hall, you can't kill him." he hissed back. Vera stopped dead and stared at him in undisguised horror.

Hermione keenly felt the shudder that rattled through the local magic that afternoon. She paused in her reading, but didn't look up, remaining still for a long moment. Next to her on the couch Reulans tail had stopped its slow swish, one of the Firecats ears twitched.

"Reulan." Hermione finally asked, her voice unendingly dry. The cat was silent for a moment moving only to shoot the young witch a wary look.

"Well, he's not dead?" the cat hazarded. Hermione finally looked up from the book. Pinning him with a dark look.

"If that's what you're going to open with." She began threateningly. The Firecats ears flicked back, not quite flat but close to it.

"No, truly – given what apparently just happened that's rather noteworthy." Hermione had to stare for a moment. Wondering what on earth gave the avatar the idea that made it better somehow.

"Reulan" she almost growled, the cat huffed.

"Apparently, his class was departing SnowPoint for White Gryphon. Someone, likely the same someone that's responsible for….well, everything, attacked the gate and tore it loose from the terminus." The Firecats ears came back up. "But they are alive and unharmed." Hermione eyed him. There was no way that was the end of it. The Cat was holding out on her.

"So? Where are they then?" she asked. Reulan hesitated looking contrite.

"Its, ah…less 'where' and more 'when'." He finally explained. Hermione had to stare for a long moment before heaving a heavy sigh and letting her head thump down onto her book. The ancient tomb released a cloud of dust into the air which settled delicately in her hair.

"I'm going to lock him in a fucking cellar." She finally growled.

Approximately 10,000 years earlier.

Pelagiris mountains. (present day location - Ural Mountains)(1)

They were all giving the construct a dubious look. Mistbird looked like she wasn't sure if she should be proud of her accomplishment or terrified of how easy that had been with this eras magic. She'd been tempted to manage the transfiguration and enchanting without her wand, just so the difference wouldn't be so jarring.

Talyn was just glad he wasn't going to be trusting his own safety to the damn thing. Without the enchantments it was basically a basket. Not to dissimilar really to what you'd see attached to a hot air balloon. Only a bit longer.

Vera clacked her beak, wary. She'd pulled carry baskets like this before, but those had been professionally made, with safety features, she did not want to do a reenactment of Tadriths plummet when the silvers basket had lost its magic. She slid her eyes sideways and gave the Wrysa a dark look. The serpentine dog gave her its closest imitation of the happy dog tongue loll. All this really succeeding in doing was showing off his impressive fangs. Her glare intensified.

Her glare never abated as Mistbird helped her attach the lines that allow the gryphon to pull the basket through the air. Soon enough they were on their way. Damian, Nick, and Mistbird riding in the basket along with Argos. Talyn flew along side, his purple and emerald wings carving through the air with ease. Talyn had his eyes half closed reviling in the feel of the smooth flows of magic around them. He had never really noticed before just how turbulent magic in the future was. Well, he had known about it. It was the whole reason people needed wands or other focuses, but to feel the difference.

He arched his neck into the wind cupping his wings and whipping into a fantastic sideways spiral through the air. The high trilling cry that left his mouth far more appropriate for a bird then a snake. He looped and dove, twirling through the air with a kind of glee he hadn't felt in ages.

"Whats his issue?" Nick grumbled, watching the purple green snake whip through the air with the enthusiasm of a three-year-old on a sugar high.

"Not sure…just a good mood maybe?" Mistbird agreed, watching Talyns antics with a faint smile. Vera snorted and shook her head, wings never losing their steady beat.

"Beforrre we left, the headmissstress deterrrmined that Talynsss lassst and ssstrongest gift was Earthsssense." She pointed out. "It iss well known that magic isss damaged due to the mage sssstorms and the Cataclysm. We are beforrre then currently. He feelsss the land without any of itsss greatest hurtsss. Why would he not be happy?" The others nodded in understanding, although Mistbird had a raised eye brow at the knowledge of Talyns gifts. Nick was frowning however.

"I thought he was a Sorcerer Adept?" he asked finally. Vera cocked her head back a bit to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Yesss, yourrr point?" She answered. Nick shook his head.

"You just said his strongest gift is Earthsense? Wouldn't his strongest gift be Mage gift then?" The Panther pointed out. Vera blinked before laughing and looking back at the sky before them.

