by Candy Crum
As Arryn came over to sit down across from her newest friend, she was well aware that her own expression wasn't nearly as happy as Amelia's. When Amelia’s smile fell, it was obvious that she had noticed.
"That doesn't look like excitement to see me," Amelia said. "What's wrong?"
Arryn hadn’t meant to worry her, so she forced a smile. "I apologize. I didn't mean to look so pissed, but I had a rather interesting conversation with my students, and I thought you should know."
Amelia nodded, closing a folder on the desk and sliding it to the side. "Of course. I’m assuming it’s regarding the remnant, because that’s been the running theme for the last two days.”
There was a pause as Arryn hesitated, debating what she should say. She didn’t want to bombard her with more about problems she already knew about, but she did need to know the students felt worried.
She straightened herself, deciding to continue. “Seems like you’ve probably already heard everything I’m about to say, but if I didn’t say it I’d make myself a liar. I told them I’d talk to you.”
Amelia nodded. “No, don’t worry about that. I understand. Tell me everything."
Arryn sighed, clasping her fingers as she debated how to start the conversation. "First of all, I think Amos’ murder is playing a big part in their reaction to the latest news of the remnant attacks."
Realization struck Amelia's face. She’d taken the death of Amos, the Boulevard student that had gone missing for several days before being found with his throat slit open, particularly hard. She’d promised his mother she’d find him and bring him home, but instead, she’d been led to his corpse.
The Chancellor seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before finally speaking. "I’m sure you’re right. That’s a lot to take in within a short period of time. I hadn’t planned to release any information on the remnant because of the murder and the initial attack on Ren’s group. I wasn't expecting the students to know."
"I had a student miss school today because his father was one of the men who was killed. That's how the others found out. They had a lot of misinformation about the remnant, so I cleared that up—though, I don't think I actually helped. But I saw no benefit to lying to them."
Amelia smiled, but it was more a sympathetic smile than a genuine one. "I wouldn't have lied either. Sometimes, the mind creates something far worse than the real thing, but in this case, they’re just as scary as we can imagine.”
“Exactly. And they want to be prepared for the worst. I don’t think that’s wrong,” Arryn replied.
“I know they’re worried. Luckily, those other attacks were almost at the southern edge of the Valley. Granted, the rearick and his friends did an excellent job fighting them off and keeping everyone alive, but the others farther south had no protection whatsoever."
Arryn grew excited as she saw a perfect entrance into what she had come to discuss. "Exactly. The students know the Guard is understaffed and undertrained. We know you just hired a lot more, but those recruits are just that—recruits. They aren't even trained in magic, so their lack of martial expertise isn't backed up by anything. The students have real worries, and I think they’re right."
Amelia sat back, tapping her fingers on her chair. "I know, and I understand. While I’m hoping for the best, I know the possibility is there. When we came back after the Battle for Arcadia, I didn't want the people of the city to feel like they would always be at war. I didn't want them to feel like they had to protect us anymore. That’s what the new Guard is for. I figured they should feel safe inside the city they had protected during the Battle for Arcadia, but now, it seems the remnant have other plans. I’ve taken steps to increase training, but I’m open to ideas. What did you have in mind?"
Arryn told Amelia what she had told her class about the druids and went into even more detail, explaining the intensity with which they trained. Everyone learned and everyone knew how to protect themselves, and not just when an emergency happened.
After taking a moment to let Amelia process what she’d said, she continued, "They want to learn how to fight. They want to know how to save themselves and their families. To ease their minds, I even taught them a bit of healing yesterday. It was abysmal, which was to be expected since I'm not the best healer either, but it certainly made a difference in morale."
Amelia stood, running her fingers through her hair as she paced slowly back and forth behind her desk. It was a lot to take in; Arryn was certain of that.
Not only did the woman have the weight of the city on her shoulders, but she also had a murder to solve, rebuilding to complete, jobs to fill, and now remnant to worry about.
"I think you're right," Amelia responded. "Once things get settled and we have the funds to hire more teachers, we should use one of the downstairs great rooms in the Academy as a training area. It would be a terrific addition, and anyone who wanted to attend, even moms and dads, would be more than welcome to take the class. Right now, we need to focus on training up the Guard. If we spread too thin, there will be a city full of mediocre fighters instead of an army full of great ones."
It was hard to say when things would be settled, and Arryn knew the fear of bad things happening sooner rather than later. Maybe she could do something to help with that. Arryn believed Amelia was right about focusing on the Guard. They were the most important to train.
"That’s a great solution," Arryn agreed, smiling. "Let me know if I can help you figure anything out, especially the timeline. We might be able to help train guards, too."
Arryn decided to end the conversation there, knowing it was best not to talk to her about mental magic right then with everything else on her plate. She needed to do a bit more investigation anyway.
Amelia’s voice stopped Arryn as she stood to leave. “One more thing. I know everything is still raw about Doyle. I know you missed your shot there, but I wanted you to know that it isn’t over. There’s someone else you can still talk to. Elon—Adrien’s chief engineer. I mentioned him before, but don’t forget. As soon as I’m done interrogating him about Doyle and what he may or may not have said, I’ll take you down there so you can ask him anything you want. Promise.”
