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James, Lydia, and Algon sat frozen as the image disappeared, and then James blasted up.

"What are we waiting for?" he cried, already swinging his coat on. "Let's go!"

"Hold on." Lydia grabbed his hand. "We can't just race in there without any idea of what's going on. We're just Apprentice Mages; we should go and get people who can actually do something, like some guards or even the Headmaster!"

Algon shook his head. "We don't have the time," he said. "Delta won't wait around for us, and there's no telling what trouble he could get himself into if we aren't there. I say we go help him right now."

Lydia looked between her two friends and sighed. "Fine, but I still think this is a bad idea."

After grabbing their armor and equipment, they snuck out of the dorms. The night was cold and dark, only the lone moon providing light to see by. No other mages could be seen, which unfortunately meant that they couldn't get any extra help.

Arriving at the infirmary, they discovered that the main door was locked for the night.

"How are we going to get in?" Lydia whispered.

"Let me go take a look around. Stay here and watch the front."

James walked around the side and his friends stared up at the building. It was silent, with no light coming from any of the windows. They searched for signs of Delta, possibly flashing from his pistols, but found nothing.

Lydia's amulet lit up and James' face appeared.

"Hey guys, I found a way in." They found him standing in front of a cracked window.

"This must be the way that the Ikirian entered," Algon said, remembering what Delta had told them. "Strange though, the locking sigil doesn't seem to have been messed with."

James pushed the window open further and slipped inside. He then turned and helped Algon and Lydia down as well. Surveying the lobby, they saw that the room was dark and quiet. The only respectable source of light came from Algon. The orange glow emanating from the cracks in his rocky skin illuminated a small portion ahead.

James knelt down by a furnished sofa. "This must have been where Delta was hiding," he whispered. "Look, he dropped one of his bullets when he drew his pistols."

He passed it to Lydia, who stored it in her amulet.

"He said that he heard something upstairs, and I think he left to follow it. Should we head up there as well?"

"One second; let's make sure we're ready first. James, got Ruin?"

"Ready to draw. I've got several spells mentally prepped too."

"Algon, do you have your staff?"

He nodded and pulled it out. "I'm going to be a bit limited on what I can do in here. If we need to fight, let's force him outside so we won't have to worry about the patients or the building."

"Good thinking. Ready?"

Algon and James both nodded. Lydia gulped.

"Well, then let's go."

The air was still as they climbed the stairs leading to the infirmary's second floor. The landing was as dark as the lobby, with most of the doors to the rooms closed.

"Where's the staff?" James asked as he crept forward slowly. "Shouldn't there be at least one Alchemist watching over the patients?"

"Yeah, you're right. He must be around here somewhere. Maybe if we can get his attention, he can alert the guards."

They arrived at the first door and James glanced back at his friends. "What do we do? Should we go inside?"

They hesitated before nodding slightly. Algon pushed open the door, letting a small amount of light creep into the room. He peered into the room, which was mostly empty save for a bed and dresser.

"I think someone's sleeping on the bed. It must be a patient."

"This isn't Aurra's room," Lydia said, checking the name on the door. "So I doubt Delta would have entered. Let's keep going."

The next door opened with a slight creek, making all 3 of them pause for a frightening moment. However, the room was completely empty. In order to confirm that, Algon even entered a tiny way and made a small flame that sent shadows dancing across the walls, but nothing happened, much to their relief.

There were only a couple more doors in the hallway at this point.

"Unless the Ikirian and Delta left, they have to be up here. There are only two floors!"

"Shhh. Let's try the next room. Just be careful and alert."

When James tried the door, it refused to open.

"Is it locked?"

"No, I think it's just stuck. Here, help me."

They put their weight against the door and shoved as quietly as they could. It gave way suddenly, and they tumbled into the room, tripping over something in the process.

"Ow." James rubbed his head. "That really hurt."

He opened his eyes when his friends didn't respond and glanced beside him. Both had wide eyes and were staring at the thing they had tripped over when they had entered the room.

"Well, I think we've found the Alchemist on duty," said Algon.

He was sprawled on the ground, still breathing, but injured.

"This must have been the source of Delta's crash." Algon pointed up to the dresser. It looked something had hit it hard, sending it falling down right in front of the door. "That's why it was so hard to get in."

"I bet the Alchemist tried to stop the Ikirian and got dealt with. He's still alive, luckily."

James got up from the floor and went to investigate the rest of the room. The bed was normal, and there was nothing underneath it.

"This room's empty. Let's check the next one."

"Wait," said Algon, perking up from where he had been looking over the Alchemist. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That rustling noise."

The closet was the only other thing in the room and it was closed. James crept over and, just like Algon said, there was a soft rustling noise, like fabric moving. Jakes looked back over at the others, who nodded in affirmation. He drew Ruin and, in a quick motion, flung open the door.

"Delta!"

The boy was lying on the floor, bound in what looked to be luminous webbing. He had a cluster covering his mouth as well, making so he couldn't say a word.

Lydia and Algon ran over after hearing James' cry.

"Some sort of magical binding. Hold on, I think I can break them."

