《Trials of Sky》


 Prologue

    Alsur watched the struggle begin before him and immediately noticed something was wrong. When they had found the man, Aktoa had immediately created a ring of fire around him in an attempt to obscure his vision. Of course, it couldn¡¯t do any actual damage thanks to the man¡¯s strange magic, but it obscured his vision. They¡¯d done this dance countless times before and had started many fights in this same way.


    However, this time the stranger fought as if he¡¯d been possessed by another being, and to say it was strange would be an understatement. When they¡¯d thrown the ring of fire around the man, he had simply stopped and stood there, not attacking or being aggressive like usual. Instead, he stood and stared, glaring holes straight through Alsur. They knew very little about this man that continued to challenge the seven of them, partially because he had never won. Even after all these centuries, the outcome of this fight has never been in doubt.


    Not one to miss an opportunity, Aktoa rushed in, knowing he would have better vision within his own fires. However, instead of retaliating, the man simply backpedaled, doing the bare minimum to prevent himself from receiving a blow. As Aktoa¡¯s flashy fighting style threw flames across their vision, Frumi started manipulating Aktoa¡¯s fire, freezing it so fast that loud bangs rang through the air due to the sudden air vacuums that she kept creating. Despite it all, the strange man didn¡¯t waver, not retaliating a single time as the disorienting lights and sounds cascaded around him.


    ¡°Ivner, Zivats! Disorient him! He can¡¯t hold his defense if he gets overwhelmed!¡± he yelled through the mind link that he shared with his team.


    Hearing the order, Aktoa stopped the fire show, instead focusing on the temperatures alongside Frumi, making the constantly changing pressure and temperature overwhelm the stranger''s ears and distort his vision. Ivner and Zivats then started their own light show, alternating a pitch blackness and blinding lights at random timing, all centered around the strange man.


    ¡°Eoren and Hyatha, give us a trump card!¡± he yelled. His link between their minds made sure they knew what he meant despite the vagueness of his order. The two of them started manipulating their environment, slowly creating a massive buildup of earth above their heads the size of a mountain.


    The second they started to follow his orders, the man finally acted. He kicked off the ground with a staggering amount of power, undoubtedly using a large amount of his own magic to do so. The blow launched him forward and created a veritable crater in the ground where he, Aktoa, and Frumi had been.


    He flew straight towards Hyatha, who instantly released her hold on the massive mound of earth above their heads to get away. Without hesitation, she flew upwards, as if her gravity had reversed and magnified. During her ascent, she flipped herself upside down and landed with her feet on the base of the flying mountain.


    ¡°Hyatha!¡± yelled Eoren, struggling to hold the mountain in the air. That had been Hyatha¡¯s job and the strain was clear in Eoren¡¯s voice thanks to the poor matchup of her affinity and her actions.


    The man, instead of chasing Hyatha while he had left the others behind, turned on Eoren, who immediately had to backpedal. Despite Ivner and Zivats still trying to disorient him with his own personal light show, he pushed through it. He had already experienced it hundreds of times before and had no issue locating Eoren.


    Eoren stretched the space between herself and the man, her single step backwards instantly taking her over a mile away. With Eoren¡¯s focus elsewhere, Hyatha was now busy trying to hold up the mountain that had started crumbling. But the mass of already loose material was starting to overwhelm her.


    Frumi finally caught up to the man, Aktoa still trailing behind and she immediately lunged. Alsur could already see it. Such a drastic change in his opponent¡¯s fighting style had disoriented his whole team, and they were all fighting a little too desperately. All of them were set in their ways, including the stranger, this drastic change making their fight far more uncertain for them than it should have been.


    The man once again kicked off the ground, leaving another crater and launched himself straight up, once again towards Hyatha. Alsur couldn¡¯t fathom what the man was doing. If he kept wasting his magic like this, the fight would end incredibly quickly without the man killing a single one of them.


    Hyatha flung herself to the side right before he reached the earth above them and he kicked off the enormous mound of earth, creating a rocky explosion that launched Hyatha further than she intended at the same time that it launched him to the ground. Eoren reappeared near Alsur, the closer proximity helping her manage the mass of earth and the massive problem they had created for themselves.


    The strange and sudden movement of the stranger made Ivner and Zivats unable to track him, freeing him of their disorientation. They knew from experience that if he wasn¡¯t disoriented, the fight would go very poorly very quickly. In a panic, Zivats threw one of his favorite spells he designed. It was essentially a sticky bomb that radiated darkness, blocking the victims attempts to see or remove unless he himself removed it.


    Of course, he had to modify it since magic didn¡¯t truly work on the man, so he had to engrave the spell on a physical object and throw that. However, his panic muddled the mind link and Frumi was unable to properly understand where he was throwing it, the bomb of darkness thudding into the back of her head as she tried to swing on the stranger who had just landed in front of her.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Immediately taking advantage of the situation, the man threw a fist at the poor woman, his fist glowing with magic. Eoren, immediately seeing the death that would befall her shifted space so she could pull Frumi out of the way. What she hadn¡¯t seen was that the stranger was hoping for exactly that reaction and his fist found Eoren¡¯s face, the enormous amount of magic erupting and immediately removing her head from existence. The rest of her body burned a bright green and vanished in a brief moment.


    Horror flashed through the mind link before Alsur used a significant amount of his magic to stamp it down, forcing the team to get back on track. Despite his success at getting the team back on track, his mind wandered slightly. She was never the first to die, something was truly wrong with this fight. His mind instantly snapped back to the fight however as he noticed Aktoa take advantage of the stranger¡¯s overreaching attacked, a powerful blow flying for the stranger¡¯s head.


    Alsur could instantly tell that the man wouldn¡¯t avoid it, but would be able to move in a way that would prevent any real damage and Alsur saw his chance to get the fight back on track.


    ¡°Stop.¡± he commanded and everything froze except for Aktoa. The magic may not work on the man, but if the air around him wouldn¡¯t let him pass, then there might as well be no difference. The powerful punch landed and Alsur immediately released control, the command on every atom in the area draining a significant portion of his magic. He saw the man stagger, the combination of using so much magic on Eoren¡¯s death and the powerful blow to his head being a painful combination.


    The stranger¡¯s movements predictable for a brief moment, Ivner shot a concentrated laser at the ground in front of him, right before he stepped, burning a hole deep enough that the stranger¡¯s stumble worsened, allowing Aktoa to press the attack even further. The stranger leaned into it however, purposefully falling and expelling another intensely powerful burst of magic, this time strong enough to be almost blinding.


    It launched him up and he curved his flight back directly in line with Hyatha, who was too busy deconstructing the mountain that had caused them a strange amount of trouble. Alsur called a warning through the link, but she wasn¡¯t fast enough and a brief second later, she was dead in the same way Eoren had been, her own body burning a bright purple before disappearing.


    The man then continued curving his flight and Alsur realized the stranger was heading for him.


    ¡°On me!¡± he called through the mind link. Zivats immediately emerged from Alsur¡¯s shadow as Ivner appeared in a flash of light. Frumi and Aktoa were now on their way, Zivats having taken the time to remove his magic from the enchanted object that had stuck to her. By the time the man landed however, they hadn¡¯t arrived and Alsur took a combat stance.


    The man had never fought like this or targeted his people like this. The fact that he had killed Eoren and Hyatha first and was now standing in front of Alsur was deeply troubling. In all their centuries of fighting, this had never happened. Alsur had only ever been killed last, always taking the stranger with him and now he was worried that might change. He didn¡¯t know what the stranger¡¯s plan was, but he was certain he couldn¡¯t kill all of them. He had burned too much magic.


    The stranger grinned as his whole body glowed blindingly bright and Alsur was certain he was using the rest of his magic at once.


    ¡°Stop.¡± he commanded once more, but it was useless. The stranger was using so much magic that it was radiating off the man and rendering Alsur¡¯s magic useless. Zivats disappeared into Alsur¡¯s shadow and erupted from the strangers, but the process didn¡¯t work right thanks to the stranger¡¯s magic interfering with his. He came out screaming in pain and only partially corporeal. The stranger swung a lazy backhand and Zivats went flying, nearly colliding with Frumi and Aktoa, who were approaching the man from behind.


    Ivner rushed forward, but Alsur knew he was terrible at close combat so he tried to command him to stop, but nobody was faster than Ivner and he was too late. Ivner was at the man¡¯s side in an instant, throwing a knee at the man¡¯s groin. The man simply took it and grunted in pain as he grabbed Ivner¡¯s leg and twisted it, eliciting a loud pop from Ivner¡¯s hip as it was dislocated. Alsur took a couple steps forward, hoping to engage and distract the man from Aktoa and Frumi behind him, but his plan backfired. The man lunged forward in a¡­ hug?


    ¡°We¡¯re going down together,¡± the stranger spoke for the first time in over a century.


    Alsur felt a piercing pain through his back as a sword made of pure foreign magic pierced his back, out his chest and into the chest and his own heart. The stranger poured his magic into Alsur. Their magics didn¡¯t mesh, their existences contradicting each other and it felt as if the very universe didn¡¯t know what to do. As his consciousness started to fade, dread flooded his mind. If the man¡¯s plan was what Alsur thought it was, he didn¡¯t know what they could do to stop it now. His consciousness faded and as his body burned, the flames flickered in and out, the magic unable to remain stable. The rest of the team watched their leader burn, something they had felt thousands of times themselves, but rarely Alsur. Unable to do anything else, they simply hoped they could survive the fallout of what was to come.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Far away, a young mother-to-be looked up at the sky, watching the starfall, hoping it wasn¡¯t a sign for her own unborn children. She worried as she watched, paying attention to what colors the stars were this time. She rubbed her eyes as she stared, perplexed. One of them was gold, the color of the aristocracy. She could only ever remember seeing that once. Now she hoped it was a sign of noble things to come for her children. As she turned back inside, she missed the golden star winking in and out of existence as it fell¡­

 Chapter 1: The Testing

    Today was finally the day! An observer had sailed into town a couple hours ago and everybody already knew. News always spread like wildfire, but when an observer is involved, especially a non-human, wildfire would be left in the dust. Helianna was especially excited as the observer was here for her this time! Well, along with dozens of other fifteen year olds, but that was beside the point. The observer was apparently a tijatan, a species never seen way out in the middle of nowhere that they lived. Their town was almost entirely human, with only a couple exceptions, but they did have non-human visitors. Tijatans, however, almost never showed up.


    Tijatans were the only sentient species capable of flight. They were much taller and thinner than most other species, making them seem emaciated to many others. They had four thin arms that ended in clawed hands, with a membrane in between which they could flap using all four arms. To Helianna, this just sounded exhausting when her father had described it. She had also heard others say they could only glide, so she wasn¡¯t certain.


    They lacked hair atop their head, but they made up for it with short, but thick fur that covered their bodies. They had enormous ears sticking out of the top of their head, although not like a bunny¡¯s, unfortunately. Her father had told her they resembled bats, but that didn¡¯t mean much to her as she¡¯d never seen a bat. Their hands naturally had long claws, but the length was determined by how much they were filed, which went in and out of fashion. The last thing he¡¯d said about tijatans was that ¡°aside from all that, they¡¯re very human-looking!¡± She didn¡¯t believe him.


    Her thoughts drifted and her excitement only grew. She¡¯d get to see what kind of magic she could use! Of course, an observer wasn¡¯t necessary to be able to do magic and know what affinity you might have, but it was very taboo to try to learn beforehand. She heard some of her friends nervously chatting outside, and Helianna smirked before doing a giddy dance to herself. They weren¡¯t even sure if they would have an affinity. Helianna was different.


    Despite the taboo, she had accidentally used a little magic a few years ago, so she knew she had something. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean she continued using it. She¡¯d still never told anyone, too afraid of what they would say, not even her parents. She had no desire to push her luck. It was enough for her to know that she was guaranteed an affinity, and wouldn¡¯t be a crafter. Of course, that also meant she couldn¡¯t be a null, but she was fine with that. She liked her life and had no desire to go off into some crazy academy and become one of the ithrax.


    The ithrax were strange people, but powerful. Most people who have an affinity are quite restricted in their capabilities due to a limited amount of attuned mana. Everybody has the same amount of mana, but it''s practically useless if it''s not attuned to their affinity. Ithrax, however, are always fully attuned, even beyond what a normal person can supposedly do, something that never quite made sense to her. They were also nearly unkillable, almost always being able to come back from the dead, even if they sometimes come back weaker. These ithrax cells came in groups of three to eight people, with one of them always being a null, a person completely devoid of magic. But the trade-off for all this power was that they left their families and had to serve the academy, something she certainly didn¡¯t want.


    Pushing thoughts of ithrax aside, she bounced down the stairs, her long midnight black hair flopping behind her, and called out to her parents.


    ¡°Mom? Dad?¡± Her dad popped his head out from their rudimentary kitchen at the bottom of the stairs, making Helianna eep in surprise.


    ¡°Yes, Anna?¡±


    ¡°What are you doing in the kitchen? Wait, don¡¯t answer that yet. How do I look?¡± She twirled around, showing off her dress. Her long wavy hair that was near perfect black flowed behind her, exposing her pointed ears and drawing a sharp contrast to her pale face. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled, partially hiding her dichromatic brown and silver eyes.


    Her father smiled in response and completely stepped out of the kitchen. He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a kiss on the top of her head, an easy feat due to being over six feet tall compared to her ¡®measly¡¯ five foot seven.


    ¡°You look absolutely beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Daaaaad, don¡¯t mess up my hair! I just spent a long time on it.¡± He chuckled and passed his hand through her hair, trying to fix whatever he might have messed up.


    ¡°Noooooo, dad stop. You¡¯re making it worse!¡±


    ¡°Haha, alright, alright. I¡¯ll just get back to the kitchen then.¡± Helianna¡¯s eyes widened in realization.


    ¡°Wait, what are you making? Why are you making it? Can I have some?¡± Her father¡¯s chuckled evolved into a full on laugh as he looked at Helianna fondly. She pouted and crossed her arms. ¡°What? I like your cooking.¡±


    ¡°I know, Anna, I know. Some things never change. I¡­ am preparing your favorite meal. It¡¯s going to be slow roasting all night and we¡¯ll be having it for dinner tomorrow.¡± Helianna let out a shriek of joy and hugged her father as he winced for his poor ears.


    ¡°Thank you so much daddy! You¡¯re the best! Uhhh, where¡¯s mom though?¡±


    ¡°She had to go out and get a new dress, remember? She doesn¡¯t have any nice clothes that fit her right now.¡± Helianna wrinkled her nose as she thought for a moment.


    ¡°It still feels weird to me. I¡¯m fifteen! Everyone else¡¯s siblings are close in age, not fifteen years apart!¡±


    ¡°I know, Anna. But don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll love them regardless, right?¡± Helianna paused to contemplate and her father leveled a stern look in her direction. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t give me that, you will! You¡¯ll see.¡± He struggled to keep his lips from tugging into a smile as he changed the subject. ¡°You excited for the feast tonight?¡± Helianna rolled her eyes before responding.


    ¡°Not really. I won¡¯t even get to hang out with my friends much. It¡¯ll just be all the adults that don¡¯t know me acting as if I¡¯m their kid''s best friend. That¡¯s how these always go. And besides¡­¡± She gave him a cheeky grin. ¡°Your food¡¯s better.¡±


    ¡°Hah! You bet it is! Well why don¡¯t you go hang out with your friends for a bit beforehand since you won¡¯t be able to tonight. But don¡¯t get your dress dirty!¡± he called out as she was already walking out the door.


    The next few hours went by in a blur. Helianna was a bundle of energy, too excited to be of any use in preparations and barely managing to keep her dress clean. Her mother came home, and all of the parents spent their time making their personal preparations before heading to the main square and helping with the feast.


    The time finally arrived for the ceremony, if it could be called that. All the parents of the children gathered in the square or in the surrounding buildings so that they could view the proceedings. It was packed to the brim as an observer hadn¡¯t come for an entire year. A single path was left from the northern corner to the dais that had been set up along the northwestern side and to the western corner. All of the kids that had turned fifteen got into a line that extended out the northern corner. Helianna was far from the first and she settled in for a long wait.


    Before too long however, she was able to hear each kid¡¯s affinity announced in wuuvish, with only a few seconds between each kid. She was surprised to hear it as the last few observers used Alarian, which was the world standard. Wuuvish was a more common language throughout this continent, even if that still wasn¡¯t the native language here in Caglach.


    Apparently, this observer wasn¡¯t much for show and wanted to get through all the kids quickly. She sat and she listened - ¡°Ice, natural¡­ craft, definitive¡­ ice, natural¡­ craft, robust¡­ dark, limited¡­ fire, nominal¡­ fire, definitive¡­ ice, paltry¡­ light, potent¡­ dark, nominal¡­ liminal, poor¡­ craft, definitive¡­ light, definitive¡­ ice, robust¡­¡±


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    She could at least see the observer now. He towered over everyone nearby, likely close to nine feet tall, but she had to agree with what she heard. He looked way too thin to be healthy, but it was supposedly natural. He had to hunch down for each kid and with his splotchy colored red and gray fur, he cut a decidedly non-imposing figure despite his height. For a brief moment, she was slightly disappointed as the last observer that had come had been a gorgeous and powerful looking man. Instead, she got a tijatan, which was definitely cooler.


    The last few people seemed to be agonizingly slow, despite only a few seconds between each person. ¡°Fire, natural! Craft, natural! Fire, limited! Craft, robust! Craft, nominal! Ice, nominal!¡± and finally, her turn. She walked up to the man and stood in front of him. She braced for it, having been told that being scanned felt foreign. Everybody described it differently, but it was never comfortable. She had heard many different descriptions ranging from ants crawling over their whole body to being dunked in ice water. But she didn¡¯t feel anything. The observer paused, seeming to observe her again.


    ¡°Young lady, you haven¡¯t been observed before, correct?¡± he asked shakily with a higher pitch than he¡¯d been announcing with. She nodded and he slowly nodded in response before announcing out loudly, ¡°Null!¡±


    The icy plunge she hadn¡¯t felt at his observation hit her now with the force of a sledge hammer, and she staggered in shock. The man winced.


    ¡°Sorry young lady, I just yelled that in your ear didn¡¯t I?¡± completely misunderstanding why she had stumbled away from him.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name and place of residence? I¡¯m going to have to check with you when this is done.¡± His words didn¡¯t register with her and she looked down at her hands.


    ¡°B- but that¡¯s not possible! I have magic¡­ I can¡¯t be null.¡± The square around her reached a crescendo as she spoke, none of them hearing what she had said. A jet of fire was shot into the air above the observer and the crowd silenced. He then shifted one of his arms and pointed it at Helianna. ¡°Wai-¡± she tried to protest, but a jet of fire flew towards her. She screamed, expecting to be burned to a crisp, but all she felt was a minor tugging sensation in her chest. Her screams died down and she opened her eyes. When she looked down, she saw only minor burn marks on her dress, everything else intact.


    ¡°Will the parents of this young lady please step forward!¡± Both of her parents stood up, fortunately near the front, so it only took them a couple of minutes to reach her. They spoke quietly to the observer for a minute, but she didn¡¯t pay attention, still reeling from the discovery. She knew she had magic as she had done it by accident before. If she focused, she could even feel it within her, ready to be unleashed. But the observer had also just proven that she was a null. Nulls were the antithesis of magic. Any and all magic they encountered would simply be absorbed, therefore making it impossible for them to have any magic. Then how did she have it?


    Her ruminations continued as she felt hands guiding her away. She wasn¡¯t paying attention to where she was going, nor did she listen to any of the other people that were being observed behind her. Before long, she found herself sitting down in her living room, where her parents were guiding her. She wasn¡¯t knocked out of her reverie until she heard the commanding tone of her mother.


    ¡°Baby girl, look at me.¡± Her thoughts halted as she looked up at her mother, who was crouched in front of her. ¡°I know this isn¡¯t what you wanted. I know you wanted to stay with us, but this could be a great thing. You¡¯re going to be working with some great people, including your own group of ithrax. As the null, you¡¯ll be the backbone of the team, and I know you¡¯ll be able to stand strong and hold them up. You¡¯ve always been reliable that way. And besides, it¡¯s not like you won¡¯t see us again. We¡¯ll still be here for you. Chin up baby , let¡¯s start getting you ready to go.¡±


    ¡°W-wait, when am I leaving?¡± Heianna asked with wide eyes.


    ¡°Tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°Wait, but this isn¡¯t possible. I have magic. I know I do.¡± Without giving anybody a chance to respond, she held one of her palms facing up and a golden light emitted from her hand. Both of her parents looked at her in shock as she looked back expectantly. ¡°So?¡± Her father was the first to react.


    ¡°Tha- that¡¯s not possible. Did the observer make a mistake?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± her mother responded. ¡°We both saw him shoot her with his fire and she absorbed it just like a null should.¡± Her mother shot her father a glance before crouching back down in front of Helianna. ¡°You''re very special, baby girl. We''ve always known that. Now, we just have magical proof. I don¡¯t know what magic you have, but being a null while having magic is absolutely incredible. It means you have the opportunity to do something absolutely incredible. But you need to be careful. With your powers, people won¡¯t understand and will want to use you. You need to pay attention. And if you can do that, you can really make a difference. I know that¡¯s always what you wanted, even if you were only thinking about changing our own town. This just means that your scope is a little bigger than it used to be. And while we may not be able to talk quite as often, we¡¯ll be right behind you, always ready to support you.¡±


    She embraced Helianna, not letting her see the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. After a solid minute of hugging, Helianna finally started to push out of her mother¡¯s arms.


    ¡°I should probably start packing, shouldn¡¯t I?¡± she asked dejectedly.


    ¡°Probably. Would you like some help?¡±


    ¡°Not really, but can you¡­¡± she trailed off and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not ready to leave you guys.¡±


    ¡°We can hang out with you, even if you don¡¯t need us to help with packing.¡± Helianna simply nodded.


    The rest of the evening was spent in Helianna¡¯s room with Helianna packing and her parents trying to distract her from thoughts about the future. She did her best to enjoy the night, knowing it would be her last night with her family for a long time, and she did remarkably well. Her laughs still felt hollow despite how hard they all tried and when she went to bed that night, she slept fitfully.


    In the morning, she woke up to the feeling of her mother rubbing her back.


    ¡°Morning sweetie.¡± Helianna simply groaned in response.


    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s time to go.¡±


    She once again refused to respond, instead snuggling into the blankets. It took a few minutes of coaxing to get her out of bed, resulting in Helianna quickly dashing around her room to make herself presentable.


    She eventually made her way out of the house, where a nice carriage sat waiting for her. The observer stepped out to help her throw her luggage in the back.


    ¡°You might want to say goodbye to your parents for now. But don¡¯t take too long, we don¡¯t want to waste daylight.¡±


    Helianna rushed to her mother and gave her a crushing hug. When she spoke, it was muffled by her mother¡¯s dress.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go, mama.¡±


    ¡°I know, baby. I know.¡± They stood in each other¡¯s arms for a minute before her father wrapped them both in a hug. The family all remained that way for several minutes before they heard the observer clear his throat.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for interrupting, but we really must go.¡± They untangled themselves from the hug and her mother gave her a kiss on the forehead.


    ¡°Here.¡± She took off a necklace with a large diamond at the base of it and handed it to Helianna. ¡°This is for your gugachadokk. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll have someone to do it for you, but I want you to be ready.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m not,¡± Helianna whined, barely able to hold back her tears. Her mother cupped her cheek with her palm.


    ¡°I know, baby. But you will be. We love you, always. Now go be amazing.¡± Helianna simply nodded, unable to respond without bursting into tears again. She got on the carriage and the observer didn¡¯t say anything as they began to pull away. She turned in her seat, her eyes never leaving her parents and the home she wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d ever see again. When the carriage finally disappeared from sight, both of her parents collapsed in tears.

 Chapter 2: A Long Ride

    The next few days of riding in the carriage were fairly silent. Helianna barely cried, but she didn¡¯t want to talk. The observer tried to initiate conversation a few times, but the conversation would peter out as she barely paid attention. Eventually, he turned to her with a stern look on his face.


    ¡°I understand this is sad and may not be where you wanted your life to go, but it is what it is now and you can¡¯t change that. However, we are going to be stuck together for over a month as we have to cross The Itasic Ocean. We¡¯re almost to the port we¡¯ll be leaving from which is where we¡¯ll be departing from. I don¡¯t want you to not be paying attention while we get ready and then get lost. If you don¡¯t want to talk to me, that¡¯s fine, even if it may be a bit awkward. However, I recommend you do talk to me or at least someone as moping for the month or two that we¡¯re sailing will be miserable, not just for you but for the people around you.¡± Seeing her hurt face looking back at him, he sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be mean and I know your life is getting upturned, but there¡¯s a long voyage ahead of us. While it may be boring, that¡¯s better than being miserable. Take advantage of it, and at the very least I suggest distracting yourself a bit by talking to me or the sailors.¡±


    His monologue done, he turned back forward just in time to reach the edge of the town. Startled by his bluntness and his veracity, she tried to pay more attention to the town, which was beautifully lit by the setting sun. However, one of the first things she seriously noticed was the carriage. She had noticed it earlier, but was too focused on other things to think anything of it, but it was golem powered, making it incredibly expensive and explaining how they had arrived in only three days.


    She had been fascinated by golems her whole life so she knew about them in theory, but she had never seen one. They were complex and difficult to make, making them only ever appear in big cities, and it still wasn¡¯t a certainty. The golem controlling the carriage was likely the current golem travel standard, which is a solid meter long square of pure steel. Several cords extended from it towards the front of the carriage where a strange control panel sat. They only used unattuned magic to kickstart their runetech where sovereign magic then directed the golem and gravity magic the locomotion. The complexity of it was far above what was possible even ten years ago.


    As she was marveling at the golem, the observer pressed his hand on a marked portion of the control panel and pushed unattuned mana through it. She watched as a visible pulse of gold magic traveled through the cord and upon hitting the golem, the pulse changed to purple as it surrounded the cube for a brief moment. The cube slowed, stopping the carriage. Once they were stopped, the observer pushed mana through another marked panel and she watched the small color show light up the cube again. This time, gravity was clearly set to normal as it stopped floating and fell to the floor. A massive thud reverberated through the air as it hit the ground, feeling as if it was rattling her bones.


    In just moments, she saw another man rushing towards them from the docks. Seeing the dust cloud still surrounding them from when the golem hit the dirt, he approached the observer.


    ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± he demanded in Alaric. The observer grimaced and climbed down from the carriage.


    ¡°I apologize sir, but it seems a couple of the runes regarding our carriage¡¯s landing cycle were disrupted in some way.¡±


    ¡°No shit.¡± The observer grimaced again.


    ¡°Fortunately, I will not be back for several months and will have no need of the carriage. If you could find someone who works these kinds of runes and hire them to fix it, I am more than willing to pay for both yours and his services to do so.¡± The man crossed his arms with his brows furrowed before responding.


    ¡°Two gold.¡± The observer struggled to keep his reaction hidden, stunned by the outrageous price. After a few moments, he managed to regain full control and raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°That¡¯s an absurd amount and you know that.¡±


    ¡°It is. I agree. Tell that to the golem runesmiths. I understand you may be from the academy where you¡¯ve got lots of this kind of shit around, but here, it¡¯s rare. Honestly, I¡¯m probably lowballing you and I should be asking for more, but I can tell you¡¯re in a hurry and don¡¯t need me fucking things up for your academy.¡± The observer took a moment to cool his rage before responding.


    ¡°Fine.¡± He opened the back of the carriage and rummaged around before coming out with a handful of bills. While the denominations were still named after the coins that were originally used, coins had fallen out of favor long ago due to their unwieldiness. Especially when it took a hundred of each denomination to get to the next. Carrying dozens or hundreds of coins just isn¡¯t practical. Dropping them in the man¡¯s outstretched hand, he turned to Helianna. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    He then proceeded to lead her down the docks, throwing an angry glare at the man. The sight of their ship however, stopped Helianna in her tracks.


    ¡°You have a golem powered ship?!¡± she exclaimed, unintentionally switching back to wuuvish.


    ¡°Aye.¡± came a gruff voice from behind her in wuuvish. ¡°That¡¯s my ship, and I am the one that brought him and the rest of his gang to this accursed continent. Now what do ya want?¡±


    ¡°We need passage to Alaric,¡± responded the observer brusquely.


    ¡°Well I can¡¯t do that, now can I? I gotta wait for the rest of the passengers.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry, but this is of greater importance. I have identified a null and therefore, her passage to The Academy is required as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t happening. I am hired to get as many as I can back and forth.¡±


    ¡°You will be paid for the extra trip, more than your standard rate if necessary.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but that won¡¯t be happening. I will do what I was hired to do.¡±


    ¡°Even for extra?¡± The captain shook his head. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry, but you will. While acting as Observer and identifying a null, I serve as an extension of the academy. While I will be the one paying you, you will be taking us back unless you wish to incite repercussions from The Academy. Are we clear?¡± The man¡¯s already cross demeanor darkened before he nodded.


    ¡°Clear. Although you¡¯ll need to wait for tomorrow at the earliest. We don¡¯t have the supplies to leave now. Not exactly a good time either.¡±


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    ¡°That works.¡± The man shook his head bitterly and spit on the ground before walking away.


    After that, the observer took Helianna to a tavern, where he booked them rooms for the night. He offered to show her around the port town despite it getting dark, but she refused, preferring to get a good rest before getting on a ship for the first time. Unfortunately, her body didn¡¯t agree. Despite her best efforts, it took hours for her to fall asleep and morning came all too early. She was woken up before dawn, and between the darkness and blurriness of waking up, she barely registered anything by the time she was on the boat.


    Her eyes were finally focusing properly by the time the sun was rising and the ship was departing, granting a beautiful view. Unfortunately, it was the last beautiful view for several days as she spent much of her time hurling any food she ate back out into the ocean. Fortunately, her seasickness lasted less than a week, but she could still have sworn she lost a good amount of weight during that time, not that she had much to lose.


    It took her another week to be comfortable on the boat, where she approached the observer.


    ¡°So what¡¯s your name? I don¡¯t want to be just calling you observer the entire time we¡¯re on this ship.¡±


    ¡°Asim.¡±


    ¡°Could you tell me about The Academy?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± He leaned against the railing and turned his head towards her, purposefully not speaking in wuuvish. ¡°What do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°Well, what am I going to be doing?¡± she asked and he smiled as she also switched to Alaric. He shifted his weight before answering.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t tell you. I may be delivering you to them, but doesn¡¯t mean I work for them or know what¡¯s going on inside. Anything I can actually answer?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s their stance on the wars?¡± He lifted an eyebrow.


    ¡°Which ones?¡±


    ¡°The ones down south.¡±


    ¡°You mean the New Empodian Invasion? Well I¡¯ll start off with one thing. Whatever you do, I suggest studying up. Alaric views Wulvinia as uneducated barbarians. I don¡¯t know if you just don¡¯t know much about the academy or you really are lacking in education, but I¡¯d suggest making sure you can hold your own if you can. And also speak in Alaric. Now hold on a second, I¡¯ll be right back.¡± He disappeared into his room, returning with a map that he spread out on a crate nearby.


    ¡°So how much do you know about the war?¡±


    ¡°Empodia is the attacker and nobody else is joining, but I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    ¡°Well, not entirely. This has been going on for only about a year, but there¡¯s a lot involved. Honestly way too much to go over right now but I can give you the basics.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°First off, calling it the New Empodian Invasion is a bit of a misnomer, not that they mind. Due to their conquering past, people almost immediately attributed it to Empodia and they haven¡¯t disputed it even though they have a solid leg to stand on in their argument.


    So they¡¯re invading Okegora. I¡¯m not sure how much you know about Okegoran history, but they¡¯re a bit of a unique case. In my opinion, they¡¯re more like conquerors than Empodia, they just do it a different way. About a hundred years ago, they were half the size they are now. However, they¡¯ve shown a desire to centralize Alaric under one economy using their incredible golem working. Their golems actually contend with the academy¡¯s, which put them in the spotlight.


    They pick a country, I¡¯m not sure by what qualifications, and decide they¡¯re next. Somehow, they then perfectly copy whatever their main export is, using their golems to be more efficient. They then develop it to the same level, once again, we don¡¯t know how. They then utilize their fame and greater transportation to then undercut the country with their trading partners, making faster efficient trades at a greatly reduced cost.


    They then keep doing that, but don¡¯t ask me about the details. I have no clue on any of the minutia on how it works. As they do that, they essentially start bankrupting an entire country. After a while, they then give an offer to the country to join their country to export what they want, but using Okegoran transportation. They need to readjust their currency and everything, but if they don¡¯t, the country will get strangled.


    Pretty much every country has agreed. Only one didn¡¯t and declared war. That country was Alcasesh, but because they declared war, Okegora was technically the defender and simply subsumed the country in recompense. Yeah, bullshit, I know.¡± he interrupted himself after seeing Helianna¡¯s shocked face. ¡°You can probably guess what happened.¡± Helianna nodded and hesitantly responded.


    ¡°They tried to do it to Empodia?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. They got a bit cocky and figured they could do it with a massive powerhouse like them. Empodia immediately declared war. Of course, the only way to get to each other is through the Asken Sea or through Asessarim. Neither Aska, which controls much of the Askan Sea, nor Assessarim has agreed to join the war, and Assessarim won¡¯t allow their troops through.


    If Assessarim joins the war, a huge portion of it will happen on their land, but they¡¯re also strong enough that if either country declares war on them, it will be the end of the war. And Assessarim is backing Aska, so they can¡¯t attack Aska either. It¡¯s not necessarily because of Assessarim¡¯s military strength, but neither country will be able to take on both Asessarim and the other country.


    There¡¯s also all the western Alaric countries, who all want Okegora to stop so they don¡¯t get economically conquered, but none of them have strong enough militaries to truly join the war. And then there¡¯s the academy, stuck in the middle. To be frank, nobody is stupid enough to attack the academy. There have been many attempts to push the academy to help one or the other, often for the sake of humanity or because war crimes have been committed, but they¡¯re almost always fabricated or exaggerated. The Academy rarely gets involved, and when they do, it¡¯s impartial. At least that¡¯s what they claim. Their only goal is to prevent and discourage war crimes, or keep the balance if an individual power gets too strong. And by that, I do not mean a nation. I mean individuals. That was probably a lot more information than you wanted, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to have.¡±


    ¡°So, I have another question.¡± she muttered sheepishly. He raised an eyebrow before gesturing for her to continue. ¡°Can tijatans actually fly or just glide? Everybody says something different.¡± His eyes widened and his ears went ram-rod straight, apparently a sign of surprise.


    ¡°You¡­ what? Uh, no. We can¡¯t fly. At least not most of us. Only highly trained warriors with insane amounts of muscle and training can gain altitude effectively. This is fairly basic information about us, I didn¡¯t think your town was that small.¡±


    ¡°Well how are we supposed to know when none of your species are around.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± he exclaimed, before glancing around sheepishly and quieting down. ¡°We are not a rare species. Maybe it¡¯s just where you live.¡± He hummed in thought before continuing. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go over some basics with you. You at least have seen each of the four species and know what we all look like, right?¡± She nodded.


    ¡°So I¡¯ll start with how common they are on the southern continent since that¡¯s what started this. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re aware that humans are the majority. However, after that comes the tijatans such as yours truly and the davraki. The kinuze are a bit different. If you go by planetary population, they are second to humans. However, being the only species that can survive the intensive heat of the desert lands, their population is heavily situated around the equator. In the southern continent itself, I¡¯d say they¡¯re the least common, but I wouldn¡¯t say they¡¯re rare.¡±


    ¡°I know all that.¡± Helianna replied quietly. ¡°Except for your species. We don¡¯t see yours much.¡±


    ¡°Interesting, I wonder why.¡±


    The conversation petered out and they separated. Helianna tried several times in the following days to initiate conversation with him, but quickly discovered that when he wasn¡¯t ¡®correcting her poor education¡¯ or ¡®departing his wisdom¡¯, he was not very easy to talk to, downright stiff. She instead tried talking to the sailors, the few who existed on the ship. Turns out that when sails and oars weren¡¯t necessarily, it takes a lot less crew to man a ship. They were a bit more interesting, but didn¡¯t have much of a desire to talk to her, making conversation difficult as well, though still easier to talk to than Asim. That didn¡¯t take much though.


    Due to poor conversation partners and very little else to do, she found herself spending much of her time in her room practicing magic which was very valuable. She still didn¡¯t know what she could do with her magic, partially because she was afraid of what her affinity might be. Gold was the color of the sovereign and she didn¡¯t want to think about the consequences of a random foreigner in the ¡®barbarian¡¯ continent having sovereign magic. She couldn¡¯t be certain though so she kept practicing.


    By the time they reached their destination, she could reliably locate and circulate the mana within her body, which she believed was the first step. Books on magic weren¡¯t exactly easy to require before coming of age and just learning that much had been difficult in the past few years. However, she still couldn¡¯t figure out what to do with her magic. The only thing she¡¯d managed to accomplish so far was making light, something that anybody with a non-crafting affinity could do. She was in the middle of another frustrating session of little progress when a knock came at her door. They had arrived.

 Chapter 3: The Academy

    Helianna stood at the bow of the ship, looking out at the gorgeous city in front of her. Despite being a port city, it loosely followed the traditional style of cities, with full walls and an acropolis in the center. There were stone walls stretching around the entire city, only the top of some of the houses within view. Another wall surrounded the acropolis, barely visible over the houses. The inner wall looked to be made of tinted glass and was covered in runes, visible even from this distance. Whoever commissioned this wall clearly wanted it to be equally strong and opulent in an astonishing display of wealth and power.


    Within the glass walls was an enormous castle, the lower half taking up almost the same amount of space as the entire rest of the city. The lower half rose several stories higher than the surrounding wall before narrowing. The enormous castle rose so high that she couldn¡¯t even see the top, which was obscured by low-hanging clouds. She couldn¡¯t hide her amazement as she looked at the incredibly wealthy city. The observer next to her cleared his throat.


    ¡°That would be The Academy.¡± Helianna whipped her head to look at him and he chuckled. ¡°Well, there¡¯s obviously more there than just the academy, but the rest of the city contains vetted individuals to keep The Academy running. The castle itself is the academy and much of the city is simply there to support the academy and keep it running. This city is where you¡¯re going to be staying for the next few years.¡±


    Helianna didn¡¯t respond, instead looking out and observing the city she would live in for the rest of her life. The guards had let them pass easily once the observer showed his credentials first at the dock, and then at the gate. Even with the extra security, the city was incredibly fancy, every single house more opulent than any house in her small town. There weren¡¯t many people on the streets, and almost none were by themselves, typically in groups of three or more, which she assumed were groups of ithrax. Very few paid attention to them, instead laughing and having fun. Before she knew it, they were at the inner wall, which had somehow grown several times its initial height by the time they got to it. She looked again and verified with herself that it wasn¡¯t her imagination. The wall now looked like it reached multiple times higher than the surrounding city.


    The process to let them in this wall took much longer and as she waited, she tried to decipher some meaning from the runes she read on the wall, but she couldn¡¯t understand anything. Having known she would have magic younger than she should, she had tried to find any information she could about runes in hopes to gain a head start. It had been incredibly difficult and she had found very little. As such, she only had the most basic knowledge, all of which was too simple to help her understand the wall¡¯s runes.


    When they got through the wall and made it to the front doors of the castle, there was somebody standing at the door seemingly waiting for them. The observer next to her straightened in his seat before announcing them.


    ¡°Observer Asim reporting to the academy with a newly discovered null. The null was found in Ash Hill, located in Eastern Caglach, resulting in seven towns being omitted from my route. Permission to release her into your hands and return to my post?¡± The woman raised an eyebrow and smirked in amusement.


    ¡°I¡¯d suggest you let her get her things first. Then you may go.¡±


    ¡°O-of course.¡± The observer hurriedly got up from his seat and pulled Helianna¡¯s trunk out of the back of his carriage. ¡°Uh, here you go miss.¡± He dumped it into her arms unexpectedly, causing her to fumble with the large weight and drop it to the ground with a loud thunk. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye before addressing the woman at the door.


    ¡°Is there anything else required of me before I return?¡± The woman barely suppressed a smile as he responded.


    ¡°You may go. Now as for you¡­.¡± She turned towards Helianna. ¡°Let¡¯s get you settled in here.¡± The carriage rumbled away as the woman led her into the large castle doors. The first room they entered stopped Helianna in her tracks, stunning her with its beauty and luxury.


    The room was massive, multiple stories tall with several beautiful pillars adorning it. Two staircases were extended from the walls on the side, which curved in towards the center before disappearing behind the back wall. Alongside the walls and under the staircases were a large number of doors, all of which were labeled. At the base of the stairs stood two very large and intimidating men, clearly meant to be some kind of bodyguards.


    In the center of the back room sat a desk, but the woman sitting at it looked more dangerous than the bodyguards at the stairs. Sitting down she was almost taller than Helianna was standing and had enough muscle that Helianna was sure the woman could snap her like a twig without issue.


    ¡°By the way, the name is Illuna.¡± the woman next to her spoke. ¡°Yours?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ Helianna.¡±


    ¡°Alright, Helianna. This floor is where any business between The Academy and other people or organizations take place if they need to meet within the castle. Each of the doors you see here leads to different sections for each type of business we do. She¡¯s here¡­¡± she paused while pointing to the receptionist. ¡°To make sure people are going to the right places and to lock things down if anybody is stupid enough to try and go upstairs without permission. And speaking of upstairs, let¡¯s go.¡±


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    ¡°Above this floor resides much of the in-house staff with a couple floors being dedicated just to that. Next is most of the student residences, although that¡¯s not where you will be staying. The nulls stay in a separate area. Next we have a large number of floors dedicated just to teach the other ithrax their magic and how to control it.¡±


    They reached the top of the stairs where they seemed to be a platform at the intersection of both staircases. There was a door to the right with a light coming out of a hole above the doorway. Illuna pushed a button next to the door and there was an audible thunk that came from behind the wall. Helianna gave Illuna a questioning look, who responded with a proud smile.


    ¡°You never seen an elevator before?¡± Helianna¡¯s eyes widened and she shook her head.


    ¡°Well congratulations, you get to ride one instead of having to walk up twenty flights of stairs. They¡¯re normally quite rare to be used for transporting people like this, instead typically used for something like construction as someone is required to man it. They work much better than simple lifts, especially since we¡¯ve created a much safer and more efficient system. The actual elevator room itself is hemmed in fairly tightly on all sides so it can¡¯t shift around too much..¡± There was a loud thunk heard on the other side of the door and the light above the door was blocked. Illuna strode in, Helianna following hesitantly.


    ¡°First null residential, please.¡± she seemed to request into thin air. At Helianna¡¯s confused look, she smirked. ¡°There¡¯s a small portal in here, I¡¯m not sure where, but it allows the gravity mage in charge of the elevator to hear us. It¡¯s not big enough for much else, but it makes things easier for him. Anyways, we have an interesting system of runetech built-in that¡¯s partially controlled by him. It makes it so that he can do his duties whenever the elevator isn¡¯t in use and is immediately notified whenever it is, and with him being able to hear us, he doesn¡¯t even need to be here to do it. It¡¯s quite genius if I say so myself.¡± Helianna looked around at the walls of the elevator.


    ¡°Do you think you¡¯ll eventually be able to cut out the need for someone to control it?¡±


    ¡°You mean through runes? We¡¯re working on it, but it¡¯s not exactly simple. We¡¯re working on that and it should be available in just a few years. The first you hear of it is going to be coming from The Academy, I promise you that.¡± Helianna nodded in response.


    ¡°Oh right, sorry. I interrupted myself earlier. There¡¯s the staff and general student residencies, which I think I already mentioned, but above that are the floors that most ithrax train on. They¡¯re trained separately from the nulls, so you¡¯ll be training on different floors, which are just a bit above theirs. And then there¡¯s the null residences, near the top of the castle. You guys all have wonderful views.¡±


    ¡°H- how many nulls are there?¡±


    ¡°Well it depends on the year, but around eighty, give or take a few.¡± The elevator lurched to a dramatic stop, causing Helianna to grasp at Illuna in momentary panic. Illuna laughed and Helianna returned to a normal state, a blush creeping up her cheeks.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, you were actually a lot more calm than some people have been.¡± She stepped out of the elevator, Helianna trailing behind her for a moment before stopping in her tracks, gaping at her surroundings. There was a large circular courtyard in the center, with a number of people lounging around. Doors surrounded the courtyard, with one opening up into stairs. She looked up, the center of the courtyard stretching up several floors. Each floor had a path inlaid into the wall, allowing people to enter their rooms while viewing the courtyard from their floors. She was knocked out of her reverie by Illuna addressing the group of varying species mingling in the courtyard.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Ayeld?


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± replied one of the davraki group members. ¡°I think he might be training right now. But Arlo¡¯s up in his room right now, and it¡¯s his floor that¡¯s up for grabs right now.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You might wanna knock first though,¡± he said with a smirk. Illuna narrowed her eyes for a moment before rolling them and shaking her head. She then proceeded to drag Helianna up five flights of stairs and stopped and knocked on the first door. Scrambling could be heard from behind the door for a minute before someone showed up. The man standing there barely came up to her waist, his dwarvish genes clearly recognizable. She felt bad for him, knowing he had likely been subject to racism.


    People were surprisingly intolerant of each other, often trying to classify people with dwarfism as a different species, calling them dwarves. She had seen some racism herself on account of her large pointed ears, although her elvish ears were undoubtedly easier to hide than his dwarfism. In addition to his dwarfism, his skin was bright red with golden yellow eyes and hair, giving him a striking appearance. There was no better proof that all humans were the same species than the consistent wide variance in skin and eye pigments compared to the homogeneousness of other species. His eyes flicked to Helianna, where he seemed to pause and assess her before looking back at Illuna.


    ¡°I take it Ayeld¡¯s unavailable and I need to get her a room?¡± Illuna nods and he sighs in response. ¡°Alright, give me just a moment.¡± He disappeared back into his room followed by loud clattering. A few moments later he opened the door suddenly with a key held aloft in his hands.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ve got it from here,¡± he offered and Illuna immediately started walking away.


    ¡°Sorry, but I¡¯ve got more work to do. See ya later, Helianna. Best of luck.¡±


    The man gestured for her to follow and started walking.


    ¡°So your name¡¯s Helianna?¡± he asked without looking back at her. ¡°Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Arlo. I¡¯m the one that runs your floor. If you break something in your room, come to me. If your neighbors are being too loud, come to me. And surprise, surprise, if there¡¯s any other issue that comes up on this floor, me again. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ who¡¯s Ayeld?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s in charge of all the floors, not just this one. Anything else?¡± Helianna shook her head.


    ¡°Good, this here¡¯s your key and this is your room. Everything should be ready and prepared for you. Let me know if you need something that¡¯s missing or you can¡¯t find something, and I''ll be happy to help. You know where my room is. If I¡¯m not in the courtyard and I don¡¯t respond to a knock on the door, I¡¯m probably training. I should be here most evenings so that¡¯s a pretty reliable time. Any questions before I let you get settled in?¡± Helianna opened her mouth to respond, before closing it and simply shaking her head.


    ¡°Great, see you later then!¡± He rushed off back to his room, leaving her to drag her trunk in by herself.

 Chapter 4: Getting Started

    The next few days were absolute chaos for Helianna. Her meager introduction to the facility didn¡¯t do her any favors as she found herself constantly asking for help on the simplest of things, such as where she would be eating. Her imperfect familiarity with the language didn¡¯t help either. It turns out that a whole portion of the staff was dedicated to cooking for the residents of the tower. She could either eat at the ¡®scheduled¡¯ times that meals were eaten, which were eaten in the courtyard, or at the time and place of her convenience. The food was also incredible every day and the cooks seemed to never run out of new recipes.


    After a few days of settling in, she was woken up late morning by a knock on her door. She opened her door to see a kinuze standing before her. Unlike what her father said about tijatans, kinuze looked much more similar to humans. They typically had skin varying from ash-grey to sand colored, or even perfectly white skin, but what always stuck out to her the most was the glowing eyes, which perpetually danced in a way that was reminiscent of fire. Instead of hair, they had much thicker almost tentacle-like protrusion from their head, which they called perras. These were up to two inches in width and typically fell slightly below their shoulders at full maturity, and provided a way to regulate their temperature much better than other species, although she wasn¡¯t sure how. These perras were the reason they could survive living out in the deserts. Additionally, much shorter and flatter perras also appeared in patches in other spots of their body, such as their elbows and shoulders, which were clearly seen on him.


    The kinuze standing before her looked to have pockets of blue fire in their face instead of eyes, stunning her for a moment. No matter how many kinuze she met, she always found their eyes captivating. After regaining her composure, the young man led her into the elevator and down a few floors, where they exited to a sight that left Helianna stupefied. Over a dozen students were in the center of a wide-open space and padded floor. The students themselves were wearing a strange form-fitting uniform that made her slightly embarrassed to see, but she didn¡¯t look away as she tried to identify what they were doing. After a few moments, she saw what some were practicing, and figured it out. They were training in some kind of martial art.


    Before she had time to process the information, she found herself getting dragged through a door that she hadn¡¯t seen when first arriving. Her measurements were taken, which felt incredibly intrusive, but after thinking about the clothing she had seen being worn, she couldn¡¯t be surprised. Before she knew it, she found herself back out with the others in the main room, who had already started their formal training. The kinuze who had brought her in separated from the rest and started training her in the basics. That was when hell started.


    Every morning, Helianna and all the other first years were woken in the early hours in the morning. But it wasn¡¯t at the same time every day, that would be too simple. Every day was a different time, and some nights she barely even got to bed before being woken up to train. The second years were the ones that would wake up the first years, but they got to rotate who did it. She didn¡¯t have that luxury. Regardless of what time they woke up, be it three in the morning or seven in the morning, they would train until noon with only a single break for breakfast.


    Lunch was their saving grace. There was always a large amount of food, and it was heavenly, doubly so after the intense workouts of every morning. After lunch they would go to their basic classes, which resulted in more intermingling of the students. A couple of the first years had to take classes in reading and writing, which Helianna was grateful to avoid. She couldn¡¯t imagine trying to take her other classes while barely able to read.


    At some time in the afternoon that she couldn¡¯t determine, they would switch into the introductory classes, although they couldn¡¯t really be called classes. They¡¯d spend a week or two with different staff members, each learning the basics of what they do and trying out their profession. Very quickly she discovered that she truly hated most of the jobs. Each time they switched to something new, there¡¯d be a day or two of excitement before reality set in and she started hating it. The only one she enjoyed was cooking. For as long as she could remember, she¡¯d wanted to be a cook like her father and that desire didn¡¯t go away now. That didn¡¯t mean she was good at it, but she could practice. Half of the fun of cooking was learning and getting better. She just had to make sure she was good enough that they¡¯d let her pick it.


    Despite how much she typically disliked the afternoon classes, she found she enjoyed them much more than the martial training. Those classes, she despised. Between the ungodly hours they had to wake up in, the brutal conditioning almost everyday to the actual training itself, it was grueling and painful. The training was rough, if a little boring, but what sealed the deal was sparring. It didn¡¯t take long for them to start sparring, and every time she came away miserable. Even when both fighters were beginners, it didn¡¯t take much for Helianna to realize she wasn¡¯t good at it. She almost always lost, and when she didn¡¯t, she still came away battered and beaten.


    And the other students¡­ well they were alright. The problem with them is that they wouldn¡¯t leave her alone. After spending most of her waking hours working to the bone, she almost always wanted to just go to sleep or work on her magic. Of course, she had to be alone for that as she didn¡¯t know what would happen if she was discovered to have magic as a null. The issue ultimately was that she wanted to spend her free time alone, and they didn¡¯t. They made her very aware of that, and she often found herself getting physically dragged out to participate in the social events.


    The worst of them all was Oblo. Oblo was a davraki, meaning he was massive. He hadn¡¯t finished growing, and was already eight feet tall with enough muscle to grind Helianna to a pulp. The davraki were a large and powerful people, even if they were stereotyped for being slow, in every sense of the word. They were large humanoids, but contained a large, but short spiked tail. The spikes ran up their partially protruding spines up to the middle of their back. From there, it split three ways, with spikes arcing up to their shoulders and ending in large horn-like spikes protruding up and forward out of their shoulders. The last path continued up their head and split into two that curled like ram¡¯s horns. They lacked any hair, but their skin and eye pigment were almost as varied, if not moreso, than humans. Like humans, they also had a few colors that were most common, being dark blues and greens.


    Oblo was one such example of their varying pigment. His skin was an almost iridescent pink, which combined with his slightly slow mentality and poor background, something which was discovered by other students before Helianna had even arrived, led to a poor combination. Their instructors worked hard to ensure camaraderie between the students, but tension and drama is inevitable when over eighty young adults live in near proximity.


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    Helianna had chanced upon one incident. A few of the other students had been allegedly tormenting Oblo and he started retaliating, Given his size, strength, and aptitude for combat, it had been going poorly for the other students when Helianna arrived. After a few minutes, Helianna had managed to break it up, but now Oblo seemed to have a grudge against her. Anytime she ever had a chance to herself, he¡¯d find her and drag her out to engage with others and he often brought up her wuuvish accent. It didn¡¯t take long for her to try finding more hidden and obscure spots to hide, which Oblo almost always found anyway. He seemed to have some strange sixth sense for her hiding spots, preventing her from slipping away from everyone.


    Several months passed and Helianna felt like she was slowly losing her sanity. She wasn¡¯t good at any of the test jobs, nor did she enjoy them. She was commonly in pain from sparring, and she still sucked. Worst of all, she never had enough sleep, which wasn¡¯t helped by Oblo constantly dragging her to social events in her only free time. He even had help now from a short kinuze girl that she could never remember the name of.


    Something finally changed during sparring when the instructor decided to do something different. Before sparring started that day, he brought all the first-years into the back room of the training floor, where none of them had been yet. It was immediately obvious that this room was used for storage as it was incredibly cluttered with equipment. Contrary to expected, he then chose two of the students and told them to get started with a spar. After a moment of disbelief, one of the students he called on spoke up.


    ¡°Excuse me sir, but what?¡± he asked incredulously.  ¡°Could you please explain a bit more?¡±


    ¡°Sure. I want to see you try to fight in a less controlled and perfect environment. This place is perfect for that. We¡¯ll be doing individual spars as opposed to multiple at once and you will have the whole room to fight. You may begin.¡± The student who spoke up shook his head with a disbelieving look. Unfortunately for him the other student picked, the only tijatan, realized what the instructor wanted.


    She rushed over the bewildered student and struck him in the gut before he could react. He tried to recover but never managed to gain his footing, finding himself cornered against several large pieces of floor padding, resulting in a one-sided beat down. After that embarrassing lesson, other spars began. However, as Helianna was watching, she kept finding them disappointing. They were still fighting as if they were in the normal room and trying to avoid what made the room unique. It kept frustrating her to the point where she started to get antsy. The instructor quickly noticed and singled her out.


    ¡°Helianna, you want to have a go?¡± Despite normally hating sparring, she found herself looking forward to it.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The instructor smiled a mischievous smile which immediately made her quite concerned.


    ¡°Oblo, you¡¯ll be her partner. Go.¡±


    Oblo stood there for a brief moment, shock apparent across his face. Due to how well he fought, he was very rarely paired with Helianna in spars as their skill gap was too great to be beneficial for either of them. Helianna capitalized on his shock, quickly running to the opposite side of the cramped room, knocking over one of the mats in the process. Oblo ran after her, but right before he got to her, she threw a bucket at him that she had picked up on the way. He raised his arms to block his face, and in that moment Helianna bent down to grab the edge of the mat he was now standing on. Before he could get a sense of what she was doing, she pulled on the mat with every ounce of strength she could muster.


    Oblo stumbled, momentarily flailing his arms to try to maintain a standing position. She kicked the bucket that he had blocked, nailing him in the shin and resulting in a pained grunt that made her smile despite her own foot aching. He was still recovering from the combination when she sprinted past him, kicking him on the side of the same leg as she ran. Seeing a large group of staffs bunched against a shelf, she threw them to the ground behind her, keeping one in her hands. She continued running and climbed over a pile of punching bags that was barring the corner of the room. She stood on top, waiting for Oblo to catch up. Now having the space to swing the staff, she grabbed the staff by the end. He started to get closer to her, now having to be careful to avoid stepping on the staffs and slipping, providing her an opportunity.


    At a moment when he was looking down instead of at her, she jumped forward and started an enormous diagonal swing. He tried to dodge backwards, both got tripped up and couldn¡¯t get away fast enough. He tried to block, but there was a massive crack as the staff came in contact with his arm resulting in a curse of pain as he cradled his arm. Not hearing the instructor stop the spar and not wanting him to gain his bearings, she looked around for anything she could use. The shelves nearby had nothing useful, but that didn¡¯t deter her. She dashed over to one and pulled as hard as she could. Anger in his eyes, Oblo carefully rushed towards her, but he wasn¡¯t fast enough. The shelf fell on him and he cried out in pain as it pinned him to the floor.


    She knew he was strong enough and that he should be able to push it off, but his arm was clearly making it much more painful for him. She hopped on top of the partially downed shelf to cross it, putting more pressure on him in the process. Before she could get to the other side, he yelled out.


    ¡°I yield! I yield! Now get the fuck off me!¡±


    She hopped off and after a moment to catch her breath, she helped the instructor lift the shelf off him. Between the three of them, it came off quickly and Oblo shot to his feet, adrenaline still pumping. Oblo turned towards her and while the anger was still there, it was much dimmer and he was more occupied with his arm. Before either of them could say anything to each other, the instructor spoke up.


