Yaric and his friends were riding through the bustling early evening foot traffic when they finally caught sight of the campus grounds. Lekton was full of energy, with families wandering the stalls and groups of friends heading out for a night of fun. Riding through the side entrance of the Academy was like stepping into a private sanctuary.
The gates were closed when they arrived, but two guards opened for them after they displayed their Academy ID’s. All the sounds of the vibrant city disappeared just a few meters into the campus, where fields and paddocks lay before them. The horses all seemed to sense they were close to home. They snorted and pulled at their reins, eager to get back to their stalls, their excitement forcing Yaric and the others to hold them back.
Stable hands met them near the rows of stalls and helped them to get their horses situated.
“You can leave some of your things in the stalls, it’s safe enough. No need to try and carry it all,” one of the younger teenagers explained. None of them were members of the Academy or even arcanists, but part of the large number of assistants employed to help.
“Thank you,” Yaric replied, nodding in acknowledgment.
“Let’s return the equipment first,” Sven suggested. “It might have an impact on our report.”
In the end it turned out that damaged equipment was expected. The empty quivers weren’t even questioned, as arrows were considered expendable, and shields were expected to take damage. There were some raised eyebrows when it came to light that three out of four spears had been destroyed, but each student handed over the broken pieces, minus Lauren’s spearhead. Li Na proudly handed over her spear, battered and chipped yet still in working condition.
There was some trouble, but it came from an unexpected source. Arrows were pulled out of the quivers to count, and they quickly noticed that some had been used.
“Yes, I pulled out the arrows that didn’t break, and some just deflected,” Yaric informed them.
The quartermaster was called to the counter, and he quickly threw Yaric an annoyed look. Without saying a word, he held up one of the arrows that had deflected and pointed to the arrowhead, where Yaric could see that the point had rolled slightly. Then he held up another, an arrow that Yaric had pulled from a skathári, and pointed to a part of the fletching that had been splattered with bug juice, now matted and hard.
The man gave him another look and turned away without a word, leaving Yaric feeling like he’d just been harshly disciplined.
“We’re going to have to sort through each one now. Many of these aren’t fit to be issued again,” they explained.
“Sorry.”
There were no issues with any of the other equipment, so they headed straight to the admin building where they could hand in their report.
The woman behind the counter wasn’t as friendly as the other people they had dealt with in the past. She wasn’t unfriendly, but she merely processed the report efficiently and waved them off, only glancing up once when she saw who their sponsors were.
It was getting dark when they arrived to fetch the rest of their bags from the stables, where three of the stable hands were dutifully hanging around to make sure nothing happened to their things.
“Here,” Sven said, handing each of them some coins.
Yaric fetched his bags and met his friends outside.
“Lina, did you take someone’s carpet?” Lauren asked incredulously.
Li Na was carrying a rough, tatty old carpet under one arm, rolled up and tied with some string.
“Nooo… I asked. They said I could have this.”
“What for? That thing looks like it was used by those cows.”
“It has its uses,” Li Na shrugged.
The closer they got to their dorm rooms, the more familiar the surroundings became, and Yaric realized he was relieved to be back. Especially when they walked up to the front door of their dorm building, highlighted against the darkness by the lights inside. The sound of talking and laughter greeted them from just outside.
“You’re back!” Vano called when they opened the door.
A few dozen students came to greet them while at least half of the room went quiet and watched.
“What was it this time? You caught more smugglers?”
People started competing with each other to ask their questions, slowing Yaric and his friends more and more, until they eventually gave up and dropped their bags.
Sven briefly explained what happened to his whole class.
“Aren’t those things really dangerous though?” Anton asked, raising an eyebrow as he did.
“I doubt anyone knew what we were facing. We wouldn’t have gone otherwise.”
“Can they really cut trees in half with the spines on their arms?” Tracy asked.
“They cut up our spears,” Lauren said, while Li Na picked up her carpet and started untying the string. She flicked it hard and the whole carpet unraveled, depositing a long black object onto the table with a loud clatter.
