Only A WishWritten by: Udon T.E. And Abigail K.T.

Chapter 46: KOLONIA

Chapter Forty-Six

[]KOLONIA[]

The glowing suns sat low on the horizon, heavy and steadily sinking by the time we arrived at the Gladius campus. We stabled our Immanises after untacking them and giving both a quick brush.

I fiddled with my thumbs as the two of us headed inside.

"Are you sure we can tell Winxlei?" I asked, tapping my fingers against my thigh.

"Yeah, she's good friends with my family. If they trust her, I do too."

I frowned, still unsure. Tracing a bruise along my face, Solaris finally noticed. "Oh! Sorry for beating you in class earlier." A bright smile graced her features. I tugged my blanket of gloom closer around me, trying to block out the sunshine she was radiating despite the hazy red-black sky around us. "Ladies first," Solaris flashed a practised grin, held the door open for me. At Gladius, we never bothered with such formalities. "Okay." I mumbled, taking the lead. "Where would she be this late at night?"

"Probably still grading student's work." She yawned, gently shutting the door behind us. Solaris cracked her knuckles for the hundredth time tonight, taking longer strides to walk ahead of me. "You can lead the way, you know her better than I do." I told Solaris, waving my hand down the hall like I wanted her to take the lead.

"Are you jealous?" She cackled, peering over her shoulder. I scowled my answer.

After the manageable trek to Winxlei's classroom, Solaris rapped her knuckles against the steel door, the sound echoing into the metal colosseum inside.

"Who's there?" Mrs. Winxlei shouted, pounding footsteps rang throughout the room. "I told you I'm not taking your late work!"

"We're just here to report to you about an incident outside the school," I said, poking my head through the door. "I'm not here to solve the city's problems, I work at a school, not a sheriff station."

"We were nearly shot." Solaris interjected.

"Hm. Well, then, you may come in and we can try to resolve this." She said. Mrs. Winxlei waved her hand, beckoning us in, her downturned mouth saying the opposite.

I sighed once again as the colosseum shaped classroom agitated my stomach. Swallowing the knot in my throat, I angled my head to see Solaris. Even with her normally glowing face and relatively good moods, she had the most serious expression I'd seen since Hansley. And before that, her brother.

"All good?" I mouthed.

She nodded back at me, eyebrows drawn taught.

"We were on a ride, out to the city. and were just about to go to a restaurant to get fuel. And then an arrow went past my head and it was all just a panicked blur." I paused, laying it on thick. "And with me just being naturally faster, I almost lost Solaris."

"Send out your units." Solaris demanded. "Please. The archer could be a threat to the whole school." Her eyes softened, revealing her weak underbelly; caring too much.

"Hm." Mrs. Winxlei's eyebrows cocked. "And why should I deploy military grade units, that we may need to protect ourselves, for a chase?"

I choked on my words. "If that was the case, why would we need the corps here, other than the active threat that could have tracked Solaris and I to campus?"

Mrs. Winxlei considered for a moment. After a break, she muttered: "Swear to secrecy."

"Why?"

"Swear." Winxlei said again.

Without question, Solaris raised her arm to her neck, hovering just above her vocal cords. Throat bobbing, she arched her fingers gently over it, then brought them up to her mouth. Following Solaris's actions, I gave Winxlei my promise to absolute silence. A wave of magic tightened my vocal cords like a collar tightened around my neck.

Winxlei nodded, pulling open a locked drawer after tapping her chipped wrist to the chipping metal.

The contents of the desk shuffled as Mrs. Winxlei pulled out an old model of military tablet. Rapping on the glass, she revealed a maze of numbers, charts, and symbols any beginner would drown in. "Battlefront reports." Solaris mumbled. I gave a brisk nod, scanning the screen for any useful information.

"So many fatalities." Solaris said, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes." Winxlei confirmed. "Can you see why?"

"...A disease. Not one that I've heard of." Solaris eyed the tablet.

I shifted my weight from foot to foot. Disease? We had to have a cure for it. Why were so many being lost? I peered over, scanning the glossy screen for numbers.

When I found them, my shock was inevitable. Far too high. I took a step back, palms sticky with sweat.

I threw a glance at Solaris, and noticed her expression was vastly different from mine. Nonchalant, almost. Oddly serene, for sure.

A focused calm fell over Winxlei and Solaris, a blanket of practised concentration that made me feel pushed out of the room. "Why-" I started, "that's what I'm trying to figure out." Winxlei interrupted. "Lyla, would you mind stepping out for a second?" Winxlei looked down her nose at me. I grumbled, but managed to kickstart my legs enough to move out of the cramped office. Clouds spread through the walls and door as soon as I stepped out. I was left to mull over the statistics I'd read.

Curiosity overwhelmed each and every one of my senses, begging me to look into the room, strain my ears to hear their conversation. Touch the door, digging in my nails and pushed until they splintered and bled. I held back, biting down hard on my lip to keep myself in the present. Whatever it was, it wasn't for me to hear. "Thank you." Winxlei's clipped words came to me as the door came open.

"She wants to talk to you." Solaris looked me in the face, wild eyes cold and calm.

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