Surprise Attack

A hint of resigned sadness and worry marked his voice's tone.

"Is something wrong? That jerk didn't get caught being intimate with a woman, did he?"

Daren jumped in surprise. "No, no. Nothing like that! Chris seemed to know why, and its serious."

"Yet he didn't let you come with. Oh." Aayla turned towards the tree. "Daren's sulking and forgot to eat. Is that why you wanted me to stay?"

The willow branches swayed in affirmation as Daren vehemently refused. The tips of his ears turned a brighter shade of pink. As expected, without Chris around Daren forgets to take care of himself. Aayla sighed. Daren still has some tendencies like a small child. They sat in silence for several minutes.

"You know, it's his own fault that he isn't here. Chris won't know a thing if his dessert gets eaten."

After a few more minutes of silence, the second box disappeared. Aayla looked towards him out of the corner of her eye. With a teary face, Daren was stuffing his mouth full of cake. He was kind of cute when his face wasn't frozen solid. She returned her gaze towards the moons. Daren put the box back after he finished with the cake.

"Everyone at the party should be super drunk by now. If you happened to go, people wouldn't make a fuss about it. It's just a small suggestion."

"… No need. I'm fine."

The willow shook in disagreement. Aayla glanced at him again. His coat was light for this weather. Was he shivering? Really, Daren was an idiot.

"It's really cold out here. Are you sure that you don't want to go inside?"

"I'm fine."

Tch. He's being stubborn. "They should have plenty of cake left."

Aayla saw his ears perk up. He's normally so disciplined. Daren must not get to have sweets very often.

"There are some Halcyon students there if you want to go say 'Hi'. Not that you need to. You could just congratulate your family's vassals and allies on finishing their exams. On the way out, you could coincidentally grab some cake. For Chris, of course. Not that he would know if it disappeared before he arrived."

She could see him hesitating. Aayla picked herself up off the ground and grabbed the food boxes.

"It was nice chatting with you, but I need to go back to the party just in case they've run out of anything."

As soon as she turned around, a voice as faint as a mosquito buzz called out.

"Wait a second! I'll go to. I really should talk to the other Halcyon students."

A soft smile crept up Aayla's face. Got him. That should satisfy Dormi. The willow branches opened for them to leave. Before Daren changed his mind, Aayla grabbed his wrist and dragged him back to the dining hall. She snuck him around the back of the now extremely drunk crowd.

The Halcyon students cheered when Daren arrived. They merrily dragged him to their table. Aayla took two cookies out of her pocket. Almost immediately two hungry gremlins appeared with pleading eyes.

"I have two jobs. One is to keep an eye on that dark haired, awkward young master over there. Make sure that he stays safe during the party and gets back to his room after. The second is to place this food box into room M-###. Who wants to take a job?"

\(>A<)>* -- Okay boss! Protect the hooman and deliver the box! --

One gremlin scampered off with the cake-less food box while the other mysteriously disappeared. It was still around, just hiding and watching. One of the gremlin specialties. Aayla through the empty food box away.

"That should be good enough, right Dormi?"

One of the streamers bobbed and gave her a high five. Now all of its residents were relaxing in their rooms or at the party. Dormi was very pleased.

**********

All deputy headmasters and other important personal had gathered in the headmaster's office. Each one wore a grim expression on their face. They each held a paper in their hands. It was an urgent report from Forest Waypoint.

The True Order had launched an attack! Thousands of magical beasts were besieged the city. None of them had gotten inside, but the walls sustained heavy damage. The avian type beasts were constantly harassing the inner city and civilians.

"Darn it! Those rats! How could this be true? How could we possibly miss the preparation for something like this?"

"Calm down, Deputy Brenatis. The incident with Ms. Glowery and the other unit must have been an accident. They must have spooked and launched their attack early. Fortunately, the walls of Forest Waypoint are still holding."

"Shouldn't we send some support? If they take Forest Waypoint, Nafriton is only a short distance away. They could attack us at any time."

"How can we? All of our students are on campus! What if they attack while our forces are split between the campus and Forest Waypoint?"

Headmaster Marin held up his hand.

"The mayor has not officially asked us for help. This is a mere notice of the situation. They have requested aid from the military. Reinforcements should arrive as late as tomorrow morning.

"As a precaution, Deputy Downer has activated the campus barrier. We shall keep it running and all students, faculty and staff are to remain on campus until further notice. Student departures for the holidays shall be delayed indefinitely. No one goes in or out until the situation is resolved.

"We need to further discuss our safety measures and how to keep the students calm. Finals just ended, and they want to leave. If the True Order does want to pull something, they will start by stirring up their emotions."

Headmaster Marin turned to the side of the room. A row of students, mostly from the Student Council, stood patiently along the wall. Christopher Vear was among them.

"President Bennett, closely monitor the student body. Some strange rumors have started around campus lately. Squash them and nip any new ones in the bud. We'll rely on you to lead the students while the faculty and staff focuses on defense."

"Yes, sir."

"Mr. Vear. Send a message to Halcyon. I would prefer it if the Forolans and other major families could pick up their students in person as soon as possible. If things go bad, we might need their aid."

"Understood."

"All students are dismissed. President Bennett, the main Council and Disciplinary Chair Ahroyor can stay. As for the rest of you, I hope that you came prepared because this meeting is going to last a while."

**********

Late in the night, parties still ran wild across campus. Jerome Foryl sat quietly in his room sipping on a glass of wine. He enjoyed the peace and quiet in his sound proofed room. They should have acted by now. A sneer formed on his lips. That greedy group of idiots shall take the blame for us by morning. We won't achieve all of our goals, but they will no longer exist on this world.

The professor heard a knock on his door.

"Enter."

A flustered Marc Lupton entered the room and shut the door. He placed a paper on the table next to Professor Foryl's chair.

"Sir, something is going on. The Student Council and head faculty just sent out an emergency notice. All travel in and out of the university is forbidden."

The sneer on Professor Foryl's lips curved into a knowing smile. With a wave of his hand, a familiar blue glow bathed the room like it was underwater. All sound could no longer leave the room.

"No need. I already know."

"Sir?"

"The Order has launched a pre-emptive strike on Forest Waypoint. The combined forces of the military, police and delegation was getting a bit too close to our operation. I wanted to wait until tomorrow when most of the students were travelling, but this will have to do.

"My plan requires some adjustments since we can't get all of our primary targets at once. My superiors and I are quite pleased with how you used the information from the spy artifacts. The conservatives and progressives are splendidly dragging each other down. However, you'll need to play a much larger role than merely manipulating things from the shadows, Mr. Lupton. Are you ready for that?"

Marc snapped to attention. He's been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long, long time now.

"Yes Sir!"

"Good. Many students have become more accepting of the Order, or rather they've become displeased with their other options."

Professor Foryl wrote down a note then passed it towards Marc. He quickly memorized the contents before throwing it into the fire.

"The final exam results will come out tomorrow. Some students who I want to recruit will become very unhappy. This will be a perfect opportunity to recruit them. Get each and every student on that list to the meeting location on that note. If you have any other suggestions, bring them as well. My colleagues and I will personally persuade them to bolster The Order's forces on campus."