Arryn smiled in response. “Thanks. I appreciate that. I’ve actually been trying to forget. Otherwise, I start to feel overly excited. I don’t think you want that on your plate right now.”
Amelia laughed. “Get some rest. I’m sure you could use it.”
She needed to talk to Cathillian about the possibility of getting a group together. It wasn’t going to hurt anything, and it would go a long way to helping Amelia.
With her bad feeling about Talia only growing stronger over time, Arryn wondered if it could be her that possessed the mental magic.
From what she'd been told about mystics, they could convince anyone to see anything they want. Maybe Talia wasn't capable of physical magic at all. Given that her head was being messed with, she had a feeling whoever Doyle had warned Amelia about was already inside the Academy.
Arryn didn't want to wait any longer to get training underway.
The sun beat down on the Dark Forest, peeking through the tiniest breaks in the thick leaves of the canopy above. Elysia crossed her arms as she watched the three tribes’ warriors gather.
In the Dark Forest, there were three separate communities. Each had its own warriors, though they were all trained the same way. Though the two southernmost tribes specialized in magic and expert combat, the tribe farthest to the north—the Schatten—specialized in subtlety.
All druids were exceptionally quiet, but the Schatten were the quietest.
Elysia stepped forward to address all the men and women before her. "Everyone here is one army! We’re initializing battle training right now. As you all know, each community usually drills only with its own warriors. This time, we have an actual threat, which leads me to call for full-on battle challenges.”
She paused as voices erupted. They talked amongst themselves about the threats fro
m the dark druids among other things.
She raised a hand, and everyone quieted so she could continue. “All three tribes’ warriors will split into two groups. As you can see behind me, I have thirty healers. If you’re down, call for help and you’ll be retrieved and healed. If you’re not too weak and haven’t lost too much blood, you’ll be thrown back in."
The Chieftain stepped forward, looking over the tribes as they counted themselves off and broke into two teams. They did so without further instruction, another sign of just how incredible these warriors truly were.
Once they were split into groups comprising more than a hundred in each, the Chieftain gave further orders.
"The group to my left will stay put. The group to my right will head north. You’ll start at the village farthest from us. You’ll know the battle is to begin as well as ends when you hear the crack of my thunder overhead. Now move!"
Every warrior placed their fist over their heart before following the instructions. Team Two headed toward the north and Team One stayed put, turning to face north.
Elysia made her way to her father, looking at their prized fighters. "What do ya think? Should we play, too?"
The Chieftain laughed. "Really? You wanna go against me?"
Elysia could only grin. "You know it, old man. It's been a while since you and I fought against one another. I think it's about time, don't you?"
"I think I'm about to kick your ass all over the place. Maybe you should go ahead and designate your healer now. Wouldn't want you to waste any energy healing all the ass-kicking."
"How many times are you gonna say ass-kicking in one sentence?" she asked.
The Chieftain looked up for a moment as his lips moved, but no sound came out. Finally, he shook his head. "No. It was two different sentences, and they were separated. Smartass. So, you wanna take bets or not?"
Elysia nodded. "Absolutely."
The Chieftain’s jade green eyes glowed an almost neon green. "Then you better run, daughter. Your men in Team Two have already left you. This is my domain. I'm Number One, remember?"
Elysia shook her head, sighing at her father and his ridiculous sense of humor.
At a loud whistle from Elysia, Chaos ran to her side and knelt. She climbed onto his back, and they raced for the northern village. Before she made it completely out of earshot, she heard her father call out, "Zobig!" before a loud roar echoed through the woods.
Talia had only barely made it in the front door of the Academy when Jackson came over to stand in front of her. The recent beating he’d gotten at the hands of his fellow students—Boulevard students—had changed him.
The physical evidence had almost disappeared. The bruises had turned a sickly yellow, and would be gone in a few days’ time. The scratches and open wounds were still there, but in another week the scars would be their only reminder.
Emotionally, those scars were much deeper.
Jackson no longer had a single shred of respect or trust for the Boulevard students; what fragile bit he’d possessed had shattered with the first punch. All of that had worked in Talia’s favor, and he had come around to her way of thinking much faster once she’d claimed loyalty to his cause.
But he wasn’t great at being the bad guy. In fact, he was terrible at it. Jackson was a terrible liar and always obvious—at least to Talia. She hoped that he wasn’t so transparent to others.
On top of being over an hour early for class, he acted very odd for a normal visit, looking around and over his shoulder several times as he approached.
It made her want to smack him for being so suspicious.
Except for the teachers, the building was supposed to be empty. Talia didn't even want to be there.
From the look on his face she could tell he needed to talk about something. "Good morning, Jackson. You seem upset."
He took a deep breath and smiled, hands clasped and fidgeting in front of him. "Actually, I'm not upset at all. I, well, we wanted to extend an invite to you. I’m sorry for the unannounced visit, but I wanted to get here early to catch you privately."
