Ishumi set her tray of food down on the table. It was the first day of school and she felt she had done a good job of keeping her distance from her class. She had heard rumours of what Class C was like. Delinquents who were rejected from the rest of the cohorts and she was not particularly interested in getting mixed up with people of those kins.

Though she had to admit that through that first day she had seen little evidence of said delinquency. Perhaps her classmates were a little odd, eccentric even, but definitely not incorrigible. Still, she wondered if her quiet personality would be better suited to a more stable environment.

“Hey!” She turned to see a group of her seniors walking over. A leading man asked, “What are you doing sitting there?”

She looked down to her tray of food and back up again. “Eating?”

“Well, go eat somewhere else. Class C don't get to sit here.”

She cocked her head at them. “That's really childish, isn't it?”

“What did you say!” he flared. “Look at you! Our junior, yet disrespectful. There's only one of you sitting at this long table when there's a group of us. Shouldn't you let us have these seats and move somewhere else?”

Calmly, she sipped her soup and answered, “I never said you can't sit here. There's more than enough space for all of you and myself.”

Her seniors' faces were livid. For a moment, she contemplated diffusing the situation by moving. However a familiar face sat down across her, setting his tray down.

“Hello,” Joachim signed.

She unconsciously signed back, “Hello.”

In moments, the Orniter siblings took the seats next to them and Lua commented casually, “What a terrible first day. Sik Rehiy is really strict.”

“That's because you're so headstrong, sister,” her brother chided.

Shjacky, Kingston, Enneya, and Pip took the last four seats, drowning out their seniors with their numbers.

Pip chimed, “I think Sik Rehiy is actually really kind inside.”

The banal banter chartered on. Their seniors, outnumbered and frustrated, swore vulgarly at them before walking away. Once they were out of earshot, the table burst into laughter.

*****

She felt something shaking. It might have been the earth. It might have been her body trembling. It might have been her world turning. She felt words appear on her hand.

Wake up.

She held onto those words, clenching her hand around it and felt something solid. Her eyes cracked opened to Joachim looking over, worry etched across his face.

“Not...” she began. “...my best moment.” With his help, she sat up and surveyed their situation.

They were at the exit of the flood tunnel, or what was left of it. Most of it had collapsed save for a fair bit of the entrance. Her heart sank the moment she thought of Shjacky and Quinton but solidified quickly to face Joachim.

He asked, “Are okay? Can you move?”

“Yes,” he helped her to her feet. Her weapon had been thrown to the ground a short second away and she moved to pick it back up. “How long were we out?”

“Just you,” he explained. “And only for a minute.”

Behind them, nothing seemed to have followed. Before them, they could see the tip of the east gate, its watchtower peaking over the distant canopy. Once they reached the wall, they would be able to drop the gate and make the final distance to the Forest of the Dead in relative peace.

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“Come on,” she said. “Let's get moving.”

They continued on, limping most of the way. Tired, battered, and mourning the lost of their friends, simply moving seemed an insurmountable task. But they pushed on regardless. The plants were dewing, almost as if in tears. The deep, humidifying air merely thickened their emotions.

Trees rustled and twigs cracked unnaturally. She stopped, ears pricked. That was the problem with unspawns. By themselves, they made no noise. Could not make noise. She read somewhere that in the universe of the monsters, the concept of noise did not exists. And when they came over to their plane of existence, the creatures carried bits of those otherworldly physics with them.

While they made no sound, it did not mean the world around them was always noiseless. A stone against stone without erosion. A leaf rustling with its peers without wind. A world alone without echoes. That was what she heard.

“I think,” she voiced, “We're being followed.”

Warily and with shifting eyes, they took a bold step forward. Another rustle caught her attention.

She began signing, “On my signal, run. And whatever you do, keep running.”

Joachim's expression grew even more worried. “What are you planning?”

“Nothing,” she answered quickly. “But we must make it to the others with the information. Kingston, Quinton, and Shjacky gave up their lives for this. We can't let their sacrifices be in vain.”

She was about to continue signing when he grabbed her hand. “Please,” he begged. “Don't die.”

As reassuringly as she could, she smiled and commanded, “Now!”

