Nova and Finn escaped the mall without incident, much to their surprise, back into the musky sewers. They didn’t say much as they entered back into the dark alleys nearing towards the front walls of the base. They stopped and rested at the alley’s edge, connecting back onto the streets. They sat in exhaustion from the day so far and in frustration from thinking about how to get the Glaive back. There was no denying that a distraction is needed if they ever hope to just come close to the Glaive, but considering the dangers of such a task, both knew that it would lead to their end if they were to get caught which had high odds of occurring. Nova looked to Finn in frustration, “You’re sure that there is no better way in? We need to get that Glaive back now!”

Finn took a breath in frustration, “Well take your choice! We could take the roof, take out the guards and get down with my bow, but risk being spotted by the rest of the base. We could try and sneak around the base, which I highly doubt is a viable option. And I’m not sure about you, but fighting our way in is out of the question. Finally we got the plan I already presented.”

Nova looked annoyed, he was right, this really was the best plan to take, but where would they find anyone crazy enough to take on a task such as this? They sat there feeling useless and hopeless, they hated the feeling. Outside they heard a commotion going about in front of the base entrance. They both heard outrage from some group yelling remarks at the legionnaires for keeping the Glaive. Out of curiosity Finn and Nova went to see what was going on. They neared the corner of the alley and peaked out. They saw a large group of people yelling at the legionnaires, telling them to return Pyrium and shouting other remarks calling the Legion tyrants and captors to no end. Some of the remarks were even vulgar. “Lies, the Goddess did no such wrong!” one of them said. Another said, “She was right about you Legion dogs!”

The legionnaires warned the group to back off and return to their homes multiple times, but they refused to move. Nova and Finn looked at each other wondering how far this would go, or if it was even safe to be this close to this encounter in fear of being found by legionnaires.

One of the guards warned the group again, “We are authorized to use deadly force, if you do not return home then we will consider you a threat and open fire!”

Some people in the group seemed to be unreasonably upset and riled up. One of them went towards the front of the group ready to start something, “Fire on this!” He yelled out, then he proceeded to fling his arms in a throwing motion. A ball of fire flew from his hand and landed near the guard. The guard flinched as the fire broke off into small pieces on impact with the floor. The guard called on a radio, “Hostiles, Southeast gate! Fire mages in play, spray them!”

More fire was thrown at the gates, but then some shots were fired into the crowd. Then smoke was dispersed into the crowd, cutting off the assailant’s visibility. Nova and Finn could see legionnaires coming in with shields and batons to take the fight to the group of people as more fire was sprayed in the legionnaire’s direction, hopefully to slow them down. Finn grabbed Nova by the shoulder, “You know how I said we needed someone crazy enough for my little distraction? Well I think we found plenty of them here.”

She nodded, “Let’s try and get some of them from the crowd.”

Quickly they ran out of their corner and towards the smoke. When they were in the smoke they saw that the majority of the people were already fighting hand to hand with the guards, or at least they were trying. Most of them didn’t stand a chance to their military training, but they had to act fast if they were at least going to get help for their little plan. Nova and Finn grabbed a few of the people they could and ran off. At first they resisted, but after a bit of force and persistence, they came running along. They all ran, following Nova and Finn as fast as they could away from the chaos. Nova glanced back counting four of the protestors following behind. They were running a good bit until they caught the attention of a patrolling group of legionnaires. They ran down the nearest alley as they heard whistles being cried behind them, calling for reinforcements in the area. One of the mages lagged behind and faced their chasers. She began spraying the floors and walls with fire and then began to catch up with the group, all the while spraying the alleys even more with fire. They began to turn corners and running further, Finn was leading them and when they turned another corner Finn then signaled to slow down and take a breather. Nova looked in concern, “Why are we stopping? They’re coming!”

Finn kneeled to catch his breath and motioned his hand to pause Nova, “We’re fine, they won’t find us this far. We ran so far and turned so many corners that I don’t even know where we are now. So we’re fine, trust me.”

Nova was so out of breath that she almost forgot about the protestors they had just rescued. She caught her breath and turned towards the people they had just saved. Nova really didn’t know how to start or really anyone here in the matter. She said to them, “What was that all about?”

One of them in the group spoke up, “The Legion is lying about this morning! Pyrium would never do such a thing that they accuse her of doing!”

“They just killed her and decided to keep her sword to themselves on top of that, it isn’t right!” said another.

One of them in the group sighed and spoke, “I’m just glad you guys pulled us out of it when you did. I never expected things to get so out of hand. We really messed up.”

The one who spoke had blond spiked up hair and brown eyes, wearing dark grey pants and a brown leather jacket. He was kind of tall, but muscular. “I’m Tyse, by the way… how can we thank you?”

One of them spoke up, “Thank? They got in the way, we would have stormed the place for the sword if they didn’t get in the way.”

Tyse turned towards the guy who spoke, “Yeah a hand full of fire mages against a Legion base? I don’t think so. It was a mistake to even try protesting in the first place.” He turned back towards Nova and Finn, “So again how can we thank you two for bailing us out of there?”

Finn joined the conversation, “Don’t thank us just yet. When we saw you guys we were hoping that you could help us out with a little something we are having problems with.”

Tyse looked a bit confused from what he meant and a little cautious as to what exactly Finn was going with this. “What problem is this exactly…?”

“Well…” Nova said. Finn then interrupted to break it down, “Well, you see, what we’re trying to do is also get the Glaive back… but it requires some… help.”

Tyse was curious as to what they had to say, but before he could ask, someone from the group blurted out, “Well why didn’t you say so? Spit it out!”

Finn cleared his throat, “Well since you’re so eager. What we had in mind was infiltrating the base quietly. Some of us would—.”

Tyse raised his hand to stop him, “Hold it right there. You want to go in there, are you crazy? Exactly how would you expect to get in?”

Finn tried to explain, “Well I know how to get in through a secret passage.”

Tyse quickly spoke before Finn could say anything else, “Hold that thought…” There was a pause and Finn looked at him a bit annoyed. Tyse was thinking on something and then when he finished his thought he continued to speak, “Listen, I appreciate you going out to get the sword back… but… I’m afraid we can’t help you.”

“Wait, you can’t help with something planned to get the Glaive back when you guys, yourselves, were doing the same thing earlier?” Finn said.

“Look it wasn’t like that at first. We all went along to protest, that’s it… we didn’t expect things to get so out of hand so quickly. I was just along for it.”

“Well why not help us now, or at least some of you help?”

Tyse took a pause again, “Look I want to help you more than anyone… but we aren’t actually supposed to be here…”

Nova and Finn looked at him in question and confusion, “What do you mean by that?” Nova asked.

“What I mean is… we aren’t allowed to be here nor protest at all. You see we are all just students attending a small academy for mages, Durosa Academy. You see, even if we successfully take back the sword then I’m sure we would all be in serious trouble, plus we would damage the reputation of the school if they found out we were involved. I want to help you… I really do, but I’m afraid we can’t help you much as just students…”

Nova jumped in, “Now hold on, what about the headmaster there or a teacher? Anyone? We just need a distraction to help get back the Glaive and be gone from here. None of the students have to get involved if we just talk to them!”

Tyse thought about this and seemed to think for a while. He seemed convinced that the headmaster would give help in some way, given the circumstances. “You know… they might just find a way to help you. Alright… I’ll take you to our headmaster. You know… I never got your names.”

Nova and Finn realized that too and quickly introduced themselves to them. “Alright then Nova, Finn, let’s see if our school has the help that you’re looking for!”