Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Ninety-Two

Glenda soon arrived a moment later and she too burst into laughter upon seeing Cypher in such a state. After a moment the two helped Cypher out of the pack and he quickly shot a playful punch at Alvin’s side. Alvin chuckled at this and Cypher quickly packed away the items he would need on his journey, muttering curses under his breath.

“That pack is of course enchanted with a dimensional pocket. Once inside, items, or in your case,” he chuckled again, “people, can only be retrieved by someone on the outside. It’s useful because it prevents the loss of items in the event of a fall or if the pack is held upside down, and the spell is quite easy to learn and can be applied to various items, I’ll teach it to you while we travel.”

Cypher quickly loaded up everything he had prepared into his new pack and within a few minutes was ready to go. He had also donned his leather armor, which still hadn’t been repaired since his trip to Gelrin Cliff, but given that the damages to it had been minimal he felt that it wouldn’t be a problem. In his mind, it was better to have it in this state than not at all.

It was light enough that it wouldn’t encumber him, but still sturdy enough to withstand several more attacks. It had held up well enough against the Rank-two and even though that Horned-wolf had been dying at the time, Cypher still felt that it was worth keeping. Besides, he didn’t have another set yet, and with everything that had been going on, he didn’t have the time to get it repaired.

Glenda had also brought with her a new sword for him to use. But he still had the one that Jelroy had given him before he left. It was a memento of his first master and one that Cypher cherished quite highly. Jelroy had been a stern and serious man, but towards the end, he had shown Cypher a lot of care and consideration.

It felt only right that he should continue using this sword to honor the memory of his first mentor. Combined with the fact that he could now use his magick properly, as well as access higher strength with his Zight Stanza, Cypher felt completely confident that he could handle himself well enough to not lose another weapon as easily as his first.

After packing everything away, Cypher and the two professors headed out and made their way toward the path that would lead them down to the first valley below the dormitories. Within a couple of hours, they had reached the foot of the first peak thanks to the stone stairs carved carefully into the mountainside. It was considerably lower than the ones that held the main facilities of the Academy.

Unlike at the peak of the mountain, no snow fell here and the temperature was a bit warmer but the cold touch of winter still had its icy grip on the environment. They headed into a wooded area after Alvin had consulted a map he had brought along and soon, the sunlight was blotted out by the trees overhead.

A thin layer of snow was covering the ground all around them, and as they walked, Glenda kept a firm grip on the hilt of the sword that hung from her waist. Her eyes would dart around their surroundings as they walked, and while she didn’t seem to be too riled up, it was clear that she was on guard.

“There shouldn’t be anything too dangerous on this path Glenda, you don’t need to keep your guard up all the time do you?” Alvin asked after a few moments of silence had passed.

Glenda sniffed and wiped her nose with her free hand, “You don’t seem to understand that danger lurks around every corner of this world. Just because we’re powerful doesn’t mean that we have the luxury of being complacent when we believe ourselves to be safe. One is never safe if they walk the path we do,” she replied and Alvin sighed in response.

“You know it’s no wonder you have so many grey hairs at your age, despite your steady advancement. You’re always tensed up and stressed out, maybe this is just a simple trek through the woods, did you ever consider that? You and I both know that this area is constantly patrolled by the academy groundskeepers. They kill anything above the second rank so what could possibly be so powerful that it would be a threat to us?” Alvin asked, and once again Glenda sniffed, trying to clear her steadily dripping nose.

“Say what you want, when the danger does come you’ll be thankful I was ready! Besides, you’re forgetting that we have a novice with us,” Glenda gestured to Cypher, who simply scowled at her and stuck out his tongue. “The boy is stronger than before, but he still doesn’t have the reaction times that we do. If something jumps out at us and gets him while you were busy getting ready you’ll only have yourself to blame. I didn’t come along on this trip to listen to your nagging you know,” Glenda finished, her confidence clear as a bell in every word she spoke.

“I know exactly why you came along on this trip. Let’s not pretend that you haven’t grown a bit of a soft spot for Cypher over the last few weeks. It isn’t often that you’re able to replace a student you replace worthy in your eyes, I-“

Glenda turned to glare at Alvin and said, “Oh Shut up, will you? I get it, I’ll ease up but don’t blame me when something goes wrong!” A slight hint of red could be seen on her cheeks and if Cypher didn’t know any better he would have thought that she was embarrassed.

Alvin chuckled and the trio continued on. Of course, what Glenda and Cypher didn’t know, was that trailing behind their group just outside of her detection range, were eight of the Academy’s elite Conductors. Together they were known as Silent Night and they had been sent personally by Sequinnen. Their sensory abilities far outclassed Glenda’s and despite being so far away, if trouble appeared, they would know and be able to react long before her.

Glenda was powerful, and while she and Alvin were good friends, she wasn’t part of the inner circle like Alvin was. She couldn’t know the things that he and Sequinnen talked about. Alvin had full faith in Silent Night. They would be protected if the Order made a move. As for the Zightbeasts, Alvin would leave those to Cypher and Glenda as part of his training for the boy.

That said, what none of them knew, was that another group was already watching their every move since they had descended the mountain. The network of spies the Order had at its disposal was quite impressive, and even the Academy wasn’t free of their reach. These hidden observers were eager to proceed with their plan but they weren’t foolish.

Even though the trio and Silent Night were miles away from the reinforcements of the Academy, it was still too risky to launch their assault here. If by some chance they were detected, their plan might fail and that was something they could not allow. Only a day’s walk from here was a narrow gorge, and their target was heading right for it. Once this trio of travelers reached it, they would begin their attack.

The gorge was only wide enough for two people to walk through shoulder to shoulder, fighting in such an enclosed space would limit the two strong Conductors and make capturing their target much easier than if they attacked in the open.

As for Silent Night, they would be blocked off at the entrance to the gorge due to their distance from the party and also by a certain threat the observers had brought along just for this. As far as the leader of these observers was concerned, the plan was foolproof and soon his master would reward him greatly for his efforts.

All he had to do was wait, and everything would fall into place.