Mantle of the Gods

People started moving towards the screen.

“Let’s go.” Trent looked at our food trays. "You can take those with you.”

I tried to get a look at the screen, but there were people standing on tables so they could get a better view.

“What’s going on?” I shoved what I could fit in my mouth. I hadn’t grabbed much, the main thing I had wanted was something warm to drink. I found myself wishing for a cup of coffee, but coffee was taboo in the school for students. There wouldn’t be any caffeine on long trips in the dungeon and while the withdrawals weren’t life-threatening, the extra distraction could be. Most dungeon Farmers drank it heavily since they tended to be in the dungeon in more reliable nine to five hours. I settled for warm vanilla milk instead.

Trent ushered us back to the dorm. People were running in the halls and there was a disturbing level of panic in the air, but Trent seemed more focused than concerned. Gesai was on edge, but Justia and Oz were acting like nothing was wrong.

The alarms were no longer going off by the time we reached our dorm, but the noise had woken everyone up.

“Who was it?” Ether was the one to greet us. She saw the cup in my hands and took it from me. She took a long drink and saluted me with my own drink. "Thanks.”

I wasn’t finished, but I’d had enough to satiate me. I put my arm around her shoulders as Trent walked over to the desk by his bed and pulled up the screen on it.

“Rae, in the Shrine Ward.”

Rix was standing in the doorway of the dorm.

That seemed to put people at ease.

“What is going on?” Fray moved over and sat on the end of my bed. “What was that alarm for?”

“It’s a Desolation alert.” Aelin skipped over to Justia’s side. "They got him!” The blonde seemed very excited.

I hated that it seemed like Fray and I were the only two who didn’t know what was going on. Even Ren looked relieved. I sat down on my bed with Ether in between myself and Fray. The homely brunette was nervous and I didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable.

“What happened with Rae?” I looked around for someone to explain.

Trent looked up from the screen at Gesai. "It should make for an easy lesson. "Why don’t you take this one?”

Gesai looked like she might argue, but instead cleared her throat and turned in my direction. "That was a Desolation alert.” The red head looked at Trent as if she was done with the lesson.

“And..?” The white-haired older man prompted. "This is a lesson, make it take longer than ten seconds.”

Gesai nodded and looked at me. "You know what a Desolation is?”

I nodded, but it was Ether who answered. "It’s when one of the Gods is killed.”

“Exactly.” Gesai paused. "The last Desolation that happened was thirteen years ago when Slece Desolated Gar. We just spent a lot of time in that particular Desolation.”

It had been twenty four days. Three and a half weeks trapped inside a God proof bunker while a killer for hire extorted Trent to try to break the Tier Five barrier that so many Adventurers give up on getting past.

“That alarm is a way of warning about impending destruction.” The redhead shook her head. "If we were in the Shrine Ward where this happened, we’d have to worry about potential fallout from the wave of destruction that it caused.” She looked up at the ceiling. "Krall and Seadim are the two closest cities, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Correct.” Trent looked weary, almost tired, something I’d never seen.

“The other reason for the warning is that if you are living in a city that is allied with a God that was Desolated, then your city is most likely going to be next.” She looked at Trent as if she was asking if she was done.

“Who..?” He held up a finger.

“Who? Rae.” Gesai started to roll her eyes, but stopped and straightened up. "What, Desolated, which is when a God is killed. When. Just a few minutes ago. Where, In the Shrine Ward, which is one Ward over to the West. How. A God killed him. Why..?” She looked back over at her former teacher to see if she was correct. "Because he created the Plague that killed so many people over the last two years?”

Now I understood why Aelin had been happy. She’d lost her mother to the Plague, so it would track that she would be glad that the person who was behind its creation had been brought to justice.

“Five out of six.” Trent shook his head. "You missed one.”