They call it fight-or-flight. 

It's when the body is completely alert to its surroundings, often activated in conditions or situations where our primal instincts are most needed. It's thought to be evolutionary; that when you are in a situation of danger like war, the most important senses and processes of the body are activated. Your senses of sight and sound become heightened by the dilation of your pupils, your ears are hypersensitive to sounds of eminent danger. Your muscles tense and you stop all digestive functions of the body. You are hyperaware of what is going on around you, ready to flee at any moment of life-threatening danger, or in my case, fight.

When we charged Trinity University after the final rays of sunlight had disappeared, my fight-or-flight response kicked in. We had to move quickly and swiftly. I was the only one that could get past the magical barriers put up by the school to protect its inhabitants. Once I crossed the barrier, there was only silence.

The campus was indeed dead, as Dom had assured me. I looked towards the tall dormitory buildings and saw that there were lights on. Surely that was wear the armies were camping out. I used a spell to magnify my sight so that I could see further away. In the distance, by the base of the dormitories, I coud see a couple dozen witches and wizards walking around as patrol. I noted this and then looked around, spotting my father's office building. Sure enough, there were lights on in there. I sharpened my eyesight further to see through the large glass windows of my father's office and felt my heart leap into my throat. 

There, sitting calmly in the confines of my father's office were four of the most important people in my life: Abbey, Lance, my father, and Trey.

I felt my throat constrict, the drumming in my ears growing louder when my eyes fell on Trey. He looked good; like, really good. He had matured significantly over the course of the year. He looked taller and more muscular. He looked confident and wise. With my heightened sense of sight, I could make out the colors of his eyes: amber, green, and grey. He could control every element except for water; he could control everything except for me.

In that moment, I wanted to leave all of the armies outside and run to Trey. I wanted to keep running until I could pull him away from all of this. I wanted to run until I could outrun all of my problems. But I knew I couldn't. Because even I ran, my curses were always one step ahead of me. There was no out-running this. And so, with a heavy heart and a clouded mind, I set off to take care of my task, which was to disable and disarm the protective barrier around the school. 

Back when I was doing actual work for Elijah as a double agent, I surveyed the school several times over. I had found where the security agent controlled and monitored the consistency of the barrier. He had a tower near the dormitories. Somehow, engineers of magic had figured out how to use common technology to monitor the status of the barrier. The security officer was in charge of overseeing this technology. The only people that were able to pass through the barrier were registered students and faculty. I was able to get through without setting off an alarm because I was a registered student at the school. However, the security guard was still able to see that someone had entered the premises of the school. And with war on the brink, I'm sure he was given orders to be extra sensitive and attentive to any fluctuations in the barrier. My guess was that he had probably alerted one of the patrol by now to go check out who had entered. Although I didn't trip off an alarm, I drew attention. My goal now was to make sure nothing happened with that attention. 

I conjured up some bags and suitcases as I casually strolled along the walkways towards the dormitories. I was going to have to take out the security guard, but I would have to get past the patrol first. Once this was done, I was to give the signal for the rest of Elijah's army to come in. Then, the real war would start.

As I walked, I could see someone walking towards me. Right on cue.

"Hey! Who is that? State your name!" the person called out. I didn't recognize who the person was, but he looked young. He was probably a student that had volunteered to fight alongside the Order.

"Caley Lucia," I replied, stopping in front of the young man. I sized him up as he checked a clipboard to match my face with his records, flipping the pages using magic. He was taller than me and broad shouldered. He was very muscular, but that only meant that I was faster than him. I could take him out easily.

"You're the dean's daughter?" the guy asked.

"Yeah, I was studying abroad all year and I just got back. I figured I'd surprise my father by showing up here instead of at home where he's expecting me," I said. 

"I'm sorry, Miss Lucia, but you're going to have to go back home. We're in a state of emergency right now. We're heading out to storm the Trinity government tomorrow and take it back under our control. You're not safe here," he said. I rolled my eyes. 

"I'd like to speak to my father, please," I said.

"But--" he started.

"My father. Take me to him. Now," I said, making myself sound like a privaleged bitch. The guy furrowed his brow and then sighed.

"Fine. But I have to tell the others that it was a false alarm," he said, turning around. I watched as he magnified his voice and called out to the others to give them the OK.

"It's just a student! We're clear!" he called out. Then he started walking in the direction of my father's office, which was about a mile down from where we were standing. He motioned for me to follow him, his back turned towards me.

