It was great when they had the occasional full day off, and the days where their schedules gave them the afternoon off were usually the best days of the week, but getting several consecutive days to themselves was always the best of all. Now they could explore the city and just do what they wanted, without worrying about the next day at the sa ti.
The last ti they should have had ti off, Lloyd sent them out of the city to answer appeals, but the long periods of travel had still given them plenty of ti to relax and enjoy themselves. The only problem was the appeals had always been at the back of their minds, even if it wasn’t sothing they had to worry about until they arrived and could find out more.
There was so much to do this year, and several others joined them in a theater to watch a show about an ancient explorer. It wasn’t even just actors this ti, but two resident mages as well. Both created sound effects and wove intricate illusions to add to the backdrops. The impact was stunning. Impossible river scenes flowed by, dangerous animals seed real, and no one would ever forget the forest fire with its crackling flas and clinging smoke. And all of it happened on a small wooden stage inside an ancient theater.
“That was fun,” Lauren said, turning to face everyone as they walked down the stairs after the show.
“The manticore roar was amazing,” Chelsea said. She was left feeling disappointed after being forced to sit out the Winter Solstice Tournant, but she was doing much better after a couple of days away from the Academy.
“I want to bring my parents here to see this,” Lauren added, still excited about the play.
“Can I co along with my parents?” Li Na asked tentatively.
“Of course… my parents would love that!”
Li Na grinned and started skipping beside them.
It was still uncomfortably cold outside even though it was midday, so everyone bundled up before walking outside. They were all hungry after sitting through a three-hour play with nothing but snacks to eat. Once outside, everyone went straight to the nearest restaurant by unspoken agreent.
Simon was there, along with his family.
“Good afternoon, Simon,” Sven said, greeting him as he walked past. His family would have been there the year before, for their formal acceptance into the Academy, but they had obviously made the effort to co visit again. Yaric didn’t know where they were from, but he knew they weren’t from Lekton.
Sven paused while everyone else nodded to say hello and continued toward an empty table. Simon opened his mouth to ask a question, but Sven beat him to it.
“We’ll be sharing so lessons when classes start again,” Sven added. “Let us know if we can help you with anything.”
“Thanks, I will,” Simon smiled. “I think the Tournants are going to beco a whole lot shorter now.”
Sven smiled sympathetically. “Well, it’s not us that you need to worry about. You’ll be competing with people who are ahead of everyone here. But it’s also a great opportunity. Competing against students so far ahead will force you to push further, and you will get so experience fighting against people who are more powerful than you. That has been the most valuable part of the Tournants this year, for at least.”
Simon was with his family, so Sven didn’t want to take up too much of their ti. He quickly said goodbye to everyone at the table and made his way to rejoin his friends.
“Everyone from the Competition will be in the sa class when we go back,” Li Na said.
“When we’re all in class, anyway. Kaylin and the others are out answering an appeal,” Lauren pointed out. “Just like we did last ti.”
“We had one as well,” Chelsea inford them. “It got taken away when I broke my leg.”
Now Yaric finally understood why Chelsea had been so upset about being ordered to avoid combat situations.
“I’m sure you’ll get a replacent,” he said.
“Chelsea is just upset because the appeal ca from the capital,” Delmar said. “She wanted to see the city.”
“And the sea,” Chelsea complained.
“Ah…” Yaric could understand how she felt. He’d never seen the sea either, or the capital.
“Maybe we can get sothing like that too,” Li Na said, excited by the prospect of touring the capital.
The conversation devolved from there into where they would travel and what they would see, pausing only when their lunch was served. Everyone split up once again after lunch, looking to do their own thing.
Yaric and the others headed for Li Na’s house, so she could talk to her mother about seeing the play.
The Lower Docks had gone through an unusual transformation. So much looked exactly the sa, yet it was still so different. The city had torn up all the roads in the Lower Docks and repaved them, replacing the damaged stone and correcting the curve of the surface. Every sidewalk had brand new, cleanly cut flagstones. Even the original objects like the lampposts looked new, if only because they were all cleaned, repaired, and well-maintained.
Perhaps most unusual of all were the guard patrols. They were everywhere. Small groups of two or four were almost always in sight at any point along the main roads, keeping watch and paying attention to everything that went on around them. No one seed to pay any attention to them, as if they were a common sight now, but it was a stark contrast to the last ti Yaric had been to the Lower Docks.