"We?" she asked. "You mean the group you've been telling me about?"
Jackson nodded. "We've talked about it for a couple of weeks, debating the pros and cons. Obviously, it’s a significant risk for us to trust just anyone. We have to be careful, especially after what happened to me. But it's obvious we need the help, especially from someone like you. So, if you want to, you’re more than welcome to attend tonight—but you don’t have to. We realize the risk you’d be taking. Ten p.m. It's a couple hours after dark, so it’ll be easy to sneak around."
Talia couldn't help but smile. It was exactly what she'd been waiting for. All that time she’d spent talking to Jackson about feelings hadn't been wasted at all. He just wanted to see the Boulevard students go down at this point, and apparently, his friends in the group did as well.
"I'd love to," Talia told him. "Just tell me where to be, and I'll be happy to meet you there."
“There are some abandoned houses in the center of the city. The Guard doesn't go down there, and it's secluded. We usually meet in the auditorium here since it’s pretty useless now that Adrien doesn’t give grand speeches, but we didn't want anyone to see you with us just in case. We wanted to protect you if you decided against helping us.”
Well, that was shocking. He was lost further in her charm than she'd thought. And his friends must have been impacted in some way as well. Whatever the case, it was a good plan.
“How will I know which house?” she asked.
“It's the only one with red curtains in the window,” he told her.
Talia nodded. “I’ll be there. Now, run along before someone sees us talking. If anyone has—”
“It's about our counseling.” He smiled.
Talia gave a quick nod in acknowledgment and made her way down the hall to the stairs before heading to her office. Things were going her way, and she couldn't be more excited. As long as she continued to tread lightly and gather the help that was necessary, she would have everything she’d planned for.
6
Elysia sat on the back of her over one-ton steed, Chaos, listening to him snort and scrape his large, front hoof against the forest floor in preparation.
Everything was deadly silent as the warriors in Team Two stood behind their fearless leader, waiting for the crack of thunder overhead to signal the beginning.
All around her, Elysia could hear the rustling of wolves, foxes, squirrels, raptor birds, and other familiars as they awaited the same call.
“Schatten!” Elysia called out to the shadow warriors that specialized in subtlety. “My father will undoubtedly send your counterparts to the trees. He will keep them low enough to engage, but high enough not to be seen. Make sure they don’t find their targets.”
“Then we’ll go higher, Elysia,” Rae, one of the Schatten said from behind her.
Elysia turned in time to see several druids raise their hands to the sky, vines unraveling from the trees and wrapping around them before pulling them upward.
Had she not seen it herself, she never would have heard them.
During training, those men and women spent most of their time learning the intricacy of the plants and how they grow. As much as a normal druid knew, these warriors knew far more.
They were able to control and shift anything within the plant, allowing those movements to be almost silent.
The Chieftain had once explained it to her in a way she hadn’t understood then, but as she grew, it made perfect sense.
“When you ask a tree to move, you ask its permission to allow you to move it. You do all the heavy lifting, and it’s noisy and clumsy, even when it looks poetic to someone else. Now, imagine connecting to that tree so deeply that it helps you. You become one with one another and the movements become seamless and silent. Like a familiar to her master druid. It takes incredibly hard work and years of study. Not even I am capable of such a task, but that’s why we have them. Because you a
nd I are just way too hyper. Mostly me… but you’re not much better.”
She’d been offended then, but he’d been very right. No one in the Chieftain’s bloodline would ever be capable of such a feat.
Especially Cathillian.
His mind was far more scattered than anyone she knew.
A deep, grim Boom! sounded out overhead, bringing a smile to Elysia’s face.
“Just a friendly warning! Anyone that let’s my father win…” Elysia began.
There was a laugh beside her. “We love our Chieftain, but he’s a goofy, old man. We can take him,” Faylinn said.
Elysia smiled and shook her head as she wordlessly told Chaos to step forward. “He might be senile at times, but he’s still strong. Don’t underestimate him, or we lose. And then I have to go against all of you to reclaim my honor.”
Those that were closest to Elysia laughed, knowing her sense of humor, while others wore their fiercest war-faces and nodded in understanding.
Chaos was slow at first, but then began to move faster, leading the small army behind them into battle with his master druid.
There was quite a distance between the southernmost village and the northernmost, but both approaching from each direction made the distance much shorter.
First blood was spilled from above. There were no sounds in the canopies to mark the “kill”, only the Schatten that fell, a vine snatching him up at the last moment to carefully lower him the rest of the way to the ground.
Within only a few moments, a healer pulled him free to heal him, but Elysia did not see if he was sent back out, only that he wasn’t one of hers. Her team had successfully gotten their first target.
After tapping Chaos on the shoulder, Elysia jumped off, not waiting for him to kneel. She lowered herself into a crouch and ran forward, using trees and brush to hide her as best as she could.
With a wave of her hand, she motioned for everyone to fan out.
More men and women dropped from the trees, vines catching them in their falls as designated healers came to get them.
