by Tj Dixon
“Your mother is going to make something to either track the mind stones or to restore their original link. The Kuroneko’s followers can gather whatever materials are needed.” Peter says.
“I’m really more of a potions expert.” Mother says with a sigh.
“You’re the only expert we have and possibly the best hope the universe has of not falling under the rule of the Fallen Angels.” Peter says.
“So no pressure then.” Mother chuckles.
“Indeed.” Peter agrees.
“Will your full power really be enough to defeat the Fallen Angels?” Mother asks.
“It doesn’t have to be.” Peter says.
“Let me have a think about how best to do this. Tracking the mind stones is probably the best we can hope for. I’ll need whatever mind stones we have here and a dedicated research lab.” Mother says.
“That’s fine.” Peter says.
“We’ll need somewhere close by to rest and eat so we don’t waste any precious time.” Mother says.
“That’s fine.” Peter agrees.
“Also, thank you Peter for saving my daughter’s life. And thank you Kuroneko for saving mine.” Mother says. I blush as I realise that I probably seemed ungrateful.
“Yes thank you Peter and thank you Kuroneko.” I say quickly.
“It just happened.” Peter shrugs but then he smiles. “I’m glad you’re both alive. Rin, you’re my most special friend and you have been there for me since the start. Rin’s mother, you’ve helped me many times and shown me nothing but kindness. You are both important people for me. No matter what the outcome, even if Contractia falls, I don’t intend to allow either of you to die.”
Chapter 4 (Yu Kii)
I’m not sure how long it’s been since the academy was attacked. Night and day blur without any visible difference. The classroom is always dimly lit by light stones with the windows magically covered by darkness to prevent anyone outside seeing in. Lessons are sporadic because the teachers are so busy preparing the defences and patrolling for intruders. They need to sleep and eat too of course so they only give lessons in what little time remains.
Naturally we are expected to practise on our own as much as possible. If the enemy make it inside the academy we will have to fight. Our magic will be the only thing keeping us alive so the better at it we can get the more chance we have of surviving.
The best students also accompany the teachers on patrol. I haven’t been asked to so I guess I’m not considered one of the best students. Not being chosen is a relief though. Prowling the corridors seeking out intruders would be really scary.
It’s noisy in here right now because Sor is busy bossing around her fan club. When the academy was besieged a lot of students begged Sor to help protect them. She agreed on the condition that they became her miko. That she calls them miko really gets on my nerves. Emi and some of the others went on at me to join too since I was the Kuroneko’s miko before I came to Contractia. They only relented when Sor asked me to make uniforms for her and her fans.
I agreed on the condition that Emi and the others stop harassing me to join. There are other earth mages that could have made the uniforms but Sor seemed keen to have me do it. She said it was because I was more thorough than the others, but that just sounded like flattery. Perhaps she had another reason but I have no idea what it might be. At least she seems to have stopped calling me ‘rude girl’.
The top half of the uniform consists of a plain black flame proof leather jacket and a poison resistant white cloth bandage around the breasts instead of a bra and shirt. They also wear very short pale grey shorts and light brown sandals. The sandals are enchanted to not come off and with a little help from Cherry I managed to enchant the shorts to assist with flight magic.
Why they couldn’t just wear the school uniform though, I don’t know! It has protective enchantments that only a professional alchemist could replicate. The teachers don’t mind though, because Sor and some of her followers are helping them with the patrols. Cherry joked that perhaps it was because some of the girls in her fan club have much bigger breasts than Sor and the new uniform makes their chests look flatter. If that’s really the reason I went through so much effort to make those uniforms though, I’ll be furious.
Right now Sor’s fan club are dancing and singing for her. They aren’t very good and keep on bumping into each other. They’re obviously tone deaf too. Sor doesn’t seem to mind though. She seems to find it funny.
