Chapter Seven- Silence Traitor
Silence hung over the Guild like a cloud, Sekka was walking down the University corridors, a pile of books floating just ahead of him, the moonlight bounced off the marble floors and danced around the hallways. He looked up at the stars, smiling, he felt so at home in the Guild, it was three days after the Ichani Warrior had attacked, he'd heard nothing from the High Lord or Lord Lorlen. Lord Thorn was barely seen and often sent far a field on missions that he would discuss with no one but the High Lords.
His boots made a clinking noise on the cold floors, as he turned a corner he heard the sound of footsteps, stopping he turned and looked up and down the corridor, no one there, shrugging uneasy thoughts off he carried on. The footsteps came again, somewhere on his right but there was just a wall there, whoever it was would be level with him now. Making the books float to the floor he pressed his ear to the wall, he could hear someone on the other side, then there was a wave of powerful magic, he took a step away from the wall as the footsteps started again, running along side the wall he kept apace with the hidden person. He found his way blocked by a chest and had to dodge out the way, the footsteps had stopped, he wondered if the person had sensed him there but seconds later the chest began to move, Sekka ducked down, hoping to avoid detection. Once the chest had been moved by magic there was a small hole in the wall, someone in red robes climbed gracefully out the hole, as the person straightened his face was revealed. Lord Thanil, what was he doing down there? Sekka wondered, Thanil glanced left and right, passing over the Novices' head, then the Magician walked off down the corridor, he sighed with relief as Thanil passed out of sight, the chest was moving back into its original position but before it closed Sekka slipped through the hole, time to see what's down here. He created a globe of light and the hallway was revealed, luckily he could stand up straight but he doubted if Thanil would have been able to. The hallway stretched off in both directions and Sekka decided to follow the way the Thanil had come, he set off, keeping track of where he'd come. The walls had been bare for most the way but soon there were small barred windows set into locked doors, Sekka peered into each one and most were empty, until the next one. He looked in and his breath caught in his throat, inside was a person, they were chained to the wall. He pushed on the door, it was locked, he drew on magic to open it but as he tried to force the lock he was thrown backwards and into the wall. The air was knocked out of him and he shook his head to clear it. Coughing slightly he pulled himself up and peered into the room, the person had looked up, it was a girl, her black hair hung over her emerald green eyes. He guessed that she thought he was either an illusion or hadn't seen her as she put her head back down, he tried to lock again and got the same result. He wondered if this was why Thanil had been down here, he had tried to free her. Somehow though, it didn't fit together, why had Thanil even come down here? It didn't lead to anywhere…was Thanil behind this? Pushing the thought from his mind he sat down against the door, if he told Lorlen then he'd want to know why Sekka had even been down here, he couldn't tell him that he'd been spying on Thanil, or could he? As he dropped his head onto the metal door it jolted, he yelled as it opened and he fell backwards into the room, the girl looked up, he could see here from where he lay, upside down, she was gaping at him. Sekka pulled himself up and straightened his robes, then he walked over and willed the chains to break, they did and he helped the girl up, he noticed that her ears were pointed, she was an elf, trying to contain his excitement he smiled at her. She was still staring at him like she couldn't believe it and as though she thought that he was an illusion, the door begun to close and he pulled her through the doorway before it did. "Wh…who are you?" She sounded slightly scared and slightly confused.
"Sekka, you?"
"Aria, but why are you here, Thanil will kill you."
"Thanil imprisoned you?"
"Yes, I knew too much, I think." She suddenly gasped, staring at the passage, he drew on his magic but no one was there.
"What the? Don't do that, you almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry, but I need to get back to my homeland, they must be warned about the Ichani!" She pulled him along the corridor and would have taken many wrong turns if Sekka hadn't corrected her, he was surprised that he remembered the way. He climbed out the passage first, the corridor beyond was empty, he helped her out and they crept long the hallways towards the gates. Once out the University, Aria ran to the stables and climbed onto a horse.
"Hey! Aren't you gonna stay and make sure Thanil is punished?!"
"There's no time!" She cried, "You mustn't tell anyone you saw me, it's too dangerous, the Ichani will come after you next!"
"They already have, I've fought a spy and a Warrior, and I only joined the Guild in Winter!" She smiled at him then rode off, the main gates swung open for her and soon she was gone into the night. He stared for a few minutes until he remembered his books and ran back for them. When he walked into the Novice Quarters he found Sai was still awake, reading.
