Brayden wasn’t any stranger to delivering bad news, but he was used to the news being the edge of his blade. This time it was words. As he looked out at Vermil’s students, his stomach clenched, heart heavy and neck cold, he found that he vastly preferred the former option.

There was no other option. This was his duty, no matter how distasteful it was — no. Especially because of that. He gathered his breath and blew it out, words escaping his mind’s search no matter how hard he tried to find them.

“Where’s Vermil?” Alexandra asked, suspicion clear in her voice. “Why did you call us here?”

“Vermil is… gone,” Brayden forced out, his hands tightening around the base of the chair before him until the wood started to creak and groan. This definitely wasn’t the proper way to deliver the news. He didn’t know what the proper way was. All he could offer was the truth. “He was pulled into a portal to the Damned Plains, along with Lee and Moxie.”

There were several moments of silence as everyone just stared at him, processing his words. That only made it worse. The chair cracked and splinters crumpled under Brayden’s fingers, not strong enough to pierce through his skin. He wished they were. Pain would have given him something to distract himself from the stares boring into him.

It’s my fault. I wanted backup on this and I knew Vermil was strong. I was right. If he hadn’t been there, I’d be dead. Silvertide and Godrick too, likely. And because of that… he’s gone.

“He’s dead?” Alexandra asked, her face going white. “How? What? He couldn’t—”

“He’s not dead,” Todd said. He locked eyes with Brayden. “Right? You said he fell into the portal. All of him? With everything he had?”

“Everything,” Brayden said. “He was alive when he fell in, but—”

“Todd’s right,” Isabel said. She swallowed, doing a good job of hiding the distress in her face, but her shoulders tightened and her hands were stiff at her sides. “He didn’t want to go in, did he? He got pulled in?”

“Yes,” Brayden said. When he’d been young, there had been times where he’d wished that he could sink through the floor and disappear. And now that he actually could — he couldn’t. It was ironic. “He was trying to pull Lee out of the portal.”

“Why didn’t you do something about it?” James asked in a sharp, biting tone. Brayden recalled the boy having lazy, half-lidded eyes, but there was no trace of them today. James’ gaze was as sharp as a dagger. “Why didn’t Silvertide?”

“I’m sorry,” Brayden said, well aware the words were nowhere near enough. “I wish I could have. Wizen was far stronger than we expected. We were ready to face a Rank 6 mage, but he was greater than that. Not Rank 7, but… it doesn’t matter. They’re just excuses. The fact of the matter is that I was incapable of helping and the others were the same. Vermil saved our lives.”

“I don’t really give a shit about your lives,” Emily spat. “Why Moxie too? What happened to her?”

“She jumped in after Vermil,” Isabel said before Brayden could respond. He blinked in surprise, then nodded.

“Isabel is correct. She grabbed his legs and jumped into the portal.”

The students all exchanged a look. Of them, Brayden was surprised to find that Alexandra looked the most worried. She wasn’t speaking much, but he recognized the panic swirling in her eyes.

“Do you know if they’re stuck with Wizen?” Isabel asked.

“It’s hard to say. Lee was touching him at the last moment, but she wasn’t holding onto him. It’s likely they were separated. If she held onto Vermil and Moxie, the three of them probably landed elsewhere in the Damned Plains.”

Isabel blew out a relieved breath. “Okay. He’ll make it out, then. Thanks for letting us know. Is there anything else?”

Brayden blinked. “What?”

“Vermil isn’t dead,” Todd said with a resolute nod to Isabel. “And he doesn’t lose. If he made it down there with all his stuff as well as Moxie and Lee, then they’ll be fine.”

There wasn’t a speck of doubt in his voice. Todd spoke with something a step less than zealous fanaticism, but the complete and utter confidence in his voice was so firm that Brayden almost found himself believing it.

Do they know something about Vermil’s powers that I don’t? He never did tell me exactly how his body comes back to life… is it actually possible that he’d be able to get out of the Damned Plains? I know Vermil isn’t actually my brother anymore, but he’s just a Rank 4 like no matter who he is. There’s no way I’d be able to get out of the Damned Plains on my own.

“You mean he’s got a way out?” Alexandra spun toward Todd, hope flashing over her expression.

“No idea,” Todd said with a shrug. “But Isabel and I have been around him for a pretty long time now. There’s no way he’d get stuck down there forever, and he definitely won’t die.”The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“How do you know?” Alexandra asked. “He’s in—”

“No, Todd is right,” Isabel said. “Vermil won’t die, and there’s no way he’ll let anything happen to Moxie or Lee. All three of them are more than able to handle themselves. Damned Plains or not, they’ll find a way out.”

Emily swallowed and gathered herself, nodding in agreement with the others. “Yeah. It might be a while, but they’ll all get out of there. I don’t know how long it’ll be, and Moxie is probably going to be pissed, but they’ll get out.”

Alexandra and James’ worry was nothing in comparison to the other students’ growing confidence. Isabel and Todd both seemed completely and utterly convinced that there was no way Vermil, Moxie, and Lee would get stuck in the Damned Plains. Emily seemed more hopeful, but the amount of confidence they had seemed impossible.