“Doesn’t it seem like there are too many guards now?” Yaric asked.
“It’s more about projecting an image,” Sven said. “They are trying to show everyone that law enforcent is working now.”
“And it doesn’t cost them anything?”
“If it did, we would know all about it,” Sven replied with a laugh. “The people here wouldn’t be treating them so casually either.”
“As long as they do their job when it matters,” Lauren said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Li Na explained. “They just need to walk around where people can see them and no one will do anything. As long as they aren’t certain the guards will look the other way, no one would dare risk being made an example of. And people aren’t scared anymore, so you probably don’t even need the guards now. They’ll sort cri out themselves.”
“I’m glad your neighborhood is doing so much better,” Lauren said, bumping Li Na’s shoulder.
Li Na was recognized more and more as they got closer to her ho, prompting Sven to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her close to save her the embarrassnt. Despite her boasting, she was never very comfortable when other people praised her, not unless they were close friends anyway.
They were in sight of her house when a shout from behind drew them to a halt.
“Li Na!”
It was her mom, making her way ho with a few bags of groceries. They were just in ti to help Jolene carry her things inside. Yaric and Sven both rushed forward and relieved her of the bags, while Jolene went ahead with Li Na and Lauren.
“We were wondering when you would visit us again,” Jolene said, glaring teasingly at her daughter.
“I’ve visited more often than anyone in my class,” Li Na said, acting as if her mom was being serious. “And we actually ca over to invite you to watch a play with Lauren’s parents, but if you are too busy wond-.”
“No, no,” Jolene replied. “We would love to co. Bruce can get off work early if he has to.”
Jolene made tea for everyone while they caught up with more recent events, but they weren’t able to stay long. There was still one more stop to make.
Lauren’s ho was almost directly on the route back to campus, so they didn’t have to go out of their way to visit, but they also didn’t want to visit too late in the day. Ideally they would visit the shop on the other side of their house. If they arrived after closing they might find that her parents had gone out, and there was no knowing when they would be ho again.
As it was, the store was still open when they arrived, and Robin was at the front waiting for custors.
“Lauren, this is a surprise!”
“Hi Dad.”
“And you brought your friends. Are you intending to stay for dinner?” Robin asked.
“Sorry, we already have plans. But we wanted to co over and invite you and Mom to co and see a play with us,” Lauren hurriedly added.
The poorly hidden look of disappointnt quickly lted away. “Of course we’ll co! Let just call your mom quickly.”
Robin quickly made his way into the backroom, returning just a minute later with Amanda leading the way, a wide smile on her face.
“You should have let us know you were coming,” Amanda said, pulling her daughter into a hug. “We would have closed early.”
“Did Dad tell you about the play?” Lauren asked.
“He did. I’m already looking forward to it. But I have to insist that you allow us to take everyone out to dinner afterward, perhaps to Rivers Rest? Your favorite? Bruce and Jolene can stay the night with us if it gets too late.”
It only took a few minutes to hamr out the plans and co to an agreent, but Robin insisted they co inside for a drink before eting with their friends. It was pleasant, just like when they had tea with Jolene. Unfortunately it was now getting late, so they had to rush off to et everyone from their class for an end-of-year party.
Lauren and Li Na were both surprised to discover that Yaric and Sven had already discussed the plans to go out and had decided that Lauren and Li Na should get to spend ti with their parents alone. Neither would be going with them. It took so arguing, but they both relented when Yaric and Sven stood firm. Lauren and Li Na were able to get a concession, however, with them agreeing to go out the next ti there were plans involving parents.
The next day was an even bigger surprise. Sven announced that Li Na was going to show him a store that made printing equipnt, and Li Na ntioned that Sven had agreed to show her so advanced riding techniques. Both would be going off together for the day, leaving Yaric and Lauren to find sothing they could do with just the two of them.
Which wasn’t difficult.
Yaric had heard Vano talking about a vineyard on the outskirts of the city that gave tours. They spent the morning looking at how the wine was made, and, of course, sampling the different wines the vineyard had on offer.
