[26]

Black smoke drifted lazily upward in the night air, but I ignored it. My eyes were only for Elaine. The Duke’s daughter stood in a light battle ready stance, with a dagger held forward in her right hand. With her left, she made light gestures coinciding with the arcane words she mumbled.

Our skirmish revealed that her, and I were a world apart. Not just in terms of social strata, either. Elaine fought like a dancer, switching from foot to foot in a grace that I knew I could never match. Every block and counter she made in that fight put off the professional assassin, almost effortlessly. My presence during the battle was a non-issue, I knew it was just a matter of time until Lady Highrow won. At best, I sped her victory up for her. The killer had run rather than continue fighting her.

It confused me. Where did all that skill come from? How did she appear to be the picture of grace and femininity one second, then turn into a blade master in the next? Her warmth and caring personality vanished like the dissipating smoke in the air, leaving behind a decisive warrior.

Elaine’s spell ended, and an orb of light materialized over her head, making it hard to look at her, but giving her a clear range of sight around her immediate vicinity.

The glare was annoying, but I did not shift my vision from her. Or my feelings of awe and suspicion. Everything about her was a mystery, now.

“Sorry, I need to see. I can’t see in the dark, like you.” Elaine said, tilting her head. Though her words were a statement, she said it like a question.

I nodded. There was no point in trying to hide the obvious. It would just make her not trust me, or think I was an idiot.

“I need to go,” Elaine said, already turning from me.

“Go? What?” I asked, off balance yet again

“The attack might have been a diversion, I need to get somewhere, and check something. Let a guard or an instructor know what happened.” She took off at a run, sprinting across the courtyard of the dinning hall, her glowing orb trailing over her head like a mini sun.

A diversion?

Dwelling on her words was pointless right now. Whatever was going on, I could not help her, but the Academy could. I did as she said and ran back into the dining hall, interrupting a green-robed instructor that had just sat down to eat.

It was Master Rohan.

“An assassin?” The tiger beastman leapt to his feet, looking almost eager.

We searched the courtyard. Master Rohan held his nose in the air, leading us to a spot in the nearby grass. He gently picked up the remains of the bolt that had nearly entered my back. After a quick sniff, Master Rohan confirmed what I already suspected.

“Poison,” Master Rohan said. “Where did Lady Highrow go?”

“I don’t know. She told me it could be a diversion, and that she needed to check something.” I answered.

Master Rohan growled at that. “How foolish. She might have just run into another ambush.”

A feeling told me that was not right. I could not help but stick up for Elaine. Not after what I had seen.

“Sir, she really seemed to know what she was doing.” I said.

The beastman glanced over his shoulder at me, searching my face for his own judgement. He let the matter drop.

“We need to go to the Ministerium to report this,” Master Rohan said.

I hurried to match the stride of the combat instructor as we cut our way across campus. It was a foolish sentiment, but I looked at every person on the street we passed for signs of Elaine or her attacker.

A growing intensity invaded my consciousness. My searching for attackers became compulsive, obsessive, and frantic. A small voice whispered from the back of my mind that I would die soon.

Living in a rural village had not prepared me for situations like this, my mind whispered. The day-to-day dangers I faced in Weston were welts and humiliation. Rollo and Saewulf had kept me safe from danger like this, excepting that wolf that ate part of my ear. Next time, a wolf would eat all of me.

Or a demon. There was another demon waiting for me, right now, in my bedroom. This one killed Ugz, and I could feel it salivating over the corpse of my familiar. Waiting to feast on my flesh.

The walk became a blur, and my breathing became hard. I had trouble focusing on faces, words, and the fear. A lantern light almost made me trip over my own feet.

Master Rohan’s huge hand was on my arm, leading me. The fur on his fingers comforted me, and it was all I could focus on.

I sat across Administrator Marwin and was holding a cup of tea that smelled pleasant. Somewhere along the way, I drank it. I knew that because I could taste it on my tongue. The purple robed [Truthseeker] asked me a question, but I had difficulty answering.

“Battle shock?” I heard Marwin mumble, looking at me with sad eyes.

