Forced Recruitment

Aayla struggled with the lock of the window while Jacki tied their blankets together to make a rope. Footsteps slowly travelled up the staircase. Their guests would arrive at any minute. When Aayla finally got the window open, Jacki threw their makeshift rope outside.

The door suddenly burst open… of their old room down the hall. The footsteps headed straight to that room first. Frowns formed on the duo's faces. Was that a coincidence, or did their guests know that they were there?

Fortunately, their current room was at a back corner of the building. Technically, it was more like a storage closet. A group of trees blocked their window, hiding them from view. Instead of using Jacki's makeshift rope, Aayla cautiously stood out on the ledge.

The building was an old one with decorations and misshapen bricks that formed perfect hand and foot holds. She climbed up the side of the building. On the next floor up, the window wouldn't budge. Jacki kept a look out since Aayla wasn't fully covered by the trees.

The sound of opening doors approached their room. Without a choice, Jacki climbed out of the window and joined Aayla on the ledge above. The door slammed open just as the tips of her feet disappeared from view.

"There's no one here!"

"But the mana signature... it was here this time!"

"Darn it. The window's open, and there's a makeshift rope. Someone was definitely here, and they must have run off. Keep this room secure. We'll let the trackers do their jobs."

Only two guards were left to watch the room. Footsteps echoed down the hall as the others left. Aayla and Jacki glanced at each other. This was not what they had planned. The window wouldn't open. With the guards there, they couldn't go back into the room or jump into the trees to escape.

Jacki started fiddling with the window above. The light taps and rattling could have been caused by the wind. If the wind only struck one specific window. A third soldier quietly standing in the storage closet snuck back out. He nodded to the guards and left to join his team.

The rest of the unit waited outside. The soldier quickly joined them and saluted to the captain.

"Well, what did you find?"

"Probably two students. One of them has pretty good anti-detection capabilities, but both are really inexperienced. The one student's anti-detection skill doesn't extend well to two people. Unfortunately, their situation is a bit precarious right now. They are standing outside on a window ledge trying to get into the floor above."

The captain rubbed his chin as he thought. These students were both cautious and reckless.

"They probably don't know who we are, or didn't believe our earlier shouts. I want two extra people by the closet door, and four more at the door of the upper floor. Make it quiet! Don't spook them, or they might fall.

"Professor Brenys, please come with me. A familiar face might coax them down. The two of you come with me. The rest of you stay here. Keep a look out for more civilians, or any suspicious."

As the captain slowly approached the duo's location, Jacki continued to work on the window. She didn't dare to use magic with armed soldiers so close. These guys were sharp, and Aayla's control over her artifact wasn't that good yet. They could easily be exposed.

Their hearts dropped as the heard foot steps on the grass below. The girls tried to stay as flat as possible against the wall to avoid notice. The footsteps stopped underneath the window.

"… Miss Glowery? Is that you up there, Miss Glowery?"

Aayla's eyes opened wide as she stared at Jacki in shock. How did someone know that she was up there? Her artifact was still working, and the trees blocked the view from the ground. Jacki shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea either.

"Miss Glowery, it's me, Professor Brenys. We met during this year's trip to the Havrevel River. I'm with a captain of the Chinebarian military from the garrison at Forest Waypoint. We have two of his soldiers with us. Would you like some help to come down?"

After several minutes of silence, the people below began to mutter in hushed whispers. The two soldiers backed away several yards from the captain and Professor Brenys. The tree's branches slightly shifted to show the professor standing below.

"Look, we know that you and your friend are up there. We've heard from your other friends from Halcyon, so I'm guessing that your friend is Miss Jacquelyn Vhassohrin. They're fine by the way. We also know roughly what happened with the explosion at the main library.

"Your bow artifact is rather unique. It's silver, has a mana string and transforms into a bracelet and shield forms. I saw you shoot when we encountered the snow sharks while searching for your deer. The university is sure that its you who alerted Olafssey and the other schools by shooting one of the snow sharks stalking the Olafssey camp. Is that enough information to prove my identity?"

The duo glanced at each other. He looked and sounded like the Professor Brenys from her memories. What he knows matches up too. Rumors spread about her bow and shield, but few knew that they were actually the same artifact.

Jacki was convinced, but Aayla still had reservations that it might be a trap. The world that she was raised in is much different than Tellus.

"Aayla, if they are in fact intruders then it's probably best to play nicely for now. If they're not, then we can go see the others. Deputy Heston can always save us later."

Not totally convinced, Aayla puffed up her cheeks.

"Fine. Let's get down. Uh, how are we going to do that?"

**********

Unlike what Aayla expected, there was no more betrayal or kidnapping to be had. The patrol unit took them back to the temporary headquarters. A list hundreds of pages long lined walls of the building. The name of each missing person was on that list. Several had already been marked off, but most weren't.

Professor Brenys guided Aayla and Jacki to the group of Halcyon students then left to patrol again. They were the only students found hiding on campus so far. With the True Order's methods, he feared that they might have been the only ones to successfully evade detection.

The group sheepishly apologized for leaving them behind earlier. Jacki happily chatted away while Aayla tried to get some sleep. Before they had realized it, the day had almost ended. It was nearly midnight. Aayla guessed that no one was going back to the dorms tonight, so she had to make do with what she had.

A medical officer soon stopped by to give the duo a full checkup. Most importantly, she brought warm food and two thick coats with her. While Aayla happily munched away, a downcast young man approached with a stern grey-haired man behind him.

Several military officers and guards in bright armor flanked them. The students resting in other groups seemed shocked to see the grey-haired man and the guards.

"Chris! You're alright!"

Jacki happily jumped into the blond-haired young man's arms while the other Halcyon students hastily stood up and bowed to the man behind him. Having no idea who the man was, Aayla just copied what the other students did and tried to look respectful.

"Former Lord Forolan! How are you sir?"

"Good evening, sir."

"We are honored and grateful for your presence sir."

The grey-haired man nodded and silently inspected Aayla and Jacki.

"Enough with the flattery. You two are the ones who evaded the True Order's surveillance and sabotaged their central magic formation at the main library, correct?"

Jacki respectfully bowed to the grey-haired man.

"Yes sir. Miss Glowery and I did."

A strong gaze with a barely restrained killing intent bore into Aayla. Is he mad at her? What did she do to anger this guy?! She never even met him.

"Miss Vhassohrin is correct, though we did have some luck on our side."

"What happened? More importantly, how did you evade the detection system so well?"

Jacki gave a quick overview of what happened, from the beginning of the chaos to the patrol escorting them to safety. The grey-haired man carefully studied Aayla.

"How many people can you cover with that bracelet's ability of yours and how long can it last?"

"As many people that get within a foot of me, and about an hour or two. Though, how long it lasts depends on if I need to concentrate on something else while controlling the bracelet. I'm honestly not that good with it yet, so I can't multitask very well."

The grey-haired man thought for a minute, then spoke privately with the men behind him. When they finished, the man had made a decision.

"Christopher, your chance for redemption has arrived. Do not spread this to others, but Daren has been kidnapped. Miss Glowery is going to join us because of her abilities. If anyone asks, she's getting medical attention. Speak to no one about Miss Glowery and Miss Vhassohrin's adventures today. They were with you the entire time, got it?"

The Halcyon students nodded so quickly that Aayla thought their heads would fly off. That did not sound like a request, but saying 'No' felt like a bad idea right now.