“Whoa!”
A skathári arm lay on the polished wood, its armored shell a dull black that almost seemed to absorb the light. Li Na held up the carpet to show how parts were shredded just from being wrapped around the arm.
Yaric and Lauren glanced at each other, rolling their eyes at the same time.
“That’s really sharp!” Tracy exclaimed, after gently pulling a wooden coaster across the spines and watching it fall into two pieces.
“I doubt it will stay that way for long,” Yaric said, drawing a few questioning looks. “Don't forget that it's that sharp because of magic. It isn’t channeling arcana anymore.”
“Yeah, ‘cos I killed it.”
“This one was you?” Tracy asked.
“First night.”
Yaric remembered seeing the villagers try to cut up the two skathári they’d killed that night. Knives had just blunted, and axes had literally bounced off the carapace. He had no idea how Li Na had managed to cut off the arm, or even when, but after what she’d said the night before, he understood. This was the same beetle that had come so close to killing Sven.
“What do they look like in real life?” someone asked.
Li Na grinned. “See for yourself,” she replied, reaching into a bag and pulling out a large, round object, wrapped in old leather.
Yaric’s groan was perfectly synchronized with Lauren’s.
This time it was a head that rolled onto the table, its large compound eyes staring up at the ceiling. Tracy shrieked when an antenna brushed her arm just before it stopped.
Everyone erupted into questions while the head was passed from person to person. Li Na answered them as quickly as she could while getting someone to hold up the opposite end of the arm, so she could show everyone how long its reach was. The dorm room became very loud.
Yaric was surprised when Lauren suddenly stretched up to talk into his ear. “I’ll arrange for your dinner to be brought back here.”
She wasn’t making any sense, and he was about to tell her so when she turned to Sven and tapped his shoulder. “Can you take Yaric’s bags through?” she said loudly, trying to be heard over the noise.
Sven gave her a questioning look.
“He promised he’d see Healer Bell,” she replied. “His usual appointment is in ten minutes.”
Yaric felt his stomach sink. It was. With everything that had happened he’d completely forgotten. Besides, they’d only just got back, and to his mind their usual routine only restarted tomorrow.
“It’s okay, we’re off until tomorrow. I can…” Yaric immediately stopped speaking when Lauren’s eyes narrowed slightly. She stared back, almost challenging him to go on.
“I can go now,” Yaric finished, turning and making his way back outside. The cool night air greeted him as he started running, pushing himself so he wouldn’t be late.
----------------------------------------
“Good morning!” Lloyd said, far too cheerfully for most at that hour.
“Good… High Wizard Chen!” the Apprentice scrambled to his feet to greet Lloyd more respectfully.
“Sit, none of that nonsense. I’m just here to collect my report.”
“I’m sorry sir, I don’t believe I have a report for you.”
“Well, a little bird told me that one of my students returned last night, so there should be a copy of their report waiting to be sent to me,” Lloyd explained, pointing to the reports waiting for a messenger to collect. “I was in the area, and this is faster.”
“A little bird, sir?”
“Bird, stable hand, whatever,” Lloyd clarified.
The Apprentice still looked confused, but Lloyd just smiled, and the Apprentice didn’t ask any more questions. It took less than a minute to find the report in question.
“Ah, thank you. I hope you have a good day, filled with… paperwork, and… stuff.”
Lloyd started walking toward the nearest staff room, looking forward to reading through Yaric’s latest appeal over breakfast. He started skimming the documents to get an idea of what had happened, smiling and humming to himself.
He wasn’t humming when he turned onto the path leading to the staff room, and he wasn’t smiling when he stopped right outside the door, peering at the paperwork and flipping page after page.
Lloyd turned on his heel and marched back the way he’d come, scowling furiously.
----------------------------------------
“This morning we’re going to repeat yesterday’s lesson – again!” Emil announced once everyone had taken their seats. Most of the class groaned.
