CHAPTER 115

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JAMES IRONWOOD POV

A week ago.

He stared out of the window at his Fleet in the distance while Ozpin and Glynda read the file he had been sent in silence.

He heard the sound of the scroll being kept on the table and then silence.

"Why are we only learning about this now?" Glynda asked, finally breaking the silence that had settled in the office.

"Communication problems." He replied.

What else was there to say?

Even if he had known, there was nothing he would've been able to do.

Not with Atlas so far away from here.

But… it still hurt his pride.

He had come to Vale to help with the situation here. And while he had done a spectacular job of helping them, he had also lost the Maiden under his protection back in Atlas.

It was like walking two steps forward and then getting sent five steps back.

It was infuriating.

"The Relic of Creation. Is it safe?" Ozpin asked.

"There is no news of Atlas falling from the sky so I would assume that it was." He said, his voice tinged with bitterness.

The room fell into silence once again.

Then he felt Glynda put a hand on his shoulder.

"No one blames you, James." She said and he closed his eyes at the show of compassion and support from the normally reserved woman.

"Perhaps." He said as he opened his eyes and looked at the City of Vale in front of him "But I blame myself for this. She was under my protection."

And now… she was probably dead in a ditch somewhere.

And the power of the Winter Maiden was lost to them.

He was surprised that whoever had taken her had not taken the Relic of Creation as well.

Of course, the relic was much better protected than the Winter Maiden but… if they could get to her so easily, then they should have been capable of taking the Relic as well.

Maybe they still weren't aware of the location of that relic?

He could always hope, futile as it was.

Ozpin stood up from his chair and came to stand beside him.

"Amber was under my protection as well." Ozpin said.

And now… Amber was dead. Her power given to Pyrrha Nikos, an exceptional young lady that they all had high hopes for.

"You knew Fria, James. She wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this." Ozpin said.

He nodded, even as regret burned him from within.

"Do we know who did this?" Glynda asked.

He shook his head "They said that the attackers were a pair of men in Atlas Guard Uniform. That is all we know."

"You suspect the Night Walkers." Ozpin said. It wasn't a question.

"I do." He replied "They have a Hunter with an Illusion semblance. And two very powerful Huntress. If they had attacked Raven's bandit camp for the Maiden's power, then it's likely that they were the ones who took Fria as well."

"Do you plan to go after them?" Glynda asked.

He almost laughed at that.

He had been sending out what few spies he had to gather information on that group for the past few weeks.

And all that they've managed to uncover so far was... nothing.

It was as if the group didn't even exist.

So even if he wanted to go after them, he had no idea about who or where they were.

Through his spies did manage to find quite a few White Fang members and thanks to this intelligence, they finally managed to put down the feral dog known as Banesaw. Which was… something.

Another useless feather in his cap.

Knowing that White Fang had officially been broken as a group brought him some comfort but the fact that they were being used by Salem's agents from the start took away that little comfort as well.

There was not much point in taking the pawns when the Queen remains safe and unharmed.

"No. I cannot afford the resources it'll take to send a manhunt after them."

Not to mention that even if his specialists did manage to find the Night Walkers, it's likely that they would all end up dead without accomplishing much.

"What should we do now then?" Glynda asked.

"We protect what we have left." Ozpin said "We've lost the power of the Winter Maiden. We've lost what I could only assume was the power of the Spring Maiden. And we almost lost the Fall Maiden's power. We cannot afford to make any more mistakes. "

"What are you—" Glynda was interrupted by the call on Ozpin's scroll.

Ozpin took the scroll and answered it.

He and Glynda waited in silence as Ozpin's countenance turned grim within a second and when the call ended, there was a substantial slouch on his back.

That… meant bad things for them.

"What happened Ozpin?" he asked.

Ozpin was silent for a moment as he composed himself and looked in the direction of Mistral.

"It would seem, that we've lost the Relic of Knowledge."