“Hands up, so I can see your wrists, mage boy.” The guard pointed his nightstick at them with an angry, demanding expression. “Do not pull up any of your mana, or you'll regret it.”
Pax raised his hands cautiously, seeing that the guard wasn't open to listening. When Tasar leaned down to set Warden on the ground so he could raise his hands too, the guard frowned. “Not you, student warrior. I'd rather you keep that thing under control.”
Tasar straightened back up, and Pax clenched his jaw in disappointment. They might have had a chance for Warden to use his new Earthen Stomp to distract the two guards, but the stonepaw would have to be on the ground to activate his ability.
“What's this, Victor?” his partner came up behind him, brushing off her uniform as she gave them a narrow-eyed glare. “They need us at the brawl. It’s getting out of control.” She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, where the noise continued to escalate.
“These are some of the kids from that bulletin we got today.”
She suddenly focused on them with more interest. Pax felt another Identify shudder through him. “Fine. I was kind of in the mood to bust some heads, but I don't mind the extra credit for bringing in a bulletin catch. Hands behind your backs, kids.” She pulled out a ring of manacles from her inventory as she walked toward them.
“What's this about?” Pax did his best to keep his tone calm, having seen how easy it was to trigger Victor's temper. “We're just students, trying to get away from the fight going on over there. We're heading to a meeting with our mentor Mage Aedin Incedis. Perhaps you've heard of him?”
The man grunted and looked annoyed. He shook his head and waved for his partner to move forward with the manacles.
But she responded to the name and stopped moving. “Incedis? The war hero? The one who took a cushy job at one of the Academies?”
“Exactly.” Hope bloomed inside Pax. “He's helping us get strong enough to join the army so we can help crush the rebels. He's just at a tavern down the road if you'd like to come with us and talk to him.”
“Morgan!” Victor’s tone was sharp. “We don't have time for this. Let them sort it out back at Central.”
At his words, she gave Pax a shrug and moved forward. Around them, any of the crowd not involved in the brawl had scattered, leaving too much open space for Pax to have any confidence of getting away cleanly.
He desperately sifted through the spells he had available, trying to calculate which ones he could get off fast enough to help them. Flashbang would be the most effective, but also the most obvious. Using Aeroshift at just the right moment would help him escape, but not his friends.
Talpa could excavate a bit of the dirt and stone from beneath them, but that would make it obvious someone had used an ability. They might attribute Warden’s Earthen Stomp to the chaos nearby, which made it preferable, except they’d notice Tasar putting him down.
That left Hallucinate as probably the best choice, except Victor was watching his wrist tattoos. And Victor carried a nightstick that had the soft glow of a core in the base, meaning it was a powered weapon with an unknown effect.
Pax couldn’t believe, with all his work in the past to control the color of the mana in his tattoos, he'd never tried to cast a spell while keeping them completely dark. Could he do it?
But even if he could get himself and both of his friends away cleanly, the two guards would raise an uproar and bring reinforcements in moments. Now he was regretting mentioning Incedis' name because he knew that an escape right now would bring down the full force of the guard, which could ruin the escape for the rest of his crew and team.
There was still a chance that Rin could bring someone back to help, or Incedis would use his connections to get them released long enough to get out of the city. Pax still had to try something. They were so close to getting out of here, and he knew it would be much harder to escape once the guards locked them in a cell.
He gathered up his light mana, pushing it down toward his feet instead of his hands. In his mind, he conjured up a simple vision, knowing that affecting two warriors of a much higher level than him would be extremely difficult. He needed something that would scare them into keeping their distance.
There was no way to make three students look alarming to experienced guards unless it was something the bulk of the population was afraid of. Remembering Victor’s reaction to seeing Warden and a lesson Mage Lorkranna had taught them about healing-resistant plagues, Pax got busy.
Act weak and sick. I’m going to convince them to keep their distance.
Beside him, Tasar let his shoulders slump tiredly while Tyrodon lifted a hand and began coughing vigorously. Grateful they trusted him to act without asking questions, Pax coughed too, bending one arm to place his elbow over his face, which had the extra benefit of obscuring his tattoo as he pushed his light mana toward his feet to cast Hallucinate.