This was my chance. When he turned around, I took away his voice, and knocked him in the back of the knees with my suitcase so that he dropped down to the ground. He made no sound because he couldn't, but the look on his face was one of surprise. He kicked me in the stomach and stood, his hands glowing with fire. He was a fire master. I multiplied the water droplets from the dew on the grass and used it to put out the fire on his hands. Then I swirled the water around him and turned it to ice, manipulating the ice to have spikes that cut into his skin. He still had no sound, and so his screams were silent. When he was rendered unconscious from the pain, I tied him up. I put a temporary sleeping spell on him and dragged him into a brush of shrubbery along the pathway. Once he was properly hidden. I wiped my hands on my jeans. It was time for my next task. 

Walking silently in the shadows, I made my way to the security tower, taking care to avoid walking near the patrol. Once at the tower, I noted the location of two guards standing by the door at the base. They were two burly men, but I ran a power check on them. I was more powerful magically than both of them combined. 

I stealthily walked towards them from behind. Before they could cause a commotion, I took them out with a simple binding vex, stopping the vibrations of their vocal chords so they couldn't call for back up and stiffening their muscles so they couldn't move. I tied them up against each other and rolled them into the shadows. Then I unlocked the door using magic and stepped inside swiftly. I checked the watch on my wrist. So far, I was making good time.

Taking a deep breath, I climbed the stairs that led to the main control room. Once there, I had to figure out how to disarm the magical barrier. This would be the difficult part. I remembered my father once mentioning in an Order meeting that the barrier around the school could never be completely taken down. Even if the system was turned off, the barrier would only remain down for a few minutes at most before other protective measures kicked in. What those other measures were, I had no idea. But a few minutes' time was all Elijah needed for his army to Transport into the confines of the school.

My legs burned as I ascended the stairs, but it only motivated me to go faster. All the training I had done in Atlantis had paid off; if I wasn't in shape, I wouldn't have been able to move as I fast I was going. Once I reached the threshold, I stopped, coming face-to-face with an unexpected guard.

The man stared at me, his eyes wide and confused. I stared back, dumbfounded. I hadn't expected another guard to be standing at the top of the stairs.

"Shit," I mumbled from under my breath.

The guard lunged at me, wrapping me up in a full-body binding curse. I felt my muscles become stiff as a board, but was able to overcome the spell using a counterspell. I used an invisible rope and wrapped it around his neck, lifting him into the air. His face began turning blue as he struggled for air.

"Keep quiet and I won't kill you," I threatened. The man's eyes were bulging as he fought the tight grip of the rope. 

"Intruder! Sound the alarm!" the guard gasped. But his strangled gasps weren't audible enough.

"I told you to keep quiet," I hissed. I wrapped the rest of the rope around his body and then sent him flying down the stairs. The fall wouldn't kill him, but it would injure him severely. I didn't have time to render him unconscious. If he was still able to speak, he would alert the patrol. I had to move quickly now. 

I kicked open the door to the security room and then walked in. But I was swiftly kicked back by a powerful force. The security guard had heard the commotion outside. I was thrown backwards off my feet, landing on my back at the edge of the staircase. The wind had been knocked out of me and my head throbbed from the impact.

"I've already alerted the patrol. There's no use in fighting now," the guard said. 

"The problem with that is is that I don't give up," I replied, flipping back onto my feet and turning the stone beneath his feet into sand. He began falling into the sand pit and he tried to retaliate by sending an energy ball at my face, which I deflected. In that short span of distraction, he Transported out of the sand and behind me, sending a larger energy ball at my back, which shot me forward into the room. I winced in pain as I fell on my knees.

Come on, Caley, you're stronger than this.

I roundhouse kicked him and then sent a fire orb at his stomach. He yelled in pain when it hit him. I summoned the electricity from the control system and sent a wave of electricity towards him. He shouted. I continued the stream of electricity at him until he began convulsing on the ground, effectively electrocuting him. Then I stopped before I killed him. The goal was to minimize death and although he was a set-back, I couldn't kill an innocent. Luckily, the electrocution rendered him unconscious, so I didn't have to worry about him anymore. I turned my attention to the control panels. Outside, I could hear shouts coming towards the security building. I felt panic creep up my neck and I looked around at all the buttons. I pressed the biggest red one, hoping that that was the button to disable the system. 

