Dozens of instances of Dallion rushed through the building as quickly as their skills would allow. Some didn’t bother with the door, choosing to leap out of available windows.

Isn’t your reaction a bit extreme, dear boy? Nil asked.

Dallion didn’t bother arguing. He had long come to accept that there were certain topics which the echo could discuss rationally, and the current situation was one of them. Choosing one of the instances that had successfully landed outside the building, Dallion switched reality.

“Dal?” Raven asked a few steps away.

Splitting again, Dallion gave the noble a sign to stay still. If anything were to happen, it would happen now. Five seconds passed. Then ten. After another ten seconds, Dallion allowed himself a sigh of relief. If anything was supposed to happen, it would have already.

“What’s going on?” the black-haired asked in a whisper.

“Nothing good.”

Dallion needed a while to think. All of a sudden, he had no idea who to trust. Machinations were already at foot at the Academy. The faction that had set them in motion wouldn’t be bothered if the entire Learning Hall and everything surrounding it got shredded by a hurricane of shardflies. If Dallion were to create a commotion, things might not turn out too well for him. For all he knew, that might be playing right into the culprit’s hands. It wasn’t out of the question that—

Oh, crap!

Dallion ripped the blocker ring off his neck chain and put it on. Part of him still refused to believe it, but another was starting to see a pattern of coincidences form.

Please, not you, Nil, he thought.

The old echo had supported him for years—millennia, as far as true time was concerned. Still, he remained a mage, and mages were petty and always eager to reclaim what they had lost. Adzorg must have planned that for years, long before meeting Dallion. All those secret missions he sent Jiroh and Eury on had to be connected with this. None of them ever knew exactly what they were searching for. Each time it would be something different: an artifact in the wilderness, an item swap with questionable merchants, treasures bought at night auctions. No one, Dallion least of all, could see the big picture, but he had seen Nil’s excuses.

Initially, he had believed that it was part of the echo’s restrictions. Some obscure rule that prevented him from knowing as much as his original knew. However, it was just as possible that Nil knew everything all the time and had just refused to share it. The constant insistence that Dallion remain within the Learning Hall suddenly was clear. The echo had gone out of its way to encourage Dallion to take it easy and focus on his studies… except when it came to its own suggestions. It was Nil who had convinced Dallion to get a seal pass; he had urged him to go see the dwarf—who was an acquaintance of Adzorg’s—as well as go through the sewers in search of vortexes. What if the goal hadn’t been to find vortexes, but to cast something while there? Thinking about it, the echo didn’t even have to bother with spells; Dallion presence could have been enough to stir up any shardfly nests nearby.

“Since when have you known Adzorg?” Dallion turned to raven. If the whole series of events had been orchestrated by the ex-captain, then the weapon the black-haired had procured was part of that chain of events.

“Who?”

“The mage of Nerosal.” Dallion concentrated. The blocker ring prevented him from using his music skills to their fullest, but he still had enough experience to tell whether someone was lying.

“Never heard of him.” Raven was visibly tense. Yet, as far as Dallion could tell, the boy wasn’t lying. “What? Who’s he? What’s this hand to do with—”

“The Academy is under attack,” Dallion whispered. He wasn’t pleased he had to rely on Raven, but as things stood, he didn’t have much of a choice.

Raven nodded. This time, though, there were no signs of surprise on his face.

“I know,” he whispered back. “It has been for months.”

He took a dagger from his boot and offered it to Dallion, hilt pointing forward. Without hesitation, Dallion grabbed it.

ITEM AWAKENING

A green rectangle appeared, followed by two blue ones. The blues ones remained completely textless.

Nobles, Dallion thought. Even their items are shielded.

“Nice place,” Dallion said, looking around. The room was impressive in its plainness—a perfect rectangle cube made of laminated wood. Clearly that was an illusion which Dallion couldn’t see beyond for the moment. “So, what do you know?”

“The war’s not going well. Some Archdukes have been asking mages to help in the fight.”

“But the emperor doesn’t want the Academy to get involved. I know.”

“No.” Raven shook his head. “The emperor has made no demand one way or another and neither has the Archmage. A council of academy mages has decided that there’s no point in getting involved, mostly because they need to focus on internal events.”

“Let me guess. The shardflies are internal events.”

“It started as a nuisance that never goes away. Actions are taken and seem to have some effect, but then suddenly things get worse just when discussions are taking place.”

“You seem to know a lot. Have any mage echoes in there?”

“You know I do.” Raven frowned. “The trial wasn’t an accident. Getting the Moonstones was planned all along. Originally, that was going to be the excuse for me to get a one-on-one with the Archmage and make my request. My father and the mages involved would do the talking through me. It was very likely we would have gotten our reinforcements already.”