Even if Sor doesn’t care, it makes it really difficult for anyone trying to sleep. The trouble is that Sor and some of her followers are actually very strong so it is very hard to ask them to be quiet. Even some of 2A are amongst her followers. Haru Kii looks up at me as if pleading with me to make them shut up. She’s clearly exhausted.
Sleeping on blankets on the floor in a classroom that is always lit doesn’t make it easy to sleep even when there isn’t a ruckus. Also because it blurs day and night inevitably not everyone is trying to sleep at the same time. The whole of our club and lots of Sor’s fans are here so it’s crowded too.
“Sorry.” I whisper to Haru Kii.
“Can’t we move to a different classroom?” Haru Kii whispers.
“We’re not allowed to.” I tell her for at least the fifth time.
“I almost wish I was back serving the Kuroneko.” Haru Kii whispers.
“I suppose it was quieter there, but it was a lot rougher and scarier too.” I remind her.
“It’s scary here too.” Haru Kii whispers.
“The enemy can’t get in.” I tell her.
“Then why do we have patrols?” Haru Kii asks.
“The teachers are just being cautious.” I say but as I finish, the floor shakes a little. There’s a small thud as a book falls off a desk on the other side of the room.
“What was that?!” Haru Kii asks.
“It’s nothing to worry about. If it was a problem it would have been much stronger than that.” I tell her.
“I hope you’re right.” Haru Kii whispers.
“Of course I’m right. Have a little faith in your big sister.” I tell Haru Kii and stroke her hair. She relaxes a little. Then a loud bell rings. That’s the signal that the enemy are inside.
“Everyone get up and into your groups!” Lilian calls out. She’s our only Year 1 student so she was put in charge of our club by the teachers. She’s a bit taller than us because she’s older. Like me she’s an earth mage and also has the same white hair. Her other features are Contractian, except that she has a slight red tint in her blue eyes. Like most of us girls her hair is short.
“What’s going on?” Haru Kii asks me as she gets up.
“We’re going to have a bit of a fight. Make sure you stay close to me and I won’t let anyone harm you.” I tell Haru Kii.
“I thought the enemy couldn’t get in.” Haru Kii says accusingly.
“Me too.” I say apologetically.
“Yu Kii, we’re ready for your orders.” Misty says with Juliet right behind her. The two girls seem inseparable now. I’m glad that they’re good friends. They both have typical Contractian features but with Juliet’s weird personality and the whole club knowing about Misty’s taste in ‘artwork’ not many people are even willing to talk to them now.
“I’m ready too.” Jade says. She also has typical Contractian features like Misty and Juliet but like most of the club she seems unwilling to talk to Misty and Juliet. She is an earth mage like me and can create lots of golems. With Juliet being a fire mage and Misty good at both wind and water magic that gives our group all four elements but a very strong focus on earth magic. Juliet’s habit of overpowering her fire magic does make me more than a bit nervous though, so I’ll try not to rely on her if I don’t have to.
“Yu Kii.” Lilian says. She is holding a map of the academy.
“Yes!” I answer.
“No need to be so tense. We’ve received orders to defend the nearby corridors. It seems some of the weaker e
nemies made it past the teachers at the main entrance. The teachers were too busy dealing with the stronger enemies to pursue. We’re not sure how they got past the shield but that doesn’t matter right now. The shield is still up so enemy reinforcements are unlikely. They are ice and earth mages but not too strong so your group should be well suited to deal with them. We mustn’t let them get past us or the weaker students will be at risk. I want your group to defend the corridor here.” Lilian says and points on the map. “Leave your sister with us. We’ll make sure she’s safe.”
“I don’t want to be alone!” Haru Kii cries out.
“You won’t be alone.” Lilian tells her with a kind smile. “I’ll have Cherry’s group defend the classroom with me so you’ll be perfectly safe.”
“I want to stay with my sister.” Haru Kii pouts.
“That’s enough Haru Kii. You’ll be safer here.” I tell her firmly. She clearly doesn’t like it but she doesn’t argue.