"System. Disabled," a robotic voice said. I pumped my fist in the air, thanking Merlin for the easiness of the task. Then I pulled out the silver branch Elijah had given me and sent out the signal for the rest of the army to come. Within seconds, I heard a noise by the entrance of the school. From my height, I could see a sea of dark wizards and witches flooding in from the gates. I saw several of them get together and cause a chain explosion of the brick walls enclosing the schools, which sent a cloud of smoke into the air.

It had started.

I heard a loud crash from behind me and I whirled around to find a tall man standing in front of me. It was one of the patrol. 

"You--" he began saying.

"Sorry; gotta go," I said and then I transported out of the security building before he could attack me. I transported out to the gates, where Elijah's army was quickly rushing through. Spotting Gerrard, I ran over to him. Already in the distance, I could hear shouts and sparks of light as opposing Magii threw spells and curses at each other.

"Hey," I said when I reached Gerrard.

"Hey. Good work with the security. Any trouble?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"I ran into a few obstacles, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle," I replied cockily. He rolled his eyes at me.

"We're taking the East side of campus. Isaac has the biggest army so he's attacking the West and South. Gianna is taking the North. Elijah said that once we've found your father, we have to call him," Gerrard told me. I nodded. The goal was to continuously attack the Order until they grew tired and weak and eventually gave in to Elijah and his twisted philosophy. What Elijah planned on doing to my father, I had no idea. But there was no way I was going to let him kill my only living parent. So of course, my job was to find my father before anyone else could.

"Let's go then," I said, my eyes falling on a group of people that were supposed to be under my demand. We ran towards the people and then had them follow us. The East and South sides of the campus were where the dining halls and dormitories were. That was where the majority of the Order's army would be hiding out. When we got to the Rossi dorm, I turned towards my army.

"If you see Michael Lucia, call me first. Don't call Elijah," I shouted out to whoever was listening. "Now go! Remember, no taking innocent lives!" I shouted as people ran off to meet a stream of people that had just exited the Rossi dorm. 

"Caley, watch out!" Gerrard yelled at me. I turned just in time to see a flaming orb fly past my face followed by a dark, burly young man with amber eyes. He lunged at me, his hands on fire. I leapt backwards, out of his rich. He sent another flaming orb at me, which I deflected.

"You scum. You think you can come here and attack my school and my friends?!" the young man shouted at me. 

"Stop. Please, I don't want to hurt you," I told him, holding my hands up.

"Yeah right!" the guy shouted, sending a flaming whip at me. The whip caught me around my wrist, singeing the skin around it. I hissed as the whip burned me and then took away the oxygen around the whip to take out the fire. When the fire had gone out, I yanked at the rope that was left, pulling the guy forward forcefully. He fell to his knees and I turned the ground into mud, causing him to sink into it quickly. He was a fire master and he seemed surprised that I knew how to manipulate all of these elements so well. He transported out of the mud behind me, but I turned in time to dodge a flaming punch that he threw at me. He stumbled forward and I kneed him in the back. I manipulated the air to send a gust of wind to knock him onto his back and he flew backwards, hitting a tree. When he fell to the ground, he was unconscious.

"Sorry, mate. You put up a good fight, though," I said, going up to him. I conjured up a rope and tied it around him. Then I sent him to Elijah's dungeon basement where I was planning on sending all of my captives. That way, after they were rendered unconscious, they would be out of the way.

After my opponent disappeared, I turned around. There was a cloud of smoke in the air coming from the Rossi building. It seemed as though some of Isaac's army had set the building on fire. Groaning, I took off towards the fighting that was happening below. 

As I ran, I threw energy balls at people coming towards me, knocking them backwards or rendering them unconscious. After I stopped each person, I sent them to Elijah's dungeon. I needed to save as many people as possible. 

I passed Isobel who was locked in combat with a man that was twice her size. She had worked up a sweat as she dodged his spells. 

"You doing ok?" I asked as I ran by. She grunted in response, conjuring up a mini tornado and wrapping it around her opponent. The guy began spiraling out of control. I turned the ground into mud and he sank down below. Once it was just his torso that was sticking out of the ground, I hardened the dirt. He was trapped.

"Thanks," Isobel huffed. I smirked.

"No prob-" I began, but she pushed me to the ground, putting her hands up and creating a quick force field. A fiery blast had been headed towards me and was deflected by Isobel's quick actions. 

"Good call," I said. "I would've been burnt alive."

