The Skyhome Academy

Led by Mage Isabel, the cadets and bodyguards made their way cautiously down one of the stairways until they reached the door to the mess hall. Rose did her best to ignore her apprehension, but she knew how dire their situation was. Despite this, she was proud to be able to serve her kingdom at such a critical time.

The telekinetics professor opened the door slightly, looked out, and then gently closed it before turning to face the group. “There’s about thirty hostiles in castle servants’ clothes, all firing on the courtyard,” she explained. Everyone had since been added to the mind link. “Too many to take even with an ambush—but I have a plan. If we remove the bar from the gate, it will open and we’ll receive reinforcements from outside.”

“But some of them must have sensory magic,” Rose pointed out. “They’ll hear us coming a mile off.”

“Everyone but me,” Mage Isabel replied. “I can get to within telekinetics range without being noticed. The problem is, I don’t think I can lift the bar without help. …⁠Exeter, you’re a kinetic. And maybe just light enough to bring along.”

“…⁠You’re asking me to ride you then?” Despite their predicament, Simon grinned slightly.

“Try not to put it that way when you tell the story—I’d appreciate not getting fired.” Mage Isabel looked to the rest of the group. “We’ll both need mana transfers.”

“I can transfer to you,” Mage Averitt offered.

“I’ll supply Simon then,” Mei added.

Mage Isabel turned around and drifted downward. She looked over her shoulder at Simon. “Grab onto something that isn’t my neck or breasts and let’s go.” Now looking embarrassed, he climbed onto her back and wrapped his arms around her just below her neck. “When we’re seen, start evading. We’ll need covering fire from the rest of you once we’re noticed.”

“Rose, I should transfer to you instead,” Emma sent. “I’m not a good shot.” She nodded in reply.

Mage Isabel opened the door once more and left with Simon. Rose was terrified for him, but she could do nothing other than peer out to watch as they approached to within ten yards of the gate. Thankfully, the enemies continued to fire outside the spire and did not notice them. There was a continuous banging noise against the heavy metal doors—guards in the courtyard were trying to break through with their magic. But for all their effort, they were causing little damage.

Mage Isabel gently floated down to a sitting position, with Simon now crouched behind her. They both reached out an arm and stared intently at the gate. With no visible sign of the magical power affecting it, the thick bar across the spire’s entrance slid off the metal hooks holding it up and loudly struck the floor.

The fall of the bar caused the gate to open and the enemies to notice the intrusion. Rose and everyone save Emma who had stayed behind entered the mess hall and began firing at the traitors. Simon and Mage Isabel attacked with arcane bolts, while using their telekinetics to evade most of the return fire. But Rose knew that they would not last long at such a close range.

Only a few seconds later, soldiers at a magically-enhanced sprint shot through the open gate. Rose saw her father among them. More and more castle guards joined the brutal, close-range fray. When it was over, some thirty traitors and ten loyalists had fallen. Rose could not help but be relieved that no she knew was among the injured or dying. Though she had killed one of the enemies herself, she forced herself not to dwell on that fact.

In the aftermath of the fighting there was silence. Because those who were both seriously wounded and enervated often lost consciousness, there were no cries of suffering as would have been heard on a pre-magic battlefield. But this false peace came at a price—the wounded were even less likely to survive without medical attention than they had been in those times.

Rose and her companions quickly crossed the mess hall and approached her father. Meanwhile, additional soldiers from the courtyard battle entered through the gateway. Emma and Avice parted from the group to help a few other healers in stabilizing the surviving loyalist casualties.

“Mage Isabel, what’s the situation inside the spire?” Rose’s father asked.

“We believe that everyone who went to sleep tonight has been enervated by their nexus crystals. They’re not in immediate danger, but they won’t be able to help us, Sir. We don’t know anything about the enemy forces in the singularity chamber.”

“We know that Griffonskull is with them. Her fliers entered the chamber at the Phoenix Maw.” The mage then belatedly noticed his daughter. “Rose, what are you doing here? …⁠No, never mind. Just gather your fellow cadets and find someplace safe to hide.”

“But you need us,” Rose insisted. “Most of your soldiers are wand-wielders—even basic casters like us are stronger. And the survival of the kingdom is at stake! …⁠Sir.” She had belatedly remembered that she was speaking to him as her military superior.