“Aventurine’s group will be going with you up to here. That’s the point they will be defending. If you need to fall back they’ll take over the defence, so don’t push your group too hard.” Lilian tells me.
“Ok.” I agree.
“Now go.” Lilian tells us.
“Right away!” I reply and lead the way to the door.
Aventurine turns to face me and as she does so her shoulder length red hair shakes a little. The fear in her emerald green eyes is obvious and her pale skin is tense all over. I probably look just as tense.
Neko is standing beside Aventurine but looks much more confident. Neko’s green eyes are much darker but right now they are filled with anticipation almost as if she were expecting a present. Her blonde/ginger coloured skin and fur like hair are clear reminders that she is not Contractian or even human. Perhaps it’s her cat hunter instincts kicking in?
Tomo, Tabi and Mirai all with typical Contractian features make up the rest of Aventurine’s group and are standing nervously behind her. They don’t seem anywhere near as nervous as Aventurine though. The three of them are of course wind mages like Neko. That leaves four wind mages and one water mage. I hope they’ll be ok but they only have to fight if the enemy get past my group, so I suppose they should be worrying about my group rather than the other way around.
“Ready?” Aventurine asks nervously.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I answer just as nervously, but then lead the way out the door and towards our bits of corridor. Some of the other groups have already left so we had better leave now or they may be vulnerable to attack from behind with our corridor undefended. We only have to walk for about half a minute to reach the corner that Aventurine was ordered to defend.
“Good luck.” Aventurine tells us.
“Good luck.” The others in her team say a moment later.
“Thanks. You too, though I hope you don’t need it!” I tell them and then lead my group onwards.
“If they need luck that means we’ve been beaten, right?” Misty asks.
“Yes, but we’re not going to let that happen.” I answer, before adding a silent ‘I hope’.
“This is the spot isn’t it?” Jade asks.
“Yes. Create some golems and have them defend the area from there to there. I’ll prepare some traps just past that area.” I tell Jade.
“Be careful not to get too far ahead.” Jade warns me.
“I know. I don’t want to get caught on my own. Misty please keep your senses open. If they use water magic your senses are most likely to pick them up. Juliet, keep yours up too and warn us the moment you sense anyone approaching.” I say sounding calmer than I am.
“I sense them.” Juliet says immediately.
“How close are they and how many?” I ask urgently.
“Sixty nine feet. Six people.” Juliet says calmly. In other words they are just around the next corner. There’s no time for traps. At least Jade has already created a dozen white marble stone golems from the corridor floor. They aren’t very big though, at about half my height.
“Misty, defend against fire and water magic. I’ll defend against earth and wind. Jade, focus on your golems. Juliet, don’t overdo it but attack them with fire magic as soon as they’re in sight.” I say and then ready my magic.
A moment later Juliet sends six small fireballs hurtling down the corridor. They each hit a shield, revealing the enemy mages. The enemy must have shielded at the last moment. They are all tall strong looking pale skinned, brown haired men in black robes.
The enemy send a hail of icicles but Misty blocks them with a wall of boiling water that blocks the entire corridor just in front of us. Next I sense earth magic on the stone below us but I counter by wresting control of the stone with my own earth magic. There may be six of them but they really don’t seem that strong. I breathe a sigh of relief as I realise we’ll be alright.
“Got one of them.” Jade grins but then she frowns. “Damn, they’ve taken over my golems.”
“Get them back then!” I tell her urgently.
“I’m trying, damn it!” Jade yells, but she isn’t quick enough, because as she says it half a dozen stone golems jump through Misty’s wall of water. They’re partly melted but that actually makes them scarier as the golems charge us dripping molten marble. I form a wall of solid marble from the floor all the way up to the ceiling blocking their path. With the academy port block up the only way they can reach us is to penetrate or destroy the wall. “I can’t get the golems back. The enemy are too strong.”
“I can’t attack and keep control of this wall, so is anyone actually able to attack the enemy with these walls still up?” I ask.
