Wizardly

Chapter Fourteen: Beforehand

At Captain's office I knocked and entered without waiting for him to answer. He and Master looked up and it was clear I interrupted them.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but you should know the last of my friends that were able to show up is here. I plan to gather them after Lunch in the old gym. However, I'd like you to draw up a consent form so we have their answers in writing. However, I also want you to make one for me as well," I said. His breath caught in surprise.

"What the hell would you need one for? I mean - " I cut him off.

"It's simple, I intend to fight as well. Before you say anything, I intend to with or without your approval. This is my guild too and I cannot sit back and do nothing, plus how can I ask my friends to fight without intending to fight myself?" I said. It had been the plan all along.

Captain sat back in his chair folding his hands in front of him. He was clearly thinking hard about this. He then turned to Master Faraday and asked him what he thought. Basically he's asking if I was ready to fight.

"Well, he is a skilled fighter and can keep up with me pretty well, but he still has a long way to go, before -" I stopped him there, apologizing as I did so.

"Sir, if I may. I think you should also ask Dustin and not just Master Faraday. My reasoning is because he knows what I am capable of as well, maybe more so," I said.

"I'll consider it. However, I'd like to hear the rest of Clay's answer before then, I'll give you my answer before we go meet with your friends," he said. I nodded and left them to talk. I hope he talks to Dustin too, since Dustin knows my full strength. Holding back against Captain may be about to bite me in the ass. Maybe I should warn Dustin that Captain might come see him.

I headed to the training room. Since we were all under strict orders not to leave the building, I knew Dustin would be there somewhere. He's too active to just sit and do nothing. I found him in the weight room and seeing no one else here this early I went over to him. He shot me a glare.

"Didn't I tell you not to think we were friends? I still hate you, but I do respect you," he muttered. I apologized.

"I just wanted to warn you that Captain might come to talk to you. If you could tell him the truth, even about my holding back with Master, then I'll owe you a debt," I said and turned to leave, "Sorry for putting you on the spot like this, that's all. See yah." I left.

Dustin really doesn't have to listen, but I hope he does. I'll fight regardless, but I would rather do so with Captain's approval. He's like a father to me, so really, asking was a courtesy to him.

Not sure if Master still wanted to meet up for training today I texted my friends to see if they wanted to train with me. Only Max and Naxos agreed to spar with me, the others were practicing their magic skills on the field.

Max and I grabbed our swords and took our stances across from each other. When he didn't make the first move I decided to. He blocked easily and smiled at me.

"You really have gotten better at this, Tyrian. Lets see just how much," he said and came at me with a barrage of attacks. I did my best to keep up, meeting his sword blow for blow. He fights in a different way than Master. His attacks are more thought out and precise, where as Master's rely heavily on brute strength.

Eventually he managed to beat me, holding his sword at my chest. He's good, but not as good as Master Faraday. After a short break it was Naxos's turn. He prefers hand-to-hand combat, due to his fire abilities, which was fine with me because that was an area I needed to work on. I warned him that he might end up having to teach me a few things. To which he said he didn't mind helping me.

Our sparring slash practice took us to lunch and we called it. The three of us headed to get some food and meet with the others. Lillyana waved us over once we got our food. She asked how our training was going.

"Well, it's enlightening getting to fight others besides Master Faraday. I learned quite a bit from these two. How about your training?" I asked. She just said it was going well and left it at that. "Anyways, I wanted to remind you all to meet me an hour from now in the old gym. I promised you all after noon today you'd get your answers, I don't plan to break that promise. The others will not be coming, so we'll have to make due," I said.

"How are you doing anyways? We all heard about your friends, we're sorry that happened," Diana said. I told her I was doing fine, which I definitely wasn't. I've been trying to keep myself busy to avoid thinking about my friends' deaths. I started eating to avoid saying any more on the matter.

As the others talked about other things, I just pretended to listen and finished my food. Once done I excused myself and went to check on the progress of the evacuation team. It's been a few days since I've checked in with them and I'm sure Amber has been a big help to them. When I found the guy who seemed to be in charge of the others he looked up at my entrance. He definitely didn't seem too happy to see me.

"How are things going here? Have you all made progress with the plans?" I asked. He just shrugged at me and I sighed. "If you have something to say, please say it to my face directly. I'm not in any damned mood to guess why the hell your mad at me," I muttered.

"Yeah, I got something to say to you. I - I don't get why the Captain put you in charge of this damn mission when he's already got me. Further more we've all been working our butts off while you've been MIA for the last few days messing around with your friends," he said.

"I've been dealing with some issues with Captain, Master, and Dustin. Then adjusting my plans to fit the four members that won't be coming, since two of them died and the other two were called away. And I've keeping damn busy since this morning, because I know if I stop moving It'll all hit me at once. So sorry of I've been a little MIA and forgive me for thinking you could handle it without me. Clearly I was wrong," I muttered kind of pissed at his selfish attitude.

"The plan is actually going fine, thank you very much. We have most of the tunnel system functional and even devised a route that'll lead the citizens out into the forest and totally out of sight. However, I'm convinced there may not be any way to avoid a panic," another guy said coming into the room.

That's all I damn needed to know. He may be right, but we still have to come up with a lie to get the people out safely. We can't tell them the truth, since most don't know about magic. Not only that, but we can't go too crazy and cause a huge panic. Nor can we put together too crazy of a story where no one would believe us either. We could do something like a terrorist attack, or a bomb, or maybe a tornado warning and convince them that the tunnels are the new city shelter.

"That might work," I mumbled. They both looked at me curiously. "Put it out ahead of time that we are planning to repurpose the old tunnels as a tornado shelter for the whole town. Then we can run a few practice drills, before the actual "tornado" hits. That'd be less impactive than an elaborate scheme like terrorists or something. All while covering for any damages that may happen," I said.

"If we put it out ahead of time though, won't the enemy catch wind of it and know how to stop us? But how else will we be able to run the practice drills or even get the word to all the citizens?" The nicer guy said.

I basically told him that that's why the team I called in was here, for that very reason. If the enemy attacks or tries to infiltrate our evacuation, my friends know what to do. After all one can read minds, another can talk to animals, and they all can fight. We can't reveal our hand though, so the notice that there will be a new shelter built under ground will have to come from the Mayor of the city. I told them I'd run it by Captain later today and get his opinion. They both nodded, though Selfish didn't look too happy about agreeing.

By the time I was done with them it was almost time to meet up with everyone. Captain hasn't sent for me yet though and that worried me. Does he really not think I'm qualified or serious about this?