Her father looked pained. “…⁠You’re to only enter the chamber after I order it. And you’ll stay with me from then on.” She nodded, and he looked to his soldiers. “The elevator’s too risky, so we’ll take the stairs. I want the strongest shields with me at the front. Mage Isabel, you stay with the cadets.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Simon joined Rose, and she looked to him in relief. She then overheard Mei, who was standing beside Emma as she crouched over a wounded soldier. “That’s Letia. Over there.”

“The head servant?” the healer asked. They were both looking at one of the dead traitors.

“I saw my ice bolt hit her when her shield failed. I killed her.” Mei sounded numb.

Mage Isabel drifted over to her. “I’m sorry it was someone you knew. But try to stay focused.”

“…⁠It’s okay. I didn’t exactly have warm feelings toward her.”

The mage nodded. “All that aside, I need your help. I can’t fight effectively without a dedicated mana transfer.”

“Understood, Ma’am.”

“Cadet Smallport, Cadet Lovell. Save your mana for healing—we’re going to need a lot of it.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” both girls said in unison.

By this time, around eighty soldiers had gathered in the mess hall. A few guards who had been patrolling the spire also arrived. Her father looked them all over before turning to his support telepath, a sturdy man with thin, light hair whom Rose had seen occasionally over the years. “Bakersfield, form a mind link with Mage Isabel, Cadet Spellshield, and Cadet Smallport.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He then looked to another man. “Corporal, take your fireteam and find out if the soldiers in the barracks are in any condition to fight. If they aren’t, get to a roost and go for reinforcements in Stonebrook.”

“Yes, Sir.”

After giving these orders, Rose’s father led his force to the nearest stairwell. The cadets and the prince’s bodyguards all followed Mage Isabel into the middle of this lineup.

Rose heard shouting ahead as she approached the security corridor before the singularity chamber. But by the time she passed through the struggle was over. There were a dozen bodies—six traitors, and the original six guards who had held the passage before them.

“Mage Isabel, bring everyone through the lowest entrance,” Rose’s father sent. “We need every spellcaster we can get, immediately.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Rose entered the chamber to find the battle underway. Soldiers spread out from all three entrances on the different floors, exchanging fire with at least forty traitors—and unlike the loyalists, all them were spellcasters. Most wore castle servants’ uniforms, with a few in Peasant Army brown.

Of the magic flying across the maze-like chamber, the arcane bolts had only their quiet hum—but every lightning bolt and fireball announced itself with explosive noise. Cries of pain could be heard as well.

The metal walkways throughout the place were solidly built, but as the battle raged some became damaged and precarious. The destruction of lamps and use of smoke spells to conceal movement limited visibility, though this was partially countered by magical flares. Fortunately, arcane shields could filter out smoke from breathable air. The chamber had a number of windows and vents for maintaining air quality as well.

Rose crouched in the walled catwalks near the entrance for cover and began attacking with her companions. To her horror, she saw that Baron Tessel was fighting for the enemy. As she recovered from her shock, her father arrived by her side. “We’re betrayed,” he sent grimly as he continued his offense. “And we have no chance to survive if we don’t take out that disgrace to magehood soon.” With each successful attack, Tessel killed a wand-wielder or badly drained the reserve of a spellcaster. His explosive ice spells sent deadly shards in every direction, and his extreme mobility made him difficult to target.

“Tessel, you worthless dog!” Margas screamed as he attacked with his acid. For once in her life, Rose agreed with him. “How could you side with this filth?!”

“Oh, how could I ever side against the coward king who has dragged his feet for ten years after my lands were taken from me?” the archmage cried. “I expect to be wronged by my enemies—but not my sovereign!”

“You were the one who tried to kill me!” Robert yelled as he fired arcane bolts. “You’re a dead man!”

“I suppose you have reason to be cross with me,” Tessel called out mockingly. “Mage Charles as well! I was afraid you’d fail out of the academy before I could bring in enough of my people to take it. Thank you for not escaping while you had the chance, by the way—I’ll be well-rewarded for bringing the general your corpse!”

The battle raged on, with Rose’s father directing an offensive across the lower floors against the archmage. Though many soldiers were lost or wounded in the advance, finally Tessel was cut off from most of his allies near the primary control room. During the fighting Rose took a couple hits, but slowing her offense for a time allowed her mana to recover from the drain on her shield.