Yaric and Lauren glanced at each other in confusion.
“You need to get this right, people. This is not a spell to take lightly. If you get it wrong you will likely be hurt, so start practicing. I expect you to each be capable of facing a thrown dagger, minimum!”
Yaric listened excitedly, eager to hear what spell was so dangerous. ‘Maybe it's lightning? Or incendiaries? But what could daggers have to do with anything? And who would throw one?’
“Good to see you four back, safe and sound too. Now watch closely, the others went ahead of where you are, and I have a new spell to show you.”
‘I bet it's lightning!’
“This is its most basic spell form,” Emil explained, creating a glowing representation made of nothing but light. It was far more complicated than anything else they’d learned so far.
“In the future you will learn how to create massive walls or dome-shaped projections, but for now your shield spell will be a simple flat pane. Don’t underestimate it! It's not much bigger than a buckler, but it will still stop an attack just as effectively as any other shield. Well, within your power, anyway.”
‘So much for a dangerous spell.’
“What kind of attack can it stop?” Lauren asked.
“Good question! This particular spell is very basic, but in some ways that makes it more versatile. As it is, you can stop any physical object, as well as most spells.”
“So it can stop a wind blade or arrow?”
“A wind blade, yes, an arrow, no. At your current strength none of you would be able to channel enough arcana to stop that kind of force, though you would slow it down significantly.”
The rest of the lesson was spent practicing the new spell. No one managed to get it right, not even Lauren, while this was actually the fourth day for everyone else. Still, Yaric was determined to get it right. Over and above the practical uses, doing something else while practicing this spell should have even greater benefits than the simpler spells he usually used.
None of their other classes had any surprises. Their instructors added some additional details to the work they had taken with them and took some time to make sure they’d understood everything. Other than that they were already up to date.
Only one lesson might be a problem. After their last conversation with the Corporals, neither Yaric nor Lauren were looking forward to their scouting lesson, but that was a problem for another day.
----------------------------------------
Lloyd saw Sandy entering her office from the far end of the passage. Well, the reception area that led to her office. He sped up, hoping to catch up to her before she got too deep into one of her projects.
Constance looked up from her reception desk when Lloyd walked in, making straight for the short passageway to Sandy's actual office.
“High Wizard Chen, please,” Constance pleaded, despite knowing full well that it was futile.
Sandy must have taken some time to speak to her secretary because she had only just inserted her key into the door to her office when Lloyd entered into the corridor.
“Was that Constance?” Sandy asked. “Don’t tell me you forced your way in here.”
“You said your door is always open,” Lloyd replied, stretching to look at the locked door behind her. “I think it’s broken.”
“Oh shut up and come in.”
Sandy dropped a case on her desk and sat down.
“So what was so urgent that you couldn’t make an appointment?”
Lloyd dropped the report in front of Sandy. “Our students have returned from that appeal they were sent to fulfill.”
Sandy stared at him with a deadpan expression. “Unlike you, I have many students here. I don’t focus all my time on individuals.”
“You have other students like Li Na Jakobson?”
The corner of Sandy’s mouth twitched slightly, but she managed to keep her face emotionless. “Not to mention that as Council Head, I’m responsible for every arcanist in this Kingdom. I don’t have the time to go over individual reports like this.”
Lloyd leaned forward to tap the report. “Skathári,” he said, leaving the statement to hang.
Sandy’s poker face dropped, leaving her looking troubled. “Well… I admit that’s a bit much for seventh-year students… but if they take their time, if they take proper precautions, I’m sure they could take down a skathári.”
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“It was a nest!”
“How did they escape?” Sandy asked, all trace of humor gone.
“They didn’t.” Lloyd quickly realized how that sounded and continued. “Circumstances changed, the skathári started going for people instead of cattle. These students stood their ground to protect the villagers.”
“They fought off an entire nest?”
“No. They cleared it.”