    ¡°You can go to the medic in just a moment Oblo, I want you to hear this too.¡± He turned towards the rest of the students, who were standing around the door. ¡°Why do you think I brought you in here to fight instead of the sparring room?¡± Silence was his only response.


    ¡°To make things more difficult? To make a mess of this place? No, I brought you here because this is real life. A sparring room is an empty and controlled environment, which you will likely never have the chance to fight in. We won¡¯t be training like this often, at least not yet, but I wanted you guys to experience this and keep it in the back of your mind. Use whatever you have to your advantage. This room is filled with obstacles and objects you can use to your advantage.¡± He paused for a moment to scan the students watching him.


    ¡°Fighting isn¡¯t just about your fists. You need to think. While anybody with any experience would have destroyed Helianna thanks to her own mistakes, she used the room to her advantage and came out of a fight against someone stronger than her with barely a scratch.¡± He turned to Oblo and Helianna before continuing much quieter.


    ¡°Get yourself to the infirmary, Oblo. Helianna, that jump was really stupid but it worked out in your favor. I look forward to seeing more of you when we work on this some more.¡± Still cradling his arm, Oblo shuffled off and the instructor called the next two people to spar.

 Chapter 5: A Choice

    The rest of the fights were nowhere near as interesting as hers, although they did start to become more creative. For Helianna, it ended all too soon and the claim that they would rarely train like this put a damper on her spirits. But it gave her something to look forward to, something she was sorely lacking at this point in time.


    Apparently, in her fight with Oblo, she completely snapped his arm, a feat she never thought she¡¯d be able to accomplish. Despite the accomplishment, she couldn¡¯t feel proud of herself as she hadn¡¯t meant to hurt him that hard despite how much he aggravated her. She was also worried that he¡¯d be all the more determined to make her life hell. Contrary to her expectations however, little changed in his behavior to her, almost as if it never happened. When she eventually confronted him about it, he simply brushed her off saying it was ¡®just a single spar¡¯. Despite his words, he seemed unhappy she brought it up so she let it go.


    The rest of her first year was fairly awful. Her earlier assessment that cooking was the best option continued to prove true as she hated jobs, struggled to accomplish them, or both. Unfortunately, they rarely repeated jobs so most of her time was spent looking forward to the future to avoid paying attention to her current situation. Oblo didn¡¯t change much, but the short kinuze girl who followed him around, who she learned was named Mera, got so much worse, now sometimes seeking Helianna without him. As such, her progress with her own magic was non-existent.


    She was able to confirm that she had sovereignty magic, a magic that supposedly only nobles had. While she didn¡¯t exactly live in a city, her town was certainly not rural and there¡¯s no way she should have had this magic even if she wasn¡¯t a null. By now, she was terrified of someone learning her secret, being more careful than ever. If someone knew that a commoner null had sovereignty magic, she had no idea what would happen to her, and her imagination led her down dark paths every single time.


    Her first year of academy finally finished with a severe lack of fanfare. Due to the student''s school years starting whenever they arrived, every student was on a different schedule, so she moved on by herself. A lack of celebration had no influence on the large amount of change brought on by the start of her second year.


    The constant random timing of her wake-up calls was gone, finally allowing her to get reliable sleep. Of all things that changed, that was what mattered to her the most. The now consistent schedule also allowed her to utilize her mornings before class to work on her magic. Her rotation would still come around where she had to wake the first years, but she always knew it was coming and it was less than once a week.


    The other change that happened, albeit more slowly, was the push to decide on a job. She was required to narrow it down to three choices and would then work as a pseudo-apprentice for a month in each. After the three months, she would have to decide on a job. The first choice for her was obvious, cooking. She absolutely loved it and she was fairly decent at it. Her second choice wasn¡¯t particularly hard either, but not as ironclad as cooking. She decided to try baking. It wasn¡¯t nearly as fun for her, but it was ok and she wasn¡¯t bad.


    Her third choice however, was much more difficult. After spending some time narrowing down her possibilities, she still couldn¡¯t decide from a small list of jobs that were acceptable. Knowing that it didn¡¯t really matter as she was definitely going to cook or bake, she picked one at random. Logistics. Shortly after she made her decision, she started her month-long training for cooking.


    It was very nostalgic working in a kitchen for that long. It had barely been over a year since she¡¯d been helping her father in the kitchen, but it felt much longer. Memories continually popped up, sometimes distracting her from her work, but she never created any disasters like catching the kitchen on fire. Those showed up in baking. She had much less experience baking, so when she tried to improvise like she often did in cooking, it didn¡¯t always end well. Working in logistics though¡­ that was boring. She was fairly good at it, but continually found herself so bored that she was starting to hate it, reinforcing her belief that she would be cooking.


    Near the end of her third month, something unexpected happened. A member of the staff that she¡¯d never seen before appeared during their morning training to observe. That day, their instructor took them back into the storeroom to work on their ¡®environmental fighting¡¯ as he called it. The person observing them never spoke, several times disappearing from her view before reappearing at a seemingly random location to observe someone or something closer.


    He gave her a very eerie feeling that she couldn¡¯t quite identify and made her incredibly uncomfortable, especially when he would disappear. After the first few times it happened, she started paying more attention to him and noticed that he was never actually using magic to disappear. He took advantage of momentary distractions and line of sight to move in ways she wouldn¡¯t expect or pay attention to. The eeriness ebbed and she started to become fascinated by it. What he was doing seemed so simple, and she struggled to believe that these simple actions caused him to disappear as it had seemed earlier.


    Her own spar came and she was paired with one of the other students she hadn¡¯t interacted with much. He was a decent fighter, but nobody had beaten her in environmental fighting and today was no different. She knew he¡¯d normally beat her but he wasn¡¯t nearly as good in the cluttered room and the spar became one-sided very quickly. It ended quickly, Helianna using the sleeve of a uniform she¡¯d picked up to pin and strangle him. As he started to tap out, she felt something strange that she couldn¡¯t identify. She glanced up and looked around, not noticing the boy kinuze trying to tap out underneath her. Then she noticed it.


    The strange staff member was missing. The second she came to the realization, she felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck and whirled around. She grabbed the nearest thing she could, a breakable board, off the stack next to her and held it up threateningly as she turned on the man who¡¯d appeared behind her. He narrowed his eyes before speaking for the first time.


    ¡°Could be worse.¡± He brushed past her and walked out of the room as she tracked him with the board.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± she asked the instructor. He simply shook his head in response and started the next spar, which was the last one for today¡¯s practice. She went to lunch and the rest of the day passed without incident, but the strange encounter plagued her thoughts throughout the day.


    The next morning, she was woken up to knocking on her door. After barely over a minute of scrambling, she opened the door looking vaguely presentable. Greeting her was the same man who had been watching the previous day.


    ¡°Come with me,¡± he ordered.


    ¡°May I have just a couple minutes to get ready?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She sighed, but exited her room to follow him.


    He took her to the elevator and brought her to a floor she¡¯d never seen before. In front of her was a very simple and generic hallway which didn¡¯t seem like it belonged in The Academy.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, but why am I here?¡±


    ¡°You have a rare opportunity at another job.¡±


    ¡°And what job is that?¡±


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    ¡°Ask me again in a month.¡±


    With that curt and overly dramatic reply, her last few days training as a logistician ended as her new training began. She questioned what she was doing many times and throughout the month, she couldn¡¯t figure out what the job was.


    During the morning, she participated in the standard martial training, but after lunch, she received some kind of specialized version. Unlike what they normally taught, which was incredibly ruthless, much of what she was learning focused on subduing or incapacitating the opponent instead of killing them. Of course, being in her first and second year of training, she never learned advanced techniques in either form. Regardless, she constantly heard explanations of what she would be learning in the future based off of the basics she was learning now.


    The lessons afterwards were what confused her so badly. He taught her how to use make-up better, of all things. It quickly became apparent that he knew how to use it far better than her or anyone she knew, which was already strange to her. But it only got stranger. If she wasn¡¯t also being trained in martial arts, she would have thought he was preparing her to be a performance artist. When she inevitably struggled in applying her make-up the way he directed her to, he picked up the slack and made her look like a completely different person. Pretty quickly, her lessons evolved and after putting on make-up, he started teaching her how to act.


    Every day that they did this, she would take a different role. One day, she would be a noble, followed by a merchant the next. Each time, he would give her scathing critiques on her performance. Things got even more confusing when he started teaching her alchemy. She couldn¡¯t figure out the direction he was taking with alchemy as the basics were incredibly difficult for her to grasp and she was moving very slowly. She wondered how this could possibly combine into a singular job. She had a few suspicions and she had little confidence wasn¡¯t sure she liked them.


    Near the end of the month, her work started becoming more physical. He started teaching her how to swim, how to climb, and how to track, frequently taking her out into the city, and sometimes even outside the city to do so. Additionally, more specialized combat started replacing her other martial training, and he started teaching her incredibly different techniques. Many of them couldn¡¯t even be classified as combat, focused on ending a fight before it really started. It came to a head at the end of the moment when he gave her a test.


    After providing her a standard ithrax uniform and getting her make-up to make her look like an older ithrax, he took her outside the town surrounding the academy.


    ¡°Get back into the castle in whatever way you can. You have twenty-four hours.¡± Without giving her a chance to respond, he immediately dashed off and disappeared. Her suspicions were being confirmed and she was starting to dread learning what this job could be.


    Her first thought was just to walk through the front door. If she could show them she was a null, that would make it easy, but she immediately ruled that out. She knew that until they were done training, the nulls never left the academy, at least normally, so getting them to do anything other than arrest her wouldn¡¯t happen. Purposely getting arrested then crossed her mind. If they took her into the castle to detain her, then it would technically count, but she knew she couldn¡¯t rely on that. It would make more sense to detain her within the city itself and even if it worked, she doubted she would get full marks.


    Her next thought was to climb the wall. She knew there would undoubtedly be magic helping to monitor the walls, but as a null, it didn¡¯t matter. She wouldn¡¯t register. With that thought in mind, she immediately started walking around the city while remaining far enough away that it wouldn¡¯t be too obvious and suspicious. Once she was sure that none of the gates were in view, she approached and started climbing. To say it didn¡¯t go well was an understatement. They had done a bit of climbing in the past few weeks, but she had just started and this wall was a lot smoother than what she¡¯d been training on. After a particularly nasty fall when she got pretty high, She had to stop.


    Darkness was approaching and she knew that being outside the walls at night was risky. The wards around the walls would probably keep away any predators, but she didn¡¯t want to risk waking up to a bite through her neck. She thought of trying to sneak through the gate, but quickly shut that down as she knew she¡¯d be caught. After giving herself time to rest, she eventually tried climbing again, albeit much slower. The uneven light from dusk did not help her see in any way, but the extra caution combined with her previous attempts seemed to help somehow. After a few more tries, she found herself atop the wall. Fortunately, getting down was much easier as she just had to walk around the wall until she found some stairs.


    Despite being tired, she decided she¡¯d check out the inner wall and try to figure out how to get in. It¡¯s not like she had a place to sleep anyways. It took her longer than expected to get to the center, the darkness making it harder to navigate. Regardless, it was still the middle of the night when she got to the wall and started analyzing it. Supposedly, this wall had tremendous power due to the endless runes covering the entire thing. It was a little over 20 feet tall and with each rune written small enough to pass for plain writing, she didn¡¯t want to imagine how long it took to make.


    She had been told that it glowed for most people, with the hue constantly shifting between each of the different colors of magic. Being a null, runes sometimes had strange effects or didn¡¯t work on her, this shifting color being a perfect example that she couldn¡¯t see.


    Its first defense was its power over the mind. As people got closer to it, they would find themselves compelled to move away. For those that could resist, their own gravity would shift, pushing them away from the wall like a magnet. To compound this issue, the amount of distance the person would have to travel to get to the wall would also be much longer than should be physically possible. If a person somehow managed to get to the wall, it would somehow grow impossibly tall, growing as they neared it, making it impossible to scale.


    While all this is happening, their surroundings would flash between light and dark, as well as hot and cold, causing pain and disorientation. This effect would become both faster and stronger as they approached the waking, eventually making a possibly deadly combination. Fortunately, she was a null, and none of this applied to her.


    She simply walked up to the wall and put her hand on it. Pretty much immediately, she could tell that there was no chance she could climb it on her own. While far from smooth due to the runes, there was nothing in terms of handholds. She turned away to find something to help her climb it, it was only about twenty feet after all, when she ran into a problem. Standing in front of her was a group of ithrax, a clearly older group that was well trained. Her mind instantly raced, trying to figure out how they knew she was here. She wasn¡¯t aware of any runes that affected nulls, so it couldn¡¯t have been the wall. But before she could go down a rabbit hole, she tried to come up with the best way out of the situation. After a few seconds of thinking, she surrendered, not wanting to instigate a fight or lead a chase through the city.


    If they were surprised by her easy surrender, they didn¡¯t show it and quickly apprehended her. To her own surprise, they didn¡¯t take her into one of the jails in the general city, but took her within the academy walls, a decision that she felt was rather stupid. If someone was trying to get into the wall, why bring them in yourself even if you are putting them in a cell? Regardless of her silent thoughts, she found herself in a cell within the academy and held there. Finding herself alone in her cell, she took the opportunity to sleep. The next morning, she was awoken by loud clanging on the bars holding her in. Clearing the fog from her eyes, she found the same man that had left her outside the walls.


    ¡°You got arrested.¡±


    ¡°I did.¡± Clearly expecting more of a response, he gave her a deadpan look. ¡°I got in though, did I not?¡±


    ¡°You did. Considering the way you take advantage of your surroundings when fighting, I had hoped you¡¯d be more creative but it seems it doesn¡¯t translate outside of the fight for you. Your methods left a lot to be desired, but that can be taught. Come, I have another test for you.¡±


    He opened the door and walked off without waiting for her. She quickly caught up and he led her into the elevator, where he led her down to a floor she didn¡¯t know existed. She quickly noticed that they were going underground, prompting her to ask him a question.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± she asked. He didn¡¯t respond, instead staring at the elevator door. She knew that he liked to make her uncomfortable so she didn¡¯t outwardly react, but it still made her nervous. When the door opened and they exited, the elevator immediately went back up, making her feel trapped. He led her towards a room further in the back and when he opened the door, she stared in shock. Sitting in front of her was a man, tied up, with several weapons and deadly objects surrounding him. Her instructor spoke up, startling her out of her trance.


    ¡°This is your final test. You have endless options for your method, but there is only one requirement for you to pass. Kill him.¡±

 Chapter 6: To Kill or Not to Kill

    ¡°Kill him.¡± The words echoed through her mind as she took another look around the room. Some of the objects were standard, but many had more horrifying implications. She saw clubs and other slow killing weapons, various torture racks, a noose, and many other objects. Not wanting to picture all the horrible ways to kill, she closed her eyes to avoid looking at the weapons..


    ¡°Why are there so many¡­¡± She paused to collect herself, worried that her voice would betray her horror. ¡°...so many options?¡± After a moment¡¯s thought where he didn¡¯t respond, she burst out in anger. ¡°And why do you want me to kill him?!¡±


    He still refused to respond, instead looking at her expectantly, in the infuriating way only teachers could.


    ¡°I fucking knew it. You¡¯ve been training me to be a killer, haven¡¯t you? Your own personal assassin? And now this is a test of loyalty or something?¡± After a few moments, he slowly responded.


    ¡°This is not a test of loyalty. That will come later, assuming you accept the job.¡± She perked up, hoping it meant she wouldn¡¯t have to kill, at least yet.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to take this? I can walk away without touching a hair on his head and just go back to normal?¡± He simply nodded his head in response. ¡°I¡­ I need a minute.¡±


    Needing to be away from the scene, she walked out of the room and sat down on the floor. She knew this was likely one of the most important decisions of her life and didn¡¯t want to rush it. If having the capacity to kill someone was the test, then clearly she passed whatever other requirements there were. This wasn¡¯t just a decision about whether she could or would kill this person, it¡¯s whether she could become an assassin or not.


    Strangely, the first question that came to her mind was whether she wanted to do that with her life. She¡¯d be leaving The Academy behind, both physically on missions and mentally. Even though she would undoubtedly come back, she would be very separated and alone. Although admittedly, that wouldn¡¯t be much different from what it was already like. She¡¯d been closing herself off from everybody to hide her secrets, which would become much easier to strengthen and hide with that lifestyle.


    Her next thought is whether she¡¯d be ok with being that kind of person. Her job would literally be to kill people. Although not just to kill people, she would always be wearing a mask, probably sometimes literally. It dawned on her at this moment that this was the reason for learning all the acting and make-up earlier in the month.


    Furthermore, she may have to perform infiltrations. To her, that sounded incredibly lonely. Nobody would see the real her, which is already a little true, but she¡¯d likely never be able to relax and enjoy herself either. Half of the job would be killing and the other half would be pretending.


    Next, she wondered how far she would have to travel and for how long. Would she go on long-term missions and be gone for years? Would she have to fake serious relationships as someone else. If it went far enough, would she have to sacrifice her body to accomplish her goals? She didn¡¯t like this train of thought, but decided to table it for the moment.


    She recalled that when she mentioned a loyalty test, he had said not yet. She wondered what that would be and sighed as she realized they would probably desire unyielding loyalty to them, something she wasn¡¯t ready to give, at least right now. But loyalty aside, was she willing to let them have complete control of her life? As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she nearly laughed out loud. They already did have complete control of her life, nothing would change.


    Trying to gain some sense and consolidate her thoughts, she had to ask herself what she would lose. Freedom was her first thought, but then she realized that wasn¡¯t true. It wouldn¡¯t be freedom that she would lose, it would be any chance at freedom for the rest of her life. If she agreed to this, she figured it was like selling her soul to them. Although she didn¡¯t think she had a great chance at leaving if she wanted anyways. The worse one for her was losing any chance at relationships. Undoubtedly, all relationships would be controlled, both friends and romances. She also might be forced to partake in relationships she didn¡¯t want.


    Returning to her earlier thoughts, she would also have to become a killer. Honestly, this felt like it should be the crux of the issue, but it didn¡¯t bother her as much as she expected. She felt surprisingly ok with it, which worried her. Did she really value her freedom to have relationships more than the lives of others? She didn¡¯t want to think about that, so she moved on. It would also be dangerous, which surprised her to realize it was the first time she thought that. She immediately ignored it as it didn¡¯t bother her in the slightest. It might actually be fun.


    Then she asked herself what she would gain. That question rang through her head a second time as she had to give it more thought. That was when she realized that she would gain freedom, but in a different sense than she first thought. Both this test and the previous test were a perfect example. Even if they decide the target, she would get to choose how to do things. She would also get more freedom to work on her magic, which was a strong point in favor. Additionally, she¡¯d also get to travel. When she was younger, she never wanted to travel, but after learning so much more at The Academy, and frankly being stuck within the academy, she found the idea enticing. She didn¡¯t want to be trapped working as staff at the academy her whole life.


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    Coming upon that realization, she thought harder about what being trapped within The Academy as staff would be. She¡®d still be learning to fight like everybody, but wouldn¡¯t be taught to kill as efficiently as she would as an assassin. She probably be cooking and working with the same people her whole life, spending her time with the people she might eventually trust . That didn¡¯t sound too bad as it is similar to what she had originally planned for her life, but this community was smaller. Unlike when she was younger it sounded so boring now. She¡¯d learned about the different peoples and cultures out in the world, and all of the wonderful things she could see, both natural and man-made.


    If she stayed, the only thing she would see would be the view from The Academy windows, which was beautiful to be frank. But she would lose that view soon But that would as the staff accommodations are on the bottom floors! All-in-all, she¡¯d be spending her time doing the same thing everyday and staying safe. That was half the job of being a null anyways. Well, at least normally.


    Staying at the academy as a null, she had been educated on what ithrax actually were. A new group of ithrax was born once every starfall so about once every thirty days on average. Each cell had somewhere between three and eight people, including the null. They were connected from birth, having incredible bonds that help them find each other despite coming from different families, and often different species. The only one separate from the bond is the null, as magic doesn¡¯t work on them.


    What makes ithrax so unkillable is that as long as one is alive, they can always respawn. Somehow, ithrax have a way to use unattuned mana unlike the general population. They could convert their own mana to unattuned mana, a process that supposedly very strange.


    Whenever an ithrax dies, another ithrax within the cell must spend some time, a week at minimum unattuning their mana. Once done, they draw upon their mana and through a process still not fully understood, the dead ithrax¡¯s body is regenerated as if they never died. Exactly what state they come back in, she still didn¡¯t know as she didn¡¯t get trained for this. If they lose a limb days before death, do they come back losing a limb or not?


    Regardless, nulls disrupt the system slightly. They can¡¯t absorb mana or be created from mana normally, so it doesn¡¯t work right. Should a null die, the body of another ithrax in their cell will try to respawn them. But because the null¡¯s body absorbs mana so strongly, it will drain the ithrax of all their mana, killing them to respawn the null. If they were the last ithrax, this leaves the null as the only one left.


    Respawning off nulls was a crippling event, but it would still be better than death. As ithrax, although null, their body naturally tries to respawn the dead ithrax. But since they have no mana to use, their body will consume itself to create another ithrax, typically losing an entire limb in the process. This process also permanently damages the mana capacity of the ithrax that spawned off them. If this happened on repeat and the ithrax had no more mana to lose, they could not respawn and would instead be dead forever.


    Of course, this process means the null is crippled as well until they¡¯re also killed and respawned. This of course kills the ithrax they spawn off so more than one need to be alive before this happens.


    All of this comes down to the purpose of nulls manning the academy. To start this painful experience, it requires either the null to die or every single one of the other ithrax to die. As such, half of the job for nulls is to not die.


    They¡¯re the last resort if the rest of the team dies, so their roles as the staff of The Academy is functional on many levels. Of course, they all still receive extensive training both fighting against mages and non-mages. This creates an army of trained nulls protecting the academy should any idiot ever try to attack them.


    Due to all of this, there was a chance she could still have to kill someone due to the nature of the position, although that would be astronomically unlikely. Her job would be cooking, yes, but primarily being safe and trapped within the academy. With all of this in mind, it seemed to come down to one question. Was becoming a killer for The Academy worth her freedom? Whatever kills and missions she¡¯d be sent to do would happen anyways, they¡¯d simply get another null to do it. For now, that was probably the man that had been training her. Then was she ok with becoming their killer and is she ok with being a killer in general? Before she could think too hard on it, a much more important question came to mind. Did she trust The Academy? Would she be targeting people that deserved it?


    No deliberation was necessary to answer the question. She did trust the academy. They were the objective party in the world, not beholden to any nation and always working to keep them in check. They had led the world well so far and she was sure anybody they targeted were a danger to society. And being a killer, well¡­ after deciding that the reason for the killing was just, being a killer didn¡¯t scare her. She could be a killer for the academy. She would be their assassin. With her decision made, she opened the door and walked back into the room.


    She almost shuddered, seeing all the various tools of death scattered around the room. Just because she was ok being a killer didn¡¯t mean she was fully prepared. Many of them looked more like torture devices than tools for death. She was okay being their killer, but torturer, not so much. Mentally fortifying herself, she swiftly grabbed a knife off one of the tables, marched up to the tied man, and slit his throat.

 Chapter 7: Assassin

    She heard a gurgle escape the man and her eyes widened. In her introspection and struggle to resolve herself, she hadn¡¯t been thinking straight. This was not a quick and painless death like she wanted! She panicked, frantically looking around, trying to find something to end it quickly. Her thoughts flew too fast, not settling on an object quick enough to identify what might work. After several seconds passed without a solution, she rushed up to him, swung around him, and tried to break his neck. His squirming made it harder, causing her to fail on her first attempt, but on her second try, she felt it snap and he stilled.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± She stopped where she was, her breath ragged. She briefly wondered why she was panting so hard. She was in great shape, the best she¡¯d ever been in her life, that shouldn¡¯t have made her breathe like this. She took a moment to slow her breathing and noticed that she was also shaking. Trying to calm herself, she backed up against the wall and sat down. Before she could collect herself, the voice of her instructor knocked her out of her thoughts.


    ¡°Well you certainly took your time, but better late than never.¡±


    ¡°Uh, I - I¡¯m sorry?¡± she stammered.


    ¡°I have one final question for you. Will you take this job, or will you go back to cooking your whole life?¡± He spoke the word ¡®cooking¡¯ with such disgust that she almost flinched, but she was still panicking internally, resulting in an incredibly eloquent response.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Hello? Jowy to Helianna, you in there?¡± After a moment of gaping like a fish, she nodded.


    ¡°So will you take the job or not?¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± He smiled, an action she¡¯d never witnessed coming from the man. It unnerved her, making her try to lean away from him, but the wall behind her prevented her retreat.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s get started.¡±  Before she had a chance to react, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait. What about him?¡± she demanded.


    ¡°What about him?¡±


    ¡°What about his death rights?!¡± she exclaimed.


    ¡°He won¡¯t be getting them.¡± She gasped in horror. ¡°This is our job. We stop people who will go against us and work to do irreparable damage to the world, through any means necessary. Now I repeat, can you do this?¡± She numbly nodded and he rolled his eyes. He continued dragging her out and she didn¡¯t even get a chance to recover her mental state before they started training, which was relentless.


    The next few months went by in a blur and she felt that they trained her in anything and everything. Much of what they taught her seemed to be completely useless, but when she asked, her instructor had simply told her that ¡®you¡¯ll be glad you learned it later, trust me¡¯. When she had asked again a few days later while learning how to read and enchant runes, something she couldn¡¯t even do as a null, he had simply given her a glare that seemed to pin her in place with its fierceness. She hadn¡¯t asked again.


    The training was incredibly rigorous and she wished her days were as simple as her first year. She had thought that it was near impossible to be worse than the schedule they¡¯d been forced to keep at the time. Well, now she¡¯d found the impossible. While the unpredictableness of the first year was gone, the increased rigor more than made up for it. The average amount of sleep she¡¯d managed to get was two to four hours, not enough for anyone, much less a teenager. That¡¯s when people are supposed to sleep more cause they¡¯re growing! Instead, she found herself fighting exhaustion everyday while in class and stumbling through combat.


    Although she did find herself drastically improving in combat. Nearly doubling the amount of practice she put into it each day would do that. The morning classes with the rest of the nulls got much easier for her and before long, she found herself winning some of the standard spars, providing great satisfaction for Helianna despite her exhaustion.


    It was also the only time she interacted with the other students. If there were any other students being trained as an assassin, she never saw them. As such, most of her training was done alone with her instructor, who was not much of a conversationalist. At first, this was a relief for Helianna, who had been forced to do way too much socialization recently. After several months, her perspective started to change. Her disinterest faded and she started to enjoy the daily interactions. It could still sometimes get too much, but after months with no social gatherings draining her social energy, she could start enjoying the people.


    It was in this time period that she realized something. She had turned seventeen a couple months ago. If she were at home, she would have had her gugachadokk by now, an event celebrating her coming of age. That night, she sat at her bed and took out the diamond necklace her mom had given her before she left. She sang a quiet song to herself. It was normally a beautiful song that would have been sung at the ceremony as she slowly lifted the necklace over her head. She pictured her mother¡¯s face and the smile she knew would have been on it as she handed Helianna the necklace.


    Helianna had done everything she could to avoid thinking about her family, knowing it would only bring pain and in this moment, she knew she had been right. Tears poured down her face as loneliness crashed over her like a wave, making her hands shake as she slowly lowered the necklace around her neck. She covered her mouth, trying to be silent as she cried, desperately missing her family and friends. Laying down on the bed, she held up the large diamond at the base of her necklace, turning it this way and that as it refracted the light. For the first time in many years, she cried herself to sleep as she held onto her necklace like a lifeline. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Time seemed to pass incredibly slowly and yet incredibly quickly at the same time. Every day seemed to last forever, her lack of freetime combined with the grueling training never providing her a chance to truly rest. However, whenever she did have alone time and was awake, a key distinction, she found herself surprised at how long it had been since she¡¯d started training. It didn¡¯t make sense to her, but she never had the energy to think about, choosing to either practice her magic or go to sleep.


    It was during one of these times that she was practicing her magic where she made her first major discovery. Her magic had the same color as sovereign magic, but it didn¡¯t behave the same. Sovereign magic gave the users command over themselves, others, and eventually the world itself if they could be strong enough. Whatever she had was different. She had been making various attempts at providing boons herself or commanding small animals like mice over the past couple of years, but she had little luck. She couldn¡¯t even boost her own voice, something she had expected to be easy.


    In frustration at her lack of progress, she let her anger overtake her. She punched her pillow before she had finished releasing her magic, some of it still clinging to her hand. She felt it release and after only a few seconds, the pillow started shifting as if alive. Seeing her pillow animated, she panicked and focused on her magic once again, noticing that she could feel something in the pillow. It felt different from her magic, as if it wasn¡¯t fully hers, which she¡¯d never experienced before. Cautiously, she poked the pillow and immediately felt her magic reconnect with whatever she had left in the pillow. Startled, she recoiled, taking her magic and whatever had animated the pillow with her.


    After taking a few minutes to let her heartbeat return to a more normal speed, she decided to look inward at her own mana. She knew that most people had to spend time becoming familiar with their internal mana. Each person had both attuned and unattuned mana and that without practice, it was easy to accidentally use both, therefore diluting the useful mana. Ithrax however, had no mana whatsoever, so she had never put much thought into it. She hadn¡¯t completely disregarded the knowledge and had spent some time trying to meditate and view mana. Seeing no unattuned mana like most ithrax, she had stopped fairly quickly. Confident that there was nothing else she could accomplish by looking inward, she had stopped.


    However, she now realized that was a new factor at play. There was something else within her that she could impart in an object. She had no clue what it was or what it did, but she had placed it in the pillow, albeit unintentionally, and then pulled it back out. Considering she had used her mana to do it, perhaps she could find it in the same way. She sat down on her bed to try and meditate. Meditating wasn¡¯t required, but made it much easier as everything else could make it hard to notice. It¡¯s like trying to see something softly glowing in the middle of the day. Meditating helped turn it to night, where it could be seen easier.


    Like last time she tried, it took her quite a while to be able to feel it, and this time was no different. After a long time, she finally managed to hone in and feel her mana, but didn¡¯t stop there. She tried to look elsewhere within herself to try to find whatever it was she imparted into the pillow. After a few moments, she noticed something subtle, and it took all her concentration to prevent herself from jolting out of her meditation when she noticed it. It wasn¡¯t what she was looking for, but it was certainly interesting. It had the same shape as her own mana, but there was nothing there, pure emptiness. After a few minutes, it came to her. This is where her unattuned mana would be if she had any. Interesting, but not helpful.


    After several more minutes, she hadn¡¯t found anything, but she felt as if she were close. Something seemed to be on the edge of her perception, but she couldn¡¯t quite find it. It took an agonizingly long time for her to realize that she was looking in the wrong place. Or rather, she was looking too hard. She took a mental step back and that¡¯s when she noticed it. There was a presence within her, far larger than her mana pool that she hadn¡¯t noticed because she¡¯d been looking for the fine details instead of something big. With her attention now on it, she tried to identify what it was and that¡¯s when the presence responded. There was no voice, but it seemed to address her and a single foreign thought rang through her head. ¡®Hello.¡±


    She jolted out of her meditation, her heart instantly pounding. This thing inside her was conscious and separate from her, but it didn¡¯t seem to be able to do anything, at least for now. Terrified, she decided to put it on hold for now and see if anything changed now that she¡¯d interacted with it. Besides, it would probably be best to wait until she had more time to experiment before interacting with it again.


    Despite her own discoveries, her training continued the next day and she stopped practicing her magic. The presence within Helianna never changed, at least as far as she could tell. She never meditated as she was too afraid to interact with it again, but it never manifested in any way. After a few months, she relaxed a bit, confident that if the presence would do something, it would have done it by now. Shortly after this decision however, things changed. She had spent over three years at the academy and was now in her fourth year.


    She was no longer solely training all day for every day. She actually worked some days. She still never went out on missions with her instructor, who she still didn¡¯t know the name of, but she did start doing the easy stuff that could be done off-mission. This included a wide variety of things, and now being on the job instead of just training, it made things much more interesting.


    She now helped to create many of their different consumables, including their own darts.  Her instructor insisted they were hand-made, including their poisons and antidotes, which were very important to have. Her instructor had told her of another assassin who had nicked himself with his own poison arrow. Not having an antidote, he was then paralyzed for many hours before being found and killed by the very person he was supposed to be assassinating. He¡¯d died from his own laziness.


    Aside from the new respite from constant training, her schedule hardly changed. She worked or trained constantly, with Oblo and Mera constantly needling her about hanging out with the group. Her response never changed however, being as busy as she was and still needing at least some sleep to function. She trained and learned from her instructor, but at least she got a break now. As much as creating deadly toxins can be called a break anyways. It was during this year that she finally got to utilize some of her non-lethal training in spars. She would fight against other ithrax.

 Chapter 8: Magical Combat

    Helianna¡¯s instructor had told her the night beforehand to meet by the elevator. She couldn¡¯t leave without him as he was required to let her out of the academy. Apparently, the sparring they were doing today would be at full strength. Having an indoor sparring room for ithrax at full strength was completely impractical so they were going to a training ground outside the city. Her instructor led Helianna outside the castle where they saw several carts ready for them.


    Piled onto the carts were a few staff as well as a large number of ithrax that looked to be in training. Looking at her instructor, she quickly realized she was going to be riding with the other ithrax and she hopped on. The cart started moving and one of the other students immediately jeered at Helianna.


    ¡°So you¡¯re the one we were waiting for. Enjoying the special treatment?¡± She couldn¡¯t get a good look at who had spoken as he was on the same side of the cart that she was with multiple people were between them.


    ¡°Oh come off it Lyan,¡± retorted another student. ¡°I didn¡¯t recognize the staff she was with so clearly it was something important.¡± Lyan leaned forward so he could see Helianna and grinned.


    ¡°I¡¯d say so. Important enough for me to get involved, I¡¯d say. Maybe the old man can get an education from me on how to teach her some lessons.¡± There was an audible slap as Lyan¡¯s neighbor slapped the back of his head, quietly muttering ¡°Not now¡± as she did so.


    Lyan scowled but sat back in his seat for the rest of the ride, which remained awkwardly silent. It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach the sparring field, which was within visual range of the city. They disembarked and a staff member she didn¡¯t recognize stood on top of the other cart to address them


    ¡°Alright everyone, listen up!¡± he announced. ¡°As mentioned yesterday, we will be doing unique sparring practice today. Today, you will be fighting a null!¡± The students immediately murmured to each other, clearly not having been told beforehand. ¡°Silence!¡±


    The students quieted in an instant, almost as if sound itself had been turned off. Helianna felt her own sovereign magic roiling within her in reaction to his, but she barely managed to keep it from lashing out against his magic.


    ¡°We are out here today because you will have license to fight at your full strength. You will be fighting as if you aim to kill each other. Instructor Solia and I will be here to ensure no permanent deaths occur, but I doubt it will come to that. This will provide practical experience dealing with a rogue null should you need to fight one. Now. If our null could step up, that would be helpful.¡±


    Hearing her obvious cue, Helianna stepped up to the instructor and turned towards the students. The looks she received in return were a surprise. Many of them were angry for some reason, but she could easily detect wariness and even fear in several of them. Only a few seemed laid back, with Lyan being the clear leader in that regard.


    ¡°Bertol! Lyan! Sasha! You three will be her first combatants. If everyone else could stand up against the carts, that would be most helpful. The three students whose names were called stepped forward, while the others shifted back, giving her a clear view of her adversaries. Lyan clearly had a combination of dwarven and elvish ancestry, making him look rather comical to Helianna. He only came up to her chest, but lacked the stockiness of dwarven ancestry. The reason was clear to see in his elvish ears. This ancestry resulted in a thinner frame, making him simply look like a shrunken man. His hair was a beautiful golden,and he clearly spent time taking care of it. Combined with his light and ice blue eyes, he felt like he was trying to be a model, but had been half-sized.


    Both his teammates were davraki, easily making up for the height he lacked. Sasha stood slightly taller than the other and combined with her bright red skin, she drew much more attention. Her near pitch black eyes added to her scare factor and made her appear much more threatening. Bertol was a bit more normal, with pale blue skin and bright green eyes that seemed to be analyzing Helianna down to the bone.


    She saw Lyan make a fanciful gesture and the dirt billowed around him, providing him a dramatic backdrop. Meanwhile, Helianna was doing her best to analyze her opponents and this gave her an obvious sign that he was a gravity mage. Sasha was smart enough to not show her powers before the spar started, but Bertol suddenly started glowing. She had no clue what he was trying to do, but he was clearly a light mage. A small smile graced her face before she heard the instructor shout out.


    ¡°Begin!¡±


    Expecting Sasha to be the frontliner due to the other¡¯s affinities, Helianna immediately made a beeline towards the tall davraki. She was instantly proven correct when Sasha thrust her arms forward and a wave of ice flew towards her. Helianna smiled a feral smile as she barreled through it, not slowing in the slightest. It was immediately apparent that Helianna knew more about Sasha¡¯s powers than she did herself.


    The common misconception that Sasha had fallen into was thinking that ice magic created real ice. But in reality, ice magic wasn¡¯t actually solid. It was purely a false manifestation that used mana to sustain itself. As a result, the false ice would appear to affect the world around it as if it were real ice, but the effects were purely magical. Once mana was no longer fed into the ice, it would collapse into unattuned mana that would flood into the environment. Of course, that meant that as a null, magic ice had no effect on her, be it the temperature or its solidity.


    Helianna burst through the wave, her bestial smile making Sasha instinctively take a step backwards. A staff of ice appeared in Sasha¡¯s hands and she whirled it around just in time to deflect a dagger that Helianna had jabbed at her torso. This time, it was Helianna¡¯s turn to be shocked. She had expected her nullification to extend to her daggers which would have made her daggers split the ice and stab Sasha. Instead, she was stopped in her tracks, not having expected the change in her momentum.


    Sasha whirled her staff once more and attempted to deliver a powerful blow to Helianna¡¯s temple. This time however, Helianna¡¯s nullification came into effect and the portion of the staff that came into contact with her disappeared. A small piece of ice flew behind her and Sashsa looked down at her noticeably shortened weapon in shock.


    Helianna took the opening that Sasha¡¯s misstep granted, sinking a dagger deep into her shoulder and locking up the joint. She left the dagger there, instead pulling out a smaller one that she turned and threw at Bertol. Unfortunately, she was a moment too late as the grass beneath her burst into true flames. Unbeknownst to Helianna, Bertol had been spending the fight focusing his light as tightly as possible on the ground below Helianna in an attempt to burst into flame, which was now successful.


    Due to his concentration, he was completely unaware of the dagger flying towards him. A moment before it reached him, however, the dagger suddenly stopped as if all horizontal velocity had disappeared, making it fall to the ground. Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°You¡¯re dead, Bertol! Hit the ground!¡± commanded a voice from the sidelines, and he quickly complied as the sovereign magic commanded.


    His actions were not without consequence as Helianna¡¯s pants now caught aflame due to the now very real fire coating the ground. Without hesitating for a moment, she dodged back and ripped her pants off, which cost her precious time. She heard a whooshing sound behind her right as she threw them off and immediately hit the ground in response. Something heavy clipped the back of her head and shoulder as she did, causing her drop to the ground to become a bit more painful and much less graceful. She looked up to see Sasha almost on top of her and a massive tree flying above them both.


    Having realized the futility of using her staff, Sasha instead threw a kick at Helianna¡¯s face. Despite the minor concussion she likely received from the tree, Helianna barely managed to jerk back in time. Using her momentum, she swung her legs around to sweep Sasha¡¯s legs, bringing the large woman to the ground.


    Helianna grabbed the knife she had dropped when she was glanced by the tree, which allowed Sasha a moment to turn and grapple Helianna from behind. Fortunately for Helianna, Sasha had not been trained to grapple and failed to use her significantly larger weight to her advantage. Instead, Helianna twisted and stabbed her dagger into Sasha¡¯s side. The stabbing elicited a gasp from Sasha and the shock of the pain caused her grasp to loosen. Helianna quickly weaseled out of Sasha¡¯s grasp and they both stood up.


    Sasha grinned and pulled the knife out of her side with her good arm. ¡°Now I¡¯m the only one with a knife. And I¡¯m a lot bigger than you are.¡±


    Barely taking a moment to think, Helianna immediately started sprinting away, taking the opportunity to see what Lyan had done with his flying tree. The tree was floating above him and he had his arms reached out as if he was holding it with his own hands. She couldn¡¯t tell quite what he was doing, but he was clearly straining and she knew she had to finish the fight with Sasha. She could hear Sasha running up behind her, Sasha¡¯s longer legs clearly allowing her to catch up to Helianna. Fortunately, she wasn¡¯t fast enough and Helianna reached the fallen throwing knife from when she had ¡®killed¡¯ Bertol. She spun around and threw the knife at Sasha¡¯s face in a single smooth motion.


    Unfortunately, Sasha had realized where Helianna had been running and easily dodged the throw with minimal effort. She closed the distance and stabbed Helianna in the shoulder in retaliation. At the same time, they both heard a loud thud, but neither of them let it become a distraction. To Sasha¡¯s surprise, Helianna had not attempted to dodge or block her thrust, opting to receive the hit. In return, Sasha felt a prick on her throat. It was immediately clear to her that Helianna had hidden another knife which was now pressed against her neck.


    ¡°You¡¯re dead,¡± Helianna calmly stated. Sasha took a step back and they both whipped around to Lyan, expecting the tree to have come flying in by now. Instead, they saw the Lyan collapsed on the ground with the tree in the dirt nearby.


    ¡°Dumbass,¡± Sasha quietly muttered. ¡°You never learn.¡±


    ¡°Victory for the null!¡± announced the instructor. ¡°Sasha, get Instructor Coslen to patch you up. Null?¡±


    ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°You up for another fight?¡± Helianna took a moment to roll her shoulder and shake everything around before frowning. Her balance felt slightly off and her shoulder screamed for mercy. She was pretty sure she had gotten lucky with the knife wound as she was able to move her shoulder around still. It must have missed the meat of her muscle. Apparently, Sasha had not anticipated her to deliberately take the hit, which had made her partially miss.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be at full capacity, but I can put up a fight,¡± she responded after several moments. ¡°Remember, I can¡¯t receive the same level of healing as everyone else either.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± He turned to the ithrax and pursed his lips. ¡°Isela! Sylas! You¡¯re up!¡±


    Immediately upon seeing them, Helianna had her doubts on the combat potential of this team but tried to suppress her assumptions. There were only two members, which was the smallest amount possible for a team of ithrax and quite rare. The worst part was that neither of them looked particularly combat capable compared to the last team. They were still ithrax so of course they had powerful magic, but against her it barely mattered.


    One was a tijatan, which Helianna assumed to be Isela. Her fur was a beautiful pure white that made her dark eyes stand out. Her eyes weren¡¯t pure black, but it was close enough that from a distance, the color was indistinguishable. She stood tall, but like all members of her species, she looked emaciated. Despite looking so frail, Helianna didn¡¯t have to remind herself of the wicked claws that hung from Isela¡¯s four arms. They could be very deadly with very little force required.


    Sylas didn¡¯t exactly cut an imposing figure either. He was shorter than normal for a kinuze and when standing next to Isela, he looked positively tiny. The glowing eyes that were often intimidating in kinuze looking almost comforting from him as they glowed a soft white. Unfortunately for Helianna, neither of them showcased their affinities before the fight started, leaving her in the dark. They both got in position, with the sandy-skinned Sylas much closer, clearly their closer range fighter as he also had a sword.


    ¡°Begin!¡± yelled out one of the instructors.


    Isela jumped and¡­ didn¡¯t come down. In only a moment, she was easily over a hundred feet in the air and she spread out her arms, letting her membrane catch the air.


    Helianna was surprised and distracted as Sylas remained where he was and threw a punch. Despite being far away, his fist flew towards her, stopping barely an inch from face due to her magic nullification. Despite knowing that Helianna¡¯s nullification would stop his space magic, Sylas threw a large number of punches towards her face in quick succession. Not knowing if it would work, Helianna tried to catch one of his arms, but the nullification still applied and his arm seemed to teleport before she could latch on.


    Helianna rushed forward, but struggled to see due to the barrage of punches flying inches from her face. She put her arms up to stop them, which helped slightly, but now she was blocking much of her own vision. At the same time as he threw the constant punches, Sylas continuously backpedaled in an attempt to keep his distance from her.


    Fortunately, she was faster than him and when she reached him, she swung her dagger. As she did so, Sylas threw another jab, blinding a large portion of her vision and making her miss. As he pulled his hand back in a way that seemed to break the laws of physics, she immediately became aware of a sword swinging down at her from Sylas¡¯ other hand.


    Knowing she didn¡¯t have time to block it, she closed in, making his attack deliver less power. Regardless of her attempt, it still cut down to the bone of her arm, nearly eliciting a scream from her as she dropped her dagger. She crashed into him, and they slammed down to the floor, causing him to drop his sword as well.


    As they hit the ground, they both rolled and Helianna scrambled to grab her dropped knife. As she did so, he clawed at her wound, this time forcing the scream out of her mouth. Gritting her teeth, she bore through the pain to grab her knife, which she managed to turn and stab into his gut.


    ¡°I will keep stabbing until you die or you can make sure you get healed,¡± she growled out. ¡°Either way, this fight is over for you.¡± He narrowed his eyes before releasing his hold and collapsing on the ground to the side of her. Helianna clumsily and painfully stood up, trying to find Isela. When she did, her eyes widened in shock and terror. Isela was rocketing toward her at a speed beyond Helianna¡¯s comprehension, clearly attempting some crazy and suicidal plan.


    Helianna tried to dodge out of the way, but didn¡¯t have time. The last thing she saw before the tijatan crashed into her was the girl¡¯s crazy eyes as she cackled in joy. The force of the impact instantly rendered Helianna unconscious.


    Almost an hour later, Helianna woke up with a pounding headache. It took her some time to remember where she was, the unfamiliar view of the cart interior confusing her. She heard a battle going on and when she slowly sat up and looked, she saw that her instructor had taken her place. She collapsed back on the cart and remained there for the rest of the day, trying to recover.


    Later in the afternoon, she learned the outcome of her second fight. Alongside Helianna, the tijatan who took her down had been knocked unconscious and severely injured. The girl had actually been injured so badly that the decision had been to simply kill her so she could respawn instead of healing her, due to a faster recovery. The fight was declared a double loss because ¡®there¡¯s no such thing as a victory if everybody is dead.¡¯


    Eventually they returned back to The Academy where she spent the next few weeks recovering. If she hadn¡¯t been a null, it would have taken a fraction of the time due to magical healing, but she had to recover without it. Afterwards, she returned to her normal training, which lasted for about a year before something finally changed. She received her first mission.

 Chapter 9: First Mission

    ¡°Alright Helianna, for this mission, you¡¯ll be paired with a full team of higher trained ithrax. You are working with them, but you do not have the same mission and should act accordingly. They will not know who you are or what you look like and you should keep it that way. If they were to run into you in the academy after this mission, they should not recognize you.¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°How am I supposed to hide that twenty four-seven?¡± she exclaimed indignantly.


    ¡°You should already have the knowledge and expertise to do this and this is a good first mission to apply it. I won¡¯t die if you fail.


    Your mission is to assassinate Duke Estletog of Arington.¡± He paused for a moment, clearly expecting a response from her.


    ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t he a major player in the war? Arington is a part of Empodia, right?¡± She opened her mouth to continue, but another thought made her briefly pause before continuing.


    ¡°He¡¯s been largely unsuccessful though, especially recently. If we¡¯re targeting him, I assume he broke the rules of war? He would only do that if he was desperate or stupid, either one seems likely.¡±


    Her instructor could see when the spark of understanding ignited in her eyes as his silence prompted her to continue.


    ¡°Even though he¡¯s an Empodian general, this will help Empodia, won¡¯t it? He¡¯s a terrible strategist and has largely failed throughout the war. If his successor is a better strategist, this assassination could help Empodia fairly significantly. That¡¯s of course assuming the assassination doesn¡¯t cause too much chaos. If Okegora takes advantage and wipes out his army, it could help them too. Are we sure it was him? Could he have been led to it by someone else who wanted to get rid of him in hopes to aid the war effort?¡±


    She thought she saw a hint of approval cross her instructor¡¯s face, but the moment was fleeting and she wasn¡¯t confident she saw it.


    ¡°We have thorough intelligence in place and we can be confident that it was his idea. He is in a desperate situation, and will undoubtedly fall soon regardless of our intervention. However, we need to make an example of him. If we do not discourage these acts done in desperation, they will continue. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°When will I be leaving?¡±


    ¡°You will be leaving with the ithrax in twenty four hours. Take the time to prepare.¡± Helianna nodded and they turned away from each other in unison, one much more confident than the other in the following mission.


    Helianna spent the next day nervously preparing materials. She knew she¡¯d have to carry everything on her, so prioritization was important. She barely had time to break for food as she scrambled to make and pack everything she needed. She first had to identify everything she needed as well as make portions of it. Thankfully however, most was already made due spending a year making them every day. She always had spares.


    Once she was done, she spent her time crafting a disguise and a persona to match it. She would have to act as the persona all day every day for a long time. She wanted it to be quite different from herself, but not too exhausting.


    The instructor had told her that they had no knowledge of her and she should reveal little. They were ithrax, so they should be able to be trusted, but her instructor wouldn¡¯t have her hide her identity for no reason. It could purely be for practice, but she wasn¡¯t so sure.


    She¡¯d approach it like they were an enemy force. That¡¯s what the training was preparing her for, so she¡¯d treat it as such. If she was working with people that she didn¡¯t trust, what persona would she want them to see? Someone friendly? Maybe slightly naive, but not too much. Too much could cause problems. Maybe she could portray herself as naive about things that don¡¯t match her work. It would take their attention away from her work but also wouldn¡¯t bring her competency into question. That could be useful.


    Following that train of thought, she came across a decision. She would try to be a bubbly extrovert who just wants to make friends with her team. It may be a little too much compared to her normal self, but as her instructor said, it¡¯s good training. Better to go too far when it¡¯s safe than make a mistake later on. To try and boost the idea of friendly innocence, she tried to add that to her disguise. She padded out her face to make it seem rounder and made her nose looks smaller. She tried to make her eyes seem larger, but there¡¯s only so much she could do without actually changing the size of her face. By the time she finished, it was already morning of the next day and she sighed. No sleep tonight. She did a last check of her work and went to meet her instructor.


    When she saw him, she immediately dropped into her persona, hoping to get in some practice before she¡¯d meet with the team.


    ¡°Good morning instructor!¡± she hollered out while beaming. He raised an eyebrow in response.


    ¡°So this is what you chose?¡± He asked, so she crossed her arms and pouted. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Well I gotta choose something¡­¡± She straightened and her eyes lit up as she pointed at him. ¡°And besides! You¡¯re the one that told me this was good training for me. Better to go extreme now, so it¡¯s your fault.¡± Neglecting to respond, he gave her a deadpan look and walked away.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t ignore me!¡± She furrowed her brows as she skipped ahead of him and turned around, something she found quite difficult with her large pack on her back. He sighed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± she drawled as she rolled her eyes before muttering ¡°spoilsport¡± just loud enough for him to hear. The rest of the way to the meeting was spent in silence, during which Helianna was starting to regret her decision. This persona was going to be harder to maintain than she thought. She glanced at her instructor before shaking her head. She¡¯d stick with it. If it proved to be too much, she¡¯d learn from it. It wasn¡¯t until the elevator opened that she realized they were on the bottom floor and the meeting would be in one of the side rooms. This would be the first time she¡¯d ever use the meeting room. She internally braced herself as they opened the door, unsure if the team would be there first.


    ¡°Hi everyone! I assume you¡¯ll be the team I¡¯m working with?¡± She smiled at the group assembled in front her, who were now all staring at her unnervingly. She bounced up to them and stuck out her hand. ¡°My name¡¯s Holly. Nice to meet you all and I¡¯m looking forward to working with you. Is this everyone?¡± There was a brief pause where the team members all glanced at each other before one stepped up to shake her hand.


    As he stepped up to her, she noticed how tall he was. He was probably near seven feet tall and was large enough to avoid looking lanky, but he was still thin. He had ash-grey skin and red eyes, giving him an almost demonic appearance, but short strawberry blonde hair helped diminish it.


    ¡°The name¡¯s Vir. I¡¯m the ice user of our group. I typically fight in the front line and for some insane reason, they see me as their leader. ¡± he said and smiled wryly for a brief moment. ¡°And the rest of the team isn¡¯t joining us. I don¡¯t know what you were told, but our other two members often don¡¯t work with us. We don¡¯t work well together.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that unusual? I thought ithrax cells always worked together.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Vir said, sighing. ¡°It is very rare that a group doesn¡¯t work well, but it happens.¡± There was a brief awkward silence before a kinuze stepped forward.


    ¡°I¡¯m the fire fighter of the group!¡± exclaimed the woman as Vir rolled his eyes. She was somewhat short, standing a few inches shorter than Helianna. She had sandy colored skin and bright green eyes that seemed to bore into Helianna. The kinuze grinned at Vir¡¯s exasperation as she continued. ¡°Unlike Vir, some of us have a sense of fun and humor, like me! I¡¯m Reina.¡±


    ¡°Good to know! Nice to meet ya!¡± Before the others had a chance to talk, Reina decided to do their introductions.


    ¡°Tall, dark and broody over there is our darkness mage. Her name¡¯s Zoe and she can do some teleporty thingy with shadows so she¡¯s our scout and sneak attacker.¡± The woman mentioned was scowling at them with her arms crossed. She had short black hair and dark brown skin with light blue eyes. These were all among the more common human colorations, but still made a striking visual. Helianna would have mistaken her for a man if she hadn¡¯t just learned otherwise. A slightly mischievous smile crossed Helianna¡¯s face.


    ¡°Bit of a stereotype, much? What next? Are you going to tell me you don¡¯t trust me and be a stick in the mud? Not a fan of socializing? Prefer to go scouting instead of hanging out with everyone?¡± The rogue¡¯s scowl deepened as Helianna¡¯s smile widened. She noticed the rest of the team trying to hide their mirth, with a single man being entirely successful. Reina couldn¡¯t hold it in and let out a raucous and snorting laugh.


    ¡°Oh my gosh! You absolutely nailed it! I never realized how bad she was but you¡¯re right! Hear that, Zoe?! You¡¯re a walking stereotype!¡± At this point, Helianna was sure that if Zoe scowled any harder, she¡¯d pull a muscle. She then spoke, barely loud enough for Helianna to hear over Reina¡¯s laughing.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just get introductions over with so we can go over the mission.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. But you¡¯re just too easy to tease,¡± ribbed Reina. Before she could introduce the next person, he stepped up on his own. It was the one that managed to hide his laughter. He was barely taller than Helianna, standing a little under six feet, but built like a barrel. If they got in a fight, he was not a person she''d want to get tackled by. He had peach skin and blonde hair with bright purple eyes that almost seemed to glow.


    ¡°The name¡¯s Zane. I¡¯m a gravity mage. Looking forward to working with you, as long as you can hold your own weight.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m planning on it.¡±


    He simply nodded before relaxing back into his seat. She turned towards the last team member, who had been leaning against the table and filing his claws. He was a tijatan, although quite short for his species. He was not much taller than Vir, making him a little under seven feet tall. His fur was almost pure white and he had pale red eyes, leading her to think he may be albino. He stood up and gave a small bow, but she couldn¡¯t tell if it was supposed to be serious or mocking.


    ¡°Jayen, at your service. Sovereign mage, typically used for support.¡± His statement shocked her for a brief moment. Sovereign mages always led, that¡¯s what they were supposed to do. And not only was he not leading, but seemed to be taking it less seriously than any of them. He continued as she schooled her expression. ¡°I look forward to cooperating with you and hope you do as well.¡±


    Immediately following that statement, she felt the magic within her stir and react to something unknown. She internally panicked, trying to tamp it down, but it never left her body, instead almost seeming to reinforce itself. In an instant, Jayen¡¯s casual smirk disappeared. All of his attention shifted to her and he became deadly serious. His eyes narrowed for a moment before he returned to his initial temperament as if nothing happened. The team had clearly noticed, but acted as if nothing happened, ringing alarm bells through Helianna¡¯s head. Before anything could come of it, she heard the voice of her instructor behind her.


    ¡°Congratulations. You are all friends now. Duke Estletog of Arington has attempted and fortunately failed to simulate a meteor strike with a large collection of gravity mages, breaking the established rules of war. Your mission is to publicly execute the Duke to make an example. We have another team that will be handling his mages. How you accomplish this mission is up to you, but we will be monitoring you. This must be accomplished before his forces fall, but the sooner the better. May the gods challenge you in your steps.¡±


    Before anybody had a chance to talk, he stepped out of the room and disappeared. After a brief moment of silence, Vir spoke up.


    ¡°Well, looks like we¡¯ve got our mission.¡±

 Chapter 10: Discovery

    It didn¡¯t take long for everyone to gather their things and leave. They worked efficiently and within only a few minutes Helianna found herself talking to Reina as they boarded the boat. Apparently, her and Vir served as the teams¡¯ spokesmen, Vir because he was the leader and Reina because she was the best socially. Seeing how the introductions had gone, Helianna couldn¡¯t help but agree with Reina¡¯s assessment.


    Unfortunately for Helianna, this trip was also on a ship. Her seasickness reared its head once more, but not nearly as bad this time, partially because it was much shorter. Her instructor had also taught her a few methods on how to reduce seasickness, including some forms of meditation. Unfortunately, their benefits were limited. She still spent several hours bent over the railing, but was able to get herself together just in time for them to arrive.