Despite being tired and beaten, they broke into a sprint. Almost immediately, they could see the figures of spider unspawns break off from the treeline and gave chase after them. The edge of the city nearing the walls were mostly tree farms. Under their feet, the soft soil fertilized from decomposed fruits of the previous seasons squashed each of their steps. Seasonal insects swatted at their faces and Ishumi spat out a panting mouthful of saliva as she took one in the lips.

At long last, the east gate appeared trough the tickets, though they still had to make it through the final courtyard. However, her heart sank as she saw the situation. The outer metal portcullis had already shut. A portion of the outer arc had also collapsed. And with the Twin stars at the direct angle they were at, she would not be able to use her shadow magic to teleport them out normally.

Her abilities required a shadow mass of a certain area to be able to initiate the teleportation. But that also meant that if the angle of the light was off, like it was then, the shadows would be sheered, preventing a smooth transition from space to space and eventually ejecting her from the darkness. She also had to be in contact with the shadow on the ground for her magic to initiate. However, she could manipulate the shadows themselves and hopefully stretch them outside the gate.

As they stepped out into the open yard, she thought of changing directions and finding another exit. However, flanking them, the pack of unspawn hounds that had escaped Shjacky and Quinton's wraith had returned and were beginning to encircle them.

“Don't stop!” she shouted as they crossed the open, the flat ground making it easier for them to speed up.

They reached the portcullis. Enemies were closing in quickly on all sides. As she thought, the light of the late noon Twins shone directly onto them. There were no shadows for her to transfer to on the other side of the wall.

“Alright,” she said. “I'll teleport you out.”

Joachim nodded, trustingly.

From the ground, Ishumi pulled her shadow to cross the portcullis and out onto the opposite plain. Joachim stepped onto the darkness and with her hand on his shoulder, she began dissolving him into the black.

His form faded like cotton candy dropped into dark waters and collapsed into the shadowed ground. Once Joachim had fully merged with the shadow, almost instantly, he began reconstructing on the other side of the gate. He took form in the light, a figure seemingly stepping out into beams.

“Ah...” she sighed softly in regret.

Joachim turned to face her. “What's wrong?” he signed. “Get over here, quickly!”

Between their escape from the bell tower to the flood tunnels and after, she had been using much of her magical energy. Without knowing it, she had depleted her seither reserve. With only a few ounces of magic left in her, she could attempt to tap into her own life energy. But even then she was confident that would not be enough to transport her over.

She smiled sadly. “It seems I'm empty.”

“What?” he exclaimed.

She was not a fighter like her classmates. Mostly, she was trained for stealth and support. She should have been more wary of her limits. Teleportation magic of any kind was already draining. To have used so many in such a short time period was reckless of her. She was not sure what came over her to have caused her to lose count of her powers.

He was panicking. Squatting at the gate, he attempted to lift the portcullis with his bare hands. He mouthed screams, but the noises that came out simply sounded like pained grunts and croaks. It distressed her greatly so she squatted down opposite him and through the gaps, placed a gentle hand on his face. Joachim immediately calmed down, eyes pouring tears.

“It's fine. Really. But I would really appreciate it if you left now.” She gave him as calm a smile as she could muster. “I'd really rather not have you see me die. Not my best moment.”

His face was shocked. Surprised that she would even ask it of him. Then, he closed his eyes and his teeth shone, gritting angrily. He wiped away what he could of his tears and held onto her hand, rubbing her wrist in comfort. Finally, he kissed her palm and stood up. Throughout it all he kept his eyes closed. When he opened them again, they were convicted. She relaxed at his strength. With a final forced smile, he turned away and ran into the forest.

She turned around the gate and faced the courtyard, now swarmed with unspawns, ready to pounce. Holding out her windmill shuriken, she gently dropped it onto the air with a spin. As the weapon hung in gravity, she smashed the middle of it with the side of her fist. The contraption that held the four blades together broke apart and the four large metal pieces fell – two on the ground and two embedded – as individual swords. She pulled out the two stuck pieces and readied to fight.

Perhaps if she held out long enough, she could regenerate enough magic to escape. Most likely not. She was not one to hold onto the impossible. Still, she wondered when she became such and optimist.

“Dying well,” she repeated Quinton's final words. “Be afraid of death but not of dying. Only then can you go with courage.”

She breathed deep. Her swords sung noiselessly.