“Can you wait to take us in until we get the medicine Mage Incedis has for us?” Pax stopped coughing long enough to look up with eyes he mentally pushed to appear bloodshot and weepy.
Pouring mana into the spell, he also made their faces look pale, dotted with sweat on their foreheads. He used all of his concentration to project the image of three kids suffering from something that hopefully looked dangerous. He even added a bit of foam at Warden’s mouth, remembering a neighborhood dog that had gone crazy back in Thanhil. The faintest flicker of light sputtered at his wrists, but thankfully, his other efforts distracted the guards. Both of them looked nervous, and Morgan took a step back.
“Something went wrong while we were Taming beasts recently.” Pax coughed again. “Mage Lorkranna said we needed some specialized potions before it got worse and spread. She sent word to Incedis to get what we needed.”
Recognition flickered in Morgan's eyes at the mention of Pax’s healing instructor, while Victor took a step back, shaking his head. But his weapon stayed steady, still aimed in their direction. “Then why are you out here in the crowds? Are you crazy?”
“It wasn't this bad when we left the academy.” Pax added a harsh croak to his voice. “If you could just get us to Incedis, he'll help set us right. As soon as we're feeling better, we'd be happy to go with you.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Victor?” Morgan gave him a worried look.
He motioned toward the manacles in her hand with the tip of his club. “Just get those on them, and we'll take them to the mentor.”
She gave him a scowl, obviously not happy to be the one getting close to them. But it was obvious he was her senior since she stepped toward them. “Hands behind your back, except you with the beast. Just keep both hands on it so we can see them.”
Pax followed her directions, doing his best to limit the steady stream of mana it took to maintain the illusions. He hoped the manacles wouldn’t interfere with the spell, glad he’d worked to send the mana flow down through his feet instead.
Now they just needed to keep up the act until they got close enough to contact Incedis over the Echoes. He’d spam messages to notify Incedis as soon as they came in range. Then he'd come out to meet them and hopefully not give away the Silent Stein as a rebel location.
Before Morgan could get the manacles on him, an angry and commanding voice spoke out from behind them. “What are you doing with my student?”
They all turned to look.
Pax blinked, his stomach sinking as he saw the woman striding their way. No! He’d been so close to making this work.
Clad in the same worn armor that she wore to teach class, Mage Warwick walked toward them with a map in one hand, her expression unhappy. A palpable sense of danger preceded her, making the few bystanders nearby quickly step out of her way.
Victor and Morgan both stiffened. Morgan snapped to attention instinctively while Victor barely stopped himself from doing the same.
He composed himself and asked in a polite but firm voice, “Who are you? And why are you giving orders to official Salman guards doing their duty?”
She drew up and gave him a respectful nod. “I’m Mage Aerin Warwick, former Captain of Tower Ring Seven and current spell instructor for the academy. And this mage is one of my students that I've been trying to locate. He and his friends are in a lot of trouble.”
Morgan sucked in a breath of surprise at the name and introduction, followed immediately by something that looked like hero worship on her expression.
Victor cleared his throat and tried his best to maintain his authority. “Well, we received a bulletin to pick up members from a student team together with their beasts. These three were on the list.”
“Yes. I know. That's why I'm in town searching right now, along with two of my subordinates. We need to get them back to the academy as soon as possible. The headmaster plans on having a very personal discussion with each one of them about the mess they've caused.”
Morgan and Victor exchanged a look, obviously unsure of how to move forward.
“Look, this is an embarrassment to the mage academy.” Warwick stepped in close and held out her hand to shake Victor's. “I’d take it as a favor if you'd forget this ever happened. We’re at war and you obviously have better things to do than arrest kids.” She gave a pointed look down the block where the brawl was winding down.
Victor looked reluctant, but shook her hand. Then Pax saw his eyes flicker with surprise as Victor took a quick glance down into his hand after letting Warwick’s go.
“Just know that I fully support the guard and you definitely don't get paid enough coin for the exceptional work they do. Thank you.”
“Well, we appreciate everything you do for the empire, too.” Victor looked much happier and gave Morgan a pointed look and tipped his hand discreetly. Pax caught sight of a small leather coin purse before he made it vanish.
