Page 8 of Silvercloak

“Let’s think about how we’d take this building from a military perspective,” said Sebran. He’d served in the Vallish infantry before enrolling in the Silvercloak Academy. “There are two Bloodmoons manning the entrance, and likely at least two in the central chamber guarding the hostages. Another four or five spaced out in the spiral corridor to block our way.” He tapped his bottom lip with his forefinger. “Nissa’s wind could provide a lethal weapon when combined witheffigias.Take out all the Bloodmoons in the tunnel in one fell swoop.”

“We’re not supposed to kill the Bloodmoons,” Auria said, with the air of a parent trying not to lose patience with an unruly child. “We need to think about this as sorcerers, not soldiers. What spells could we use to extract the hostages without ever encountering the Bloodmoons?”

“What are you going to do, roll your little vials through the spiral corridor for them to sip at?” Nissa laughed, but not kindly.

She had a point. There were no windows into the central chamber—it was sealed off from the outside world. How could they cast spells with any kind of precision when they couldn’t see the targets? Magic was far more directional than that.

“We could take invisibility elixirs,” Auria suggested. “They’d help us sneak in and disarm the Bloodmoons.”

“Use your head,” Sebran replied, irritated. “The guards would see the front doors open. And even if we weren’t instantly killed, the odds of us accidentally firing curses at one another …”

As the cohort bickered, Saffron’s mind spun like a roulette wheel.

She always did this, thought while others spoke, weighed every word or action carefully before committing to it. Because Saints knew what happened when youdidn’tthink it all the way through. When you turned a doorknob a quarter of an inch, and your parents were slaughtered between one heartbeat and the next.

In any case, they were all thinking about it the wrong way. Shallowly, one-dimensionally. Putting too much weight on the solution without giving the problem its due diligence.

Forgetting one very simple question:Why?

Interrupting Sebran’s rant about the acceptable number of civilian casualties being higher than zero, Saff said, “Look, why would the Bloodmoons hold up an Augurest temple in the first place? Don’t we need to understand their motives first?”

“We’re not fucking diplomats,” said Nissa, golden eyes boring intensely into Saff, a stare that carried an almost physical heat. There was a rumor that Nissa’s grandmother was a dragon, but Saff couldn’t quite wrap her head around the logistics.

“Auria, could there be anything of great value in Augur Amuilly’s temple?” Saff asked. “Somethingworththis level of Bloodmoon manpower?”

Auria pursed her lips. “Some of the older worship chambers contain relic wands from the era of the Five Augurs. Not the wands belonging to the Augurs themselves, but from other Foreseers in thattime period. Followers believe these relics still contain old power, and that in the right hands, they could be used to cast new prophecies.”

Saff nodded intensely. “So maybe we focus on extracting the relic, not the hostages. Draw the Bloodmoons away from the innocent people they have no real interest in.”

“I like that idea.” Auria’s blue eyes crinkled. “But the relics would likely be in underground vaults. If they were in plain sight maybe we’d be able to levitate them out, but …”

“This is ludicrous.” Sebran shook his head in disgust. “You’re intentionally misinterpreting the assignment. Following orders is critical in a hierarchal institution. The captain told us to extract the hostages—not a relic that might be completely irrelevant, that might not evenexist.” He projected his voice a little more clearly than usual, as though he wanted the higher-ups to hear.

“Would you like me to fetch a straw, Sebran?” Saff asked earnestly.

Sebran frowned. “Why?”

“For all your sucking up.”

“Sen effigias,” came a sudden command from beside Saff. Then again, “Sen effigias.”

In a burst of impatience, Nissa had struck the two guards flanking the entrance.

They stood still as statues, their bodies turned to ash-gray stone.

For the purposes of this exercise, they were dead.

“Shall we?” Nissa asked sweetly, starting toward the entrance, and Saff was knocked momentarily breathless by a surge of anger.

“What the hell?” hissed Auria.

Nissa turned on her heel, exposing the vertical column of runes tattooed up the side of her neck. “There’s only one way into the temple, and they were guarding it. We’d have had to do it at some point.”

“No, the captain said it was possible to complete the task with all Bloodmoons and hostages taken alive.” Auria’s cheeks were pink with rage. “I can think of countless enchantments we could’ve used to get past them.Exarman,to disarm.Vertigloranto make them dizzy and disoriented. You didn’t need to ruin the assessment before we even—”

“I’m going to make a wind tunnel,” Nissa interrupted. “Who’s coming?”

Sebran gave her a mocking salute and followed, wandless. Gaian hesitated for a moment, pale skin looking particularly white, then tailed Sebran toward the entrance.