    Reina had been quite sympathetic of her seasickness, but Helianna had felt Zoe¡¯s eyes boring into her back. Even through her sickness, Helianna found it entertaining how much Zoe fit her stereotype. This was the perfect example, as Zoe was glaring at Helianna for something she could barely control.


    Once the team arrived on land, they bought a simple carriage with the academy¡¯s funds. It was quite small for the five of them and their luggage, but most of the team was used to each other. Helianna was the only one uncomfortable, primarily because she was concerned about her facade slipping. The carriage ride started out fairly silent regardless of Helianna¡¯s attempts at conversation, even with Reina. It felt strange and Helianna couldn¡¯t help putting her guard up.


    Once the carriage had left the city in the distance, the team finally acted, confirming her suspicions. She barely had a moment to recognize movement before she found Vir launching a blast of ice at her. Due to her training, she didn¡¯t even flinch, instead rushing through the magic and grabbing the hand that he had used to shoot at her.


    She quickly twisted his wrist and locked it into a painful position, providing her leverage. She applied pressure as she rotated her body, forcing him to follow along or have his wrist shattered. He stumbled and she took the moment to shift her grip and twist his arm behind his back. Once again in a painful position, he was unable to resist as she pulled him backwards. Helianna now had her back to the carriage door with Vir blocking any of the others from approaching her. The rest of the team stared at her in shock, none of them having time to register what she¡¯d done


    ¡°What the fuck is going on?!¡± Helianna yelled.


    Nobody responded, all too shocked to formulate a response.


    ¡°Explain before I dislocate his shoulder or shatter his wrist! I can do either one right now.¡±


    ¡°Calm down for just a moment. It was a misunderstanding.¡± called out Jayen. She inexplicably felt her magic react to something like it did during their initial introduction. This time, her magic seemed delayed, almost as if it struggled to resist whatever Jayen had done. There was silence throughout the carriage as the moment passed. Jayen was the one to break the silence.


    ¡°How¡¯s that possible?¡± Jayen asked in disbelief.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Helianna demanded. ¡°And why won¡¯t anybody tell me what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    ¡°We thought you were lying!¡± blurted out Reina. ¡°We thought you were pretending to be a null! And this mission is very important for us¡­¡± the last sentence seemed to come out unbidden, tapering off at the end so Helianna could barely hear it.


    ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain attacking me!¡±


    ¡°We thought you might be dangerous if we brought it up normally. We just wanted to immobilize you so we could talk.¡±


    ¡°I am dangerous. I¡¯m an assassin! That¡¯s my job! That was a stupid idea! And why did you think I wasn¡¯t null?¡±


    ¡°That was me,¡± responded Jayen. ¡°I have a habit of passively using my sovereign magic when talking to people. But when it hit you, instead of influencing you or being absorbed by you, it was rebuffed. That only happens when the other person has their own sovereign magic.¡±


    ¡°He made a mistake,¡± interjected Reina. ¡°And we acted on it. Please-¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t, ¡° Jayen interrupted. ¡°I didn¡¯t make a mistake. It happened again just a few moments ago. So I repeat what I said earlier. How¡¯s. That. Possible?¡±


    Helianna¡¯s mind immediately went into overdrive and she had to focus on not panicking. This was her biggest secret and they had discovered it immediately. It took her a few moments before she had a handle on her emotions, where she then focused on making a response. The others saw none of this however, only seeing her stone-faced and silent.


    ¡°How am I supposed to know?¡± Helianna asked, still unsure what to say but realizing she needed to respond.


    ¡°Are you sure it was her?¡± Reina asked Jayen. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s sovereign runes on her clothes and that¡¯s what you¡¯re combating?¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t make sense,¡± responded Jayen.


    ¡°Also, that¡¯s not how nulls work.¡± Helianna injrected. ¡°Our nullification affects our clothes as well. Otherwise, you¡¯d see naked nulls everytime they ran into a fire user.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting off topic!¡± retorted Jayen.


    Vir finally spoke despite the pressure on his shoulder and wrist.


    ¡°Look, we did this because we believed that you were a sovereign mage pretending to be a null. With that information, we thought that you were jeopardizing and likely actively sabotaging our mission.


    We now know that you¡¯re not. And regardless of what¡¯s going on with his sovereign magic, it doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯ve now proven both that you¡¯re null and capable, so we have no quarrel with you.¡± He then looked directly at Jayen as he continued speaking. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°We understand you may have your secrets and we will let this go.¡±


    ¡°But-¡± Jayen tried to interject, but Vir spoke over him.


    ¡°We attacked through a false assumption and in return, we can at least afford her some respect and privacy, assuming she doesn¡¯t dislocate my shoulder right now. Understood?¡±


    Almost like a switch was flipped, Jayen¡¯s face instantly shifted from serious and accusing to the laid-back and relaxed manner she was used to.


    ¡°Yeah, I can do that,¡± he said as he relaxed back against the seat.


    ¡°Now Holly, you¡¯ve heard what I¡¯ve said. We¡¯ll forget whatever that is if you¡¯ll forget our blunder. Will that work or is there something else you want?¡±


    Initially confused by being called by her fake name, silence reigned throughout the carriage as Helianna took her time responding. For Vir, who was still held in a painful hold by Helianna, it seemed to last forever, almost going on for a whole minute before she eventually spoke.


    ¡°Your silence on this. Even from the academy.¡±


    ¡°Done,¡± Vir instantly responded. ¡°It never hurts to have something in your back pocket, especially if we can work alongside each other. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°Jayen helps me prevent that from happening again. I don¡¯t want this to be discovered by every person who has sovereign magic.¡± She saw Jayen blink in surprise for a brief moment before recovering.


    ¡°I can do that.¡± Jayen said slowly. ¡°A warning though, I¡¯m not sure how successful I¡¯ll be. Normally, it¡¯s the opposite issue. Fighting back against other sovereigns is normally difficult, instead of struggling to avoid fighting back.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Helianna stated and let go of Vir, causing him to stumble forward rubbing his shoulder. ¡°On a different note, that was a very stupid plan. If freezing me somehow didn¡¯t work, like it did, we were in very close proximity. I had the perfect opportunity to retaliate and you guys wouldn¡¯t be able to fight without hitting each other.¡±


    Vir blushed slightly and scratched his neck. ¡°Yeah, maybe not my brightest plan. But I¡¯m certainly not going to be forgetting that mistake anytime soon,¡± he said as he rolled his wrist. Zane finally spoke up as he sat down and relaxed slightly.


    ¡°So regardless of how, we now have a null that can at least partially utilize sovereign magic. We could use that for the mission, couldn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Possibly,¡± Vir responded. ¡°It depends on her capability.¡± He nodded to himself before continuing. ¡°Well, it looks like you¡¯re definitely getting trained. If not just for the agreement, it could be useful here.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you will still have something to fulfill afterwards.¡± Helianna declared. ¡°I assume you¡¯ll have to make a report. It will need to be fudged. I do not want people to have knowledge of this.¡±


    ¡°Understandable, and we can do that.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be the first time,¡± Reina interjected with a wink. The atmosphere slowly relaxed as the carriage trundled down the road at Zoe¡¯s direction. She¡¯d been guiding the carriage and had missed the entire altercation. She was called in and updated on the situation before she went back up to guide the carriage for the rest of the morning.


    While she was there, the team started planning, which continued over the following days. Zane, Reina, and Vir were the primary contributors of the plan, while Zoe occasionally joined in if she wasn¡¯t sleeping or ¡®scouting¡¯ outside the carriage. Honestly, Helianna simply believed she didn¡¯t want to be in the carriage with the rest of them, particularly her. Zoe had she didn¡¯t like or trust ¡®Holly¡¯, which was largely due to the rough introduction. Helianna¡¯s saving grace was that her revealed ability would likely help their mission go smoother.


    During this time, Helianna and Jayen spent much of the time trying to train her in magic. Apparently, Helianna¡¯s magic worked completely differently than sovereign magic normally would, despite Jayan confirming that it was indeed sovereign. It was completely different from any magic as far as Jayen knew.


    Normally, learning magic was intuitive, although difficult. The basic knowledge of what to do was ingrained in people¡¯s heads, but they lacked the skill. Having the understanding was only the first step. Learning typically required an immense amount of training, both in controlling the power of it as well as its direction. He could have taught her entire lessons on the methods of learning and each step of the process, but they quickly threw that out the window.


    Her magic seemed to work completely opposite of normal magic. She had no clue what she was doing. Her countless hours trying to practice while hidden in her room were testament to that. Additionally, her magic never felt like the complex, arduous and finely tuned craft that it was for others. She simply had to guide it and her own magic would do the work. This was apparently what happened earlier. She had been on guard and wary of them. When his sovereign magic washed over her, her own magic instantly fought back. While interesting, it was also frustrating. Once she realized what was happening and stopped it, they were able to confirm that she could absorb sovereign magic like a normal null. Which brought up an important question to Helianna. What was the point of her sovereign magic reacting?


    While these discoveries were important, moreso to Helianna than the rest of the team, it wasn¡¯t the primary goal. He wanted to teach her how to cut another sovereign¡¯s magical tethers. When he had said that, she had been confused, requiring him to give a proper explanation for what sovereign magic was. She was surprised to realize that she had never been properly taught, but chalked it up to not being important to learn as a null. After learning what it could do however, she quickly changed her mind.


    Sovereign was the magic of leaders. That seemed like stupid statement, but helped her more than she¡¯d like to admit. One of the big things it could do was help read and bolster other¡¯s emotions. This was part of what Jayen did passively. He passively tried to bolster the feeling of security and trust in others, which didn¡¯t entirely sit right with her. The capability to shape and influence thoughts seemed too manipulative for her taste.


    Sovereign magic also helped with command in that the user could help guide others to work together. If used by a powerful individual, they could even command someone to do something against their will. Of course like every magic, it could be used for good or evil. In good hands, it can help a leader hold their people together, on and off the battlefield. In bad hands, it could be used to manipulate and essentially brainwash people


    In her case, she couldn¡¯t do any of these things, and wouldn¡¯t need to either. The team of ithrax would first infiltrate the city. They would then assault the castle by themselves, which seemed absurd to her, but they claimed they would be able to hold out. Her job was to sneak in and reach the duke. He would undoubtedly be using his own sovereign magic to significantly boost his own troops coordination and morale. Instead of killing the man, she would use her own sovereign magic to assault his, cutting off that connection to his troops.


    The team would then use the following disorientation and weaker defenses to punch through the defenders and enter the castle. They would then come to the duke and publicly denounce him as they executed him from atop the castle. As far as the crowd and rest of the public would know, she would have never existed and a single team of ithrax would have successfully defeated an entire castle and punished the duke.


    To her it seemed like a simple plan, and one that was way too dangerous. She had no idea how they were supposed to fight the defenders for an extended period of time, much less beat them with only slight disorientation. It seemed impossible, but they were an experienced team that had been on a good number of missions, so she decided to trust their competency. After all, she wasn¡¯t the one who would be fighting in the battle.

 Chapter 11: The Duke

    Upon arriving at the city, Helianna immediately split up with the rest of the team. To preserve the illusion that the ithrax were working by themselves, they needed to avoid being associated with her. As such, Helianna had to find her way into the city by herself, but she wasn¡¯t particularly worried. She was more worried about them.


    This kind of covert operation was what she trained for, and she had no worries about getting in. The rest of the team, however, were not. They were trained to fight. Once they were close to visual range, she got out of the carriage and watched Reina take the reins. Reina was going to be the one doing the talking when they arrived, which was undoubtedly their best shot at getting in without issues. Jayen would probably do fairly well due to being able to influence the guards with his magic. He preferred Reina do it however, and they didn¡¯t want to risk running into someone with training in resisting sovereign magic. Despite his reasoning, Helianna had a hard time trusting this was legitimate, believing that he was more likely being lazy.


    She waited until nightfall before heading towards the outer walls of the city, laughing to herself about what she was about to do. She was going to climb the wall. It was silly and possibly a bit stupid, but she could manage it with her improved climbing skills and she was feeling a bit nostalgic. She probably could have easily gotten herself through the gate, but she wanted to do this. She had begun her journey as an assassin trying and largely failing to climb a city wall. Now her first mission would begin with her climbing a city wall at a much improved rate. Besides, she had learned to enjoy climbing and if she had the capabilities, why not?


    She made it to the top of the wall without much difficulty and took a second to marvel at how much she¡¯d changed in the past four years. She¡¯d gone from a baker to an assassin, now better at cooking poisons than bread and able to scale city walls with ease.


    A soldiers¡¯ footsteps as they made rounds on the wall knocked her out of her reverie and she quietly dashed away. She had hoped to sleep in an inn or similar establishment, but knew it would be hopeless. Assuming any of the owners were awake, they would only assume she was there to rob them at this time of night.


    Fortunately, the weather was clear, allowing her to sleep on a roof. While far from desirable, it would be cleaner than sleeping in an alley and would have less risk of waking up to being robbed. She climbed the nearest building, a trivial task after climbing the wall, but found a problem. The roof she had chosen had an access point from the top floor of the building. It was of course closed, but the entryway removed half of the benefits of sleeping up on top. It took several more attempts to find a building without a rooftop entrance, but immediately took advantage of the first one she found and went to sleep.


    She woke up to the dawn sun blazing through her eyelids and struggled to suppress a groan. It had barely been more than a couple of hours since she went to sleep and knew that she¡¯d have to do the mission regardless. She¡¯d need to take extra care not to make a stupid mistake due to her lack of sleep. She climbed down from the roof quickly but carefully, making sure to avoid being seen. She then spent the next few hours exploring and observing the castle while trying to ignore her growing nerves. By the time afternoon rolled around, she was struggling to keep still from the nervousness thundering through her. She made her way to the drawbridge at the planned time, which was still up.


    It didn¡¯t take long before she saw the team, but it was missing someone. It took her a moment to remember who. It was Zane, who hadn¡¯t made as much of an impression on her. Before she had a chance to spot him, she saw Vir launch two pale blue orbs from his outstretched hands. They made contact with the chains holding up the drawbridge and ice exploded out as if alive, snaking around them. She heard gasps from the crowd around her, but she knew the show wasn¡¯t over.


    She didn¡¯t see him coming, but suddenly Zane was above her, launching himself through the air towards the drawbridge. He fell slightly short, but managed to reach up and grab onto the end of the drawbridge before pulling himself up to stand on its edge. He raised his arms up in the air as if calling to the heavens before swiftly jerking his hands down to his sides. In perfect sync the ice surrounding the chains disappeared and the massive chains shattered under the weight of Zane¡¯s gravity magic. The drawbridge swung silently for a terrifying moment before slamming down with a thud that reverberated through the ground, making everybody stumble. An alarm bell started ringing and the people around her panicked. Using the chaos to her advantage, Helianna dipped into the entrance of a nearby alley to watch and wait.


    The team stood back, waiting for the defense to exit into the town. For the passersby, it probably seemed like confidence and condescension on their part, but in reality, they were giving Helianna an opportunity. Before long, a whole swarm of soldiers exited the castle, throwing magical attacks at the team. Vir and Reina however, stood at the front, using their own magic to redirect or completely block their attacks. The melee combatants quickly arrived, most of which were also using magic. In moments, the fight devolved into chaos.


    Seeing her opportunity when someone tried to flank the team, Helianna dashed out and grabbed the soldier from behind. The man she grabbed tried to yell out, but a strong strike to the temple rendered him unconscious as she hurriedly dragged him into the alley. After taking a moment to make sure nobody was around to see her, she undressed him. She had underestimated how difficult it was to undress a fully grown man when they were limp, and it took her a painfully long time.


    She put his clothes on, which felt absolutely disgusting due to the small amount of sweat she could feel on the clothes. She then took a moment to observe the fighting and winced. Many were already dead, defending the castle from a simple distraction. She knew many of them were simply following orders and had nothing to do with the duke¡¯s actions, and couldn¡¯t help but feel guilty.


    She shook the thoughts from her head and rushed out into the fray. Instantly, she identified a multitude of victims who she could take advantage of, and she chose the one closest. One of his arms was a charred stump and much of his uniform was burned away or melted onto his skin. He clearly couldn¡¯t see through his burned eyes as he tried to crawl away, crying out in pain. She rushed over to him, using his remaining arm to pull him into a fireman¡¯s carry.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got you,¡± she tried to say in a calming manner. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you to a healer.¡±


    Glad that he didn¡¯t resist, she carrying him past the other soldiers and over the drawbridge.


    They hadn¡¯t even lowered the portcullis, which seemed incredibly stupid. If the obvious enemies are being obvious, they¡¯re probably a distraction. Grateful for their carelessness, she looked around for a few moments for a place to take the wounded. Instead, she noticed several healers scrambling around the courtyard trying to save who they could instead of taking them back to a central area. She frowned as she knew this would undoubtedly result in most of the wounded receiving subpar treatment, but put the man down anyways. Helianana immediately broke into a quick jog, doing her best to look like she belonged.


    She opened the castle door and burst through, immediately running into a servant. Helianna briefly apologized as she rushed past the scared woman and deeper into the castle. She ran into several servants on her way, none of them giving her more than a passing glance. Once again, she found herself amazed at their carelessness, but could only be grateful. It only made her job easier. It took her quite a while to navigate the castle, and she had to force herself to stop panicking more than once. Every second that she spent trying to find the duke was more time her team was fighting an overwhelming force. Of course, the number of enemies wouldn¡¯t decrease once she interrupted the duke, but their cohesion would be broken.


    She found a stairwell that she thought would lead to the duke when she ran into another problem. Another soldier.


    ¡°What are you doing here?!¡± He demanded. She took notice of his uniform and the decorative embroidery along his shoulders. He was definitely in charge.


    ¡°Wait, who are you? I don¡¯t recognize you,¡± he stated warily. She instantly knew she didn¡¯t have a chance of bluffing her way through this. Even if she could, she couldn¡¯t waste the time. She swung for his neck, her dagger appearing instantly in her hands. Despite her swiftness, his reaction time was immaculate as he jerked backwards and fell onto the steps, receiving a small nick instead of the lethal wound she aimed for.


    ¡°Stop.¡± he commanded and she instantly recognized the sovereign magic that pulsed out of him. Stolen novel; please report.


    As she felt it brush up against her own magic, an idea instantly formed in her head. She let her magic resist for a very brief moment before forcing it to acquiesce and let the magic course through her. Of course, being a null, she was not beholden to his command. She still froze, pretending to be stopped. He slowly stood up and put a hand to his neck, feeling the small amount of blood she¡¯d drawn.


    ¡°So that¡¯s their plan? The mighty ithrax sent a pitiful assassin? Not even a good one at that.¡±


    She fumed at his dismissal, but forced herself to remain still. Did the fool really believe that an assassin wouldn¡¯t coat her blades in poison?


    ¡°Who are you? You¡¯re clearly not an ithrax or someone like me wouldn¡¯t have been able to get such a strong hold over you. Are you just some random mercenary they hired?¡± He shook his head and scowled. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, we¡¯ll get it out of you.¡±


    ¡°Drop your knife.¡± This greater complexity of the command made it easier to resist and she was barely able to prevent her magic from lashing out before she dropped the knife. ¡°Follow me.¡± he commanded as he brushed past her down the hall.


    She once again put up a token resistance before turning to follow him. In that moment, he stumbled, likely from the effect of the quickly-working poison. He nearly fell down the steps before righting himself, but the damage was done. Before he fully regained his footing, she struck with another knife straight into the back of his neck and he collapsed.


    She felt guilty for a moment once again but she squashed it down. Besides, he was clearly a fool that didn¡¯t belong in his position. He hadn¡¯t picked up the dropped knife nor searched her for more knives. Furthermore, the command he had given her to follow had no bearing on whether or not she was allowed to kill him. In fact, it would have made it easier for her as it negated the stop command. Even if she¡¯d been affected by his magic, she still could have killed him. She shook her head in disbelief and picked up her knife before continuing up the stairs.


    It didn¡¯t take much longer for her to find the room the duke was residing in, whose door was wide open. Despite their poor security she still remained cautious as she entered. The other side of the room opened out into a balcony that she could see overlooked the town. There stood the Duke, undoubtedly watching over the battle to help inspire and unify his troops through his magic. As she crept closer to him, a sudden clang rang out and the Duke jumped.


    In an instant, a heavily armored man appeared between her and the Duke, seemingly out of nowhere. She looked at him and gave him a strange look. He had overly large armor that seemed like it would be a hindrance more than a help. There were unique green designs across his armor, none of which were representational but gave his armor a unique look. She also noticed a chain that hung from one shoulder to the other as if mimicking a necklace and a small bit of chain hanging from his waist, although it had clearly been broken. The Duke turned and upon seeing Helianna, screamed at the armored man.


    ¡°What the hell is she doing here? How is she here?! Who is she?!¡± Despite not being able to read the armored man¡¯s expressions through his helmet, she could swear he seemed to roll his eyes as he answered.


    ¡°She is likely another ithrax that used the attack as a distraction so she could come here and kill you, sir.¡±


    ¡°Well, then what are you waiting for? Kill her!¡± demanded the duke.


    ¡°You know my conditions-¡± the ¡®knight¡¯ started to say, but the duke interrupted him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care! Just do your damn job, you dumbass!¡± After a moment, the knight slowly drew his sword and got into a fighting stance. In response, Helianna took out her two daggers, knowing this was a bad matchup.


    The man suddenly disappeared again and she immediately knew he was using spatial magic. She whipped her head around and saw the expected attack coming as he swung his sword at her. She dropped to the ground and brought her dagger up to help deflect the powerful sideswipe he had attacked with. It barely missed her head and she was certain she could feel the wind as it swept past her. He tried to stomp on her ankle, but she managed to pull it away in time. Using the forward moment, the man thrust his sword towards her chest.


    She had scrambled backwards and he was too far away for a standard strike, but used his spatial magic to extend the length of his sword. It rushed towards her chest before she could react, but it didn¡¯t matter. The sword halted in its tracks, barely even putting a hole in her shirt. Expecting her to be dead, he paused as he pulled his sword away. Seeing the pause in the fighting, the duke shouted out.


    ¡°What are you doing?! Stop toying with her and just teleport her out of here!¡± The knight¡¯s sigh was audible this time.


    ¡°Sir, that will take a significant amount of mana and I may not be able to defend you when the ithrax make it through.¡±


    ¡°Did I stutter? And stop calling me a simple sir, I am your lord!¡± At this point, the duke was screaming at the top of his lungs, spittle flying from his mouth. The knight stared at the duke for a long moment before he responded.


    ¡°Very well, my lord.¡± He extended an arm out to Helianna and¡­ nothing happened. ¡°What?!¡± He exclaimed and Helianna smirked as she stood up properly. ¡°You¡¯re a null,¡± he stated in shock.


    ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°Ah, in that case-¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, you imbecile! Just kill her then!¡± The knight disappeared and Helianna spun around, expecting another attack, but he wasn¡¯t there. She turned back around only to see the knight bringing the pommel of his sword to the back of the duke¡¯s head. The duke collapsed and the knight sauntered to the wall next to her as he sheathed his sword.


    ¡°I will not get in your way any longer. I will simply retrieve some of my items and be on my way.¡±


    ¡°You are not loyal to him?¡±


    ¡°Never was. He hired me.¡± He put a hand on the wall, and pushed some bricks back. He was then able to get a better grip on the surrounding bricks and started delicately pulling the bricks out by hand. ¡°He was a fool, but he served his purpose.¡±


    ¡°And what was that?¡±


    ¡°Before I answer that, I have a question. What was his crime?¡± she looked at him incredulously.


    ¡°You tried to simulate a meteor strike, which has been a war-crime for centuries!¡± Helianna yelled out.


    He took a few moments before he responded and she couldn¡¯t read his body language.


    ¡°I wonder if that¡¯s what they actually believe or if it¡¯s just what they¡¯re feeding you.¡±


    Immediately sensing what he was implying, Helianna calmed down and changed her approach. ¡°So what is it that you claim happened?¡± she asked, not fully trusting him. He sighed and looked down.


    ¡°An experiment gone wrong.¡± He sighed again. ¡°And he became the scapegoat. Keeps my organization safe from blame. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re curious as to what mechanism was used to detect your presence?¡± She narrowed her eyes as he leaned into the hole in the wall he had made. She heard a snap and he pulled out a strange device barely larger than his hand. He then started walking to the wall on the opposite side of the room and opened another hole in the wall as he spoke.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if The Academy is aware and just doesn¡¯t want someone in your position to be fully aware or if they really are just clueless about what really happened. Sadly, I¡¯m more inclined to believe the former.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to tell me what you used to detect my presence or not?¡±


    ¡°I will not, but I think you can probably get some idea from what I¡¯m doing now.¡± He cocked his head and paused for a moment before continuing. ¡°Considering how quiet it is, I can only assume that the battle has finished so I want to say one last thing before they arrive. Question The Academy.¡±


    The tone of his voice shifted, almost like he was quoting someone.


    ¡°They are not the infallible system that protects the world from predatory and evil people. Granted, they do a bunch of that, but why? Is it truly altruistic? Is there ever any system that is really altruistic? Be it as big as a multi-national superpower or as small as a city council, all systems that lead people are inherently self-serving even when working towards a positive goal. After all, it¡¯s impossible to lead your people if you¡¯re not the one leading.¡±


    He leaned into the hole in the wall once more, this time pulling out a much larger device that required both hands for him to lift. Once it was out of the wall, he put the smaller device on the larger one and picked them both up.


    ¡°The question is, are they leading us in the right direction? Maybe they are, but you¡¯re working with them more than me. You have a greater chance of helping people, whether that¡¯s for The Academy or against them. Even if you investigate, you may look back on this as a strange person just rambling at you, but I¡¯m not so sure. Don¡¯t be a mindless believer. Best of luck to you and I hope we meet again.¡±


    Before she had a chance to say anything, he teleported away, leaving her in bewilderment. She simply remained there for a few moments when the door burst open, revealing her battered team. Instantly, she noticed that Reina was missing.


    ¡°What happened to Reina?¡±


    ¡°We can go over that later,¡± growled Vir. ¡°For now, we need to try and clean ourselves up a little and execute this asshole.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a sink over there,¡± Helianna pointed out distractedly.


    ¡°Zoe?¡± asked Vir and that was when Helianna nearly let out a gasp in surprise. Helianna hadn¡¯t noticed earlier given that Zoe wasn¡¯t bleeding and had been in the back of the group, but Zoe was missing an arm. Zoe casually walked up to the sink and turned it on as if she was completely uninjured. After a moment where nothing happened, a burst of shadows spread from her before dissipating after a few seconds.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± announced Vir. ¡°Clean up quickly, then it¡¯s time for the execution.¡±

 Chapter 12: An Execution

    After taking a few minutes to wash off the worst of the blood, Jayen strode up to the duke with a hard look in his eyes. Vir locked eyes with Helianna, who was still reeling from both the torrent of information from the knight and now the sight of the team.


    ¡°Get outta here. We¡¯ll meet up with you later.¡±


    She briefly nodded before exiting the room. In only a few moments she heard the voice of Jayen booming out over the city with the aid of his magic. She heard him address the people before it quickly became too muffled by the castle walls for her to understand. By the time she exited the castle, the announcement was nearly done, but she still listened in.


    ¡°-and let this be a reminder to all who hear it. For his heinous crimes, not only will this man be executed before you now, but he shall not have his death rites performed, dooming him to an eternity of nothingness!¡±


    Sensing the end of the speech, Helianna looked back towards the tower just in time to see Vir step up alongside Jayen, dragging the duke with him. Zane floated the duke higher in the air, making him clearly visible for everybody below. Vir stood behind him and reached his arms up, where an enormous sword of ice coalesced. In the blink of an eye, he brought it down in a diagonal slash, cutting the man in two. Zane twisted, dramatically launched the two halves in opposite directions all the way down the castle. Without another word, the team turned and disappeared into the castle.


    The city was in shock, first from the chaos of the battle and then the following execution. Many people had not seen it, but within minutes, it seemed the entire city knew and chaos reigned. Much of the city guard had died and with the duke dead, panic kept slowly rising. Helianna knew that any advisors of the noble would likely get a handle over the city, but it would take time.


    None of that mattered to Helianna, who only needed to get out of the city. The ensuing chaos only made it easier to escape and coupled with the weakened security, she simply walked out the gate. About an hour later, she met up with the team in the same location they had dropped her off and noticed Zoe was missing now as well.


    ¡°Is Zoe off brooding somewhere?¡± she asked Vir.


    ¡°No, we killed her.¡± Helianna choked on her own spit in surprise, sending her into a coughing fit. By the time she recovered, she could see them smiling.


    ¡°Clarification please.¡±


    ¡°Better to be dead for a week than missing an arm forever.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Helianna responded apprehensively. ¡°How does that work by the way?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± She shook her head sheepishly. ¡°Alright, so we¡¯re not certain how exactly the magic works, but I can tell you how we use it. Every now and then, we need to meditate together as a team and sync up our mana. When that happens, it syncs up our memories as well as our body state. The last time we did that was right before we left for the mission.


    This meditation session is very important, because we rely on it when we respawn. The person who comes back is restored to the exact same state they were when we synced up, both their body and their mind. We can use this to heal them, like in this cause, but Zoe won¡¯t have any memories of the mission. The next time we sync up, we can fill in her memories partially, but they¡¯ll be from our perspective.


    As soon as one of us dies, like Reina for example, one of us that¡¯s alive needs to start converting the mana attuned to our affinity into unattuned mana. Respawning someone can only use unattuned mana and converting it is very difficult and takes a minimum of a week, but typically longer.¡±


    ¡°What happens if you never unattune your mana? Will they never respawn?¡± she interrupted.


    ¡°No they will, eventually. But by that time, any missing attuned mana will be instantly converted. This is unimaginably painful so we try to avoid that. The magic that recreates us is completely foreign, but we believe it to be from the gods. It recreates us from the last time we synced up and then the unattuned mana is used to essentially recreate the affinity. Like I said, they¡¯ll lose all the memories since the last sync and they¡¯ll never properly get them back. Unless we¡¯re forced to respawn off our null, that¡¯s all we lose.¡±


    ¡°What happens if you respawn off a null?¡±


    Vir winced before responding. ¡°A lot. First of all, your bodies reject all magic, even the gods. Because of that, our bodies can¡¯t just be created out of the magic that¡¯s supposed to course through you. Instead, it steals from your body, taking one of your limbs to do so. Said limb is used to create our bodies. Then there¡¯s the problem of mana. Because you have none and it needs to come from somewhere, it tries to pull magic from the person it''s respawning, which of course doesn¡¯t work well. It¡¯s not efficient and it''s more than our bodies can handle, so our attuned mana is forever crippled.


    ¡°Afterwards, the null is of course missing a limb and the only way to fix it is to kill them. They then have to respawn as well. We have no clue how respawning works for nulls since they can¡¯t meditate with the group or anything like that, but they can still respawn. Of course, because their bodies absorb magic and all that, it kills the person they respawn off of. So, to prevent an endless loop, someone else has to respawn off the other ithrax first before the null can be respawned.


    So in total, we lose some attuned mana forever and we have to die an extra time if we respawn off a null.¡±


    ¡°Wow. That was¡­ a little confusing.¡±


    ¡°They really don¡¯t teach this stuff to you guys?¡±


    ¡°No. We¡¯re told we¡¯re a last resort respawn point for you guys, but we¡¯re not told why.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Weird. Anyways, we¡¯re all tired from the fight, so we¡¯ll probably take a nap. Would you mind handling the carriage?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± She opened the door that led to the driver¡¯s seat and saw Zane there. ¡°Vir asked me to take over so you guys could get some sleep.¡± He grunted and handed her the reins.


    ¡°Stop and let us know when we pass by the river. We all need to wash up since we¡¯re missing Reina.¡± He stepped into the carriage without clarifying and it took a minute for her to understand. Vir and Reina must normally work together to make water they can use to clean up.


    It took several hours for the carriage to reach the river, where she stopped the carriage. Waking them up was an ordeal, during which Jayen took a sleepy swing at her when she woke him up. They spent some time cleaning up and relaxing in the stream before they got back in the carriage in much higher spirits. When they stopped for the night, the others decided to take watch and let her sleep the night since she hadn¡¯t taken a nap. When morning came, she wasn¡¯t the first one awake, which was unusual.


    Zane was sitting down outside and leaning against the carriage, reading a letter in his hand. Jayen was laying down and had his eyes closed, with his feet propped up against Zane¡¯s arm, but she didn¡¯t think he was asleep. Vir was standing still nearby, looking down and clearly thinking.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± she asked.


    ¡°We received a message last night,¡± spoke Jayen.


    ¡°Another mission,¡± Vir finished. ¡°You¡¯re not specifically listed on this one, but there¡¯s nothing ordering you back. Considering we¡¯re a little shorthanded at the moment, we could have you with us if you¡¯re willing.¡±


    ¡°Depends on the mission.¡±


    ¡°One of the beginner teams has been captured. We need to rescue them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m down for that!¡± Helianna exclaimed, a bit more enthusiastically than she intended. She had been worried it would be another execution. She wasn¡¯t ready for another one of those missions yet, especially considering how the duke had acted on her first one.


    ¡°Then we¡¯re headed southwest to Shohlchester. Their mission was to investigate and possibly kill someone who was rumored to be experimenting with weapons of war that the academy is worried about. It seems they got captured instead so we gotta get them out. It was one of the baby teams. Only two members.¡±


    ¡°Zoe¡¯s not gonna like this when she comes back,¡± complained Zane. Vir winced.


    ¡°Why?¡± asked Helianna.


    ¡°Three reasons. They failed their mission. And as a team of two, there¡¯s not much they can do compared to a larger team. In her eyes, there¡¯s nothing more important than a competent team. She also doesn¡¯t like working with others.¡±


    ¡°Why, she¡¯s just a walking stereotype, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong. We were waiting to leave until we knew if you were coming. I was about to wake you up, so this is good timing. Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    Fortunately, Sholhchester was only slightly over a full day¡¯s ride away and they arrived late the next morning. Zane was driving the carriage when they stopped and he knocked on the door to get their attention.


    ¡°Vir! Need you out here!¡±


    Everybody followed him out to see a semicircle of men in front of them blocking the road. Many of them had their weapons at hand if not fully ready. Heliann quickly noticed however, that they were poorly equipped despite their numbers being intimidating at first glance. The bows were simple farmer¡¯s bows with little draw power and most of their melee weapons were woodcutting axes. Only the man in the front and center had a proper sword and it looked well-made. Additionally, she noticed there wasn¡¯t a single human among them. But she had no idea what it meant, if anything.


    ¡°What is your business with us?¡± questioned Vir.


    ¡°You are to turn back. Shohlchester is currently at odds with itself and we have no need for others to come in and make things worse


    ¡°At odds with itself?¡± The man shifted slightly and she saw several of the men tense.


    ¡°Yes. Now please leave or we will be forced to take action.¡±


    Vir calmly stepped down from the carriage and started slowly walking towards the man. Several weapons were raised and pointed at him, but he remained calm.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, but I can¡¯t do that. The Academy has business inside and cannot be denied. I suggest you lower your weapons before we force you to.¡±


    Everybody went still except for Vir, who continued nonchalantly walking up to the man in charge. He stopped only a few feet in front of him, nearly touching his sword before speaking up again.


    ¡°What will it be?¡± The man flinched and one of his men reacted, instantly firing on Vir. Instead of flying true, the arrow dropped as if under the weight of an ocean, barely making it halfway to Vir. Helianna heard Zane grunt quietly, but Vir still hadn¡¯t moved. They could hear the leading man¡¯s teeth grinding all the way back at the carriage, but he eventually sheathed his sword.


    ¡°Stand aside and let them pass,¡± the man commanded. He spit on the ground as he moved to the side of the road. Vir calmly walked back to the carriage and gestured them into the carriage. Once inside he sighed dramatically and collapsed onto one of the benches.


    ¡°I hate doing that kind of thing. Why did Reina have to die at Arington?¡±


    ¡°Why did they let you pass?¡± questioned Helianna. ¡°You could have been bluffing. It doesn¡¯t take an ithrax to do what Zane did to the arrow.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. That was impressive, but it doesn¡¯t take an ithrax. But in regards to the bluffing, I¡¯m honestly surprised you don¡¯t know this. You¡¯re from Wulvinia, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Uncertain how to respond, she simply cocked her head in confusion.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Masquerading as an operative of The Academy is only for the suicidal. The Academy pursues people who do that with extreme prejudice. He knew that either we were who we said we were, or insane enough to risk it. Neither of which he would want to deal with.¡±


    She nodded in understanding and the carriage fell back into silence. Before long the carriage stopped and they stepped out to see what for. In front of them was a large crowd congregating around a square. In the center of the square, they could see a large stage being built. When they asked members of the crowd what it was for, nobody knew and the team shared uneasy looks. After a few moments of deliberation, they decided to find an inn for the night.


    As they struggled to maneuver the carriage through the crowded streets, they had an argument on what they wanted to do. Zane expressed his frustration, wanting to get this done as quick as possible. He wanted to simply rush in and do a simple smash and grab. Jayen and Helianna wanted to investigate what was going on the stage, but Zane clearly didn¡¯t want to. They couldn¡¯t come to a conclusion until Vir eventually stepped in, having been simply watching. He decided to give at least twenty-four hours for the team to investigate either the stage or where the team is being kept prisoner, after which they would decide their course of action.


    The rest of the evening was uneventful and Helianna left early the next morning. She planned to start at the stage to see if it was complete and then use that as a starting point. However, she instantly had her answer when she saw the stage and recognized what it had been made for. It was made for an execution.

 Chapter 13: Shock

    Upon realizing what the stage was for, Helianna instantly ran back to the inn, banging on her teammates¡¯ doors to wake them up. Thanks to the unplanned and important nature of the mission, their budget was unlimited. As such, they had taken multiple rooms last night, requiring her to wake up half the inn with her banging. As soon as they were all out, she spoke.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I found them.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± demanded a slightly groggy Vir. ¡°Hold on, come inside.¡±


    The team piled into Vir¡¯s room and Helianna continued.


    ¡°Well, not right now, but later. The stage we saw yesterday? It¡¯s a stage for an execution. If the ithrax were captured, but not killed and then conflict immediately arises and now we have an execution stage, the likelihood that it¡¯s them is astronomical.¡±


    ¡°That made no sense,¡± Vir accused and Heliann rolled her eyes.


    ¡°With everything that¡¯s happening, it¡¯s gotta be an execution stage for them.¡±


    Vir hummed as he thought, still struggling to make the logical leap with a sleepy mind. By the time he realized he was talking about the construction that stopped them yesterday, Helianna was giving him a deadpan look from waiting.


    ¡°I agree. They¡¯re likely to do it at midday if it¡¯s today, so we¡¯ll meet there slightly beforehand. Just in case it starts early, I want two people on it immediately. Honestly, that should probably be enough to get them out, but it also allows one person to get the rest of us and the other to delay if you think you can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Zane, I want you there as you¡¯re perfect for a rescue. And Holly as well. You don¡¯t have the same movement that we do so it¡¯ll be harder for you to get there if you¡¯re further away. And your nullification will be useful. Any questions?¡± Everyone shook their heads and departed. Helianna, or rather Holly, and Zane walked together, despite not saying a single word. As they were walking, Helianna had a horrible realization.


    Back when they started their original mission, she had crafted a whole personality that she wanted to follow, that of a bubbly and excited, albeit dangerous person. However, that had collapsed early on in the trip when they had confronted her about her abilities. She had reverted back to normal and hadn¡¯t done a thing to maintain her fake personality. To make it worse, she had only just now noticed it, after over a week. How she hadn¡¯t thought of it, she had no clue. She had to redo her makeup almost every morning to maintain the fake look and yet it never occurred to her?


    She barely suppressed a curse as she glanced at Zane, wondering if all of them had realized. Her persona had collapsed so quick that she wasn¡¯t even sure they realized anything changed.


    It was too late to try and switch back now. Her natural persona was too different. Had they really managed to rattle her so bad that she forgot about one of her main goals for this mission? Not just for a moment but for slightly over a week. Before she could spiral further into negative thoughts, she shook her head, trying to focus on the current mission.


    This proved to be surprisingly difficult, no thanks to Zane. He resisted all attempts at conversation, and when they got to square, nothing interesting happened for several hours. A little before noon, the square started to become more packed and tension seemed to rise. Between Zane¡¯s silence and the rising tension, Helianna found it difficult to sit still. Fortunately, the team arrived quickly, and the execution began.


    procession marching in from the opposite corner. A single tijatan led the procession of nearly two dozen guards that surrounded two prisoners. Their hands were bound and they were being dragged as if they were half dead despite very few visible wounds. Helianna instantly recognized the two of them, having fought them before when training against ithrax. One was a tall, pale tijatan, but dirt and blood covered her body, making her look more sickly than normal. The other one was short and barely visible from her angle. He was the kinuze that had used his spatial magic to disorient her when they fought.


    ¡°That¡¯s them,¡± whispered Vir.


    The procession filed onto the stage and the two ithrax were thrust into the center. The guards formed a semi-circle around them, with the only opening in the direction of the crowd, providing everyone a good view. Zane straightened his shoulders and started to lift an arm, but Vir put a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Wait,¡± he commanded.


    A moment later, the tijatan leading the procession stepped in front of the ithrax to address the crowd. His garb, like most tijatans, did little to cover his form, instead being more about aesthetics. There were some golden bands around his shoulders, which connected to a black chain-like piece that dangled onto his chest. This ¡®chain¡¯ dangled down his chest, with seven loops ending in a one that looked cut in half.


    ¡°I want to see what he says,¡± Vir continued.


    ¡°Citizens of Shohlchester!¡± the tijatan proclaimed, raising his hands to quiet the crowd that had gathered. ¡°Today, we mark a transition. For over a century, Shohlchester has stood as a simple town in the middle of one of the most powerful nations in the world. We have pushed to make ourselves a powerful place where our children can grow beyond us and make an impact. But in doing so, we made ourselves a target of the system that works to keep us suppressed.


    The Academy has conspired to keep us all in the dark for centuries, hoping we would follow them blindly. But they could not hold us back forever. At last, there came a day when their insidious agents failed to make us bend our knees. The ithrax hoped to unleash their powerful magics and slaughter your leading innovators, keeping us all locked in time. But the aims of these tyrants have been halted by those without their incredible magical abilities. Our own people have contained the ithrax cell that you see behind me!¡±


    He stepped to the side and gestured to the trapped ithrax as the crowd roared. Helianna leaned towards Vir, taking advantage of the noise.


    ¡°Are you sure this is a good idea? We¡¯re going to be fighting the whole town at this rate.¡±


    He looked at her with an expression she couldn¡¯t place before shaking his head. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. We¡¯ll do it if necessary.¡± She shrugged but looked around uneasily as the crowd quieted down.


    ¡°As you can see, the ithrax are on their knees. They have been weakened and shackled like any man, and shall be executed! Any ithrax that comes our way shall face the same fate!


    These are trying times and we will be tested. But just as you see before you, we shall stand tall, while they will fall to their knees. This cell was sent to assassinate us, but our runetech is unrivaled! We have cut down their magical abilities and made them weaker than anybody you see in the crowd.


    Under our new runetech, the lives of our loved ones will be safeguarded. It provides power to all, regardless of their mana quality. With these powers, we will stand together against attacks from this corrupt system. Not as individuals, but together! Let those who wish to crush us take heed, for all who stand against us will fall!


    We have taken a stance that will be difficult, but I know you! I know the people of Shohlchester! We stand strong and we fight! We must do our part and we will protect what is ours! We will be tested, but we will emerge stronger. We will move forward as one! And this all begins now!¡±


    He raised a hand in the air as the crowd roared once more. One of the guards stepped up to the tijatan and handed him a long strange device.


    The crowd was starting to chant ¡®kill them!¡¯ on repeat and Helianna glanced at Vir uneasily. A pensive look was on his face and he clearly didn¡¯t have his mind in the moment. She tried to ask him what the plan was, but couldn¡¯t be heard over the crowd. Instead he turned and locked eyes with Zane, nodding his head.


    She glanced at Zane to see him stretching out his arms and focusing. Realizing that this was the signal to start, she immediately pulled out her daggers and looked towards the stage. There, she saw the tijatan point his device at the head of one of the ithrax as if it were some strange staff. She saw Zane move out of the corner of her eyes and the prisoners on the stage suddenly jerked, somehow flying through the air straight towards them. At the same time, Vir manifested a pillar of ice below himself to Helianna, launching him into the air.


    A moment later, a deafening bang rang out from the strange wand, which had been pointed at Vir. Helianna hadn¡¯t seen what it did, but it became clear when a small piece of the ice pillar collapsed, nearly landing on Helianna. She looked back towards the stage and immediately noticed that Zane had nearly finished floating the prisoners towards the team.


    From the stage, she heard the tijatan yell ¡°Fire!¡± and the guards all raised their own devices, reminiscent of the tijatan¡¯s, whose device was now smoking.


    A cacophony of bangs rang out and it took every ounce of her control to keep herself from sprawling to the ground, her countless hours of training the only thing keeping her upright. Zane was not so fortunate and staggered as he lost his concentration. The altered gravity of the captured ithrax dissipated and their bodies immediately fell towards the ground. They landed in front of the team where Helianna and Jayen rushed forward to help them up. They turned around just in time to see Vir¡¯s body fall to the ground next to the pillar of ice.


    His body was decimated in a way none of them had ever seen before. Something had punctured holes in his body, but there was no debris and the level of devastation was horrifying. He had clearly been hit in the head and whatever projectile hit him made his head look more akin to a smashed watermelon than a skull.


    A solid wedge of his cranium was missing, providing an easy view into the remains of his brain. The eye that had formerly been on that side of his face was now missing, only bone fragments and viscera in its place.


    It wasn¡¯t until Vir convulsed as he tried to sit up that they realized he was somehow still alive. Helianna couldn''t help watching as bits of blood and brain oozed from his head, forzen in horror. She knew that direct hits to the brain were rarely instantly fatal despite what most thought, but to see it herself was entirely different. Even with the angry roaring of the crowd, she could hear him gurgle when some of the muscle that held his jaw in place shifted when he tried to speak. She didn¡¯t need to look in his remaining eye to recognize the level of pain he must be in and Helianna¡¯s training failed her.


    She instantly threw up, struggling to keep herself and the man that she was supporting standing. After a few moments to get a hold of herself, she stumbled forward, half dragging the other ithrax as Vir¡¯s life slowly fled his body.


    ¡°Get the fuck over here Zane and get everyone out of here, I¡¯ll try to hold them off!¡± yelled Jayen with an anger she had never heard from him. A moment later, she felt the weight of the ithrax she was carrying lighten and she saw Zane concentrating as he picked up the girl. His eyes were unfocused due to his concentration on his magic, and she turned forward. In front of her however, stood several townsfolk, all looking furious. A split second before she could drop the man she was carrying, a sovereign enhanced order rang out from Jayen.


    ¡°Stop! Move aside and let them through!¡± he yelled and the townsfolk all scrambled aside. Taking the opportunity, she immediately dashed forward, dragging the cuffed kinuze with her. He took this moment to speak for the first time.


    ¡°Let me the fuck down! I can run on my own.¡± Still in shock from what she had just seen, she let him down without thought. He stumbled forward for a moment before righting himself and weakly jogging alongside them. He looked towards the other two with an angry expression, but continued running. As they ran, they heard more bangs in the distance, clear indicators of more of the strange weapons they¡¯d used to kill Vir. Abandoning what little they had left in the inn, they all rushed as fast they could straight to their carriage.


    They encountered surprisingly little resistance until another bang rang out from right behind them. Helianna instantly whirled around, locking eyes with a man that had fired and seemingly missed with the strange weapon. A dagger was instantly in her hand as she rushed towards him. He instantly dropped the weapon, and held out both his hands.


    Clearly unused to combat, he cringed and let loose a small burst of fire from his palms. Unperturbed, Helianna dashed straight through his meager flames and thanks to him cringing from his own flames, he never saw her coming. She easily slipped a knife up under his sternum and hit his heart, killing him almost instantly. She glanced around to see if there were any shooters, but none appeared.


    She turned back to her team and saw that the man she had initially been helping was now kneeling on the ground with a small pool of blood forming underneath him. A quick glance showed that he had been shot in the leg with the strange weapon. While not immediately fatal, it would be eventually if not addressed and would slow them down. Making a similar diagnosis, Zane spoke.


    ¡°Kill him.¡± Her head snapped towards Zane, stunned at his decision. ¡°He can respawn off of his teammate and right now, he¡¯s only slowing us down. This is our best option.¡± Immediately realizing he was right, she quietly cursed and stepped toward the kneeling kinuze.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare you piece of shi-¡± the kinuze tried to say, but was cut off by Helianna¡¯s knife severing his spinal cord.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just go,¡± she croaked out, struggling to maintain control. She knew he¡¯d respawn, but killing her fellows didn¡¯t sit right with her, regardless of how much it helped the team survive. She¡¯d killed plenty during her training, but never an ally. Him being unwilling only made it worse. The only reason she was able to do it was the memory of Vir¡¯s shattered form. The idea that the people with those weapons were still coming for them was a powerful motivator. She still hoped she wasn¡¯t around when the unknown ithrax respawned.


    Another bang echoed through the streets, but this one went wide, a scar appearing in the ground a few feet in front of her. Seeing this, Zane yelled out.


    ¡°Keep running! They missed!¡±


    They immediately continued running and thankfully, that was the last shot fired at them by the time they got to the carriage. Vir had fortunately prepared the carriage beforehand and the horses were ready. Helianna immediately jumped in the driver¡¯s seat while Zane carried the girl inside. With the speed of the carriage and no guards in sight, they got away, albeit now down to a single member per ithrax cell.

 Chapter 14: Tough Conversations

    Holding the reins of the carriage, Helianna was left to stew until they stopped for the night. Vir had delayed the attack and the following rescue had been a disaster, almost killing all of them. Regardless of how much she thought about it, she could not come up with a logical reason for what had happened and by the time they stopped, she was positively seething. She slammed open the door as she entered the carriage, startling the girl while Zane simply turned to look at her.


    ¡°Alright! Tell me what the fuck that was all about! Now!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to need you to clarify,¡± he responded calmly. Helianna took a moment to steady her breathing and spoke in a more composed manner.


    ¡°We went in with a half-assed plan, took too long to start said plan, and then Vir got himself killed. Any one of those could have jeopardized the mission and it¡¯s a miracle we got out! Just one more attack from any of those crazy weapons could have killed any one of us and done permanent damage! So I repeat, what the fuck was that about? What was so important about that damn speech?!¡±


    By the time she was finished, she was yelling again, but he barely responded. His face remained an emotionless mask as he took his time to think before speaking.


    ¡°We needed information. The city that captured our ithrax cell could have been a solo operation but from the speech, it¡¯s now obvious that he has significant backers. And even if it¡¯s largely propaganda, getting insights into their plans is useful.¡±


    ¡°At the cost of our lives?!¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Helianna seethed at his answer, tempted to punch him right in his emotionless face. ¡°It matters to us,¡± he continued but offered no more explanation. The two stared at each other for several moments before another voice entered the conversation.


    ¡°Well it succeeded and you saved me,¡± the tijatan girl said weakly. ¡°Uh¡­ can you get me out of these cuffs please, they¡¯re blocking my magic.¡± Zane gestured towards Helianna and she looked back at him blankly.


    ¡°What am I supposed to do? And why¡¯d you wait so long?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that magic doesn¡¯t apply to. It should be easier for you to deal with the cuffs,¡± he said but didn¡¯t bother to explain the wait.


    ¡°Fair.¡± Helianna stepped up to the girl, realizing she didn¡¯t remember her name. ¡°What¡¯s your name again?¡±


    ¡°Isela. What¡¯s yours?¡±


    ¡°Holly. Can you lift up the cuffs so I can see them better?¡± Isela did so and Helianna let out a small noise of shock. ¡°These are just regular cuffs with a shit ton of runes on them. How did they get the runes so small? I thought that wasn¡¯t possible.¡±


    ¡°Can you get them off?¡± Isela asked weakly.


    ¡°Of course. Getting out of standard cuffs is easy. I just didn¡¯t know this kind of stuff existed.¡± She pulled out a small pin and after a little finagling, the cuffs popped open. Isela instantly stumbled, knocking the cuffs to the ground and nearly dragging both herself and Helianna with them.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Isela nodded shakily before slowly standing up on her feet again.


    ¡°Y-yeah. Removing the suppression from the cuffs was just overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d they catch you?¡± interrupted Zane. ¡°Obviously they have advanced runetech, but what did they do specifically?¡± Helianna gave him a weird look, after which, he surprisingly clarified. ¡°We¡¯re vulnerable right now. We don¡¯t know what they¡¯re capable of and don¡¯t want to be caught by surprise because we underestimated them.¡±


    ¡°Like we did last time?¡± Helianna challenged.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°U-uhm¡­¡± Isela stammered, breaking the staredown happening between Helianna and Zane. ¡°It¡¯s fairly embarrassing but I think we¡¯re a bit past that point,¡± she spoke timidly, which felt strange to Helianna considering that Isela was taller sitting down than Helianna was standing.


    ¡°Neither of us are very good at reading people, and well. They caught us by surprise with a bit of an ambush. We tried to fight back, but there were a lot of them and we were inside. I¡¯m not as good of a fighter when close up like that so I didn¡¯t help much. I¡­ I¡¯m just glad they didn¡¯t do anything worse,¡± she finished numbly.


    ¡°Are you still injured? How long ago was this?¡± asked Zane.


    ¡°At least a few days? I¡¯m not sure. They hurt my legs really bad. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to walk until I respawn.¡± Despite their earlier aggression, both Zane and Helianna shared a worried glance.


    ¡°Let me see.¡± Helianna demanded. ¡°The escape could have reopened any wounds you received and we can¡¯t let it get infected. You won¡¯t be able to respawn right if your only option is to respawn off your null. Where¡¯s the injur¡­¡±


    Helianna petered off as she noticed the issue. Due to the tijatan¡¯s alienness, she had ignored any sense of wrongness, but now as she paid attention, it was clear. Her legs were clearly bent in the wrong direction near the shin area. No bipedal creatures had knees that bent sideways like that. Her eyes snapped back up to lock with Isela¡¯s.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t do anything to relieve your pain, did they??¡± Isela shook her head in response. ¡°Damn.¡± After a moment to parse that information, she continued. ¡°Do you mind if I take a closer look? It will probably hurt more again if I¡¯m not careful enough.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± Helianna sighed in apprehension before kneeling to see the damage. She lifted up her pant legs and that¡¯s when she noticed something strange. Isela¡¯s pants had been partially ripped apart from the attack and in between multiple layers of fabric, there were runes engraved. Not being able to help herself, she spoke up. ¡°Where did you get these pants?¡±


    ¡°Wha¡­¡± Isela eloquently responded. ¡°Uh¡­ The Academy, why?¡±


    Unsure how to respond, Helianna didn¡¯t as she took a closer look. There was no such thing as fluency in runic due to how much it constantly changed, but she could understand some of it. The runes within Isela¡¯s pants were using almost entirely sovereign runes, but knowing she wouldn¡¯t be able to properly read it, Helianna shelved the worrying thoughts and focused on the injuries. As far as she could tell, most of the damage to Isela¡¯s legs had been brunt force, resulting in mostly internal damage. The external damage that she could see seemed to be healing alright, if slow with no signs of infection. She rested back onto her heels and looked up at Isela.


    ¡°Any other injuries?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the one on my back. That¡¯s the one that took me down.¡± Helianna gave Zane a pointed look and he raised an eyebrow. Her look turned even more demanding and she gestured to the carriage door. Without acknowledging her, he turned and exited the carriage. Helianna let her frustration bubble out, muttering ¡°fucking psychopath.¡± Even though there wasn¡¯t really anything for him to see due to Isela¡¯s fur, she didn¡¯t want Zane in here when she looked over Isela¡¯s wounds.


    Despite tijatans unable to wear standard clothing due to the webbing between their four arms, Isela still wore aesthetic pieces that blocked part of her back. Helianna helped lift it over her head and put it aside before taking a look. Isela turned to give Helianna a better vantage point and immediately upon seeing the wounds, Helianna gasped. ¡°What did they do to you? How are you upright?¡±


    ¡°Why? What does it look like?¡± Helianna stared in shock, struggling to comprehend what she saw. There was a massive wound going from near Isela¡¯s top right shoulder all the way down to her waist on the other side. It was over two inches wide and incredibly deep, making it easy to see several of her ribs and part of her spine. Somehow, there was no blood flowing from it despite the wound looking brand new.


    After a moment, she realized there was a thin frosty layer covering the wound. She delicately reached out her hand and delicately reached towards the wound. Before she even touched it, she could feel cold irradiating from it and when she touched the wound, it almost seemed to burn. Isela loud out a chirp that instantly had Helianna recoiling from the high frequency.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± they both said at the same time before pausing.


    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure what they did,¡± Helianna started. ¡°But it looks almost like they froze your wound. I don¡¯t think it will get worse, but it won¡¯t get better unless we have the right people look at it.¡± For a moment, she thought she heard Isela whimper, but elected not to say anything.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you get your cover back on. We¡¯ll try to be extra careful until we get back.¡±


    Helianna reached for the cover but paused before she started helping Isela into it. Someone had clumsily stitched the shawl-like cloth together, which made sense how she didn¡¯t notice Isela¡¯s injury earlier. She looked closer and where the stitching wasn¡¯t as good, she was able to see a few runes inside the shirt as well. Before the girl could say anything, Helianna stopped and helped her into it.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to Zane and then we¡¯ll be back in, alright?¡± The girl nodded and Helianna stepped out.


    ¡°Everything alright in there?¡± he asked.