“No, I think he got hit by a low dose of an alchemical. I could smell it in the air.” Master Rohan said from behind me.

“The smoke,” I whispered, but no one heard me. I was not losing my mind, that was good news. The revelation gave me some autonomy back.

“Delayed reaction… like black lo…spell like…” Master Rohan spoke in the background, but his words became hard to focus on again.

“...work? Time…” Marwin said.

Black and red flashed across my vision, and stinging pain erupted from my face. Master Rohan’s clawed feet appeared before my eyes.

“W-what the fuck?” I said, staring at the beastman’s legs from the ground.

“It worked,” Master Rohan said.

A red welt blossomed on my face, and I gently touched it, guessing it to be about the size of a tiger beastman’s hand. Like a divine premonition, the orange furred claws descended from above me a second time, and I could not help but cover my face in fear. Instead of being struck again, the hand lifted me to my feet.

“Apologies, Mr. Horste,” Marwin said. “Time is a bit of an issue here. We need to know what happened.”

That made sense.

For the first few seconds, I was a little out of sorts speaking again. But soon after starting, something clicked, and my words became clear and progressively more full of detail. Both men listened to my story without asking questions.

When I finished, Marwin asked me to close my eyes, then started probing me for more detail. I was not sure what he did, but through magic or an ability, I could see the attacker again in my mind.

I began recalling things I had not consciously recognized before. The assassin was slightly shorter than me. Broadly, they had a larger, more muscular build, as well. Not once did the killer speak, but the hiss they made sounded masculine. Elaine’s cut had struck the top of the left thigh in a downward slash. The black sword was two-and-a-half feet long, with a slightly jagged curve. Script that looked like ropes in circles decorated the blade. They kept one hand open when fighting, like an ascended, and swung the sword in the other. But they switched sword hand and stance halfway through the fight.

“I… Think that is everything,” I said, opening my eyes.

Marwin looked thoughtful, “To be clear, are you sure Elaine Highrow was the target?” He asked.

I nodded for emphasis, saying, “Yes sir. I threw myself in front of her…” I felt my ears burning after I admitted it a second time.

“You have good instincts, but make stupid choices,” Master Rohan chastised me. “We will have a discussion about your performance after Marwin finishes.”

“Excellent idea!” Marwin said, giving me a reassuring smile. “Now, so you are at ease, I have already dispatched men off campus to the Highrow residence. Moving on, you have already been in my office twice in one day. This is unprecedented. Targeted or not this time, your involvement in another assassination attempt is not something I can easily dismiss. From now, until I say otherwise, you will have a guard watching over you when you are not in a class. I will introduce you to Isabel, your night watch, when Master Rohan is done with you.” Marwin stood up and left the office, shutting the door behind him.

Master Rohan took his seat, steepled his claws together and leaned forward. “So, let’s talk about your offensive abilities.” He began.

“It’s a brief conversation, sir. I only have three abilities that might help.” I said, roughly explaining Haunt, Hypnotize, and the spell Darkness.

“With the assassin focused on Lady Highrow, I understand how Hypnotize might not help. But, why, in the name of the Gods, did you not use the other two?” Master Rohan asked.

“I-I don’t--” I started, not really having a suitable answer.

“Your hex alone might have distracted the opponent at a critical moment, allowing your peer to get the kill. With your terrible ability to wield a weapon, Darkness could have given you enough cover to strike your opponent unseen. Why didn’t you take the time to cast the spell?” Master Rohan continued.

I did not bother defending myself, slumping in defeat. It was simple really, in the heat of the moment I just forgot. Vascora had unalterably changed my life, sure, but that had only been a week ago! Fighting demons and assassins was not the same as drawing up contracts and adding ledgers.

“Don’t block a crossbow bolt with your body. That is utterly stupid. You could have tackled her and you to the ground, or kicked her clear. Life is not giving you the chance to learn at the same rate as the rest of your class. You need to think about what you will do in future situations. Relive what happened tonight, over and over in your head. Mistakes like you made tonight will get your team killed in the Ruinlands. Do you understand?” Master Rohan said, staring into my eyes.

“I do, sir, and I will. I promise.” I said. And I meant every word.

I had to get better.