We had finally finished. It had been several days to take the city once we got in, ending in the assault on the palace. That part, at least for me and mine, was almost routine. The wards were disabled by some internal agent and from there the assault was just the slog of cutting through the knights. It was vicious, it was hard, and bloody, but it was also something we'd done a hundred times. This lot had been better trained, but there'd been only so many of them. Having too many people in your secure holding tended to end in someone betraying you.

While it may have been just a bit irresponsible, both Mystien and I went to The Bergond Academy of Mages, which would need a new name shortly, ostensibly to secure the location. We'd managed to take and secure the the palace before our move, even if that operation had taken the better part of the whole night. Those still alive there had all either surrendered or been forcibly stopped and now all that was left was the paperwork.

"Thanks for coming along." I said to my old friend as he walked along with me.

"It's been too long since we've been able to work on something together Verren. I also know that school better than you're likely ever to. Any word on the situation there?"

"Looks like most of the students and staff fled into the lower city. We've caught a few of the dumber ones, and those they left behind to keep the place looking active."

That had been a whole situation. Several of the noble kids had nearly gotten themselves killed, but others simply didn't know a thing about commoners or where they lived and were easily picked up because they looked like the lost rich kids they were.

"What word on...?" He didn't even finish the sentence before I shook my head.

"I haven't gotten any reports that detailed yet. We'll know shortly after we get there."

After that our walk was quiet. The former kingdom's premier and only school for casters was close enough and when we arrived the place was abuzz with activity from our soldiers. They'd locked the whole facility down and were combing it for anyone who was hiding or anything of import that needed to be logged.

We approached and were questioned, but that was a formality. Once they'd established who the two of us were we were quickly shown to the officer in charge of the documentation and prisoners.

"Greetings sirs, anything you need?" He was a formal sort, and we'd not worked together much before, but if he was put in charge of this job there was no doubt in his competence.

"Yes, can you please provide us with a list of current students, along with those who've been captured or whose whereabouts we currently have?"

The documents themselves were a mixture of those from the school's own records and ours. They'd been so kind as to mark several different situations. Some of the older boys were labeled as having joined the defense, some were marked as captured, a large number had been marked as evacuated. None of those really mattered when I got to Alana's name, it was there with a marking beside it 'missing-presumed fled' along with another girl in her year. Some other students had the same designation so I looked up at the officer.

"What does, 'missing-presumed fled' mean."

"That was the school's designation, but it seems to mean that the student in question disappeared before the main evacuation and is therefore unaccounted for."

I tried not to grit my teeth at that answer, then went back to the records. The other girl was marked as a priest, but I didn't know if they'd escaped together or separately, and asking about her specifically was a risk.

"Please take me to where the staff are being held."

Going through each and asking them about each and every one of the missing students was tedious, but it kept most of my cards out of play. I also learned a number of things. The man who taught the Magical Item Creation practical class seemed to guess who I was looking for and sighed when I got to her name.

"She's the one you want, isn't she?" He looked sad as he asked. "I understand, particularly if you've seen some of the weird stuff she does."

"Like what?" It was Mysten's turn to talk. He'd been mostly silent, content to watch, but this seemed to have him very interested.

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"She came up with a few things we didn't quite understand. An odd fire spell, some kind of orb that she claimed was a lamp..." He seemed to pause for a moment, leaving some things out. "You lads must have got wind that she's sharp, but she's a child. If you find her, and you probably won't, I'd ask you not to hurt her."

I could answer that. "I have no intention to harm her at all, we just want her found."

He nodded, seeming to conclude that there was no more he could do.

Her advisor, and in fact the advisor for all of the bards was about too. He had his own opinion when we got to Alana.

"Doubt you'll ever catch her, not unless she wants to be caught, or just makes dumb decisions."

"You're not the first to have said something like that, why?" I asked, thinking back to the other professor's words.

"Well it's not secret, but she's some kind of illusion prodigy. Full body invisibility, realistic images and copies. During her exam she fooled the whole staff into thinking she was somewhere she wasn't, Rooke thought it was teleportation. The dean could see through it, but if you're at his level why would you even care about her?"

I resisted the urge to rub my temples. "What about the other girl in her year, the priestess?"

"Oh yes, they were fairly close from what I understood." He didn't have much more than that though, which was irritating.

Sadly we couldn't ask any of the fairer members of staff, because they'd all scattered like flowers on the wind. That action was smart on their part, but a pain for me personally.

"Your daughter is an invisible tree in a forest, and she keeps moving." Mystien said after putting up some basic privacy spell.

"I know, I'm not sure if I should be proud, or irritated at her."

"Eh, be irritated at me. I'm the one who taught her basic running and hiding."