    ¡°It won¡¯t get infected unless whatever strange attack the person used wears off. We¡¯ll have to watch her because if it does, I think she¡¯ll die. We need to get to someone who can at least keep her stable.¡± He frowned slightly before his expression returned to normal. Helianna opened her mouth to speak, before closing it and sighing.


    ¡°If you would humor me, I have a minor request of you,¡± Helianna stated. She thought she saw a hint of a smirk on his face as she said it, but couldn¡¯t be certain.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°May I see a part of your uniform for a moment?¡± This time, she was confident that he was smirking slightly.


    ¡°Of course.¡± He immediately took off his jacket and handed it to her, leaving him in a simple undershirt. She pulled out one of her knives, which needed to be sharpened at this point, and looked up at him to gauge his reaction. His face hadn¡¯t changed, so in a quick movement she cut a small slash in his uniform. By now, he had a full smirk on his face as he watched, making her a bit nervous. She looked into his uniform and on the interior, she saw the same runes that adorned the interior of Isela¡¯s. She was frozen for a few moments, trying to consolidate her thoughts before mechanically handing the jacket back to him.


    ¡°Are you aware of the runes inside of your uniforms?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Are you aware of what they do?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°What do they do?¡±


    ¡°I cannot tell you that.¡±


    She narrowed her eyes before responding, ¡°You cannot tell me or will not?¡± After a few moments of silence, she spoke. ¡°Cannot then. Is there anything you can tell me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    After a long pause, she asked, ¡°Well, will you?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    After thinking for a moment, she slowly asked ¡°Are you prevented from bringing up what you can tell me?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Damn. Does it control your actions?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Geez, I¡¯m playing twenty questions here. This is ridiculous!¡± She took a moment to calm down before asking her next question. ¡°Does it control your thoughts?¡±


    He didn¡¯t respond and she took a few moments to think about what that might mean. ¡°Does it influence your thoughts?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Does every ithrax have these runes controlling them?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Do the other teams know?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Jayen found out, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°He can stop it because he has sovereign magic, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Feeling stupid, she walked up to Zane and put a hand on his shoulder, almost expecting him to push her away. When he didn¡¯t, she closed her eyes and looked inward, reaching in towards her magic. She urged it to push into the uniform and it almost felt like she was trying to coax an animal. It started to move, but as soon as it started to go into the uniform, there was a huge amount of resistance.


    She tried to push it out and managed for a few moments, just long enough for Zane to say ¡°Finally!¡± before it collapsed back into her in a rush, feeling as if she had just got punched in the gut. She fell on to her backside and looked up at Zane, who was scowling at her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Zane. I tried. Wait a minute¡­¡± she trailed off, thinking. ¡°If Jayen was able to stop it with sovereign magic, that seems like a major oversight on their part. Wouldn¡¯t any sovereign be able to do that?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t they have a failsafe? Wait, how common is sovereign magic?¡±


    ¡°Rare. Very, very rare.¡±


    ¡°Are there other ithrax in The Academy with sovereign magic?¡±


    ¡°Not right now.¡±


    ¡°Maybe The Academy just doesn¡¯t have enough experience with them? That still feels unlikely. Hell, I have no idea how to get good information out of you.¡± She sighed unhappily. ¡°I¡¯ll have to see if I can talk to you guys at a later date. Good to know this exists though. I¡¯m going to go check on Isela.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Zane called as she turned away, causing her to turn back to him. ¡°If you¡¯re going to ask questions, be careful.¡± She nodded and stepped into the carriage.

 Chapter 15: Post-Mission

    Helianna stopped asking about the runes, and focused on helping Isela heal and prevent infection while they returned to The Academy. It took several days to get to the port, which were substantially awkward between the three of them. By the time they returned, Helianna was desperate to sleep in her own bed without the other two¡¯s presence nearby. When they arrived, they were immediately split up to deliver their own reports, with Helianna speaking with her instructor.


    She avoided giving him certain details, such as her own powers or her discovery of the runes. Aside from that, she gave him as much information as possible, both positive and negative. She was concerned about him somehow identifying she was hiding something and when he didn¡¯t provide any facial expressions, it made her nervous. The longer the report took, the more nervous she got, but she kept it carefully hidden, not wanting to lose her composure. Once she was done, he finally addressed her.


    ¡°I appreciate the high level of detail, but it wasn¡¯t necessary. In the future, provide the important details and then I will ask for more if I need it. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡±


    ¡°Now. What was your biggest mistake over the two missions?¡±


    She immediately opened her mouth to respond but stopped herself. The biggest gripe that she had with herself was failing to maintain her false persona, but was that her biggest mistake? Ultimately, it wasn¡¯t even a single mistake, but a collection of mistakes. She created a persona that was too difficult to maintain. She then let herself get flustered so quickly and lost her persona. And finally, the worst of all? She never recovered. It took her over a week to remember she was supposed to use a persona and by then she was too late. Were any of these her biggest mistake, though?


    Probably not. She had also failed to hide her sovereign magic, but that had turned out well in the end for her. Besides, that was something that she had no idea she even needed to worry about beforehand. She had not known other sovereign magic could make her own magic react. Additionally, she figured The Academy had been watching them, but Helianna and the team had always tried to be extra careful in hiding her magic and she wasn¡¯t sure her instructor knew about that.


    She also nearly failed to stop the duke, only surviving because the knight stopped attacking her. She didn¡¯t think she could¡¯ve beaten him, but that felt partially out of her control. Whatever they had used to detect her was technology beyond what she knew existed. As she thought that however, it immediately left a sour taste in her mouth. She had gotten mad at Zane after the rescue mission for the team not accounting for surprises like that. Since strange technology seemed to be a common mistake so far, she¡¯d have to be more careful in the future.


    Despite all that, she still didn¡¯t think it was her biggest mistake. That problem had been that the knight was a much better fighter than her, which was less about mistakes and more about experience.


    Her biggest mistake probably had to do with rescuing the other two. Not only did the team underestimate the level of defenses and technology the town had, but they didn¡¯t plan ahead. They had gone in assuming that their abilities would give them such an edge that they didn¡¯t have to worry. That was probably it. That¡¯s what screwed them over so bad anyways.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t plan well enough for the rescue and assumed our superior power would make it easy.¡±


    ¡°That was a mistake, a pretty big one at that. But it wasn¡¯t your biggest mistake. That was simply a symptom of your biggest mistake.¡± She paused for a few moments to think.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t communicate enough with the team leader?¡±


    ¡°Closer, but not quite. You tried to become a part of the team. They are not your team. They have known each other for almost their entire lives and know each other better than you ever could. You cannot meld with them as you might expect and can never fully trust them.


    Trying to do so also removes one of your greatest abilities. Your individuality. Each of them is highly capable at one thing, whereas you can do everything on your own if necessary. Your ability to do this is one of your greatest assets. Falling under Vir¡¯s leadership removed that from you. It also meant that when he didn¡¯t come up with a plan, you followed him instead of creating your own. Your plans may be unusual and harebrained, but you still always have a plan.


    And lastly, this was the biggest issue, when he didn¡¯t plan and then started making stupid decisions, you were too invested. Have you heard of the sunk cost fallacy?¡±


    When she shook her head, he continued.


    ¡°It¡¯s when you refuse to abandon something because you have become too invested in it, even when it¡¯s obvious that abandoning it would be more beneficial. You fell victim to the sunk cost fallacy and it''s something you should always keep in mind in missions. It is the number one reason that assassins die.


    At that point, it had become a suicide mission and if I hadn¡¯t stepped in, several more of you would have died. You should have cut your losses and left them to their own consequences. Live to make another plan instead of desperately holding onto the current one.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you stepped in?¡±


    ¡°I did. I did as little as I could, but the fact that I had to step in is a failure in itself. And just as I am aware of your failings, The Academy is aware of theirs.¡±


    ¡°What were those things?¡±


    ¡°The weapons? We have a much more advanced team figuring that out right now.¡±


    ¡°Are- are we really suppressing technological advancements?¡±


    ¡°Of course we¡¯re suppressing some tech. It would be stupid not to. Think about it. If anybody could harness the power to wipe out a city without the training or self-control to stop it, how do you think that would go?


    The original mission you went on? That is why you went. The duke was developing a way to simulate a meteor strike. Do you realize how damaging that can be? He could raze cities easily and it wouldn¡¯t stay confined to his own mages for long. Before you know it, slinging meteors is the basis for war and every time someone uses it, miles of land is destroyed and becomes uninhabitable for a significant period of time.


    Of course, once that becomes the basis, then they seek out a way for a meteor strike to become obsolete, creating an even bigger and deadlier weapon. Before long, entire countries are being annihilated in a blink. We contain their advancements to keep them safe. It may seem cold, but without us, the world would be a disaster.


    And let me ask you this. How much do you know about the world before The Academy rose to power?¡±


    ¡°Not much.¡±


    ¡°Before we took control, it was a lawless and dangerous world where large swaths of land were destroyed and genocide occurred regularly, just as I mentioned earlier. The safest place on the planet were the island continents simply because almost nobody wanted to fight over such pitiable land. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Much of the rest of the world was scarred and useless. The meager scraps only made people more desperate and you couldn¡¯t trust anyone. We prevent that. We stand at the top to lead people forward and in the right direction. Without us, civilization would crumble under its own progress. Do you understand?¡±


    Despite the sick feeling in her stomach, she nodded. ¡°I do.¡± She wasn¡¯t sure if she was being idealistic, but she just couldn¡¯t truly believe that. Sometimes progress has its hiccups, but she couldn¡¯t imagine technology being so ruinous that it prevents progress itself. It¡¯s the person who wields the technology that matters, not the technology itself. And in her opinion, people never change. A singular person can, but as species, they don¡¯t change, especially not just in a few years.


    What made more sense to her is simply that when they centralized the most powerful people in the world, ithrax, into one location, advancements sped up a lot. Regardless, she didn¡¯t like this. Coupled with the fact that they were continuously using sovereign magic on their own people to influence their mind via their own clothes and most not knowing, she couldn¡¯t help but feel betrayed. She knew it was somewhat illogical given that they hadn¡¯t done any of it to her, but her mental image of The Academy was now ruined. And her instructor going on this impromptu lecture felt a little too defensive for her.


    The Academy had always been the ones that stood up for what was right, impartial to the politics of others. They were the peak of scientific discovery and prevented global disasters on repeat. Now? It looked more like squashed scientific discovery, holding all the power. They ignored politics simply because they controlled them. She couldn¡¯t tell if she was being melodramatic and overreacting to the overload of information or if it was a justified reaction. Instead of thinking about it further and stressing herself out, she went straight to her room and went to sleep, without even washing off.


    She slept like a log, not waking up until afternoon the next day. She then finally cleaned herself off, feeling disgusting from travel and unpacked her small trunk. She then went down to get food, but immediately retreated to her room afterwards, wanting to be alone. She spent the rest of the day in her room, relaxing while she could. She knew the next day, she¡¯d be right back to work.


    Work returned to normal, but she wanted to hear news about the team she traveled with. It wasn¡¯t till nearly two months later when she heard news, and it was the worst kind. They had attempted to leave and escape The Academy. The other nulls couldn¡¯t understand why they might escape, but Helianna instantly knew and wanted to do the same. The results of the team¡¯s escape made her hesitant however. They completely failed and were captured quickly.


    In punishment, The Academy had killed every last one of them. Forcing one to spawn of the null. However, as soon as they respawned, they were killed again so the next person would have to respawn off the null as well. They did this one by one so the entire team respawned off the null, crippling their mana reserves for life. This also served as torture for the poor null that they respawned off of, simply collateral damage for the punishment given to the team.


    Helianna was horrified at the punishment, but found she was the only one. The other nulls blamed the whole thing on the team, despite The Academy forcing the punishment on an innocent null. Of course, she also was starting to agree with the team about leaving The Academy, which was its own issue.


    Unfortunately, that was not the end of it. Because she had been with them on her most recent mission, The Academy wanted a debrief from her on their behaviors and intentions. She had been expecting her instructor to be the one debriefing her, but found herself with an unfamiliar face. It was a short human man with clear elvish ancestry. His ears were long and bright red along with the rest of his skin, which contrasted with his green eyes. He had a thin, but chiseled face that she was certain impressed many women he found.


    ¡°Who are you? I was expecting my instructor.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s busy. He¡¯s still helping deal with the aftermath of their insubordination.¡±


    ¡°Is that what we¡¯re calling it now?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He sighed. ¡°So I¡¯m here to get as much information as I can from you. Any information that I can get about their insubordination will be invaluable.¡±


    ¡°I figured that¡¯s why I was here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, did you come across anything that might indicate why they might have gone rogue?¡± Helianna immediately knew the reason, but had the perfect deflection in mind while she thought of a response.


    ¡°Hold on, can I at least get your name before we start this?¡± she asked, prompting a chuckle.


    ¡°My bad. The name¡¯s Hass. I am the leading figure of a senior ithrax cell.¡±


    ¡°Well I assume you know my name, but just in case, it¡¯s Helianna.¡± He nodded.


    She knew the real reason that they left, which was the runes, but she did not want to reveal that she knew about them nor did she want to screw the team any worse than they already were. She also knew that she had already given an in-depth report to her instructor so there wasn¡¯t much else that was hidden except for her own powers. Instead, she chose something that they probably already knew about but would look like her trying to give up information.


    ¡°There was something I thought odd at the time, but didn¡¯t realize what it meant. It wasn¡¯t even on our primary mission, but when we were rescuing the other team of ithrax¡­¡± She paused and he gestured for her to continue. ¡°They sacrificed the security of the mission in order to get more information on whatever they had created in Shohlchester.¡±


    ¡°Guns,¡± he interrupted.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re calling the weapons guns.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Well we could¡¯ve, and should¡¯ve started the rescue while the guards were escorting those two out. The guards weren¡¯t set up, they weren¡¯t all there, you get the point. I actually tried to initiate the rescue, but Vir, the team lead, stopped me. He wanted to listen to the man in charge give his speech. He talked a bit about the runetech they were using, but a lot of it was hyping up the crowd and demeaning The Academy.¡±


    ¡°How did the team react to it?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get a chance to look at the whole team as the rescue started immediately afterwards. I did see Vir though, who seemed, in retrospect, to be considering the man¡¯s words.¡±


    ¡°You mentioned that the man was demeaning The Academy. How so?¡±


    ¡°I remember he called it corrupt, but the main thing he focused on was The Academy oppressing technology. He kept talking about how The Academy was holding the world back and that The Academy were tyrants trying to remain in control.¡±


    ¡°Was there any other runetech you saw aside from the guns?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but not there. On our original mission, I came across some contraption that was able to detect me. It clearly used magic, but how they got it to work on a null, I have no clue.¡±


    ¡°How did the team react to this?¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t. It wasn¡¯t intentional, but I never told them.¡±


    ¡°What is your assessment on their reasoning for why they left?¡±


    ¡°I believe they had already been planning to leave. For how long? I have no clue. Far before we knew about the guns or level of technology, Vir was planning on listening and clearly wanted to learn more about their weapons. I mentioned in my initial report that the knight-like man clearly worked for some outside organization. I would expect that the team planned to leave for said organization, or something similar if it creates new technology. It clearly seemed to be their focus.¡±


    ¡°And what is your assessment of all the technology you came across?¡±


    ¡°Terrifying. I¡¯ve spent the last few years learning that I¡¯m untouchable with just magic and to never flinch when faced with it. These things? They could clearly do a lot of damage and after the sensor that saw me, I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll hurt me as well.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they are too dangerous?¡± Alarm bells immediately rang out within her head. This seemed to be exactly what her instructor had been talking about. As much as she already hated guns, she didn¡¯t want to stop the progress, albeit violent progress they represented. She knew that¡¯s not the answer he was looking for though.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. They were terrifying, I¡¯ll easily say that. Honestly, I¡¯d need more information. I only really saw them used twice. One was in the first volley, when an unknown number shot Vir. That was not a good assessment, as I couldn¡¯t tell whether it was closer to three or thirty that they fired. The second was when they shot one of the people we were trying to save. I didn¡¯t see how much damage it did, simply that it slowed him down. I also don¡¯t know how much training they require.¡±


    ¡°Give us your best estimate.¡±


    ¡°If they work like high powered crossbows, they might be too dangerous. If it doesn''t require mana, then anybody could use them. If anybody can harness that kind of power with minimal training, then yes. I think it would be too dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Well, thank you for your time. We¡¯ll let you know if we have more questions. Have a good afternoon.¡±


    ¡°You too.¡± He left the room, and it took all of Helianna¡¯s self control to avoid melting in her seat in relief. Her heart had been pounding the whole time, but she was safe. She thought she handled that well.

 Chapter 16: Moving On

    After that debrief, Helianna was certain The Academy was keeping an eye on her. She really couldn¡¯t imagine trusting The Academy after learning how controlling they were, both with their own people and throughout the world. Regardless, they were still the most powerful organization on the planet.


    If she wanted to escape, it would have to be perfect. Clearly, the other team hadn¡¯t been successful and they were a larger group with much more experience. Of course, they had their own issues and being a larger team wasn¡¯t always better so she wasn¡¯t sure how much it helped them. It may even be easier to hide while being alone. If she could escape The Academy¡¯s eyes, she could probably make it, at least for a while.


    Then another question came to mind. Should she try to help any of the others? Leaving them to be pawns felt wrong, but she didn¡¯t feel that she could save them reliably. She wasn¡¯t sure how strong the influence was on the unaware so for all she knew, trying to help anyone could just be a death trap. And if she wanted to help someone, who would she even tell? Isela and her teammate? What about the nulls? They weren¡¯t under The Academy¡¯s magic influence, but they all still believed in The Academy.


    The longer she thought about it, the more she felt alone. She wasn¡¯t even sure she¡¯d be able to escape on her own, much less pulling others behind her. She had always felt somewhat alone, hiding her powers away from everyone and then becoming an assassin. Now though, she had to hide from everyone. The only people who knew about what The Academy was doing were now weakened and likely heavily monitored.


    The loneliness slowly became overwhelming, which made her thoughts drift to her family. She had done her hardest to avoid doing that the past few years as it only felt painful. She had always hated to leave them behind, but suffered through it because she believed that she was doing it for the greater good. Now? She realized it was all a lie. Was the point of pulling her away from her family just to make it so she was more easily influenced?


    Regardless, she now had her own goals. Escape The Academy and find her parents. She knew escape would be next to impossible, but she couldn¡¯t just sit back, watch, and do their bidding. Even if it took her years, she would escape.


    The next few months went by agonizingly slowly. While working, she slowly built up a small stockpile of equipment for when she eventually left. It wasn¡¯t big, but it was enough to be useful without encumbering her. Figuring out how she would escape their notice took much longer. In the end, she never came up with a solid solution before she received another mission. Every idea she had was based on luck and she didn¡¯t want to rely on that.


    In contrast to last time, this mission was a solo mission. If she ran into trouble, she still had a safety net in the form of another ithrax team in the same city doing their own mission. She double checked her belongings several times, ensuring she was prepared for her mission before setting out. This mission was a straightforward assassination. Apparently, some greedy idiot had conquered and killed a small dungeon so that he could take the heart for himself. This was forbidden by The Academy so she was sent to assassinate him and take the heart. His greed had of course triggered a dungeon break, releasing all of the mana-soaked animals that were both highly dangerous and aggressive out into the surrounding environment. The other team would be handling them.


    After how her last mission went, she wasn¡¯t sure she could fully trust her information. She couldn¡¯t exactly fight back or run away yet, but she wouldn¡¯t kill without hesitation. This trip was also much further away, all the way over in Tilland and nowhere near the war. She was actually somewhat grateful for this as it would give her plenty of time to work on her magic where others couldn''t be around to see it.


    When the mission began, it went fairly simply, albeit slowly. She took a ship from the island and had to sail almost a month east all the way across the Itasic Ocean until they reached the edge of Tilland. Once again, she got horrendously seasick, something that she was realizing was going to become a regular problem for her.


    Most of Tilland¡¯s coast was in the Broken Ocean, but they fortunately had a small stretch that was outside of it. She hoped she¡¯d never have to sail into The Broken Ocean, but she knew it would likely be inevitable if she didn¡¯t escape. The wild magic within the Broken Ocean was dangerous and she wanted nothing to do with it.


    The ship would arrive in a small port town along the safe stretch of land named Slovness. The team sent to deal with the break had departed earlier due to the time sensitive nature of the mission. Thanks to difference in schedules, she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about interacting with them unless absolutely necessary.


    In Slovness, she rented a small one-man carriage. She could¡¯ve used a horse as she didn¡¯t have much luggage, but she thought it would be better with the small cabin space. She could get better sleep and it might be helpful for the mission. If she needed to go faster to escape, she could separate the horse from the carriage. Besides, The Academy was paying for it.


    Fortunately, after such a long boat trip, the carriage ride was much shorter, taking barely more than a day. When she finally arrived at her destination, she was surprised at how small it was. It was even smaller than her hometown, which seemed unusual for a dungeon town. Usually, they were incredibly prosperous and blossomed into large cities.


    She ended up having to park her carriage at the edge of town. Carriage lots were typically pretty secure, but in such a small town, she wasn¡¯t so sure. She took all of her equipment with her except for her extra clothes to be safe. She headed straight towards the tavern and hailed the man running it. He spoke before she could even ask anything.


    ¡°I ¡®ssume yer here for da break?¡± He spoke incredibly quickly and with a heavy accent, requiring her to take a moment to understand what he said.


    ¡°Something like that. You got a lot of people here because of it?¡±


    ¡°Yessiree! Gotsa¡¯ ithrax fro¡¯ da Academy too!¡±


    ¡°You still got any space?¡±


    ¡°Lil¡¯ bit. Only a cuppa more rooms, dough. I ¡®ssume ya need one?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not sure how long though.¡±


    ¡°As ¡®ith ev¡¯ryone. Dat¡¯s seventy-t¡¯ree coppa.¡± She handed over the money. ¡°Need anytin¡¯ else?¡±


    ¡°Any knowledge on the one who caused this mess?¡± She reached into her purse as she asked, making it clear for him to see, prompting a laugh from the boisterous man.


    ¡°No need fer dat, missy! I¡¯m happy to sell ¡®is ass out. ¡®e ruined dis settlement!¡± He spit to the side unconsciously. A second later, he realized what he did and grumbled to himself as he started cleaning it up. ¡°Talk to Eann in da Horse¡¯s Head. ¡®e got people tracking da man down now.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°How did this happen? Why is the settlement so small?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bran¡¯ new place ¡®ere. Hadn¡¯t had no time to grow and secure i¡¯self .¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°No prob¡¯em.¡±


    She left the establishment and sighed. She hoped that the other people she talked to on the trip wouldn¡¯t have such a strong accent, or at least as strong as that man did. She found it hard to understand, which made her job both slower and more mentally taxing. She looked around and thanks to the miniscule size of the settlement, she found the Horse¡¯s Head quickly. She braced for another bad accent as she stepped in.


    It was a simple two story building with an entrance desk and a large sitting area on the bottom floor. Behind the desk sat a wiry human woman with frizzy red hair.


    ¡°Is there an Eann I can talk to here?¡± Helianna asked. The woman looked up from her book with tired eyes.


    ¡°Watcha need, hun?¡±


    ¡°The tavern keeper said to talk to Eann about the man that caused this whole mess.¡± The woman looked Helianan up and down and raised a judging eyebrow. ¡°I was hired to deal with the asshat.¡±


    In the efforts of trying not to obviously point her work towards The Academy, Helianna was masquerading as a mercenary and was dressed in something that accentuated the wiry muscles that she had developed. Her clothes immediately proved helpful when the woman looked her up and down with a more critical eye.


    ¡°Could see dat. He¡¯s upstairs.¡± Helianna nodded her thanks and headed up the stairs. She saw several closed doors, but the one at the end was wide open and she could hear the scratching of a pen inside. When she entered, she found a pitch black kinuze with black swirling eyes, something she didn¡¯t know was possible. It wasn¡¯t until he spoke that she realized she¡¯d been gawking.


    ¡°You can stop staring now,¡± he said with a sigh, knocking her out of her reverie.


    ¡°I apologize sir, I¡¯ve never-¡±


    ¡°Seen a black kinuze before?¡± he interrupted. ¡°Yeah, heard it before. Why are you here?¡± Fortunately, his accent was neither as strong as the tavern owner¡¯s, nor did he speak as fast.


    ¡°I¡¯m searching for the man who started this. I heard you¡¯re tracking him?¡± He finally looked up at her, the roiling blackness of his eyes locking on to her.


    ¡°I am. Why are you searching for him?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I was hired to kill him.¡±


    ¡°And what are your plans for the heart?¡±


    ¡°That was my payment.¡± He tsked.


    ¡°Fine, I can work with dat. Dis settlements fucked anyway. Only here cause of the dungeon. Let¡¯s go.¡± He abruptly stood up and brushed past her.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked, surprised.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he called back, not even bothering to look at her. She sighed and followed behind him. She could undoubtedly track down her quarry herself if need be, but she was sure it would be much faster with the aid of the locals. That did mean she¡¯d have to deal with their strange mannerisms, apparently.


    The kinuze spoke to the woman at the front for a few moments before quickly moving on. He led her back to the carriage lot, where he hopped in his own carriage, one of the only other carriages there. She hopped on her own and quickly followed behind, not wanting to rely on him for transportation.


    They rode for several hours and Helianna wanted to ask him several questions but the road was barely ever wide enough. When she asked, he only provided curt responses about leading her towards their target. Before she could continue her questioning, the road thinned again and she had to drop back. This all felt suspicious to her, but she was confident she could fight her way out. And if not, death was always an option. It¡¯s not like it would be permanent for her. Eventually, they stopped at a more respectable sized town, albeit still small.


    ¡°Is he here?¡± she asked after they¡¯d both parked their carriages.


    ¡°No.¡± She stopped in front of him, blocking his path.


    ¡°Then why are we here? And if you¡¯ve known where the target is, why are you only going after him now?¡± The man rolled his eyes and huffed in frustration.


    ¡°He¡¯s nearby but I need a conventional tracker for dis. And I waited cause I need a fighter. Dat¡¯s obviously you. Can we go now?¡±


    She rolled her eyes. His logic didn¡¯t make sense to her as Eann could surely get someone capable who¡¯d be happy to take the man down. She decided she didn¡¯t care though and just wanted to get it over with. She stepped to the side and he rolled his eyes again.


    ¡°Tank you.¡± He then led the way to the tavern, where he loudly announced, ¡°Looking for Yosh!¡± The tavern keeper laughed.


    ¡°What did the ijit do dis time?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a good tracker. I¡¯m hiring.¡±


    ¡°A real hire for Yosh?¡± asked the Tavern keep in surprise. ¡°Dat¡¯s a new one. He¡¯s on the first door on your right upstairs.¡±


    Eann nodded and pushed his way through the tavern, Helianna in tow. When he got to the door, he opened it with a bang. Inside was a tall wiry man with bushy red hair, who jumped and scrambled away from the door.


    ¡°E-Eann?¡± he stuttered. ¡°Why are you here? Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± He moved back to the desk he was at and continued to pore over his papers. Helianna was surprised. She recognized his accent. He was from Wulvinia, like her.


    ¡°I have a job for you,¡± Eann proposed. Yosh glanced over at Eann, but shook his head.


    ¡°No, I need money.¡± Helianna and Eann looked at oeach other perplexed.


    ¡°You will get money for da job.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no. I need money.¡± Eann started to step forward but Helianna grabbed his arm.


    ¡°This is the guy? Is he even all there?¡± Eann pulled out of her grasp with a scowl.


    ¡°He should be. He was last time we talked. He¡¯s good.¡± Eann walked up to the wiry man and grabbed his collar. He turned Yosh to him and slapped him in the face.


    ¡°How much money do you need?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I need a gold.¡±


    ¡°A gold? Dat¡¯s a lot less dan I was expecting.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t get that! Who needs a tracker these days?¡±


    Helianna interrupted with a frustrated tone. ¡°We do. And we¡¯ll pay you the gold. Will you do it?¡± Yosh looked at her shocked, noticing her for the first time.


    ¡°Where are you from?¡± he asked, prompting a scowl from her.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. You in?¡± He nodded excitedly. ¡°Good, let¡¯s get going.¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Yosh called as Eann started walking away. ¡°What am I tracking?¡± Eann was already out the door and Helianna sighed as two of them started following him.


    ¡°We¡¯re tracking a person.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to need more information than that.¡±


    ¡°His name is Jolan Tarbot and he stole the heart of a dungeon core. Eann¡¯s going to have more information on the man.¡±


    ¡°I can see why you¡¯d want my help. That would make sense with the slight increase in wildlife that I¡¯ve seen. Running away from the monsters and all.¡±


    Helianna grunted in acknowledgement, but didn¡¯t respond, leading to a lull in the conversation. By the time they caught up with Eann, he was already waiting for them in the carriage lot. Eann provided the first half of the money to Yosh, claiming he¡¯d get the second half afterwards. However, instead of riding in the carriages, they saddled their horses and rode out. Eann claimed the carriages would be safe at the lot and horses without carriages would be less obvious on the side of the road when they¡¯d need to be left for a while.


    As they rode, Eann filled Yosh in on Jolan¡¯s information as he guided them towards the man¡¯s last known location. Before long, they reached the edge of the woods. There, they left the horses by the side of the stream where they had access to plenty of food and water, and should be fine for weeks. Assuming the place she had rented the horse was at least half-rate, the horse should be trained to remain in place as much as possible unless it was in danger.


    Helianna and the others did a final check of all their belongings and equipment. They then started to walk a short stretch of the forest where Eann¡¯s tracking had lost the man, although he did not reveal how he had managed to track Jolan so far. Before long, Yosh managed to find a trail. Helianna had trained to track, but it was nowhere near the level that Yosh was, and without him, she didn¡¯t think she would¡¯ve found it. Regardless, the hunt was on.

 Chapter 17: The Hunt

    Progress was slow. The trail was difficult to follow and Yosh claimed it was a miracle that there was even a trail left at all. And while it was not a particularly dense forest, it was enough to make travel even slower. The small amount of gear they carried was their only saving grace. The only cumbersome thing any of them carried was bedrolls.


    It also became quickly apparent to Helianna that Yosh¡¯s tracking capabilities far surpassed hers. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, she constantly bothered him with questions and asking for pointers. At first, he helped her, showing her some new things, but it was quickly proved that the biggest difference between them was practice. Instead, he often prodded her when he found evidence, trying to get her to notice.


    Eventually however, he began to clam up. Not wanting to lose the impromptu instruction, she asked him about it. In response, he said he¡¯d happily continue to help train her, if she paid him. It took almost no time for her to agree and they quickly decided on a price. Five silvers a day was fairly expensive, but he insisted it was fair due to the level that he was training her at. She didn¡¯t think it was worth it, but as always, it wasn¡¯t her money.


    The trail took them several days into the forest and one night, Yosh got curious and asked Helianna why she was here. Once she explained her fake story, he insisted that she show her combat skills in a spar with Eann. Eann didn¡¯t want to agree, but after some wheedling, Yosh managed to convince him that it would be fine. Yosh could keep a loose watch while they sparred. Of course, Helianna made a stipulation that they don¡¯t use magic, claiming that she ¡®didn¡¯t want to get too flashy and give themselves away¡¯.


    After some quick preparation, they started sparring, and she instantly proved her worth. She had been expecting more of a fight, but she repeatedly trounced Eann, to the point where he quickly gave up and refused to spar her. Yosh and Helianna had a laugh at his expense and they turned in for the night.


    It was the very next day when they found their quarry. They had refused to use a fire the entire trip, which had proven useful as they had been able to see his in the distance without being discovered. The past few nights however, his fire had been missing so Yosh and Helianna were unable to use it to gauge his distance. This loss combined with the tracks still looking old, they were caught by surprise.


    Yosh had been in the front and Helianna had slept poorly the previous night so she was flagging in the back. Suddenly, the entire forest below them became slick with a sheet of ice and they all shifted, trying to identify the attacker. A rain of sharp icicles whistled towards them, fortunately coming from directly in front. Despite being able to see them coming, Yosh was unable to react quick enough and several embedded themselves in Yosh¡¯s gut and arms, which were blocking his face. He immediately fell from the onslaught and started crawling away.


    A small burst of fire erupted from Eann as he tried to counteract the icicles, but they weren¡¯t enough and he suffered several wounds. Helianna was of course unharmed, but let herself fall and hid herself in the surrounding bushes. Out from behind a large gnarled tree in front of them came a tall, yet portly tijatan, something Helianna didn¡¯t know was possible. She had heard Eann describe him this way, but was still surprised. He was covered in sweat and had a hand outstretched.


    ¡°You assholes really want it that bad?!¡± he yelled at Eann. ¡°Well you can have it!¡±


    The air around him immediately decreased in temperature dramatically as he pulled his hand back towards his body and cradled it with the other. Eann shot a weak flame towards the man, but it failed to reach him, petering out as it entered the tijatan¡¯s aura of cold. The man visibly tensed and the aura condensed into a layer of frost covering his body.


    Seeing he was unable to do any real damage, Eann tried to retreat behind cover, but found the layer of ice still coating the ground preventing him from reaching it in time.


    Helianna saw all this happening from the side of the battlefield where nobody had noticed her sneak off. She now had a dilemma on her hands. Jolan was clearly charging up another large attack entirely focused on Eann, which would be his last major attack. Icing the floor and the opening attack had clearly drained the tijatan and he could barely hold the current attack together. It could be strong enough to kill Eann, but it might not. Also, with Eann trying to avoid it, the attack could completely miss. She was in a location where she could easily step out between them and block any attack sent at Eann, but she was not close enough to reach Jolan and stop him from sending it. She had to choose whether she would risk Eann¡¯s life or block the attack and reveal herself as a null.


    Revealing herself in this situation would do far more than simply losing the element of surprise. First off, she would immediately implicate The Academy, which they didn¡¯t particularly want. Although, thinking about it a moment longer, she decided that if anything, that may actually be a slight positive, considering her stance on The Academy.


    However, her relation to The Academy would be revealed. Her only mission so far had kept her hidden. For a second, she thought that since she was using a different name and face, she¡¯d be able to get away with it and nobody would know it was her. She immediately realized that it didn¡¯t matter, however. She was one of the only null agents that left The Academy on missions. Her disguises likely didn¡¯t matter in the long term if she was planning on leaving The Academy the second they learned she was null.


    Being related to The Academy could cause her significant issues in the long term. When she eventually left, trying to join organizations that are anti-academy or just wary of them could prove incredibly difficult. It always would have been, but being so easily exposed for an assassin-like figure that could do infiltration could damage her possibilities significantly. Of course in the short term, revealing she¡¯s null wouldn¡¯t be ideal either, but the problems there don¡¯t compare much to the long-term effects so she made her decision.


    It wasn¡¯t worth it. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    She continued to sneak around the battle site as Jolan concentrated his attack. The moment he released his magic, she rushed him. In the blinding blast of ice and the immediate daze that resulted in using such a powerful attack, he never saw her coming. She snapped his neck in an instant and he fell to the ground, paralyzed and dying. She knew he wasn¡¯t dead yet, but he was for all intents and purposes. She then ran back to Eann as fast as she could. Instantly she noticed the snow that had come from nowhere and was already melting on the ground. She hadn¡¯t had a chance to see what Jolan did, but clearly it was powerful.


    She found Eann lying on the ground, wheezing in pain. He had clearly been hit by some of it, but given that he was alive and conscious, she figured it was only a glancing hit. She took a moment to analyze him and quickly realized what the tijatan had done. He had likely sent out a cone of effect that had frozen anything in range in an instant. If that had hit Eann fully, it would undoubtedly have killed him within minutes, ice crystals from his frozen blood rupturing every cell in his brain. Instead, one hand, nearly an entire leg, and the other leg from the knee down were already a deep purple.


    She had heard of attacks like this, and they were typically only used by the desperate who would risk damaging their magical reserves to perform it. Pretty much the only people who could do it without damaging themselves were ithrax. She looked around and saw that the magical ice in the environment was quickly fading, but she knew it may not matter for Eann.


    The tissue in the places that froze would be damaged beyond repair. Additionally, the blood would have ruptured itself and become unusable, flooding his body with bad blood when unthawed. And lastly, the extreme cold would likely transfer through him and force his body to fight off hypothermia at the same time. As horrible as it was, the best way to keep him alive was to amputate.


    ¡°Shit. Eann, we¡¯re going to need to amputate, it¡¯s the only way!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you fuckin dare!¡± he yelled. ¡°I refuse to become an amputee!¡±


    ¡°Are you insane? You¡¯ll die!¡±


    ¡°Good!¡± he yelled back.


    His response stunned Helianna for a moment, but she shook it off.


    ¡°I¡¯m saving your life whether you want me to or not!¡± He tried to stand up and take a swing at her with his good hand, but with one leg barely functioning and the other completely useless, he lost his balance. With little effort required, Helianna delivered a blow to his chin, knocking him out¡­ cold. She chuckled to herself. She usually wasn¡¯t one for puns, but it felt right to her right now.


    She took nearly a full minute to brace herself for what she had to do. She had already killed people and dealt with blood. She had learned how to do emergency aid and limited amputation. Putting it into practice was something different. She took a nearby stick and put it in his mouth if he clenched from the pain. She didn¡¯t need shattered teeth added to his list of wounds. It took nearly half an hour to properly set up all three tourniquets and she hoped she had been fast enough to prevent too much damage from spreading. The only thing she had to amputate him was a machete that they brought.


    She tied him down, grateful that Eann had carried some rope. She wasn¡¯t sure why he had taken it, but she wasn¡¯t complaining now. Eann quickly woke up due to a lack of painkillers but couldn¡¯t resist thanks to the rope. Even through her cutting, the stick crunched as he bit down on it. Removing his hand was easy. His legs¡­ were a bit more difficult. During the process, Yosh returned from wherever he had crawled off and promptly threw up. She quickly explained what she was doing while she was working and while he didn¡¯t stop her, he promptly left.


    Eventually, she was done. She was covered in blood and sweat, and she was tired from the exertion. She looked at Eann, who had passed out half way through, likely due to the pain. She checked his pulse and it was there, albeit weak, which was to be expected. Three amputations was likely too much. If he died of shock, she wouldn¡¯t be surprised. She checked the tourniquets again to make sure he didn¡¯t bleed out, and they were holding, despite the rigorous ¡®surgery¡¯ she had just performed. She cleaned his wounds as best she could and wrapped them with spare cloth, but knew it was far from optimal. While this had been his only chance at survival, she didn¡¯t think it was likely he¡¯d make it. If she killed him while trying to save him, then so be it.


    She finally collapsed against a tree, thinking about what had happened. The first thing she thought about was the mission. She looked at the man that had started this, and suddenly remembered that she was supposed to take the dungeon heart from him. She stumbled over and rummaged through his pockets, not finding anything useful. Trying to avoid thinking about what else had happened, she searched around, looking for the man¡¯s camp.


    Despite her attempts to distract herself, she couldn¡¯t keep her mind from wandering. She had just performed a brutal and gruesome surgery on an unwilling patient that likely would have died either way. Since when had she been able to do that? Not physically, but emotionally. That just didn¡¯t seem possible, but it had been her. She looked down at her hands, still covered in the man¡¯s blood.


    Not only had she performed the surgery, but the idea of his death didn¡¯t really bother her for some reason. Of course, she had tried to save him, but she just felt numb. She thought about the fight leading up to it and came to a horrible realization. She had a choice to save him. To easily remove the risk of his injury and death, but had chosen not to. It wasn¡¯t even for the greater good or anything. She had chosen significant risk of another man¡¯s death over the possible risk of her own future trustworthiness.


    Her hatred toward The Academy grew. They had turned her into this. A monster that cared only for herself. Soon, she would be striking out on her own and have to deal with what she had become under their tutelage. She hated them because she knew she was in the wrong and couldn¡¯t find it in herself to care.


    She was shaken out of her raging thoughts when she stumbled onto a camp. It was fairly simple but surprisingly nice for a single person and she wondered if he had set this up before attacking the dungeon. She put it out of her mind and rummaged through the camp. It didn¡¯t take long to find the fist sized heart and she pocketed it. Realizing there was an opportunity here, she took the bloody machete and cut his tent to pieces. She picked up the large strips of cloth and on her way back to Eann, she grabbed some sizable sticks on the way.


    There, she found Yosh, who had apparently buried Eann¡¯s missing limbs while she was gone. He turned to her with red rimmed eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re a monster.¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± she said as she shrugged. ¡°But it was his only chance at living, even if it¡¯s still slim. Now help me make a stretcher and let¡¯s get out of here so that he might have a chance.¡±


    Using the tent and sticks she had picked up, they made a stretcher and promptly started working their way out of the woods carrying Eann. Despite carrying him, it didn¡¯t take them much longer than it did on the way in, much to their surprise. They exited the forest slightly less than a week later after the battle, but they were too late. Eann was dead.

 Chapter 18: Dungeon Break

    Neither Helianna nor Yosh were capable of performing the proper death rites for Eann, so they slung his body over one of the horses. Death rites pervaded every culture throughout the planet, but people believed if they weren¡¯t performed differed. Here, people believed that without the rites, the person¡¯s soul would wander the planet until their mana eventually died out. Personally, Helianna didn¡¯t care what they believed the rites prevented, as long as they performed them.


    As two of them rode back to town, conversation was sparse and she had plenty of time to think for herself. She thought about how her decision resulted in Eann¡¯s death and found herself¡­ disappointed. He had been useful and it was a needless death. However, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to feel any more about him.


    She knew it was wrong and she should care more, but she just didn¡¯t. She wondered when that happened and how? She hadn¡¯t killed much for The Academy yet so it wasn¡¯t just an oversaturation of death in her life. Yes, they had required her to kill a number of times in various ways, including defenseless people, but that didn¡¯t justify this lack of feeling.


    Maybe they had been manipulating her like the other ithrax, but in more mundane ways. Changing her into a mindless killer. At first, that seemed likely. However, Jayen and his team should have been affected by that as well then, right? If they were being manipulated both emotionally and magically, there¡¯s no way they would be able to see through it. That left a final option, one that she didn¡¯t want to think about. Maybe this is just who she was, and The Academy simply brought it to the surface.


    She tried to keep these thoughts out of her mind, but Yosh was not very communicative and provided no helpful distractions for her. It appeared as if he had never had an ally die before. The ride remained suffocatingly silent until they neared the city. As they were approaching, they heard screaming and they immediately sped up without a word. When they arrived at the scene, Helianna saw something before her that she¡¯d never witnessed.


    It was clearly a monster from the dungeon break as the creations within dungeons did not match any creatures of the real world. It had its back to them, the hulking figure standing at easily a dozen feet tall. It had pale but perfect skin that any model would be jealous of, which was covering bulging muscles. Despite being unable to see the front of the creature, she immediately knew what it was. While dealing with dungeons was unlikely given her position, she had still been taught all of the different dungeon creatures and how to counter them. This one was a troll.


    Trolls were unique creatures. They had enormous strength, but were slow to use it. For humanoid creatures, they were fairly simple-minded, but that automatically made them smarter than the average dungeon beast. Their biggest danger was their insane regeneration. While their body had little defenses, they regenerated quickly and flawlessly, supposedly the reason for their perfect skin. Fighting them was typically fairly easy for a trained fighter thanks to their slow and telegraphed swings. If you lost focus and got hit, that was another story. Killing them often took so long due to their regeneration that people inevitably screwed up, which is how trolls got their notorious reputation. Fighting them solo was considered somewhat suicidal, but thankfully, she didn¡¯t have to worry about death like most people.


    The information flew through her head as the carriage careened down the street. She climbed atop the carriage and pulled out her daggers, horrible weapons for fighting a troll, and prepared to jump. The carriage screamed past the troll but she had already jumped off and had latched onto the troll¡¯s shoulders. She used the momentum of her flight to bury her daggers deep in the back of the troll¡¯s neck, instantly severing his spine.


    He instantly collapsed to the ground and she rode his body down, hoping the people he was attacking got out of the way. She jumped off as he neared the ground, being sure to clear the people prone below her. Unfortunately, not everyone got out of the way and several people were pinned underneath the troll. Seeing her knives still sticking out of his neck, she rushed towards the troll.


    His regeneration was hard at work and her knives were already being pushed out of his body. She pulled out two more knives and started repeatedly slashing his neck, hoping to keep him immobilized while draining his regenerative capabilities. She knew she didn¡¯t have the strength or leverage to break through his cranium and attack his brain, so the next best target to sap his regeneration was his neck. Her knives scored several damaging strikes, but they weren¡¯t enough and he got his full movement back.


    The troll swung a meaty arm straight at her legs, and Helianna jumped, barely clearing the swing. She threw in her knives in quick succession, burying them in the eyes that were now locked on her. A roar reverberated through her, hiding the sound of her first two knives finally clattering to the ground. The beast stood up as he took another swing at her that she barely ducked under. She dove between his legs, slashing the backs of both heels and continued running, ensuring he didn¡¯t have a chance to stomp on her.


    As she turned to see him, her eyes widened. While still on his knees, the troll had picked up two people who had been squashed beneath him in Helianna¡¯s initial attack. Their screams rose in volume as the troll threw them in random directions, unable to see where Helianna was. A person nearly collided with Helianna, but she managed to dodge and tried to ignore the gruesome sounds of people slamming into walls at high speeds. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Hoping to take advantage of the troll¡¯s blindness, she rushed towards him and stabbed him several times in the sides. Unable to dodge the resulting elbow, she flew backwards with a quiet crack of her ribs fracturing. A resounding ¡®oof¡¯ escaped her mouth as the wind was knocked out of her and she rolled for several yards.


    It took her a dangerous second to come to her senses and breathe again, only to see the troll also regaining his eyesight. His eyes locked on her once more as she stood up and he roared again. He picked up another injured woman and threw her at Helianna. Unable to dodge the flailing limbs fast enough, she received a blow to the shoulder from a swinging arm, a hit that she could feel reverberate through her body and exacerbate her broken ribs. She ran towards the troll and threw a knife at his face, prompting him to block it with an arm. Taking advantage of his line of sight being blocked, she picked up her first two knives off the floor and stabbed up into his crotch.


    His instant reaction was to slam his legs together and bring his arms down, which she only partially dodged. The unintentional blow rattled through her skull and her vision instantly swam. It knocked her to the ground, and she was certain it was over. As her vision cleared however, she saw the troll still bleeding and wheezing from her previous blow and she realized it was nearly over. He must have taken damage before she arrived and combined with her severing his spine in the beginning, his regeneration was running out. She quickly stood up and retrieved her daggers, but she immediately regretted her hastiness as her vision swam once more and she nearly lost her balance. After a moment to regain herself, she took the time to aim and threw her knife, aiming for his neck.


    Her aim failed her however thanks to her injuries and it nailed him right in the cheek. Thankfully, the pain still irradiated from his crotch and combined with the new hit to the cheek, he fell to his knees once more. Helianna shakily walked up to him and slashed his throat. He swung at her one last time and in her addled state, Helianna never saw it coming. Thankfully, the swing was weak and sent her to the ground instead of across the room again. The troll was no longer able to regenerate, but still wanted revenge.


    It stumbled to its feet, barely able to walk from the pain and weakness of blood loss. He took one painful step forward before someone tackled his legs from behind, sending the troll to the ground. There he laid as he bled out from his wounds. Meanwhile, Helianna was still trying to recover from the final blow and barely noticed what was happening. She had little experience fighting monsters, mostly focusing on humans and it showed. She struggled to form coherent thoughts as a voice rang through her skull.


    ¡°Holly?¡±


    It took her a moment to realize someone was calling for her. That was her alias. She slowly turned her head to look at where the voice came from and saw Yosh standing over her.


    ¡°Took¡­ your time¡­ didn¡¯t you?¡± He hesitantly nodded before leaning down and helping her to her feet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get you some help.¡± She started to nod, but instantly stopped when the vertigo returned.


    ¡°Yeah. Whatever¡­ ithrax¡­ was sent to fix this¡­ failed.¡±


    Yosh nodded and the two of them started stumbling forward, moving to reunite with their carriages. However, after only a few steps there was a thunk and Yosh suddenly collapsed to the ground groaning, taking Helianna with him. She slowly turned to Yosh and saw blood coming from the back of his head and turned further. There stood two men, one holding a slightly bloodied brick in his hands. The one holding the brick looked human, but she could have been convinced he was davraki given his enormous size. The other was a much more normal human and despite her vision still addled, she could see the leer on his face.


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Helianna asked. The larger man smiled in a way that made Helianna distinctly uncomfortable, but it was the smaller one who responded.


    ¡°Because we can.¡±


    The large man moved forward and she snapped her leg out, catching him on the inside of the knee. He grunted and dropped to a knee, but when she tried to scramble to her feet, she stumbled due to her lack of balance. The man took the opportunity to push her hard, knocking her to the ground where she hit her head again and groaned. At this point, it would be a miracle if she had a simple concussion. The man moved forward and kneeled down on top of her, pinning her legs with his body and her hands with his own.


    ¡°Why now? The city is in danger¡­ and I can clearly help.¡± The small man kneeled down close to her face and she recoiled from the smell of booze.


    ¡°Why now? Now¡¯s the perfect time. Sexy bitches like you are tired and weak and there¡¯s nobody else around to stop us. Now¡­¡± The man bent down, mockingly puckering his lips as if to kiss her. In response she headbutted him in the face before laying back, her vision red. The man stumbled back and yelled.


    ¡°Piece of shit!¡± Now angry, the large man yanked her arms together while she was still stunned so he could hold them with one hand. A domineering smile filled his face.


    ¡°Please stop,¡± she begged with her eyes shut tight. She was trying to fight back but between her current weakness and his massive size bearing down on her, she couldn¡¯t do anything.


    As if he had listened to her command, his grip instantly loosened. She opened her eyes to look at him and instead of the same evil smile, there was emptiness. His body instead sported a headless stump where neck should be.


    Completely unaware of where his head was, she looked around and saw the other man dying as well, a sword going through his heart. She followed the path of the sword and saw two people standing there that she recognized. It took her a few seconds to place them due to her slow thoughts, but then it hit her like a carriage. It was the same two ithrax that she had saved on her previous mission.


    ¡°Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake,¡± she muttered as she passed out.

 Chapter 19: Painful Mistakes

    Helianna slowly woke up, her ribs aching and her head feeling as if it was trapped in a vice. The room was dark and silent. She started to sit up, but the pounding in her head instantly worsened, so she layed back down with a groan. The sound of her own voice drove another nail into her head, silencing her.


    She weakly put a hand to her face and realized it didn¡¯t feel right, but she couldn¡¯t figure out why. She briefly explored her face with her hands, trying not to make it worse. It took an agonizingly long time to realize what was different. The wax-like prosthetics that she¡¯d used to alter her face shape was gone. Her attempts to hide her face were undoubtedly ruined.


    It took her several minutes to remember what happened, and she was confident she had a major concussion. Thinking hurt and she had to suppress another groan. She figured the only reason the ithrax hadn¡¯t killed her yet was because they needed her report. They were probably the ones who¡¯d taken the prosthetics off.


    She immediately wasn¡¯t happy with the decision, even if it made sense. Unlike other ithrax, delaying killing her could be dangerous. Respawning as a null worked quite differently than it did compared to any of the other members of an ithrax cell. Because they were completely antithetical to magic, nulls couldn¡¯t meditate with the other members of the cell and ¡®store¡¯ their body state. Even after countless years of research, nobody knew why nulls were able to still respawn, much less how.


    To make matters worse, the amount of time between a null¡¯s death and when their last memories were seems to be random. Sometimes, it would be months back, but at others, it would only be a few days. Because of that, if a null sustained an injury that could be permanent, they were almost always killed immediately as there was a risk that they could respawn while still containing the injury if they waited too long. Realizing this, Helianna decided that if they didn¡¯t come to take her report soon, she would take the matters into her own hands.


    It didn¡¯t take long for a stranger dressed in medical clothing to walk in and see her awake. However, instead of checking the severity of Helianna¡¯s concussion like she expected, the stranger immediately left to get the other ithrax. They arrived quickly, Isela clearly concerned.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± asked Isela. Despite whispering, the sound pounded in Helianna¡¯s skull.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Can you give a report?¡± Sylas asked, sounding stern but still sympathetic. She weakly nodded and did her best to give a report. She had to stop frequently as the pain became too much. She couldn¡¯t focus and frequently lost her train of thought, requiring the other two to guide her back on track. The report should have taken only a few minutes, but instead took over an hour. Even then, she failed to provide all the information.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to kill you now,¡± said Sylas. Despite the low light and struggles to concentrate, Heliann could clearly see a smug grin on his face. She reached out a hand and gripped his arm.


    ¡°Wait. I owe you.¡±


    ¡°We know,¡± Sylas responded, but Isela continued. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°No. I need to do this.¡±


    ¡°Do what?¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ please?¡±


    Both Sylas and Isela frowned, but he nodded while Isela protested. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine! You don¡¯t need t-¡±


    ¡°One at a time. Isela first.¡±


    ¡°Ok, but what do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°Only Isela.¡±


    He narrowed his eyes for a moment, unhappy that she wasn¡¯t answering his question. He still listened and walked out, rolling his eyes as he did so. Helliana¡¯s head was threatening to burst open and it took everything she had to focus.


    ¡°Isela. Do you remember your parents?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Do you care about them?¡±


    ¡°Not anymore.¡± This answer shocked Helianna and it took her even longer than previously to respond.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re dead. The Academy killed them.¡± Helianna was once again shocked, struggling to comprehend it, quite literally thanks to her concussion.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you hate The Academy, then?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± If Helianna had the mental capacity to think faster, she instantly would have bailed, but was unable to think about more than one thing at once.


    ¡°Your family is dead. The Academy killed them. And they told you?¡± Helianna stated in shock. Isela shrugged her shoulders.


    ¡°I mean, they know what they¡¯re doing. They wouldn¡¯t have killed my family without a reason. I don¡¯t know what it is, but I¡¯m sure my parents deserved it.¡±


    This time, Helianna spent several minutes trying to figure out how to respond, during which Isela grew increasingly more concerned for her. Helianna tried to shake her head to clear her wandering thoughts, and instantly stopped. The pain from the movement helped her refocus however, and she grabbed Isela¡¯s uniform, a more decorative piece than anything else due to the limitations of her species. Helianna closed her eyes and instantly felt some pushback, foreign magic keeping her own from infiltrating the runes in the uniform. It was enough that due to her decreased mental capacity, she knew she didn¡¯t have time. Her magic seemed to have its own will, but clearly not enough at the moment.


    After several seconds of fighting the uniform¡¯s runes, she managed to push her magic into the uniform. However, the second she relaxed, the foreign magic instantly retook control of the runes, reminding her of a trick candle. Pushing one more time, she managed to regain control after several seconds. Even in her addled state, she instantly recognized that the foreign mana was too strong and she wouldn¡¯t be able to stop it for long. She opened her eyes and looked at Isela, who instantly quieted.


    ¡°Are you really okay with The Academy killing your parents?¡± she slowly ground out.


    ¡°Of course. Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡± Isela asked, but Helianna could see the uncertainty in her eyes.


    ¡°Think about it for a moment. Are you really okay with The Academy killing your parents?


    ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t need to,¡± she immediately responded. ¡°Why would I care if they killed¡­¡± She trailed off and turned her head away in confusion. ¡°Wait¡­ wait a second. Hold on. No, I wouldn¡¯t want¡­¡± Her breath hitched and she looked back at Helianna, fear in her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°The Academy is using sovereign magic to brainwash you,¡± Helianna slowly stated, struggling to keep her own magic in control. ¡°Take your uniform off and I can explain more.¡±


    ¡°My uniform?¡± the girl asked with incredulity.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Helianna responded, growling at this point as her brain started wandering and she started losing control. Terrified at what Helianna had implied, Isela didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest. In her haste, she started to literally tear off her uniform, not taking the time to take it off normally. Her claws made short work of most of it, but in her desire to rip it off as fast as possible, she only made herself slower, eventually stopping. Helianna immediately knew why. Without her magic suppressing the runes¡¯ influence, Isela was already being influenced.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You¡­ you manipulated me!¡± she screamed. ¡°You have sovereign magic! How? What are you?¡± Isela shook her head in anger and confusion before locking eyes with Helianna. Her first instinct was to swing at Helianna¡¯s weak form, but managed to stop herself.


    Helianna quickly sat up and gripped Isela¡¯s uniform. She collapsed back down, and with gravity aiding her, managed to pull off the last of it.


    ¡°What the fu¡­.¡± Isela trailed off and shook her head, realizing what just happened. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re being influenced by sovereign runes carved into your uniforms. The Academy is controlling you.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Helianna tried to think but was unable to put together the right pieces and groaned.


    ¡°We can talk when you don¡¯t have a concussion. I¡¯ll help deal with this for Sylas.¡± She turned before immediately pausing. ¡°Actually, I can do this on my own, right? You don¡¯t need to turn off the runes? Just take off the clothes?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll do it. We¡¯ll come back when we¡¯re done.¡± Helianna simply groaned in response. She simply laid there, happy to look up at the ceiling and do nothing for a while. Content to not think, she had no idea how long it took for Isela and Sylas to come back in.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to confront them,¡± said Sylas. Even in her addled state, Helianna immediately knew it was a bad idea.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that. You¡¯ll get all three of us in trouble.¡± Isela shifted uncomfortably. She clearly agreed with Helianna, but hadn¡¯t been able to convince Sylas.


    ¡°No. We¡¯ll be fine,¡± Sylas insisted. ¡°Just trust us.¡±


    ¡°No. You¡¯ve failed every mission.¡±


    ¡°No we didn¡¯t!¡± yelled Sylas defensively. The loud sound instantly rang throughout her head and it took her several seconds to be able to focus on what Sylas was saying.