Then Lauren found a pottery place that taught custors to make their own items with clay, and they spent the afternoon trying to make mugs and ornants. Yaric was disappointed when his coffee mug ca out skewed, but Lauren responded by making her swan ornant lean sideways on purpose, starting a competition between them to see who could make the funniest looking item, while still keeping it functional.
They were looking for sowhere to eat dinner when Yaric spotted soone he hadn’t expected to see.
“Kayden! Over here! When did you guys get back?”
The appeal must have been a quick one for him to be in Lekton so soon.
“We got back earlier today,” Kayden said, running over to et them. “It was just a dispute in Sacaster, on the lake. Two boats collided.”
“And the local authorities couldn’t sort that out?” Lauren asked, looking confused.
“They did, but everyone has the right to appeal to us. And the one who sent the appeal is the one who lost the case, not to ntion being a Mage.”
“So they made a bad decision?” Yaric asked.
“Oh no, the Mage was in the wrong. It wasn’t even difficult to prove; the Mage ramd the other boat while it was moored at a dock. He isn’t even ant to pilot that boat by himself.”
“Then why did he send an appeal?” Lauren asked.
Kayden shrugged. “He was desperate? There was nothing to lose? Maybe he thought we would look the other way since he was a Mage? I don’t know. But he’s been ordered to cover all the costs for the other guy, and they’ve confiscated his own boat until he has at least one crew mber to help him pilot it. I’m not sure about all that stuff though. I don’t know anything about boats.”
They had been walking while they spoke, with Kayden leading the way as neither Lauren nor Yaric had chosen a destination yet.
“Everyone else is inside,” Kayden said, gesturing to a pub beside them. “Why don’t you guys co inside?”
With nothing else planned, they both readily agreed and followed Kayden in. A dozen classmates were already there, waiting for Kayden. Gerrick shifted up for them and they both sat down to listen to Kaylin’s recounting of their appeal, even though her story mostly consisted of Sarcaster and the things they saw while they were there.
Everything was great until Anton walked up onto the stage to sing. He was actually surprisingly good, but that wasn’t the problem.
“Co on, you have to be able to play sothing by now,” Lauren said, looking at Yaric pleadingly.
“I only know two songs, and they’re both incredibly basic,” Yaric protested.
“So? Play one of those!”
Yaric tried, but he wasn’t able to deny her, and once the song was over he found himself being led up to the stage. So instrunts were made available for anyone who wanted to play, so Yaric selected the most familiar design and sat down at the rear of the stage. Lauren looked over her shoulder inquiringly, prompting Yaric to whisper the na of one of the songs he could play. Smiling, Lauren turned back to the pub, and Yaric began to play.
He made several mistakes, so bad enough that there was no way Lauren hadn’t noticed, but her singing never once faltered. And her singing ability was more than enough to cover for his skills as a musician.
The night was full of surprises, as Chris jumped up on stage before Yaric could stand. He made his way over to the drum, nodding to Yaric as he did. Lauren saw his predicant and smiled teasingly. She kept her position as well, waiting for Yaric to give them the na of the other song he knew.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from ; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Yaric wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved when Chris nodded again to indicate that he knew the song, and he imdiately began tapping out the intro for Yaric to follow. The student who had made his first couple of years miserable now accompanied Yaric and Lauren with a steady rhythm behind them, complinting the chords and notes played on strings.
Lauren was very happy with the situation, thanking Chris and hugging Yaric once they were done. “Thank you!” she said. “I know you don’t like getting up in front of people.”
Yaric found it hard to be upset about being put on the spot when Lauren was so excited about the songs, so he settled for buying the three of them a drink.
Sven and Li Na tracked them down half an hour later, surprising Yaric as well. At so point he’d forgotten they weren’t there, but now that they were, everyone settled straight in.
“How was the horse riding?” Yaric asked, watching a grinning Li Na settle onto the bench.
“Uh… it was fine,” she said, her smile faltering for just a mont.
Yaric’s eyes grew wide. “Did you fall?!”
“… Yeah.”
“You weren’t hurt, were you?” Yaric asked, finding himself unable to tease her about it.
“I’m fine,” Li Na replied, a wide smile on her face.
The four of them stuck together after that, besides one afternoon when Jerold took Lauren for lunch. Her Sponsor wasn’t able to see her as often as Yaric’s or Li Na’s, so no one complained.
