Chapter 3
rune
. . .
The chamber hummed around us, wards thrumming beneath my suit-clad feet. The overwhelming scent of magic filled the simulator just as it always had.
This was my last year at this Academy. I’d finally made it to year four. No more textbook learning and no more shadowing missions.
I was finally able to prove myself.
I had House Cooperation with Jarvins once again, and our squad had stayed the same as last year. The list of our squad members and our roles lit up in glowing script in the air above Jarvins.
RUNE BLOODWYNE – SPY
DIMITRI NOCTURNUS – SPY
IVY BENSON – ENFORCER
SOLON RYK – ENFORCER
SYLVER SEAVYRN – MAGICAL SPECIALIST
KATIE MORNWICK – INTELLIGENCE ANALYST
SLATER HAVOC – TECH SPECIALIST
ZUKO VYRE – TORTURE EXPERT
ELEANOR FAWNMERE – DIPLOMAT
KOA ASHBOURNE – HEALER
We had all worked well together last year, and we were one of two squads that hadn’t lost anyone in the simulation missions yet.
Jarvins stood in front of the holographic control panel in the center of the chamber, a twig in his mouth like always. The control console floated around him in a ring of glowing sigils.
He smirked at us, black eyes glinting. “You need to focus on making it to graduation this year,” he said, twig bobbing as he talked.
“However, since the humans are causing a lot of issues in today’s climate, the other House professors and I have developed a new simulation to prep you for the current conditions. ”
My stomach tightened with a mix of adrenaline and dread.
I was tired of the humans.
“Due to the kidnappings, specifically,” he went on, gaze flicking to me for half a second. “We are going to lean into that angle. The scenario theme in this mission is a supernatural kidnapping by the humans.”
My fangs pricked my lip.
Dimitri’s fingers brushed mine, and his desire to comfort me flitted through the bond.
“I’ll give you the overview of your mission.
Recently, in Fate Hollow, there’s been a spike in supernatural disappearances.
Evidence points toward the Human Resistance Network taking and experimenting on supernaturals using tourmalyke to suppress magical power and knock them out for easy transport. ”
A too-familiar chill slid down my spine at the word tourmalyke. The professors made this mission very accurate.
“The most recent case involves four teenagers that were camping at the border between Fate Hollow and the Human Territory,” he explained.
“Their species are werewolf, vampire, witch, and fear demon. Abducted right at the border by a covert human extraction team. Only the witch escaped via emergency teleport. She’s traumatized, disoriented, and the clock is ticking for you to locate the taken teenagers. ”
He paused.
Concern filled the bond from my mates, and I knew they were worried about me since I had been kidnapped by the humans before.
I sent them back reassurance through our bonds.
“This will be a full-team simulation,” he finished. “You’ll be tested on coordination, diplomacy, infiltration, and crisis recovery. Best of luck.” His attention shifted to Katie. “Intelligence analyst, I’ve sent you all available intel. You’re briefing today.”
Katie’s eyes went wide. She tightened her grip on her tablet until her knuckles turned white. Still, she squared her shoulders and stepped up beside Jarvins, facing us.
Her blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun with a pen stabbed through it. I briefly wondered if she forgot she put it there. Behind black-framed glasses, her brown eyes were sharper than her posture suggested.
She scrolled her tablet quickly, then cleared her throat.
“Patterns indicate that all victims taken from Fate Hollow so far have been young,” she explained.
“All were last seen in border-adjacent wilderness. Magical signatures were wiped using human-made chemicals, so unless there’s a witness, we can’t even tell who or what species was taken. ”
Ivy frowned. “That’s not comforting.”
Slater shifted, cracking his knuckles. “Bet I could get ahold of some footage somewhere.”
Snakey manifested and hissed his agreement.
Katie continued, “All the collected evidence points to humans. But according to council intel, the Human Council has denied involvement in every single incident that points their way. That means if we cross into their territory on this, we’re technically stepping into a sensitive zone.”
Her gaze flicked to Eleanor. “So, Eleanor will need to speak with a Human Council representative so we can get permission to operate near and across the border. We can’t just stroll into human territory and start killing people.”
“Unfortunately,” Zuko muttered.
Jarvins's twig twitched as he smiled. “Very well. Katie, you have full intel access on your tablet. Now, begin your mission. The timeline is not estimated. It will take as long as it takes.”
He tapped a button on the control panel, and the simulator responded with a low thrumming sound before it whooshed.
The smooth floor melted into pine needles and uneven dirt. Crisp, cool air caressed my face, carrying the scent of damp earth and mineral water. Trees shot up around us as the forest of Fate Hollow formed, and we stood in a scraped-out clearing.
I noticed a few overturned backpacks and a ring of rocks where a campfire had been.
“Spread out,” Ivy ordered, her enforcer instincts kicking in the second the simulation fully formed in place.
She and Solon moved, scanning the perimeter. The rest of us followed their lead, each falling automatically into our roles.
Ivy crouched near the edge of the clearing. “Footprints and drag marks over here,” she called.
“Broken branches,” Solon added from the opposite side. “The humans moved fast, and they didn’t care about making noise.”
“I thought you said the humans scrubbed the scene?” Slater asked, squinting at the ground as he walked, hands on his hips.
“Usually they do, according to intel,” Katie answered, scrolling through her tablet. “But they must not have taken their time with clean up since the witch escaped. They probably had to cut and run.”
Dimitri sniffed. “There’s blood. Small amounts. Mostly here.”