“Impossible!”
“Maybe you should read that,” Lloyd suggested, gesturing to the report that still sat in front of Sandy.
Sandy picked it up and started reading, at first with interest, and then with mounting horror. The office was almost entirely silent, save for the occasional shuffle of paper when Sandy turned the page or her quiet mutterings.
Lloyd began to feel awkward just sitting there in silence and not knowing where to look, so he got up and decided to pour himself some breakfast from one of the decanters on the shelf. He paced up and down with his drink, waiting for Sandy to finish.
“This is the appeal that Arch Wizard Phelps selected?” Sandy asked when she’d finished.
“Yes. I doubt they knew what this was about. I’ve noticed that they can be a little… disconnected from reality. I doubt they even remember a time when they couldn’t clear a nest of skathári while reading a book and tap dancing.”
“Still, I’m going to have to say something.”
“Better you than me.”
Sandy glared daggers.
“I don’t know where to begin. Or even what to think.”
“Did you read the addendum?” Lloyd asked.
“Yes. He showed remarkable commitment to duty. I’ll certainly be putting him forward for commendation during the next council meeting. I noticed he abandoned his mount and all his possessions, choosing to run with what he could carry in order to arrive sooner.”
“You might want to check that he didn’t lose anything or receive any undue expenses.”
“I’ll make sure he’s compensated.”
“Even after he wrote that report?” Lloyd asked, smirking.
“Yes, well, he wasn’t wrong. I doubt he knew who Jakobson’s sponsor was, but I’d rather he be willing to tell me off than have someone who sits quietly while things go wrong. Novice McDavids did an even better job than he did, however. Remarkable for someone with such a short education.”
“A better job at what?”
“What do you know about your students’ friends?” Sandy asked, answering a question with a question. “And by that, I mean their backgrounds.”
“A little. I’ve spoken with all three of them.”
“Well, you’ll likely know some of this already, but Novice McDavids was heir to a noble family, and quite a talented one as well. He was educated in all manner of subjects pertaining to the position. Or at least he was until the age of twelve, when they discovered his magical talent and realized he was barred from inheriting a title.
“It took reading the addendum for me to notice how Novice McDavids wove much of the same criticism and complaints into his report, only far more subtly. You have to read between the lines, but his report was rather scathing. All wrapped in a bland and professional report.
“Novice Silver is a native of Lekton, born and raised. She comes from a family of very successful crafters. Despite being fairly wealthy, when they noticed their daughter's talents they somehow managed to stretch even further, getting her into the very best schools. I remember Jerold mentioning that he’d never seen any couple look less surprised to discover that their daughter could channel magic. He said it was as if they had expected nothing less, like there could have been no other outcome.
“My student, Novice Jakobson, is also a Lekton native. Her upbringing, however, was very different. She was raised in the Lower Docks, where all of the city’s tanners are based. There isn’t a lot of money in a business like that, and local conditions make it worse, so while her family was never destitute, money was always a problem. I believe you met her family once when she was very young?”
“Yes. There was a spate of arson attacks. Her father sought me out and personally handed the appeal request to me. I couldn’t ignore it.”
“Well, you might have stopped the arson, but that was just a symptom of the true problem. There are one or more gangs that operate in that area, mostly to extort protection money. Young residents are pressured into joining gangs, people will occasionally be beaten, or in extreme circumstances, have their businesses burned down. And the authorities there are corrupt to the point that you need to be able to pay if you want them to do anything. That’s the environment that young Li Na Jakobson grew up in.”
“Why hasn’t the Academy put a stop to it?”
“Petty crime is the city’s jurisdiction, and too many of those responsible for enforcing the law are on the gang’s payroll. We did try once though. A local Mage grew frustrated with the lack of action and rounded up a few gang members, then raided their houses.”
“And?”