They were slightly disappointed when classes began again, but only slightly. After all, they were going to be learning more advanced magic.
“You are all stuck with for a while longer,” Emil announced, walking through the assembled students. “My replacent is currently unavailable. As such, I had the pleasure of preparing your lesson plans for the coming year. Please remain in your seats while we et with you individually,” Emil said, gesturing to the Apprentices lined up against the wall.
The Apprentices made their way around slowly, stopping frequently to find out which student matched the na on their list. Yaric and his friends didn’t have the sa issue, however, as it was Emil who once again had their lesson plans.
“You four again,” Emil said, sounding grumpy. He didn’t look up from his list while he spoke, but the expression on his face didn’t match his tone at all.
“Novice Silver, this is yours,” Emil said, placing a new crystal cube on her desk. I’ve increased both the depth and range of your spells for this year, hopefully it will be enough to tide you over. There is also slightly more focus on spells that complent your affinities. Don’t forget that once you move on from this class you will be learning how to filter arcana, so these are likely to beco so of your favorite spells. Or they will, once you see how much additional power you get from them.
“There are so new fire spells, as well as variations of old favorites. This one,” Emil said, pointing to a particular marking on one side of the cube, “this one is an explosive fireball that can be set to detonate after a set amount of ti. And this one is a mixture between your explosive fireball and the persistent one, which I’ve noticed you prefer to call an incendiary fireball.
“The situation with lightning spells is very similar, there are just a lot less of them. I felt that you could do particularly well with the lightning spell over here,” he said, pointing at yet another marking, this one on a different side of the cube. “So spells are anchored to items, and this is one of them. If you cast this on your spear, for instance, you can constantly channel arcana to create an electric current through the spearhead. Any weapon will do, even a shield. So long as it is tal.
Emil began running through many of the spells Lauren would be focusing on during the year. “Here we have the water spell that knocked Novice Miller out of the last Tournant, and I’ve added the components to chill the water as well. And here is a new shield spell that combines with your air affinity. It creates a shield with a small space inside, holding highly compressed air. In so situations it can be quite effective to have air automatically blast out of a shield at the point where it is compromised.
“You also have spells with new affinities, such as force. It’s going to take too long for to go through everything with you, so I suggest you go over everything by yourself and co to if you have any questions,” Emil said.
Lauren was very happy with the selection Emil had shown her, but her smile grew wider and wider as she went through everything it had to offer. There was obviously a lot more to her plan than Emil had let on.
“And you, Novice Jakobson. All the sa things regarding affinities and spell choices apply to you as well. You have all the sa water and air-related spells, though you have additional things to learn when it cos to your earth and ice affinities.
“For example, this spell will cover your shield with sharp shards of stone, perfect for perforating anyone who gets too close. A more advanced version lets you propel those shards like an arrow if they don’t.”
Yaric expected Li Na to look disgusted at turning sothing like a shield, which she considered to be a bludgeoning weapon, into a piercing one, but Li Na looked ecstatic.
“You also have several augnting spells like your friends, but I’ve added so more advanced versions, so lack of selection won’t hold you back. These include versions that are specifically designed for enhancing objects in various ways.”
Emil continued to summarize Li Na’s lesson plan before placing another cube in front of Yaric.
“Novice Miller, the sa things apply to you as they do to everyone else. I’ve included so mixed spells, such as an incendiary fireball that can jump through objects, and a lightning spell that can bypass so of the space between you and a target. Both are effectively the sa thing.
“There is a shadow-related spell that anchors to weapons in a similar manner to your new fire and lightning spells, only this one makes a weapon such as your sword harder to notice. Think of it like soone who blends in with the crowd; your opponent will struggle to pay attention to the incoming weapon. The spell can be used with arrows as well, though I’m not certain how much that would help.
“I’ve also included so spells you could think of as mobility spells. They will allow you to create steps with air, or use the wind to extend a jump. On top of that are spells related to new affinities, primarily force and light.
