His Hand In The Shadows

Chapter 35: Take Off

Stella stepped back from the door as Zayd locked it behind them.

"What's happening?" Ayla asked. She sat in bed in her white undershirt and trousers, her tunic and sash beside her.

Zayd blocked the door with his body. "Troops have invaded Orhem."

Stella was notably worried. "Troops? Meaning Arcusian troops? In Norlyn?"

The ceiling was pounding from the commotion upstairs like someone jumping on a trampoline. Stella reached for her spear leaning up against the wall, next to her bed. Dust fell from the ceiling, from the constant shaking.

The line opened again for another announcement, "We have been informed Grecel is currently under attack. Stay clear of the capital. Find safe spaces. Guards and warriors are being dispatched. Avoid the enemy. Find safe spaces."

Ayla jumped up from the bed. She and Stella had been packing to leave the next day, they, as well as everyone else.

Ayla took her combat belt from her desk and strapped it around her waist. "The cafeteria is an official safe space." She attached her sword to her belt.

Arrows shot through the glass windows with flaming tips. Zayd sliced through them before they could explode.

Ayla left the room with Stella and Zayd. They ran down the hall and stopped behind the crowd of students. The whooshing sound of arrows cutting through air met the sound of bodies thudding to the floor. Students ran in the opposite directions. Ayla stood in place while they passed her, bumping into her in efforts to get away. Stella pulled on her arm. "We should go," she shouted in a whisper, her eyes focused on the three troops before them.

"The cafeteria is that way." Ayla stood in place.

A trooper raised his bow and pulled his arrow back. He fell to the ground with needles of light fastened into his chest. Ayla drew her sword.

Still holding her arm, Stella reminded her, "Avoid the enemy."

"And go where?" Ayla asked her. "The second and first year dormitories also have troops. Following the crowd still leads to trouble."

"The professors are on their way."

"Then wait for them." Ayla slipped her arm from Stella and went to join Zayd in battle.

Stella stepped back into Reyes. The trooper cut through Ayla's dark slashes with wind magic. He pushed his palms forward, knocking her back with wind. Ayla jammed her sword in the marble floors, slowing her momentum. He turned his hands over each other in a clockwise direction, forming a vortex before her. She threw her sword back into the sheath. She spun her hands anti-clockwise. Darkness emerged from the base, spinning in the opposite direction, unraveling the wind. An ounce of glee sparked her face when she realized studying in Arcus had taught her something.

The trooper bit his finger and marked the blood in his palm as he whispered a spell. Ayla took the opportunity to send a blast of darkness straight towards him. Wolves of wisp and dust emerged from the blast. Their teeth latched onto her arm. She tried shaking them, knocking her arm into the wall. Their teeth pierced her flesh like razors.

The trooper emerged from the darkness with two more wolves. He marked his palm again. He was knocked into the wall with a curve ball of light. With his hand glowing, Professor Nyx sliced through the wolves. They vanished into the air, without their master to keep them intact.

Blood seeped through the bite marks in Ayla's arm. Zayd ran over to her, leaving his opponent with a rod through his stomach. The professor ran his hand along the length of his black staff, leaving a glow behind. He took his stance before Ayla, while the two other troops checked in on their comrades. "How is it?" the professor asked her.