“And he found nothing. I told you, there’s too much corruption. People were warned long before the raids and all the evidence, if there ever was any, got moved or destroyed before he arrived. Everything spiraled out of control. The city complained to the capital, the King himself sent me a sternly worded official letter, and we had months of difficult relations with the civilian authorities here. As far as most people were concerned, the Academy overstepped its authority and conducted raids on innocent people based on no evidence, over a matter it had no right to involve itself in. It was quite the scandal.”
“I remember the accusations, but I didn’t know that was what caused it.”
“Then you understand why we leave the petty crime alone?”
Lloyd was unwilling to acknowledge that the gangs should be left alone, so he simply sat quietly and sipped his drink. He certainly did not understand.
“Anyway, all three joined the same class when they arrived at the Academy. I don’t know why, but Novices Jakobson and Silver became close friends almost immediately. They were friendly with a lot of their classmates, but they always did everything together.
“Novice McDavids was almost the exact opposite. He had good relationships with almost everyone, and almost immediately became something of a class leader, but he never made any real friends. He drifted from group to group, spending most of his time training alone.”
“What changed?”
“Your student arrived, Novice Miller. Take it as you will, but he pulled their little group together. He’s also kind of the background leader of the group. Everyone sees McDavids and Silver giving orders and leading teams, but people never seem to notice that it was Miller who decided on the plan of action. The others just issued orders to implement Miller’s plan. Even in this report, Novice McDavids turns to your student for direction on at least one occasion, even asking directly.”
“That’s great and all, but I think we should be focusing on the almost suicidal mission these kids were sent on. They were trapped in an impossible situation.”
“Trapped?”
“Well, something like this is a situation where they should have gone back for help. But doing that would leave the village unprotected. Seventh-year students were forced to put their lives on the line to protect a village from a threat I wouldn’t expect my Apprentice to face.”
Sandy laughed unconvincingly. “And yet they were successful.”
“None of those students should have been anywhere near there, and you know it.”
“Yes,” Sandy sighed. “And it’s still not over. I have to talk with two Arch Wizards about this, and who knows how that will go. And I have to figure out how you compensate four students for facing impossible odds to save a village, and then somehow coming out on top. Their performances have always caused problems, as some people take the opportunity to accuse me of favoritism. This time I don’t know if they’ll accuse me of favoritism or negligence.”
“It should be obvious, it’s the Council.”
“Obvious how?”
“They will accuse you of favoritism and negligence. At the same time.”
Sandy chuckled. “You’ll never like the Council, will you?”
“Some individuals are okay.”
“Whatever rewards they receive, it will need to include training on conflict resolution. Perhaps negotiation as well.”
“Because of those representatives?”
Sandy nodded. “It was their one true failing. Their authority supersedes the local authority in times of crisis. They should know this; it’s covered early on in their education.”
“I don’t doubt that they did. Try to keep in mind that they’re teenagers who’ve spent much of their life here, surrounded either by peers, or adults who all exercise authority over them. I believe it’s more likely that they simply weren’t comfortable enough with overriding the local authorities. Remember, they would have needed to order everyone to abandon their homes, while the people the villagers usually look to for guidance were contradicting them.”
“That cannot excuse the failure. They failed to exercise their authority as they should have.”
“I don’t disagree. I’m just pointing out that they aren’t in a position to use that authority in a, well, authoritative way. You don’t blame a first-time waiter for getting your order wrong, do you? Is it the fault of a lieutenant, fresh out of training and in his first combat situation, if he forgets an important procedure or gets flustered with the pressure?
“Of course it is, but he doesn’t get the blame. You give him additional training if needed, sure, but you also help him to gain the experience he needs to lead his troops effectively.”
“Maybe I agree with you there, I haven’t decided yet, but I still want them to have the message drilled home. I don’t want this incident to set a precedent. It’s easy for bad habits to form.”
“By all means.”
“The local authorities will be reported as well. I’ll send the complaint. They would have known full well that they are required to follow any orders issued by a member of our Academy when in a time of crisis.”