“Now, I’m going to give you a warning that I haven’t given the others, but it applies to them all the sa. I do not doubt that each of them will be learning your spells as well, so all four of you need to keep this in mind. You can’t channel enough arcana to use every spell, at least not as they’re intended. If you try to step on air and put more than the minimum force onto your leg, you’re going to shatter the spell and fall right through. Start practicing now, and get used to utilizing these spells where applicable, but be careful that you don’t overdo it.”
Emil moved on to Sven after that. Yaric listened in, but he also went through his lesson plan as he did, looking over every spell one by one. Their instructor hadn’t ntioned the new components, but Yaric was taken aback by the sheer number of them. He would need several weeks for the components alone, and it would be even worse if the others had components that he didn’t. Which was practically guaranteed.
Sven had a whole range of spells that could be considered first aid, and several new spells were very clearly orientated toward crafting.
He also had their first communication spell. It wasn’t particularly impressive, but the spell could bind two objects so each would vibrate as the other did. The restrictions were severe, such as requiring objects that could vibrate to begin with. While anything could technically vibrate, a piece of loose cloth would be completely useless, as would a thick bar of tal. They would need sothing thin and rigid to practice with.
‘And we can’t go further than a hundred ters,’ Yaric thought to himself, feeling disappointed with the range. Still, it was a start, and Yaric suspected that there weren’t many others who had spells for communication. He was actually surprised that he didn’t have one, as space-related spells seed ideal.
Not much was learned during the class, since they spent the entire lesson comparing plans and recording which spells were not in their own plans. Lauren was already working out how she wanted to progress. The other three weren’t as far in their preparations, but they did know where they wanted to start.
“Is it just , or do these spells seem to have a much wider range of… applications?” Yaric asked, pausing to search for the word that best described what he ant.
It wasn’t ideal.
“What do you an?” Lauren asked.
“Look at the spells we learned before now. Most were offensive or defensive spells for combat, or they had very specific uses. So of these spells can be used in dozens of different ways. Look at this air spell that adds condensation. You can make a smoke screen, create shade, simulate a fire, send a signal… and those are just off the top of my head.
“Whereas a fireball sets things on fire. That’s it. Maybe we’re going to light a campfire one ti or hit so creature on another, but we’re still just setting things on fire. That air spell obscures, blocks, deceives, or communicates. And I bet we can think of a dozen more uses.”
“So are still straightforward,” Sven said.
“Yes, most are. But so many of these have multiple uses. Like that spell that adds stone spikes onto a shield, it can impale anyone that gets too close, or it can turn a shield into a ranged weapon. A shield. And what about using them as an extra layer to take additional damage?” Yaric asked. “An attacker would have to smash through layers of solid stone before he even gets to the shield.”
“Hmmm… ablative armor,” Sven mused. “I’m not sure that was the intention for the spell.”
“Does it matter?” Li Na asked, sounding excited. “My spell can hit far, hit close, or make other people work hard for nothing. And that’s without even using my mace.”
“And what about the new lightning spell that we can add to items?” Yaric asked, now looking directly at Sven. “What would happen if we electrify a tal shield and it gets struck by a sword?”
“Probably nothing,” Sven replied. “Most swords have handles with nonconductive materials.”
“It would still work if the charge was powerful enough,” Lauren countered.
“True, but I doubt we could do that. Besides, electrifying a shield will still prevent soone from grabbing it, and depending on their armor we would probably just shield bash them.”
“What about the cross guard?” Li Na suddenly asked.
“What?”
“The cross guard. On a sword. Aren’t they usually tal? And aren’t they connected directly to the blade or tal part of the handle thingy?”
“The tang,” Sven said. “And yes, I would imagine that if soone was touching the cross guard, they would have a horrible ti. Bronze and brass are the most common tals used in cross guards.”
“And both are great conductors of electricity,” Lauren said, while Sven whispered in Li Na’s ear, making her smile. “Maybe we’re going to have to add a new dinsion to practicing these spells. We need to work out how we would use these spells. If there are a lot more like this then we should be prepared to be flexible.”
“Agreed.”
That kicked off a flurry of additional activity. Lauren started a new section in her notes, and they all started brainstorming ideas for how to use each new spell. Most were still straightforward, but those that weren’t often had a dozen or more applications. Li Na flipped the table again when she pointed out that many of their new spells could be combined with multiple others, creating a whole range of new effects once more.
