INSIGNIAS: THE ABECEDARIANS

It was already past midnight when he finished packing his things for his journey in the morning. Initially, he planned to sleep for a few hours before going but the circumstances changed when he noticed that the guards increased in front of his house. Someone must have known about his plans.

He stood in the porch of his room and looked around. He noticed that the new set of guards wore the uniform of those in the Academy. Legionaries. The Consortium was now on his tail. But how did they know about my sudden change of plan? He decoded Mrs. Emmy’s message on his own. And he doubted that Mr. Leon Knightwood knew about the hidden message.

His head hurt just thinking about how the Consortium knew about his plans. What he needed to do right now was to find a way to escape from the house.

“Dammit. How will I get out of here?” he muttered.

He was surprise when someone knocked on his door.

“It’s too early for the maids to be up,” he told himself.

He opened the door and one of the maids, the one who always greets him outside after school, stood in black leather jacket, faded blue skinny jeans and brown cow boy boots. Her short red hair was pulled up in a bun. She was like a different person with a silver pistol on her hand.

“I’ll explain on the way. Get your things,” she said while looking at the hallway. He did not hesitate and grabbed his backpack. Looking around his room, he wondered if the house will still be in one piece once he returned. He did not hate the house, but he was not sure if it will be spared from the Consortium’s anger.

“Hurry up,” he heard the maid shout.

“I love you mom and dad.” Then he turned around and walked outside his room. The house was quiet and only a few of the lights illuminated the hallways. The maid was holding a black oversized coat and leather hat. She gave it to him and he wore them without asking.

“70 men,” she said without looking at him.

“What?” He stared at her. Who knew that the sweet maid who greeted him every day knows how to fight. He heard her sigh and finally looked at him.

“There were 70 men from the Academy. We only have 20 and if the school knew about this, they will punish them,” she explained.

He understood. The men from their household were willing to help him but in return they will lose their lives. But, why only 20? As far as he could remember, their family’s army consisted of 100 men. Guess they sided with the Academy now. He cursed inside.

“Sacrifice is needed for you to succeed,” she said as she started to walk towards the staircase at the end of the hallway. It led to the maids’ quarter.

“I still don’t know how they know about my plans.” They walked down the stairs and he saw that that the room was empty.

“The school contacted their families and made them come home. Of course I sneak in after I went home and told my family,” she explained. Skhy did not like the idea of letting anyone from his household die. They were his family.

“As for how they found out about your change of plan, we don’t know.” But the look she gave him told him otherwise. He was about to ask her again when they arrived at the back door of the house.

“Dammit. They are patrolling around the house. We need to go find another way.” Skhy looked outside the window and saw 10 Academy legionnaires holding sticks with fire.

“If we can’t find another safe way, I’ll distract them while you sneak out.” Skhy snapped his head towards her.

“What? Are you talking about fighting them?” She must be out of her mind. The Legionaries were trained to fight an army of strong warriors, as well as monsters. If there’s a threat, they will eliminate it immediately. She couldn’t handle them alone.

He could only hear the ticking of the clock when they passed the kitchen. His heartbeat pounded on his chest with every step they make towards the main door.

“Don’t worry about us. This is our role.” She stopped walking and faced him. They stood in the middle of the room with the large door behind her.

“What role?”

“Your parents saved us. It’s our turn to save their son. Go to the left door of the house. It is farther from the Academy.” She started to load her gun.

“Wait-”

“I said go!” She smiled at him even though she knew she was going to die. “And make sure that you will succeed.” She turned and walked towards the door.

“I’m Jewel Price by the way,” she said as she close the door.

She was my mom’s long lost sister.

The gun fires surprised him and he started to run towards the west wing of the house. The guards were shouting outside. No more bloodshed, he thought. He would make sure that there will be no bloodshed more among Concordians after this. He would definitely find the Seven. After finding the Seven, he would uncover all the secrets of the Academy.

The sun was setting on the second day when he arrived at the town beside his city. According to his map, there were three towns left before arriving at his destination. Worried that his enemies might find him, he immediately looked for a place to stay the night.

He noticed a small hotel at the back of a supermarket.

“He’s not far. I can sense his presence,” he heard a familiar voice behind him. It appeared farther than it seemed. Holding his hat below his forehead, he hid behind a food stand and looked back where he came from.

It was already near twilight so people were rushing out of the buildings to go home. He could see students walking and the streets were dominated by pedestrians.

Standing near a lamp post, just across the street of the food stands, were five men in black coats. Skhy saw their insignias on the left side of their necks. Sentries. They were soldiers that guard a point of passage. Sentries surround the towns and kept lookout for people entering and leaving the territory or hunt for criminals outside the towns. They were different from Legionnaires, who kept their posts near the Academy, or public places or private houses, and have their mark around their right eye. But in case of massive state of war, Legionaries were deployed to help the Sentries and other Concordians.

The five men in front of him had their weapons pulled out, all had swords. Normal persons could not see them for the mist conceal their true identity.

“We should split up,” the leader of the team commanded. Kastt trained with Skhy before he was chosen to lead a team of sentries. They were not the best of friends but he could trust Kastt. But right now, Skhy knew that the law of the Academy was far more important than anything to a Sentry leader.

“What if he tried to fight us?” Alen, Kastt’s right hand man, asked him.

Skhy could hear Kastt gritted his teeth before answering. “We have no other choice then.” He walked around a building and disappeared. The other members separated and Skhy saw Alen walking towards the food stands.

He immediately turned and entered a narrow street between two buildings to get to the small hotel he spotted earlier. Some students who were smoking stared at him, maybe because of his suspicious clothes. But Skhy kept on walking.

He rounded a corner and stopped in front the hotel. Painted in dirty white, the hotel consisted of two stories with a huge terrace on the second floor. The interior was painted with the same colour and a small counter in the centre where a white bearded man offered him a candy for the change. He managed to get a small room, but planned not to sleep. The sentries were still out there, he just have to hide, for now.

The sound of a crashed glass woke him from his sleep. He cursed himself for sleeping. He stood up and looked outside the window. The street was dark but the light from a lamppost was enough for him to see teenagers walking in front the hotel while holding liquors.

He was going to ignore them when they stop near the corner and five men emerged from the dark. A teenager pointed at the hotel where he was in.

Skhy did not waste any time and gathered his things. He ran down the stairs and entered the kitchen. The back door was locked. He summoned the wind and pushed the door opened. The wood shattered and the pieces flew outside. The racket must have alerted his pursuers.

“Find him!” he heard Kastt shout behind him. Skhy could hear the sentries’ footsteps getting closer and closer.

Once outside, he stood face to face with a vast forest. Without a second thought, he moved behind the tall trees and disappeared into the night. He did not stop running until he could not hear the voices and footsteps of his assailants. He crossed a river to cover his scent and camped on the other side. The wind was calm; they must have stopped searching.