“Please do. That could set an even more dangerous precedent, and I’m not defending them here, but try and keep in mind how things looked from their side. Our students are only teenagers, and to an unconnected they look even younger than they are. I’m sure it would be hard to follow the orders of some kids when your people are under attack.”
“Now there I disagree. If they can send those same kids to fight something like a skathári, they can swallow their pride and listen to orders. Besides, it’s law, the issue isn’t really up for debate.”
Lloyd inclined his head.
Knock knock knock.
“Come in!” Sandy called.
“Ms Ivers, there’s a Faruk Bell here to see you, one of the resident healers on campus.”
“I know him. Send him in.”
Faruk walked in a few seconds later. He opened his mouth to greet Sandy but froze when he saw Lloyd standing against the wall on one side. “Of course you’d be here,” he grumbled.
“You wanted to see me?” Sandy asked, ignoring the comment.
“Actually, I wanted to see him. But I couldn’t find him, so I came here instead.”
“What is the problem?”
“Yaric Miller. He came to see me last night. Some of the things he told me were, disturbing, to say the least.”
“Take a seat please. And I’m well aware; Lloyd brought me their report. We were just discussing it.”
“I’m more concerned about the impact this little adventure has had.”
“What’s wrong with Yaric?” Lloyd asked, taking a seat in the chair beside Faruk.
“I doubt Yaric is the only one affected, but I’ve never seen the boy so rattled. He’s been doing so well that I’ve been contemplating reducing our appointments, but now…”
“He’s been in dangerous situations before.”
“He’s never seen his friends come an instant from death before,” Faruk shot back.
“Tell us what your concerns are,” Sandy interrupted diplomatically.
“If I had to use one word to describe that boy when he first arrived here, it would be apathy. He didn’t care about anything, not really. Sure, he worked hard, but only when someone told him to. That’s virtually all he did, what he was told to.
“Then he made friends, and he slowly started to develop his own drive. It wasn’t entirely healthy, but he was motivated to work hard so he didn’t let his friends down. For the first few years, it was his friends that drove him to push forward and improve himself. It was only much later that he started doing things for himself.
“Very recently he started talking about a whole range of ideas he wanted to try, all of which were things that would improve his abilities as an arcanist. Things he wanted to try for himself. After all these years, he wasn’t dependent on others for his drive.
“Then he went on this mission, and watched helplessly as one of his friends dodged a strike that injured her instead of killing her, and another friend flinch just before he would have been cut in two.”
“You’re worried he’s lost the personal drive to improve himself?” Sandy asked.
“No, if anything that’s even higher. And his old motivation of helping his friends is certainly much stronger as well. I’m giving you this background so you can understand how he thinks, and what his priorities are. Do you have any idea what would have happened if any of his friends had died? What that would have done to him? As it is they were just near misses, and the boy seems to be taking that all upon himself.”
“I’m sure he just needs a bit of time. He already acquitted himself well on this mission, especially given the situation he found himself in.”
“He should never have been in that situation. What were you thinking?!” Faruk hissed, his voice laced with frustration.
“We didn’t approve this appeal. Arch Wizard Phelps personally selected the appeal for them.”
“What?” Faruk looked utterly flabbergasted.
“Lloyd thinks that they’re a bit out of touch with what seventh-year students are capable of.”
“This is a disaster,” Faruk muttered, exhaling loudly. “I’m certain all four need to talk to someone, not just Yaric. He seemed particularly concerned about your student, Sandy.”
“Li Na? Why? Nothing ever seems to phase her.”
“Yes, well, maybe, but while he’s quite oblivious to how he’s been affected, he seems to think she was left shaken as well.”
“I’ll arrange to meet with her again,” Sandy acquiesced.
“All their sponsors need to, not just you. We have counseling for security forces who face life-and-death situations, and for soldiers who see combat. These are kids!”
“I’ll ensure that everyone is aware of the situation,” Sandy promised, raising her palms defensively.
