INSIGNIAS: THE ABECEDARIANS

CHAPTER VII: SKHY

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 his 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 get out of here?" he muttered.

He was surprised when someone knocked outside his room.

"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 a black leather jacket, faded blue skinny jeans and brown cowboy 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 in 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 does 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 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 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 guards 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 cannot handle them alone.