Heart of Mira by E.P. Andrews

Author:E.P. Andrews [Andrews, E.P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Evan Andrew Porchetta

Twenty-Four

The day they were dreading had finally come. The entire student body and staff were called to an assembly in the Great Hall before first classes, hundreds packed in, and yet, audibly nothing more than excited whispers buzzed between mouths.

Elizabeth found Heath and Sasha waiting for her near one of the more distant pillars. Their expressions, like hers, were forced neutral, or at least as much they could manage with the dollop of dread sitting in their stomachs.

At the top of the grand steps where the throne had once sat, Arcus Maxwell Torrenth stood adorned in full armor with two lesser Knights at his sides. Plated segments overlapped along his forearms, binding fingers in pairs as if it was not hands but the claws of a beast concealed beneath. His faceless helmet arced back with three thick, wavy horns, shimmering prismatic from the morning glow cast by the skylights. Gold bracings embellished at joints and curves, and a hexagonal symbol protruded from the chest plate over his heart. Draping to the back of his knees, the Arc Knight's cape shined pristine white on the exterior, matte black on the inside.

Revulsion stretched Elizabeth's scowl as she spied the handle of a massive sword angled behind his shoulders. The blade's triangular tip peeked out next to his knee along with a hint of ruby fuller. Was it the same weapon he used to kill Sirrin's tribe?

Vic Thomason, standing next to her, was practically giddy at the assembly, eyes bright and childlike. He smoothed his dreadlocks as if his appearance was imperative.

"How can he even see?" she whispered to Vic. "Or breathe?"

At the mere question, Vic spun to her excitedly. "It's the most complex armor that blacksmiths and enchanters can fashion," he explained with vigorous hand gestures. "You can see almost perfectly from the inside."

Like a two-way mirror? Elizabeth wondered as Vic went on.

"It protects them from toxic gas or anyone trying to cut off their air supply, and it even recycles what they exhale!"

"Huh." Elizabeth warily regarded her classmate. "You seem to know a lot about the Knights."

"Oh yeah," Vic said, bouncing as if about to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event. "It's my dream to become an Arc Knight, protecting people, hunting the most vicious beasts. I'm even excited about the mediation and arbitration they do, but that's definitely my weak point."

Heath leaned forward to get Vic's attention. "They're involved in politics, too?"

"Of course," he stated with amused superiority, as if it was the most common tidbit of knowledge. "You two been living under a rock?"

Elizabeth had forgotten. As a second-year who didn't share any courses with them except Aura's, and having been absent from Beginner Combat for the first couple of weeks, the Nauricass native hadn't heard their nomad backstory.

"You could say that," Heath answered with a fleeting grin. His focus was on the center of everyone's attention, the most grievous threat to their lives a stone's throw away.

With a click and a hiss, the horned helmet lifted, quelling all into silence.

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