Teft blinked. “...excuse me?”
I almost laughed. I’d never seen someone manage to catch Teft off guard like that before. He actually stammered.
Orden took a step toward me, releasing a hand to gesture for me to approach. “Come now, Corin. Time to address some past mistakes.”
I sighed. “Will you be coming along with us?”
“Of course not. As I said, I’m not much of a fighter, and it’ll be dangerous out there. I’ll be going to talk to the vice chancellor, where undoubtedly he’ll make efficient use of my abilities by having me wrangle more children into our lovely shelters.”
I folded my arms. “Not exactly a fighter myself, Professor.”
“Oh, you have a sword, you’ll be fine. Besides, you’re going to go talk. Fighting shouldn’t be necessary.”
I refrained from pointing out the contradictions in her argument; she was obviously already aware of them. I didn’t know precisely what she was plotting, though. Was this another one of her little tests to see how I’d behave?
I didn’t think so.
Teft shook his head. “What are you about, Lyras? Why would Corin have anything to do with Katashi?”
Orden rolled her eyes. “Corin met Katashi during his Judgment, darling, and walked out with his memories intact. He also managed to break three people out of a prison inside the tower. Do try to keep up.”
Teft shot a glance at me, and I could sense the entire rest of the group turning to look at me. “Is this true?”
Ugh. This was not the right time to be telling people about this.
“That’s a truncated version, but yes. One of my test rooms was a prison, and I opted to let people out of it. Turns out it might not have been strictly a normal part of the test. I’m still not certain what exactly happened.”
Sera tilted her head to the side. “Tristan?”
I shook my head. “It wasn’t him. I would have told you if it was.”
She frowned, but gave me the slightest nod. “We’ll need to talk about this later.”
Orden stepped closer to me. “Right. Later is fine. For the moment, time is of the essence. If Katashi isn’t looking for Corin here, he’s almost certainly looking for one of the people that Corin helped escape. Seeing as Katashi did let Corin leave the tower alive, I don’t believe he’ll be hostile, and if Corin offers to cooperate, we might be able to minimize the damage to the school.”
I wasn’t sure I agreed with her logic. Katashi had been pretty distracted by Keras when I escaped. The fact that he hadn’t sent anyone to eliminate me up to this point just implied that I was a low priority, at least in my mind.
I didn’t want to argue her point, though, because I did want to go. Both to protect the city and because a chance to talk to Katashi might give me some real answers. I needed those answers.
I wasn’t going to let a little thing like the possibility of annihilation stop me.
Marissa stepped up next to me. “I’m comin’ along, unless you mind. Rather be out there in the open to lend Corin a hand if he gets into trouble.”
“I’m going to send them directly to the tower — but fine, if you insist. Any other children feel the need to keep Corin safe from nothing at all?”
Sera stepped over and nodded to me. “I’m going, of course.”
Patrick’s hands tightened his hands into fists. “Fine. I still think this is insane, but I’m not letting the rest of you go without me.”
A few moments passed.
Jin didn’t join us.
He was still silently watching from the back of the group, his jaw tight, eyes narrowed.
I felt a surge of relief that I wasn’t going to be going out there alone, even with my disappointment that Jin — the first person who had stepped in to rescue me in something resembling a real fight — wasn’t going to help me this time.
I hoped it wouldn’t matter.
Orden glanced at Teft. “Anything else you want to share before I teleport you?”
“For now, the fighting appears to be constrained to the area directly surrounding the tower. The Soaring Wings are doing their best to keep the combat contained to that region, but karvensi and gargoyles are emerging from the top of the tower and flying toward the academy. Katashi was sighted on the eastern side, near one of the Climber Gates.”
I wondered how he’d picked up that much information. The earthquakes had only occurred minutes ago. It was probable that the attacks had started sometime before the earthquake, but he still seemed very well-informed about something that was happening a solid mile away. Did he have some kind of communication spell? If so, I needed to learn it, and as soon as possible. That kind of thing would be invaluable both in our tests and in real threats like this one.
“Eastern gate it is, then. Children, if you’re coming, join hands.” She extended a hand to me, and another to Teft. I took one, and extended another to Patrick.
The linking hands continued until Jin was the only one left outside — and finally, with the utmost hesitation, he stepped in.
I breathed an audible sigh of relief.
We’ll be safe if we’re all together.
And Orden spoke.
“Spirit of wind and air, I command you!
By the pact sealed between us, I invoke your power.
Rise around us and within us;
Carry us upon your ethereal wings to the place of greatest safety.
Veiled Teleport!”
***
My head swam, my vision blurred, and something slammed into my knees.
When I regained my focus, I realized that something was the dirt — I’d lost my balance and fallen right after the teleport. I was blearily aware of people around me, but my hands were no longer linked with anyone.
I wretched, a combination of bile and blood. Fortunately, the others managed to get out of the way before I doused anyone’s shoes.
“Oh, for the goddess’ sake, Lyras. Just how hard did your construct hit him?”
Teft’s voice, probably. I couldn’t really process anything.
“I didn’t think... never mind. Corin, stop vomiting.”