I moved toward him, squinting at the blood droplets as I focused on the magical essence within it. Faint edges of the aura showed the different species of supernaturals with their emotion. Fear-drenched emotion from the fear demon, anger from the vampire, and a mixture of both from the werewolf.
“It’s definitely theirs,” I murmured.
“I know that,” he scoffed.
I rolled my eyes and stepped around a cluster of rocks when something shiny caught my eye.
I knelt down and found splintered black plastic and twisted electrical components half-buried in pine needles. A tiny rotor blade glinted.
“Slater,” I called out. “Come look at this.”
“I love it when you call my name, venom baby.” He sauntered over, expression turning from flirty to serious the second he saw what I was looking at. “What do you have there?”
“Broken drone.” I grabbed and held up the broken piece. “Definitely a human-made one.”
His red eyes twinkled with excitement. “Gimme that!”
“Here you go, Havoc baby.” I handed it over, and his fingers brushed mine intentionally.
He winked, sending desire down the bond before he turned the broken piece of the drone between his fingers. His red brows drew together in focus as Snakey uncoiled from his neck and hissed at it.
“Snakey,” he murmured. “Let’s see what we can find.”
Snakey slipped into the damaged drone, vanishing into its broken plastic shell in a whoosh of chaos magic.
Slater’s eyes started to glow a brighter red as he linked with Snakey. Chaos magic crackled faintly around his hands, glitching with static in the air.
He tilted his head, brow furrowing. “Encrypted feed…old school scrambling…ugh, humans are messier than certain villages in Briesia. Okay, wait. We are in the memory.”
“What do you see?” I asked.
“Industrial building in the Human Territory,” he said while seeing through Snakey. “There’s a facility that seems to be off-grid, and it’s too close to the border for my taste.”
“Coordinates?” Katie asked.
Slater rattled them off.
Katie tapped them in, eyes narrowing. “That matches an off-record research division flagged from intel. Unverified rumors state that they’re exploring weaponized magic for human-use.”
“What a fun theme for the day,” I grunted.
“Tourmalyke,” Sylver called from across the clearing.
Everyone looked toward her, but I wasn’t surprised.
Ever since the humans figured out that Tourmalyke could disable our magic and make us weak, they used it fully to their advantage.
She held up a syringe in one hand, the glass catching the dim evening light. Her blonde hair shimmered faintly with her magic as she frowned. “They left these behind. There’s residue on the needle. It’s definitely tourmalyke.”
My skin crawled. Tourmalyke didn’t affect me any more, but just the name gave me the ick.
“The blood spatter over here is minimal,” Dimitri told us. “At least we know it wasn’t violent.”
A broken sob cut across the clearing, and we all whirled toward the noise.
At the edge of the tree line, a girl stood half in the shadows. Black hair tangled around her face, and her green eyes were wide and red-rimmed. Her clothes had been torn, and her hands shook.
Magic sputtered around her in chaotic bursts.
She had to be the witch who escaped.
“I called ten minutes ago,” she choked out. “It just happened. Please, please find my friends.”
“Hey,” Koa said gently, hands lifted as he approached. “You’re okay. We’re here. I’m going to heal you, okay?”
She nodded, sniffling.
He scanned her quickly, his glowing blue flames moving over her arms and legs. She was covered with small cuts and bruises, like she’d crashed through underbrush in a blind panic. She was free of a tourmalyke injection site, though.
“They didn’t get you,” Koa reassured her.
“How did you escape?” Eleanor asked softly.
She shook her head, tears streaking down her cheeks. “I heard this humming, and then something hit the others. I panicked and teleported. I didn’t even see their faces. I shouldn’t have left them. I shouldn’t—”
“Hey.” Eleanor’s voice was smooth and steady as she fully stepped in beside Koa. “You did what you had to do to get help. That’s brave. No one blames you.”
The witch’s breathing started to slow as Eleanor continued to talk her through this evening, grounding her with soft, patient questions.
“Hey, Sylver,” Zuko shouted from the other side of the clearing.
“Yeah?”
He pointed to a hooded cowl he’d found in the underbrush. The inner lining glinted with a faint shine. “I think it’s Tourmalyke-stitched. Probably masks scent and aura from humans, right?”
“Let me see that,” Slater said, running over. He ran his fingers over the fabric, eyes narrowing as Snakey faded, and he jerked his hand back. “Yeah. Those idiot humans stitched tourmalyke crystal right into the fabric.”
“It will block magical detection within a certain radius.” Sylver walked over and inspected it, lips thinning into a line. “Definitely tourmalyke. They’re getting innovative.”
“Surely they’ll exhaust Tourmalyke at this rate.” Katie pushed her glasses up higher on her nose. “I dug deeper into the off-record research division from the drone’s footage. That facility sits about thirty miles from this location.”
“So that’s our likely target,” Solon stated.
“Yeah,” Katie confirmed. “Rogue lab in the human territory.”
“How eerily accurate to real life,” I muttered under my breath.
“Well, that was the point,” Solon mentioned.
Eleanor finished soothing the witch, giving her one last squeeze on the shoulder before getting to her feet.
“We’re going to send another agent to take you to HQ,” she told her. “You’ll be safe. We need you to stay put there for now, okay?”
The witch nodded reluctantly.
The simulation spawned an NPC agent, the man stepping out of the trees with a reassuring smile.
“Hi, I’m here to take you to HQ.” He led the witch away toward an extraction point.
Our mission pulled us the other way, toward the border.