Lloyd almost smiled as he watched the Council Head being run over by the diminutive healer.
“Something must be said to their entire class as well. If they all start thinking they can handle something like a skathári there will be big problems down the road.”
“I doubt any of them will know much about exactly what happened,” Sandy replied defensively.
“Not know much?!” Faruk exclaimed. “Your student brought back trophies! She walked back into her dorm and not one minute later she had dumped the head of one of those monsters onto a table!” he continued, pointing accusingly at his boss.
Sandy looked like she had another twitch at the corner of her mouth.
“I’ll ensure a notice is sent for them to read, and you can write it yourself.”
Faruk looked slightly mollified, but Lloyd had never seen the dwarf so frustrated.
“We were talking about compensation,” Lloyd offered, trying to bring the conversation to something more positive. “They should never have had to do what they did, obviously, but it’s already done now. At least you can look to reward them adequately.”
“Isn’t compensation supposed to be relative?” Faruk asked grumpily.
“Yes. And considering what these four accomplished when taking into account they are only seventh years, the rewards shouldn’t be far off from what they received for their competition win. And that’s just for the overall result,” Sandy pointed out, paging through the report again.
“Here, look at this one. In their first encounter, my student put herself in harm’s way to save the life of a classmate in a combat situation. The reward for that alone is more than what most would earn. Seventh years aren't supposed to be in life or death combat situations.”
Sandy flicked through more pages. “Saved occupants of house, convinced villagers to take shelter, launched preemptive strike to take the fight away from the village, burnt the nest and all the eggs.” Sandy looked up to make eye contact with Lloyd, then Faruk. “These students are already something of a joke with the credits and special awards they’ve won. This should increase those significantly.”
“But you’re still worried about the fallout?” Lloyd asked.
“What fallout?” Faruk seemed much calmer now, though he was very confused about the problem with issuing rewards.
“These students have earned far, far more than any of their peers. After discovering that crime ring they’ve earned far more than any seventh-year ever! But I sponsored one of them, which has started causing problems.”
“Politics,” Lloyd clarified.
Faruk looked like he was about to get riled up again.
“I think I may have a solution, however. I intend to select five neutral council members, and assign them the task of deciding on the rewards.”
“And since they’re neutral, no faction will want to challenge their findings because they’re all hoping to pull them to their side at some point,” Lloyd mused with a smirk.
“See? You’re not as bad at the political wrestling matches as you like to pretend. But that isn’t all, it will also ensure that the true account of what they achieved is spread widely. It will be hard for anyone to justify penalizing a performance like this, and what’s more, it will back up any future rewards as well. We can start building a reputation for them.”
“A reputation?”
“For reliably accomplishing the impossible.”
----------------------------------------
Yaric sat on a bench talking with Lauren and Sven. He’d just had a late lunch with Lloyd, and both wanted to know what the meeting had been about. They often had lunch together, but this time all four of them had received the same message.
Li Na was still with Sandy, and Lauren would be meeting Jerold in four days when he returned from business outside the city. The only one not meeting their sponsor was Sven, as Mersha was currently in the capital and wasn’t in a position to return any time soon. Instead, Sven will be meeting with Sandy tomorrow.
Yaric still didn’t understand the urgency. Lloyd had apologized several times, and he kept asking if Yaric was okay, or if he needed anything, but other than that they really just went over the report Sven had written.
Lloyd had also explained that it would be some time before anyone could tell them what their rewards would be, which Lloyd seemed to find amusing. It was his opinion that it didn’t even matter anymore, as their credit balance was getting so ridiculous that it had started losing meaning.
Not only that, but Yaric would soon be earning a lot more. The one big surprise during the lunch was the note Lloyd delivered. Both Arch Wizards had requested another meeting, as well as a chance to run some more tests that they’d devised since their last experiment. After reading the explanation, Yaric readily agreed.