One had to admire the complexity and cruelness the nobles had gone through—using their own children to jump through hoops, all with the aim of getting a message to the archmage without anyone learning. It was such a tangled web of lies and deceit that Dallion was astonished that it had gone this well. The Moonstones, which were so cherished, turned out to be nothing but a pretext. Even worse! Thinking logically, it didn’t actually matter whether the trial was successful or not. The attempt alone was enough to attract attention, as Dallion had seen, and possibly merit a meeting with the Archmage in which he’d reassure the young noble that there was nothing to be ashamed of.

“You’re the son of Archduke Dreud, aren’t you?”

Raven nodded.

Of all the archdukes, he’d be the one who’d insisted on magic assistance most of all.

“My father is convinced that there are spies at the Academy,” the boy continued. “Based on the level of interference, they must be pretty high up.”

“What if it’s the Archmage himself?”

“It’s possible, but highly unlikely. The Archmage wouldn’t play such games. He’d just send mages who he knew wouldn’t help. Despite our power, we aren’t infallible. Accidents happen, mistakes are made, armies die.”

Could Nil be the traitor? After the humiliation of being cast out, he’d want to settle the score with the Academy and the empire itself. Even if that were the case, though, he was too far away to run interference.

“Do you have a way to get to the Archmage?”

“Not anymore. I can’t ask openly or—”

“I think the time for subtlety has passed. Make some noise. You’ll probably get a stand-in, but he’ll be someone important enough to attract the Archmage’s attention. Meanwhile, I’ll try something on my end.”

“You have friends in high places within the Academy?” Surprise rang in each of Raven’s words.

Calling them friends was a stretch, but Dallion knew people in high places, more specifically, he knew one person who was very high indeed. It wasn’t someone he wanted anything to do with, but there didn’t seem to be any other choice.

“We’ll need to do that tonight.” Dallion said. “Right after we get back. I think I’m being watched.” He didn’t want to admit having a spy in his realm, especially if the spy was someone he considered being a friend and, to some degree, even a father. “If they aren’t aware I’ve figured things out, they will. Is there anyone else in the group we can trust?”

“Just Phoil. His family has been loyal for generations.”

“Great…” That didn’t sound reassuring. “What about Cheska?”

“Cheska was an asset, like you. And Iksa can’t do much. Her father is already on our side.” He paused for a moment. “I’ll tell Phoil to wait for you in front of your room. He should be back after bribing—”

“Forget Phoil. You do your thing and I’ll do mine. With luck, one of us will get to the Archmage. Remember, all it takes is one to make it.” And to survive afterwards, Dallion added mentally.

The conversation ended, bringing both of them back to the real world.

Without another world, they made their way through the streets of illusion to the Learning Hall. All in all, less than twenty minutes had passed, but the information obtained made Dallion feel as if months had passed.

Once inside, the two split up, each hurrying in their own direction. Raven rushed in the direction of the staircase, while Dallion used combat splitting and athletics to sprint to Katka’s chambers. She had already hinted that the Earth mage group was willing to accept new members. Agreeing would not only help him in the short turn, but would clear his debt to the woman.

Unfortunately, when he got to her house, it was empty.

No! Dallion slammed a fist into the closed door.

It was naïve to think he’d find her here so early, but deep in his heart, he had hoped for the miracle to happen. Trying to reach her through the administration building was out of the question and he had made sure not to leave her any of his echoes. With the blocking item on, he couldn’t even ask any of his familiars for help.

“Excuse me,” Dallion said to one of the apprentices walking by. “Do you know where mage Katka is?”

The apprentice stared at him as if he were a blade of grass. Slowly her mind clicked, as the rumors matched with the appearance she was looking at.

“Novice Dallion?” she asked.

“Yes. I was supposed to have a training session with—”

“Academy mages only come here to teach. If she’s not here, she probably has urgent matters to attend to.”

The response was as useless as the fake polite tone it tried to mimic.

“I understand,” Dallion said, using all his force of will to remain outwardly calm. “Thank you, apprentice.”

That had gone poorly. Now there was only one more person left in the Learning Hall he could trust. The issue was getting to him. The expected course of action was to return to his room to get his combat gear. Given everything going on, though, that was a bad idea.

“It’ll be you and me on this one, buddy,” Dallion whispered to Ruby. “Be ready.”

Dallion rushed back along the corridor, then turned in the direction of the staircase. No sooner had he done so, than a figure rushed up to him.

“Dal,” a novice said. He was nondescript with a bland face Dallion didn’t remember seeing. “Dal, it’s me. Phoil.” The novice added.

“Phoil?” Dallion took a step back. The boy had to be using defocus, but this was the first case of a disfocus item causing someone to shrink.

As if guessing Dallion’s suspicions, Phoil briefly removed his disfocus item, then put it on again. The experience lasted only a second, but was long enough for Dallion to see that it was indeed the large boy who had approached him.

“Raven told me you’ll need help.”

“Great…” That was the last thing Dallion needed. Phoil’s skills were inadequate both in combat and in magic. There was no way he’d be of any use if things got serious. Then again, having him try and help on his own would likely be much worse. “Keep close and keep up,” Dallion said as he rushed on.

“Where are we going?”

“To see mage Enroy.”