by Eric Vall
“Okay, so what’s our general strategy for that?” Nia asked.
Orenn cleared his throat and answered. “If I may, Miss Hamner?” Arwyn nodded, so he continued. “In general, we’ll have a vanguard enter first and deal with the bulk of the monster threat.”
“And that would be…?” Nia interrupted before he could answer.
He smiled. “You can probably guess, but to save you time, the vanguard for this squad will be you and Gryff.”
Arwyn cut in. “We know what you did with the rift, as well as what talent Gryff has displayed at Ralor’s Stead and in his fight against Gawain. Truthfully, what you went up against a month ago was much more than what we’ll usually face, and you did it with only the two of you.”
I smiled, my face flushing with pride. Nia had a small smirk too. Not very noticeable, but I could pick up on her small mannerisms by now. We had every reason to feel proud and confident. Not arrogant, like Gawain, but we had accomplished things that first years never did. At the time, I hadn’t realized how incredible my fight with the fire-eye was or how astounding it was that Nia and I fended off a hoard of monsters in the Shadowscape, but it proved how skilled we were.
“You should be able to handle most of what we encounter,” Arwyn continued. “Obviously each rift is different, and we can’t predict what we will face on the inside, but going off past experience, what you have dealt with already is more than usual. And besides, as team leader, I’ll be right alongside you.”
I frowned. “But you’re a healer. Wouldn’t it be dangerous for you?”
Arwyn chuckled and gripped my shoulder. “What we do is always dangerous, Gryff, no matter how magically gifted we are. Do you think Headmaster Sleet would put me in charge of a squad if I had to be coddled in the middle of battle?”
“N-no,” I stammered and hoped I hadn’t accidentally offended Arwyn in my desire to keep her safe. “Probably not.”
She smiled wide, and that put me at ease as always. “Precisely. I appreciate your concern, but you needn’t worry. I can handle myself just fine.” At that moment, she slapped her hand onto her left arm, gripped it, then slid her hand down her forearm. As she did, her arm glowed, and suddenly she seemed to pull a sword from her arm.
Nia and I gawked. “You’re a fabricator?” I asked, astonished.
Arwyn nodded with a smirk. “Not a strong one. This is all I can create, and it takes a lot of concentration and mana.” She stepped back and flourished her sword around her masterfully. It was obvious that she was a gifted swordswoman. “But this is enough, I assure you. As I said, I can handle myself.”
“Amazing,” I said again. I loved seeing other people’s magic.
Nia cleared her throat. “Please continue,” she pressed, clearly to steer the conversation back to strategy.
“Yes,” Arwyn said, a smile still on her lips. “You and Gryff will be the main defense against the monsters trying to escape into our world. I will be there to keep you healthy. Meanwhile, Orenn will escort Varleth as he searches for the Catalyst.”
“That’s all the protection he needs?” I asked, puzzled. Banishers didn’t have any offensive magic, and though metallogues were strong, I didn’t know how well Orenn would handle himself while protecting Varleth against a crowd of monsters, especially if it were a powerful one like a gray prowler, a dracon, or a fire-eye. “No offense,” I added in Orenn’s direction.
He shrugged, a grin on his lips. “It’s fine.”
Arwyn thought of an answer for a brief moment. She ran her slender fingers through her wavy red locks and threw them over her right shoulder. “I don’t know if you know this or not Gryff, since we haven’t taught it in my class, but monsters are almost always drawn to magic.”
“So the vanguard...” I began.
“... is like bait in a trap,” Nia finished, her lips pursed and brow furrowed.
“Precisely,” Arwyn agreed, hands on her hips. “It’s a double-edged sword. You draw the monsters away from Orenn and Varleth, but that means more monsters will try to cross the rift, making your job more difficult.”
“And the plans can change,” Orenn added. “Monsters are unpredictable. So, though they’ll usually focus on the immense magic of the vanguard, sometimes they’ll simply attack anything that moves, or some of the smarter, higher grade monsters will attack Varleth and I. At that point, our plan will have to change.”
