INSIGNIAS: THE LUX SIGNIFER ACADEMY

The third day of the five-day holiday came. The first two days were used to gather their strength and focused on resting. They had a meeting every day every afternoon but Skhy didn’t ask them to train. The meetings involved him and Ellie talking about the strength and weaknesses of monsters and witches to educate those who haven’t fought them before. Storm and Hunter weren’t present in the last meeting because they said they already knew everything. Clyne also had experience fighting them but he came to know more. Skhy instructed everyone to meet him near the main gate of the Academy at 10 in the morning of the third day.

Tessa woke up at six to prepare breakfast with Lei. Cooking is on rotation but the girls don’t usually eat breakfast on weekdays. Lei was already in the kitchen when Tessa came. The two exchanged a sleepy ‘good morning’ and started preparing pancakes. A comfortable silence enveloped them as they work. Tessa couldn’t stop herself from remembering what Lei confessed to her two days ago.

“What? Who loves who? Who kissed who?” Tessa blurted. Lei looked like she was caught in the act of stealing something.

“Uhhhh.” Tessa waited for Lei to tell her everything. Skhy loved someone before and Lei kissed Nate. Spill the tea!

“Well, when Skhy and I first met, I found out that he has feelings for my sister who died in the war,” she started. Carol. The older sister she never met. It was heartbreaking.

“I’m sorry,” Tessa softly said. Lei smiled at her.

“Even though I know this, I quickly developed feelings for him,” she continued with a sad smile. “I thought it’s just a simple crush but I realized that it’s serious.”

“When did you realized?” Tessa asked. She watched Lei sighed.

“I don’t know. Maybe when I noticed how he-” Tessa frowned when Lei suddenly stopped. She was staring at the table. She looked like she was carefully picking the right words.

“Uh when I noticed how protective and dependable he is.” She smiled when she looked up to Tessa. She was definitely saying something else. But she knew better than to pry.

“How about the kiss with Nate?” Tessa said giddily. She hadn’t experience talking about love and crushes with girl friends because she didn’t trust the people around her in her previous schools. Lei laughed awkwardly as she looked around nervously.

“Uh, it was near the river when we first met Nate, Storm, Hanne, and Aria.” Tessa remembered it like it was yesterday. The radiating evil auras of the four scared her until the presence disappeared. When she stopped the fight, the four explained that Tessa, Lei, and Skhy had Mortemians’ auras which focused everyone. No one knew what and how it happened but Tessa knew that the Mortemians set it up so the two teams will fight to the death.

“Yeah?” Lei sighed.

“When you shouted, we tripped and fell. That’s it,” she quickly said. So it was an accident.

“What did Nate say?” The guy also seemed inexperienced with dating because he focuses on his sister a lot. Tessa wondered if he knew about Hanne’s feelings for Storm. It was obvious.

Lei shrugged.

“He said ‘sorry’ and we never talked about it again,” she explained. She didn’t look like it left a big impression on her so Tessa didn’t ask anything further.

Her reminiscing was interrupted when Hanne and Aria entered the kitchen. Aria looked irritated, which is normal when she hasn’t had her coffee in the morning. Hanne seemed rested compared to the previous days. Tessa noticed that she wasn’t in their dorm room yesterday. Maybe she, Nate, and Storm had a good talk.

After two hours, the girls were ready to go. It was a quarter to 10 when they left the dormitory building. It was peaceful outside. There were a few people but most of them were Legionnaires and faculty staff. The girls quietly walked toward the street that leads to the main gate. Tessa was enjoying the calmness of the wind and peacefulness of the surroundings. She was a bit nervous about the mission and skeptical about who the other students are going with them. But she tried to look at the bright side. This experience would broaden her horizon.

“I think we’re the last one,” she heard Aria said. Tessa looked in front and found two groups of people just beside the closed gate. They were still far so she couldn’t see their faces. When they neared, she felt everyone look at them.

“Hey!” That must be Clyne. The girls moved toward the group on their right. Clyne was beaming from ear to ear. Nate was smiling. Storm and Hunter looked unamused. Tessa raised her eyebrow at Hunter who quickly ignored her. She scoffed. Skhy greeted them with a ‘good morning.’ Ellie just nodded at them with her arms crossed.

Tessa turned to the other group. She noticed two familiar faces. Smiling and cheerful Aubree and a rigid Aurora.

“President,” Tessa uttered. Her smile widened.

“Hi, Tessa! We introduced ourselves to the boys but…,” she looked at the girls behind Tessa. “Hi again. I’m Dandelion Aubree Everlast. I’m the Student Council President. Just call me Aubree.” She waved at them. Tessa smiled back. Aubree tapped Aurora who sighed, annoyed.