“How co we never see this during the Tournants?” Yaric asked, looking perplexed. “I know we’ve done well, but we’re not super geniuses.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“Har har. I’m serious. There’s no way that most of the people here couldn’t think of the sa things we just did. Do we just have so unusual selection of spells in our lesson plans?”
“Yaric, you do tend to think of things in a different way,” Lauren said, speaking slowly as if she were trying hard to think of the right words to use. “It’s great,” she quickly added. “So much of what we’ve done has been because you look at sothing like a net and go, ‘Hey, that could tangle up spears if we threw it over everyone’. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but once you start noticing so things like that, you start building on it.”
Lauren turned to face the other two. “Sven, what do you do with a hamr?”
“Knock in nails?” Sven replied, sounding unsure of himself. “Or you could hamr out tal.”
“Lina, what do you do with a hamr?” Lauren asked, repeating the sa question.
Li Na looked even more confused, especially since Sven had just answered the question. Assuming that it wasn’t the answer Lauren was looking for, Li Na gave her own. “You can smash through things.”
“See?” Lauren asked, turning back to Yaric. “We all look at the sa things differently. A lot of people here would look at a hamr and say you use it to knock in nails, and I would guess that slightly less would look at a hamr and see a weapon. But how many people here would litter a field with holes half a ter deep and expect them to stop an entire team dead in their tracks? And then be proven correct? I’m pretty sure you’re the only one in this class that would ever think of it.”
“Lloyd told soone did that last year,” Yaric countered.
“Do you really think it was sothing they figured out themselves, and not sothing they heard about you doing?” Lauren replied.
Yaric wasn’t convinced, so he called Emil over to ask about the spells in their lesson plans.
“So are unique to you four,” Emil acknowledged. “But most of them can be found in dozens of other lesson plans. So are universal.”
“We were just looking at how many applications so of these spells have,” Lauren explained. She went through the notes she had made, pointing out many applications for just three spells. Then she added to it by explaining how they could also combine spells to create even more combinations that could be used in a hundred different ways.
“That’s true for everyone,” Emil said.
“Yes, but no one ever uses them like that. Look at the Tournant, it's all just straightforward spell casting, just like we learn them. They’re never used differently or combined in new ways.”
“It happens a lot in the higher years,” Emil replied, contradicting Yaric.
“But not in ours.”
“Yes, but you four are weird,” Emil said, already walking away.
“Well, that helped,” Li Na smirked.
“I refuse to believe that no one else can apply these spells in different ways,” Yaric said once again, feeling stubborn.
“They can,” Sven replied.
“And they will,” Lauren added. “Just like that team you just told us about, the one that used the holes like you did. And look at how our year has started using magic in combat, and Simon’s year as well. Every ti you start doing sothing like that, other people start copying you.”
“You’d be amazed at how many things are only done a certain way because everyone has always done it that way,” Sven said.
“And you’re weird,” Li Na added, nudging Yaric playfully.
“The Instructor said we’re all weird,” Yaric reminded her.
“Yeah, ‘cause we spend so much ti with you. But don’t worry,” she added, turning in her chair so she could lie back against Yaric’s arm and face Sven more comfortably. “You’re our weird puppy. Dragon puppy,” she quickly corrected.
Lauren smirked.
“Do you want to take bets on how many students in the eighth year have anchored a fireball to their mouth?” Lauren asked, smiling teasingly.
Yaric was feeling cornered, but with Li Na using him as a pillow and Lauren smiling at him, he didn’t exactly feel threatened.
“Well, Sven ca up with the siege crossbows,” he said.
“Ballista.”
“And you drilled everyone, and saved us by burning down the fort,” Yaric continued. “And Lina smashed through every line we faced.”
“Yeah.”
“But most importantly, she can keep us cool on a hot day, like a servant. She’s even the right size for reaching our boots, just like – ow!”
“You deserved that,” Lauren said, laughing. “Now she’s going to stop freezing your clothes for you… and she can be my personal cooler all the ti.” Lauren laughed when Li Na threw her notebook at her.
“You can both sweat,” she said.
The last few minutes were spent ssing around, as no one felt like going back to analyzing their lessons with so little ti left.
They were just leaving for lunch when an older student ran up to them.
“Li Na Jakobson?” he asked.
