Outside the Citadel's sunlit, soaring stone portico, the air hung thick with the scent of ozone and the deep, resonant hum of the academy's automated verification systems.
Xander, Warren, and Edmund stumbled out from the narrow service maintenance hatch, gasping for clean air as the bright daylight of the central plaza hit them.
Edmund pressed a hand against his bleeding thigh, his face pale from the exertion, but his ice Talent was already sealing the minor tear in his uniform.
"We're inside the inner perimeter," Warren said, his eyes scanning the massive dual doors of the Citadel looming a few feet ahead.
"There are no security patrols visible. But Lucian is right behind us. If he locked the sub-level behind us, he's taking the surface service lift."
"Then we don't have minutes," Xander said, stepping up to the towering bronze-and-glass portal that formed the main entrance of the Citadel.