    ¡°-and then we¡¯ll pick you up. It¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± she managed to struggle out. He sighed, realizing she hadn¡¯t heard most of what he said.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t killing you. We¡¯re leaving you here and will pick you up later. We¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Without giving Helianna a chance to respond, he grabbed Isela¡¯s arm and stormed out of the room. Helianna tried to protest but was too little, too late. She knew she was in trouble, but couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Just sitting up was difficult and her head was constantly pounding. She stared up at the ceiling, grateful for the quiet. Despite the brewing storm, she fell asleep.


    She spent the next few weeks doing a lot of nothing as the nurses cared for her. Thanks to the concussion, she found herself perfectly content to lie there and simply stare at the ceiling. After a few weeks, the nurses started coming in and quietly talking to her to help keep from getting bored as her mind recovered. Another week later, she got up and started being a little more active. That was when the situation with Sylas and Isela hit her. She needed to leave. Now.


    Despite not being fully recovered from her concussion, she was good enough to move and left the following night. She had no idea if she was still being watched like during her last mission, but if so, she figured she wasn¡¯t getting 24 hour surveillance. After being so injured for so long, it would be a waste of man-power to have someone constantly watching her, right?


    And if someone was watching her, she figured they would have come in and killed her, hoping to prevent Helianna from developing any permanent damage. Maybe someone following her talked to Sylas and Isela, who claimed to have killed her?


    She didn¡¯t want to think much, still getting headaches when she focused hard and it took enough mental effort to find a stable in the dark. When she did, she quietly saddled a horse, struggling to keep it quiet. In her struggle, she wasn¡¯t paying close enough attention and didn¡¯t tie the saddle well enough.


    Unbeknownst to the mistake, she rode it out of the stable and out of the town, using the stars to try to guide her southwest. She wanted to go to Copocole, away from where The Academy might look for her. She quickly found herself struggling due to the slightly unstable saddle, but determinedly kept going, even as the bouncing of the ride hurt.


    She rode for several hours before a searing pain flashed across her hip. She suddenly found herself unbalanced and couldn¡¯t feel the saddle with that leg. She shifted suddenly to try to stabilize herself, but with the saddle too loose, she was unable to and fell off the horse, bouncing and rolling across the ground. She lay there, groaning in pain for several seconds before slowly pushing herself up, her vision spinning. She looked down at her leg to see what happened and found it completely missing.


    There was no blood, simply an empty stump where it used to be. Dazed and struggling to comprehend what happened, she didn¡¯t hear the footsteps until they were right on top of her. She looked up and saw a similarly disoriented Isela standing over her.


    Between the disbelief, healing concussion, and new injuries, she promptly passed out. When she woke up, she found herself staring up at the sky. It was morning and the light seared her eyes, eliciting a wince from Helianna.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡± Isela asked, and Helianna¡¯s head throbbed. Helianna could immediately tell that she had a new issue. She was certain she had gotten another concussion when she fell off the horse. She must be getting permanent brain damage at this point.


    ¡°Kill me. I don¡¯t want permanent damage.¡± she croaked out.


    ¡°Tell at least some of what happened. Then I will.¡±


    ¡°You failed your job. I ran into a troll.¡± She took some time trying to organize her simple thoughts. ¡°You saved me from rapists. I showed you about The Academy controlling your mind. Sylas made you confront The Academy. You died and respawned while I tried to flee. Going to Copocole.¡±


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t I weaker in power, then?¡±


    ¡°Later. I¡¯ll remember. Kill me.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Isela sighed. She didn¡¯t like killing an ally, even if it wasn¡¯t permanent. Helianna closed her eyes just in time to miss seeing Isela slash her claws across Helianna¡¯s throat. Helianna¡¯s eyes shot open. Her voice was barely understandable through her own blood.


    ¡°Slow death¡­ asshole.¡± Isela blinked in surprise at the accusation and watched as it took over a minute for Helianna to fall unconscious before dying.


    Helianna opened her eyes, disoriented. Her last memories were of charging the troll and was very confused on where she was. She heard a thump and turned to see that Isela had collapsed to the floor beside her. She heard someone coughing their throat behind her and she turned to see Sylas.


    ¡°Sylas?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why am I here?¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a little difficult. The three of us are apparently one ithrax cell. The problem is that all three of us died in close succession, even if not all at once. Because we¡¯re a small group and the timing of our deaths, there¡¯s a period where none of us have any memories, simply going off of each other¡¯s hearsay.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the last thing you remember?¡±


    ¡°I was charging a troll. You guys failed your mission.¡±


    His face contorted into a scowl.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t fail! It was more difficult than anticipated. Apparently you fought it but someone tried to harass you or something? We saved you, so then you then supposedly revealed that The Academy was mind controlling us? We went back to The Academy and we both got killed while you were running. When Isela respawned, you gave her the same rundown and then she killed you because you were so injured.¡± He gave her a few moments to digest the information before continuing.


    ¡°Now explain. What the hell is this about mind control?¡±


    ¡°Hold on.. I need a moment,¡± He huffed in frustration as he crossed his arms. ¡°You said that after I explained the mind control, you went back to The Academy?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    She shook her head and massaged her temples. ¡°Dumbasses.¡± She dropped her hand and looked back at Sylas. ¡°Are we¡¯re really an ithrax cell?¡± He nodded. ¡°Shit¡­ I really got the incompetent team.¡±


    ¡°We are not! You bitch!¡±


    ¡°You failed both missions that I¡¯ve seen you on and you decided to confront The Academy, just the two of you! How stupid can you get?!¡±


    ¡°At least we didn¡¯t get nearly killed by a simple troll!¡±


    ¡°That happened because of your fuck up! And that¡¯s not my job! I kill people, not monsters!¡±


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± He threw a punch at her, but she easily shifted to the side and nailed him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.


    ¡°Dumbass.¡± After a few moments, she sighed. ¡°At least I should explain what¡¯s going on with The Academy.¡±


    After taking a few moments for both of them to calm down, Helianna then explained to Sylas about the runes and how they influenced everyone¡¯s mind. He glared at her the whole time with his glowing white eyes narrowed, but he didn¡¯t interrupt. As she finally finished and he opened his mouth to speak, they were interrupted by a third voice. Isela.


    ¡°How am I not dead?¡±

 Chapter 20: Cooperation

    Helianna and Sylas both stared at Isela in shock, neither responding.


    ¡°Hello? How¡­ am¡­ I¡­ not¡­ dead? You¡¯ve got more explaining to do Holly. You also need to explain how I¡¯m not permanently damaged from respawning off of you. I can already tell that I¡¯m fine despite you being null.¡±


    Sylas turned to Helianna once more, matching Isela¡¯s pout with a scowl of his own. Helianna sighed.


    ¡°In for a copper, in for a gold I guess. First off, my name isn¡¯t Holly. That was just an alias I used while working with other teams. My name is Helianna.¡± She looked at the other two, who were surprised but clearly unimpressed. ¡°I¡¯m not a normal null. I also have magic.¡± Both of them immediately started to protest about the possibility of her statement, but Helianna immediately held up her hand. She pushed her magic out, making a golden light float over her palm briefly.


    ¡°See?¡± Both stared at her in shock and Isela¡¯s large ears stood straight up in the air, nearly prompting a laugh from Helianna. ¡°It¡¯s sovereign magic. That¡¯s probably how I managed to show you two that The Academy was using it to influence your mind.¡± Neither of them spoke. ¡°I know it¡¯s insane and shouldn¡¯t be possible, but it is.¡± Sylas was the first to get his bearings back, both still in shock.


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. All I know is that I have sovereign magic and that it¡¯s weird.¡±


    ¡°Weird? Weird?! That doesn¡¯t even begin to describe it, this is impossible!¡± Sylas yelled out. Isela grabbed his shoulder, her claws pressing into him lightly.


    ¡°Calm down, Sylas. Let her explain.¡±


    ¡°Calm down?! I am fucking calm! She¡¯s the one that¡¯s a walking impossibility. We are consistently taught our entire lives how impossible this is!¡±


    ¡°By who?¡± Helianna interjected. ¡°The Academy?¡± Sylas remained silent. ¡°We can¡¯t trust anything from them. I know for certain that The Academy has been suppressing information and knowledge of technological advancements. In fact, one of my missions dealt with that and I want to return there sometime when things aren¡¯t so hot. Speaking of, where are we and where are we going?¡± Isela¡¯s face brightened and she spoke up excitedly.


    ¡°We¡¯re just south of a small village they call Harmony. It¡¯s a cute place! The people were really nice! We¡¯re still in Tilland and we¡¯re heading down to Copocole. We uh¡­ haven¡¯t planned beyond that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still in Tilland?! If I just respawned, then it¡¯s been a week at least, I assume two since Sylas had to respawn as well. We¡¯re sitting ducks. They¡¯ll be looking for us! What have you guys been doing?¡±


    ¡°Hey! You can¡¯t criticize us! It¡¯s thanks to you that none of us remember what happened!¡± Sylas claimed.


    ¡°Thanks to me?! We have no idea what happened! For all we know, you guys were-¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡± yelled Isela. ¡°You two can get a room after this, but for now, we need to figure out a plan!¡±  Helianna took a few deep breaths while Sylas cursed under his breath.


    ¡°First,¡± Helianna started. ¡°We need to figure out what we have to our advantage. You have gravity magic, right Isela? Thought so. And space for you, Sylas? How do you two fight?¡± Isela looked to Sylas, but he had his arms crossed angrily.


    ¡°It¡¯s called liminal magic,¡± he stated grumpily.


    Isela sighed before speaking.


    ¡°Only in the research field. Sylas is our frontliner, kind of. He uses his spatial magic to always be in the front even if his actual body is not, often punching at enemies dozens of feet away. Does that make sense?¡± At Helianna¡¯s shrug, she continued. ¡°I use my magic and wings to fly up and above the fight and alter the fight in his favor or just use concentrated blasts of magic to take people out myself if I need to. Oh yeah, Sylas has a bow he¡¯s good with but can rarely use it cause he needs to be in the front.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you may want to switch to your bow, Sylas. I¡¯m best in the front since magic doesn¡¯t work on me and I¡¯ve been trained for it. We¡¯ll need to work on that, but that¡¯s later. We need to figure out what our plan is.¡±


    ¡°I still think we should go down to Copocole,¡± Sylas interjected with a scowl. ¡°Then we should head inland.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Helianna responded firmly. ¡°We should cross the ocean.¡±


    Isela gasped and spoke with a disbelieving tone. ¡°To Wulvinia?¡±


    ¡°Yes. The Academy has less of an influence there. They¡¯re too far away and they¡¯re preoccupied with the Empodian Invasion. The trip there will also be over water, which is harder to track than over land.¡±


    ¡°Going to Wulvinia is insanity!¡± Sylas barked. ¡°They¡¯re a bunch of brainless barbarians!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Wulvinian,¡± Helianna coldly responded.


    ¡°That explains things! And your accent! How did I not realize? Only a Wulvinian could be a freak like you! A magic null?!¡±


    ¡°Sylas, stop. Please.¡± Isela pleaded.


    ¡°What? You want to go to Wulvinia?¡± When Isela didn¡¯t respond, he threw his hands up in the air. ¡°Everybody¡¯s insane today!¡± He stomped off. Isela and Helianna watched him go for a few seconds before turning to each other.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± Isela said, wincing. ¡°He¡¯s just a little¡­ angry. Right now.¡±


    ¡°Clearly,¡± Helianna stated, unimpressed.


    ¡°But I think it¡¯s a good idea. And I think I¡¯ll be able to convince him.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m going up to Wulvinia with or without you guys. After learning that your parents were killed by The Academy, I need to see if mine are still okay.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem like a good idea. Wouldn¡¯t they look there, too?¡±


    ¡°Probably. But they don¡¯t have as big a presence in Wulvinia and if something happens, it will take either a lot of time, energy, or both for them to send support. And honestly, I¡¯m not even sure I want you guys with me. It seems like you¡¯ve failed every mission you were on and I don¡¯t want to deal with Sylas. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I realize I should go on my own.¡±


    Helianna turned away from the shocked Isela and looked around their meager camp. There was a tent with a place and there had clearly been a campfire nearby. Aside from a couple packs, the only other thing around was a horse tied to a tree. She turned back to Isela, who had recovered from her shock with a minor look of indignation on her bat-like face.


    ¡°What direction is the village? Harmony, you called it?¡±If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Wait, hold on!¡± Isela exclaimed. ¡°You¡¯re going to leave us on our own against The Academy because you don¡¯t like Sylas?!¡±


    ¡°No. It is because you have proven incompetent. I don¡¯t know whose idea it was to confront The Academy, but that has proven that you two lack any ability to plan. And it seems likely that Sylas will fight any decision I make so I will be going.¡±


    ¡°No! Wait! I¡¯ll talk to him. I¡¯ll get him to listen to you.¡±


    ¡°Why do you care? I¡¯m just one person. I can¡¯t help you much.¡±


    ¡°Because you said it! We¡¯re not good at planning! We never are! Sylas is always¡­ stubborn. You can help us and we can help you. We¡¯re a small team, but we¡¯ll be able to help.¡± Helianna pursed her lips.


    ¡°Fine. But I will not wait for you two, and if you two make things more difficult for me, I will leave you behind. You guys have thirty minutes before I¡¯m going to Harmony to get another horse.¡±


    Isela rushed off to grab Sylas and Helianna heard arguing. Not wanting to aggravate the situation, she started cataloging what respawned with her. She didn¡¯t have much, so she spent most of the thirty minutes simply waiting to see if the other two would figure things out. Unfortunately, they did and they packed up everything quickly, putting it on the horse. After a brief discussion, they decided that until they got more horses at Harmony, Isela would fly and Sylas would use his spatial magic to keep pace with the horse while Helianna rode.


    Helianna was doubtful he could manage it and Isela had tried to get him to stay on the horse with Helianna, but he adamantly refused, clearly not wanting to be together on a horse with her. On her part, she found herself surprisingly ambivalent as long as he didn¡¯t slow them down. It took much of the day to ride there and they only had to stop once for Sylas, who was clearly struggling. When they finally arrived at night, Sylas was pale and sweating, clearly having overtaxed himself. Helianna chose to ignore him as they got themselves an inn for the night.


    Despite not liking the proximity, she chose to only get them one room for the three of them. Fortunately, the money that she had before she died respawned with her, which seemed like the perfect recipe for a money laundering scheme. Regardless, she didn¡¯t have much and needed to stretch it out as much as possible. The immediate problem was that even while stretching it, they didn¡¯t have enough money to buy horses.


    She laid down on the ground of the inn, electing to not think about what she might be lying in, but certain it was better than sleeping in the same bed as the other two. She heard them quickly fall asleep and decided to figure out what to do about horses in the morning.


    She woke up at early dawn the next morning, having long developed the habit of waking up with the sun. She walked over to the two and lifted the mattress, dumping them on the floor. They both groaned.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting us horses. Be ready by the time I¡¯m back.¡± Muffled complaints were her only response and she took advantage of their groggy minds and left. Being in a small town, it didn¡¯t take long to find the stables and she was disappointed in her options. There were only a few horses so she decided to only take one. It was all they needed anyways. She picked one that seemed well enough trained and started saddling him, hoping the owner wouldn¡¯t see her. It was as she was leading it out that she heard someone yelling behind her.


    ¡°Hey! Stop! You need to pay for that!¡± Not feeling a need to respond, Helianna hopped on the horse and immediately set it galloping for the inn. Fortunately, Sylas and Isela were already getting on their horse as she returned. She slowed down just enough to speak to them as she heard yelling in the distance.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving. Now.¡± She set her horse into gallop, not caring whether they followed. Only a few moments later, she heard them behind her, trying to catch up. It wasn¡¯t till they¡¯d left town that their horse was side by side with hers and Sylas yelled to her.


    ¡°What the hell was that about?¡± Upon a lack of response, Sylas grumbled and considered trying to stop Helianna to demand answers, but Isela calmed him. Helianna pulled her horse slightly ahead and kept them at a brisk pace for quite a while as she used the sun to navigate.


    This lasted until noon, when she stopped at a river crossing and allowed the horses to drink. People of the town had chased them for a bit, but had been left behind a couple of hours ago at this point.


    ¡°So what was that about this morning?¡± Isela asked cheerfully, resulting in a deadpan look from Helianna.


    ¡°You¡¯re in an awfully good mood.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be? We¡¯re on our own little adventure and it¡¯s a pretty day.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Helianna responded warily. ¡°Well I wanted to get going. I¡¯m surprised The Academy hasn¡¯t caught us already.¡± Isela seemed to accept her explanation and went to get water, humming. Sylas remained by Helianna.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to get us killed,¡± He muttered but didn¡¯t say anything more as they walked to the water each started filling their waterskin. Before long, they were back on the road and heading to Copocole. They rode for several days and quickly ran through their supplies, promptly having to resort to hunting. All three knew how to hunt however and so they had no issue.


    Nearly a week later, they finally arrived in a port town in Copocole. They had to stay for over a week before there was a boat that was leaving for the north. The entire time, Helianna¡¯s paranoia grew and she found herself constantly looking over her shoulder, expecting The Academy to appear. Isela was hardly bothered, the strange cheerfulness that she had recently exhibited now becoming normal, much to Helianna¡¯s chagrin. Sylas however, was put on edge by her paranoia, prompting only more arguments between the two.


    They got on their ship after a week with no incident as the only passengers aboard a cargo ship. They had paid the last of their money to board the ship, not expecting nice quarters or good food. And they got exactly what they expected. The crew had emptied out a storeroom, making enough money off of them that it was worth it. There was enough space, but it was cold and the creaking of the ship was easily heard, making all three of them uncomfortable. The food was better described as gruel, and sewage treatment on the ship left something to be desired. But for Isela and Sylas, that¡¯s where the misery largely ended.


    For Helianna, it only got worse. She was reminded in full force that boats made her seasick. Her entire first week was miserable and she spent much of her time heaving over the side of the ship despite the ship¡¯s enormous size minimizing the rocking. One of the crew members spent some time helping her, but she never paid much attention to him thanks to her condition.


    They arrived at their first stop at the end of the week. The Dyavlomsvochi-Bnevdo Islands. She heard one of the crew rattle off the full name and it sent her already unsteady head spinning. Most people just called it the Bnevdo Islands, much to the consternation of locals, but good luck getting the world populace to pronounce¡­ that. The crew had told her that her best bet at getting her body used to the seasickness would be not going back on land, and with how much longer the trip would continue, she listened. It didn¡¯t stop her from standing at the deck and looking enviously at the islands as she heaved over the side


    It took a couple days for them to sail again. They followed the islands and the coast of Turalese, and Helianna¡¯s seasickness finally started to abate at the same time the temperatures rose. She wasn¡¯t confident that she was fine until they arrived at their next stop two weeks later, a small port town on the western edge of Turalese. Isela teasingly tried to get her to leave the ship, but she adamantly refused, not daring to risk her body restarting her seasickness when she returned.


    The captain had stayed with her and she asked him about the crewmate who had helped her when she was sick, but he had no idea what she was talking about. He hadn¡¯t had any of his crew leave their post. Assuming he simply didn¡¯t realize who had left their shift, she decided she¡¯d try to figure it out on her own and asked him instead about the interior temperature of the ship.


    The interior of the ship had become a weird climate of shifting temperatures, ranging from freezing cold to a boiling sauna. She had known it was coming, but the powerful equator sun seemed to be giving its all in turning the ship into a giant metal oven. The captain informed her that the only thing preventing a miserable existence of roasting alive were the plethora of runes throughout the ship, ensuring it kept cold. Of course, it was an old ship so they were outdated and poorly placed, resulting in the constantly shifting temperatures.


    To get away from it, she tried to stand out on the deck and look out over the small port, but found herself burning badly in minutes, requiring her to hide herself under the shade of a partially empty crate. She had no idea what the others were doing, but she highly doubted they were exploring the port like they did at the Bnevdo Islands. Her position stopped her from getting a good view out so she retreated back into the temperature challenged ship.


    It took them much longer to do what they needed here and Isela came back burnt even through her fur, but due to kinuze bodies being built much better for the heat, Sylas was fine. She couldn¡¯t remember quite how it worked, but she knew it had to do with his weird head-tentacle hair things dispersing heat or something. She thought they were called perras, but didn¡¯t bother to ask.


    The crew could only work for a few hours at dawn and dusk as it was too hot during the day and the captain couldn¡¯t legally make the crew work at night. She wasn¡¯t sure why but it had to do with some strange laws specifically about ship crewmanship. It didn¡¯t make sense to her as she figured they could just sleep in the day and work at night, but she wasn¡¯t the one that made the laws.


    She tried to ask around and find the helpful crew-member once they eventually got on the ocean again but never found him. After another week and a half, they finally reached Eichlach and after five long years, she was finally back in Wulvinia.

 Chapter 21: Land of the Barbarians

    The ship landed in Eichlach, a country that the locals quickly insisted was pronounced ike-lock, despite what the Alarians thought down in the south. Helianna was never so happy to have land under her feet. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t just remain her feet for long. Unprepared for getting used to her land-legs, she promptly face planted, where she decided to remain for some time before Isela managed to drag her to her feet.


    Still swaying from coming off the ocean, she begrudgingly followed as Isela led her into the town. Sylas seemed to find her misery delightful, but she couldn¡¯t find it in herself to care. When they arrived at the closest inn, the owner laughed at her obvious state and asked what they were coming to Eichlach for. When informed that Helianna were visiting family, he happily offered them a night for free, claiming that ¡®any returning Wulvinian deserves a warm welcome home.¡¯


    Taking immediate advantage of it, Helianna stumbled up the stairs towards a room he provided. Isela and Sylas left her there as they did their best to procure horses. But by the end of the day, they had no luck and returned to the inn empty handed. Helianna was still miserable and when Isela brought her some food, she barely kept it down. Fortunately, she felt better the next day and was able to make herself look presentable, but still was suffering the effects of the ocean. She walked downstairs to see the two of them waiting for her.


    ¡°Did you two manage to get something?¡± Sylas scowled while Isela shook her head.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find something today!¡± Isela said cheerfully.


    Helianna¡¯s brows furrowed. ¡°How did you try to get horses?¡±


    ¡°Well, we tried to offer our services. We are excellent after all.¡± Helianna sighed and Isela¡¯s ears drooped slightly.


    ¡°That¡¯s not how things work here. I don¡¯t know how they responded, but you can¡¯t do that in Wulvinia without a member of JWAW present.¡±


    ¡°JWAW?¡± Sylas asked.


    ¡°It stands for the Goods and Services Intermediary Association in wuuvish. You can barter goods for goods and services for services, but not goods for services without them.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Helianna paused before responding. ¡°It helps prevent a legalized mimicry of slavery.¡±


    ¡°What? How does that help?¡±


    ¡°There was a period where people would demand incredibly steep services, better described as slavery in return for simple goods like food and clean water. It¡¯s harder to do something like that when trading goods for goods and most governments have ways of stopping that if it¡¯s attempted.¡±


    ¡°Most?¡± Helianna sighed.


    ¡°Yeah. There¡¯s a couple countries where slavery is legal despite JWAW trying to restrict them. Most countries don¡¯t trade with them either.¡±


    ¡°Just another reason you are all barbarians,¡± Sylas muttered.


    ¡°It is two countries!¡± yelled Helianna. ¡°Why are you so damn racist?!¡±


    He rolled his flame-like eyes dramatically. ¡°Just get us some damn horses.¡±


    Helianna stomped outside, doing her best to ignore him. She quickly asked for directions to the nearest JWAW facility of the city and left. Less than an hour later, she had made a deal. Her team would be part of an escort for a seven wagon caravan moving to Acagashli, a large city a few countries away. It was on the other side of their intended destination, but it proved to be their best option. In return, they¡¯d get two horses and a decent sized wagon.


    After managing to convince the innkeeper to let them stay one more night, they departed the next morning. A large number of people were hired to protect the caravan and they found themselves on the fifth cargo carriage. The first few miles were fast and smooth, but unfortunately, the carriages were not made with people in mind. It quickly got quite rough, prompting grumbling from the whole party. Isela took to the sky, using the excuse of patrolling, but her escape of the bumpy carriage was not lost on the others.


    Before long however, angry shouting could be heard from Helianna and Sylas, prompting Isela to land back on the carriage. She tried to calm them down, but was unable to until other caravan members got involved, which embarrassed all of them. Consigning herself to the bumpy ride, she situated herself between the two to keep them from causing another scene.


    The days passed tensely. Without Isela¡¯s bubbly personality, the other two surely would have tried to kill each other. The tense atmosphere on their carriage was obvious and the other caravan members distinctly tried to ignore them, not wanting to get involved. Helianna spent the evenings sneaking around camp, trying to understand the motivations of others, identifying risks, and ensuring there was nobody looking for them in the caravan. In the process, she quickly determined that her team had become a source of gossip for the caravan, their clear lack of team synergy both concerning and entertaining for the others.


    Helianna spent less and less time with her ¡®team¡¯ as the weeks passed and they were three weeks in when they had their first incident. They were almost out of Eichlach and were camping for the night.


    Whenever the weather permitted, Helianna simply slept in a bedroll, not wanting to take the time to set up a tent alongside the other two. This also allowed her to leave them and start sneaking around earlier. She was skirting through the forest near the front of the camp when she ran into a problem. Almost literally.


    She saw someone crouched behind a bush in front of her only moments before she moved into the bush herself, his stillness helping keep him hidden. Her belated recognition of the fact that a human was in front of her resulted in him hearing her. He turned to her, the whites of his wide eyes the only part of his form visible aside from the silhouette.


    Instantly recognizing that he was not a part of the caravan, she pulled out a dagger, lunging for him. Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t fast enough as she heard him quickly yell ¡®attack¡¯ before her knife found his neck, quickly reducing his screams to gurgles. In moments, a large amount of figures sprung from the forest and ran towards the caravan. She spun in shock for a brief moment, wondering how she had missed so many of them on her path, but didn¡¯t let it slow her down. She nearly dashed out of the undergrowth after them but held back, aware that the direction of her approach would make the rest of the caravan believe she was also an enemy. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    She was too far from the rest of her team to protect them or try to communicate, but she knew she had to help defend the caravan as best she could. She looked around for any high value targets and found a large group of spellcasters closer towards the center of the caravan. Most people did not have a high enough mana concentration for it to be useful as spells during combat, instead typically using it to give a small edge when in close combat. But whoever these bandits were, they had a lot of magic users.


    She dashed through the forest to get close to them, barely bothering with stealth due to the chaos of the battle. By the time she got to them, one had already been felled, but the large concentration were still fine and doing substantial damage to the caravan. She sidled up behind them and jabbed her first two knives into the back of two of their necks, instantly rendering them useless, albeit not quite dead yet. She pulled out her other two knives, knowing it would be faster than pulling the first two out and slashed the jugular of one of the mages that noticed her first two kills. He flailed about, alerting the other three mages as he gurgled and threw a ball of fire at her.


    She easily sidestepped the fireball and moved towards another female mage. The woman raised a hand to throw magic at Helianna, but she ducked down to avoid it. She slashed across the woman¡¯s femoral artery and retreated behind the man whose throat she had cut, using his body as cover when the three mages all launched their magic. As she did, she noticed archers firing upon the caravan as well and wondered how there were so many bandits. Her split second of observation saved her as an arrow came her way. She dodged out the way at the last second, the fletching leaving a mark on her cheek.


    At the same time, several spells ripped through the man behind her, but very little magic reached her and then fizzled out against her nullification. She threw a knife at the throat of one of the uninjured casters who brought his arm up to block it, crying out when it sank into his arm. Seeing that the woman whose vein she slashed was stumbling and losing focus from blood loss, she charged the last uninjured mage.


    He stumbled backward in a panic, sending his poor excuse for a fireball careening in the wrong direction. As she got close, he took a wild swing, which she stepped into and blocked, before stabbing her knife up and behind his chin. She knew it would take a bit of time for him to die, so she ripped her knife out and turned toward the last one, who had taken a knife to his arm. However, instead of the expected attack, there was empty space and it took Helianna a moment to find the man running away and cradling his arm. She wanted to chase, but knew it wasn¡¯t worth it, especially since the man had stupidly ripped out her dagger, which was now on the floor. She quickly retrieved her daggers, watching out for any archers that might want to take another shot at her.


    None came, hinting that they were preoccupied, dead, or had run away like the last mage. She turned to the caravan, where one last pocket of bandits were fighting. Seeing that she likely had the opportunity to help catch one, she quickly maneuvered herself between them and the forest. She got there just in time as the last two bandits started to retreat. Remaining crouched and hidden, she threw one dagger, which narrowly missed one¡¯s throat and he panicked, running blindly. The other one hadn¡¯t realized she was there so she threw another at him as she cursed her previous miss. This one hit its mark, leaving her with the panicking man.


    Unable to see exactly where she was, he ended up running fairly close and it didn¡¯t take much to get in his path. He yelled as he brought a sword down towards her with wild abandon, which she neatly sidestepped. Overextended and terrified, he didn¡¯t see the blow coming, allowing a clean knockout from Helianna.


    She looked towards the caravan, where several people were looking at her in the confusion, not certain where she¡¯d come from. One person however, was smiling as he jogged up to her. He was tall, even for a davraki, and she estimated that he was easily ten feet tall. He had dark red skin and one of his frontal horns was broken off. Put together, it made him incredibly distinct in a crowd and she¡¯d noticed him the past few nights while scouting. He was always smiling and laughing, his voice always carrying further than anyone else¡¯s as he constantly laughed. She wasn¡¯t looking forward to talking to him.


    ¡°Heya, stranger! Fancy moves ya got there! You were the one who took down those mages, right?¡± he boomed in wuuvish. As he approached, she had to look up significiatnly and she was certain she¡¯d develop a crick in her neck if she had to talk to him for too long.


    ¡°I am.¡± He held out his hand and she hesitantly took it. He clasped her arm and shook it aggressively and she felt as if he¡¯d rip her arm off.


    ¡°Good on you! I reckon you saved our hides here! They weren¡¯t around for long thanks to you, but they still did some damage.¡± He looked around and she saw his smile falter for a moment as he viewed the damaged wagons before he looked back at her with a smile. ¡°Where¡¯d ya come from? They certainly weren¡¯t expecting someone from behind, hah!¡± Helianna couldn¡¯t help the dry smile that came to her lips.


    ¡°I was simply patrolling the caravan as I usually do when the attack happened. It¡¯s easier to check for ambushers when I¡¯m not quite so close.¡± His eyes crinkled in amusement.


    ¡°I¡¯d certainly say you found some.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I found one just before the attack started and killed him. I didn¡¯t have time to warn everyone¡± She had no intention of telling him that it was also her discovery of the man that had prompted the start of the attack.


    ¡°Good on you!¡± He clapped her on the back, and she stumbled forward, giving him a glare that he didn¡¯t seem to register. ¡°One attacker less can make all the difference. Say, which wagon are you a part of?¡±


    She sighed, knowing the response she¡¯d get. ¡°The fifth one.¡± He laughed boisterously and tried to clap her on the back again, but she deftly dodged to the side.


    ¡°You¡¯re a part of the drama team! How¡¯s that treating you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Sure, sure! Well, you¡¯re always welcome to come to us up front when not on the job. We¡¯re a lot less tense up here!¡± She looked around and saw many faces turned towards her. Those that weren¡¯t dealing with the bodies seemed to consider this conversation their entertainment. Several turned away sheepishly when she looked, but she didn¡¯t see any of the hostile gazes she was expecting.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± she said with another sigh.


    ¡°Good on you!¡± He went to clap her on the back and she dodged away again, prompting a laugh. He turned towards the man who she¡¯d knocked unconscious. ¡°I see you also made sure to keep this one alive, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, much!¡± He leaned down and easily picked up the man as if he were a small piece of luggage. ¡°Oh, the name¡¯s Arc by the way! Yours?¡±


    ¡°Helianna.¡±


    ¡°Good meeting ya.¡± He turned away and called behind his back. ¡°See ya around. Don¡¯t be a stranger!¡±

 Chapter 22: Going Home

    Over half of the mercenaries guarding the caravan stayed up throughout the night to deal with the aftermath. Dealing with the bodies of body bandits and allies was a sordid and humbling affair. Whatever bandit group that attacked had been large and well-organized, albeit ill-equipped to deal with the mercenaries defending the caravan. When the final count came in, it painted a positive, albeit sad scene.


    Of the seventeen defenders, four were lost. The third team lost two members, an entire half of their team while both of the teams on other caravans lost one. The only team to get away without a casualty was Helianna¡¯s, largely thanks to their increased training compared to most mercenaries.


    On the flip side, they buried twenty-four bandits in a mass grave, with the captured one bringing it to twenty-five total attackers. For the amount of enemy combatants, they suffered stunningly low casualties. It seemed fairly miraculous until Arc brought up the mages that Helianna targeted in the beginning of the battle. They were likely the ones calling the shots and without their voices to call the retreat, many of the bandits didn¡¯t fall back in time, resulting in a very high amount of casualties. They were also likely relying on the magic support as the keystone of their strategy, so the lapse hit them hard.


    When morning came, the mood was somber, and the only cheerful voice was Arc¡¯s. Thanks to the silence from the rest of the caravan, he could easily be heard by everyone, but nobody had the heart to quiet him.


    Proper Wulvinian death rites could not be performed thanks to the need to continue on, so the heads of the dead mercenaries were removed to allow for a later alternative. The bandits were left to rot in their mass grave.


    Sylas and Isela, not knowing the local customs, looked on in horror as the heads were deposited in one of the wagons. Helianna grumpily informed them, but tensions between Sylas and Helianna did not abate, instead only growing. It horrified both of them and prompted them to view Helianna in a different light, who was completely unfazed.


    The mood remained somber throughout the day and persisted partially throughout the night. A few people however, Arc included, did their best to boost the morale that night, eventually succeeding. Helianna watched all this from afar, choosing not to join in on the ¡®fun¡¯.


    While watching, she realized she had become the very thing she¡¯d made fun of a year before on her first mission. Just like Zoe, she was grumpy, didn¡¯t get along with her team and spent much of her freetime at night ¡®scouting¡¯ and avoiding everyone else. She sighed, realizing how lonely this could quickly get. She put the thought aside quickly, knowing that she didn¡¯t like her current team and she was about to meet her family again anyways. There was no need to worry about it.


    It was only a few days later when they finally left Eichlach. The country they were now in managed to bring a chuckle out of Helianna when she showed her team how it was spelled. It wasn¡¯t hard to pronounce, but with all the extra letters, it looked daunting and the faces they made when they saw it were priceless. They had arrived in Hdofhgahrlach.


    The roads worsened slightly, but not enough to significantly slow the caravan significantly and the days were uneventful. They weren¡¯t ambushed again and when they reached a significant city, they stopped for a few days. The local death rites were performed for the ones who died defending the caravan, which neither Helianna nor her team were privy to due to its private nature.


    They got back on the road, and crossed into Rugas near the end of their fifth week on the road, only miles away from Helianna¡¯s home country of Caglach. To call their trip through Rugas rough was an understatement. The roads were much worse here, clearly not having been maintained in a long time, hampering much of their movement. This country hadn¡¯t been here when she¡¯d last been in Wulvinia, instead being a part of Rugakina, the country that their destination resided in.


    Apparently, Rugas had seceded and centralized their power, abandoning much of the countryside to wither away. As such, she had asked why they¡¯d taken a path through this country. She was assured that despite the lack of people and poor roads through this part of the country, it was largely safe. Just like how most of the population now resided in a few large cities, a vast majority of the crime surrounded the cities and didn¡¯t extend out into the countryside.


    She didn¡¯t fully believe them as that didn¡¯t make sense to her. Having an empty countryside would only make it easy for any bandits to gain a foothold. She made sure to pay close attention on her evening patrols, determined to not make the same mistake as last time if they were ambushed again. To her surprise however, the ride remained free of bandits and they rode into Rugakina unimpeded. They were slightly behind schedule, now seven weeks into the trip and everybody was tired of it. They had made stops along the way in towns and cities, but much of the time was spent in camps along the way and the travel was wearing on many of them.


    Only Arc managed to remain cheerful and ended up spending much of his time trying to keep the other¡¯s energy up and improving morale. Near the end, he even showed up at her team''s wagon, arriving just after she started her rounds. Deciding to see what he had to say, she stuck around without revealing herself.


    ¡°Hey, you two!¡± he called out. ¡°How are you this evening?¡± Sylas looked up at him with disdain, but Isela responded cheerfully, although slightly sheepishly. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Hi! Could you speak in Alaric? Neither of us speak wuuvish.¡±


    ¡°Ah! Yes, sorry about that. How are you two doing?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re doing great! How are you?¡±


    Arc chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m doing pretty good. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Isela, and this grump is Sylas.¡± Sylas grumbled, eliciting a chuckle from both of the other two.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m Arc and it¡¯s nice to meet you two. Where¡¯s Helianna? Not with you two?¡±


    Sylas rolled his glowing white eyes. ¡°She never is. Always skulking off the second she gets a chance.¡±


    Arc chuckled. ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad she does. If she hadn¡¯t been sneaking around when we were ambushed, that could have turned out much differently.¡±


    Sylas¡¯ expression soured. ¡°What was that about anyways? No normal bandits are that large and prepared.¡±


    Arc huffed. ¡°Well, they are when they¡¯re government sponsored. Portonlach is supposedly trying to make moves on Eichlach, but doesn¡¯t want to go into all-out war. So instead, they¡¯re sponsoring locals to mess with things. I¡¯ve heard talk that alongside paying for them, they¡¯re also training bandits but that seems farfetched to me. The group that attacked us may have been large, but anybody with a decent eye for tactics should have realized they weren¡¯t prepared for this many mercenaries. Even without Helianna¡¯s attack on the mages, we would¡¯ve won. It just would¡¯ve probably been a pyrrhic victory.¡±


    Sylas¡¯ sour expression darkened even further and he muttered. ¡°Barbarians.¡± Arc¡¯s brows rose in shock for a brief second before he burst out laughing.


    ¡°You¡¯re interesting, I¡¯ll give you that! Might want to learn to keep your mouth shut though. Some Wulvinians might take offense to that. Your tijatan friend might be able to help.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± asked Isela.


    ¡°Tijatans are pretty rare up here in Wulvinia. You¡¯re a walking conversation starter. Great for distracting people from certain comments from grump over here.¡± Arc¡¯s eyes twinkled with amusement as he spoke.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Thank you Arc.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it!¡± Luckily, he turned around quickly, or unluckily for Helianna, and immediately spotted her. ¡°Oi Helianna! Get your butt out here and stop scurrying around!¡± Wincing, Helianna stepped out of the undergrowth.


    ¡°I was only a few feet away. No need to break my eardrums,¡± she complained, trying to get him to switch to wuuvish. Sylas grumbled, but she didn¡¯t care. Unfortunately, Arc either didn¡¯t get the hint or didn¡¯t want to play along and continued speaking in Alarian.


    ¡°Maybe you shouldn¡¯t have been eavesdropping then,¡± he said as he chuckled. ¡°Well, I wanted to stop by and say hello. If you¡¯re ever around southeastern Lachadoghan, I live in Othone. Drinks are on me for your hand in that ambush. If I¡¯m not around, just tell the innkeeper that Arctair¡¯s paying.¡± She blinked in surprise, but he continued before she could formulate an answer. ¡°Honestly, I like this kind of mercenary work so I¡¯m gone a decent amount so that¡¯s probably what¡¯ll happen. On the off-chance I¡¯m there, I¡¯d love to see ya sometime! Have a good patrol!¡± he said with a wink and sauntered off to the front of the caravan. There were a few moments with all three of them stupefied before Isela broke the silence.


    ¡°Well he¡¯s quite a character.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Helianna said, watching his retreating form. She didn¡¯t know what to make of him, but his consistent positive attitude baffled her.


    ¡°Good to see someone managed to get past your gruffness, though,¡± Isela teased with a wink.


    Helianna looked back at her in surprise and confusion. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Oh, nevermind,¡± Isela replied with a singsong voice and a grin only possible from younger siblings. Even with such a non-human face, that grin was unmistakable. Helianna rolled her eyes and disappeared into the undergrowth without a word. She barely heard Isela¡¯s quiet voice behind her. ¡°I wish I could do that.¡± Helianna wasn¡¯t sure exactly what she was referring to, but she didn¡¯t think it had to do with her stealth.


    The last couple days were uneventful and they arrived at their destination without incident. A few conversations with the merchant later and they had their horses and wagon and were set to depart. A short, but loud argument erupted between Helianna and Sylas as he wanted to stay in the city for a couple days, but Helianna wanted to move on. Assuring him that they¡¯d stay in her hometown for a while, he eventually relented while Isela¡¯s attempts to defuse the conversation were pointless.


    Now that they¡¯d spent time on the caravan however, they had more of a system down. Isela kept Sylas and Helianna from killing each other on the wagon during the day. At night, Helianna would go on patrol while the others cooked and then she¡¯d take first watch. How they split up the other two watches was up to the other two and they chose to alternate each night. It worked fairly well, but without other parts of the caravan to distract them, the days were tenser than ever. Everyone was desperate for a break by the end of each day, none more so than Isela. Despite that, she managed to remain as chipper as ever when the other two weren¡¯t in the middle of arguing.


    Finally, they saw Ash Hill in the distance and it took all of Helianna¡¯s self-control not to push the horses into a gallop upon seeing her home. The final stretch felt like the longest few hours of her life, but they eventually arrived. She quickly hopped off, not bothering to help deal with the wagon as she started running through the town. She bumped into several people, but she simply called out a sorry in wuuvish as she ran, unaware of the bewildered people she left behind. After years gone, very few recognized her despite her clearly local accent.


    She finally stopped in front of her house right as the door opened and a young boy waddled out, carrying a large pie. She instantly recognized the smell as her mother¡¯s baking and she froze, watching the boy. She knew her mother had been pregnant when she left, but it was one thing to think about it and another to see the results in front of her. She took a hesitant step forward but found herself unable to speak, her words getting caught in her mouth. Completely unaware of her struggle, the boy waddled off with a pie almost as large as he was, undoubtedly delivering it for their mother.


    She finally managed to choke out a strangled ¡°Wait!¡± but he was already too far away to hear her weak voice. She stood frozen, struggling to understand what had come over her and she felt tears start sliding down her face. She brushed them away with confusion when she heard a voice she would never forget emanating from the house.


    ¡°Helianna?¡±

 Chapter 23: The Magic of Family

    Helianna turned towards the house, tears running down her face. ¡°Mom?¡±


    Her mother immediately threw her arms up and screamed in joy, running over to Helianna and wrapping her in a big bear-hug.


    ¡°You¡¯re home! Oh, my sweet baby girl, you¡¯re home!¡±


    Helianna gripped her mother tightly as they broke down crying in each other¡¯s arms. After several minutes of their wordless embrace, Helianna¡¯s tears finally began to dry. Sensing the change, her mom broke away a few moments later, wiping her eyes and regaining her composure. A moment later, she noticed Isela and Sylas, who had caught up to Helianna while they had been hugging. Both were standing there awkwardly.


    ¡°Oh¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Helianna¡¯s mom said as she wiped away the last of her tears. ¡°Are these your friends?¡± Helianna shot a quick glare at Sylas before responding in Alarian.


    ¡°They are¡­ allies, I guess. This is Sylas and Isela.¡± Her mom noticed the glare but chose not to comment on it, filing it away in her mind.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m Janarika, but you can call me Jana.¡± There was an awkward, but brief pause before her mother continued. ¡°Well come in! Come in! I want to hear about your life! What¡¯s been happening?¡±


    Jana practically dragged Helianna inside, who didn¡¯t resist in the slightest. Sylas and Isela gave each other a look. Isela was clearly amused as they followed the two inside while Sylas was completely deadpan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve missed you so much!¡± Her mom gave Helianna another quick hug before they both sat down on the couch. ¡°So! Tell me everything!¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ well¡­¡± Helianna started, unsure how to proceed. Sylas opened his mouth to respond as he sat down, but Isela quickly slapped his arm, and he promptly shut up with a scowl. Helianna barely registered the interaction, but her mother smiled in amusement.


    ¡°It¡¯s been hard. It¡¯s been really lonely. I¡¯ve-¡± she was interrupted by the slamming of the door, her father¡¯s large frame filling the doorway. Her little brother was peeking out from behind his legs.


    After a brief moment of shocked silence, her father threw out his arms as he yelled.


    ¡°Helianna!¡± Helianna stood up and immediately rushed to his arms.


    ¡°Daddy!¡± she yelled as she buried her face in his chest. Sylas and Isela looked at each other in shock. Despite speaking in wuuvish, her exclamation was unmistakable. Completely unsure how to react, they struggled to reconcile the woman they knew with what they were seeing in front of them. Their reactions were ignored by the family, too lost in their own reunion.


    ¡°Who is this, daddy?¡± asked the young boy. After a few seconds, her father broke away and crouched down to be eye-level with the boy.


    ¡°Tanelex, this is your sister. Helianna.¡± Helianna also crouched down to be eye-level with her brother.


    ¡°Hi. You can just call me Anna. It¡¯s nice to meet you,¡± she said awkwardly. He looked over to their father as if asking permission. At his nod, the boy rushed forward and grabbed Helianna in a hug. She froze in surprise for a moment before hugging him back hesitantly. She heard her parents chuckling. A moment later, Tanelex broke away, wide eyed and pointing at Isela.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Her father erupted into a deep laugh while her mom covered her mouth in horror.


    ¡°Alex! What have I told you about pointing?! And don¡¯t call her a that, she¡¯s an adult woman!¡±


    Tanelex shrunk down, chastised and feeling guilty. Despite not knowing what the boy had said, Isela could easily infer and she stepped forward, still smiling. Despite her bat-like face making it hard for Tanelex to read her face, the warmth in her voice was unmistakable.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I mean, you shouldn¡¯t do that, but it doesn¡¯t bother me. I¡¯m a tijatan.¡± She spread out her four arms, revealing the membrane between them. ¡°We¡¯re a flying species.¡± He furrowed his brow, taking a moment to understand what she was saying.


    ¡°Speak Alarian?¡± he asked with a bad accent.


    ¡°I do.¡±


    Her father interrupted the two. ¡°Alex, why don¡¯t you hang out with your friends? You can talk to her later.¡± Tanelex pouted.


    ¡°But! I want¡­¡± he frowned, trying to come up with the words in Alarian. Despite already knowing how he¡¯d respond, his father let him continue, trying to let him think through his words. After a few more moments, Tanelex gave up on speaking in Alarian and his father sighed internally.


    ¡°I wanna talk to the tijatan!¡±


    ¡°I know you do, but we have something important to talk about. You¡¯ll be able to talk to her later.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Tanelex said glumly. As he walked out, he stole a last glance at Isela. Her father closed the door and he turned to Helianna, embracing her once more.


    ¡°How long can you stay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. That¡¯s something we actually need to talk about.¡±


    ¡°Come on, sit down. I want to catch up!¡± her mom interrupted. They all sat down once and her father nodded to Isela and Sylas.


    ¡°Who are you two?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re her teammates!¡± Isela spoke. Jana¡¯s eyes flicked to Helianna and noted the kinder look on Helianna¡¯s face compared to her glare at Sylas earlier. There was silence for a few moments before her mom spoke.


    ¡°So?¡± she asked and Helianna sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here on a mission. I¡¯m running from The Academy.¡± There was a small gasp from her mother and her father gave her a determined look.


    ¡°Why?¡± her father asked.


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you start from the beginning?¡± interrupted Jana. ¡°Do you have the time for that?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We should.¡± At their expectant gaze, she sighed.


    Over the next few hours she recited the past few years to her parents. She started out sparse in her details, but her mother asked constant questions, leaving nothing unturned. Her father asked questions occasionally but was content to let Helianna and her mom lead the conversation. Sylas largely managed to remain silent, but couldn¡¯t quite keep all his derisive comments to himself. Each time he did, he received slaps of varying intensity from Isela, which amused Helianna¡¯s parents immensely. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Helianna didn¡¯t hold back in her details when her mother prompted, even talking about some of her kills. Despite her openness, she wasn¡¯t always able to maintain eye contact. Despite knowing much of what she had done was likely wrong, she only saw reassurance in their eyes when she was able to look them in the eyes again. The only thing she didn¡¯t mention was her magic, wanting to save it for last.


    When she was finally done, it was late into the night, the runelamps providing the only light. Helianna¡¯s voice was raw from speaking and her brother had returned a while ago. He had wanted to listen in, but her parents had vetoed that quickly due to the nature of what she spoke of. She wanted to tell her parents about her magic, but once they were done, her father convinced them they could talk tomorrow. He wanted her to get a good night''s sleep after the long journey she had just done.


    She thanked him and quickly went to her own room, which had gone nearly untouched in the last seven years. Her father guided Isela to a guest room while he used spare blankets to create a pseudo-mattress on the floor for Sylas. Finally feeling secure, Isela and Sylas synced their magics and by the time they were done, Helianna was already asleep.


    The next day came all too quickly and Helianna groaned as she woke up. She knew she needed sleep, but the constant routine of waking up at dawn was impossible to shake. She got herself ready and walked downstairs, surprised to see her father awake. He had his back turned to her and her habitual silent movement prevented him from realizing she was there. She sat down next to him at the table and he jumped.


    ¡°Anna! You¡¯re up early!¡±


    ¡°Always am.¡± Helianna spoke in Alaric. After spending the last five years barely speaking a word in wuuvish, it was instinctual to keep speaking Alarian.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ new.¡± She sighed and sat down.


    ¡°Not really...¡±


    He nodded and scooted his chair close to her and gave her a side hug. ¡°It¡¯s so good to have you with us again. Even if it¡¯s just for a few days, I¡¯m so happy to see you.¡± She hugged him back for a brief moment before breaking away.


    They sat in companionable silence for a while, but Helianna started to get restless. She was nervous to talk about her magic and wanted to meditate and check on it once more. Since she¡¯d learned to utilize it, she¡¯d just been brute forcing and pushing it around. It had acquiesced, but still seemed like it had a mind of its own. She hadn¡¯t meditated a single time while learning and had avoided doing so. The only time she¡¯d ever successfully meditated was years ago at this point, and her magic had seemed to speak to her that night.


    It had scared her then and it still scared her now, but she knew she¡¯d have to confront it eventually. What better time than right now? If she wanted to talk about her magic being seemingly sentient, it would be crazy to talk about it if her magic wasn¡¯t like that anymore.


    She closed her eyes and started to meditate, but it took her a while to get a feel for it. It had been a long time since she had last meditated and was out of practice. She had no idea how much time had passed before she was able to feel her magic residing within her. She hesitantly focused on it and just like before, a foreign thought flew through her head. ¡®Hello?¡¯


    Her eyes shot open and the voice instantly disappeared. It took a moment to get her bearings and she was surprised by what was around her. Her father was looking at her in amusement while her mother looked on in concern, but her face brightened as Helianna came to awareness. Sylas and Isela were nowhere nearby and she took a moment to look at the clock. It had been a couple of hours since she started meditating.


    ¡°Good morning, Anna,¡± Jana sang happily.


    ¡°Morning mom.¡± It took her a few more moments to get her thoughts in order. Switching out of meditation to see that hours had passed was slightly jarring.


    ¡°I need to have a serious conversation with you two.¡±


    Her father smirked. ¡°And the last ones weren¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°This is serious dad. And¡­¡± she sighed. ¡°I want the others here as well.¡±


    ¡°Hold on,¡± interrupted her mom. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask. What¡¯s with you and¡­¡± She took a moment to remember his name. ¡°¡­Sylas? Yeah, what¡¯s going on between you two?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mention it yesterday, but you know how we¡¯re pretty much forced together? Well, we don¡¯t like each other. He confidently makes poor decisions and considers Wulvinians to be barbarians.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ well I¡¯m sorry to hear that. Hopefully, we can change his mind.¡±


    Helianna huffed. ¡°I doubt it. But regardless, we¡¯re kind of stuck together and they should probably hear this. I¡¯ll go wake them.¡± Probably thanks to the comfortable beds, they had no desire to leave and were decidedly more grumbly than normal mornings. Helianna ignored their complaints however as she hounded them until they got up and joined everyone downstairs.


    ¡°So. I¡¯ll guess I¡¯ll start with the basics. We all know I¡¯m null.¡±


    Sylas rolled his eyes.


    ¡°We all also know I somehow have sovereign magic.¡± She held up her palm and emitted golden light from it as an example. Her parents looked at the light in awe, and she took a deep breath as she let the magic dissipate.


    ¡°But I talked to another user of sovereign magic¡­ and other magic users as well. And, well¡­¡± They all looked at her expectantly.


    ¡°My magic isn¡¯t normal. It reacts. On its own. He trained me and instead of managing every part of my magic to make it work, it was more like guiding something else. And in some cases, I had to hold it back.¡±


    She looked around, looking for the other¡¯s reactions. Her parents were thoughtful, but her team, who were more educated on magic, were looking at her with a hint of disbelief.


    ¡°But that¡¯s not the weird part. This is going to sound crazy but¡­ I think my magic is alive.¡±


    ¡°Hah! That¡¯s a new one. Next, you¡¯re going to tell me you''re the chosen one of some crazy prophecy of something,¡± Sylas said derisively. Too occupied with Sylas¡¯ reaction, she missed the look that passed between her parents when she made her claim.


    ¡°I know it sounds insane, but when I did the internal meditation thing for seeing our internal magic, it responded. Literally. I felt a foreign thought in my head.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re hearing voices now? I know you were insane, but this just confirmed it. We should¡¯ve separated earlier.¡± Sylas stood up as if to go and Isela grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.


    ¡°Sylas, please. At least hear her out. Having magic itself as a null should be impossible. Who knows what else is.¡±


    ¡°Just some wulvinian voodoo or some shit like that, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    Her father stood up, his large figure towering over Sylas. His normally gentle, if slightly intimidating demeanor now seemed downright hostile and his presence filled the room.


    ¡°Young man, you have been rude and hostile to my daughter, my family and our people for the entire time you have been here. We have provided you a place to stay and done our best to be kind, despite your obvious prejudice. Clearly, our daughter and you have been forced to work together, but if you cannot at least hold your tongue, then I suggest you move along. We will not let you speak poorly of us indefinitely and you will find we are much more patient of such prejudice than others might be. Do you understand?¡±


    Sylas looked around the room as if seeking allies. Helianna¡¯s mother had smoothly stood up, and while not as clearly hostile as her father, she was clearly unhappy as well. His eyes quickly settled on Isela, whose eyes were pleading.


    ¡°He¡¯s right, Sylas. Please. You know we¡¯re in a bad situation. They¡¯re our best chance.¡±


    Sylas fumed, seemingly oblivious to the level of hostility emanating from her father before sitting back down.


    ¡°I will be quiet.¡±


    Everyone hesitantly sat down and there was a moment of awkward silence before Helianna broke it.


    ¡°I can prove it. I think.¡± Isela looked at her with hope. ¡°I¡¯ve only done it once. And on accident, but¡­¡± she paused, knowing how ridiculous her words sounded. ¡°I think I can imbue my powers into something and my magic can control it somehow.¡± Her mother was the first to break the ensuing silence.


    ¡°What do you think works best?¡±


    ¡°I did it with a pillow before. Maybe one of those?¡± Her mom nodded and went upstairs, quickly coming back down with a spare pillow. She handed it to Helianna who warily placed it down on a chair.


    ¡°This may take a bit.¡± Nobody responded, largely too bewildered to formulate a response.


    She¡¯d looked back on that night countless times and she could still remember it like it was yesterday. She had done it out of anger and frustration after trying to make her magic work for a significant period and failing. Now that she had more training, she was sure she could do it better. She reached inward toward her magic and faintly felt it without going so far as to have it communicate with her. She then tried to guide it into the pillow, much like she had when fighting against the runes of the uniforms.


    But it wasn¡¯t right. She could immediately tell that it wasn¡¯t going to work. Whatever she had done to push it into the pillow before wasn¡¯t the same. And maybe that was the issue. She was currently trying to guide it in. Maybe pushing or forcing it in would work better.


    That would make sense as the last time, it happened when she punched the pillow. Scared of magical backlash or some other possible disaster, she took a deep breath and simply¡­pushed.


    It somehow felt different this time as it coursed out of her, maybe because she was deliberately focusing on her magic. She felt it not just enter the pillow, but completely exit her body and she felt empty. Her magic was completely gone. It was a strange feeling that left her reeling as she opened her eyes and pulled away. The room seemed to hold its breath as they watched on. Then the pillow moved.

 Chapter 24: Too Much Magic

    The pillow moved and Isela let out a small scream that was so high-pitched, it was almost inaudible, drawing the attention of half the room. The fur on her neck and face fluffed up in embarrassment and she gestured towards the pillow, trying to get the attention back to the pillow.


    Everyone complied as the pillow shifted again, watching in various forms of shock. It wasn¡¯t moving fast, but it seemed to be deliberate, as if bones had magically been created within it. It wiggled enough to fall off the chair and everybody reflexively took a step back.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Isela asked quietly.


    Nobody responded, but Helianna leaned down to put her hand on the pillow, which instantly stilled. She felt a connection to it and pulled, trying to withdraw her magic from the pillow. It resisted at first so she pulled harder on the connection. After several seconds of focus, it eventually gave, the magic flowed back back into her. She turned back to everyone else who was looking at her with a mix of fastination and horror. Isela was the first to speak.


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool! You should put it in a doll or something! See if it can control it!¡± Everybody¡¯s eyes snapped to her and she flinched back in surprise.