I scratched my chin and scowled. “Smart monsters?”
Arwyn nodded. “Not all monsters are mindless beasts. It’s usually the higher-grade ones that are smarter, more than what you’ll most commonly face.”
“But the possibility is there,” Nia commented as she crossed her arms.
Arwyn nodded. “Yes, it’s always there, but that is why we train, to attempt to predict and be able to react to all of these situations.”
The whole time we talked, I noticed Varleth hung back, his chin inside the neck of his robes, like he didn’t want to be seen. I guessed the conversation didn’t matter all that much to him. After all, he had one job to do and one job only, and that didn’t change regardless of the enemy.
We turned as footsteps echoed through the entranceway behind us. A moment later, two people emerged from the dark tunnel, bathed in light. One was Mr. Brevens, our summoning teacher, who didn’t look at all pleased by the brightness. I saw sweat already glistening on his head, and his breath was labored. We were fairly far from his classroom, but I didn’t think he’d get so winded so easily.
Next to him was a woman I didn’t know, but I was drawn to immediately because she also wore the blue robes of a summoner. She was impossibly tall, standing a head and a half taller than Rori, with perfectly straight sandy hair that fell down her back like a silk curtain. Her eyes seemed too small for her face, and her nose a little too pointy, but she had a pleasant if stern smile that put me at ease. Three jagged scars ran the length of her right jaw from her ear to her chin, and a chunk of her ear was missing. She appeared to be a few years older than Arwyn, so I assumed she must have been a teacher.
Arwyn smiled and walked over to them and shook their hands. “Ah, glad you could make it.”
“Always,” said the woman, her voice soft and meek.
Still smiling, Arwyn put a hand on the woman’s arm and turned her attention back to us. “Miss Kenefick, Gryff, this is Mrs. Joiner, the third year summoning teacher. She teaches advanced mechanics.”
“Hi, a pleasure to make your acquaintances,” she said, her thin lips curled into a reassuring smile.
I waved. “Nice to meet you too.” And it was. I always enjoyed meeting other summoners, on the rare occasions that it happened.
“You’re doing things that even my students struggle with,” she praised, which made me flush with pride. “A few of my students get together with me for study sessions. I’d appreciate it if you could come by some time to give them pointers.”
I was taken aback by her earnest request. I hadn’t expected to be seen as a teacher already by other teachers. But I wouldn’t say no to that. “Uh, yeah sure! I’d love to.”
“Good,” she smiled, then turned to Nia. “And of course, charmed to meet you too, Miss Kenefick.”
“Hello,” Nia added, sounding not so enthusiastic. Mrs. Joiner didn’t notice or didn’t care either way. Arwyn then extended her hand to Rori. He cleared his throat and did his best to stand straight and composed. I had to stifle a laugh at his trouble to do so.
“Gryff, you two are already acquainted. Nia, this is Mr. Brevens, first-year summoning teacher.”
Rori smiled and put out his hand to shake. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Kenefick. I’ve heard only good things.”
Nia narrowed her eyes at that comment, but did her best to offer him a slight smile. “Thanks. I should hope so.”
Brevens nodded and then turned his gaze to me. “Hey there, kid.”
“Good to see you sober, Rori,” I said with a cheeky smile.
He bristled, and his face turned red wit
h anger. “What did I tell you about calling me by my first name, you little shit?”
I only smiled in response, and Arwyn put a hand between us. “Anyway,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “These two will help us train. Going over strategy verbally is all well and good, but it’s better to experience it firsthand.”
She clapped her hands together with glee, and then we trained in earnest.
Rori and Mrs. Joiner threw a lot at us, beginning with waves and waves of grunt level monsters, though it was nothing compared to the real thing we’d faced in the Shadowscape. The first part of our training was to make sure that we could handle such things, a formality really, but Arwyn was doing her job diligently, so we couldn’t fault her for that.