She stayed close to Simon throughout the battle, as she could not help but want to keep him safe. Though she could see her own anxiety reflected back at her when she met his gaze, he continued attacking bravely with his arcane bolts and fireballs. For her part Rose relied almost entirely on her arcana, but she switched to lightning whenever she saw two enemies standing close together on the conductive catwalks. Mei attacked sporadically with her ice magic—though much of her mana went to support Mage Isabel’s more powerful offense. Throughout all of this, Emma had time for nothing but seeing to the wounded. They all used their telekinetics to speed them from cover to cover.

Tessel’s mana reserve must have been running low, because Rose noticed that he was no longer a blur when he changed positions. His allies dwindled in number as the offensive closed in on him. But the fighting continued to take its toll on the loyalists as well. Prince Robert took a hit that enervated him beyond the ability to accept a mana transfer, and he fell to his knees in exhaustion. Though she did not want to be, Rose found herself deeply frightened for him.

“My Lord, you must withdraw,” Mage Averitt sent. He grabbed the prince’s arm to take over shielding him. “I’ll see you clear of the fighting.”

“I’m sorry, everyone,” Robert sent bitterly. He and the mage fell back from the battle, though the rest of the bodyguards stayed with the conflict.

Shortly thereafter, Margas was enervated by one of Tessel’s ice explosives. He cried out in agony as a piece of shrapnel passed through his leg. Then he gritted his teeth while Avice took over his shield and saw to the wound. Given how long the injury would take to treat, she was also out of the fight.

For all his efforts, Tessel’s allies fell one by one until he was alone. “Any of you who side with the general or withdraw will be rewarded!” he called out desperately, but there was no response. “Princess Mei, Griffonskull intends to install your brother as the Middle Kingdom’s emperor. Or you could rule yourself, if you wish! Repay my kindness!”

“You put me and my only friend in danger!” Mei cried. “I’ll never be your puppet, you loathsome worm!”

Tessel left his cover behind in an attempt to escape up the closest set of stairs, but this drew numerous magical attacks. He might have made it if not for one of Mei’s ice projectiles striking him in the leg. It passed through his now unstable shield and staggered him. Then Rose’s arcane bolt caught him in the chest. The disgraced archmage was knocked back over the railing beside him and plummeted into the mana singularity below. His body turned wavy and indistinct as it floated within the wake of the singularity. Then it broke into particles and vanished entirely.

The lowest floor above the singularity was still. However, the fighting was as fierce as ever above them. Rose and the other cadets still in the fight followed her father and Mage Isabel into the control room. The professor entered her staff code into a panel, but a buzzing sound signaled rejection. She looked to the rest of the group. “Tessel must have changed the passwords. But I have some experience with alchemical engineering—I can shut down the nexus crystals and horizontal levitation manually.”

“You’re sure you can stop us from moving without crashing the castle?” Rose’s father asked.

“I think so, Sir—if I’m wrong, try to enjoy the free fall.” Mage Isabel floated down until she was seated below the control panel, and began unscrewing the cover that hid the machinery beneath it with her magic.

“Mei, you’re not looking well,” Emma said. She held out a hand toward the telepath and focused on a spell. “You’re too tired to regenerate enough mana for combat.”

Mei seemed about to protest, but Mage Isabel spoke first. “Leave her with me then. I could use a second pair of hands.”

“You may not have much time,” Rose’s father told the other mage. “The fighting on the upper floors isn’t going well.”

“Understood. I’ll try to light the emergency beacon as well.”

“Emma, you should stay behind,” Mei said. Rose was surprised by her plaintive tone. “There are wounded to tend to down here.”

“I need to stay with Rose. …⁠I’m sorry.”

Everyone but Mage Isabel and Mei exited the control room. Rose’s father looked to his men. “Those of you who can still fight, follow me.”

The group proceeded up the stairs to rejoin the conflict. “We may not win this battle,” Rose’s father sent, only to her. “If you have to flee or surrender to survive, do so. Don’t worry about me.”

“Don’t talk like that!”

“That’s an order,” he insisted. “Whatever happens, I love you, Rose.”

She hesitated, as answering felt like an admission that his fear for the battle was valid. “…⁠I love you, Dad.”