Lydia knelt beside him and began to analyze the restraints using her Weird powers. After a couple of seconds, her hands glowed and she managed to break the stuff over Delta's mouth.

He immediately started speaking. "Oh, thank god you arrived quickly !"

"What happened?"

"I'm not too sure. I think the Ikirian ambushed me when I came to check on the Alchemist."

"Are you alright?"

Delta shook his head. "I'm fine, but Aurra's in the next room over, and the Ikirian went in there when he was done with me. Go, help her!"

James nodded. "Algon, come with me. Lydia, can you finish on Delta's chains?"

"He should be unlocked any minute. I've got this, go help Aurra!"

They both dashed out and headed next door, foregoing all attempts to be silent. Crashing open the door, they saw a dark figure standing over Aurra's bed. He was abnormally tall, but they couldn't make out much more with the lack of light.

He spun around, obviously startled at their entrance. His arm had been glowing softly over Aurra, but he pulled it back quickly.

Algon ignited a flame on the tip of his staff. "Stop right there!"

"Yeah," yelled James, holding up Ruin. "You've got nowhere to run, so leave her alone and come with us!"

The Ikirian looked at each of them and then flung out an arm.

"Look out!"

A ball of light flew towards them. James dove in front of Algon and unleashed a lightning strike in return. It shot through the ball like it wasn't even there, and hit the wall with a crash that shook the building.

"Oops," he muttered a bit sheepishly. "Didn't mean for that to happen."

The Ikirian looked at the now-open wall. With the moonlight now illuminating the room, James saw two gigantic wings fly open, clear as crystal and gossamer thin. He ran forward, but it was too late. The Ikirian reached out and slung Aurra over his shoulder before diving off the ledge. James peered down after them, but couldn't see anything.

"We have to get outside!" Algon called.

"Need a lift?"

They turned around to see Delta and Lydia running into the room. He looked over at James and gestured. "Take Algon, I've got Lydia. Race you down."

James' eyes widened as he realized what Delta was implying. He hoisted Algon up and charged his energy.

Lydia scrambled as she was picked up. "What are you..."

Both friends zipped downstairs in an instant, Delta using his Aetherling powers and James drawing on Kuitheium. Their passengers both fell over when they stopped, bent at the waist from motion sickness.

"Don't ever do that again, idiot! We aren't used to high speeds like you guys are!"

"Sorry, but it worked!" Delta said back, breathing hard.

"There he is! I see him!"

They all followed Algon's finger to see a shadow flying over Rioyda.

"Follow him! Don't let him get away!"

The night air whipped by as they all sprinted at top speed, Delta running ahead to make sure they didn't lose him. There were a couple of nearby voices as the mages started to finally wake up, but there wasn't enough time to stop and wait for backup.

"I think he's heading for the jungle!" James suddenly shouted as he saw the direction they were running.

"Don't lose sight of him!" Delta called back. "In those thick trees, he'd disappear for sure!"

To James' surprise, the Ikirian followed a similar path to the one that led to the clearing. Unfortunately, as the trees grew together overhead, they saw less and less until he vanished from view entirely.

"Hells!" Delta shouted as he stopped running. "We lost him!"

They had arrived in the clearing, but there was no flying shadow anywhere to be found.

"Spread out," Lydia said. "See if you spot anything."

James shook his head. "There won't be anything. He was careful enough not to leave a trail in the middle of a break in; he won't leave a trail in the middle of his own jungle."

"It doesn't matter," she hissed back, glancing over at Delta. "This is his friend we're talking about. Stop acting like an idiot!"

"I'm just trying to be practical. Let's not waste time searching aimlessly and head back to Rioyda. We can ask the Headmaster or the Chancellor for help instead."

"In a second. Algon, got anything?"

"Absolutely nothing. Let's head back to Rioyda and call for help."

"James said the same thing. I feel bad for Delta though.

Algon walked over to their friend, who was staring at the ground. "Hey bud, let's head back."

He shook his head. "No, I'm going to keep searching."

Algon frowned. "There's no point; we won't track them down in this dense jungle, especially not at night."

"Well then you guys go, but I'm staying here."

"Think rationally for once! What's wrong with you? Doing that won't help Aurra in the slightest."

Delta looked up at him with tortured eyes. "Really? Cause I tried to help her once and failed utterly!"

"You has no control over that. You had no way of knowing that something like this would happen!"

"It doesn't matter; I let her down! This is the exact same thing that happened at the Celestial Tournament. I failed you, and now I failed her as well!"

"That's not the attitude she needs right now," James said as he walked over. "Stop whining over your mistakes and move on! The only thing you can do is keep on moving forward any way that you can, and we'll be with you. But not if you stay here, moping."

Delta gave a small sob and stood up, wiping his eyes. "You're right; that's not what she needs. Let's go and get help."

"Glad to see you thinking clearly again," James said with a smile. Let's go."

"Um, guys? We have a tiny problem."

They all glanced over at Lydia to see her looking everywhere in a panic.

"What's wrong? Is the Ikirian back?"