"We're even now," she said, her silvery eyes flashing before she ran off to fight someone else. I transported the guy stuck in the mud out of the battlefield and then also headed off towards the base of the building, where the bulk of the fighting was occurring. I dodged several flaming bricks that were falling from the top of the building, which was burning with fire.  I saw a large chunk of the building fall towards a group of people that were fighting below. 

"Watch out!!!" I shouted, running forward. I shot energy balls towards the large piece of rubble, turning it to dust before it smashed the people below. While I was distracted by this, I was hit in the back by a force that projected me forward, knocking the air out of my lung. I coughed and winced as I landed on my knees. I felt the knees of my jeans rip and felt the sting of blood mixing with dirt as I stood up to face whoever had launched the energy ball at me. I turned and gasped. It was Jason, one of Trey's best friends from Trinity High.

"J-Jason?" I stammered. He looked at me, confused.

"Caley? What are you doing here? When did you get back?" he asked, rushing forward towards me. He noted my bleeding knees and bent down. "I am so sorry. I didn't know it was you. I thought you were one of the bad guys," he apologized. I pushed him away.

"It's ok," I said, feeling a slight panic. As of yet, I hadn't encountered anyone that knew me. Jason was the first and I couldn't let him inform my father or Trey that I was here.

"When did you get back?" Jason asked me. I shook my head.

"About an hour ago," I said, projecting a small stream of water from my hands to clean off the wound. I waved my hand over the open wound and healed the skin, wincing as I felt the platelets form a scab.

"Does your father know you're back?" he asked me.

"I got here when the fighting started. I was about to go to him," I replied, standing up straight. "Do you know where he is?" I asked.

"He was in his office when the fighting broke out. But I'm sure he's out fighting somewhere," Jason replied. 

"What about Trey?" I asked.

"I saw him on the North side last. Near your father's office," Jason replied.

"Don't tell them that I'm here," I told Jason.

"What? Why?" he asked. I bit my lip, my eyes darting around for other familiar faces. I should've worn a mask.

"Because I don't want them to worry," I said, stepping forward and putting my hands on his arms. "Promise me you won't tell them?" I asked. His face shifted slightly.

"Of course not," he said, but I could tell he was lying. Of course he would tell Trey that his fiancee was here. He was his best friend and he wanted to look out for him.

"Thanks, Jason," I said. He gave me a half-smile and then turned around. "Sorry about this," I whispered as he turned. I sent a seismic airwave towards Jason's back, launching him forward so forcefully that he landed on his back, knocking the air out of him. His eyes bulged when I came up towards him.

"I'm sorry, Jason. This is for your own safety," I told him calmly. I put a sleep spell on him and then transported him out of the field. I couldn't risk giving away my presence. I stood and looked towards the mass of people fighting by the base of the burned down dormitory. 

Trey was on the North side of the campus. I could go to him now, but I wasn't ready to face him yet. I needed to find my father first. Thinking this, I turned away and started running towards the other housing buildings, trying to think of where my father would be fighting. He would most likely be defending where there were the most people, because he would want to save as many as he could, just like me. I ran towards the large brush of people, dodging stray spells as I went.

I wiped away sweat, using an air spell to sift away the smoke that had swept the air from the burning buildings. It seemed like Elijah's army had set all of the dormitory buildings on fire, probably to eliminate as many people as they could. However, it seemed like the people in those buildings had transported out just in time. But with fire and smoke in the air, visibility was impaired. Burning rubble was falling in the sky, knocking people out and setting the ground on fire. I decided that I needed to put out the building fires. 

"Caley!" I heard someone shout my name. I turned to see Abbey and I felt my heart drop.

Shit.

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A/N: Part 1 of the battle. I had aout 2000 more words written, but then I couldn't find a good stopping point. So those 2000 words will be a part of the next chapter. 

How do you like the battle so far? Interesting? What do you think Abbey will do when she finds out that Caley is working for the dark side? 

No deaths yet, but there are still 2 more chapters for the battle. XD

Also, I'm still working on my research assignment, which I have to turn in in 6 days, so I'm in crunch mode for that. I might not update again for a week. So once again, don't tell me to update. I will post the next chapter when I have time.

That being said, thank you to all of the people that have continuously supported this story. Your votes and your comments of encouragement for my education are much appreciated. I don't want you to feel like I only hate on the people that annoy me. I really do appreciate the people that encourage me to do well and only wish the best for me. Love you all!

XOXO