The problem wasn’t that Alice had been paired with Field, it was that Luka had separated himself from her again, and it was making her edgy. He could admit to nearly dying, but not that he was in any kind of danger. On top of that, she doubted that he was being entirely forthcoming about the plan.

On the other hand, Field was a welcome change from Luka and his misplaced anger. It was a relief to be able to focus on the mission, on getting to know their new ally, and to push away her worries for the time being. She didn’t know much about nature mages, and she barely even had to make an effort to learn. Field didn’t need much prompting to hold a conversation and that, too, was a relief.

They were already in the city, and had split off from Luka, who had sworn he would send Alice proof of life every 15-20 minutes.

She wasn't sure he had been serious.

The nature of her conversation with Field changed, once they had drifted away from Luka, which was when she realized Field had deliberately steered clear of the topic. Field had told her about his family, and Alice told him about Teagan and Nick. He had something of a "man of the people" vibe, and didn't seem to have any really close friends, although he clearly knew a lot of people. He was a family person, though. He was the oldest of three (one brother, one sister) and the only one who had come into his magic.

This surprised Alice, until he explained that nature magic was dying. It wouldn't die out, probably not ever, but the stronger urban magic became, the weaker nature magic became. At least, unless they could discover another way of making themselves useful, which was how he had started experimenting with his magic. He wanted to save nature magic, to fundamentally change it enough that their power and range might return. He wanted to save other children of Legacies from facing the disappointment his siblings had. The disappointment hundreds of children had felt.

“He’s not what I expected,” he said, finally releasing the tension.

“He’s not in the best mood.” Alice wasn’t sure he deserved the gesture. “The more time passes, the more students are going to die from this.” She didn’t add that Luka was running out of time himself.

Field nodded. “Of course, but you’re confident?”

Did they seem confident? Either way, she nodded. “One way or another, Luka is going to fix this.”

Regardless of her confidence, she knew that he would fix it on sheer willpower, if he had to.

“You must be quite the mage yourself."

She nearly laughed, but he seemed so sincere, that she managed to suppress it. He must not know, or understand. She had been in the top five of her class, so it wasn’t like he was entirely wrong, but he was also so far from being right.

“Honestly? I’m only here, because I was planning on leaving,” she told him. “I never signed up for a mentor, which was why I wasn't already assigned one when they hired Luka.

Of course there's more to it than that, but it wasn't like I was chosen entirely on merit.” She shook her head. “Not to downplay my achievements, but it’s not… I’m grateful for the opportunity, but they wouldn’t have ruined someone they believed in.”

“Ruined?”

Alice shook her head, having already said too much of the wrong thing. She wasn’t so mad at Luka, that she wanted to ruin whatever image Field had of him, but he had to know, didn’t he?

“I don’t mean that,” she said. “It’s just complicated.”

Field made a sound of acknowledgment, but didn’t push the issue. "Anyway, you're the boss,“ he said instead. ”Where do we start?"

"Well, I figure we'll cross the bridge here, move on to the east side, and circle back to the Common." Alice had already nudged them in that direction, and they were nearly at the water. She headed for the narrow path running through the dam, rather than the bridge towering over it. The path was more accessible and led straight into a park on the other side. She had thought, that maybe they should start Downtown, near the restaurant and Mutiny, but instead she told herself that there was value in ruling out neighborhoods.

“You can really use your magic in the city?” She asked.

“I can. Our elements are a mental barrier, more than anything. Really, anyone can break through it, if they try hard enough, but practice makes it easier.”

Alice nodded. She didn’t want to feel the relief. She didn’t want to think she was safer with him here, that Luka might be right. She also didn’t want to think that maybe they weren’t safer at all, because the Rogues had beaten the best Mage she knew.

She slowed, when they stepped on to the footpath. Maybe thinking less was the secret to getting through this.

"You don't see any beauty in that?" Alice asked, nodding to the bridge that rose above the water to their left. It was mostly an attempt at covering for her hesitation, but it helped that the bridge was imposing, especially standing below it like this. There was something graceful about the architecture, the way the cables were suspended from the towers like rays of sunlight. The towers that looked like wishbones, like it could bring the entire city luck.

"I never said that," Field said, studying the bridge. "I just think most urban mages tend to forget to slow down and appreciate nature. Most of them don't even leave the cities unless they have to, because the loss of power makes them uncomfortable."

"It doesn't make you uncomfortable?"

Field shrugged. "I think the difference is, that we don't need to feel invincible. We don't consider the world a threat."

"Not even now?"

"No. I don’t want to diminish the loss of a life, but I trust that nature has a way of righting itself. Even if sometimes, it needs a little help.“ He bumped his arm gently against hers, and she nearly smiled. It was a nice thought, if they could manage to help nature along, before everyone died.

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"It must be nice to be so carefree.“

"Oh, it is." Field smiled. "I don't know why I'm letting myself get dragged into this."

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. You're the one who's altering the nature of your magic, just to see some action. I think you might be a little bored with safety."

When Field laughed, she couldn't help but smile. "I think you might be right."

They reached the other side, pausing to dodge some joggers running along the path in the park. She glanced at Field, who looked every bit like a modern day sun god. His hair shimmered gold in the sunlight, his skin was tanned from spending most of his time outside, and when he smiled, she could swear the world brightened just a little. She shrugged it off as some sort of nature mage charisma, because otherwise she would overthink it too much. She caught a glimpse of the crest tattooed on his arm, and when he caught her looking, he held it out to her.

"May I?" Alice asked, and Field nodded.

She could feel the sun on his skin, even through the heat of her own fingers, as she traced the crest. It was a simpler version, than the one the Academy carried on buildings and courtyards and on every piece of stationary, the one the students carried on their uniforms. Rather than the dragon perched on top of the shield, it had two keys crossed in front of it. The shield was the same, the color blending from gray to brown and four diamonds, like stained glass windows, representing the colors of magic.