“Yes.” Juliet says calmly. She’s the only one of us that doesn’t seem to be panicking.
“Then hurry up and do it.” Jade yells. Juliet looks scared of Jade even though she isn’t scared of the enemy.
“Ok.” Juliet says, so quietly that I only just catch it.
“Not too strong.” Misty warns her.
“Why not?! We need to attack with everything we’ve got!” Jade shrieks.
“We don’t want to bring the academy down.” Misty warns her.
“Jade, calm down.” I tell her whilst struggling to keep control of the wall of stone. The enemy mages all seem intent on wresting control of it from me with their own earth magic. They don’t seem quite strong enough, but it’s still a real struggle.
“Drop your magic or she dies.” A man says holding Misty by the throat. He’s tall, covered in muscles and only wearing a loincloth. He looks like he could kill her easily without even using magic. There’s a hole in the marble floor at his feet so he must have come from below but I didn’t sense anything.
“We surrender, please don’t kill her.” I say yielding control of the marble wall to the enemy mages.
“What are you doing, they’ll kill us all?! I’m not dying to save a pervert like her!” Jade yells and forms a fist of marble from the wall behind Misty. The man tightens his grip on Misty’s throat and applies a little lightning magic. Misty’s scream is muffled by his grasp and then she drops to the floor either dead or unconscious. The man then easily dodges the marble fist.
Something hot and hard hits the side of my head and blood blurs my vision. I just about make out the stone golem before falling to my knees. I hear footsteps and then see Jade turn and run.
“Die now, please.” A quiet voice says oddly politely but I can sense the anger beneath the surface of those words. It takes a moment to recognise Juliet’s voice and by the time I have done so a pillar of flames has engulfed the man.
The flames disappear a moment later and all that is left is molten marble dripping from a hole in the ceiling. Through the hole I can see clear sky and a shimmering light. The academy shield? Then I hear a thud as Juliet drops to the floor unconscious. With Jade out of sight now, I am alone and surrounded by four golems. If it was just the golems I might be ok but there are still five enemy mages supporting them.
The four golems rough
ly grab me by my wrists and ankles. They carry me towards the enemy mages whilst the other two surviving golems pick up and carry Juliet and Misty. Resistance now would be futile. I can only pray for mercy.
“So this was the one?” One of the mages asks, looking at Juliet.
“Must be. We got what we came for. Now let’s get out of here.” Another mage says. They were after Juliet? Why?
“Let’s put this one to sleep first.” A third mage says. I feel a thick cold finger on my neck and become really sleepy.
I wake to cold, darkness and silence. I am still wearing my uniform but its enchantments seem to have died so it provides little warmth. My arms and hands are bound together behind my back. My legs are bound together too. There’s a rope around my chest and also my ankles that seems to be hanging me from something. From the pressure of the ropes I must be facing upwards. There’s something round and slimy in my mouth and my tongue and gums are in agony. There’s also a cloth gag covering my mouth. Talking is obviously impossible but I can still breathe through my nose.
I can smell something really rotten like fish that has been left in the sun for far too long so my sense of smell is fine, though I wish it wasn’t right now! Other than that and my sense of touch (mostly pain), all my senses seem to be blocked including my magical senses. I can’t even control the mana within me.
I’m grateful that I’m alive but I’m not confident that I’ll stay that way. The enemy have well and truly secured me. I have no way of knowing where I am but to have secured me this well I doubt that I’m still in the academy. If they are going to kill me I hope they don’t leave me like this for too long before doing it. I could endure the pain if I knew I was going to come out of this alive, but going through this only to be killed is just too much.
I feel a warm liquid splash onto my right ankle. I brace myself for more pain. The pain doesn’t come though and whatever it was my ankle doesn’t hurt. Perhaps it is for a ritual? If so I may be about to die.
Haru Kii… Please be safe and please forgive me. I’m sorry I can’t be there for you anymore.