Shepard's Pov.
Shepard's life had always been a busy one. After leaving the clan in the hands of Drogo and Luna, he had gone searching for secrets of the legendary ancient valley, and any information in regards to the True Lord's Army. In the following years after the loss of the Lykos pack, Shepard was lost and alone as he tried to hunt down and eliminate as many cells of the True Lord's Army as he could come across.
Eventually, Shepard found his way into the city of Allario and thus, the academy. To think, a random encounter in a bar would eventually lead me to leading this academy and being responsible for the safety of so many outside of clan and pack. Shepard swirled his crystal glass around in his hand, and hesitated before he down the contents of the golden liquid in one smooth gulp.
For three long days since the battle ended, Shepard had been answering phone calls and dealing with the political fallout of letting his institution become the sight of the worst terrorist attack in a century.
"We continue to bring breaking news about the assault on the academy. The final body count is still coming in and the motivations of the attackers are still up for speculation."
Shepard sighed as another broadcast came over the T.V. set in the corner of his office. He ran his hand through his hair as he switched tabs on the computer, the dull, blue screen gently illuminated his worn features.
He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. "Hey Sam. I take it you've heard about what's been going on?" Shepard's weary voice came through the receiver.
"Yeah boss, I heard about it. Kind of hard not to, with it being all over the news." Sam's sarcastic voice responded.
"I need you to dig into a man. I found out that the one who led the attack was known as Cedrion Deluge." Shepard flipped through his notes until he came to a certain page. A name was scribbled above a photo pulled from security camera footage.
"He was also behind the attack on my clan eighteen years ago. I need everything you can dig up on him. Friends; family, anything and everything." Shepard's fist clenched on the desk as if he wanted to burn the image of the man into his memory.
"I'll get my team to do a deep dive on the name. Anything else? Do you want us there?" Sam's normally sarcastic tone vanished into concern. "We can be there within a week old man."
The faintest smile barely lifted the corners of Shepard's mouth. Always loyal, always reliable. Damn brat.
Shepard sighed and leaned back in his chair which creaked slightly. "No, not yet. Continue your current mission and I'll reach out if anything changes on my end."
"Understood boss. For the record, I'm glad you finally found him. My team is ready whenever you are. Say the word, and we will hunt the bastard down." With those words, the line went dead and Shepard closed the phone.
The barest hint of a smile lingered on his face as he returned to his computer work. So much chaos in such a short time. Three dozen students killed. Another four dozen injured. Not to mention the casualties from the staff. I hate to admit it, but if it wasn't for Gavin's group in the arena, the losses would have been astronomical.
The door to his office opened and Professor Okeeba walked in. "Sir, the technicians and engineers you requested have arrived on site. They looked over the plans for additional security over the grounds and believe it's possible to install everything plus finish the repair work within two weeks."
Shepard nodded. "Thank you for the update. We were too slow to act this time. Too many students paid the price for my ineptitude." Shepard shuffled through the papers on his desk. He found the file he was looking for. Thick and detailed, it contained all the requested upgrades to the security measures he had been attempting to get approved for years by the city council.
"Sir, nobody could have predicted the extremist group would have been brave enough to launch an attack of this magnitude so openly. There is one bright side, however." Okeeba's quiet reply caused Shepard to lift one eyebrow.
"A bright side?"
"They lost a considerable amount of forces during their assault. It wouldn't surprise me to find out they had been planning an operation of this size for months to move that kind of manpower without being caught." Okeeba explained and he took a seat across from Shepard. The leather of the chair creaked softly as he adjusted himself.
"That's a shrewd way of looking at things." Shepard's grumble elicited a rare, soft chuckle from Okeeba.
"You say shrewd, I say practical. We got lucky as hell out there and you know it. Instead of having hundreds of students dead, we only lost a few dozen." Okeeba's reply irritated Shepard.
"A few dozen too many. This should never have happened!" Shepard slammed his fist on the desk. "We are the greatest academy of magic on Elyndra, yet we were caught with our pants down, taking a leak."
Okeeba stayed silent. Let it out now, old friend. We can't afford to show any weakness to the press and city council.
"There is so much still to do. Lodgings to be finalized for those students that can't just go home for two weeks, repairs to the grounds and improvements to make to our security. I'm buried to my eyeballs with paperwork, calls, and forms to fill out." Shepard reached for his cup of coffee that had long since gone cold and took a long drink.
Shepard's phone suddenly beeped and interrupted their discussion. "Yeah what is it?" Shepard answered without looking at the caller ID.
"I suggest you find a quieter tone, Shepard." A sharp feminine voice replied.
Shepard cursed as he realized who was on the line. "Apologies Madam Governor, It's been a trying few days."
"I can understand the pressure and stress you must be under, Principal Shepard. But there is much work to be done. Now tell me, what is the timeline for getting the school back up?" Madam Governor asked.
"The engineers and technicians just arrived and are going over the plans for the repairs and additional security measures we have planned. They are confident in a two week time frame." Shepard informed the Madam Governor.
"Do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of the students Shepard. We can not allow another incident to happen. Parents are already in arms over their losses. Either we bring down the extremists, or we close the doors for good. You have your orders Principal Shepard." The line suddenly went dead and silence filled the room.
Shepard cursed and tossed his phone onto the desk. "Damn, I really can't stand that woman."
"She has a point though. Between paying for the funerals for all the students and staff, not to mention the repairs, we have gone through a large amount of our yearly budget provided by the Dominion." Okeeba remarked.
"Yes, I'm aware of the financial loss. But we can't force the families to pay for the funerals on their own dime. The students were entrusted to us for learning and safety and we failed."
"Have you heard from the hospital today?" Okeeba asked him gently.
Shepard nodded. "Gavin's vitals are stable and his body appears to have recovered from the Mana depletion."
Okeeba let out a relieved breath. "Good. I look forward to teaching that boy how to fight and use his magic properly."
Shepard smirked. "We both know out of everyone in this academy, he has the greatest magical potential. In terms of sheer power, he will dwarf you and I some day."
Okeeba nodded. "Not to mention, according to the surveillance footage we recovered, he's able to use a great range of abilities already. In some aspects he's already reached level two, forger status with some elements. Granted," Okeeba waved his hand and an image appeared on the monitor in front of them. "He is naive, new and poorly trained with it. But, I have no doubts that he has potential."
"Strong is rare praise coming from you, old friend." Shepard muttered as images flashed across the screen.
"Well, he IS your grandson after all." Okeeba said with a rare grin.
"I'm not surprised that you already pieced that together." Shepard gave Okeeba a calculating look before he continued. "I worry about him, Okeeba. He has so much power at such a young age."
Okeeba stayed silent for a few minutes before he spoke. "Yes, he does. However, judging from the group he has surrounded himself with. I think young Gavin has a smart head on his shoulders."
"We also have the problems with the clans to deal with. We had a Draconian and a Valkyrie reveal themselves in the Arena." Shepard said as he went over Professor Jason's report. "Overall, Humanity is not prepared to suddenly find out about the other Demi races. This creates an entire new disaster fire I have to put out."
Okeeba nodded as he pulled the report from Shepard's desk. "Luckily, everyone on the staff here knows about the Demi races, curtesy of your training when we were hired. The only students that were in the Grand Arena at the time was Gavin's group." He stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment.
"We will have time to ask him questions once he awakens. For now, let us focus on reinforcing the school to prevent another travesty."