Alera shouted something from behind us and the wizards all formed a line and stood quietly. We looked at her questioningly, but she just shrugged and remarked, “What? Don’t you guys do comment lines?”
“Um, no, there are only two of us,” I said. Alera smiled and pointed at the first person standing in front of us. He was a small guy, almost entirely lost in his Wind Tower robes. But I guess in my armor, even without a helmet, I am much bigger than most of the students.
“So if you have a place to go, then that means you know where we are, right?” he asked in a high nasal voice.
I nodded. “Yes, we do, but unfortunately we are deep in the black portion of the map.”
His eyes bulged out as the reality of what I said took hold. “Bu…but why didn’t we go through a portal to a undead-free area, instead of here?”
I answered him as calmly as I could, realizing this was probably the one question that everyone would be asking, especially once we were on the trail and things got difficult. “The undead were concentrated heavily on the obvious choices for escape routes. The portals into Anshea, Ocance and Elcance were the first to be surrounded. This was not by accident, if we had tried to force our way through to those portals, we would have lost fifty-percent of you, and possibly still failed. Instead, Headmaster Rosa selected a portal that they would never expect us to run for, but one that she knew she could lock closed to prevent them from following.”
His expression was hilarious; he was completely petrified out of his mind. “I guess we should get moving then,” he mumbled, stumbling out of line, or perhaps pushed out of the way by the next person in line, a slightly older girl in a earth wizard robe.
“So this place you’re taking us, are there people there? What’s it like?”
Maya answered, probably being fed information by Winya. “Sky Raven Fortress is the strongest fortification in the known world. Four hundred years ago, it held off a siege by 11,000 warriors with only a handful of defenders, and not one of those enemy soldiers made it past her walls. It will be ideal for our purposes. As far as people, our information is that the fortress is unoccupied.”
The girl nodded thoughtfully, and another student, this time a young male healer took her place. “When we get there, are we still going to have to go to class?”
My dark elf chuckled. “I am a simple weapons instructor. That would be a question for your new Headmaster, Rosa from the Enchanters Hall.” That elicited some murmurs of unrest from the crowd. “I will tell you this, I know most of you have not had much in the way of contact with her because she was not the Primus of a full tower. But she is over 700 years old and very wise. I have known her for more than seven years, and I know for a fact that she cares deeply about the school and its students. I might also add that, moving forward, she will have my full support both personally and as military commander, and the rest of the Enchanters Hall as well, some of whom you’ve met today.” She nodded at the twins, Nia and myself.
A older attractive, earth wizard girl with dancing eyes stepped forward, and I heard Lin call out laughingly from the crowd. “Don’t do it, Surys! You’re only going to embarrass yourself!”
She snapped her head around. “Shut up, Lin, you don’t know that!”
“Pretty sure I do!”
This Surys girl was having none of it, she straightened up, flipped her hair back coquettishly, and displayed her best smile. “So Alex…are you seeing anyone, and would you go out with me?”
You have no idea how hard it was for me to not laugh in her face for that one, but I knew it would just crush the poor girl, so I didn’t. Maya, however, wasn’t as nice and snickering she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss that made me extremely glad I was encased in heavy armor. She glanced down at the girl below and purred, “That answer your
“Um, no, there are only two of us,” I said. Alera smiled and pointed at the first person standing in front of us. He was a small guy, almost entirely lost in his Wind Tower robes. But I guess in my armor, even without a helmet, I am much bigger than most of the students.
“So if you have a place to go, then that means you know where we are, right?” he asked in a high nasal voice.
I nodded. “Yes, we do, but unfortunately we are deep in the black portion of the map.”
His eyes bulged out as the reality of what I said took hold. “Bu…but why didn’t we go through a portal to a undead-free area, instead of here?”
I answered him as calmly as I could, realizing this was probably the one question that everyone would be asking, especially once we were on the trail and things got difficult. “The undead were concentrated heavily on the obvious choices for escape routes. The portals into Anshea, Ocance and Elcance were the first to be surrounded. This was not by accident, if we had tried to force our way through to those portals, we would have lost fifty-percent of you, and possibly still failed. Instead, Headmaster Rosa selected a portal that they would never expect us to run for, but one that she knew she could lock closed to prevent them from following.”
His expression was hilarious; he was completely petrified out of his mind. “I guess we should get moving then,” he mumbled, stumbling out of line, or perhaps pushed out of the way by the next person in line, a slightly older girl in a earth wizard robe.
“So this place you’re taking us, are there people there? What’s it like?”
Maya answered, probably being fed information by Winya. “Sky Raven Fortress is the strongest fortification in the known world. Four hundred years ago, it held off a siege by 11,000 warriors with only a handful of defenders, and not one of those enemy soldiers made it past her walls. It will be ideal for our purposes. As far as people, our information is that the fortress is unoccupied.”
The girl nodded thoughtfully, and another student, this time a young male healer took her place. “When we get there, are we still going to have to go to class?”
My dark elf chuckled. “I am a simple weapons instructor. That would be a question for your new Headmaster, Rosa from the Enchanters Hall.” That elicited some murmurs of unrest from the crowd. “I will tell you this, I know most of you have not had much in the way of contact with her because she was not the Primus of a full tower. But she is over 700 years old and very wise. I have known her for more than seven years, and I know for a fact that she cares deeply about the school and its students. I might also add that, moving forward, she will have my full support both personally and as military commander, and the rest of the Enchanters Hall as well, some of whom you’ve met today.” She nodded at the twins, Nia and myself.
A older attractive, earth wizard girl with dancing eyes stepped forward, and I heard Lin call out laughingly from the crowd. “Don’t do it, Surys! You’re only going to embarrass yourself!”
She snapped her head around. “Shut up, Lin, you don’t know that!”
“Pretty sure I do!”
This Surys girl was having none of it, she straightened up, flipped her hair back coquettishly, and displayed her best smile. “So Alex…are you seeing anyone, and would you go out with me?”
You have no idea how hard it was for me to not laugh in her face for that one, but I knew it would just crush the poor girl, so I didn’t. Maya, however, wasn’t as nice and snickering she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss that made me extremely glad I was encased in heavy armor. She glanced down at the girl below and purred, “That answer your
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