Right after sending Jadwia and Kewin back to the Academy, Isyd sat down amidst the rubbles of the laboratory. He had waited for night to pass, eyes and senses peered in chance the thieves decided to come back. They hadn’t, but it had given Isyd the time to think and plan.

On the very first hour in the morning, the Ravasz had shown up. Isyd had expected them to sleep in after a night spent celebrating, but apparently, the two Arcanysta were too much of workaholics for that. Julya was the first to walk in as she was talking to her husband that followed her. Her sentence died in her throat and her eyes went wide when they landed on the destruction all around them. She brought a hand to her lips to stop a cry that did not come. Norran followed and immediately stepped in front of her as if to protect her from danger.

Isyd got up from where he sat. “Last night, three thieves broke into the Laboratory,” he explained calmly. “I stumbled upon them as I was coming back to the Academy. I managed to recover the Blysht and the Outgracing Hex, but they escaped before I could apprehend them.”

“God, they are back…” Julya muttered. “They found us…”

Norran grabbed one of the few stools left unbroken and led her to it. Julya was deathly pale and her lips were trembling.

“Yes, I suspect that they are the same people that attacked you in Blotnia,” Isyd added.

“It’s happening again… Oh, God!”

“It’s gonna be all right, dear, it’s gonna be all right. Here, sit down and breathe…” Norran told Julya while giving a reproaching look to Isyd.

“Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Norran said. “Do we know for sure that they are the same people? I mean, the Atelier is an obvious target for thieves gangs with all the [Arcanes], the precious metals and all that…”

“It is possible, but unlikely,” Isyd said. “None of the measuring instruments was touched and the copper, silver and gold stashes are stored elsewhere. Only our laboratory was targeted which is strange since nothing of value is supposed to be here. Nothing, but the Blysht that is.”

Julya seemed to have regained a bit of control not that the initial shock had passed. She was twisting her hands, but her breathing was calmer. “They wanted the Ingraced Blysht and the Outgracing Blysht, this is clear. You said that you stopped them?”

“I did,” Isyd said, pulling out the crystal and the Lightsphere. “They still managed to escape with some of our notes. I suspect that they will come back.”

“But how… how did they find us? How did they know about the Blysht?”

“I believe the answer is evident,” Isyd said.

“It is that Witch Dumnchory, isn’t it?” Norran spat.

“Norran, please…” Julya said feebly.

But a dark cloud of anger had taken on the man. “She’s been going around and babbling about the Blysht to whoever wanted to hear it! She caused this!”

“But to what end? She has nothing to gain hiring those thugs?” Julya said. “ Plus, Tekla didn’t know about us before we came to the Atelier. How could she be responsible for the attack here and the attack back in Blotnia simultaneously?”

Isyd had been pondering the same questions the whole night. He was relatively certain that Tekla had been the one to spill the beans, but he struggled to make it match with everything the Ravasz had told him regarding the incident in Blotnia. If she and the intruders were colluding, why did they need to break in in the first place? Isyd could see the outline of the puzzle, but some crucial pieces were missing for him to have a complete picture of the situation.

“Isyd!” Naeht came phasing through the walls in a hurry. “Tekla is coming this way! She left her office!”

Isyd had asked her to watch over Tekla just for this scenario. He jumped into action and turned to the Ravasz.

“Tekla is coming here as we speak. You must leave.”

“W-What…?”

“Leave. Now! Go back to your place, I will join you there in a bit once I took care of Tekla.”

“But…” Julya began.

“No time to discuss!” Isyd cut her off, his voice harsh and commanding. He shoved the Lightsphere and the Ingraced Blysht in her opened hands. “Take this. We’ll discuss more later. Go!”

Julya couldn’t hide her surprise at hearing Isyd speak with so much authority. It was as if she was seeing another person, an older person. She followed her husband and got back up and hurried to the door, with only a last worried glance behind her.

Isyd watched them go before turning to Naeht. “How was Tekla? Did she look hurt? Did you notice anything special?”

“Not hurt, but I think she’s a bit hungover. Her eyes are red as if she cried. Also, she’s pissed. Mightily so.”

Isyd nodded. Senses strained forward, he felt Tekla Dumnchory approaching him. Her pulse was familiar, the thrumming of her Grace sounded in Isyd’s mind more and more distinct against the background buzzing of the Holy Grace when he focused on her. Soon, he could hear her steps up the stairs. She walked in her usual quick walk, almost running. She skidded to a stop at the doorstep and her face was a mask of surprise as she took in the extent of the damages.

She didn’t know about the attack… Isyd came to realize.