"No, something worse. Our path's gone!"

"What do you mean, gone? It was right over..."

The area where James was pointing was completely covered by jungle, seamlessly blending with the rest of the clearing. He spun around, a feeling a sudden dread mounting in his stomach as he saw that there was no path at all, only trees and bushes.

"Algon, please tell me you know what's going on."

He got shaking head in response.

"Delta, you either?"

"No. But something feels wrong. Like, very wrong. But I can't place it."

James looked around for a second before freezing, a chill running down his spine. "It's quiet. Way too quiet."

The moon suddenly disappeared behind a cloud and the clearing went dark. None of them dared to move, frozen by an instinctive fear.

"Algon," James said, slowly and softly. "Give us a small bit of light, please."

A small flame flickered to life in his palm and they saw that the clearing had become much smaller. Much, much smaller. The trees had closed in, the darkness between them growing steadily. A white mist began to seep out from the trees and began to approach the friends standing together.

Seeing something move out of the corner of her eye, Lydia snapped out of her panic. "Everyone, together. Algon, ring of fire, NOW!"

Surprised by her command, he reacted, summoning a blaze to encircle them. Several branches that had been about to whip at them recoiled, the trees hissing in pain. Writhing vines ringed the clearing and the white mist shone with an almost deadly light, spreading to cover the ground like a thick fog.

"What are we supposed to do?" cried Delta.

"Stay calm, we can't afford to panic. Algon, if we move, can you maintain the circle around us?"

He shook his head. "No, something's draining my magic at an alarming rate! Right now, I can barely manage to keep those trees out!"

Lydia turned back to James. "What can you do? Anything?"

"Give me a moment; I'm thinking!"

He was interrupted by a massive crash as something rushed towards them.

James peered through the wall of fire in the direction of the noise. Then, he stumbled back as a huge elephant-deer burst into the circle.

"It's Ran!" Algon cried. "He's come to save us!"

"Wait, don't move! That's not Ran!"

"Don't be ridiculous. He's still wearing the hoof-band that I gave him as a present. Of course it's Ran."

The elephant-deer shook droplets of fire off of its coat and stood up. His eyes were wild and the tongue that had licked Delta to bits was pulled back to reveal a mouth of sharp fangs.

"That might be Ran, but he's certainly not here to help!"

Ran roared, a haunting, howling sound, and charged at Algon.

"Delta, with me! Lydia, don't you dare stop figuring a way out of here!"

James ran towards the rampaging monster, building his magic as he went. Thankfully, the elements in the clearing were mostly untouched, although both Ran and the trees were complete chaos. The mist didn't make any sense at all, but as Ran roared again, James turned his attention back to the matter in front of him.

Boom!

He slammed into Ran, grabbing onto both of his horns and infusing his body with Earth. His heels dug into the ground as he used a frightening amount of strength to just barely manage to halt the charge.

Ran roared once more as he saw that he was being stopped, but no matter how hard he pushed, James didn't let up, holding him in place and looking into his eyes.

"Stop it! Don't you remember us?!"

Ran's horns glowed as an answer and James let go just as beams of white light shot from the tips. Delta tackled him out of the way, crashing to the ground and popping back up instantly, drawing his pistols.

"This isn't the slobbery goofball we knew! He's trying to kill us, so I'd suggest we respond in kind."

"Alright," said James, drawing Ruin and charging it with energy. "I'll take point, cover me!"

He dashed towards Ran, who charged once again. Delta took aim and unleashed a barrage of bullets. White light flickered over Ran's coat and they lost their light, falling to the ground the minute they got close.

"He has a way to absorb magic! I'm switching to basic rounds. Be careful!"

"Got it!"

James met the charge again, this time swinging Ruin at Ran's horns as he jumped up to dodge. The blade struck true but failed to even cut an inch as the magic was sucked out of it.

"Damn, he can even affect my blade?!? Oh crap!"

Ran turned back around and charged again. James raised the blade in defense, but a storm of gunfire stopped the attack.

"Quick Draw! Try nonmagical bullets!"

Ran staggered to the side, obviously bruised, but otherwise unharmed.

"That didn't do enough! How much ammo do you have left?"

Delta gulped. "Not enough! Only one more salvo, max! I run out of shots way too fast with these guns!"

"More important matters right now, Delta!"

Ran stood back up, looking very, very angry. He roared, preparing to charge.

"Lydia, please tell me you have a plan. Anything would be nice!"

"I'm sorry, I've got nothing!"

Ran reared back and charged straight at them, tearing up the ground and steaming white light. James held up Ruin as he stepped in front of his friends, trying to do the most that he could. He braced and closed his eyes.

A figure suddenly crashed down from the sky, landing right in front of James and folding its wings closed. As it held out its hand, a glowing shield emerged between them and the charging monster. Then, as Ran slammed into the barrier, he was thrown back to the edge of the ring, coat smoking. The savior turned to face James and his friends, giving them a long stare.

James gasped and his mouth fell open. "I don't believe it," he whispered to an equally shocked Lydia and Delta. "That's an Ikirian!"