Nia and I hardly had to exert ourselves. As soon as the enemy beasts were unleashed by our teachers, I threw out an essence crystal as Nia began to weave a spell in the air around her. As electricity began to course up her arms, my crystal burst into a flash of light and smoke as a bullet bass flew out. Nia threw her arms outward and sent the lightning down them while I added a speed slug to the bass. By the time her bolt launched out toward the bass, it was fully sped up and hurtled toward the enemy. As we had seen before, the electricity jolted through the bass, conducted along its metal body, and burst outward to fry the entire horde as the bass rocketed through their midst.
From there, we went over different strategies. Arwyn, with her hands folded behind her back, asked, “If there is a large number of grunts attacking the rift, but a stronger yet smaller number of monsters peeling off to find Orenn and Varleth, what would be our best strategy then?”
Nia stroked her chin briefly. “It should be me. My magic is perfectly suited to clearing out scores of weaker enemies in quick succession. Crowd control is what elementals are good at, especially since I can use several elements.”
That last bit would have sounded like arrogant bragging to a person who didn’t know Nia, but frankly, she was speaking honestly. She was only a first year, but she was already one of the most capable and powerful mages around. She didn’t brag, she simply stated facts. It wasn’t arrogance if her words were true.
Arwyn nodded with agreement. “Very good assessment. You are correct. Most squads employ at least one elemental as the primary combatant. Gryff, you will be with Nia at the vanguard too.”
“Understood.”
“However, in the likely event that strong monsters focus their efforts on Varleth and Orenn, you will cover them,” she continued. “Your monsters excel at slowing others down, so even if they couldn’t completely defeat a group of strong monsters, which I have full faith that they could, your cementrolls, ice imps, and a plethora of others should be able to buy Varleth enough time.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll have all the time in the world,” I said confidently. Varleth, still so silent, scoffed and rolled his eyes. That didn’t matter though. I didn’t need his faith in me as long as I produced results.
Orenn crossed his arms as he was deep in thought. I knew that look. He had an idea. “Couldn’t--” He paused, then gathered his thoughts. “Couldn’t Gryff give Varleth and me two of his speed slugs? That way, we can quickly find the Catalyst, and he could focus his efforts with Nia?”
Arwyn was about to respond, but she hesitated when she saw me shake my head.
“Unfortunately, it’s not so simple,” I began. “It could prove an efficient plan which could work if the Catalyst isn’t too far away, but the farther my monsters are from me, the less control I have over them. Untamed speed slugs aren’t necessarily lethal, but they are similar to leeches. Instead of blood, they sap mana. Without my control, my slugs would suck you two dry, then we’d be in real trouble.”
Orenn considered this as did Arwyn. She frowned. “So that’s a move we should only use in emergencies.”
I nodded. “That would probably be wise, yes.”
“Then it’s decided,” she said with a confident grin.
Before we could get further into more detailed strategies regarding different monster grades and types, the school bell chimed five times, the sun sinking low in the sky, ready to fall below the school and Enclave walls.
Time had flown by.
Arwyn’s lips curved into a satisfied, beaming smile. “Great work today, everyone, you showed a lot of promise.” That made us smile, Varleth excluded, who didn’t smile for anything it seemed. Rori gave us a thumbs up, and Mrs. Joiner smirked shyly.
“We’ll meet again in two days, same time as before,” Arwyn continued. “Nia, Gryff, I want you two reading up on monster anatomy. Go over their strengths and weakness, on different types, and how to combat them.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nia and I said simultaneously.
“Perhaps you can use the book I recommended for you, Gryff.” She gave me a knowing smile.
“Uh, yeah, right.” I looked at Nia, who stared back at me with a grin before rolling her eyes.
Arwyn clapped her hands excitedly. “Excellent. Again, great practice today. I look forward to seeing your progress going forward. Now, go and get ready for dinn--”
A siren blared from a cone-shaped horn mounted on one of the walls of the training ground. The whine of it pierced the air and made me want to cover my ears. I recognized it though. I’d heard it from other areas of campus many times since I’d been at the Academy. Arwyn looked up at it and frowned before sighing.
“I guess dinner will have to wait,” she said.
“Why?” I asked. “What does that horn mean.”