When her green eyes landed on him, the shock turned into bitter anger.

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“You! Where is the [Outgracing Hex]?” she spat.

Not a question about what caused this? Isyd’s mind was racing to make sense of her reaction. She hadn’t known about the attack, but she wasn’t surprised it had happened…

“It is not here,” he said.

She stormed in until they were face to face. Isyd did not flinch.

“Do not lie to me, Wybrany! No need to pretend, I know you succeeded in making the [Hex]. I demand to see it this instant!”

“I will not give it to you.”

Tekla seemed so dumbfounded, it was as if Isyd had just slapped her. “What did you just say…?” she hissed.

“You broke the Commission secret. I will not hand the [Outgracing Hex] to you nor discuss anything regarding the Blysht with you until Hidrss is back.”

“How dare you! The secret did not matter one bit! You have no idea of the seriousness of the situation! Do you think that all of this is a silly game? Do you think they care about our stupid rules?”

“Who are ‘they’?” Isyd cut in.

“It is none of your concern, dammit!” She bit her lips as if trying very hard to hang on to a modicum of calm. “I want the [Outgracing Hex]. Now! Do not think I cannot force you, Wybrany!”

“Is it a threat?”

“It is an order! If I must, I’ll remind you who of us is in charge!”

Isyd felt the Grace dances around Tekla. She was Concentrating it in case she needed to cast a spell. He wasn’t intimidated. He was now realizing that the time had come to get rid of Tekla. She was compromised with the enemy – whomever the enemy was. In time, Isyd could make her talk, he was sure of it. But first, he needed to eliminate the threat she posed.

Isyd took no pleasure in that thought.

His skin twitched under his bandages. Tekla saw something in his eyes because she took an instinctive step back and raised her hands.

“Isyd…?” Naeht asked with a voice full of uncertainty. Full of warning.

“Er… Ms Dumnchory?”

All the heads turned to the doorstep where the timid voice had come from. A Pupil of the 2 nd Opening stood, with his hair ruffled and his shirt uniform singed in front.

“What?” Tekla snapped.

“The problem… er… the Arcane is acting up again…”

“I told you how to handle it as I left! How could you mess it up?”

“The cracks are spreading, and the oil is leaking. We tried a [Cooling Hex] and introducing sink points but… The Seniors aren’t coming today because of the Korochun and…”

The boy seemed on the verge of tears. Isyd let his shoulders fall, glad for the sudden interruption. Tekla’s face went through several emotions: relief, annoyance, and anger. She turned back to Isyd, uncertain of how to proceed. Isyd gave her a cold smile.

“You are the one in charge, aren’t you?”

“Do not think this is over! I expect you to be in my office with the [Outgracing Hex] in a quarter of an hour. If you fail to do so, I’ll have all the grounds to punish you for insubordination. Do not try me, Wybrany!”

She spun on her heels and left in a run, the Pupils close in toe.

“Good Grace, that was tense!” Naeht let out with a nervous laugh.

Isyd said nothing; he was trying his best to ignore the twitching of his right arm.

“So… are we going to her office?”

“Hell no! Tekla is compromised. We can no longer work with her. More than that, I’d say that she’s now our enemy. Just now, she was ready to attack me. She didn’t because I think she knows subconsciously that I can defend myself. No matter what she’s saying, she fears me as an equal. The Ravasz, however…”

“What about them?”

“If Tekla decides to go after Julya and Norran, she can easily overwhelm them. The same for the thieves… I gave them the [Outgracing Hex] to buy time, but I fear that it is safer with me.”

Isyd picked up his darkveil resting on the back of a chair and headed out of the laboratory.

“So, where we going then?” Naeht asked him as she followed.

“At the Ravasz’s. We must hurry before Tekla changes her mind and get on my ass. I’ll explain the situation to them, discuss my suspicions and decide on the best next move.”

The Atelier – the Academy as a whole in fact – was empty since the day after the Korochun was also a holiday. This was great since Isyd did not need to worry about attracting attention as he jogged down the Fields toward the Gate.

“Er… Isyd? I think Jadwia want to talk to you,” Naeht said.

Isyd followed her gaze and saw Jadwia running at him and waving as if to stop him. He groaned; he wasn’t in the mood to act as her private Tutor, and certainly not now as he was running out of time.

“Isyd… Wait… I have to talk to you…” Jadwia said, struggling to catch up.

Isyd barely slowed down as he turned to her and waved her down. “Later. I’m in a hurry now. Write your questions on a note.”

And with that, he sped up passed the Gate, leaving Jadwia in the dust, panting.