    ¡°What? It would be cool!¡±


    ¡°It would be creepy, that¡¯s what,¡± Sylas grumbled. Helianna found herself agreeing with him for the first time. Another glance passed between her parents and Helianna caught it this time.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Well we still have a couple dolls from when you were young if you¡¯d like to try,¡± Jana responded. After a brief moment of thought, Helianna nodded and her mother disappeared upstairs.


    ¡°Now we¡¯ve got magic dolls as well? I called it. It¡¯s voodoo,¡± Sylas quietly muttered.


    Helianna¡¯s father glanced at him with a frown and Isela smacked Sylas on the arm, trying to get him to shut up. Not only did she want to avoid getting kicked out, she was actually excited by what she was about to see. Jana came down a minute later with a doll that Helianna instantly recognized. It was the last one her mother had bought her before she stopped playing with them.


    ¡°You kept this?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Jana handed it to Helianna after a brief moment of thought, and Helianna took a deep breath.


    ¡°We ready for this?¡± After a few nods, she closed her eyes. It took her a few moments to get a solid feel of her magic again and she pushed it into the doll. She put it down and took a step back, wary of how the magic in the doll would act. After a few moments, it started moving, but nobody said a word. Every second seemed like an eternity as it rolled itself over onto its stomach and slowly stood up


    ¡°I knew it!¡± Isela whisper-yelled.


    The doll stood on wobbly legs and stepped in a seemingly random direction. It lost its balance momentarily and had to take several panicked steps to the side to remain upright. Everyone watched in silence, as if looking in on a zoo-animal while the doll slowly stumbled towards the door.


    ¡°It¡¯s going outside?¡± Isela whispered to Helianna, who shrugged.


    Helianna followed the doll closely, the others crowding behind her as they slowly tailed her. When it reached the door, it thumped its arms against the wood, unable to reach the handles. Helianna hesitantly opened it, careful not to knock the doll over. The doll then took several hesitant steps outside before crouching in the dirt just outside the house. Everyone watched as they saw it slowly start writing in the dirt.


    Too enraptured by the actions of the doll, none of them noticed a ball of fire flying towards the open door until the last second. Isela¡¯s ears suddenly swiveled around, hearing the quiet roaring of the fireball as it flew.


    ¡°Watch ou-¡±


    Already the closest to the fireball, Helianna reacted quickly and jumped in front of it so it impacted her in the chest. The fire disappeared into her nullification field, preventing the fire from expanding further, but she wasn¡¯t able stop the following two fireballs from exploding against the side of the house and catching it on fire.


    ¡°We¡¯re under attack! They¡¯re already here!¡± yelled Helianna as she ran from the house, immediately making a beeline for the fire thrower. Isela and Sylas both chased after, Isela immediately flying up high in the air. Both of Helianna¡¯s parents dashed inside and her mother¡¯s voice could easily be heard yelling for Tanelex.


    Helianna looked around as she ran towards the fire user, identifying at least five ithrax hostiles, their uniforms easy to see. He threw large gouts of fire at her, which of course did no damage, only making it harder to see. When she was only a few meters away, a large block of mana ice suddenly surrounded her. Unable to see, continued running as she growled in frustration. When she exited, the fire user was in a completely different place than beforehand. She looked around for the icemaker when the air around her heated up to impossible levels, making the air around her distort and messing with her vision. She pulled out a dagger and threw it at the fire mage.


    A moment before it struck however, the air suddenly cooled to extreme cold. While her vision was restored, a large drop in air pressure occurred and combined with the drastic temperature change, the dagger shattered. A moment later, the air returned to the massive levels of heat, causing the air pressure to rise and her vision to become distorted again. While none of the magic had ever touched her, the resulting effects of their magic was phenomenally disorienting and she found herself struggling to stay upright, much less fight back.


    Among the chaos, she suddenly heard the sound of metal shattering once more and she felt a few metal fragments hitting her skin. An arrow had narrowly missed her and the fluctuating temperatures that surrounded her had resulted in the blade of the arrow shattering. She tried to look around to see the source of the arrow, but couldn¡¯t make out any shapes beyond a few feet in front of her.


    The arrow had come from a strange, but heated battle between Sylas and the hostile spatial mage. Both of them used bows and arrows, utilizing their spatial magic to make the arrows home in on their targets. However, thanks to both having the same magic and utilizing the same techniques, they found themselves consistently able to counter each other¡¯s arrows and neither had managed to land a hit. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Several arrows were fired at Isela and the two she was fighting but well timed spatial manipulations kept the arrows off track. Regardless of the interference, she was barely hanging on. There was a light mage who repeatedly fired lasers at her, but kept missing as he struggled to track her erratic flying. He could only sustain the lasers for a brief moment and could never fix his aim before he had to take a break. Despite his terrible strategy, he remained persistent, confident that it would be devastating when he landed a hit.


    The other one was a gravity mage, who was flying through the air after Isela. He was a human and so he had to use his magic to fly at all times, unlike Isela who could fly on her own. This gave her a huge advantage, as he rapidly had to alternate between keeping himself in the air and trying to hurt her with his magic. She didn¡¯t need magic to fly and the natural benefit provided by her wings was just enough to keep her ahead of her two attackers.


    At one point, she flew a bit low, getting close enough to Helianna that they could see each other¡¯s plight. Helianna shouted out, the alternating pressure and temperature warping her voice.


    ¡°Isela! Fly low through the town!¡±


    Barely taking a moment to think, Isela dove, kicking up dust as she flew. She started weaving between buildings, the other gravity mage barely able to keep up, much less attack her. Realizing he couldn¡¯t fight like this, the gravity mage floated back up above the town to get a better view and started activating concentrated blasts of gravity magic, hoping to knock her into the buildings.


    Instead of knocking her around however, his blasts simply damaged buildings and screams began to erupt from the town. Realizing she had put others in danger and likely would cause more if she stayed, Isela immediately started climbing again. This put her in a vulnerable position and she was hit by a powerful burst of magic, the gravity around her increasing by multiple times. She was barely able to stay flying and quickly pulled a muscle in one of her wings to stay up, hampering her ability to fly.


    During this exchange, the light mage had been unable to see her and had changed his focus, firing a laser at Sylas and being useful for the first time. It burned into Sylas¡¯ shoulder and he cried out in pain and surprise, losing his focus. One of the opponent¡¯s arrows managed to break through his lapse in concentration, Sylas barely turning it to the side and allowing it to graze his outer thigh.


    Seeing Isela back in the air and Sylas standing still, she knew they had no chance as it was. Isela wasn¡¯t listening and against a better trained spatial mage, Sylas didn¡¯t have a chance.


    ¡°Sylas! Don¡¯t just use arrows you dumbass!¡± Completely unable to hear his grumbling, she could only tell that he heard her words by his figure disappearing. A moment later, her vision was obstructed by another gout of flame, causing another small shockwave as it blasted through the cold air impossibly fast.


    Sylas stepped forward, folding the space in front of him so that the single step placed him in front of the light mage. Unable to hear Helianna from where he was, the light mage was surprised and released a flash of light, blinding Sylas. Unfortunately for the mage, Sylas was already swinging and the flash did not stop his fist. Instead of landing a blow to the man¡¯s nose, his fist crunched into the man¡¯s teeth, causing both men to yell in pain. The enemy mage tried to backpedal, but Sylas¡¯ vision slowly returned and he took advantage of his spatial abilities, traversing the distance much faster. The other mage was completely unprepared and Sylas nailed the man across the chin with a strong left hook, instantly knocking the incompetent mage out cold.


    His disappearance did not go unnoticed as the other hostile mage turned and targeted Helianna. The two mages disorienting her saw it coming and dropped their magic as the arrow approached. Still reeling for the effects, Helianna never saw it coming and pain blossomed in her shoulder. She cried out and gritted her teeth and took a moment to break the end off with her other hand, not wanting it to impede her movement more. It hurt like hell, but she found she could still move her arm. The moment of stillness didn¡¯t go unpunished as the fire mage lit the ground on fire and she had to get away before it turned into a non-magical fire.


    Before the spatial mage could land another arrow however, the enemy mage found herself once again having to deal with Sylas. This time however, her arrows kept getting closer and closer to Sylas, his pain holding him back. Already less efficient than her at using his magic, he was now struggling to keep up the pressure.


    Isela had been freed up by the light mage getting injured however and dove down behind the spatial mage. The one chasing Isela tried to yell a warning, which gave the archer mage a brief moment to dodge, turning Isela¡¯s lethal blow into a debilitating one. As those four got locked into their own frenzy, as the four mages got into a slog, Helianna stumbled towards the town. Unable to stop her movements without getting too close, the two mages redoubled their efforts. Regardless, she made it to the other houses, hoping to use them to lose the mages.


    She heard buildings cracking and collapsing around her as the temperature shock quickly damaged the support. Fires started raging and the screaming rose in volume, but she ignored it all, trying to focus on her surroundings. Her salvation came when a wall collapsed next to her and stirred up a massive cloud of debris. Realizing that they wouldn¡¯t be able to see her, she immediately rushed in the last direction she saw one of them.


    Despite tripping on a piece of rubble, She managed to run headlong into one of the hostiles. He immediately threw a kick at her in surprise, but she stepped into it and grabbed his leg. She twisted it and forced him to the ground with his back towards her. She stepped forward and in an instant, snapped his neck.


    She looked around, trying to find the other mage, when pain erupted in her lower back. She threw an elbow and connected with someone behind her as she twisted, the knife being wrenched out of his hands in the process. She looked at who had attacked her and saw a sixth ithrax that none of them had seen.


    Meanwhile, Sylas panted as he forced himself to use even more of his magic. At this point, it felt as if his insides were being twisted every time he used it. His only comfort was that he could tell he was doing better than the other mage. She had taken several hits from Isela and barely seemed to be standing. Sylas fired one last time at the woman chasing Isela. He missed, as he often did, but he bent the space in front of the arrow, forcing the projectile towards the woman. And for the first time in the entire battle, the arrow followed was not redirected. His arrow struck true and drove into the woman¡¯s chest. Despite being far from dead, shock overtook her and she plummeted to the ground.


    There was a wet thud as her body hit the ground and wet raspy breaths came from her. Completely out of the fight, both Isela and Sylas ignored her, looking towards the town. They had killed the other gravity mage earlier and now they needed to find Helianna.


    The had last seen her running towards the towns, which now looked like it had been hit by a natural disaster. What hadn¡¯t been collapsed was on fire and they both started sprinting towards it. As the worst of the adrenaline faded, Sylas collapsed, his body unable to take the physical and magical toll that had been exacted on his body. Isela kept flying, pushing her battered wing to its limit.


    As she flew over the collapsing town, she saw Helianna. She was in a dagger fight with an new ithrax and the ice mage was trying to manipulate the fight. Helianna had a knife still sticking out of her back, and dozens of cuts across her arms and body. Isela dove to help, but her wing started to give out and she struggled to maintain control. Instead of smoothly dragging her claws along the mage and continuing flying, she completely tackled the man, burying her claws deep into his back. She felt several bones snap and two of her claws snapped off in the tumble, her body unable to take the high speed crash.


    All sense of direction was lost, her body bouncing along the ground. When she came to her senses, she found herself at the feet of Helianna and the last ithrax. She struggled to her side and swiped at the feet of the enemy, forcing him to dodge. The small action was just enough for Helianna to capitalize, and she buried her dagger into his arm, forcing him to drop it. Quickly picking it up, she rushed him, burying it in his neck. She looked around for a brief moment, but realizing that the fight was over, she collapsed to the ground and lay there panting. Groaning and screaming filled their ears as the town collapsed around them.

 Chapter 25: Death

    Helianna forced herself to her feet moments later, ignoring the pain coursing from her whole body. She ignored Isela, who remained on the ground as she slowly stumbled back to her home. Not seeing anyone outside the house, she moved to look inside the collapsing building when by the yell of her little brother.


    ¡°Sister!¡± She turned around as he barrelled towards her and tackled her in a hug. She fell back to the ground with him on top of her and she groaned in pain. He barely noticed as he cried into her shoulder.


    ¡°Tanelex. Where¡¯s mom and dad?¡±


    ¡°Mama¡¯s helping. D-d-d-da-¡± he stuttered as his words devolved into cries. Helianna¡¯s face hardened as she looked around, certain she already knew the answer. And now that she knew what to look for, she saw him. Her fathers body lay a couple dozen feet away from her in a small pool of blood. Even from where she lay, she could see that his clothes were torn to shreds and cuts lined his body.


    The wounds were instantly recognizable, similar to the wounds criss-crossing her own body. It had been the mysterious sixth ithrax that didn¡¯t show up till the end. He must have killed her father before targeting her


    She felt a small flare of anger, but she immediately suppressed it as grief took over. The killer had already been maimed for life, thanks to respawning off the null. Grief flooded her mind and tears pricked her eyes, threatening to overwhelm her as she thunked her head back to the ground. She took several painful breaths, trying to center herself.


    Tanelex¡¯s body shook as he cried and with him on top of her, it forced the dagger in her back to shift. She gasped from the pain, which pulled her out of her grief-stricken thoughts. Taking advantage of the pain to distract her from her grief, she slowly sat up, barely noticing her brother still crying in her arms.


    She saw a few people gathering outside of town and she slowly stood up, grateful for the pain that kept her mind clear. She softly pulled Tanelex along as she approached the crowd. Seeing her mom corralling them, Helianna called out.


    ¡°Mom?¡±


    Her mother whipped her head around and rushed towards Helianna. But as Jana got close, she saw the arrow in Helianna¡¯s shoulder and gasped. Before reaching Helianna, she turned and called back to someone in the group.


    ¡°Althus! We need you!¡± A small man popped his head out and seeing Helianna¡¯s injuries, immediately rushed over, his absurdly large backpack bobbing behind his head.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Helianna interrupted. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to completely heal me. I can just respawn.¡± At his flabbergasted look, she rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m an ithrax. I just need to be up long enough to do the death rites for my father.¡±


    She spoke in such an emotionless manner that the man recoiled. Althus looked towards Helianna¡¯s mother, who had tears in her eyes, barely holding it together. Jana turned towards the rest of the group and started shouting orders. Althus turned back to Helianna and quickly found the knife sticking out of her back, prompting a string of curses.


    ¡°Holy... I don¡¯t have the right equipment, so this is going to be difficult¡­ and painful.¡± He pulled his backpack out from behind his back. ¡°I¡¯m glad I realized that the village was being attacked quickly. I managed to pack some essentials. But considering how little I have compared to the demand, I¡¯m going to leave the arrow alone. I¡¯m going to make sure you don¡¯t die from that stabbing though.¡±


    He moved behind her and she heard him rummaging about his pack.


    ¡°Lay down on your stomach for me.¡± She obeyed, wincing as the tip of the broken arrow shaft brushed against the dirt, aggravating the wound. She was quickly distracted from the arrow by a burning feeling surrounding the wound in her back. She suppressed a curse as the burning got more painful while Althus poured something on it. She heard him call out.


    ¡°Oi! Someone get her something to bite on! I don¡¯t want her shattering her teeth!¡±


    She saw her brother appear before her, handing her something wrapped in cloth, which she quickly determined to be a simple stick. Ignoring where he got it from, she put it in her mouth right as the man pulled the knife out. She bit down, hearing a quiet crack from the stick as Althus started to work on her wound. It didn¡¯t take long for him to work, but it seemed to last forever. By the time he was finally done, sweat was pouring off of her.


    ¡°There. Your brother can take care of you. Other people have injuries as well.¡±


    The man quickly disappeared and she turned onto her uninjured side, spitting out the stick. She saw her brother looking at her in horror and she smiled, which appeared more like a grimace.


    ¡°Welcome to the fun.¡± He shook his head, speechless. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was distracted by something bumping against her leg. There stood the doll which she had imbued with magic just before the fight. It was partially burnt, but otherwise intact and waving at her. She let out a small laugh and immediately regretted it, wincing in pain. She spoke to the doll, unsure if it could understand her but hoping so since the magic had ¡®talked¡¯ to her before. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Come here. I don¡¯t want to deal with this now.¡± It immediately obeyed and trundled towards where her upper body was laying. She put a hand on it and the magic almost seemed to jump into her with no effort. Grateful, she laid back and groaned in pain as her wound brushed the ground. She shifted back to her side and lay there for a few moments, gathering any motivation she could.


    Fueled entirely by lingering adrenaline from the impromptu surgery, she stood up. She did her best to help deal with the aftermath, but was quickly sidelined due to how weak she was. She did her best to watch however, not warning to fall asleep and possibly die of shock.


    Bodies were taken out of the buildings when possible and any more survivors that they found were treated. Apparently, another group had fled the opposite side of the town and they were doing much better. Of the over 300 people in the town however, slightly over a hundred had died or been grievously injured.


    Among the dead was Isela, who had died of internal bleeding. When she crashed, her ribs had collapsed inwards and pierced several internal organs, creating a personalized deathcage of her own.  Sylas was the best out of the three, suffering a minor graze on his thigh and a laser thin hole in his shoulder that caused far more pain than damage. What did cause damage was his magic overuse, which would likely take a couple weeks to recover and prevented him from using his magic in the meantime.


    The surviving townspeople banded together and identified the parts of the town that still survived. For those whose homes were destroyed, temporary shelters were built at the edge of town. Once that was done, they prepared the bodies for their death rituals. Sylas was horrified, but managed to hold in his comments, too shell-shocked to protest.


    The townspeople stripped the dead of their flesh, separating the bones from the muscle. Each body created its own pile, which was then burned to ash. Unfortunately, the kinuze that normally dealt with said ash had died as a part of the attack and someone new would need to be brought in. For now, the ashes were put into a jar per person. The bones were then separated and cracked appropriately, Sylas watching on in confusion. When the preparations were finally done, Helianna¡¯s mother came up to Sylas.


    ¡°Sylas. I know you think this is insane, barbaric, and horrifying. But I want you to be there and participate in my husband¡¯s ritual.¡±


    ¡°Why? What makes you think that?¡± he asked incredulously.


    ¡°You¡¯re not good at hiding it. And to show you that while it seems insane to you, it is valid to the gods.¡± She sighed. ¡°And I also know that the gods are not worshiped much down in Alaric, but they are here. So please. This matters a lot to Helianna and all of us and I want you to see it. I understand you two may not get along, but just take a chance here.¡± He pursed his lips and his flame-like eyes dimmed for a moment before he responded.


    ¡°The gods? Fine. What am I supposed to do?¡±


    She guided him through the steps and before long, she led him towards the remains of her house and into the basement. He stopped at the steps however, immediately creeped out by what he saw. Helianna stood in the center of the basement, seven colored candles surrounding her. In front was a normal colored candle, followed by a green, a somehow black flamed candle, a blue, a red, a pure white candle, and finally, a purple candle. Without needing an explanation, he knew they represented the color of each magic affinity. There was no other light in the room, resulting in a positively eerie atmosphere.


    He recognized Helianna¡¯s mother and little brother, but four unknown people were in the room. They all stood next to a candle on the outside of the circle, leaving only one space for Sylas. It was the purple candle, the color of space. That was his affinity and it felt too perfect to be a coincidence. He looked at the others, but they were focused on Helianna. He nervously took his place as he also looked at Helianna, the creepiest part of the ritual.


    As he looked, it took all of his effort to not reel away in horror. She was wearing the bones of her father. His mandible was attached to the bottom of her own and the face of his skull was covering hers. Helianna¡¯s eyes looked through the sockets of her father¡¯s skull, her dichromatic eyes barely visible. The rest of his skull was separated into two pieces and placed over her head. The pelvic bone had also been split in two and was attached around her own hips. She was wearing his arms and legs as well, the only bones obviously missing being the vertebra, of which there were none.


    When he finally looked away, he noticed Helianna¡¯s mother staring at him from the head of the circle behind the only normal candle. She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to collect himself. Despite being freaked out, he wouldn¡¯t dare mess up a death rite. He had to assume it was a valid rite and would do his best to avoid screwing it up. If he was right and it was just a bunch of insanity, he would wait to say something until afterwards.


    ¡°I witness,¡± Helianna¡¯s mother declared in wuuvish and a chill ran up Sylas¡¯ spine.


    ¡°I witness,¡± declared the next person, ripping Sylas¡¯ eyes away from Jana.


    ¡°I witness,¡± declared the third, an old man with a raspy voice. Sylas couldn¡¯t hold back a shiver, feeling like he was joining a cult.


    ¡°I witness,¡± declared the fourth. Sylas couldn¡¯t see this one, his vision blocked by Helianna and he accidentally locked eyes with her through her mask of bone.


    ¡°I witness,¡± declared the fifth, but Sylas barely heard. He had to force himself to breathe, the eerie sight of Helianna coupled with the cultish ritual robbing him of breath.


    ¡°I witness,¡± declared the sixth, the young voice startling Sylas. It was then that he recognized Tanelex¡¯s voice and realized he was next.


    ¡°I witness,¡± Sylas declared roughly, his pronunciation terrible. He looked around and stepped towards Helianna in unison with the others and everyone spoke together.


    ¡°We witness.¡±


    Helianna spoke for the first time and there was an edge in her voice that surprised him.


    ¡°We call you to witness, o great gods above. We know you watch us and we call upon your grace. Let us pass on his soul, his wisdom, and his love. As the bones are our foundation, our strength, and our safety, we call upon them to release their hold over my father¡¯s spirit, letting it pass through me and onto you. Divert their path and let them bestow their essence upon me and empower my future. We call upon you! Let their death serve a purpose. Let their death provide. Let their death serve us forever as it shall serve you. We call upon you Alsur. Command these bones through me!¡±


    Everyone reached out their hands towards Helianna, Sylas a little belatedly. Magic poured in towards her, the color incongruent with the candles below them. The magic coursed into the bones, but a significant portion was absorbed by Helianna¡¯s nullifation. Only the outer edges of the bones glowed with magic, but they still lit up the room. The magic was uneven, Tanelex and Sylas both unable to release any, but the ritual continued regardless and everyone felt a powerful tugging sensation. A few final wisps of magic were pulled from everybody, including Tanelex and Sylas.


    A moment later, all sound and magic vanished in tandem, and everyone stumbled. A voice rumbled, quiet but simultaneously suffusing every corner of the room.


    ¡°The gods are watching you.¡±

 Chapter 26: Attention

    ¡°The gods are watching you,¡± rang through all of their heads as the rumbling voice resonated through their bones. The presence disappeared in a moment and the magic nullification that had bathed the room disappeared. With the exception of Helianna, the return of magic felt inundating and everyone collapsed to the floor, Sylas even blacking out for a brief moment. Groans filled the room and people slowly picked themselves up. Helianna¡¯s wide eyes were clear through the bone mask.


    ¡°What happened to you guys?¡± Helianna asked, confusion and disbelief clear in her voice.


    ¡°Just give us a minute,¡± snapped a kinuze man that Sylas didn¡¯t recognize. She calmed down and waited for the others to regain their bearings. She watched as her mother, her eyes still wet from crying, helped Sylas up when he remained on the ground longer than the others. One of the women spoke and Helianna recognized her as a close friend of her mother¡¯s.


    ¡°That¡­ god¡­ he removed all the magic in the room. I think. When it all came back at once, it was¡­¡± She paused for a few moments. ¡°Overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°Wait, but none of the gods should be able to do that, right?¡± asked Helianna. ¡°They each only have control over one of the affinities.¡±


    Her question was met with silence, most of them still completely stunned by the god¡¯s voice. Those that weren¡¯t stunned had no answer. She looked over at Sylas, and saw his normally sandy skin so pale that it looked more like ash and he was still being supported by her mom.


    ¡°Sylas? Are you okay?¡±


    He held a hand up, as if asking to take a minute before responding.


    ¡°Mom, can you sit him down?¡± Helianna began to walk towards them, but her mom stopped her.


    ¡°Anna, we need to take the bones off. Then you can talk to him. I think he¡¯s just in shock.¡± She leaned forward to whisper in Helianna¡¯s ear. ¡°He just heard a god speak and likely had his whole world-view changed. Let him think for a bit.¡±


    Helianna looked back at Sylas and was inclined to agree. His skin was already starting to return to normal color, but he was simply staring at the ground in front of him. She nodded and let her mom remove the bones from her body. The bones were then left in order on the ground in the center of the ritual as the others filed out. When they were done, Helianna slowly approached Sylas.


    ¡°Sylas, we need to go.¡± He looked up at her, his face still hollow.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ we can¡¯t just stay in the basement.¡±


    ¡°Why us? This is your fault, isn¡¯t it?¡± he accused.


    ¡°My fault? What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°The gods. They don¡¯t care. They never have. They don¡¯t pay attention. They¡¯re gone. They don¡¯t care about us,¡± he rambled. ¡°But why now? And why us?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°Do you¡­ not want the gods¡¯ attention?¡±


    ¡°Of course not!¡± he snapped, emotion appearing on his face once more as he stood up. ¡°If they¡¯re paying attention to people again, then¡­¡± he trailed off.


    ¡°They never stopped paying attention, Sylas.¡± He leveled a weak glare at her. ¡°It can be subtle and you may not always see it, but they care and they do have a hand in our lives. The starfalls are a perfect example of that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s bullshit. The starfalls are like clockwork every month and the people that become ithrax are completely random. That¡¯s no influence of the gods. Just some byproduct of some ancient experiment of theirs.¡±


    ¡°And yet you heard him. They¡¯re not gone. They¡¯re paying attention to us.¡± Sylas pursed his lips and looked away.


    ¡°What are we supposed to do about that?¡± he asked exasperatedly. Helianna responded with a wry smile.


    ¡°For now, kill me.¡± He blinked in shock for a few moments. ¡°I still have some pretty serious wounds, remember? They¡¯re slowly killing me and they hurt like hell.¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± He reached for a knife at his side.


    ¡°Wait! Not here! Not inside!¡±


    He rolled his eyes as he responded, ¡°Fine.¡±


    They walked out of the basement as a man passed them on the way down to deal with the ritual. Helianna stopped to tell her mom what they were about to do and that she¡¯d be back in a week. There were some protests, but after some assurance that it would be fine and that she¡¯d done it before, her mother capitulated.


    After taking a few minutes to remove the bones, they left the town. A quick slash of the knife and Helianna was once again, dead. The people that had been concentrated near the attack were desperate for answers, but not many came. Sylas wasn¡¯t particularly eager to talk to them between his pre-existing prejudice and the language barrier also making it more difficult. The other person with the most answers was Helianna¡¯s mother. She didn¡¯t have the full story, but she had heard enough when she caught up with Helianna and did her best to fill in the other villagers.


    She told them what happened and why. Immediately upon hearing the story, some blamed her and Helianna for attracting The Academy¡¯s ire, but a majority turned their aggression towards The Academy. They already hadn¡¯t been seen as favorably as in Alaric, but with this event, all goodwill towards The Academy was gone. Sylas couldn¡¯t understand the constant muttering that he heard in the next week, but it didn¡¯t take much effort to understand the grief and anger that coursed through the village. Meanwhile, Sylas was recovering from his magic overuse and was unable to build up his magic reserves to respawn Isela. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    By the time a week had passed from the attack, the rebuilding effort slowed to a crawl. People had initially been eager to rebuild their lives as fast as possible and had begun preparations immediately. But the villagers became increasingly bitter and felt unsafe staying, meaning the budding rebuilding effort was struggling. Sylas was helping throughout the process, but couldn¡¯t stop thinking about what happened. His view on the gods had been turned on its head in only a few moments. To make it worse, it served as proof that the gods paid attention to the death rites that the Wulvinians were performing. While it validated what the Wulvinians did, it didn¡¯t change the fact that it all seemed so barbaric to him. How could the gods favor something so awful?


    He was contemplating all of this while in the middle of helping clear the rubble that remained of a dead neighbor¡¯s house when he felt a gut-wrenching sensation. It felt as if all of his magic was being forcibly pulled out of him, exiting his every pore. It was one of the most painful things he¡¯d ever experienced - and he¡¯d died before. It felt as if needles were penetrating his skin throughout his whole body and embedding themselves in his core, replacing all his magic. He fell to the ground, unable to breath or speak and passed out before the feeling could subside.


    He woke up only a few seconds later, groaning. His already strained magic had been pushed to its limit again, doing further damage. It wasn¡¯t at a point where it was irreparable, but he could instantly tell recovery would now take much longer. He opened his eyes to see Helianna standing above him. Apparently, that was what it felt like when Helianna respawned off someone and he only had thought in response.


    ¡°Fuck you.¡±


    After a few moments of disorientation, Helianna bent down to help Sylas up, the others too stunned to act. He didn¡¯t resist, allowing her to stand him up.


    ¡°What the hell happened?¡± she asked as she looked around at the state of her village. The last thing she remembered was catching up with her family and going to bed.


    ¡°You showed us your creepy magic. The village got attacked. We did the death rites for your father.¡± He said bluntly as he got his feet under him, not thinking about what he had said.


    ¡°What?!¡± She demanded and he sighed, now realizing what he had said.


    ¡°You should talk to your mother. She¡¯s at the temporary shelters.¡±


    Helianna immediately abandoned him and ran towards where he had gestured the shelters were, quickly finding her mother. The following conversation was the most difficult one of either of their lives. And for Helianna, having to learn of her father¡¯s death and burial as if she hadn¡¯t been there, even though she had, was one of the strangest and most horrible feelings she¡¯d ever experienced. It took her more time than before to reign in her emotions again, but after crying into her mother¡¯s shoulder for a while, she eventually managed to regain control. Without the pain to distract like before, it was much more difficult.


    Regardless, she managed to  reclaim control of her emotions and pulled away from her mother, who was also crying softly.


    ¡°We need to go,¡± Helianna stated emotionlessly. ¡°This place isn¡¯t safe.¡± She grabbed her mothers hand and pulled her along as she returned towards Sylas. Sylas saw her approach and despite the tear tracks on her face, the cold and emotionless look that greeted him unnerved him.


    ¡°Sylas.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± he asked uneasily.


    ¡°We need to leave. They found us here after only a couple days. Even though it is my hometown, it¡¯s still on the other side of the world from The Academy and in a continent that doesn¡¯t view them favorably. They got here fast. If they don¡¯t have another team coming, it would be strange. I¡¯m surprised they haven¡¯t been here already.¡±


    A range of thoughts flew through his head before he sighed. ¡°We need to be here. We caused this and we need to help deal with the consequences.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t help if we simply lead more here and have another battle that kills what¡¯s left of the town. Staying here is dangerous for the townspeople and serves no purpose for us. We should leave. We can¡¯t stay here forever after all.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Sylas responded and looked towards Jana. ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°She can come with us,¡± Helianna interrupted. ¡°Staying here is too dangerous as they could target her and my brother for being related to me. Possibly try to use them as leverage.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± her mother interrupted.


    ¡°What?¡± Helianna asked, surprised.


    ¡°I can¡¯t go with you. I am not a fighter. I am a civilian. I will only slow you down and even might put you in more danger.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not-¡± Helianna started, but her mother interrupted her.


    ¡°You will need to protect me and I refuse to let you two die in front of me by trying to protect me and your brother. No. I will stay. Not here specifically in the village, but I will stay in Wulvinia, probably not even Cagland.¡± She looked around, taking in the town and the temporary shelters that people were living in.


    ¡°Mom-¡± Helianna started, but her mother interrupted again.


    ¡°I need to stay here anyways. Someone needs to manage these people. There¡¯s a lot of hatred for The Academy right now and if it¡¯s not managed or controlled, it will only result in a bunch of needless deaths. I¡¯ll see what I can do to deal with them, then I¡¯ll figure something out. I won¡¯t let your brother and I become a target for The Academy, whether that¡¯s by your side or not.¡±


    Silence reigned as Helianna thought for several moments.


    ¡°Alright mom. But you can at least stay with us now. Help us with planning.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± her mother refuted once more. ¡°On the off-chance that we are captured, I should have as little knowledge of what you guys are doing or where you are. I won¡¯t jeopardize your safety if I can avoid it.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Helianna acquiesced unhappily


    ¡°Now you two talk about it and figure it out.¡± Her mother sighed. ¡°I have some people to go deal with. I¡­ I hate to have you leave right now, but it¡¯s necessary. Just make sure you say goodbye before you leave.¡± Her voice wavered slightly as she made her request and Helianna nodded.


    Jana gave the surprised Helianna a quick hug before she turned around and walked back towards the temporary shelters. She started gathering the people together as Helianna and Sylas briefly watched on, amazed at her fortitude in the light of everything that was happening. She had just lost her husband, many of her friends and neighbors, her daughter would be once again leaving, and her life was upended. In response, she was putting it all to the side and taking charge.


    ¡°Damn,¡± Sylas said, knocking Helianna out of her reverie. He struggled to believe what he was seeing. Her husband had died only a little over a week ago and while she clearly wasn¡¯t fine, she was functioning on a level that he thought strange. Helianna was the same. Despite crying only a few minutes ago, she was walking around and talking as if nothing had happened. Helianna turned to Sylas as he was now lost in his thoughts.


    ¡°We need to make a plan.¡±

 Chapter 27: Future Plans

    ¡°A plan?¡± Sylas asked.


    ¡°Yes. This obviously went disastrously. We need a plan or we¡¯ll be either captured or killed.¡±


    ¡°What did you have in mind?¡± he asked as he crossed his arms.


    ¡°First of all, we need allies. Compared to most ithrax, we are weak and honestly, I don¡¯t understand how we won that last fight. I don¡¯t remember it but it feels like they should¡¯ve sent a more experienced group. We won¡¯t be able to keep getting away with that.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not weak!¡± he retorted. ¡°There were six of them and we won.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Not even talking about our individual capabilities, there¡¯s no way on Jowy we should have won that. Regardless, we can¡¯t rely on victory against future ithrax cells. We are a small cell of three, including me, and they were a larger team and yet we somehow won. In the future, they¡¯ll undoubtedly send stronger teams. By ourselves, we don¡¯t stand a chance.¡±


    ¡°Well what do you want us to do? Suddenly grow another member?!¡± he demanded.


    ¡°No, of course not. We need to find allies.¡±


    ¡°How will that help?¡± She gave him an incredulous look before considering it.


    ¡°If The Academy gets serious and sends out their powerful teams, it may not help. Not unless we plan on starting a war or something like that. And if we do that, who knows how many nations will back up The Academy. No, fighting is not how we survive. In our case, allies will provide us information and help us hide ourselves. Just a few people would already help as The Academy will not focus on them like they would us. That would allow for higher levels of misdirection that we can¡¯t achieve on our own.¡±


    ¡°And if we get a large group like an organization or something, we could use their resources,¡± Sylas finished.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Sylas¡¯ face, which had turned hopeful soured.


    ¡°And how do you propose that?¡± Sylas asked dryly. Helianna paused for a moment, wondering what had happened during the battle. Sylas was still being difficult, but didn¡¯t seem quite as hostile as she remembered.


    ¡°First off, do you have any allies that we can use? Family? Other relevant connections?¡± Sylas gave her a flat look.


    ¡°Unlike you nulls, the rest of us ithrax were discovered and taken when we were much younger. I don¡¯t know anyone outside The Academy aside from my parents and I don¡¯t remember them well.¡±


    ¡°How? How did they know who you were from so young?¡± Helianna asked.


    ¡°Aside from the nulls, ithrax inherently know where each other are. And when we¡¯re little kids, we naturally try to find each other, often putting ourselves in danger in the process. You seriously didn¡¯t know this?¡±


    She ignored his question.


    ¡°Alright, so that¡¯s out. The man from the caravan could possibly be willing to help. This would be a lot to ask of him, but he seems like the kind of man that has lots of connections so he might be able to help even if he doesn¡¯t want to get involved himself.¡±


    ¡°Are you kidding me?¡± asked Sylas derisively. ¡°You talked to him, what? Three times? Four? That¡¯s a terrible idea. He won¡¯t help us. That¡¯s a terrible plan.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand. Wulvinians help each other.¡±


    ¡°Not that much. I don¡¯t care what you think was going on with him or your people or whatever. Nobody is willing to take on the world after talking to someone a couple times.¡±


    ¡°It is a last resort.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Sylas snapped. ¡°I sure as hell hope you have a better idea.¡±


    She thought for a few moments. Two things immediately came to mind. The first was the strange man in green armor that she¡¯d met on her first assassination mission. He had been unusual, containing unique detection technology and had clearly tried to get her to question The Academy. He was what first caused her to start doubting The Academy on that mission. She remembered something about him belonging to some other organization and simply being hired out but she couldn¡¯t remember any details. She had no clue how to contact him or his people so that was out of the question. The next that came to mind was the city that she had rescued Sylas and Isela in.


    ¡°I do have an idea,¡± she said hesitantly.


    ¡°Well, out with it.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t like it,¡± she warned.


    ¡°Hard to be worse than your last idea.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the place you got captured and I had to rescue you.¡±


    ¡°What?! What about that damn city?!¡± he nearly shouted.


    ¡°They were against The Academy. And they had an incredible level of technology.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter! They were trying to kill us!¡±


    ¡°Yes, but not because of you guys. They were anti-Academy, not necessarily anti-ithrax. At least that¡¯s the understanding that I had. They were mad about their technology being suppressed.¡±


    ¡°Oh, because a team of ithrax that they already tried to execute coming back for help will totally work.¡±


    ¡°There will most definitely be intense moments, but I think we can convince them. They¡¯re desperate to get out from under The Academy. What better tool than former Academy members that turned against them?¡±


    ¡°And if we can¡¯t convince them?¡± he demanded. ¡°Then we¡¯re dead.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Not necessarily. One of us can be outside the city so if they kill or capture the rest of us, the people inside can die and whoever is outside won¡¯t. Of course we won¡¯t know what happened inside, but it will keep us safe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still on the other side of the world! We just made the massive trip here and you want us to go back?¡±


    ¡°It will make us slightly unpredictable, hopefully. It¡¯s harder to track people over sea than it is over land.¡±


    ¡°That means we¡¯ll be spending multiple weeks over the ocean again. You¡¯ll have to deal with seasickness again.¡± He smirked slightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to not think about that.¡± Sylas rolled his eyes.


    ¡°This is a stupid idea. We¡¯re wasting so much time on the ocean.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it is,¡± Helianna remarked. ¡°But it will hopefully get them off our trail and it¡¯s for something beneficial. Besides, do you have any better ideas?¡±


    He pursed his lips, trying to think of something. After a solid minute of silence with Helianna staring at him pointedly, he made an annoyed grunt.


    ¡°The only thing I can think of is going towards the island continents. The communities may be smaller, but trying to send teams after us would be much more difficult.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d have to sail again anyways for that. That also sounds miserable and if they do send a team after us, then our escape routes are limited. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea.¡± Sylas grumbled in response, but acquiesced.


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    ¡°We should leave as soon as possible, then.¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Sylas demanded.


    ¡°Because we don¡¯t know how far away other teams are and we don¡¯t need to put a bigger target on these people¡¯s backs.¡±


    ¡°A day or two won¡¯t matter. It takes a month to travel to this continent, at least. There¡¯s no way they can get someone here in just a couple days.¡±


    ¡°Unless they already had people on the way or nearby. We have no idea on the true scope of The Academy¡¯s resources,¡± she explained.


    ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s not like they have strike teams hiding across the world or something. Stop being paranoid.¡±


    ¡°Well, I have a question for you. What do you think my role was? Why did I rescue you as a null?¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re just a separate agent. A tagalong unit for when your nullification is useful.¡±


    ¡°Wrong. Did you wonder why I had a disguise? My job was an assassin. Nobody was supposed to know my name or my face, not even my allies. My guess is that I never even knew my instructor¡¯s true face. I have no idea how far-reaching it is, but The Academy is not above using subterfuge. Much of the public displays they have are just for show. I don¡¯t know their reach, but it¡¯s more it seems. There¡¯s no way I was unique or special to them. Think about it.¡±


    He glared at her for a few moments before looking away, chewing his lip as he thought.


    ¡°Why are you so opposed to this?¡±


    ¡°Why? You¡¯re asking why?!¡± His face was only inches away from her as he screamed out of nowhere.


    ¡°You¡¯re asking why I¡¯m so opposed to this?! You¡¯re asking me to go back to a place that captured me, beat me, and then planned to execute me. I had to be rescued!¡±


    She leaned away before gently pushing him back as he fumed.


    ¡°Alright. I get it. You don¡¯t have to go. As I said, someone has to stay back and that can be you. If it bothers both of you, then I can go in on my own. How does that sound?¡±


    Sylas narrowed his eyes, feeling as if he were being looked down on and Helianna could tell that he could blow up at any moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you some time to think about it. I¡¯m going to go talk to my mom.¡± She immediately beat a hasty retreat, not wanting to deal with Sylas. Despite being less hostile than before, he was still clearly antagonistic towards her.


    She walked towards the temporary shelter and as she got closer, she clearly saw a large-scale meeting occurring in the center of it. Easily half the people that had been living at the shelters, with her mother at the head, were there. Not wanting to interrupt or distract her mother from the meeting, she decided to wait by one of the shelters until they were done, eavesdropping instead. Only catching the tail-end of the meeting, she realized they were voting on something. And whatever it was, they were almost unanimous in their support. Her mother announced that they¡¯d meet again the next day for the initial decision, whatever that meant, and that they were done.


    Conversation then started amongst the people staying and she realized it was just socializing as opposed to conversation about the meeting. She walked up to her mother, who smiled sadly at her.


    ¡°When are you leaving?¡± Jana asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Soon. Probably tomorrow morning if I had to guess. Sylas needs to come around. He¡¯s being stubborn, so I¡¯m leaving him to think about it. What was that meeting about?¡±


    ¡°Honestly, nothing. It was basically just about me getting some people to step forward to help lead this mass of people. It helps calm everyone down in a situation like this when people step forward like that. It helps reduce the panic and makes it easier to direct their anger.¡±


    ¡°So what were you guys voting on?¡± Jana rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Getting people to step up is important, but in this case, some of them let the leadership get to their head. Basically, we just decided that we¡¯re going to let the people decide their future instead of these so-called leaders.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re back at square one. And where do you come in in this situation?¡± Helianna asked.


    ¡°Well for now, I¡¯m just trying to get people to calm down. Considering the quality of people that are stepping up, I may take a more active role.¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s your plan?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet. But I¡¯m probably going to take some people and leave this place.¡± She gave Helianna a worried look. ¡°Given what you¡¯ve told me, I don¡¯t trust The Academy not to send people here to try to obtain information from who stays. I don¡¯t want to be here for that.¡±


    ¡°Do the townsfolk know enough to help The Academy?¡± Helianna asked with a cold voice that sent a shiver up her mother¡¯s spine. To Jana, it sounded almost like Helianna was considering their knowledge a threat to eliminate.


    ¡°No!¡± her mother said slightly more forcefully than intended. ¡°No. All they know is some basic information that The Academy would already have on you.


    ¡°Alright. How many do you think will go with you?¡±


    ¡°Well. That¡¯s the point of the meeting tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°When do you think you are all going to leave?¡± Her mother sighed and ran a hand through her hair.


    ¡°Probably not for a while. It takes time to deal with the logistics of moving the amount of people that we¡¯re going to move. And people are slow.¡±


    Helianna grunted her acknowledgement and they fell into silence for a few moments before her mother spoke again.


    ¡°Do you guys have what you need for traveling? I know you have a carriage, but do you have any bedrolls? Cooking-ware?


    ¡°Mom.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re probably going to need new clothes, aren¡¯t you? But you can buy that. You can buy all of that.¡±


    ¡°Mom.¡±


    ¡°Do you have the money for it? Oh! Do you have a mercenary license with JWAW? That could help you quite a bit in travel and if you need to make some money.¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡± Helianna lightly yelled as she grabbed her mother¡¯s shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s okay. We¡¯ve done this before. We got this.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. I just can¡¯t help it,¡± Jana replied as she pulled Helianna into a hug. ¡°I¡¯m your mother. I can¡¯t help but worry, especially now that I know what¡¯s going on. And I want to help in any way I can.¡±


    ¡°I know, mom.¡± Helianna smiled just slightly as she pulled away. ¡°You just can¡¯t resist being a mama-bear.¡± Her mother chuckled.


    ¡°You always used to call me that when I was being overly-motherly to you. You sure you don¡¯t need something?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re out of money but-¡± Helianna started hesitantly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got plenty of money I can give you. We did pretty well saving up all these years.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you-¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure! I can¡¯t fight off The Academy for you and I may not be able to be there in person for you, but I can at least fund your efforts!¡±


    Helianna sighed. ¡°Yeah. Yeah, that would be helpful. We currently have nothing in terms of money.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can help. I¡¯ll actually go work on that right now. Pretty sure I¡¯m not going to be the only one withdrawing money right now.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to¡­¡± Helianna started, but her mother was already gone, desperate to help Helianna in any way she could. ¡°...right now.¡±

 Chapter 28: Personal Time

    After taking a moment to realize she was now alone, Helianna decided to take the time and enjoy it. During the caravan trip home, she had discovered a few things about herself. First of all, she found being with people incredibly, tiring and valued her time to herself much more than she did while at The Academy. The Academy had too many forced social interactions and had somehow felt more isolating than being out here practically on her own.


    Now, she enjoyed being by herself. And she had unintentionally discovered a great way to do it on the caravan. She liked to people-watch. Not having to interact with anybody, but seeing them having fun, goofing off, making idiots of themselves, and even just general talking. It didn¡¯t matter. It was enjoyable to watch them pass the time.


    Upon the realization that she enjoyed that, she immediately made a hard rule for herself. Staying hidden would be fine as it prevented people from talking to her, but she would always only watch people that were in a public space and when there were plenty of others around. She would never, ever start spying on people¡¯s private lives for her own enjoyment and she didn¡¯t want to feel like a voyeur or predator. She may have become an assassin that enjoyed the shadows, but there were lines that she wouldn¡¯t cross.


    She started moving between the temporary shelters, watching and listening to those around her, and pulling out all her tricks to prevent people from noticing her. Before she could start analyzing the people however, her thought process completely froze, her body moving on autopilot. Seeing the people around her, the families¡­ the parents¡­ the fathers.


    She felt something building in her gut and it only took a moment¡¯s thought to realize it was her own emotions threatening to bubble back to the surface and take control. She slammed the emotions back down with everything she could, not daring to let them run amok in her mind. She couldn¡¯t afford to let her emotions take her. All they did was hinder her. They were not productive, only serving to make emotional and bad decisions that would only put herself in more danger. Some emotions were useful. But the emotions that threatened to come to the surface now were useless, and she made certain they remained in the recesses of her mind where they couldn¡¯t ruin her life.


    Confident she was back in control, she put her attention back on the people around her, and she was now in a completely different part of the sub-village that had been made out of temporary shelters. Now that she was paying attention, she could feel the tension in the air. The people were quiet, quieter than they should be. Almost as if they were afraid that being too loud would get them into trouble. That certainly didn¡¯t stop them from talking however. The area was constantly filled with quiet chatter, forcing her to strain her ears to hear the conversations.


    The results of her eavesdropping were about what she expected. Everywhere she went, people were quietly whispering about the upcoming decisions for the remains of the town. Should they stay or should they go? She paid close attention, curious to see what the general consensus was and was sorely let down. While certainly not everyone, a vast majority of those that she could hear seemed to be planning on staying. Regardless of how much that helped her mother, that seemed like a bad idea. Who knows what The Academy would do or whether it would try to get information out of them?


    She was still eavesdropping and having to be increasingly careful due to how uneasy people were when Sylas walked into the middle of the area designated for shelters. She didn¡¯t notice him at first as there was a shelter between the two of them, but was quickly made aware of his presence.


    ¡°Damnit, Helianna!¡± Sylas cursed loudly. ¡°I know you¡¯re around here somewhere! Stop sneaking around.¡±


    Rolling her eyes, she slowly moved out from around the shelter and stepped towards him, instinctively taking advantage of the people around her to blend in. From Sylas¡¯ perspective, it seemed as if she had simply melted out of a group of people, coming from practically nowhere.


    ¡°Seriously, Helianna?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± she looked around, annoyed that Sylas had called her out. ¡°Why did you have to yell that out?¡±


    ¡°Easiest way to find you. Besides, you¡¯ll like what I have to say.¡± Helianna gave him an annoyed look, waiting for him to continue. ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±


    ¡°Good. We¡¯ll leave, hopefully tomorrow morning. My mother is procuring funds for us.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± he scoffed. ¡°You extorting your mother now? And how much is that going to be? A few cop-¡±


    ¡°More than we have now,¡± Helianna interrupted. ¡°Which is nothing.¡± Pursing his lips and looking away briefly, Sylas didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°See you tomorrow then, I guess,¡± Sylas calmly stated and turned away, heading to his own shelter. Helianna sighed and looked around. They had gained a little bit of an audience and now that Sylas had made them aware that she liked to sneak around, there was little chance of her being able to continue. With dusk soon arriving, she decided to call it a night and went to the shelter she was provided, the same one as her mother.


    She had some time to herself as her mother was still gone, so she decided to experiment with her magic. Unfortunately, being a temporary shelter meant there was very little to imbue her magic with. She had been told that she had supposedly experimented with her magic, with the others around to attest to it, but that was right in the period where she didn¡¯t have any memory because of her death. She wasn¡¯t sure how successful she had been, but wanted to give it an effort now.


    She sat down and started meditating, trying to get a solid grasp on the magic inside of her. Compared to the first time she had done this, it happened quickly, almost as if the magic was eager to respond. Unbeknownst to Helianna, she went through the exact same process as she had before she died, initially struggling to imbue her magic into her pillow. She was eventually successful however, and opened her eyes to see the pillow moving as if alive. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°This is so weird,¡± Helianna muttered to herself. ¡°How much control do you have?¡± she asked, not expecting an answer as a terrible idea formed in her mind.


    She reached back out to the pillow and withdrew the magic with ease, only feeling partially in control. Hesitantly, she reached out and touched the flimsy wooden walls, trying to imbue her magic into the building. She immediately felt a massive resistance, reminded of how it would feel to be simply trying to push the entire shelter down herself. It wasn¡¯t completely solid, but felt too strong for her to do on her own. Curious how much her intent mattered, she then singled out the singular wooden board in her mind, trying to push her magic into it by itself.


    The process was quick, and with much less resistance. She opened her eyes and stepped back, seeing the tail end of her magic entering the board. After a few seconds, she heard some creaking from the wood. It had clearly worked, but movement was either impossible or too difficult for whatever her magic wanted to do. She reached her hand out once more, but didn¡¯t pull the magic back yet.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can understand me. I don¡¯t know if you can even hear me. But if you can, humor me. We don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know what we can do with this. I¡¯m simply experimenting and the better we both know what we can do, the better. You¡¯re my magic, right? Or something to that effect. Well, if that¡¯s true then you die the second I do. This could help me¡­ us survive.¡±


    She felt insane. She was talking to the wooden board of a temporary shelter, trying to communicate with her own magic as if it was sentient. She had to investigate every avenue though, and if it truly was sentient¡­ then she couldn¡¯t afford to antagonize it. It lived inside her after all. She pulled the magic from the board, unsure if it could understand her better outside her body or not, if it even could. Realizing that, she went through her spiel once more, trying to talk to the magic inside her and continuing to feel insane.


    She put her hand out to the wall again and pushed, trying to imbue her magic into the whole house. This time, she felt the magic itself rush forward, as if a battering ram smashing against a gate. Her magic was clearly held back, but she could feel trace amounts leaking out into the house and dissipating. Both her and her magic kept up the pressure and an aching feeling arose in Helianna. It wasn¡¯t physical, and it felt almost like it was the connection to her magic that was aching, a strange sensation that she tried to ignore. There was a sudden rush as her magic all left her in an instant, imbuing itself into the building and she nearly collapsed from the headrush that ensued.


    In the headrush, she missed the golden glow that had briefly appeared as her magic suffused the building. Regardless, she could feel her magic in the rudimentary building, but nothing was visibly different once the process was done. The flap that served as a door suddenly rustled as if moved by a breeze, although she felt no air come in. Even knowing it was her magic, she couldn¡¯t stop a shiver from creeping up her spine. She heard creaking once more, louder this time, and followed by a sudden snap. She saw a wooden plank fall to the ground at her side, leaving a hole in her wall. She looked around uneasily before walking toward the hole in the wall and touching the plank. Instantly, she could tell. The wood didn¡¯t have any of her magic in it. It was no longer a part of the building and that was where the magic was housed.


    Happy to have her thoughts on intent confirmed, she lifted the wood up, struggling to put it back in place from inside. After a few moments, she gave up and turned to the door to see her mom standing in the doorway.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Give me a minute,¡± Helianna quickly responded and brushed past her mother. She walked around to the hole from the outside and pushed the wood back into place as best as she could. It didn¡¯t fit perfectly as it had been forcibly ripped out of the house and upon investigation, none of her magic flooded back in. She walked back to the front and the door flap fluttered aside before she walked. Her mother looked at Helianna with her eyes wide.


    ¡°What in Alsur¡¯s name?¡± Jana muttered.


    Deciding she was done with the experiments for now, Helianna put her hand on the wall to accept the magic back in. It rushed into her easily and she immediately noticed something different, although it took a moment to figure out what it was. There was less magic coming back than she had sent into the house. It was probably only half the size it had started, at best, and she concluded that all that movement that had been done must have required it. She opened her eyes and turned to her mother.


    ¡°Sorry. I was¡­ experimenting.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ any developments?¡± Helianna opened her mouth to respond, but her mother held up her hand. ¡°Wait! I don¡¯t want to know. I don¡¯t want to be able to hurt you if The Academy gets their hands on me.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± There was silence for several moments before Helianna broke it. ¡°Could you tell me what happened the last time I experimented? You were there, right? Well, I don¡¯t remember it cause of my death.¡± Her mother looked at her for a few moments, a little weirded out by Helianna¡¯s casual reference of her own death.


    ¡°Yeah, although here.¡± Her mother handed Helianna her purse. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of money in there. Several denominations of course.¡± Helianna opened it and looked inside, seeing a much larger amount of cash inside than she expected.


    ¡°How much is this?!¡±


    ¡°Two gold¡¯s worth.¡±


    ¡°Two gold? How do you have that much that you¡¯re able to casually give me? You need to keep some for yourself, especially given what you¡¯re planning.¡±


    ¡°I have. Remember the metal system isn¡¯t as strong here in Wulvinia. I¡¯ve still got plenty. Don¡¯t worry. And I split it up. There¡¯s a hundred ninety-five silvers and five hundred coppers.¡± Helianna looked at her mother in a different light.


    ¡°How do you have so much that you can throw this much away casually?¡± Her mother chuckled.


    ¡°Your father used to work as a mercenary, remember? It¡¯s a pretty lucrative business compared to cooking.¡±


    ¡°I thought all of that went to his equipment.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ it typically did. But when he decided to stop so he could stay in Ash Hill with me, he decided to finish on a high note. He made a lot of money on his last job and then he didn¡¯t need to use it for his equipment anymore.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­ still surprising to me.¡±


    ¡°You were young when you left. There was no need to ever talk about money with you. Now. You wanted to hear about your last experimentation with your magic?¡±

 Chapter 29: Going Back?

    Jana informed Helianna of her previous venture with her strange magic and by the time they were done, it was fairly late at night, prompting both of them to go to sleep. And as per usual, Helianna woke up at dawn and got herself ready for the day. She was walking out the door to hopefully find food when she heard her mother¡¯s sleepy voice behind her.


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    Her mother grunted, having to take a moment to mentally switch languages. ¡°Don¡¯t leave without saying goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry mom, I¡¯m not leaving. Just looking for food.¡± Jana blinked the last bit of sleep out of her eyes.


    ¡°Pretty sure Tissan will be awake by now. He¡¯s been cooking for people until we can all get our own kitchens back.¡±


    ¡°Where is he?¡±


    ¡°He should be in the center area. I¡¯ll meet you there in a few minutes.¡±


    Helianna nodded and left, looking for Tissan. She recognized the name, but had no clue who he was, simply relying on her mother¡¯s directions and the smell of food to guide her. Before long, she smelled something that immediately forced a small bud of nostalgia to rise in her. She couldn¡¯t place the smell, but she knew it. She quickly identified the source of the smell. On the side of a small clearing in the center of the temporary shelters, a man was tending a large cauldron several feet tall.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± she said and he grunted. ¡°What are you making?¡± He looked at her with a fed-up expression, causing her to frown. ¡°Ah¡­ What are you making?¡±


    ¡°Guusa. It¡¯s good for large groups.¡± Now she remembered. It was something her mother would make her for breakfast when she was young and her father wasn¡¯t available. It was made from the local grain called guusin and then cooked with water, oil, and a few basic flavorings. It was simple, but tasty and easy to make.


    ¡°You¡¯re making this for everyone?¡±


    ¡°For those that need it.¡±


    ¡°When will it be done?¡± she asked.


    ¡°When it¡¯s done,¡± he responded brusquely.


    ¡°Can I have a rough guess?¡±


    He scowled. ¡°A quarter of an hour. Maybe.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± He rolled his eyes as she walked off, determined to make use of her time. She made her way to the shelter that Sylas was in and barged in the door, forgetting that nobody had solo shelters. She immediately saw multiple people sleeping, with Sylas slightly stirring at the noise. She walked over to him and lifted the side of the mattress, dumping him onto the floor.


    ¡°Wha? Where?¡± He demanded, his eyes still unfocused from sleep.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she said quietly, barely trying to keep from waking the others who were stirring.


    ¡°Motherf¡­ fine. Just¡­ give me a minute,¡± he snapped, although the slurring of his words from grogginess lessened their impact. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of several grumpy wakers who were stirring, she promptly left before the others could fully wake up. She wandered back to the central area with the cook, deliberately taking her time. By the time she arrived, her mother was talking to Tissan, who was still working the cauldron.