"Fine, I'm irritated at you then. Next we try the temple district. The Shield definitely had contact with her, and while they might not let us in just yet I'm betting we can at least get a message sent if we ask nice. Who knows, maybe she ran off with that priestess to hide there."

"That's not a bad thought."

"First though, I need a drink."

"Fair enough, come on then, I know just the place. It's even on the way if you squint a little at the map."

I chuckled and followed. On our way out my son joined us. He'd come by after finishing up his own duties, ostensibly for the same reason we had. We all three agreed that the temple district was the next good place to look, and that we all wanted a short break.

Since all of us kept our clothing rather plain we looked like little more than common soldiers, and with a bit of suppression on auras we appeared as little more even to those who could see such things. We made our way through the streets, which were being patrolled by our men now, and around to a seedy looking bar nestled amongst a mixture of similar establishments, and brothels.

As we passed into the entrance of The Starlit Sky I could see the place was packed. A number of people were here to get food and stay at the inn, as large swathes of the city were either in ruins, or a complete mess. Even with the crowd the barman, an older man with a sizable belly let out a deep laugh.

"Well look at you, you miserable old bastard." His greeting to Mystien was followed by another laugh and a fist slamming on the door to the kitchen. "Oi, hurry up and get on out here, we've got customers!" He shouted to one of the staff.

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After days of staying with the temples I was relieved when the fighting finally ended. It may have been only that evening that the palace fell but the city was finally fully at peace. For my part, it was time to take a step out of The Shield's area before they tried to lay claim to me, again. So I returned to my old stomping grounds at The Sky. I was visiting Kala a lot still, so I'd know if anything came up, and we had plans for her to make some careful inquiries about the academy in a couple of weeks. I didn't know if it would still be running, or if we'd still be students, but I hoped to continue my education.

For now though I was content to make food for all those seeking shelter and sustenance from Lucien. The money was nothing but pocket change, but it was a fun job to do, and he was relaxed to be around.

As I was finishing up preparation on some more loaves to feed our mass of hungry folk I heard a banging on the kitchen door.

"Oi, hurry up and get on out here, we've got customers!" Lucien shouted, in what may have been the rudest way he'd ever spoken to me.

I threw the door open, scowling as I exited. "Hurry up yourself you fat, old..." It was then that I saw my dad, brother, and Mystien, standing there like it was nothing. They all looked a bit older, but almost exactly the same as I'd seen them last.

The old bartender tried to keep himself upright through the laugh. "Seems you finally came to collect your wayward apprentice? She seems surprised to see you."

Dad was the first to recover. "A-Alana? Is that you?"

I had thought long and hard what I would say to my family when next we met. I'd had years to consider, and knew exactly the first thing I wanted to speak to them.

"SPINDLE!" I loudly declared.

Mystien looked confused.

Dad began to weep, something I'd never seen before.

John laughed so hard he fell and smacked his face into the floor. He was still a bit of an idiot.

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I walked down the hall of my newly conquered palace. I didn't intend to live here or anything. I already had a much more secure home, and taking it would be both in bad taste, and make me look like I was establishing myself as a new king of this country, neither of those were desirable. No, keeping myself close to my men, above, but also humble, that would lead to their continued loyalty.

It had been years since I'd stepped in this place, but following the path to the royal chambers was easy enough. I could have had others deal with this, but I wanted to see it on my own. It was therefore that I'd ordered them left as they were until I arrived.

When I reached the room in question only one other was inside. Princess Sophia stood there in all her glory. She'd taken time to clean herself and dress well for this meeting, regardless of the fighting going on around her. It was the things like that, the careful preparation regardless of situation that made her stand out.

"My dear." I greeted her as I entered, it had been some years since we'd spoken in more than infrequent letters. "You seem a bit bothered. Hopefully you can forgive me the deaths of your parents."

"I'm not bothered by that at all my lord. They would have sold me off like a common cow to whomever had made the best offer." That much was true, sadly the lot of a princess was often to be married for some financial or political gain. "Did you know that you were the only one who ever asked me what I wanted?"

"I suspected as much." I followed her eyes, my own landing on a corpse I didn't recognize, a young woman frozen in death, her face a mask of pain and fear. "One of yours?" I asked.

"Mmm, I told you of her in one of my letters. The one who I had issues reigning in. It's a shame really, she was loyal."

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Ah, my dear, you know I would have had to put her down anyway. One cannot leave a rabid dog, no matter how loyal, to run amok. She served her purpose."

"I know. Still, at least you would have been merciful about it."

I nodded and gave her a light kiss on the cheek, causing her to blush ever so slightly. "Well then, come my dear, we've much to do. There are so many things that need to be set right."