Rori cleared his throat. “That’s the alarm calling for the aid of a monster response squad to close a rift.”
“And I know for certain that the other Varle response squads are all out on their own missions,” Arwyn said, her hands on her hips. “So that means you’re up.”
“Are you sure that is wise, Miss Hamner?” Varleth asked, his voice a little condescending.
She gave me a brief smile before answering. “If it were any other first years, maybe not. But I have faith in these two.”
Nia inclined her head next to me, so I did the same. “Do not worry, ma’am. We will not let you down.”
Arwyn’s smile filled me with pride and confidence. “I know you won’t.”
Chapter 4
Time was not on our side, and Arwyn rushed us, so I didn’t get to dwell on the sensation of donning my combat armor for the first time. It wasn’t anything special, a boiled leather chest piece with a deep blue hooded cloak, designed to be easy to move in for the weaker mages among us. On top of that, I was given steel gauntlets and leg guards for added protection, since we were the front line of defense against the monster threat.
The others were dressed much the same. We all wore the same leather armor, gauntlets, and leg guards over our gray military uniforms, made from a tight, breathable material. As always, our cloaks denoted our magical abilities. Orenn had a white cloak with gray trim, Arwyn’s also white but with red trim. Nia’s was like her school robes, blazing gold, with no trim. Unlike the rest of us, Varleth wore full plate and mail armor under his black banisher cloak. As he was essential to closing rifts with no offensive magic of his own, I supposed the extra armor was not only wise, but also necessary.
Once we were ready, we quickly mounted up on horses from the Academy stables that Nia and I had cleaned nightly for a fortnight after we’d recklessly jumped into the rift that had opened on school grounds. We tore out of the gates at a gallop so we could get to the closest of the large military airship docking towers spread throughout the city.
Excitement rushed through me. I’d never been on an airship before, so this was a new experience that I’d been dying to have for a while now.
I marveled at the airship as we approached the docking tower. It was similar to the one that had come to Ralor’s Stead those months ago to deal with the fire-eye and the rift, only to find that I’d already dealt with it. This airship seemed a tad smaller than that one, but still resembled a fat fish, a hulking round sh
ape with large rudders that extended on the tops and sides of the airship.
The slick, shiny steel of the hull and the copper rudders glinted in the afternoon sunlight. Large exhaust ports lined the belly of the ship, with a cluster of them situated at the back. A large domed window filled the head of the ship where the pilot sat though there were smaller viewing ports spaced evenly throughout the body of the ship.
The inside of the tower was bland and nondescript, a mostly empty lobby that housed a large metal lift that would take us up to the ship. We shot up the lift, far faster than the other lifts I’d used. This one was completely encased in metal, not like the gilded cages of the others.
When we came to a halt, and the door slid open, I stepped out with the others and into the cargo bay of the airship, right above the exhaust ports. The bay was packed with crates and barrels of supplies strapped down for flight. At the aft of the bay were a large loading ramp and an angled door that swung down when opened to become a step down for the ship’s personnel.
Seats lined the walls to my left with a dozen soldiers packed into them, already strapped in, their packs and guns in hand. They gave us nods and went back to their individual conversations as Arwyn led the way past them and up a stairwell cut into the space between the walls.
The next level was another world compared to the cargo bay. It was a wide-open space lined with the portholes I’d seen from the ground. The walls were accented with polished wood that gave the room a warm and comforting feeling. Rows of leather seats lined either side of the stairwell against the walls. They looked far more comfortable than the metal benches the soldiers had been strapped to.
Arwyn made her way past us through an open passageway at the fore of the ship to the cockpit where I could see light streaming through the large windows. She paused at the doorway, a slender hand on the metal frame and turned to address us.
“Take your seats, we’ll be lifting off shortly.”
Orenn took a seat between two portholes, strapped in, and pulled out a book from his pack. Varleth sat right next to the stairwell, rigid, faced forward, as if he were ready for action at any moment. He was a standoffish sort of man, but I could appreciate his obvious seriousness and dedication to closing rifts. I supposed that was essential for a banisher.
