"Jeremy is right, the headmaster trusted us to get this done and we will."  Sam looked at each of them and shook her head.  They were a ragtag bunch of college students who didn't know everything there was to know about magic.  The only one strong enough in their group was Caleb and the monster had defeated him easily.  Perhaps it had caught him off guard.  Sam remembered Caleb telling her that he had managed to stand up to it, which only angered the Leviathan more.  This time she was sure Caleb would have the strength.  He'd been training in secret and she could tell by the look in his eyes as he sat on the sideline watching them all.  That probably explained why his wounds had gotten infected.

"Then we will need to act fast.  We will have to locate the five daggers we know the location of," Ariana stated as she walked over to the bookcase and pulled a large book from the shelf.  She maneuvered her fingers causing a stone pillar to lift from the ground in the middle of the room.  "Five daggers, six of us, that means we each will have to find one dagger before going after the final two.  One of us will have an extra pair of hands."

Alex, Caleb, and Sam looked at each other before looking at Ambrose.

"Solo mission?  No shade, but Ambrose isn't as strong in magic as we are.  If he goes alone he might die.  There are wards, beasts, things that protect the daggers, it's not like you waltz in and take it."  Alex looked at them all.

"He's right," Caleb spoke up just as the door of the room opened and he turned his head towards it.  He thought he saw something move out of the corner of his eye, but didn't think anything of it.  The school was once thought to be haunted, and opening and slamming doors were a common thing at BlackBrick.  Still, he couldn't help but feel a presence in the room with them.  He crossed his arms across his chest and looked at Ambrose.  "Ambrose has been training."

There was silence in the room as Alex looked from Caleb to Ambrose.  He sighed and shook his head.

"Oh really?  Well let's ask Ambrose then," Alex began, "Are you confident enough to slip off campus and go after one of the daggers?  Because honestly, I don't think you are.  I'd rather we go in groups."

"Ambrose is just as capable as any of us to go after one of the daggers," Caleb stepped in an intense look on his face, "but since you feel so concerned, He can tag along with me if he wants."  It was becoming a common thing for Caleb and Ambrose to work together.  Though Ambrose still had much to learn, Caleb had kept his promise to help him whenever he had free time over the week of healing.  Everyone advised against training while he had been healing, but he wanted to help Ambrose as much as he could and he could see improvement.

Sam looked at Jeremy and smiled.

"If Ambrose is okay with it I see no reason why it can't be done that way," Sam said, "but as for the rest of us, we will need to be in constant communication with one another every hour on the hour.  If we aren't able, we need to send some sort of signal when we are able.  Does everyone know the communication spell?  It allows you to send a holographic image of yourself to a person of your choice."

"It's a rather easy spell," Ariana chimed in, "but we should practice it before we leave.  We need to leave as soon as possible."

Alex looked at Caleb and Ambrose before turning to Ariana and Sam.  "Fine, let's get this over with, the sooner we get rid of the damn monster the better it will be."

[@Catmint]