"No, both arrrre trrrue and that ssshould tell you just how strrrongly he feelsss the Earrrth."

Kendra hated patrol. No, you don't understand, he hated it. Like really really hated it. Hated it with a passion usually reserved for the person who murdered your whole family and burned your house to the ground.

Even Kendra would admit his irrational hatred of patrol was, well, irrational. But if there was one thing the young Gryphon refused to do it was fail in a task given to him by Urtho. Thus, he flew the damn patrol and sucked it up.

The sweep along the southern border had been like any other when the blast hit. Kendra screamed wings faltering as the world turned into a kaleidoscope around him. Magic warping and writhing in a sudden and terrifying mage storm that would be felt for miles around. The gryphon, half blinding by the reaction headache managed to get himself rolled over and his wings out only a few hundred feet shy of the canopy. He all but staggered through the air - eyes watering as he tried to find a landing point. A small gap in the trees caught his gaze and he arrowed for it. Dropping heavily through and to the ground. Once his claws were safely all on solid dirt he tucked his head under one wing. Eyes clamped closed against the sunlight. The darkness was a blessing as the pounding in his head slowly eased.

After a while he finally roused enough to register the sharp pressure on his shields. He blearily turned his attention to them and lowered them a trifle. The mind voice that blared through had him snapping them back up with a pained keen. A few minutes later the pressure was back but this time his shields all but melted away like frost before sunlight. He panicked for a brief moment before recognizing the magic of his kinds creator. Urtho didn't say anything just waited patiently with a feeling of concern. Kendra took a moment to collect himself before answering the mindcall.

"Kendra of Second wing, reporting." He managed.

"Kendra, you're alright? You are the nearest to the magestorm that was sensed on the south west border. You were injured?" Urtho asked.

"I am alrrright." Kendra answered. "I was caught in the backlash and was forced to land. No injuries, just a reaction headache." the sense of relief at this pronouncement was gratifying. The Gryphons may have known that Urtho cared for each and every one of them, but it was nice to know for a fact that their creator worried about them.

"Are you able to scout the source of the disturbance, or should I send another team?" The Adept asked. Kendra took a moment to seriously consider his condition before answering.

"Scout yes, I will not be able to engage if there's trouble. Deploy the other team, but I will go ahead and see if I can spot anything."

"All right, good luck Kendra. The second team should reach your position in about an hour."

"We've got a tail." Nick commented suddenly barely three hours after they'd left the ground. The other three carefully didn't jump or start looking around wildly like a bunch of amateurs. "Five o'clock high." He added after a moment. Leaning against the side of the basket as he was he could watch the high-flying speck without being obvious about it.

"Talyn, come back to the basket. We are being followed." Vera mindcalled, the lazy ribbon of green and purple flying ahead of them slowed a bit. Allowing her to catch up without being obvious about it.

"Any idea who or what? We are south of the front lines, right?" Talyn asked. Vera huffed but the sound went unheard over the wind.

"Yes, we are to the south west of the Tower. The main line of battle is almost due north of us along a line from what will be Valdamars capital to approximately Mennmenth. Its likely a scout." Turning her attention from Talyn to Nick. "Can you tell if it's a Gryphon?" she asked. Nick didn't say anything for a long moment, staring off into the distance in apparent boredom before answering.

"Yeah, it's a gryphon, bit bigger then you though…..what the hell does a Makkaar look like anyways? Aren't those a big thing right now? Ma'ar built them to fight gryphons right?" he asked, frowning.

"The most obvious thing at this distance would be the beak. Does it look deformed? Like it has broken planes of bone growing from it?"

"No, smooth."

"Not a Makkaar then."

"So, do we make contact or let him follow us?" Mistbird asked.

"I would like to point out that they're not going to react well to a strange gryphon who can't speak ancient Kald'a'in." Damien, who had been silent for the entire trip, pointed out.

"Damnit." Mistbird muttered, "And he's already probably gotten a good look at us, so we can't glamour her as something else."

"So, idea's?" Talyn asked.

"Play it by ear?" Nick suggested. They others all exchanged a dry look at that. Nick was well known already at Snow Point for not thinking things through and picking fights he probably shouldn't. Talyn for one didn't think Nick was half as dense as he liked to make himself out as. He was after all, still alive.