"What the hell have you been doing?!" The boy shouted jumping up off the sofa. "You're covered in dust!" Sekka looked down, he was indeed completely covered in dust and dirt.
"Passage way didn't agree with me,"
With that he walked into his room, got changed and lay down, his dreams were plagued by Thanil and an army of Ichani warriors. He had barely fallen asleep when he was woken by a piercing scream, he sprinted out his room and almost collided with Sai who had run out his own room. They ran into the corridor, curious faces had appeared from doors, people were whispering, the scream came again, from outside the Quarters, a few of them went into their rooms to look from the window but most ran outside into the cold night air to see for themselves who was screaming. The first Novice out was a boy named Antio, as soon as the boy ran out the door he was thrown back by a barrier of magic, a few other Novices fell back, but most skidded to a halt. No one could see who was making the barrier, and no one wanted to find out, Sekka stared for a moment then ran back inside, he climbed out the window, whoever had made the barrier hadn't thought to cover the windows, Sai had climbed out after him and they were both scanning the Guild grounds for signs of life. The first they saw was a boy covering on the grass, cries of shock showed that the other Novices' had seen it too. There was an Ichani stood above him, holding a knife, Sekka knew that he was the one casting the barrier but he also knew that the Magician had no shield up, big mistake. Not wanting to waste any magic Sekka sprinted at the back of the man, he leapt onto his back and they both toppled to the floor, the Magician was the first one up and sent strikes at Sekka, who managed to dodge them, The Novice back flipped up and landed at Sai's side. The other Novice was holding a scroll in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, he began to sweep the brush over the scroll and after a few seconds there was a painting of around ten beasts on the scroll, as a strike reflected off his shield Sai touched the scroll and said in a whisper, "Choujuu Giga." The painting came to life and the beasts ran forward, attacking the Magician, a strike hit one and it burst into ink, splattering the Ichani and almost blinding him. A second beast attacked and this struck it's target, it bit a huge gash in the Magicians side, despite the shield. Another three took the Magician down and the Ichani fell with a shriek.
"Where on earth did you learn that?!" Sekka asked as the beasts exploded into ink that faded back into the scroll.
"Why d'you think I've been studying so much? I wanted to be able to use an attack that was effective and didn't use as much of my power as most attacks."
"Certainly was effective." He muttered, Lord Lorlen had come running across the grass and was telling the other Novices' to get back to bed, they were about to follow the others back inside when Lorlen called them over.
"Well done, both of you, I'll let you get back to bed in a bit, but first I want to talk to you in my office." The two Novices' glanced at each other and followed him. Magicians gave them curious glances as they passed but none said anything. When they walked into the Administrators office the first thing that Sekka noticed was that Thanil was in there, he used all his self control to stop himself from bolting at the sight of the Magician. Sai and Sekka took the seats offered to them, thankfully, the ones furthest from Thanil. Lorlen seated himself behind his desk. "Sekka, Lord Thanil is wondering if you have changed your mind."
"About what my lord?"
"Guardianship."
"No, Lord Kyruto is a very good teacher and Guardian, I see no reason to change Guardians. And anyway, why would I want to be taught by a-" Sekka caught himself in time.
"By a what, may I ask?" Lorlen asked, leaning forward, Thanil was hissing slightly.
"A traitor!" Sekka yelled, jumping to his feet, pointing an accusing finger at Thanil who also stood up.
"How dare you!" He roared, snatching at Sekka who ducked out the way.
"What on earth do you mean Sekka?" Lorlen asked, pushing them both back into their seats.
"He imprisoned an Elf called Aria in one of the passages, she told me!" Lorlen gaped and Thanil blanched.
"Thanil, is this true?" Thanil began to laugh humourlessly.
"It's too late now! The Ichani will attack the Elven cities in two days and they have no warning!"
"They do, Aria went in the night." Thanil stared.
"NO!" Magicians rushed in and held Thanil down as he tried to attack Sekka, Lorlen told the Novices' to go back to their Quarters and sleep, as Sekka left Vanir walked in, he gaped as he saw his father shouting at the other Magicians and ranting about how the world would fall. Sekka paused and turned to look back to Thanil. He pointed at Thanil.
"Silence traitor." And with that, he left the room.
