The self-preserving side of Ranvir wanted to object, but he couldn’t make himself abandon his friend, even if she was a verified smart-ass.

“Let’s go.” Grev said.

Es grabbed his arm to lead him. Luckily, there were a lot shadow cast by the vast buildings of the academy and they made it smoothly to the rear of Administration. Just like the first year dorms, Administration had multiple entrances other than the big eye-catching front one.

Unfortunately, the doors were locked. They could try to make their way around to the sides, but the closer to the front of the building, the closer they would get to the light.

Ranvir sat with his back against the wall, trying to catch his breath. They hadn’t gone far, but it had been uneven terrain and it had gone quickly. At times, he’d had to run as they dashed between buildings, holding the crutch under one arm. His leg throbbed with a glistening red and orange pain, as he felt the cold of the stone wall sink seep his coat and into his body.

Take that mom. He thought. Running’s not that hard.

He wiped sweat off his forehead. Usually, this sort of exercise wouldn’t tear him up this much. They’d been running, yes, but it was barely more than a warm-up for a normal physical class.

“Are you okay?” Sansir asked, from next to him.

Ranvir clung to the pressure. His leg was in much worse shape and his skin was starting to sting from the sweat, and he couldn’t see. He was too winded and chances were his wound had probably torn open.

He bit his lip, reaching out for him. “No, I…” He screwed his face together. It hurt to say it, but it was true. “I’m not in any kind of shape to help you… I can’t keep… I can’t even see…”

Sansir squeezed his shoulder. “We’ll figure something out.”

“Did you see the bonfire?” Es asked, as the sound of footsteps reached them.

“Yeah.” Grev replied. “There are students. Tied up and on the ground. No teachers from what I could see.” He paused for a long moment before continuing. “At least two dozen Ralith, if not more. All of them in gray and with the masks.”

“Shit.” Sansir cursed. “With that many gathered, we wouldn’t have any powers.”

“Dovar might.” Grev replied.

“Dovar’s not getting caught.” Ranvir said, it hurt less to admit than it would’ve before his embarrassing outburst before him. “Not unless they surprise him.”

Grev started to reply when someone screamed from inside the administration building. Ranvir could hear Es getting frantic as he pulled on the locked door. Through the distortion of the walls, Ranvir couldn’t tell if it had been a man or a woman screaming, just that it had been loud.

Their group had gone entirely silent as they listened to the scream peter out. Esmund frantically pulling at the door was the only noise.

“You don’t thin-“ Before Grev could finish another scream, this one distinctly higher pitch sounded. It was also a lot fainter.

“Fuck this.” Es growled. Ranvir couldn’t tell what he was doing, but the surge of warp and sudden shriek of metal gave him a clue.

“You tore the lock.” Genuine awe inflected Grev’s voice. “Good job.” The quality of his voice changed as he went from outside the building to a hallway. Ranvir pushed himself up with his crutch as he heard footsteps on stone. Somehow, Es had opened the door.

Sansir grabbed his arm and helped him inside, and he tugged the little space along as they entered what sounded like a hall to Ranvir.

“What do we do?” Grev asked.

“Find somewhere to hide before the patrol comes.” Sansir said, “There’s a chance they’ll think we fled with the door open.”

I might be bleeding, Es too, if he hurt himself when breaking the lock. Ranvir thought, but he decided against saying anything. It wouldn’t add anything useful.

“There’s got to be like a closet or something we can all hide in.” Grev started opening doors, soon letting out a quiet cheer, and Sansir guided Ranvir forwards.

“Us in the back.” Sansir said. “We’ll be less in the way from behind.”

I’ll be less in the way. Ranvir thought. Still, he followed as he was led towards the back of the closet. It was big, but quite messy, and he banged into more than a few things. Sansir cursed as his crutch overturned a bucket that hadn’t been emptied properly and old, cold water spilled out.

“Will they see it?” Ranvir asked. “The water?” His heart spiked when he felt the cold liquid slip into his boot. Swirls of pale violet fear emerging, alongside the sick green bubble. A little dizziness accompanied the nausea and fear.

“The hallway’s dark, that many flesh-torn might’ve destroyed the bright-torches.” Sansir replied, as the other piled in. It was a tight fit. Ranvir was pressed tightly into the shelf at the back of the small room and Grev still had to shove at him to get the door closed. His crutch pinched painfully against his armpit, but he avoided getting anymore pressure on his wounded leg, so he could manage.

They waited in silence for long minutes, time stretching out in the dark and the quiet. The only sounds they could hear were each other’s breathing, Ranvir when he shifted and his boot gave a wet squeak and the occasional rattle from something in the closet as they accidentally touched something.

“Are you sure someone’s coming?” Es asked eventually, keeping his voice quiet. They hadn’t heard anything in many minutes. Not the flesh-torn and not the screams.

“Yes.” Ranvir hissed quietly. “They’ll come. Your way of getting in might’ve worked, but it wasn’t exactly quiet and despite everything, the academy is currently silent.”

Ranvir barely finished his sentence before he heard the tread of multiple boots.

“The door’s open!” Someone yelled. “Someone’s escaped!” One set of boots put on a burst of speed.

“Dammit, keep up with him.” Other boots continued and Ranvir listened as the door slammed into the wall and steps faded into the night, while they remained in the closet. After a long ten count, he let out a heavy breath.

“You should go now.” He said, slowly. “Get to Kirs, you might be able to get her out of here.”

“What about you?” Es asked.

Ranvir turned in his direction as best he could. “I’m blind, slowed, tired, and I might have a slight fever. I’m not going much farther than this.”

“But-“

“Let me have my hero moment.” Ranvir cut him off. “Go.”

“I don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to. Just go.”

Esmund burst through the mass of bodies and wrapped his arms around Ranvir, who allowed himself to roll his eyes since they couldn’t be seen. Then they all piled out of the room after saying goodbye to him.

Sansir’s was the most composed and Ranvir thought he might’ve noticed some things too. He fumbled around the small room, found the tin bucket he’d flipped and turned it over completely, so he had something to sit on. As cheap metal buckets go, it was actually fairly sturdy. He wouldn’t go jumping on it or anything, but it had actually been properly made, if not maintained.

Ranvir brought the tether in the back of his head to the forefront of his mind, letting it spin calmly as he slowed his breathing. He started calming down from the rush of emotions. He had to work out what was happening.

In a fair world, he wouldn’t make it out of this scenario. He was crippled and blind. If he got caught, he would immediately be captured.

Red and orange objection rose inside him like flames touched by the grease of the pig left up to hang. He wasn’t fully lost. He could still fight, it told him. One hand to aim, the other to attack. No one would expect a fight from a blind person.

Ranvir tightened his tether, mentally flexing them against each other. The action caused them to slow down their spin, but they gained more weight. Like they were causing a spiritual drag wind as they turned. He held it as they slowly turned.

But he might be served better by avoiding a fight. They were at least taking tethered prisoners, so there was a chance that he could make it out of this for now. If he survived tonight, he would have the chance to be saved tomorrow.

Again, he felt the objection rise against going quietly. Some deeply buried part of him violently objected to the idea of letting them take him. When he thought of it, he felt his limbs fill with a restless energy fueled by orange and red flames.

Ranvir took in a deep breath. For some reason, he felt like he was negotiating with himself. They were taking prisoners, but they might not show mercy to an attacker. His leg hurt too much, he didn’t have long on it left-

Footsteps sounded from the hall outside the door.