Perhaps it was just desperation, but a small root of it took hold in Brayden as well. The kids knew something he didn’t. There was a chance that Vermil could actually get out of the Damned Plains, even if he couldn’t comprehend what it was.

“It’s fine, Alexandra,” Isabel said. “Vermil hasn’t shown us everything he’s able to do, and we know more than you, largely on accident. Moxie and Lee aren’t just any mages either. Just trust them.”

“What, don’t I get reassurance as—” James started, but Emily prodded him in the side and he doubled over with a wheeze.

I’ve definitely seen Moxie do that to Vermil before. They’re actually quite similar.

Brayden shoved the worry clouding his thoughts down. It was shameful. Vermil’s students were taking the news better than he had. It was his responsibility to be the support, not theirs.

I’ve dealt with loss before. Even if Vermil manages to come back, the time he, Moxie, and Lee miss on training their students is my fault. I didn’t just come here to apologize.

“If there’s anyone that could make it back out of the Damned Plains, it’s probably Vermil,” Brayden said. He forced his hands to release the chair and crossed them behind his back so nobody could see him wringing them together. “However, there’s another topic at hand.”

“Is someone else dead?” Emily asked wearily.

“As long as you don’t tell me it’s Tim, I don’t think I’d really care,” Todd said, scratching at the side of his neck. He paused, a flash of fear passing over his features. “You did say Silvertide survived, right?”

“Nobody else you know is dead. A high number of Enforcers were killed, but—”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Todd blew out a relieved breath. “Good to know.”

Good to know?

“What he means,” Isabel said, elbowing Todd, “is that we’re glad that we haven’t lost anyone else important.”

Why does it feel like these students are closer to Soldiers than they are to normal young adults?

Brayden shook his head. It didn’t matter. They really didn’t have much reason to care about the Enforcers or Wizen. They had a slew of their own issues to deal with. Issues that Vermil and Moxie had been handling.

“Given the circumstances, your class no longer has a teacher,” Brayden said. “Arbitage requires all students within it to have a mentor if they wish to remain. No matter how sure we are that everyone is going to come back, Arbitage believes them to be dead.”

“What does that mean?” Isabel’s eyes narrowed and she rose from her chair. “Are they going to try to kick us out?”

“No. This isn’t the first time a professor has gone missing or died while they have students under them. They’re going to assign you to a new professor.”

“Hell no,” Todd said. “Arbitage can find an anthill and sit on it. We don’t need them anymore. If they think we’re going to let some asshole noble boss us around, we’re out of here.”

Isabel looked to Todd, then back to Brayden and nodded. “I’m with Todd on that. Vermil and Moxie are the only professors I’m willing to accept. I’ve seen the other ones that Arbitage has to offer. I would be fine with Silvertide, but there’s no way he’s going to be able to take us all on. I’ll just wait until Vermil comes back.”

“That won’t be possible,” Brayden said regretfully. “If you leave Arbitage, you’d have to re-apply to get back in. And at least for you and Todd, I think you know the chances of that given how you entered the first time.”

Their expressions darkened and the other students sent curious looks their way. Evidently, the full extent of their history wasn’t common knowledge. Brayden winced. He hadn’t even gotten started and he was already making mistakes.

“Revin might be able to help,” James said, sounding like every word physically hurt him to speak.

Revin? I don’t recall anyone with that name.

“That won’t be necessary.” Brayden raised a hand into the air. “If you’ll all allow me to, I will take over your professors’ duties until the time that they return. I promise I won’t do anything that you don’t me to. I’ll just be a sparring partner and a way to keep Arbitage off your backs until Vermil, Moxie, and Lee can take back over.”

The worry and stress in the kids’ faces receded.

“Seriously?” Emily asked. “Don’t you work for the Linwick family doing other stuff?”

“Let me handle the consequences. They aren’t your concern,” Brayden said. “I owe this much. I won’t force it on you, but I think it’s the best option. Feel free to discuss it among yourselves. I’ll step out and wait—”

“No need,” Isabel said. The kids all exchanged a look and nodded to each other before she spoke again. “Vermil trusted you, and if you taking over will let us wait until things are back to normal, that’s enough for us.”

Brayden blew out a breath he didn’t even realize that he’d been holding. Part of him had been worried that the kids would have hated him. They probably should have. He didn’t know the slightest thing about being a teacher, but if he could repay Vermil even slightly, he’d figure it out.

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” Brayden said.

“Not alone, I hope.”

Brayden spun as a new voice rang out. His sword flew to his hands, but a wave of runic pressure slammed into him before he could move. The air rippled and a hooded man appeared standing just several feet away from him.

The reached up and pulled his hood back. Brayden’s eyes went wide.

“I’m quite peeved about this,” Jalen said. “Vermil and I had a game of darts scheduled.”

“You’re the guy that came with us to the advanced track meeting.” Emily squinted at Jalen. “Why are you here?”

“Because Vermil was turning you all into quite the little monsters. In his absence, I felt it would only be right if I were to aid in furthering your education.” A calculated smile pulled across Jalen’s lips. He flicked his fingers. The room rippled and several more hooded people appeared behind him. “I’ve brought a few people that owe Vermil a favor along to help. I hope you don’t mind… but I don’t care if you do. I have high hopes for you all. If you’re even half as entertaining as Vermil, then this is going to be fun.”