Artemis

The group of survivors stood over him, a new addition among them: a silver-haired girl with blue eyes. Where the others were relieved, she had a vacant expression.

"Thought we lost you," Kate said with a smile.

Gian tried to stand up, but found that he was too weak. He looked down at his ribs; the group had made makeshift bandaging with his robes. However, blood was still seeping through slowly.

"The other attacker-"

"Taken care of," the silver-haired girl interrupted dismissively. "Now that he's awake, we should get moving," she added, walking out of view.

'Who is she? The ice mage?' Gian thought as Kate helped him up to his feet. 

"What does 'taken care of' mean?" he asked.

The girl turned back. "Not that," she replied coldly, pointing towards the attacker he had killed. His wand was still jammed inside the attacker's eye.

"He did what he had to," Persephone chided.

The girl remained silent. Her expression unreadable. "I've wasted enough time here," she said, before walking on. 

Her robes were in tatters, pale skin peeking through from beneath. Blood bled down her forehead, and despite her attempts, Gian could tell she was exhausted.

How she had managed to hold out against two magebreakers for so long was a mystery to him. However, what he did know was that she was powerful.

"We should rest," he said. "Moving on right now is suicide," he added.

The girl stopped again. "We don't have that privilege."

Gian noticed that she had a red armband... or at least the remnants of one over her right arm. 

"The doll's a ranker," Persephone explained, noticing where Gian was looking. "Miss pretty face thinks that just because she got recommended into the academy she has to save everyone."

"I think the bitch will fit right in with the rest of us quite nicely."

Gian ignored the comment. "Where is the remaining attacker?"

Kate pointed towards the corner of the cabin. There, the black robed figure lay encased in a small layer of ice.

Gian held onto his injured rib and bent over to reclaim his wand from the corpse.

"What are you going to do?" Kate asked, walking to stand in front of him.

The silver-haired girl stopped as well, turning around to see what was going on.

"Ask a few questions," Gian replied, limping past her. "And then make sure he can't come back for revenge."

Kate grabbed his arm. "You can't kill him," she whispered. "You don't have to, he can't hurt us anymore."

Gian tore his arm away. "We don't know what other spells he has."

"Stop." Now it was the silver-haired girl who stood in his way.

Gian studied her for a moment. She was a head taller than him, and seemed quite aware of the fact, standing over him like a superior would their junior.

"I thought you didn't have the privilege to hang around."

The girl's eyes looked him up and down. "The enforcers will deal with his punishment," she said coldly. "It is not the role of students to pass life and death judgements," she added. "As you've already done."

Gian scoffed. "Dozens dead, dozens more will die, and you lot want to leave a potential threat alive?" he asked.

"It is not your place to make such judgements," she repeated.

Gian was growing impatient. Moving with this group was going to be a problem if they were going to keep him from claiming more coins.

Something about what the boy-in-black had said in the mainframe rubbed him the wrong way. What had he meant by a 'million more coins, and he'd be useful'?

Were the other candidates already far ahead? How many coins had they already collected? It occurred to him that others might have similar blessings to his, perhaps even more powerful ones.

He had to move faster.

"I think we should all take a moment to breathe," Persephone sighed, walking to stand between Gian and the girl.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Persephone said, looking towards the silver-haired girl.

"I never gave it," she shot back. She was studying the group now. It seemed she was considering whether she'd have to 'deal with them' as well. 

Gian picked up on this and took a step back.

The silver-haired girl smiled, a cold, hollow sort of thing that didn't reach her eyes.

"I've never duelled a pyro-thane before," she said, pulling out her wand. "A shame you were stupid enough to get yourself injured in your last duel."

Gian scoffed. "This isn't a game," he spat. He knew her type. She was the sort of mage that thought magic was some sort of fighting sport. 

Persephone raised her hands. "Everyone, calm down."

"And what's this about, pyro-thanes?" she asked, turning to Gian. "This guy can't even cast a single spell."

The silver-haired girl looked to Persephone and then Gian, before smiling again.

"While we waste time here, the other attackers might realise two of their own are missing," Gian said.

'Just move out of the way. Why is she defending a murderer?'

"Don't bother, Gian."

It was Luna, leaning against one of the cabin doors. Gian hadn't noticed it before, but it seemed she had sustained another injury to her leg during the battle earlier. 

"She isn't going to listen," Luna continued, standing up. "I was wondering where I'd seen her before, then it clicked," she added, pointing towards the silver-haired girl. "She's Artemis Lancer, the City Judicio's daughter."

'Judicio?' 

Persephone's eyes widened at that. "Shit, she's right " squinting her eyes as if trying to see Artemis better.

"How does any of this matter?" 

"She's the daughter of a Judicio, Gian," Kate replied. "The highest legal power in the city," she continued. "She isn't going to let us kill anyone."

Luna scoffed at that. "She doesn't care about that. She just isn't going to let 'false-breeds' disobey her."

Gian took another step back. What the hell was going on?