"I suppose we don't have much choice. Let them make the first move however, keep heading for the tower until then." Damien decided, general nods answered from the others. Not much else to do, Talyn figured.

Nearly an hour later their tails had grown from one to six. The gryphons were all flying high watching them. Low level detection spells showed a lot of mindspeech occurring. Both in the group and long range.

the group probably thought they were very dramatic and threatening when they swooped down a while later, dropping into a reversed V and penning them in. Vera barely blinked turning her head to favor the golden brown gryphon on her left with an unimpressed look. He eyed her back before snapping something at her. She stared for a moment before answering very clearly in modern Kald'a'in.

"I have no idea what the fuck you are saying."

The gryphon stared at her, taken aback. She knew that modern Kald'a'in and ancient Kald'a'in had the same cadences, and many of the same root words. But they were very much two different languages. Hopefully this gryphon was a smart one. The mindspeech conference that resulted from this went on for several seconds before the gryphon tried again. His words were certainly more clearly pronounced, but that really wasn't the issue. Vera gave him a flat look.

"I don't understand you." She repeated. The flight of gryphons seemed stumped for a long time about how to handle this unexpected hang up. Finally, the lead gryphon pointed sharply at her then at the ground. Vera favored him with a disdainful look before angling her wings and beginning to descend.

It took a moment for the group to find a break in the canopy that the basket would fit through but soon enough they had settled on the ground. The six gryphons landed around them, not breaking formation. Vera ignored them as she went about removing the clips holding the harness to her vest. The three in the basket climbed out, the black Wrysa making quiet an alarmed stir among their 'captors' Argos must have been getting instructions from Talyn though. For the Wrysa sat patiently at Mistbirds side like any faithful dog. Talyn himself was still in his serpentine form, curled up in a half circle behind Damien doing his best 'pet snake, really!' impression. He was just too big to pull it off effectively however being not much smaller than an anaconda.

The gryphon that she had first spoken to stepped forward, a contrite look on his face. He asked her something indecipherable, Vera's eyes narrowed, irritated.

"I don't understand you." She repeated clearly. Trying to get the idiot to realize they didn't speak a common language.

"I don't think he's going to get it." Mistbird commented, amused. Vera huffed glancing back at her.

"I suppose not, but I'd rather not attack them. I might kill some ancestor of mine by accident."

"By the looks of things you might be better off."

"Can't we just use mind speech?" Talyn asked suddenly. "its universal isn't it? Because your not really using words even if that's how we hear it?"

"Generally, yes, but that requires slightly lower shields to do - do you honestly think there going to be willing to risk an attack from us?" Vera countered. Talyn was quiet for a moment, thoughtful.

"Can I try please?" he asked. Vera glanced at him sharply. He worried her sometimes, normally he was fine but sometimes he acted like he honestly thought he needed her permission to do something. It wasn't just being polite either, she wasn't sure what it was, but not that.

"If you want to try, do so, they'll know what you're trying to do but whether they accept is another thing." The Cotal nodded and slithered out from behind Damian.

"Alright, I'm going to change back though. Make sure no one shoots me?" he added, a grin in his voice. Vera rolled her eyes and clacked her beak at the other gryphon, he looked at her sharply from where he'd been talking quickly to one of the others. She nodded to Talyn who had coiled up neatly and was watching her intently. The gryphon looked from her to the snake in confusion. Vera sighed and shook her head.

"Oh this is ridicules, change Talyn, if you would." The snake nodded and after a moment blurred. The flight of gryphons all tensed - ready to attack. The shift ended quickly leaving a scaly winged humanoid behind. Talyn glanced at her before stepping over. Frowning at the gryphon. He reached out with his mind carefully. Feeling for the solid barrier around the gryphons mind and more or less knocked.

The gryphon flinched back, startled, before hissing at him like an angry hawk. Talyn bowed slightly hands held out in a placating gesture and mentally knocked again. The gryphon took a step back eyeing him warily. Another rapid conversation took place before the gryphon took a wary step forward. Talyn felt the barriers on the gryphons mind thin slightly. Not much but just enough.

"Sorry, but I don't think we were really getting anywhere guessing." Talyn sent as politely as he could manage. The gryphon eyed him before a second.

"No, we were not." He answered shortly. "Who are you and those with you? What are you doing in our territory, and were you responsible for the earlier mage storm." Talyn blinked at the crisp demand but supposed they were scouts for an army.