“Please call me Aurora,” she politely said. Aurora is usually polite and does her duties and tasks well but sometimes she’s too firm. Like me in high school. Aubree turned to look at someone in the back. A guy stood in black jeans, a shirt, and a jacket. His hair stood pointing to the sky. He had his hands on her jean pants.

“Savvier Deepdale,” he simply said. The girls introduced themselves.

“That’s everyone-” Skhy started to say but was cut off.

“Why is a bully with us?” Hanne intercepted. Tessa got confused. Who is she talking about? Hanne had one of her eyebrows raised. Tessa turned to look at the person she was talking about.

“Savvier Deepdale. He’s rude and mean to students and teachers,” Hanne explained. Savvier scoffed.

“Mind your own business,” Savvier retaliated.

“Stop. Let’s go,” Skhy instructed. His voice was louder. The gate suddenly opened. Hanne walked out first with Nate, Storm, and Aria. Skhy sighed and followed close behind. Lei caught up with him. Aubree grabbed Tessa’s arm and led her outside. Aurora walked beside her sister. Tessa felt someone staring at her back. Hunter? Or Savvier?

“Savvier is a talker but he’s one of the best fighters,” Aurora explained. I see… Tessa nodded as a response.

“Don’t be scared,” Aurora said.

“About what?” But Tessa already knew what she was talking about. She was anxious. She saw pictures of monsters. They appeared in different sizes but they are strong. It must be the reason why the Mortemians used them as builders and destroyers at the same time. Witches are cunning. They are smart and deceiving.

“The Intel said that there are only a few. We’ll protect each other,” Aurora assured. Tessa nodded with a smile. Aurora had the same personality inside and outside the office. Tessa liked that about her.

“Thank you,” Tessa replied. They silently walked after that. A few minutes later, they hop on a bus going to the Highport. After the three-hour bus ride, the group arrived in the last town in the north of Highfort.

“Doesn’t the Highfort have the largest fortress in the country?” Tessa inquired as the group walked in the forest leading to the town they were supposed to go. Walking will allow them to sense their surroundings more than riding the bus. The town was 20 minutes away.

“Yes. But the Academy asked for us to take over because it’s not as serious as the rest,” Skhy explained. Like the rest?

“The Mortemians are still attacking because of-” Tessa suddenly stopped. She didn’t know if Aubree, Aurora, and Savvier believe nor support the prophecy of the Regalis.

“We know what they were looking for,” Ellie took over. “Most operations stopped when your group arrived at the Academy. But they are still looking for something.”

“Or someone,” Aurora added.

“This is it,” Tessa heard Skhy said. She looked around and saw regular houses with small rice fields between each house. Farmers were tending their fields. Kids were running around. The town looked like the one where Olive and Luis live. I wonder how they are doing…

“What would the Mortemians want here?” Lei asked.

“We’ll see,” Skhy replied.

“It’s really peaceful here-” Aubree didn’t finish her statement because the ground began shaking.

“It’s not a regular earthquake,” Clyne said.

“Can you feel where it’s being controlled?” Skhy asked. The shaking became violent. Tessa saw the birds flying from the trees and the animals hiding underground.

“Behind that barn,” Clyne exclaimed. Skhy nodded.

“We need to evacuate the residents,” Aubree said. “I’ll leave Savvier with you.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nate said. He looked at Hanne who nodded. Aubree, Aurora, Nate, and Hanne ran toward the houses while the ground was still shaking.

“Clyne, Aria, Lei, and Storm. Look for their leader. The one who’s controlling the earthquake,” Skhy instructed. The four quickly ran toward the barn. Skhy, Tess, Hunter, and Savvier were left watching and waiting.

“We can't blindly wait for them to fall from the sky,” Hunter pointed out.

“What do you suggest we do?” Tessa asked.

“Act as bait so they don’t come for the people,” Hunter suggested. Tessa turned to Skhy who nodded immediately.

“He’s right.” The four left the forest and ran toward the road where they can easily be seen. The vibrating of the ground continued. It was difficult to run without tripping. When they stopped in the middle of the road, Tessa searched around for Lei and the others. People were running toward the forest. No one was on the road. Good decision, President.

Then she saw a large shadow on the group, engulfing hers. She looked up. Her eyes widened.

“So they do come from the sky?” Tessa mumbled.

“Transported by the witches,” Hunter replied.

“Now this is where the fun begins,” Savvier said.

“Those aren’t few,” Tessa pointed out.

Suspended above them were 20 monsters with a hideous face and big noses and feet. Around them were countless witches on their broomsticks. Their figures blocked the sunlight. They were seconds away from dropping to the ground.

What are they looking for that they need to send an army here?