“I really want one of those,” Mercy sighed.

They caught up in seconds. Once they did, Eithan and Ziel stopped holding back and picked up their speed toward the Heaven’s Glory School.

In only a few more minutes, they arrived. Yerin appeared in their midst at the center of a bright white light. She was breathing heavily, but using that Divine Treasure to transport shouldn’t have been so tiring. There could be restrictions to using it while in Sacred Valley, but Lindon moved that question to the back of his mind.

Elder Rahm had shouted almost the entire time as they moved at speeds greater than he’d ever imagined, but now that they had come to a stop, he was quiet.

Lindon remembered the Heaven’s Glory School—at least the part he’d seen—as a collection of smooth rainstone buildings that always glistened as though slick with water. Each living area was next to a small garden with a tree and a few colorful plants.

All of that…had been here, once.

Someone had treated the Heaven’s Glory School like the Dreadgod had treated Sky’s Edge. Buildings were sheared in half as though by massive swords, rubble was scattered around by explosions, and great gashes had been torn in the ground. Lindon didn’t see a single garden that hadn’t either been burned completely away or at least scorched.

Heaven’s Glory apprentices with copper, iron, or even wooden badges scurried everywhere, in the middle of construction projects. Some stood on ladders to repair rooftops, others filled in holes with dirt, still others patched up windows or carted away debris or re-planted trees.

And every one of them froze as Lindon and the others emerged abruptly from the woods.

One long pause later, they all screamed and ran, scurrying every direction and shouting for fighters to protect them.

Eithan walked casually up to the street that ran through the center of the school, gesturing to the debris around him. “Lindon, what’s your take on this?”

Lindon unceremoniously dumped Elder Rahm from his shoulder. The old Jade twisted and landed in a crouch. He tried to dash away but ran straight into Yerin’s outstretched hand.

Weakened she may have been, but Rahm was still no match for her. Her fist tightened on his outer robe, but she remained stone-faced. As he recalled, she didn’t have the same grudge against Rahm that she had against the other Jades.

What do you think, Dross? Lindon asked.

In Lindon’s vision, piles of debris and some of the streaks on the ground glowed purple. It took him a moment to sort all the information Dross was sending him, but once he did, Lindon began to speak.

“Heaven’s Glory was pushed back to this point. Their barrier was halfway made of Forged madra, and not all of it has been reduced to essence yet.” He gestured to a pile of what looked like golden glass shards. “The rest was stacks of wood, half of which was cleared away, but the rest is over there.” A pile of charred wood rested against a building to their right.

Lindon pointed down the street, to a building that was completely ruined. “The attackers got whatever was in there, then tried to force their way through this direction, but were forced back by Heaven’s Glory defenders.”

That story was told by the angle of the scorch marks and the damage on the buildings behind them. Lindon didn’t even need Dross to tell that someone had been using some serious Striker techniques, firing in this direction. They had sliced straight through stone.

“Did you see this from up there?” Lindon asked.

“I assure you, my abilities are significantly reduced compared to normal. You’ll have to take my word for it. Now, what’s your conclusion?”

“Please correct me if I’m mistaken, but it seems to me that someone raided the School from deeper in the valley, stole whatever was in that building, and was discovered either when they were inside the building or shortly outside. Then they pushed their way in this direction in an attempt to escape.”

The attackers had tried to leave Sacred Valley. Interesting that, after getting what they wanted from Heaven’s Glory, they had wanted to escape the valley completely instead of returning home.

“That would be my guess as well,” Eithan agreed. “However, it is a guess. Deduction is not an exact science. It could be that these attackers became enraged and wished to inflict damage on the rest of Heaven’s Glory, not trying to escape.”

“Pardon, but then I would expect more damage to the buildings.” Most were broken in some way, true, but the enemy techniques had clearly been focused onto the barricade. If the attackers had been interested only in inflicting as much pain as possible, they could have launched these destructive techniques in every direction.

Eithan waved a hand. “Certainly. I just think we ought to remember that there are many things we can’t know.”

An alarm horn blared in the distance, and shouts showed that Heaven’s Glory warriors were on their way.

“Now, I wonder…” Eithan began, and Lindon didn’t need him to finish.

Both dashed over to the rubble of the most thoroughly destroyed building visible.

It was actually one house back from the street, and whatever battle had leveled the rainstone had carved visible chunks out of the surrounding homes. This building had been larger than the others, similar to the size Lindon remembered of the Lesser Treasure Hall, but otherwise Lindon could glean almost nothing from its remains.

At this point, it was basically a rectangular pit filled with fragments of a diced building.

“If you already know what’s down there, I would appreciate it if you would tell me,” Lindon said.

Eithan grimaced. “Lots of grimy blankets, some destroyed tools, and a shallow sewer of human waste. I would call it a prison, but those aren’t usually kept twenty feet from the main thoroughfare.”

People. People had been stored here.

Lindon didn’t like the picture that was forming. Someone had attacked Heaven’s Glory from within the valley, taking someone from this prison and leaving the building in ruins, and had then tried to leave. But they’d been forced to retreat.

And it seemed like this person was an exile of the Wei clan. Lindon was beginning to feel sick, and he couldn’t tell if it was his imagination or a premonition.

A Striker technique lanced toward Eithan’s back, a streaking line of golden madra.

Lindon reached out and caught it on his right hand, absorbing the power into his hunger arm. He vented what he couldn’t process, but it was pathetically little.

Eithan dipped his head slightly. “Thank you.”

“Name yourselves!” A furious woman’s shout came from behind them.

Lindon turned to see an old woman with a jade badge leading a contingent of about ten Irons.

[Twelve,] Dross corrected.

Lindon held both his hands over his head. “I apologize for our haste, honored Elder, but we come in peace.”

“Liar!” Elder Rahm shouted from where he stood behind Yerin. “These are enemies of the School!”

“Strikers!” the new Elder commanded.

Five more streaks of light flashed out, all aimed at Yerin.

Lindon felt a spike of alarm and anger. Mercy instantly moved to cover Yerin, and the knot in his heart loosened, but they had still attacked instantly. As far as he knew, they could have killed her.

In a flash, Yerin vanished.