"My name Is Talyn, the other humans are Nick, Damian, and Mistbird. The gryphon is Vera. Yes, we we're responsible for the storm. We were taking a gate from our school when we were attacked and the gate torn loose from the terminus. I was able to hold the spell together enough for us to get out alive but some of the results were unexpected." The gryphon considered him for a long moment.

"I am Teranth, of the third. I find your story doubtful give the presence of the one you're calling 'Vera' no gryphon would fail to understand our language nor would there be any unknown to our creator." The gryphon, Teranth, snapped back. Talyn rolled his eyes.

"I did mention the unexpected results? It turns out if among other things you swap the quantifiers for time with distance and have enough magic to survive the fuck up you can use a gate to travel through time." The gryphon stared at him incredulously.

"You claim you traveled in time?" he asked, his feelings of utter incredulity bleeding into words.

"Nearly 10,000 years, yes. When we realized when and where we had arrived it seemed logical to head for Lord Urtho's tower. He was likely the only one around who would be willing or capable of helping us."

Ten thousand years. And they had a gryphon with them. Urtho hadn't been able to get the smile off his face since Teranth had reported in with the dubious claim. What little he could sense via Teranth had only given him cause to believe them. The young gryphon, Vera, was obviously of the new Falcon subtype he'd only recently created. Ma'ar, nor anyone else would have reason to try to copy that desinge, they didn't even know about it yet.

Only Zhaneel, and poor little Kechara existed of that type. He doubted even his own forces recognized what Zhaneel was, it was understandable why their visitor would have been assumed to be some kind of bad copy. Regardless of how this war went he knew now that his children would survive it. Not only survive but live as a strong and free people.

The chaos of the landing field around him quieted a bit as the wing of gryphons leading the group appeared on the horizon. The floating basket being towed by Vera was certainly a version of a kald'a'in floating barge. The secret of the creation of which was rather closely guarded by their mages. Another point in their favor.

As they drew nearer something else began to impinge on his senses. Something he hadn't picked up via Teranth. It was heavily suppressed, but still there. The power of a Sorcerer Adept. His eyes narrowed, trying to determine which of the group held that power. Not the gryphon sadly, but…..

His graze was drawn to the winged serpent flying alongside the basket. There. He supposed the youngling's words about having held the gate spell together through the attack made more sense. As well as why they would be attacked. Most would want to remove such competition the moment it was recognized. But there was more to that power than just the particular resonance of a sorcerer adept. Blood magic.

Que – annnnd chapter one done! I wanted to go a bit farther but that felt like a nice stopping point. Updates will hopefully be forthcoming.

Soon

If I don't vanish into the transformers fandom again….

(1) I wanted to make some notes here about where and why on this placement for the ancient mage wars. Trying to merge the maps of two different worlds for this kinda story is an exercise in frustration normally, but honestly I think the general Velgarth map lines up with Earth surprisingly well. If you put valdamar in Russia(not ALL of Russia obviously) then to the south and west you have the middle east which equates very well to Karse, further south and to the east you have India and large parts of Asia which match up to the collection of southern countries marked on Lackeys map of Velgarth reasonably well, most of these countries are only passingly mentioned in Oathbound and Oathbreakers so we never hear much about them. China kinda falls off the edge but its not like they knew the whole world in Velgarth so its fine. To the south past karse were 'The Black Kings' a number of massive very powerful empires which are what Africa should have been which lines up with White gryphon being on the west coast of Africa very well as after the gate flung them out so far they traveled south and west to find undamaged lands, ending up on the edge of the Haighlei Empire (the black kings) heading back north again to valdamar, The Empire fits in very neatly with most of eastern Russia on their eastern border just past Hardorn which sits on valdamars eastern border, basically everything from valdamars and hardorns spot at the Ural mountains to the sea. This equates with the statement about the formation of the empire about how they expanded to the east until they hit ocean, north until it was to cold to bother with, and south until the hit an empire older and more powerful then them, in this case China, and possibly Japan to an extent. Back to valdamar the culture of Rethenwell fits well with Europe and this matches with the Ural mountains again separating them from Valdamar. Not much is said about what lies west beyond Rethanwell leaving it nicely open.

As you can see I have vastly over thought this.