She smiled and moved to put the manacles on.
Warwick held up a hand to stop her. “No. Don't bother. When the day comes that I can't handle first-year students, it'll be time to retire. Besides, I'm kind of hoping they try to make a run for it so I can teach them a lesson.” She turned an angry scowl in their direction, and Pax flinched away, hoping to appease her. “A beating from me would just be the start of it.”
The two guards looked even more satisfied when they heard the promise of punishment. Then Victor held up a tentative hand. “Just be careful getting too close to them. They mentioned something about medicine from their mentor. As you can see, they’re pretty sick. It's from the beast.”
Warwick turned slowly and gave them a thorough evaluation. Pax knew there was no way he could extend the Hallucinate spell to someone of her level, so he just did his best to look pathetic, adding a weak cough to the act.
To his surprise, Warwick didn't question the guards further. “Well, I'll send a note to have a healer meet us before we see the headmaster. Thank you for the warning.”
At the obvious dismissal, the two guards tipped their heads in respect before turning and jogging toward the brawl that had thankfully not turned into a full riot. Pax let the Hallucinate drop, both his mind and mana grateful for the relief.
“Let’s go.” Warwick’s voice was stern and didn't allow for any disagreement. “We're heading to a nearby guard outpost. I need to find my two subordinates and let them know I found some of you.”
Now what? Tasar asked as they followed Warwick.
She's definitely going to have something like my Sphere running, so there's no way we can all get away fast enough.
What about one or two of us? If we all run in different directions, she can't get all of us, right?
But Warwick had them skirting the edge of the brawl where multiple guards were arresting people and restoring order. They'd react pretty fast to three students bolting, especially if Warwick yelled out for help.
When they finally left the brawl behind, Pax scanned their surroundings for a better opportunity. A few minutes later, Warwick took a sharp turn into a mostly deserted alley between two large shops.
Get ready. Pax did his best not to tense and give anything away.
To his delight, they came to a junction with another narrow alley that ran behind the row of businesses facing out towards the two major streets.
Tasar, when I hit her with my Flashbang, set Warden down and have him hit her with Earthen Stomp at the same time. Tyrodon, throw anything you have at her that will disorient her but not injure her too much. Alright?
He’d just gathered up his remaining light mana when Warwick spun around and faced them, eyes hard, but not angry like before.
“Don't even try it. My shield will block anything the three of you can come up with, and I retaliate when people attack me.”
Wait, Pax sent to his friends, knowing their plan had no chance of working. They’d have to wait for rescue or watch for another opportunity once Warwick turned them over to someone less powerful.
“Is your team attempting what I think they are?”
The question was so unexpected that Pax fumbled for an answer. Neither of his friends answered, either.
She cast a quick glance over her shoulder and back into the alley behind them, looking both worried and impatient. “I don’t need incriminating details. Just tell me. Are you attempting to leave the capital today? Perhaps to do something different to help save the people of our empire? I need an answer. We don't have much time. I saw your name on the afternoon bulletin and bullied a clerk to give me a map to get to you first. It won’t be long before others get ones, too.”
What she hinted at was even more surprising. Tasar nudged him, and Pax drew on everything he'd learned lately about verbal negotiations and doublespeak. “Yes, our entire focus is to save the lives of empire citizens. Are you really going to let us go?” He couldn't quite keep the incredulity out of his voice.
She took a step closer, her expression turning more serious. “I'm a practical battle mage. My life’s work is to stop all the beasts to save the lives of the civilians in the empire. I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. This includes letting a few students escape if I think they have the drive and knowledge to find a better way to accomplish the same thing.” She stopped and took a moment to look each of them in the eye before returning to Pax. “Do you have a real chance?”
He held her gaze and pushed as much determination into his response as possible. “Yes. We’re already well on our way to making a difference.”
“Then I’ll get out of your way. Make sure you bind with a new altar as soon as possible, or you’ll never get away.” She gave him a curt nod of approval before jabbing a finger into his chest. “Don't make me regret this.” Without another word, she turned on her heel and walked toward the exit of the alley at a brisk pace.
Pax stood stunned and watched her leave.