    ¡°Hello.¡±


    ¡°Food¡¯s still not ready,¡± Tissan said grumpily.


    ¡°Oh calm down you grump,¡± her mother teased. ¡°She¡¯s just hungry. And she needs an early start today.¡±


    After a bit of grumbling, the food was soon ready and Tissan provided Helianna with food right as Sylas wandered by. He added to the morning grumbling and they both ate their breakfast. It was simple and somewhat bland, but had a unique taste that induced nostalgia in Helianna and confusion in Sylas.


    ¡°So when is Isela going to be able to¡­ come back?¡± Jana asked Sylas.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a long time. I strained myself really badly and I¡¯m not going to be able to gather the magic back to resummon her. If I take too long, the magic will force it to happen and I¡¯ll strain myself again, kind of like it did with Helianna. My guess is at least a month. Probably longer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear that. She¡¯s a sweet girl.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine mom. It¡¯s not like she¡¯s dead forever. She¡¯ll be back.¡±


    ¡°I know Anna, but still. A month of life just missing. It¡¯s a little strange to think about.¡±


    The conversation died for a few minutes as Sylas and Helianna ate. When they finished, they said their goodbyes, Jana doing her best to avoid crying while Helianna did her best to remain stoic. After a few minutes, they got on their carriage and left before a many people were awake. Helianna looked back, reminded of the last time she had left. Her circumstances were so different even though only five years had passed and she wondered what it would be like the next time she saw her mother.


    Instead of riding back to Eichlach as they had come, they now headed south straight through Portonlach. The trip was less eventful than last time due to a lack of fake bandits within Portonlach. That was Portonlach¡¯s strategy, not Eichlach¡¯s. On the way, they stopped at a few small towns and what they found was consistent. The people were a little tense, but not altogether fearful. ¡°War¡± seemed like a possibility in everybody¡¯s minds but nobody was expecting an attack anytime soon. For Helianna, it seemed pretty normal. Small mini-wars like this were fairly common in Wulvinia and the changing of lands was frequent, although the blood-shed was fairly low. Especially in comparison to the New Empodian Invasion.


    Eventually, they arrived in a large port-town and spent the next couple days looking for passage on a ship. This time, they were able to find a genuine passenger ship instead of dealing with a cargo ship. Helianna was slightly worried that it would make them easier to track, but figured it would be fine. Ships were always difficult to track. There was no evidence to leave behind and if someone snuck a tracking rune on the ship, it didn¡¯t particularly matter as tracking runes never worked quite as well over water for some reason.


    And so the trip began, much to Helianna¡¯s chagrin. As per usual, she spent much of the next week and a half desperately trying to keep any food she ate from immediately leaving her body out the wrong end. Fortunately, they never went too far out into the open ocean, quickly heading straight to the coast of the island continent of Prakanai and following it south. The plan was to follow the coast down to Seland and follow the islands into the mainland, where they would land. With the war between Okegora and Empodia, the captain of the passenger ship had no desire to get close to the war, Seland already being too close for his comfort. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    While Helianna was busy trying to hold her lunch, Sylas was starting to worry. He had called Helianna paranoid when she had said she was worried about being tracked easier because of their use of a passenger ship, but he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about it. It would have fled his mind if not for the ship that was sailing along the same path behind them, never quite sinking below the horizon. Of course, it wasn¡¯t uncommon for a ship to appear on the horizon from time to time, but this one ship never left.


    He asked a few of the crew if it was anything to worry about and they had simply laughed at him, telling him that this was a common ship route and that there was nothing to worry about. That didn¡¯t stop him from noticing the captain from a distance one afternoon, gazing at the ship behind them with a furrowed brow. Hoping he could get a more honest answer out of the captain he approached.


    ¡°Captain.¡±


    Before he could get another word in, the captain spoke. ¡°You¡¯re the one that¡¯s been asking the crew about the ship behind us, are you not?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡±


    ¡°Got something to tell me, kid?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Sylas questioned, confused.


    ¡°This ship. It¡¯s following us. I¡¯ve been varying our speed day to day, but it¡¯s not chasing us and it¡¯s not letting us get away either. It¡¯s been following us.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    ¡°Considering your questions, I¡¯m a little suspicious. Who are you? And who are you worried about that could be following us?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just thought it was a little suspicious,¡± Sylas responded defensively.


    ¡°Oi!¡± The captain jabbed Sylas in the chest hard with a finger. ¡°Yer a shit liar, you are. Who am I dealing with?¡±


    Sylas stood in silence for a few moments, trying to figure out how to answer when he was saved by one of the crew.


    ¡°Captain!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± the captain snapped, resulting in a surprised and slightly more subdued crewmate.


    ¡°Some of the passengers started a fight. We managed to subdue them, but we¡¯re not sure what to do.¡± The captain huffed angrily.


    ¡°This conversation isn¡¯t over and you better be ready to tell me what¡¯s going on.¡±


    The captain stomped off after the crewmate, leaving Sylas to trail behind. He followed along, and it didn¡¯t take long to get to the fight, which was in the main eating area just under the deck. He quickly noticed Helianna in the corner, still sick but clearly paying rapt attention to what was around her. He immediately made a beeline towards her.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°There was a fight.¡±


    Sylas rolled his glowing eyes. ¡°I gathered that.¡±


    ¡°No, it was just a fight,¡± she insisted.


    ¡°You¡¯re not making any sense.¡±


    ¡°It was a fight to-¡± she immediately cut herself off and put her hand on her mouth. She quickly stumbled over to the porthole and vomited out of it. Once she was done, she collapsed against the wall inside the porthole.


    ¡°Nope. Still can¡¯t keep anything down,¡± she said morosely.


    ¡°Helianna. The fight?¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°It was a fight to be a fight. The reactions were overblown. The fight shouldn¡¯t have happened.¡±


    Sylas scoffed. ¡°We¡¯ve been on the ocean for a while. Some people don¡¯t like it. They get emotional.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant.¡±


    ¡°Then what did you mean?¡± he demanded.


    ¡°Who did you see on deck? You were up there, right?¡± she asked, ignoring his question.


    ¡°I was, but don¡¯t ignore me. What did you mean?¡± Sylas asked, getting increasingly frustrated.


    ¡°I mean the fight was on purpose. They came in here wanting to make a fight. Either they-¡± she started dry-heaving, and stood back up to look out the porthole, not wanting to make a mess in case something came up. She slid back down the wall once she was done and groaned.


    ¡°Either they have a long-standing grudge, but they supposedly barely know each other. Or they were trying to pull people¡¯s attention here, which I think is more likely. Notice how pretty much all of the crew and the captain are here?¡± Sylas looked around and frowned.


    ¡°You¡¯re being paranoid.¡±


    ¡°I hope so. If not, then why did they need a distraction?¡±


    ¡°What would they even do? Pretty much anything that could damage a ship from the inside doesn¡¯t need a distraction. If they blow a hole in the hull, it¡¯s done. End of story. No need for a distraction. And that¡¯s the case for kinda everything on a ship. Just¡­¡± Sylas sighed. ¡°We have a more pressing problem.¡± Helianna let out a small groan.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The captain knows we¡¯re on the run, but he doesn¡¯t know what from.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a ship that¡¯s following us.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on,¡± Helianna whined and thunked her head against the wall.


    ¡°Just¡­ as long as we don¡¯t get thrown off the ship, I don¡¯t care. Tell him whatever works. Since when do you come to me for decisions, anyway?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± he said defensively. ¡°I¡¯m just letting you know. I already made my decision.¡±


    ¡°Right. Well thanks for the heads up, I guess.¡±


    Sylas scoffed and turned away, leaving her to her misery. He then spent the rest of the day, trying to avoid the captain, not wanting to continue their earlier conversation. He wasn¡¯t sure if the captain was busy or if he simply wasn¡¯t trying very hard to speak to Sylas, but he managed it throughout the rest of the evening and even close to midday the next day.


    Unfortunately, his plans were ruined by the ringing of the alarm bell on deck. He immediately ran up to the deck, cursing himself the whole way. He figured most of the other passengers would be heading to their quarters, not wanting to get involved in whatever triggered the alarm. But to his surprise, he found easily half of the passengers on deck, all too curious for their own good.


    ¡°All passengers stay on deck!¡± announced the captain. ¡°I currently have crew members getting everyone that¡¯s not already here.¡±


    Murmuring immediately erupted from the passengers and Sylas looked around for Helianna. The murmuring had turned into a full-blown sea of voices by the time he saw her, and she was being led up onto the deck by a crew member alongside several others. They locked eyes and she immediately approached him.


    ¡°Any idea what¡¯s going on?¡± Helianna asked.


    ¡°Probably the ship that¡¯s following us,¡± Helianna nodded, but didn¡¯t respond. She felt better than she did yesterday, but was still green and was desperately hoping that no fighting or running around would be required. It took a while longer for everybody else to show up and the captain rang the bell to shut up the crowd.


    ¡°While many of you probably haven¡¯t noticed or cared, a few of you have been asking me and my crew about the ship that¡¯s following us.¡± The captain paused and scanned the over one hundred passengers. ¡°I will confirm right here and right now that yes, they are following us, not just our route.¡±


    ¡°However, that is not why I¡¯ve had my crew drag you all up here. Those of you that took the longest to get here might have even noticed the issue. The runic systems on our ship have failed.¡± He paused, expecting a large response from the crowd, but aside from some whispering and murmuring, it remained quiet.


    ¡°Without the runes active, most of the perishable food will go bad if it hasn¡¯t already. But that is not the issue!¡± he yelled, trying to be heard over the rising volume of people. He wasn¡¯t and had to resort to ringing the bell once again.


    ¡°The bigger problem is that the cooling systems of the ship are down.¡± The entire ship instantly went silent. They could all feel the heat beating down on them and most of the people were already sweating intensely from the heat despite being outside for less than an hour.


    ¡°Within a few hours, the interior of this ship will turn into a furnace. Outside will feel like winter compared to the inside of the ship. Is there anybody aboard the ship with experience in crafting and repairing runes?¡±


    After a few moments where nobody said anything, a young tijatan raised his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a little if nobody else can, but I¡¯m still in training,¡± he said hesitantly, his voice barely loud enough for the captain to hear.


    ¡°It¡¯ll have to do. Greez and Danton, you two take him down. If it starts getting too hot or if you run into any other problems, come right back up.¡±


    Two men immediately came up to the young man and led him back down into the ship.


    ¡°Now! This conversation is not over!¡± the captain yelled, quieting the murmuring that had started up again. ¡°As I mentioned earlier, we have a ship following us. And this ship-wide collapse of runic systems is not possible without intentional sabotage.¡± He raised his voice to make sure he could be heard over the crowd getting loud again.


    ¡°You will not be punished or thrown overboard or anything like that, but whoever is on the run, I want to know what I¡¯m dealing with! How I keep everyone safe is highly dependent on who I¡¯m dealing with. I will be in my quarters talking with my crew and I expect to see you there, whoever you are. Find some cover on the deck if you can and I¡¯ll see you all later!¡± The captain immediately turned around and disappeared into his quarters.


    ¡°Well that could have been handled better,¡± Sylas grumbled.

 Chapter 30: Unrest

    The deck of the ship descending into chaos. Chatter quickly devolved into yelling as some tried to gain control of the situation and accusations started flying. Half the people had already been unhappy about being disturbed from their lives and now being stuck out in the hot sun with a pursuer made them all oversensitive. Sylas and Helianna immediately retreated to a further part of the deck, grateful for the ship¡¯s large size, but they weren¡¯t alone. A number of other people had the same idea and quickly, there was nowhere on deck that was empty. Sylas even saw a few people try to go back down into the ship, but crewmembers were blocking it, claiming that they had no idea how quickly the ship would overheat to dangerous levels.


    For those that kept a more level head, one thing was obvious. No matter how they went about it, the person who walked up to the captain would be seen by everybody. It was at a slightly raised section and a majority of the deck had a view of it, including the large crowd of irate passengers. Walking up there would be dangerous, not because of the captain¡¯s actions, but because of everyone else.


    As a result, everybody noticed a man walking up. He was tall and broad shouldered and held himself confidently despite the situation. He clearly had his eyes on the crowd, but managed to avoid looking scared as he walked up to the captain¡¯s quarters. The deck went largely silent as they watched him like a pack of hyenas, ready to bark and bite at him. He largely ignored them as he disappeared into the captain¡¯s quarters.


    ¡°We need to go in,¡± Helianna stated, much to Sylas'' shock.


    ¡°What?!¡± he demanded before shifting to a yelling whisper. ¡°Seriously?! I mean, yeah, we should. But if someone else is going in, then we have a scapegoat! Of anyone, I¡¯d expect you to take advantage of that. We¡¯re trying to keep a low profile after all.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re too late for that.¡±


    ¡°Not really. The captain suspected us, but now we¡¯ve got someone else to take the blame. We don¡¯t even know if the ship is after us or him!¡±


    ¡°Yes it is. Being on this ship and in this situation will already bring attention to us. We can¡¯t cover our tracks like this. And we need to be in the loop. We can¡¯t let ourselves be caught off guard and we don¡¯t know what we¡¯re dealing with. And besides, are you really trying to convince me to let someone else take the fall for us? What happened to your silly heroics?¡±


    Sylas¡¯ face morphed into a frown. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to convince you. Just¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going in with or without you.¡±


    Helianna immediately started walking toward the quarters, the seasick sway in her step less noticeable at this point of the trip. Sylas cursed Helianna under his breath as he followed, knowing it was too late to try to distance himself from her in the other¡¯s eyes. When they opened the door to the captain¡¯s quarters, three sets of eyes immediately locked on their entering forms, silence taking over. The captain stood on the left side of the table, his intense eyes making him feel much larger than he actually was. On the other side of the table was a large kinuze man that Helianna didn¡¯t recognize, but Sylas recognized as the first mate, Nagus. On the right was the stranger that Sylas had hoped to be their scapegoat.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Nagus asked.


    ¡°We were requested.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me we¡¯ve got more people on the run,¡± Nagus dryly retorted.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put it as on the run,¡± Helianna defended. ¡°We¡¯re simply trying to remain hidden. And I couldn¡¯t sit back debating whether they were after him or us.¡±


    ¡°So who¡¯s after you?¡± the captain questioned.


    Helianna pursed her lips as she deflected the question. ¡°Who¡¯s after him?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good question. He was being awfully evasive,¡± the captain responded.


    ¡°Sir,¡± the man started. ¡°You must understand, the less you know of my situation, the safer you and everybody aboard this ship will be. If you simply drop me off at our first port-¡±


    ¡°I said that¡¯s not happening.¡± the captain interrupted.


    ¡°Why not? I have no illusions about whether you wish to aid me in my escape, but I would imagine you¡¯d want me off your ship.¡±


    ¡°I absolutely do. But the current situation will not allow that.¡±


    ¡°The reason for which, you refuse to enlighten me on. But I will not divulge information that could put you in more danger without a greater understanding of our situation.¡±


    The captain stared daggers at the man when Sylas interjected.


    ¡°Just fucking talk already! You don¡¯t want to tell him the situation and you don¡¯t want to tell him who might be following. Just agree to share your information in exchange for the other¡¯s!¡±


    ¡°Well then why don¡¯t you start?¡± asked the stranger.


    ¡°Dammit, Sylas,¡± Helianna muttered. Silence reigned for a few seconds before Nagus complained.


    ¡°Come on, it can¡¯t be that bad you three! Out with it!¡±


    The stranger put his hands up placatingly as he spoke up, ¡°Captain, perhaps a small show of faith. Perhaps let us know our route of travel or when you suspect the ship following us may catch up? Not necessarily everything, but just a bit of information?¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°You know what, Lesin? Fine. We¡¯re currently off the coast of the deadlands of Prakanai so we¡¯re heading to the nearest port in Krai.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that take us significantly off course?¡± Helianna asked, finally joining the conversation. The captain nodded.


    ¡°Now speak.¡± the captain insisted. Sylas and the man he now knew was named Lesin stared at each other, but it was Helianna that spoke.


    ¡°The Academy.¡±


    Lesin jumped and his eyes widened for a brief moment before he schooled his expression. The captain immediately began cursing, while the first mate groaned and facepalmed, not noticing Lesin¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°And you, Lesin?¡± Helianna asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that makes this any worse or any better. I am also trying to avoid The Academy.¡± The captain stopped cursing and Nagus looked up again, staring at the man.


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me,¡± Sylas complained.


    ¡°Well I guess that makes it simpler for you, right captain?¡± Helianna asked. ¡°You know who¡¯s following us.¡±


    ¡°And I don¡¯t like it!¡± the captain barked. ¡°How the hell did I pick up two different parties of nutcases on the run from The Academy? In the same trip?!¡±


    ¡°Please tell me we¡¯re giving them up when the ship catches us?¡± Nagus begged.


    ¡°When the ship catches us?¡± Helianna noticed. ¡°That¡¯s why you can¡¯t drop him off. They¡¯ll catch us before we get to Krai, won¡¯t they?¡±


    The captain didn¡¯t answer, simply leveling a harsh stare as his eyes flicked between the three of them.


    ¡°Nagus. Make sure to have a crewmember on them at all times. I need to think.¡± Nagus instantly nodded and started pushing the three of them out the door. Surprisingly, they instantly ran into two crew members blocking the door.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Nagus.


    ¡°We saw a couple passengers trying to eavesdrop.¡±


    ¡°Alright, well we¡¯re done and this is perfect. You two need to guard them. I don¡¯t care who follows which ones, but I need tabs kept on them the whole time. If you need to trade out, grab Korter and Dulse. They can figure it out from there. Have Greez and Danton come back up?¡± They shook their heads and Nagus sighed.


    ¡°Better not be getting cooked alive down there. Alright, scram troublemakers.¡± He waved his hand dismissively as he reentered the captain¡¯s quarters. After a brief moment of awkwardness, they looked around, noticing that a number of the ship¡¯s passengers were watching them.


    ¡°No privacy. That¡¯s unfortunate. I would have liked to talk to you two.¡± Lesin confessed.


    Before either of them could respond however, a few young men approached them, one of them protesting against the others.


    ¡°Wait, stop. Come on,¡± the young man pleaded. ¡°You¡¯re making this even more awkward!¡± he whisper-yelled.


    ¡°So you three are the reason our families are in danger?¡± one asked, clearly the leader of the group of four. Three of the four were human, but were clearly not related. The leader himself was built like he was trying to mimic the shape of a barrel while the others were more normally proportioned. The last, but not the one trying to stop the group was a kinuze man, clearly more adept at dealing with the heat than the rest, who were all sweating at this point.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be in danger. They are only after us. As long as you all comply, they should not harm you,¡± Lesin explained calmly. Sylas, unfortunately, was not so appeasing as he muttered loud enough for the man in front to hear.


    ¡°Yeah, right. Since when do they care about collateral damage?¡± Everybody¡¯s gaze snapped to Sylas.


    ¡°What? It¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± Lesin muttered as a couple of the men stepped forward.


    ¡°You lying pieces of shit!¡± the leader yelled as he threw a punch at Lesin.


    Lesin took a step back and slightly to the side, clearly not a stranger to fight, but Helianna stepped forward. The man was slightly overbalanced from his missed swing and she took advantage. She grabbed his wrist before he could recover and twisted as she put a palm to the back of the man¡¯s upper arm, bending him over from the torsion. Twisting her body, she forced him to stumble in a circle around her, half bent, before tripping him and sending him sprawling in his overbalanced state.


    She finished her turn right as the second person took a wild swing at her. She quickly reversed her twist as she stepped into him, catching his wild swing and flipping him over her back. She maintained her hold on his arm as he landed with a thud, twisting his wrist painfully. She quickly took a moment to notice that Sylas had put the leader into a lock with an arm behind his back, a position where he could easily dislocate the man¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want me to shatter his wrist and for him to dislocate your leader¡¯s shoulder, I suggest you back off!¡± Helianna commanded, her voice carrying. The other two men stopped, and the one asking the other men to stop earlier spoke up.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m so sorry. We¡¯ll go. We won¡¯t bother you again. R-right guys?¡±


    The leader being held by Sylas squirmed for a moment, but Sylas increased the pressure and he hissed in pain.


    ¡°Fine! We¡¯ll let you go.¡±


    All three of them rolled their eyes as they let the men go, who were massaging their respective strained joints. A few glares were fired off, but the men walked away, trying to keep their pride intact as they sauntered off.


    ¡°Well you two sure know how to handle yourselves,¡± Lesin remarked. ¡°Who are you two?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Helianna and this is Sylas,¡± Helianna offered unhelpfully, prompting a barking laugh from Lesin.


    ¡°Right. I think my name may have been mentioned in there, but I haven¡¯t properly introduced myself. The name¡¯s Lesin, and if you¡¯re about to make a joke about teaching or schooling, trust me. I¡¯ve heard them all.¡± Sylas huffed a laugh in response.


    Helianna finally took a moment to properly look at the man. He was tall and broad-shouldered with pure white hair, greyish-red skin and electric blue eyes. If he was twenty years younger, Helianna would likely have considered him quite attractive, but he looked a bit too close to her parents in age. He was dressed fairly well, but not obviously wealthy. The only jewelry she could see was a wedding band and a chain which hung from his belt with the final link broken and remodeled so it wouldn¡¯t fall off.


    ¡°So, since we¡¯re both in this situation, you think you might be able to tell us why?¡± she asked, but her eyes didn¡¯t leave the chain. She felt like she recognized it, but couldn¡¯t quite place it. He noticed her gaze and spoke slowly, as if cautious.


    ¡°That depends. If you-¡±


    ¡°Let me guess,¡± Sylas interrupted, clearly annoyed. ¡°You won¡¯t tell us anything unless we tell you first?¡± Lesin smiled wryly.


    ¡°You¡¯d be partially correct. But more importantly, our conversation is far from private right now.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of the devil¡­¡± Helianna murmured and they all turned towards the main stairway, where the men who had gone down to fix the runes were coming back up. The runist and a crewmember were carrying the third man by the shoulders, who was unconscious.

 Chapter 31: Confrontation

    The moment that the crew members and runist came up the stairs, passengers swarmed at them, but before they got too close, several other crew members blocked them. It took a whole lot of yelling and shoving, but after a few minutes, the three were in the captain¡¯s quarters, one of the only places on the ship that had privacy and hadn¡¯t turned into a furnace.


    ¡°What do you think the chances are that they¡¯ll let us in to hear what¡¯s going on?¡± Lesin asked curiously.


    ¡°Low,¡± Helianna replied. ¡°They wanted to know what they¡¯re dealing with but aside from that, they have no reason to confide in us.


    ¡°Except that we have more experience dealing with and evading The Academy,¡± Lesin countered.


    ¡°I doubt they¡¯ll see it that way. Even in Wulvinia, people would trust The Academy over a random stranger. And the captain¡¯s Urani.¡±


    They fell into silence, neither of them willing to reveal too much about themselves. They slowly gravitated towards the stern, looking back at the ship that was following them and quickly catching up. Their own ship was now incredibly slow as some of the runes normally helped the ship glide through the water. To make matters worse, the crew was even unable to access the oars to supplement their speed. They were stuck with only their sails while the ship following them was at full capability.


    They couldn¡¯t watch forever though as both Helianna and Lesin¡¯s skin started burning from the sun. The three of them sat under a hastily made cover, which a few of the crew had been creating for passengers to gain a reprieve from the sun.


    The crew handed out hardtack as well, one of the only foodstuffs that they were able to save before the ship got too hot. Apparently, the runes of the ship had been ruined during the previous evening and much of the perishables were ruined before people even knew there was a problem.


    Helianna tried to be attentive to the other passengers as they ate, but between her slightly fading seasickness, her burns from the sun, and the terribly tasting food, her focus was wandering. It didn¡¯t help that the tent-like structures were all near each other, so people were constantly nearby, distracting her.


    They were just finishing their quick meal when someone finally acted. The tent anchor behind Helianna was kicked aside, dropping a large portion of the cloth on top of them. All three of them immediately started to get out from under the makeshift tent, Lesin getting out the easiest due to his location. Unfortunately, this was planned as the man who¡¯d kicked the tent grabbed him, quickly forcing a knife to his throat. Helianna and Sylas soon followed, untangling themselves from the cloth, but it was too late. Lesin was already at the man¡¯s mercy.


    ¡°Stay back!¡± the man yelled. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the rest of you, I just want this man.¡±


    Everybody froze, not wanting to aggravate the situation or unsure what to do. The man started backing towards the side of the ship, dragging Lesin with him.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that sabotaged the ship,¡± Lesin observed. The man didn¡¯t respond as he kept moving towards the side of the ship.


    ¡°Sylas.¡± Helianna whispered, her voice hidden among the quiet chattering that rose up. ¡°Can you increase the space between the blade and his neck?¡±


    ¡°No. I can¡¯t do anything right now. I still haven¡¯t recovered my magic from when you were forcefully respawned, and I hadn¡¯t even recovered from the battle when that happened so I¡¯m even more injured now.¡± he responded frustratedly.


    ¡°So you can¡¯t use magic still? For how much longer?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. A couple weeks? That¡¯s not important right now. We need to do something.¡±


    ¡°No we don¡¯t. This isn¡¯t our problem.¡±


    ¡°Like hell it is!¡± Sylas whisper-yelled. ¡°We have to help. He¡¯s in the same situation we are!¡±


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t and we can¡¯t. We¡¯re weak right now, they¡¯re not after us and we need to lay low.¡±


    ¡°Are you-¡±


    ¡°Stop talking!¡± yelled the saboteur. ¡°I don¡¯t want anybody talking until we¡¯re gone!¡±


    The deck went silent, the only sound being the water splashing against the side of the ship and the creaking that never ended. Lesin locked eyes with Helianna and Sylas each, before looking away, quickly noticing their stances and postures. Sylas wanted to help, but Helianna refused. He knew he was alone. A shadow began enveloping the deck as the other ship approached.


    ¡°Are we seriously doing nothing?¡± Sylas quietly whispered. Chattering resumed as fear gripped the ship.


    ¡°Yes. We can¡¯t afford to.¡±


    ¡°I said shut up!¡± the saboteur yelled.


    The Academy ship came alongside theirs and two massive gangplanks dropped, crushing the railings with a loud crunch. Only six people came aboard, but everyone recognized their uniforms. They were Academy uniforms. They were ithrax.


    ¡°Nice job Elak,¡± praised one of the ithrax. The mage looked around, his eyes searching around the ship.


    ¡°There¡¯s two more people that he seemed to work with,¡± Elak informed. ¡°When the captain wanted to know who was following, all three went in and when they came out, they didn¡¯t leave each other¡¯s side. And I want my money.¡±


    ¡°Fuck,¡± Helianna cursed as money was exchanged. ¡°Since when do they hire mercenaries?¡±


    ¡°Essa, you deal with this. I¡¯ll go talk to the captain. Captain! Why don¡¯t we speak inside your office, sir?¡± The captain nodded and quickly led the ithrax into his office.


    The passengers¡¯ attention was quickly pulled away by a davraki ithrax loudly clearing her throat. ¡°Well¡­ Elak. Who are our other two people?¡± Elak pointed at Helianna and Sylas, but it was hardly necessary. Every head on the ship turned to them.


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    ¡°Well that¡¯s interesting¡­¡± Essa sauntered over towards Helianna and Sylas, who both quickly became very aware of how tall she was compared to them.


    ¡°Who are you two?¡± Relief flooded through both of them when the davraki didn¡¯t recognize them, but they knew this encounter was just starting.


    ¡°Get over here.¡± Her large hands clamped down on each of their shoulders and she dragged them back towards the gangplank where Lesin was.


    ¡°Alright guys, we¡¯ve been given permission to take a crack at this guy, provided we don¡¯t hurt him,¡± she commanded. ¡°And it sounds like we¡¯ve got some sympathizers at a bare minimum. Sounds like we have an opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we wait to do this on our ship?¡± one of the other ithrax asked.


    ¡°Eh, why wait? Let the others see what happens when you cross The Academy.¡±


    Essa whirled around and delivered a powerful blow to Sylas'' gut, who was completely unprepared and he doubled over, gasping and coughing.


    ¡°Alright, Lesin. That¡¯s your name, right?¡± She sauntered over, where Elak was still holding him at knife point. ¡°I have a proposition for you. We know about your organization. What we don¡¯t know is how to find you assholes. Tell us how to find them, and we won¡¯t torture your friends in front of you. Your choice.¡±


    ¡°You really think that¡¯s gonna work?¡± he asked stoically.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Why don¡¯t we see?¡± She walked back to Helianna and Sylas, who was just now standing up again, albeit partially hunched over. She grabbed Helianna by her hair and pulled her head back painfully. While the anger was obvious in her eyes, Helianna didn¡¯t make a move.


    ¡°This is real simple Lesin. You know your people are prepared. So prepared that they¡¯re reaching out to Wulvinia. They should be able to defend themselves even when we do find them. These people¡­¡± she clocked Helianna in the jaw, who crumpled to the floor, pretending to be momentarily knocked out from the powerful blow. ¡°...can¡¯t. In fact, they seem pretty damn helpless from where I¡¯m standing.¡±


    Helianna had barely managed to turn and soften the blow, enough to remain conscious. However, it didn¡¯t change the fact it was a powerful blow made her head ring. She was gaining her bearings and starting to stand up when the woman grabbed her hair again and started dragging her up to Lesin.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you get a real close look at this Lesin?¡± She pulled out a knife. ¡°Hmmm, where should we start? Perhaps the face? Ruin that beauty a little bit?¡±


    Helianna was barely holding herself up, her tormentor holding her in a position that kept her perpetually off-balance. She lightly dragged the knife up Helianna¡¯s collarbone and neck until she reached Helianna¡¯s face. Knowing it was now or never, Helianna went completely limp, almost falling to the floor and pulled her away from the knife that was situated above her. The sudden shift in weight caught the woman off-guard, who assumed that Helianna had passed out in fear. Smirking, she let go of Helianna¡¯s hair and caught her with an arm wrapped around her back, the other hand still holding the knife.


    Seeing her opportunity, Helianna kicked her leg up as hard as she could, slamming her shin against the base of the knife in the woman¡¯s hand. The metal cracked against her leg painfully, but she got what she wanted, the knife flying out of the davraki¡¯s grasp. Sylas instantly reacted, rushing forward and pulling out his own knife. Before he could arrive, Essa brought an elbow down on Helianna¡¯s stomach before she could pull out of the large woman¡¯s grasp.


    One of the other ithrax shot a ball of fire at Sylas, but was trying to avoid hitting Essa and his shot went wide. Barely affected by the attempt, Sylas reached the struggling girls and took the opportunity to start frantically stabbing the massive woman in the back, who instantly released Helianna as she howled in pain.


    Lesin¡¯s captor finally reacted, pushing Lesin forward into the fight as he scrambled onto the other ship as he muttered to himself.


    ¡°Fuck this, I¡¯m not paid enough for this shit.¡±


    Off-balance, Lesin stumbled forward towards the three already in close combat, receiving a heavy blow to the head from the thrashing davraki. None of them noticed the flames that had been started by the ball of fire that missed Sylas earlier.


    Now out of the woman¡¯s grasp, Helianna immediately stood up and turned towards the other ithrax, many of whom were at the edge of the gangplank. With two on one, she figured the others could handle the already injured ithrax.


    Helianna was blinded by flashes of magic as icicles, fireballs and other less obvious magics were conjured, but ignored them all. The shock on their faces was wonderful as she ran without hindrance and slammed her shoulder into the one closest to her. Stunned and unprepared for a close fight, the man she tackled stumbled back and off the edge of the gangplank, falling into the water.


    ¡°I got him!¡± Helianna heard a woman yell, who then started to pull the man out of the water with her magic. Knowing she couldn¡¯t let that happen, Helianna dashed towards the woman, who had to abandon her attempt. The ithrax reached a hand out towards Helianna, undoubtedly to stop her in her tracks with magic, which of course didn¡¯t work. Helianna smashed a palm into the woman¡¯s nose as she pulled out a knife with her other hand. Blinded by the tears that immediately formed in her eyes, the woman never saw the knife that swung for her neck.


    One of the men tried to stop the knife, bending space to try to make her miss. As always, it didn¡¯t work on Helianna and the woman was gurgling on her own blood moments later. Now standing on the gangplank, Helianna turned to the remaining two right as fire erupted at her feet. Despite it being magical, she knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before it became true fire and lunged out of the flames towards them. That was when she saw the disaster that had started. Passengers and crew members alike were panicking as they tried and failed to put out the fire that had been lit aboard the ship with the first fireball.


    ¡°Sylas, Lesin! Get to the other ship!¡± she yelled as she charged the last two, hoping those two had taken care of their own ithrax member.


    One of her attackers took an impossibly large step back while the other sprayed a ring of fire around himself, quickly releasing his hold over the flames. She looked towards Sylas, who was helping an injured Lesin walk to the gangplank behind her. She heard a massive crack and turned further, just in time to see the massive gangplank split in half as it was weakened by the fire. It crumpled, partially falling into the ocean but also banging against the side of the other ship. After a moment of stunned quiet, Helianna yelled out.


    ¡°Get to the other one!¡± screamed, turning towards the ithrax, hoping to protect her allies with a distraction. It worked, if a little too well as the leader, who had been with the captain, silently glided out of a shadow behind her. Unaware, Helianna advanced on the insane fire-user. Thairs on the back of her neck rose just in time and she twisted. She wasn¡¯t fast enough to dodge the attempted backstab, but it was enough to prevent a fatal wound. She gasped from the sudden pain and followed through on her twist, throwing an elbow at head-height. She barely missed, but her twisting motion forced the man to release his hold of the dagger, albeit making the wound slightly worse in the process.


    With one final step, she used her spinning momentum to deliver a powerful punch at his gut, which he slapped aside. She leaned back and threw a kick to gain some distance, pushing him away from her. She quickly glanced at the other gangplank, seeing Sylas and Lesin crossing. She saw the spatial ithrax step forward again and she turned to throw another kick at him. He immediately stepped away again, serving only as a distraction as the fire-user stepped forward and swung with a sword that he had finally pulled out. She fell backwards, the movement barely saving her from being bisected.


    The floor of the ship ground the knife into her back, and she had to fight not to gasp as she rolled back to her feet. Seeing that they had recovered from their shock and she had lost all control of the fight, she knew she had no chance. Without another thought, Helianna turned and sprinted towards the other gangplank, hoping the other two were already across.


    Her efforts were fruitless however, as the spatial mage moved impossibly fast in front of her and the leader stepped out of the man¡¯s shadow. She stopped and turned to see the fire-user chasing after her, hemming her in. She was out of luck. She couldn¡¯t run from them and she couldn¡¯t fight. Doing the only thing she could think of, she dove off the boat.

 Chapter 32: Abandon Ship

    Hitting the water after jumping from the ship¡¯s deck hurt, especially considering that she hadn¡¯t done a very good dive, simply throwing herself off the ship. What hurt worse than the slap of the water however, was that the impact forcefully ripped the knife out of her back. In pain, she surfaced slowly, taking a deep breath through her gritted teeth as she looked around. She knew one of the ithrax fell in earlier, but she couldn¡¯t find him. Maybe he had managed to climb back up into his ship? With that thought, she looked up at the ship, forcing her to see a new horrifying development.


    When the gangplank collapsed from fire, it remained burning. The fire had then climbed up the fallen gangplank and onto the ropes, which quickly spread it through The Academy ship as well. The insane and frankly stupid fire thrower had sentenced both ships to a fiery end.


    Realizing both ships were doomed, she looked around in the water, searching for the other half of the gangplank. She didn¡¯t see it and she resigned herself to waiting, treading water. She knew she had poor chances of swimming back to shore and was hoping she could use a piece of the dying ships to stay afloat.


    After a moment¡¯s thought, she abandoned waiting and swam towards The Academy ship. Fortunately, the ships were barely moving, so swimming up to them wasn¡¯t too difficult for her. However, she needed to climb aboard, where she would  try to find something to float with. She would then push it overboard, hopefully before everybody else realized what she was doing. Besides, Sylas and Lesin were on that ship. They were likely fighting for their lives and she could help if necessary. That¡¯s assuming she could successfully climb the ship.


    Fortunately for her, there were plenty of protrusions from the ship, most of which she had no idea what they did, enabling her to climb. That didn¡¯t change the fact that most were wet and the shifting of the ocean made it all the more difficult. She only fell back into the ocean a few times. By the time she finally made it on deck, any fighting that had been happening was on pause, everyone more focused on the fire that was consuming the ship. It took several long seconds of frantically looking around the ship to find Sylas and Lesin.


    When she spotted them, Helianna instinctively ran towards them, doing her best to ignore the pain from her own wound. Because they were injured. A horrible horrible cracking erupted from behind her, causing her to duck on instinct and turn around briefly. On the other ship, the masts were falling.


    ¡°Sylas! Are you two alright?!¡± she yelled, trying to make herself heard over the din around them.


    ¡°Not really!¡±


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re not dying, we have a bigger problem! I don¡¯t think they¡¯re going to manage the fire! We need a way to get to land!¡±


    ¡°This ship,¡± Lesin coughed out. ¡°The runes haven¡¯t been ruined so once the ship reaches a critical point, it should start separating by itself. The pieces will be even more buoyant than normal wood. We can use it.¡±


    ¡°What? This should shouldn¡¯t have that! It¡¯s not standard practice yet,¡± Helianna countered. ¡°That¡¯s emerging technology.¡±


    ¡°Made by The Academy. They¡¯ll have it. Better to get off the ship before they realize it¡¯s unsalvageable. We don¡¯t want them attacking us.¡±


    ¡°Can you swim?¡±


    ¡°When I¡¯m not injured. I may need your help right now.¡±


    ¡°How about you, Sylas?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll manage.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get off the ship.¡±


    A quick look around showed that nobody was paying attention to them, more preoccupied with the fire on the ship. It was becoming increasingly hopeless and she was certain that the crew was going to start accepting that soon. Helping Lesin to the edge, she noticed that Sylas was limping as well. It seemed none of them were getting out of this unscathed.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to jump,¡± Helianna stated as they got to the edge.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Sylas said anxiously, stepping forward without hesitation.


    ¡°Wait a mome-¡± Lesin¡¯s protests were interrupted as Sylas and Helianna pulled him over the edge as they both jumped. Contact with the water was once again painful for all three of them, their injuries making the impact worse. Then they had to tread water, and with Helianna having the least debilitating injuries, she was forced to take on the brunt of Lesin¡¯s weight thanks to Sylas¡¯ hurting leg.


    ¡°So, are we just treading water till the ship hits critical condition? And what if it doesn¡¯t?¡± Sylas asked.


    ¡°Yes. We wait. And even if it doesn¡¯t hit critical condition, hopefully we¡¯ll be able to use something to help us float anyways. Now let¡¯s stop talking. We don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take and we should waste as little energy as possible,¡± Lesin explained.


    They went silent, focusing on staying afloat and listening to the hellishly loud soundscape around them. The water was still slapping against the ships, people were yelling, and above all, the collapsing of the passenger ship could already be heard, even from the other side of The Academy ship. They spent several minutes waiting and Helianna¡¯s breaths started to grow heavy. Lesin had tried to help keep them up initially, but now was barely helping due to the pain.


    She wasn¡¯t sure what his injuries were, but keeping them both above the water was quickly exhausting her. If it took too long for the ship to destabilize, she was afraid she¡¯d have to let him go just to keep herself above the water. And if she waited too long to release him and tired herself out, she could end up killing herself as well. As these thoughts wormed through her mind, it finally happened, although not in the way any of them had expected.


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    As Helianna had mentioned earlier, the ship was an emerging technology, but it was created by The Academy and in use by their ithrax. Due to the undying nature of ithrax, this often allowed The Academy to become lax in their safety and testing protocols as deaths incurred from poor testing were typically reversible.


    In this case, the threshold for the separation of ship parts was too low. The ice ithrax that had been pushed into the water at the beginning of the fight had managed to climb back on eventually, and was attempting to cool down the ship. Some of the runes at the top of the ship were affected and were partially burned and then warped by the insane cold she tried to suffocate the flames with. This broke the rune that served as a lock, which normally prevented the rest of the runes from receiving more magic beyond the required amount. Despite this phenomena being incredibly rare, it normally came up in testing, but the full effects of contradicting magic entering the runes hadn¡¯t been tested.


    Ice magic flooded into the runes near the top of the ship, followed by fire as the flame ithrax tried to suffuse the fire with his own magic to give him control. When the runes activated shortly after, the portions of the ship tried to separate as normal. However, there was extra ice magic within the runes and the cold drastically reduced the pressure between the sections, pulling them back together with enough momentum to create small pressurized air pockets between the materials. A wonderful recipe for lots of miniature explosions, the fire magic that followed created a cacophony of explosions throughout the ship as it started to separate once more.


    This was followed by the heat of the fire magic, drastically expanding it and coupled with a slight amount of fire, creating a small explosion. This explosion chained, the pressure indicating enough stress to activate the other runes.


    This kicked off a chain reaction that overloaded the other runes, compounding the mistake. The walls and floors of the entire ship blew apart at tremendous speeds. From everybody else¡¯s view, the ship was on fire, but intact, when the ship suddenly burst explosively, wood flying in every direction. Screams resounded for a brief moment as all on deck were caught by the shrapnel. The screams quieted however, as the people either died on landed in the water, creating a brief moment of silence, before screams started to ring out over the ocean.


    The three of them were not far enough to be free from the shrapnel, and a large piece several times the size of a person had hurtled towards them. Helianna and Sylas saw it coming, but due to its speed were barely able to even flinch in time. It slapped against the water a split second before hitting them, reducing its speed slightly. It hardly mattered however, and the force was enough to injure all three of them. Thanks to her body position and small reaction, the initial impact struck Helianna in the shoulder first, while being spread across much of Sylas upper torso. Lesin however, was only saved from death by being slightly lower in the water already. It struck him directly in the head and shoulders, instantly knocking him unconscious and making him even more dead-weight than before.


    Helianna lost her grip on Lesin as all three were shoved underwater by the impact, and it took her a few moments to regain her bearings. The bubbles created by the impact on the water¡¯s surface blocked her sight at first, but she eventually was able to see. Sylas was already back up on the surface and she looked around for Lesin, adrenaline racing through her veins. She saw him a bit lower in the water and swam down to grab him. Pulling him back up to the surface was excruciatingly difficult, especially with the pain lancing through her body even through the adrenaline. She let out a massive gasp as she broke the surface, barely making it in time. After a few moments to breathe, she noticed Sylas swimming over to her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! We¡¯ve got something to float on,¡± Sylas called out.


    Helianna looked around, still a little disoriented from the hit. Sylas grabbed Lesin from and started swimming. He was barely able to generate enough force to move them, but it was enough to guide Helianna into action and to one of the pieces of driftwood floating nearby.They heaved Lesin aboard and then collapsed, the piece easily large enough for all three. Several more could probably even fit on if they came by. Helianna simply lay there on the massive piece of the ship¡¯s hull, panting. Sylas wasn¡¯t done though and immediately started to look around.


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± he demanded. ¡°Don¡¯t lay down! There were a lot of people on that ship! We have to save them!¡±


    ¡°They were our enemies. Let them.¡±


    ¡°Fucking dammit, Helianna! Why don¡¯t you care?! What are you? Are all Wulvinians this way?! If you¡¯re all like this, then it explains why you people are constantly at war with yourselves. You don¡¯t give a damn about human life! You haven¡¯t this whole fucking time! There are people in the water!¡± he panted for a few moments, before continuing his tirade.


    ¡°They may be our enemies, but they are not all ithrax. That was a ship. A ship takes crew! They didn¡¯t come here to slaughter our ship. They didn¡¯t even come for us! They were going to leave everyone alone except for him until we got involved. These are people, Helianna! People! Are you really that barbaric?! Do lives mean nothing to you?!¡±


    By the end, he had flipped over on his stomach and was holding himself up with his hands, already unconsciously aware that standing would likely make him fall off their flimsy platform. His body heaved with breaths as he partially lay, eyes burning as he glared at Helianna.


    ¡°We care for our own,¡± Helianna quietly stated. She didn¡¯t know what else to say. She accomplished what she needed to, collateral damage be damned. She didn¡¯t know how to make him understand, so she remained silent. When she didn¡¯t explain any further, Sylas scoffed.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to help someone. You can keep your psychopathic self here.¡±


    Helianna didn¡¯t move, simply laying on the boat and staring up into the sky as she thought. Sylas slid back into the water, the raft shifting slightly. It wasn¡¯t night yet, the sun still beating down on them and Helianna closed her eyes, feeling the warmth. It wasn¡¯t a comfortable warmth, her skin was already burnt from earlier and she knew it would get worse. Her adrenaline started fading and her injuries made themselves clear. She had been stabbed in the back and now she could tell that she had broken her shoulder.


    She groaned, the quiet sound adding to the horrifying cacophony of people screaming and the crashing of the passenger ship slowly sinking. She didn¡¯t even know what caused it to start sinking aside from fire. Thanks to the screaming, she couldn¡¯t hear Sylas as he splashed around, struggling to find someone he could save. After several minutes, she slowly sat up, pushing through the pain. She took off her shirt, immediately seeing the blood soaking the bottom portion of it. Knowing it would hurt, she braced herself and pushed the shirt into her back, trying to stop the bleeding, which had already slowed slightly. She grit her teeth through the pain, but knew the pressure wasn¡¯t much thanks to the angle and her shoulder. She slowly lay down, purposely putting as much of her body weight on the shirt pressed into her wound, hoping her body weight could apply more pressure than she could.


    She lay there, panting through the pain as her thoughts whirled. Sylas¡¯ words repeated in her head. Regardless of his prejudice, she knew he was right. She didn¡¯t care about people¡¯s lives. She probably couldn¡¯t help anyone at this point, but even if she could, she wouldn¡¯t. The likelihood of them hampering her survival was too high. She knew it was self-centered and her thoughts would likely bring scorn from  those who considered themselves good, but she was pragmatic. It would keep her alive. And if she could stay alive long enough to evade The Academy, maybe even help push back against them, it would be worth it.


    At that moment, she resolved herself. No matter the cost, she wouldn¡¯t just survive. She would fight. A few lives lost in the present would be worth it, as long as people could get out from the suppression of The Academy. If she had to become a villain to allow progress to happen once more, she would be.

 Chapter 33: Raft

    Helianna was knocked out of her thoughts by the rocking of the raft as Sylas helped someone get on, making her shift slightly so she could look. She couldn¡¯t see the woman that he was helping well, but she could tell that they weren¡¯t doing well. The woman was groaning and Sylas had to shove her onto the raft.


    ¡°Sylas. We¡¯ve already got Lesin. We can¡¯t handle another injured person.¡±


    Not hearing Heliana, Sylas took a few more moments getting the woman onto the raft before flopping into it himself, panting heavily.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± he asked the unknown woman.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± she stuttered. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ my arm¡­¡±


    ¡°Sylas,¡± Helianna said louder while trying not to move against the shirt holding her wound.


    ¡°What?¡± he snapped.


    ¡°There¡¯s only two of us. And we¡¯re injured. There¡¯s only so many we can save. Assuming we can save ourselves. Don¡¯t tire yourself out and get yourself killed.¡±


    ¡°Why not?!¡± Sylas demanded. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯ll stay dead!¡±


    Helianna took a deep breath and instantly regretted it as pain flashed through her. It took a moment to focus again and brace herself for what she had to say.


    ¡°Because I need you. I¡¯ve been stabbed. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m still bleeding. And I may have broken my arm. Without someone more able-bodied, I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ll survive, much less whoever you¡¯re trying to save. And if we both die, it¡¯s permanent.¡±


    A cocktail of emotions flashed across Sylas face before he exclaimed, ¡°Dammit!¡± He exclaimed, still breathing heavily.


    ¡°Can you check if I¡¯m still bleeding?¡± Helianna asked. Sylas grunted his affirmation and she sat up slowly. Finally forced to acknowledge that she was only covered by her bra, Sylas did his best to keep his face impassive, not wanting to show any reaction to it. He pulled the shirt away, which peeled away stickily. He looked at the wound, trying not to aggravate it further. In his focus on the blood, he failed to notice a slight golden glow emanating from the wound.


    ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s not dry. It¡¯s not really bleeding much though. I guess it¡¯s congealed? I don¡¯t know if pressure will still help, but we can¡¯t really put this back on I don¡¯t think. It¡¯s completely soaked in blood.¡±


    ¡°Great.¡± Helianna shifted and lay on her front uncomfortably, not wanting to aggravate the wound against the hard wood of the ship. I guess try to wash the worst of the blood out? As disgusting as it is, I¡¯ll probably need it to protect against the sun. And can you check the other¡¯s wounds?¡±


    Sylas sighed heavily, not wanting to take instruction from Helianna, but knew he should. He first turned to the unknown woman as she was closer. Hearing Helianna and Sylas talk had strangely helped the woman calm down and be more coherent. Through some delicate movement from Sylas, both due to injury and not wanting to rock the boat, it took some time. IN the process, he did learn her name at least. Ruusaan.


    She had a number of burns along one side of her body, but that was not her primary injury. She had been leaning against one of the connection points when the runes went haywire. With the excessive magic increasing the area of effect for the runes, the magic had pervaded her arm. It was the worst area burnt, but the primary issue was that the spatial magic had twisted her shoulder into a useless amalgamation of flesh and bone. The only saving grace about the debilitating injury was how little she bled despite how gruesome it looked. Helianna certainly wouldn''t be surprised if she was bleeding internally and secretly hoped she was. Helping Ruusaan survive would only hamper their own survival efforts.


    Although even if Ruusaan did die, they¡¯re chances were meager, and she couldn¡¯t help her thoughts from spiraling as Sylas checked over Lesin. They were currently in the ocean, barely even able to see land. She had a vague idea of ocean currents and thought that they¡¯d hopefully get pushed into land, albeit after traveling south for a bit. Regardless, they¡¯d be stuck on a raft with no cover in the blazing heat close to the equator. If they could survive the weather, they had no food or water. And then, if they did make it to land, they would then be stuck in the deadlands of Prakanai, hundreds of miles away from civilization.


    With those realizations, the idea of helping Ruusaan didn¡¯t bother her as much anymore, if only because she didn¡¯t think anything could really make their situation worse. A groan interrupted her thoughts and she shifted over to the source of the noise, Lesin. The careful examination from Sylas had woken him up, but he didn¡¯t move.


    ¡°Lesin?¡± Sylas asked. Lesin groaned again.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°We got struck by a massive piece of shrapnel due to the ship¡­ exploding.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not sure what happened.¡±


    ¡°What¡­ I don¡¯t understand,¡± he said, his voice slightly slurred.


    Sylas sighed. ¡°How much do you remember?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I remember meeting the captain, you two fought some passengers. I¡­ oh yeah, you two fought back when they caught up. We went to the other ship, didn¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°We did.¡±


    ¡°Where¡­?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re on a raft made of the remains of one of the ships. Both sank.¡± Sylas turned towards the remains of the ships, which were almost completely shattered or underwater by now. Unable to tear their eyes away, they all watched as the ship slowly sank over the next hour, now several hundred yards away. The screams had died down, and they could see several other groups on their own rafts.


    After such a long stretch of silence, it was Lesin who spoke, but his voice was slurred.


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    ¡°Laria, what are you doing here?¡± he asked, looking at Helianna with a slightly unfocused gaze.


    ¡°Um¡­ my name¡¯s Helianna.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you. I wasn¡¯t sure I was going to make it back this time. They nearly found me.¡± Sylas and Helianna shared a concerned look.


    ¡°Lesin? What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind me honey,¡± Lesin slurred. ¡°It was just a little scare. I¡¯ll just need to be more careful in the future.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s lost it. He must have been hit in the head hard,¡± Sylas said.


    ¡°We can use this,¡± Heliann whispered to him. Helianna paused to think carefully about her wording, hoping she was reading the memory that he was reliving correctly. ¡°Hey. Have you talked to your boss about it yet?¡±


    ¡°Of course. I gave him my report.¡±


    ¡°What did you tell him?¡± Helianna noticed Sylas and Ruusaan focused intently on the hallucinatory conversation.


    ¡°Told him they weren¡¯t cooperative. Didn¡¯ wanna hear it. Academy¡¯s figurin¡¯ out who I am.¡± His words were becoming increasingly slurred, and Helianna desperately thought for any way she could get any useful information. Unable to think of anything subtle that would gain enough information before he passed out again, she asked bluntly.


    ¡°What¡¯s the name of the group you work for again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m gon¡¯ go sleep now. Been long trip,¡± Lesin slurred as he nodded off. Helianna cursed quietly.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I didn¡¯t realize that was happening. He was just laying here, in silence. I guess he was just slowly losing it? Damn. How hard did he get hit?¡±


    ¡°No kidding,¡± Helianna said pensively.


    ¡°What happened to him?¡± asked Ruusaan, pain clear in her voice.


    ¡°He got nailed by a giant piece of shrapnel from the ship,¡± Sylas responded. ¡°We all did. I guess he just took it to the head.¡±


    ¡°Who are you people?¡± Sylas and Helianna shared a look and it was Helianna who spoke, cutting off Sylas before he could speak.


    ¡°We were passengers aboard the ship that you just attacked. Who are you?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t attack. We had no clue that was going to happen.¡±


    ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    ¡°They said¡­ they said they were simply going to apprehend someone. They said it would be a simple grab, but it was an important one. We didn¡¯t¡­ we didn¡¯t¡­¡± she trailed off before sitting bolt upright and screaming out.


    ¡°Alanar! Alanar!¡± When there was no response, she continued. ¡°Alanar! Gra¡¯tia?! Birina?! Anyone?!¡± her breath hitched. ¡°Gra¡¯tia¡­ no¡­.¡±


    She looked out over the water and could see others on their own rafts but they were either unconscious or too far away to hear. Upon no response, she started sobbing, taking the silence as indication of their deaths. Sylas awkwardly patted her on the back.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure some are still alive, they¡¯re just too far away to hear us or something.¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah. They¡¯re probably just too far away.¡± She wiped her eyes and looked up, clearly seeing the figures on rafts in the distance, albeit with no discernable movement. ¡°Yeah. That makes sense. They¡¯re still alive. They have to be.¡± Sylas and Helianna shared another look, Ruusaan unaware of their silent communication.


    With neither of them sure what to say and Ruusaan quietly staring out to the other rafts, they fell into silence. In the fading light of day, Helianna finally actually took a look at Ruusaan. She was short, although her exact height was difficult to determine due to their positions. She was a human with navy blue skin and short dark red hair. Combined with her electric green eyes, it made a striking combination. She was very well built, clearly used to living as a sailor, the observation making Helianna think. She looked young, a couple years younger than Helianna so probably in her late teens. That seemed a fairly precarious living arrangement for a woman her age.


    ¡°Ruusaan?¡± The woman made an interrogative sound, not actually saying anything. Realizing it wasn¡¯t the right time, Helianna decided to wait.


    ¡°Nevermind.¡± Ruusaan didn¡¯t respond and they settled into silence once more. Neither Helianna nor Sylas had any idea what to say and Ruusaan¡¯s mind was elsewhere. It wasn¡¯t long before they started falling asleep, their exhausted bodies forcing them into unconsciousness despite the chaos and stress of the situation.


    Ruusaan remained, staring out into the ocean listlessly as her mind raced through various possibilities. She couldn¡¯t help herself from imagining various horrifying ways that her shipmates could have died, be it in the explosion or in the following chaos. She called out their names once more, her unintentional companions stirring slightly from the sound. In the quiet of the night, long after the ship had sunk and the screams had faded, her voice rang out clearly.


    Her desperation started to give in to resignation as she heard no response. She called out again, prompting Sylas to start waking up, complaining about the noise. She didn¡¯t pay him any mind, her attention focused on the darkness. Despite Sylas complaints however, she heard a sound in the distance. A response. It was another female voice and sounded far away, but it was clear. She couldn¡¯t hear what was said, but she knew. It had to be them. It had to be one of her crew. She shook Sylas briefly before frantically paddling with one arm.


    ¡°Help me!¡± she demanded.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Sylas asked groggily.


    ¡°I heard her. She¡¯s out there! I don¡¯t know which one it is, but I know I heard her.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°I heard one of my crewmates! I can¡¯t leave her out there alone!¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­. Yeah... okay,¡± Sylas reluctantly agreed as he shifted so he could paddle as well. They paddled in silence, Ruusaan¡¯s movements much more frantic and desperate than Sylas¡¯. It didn¡¯t take long for Ruusaan to start flagging. She was severely injured, would have died without Sylas¡¯ intervention, and was now coming down from an adrenaline high. Helianna eventually woke up, the sound of splashing combined with occasionally getting hit by flying water waking her up. After taking a minute to assess the situation, she called out.


    ¡°Ruusaan,¡± she tried, but Ruusaan didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Ruusaan.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± she snapped, her voice clipped.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re paddling to one of her crewmates,¡± Sylas offered. She heard them calling out.


    ¡°I can¡¯t! I can¡¯t leave them alone!¡± Ruusaan said, her movements desperate despite their weakness.


    ¡°Calm down. Go to sleep.¡±


    ¡°Go to sleep!? I can¡¯t go to sleep! They¡¯re out there! I heard her!¡±


    ¡°I understand, but following a voice on water is next to impossible, especially at night where we can¡¯t actually see where they are. We need to wait until day. Besides, you¡¯re injured. You need to rest otherwise you could hurt yourself worse. Given we don¡¯t know the extent of your internal injuries, you could get yourself killed. Do you want to get to her just in time to die?¡±


    They¡¯ll still be out there in the morning. If they¡¯re still alive by now and coherent enough to shout back, they won¡¯t die overnight. Sleep.¡± Emotions and logic warred inside Ruusaan for a brief moment, but her emotions won and she spat over the side of the raft.


