question?”
Surys nodded dejectedly, much to the amusement of the crowd.
A hard-eyed older student in a green robe walked forward. “What do you intend to do with the Fire Tower traitors?”
Wow, that question brought the assembled parties crashing back from what had been a few light moments of humor and camaraderie, all the way back to angry mob status again. People started calling out at random.
“Send them back through the portal!”
“Just slit their throats and be done with it!”
“Feed them to the dragons!”
The crowd, which previously had been distancing themselves from Naton’s group like they were covered in dog poo, now started closing in ominously and pressing in on the burly guards who had the fire wizards collared. The fire boys, themselves, had withdrawn in a silent snit the entire time we were fielding questions. But now, they looked around, and seeing a good measure of hate being directed at them, starting to panic and cast wild-eyed looks around.
I glanced over at Rosa, looking uncomfortable and strange in the black robes of a Headmaster. I knew through our link that she had no real ideas right now but was strongly against the suggestion of feeding them to the dragons. Winya, sensing Rosa’s discomfort with command, started talking directly to her via our thoughts, which allowed me to tune them out and watch the crowd.
Suddenly, one of Naton’s boys, I think his name was Orim, began gibbering and broke free from the guard who had him around the neck. Of course, he was still chained, so he only managed to hop a short distance before falling flat on his face. He levered himself up and began inching his way toward us. The guardsman he had broken free from walked over and dragged him to his feet.
Looking nearly insane, the fire stooge screamed, “Please no! By the gods, you can’t send us back there! We never wanted things to turn out this way…it was all our Primus’s fault. He was the one who pounded into us day after day that fire wizards were the only true wizards. We were supposed to be the elite and prove our dominance over the lesser magics. He even told us he was moving our tower away from Xarparion to a new school, a much better school, where the Earth, Wind, Water and Healer Towers, and especially the enchanters, would be our slaves as it was meant to be!”
Everyone around them murmured and growled angrily at his words - he really didn’t seem to be helping his case for leniency much. Looking around desperately, he wiped sweaty blond hair from his eyes with a manacled hand and continued, “But he tricked and betrayed us, too. Earlier that morning, he called a mandatory meeting for everyone in the great hall of our tower. We were told to bring our clothes and personal belongings with us because we were leaving Xarparion behind forever to travel to our new, better school. We were to be there at the tenth bell and not be late.” He took a deep shuddering breath. “Um, ever since that pixie incident, the Primus hated all five of us. He gave us the worst of the worst jobs and didn’t care how long it took to finish. We were cleaning the cellar, which was full of rat feces and spitting cockroaches, but mostly hiding out from more scut work when we heard the tenth bell sound. We had lost track of time and we were late. All of us raced up to the main floor only to find out everyone else was already inside the hall, and they had bolted and padlocked the doors. We pounded on them with all our might for them to open up and let us in, but the bastards ignored us; I even heard some giggles on the other side. With nothing else to do, we sat down on the floor and tried to listen through the door. One of us could see through the keyhole, but Naton hogged that. We were in so much trouble! Everything seemed to be going according to plan. The Primus was up on the dais preaching about the wonderful new school, and that in just a few minutes, he would open a portal and everyone would be taken
Surys nodded dejectedly, much to the amusement of the crowd.
A hard-eyed older student in a green robe walked forward. “What do you intend to do with the Fire Tower traitors?”
Wow, that question brought the assembled parties crashing back from what had been a few light moments of humor and camaraderie, all the way back to angry mob status again. People started calling out at random.
“Send them back through the portal!”
“Just slit their throats and be done with it!”
“Feed them to the dragons!”
The crowd, which previously had been distancing themselves from Naton’s group like they were covered in dog poo, now started closing in ominously and pressing in on the burly guards who had the fire wizards collared. The fire boys, themselves, had withdrawn in a silent snit the entire time we were fielding questions. But now, they looked around, and seeing a good measure of hate being directed at them, starting to panic and cast wild-eyed looks around.
I glanced over at Rosa, looking uncomfortable and strange in the black robes of a Headmaster. I knew through our link that she had no real ideas right now but was strongly against the suggestion of feeding them to the dragons. Winya, sensing Rosa’s discomfort with command, started talking directly to her via our thoughts, which allowed me to tune them out and watch the crowd.
Suddenly, one of Naton’s boys, I think his name was Orim, began gibbering and broke free from the guard who had him around the neck. Of course, he was still chained, so he only managed to hop a short distance before falling flat on his face. He levered himself up and began inching his way toward us. The guardsman he had broken free from walked over and dragged him to his feet.
Looking nearly insane, the fire stooge screamed, “Please no! By the gods, you can’t send us back there! We never wanted things to turn out this way…it was all our Primus’s fault. He was the one who pounded into us day after day that fire wizards were the only true wizards. We were supposed to be the elite and prove our dominance over the lesser magics. He even told us he was moving our tower away from Xarparion to a new school, a much better school, where the Earth, Wind, Water and Healer Towers, and especially the enchanters, would be our slaves as it was meant to be!”
Everyone around them murmured and growled angrily at his words - he really didn’t seem to be helping his case for leniency much. Looking around desperately, he wiped sweaty blond hair from his eyes with a manacled hand and continued, “But he tricked and betrayed us, too. Earlier that morning, he called a mandatory meeting for everyone in the great hall of our tower. We were told to bring our clothes and personal belongings with us because we were leaving Xarparion behind forever to travel to our new, better school. We were to be there at the tenth bell and not be late.” He took a deep shuddering breath. “Um, ever since that pixie incident, the Primus hated all five of us. He gave us the worst of the worst jobs and didn’t care how long it took to finish. We were cleaning the cellar, which was full of rat feces and spitting cockroaches, but mostly hiding out from more scut work when we heard the tenth bell sound. We had lost track of time and we were late. All of us raced up to the main floor only to find out everyone else was already inside the hall, and they had bolted and padlocked the doors. We pounded on them with all our might for them to open up and let us in, but the bastards ignored us; I even heard some giggles on the other side. With nothing else to do, we sat down on the floor and tried to listen through the door. One of us could see through the keyhole, but Naton hogged that. We were in so much trouble! Everything seemed to be going according to plan. The Primus was up on the dais preaching about the wonderful new school, and that in just a few minutes, he would open a portal and everyone would be taken
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