The Academy was not where the meeting took place.
It was in a simple building in a quiet part of Cinderfall City, a place with no name outside. It was the kind of place made to be forgotten as soon as you left. The room they were in was just as plain. It had one metal table, four simple chairs, and no windows. The air was cool and still.
The Headmaster sat at the table, his fingers pressed together. He looked very calm but his mind was racing. He was about to make a move in a very dangerous game and he was not sure if it would work. He was used to being the most powerful person in any room. Today, that was not the case.
The door slid opened.
A man walked in. He was tall and big, with short, gray hair. He wore the clean uniform of a high-ranking army officer with medals that showed he had worked a long and hard time. He looked at the room, saw the Headmaster and showed no emotion.
