Evading the Intruders

The sudden surge of mana pushed to the ground. Aayla quickly activated the New Moon bracelet again. She stayed on the ground as she caught her breath again. Jacki ran over to help Aayla get back on her feet.

"I'll be fine in a few minutes. More importantly, what the heck was that?!"

"I don't know. Maybe fighting broke again somewhere. But that wave of mana was definitely weird. I was able to notice how strong it actually was since it suddenly vanished then reappeared."

"I'm assuming that's not natural?"

"Definitely not."

Aayla puffed out her cheeks.

"Oh, that's absolutely fantastic!" she sighed. "There's another building nearby. Let's get out of here."

Jacki supported Aayla as they snuck out of the medical building. Halfway to their next hiding spot, three hazy figures appeared above them. Aayla pulled Jacki into some bushes. As they huddled together, Aayla subconsciously activated the New Moon bracelet again.

One of the figures above waived their hand and the roof of the medical office was torn off like a candy wrapper. The figures searched for several minutes in confusion. Jacki and Aayla huddled together as the figures above them began to cast a spell.

"Be ready to run," she whispered. "That's a really powerful detection spell."

A wave of mana passed right through them. To their surprise, nothing seemed to happen. The hooded wizard cast two more spells, but each didn't seem to work. The figures started to argue amongst themselves.

"This is strange. There's no one here. The system showed us that a student was here. Maybe it was a glitch?"

"That shouldn't be possible. Our tracking system is perfect. It locks on to all unique mana signatures on campus. The students shouldn't be able to hide themselves."

"Shouldn't be probable, you mean. We didn't have time to properly test it. Besides, the medical building has a backup power source. One of the students probably injected their own mana into it in an attempt to start it before they left. When it started up, the system could have mistaken it for a student."

The other figures slowly nodded their heads. That made sense.

"Our comrades are holding back all of the military's people, so it shouldn't be one of them causing trouble either."

"Tch. What a waste of time. Let's go back. We need to start securing those tomes and notes now that most of our prey is gathered up in central campus."

The figures disappeared in the blink of an eye. Aayla held Jacki down as she tried to get up.

"Let's wait for a few minutes," she whispered. "It could be a trap. Those jerks are scheming something."

The buildings around them slowly came to life again. Just when Aayla's legs started to tingle and feel numb, Jacki peaked out of the bushes. There was no other person in sight. She peaked out again several minutes later and threw a coin that landed far away from their position. Nothing happened as the tings of the coin hitting cobblestone echoed across the road.

"They're gone. But with all the lights on we'll be easily spotted. That, or their 'system' will find us again."

"Speaking of that system, why didn't they find us earlier with that 'system' or their spells?"

"I have no idea. How are you feeling?"

"Physically? Better. Mentally and emotionally? Stressed out of my mind. I'd rather deal with the northern glacial boar or the snow sharks again. They were at least straightforward about wanting to kill me."

Jacki and Aayla crawled out of the bushes and ran to another building. They heaved sighs of relief since it was unlocked. Neither wanted to return to their old hiding spot in the medical building in fear of another 'surprise visit'.

They quickly hid in the cabinets. Fortunately, the power stayed on and the hooded wizards stayed away. Aayla carefully looked at the New Moon bracelet. She realized that whenever it was on the power stayed on.

"Hey, what did those intruders mean by 'unique mana signatures' and 'locking on'?"

"Each person emits mana that is uniquely their own. Certain spells track people using those traces. The more powerful the wizard, the more powerful the signal. Ah! Your artifact! That explains it."

Jacki nodded her head while Aayla looked confused.

"Because my artifact absorbed the mana in the atmosphere around us, they couldn't track us? Wouldn't they notice the mana being drained? Or what about heat signatures, smell or something?"

"Heat signatures? Smell? Why would they need to do that? Tracking mana signatures is much more accurate and efficient. No one really bothers with anything else. Those tracking systems usually send out a pulse of mana and watch what comes back. Since your artifact absorbed the part of the pulse that hit us, it won't bounce back."

"So, the tracking systems are like radar or GPS satellites and wizards are like beacons. Got it."

"What's a gee pee es sat teh light?"

"Oh, nothing. Just a part of Deputy Heston's latest Terra research. She told me about it the other day. Ha ha ha."

Jacki nodded her head a bit suspiciously. She got the sense that Aayla wasn't telling her the whole story. Aayla scrambled for a different topic to change the subject.

"Anyways, the intruders mentioned getting everything ready now that their prey has been rounded up. Are they talking about the students?"

"Most likely," Jacki frowned. "The other students are in danger."

"Maybe we could go to the awards ceremony venue? It looked like there was a lot of fighting over their earlier, but it calmed down. The headmaster and deputy headmasters are there."

Jacki shook her head. Aayla was assuming that the Nafriton side won and that they were still there.

"Well, what about finding one of the mini police stations? They have radios, er communication artifacts there, right? And there should be police officers there."

"I'd rather not risk it. There's no way that the intruders didn't either sabotage the artifacts or secretly plant listening devices. Besides, we haven't seen any staff members around lately. I doubt that we'll find any now."

They sat in silence for several minutes. What should they do? Could they even do anything.

"If they can't detect us, then it shouldn't hurt to investigate what's going on, right? I have trouble using my artifact on the go, but if we walk slowly then I can manage."

"I'd rather do that than sit around doing nothing. Let's go!"

The duo slowly made their way to the center of campus. For over an hour they kept to the shadows and trees. They panicked when the lights began to flicker, but after several minutes in hiding they realized that they weren't exposed. Something had started draining the defense system's energy.

As the campus got darker again their movements became easier to conceal. They soon stumbled across several markings burned into the ground. Jacki frowned as she took a closer look.

"Another magic formation to teleport somewhere?"

"Yup. It was hastily set up on top of another one. Probably one that was used at the beginning of this entire mess. It looks like they've started kidnapping the small groups that haven't joined up with the other students yet."

"Seriously? Aren't they afraid that their stomachs will burst from gobbling up too many victims? There's no way the republic will let this stand. These crazies are basically declaring war. Speaking of which, what's letting them be this bold?"

"They probably don't care anymore. This conflict is heading towards the endgame, and they're grabbing as many recruits as possible."

Jacki stood up and brushed the soot off of her hands.

"Only the True Order could be behind an attack this audacious and well planned. Let's go find the central library. One of the best collections of knowledge on Tellus is stored there, including the current research results of the university. Since those intruders mentioned tomes and research notes, we can probably find those scumbags there."

As predicted, the library was swarming with hooded figures. Groups of students were being forced inside. The inside of the library would occasionally flash with a familiar light. There was no sign of the Halcyon students or anyone that Aayla knew.

Unfortunately, Aayla and Jacki discovered where many of the faculty and staff went. Their bodies were shoved in piles out of the way of the busy intruders. Aayla began taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. These intruders were crazy.

Jacki continued to peak out from behind their hiding place, muttering under her breath. Her sharp eyes scanned over the patrols and struggling students. She took out a spyglass and cautiously tried to peek in through the windows. A wicked smile slowly inched across her face.

"Aayla, you have a bow, right? How good are you at using it?"

"I've had some training with a normal bow, but the bow I have is a bit different. Honestly, I haven't used it that much since I went on the Havrevel trip. Why?"

"Let's give our guests a little welcome gift to celebrate their arrival."