“Yeah?”
“I have a ssage for you from Council Head Ivers,” he said, trying to sound important while he handed over an envelope.
“You wouldn’t happen to be Sven McDavids, Yaric M -.”
“Yeah, they’re who you’re looking for,” Li Na mumbled, cutting him off while opening the envelope.
“Ah, good. That ssage is for all four of you. Thanks, that was all,” he said, already turning and starting to run back the way he’d co.
“What does it say,” Lauren asked, leaning over Li Na’s shoulder.
“We’re supposed to go et her in her office. It says it’s urgent, and we’re to go as soon as we receive this note.”
They imdiately abandoned their lunch plans and ran off, following Li Na’s lead, as she was the only one who had ever been to her office. It didn’t take too long, as it was close to the Council Chambers. The building was actually attached to the Council Chambers via a long corridor.
“Hi Rosie,” Li Na said, greeting the secretary at the entrance to the office.
“Lina! The Council Head said you and your friends are to go straight in,” Rosie replied, smiling as she waved them through. Her attitude went a long way to calming everyone down. Sandy was Li Na’s Sponsor, but not even Li Na had ever been summoned to her office like this.
Li Na led them down a short corridor to the left of Rosie and knocked on the door at the end.
“Co in!” Sandy called.
The others followed Li Na in, but all of them paused when they saw the others already present. Lloyd and Jerrold were both already seated in front of Sandy’s desk, with only rsha being absent.
“Don’t look so solemn,” Lloyd said, though his joke fell flat. Even he looked to be fairly concerned.
“Two of you will have to remain standing,” Sandy said, gesturing to the two remaining chairs as she did.
Yaric and Sven both took a step back.
Sandy continued to look at each of them in turn, even after Lauren and Li Na had taken a seat.
“You’re only making them nervous,” Lloyd pointed out. “It’s best to get on with it.”
“Right,” Sandy said, sighing deeply. “We have received several appeals from different towns throughout the southeast,” Sandy began. “As they all relate to the sa issue, we have combined them into one. Most people refer to them as ‘super appeals’.”
Seeing their confusion, Lloyd leaned forward to explain. “And those people would all jump at any appeal like that. They don’t happen very often, but you get credit for each original appeal. It’s kind of like a loophole, where you only have to resolve one appeal to get credited with multiple. And we’ve received twelve that all relate to the sa issue.”
“But that’s good, right?” Li Na asked.
“We wouldn’t have suggested this one for the four of you,” Sandy replied, shaking her head.
“The Council voted to assign it to you,” Jerrold added with a shake of his head, looking disgruntled. It was a rather unusual look on the normally jovial High Wizard.
“Is there so kind of complication?” Sven asked.
“No, it is very self-explanatory, though it might take so ti to accomplish,” Sandy said.
“Stop beating around the bush,” Lloyd admonished, but he imdiately turned to the students to continue himself. “The appeal is regarding a small group of bandits who are raiding remote communities. They’re traveling around a lot, and they usually skip a few villages before striking again, but we’re certain they’re the sa group. They’ve also robbed a few travelers.”
“We think there are only eight of them,” Sandy quickly added. “And they’ve never killed anyone.”
“Not yet,” Jerrold mumbled. “There have been a few injuries.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Li Na said, sounding confused about what all the fuss was about.
“It’s not as easy as it sounds,” Sandy said. “First of all, they’re ranging over a very wide area, and there hasn’t been a pattern to where they strike. The terrain is also very rugged. Finding them will be a mission in and of itself. This is usually sothing we wouldn’t assign to anyone below Apprentice level, but…” Sandy said, trailing off at the end.
“But we’ve been promoted to appeals one level above our own, which is Apprentice,” Yaric said, finishing Sandy’s sentence.
“That’s not the real issue though,” Lloyd said. “Their victims have described this gang as very well-ard. They are equipped with spears and crossbows for the most part, but they have demonstrated a lot of skill in their use, and many witnesses described them as wearing leather armor as well.”
“Are they soldiers?” Sven asked. “Or so form of militia.”
“We’ve ruled that out,” Lloyd replied confidently.
“It’s actually worse,” Jerrold said softly. “There is a lot of evidence that this gang started out differently. We believe that they’re all professional hunters.”
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