Wizardly

Chapter Thirty-Five: Concerns

After one more round with everyone it was time for lunch and Captain said he'd have me face two opponents once we resume. I don't blame him for wanting to push me further, it's been a week or maybe longer since that warning from the Dark Guild. They must be about ready to attack any time now.

I haven't been informed too much about what else is going on outside of my training, but I did find out that Captain talked to the Mayor. They've been running practice evacuations for the town and I know the tunnels were being connected to some of the houses. I don't know how well that's going or how they managed to get the people to agree to all of that, to be honest. For someone who was supposed to be in charge of that I feel kind of bad for not helping out much.

For me though, protecting lives was the most important thing. Considering this is all happening because I took that sword into my possession. It's my fault all this is even happening. Why haven't they attacked us yet? Are Dustin's reports really that important, that they're relying on them? If so when are they going to figure out he's playing them? How is the rescue of his sister going?

All those questions ran through my head as I headed towards the Dining Hall. I didn't even notice Captain until he physically stopped me and I apologized for spacing out.

"Are you alright? You seem to be really lost in thought about something. I'll listen if you need to talk, or maybe I can answer any questions you might have if I can," he said.

"To be honest there is a lot I would like to discuss with you, but most of them can wait till after our battle. I do want to know the progress of Dustin's Sister and how the evacuation plan is going though," I said.

"His sister will probably be rescued soon, so we've been pushing the evacuation forward since they will find out they lost their leverage. I just hope that she's rescued before they realize Dustin is turning on them. I left it in the hands of the Stealth Team under The Magic Force. They'll definitely get her out.

We managed to put your idea into motion and a lot of the citizens thought it was a good idea and even threw in thier own idea of connecting the tunnels to their homes so it'd be safer. We of course placed magical cameras in them so we can make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be. Can't have someone staying behind and seeing what's really going on. We've also chose two different sirens to alert them, one for drills and one for actual evac protocol. Just so no one thinks it's just another drill.

I know I put you in charge of the evac, so I apologize for not informing you of what was going on. The rest had to be done by the mayor, but I still feel like I kind of tore it away from you since it was your idea in the first place," he said. I sighed. That was a relief to know everything was progressing well.

"It's fine, it's given me more time to train and I doubt I could have helped much after passing it on to the mayor," I said and shrugged, then added, "I just wanted to know how it was going and it's a relief to know it's going well."

That's one less thing to worry about and it honestly was a relief. Still though, if Dustin's sister dies I have no doubt he'd blame me for it. After all he is in this situation because of me in the first place. I'm also the one who pushed him into talking to Captain and my parents were the reason his parents aren't around anymore. He may even try to kill me this time around. Let's just hope she makes it out of this, for her safety and my own.

"You still seem troubled. You really shouldn't worry, just focus on your training. Everything will work out and we will end this fight with the Dark Guild. This isn't the first time we've gone to war with their kind," Captain said.

"Yes, but at what cost? A lot of people died in that last war didn't they? A lot of people will die in this war too, no doubt," I mumbled.

"So young to have to carry such worries. That other war was much different from this one and we're better prepared this time around. Not sure why they gave us so much time to prepare. Maybe to try and prove we're no match for them no matter what we do? They'll be sorry they gave us time if that's the case. Or perhaps they are biding time to find answers and to train themselves? Since we aren't planning a raid, we have more time to train so they're still not going to beat is that easily.

Yes, we may lose some people, a war is a war after all. I need you to understand this, Tyrian, there is no such thing as a war without casualties. However, we can minimize them by protecting one another and dwindling their numbers down.

I also need you to understand this, Yes the war is because of that sword you brought here, but it is not your fault. The fault lies with the dark guild and their greedy, lying, minds. They are to blame for this fight and they will be to blame for any deaths that will come, Not You," he said and I understood what he was saying.

He doesn't want me to take the blame on myself for any of the deaths that are inflicted on our side. It wouldn't be right for me to not take at least some of the blame though. Yes most of the blame will lie heavily on the twisted Dark Guild, but we wouldn't need to fight if it weren't for me.

Worrying about this right now isn't going to get me anywhere. We'll all just have to train as much as possible in order to protect each other. I'm not naive enough to think no one will die or get hurt, but Captain is right about one thing. If we protect each other and train enough we can reduce the casualties.

"Anyways, I'm going to let you get to Lunch now so I'll see you later, okay? If you do have any more questions or worries let me know," he said and then walked down the hall. I have plenty of both, but not any I'm ready to share quite yet. I'll keep my concerns to myself for now.