Chapter 54: Classified Information
The elf dropped before Damon could react. The arrow drove through his chest with surgical precision, cutting off his final word. Blood sprayed across Damon’s face and uniform, hot and sudden.
He knew the archer before he even saw her.
The elf from the Banshee incident stood at the cave entrance, her bow still raised, with half a dozen elven archers spread out behind her. Every one of them had an arrow nocked, and every one of them stood with the same cold, professional stillness.
"Stand back, Persival."
She lowered her bow. She had been the one who fired.
"What was that for?!" Damon’s hands came up, not quite in surrender, but ready all the same. "He was trying to speak—"
"He was infected with a corruption crystal." Her tone left no room for argument. "Standard elven procedure."
Damon’s objection died in his throat. Standard procedure. The elves knew about this phenomenon. The same phenomenon he had only ever read about in obscure forum posts from academies on other continents. The same thing that had turned ten students into hollow-eyed husks in a single cave.
He had thought it was rare. He had thought he had stumbled onto something unknown.
"You know what happened to him?" he asked.
"Barely, all we know is that they’d need to be killed before they cause even more trouble."
The elf’s eyes moved across the chamber, taking in the bodies, the scorched stone, and the shattered crystal fragments. A faint smirk touched the corner of her mouth.
"Nice work, Persival. You really are your father’s son."
She glanced back at her squad and gave a short nod. At once, the archers shifted their aim from Damon to the students he had left breathing.
Damon took a step forward.
"Wait, what’s going on? Why are you executing them? We don’t have enough information—"
"That isn’t a risk we’re willing to make, human."
She pulled a folded document from her belt and held it up. The academy seal stood out at the top, fresh ink still visible. It was authorization to terminate any rogue Resonator showing the specified symptoms.
"New orders. They came through the moment the first rogue made it back to the infirmary."
The first rogue. The one Damon and Sera had captured in the forest. The one Matthew had hauled back to the academy in mana-suppressing cuffs.
"So he wasn’t curable," Damon said quietly.
"No. Far from it." She tucked the document away. "If you have time, you should check on him yourself."
"Why don’t you just tell me?"
"Because I’m not sure you’re authorized to hear it." Her eyes met his, not unkindly. "Find out for yourself."
"Fine."
"Now get moving. We found your friends at the waystation. They asked us to track you down after you vanished."
Damon’s stomach tightened. "The rogues we had restrained there—"
"Already dealt with." She said it flatly, without apology.
"I see."
The silence stretched. Damon looked over the bodies scattered across the chamber floor, the corrupted students, the elf exchange student with an arrow through his heart. Whatever answers he had hoped to find here had just been buried under academy protocol and elven procedure.
"It’s a pleasure meeting you again," the elf said, her voice softening. "To think you can hold yourself in a fight now. Time really does fly."
"Funny hearing that from an elf," Damon managed with a tired chuckle.
"Yes, yes. But remember that I’m still your senior." She gestured toward the cave entrance with her bow. "Now get going. Leave everything here to us."
***
Damon didn’t argue. He walked past the elven archers, past the bodies, past the shattered remains of the crystal. His boots crunched over gray fragments, and the sound echoed in the silence left behind.
The forest outside was still dark, but the oppressive weight that had pressed down on him since entering the cave was gone. The air felt cleaner. The bioluminescent moss glowed steadily along the trail markers, guiding him back toward the main road.
The elf had killed her own kind without hesitation. Standard procedure, she’d called it. The same procedure that had already been applied to the rogues at the waystation. The same procedure that had likely been applied to the first rogue back at the academy.
And Damon had been authorized to know exactly none of it.
He reached the waystation as the first hints of dawn began to lighten the sky. The barrier runes still pulsed steadily, their golden glow unchanged.
Sera was waiting outside, her staff in hand, her expression caught somewhere between relief and fury.
"There you are!" She marched toward him, and for a moment, he thought she might actually hit him. "You vanished! In the middle of the night! Without waking anyone!"
"Long story."
Sera looked like she wanted to argue, but something in his expression made her stop. Her eyes moved over his blood-spattered uniform and the tight set of his jaw. The anger in her face faded into something more careful.
"What happened?"
Damon told her. The crystal, the corrupted students, the elf exchange student, the elven archers, and the termination order. By the time he finished, Rook had joined them, her sword hand resting on her pommel.
"Systemic Corruption Crystals," Rook said quietly. "I’ve heard rumors. Never seen one myself. Rather not get involved."
"The elves knew about them, apparently. Had protocols and authorization papers even."
"They would. The elves have been dealing with portal phenomena longer than we have. If anyone has protocols for something like this, it’s them."
Lena appeared in the doorway, her satchel already packed. She took one look at Damon’s blood-spattered uniform and went pale.
"You’re hurt."
"It’s not mine."
"That doesn’t make it better."
She was already pulling out a clean cloth, already moving toward him with that focused, determined expression she always wore when she’d decided he needed taking care of.
"Sit down. Let me at least clean you up before we start walking."
He sat. The waystation’s stone wall was cold against his back. Lena worked in silence, wiping the dried blood from his face with careful, precise movements. Sera leaned against the doorframe, her staff propped beside her.
"For now, let’s head to the main city and hope that by the time we return, this rogue student situation will be handled," Rook said.
"Quite optimistic, Rook," Sera replied.
"It’s my job to keep you all safe and calm. Would you rather I say something ominous?"
"Actually... yeah, good point. I apologize for saying anything."
"Apology accepted."
