Headmaster Gale was getting increasingly nervous the longer it took for Luscin to arrive. He was fighting off the sinking feeling that he was handling this letter wrong, and she was going to go off on her own and get killed. He was impatiently pacing when she finally arrived. The room collectively relaxed when she appeared with the page boy that was sent to retrieve her.
Luscin was equally nervous. She hates being the center of attention, yet here she is standing alone with six of the seven Study masters that she respects more than any other person in the world staring at her. Her biggest fear is to disappoint them, how could she not. She’s a nobody from Thuma, a runaway, a murderer. If they knew about her past, they’d send her away or have her imprisoned. Now they’re all looking at her as if expecting her to say something.
Initiative, Luscin speaks, “I hear you have a letter for me?”
Furtive glances bounce around the room as if to ask who told her. Everyone turns to look at Headmaster Gale.
“Yes, it arrived three days ago. Considering the nature of your situation I took it upon myself to read it before passing it on. Upon reading it I learned of a dangerous situation that you will want to confront. I felt it best to arm you with as much information on the danger as we could find. Would you like to read the letter?”
“It’s a letter from my mother, of course I want to read it. Do you intercept everyone’s family correspondence?” Luscin kept a brave front or so she thought. Her body language didn’t match her tone, eyes cast down, shoulders slumped, one foot turned inward.
As appalled as Kail was at his student’s horrible readiness stance he was the first to read the situation correctly. He’s been getting soft and more perceptive of other’s pain, being 78 years old makes him the oldest instructor at Mammatus by several decades. In another 15 years he might start showing signs of aging. “Luscin, do not take the headmasters intrusion as a sign of disrespect. We must protect you and your fellow students until you can protect yourself. We knew you had a terrible start in life, we are only now learning how bad it was. Let us help you.”
Luscin stood for a few heart beats before slow walking through the room, eyes still down, until she was standing beside Headmaster Gale. She sheepishly holds her hand up to receive the proffered letter.
Letter in hand she moves a little faster until she reaches a reading nook. She sits in the chair, legs up, ankles crossed, as if she were on the floor.
>
>
> Summer, 6993
>
> Luscin,
>
> I am writing this letter for a multitude of reasons. The first of which is to inform you that Father and I have adopted two beautiful children. The oldest, Liam, is now the designated heir to my father’s holdings. I’m sure you understand how this changes your family obligations. Liam will start study this fall, and his sister Linley will start next year. I do wish you’d visit and meet your new brother and sister.
>
> I want you to know that I took your parting advice. I looked up the group operating out of Downwind and you were right, they were delighted to join my Bird Watching club. I’ve also decided to find better things to do with my days. I started a Cobbler business, some of my new associates brought along a lot of talent and are pitching in. You should consider a fresh pair of shoes the next time you are home.
>
> This last bit of news is the hardest. You had a dangerous brush with someone before you left. It seems your warning has only made her angrier. The cost to the children has doubled. I’ve been assisting in every way I can, but she is willing to go out of her way, even to neighboring cities to collect her toll. It is for that reason that I implore you to not come home unless you bring assistance.
>
> Sincerely, Lucy Lael
>
>
>
> p.s. We miss you and are sorry we drove you away.
Luscin only needed to read it once. The sub-text was loud and clear, except the bit about shoes. She can ask mother about it when she sees her. More concerning is the toll being paid. Being paid because of her. She left the hag with a fist sized hole through her chest. How was that only a warning? She was dead, did she really survive that? Her thoughts can’t get past the part where the hag survived and is angrier!
Stolen story; please report.
Luscin wrinkled up the letter and left her seat to toss it in a waste bin. She then looks around the room after remembering she’s not alone.
She needs to take the initiative, or she’ll wilt again, “Why did it take a year to reach me?”
Master Robles, always the academic, “Your mother did not and still does not know where you are. She must have known you’d continue your studies. She gave that letter to the Thuma Study and asked for it to be circulated until it found you. It took a year to make the journey, it could have easily circulated forever.
“Can you answer a question for us, and tell us about this person that is angry with you?”
“There isn’t much to tell. She kills and eats children. I was supposed to be her next meal, but I blasted a hole in her chest and left her for dead.”
