Reed's boots hit the dirt as he broke into a sprint, shadows curling off his arms. Around him, students surged forward, spells erupting and voices shouting—but the chaos of movement faltered almost instantly.
From the far side of the crater, just as the first wave of enemy soldiers came into view, a second group emerged—silent, fast, and more heavily armed. Dozens of figures in dark gray gear spread out, raising long wooden rods with black metal protrusions at the front. Where were the seniors? They were nowhere to be seen…
Crack! Crack! CRACK!
The noise tore through the air—short, violent bursts, louder than thunder. Students dropped like cut grass—one took a hit to the leg and crumpled, another screamed and clutched her side. Reed barely rolled behind a boulder in time, a blast slamming into the dirt where he'd been a second ago.
"What the hell are those?" someone yelled.
No glow. No chant. No mana. Just deadly noise and blood.
"They're shooting!" another voice screamed. "Those rods—they're firing something!"
A Gold Light mage—upperclassman, Reed thought—dove in front of two panicked students, both hands raised. A shimmering barrier flared out just in time to deflect another shot. It cracked the shield but held.
"We need more shields up!" Marek bellowed from somewhere ahead. "Gold mages, form the front! Rotate cover! MOVE!" Even though Marek could barely walk, he had refused to stay behind, so he charged forward, limping all the way.
Reed's squad huddled in broken terrain while enemy soldiers laid down suppressing fire. But now, the golden light shimmered more often—protective domes and angled plates forming one after the other as gold mages stepped forward.
Lannis, already crouched beside a wounded student, glanced up. "We have enough to cover each squad if they cycle! Not forever, but enough to advance!"
The tactical shift spread like wildfire.
Cath raised both arms, sweat beading on her brow as a large angled shield shimmered in front of her team. "Two seconds per cast, six meters of ground. Push and reset. GO!"
Behind that golden glow, students surged forward. Every few seconds, a shield dropped—and another replaced it, each mage stepping in rhythm like moving gears in a siege engine.
Reed bolted under cover, staying low. Behind him, Hare led his own squad in tight formation, moving shield to shield like an armored phalanx.
Another crack rang out, hitting a shield dead center. The golden light fractured but didn't shatter. They kept moving.
Reed broke formation and dashed forward, aiming for the group of enemy soldiers laying down the heaviest fire. Their strange weapons cracked and spat again—one student took a hit in the thigh, another dropped hard—but they didn't scatter. The shields were holding.
Shadows licked up Reed's back, stretching toward the mist. He pushed through brush and debris until he reached a fallen tree. One soldier turned toward him—weapon raised.
Crack!
The air next to Reed exploded. He dove left, shadows whipping out like a net. They caught the man's arm, yanking the weapon upward just as he fired again. Reed hit him hard in the gut, ripped the weapon away, and slammed him to the ground.
Up close, the object was even stranger: wood, metal, blackened ends, and a thick protrusion near the back. Smoke drifted from a small hole at the tip.
More of them turned.
Crack-crack!
Reed's instincts screamed. He threw himself into a slide, a shot grazing his side. His shadows lashed out again, disorienting two more attackers.
Then a gold shield slammed down in front of him.
Cath stood behind it, chest heaving. "I told you not to be reckless."
"Appreciate the save," he grunted, pushing himself up.
Behind them, Juni and her team advanced up the right flank. Water surged and crashed in bursts, knocking enemies off balance. Hare's group circled left, drawing fire—shields flashing under constant pressure.
Three Gold Light mages, all upperclassmen, rotated positions to maintain cover for the teams. Cath coordinated them, voice clipped and loud.
"Push under the barrier, twenty paces each! We control this fight now—don't give them space to fire!"
Another shield dropped into place as Reed and Cath charged forward. He reached the next soldier just as the man tried to reload the strange device. Reed's shadows coiled around his leg and yanked him off balance.
A fist, a knee, a solid crunch—and the enemy was down.
The line collapsed soon after.
With the firing squad disrupted and the Gold mages forming a living wall of defense, the students swarmed forward. Most of the remaining enemy soldiers retreated into the forest line, dragging the wounded with them as well as the box of blue haze. It seemed the box had been able to weaken some of their spells, as even je had felt a slight difference in his strength.
Reed stood in the middle of the clearing, chest rising and falling. His side throbbed. A trickle of blood slid down his ribs, but it hadn't pierced too deep.
Cath was already moving to the next wounded group, stabilizing a boy who'd taken a hit to the shoulder. "Shield mages, start pulling back anyone with a wound. Rotate again. Reed, check the bodies. I want to know what these things are. Also, I'll try and find a search team for the seniors, where could they have gone? They were fighting right as we had left the crater…"
He nodded and crouched near the first enemy he'd dropped. She had her mission and he had his. Now for the weapon, The wooden weapon lay beside the body, still warm.
No mana, no core. Just cold metal, dark wood, and something sinister built into it, like it was made with the sole purpose of taking lives.
Whatever these things were—they weren't magic.
And the enemy had more of them.