If she focused, she could feel the magic within, although she couldn't say what it did. She knew they used it as identification and access to restricted areas, but it could easily be more than that. She had never thought she would get one of these.

Now she wasn’t sure.

“What does it feel like?“

“It doesn’t feel like anything,” he said. “Not anymore.”

“But doesn’t it feed on your magic? It must.”

“Not enough to make an impact, not unless I’m actively using it.”

When her phone buzzed in her pocket, she let her hands fall away from his arm. The joggers were long gone. The path was clear. They had a job to do.

The text was from Luka, and simply said, “Still alive.”

They walked into the park, keeping their eyes open for anything that looked off. It wasn't an easy task, considering their targets could literally be anywhere, but they did their best. They walked on, in focused silence, through the city. Every time they reached one of the abandoned buildings, they slowed. They circled it slowly before cautiously making their way inside. Some of the buildings were mostly fine, if neglected. Some were clearly still being used for storage, although no one was bothering with any upkeep. Others were decaying, infested with rot or weakened from old age, and were too fragile to search properly. Then there were the ones that had suffered fire damage, and still smelled like smoke and ash. Floors and walls were crisp, falling apart at the lightest touch.

"I know we just have to find the right building," Alice said, "but this is starting to look like a long shot."

"Could you tell me more about the case? Maybe I can help narrow it down, if I know more."

"I don't see why not," Alice said. "But... there was supposed to be a clue. I think Luka has it, but maybe he doesn't know what it means yet."

"A clue? Like a treasure hunt?"

Alice grimaced. "Exactly like a treasure hunt. The bad guy is… I don't know. Weird. It's like he wants us to figure it out." She shook her head. "Do you want to take a break? I'll fill you in."

They found a place to buy some food, and brought it to the waterfront to eat. They sat down on a bench facing the water, watching the sun shimmer across the surface. The day was hot, and it was nice to sit in the light breeze from the river. They were heading back over the water after this, to the last part of their search. They had found absolutely nothing suspicious, but to be honest, the bigger chance probably lay at the center of the city. Even if she hadn’t wanted to admit it. It had been justifiable to search from the outside in, because despite the evidence of an attachment to the inner city, it would be too obvious for the Rogues to have their headquarters there.

But then again, maybe not.

While they talked, she got another text from Luka with the exact same words. Still alive. He had been true to his word, and sent them regularly.

"Find anything?" She texted back.

"No," came the swift reply.

"Luka doesn't have anything either," she told Field. "Any ideas?"

He had listened to her talk, asking occasional questions, but otherwise making no comments. She hadn't bothered leaving out the part where Luka almost died, since he had already mentioned it. Rather offhanded, but still.

"That nature mage… Do you know what he looked like?"

"No," Alice said. "Luka never said."

"But he was a Summoner."

"Yeah. Do you think you might know him?"

"There are a lot of Summoners, but I just wonder if he's from this Academy. Otherwise I might have missed someone who was secretly plotting to take down the Academy, and I just can't imagine anyone…"

"I’m not sure it’s that simple," Alice said. “But I get it. They would have to be good liars, though.”

"I know. It's just so strange, you know? I guess we all want to believe we could spot a traitor, but you just never know."

"No, I guess you're right." Alice said. She wondered if she should start doubting people, but honestly? Teagan was determined to become a Council member. There's no way she would be a traitor, and Nick? He was loyal. He was devoted to Teagan, and he wanted to be an Agent. She really had no reason to doubt either of them. "It could be an angle, though. Find the Summoner."

Field nodded. "If Luka can give me a description, I can look into it."

Alice moved to the railing, and looked at the water below her. It was calming, but water also had a draw, even on urban mages. "I keep coming back to the clue," she said, when Field joined her. "It's not that kind of clue. That's what he said." She had almost forgotten about that, because she had been distracted by Ravi, but now it came back to her. That meant he knew what it was.

"You said he may not have figured it out yet."

"Yeah, I know. But why wouldn't he share it?"

"Well, the first victim was about Luka, as was Mutiny. If this is about him, if he's the key, maybe it's personal."

Alice nodded. "Maybe. But the last time he kept something from me, he nearly got himself killed."

She looked at her phone. The last proof of life text had come in 5 minutes ago. He was fine. She knew he was fine.

"Right," she said. "Let's finish this."

The rest of the city offered exactly as much suspicious activity as it had so far. They hadn't made it through all their buildings yet, since there were quite a few in the inner city, but they had checked the park, and found nothing. By the time it became early evening, they chose to give up. Luka was still sending regular texts, but no updates, so she assumed he hadn't found anything either.

"Right," she said to Field, after another dead end. "I think it's time to declare this mission a failure. Unless Luka has found something, we need to figure something else out."

"Yeah," Field said. "I think you're right. I'll look into the nature mage angle, but I'm guessing a backup plan would be good."

Field collapsed onto a set of stairs leading up to a residence. Alice sympathized, and joined him. They had been on their feet most of the day, walking for far too many miles to count. Field leaned back on his elbows and tilted his face towards the sky. The top two or three buttons on his shirt were unbuttoned, allowing light and shadows to paint hills and valleys in between his collarbones and his neck.

"Do you know what we need?" Field asked.

Alice directed her eyes towards the street, following the foot traffic as it passed them by. "What?"

"A drink. You in?"

She might have noted that alcohol couldn't possibly be what they needed after walking all day through the city in the relentless summer heat, but she was 21, and had been instructed by Teagan to never turn down a drink. Besides, a drink sounded rather good. A cool breeze washed over her, signaling a change into early evening, and she smiled.

"Sure."