Hron asks, “Was that the whole encounter or only the ending?”
Sounding annoyed she’s being forced to recount that terrible day, “There was more. First, she tried to scare me with some spooky ghost inu that tried to eat my thoughts. I made one myself to fight hers, mine won. Then she stabbed my head with a cold spike, well not a real spike, it was just energy. I snapped it off and spiked her stupid-face with one just like it. Then I sucked all the energy from the air around the house and jammed it through her black heart.”
Individually they each broke her words down into actions and abilities, and one by one they concluded that Luscin at five years old, did indeed defeat a devastator on her own.
Master Talyah speaking quietly, “Luscin, you really did it once. You could defeat this Devastator once and for all. I know you can.”
Luscin hears the whispered words and feels a surge of confidence.
Master Adara adds, “But, not alone. Masters Robels and Gale have been researching Thuma and there is more than one creature operating in that territory. The one time it was seriously investigated, resulted in the disappearance of the investigator. I’ve not read your mother’s letter. Only Fallon and Paras,” using their first names is a slip, “have out of necessity. They tell us your mother begged you to bring help. I’d like to be there for you. Plus, I’d be delighted to meet your mother and father.”
Luscin, hadn’t thought about any of these possibilities. She was planning on rushing to Downwind and seeking the gang of children and asking them for news of her family. She hadn’t considered the hag was still alive. Her assumption was this is a trick to get her back into Fathers grip. She had imagined a lot of yelling and him trying to hurt her, before she ended it by hurting him worse. The idea of striking Father appealed to her, the thought of striking her father was unsettling.
She needs to consider if the letter is real or fake. The last time she saw mother she was passed out drunk, like always. The woman who wrote this letter, if she’s reading it correctly, has built her own spy network. The previous gang leader used the kids for information gathering, called them bird watchers. She had suggested mother look after those kids, not become one of them. The shoe making business could be some related criminal activity. The notion that her father was part of the Thuma crime apparatus never occurred to her until after she ran away. Seeing the larger world put many of his actions into a new light. Luscin may understand him she does not forgive him. Believing what she thinks she knows of Father, makes believing her mother is running a spy network of runaway children easy to buy.
Could the hag have written it, or Father, or maybe grandfather? Would any of them take this tactic? Doubtful, Father and grandfather wouldn’t use luck to find her, they would hire someone to find and kidnap her or worse. The hag might have, she has no idea what that monster is capable of doing. Her brief interaction showed the woman to be gross, overconfident, and narrow minded. Would she know anything about her family though? There’s an easy way to find out. If Father is alive, those two have not met.
“I accept your offer, Master Adara. How fast can you get there?”
Smiling over the fact that Luscin is going along with their plan, “I imagine the two of us could run there in under two weeks.”
Luscin doesn’t say anything as she casually crosses the room with her left hand behind her back, smiling. When she gets to the door she says, “I’ll wait one week before I contact anyone. See you in Thuma.”
Luscin disappears in a blur as she streaks along the corridors up the stairwell and onto the roof in a few heartbeats. She moves fast by pushing herself with stored kinetic energy. Something she learned to do long before coming here. It’s a frowned upon mode of fast travel as that same kinetic energy could be used as a weapon. Most Defenders can manipulate gravity enough to fall near parallel to the ground. It takes tremendous strength to push hard enough to fall completely in opposition to gravities intended pull, few have that strength. Luscin has never tried but she thinks she can.
Master Adara realized Luscin’s plan almost immediately and followed her to the roof, “Have you any idea how to fly?”
“I know enough. Are you going to try and stop me?”
“Free’er no. Whyever would I do that? I’ll be in Thuma before you and you’ll get to learn a valuable lesson on hubris.”
Luscin has to think about that word to know what it means, “You think I’m overconfident and can’t do it?”
“I’m sure you can fly. You’ve been able to reproduce every technique you’ve been shown, and I only know a few people with your strength, and they can fly. It’s reaching Thuma on your own that will be your downfall. I have to pack, see you in ten days, unless you get delayed.”
Master Adara turns and casually walks back to the stairs in her usual slow, curvy way.
Luscin bites her lip and backflips into the air.