He’d been the only one able to fight on more than one occasion in Kald, each time due to a creature launching a mental attack. And this time the Arch Wizards wanted to meet him at the bestiary, for the express purpose of testing his defenses against various creatures.
Even more than that, they’d invited his friends as well, and Yaric knew that they would be eager to see more of the animals and monsters that the Academy kept on campus. They hadn’t seen even half of the bestiary grounds yet, so who knew what impressive creatures they’d come across next?
So long as there were no skathári, which Lloyd assured him there weren’t.
The early evening was getting unusually dark, with heavy grey clouds stretching from horizon to horizon. It was still warm, but the late summer breeze was starting to pick up steadily.
Lauren was concerned about what would happen if one of the creatures had a way through his shield, which they were still discussing when Li Na came skipping up the path, a massive grin plastered across her face. She was swinging a small umbrella as she approached, an umbrella that Yaric was certain she’d never had before, though it seemed like a good idea considering the changing weather.
“You’ll never guess what the Council Head gave me!” Li Na called brightly.
“Ummm… an umbrella?”
“No, dummy. I didn’t even want the umbrella, she just insisted. I tried to tell her the wind was all wrong and it wasn’t going to rain, but she wouldn’t listen.”
Just then thunder rumbled across the sky, as if to challenge Li Na’s claim. Yaric and the others all looked up.
“Maybe we should head back, just in case.”
“Don’t be stupid, it’s not going to rain. And you need to see this!”
Li Na reached inside her top and pulled out a necklace with a large pendant, holding it up proudly. She stepped forward for everyone to get a closer look while making no attempt to take it off.
Yaric had to admit that he’d never seen anything like it. Silver, copper, and other metals he didn’t recognize were seamlessly woven into an intricate disc. Rope-like threads formed knots across the surface, forming a mesmerizing pattern that seemed to repeat infinitely.
“But you can’t mix some of these,” Sven remarked softly, almost whispering. “Those metals expand and cool differently, it should be impossible to make something like this.”
Li Na’s grin somehow grew even wider.
“She said it was a gift, for being amazing!”
“She said that?” Lauren asked dubiously.
“Her exact words were ‘for your amazing’, then something something, ‘performance’.
“Or maybe it was just, ‘for your amazing performance’?”
“Nah. That doesn’t sound like what she said at all.”
“You’ll need to look after this,” Sven said, heading off an argument. “This must be really valuable.”
Li Na’s rundown of her meeting with Sandy was much the same as Yaric’s had been with Lloyd, minus the message from the Arch Wizards, but she was also excited to be going to the bestiary again. Everyone wanted to explore while they were there.
Lauren was also excited to hear that Sandy was going to arrange an appointment for her and Li Na at one of the staff facilities, where they could get their hair done. Li Na seemed positive that they could do something about the odd haircut Lauren had recently received.
“Did you ask Lloyd about training exercises like we discussed?” Lauren asked Yaric.
“No, sorry. He just kept apologizing and asking if everyone was okay. I didn’t even think to ask about that.”
“Don’t worry, it’s not that urgent, I was just checking. Maybe we can ask after your tests next week?”
“Sure.”
“The first time we went there it was with Lloyd,” Sven said. “Remember that basilisk. Lloyd told us that he used to go down there to get used to dealing with mental attacks. I’d like to try something similar. We can’t all go down and leave Yaric to deal with everything every time something happens. We need to get better at resisting attacks like that too.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll ask. The Arch Wizards might be able to help too.”
Just then several fat raindrops landed on their heads, causing Lauren to leap to her feet in surprise.
Li Na scrambled to get her umbrella open and only just made it in time, lifting the umbrella over her head at the exact moment that the skies opened up, dumping a torrential amount of rain on the ground below.
Lightning flashed with a loud crack, briefly illuminating her three drenched friends and reflecting in their glaring eyes. Their clothes were already soaked through, and their hair was plastered to their faces, with long rivulets of water running down their cheeks.
…
“You guys are so wet!”