    ¡°You can sleep if you want to,¡± she declared with vitriol. ¡°I¡¯m going to keep paddling.¡±


    Still in pain from her injuries, Ruusaan proceeded to do exactly that for as long as she could. The stress eventually got to her however, and despite her attempts to remain awake and paddling, she slowly slunk down onto the raft, the sloshing of water accompanying her to sleep.

 Chapter 34: Adrift

    Helianna woke to the bright sunlight in her face, already sweating despite it being early dawn. Her lips were drying out, and combined with the pounding headache, it was truly a terrible start to the day. She looked around, quickly seeing the other three asleep. Ruusaan had eventually fallen asleep during her desperate rowing, while Sylas had eventually stopped rowing as well. Ruusaan looked like she was about to fall off the raft, curled over with her good arm hanging in the water.


    Helianna groaned and sat up, pulling Ruusaan into a better position. Despite her arm being disturbingly pruny, she seemed fine. Helianna had no clue what was in the waters in these areas, but she didn¡¯t want to risk what she didn¡¯t have to. They weren¡¯t particularly close to The Broken Ocean, which had all sorts of dangerous fauna, but they were still close enough that a stray creature may come by.Besides, If she left her hand in the water too long, she knew it could cause serious skin issues, an issue she didn¡¯t want to add to their unending list.


    She looked around, and relief instantly flooded her features. They weren¡¯t quite at land, but they were drastically closer than they were yesterday. At this point, she figured she might actually have a chance of swimming there. The second she had the thought, her mind instantly started spiraling.


    Lesin was a complete liability at this point, and Ruusaan likely was as well. Sylas was probably doing the best of the four of them, but she couldn¡¯t trust his sensibilities. He didn¡¯t seem to understand that you can¡¯t help anyone else if you¡¯re already dead. If she was less injured, she was confident her best bet would be to swim to the shore right now and try to survive on her own. Her injuries were the problem. Her shoulder ached and when she shifted, she had a solid guess as to how bad the injury was. She had probably fractured her upper arm, likely also spraining it at the same time. Her back, while no longer bleeding, was far from fully functional and she was sure exertion like swimming would open it back up again.


    After thinking about it more thoroughly, even if she managed to swim to shore, she would likely be in just as bad of a position. While they couldn¡¯t get any water now, finding it on shore wouldn¡¯t be much easier. As far as she could tell, it went from ocean to beach and then almost straight to desert. Considering they were on the coast of the wastelands of Prakanai, that seemed apt and a likely deathtrap. No better than the ocean. At least in the ocean, they could possibly fish? She knew how to fish, but it¡¯s not like they had any equipment with them. And she had no idea how to jerry-rig anything for that.


    She had no idea if Sylas had any ideas and figured it would be best to wait to see if he had any knowledge. Maybe Ruusaan did as she had more experience on the ocean. Not wanting to waste energy that she knew would likely become precious, she elected to remain laying there until at least one of the others woke up.


    But before long, it became an exercise in self-control. She wanted to do something, but she had woken up with the dawn and the two of them had stayed up late paddling fruitlessly. While they were closer to land, she was certain it wasn¡¯t their doing. They were likely trying to go in the direction of a voice and hand-paddling in the ocean was useless. She was surprised to catch her mind wandering. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was because of how hungry and thirsty she was, if it was blood loss from her stabbing yesterday, or a combination of both. Or maybe she had taken a hit to the head along with her shoulder when the shrapnel hit them.


    By the time the others started to wake up, Helianna had almost managed to fall back to sleep. Fortunately for her, it was Sylas, but the second the thought crossed her mind, she reeled in horror. She preferred interacting with Sylas over this random girl simply because the girl was being overly emotional? She clearly had gotten a concussion from the shrapnel.


    He groaned and they locked eyes before he shifted to a more comfortable position. The movement and sound woke up the lightly sleeping Ruusaan. She looked around confused, her tired mind struggling to make sense of where she was. When she did, it all rushed back at once, waking her up in moments. She bolted upright, scanning the waters for signs of other people. She tried to stand up, but the raft was too unstable and she immediately fell, almost tumbling into the ocean. She tried a couple more times, each time only making the raft wobble more, drenching Helianna who had remained laying down.


    ¡°Calm down! You¡¯re going to flip us!¡± Sylas commanded.


    ¡°But I can¡¯t see them!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s too much wind. You won¡¯t be able to see anything until the swells lower more.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, no!¡± Ruusaan yelled, each ¡®no¡¯ getting progressively louder. ¡°You fucking lied! I can¡¯t see them! I have no clue if they¡¯re out there! You should¡¯ve helped!¡±


    ¡°Ruusaan-¡±


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t give a damn! This is all your fault! We¡¯ve never had any issues! Ever! Even on the dangerous missions, we never had a problem! We¡¯ve only ever lost one! And now you show up and they¡¯re gone! They¡¯re fucking gone! I heard them and what did you tell me to do? You told me to ignore them! I¡¯m alone with you fucking psychos and now everyone is gone!¡±


    She collapsed down on the raft, sobbing uncontrollably. Sylas reached forward, giving her an awkward pat on the back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fucking touch me!¡±


    Sylas pulled away and looked at her helplessly. Neither Sylas nor Helianna spoke, the sloshing of the water against the raft only broken up by sobs from Ruusaan. Unsure what to say, they remained in silence. Helianna knew she had wanted to ask something when she woke up, but couldn¡¯t remember for the life of her. By the time Ruusaan quieted, the sun was beating down on them from high in the sky.


    ¡°We should try to paddle to land,¡± Sylas quietly said.


    ¡°It won¡¯t help,¡± Helianna refuted. ¡°Our hands aren¡¯t big enough to make a difference.¡±


    ¡°Better than sitting here doing nothing.¡±


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    ¡°You¡¯re wasting energy. You need to save everything.¡±


    ¡°Fuck off.¡± Sylas started paddling as Helianna went silent, not dignifying his insult with a response. Ruusaan started paddling shortly after, not looking at either of them. With none of them wanting to speak to each other, the time passed quietly, Sylas taking occasional breaks while Ruusaan paddled endlessly. Lesin even groaned and shifted at one point, but never roused from consciousness. By the time the sun fell below the horizon, they were noticeably closer to the shore, but with how thirsty they all were, it couldn¡¯t seem farther away. They all went to sleep with their mouths feeling dry. Helianna was doing the best while Ruusaan struggled from all the exertion making her sweat. By the time she stopped for the night only due to her exhaustion, she was swaying near constantly.


    There was an audible slap as she collapsed back onto the raft. Despite knowing that Ruusaan was exhausting herself and could be first to die if they couldn¡¯t find water, she didn¡¯t say anything. She knew any attempts to dissuade Ruusaan from her actions wouldn¡¯t help.


    The second day on the raft began with a pounding headache from all of them. However, the first to groan as they slowly woke up was Lesin, rising from consciousness for the first time in over a day. Sylas was the first to notice him waking up, instantly scrambling towards him.


    ¡°Lesin?¡± Sylas asked, a hint of desperation audible in his voice.


    ¡°Who? Oh¡­ I remember now,¡± Lesin said weakly and smiled. ¡°You two are insane, you know that?¡±


    Sylas lightly slapped Helianna¡¯s shoulder, trying to get her to pay attention.


    ¡°Lesin, how are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Like hell. My head hurts. Skin feels like it¡¯s on fire. Mouth¡­ it¡¯s a little hard to breathe. My tongue feels funny. How long have I been out?¡±


    ¡°A little over a day.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ hard to think.¡±


    ¡°You took a pretty bad hit to the head.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I guess that makes sense.¡±


    Helianna interrupted, ¡°Who do you work for?¡± Lesin narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re looking for allies. And clearly we are both fighting against The Academy.¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ fighting.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, you¡¯re not exactly in good relations with them.¡±


    ¡°Helianna, stop. He¡¯s clearly more lucid.¡± Sylas requested. ¡°We can have this conversation when he¡¯s not just woken up properly for the first time.¡±


    ¡°No. Head injuries like this are unpredictable. We have to ask while we can.¡±


    ¡°Do I get a say?¡± Lesin asked weakly. Both Sylas and Helianna took a deep breath as they scowled at each other, prompting Lesin to push himself up slightly. ¡°Look for a broken chain. We all wear them.¡±


    ¡°A broken chain?¡± Helianna asked, realization clear on her face. He felt around his belt, but couldn¡¯t find it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a chain with seven links. The last one is broken.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen it before,¡± Helianna said quietly.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± Helianna didn¡¯t respond, her mind racing as she tried to place every time she¡¯d seen it.


    ¡°The execution! The tijatan that was going to kill you, Sylas!¡± He sighed and rubbed his eyes. ¡°We have to go there once we survive this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I got it,¡± he begrudgingly agreed.


    ¡°What?¡± Lesin asked, confused.


    ¡°They wanted to fight against The Academy and captured his team. They had these insane weapons,¡± Sylas explained.


    Lesin hummed as he thought, laying back down.


    ¡°You alright, Lesin?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just tired. Sleeping¡¯s good for the brain, right?¡±


    ¡°I guess?¡± Sylas responded, perplexed.


    ¡°Wait, before you fall asleep again, I still have questions,¡± Helianna requested.


    ¡°W¡­what?¡± Lesin asked, clearly struggling to keep his eyes open.


    ¡°What¡¯s the organization called?¡±


    ¡°Organization?¡± he asked groggily. He was clearly losing consciousness quickly, far too quickly to be healthy.


    ¡°The one that has to do with the broken chain?¡± Sylas prompted.


    ¡°Just¡­. it¡¯s just¡­.¡±


    Lesin¡¯s head drooped and he stopped responding. After a couple attempts to wake him up, they fell into silence once more and Sylas and Ruusaan went back to paddling. The day remained uneventful, but they were all starting to run ragged. Between the spray of the see and the insane heat of the sun, their skin was burnt and peeling. Their lips were split in multiple places and their headaches and dizziness came more often. Sylas was doing the best of the three by a significant margin, but he was certainly not free from the effects. Ruusaan thought she may have seen a turtle in the ocean. Knowing that killing one and drinking its blood in place of water could save them, she splashed into the water as soon as she saw it. Unfortunately, it was too far below the surface and when she splashed in, she lost track of it, assuming it was even there to begin with.


    Ruusaan passed out later in the day, but neither Helianna nor Sylas were certain whether it was from dehydration or exhausted. With Sylas having long stopped paddling, neither of them had the energy to check. Even with all the burns on her skin, Helianna could feel the wound on her back burning intensively and she was sure it was getting infected. Between her body trying to fight it off and dealing with dehydration, the only thing that could convince her to move would be the raft beaching.


    When Helianna slept that night, it was one of the most uniquely awful things she¡¯d ever experienced. Sylas was still managing due to his species being more compatible to the heat, but Helianna was on her last legs. While awake, pain burned across her body and she felt feverish. Her bouts of wakefulness never lasted long however, her exhausted and dehydrated body forcing her back into unconsciousness. The bliss of unconsciousness never remained long however, her feverish body unable to decide whether it was better to be awake or asleep.


    Between trying to sleep and rest, she felt herself slipping into dreams as she slept. When she woke however, her mind was unprepared and her dreams followed her into the waking world, manifesting as hallucinations. She knew she was slipping in and out of consciousness, but she could never tell what state she was in, a red haze clouding her vision throughout both states.


    Her dreams were of someone performing surgery on her in a futuristic world. There was runetech far beyond anything available, completely replacing any surgeon that should have been there. There was no anesthesia and it felt as if they were operating on her whole body, constant pain throughout it. The abomination of runetech that was operating on her had countless eyes looking down on her, reminiscent of stars in the sky, observing her in countless detail. Behind the abomination were dark, drab walls that she could never see the details of, but was constantly there. She felt a massive shudder as the abomination shifted the table she was laying on to get better access to her wounds and she couldn¡¯t hold back a groan. She wasn¡¯t sure if she groaned in real life or if she was still asleep. Regardless, the operation continued throughout the night.


    The hallucination faded shortly before the sun rose, leaving her to stare up into the sky in a pained daze. Nobody had noticed her wound glowing brightly throughout the night and slowly fading with the daylight. As she lay there, she failed to notice that the raft was no longer in constant motion or that the sound of the ocean had changed to the sound of crashing waves.

 Chapter 35: Beached

    ¡°We¡¯ve beached,¡± Sylas croaked out. Helianna groaned weakly and turned her head slightly to him.


    ¡°Helianna, we¡¯ve beached.¡±


    ¡°I heard you,¡± Helianna groaned out, her words barely audible.


    ¡°Come on,¡± he urged but Helianna barely moved. ¡°Come on,¡± he insisted once more before slowly walking up to her. Slinging her over his shoulder, he helped her off the raft and up on the sand, away from the waves. He released her to stand on her own, but she almost immediately toppled over, Sylas¡¯ grip the only reason she didn¡¯t collapse. He laid her down on the sand, finally realizing how bad of shape she was in.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get the others, then¡­ fuck, then I guess I¡¯m searching for water on my own, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    He left for the raft, not expecting an answer from Helianna, who lay helpless on the sand. He slowly dragged both Ruusaan and Lesin over to Helianna, neither of which woke up. Realizing he was the only one capable of anything at this point, he looked around, feeling a bit hopeless. Everywhere he looked, he saw only sand and a plant he was pretty sure was called raff. They stuck up from the sand, waving in the wind like fans and it was obvious that he¡¯d gain nothing he needed from them.


    He stepped further away from the ocean, climbing a small dune to try and get some height, and a touch of hope sparked in his chest.  In the far distance along the beach, he saw movement, likely other survivors. He knew they might be in just as bad of shape, but he didn¡¯t see any other chance. Leaving the others behind and defenseless on the sand was obviously a bad idea as well, but as far as he saw it, he had no choice.


    He looked back over the group anxiously before leaving, anxiety building inside him. He started out walking but the prospect of water quickly brought him to a jog, which he swiftly regretted. Within only a couple hundred meters, he was gasping and spots appeared across his vision. He took the time to catch his breath, something that seemed to take inordinately long. By the time he felt recovered enough to start walking again, he was certain he had lost just as much, if not more time by running than if he had just walked.


    That wasn¡¯t to say walking was easy either. The sand was soft and with how weak he was, he found himself stumbling along, grumbling to himself about how drunk he must look. He had to stop a couple times to regain his breath, but nothing like when he tried to run. By the time he got close, it had been almost two hours since he started. Unfortunately, the view in front of him was not a good one. There were almost a dozen people, many of them in the same state his own team was in. To make matters worse, he recognized some of them. A couple were passengers of his ship, but one of the unconscious ones was one of the ithrax. Only two people looked capable, and they both stood up as he approached.


    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re one of them! You caused this!¡±


    ¡°First of all, we didn¡¯t. But it doesn¡¯t matter right now. We¡¯re just trying-¡±


    ¡°It does!¡± the second one yelled.


    ¡°We¡¯re just trying to survive, now,¡± Sylas said, doing his best to ignore the accusation no matter how much the lie stung him.


    ¡°Yeah, right! She told us what you guys are trying to do! You deserve to wander for eternity!¡± Sylas blinked. He hadn¡¯t expected that.


    The enemy ithrax must have been slandering his team without his team there to defend themselves. Of course, since they were with The Academy, the ithrax¡¯s words would be treated as gospel by the Alarians aboard the ship. The explosion of the ship was probably easily pinned on them as well. He started to wonder what exactly she had claimed they were doing, but his thoughts were interrupted when a woman stepped forward, fury clear in her countenance.


    ¡°Get the fuck out of here before we make you.¡±


    Sylas wasn¡¯t sure how capable they were with the heat and dehydration, but he knew he had to be doing better. He was kinuze. There were none better at surviving the desert than his people. While he knew he was weak, he couldn¡¯t imagine a world where two non-kinuze civilians could beat him after two days of dehydration. It didn¡¯t occur to him that this fight would gain nothing, and could possibly end with him injured.


    ¡°Yeah, right. You couldn¡¯t if you tried.¡± Already angry, the comment only enraged her and she swung a wild hook at Sylas. Sylas, surprised at the speed of her attack, stumbled back slightly to avoid it. Unused to fighting, the woman overextended, and Sylas was able to step forward, pulling her past him as he tripped her. This move would normally be easy for Sylas, but on soft sand with a poor sense of balance, they collided and knocked himself over in the process.


    Both of them scrambled to their feet as the other young man charged Sylas. Seeing the man go for a tackle, Sylas sidestepped, almost avoiding the man¡¯s charge. The man¡¯s hand nailed Sylas in the gut, jamming the man¡¯s fingers and making him howl in pain while winding Sylas. The woman reached Sylas as he was recovering his breath and took another wild swing. More prepared this time, Sylas managed to avoid it without looking like a stumbling drunk and retaliated with a punch right in her gut.


    She stumbled with a grunt and Sylas turned to the man who had tried to tackle him. The man was still standing back up from his missed tackle, cradling his hand. Sylas charged this time, sending a lumbering kick at the man, who only managed enough of a dodge to make it miss his face. Instead, it hit the young man in the chest, sending him sprawling, with Sylas stumbling after him. Sylas turned his head just in time to see another haymaker coming his way, seemingly the only attack the woman knew how to do. Sylas couldn¡¯t react in time due to his poor positioning, receiving a solid punch to the face that he was sure would give him a black eye. The woman, never having punched someone before, cried out as she cradled her hand. Sylas stomped forward and pushed her hard, causing her hard down onto the sand.


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    ¡°Stop! I¡¯m stronger than both of you. And I didn¡¯t even use my magic,¡± Sylas bluffed. ¡°Don¡¯t make me.¡±


    The woman glared at him, but didn¡¯t respond. Satisfied that she wouldn¡¯t attack again, Sylas turned and looked at the rest of their group. He looked to see if they had any water, knowing that he wouldn¡¯t take it even if they did. Unlike Helianna, he wouldn¡¯t doom innocent people to die to save his own.


    Realizing it had been a fruitless endeavor, Sylas sighed as he turned and walked back down the beach. He wanted to groan but wouldn¡¯t dare let them see any weakness, especially after his announcement just a moment before. He had no clue what to do. He didn¡¯t know how to find water and they were at the edge of the desert. The only thing he could think of was possibly finding at least a little greenery within the desert. Or an oasis? That sounded like a wild dream. His thoughts continued, blinding him to his surroundings as he walked.


    ¡°I thought you abandoned us,¡± croaked out a voice, which startled him out of his thoughts. He had apparently walked all the way back and Ruusaan was looking straight at him.


    ¡°No. Trying to find water.¡±


    ¡°You went the wrong way.¡±


    Sylas scoffed and splayed out his arms indignantly. ¡°No shit.¡±


    ¡°We need to go inland. If we can find a forested part of the desert, that¡¯ll help us survive,¡± Ruusaan informed.


    ¡°Forested? How can a desert be forested?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a term¡­ but there are plants. We should go, while we still have strength.¡±


    ¡°Why? How will that help? The others will be along the beach. If someone managed to salvage our fresh water, that would be our best chance.¡±


    Ruusaan groaned. ¡°No, it won¡¯t. Finding people is hard, assuming they managed to even salvage any. And they¡¯ll have probably drunk it already. We need to find some stonewood trees, or ideally an ibotchi, but that¡¯s unlikely.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡±


    ¡°I know what to look for. And as much as I hate you guys, I might need you to survive.¡±


    Sylas sighed and thought for a few moments. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll do it your way.¡± He turned towards Helianna and Lesin, who were both lying on the ground. ¡°How are we going to do this? Your leg is injured, Lesin is unconscious and Helianna¡¯s in and out.¡±


    ¡°Seriously? I¡¯m not liking our odds¡± Hearing that, Sylas had an idea, instantly hating it. In any other situation, he would have instantly disregarded it, even if it was more efficient.


    ¡°Fuck,¡± he cursed, knowing it his survival might come down to it so he couldn¡¯t ignore it.


    ¡°What now?¡±


    ¡°I have an idea.¡± She stayed silent, waiting for him to elaborate. ¡°First, how well do you know what you¡¯re looking for?¡±


    ¡°I know exactly what I¡¯m looking for,¡± Ruusaan stated confidently. ¡°I was taught how to survive no matter where in the world we might crash.¡±


    ¡°Wow,¡± Sylas thought for a moment before he continued, clearly unhappy about his own idea. ¡°Well, in that case you should go on ahead. Find water. If it¡¯s a long ways away, it would make more sense for you to go on your own instead of wandering around helping carry these two. Then you can come back.¡±


    She looked at him in surprise. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong. But what¡¯s stopping me from just leaving you guys?¡± Sylas took a deep breath, hating having to trust her.


    ¡°Nothing. But it¡¯s our best chance. I¡¯d rather go myself¡­¡± Sylas didn¡¯t continue, not wanting to admit that he didn¡¯t know what he was looking for.


    ¡°But it makes more sense for me to go.¡± Sylas didn¡¯t look at her, taking the excuse of wanting to look over Helianna. As he shifted her to get a look at her wound, she groaned.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you guys later. Once I have water.¡± Sylas nodded and didn¡¯t respond, paying more attention to Helianna while Ruusaan walked away. The wound looked like it could be infected, but Sylas had no medical training so he really wasn¡¯t sure. By the time the fog of unconsciousness lifted from Helianna¡¯s mind due to his prodding, Ruusaan was already gone.


    ¡°Water.¡± Helianna croaked out.


    ¡°We¡¯re working on it.¡±


    ¡°We?¡±


    ¡°Ruusaan. She was trained to survive in this.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t¡­ trust¡­ stranger,¡± Helianna got out as she struggled to sit up. She found it phenomenally hard to speak, tongue feeling swollen and her mouth feeling like sandpaper.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice.¡± Sylas countered


    She laid back down and let out a miserable ¡°Fuck.¡±


    ¡°You said it,¡± Sylas agreed, sitting down next to her. Not wanting to exert themselves, the two of them lay there, Helianna drifting in and out of consciousness. Sylas wanted to make a shelter, but their only resources were the piece of the ship they floated in on which was too big, and the raff, which he would need to braid for way too long to be useful. Assuming he even could braid it without it falling apart. It looked too weak for that in his opinion.


    He tried to get some rest while waiting, but found himself unable to. Just his thirst and the worry about lack of water was enough, but the hot sand and heat from the blazing sun certainly didn¡¯t help. He knew it was even more miserable for the others, but it was unbearably hot even for him. Hours passed and Sylas was starting to consider getting up and searching on his own. Before he could move however, he heard one of the best things he¡¯d ever heard in his life.


    ¡°I¡¯m back! And I¡¯ve got water!¡±

 Chapter 36: Welcome to the Desert

    Sylas¡¯s head snapped up at the mention of water, not even able to register how that could be possible before his eyes landed on Ruusaan. In her good arm was a small bundle of¡­ rocks? Sylas sat up.


    ¡°What are you carrying?¡±


    ¡°Stonefruit!¡± Ruusaan replied cheerfully. ¡°They taste like runoff from a toilet, but they¡¯ve got water in them!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ what?¡±


    Ruusaan dropped the bundle to the ground and handed one to him. ¡°Eat it!¡±


    Sylas hesitantly took the stonefruit and looked at it. Even up close, it looked like a rock and had the consistency of one. Combined with her disgusting claim, he was not particularly interested. He watched her for a moment, both apprehensive and perplexed. She had picked up one of the fruits she dropped and stood over Helianna. She then started gnawing on the stonefruit, not making much headway. She noticed him watching and stopped.


    ¡°What? They¡¯re tough as fuck to bite through. Get working!¡± Sylas didn¡¯t move, simply watching her as she continued to gnaw on her own stonefruit. After a solid ten seconds, she finally bit through, the juice from the fruit splattering over her chin. She immediately pulled the stonefruit away, a frown of disgust crossing her features. She then held the fruit over Helianna and opened Helianna¡¯s mouth. She started squeezing the fruit, and the visual did no wonders for Sylas stomach. The insides of the ¡®fruit¡¯ came out as a viscous slime that dropped into Helianna¡¯s mouth.


    He immediately saw Heliannas mouth and throat working as she reflexively swallowed. She barely gulped it down before her eyes shot open and she started coughing aggressively, the motion overtaking her whole body. She agonizingly rolled over to her stomach, retching.


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± she rasped.


    ¡°It¡¯s water,¡± Ruusaan offered with just a little too much joy in her voice.


    ¡°That was NOT water,¡± Helianna countered.


    ¡°What? Got a little more flavor than you¡¯re used to?¡±


    ¡°Flavor?!¡± Helianna demanded incredulously.


    ¡°Yeah, just a little flavor of the desert.¡± Helianna looked up, horror on her face. It took everything Ruusaan had to keep herself from laughing and Sylas even found himself grinning.


    ¡°Here, have another sip,¡± Ruusaan offered, holding out a completely fresh stonefruit with no sign of the liquid she had been fed. Helianna looked at what appeared to be a simple stone before looking at Ruusaan¡¯s eager face.


    ¡°I¡¯ve gone insane,¡± Helianna said to herself. Ruusaan couldn¡¯t help herself anymore and started laughing, prompting Helianna to amend her statement.


    ¡°No. You¡¯ve gone insane.¡±


    Ruusaan started laughing even harder, completely unable to help herself. By the time she managed to calm down, Helianna was sitting up, albeit weakly.


    ¡°Neither of us have gone insane. These are stonefruit. They have a decent water content, but taste like absolute shit. Hard to bite through too. Go ahead.¡±


    She handed the one that she had already bitten through to Helianna before standing up and turning to Sylas, mirth in her eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m far from feeling good again, but trust me. Get some in your system. You¡¯ll feel so much better. I certainly do.¡± Sylas looked at her, stunned at what he was hearing and seeing. She was burned and peeling off from the sun and salt. Her arm was a gruesome mess and yet she was somehow energetic and happy. Despite knowing he was the best off, Sylas couldn¡¯t help the bitterness and complaints he voiced about their situation. He scoffed at himself.


    ¡°How?¡± was all Sylas could ask.


    ¡°How, what?¡± When Sylas didn¡¯t respond, simply shaking his head in bewilderment, she continued. ¡°Just drink up, already!¡±


    Not sure what to say, Sylas turned his attention toward the stonefruit apprehensively. With a deep sigh, he hesitantly brought it towards his mouth and bit down. While his teeth were slightly sharper than a human¡¯s, it was still tough to bite through. The skin of the fruit wasn¡¯t quite as hard as a rock, and it reminded him almost of bone. It flexed slightly as he bit down harder, the pressure making his teeth ache slightly. He suddenly burst through and a glob of the fruit¡¯s interior shot into his mouth.


    Despite hearing how bad it was and seeing Helianna¡¯s reaction, he was still unprepared for the flavor. He didn¡¯t know how to describe the flavor aside from it being the worst thing he¡¯d ever tasted. It took significant effort to swallow, after which he gagged intensely. There was a strange metallic aftertaste that lingered, nearly making him gag again. He gave an accusatory glare at the rest of the stonefruit, which was mostly full of the slimy liquid.


    ¡°This is what we have to drink?¡±


    ¡°Yep!¡± Ruusaan said cheerily as she took a loud slurp from her own stonefruit.


    ¡°How are you not retching?¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m a sailor. I¡¯m used to having to do what¡¯s necessary.¡±


    ¡°That means eating shit like this?!¡±


    ¡°If necessary. Now eat. We all need the strength. We can try to force-feed this guy,¡± she said, gesturing to Lesin.


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    Gagging echoed across the sand, punctuated by Helianna''s whispered curses and Sylas''s strangled groans, as they forced down the viscous stonefruit. Ruusaan, still smiling at their misery, was slowly feeding some to Lesin, who remained unconscious but alive. Eventually, they finished and Sylas turned to Ruusaan, while Helianna gingerly laid back down.


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    ¡°Are there more?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s actually fairly close. We got lucky. I think it¡¯s only like an hour walk.¡±


    ¡°Well then let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Ruusaan and Helianna said at the same time. Ruusaan looked over at Helianna, who had her eyes closed so Ruusaan continued. ¡°The desert gets cold at night. That¡¯s going to be true here at the beach, but it¡¯ll be worse further inland.¡±


    ¡°Good. We¡¯ve been boiling alive,¡± Sylas complained.


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t understand. I¡¯m talking about possibly in ranges where we could get hypothermia.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding me.¡±


    ¡°No. We¡¯ll probably need each other to survive. But for now, let¡¯s take advantage of the beach.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to carry them,¡± Sylas said as he gestured to Helianna, who was already asleep again. ¡°She¡¯s not doing well and Lesin¡­¡±


    ¡°He got hit in the head, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°And Helianna?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s ¡®cause of the stab wound?¡± Sylas guessed. ¡°She lost a decent amount of blood. I doubt that¡¯s a good combination with getting this dehydrated.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    Silence reigned once more and they both lay down on the sand. Even with a bit of water in their bodies, they were still incredibly dehydrated and it was hard not to be aware of it. The constant dizziness and exhaustion made it easier than expected to simply lay there despite the thirst. In contrast, falling asleep was quite difficult and night fell as they lay there. The temperature dropped and both found themselves shifting towards each other to retain body heat. As awkward as it was, they lay with their backs towards each other, the small amount of heat greatly valued. They eventually fell asleep, later joined by a shivering Helianna who was woken up by the cold.


    The next morning, Sylas was the first to wake up, his mind instantly kicking into overdrive as he felt movement. It took a long few moments for his memory of the situation to come back, but the tension didn¡¯t leave his body. He was currently in between two sleeping women and alarm bells were ringing through his head. He started slightly trying to extricate himself from them, desperately hoping neither woke up. He did not want anything weird happening. It was only a matter of survival. That didn¡¯t change him feeling incredibly awkward or remove the fear that one of the others might take something the wrong way, whether it be a movement in his sleep or him trying to get out of the two of them.


    Eventually making it out, he swore to himself that he would not let himself be caught between the two of them again. Survival was going to be hard enough. He didn¡¯t need their¡­ or his reactions to anything making things harder. Now that he was out of the tangle though, he could breathe a sigh of relief, less worried about the others¡¯ reactions when waking up. He first tried waking up Helianna, but without much luck. He confirmed that she was alive, but he wasn¡¯t sure how much longer she could last. He was able to wake Ruusaan without incident, although she was fairly grumpy about it.


    The next few minutes were spent trying to get Lesin into a solid carry that Sylas could manage. It took some help from Ruusaan due to Sylas¡¯ inexperience carrying people and Lesin¡¯s unconscious form. Only having one good arm also limited Ruusaan¡¯s ability to help. Ruusaan then managed to get Helianna to respond, even if she was barely conscious. Ruusaan then half carried her along as they set off. Helianna barely kept her feet moving, requiring Ruusaan to partially drag her at times. And with Sylas weakened, Lesin felt like a boulder weighing down his shoulders.


    To make it worse for Sylas, Lesin started to stir, eliciting quiet curses from Sylas as he stumbled each time. Sylas wasn¡¯t sure if it was purely because he was being carried or if it had anything to do with the freezing cold over the night, but Lesin bounced in and out of consciousness, frequently making nonsensical comments. Many of his words were complete gibberish, and those that were understandable made little to no sense.


    The morning passed and the blazing sun beat down on them as the hour-long walk extended into several hours. Their surroundings were bleak, the sand dotted only by raff, almost seeming to taunt them as it waved in their faces. As they crested another dune however, the monotony was broken by the strangest looking plant Sylas had ever seen. It looked like someone had taken a bush and removed all the leaves. However, instead of the familiar brown, the branches of the bush were a bright green and seemed just a little too thick, reminding him uncomfortably of giant green earthworms. In the center of the bush, several of the ¡®branches¡¯ were intertwined around what looked like a rock, which he suspected was a stonefruit.


    ¡°The fuck?¡± Sylas muttered, unable to help himself.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Ruusaan panted out, ¡°is a stonewood tree.¡±


    Sylas practically collapsed as he laid Lesin down. Ruusaan managed to be a bit gentler with Helianna a moment later.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± was all he managed to ask. For something called a stonewood tree, what he saw made no sense. It couldn¡¯t be called a tree in his opinion, reaching only up to his thigh. And it was called stonewood! Not stonefruit, which would make sense. Instead, it was called stonewood despite the ¡®branches¡¯ of the tree reminding him more of long thin cactuses like could be found in the polar deserts. The worst part was that on the entire tree, there was only one stonefruit, which was cradled in the center.


    He looked around, desperately hoping there were more ¡®trees¡¯, but only saw one. He really hoped there were more nearby that were just hidden by the dunes. The other stonewood tree fortunately had two stonefruits, but the three fruits were still far from enough. As Sylas¡¯ mind started spiraling, Ruusaan stepped up to the tree and started harvesting the fruit. Sylas slowly followed, watching her as he attempted the same on the second tree. The first thing he noticed was the smell. The tree was pungent, and while similar to the taste of its fruit, it was distinctly different. It contained the same base smell of sewage and metal, but had a sour vinegary smell that only made it more rancid. Once he got past the smell, it was surprisingly easy to pull the stonefruits out of the trees, the branches giving way without difficulty.


    Realizing he was doing the best out of the three of them, he took one of the fruits and fed it to Lesin, grumbling the whole time. Ruusaan did the same for Helianna, who was partially conscious. Ruusaan had the last fruit and they picked up their companions once more.


    ¡°How common are these?¡± Sylas asked as they started moving again.


    ¡°In this area, enough to keep us alive. The fruits grow really slow though so it¡¯s not sustainable. We need to keep moving.¡±


    ¡°This area? You know where we are?¡±


    ¡°Not really. But we¡¯re in eastern Prakanai. The stonewood trees are here pretty much along the whole east coast.¡±


    ¡°So we just follow the coast then,¡± Sylas stated.


    ¡°Right. We should head south. That¡¯s going to be our best chance to find civilization and stay alive.¡±


    ¡°I figured that out already,¡± Sylas said, despite panting a bit between words. ¡°How¡­ how do you know about the trees?¡±


    ¡°I was taught to survive no matter where I could get stranded. Now let¡¯s shut up. Carrying these two is hard enough as is.¡± Sylas growled, unhappy at being commanded like that, but relented. He couldn¡¯t disagree with her.


    Silently, they continued their journey, continuing to head inland for the rest of the day. Lesin¡¯s inane ramblings abated, but the heat of the sun dashed any hopes of the trek getting any easier. They found several more stonewood trees, but only one of them had a fruit, which was given to Sylas. When night fell, Sylas couldn¡¯t be more grateful, his aching muscles trembling. A month ago, he could probably have handled this without much issue, but now, after days of dehydration and starvation? Now, it was a struggle.


    Their exhaustion hung heavy in the air, keeping the silence as they prepared to sleep. Sylas put Lesin in the middle this time, not bothering to tell Ruusaan why, who didn¡¯t ask. It had been cold the previous night and now it was only going to get colder. Sylas fell asleep shivering and dreading the future. Surviving this desert was going to be awful.

 Chapter 37: Survivors

    After the long cold night, Sylas was once again the first to wake up, the sun slowly warming him up. His position was much less precarious than last time, allowing him to extricate himself from the pile much easier. He wanted to lay back down and let his muscles continue resting, but he couldn¡¯t let himself. The temperature was wonderful at the moment and he had to take advantage of it. His muscles screamed at him as he moved, and he wasn¡¯t sure he could go through the entire day carrying Lesin again. They had to take more breaks and he knew that getting started early would help them keep up pace.


    He started by waking Ruusaan, and the look she gave him made her resentment clear despite her survival instinct overtaking it. With Ruusaan''s help, they then attempted to rouse Helianna. After a few tries, she finally stirred. With Ruusaan''s help, they then attempted to rouse Helianna. After a few tries, she finally stirred. Though still weak and requiring assistance from Ruusaan, Helianna was thankfully fully conscious this morning. Sylas couldn''t fathom how she''d avoided infection or worse, but he wasn''t about to question their luck.


    Using the sun as a guide, they headed south, the occasional stonewood tree serving as the only relief for their thirst. As they sweat profusely from the intense heat, it felt like a constant battle for water, taking a step back for every two steps they made up. Fortunately, the stonefruits provided a minimal amount of sustenance as well, but it was far from enough and they found themselves in another precarious situation as hunger began to raise its voice alongside their thirst. They started to pay more attention, looking for tracks of any animals they could discover, although Ruusaan was certain they wouldn¡¯t find any. Days passed as they traveled further south, Helianna slowly recovering. Lesin did not, resulting in Sylas taking on the duties of caring for him which were getting more intensive and uncomfortable the longer he stayed unconscious. He often babbled in his unconscious state as well, which was grating on Sylas¡¯ psyche, almost making him feel as if he were losing his mind as well.


    It was early in the morning one day when they stumbled over a dune, and the sight before them made Sylas and Helianna stop in shock. Unprepared, the weight of Lesin tipped Sylas over and he fell to his knees. Unable to remain upright thanks to his momentum on an unforgiving and soft slope, he fell forward. He braced himself, his hands leaving Lesin, who hit the sand and started rolling down the dune.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Sylas exclaimed, scrambling to his feet, his eyes fixed on Lesin¡¯s descending form. With the soft sand providing little resistance, their momentum quickly carried him down the dune. Sylas finally managed to halt their slide just a few feet from the bottom, panting. He slowly lifted his head, utter disbelief clear on his features. Behind him, Ruusaan strolled forward, a smirk playing on her lips, while Helianna''s expression mirrored Sylas''s stunned disbelief.


    ¡°Welcome to the forested desert,¡± Ruusaan announced, a smirk gracing her lips as she brushed past a stunned Sylas.


    In front of them was the last thing Sylas ever expected to see. The dunes had largely flattened out, turning instead into small rolling hills, although he couldn¡¯t actually see the sand. Covering everything for as far as he could see were plants thick enough that he couldn¡¯t see the ground despite never even rising a foot over the sand. There were no raff or tall plants, purely this layer of yellowy green. The leaves were large, each one slightly larger than his hand and layered on top of each other. But aside from the large leaves covering everything and swaying in the breeze, there was nothing to see.There was a quiet rasping sound in the air as the plants brushed against each other, but very little animal life could be heard.


    ¡°But¡­. desert¡­¡± Sylas said eloquently.


    ¡°Ruusaan. What is this?¡± Helianna asked and Ruusaan¡¯s smirk faltered for a moment. She still couldn¡¯t get over Helianna¡¯s clear heartlessness, but didn¡¯t let herself act on it beyond minor jokes and pranks.


    ¡°Pretty sure I already told you, it¡¯s the forested desert. Got some sand in your ears or something?¡±


    Helianna gave a weak glare at Ruusaan, whose smirk grew a little in response.


    ¡°This stuff is called desert kuz. It needs almost no water, still manages to grow like weeds, and provides very little nutrition to anything, spending almost all its own nutrition on constantly growing.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s useless?¡± Sylas asked.


    ¡°Not quite. The plant itself may not be helpful, but the animals that it hosts will help us with food.¡±


    ¡°What about water?¡± Helianna asked.


    ¡°That, they won¡¯t help with. We¡¯re going to need to keep finding stonewood trees.¡±


    ¡°So we need to skirt around the¡­ forested desert?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Do you know how to hunt in the forested desert?¡±


    ¡°In theory.¡± Helianna turned to Ruusaan, a hand on her hip. She winced a little as she started to move her other arm, but stopped due to the pain, her shoulder far from healed.


    ¡°Alright, Ruusaan. This is just too weird. How do you know all of this? It¡¯s almost like you expected to get stranded. Knowing how to survive when stranded on a raft makes sense, but like this? This is just too strange. And another thing, the ships that accept female crew are almost nonexistent. And the first day, you seemed so obsessed with the others on your crew that you put yourself at greater risk. And yet by now, you seem completely fine and unworried. What is going on with you and who are you, really?¡±


    Ruusaan sighed heavily before she responded. ¡°Well, you seem to be doing better. Our crew wasn¡¯t exactly, well, normal.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Our captain was more than just a captain to us, and he wanted to protect us. He taught us how to defend ourselves and survive anywhere. A whole lot of our earnings went into buying books that gave information on different places we could be stranded and survive. He wanted us prepared for anything.¡±


    ¡°Explains why it sounds like you¡¯re giving us quotes from a textbook or something. If he was so concerned about your safety, why didn¡¯t you all change professions? With a cohesive team, I¡¯m sure there¡¯s many jobs that you could do.¡±


    ¡°He found us on the ocean. He saved us from other crews who weren¡¯t so nice. He helped all of us and it was the ship that allowed that. We weren¡¯t going to change that.¡±


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    ¡°But you worked for The Academy?¡±


    ¡°Sometimes. We worked for them when they needed us, but that wasn¡¯t all the time.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Helianna said, cynicism clear in her voice. ¡°What did you know about this mission?¡±


    ¡°Officially, we didn¡¯t know much and were simply helping them hunt down a criminal. But this team was really bad at realizing how little privacy exists on a ship. So I know they were helping the ithrax hunt down a high-level recruiter for a terrorist organization.¡±


    ¡°A terrorist organization? That¡¯s what they called it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Why? What do you claim it is?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Helianna responded after a few moments. ¡°Was all your crew¡­ rescued from other crews?¡±


    Ruusaan¡¯s voice became defensive. ¡°We were effective. The way we joined doesn¡¯t change that.¡±


    ¡°I said nothing about your effectiveness. Why did you work for The Academy?¡±


    ¡°Why not?!¡± Ruusaan burst out. ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t dream of working for The Academy. And they gave us our ship, even! Top of the line!¡±


    ¡°And yet it exploded.¡±


    ¡°That was¡­ that was¡­¡±


    ¡°They hired you guys separately didn¡¯t they? They provide you with the ship on the condition that you work for them when they ask.¡±


    Ruusaan didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°They were using you as guinea pigs. They needed people to use their experimental ship and probably took advantage of your trust so that it would be on your people if something went wrong. And something did, so it exploded.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea what you¡¯re talking about! Our crew is top of the line! They didn¡¯t take advantage of us, they wanted us and our captain demanded a brand new ship in recompense. They wanted our skill and regular crews can¡¯t do what we do. We are a family and we can hunt like no other.¡±


    ¡°Hunt?¡± Sylas interjected. Ruusaan took several deep breaths to calm herself before she spoke, but anger still bled into her voice.


    ¡°Is this damn interrogation necessary? We¡¯re barely fucking surviving as is, do we need to deal with other shit as well?¡±


    Helianna¡¯s concerns were far from assuaged and Ruusaan¡¯s irritation with Helianna was faring no better, but they both tabled it. Despite having been able to find stonewood trees consistently enough to be able to function, they were still dehydrated, exhausted, and burnt. Sylas made the effort to pick up Lesin, starting to feel like his efforts were in vain for the poor man, but still carried him as they moved on. They skirted around the forested desert for the rest of the day, going back out into the dunes for stonefruit as the sun began to set. They only found a single tree with two fruits, which Helianna and Ruusaan took.


    As they were laying down for the night, it was Ruusaan who suddenly shot to her feet, noticing something in the distance. Sylas and Helianna were a bit slower to get up, but they both could recognize what she had seen. In the distance, a bit of light was emanating from behind a dune. But this wasn¡¯t from the west, where the sun had set. This was south, and they all recognized what the source of the light must be.


    ¡°More survivors,¡± Helianna said warily.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go!¡± Ruusaan responded excitedly. She started to run forward, but Helianna called out.


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    ¡°What now?¡± Ruusaan asked exasperatedly.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know who they are. They could be people from our crew, who could be antagonist towards you just as likely as they are to be antagonistic towards us. We need to be cautious.¡±


    ¡°Unless everyone on board was running, it¡¯s just you that could have an issue with me. Why would everyone else be antagonistic?¡±


    ¡°Because you guys chased down our ship and then sank it,¡± Helianna stated bluntly.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°It looks like it from their perspective.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Alright. We¡¯ll check it out first.¡±


    Still impatient, Ruusaan fidgeted as Sylas picked up Lesin, not wanting to leave him behind. It took all her effort not to run ahead of them, eager to hopefully find some of her crew. It took a surprisingly long amount of time to reach, none of them having realized how far away the backlit dune was in the dark. When they reached it, they slowed down, doing their best not to disturb the sand too much. While the movement of the sand didn¡¯t make much sound, Helianna and Sylas wanted to be extra careful. As a result, Sylas resigned himself to leaving Lesin at the base of the dune. He could certainly carry Lesin up the dune, but they had already learned that it was very difficult to climb up dunes with the added weight and he didn¡¯t want to make noise from the exertion by accident.


    The three of them slowly snuck up the dune and poked their heads over. They had heard arguing as they got close, but now it was clear what the issue was. They were arguing over the fire, which was much smaller than the three of them expected. Apparently, finding fuel was a problem, the stonewood trees burning quickly and the kuz even moreso. The two main arguers were ithrax, the fire and spatial mage that they fought earlier. The group was larger however, and she could vaguely hear a couple others try to make suggestions, but were promptly growled at by the mages.


    ¡°I take it this is a problem for you two?¡± Ruusaan whispered, a complex swirl of emotions twisting through her words. Both of them nodded in response. She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Helianna beat her to it.


    ¡°Sylas, you still can¡¯t use your magic, can you?¡±


    ¡°Nope, still fucking useless here,¡± he responded bitterly.


    ¡°Fighting¡¯s not an option here then.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Sylas questioned. ¡°And why can¡¯t you use your weird magic?¡±


    ¡°This is the perfect environment for the spatial mage. I could deal with the fire mage, but the spatial mage could easily get around me and he¡¯d then have a significant advantage over you. Besides, I¡¯m injured. Between my back still healing and my shoulder, which I can barely still use, I¡¯m far from peak fighting condition.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ you¡­ damnit.¡±


    ¡°And in terms of my magic, I have no idea what to do with it.¡±


    ¡°We know it can move on its own. Maybe we can at least scout with it. Get a better idea of their capabilities?¡± Helianna paused, thinking over the suggestion.


    ¡°We still don¡¯t have anything that we can put it into.¡±


    Sylas looked around. ¡°Maybe one of those birds?¡±


    He gestured towards a bird that wasn¡¯t far from them. They had started to notice the birds once they got close to the forested desert, but they only ever showed up at night. Where they went in the day, none of them knew, not even Ruusaan and all attempts to catch one so far had resulted in failure.


    ¡°What makes you think I¡¯ll be able to put it in a living thing? Besides, how would we even catch one?


    Sylas opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Ruusaan.


    ¡°Who says we have to fight?¡± Both of them looked at her.


    ¡°While I do support The Academy, I won¡¯t give you guys up. You two can sneak around and keep going south. I¡¯ll stick with them.¡±


    ¡°You want to go back to your crew.¡± Helianna said, which Ruusaan nodded in response to.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s a-¡± Helianna started, but was interrupted by a sound behind them. All three whipped around as they heard it. Lesin¡¯s quiet ramblings were becoming loud. This had happened a few times in the past couple days, and had sometimes turned into yelling, the realization of which immediately brought Sylas and Helianna into a scramble. They ran down the dune as fast as they could, trying to get to Lesin. Sylas got there first, immediately trying to quiet the man.


    He wouldn¡¯t quiet down however, so he put a hand over Lesin¡¯s mouth, trying to muffle the sound. It barely worked, and Lesin suddenly bit him, making him recoil. He cursed quietly right as Helianna arrived. He didn¡¯t have time to react as Helianna reached down and snapped Lesin¡¯s neck, instantly silencing both Sylas and the now dying man.


    ¡°What the fuck, Helianna?¡± Sylas whispered in shock. But before she could respond, they heard yelling behind them. They were too slow.

 Chapter 38: Under Fire

    ¡°Hide!¡± Helianna whisper-yelled, instantly running towards the yellow-green plants that blanketed the desert behind her. It took a precious few moments for Sylas to recover from his shock, and he had no chance to hide in time. He followed Helianna towards the forest, keeping watch over the dune guarding their approach. Light grew from the dune and he knew he was out of time.


    He dove to the ground, not realizing his good fortune. While he hadn¡¯t made it to the forested desert, he had made it past one of the small hills, making it harder for them to see him. Realizing that they might come closer to investigate and that he had overestimated how quickly they would crest the hill, he shimmied side to side for as long as he dared, trying to bury himself in the sand.


    It worked surprisingly well, the soft sand slowly cascading over his form. He was far from buried however when he saw someone crest the hill. Cursing his biology for giving him glowing eyes, she shut them tight, hoping he was hidden just enough to remain unnoticed in the darkness.


    Helianna meanwhile had managed to make it to the deserted forest and had tried to bury herself under the kuz. Not even reaching a half a foot over the sand, it only partially covered her, but like Sylas, she hoped the darkness would aid her stealth efforts. She watched on, only now noticing that Ruusaan had neither run after Lesin with them, nor had she tried to hide. She had remained where she was and now walked up to the people atop the dune.


    Expecting a rudimentary torch, Helianna cursed as she saw the front man wreathed in flame to provide light. The fire ithrax was the one who came to investigate. Given her position in the forested desert, she did not like the possibilities.


    She listened intently, hoping to hear their conversation, but got distracted by something biting her leg. She shifted slightly, hoping it would get scared away while keeping refocusing on the conversation. She felt the small creature bite her again and she wondered if she had laid down on its home to draw its ire. It was fairly small and she doubted it would do too much damage to her so she did her best to ignore it in favor of the conversation.


    The conversation had started out a bit heated, but she had missed exactly what they were saying due to the distraction. They had calmed down a bit now and Ruusaan started to lead the man towards Lesin¡¯s body, trying to explain what happened. Immediately, it was clear to Helianna that Ruusaan was a very poor liar. Either that or she was only trying to make it seem like she was lying for Helianna and Sylas while they listened, but she doubted that. If Ruusaan wanted to give them up, she could and they likely wouldn¡¯t live long enough to be able to hold a grudge.


    The animal biting her was getting more insistent, and Helianna couldn¡¯t quite put it out of her mind that she was providing an easy and massive meal for whatever little critter it was.


    The fire ithrax straightened from Lesin''s corpse, his gaze sweeping the dunes. If the man could tell that Lesin¡¯s neck was snapped, it would shred what little she¡¯d heard of Ruusaan''s flimsy story. Regardless, the man knew they were out here. With a roar, the flames around him exploded into a miniature sun, forcing his companions to shield their faces from the searing heat.


    He ignored them in favor of looking around, his eyes scanning for shapes in the dark. Not seeing anything, he moved closer towards Sylas and Helianna. In only moments, his eyes honed in on Sylas, whose form was still partially visible. Even with his sandy skin and the aid of night, it wasn¡¯t enough. Realizing what was about to happen, Helianna burst to her feet as fast as she could, running towards them.


    ¡°Run, Sylas!¡±


    His glowing white eyes snapped open and he scrambled to his feet, the sand sliding off of him like a waterfall and slowing his movements. The fire mage¡¯s gaze snapped to Helianna before a smug grin settled on his face. Sylas ran past Helianna as she ran towards the man, trying to take advantage of the cover she would provide.


    ¡°Not through the forest!¡± she commanded as they passed each other. Whether he misheard her or ignored her, she had no clue, but he continued running, straight into the forested desert.


    The man held a hand up lazily, a fireball slowly forming. He threw it forward at Helianna, who burst through the center of it unfazed. The remains of the fireball dissipated, and the man¡¯s face briefly broke into shock before being replaced by rage.


    ¡°You!¡± he screamed, another explosion of fire and heat radiating from him. Unaware of the people caught in the blast radius, he then channeled the flames down to his feet, quickly turning the sand around him into a shining circle of blazing heat.


    Helianna slowed, quickly realizing that while the flames wouldn¡¯t hurt her, the superheated sand could. Snarling furiously, he continued to intensify the heat around and below him, hoping she¡¯d step into the obvious trap. She glanced up to the top of the dune, where the other ithrax appeared.


    ¡°Come fight me, you coward!¡± yelled the fire user and she was tempted to roll her eyes, but didn¡¯t want to lose visual on either of them. At that moment, the man stepped forward, and Helianna immediately shifted into a fighting stance, expecting the mage to appear in front of her. Instead, he moved behind her and tried to push her into the blazing inferno before her.


    Taken by surprise, Helianna managed to stop herself from tumbling into the burning sand, but not without taking a large step forward. The movement brought her close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from the melting sand. She whipped around to face the man, but he was already gone. Movement flashed in the corner of her eyes and she tried to turn, but wasn¡¯t fast enough. A fist landed right on her healing knife wound, causing her to hiss in pain.


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    Unable to swing at the mage due to her injured arm, she tried to land a kick, but he was gone before the blow landed, already dozens of feet away. Helianna shifted, making sure they were both within sight, now much more wary than before. She saw the spatial mage move and she braced, prepared both for a shove from behind but also for an attack.


    What came instead caught her by surprise as the full weight of the mage landed on top of her, knocking her to the ground. She twisted and writhed, doing her best to get out from under him, but grappling had never been her strong-suit. Her only saving grace was the prodigious sweat caused by the flame user¡¯s heat that made it harder for the man to get a proper hold.


    She heard the flame user shout something, but she couldn¡¯t identify what he said, her mind too occupied with the struggle. A moment later, the man grappling her fell to the side, replaced with Sylas standing above her.


    ¡°Sylas?!¡± Helianna exclaimed in shock, surprised he hadn¡¯t kept running.


    Taking a breath after her exclamation, she winced. The fire mage was creating so much heat that it was melting the sand and making it painful to breathe. The first thought that entered her mind was the insane level of heat required to do so. The second was the incredible stupidity and wastefulness of what he was doing.


    As if reading her mind, the fire mage unleashed a gout of flame at Sylas, disregarding the proximity to his own ally. His carelessness resulted in him hitting his ally more than Sylas. The other mage immediately started cursing him out and Sylas took advantage of the opportunity to throw a wild swing. He connected strongly, stunning the furious ithrax. Helianna, realizing the opportunity that was being created, immediately sprang forward and grabbed Sylas by the arm and started running, pushing him in front of her.


    ¡°Fucking run! And not into the gods forsaken forest!¡±


    Sylas stumbled but ran, tearing off his flaming shirt as he did so. Thanks to his disorientation brought on by said flaming shirt, he wasn¡¯t paying attention to where he was running, once again ignoring Helianna¡¯s command. Trying to put her body between him and the fire mage, Helianna cursed as she chased after him. Her caution proved fruitful as she saw the light of flame repeatedly close in behind her before disappearing as she absorbed the fire.


    The enemy teleporter suddenly appeared once more, but the two of them were more prepared this time. Sylas immediately tackled the man, bringing him to the ground. He delivered a powerful punch to the disoriented man before Helianna arrived and delivered a kick straight to the side of his face. Now limp, she once again pulled Sylas up.


    ¡°Come on-¡± she started to yell, but stumbled when tried to run. Both of them nearly fell as their legs were trapped by the foliage. They righted themselves and when they stopped to look at what was grabbing them, they noticed the plants and sand around them shifting. A quick glance at the other man revealed the disturbing nature of what they¡¯d found.


    The man was being pulled underneath the sand all too quickly and the only movement they could see was driven by the plant, which now held them in its grasp. Without needing to say a word, they both instantly started trying to break free. The plant hadn¡¯t wrapped around them like Helianna had immediately thought. Instead, it seemed like there was some kind of glue on the bottom of the leaves holding them in place. Upon the realization, Helianna tried to break the leaves off, leaning down to rip them one by one.


    ¡°Break the leaves off individually! It¡¯ll work better than trying to break them all at once!¡± she declared, a hint of desperation in her voice. The fire mage had done exactly what she was afraid of. He had lit the forest on fire. Not saying a word to each other, they both struggled to free themselves from the plant¡¯s grasp. When Sylas freed himself first, he took a quick moment to look up at the fire mage, already struggling to see him through the growing smoke. The man¡¯s eyes were manic and with a smile that Sylas would never forget.


    Not sparing another moment, he turned back to help Helianna, who had run through much more of the plant and was still far from free. With every passing moment, their movements became jerkier, the fire providing ample fear in both of them. The smoke arrived before the fire did, making both of their eyes sting and hiding which leaves still needed to be pulled off.


    By the time they get her free, the fire is barely over a dozen feet away and they immediately try to scramble away. Unfortunately, they weren¡¯t completely out of the range of the sticky plant and they stumbled as they both found themselves stuck again, although not nearly as bad as last time.


    ¡°Fucking fuck!¡± Sylas yelled uncreatively, his panic and anger clouding his mind. They scrambled to tear themselves away from the plant once more, the fire encroaching ever closer. Still several yards away, the fire reached the same sprawling plant they were trapped in. It began burning slower, creating a larger buffer for them to escape.


    The buffer came with a cost however, as they became completely blinded by smoke and tears as they coughed, their eyes and lungs burning intensely. Helianna tried to speak, but couldn¡¯t get the words out beyond her rasping coughs. The smoke glowed ominously as the fire came closer, but they managed to break free with a final snap. Sylas pulled Helianna to her feet as she struggled, the coughs wracking her body and making it hard for her already weakened form to remain standing. Half running, half carrying each other, they ran from the growing fire.


    ¡°We need to turn,¡± Helianna choked out.


    ¡°What?¡± Sylas asked, too busy coughing to have heard properly.


    ¡°Turn. The forest-¡± she started before being interrupted by a fit. ¡°Is longer than it is wide.¡±


    He did as she asked, pulling her along with him. It was several minutes before they made it out of the forest, but they didn¡¯t stop. They kept running until the forest was long hidden behind dunes.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way¡­¡± Sylas panted. ¡°That they saw us.¡± Helianna nodded.


    ¡°Too much smoke,¡± he finished.


    They both collapsed onto the sand, staring up into the night sky that was getting even darker with smoke. Their legs burned, the leaves still attached and the adhesive searing their skin.


    ¡°We¡¯re so screwed.¡±