by Candy Crum
Arryn rolled her eyes, realizing their master plan was to pretend to be drunker than hell and in a fight.
"I'd say that your mother was a hideous bitch, but I know for a fact she isn't since I was with her all last night," Cathillian snapped back.
Arryn saw the guards by the Academy laughing as they took in the two drunkards arguing in the street.
"Bastard!" Samuel yelled. "Take it back, ya pointy-eared pansy!"
Cathillian laughed before leaning over and putting his face directly into Samuel's. "I don't have to. Your mom was busy taking it back all night long."
Samuel roared with anger. "That doesn't even make sense!"
"It doesn't have to! I fucked your mom!" Cathillian shouted back.
Arryn had to bite her lip. Those two dumbasses were too much to handle, and the guards were watching with excitement, not moving to do anything about the argument. They seemed completely harmless, minus their terrible insults.
If they didn't pick it up, they would have to work extra hard to keep attention off her.
Arryn heard a loud pop and turned back to see that Samuel had punched Cathillian right in the face. There you go! Arryn thought.
Now that things had gotten physical the guards jumped into action, running down the street toward her loud friends. Arryn quickly made her way across the cobblestone road to the side of the Academy, careful to make sure her footsteps didn't fall too loudly.
Within moments Arryn was out of anyone's line of sight, careful not to alert any of the other guards surrounding the building.
She found herself wishing she'd learned how to teleport, knowing how helpful it would have been at that moment. It would be loud, but she would be inside and no one would have seen her enter the building.
Unfortunately, only the best magicians were capable of such a feat, and Arryn was still only mediocre at best. Her skills played more to her physical capabilities than her magical ones.
Taking that into consideration, Arryn carefully began scaling the stone wall, grateful she’d chosen to go barefoot—just like back in the forest.
As she climbed, she did her best to keep an eye out for any onlookers. Shadows fell on this part of the building in such a way that her body, which was clad in black leather, remained easily hidden.
Within moments she reached her classroom’s window, having used her strength, agility, and minimal nature magic to break off tiny pieces of stone so her hands and feet could fit in the resulting gaps.
The last time she'd been in class she'd made it a point to unlock her window. It was something no one else would have noticed, but it would allow her to get back in if she needed to. She had no idea things would happen as they had, so she was doubly grateful for her foresight.
She pushed the glass up and it opened just as she'd expected. Quietly sliding through and dropping her bare feet on the cold floor, she turned to close the window and the curtains.
Arryn made her way down the hall, moving on the balls of her feet so her steps were very quiet. She passed Talia's office, which was up the stairs and toward the end of the hall on the right.
She was surprised that she hadn't run into anyone, but she couldn't rest just yet—she needed to stay on high alert.
Arryn ascended to the next floor, entering the tower where Adrien's office had been. Following Elon's directions, she found the secret door. The pupils of her eyes turned green as the corneas clouded with darkness. She focused her mind as she pulled water from the damp night air and placed her hand against the magitech lock.
She pushed the water inside and froze it, droplets expanding beyond what the lock could accommodate and drastic temperatures shorting the magitech core. The entire lock broke apart as she turned her hand, pulled it free, and quietly dropped it to the floor.
Arryn quickly looked over her shoulder, checking the area make sure she was still alone. Satisfied, she opened the door and made her way down a set of stairs, magitech lighting switching on as she passed each sconce.
Arryn soon came to a massive room capable of holding dozens of people. It was dimly lit, and its rich dark colors made the room feel creepy and cold.
Her eyes wandered around the room, taking in everything. If nothing else, Amelia would be able to examine her thoughts to find out what she had seen.
Chains hung from the ceiling, and there was blood crusted inside the cuffs that dangled from the bottom. Though its lively energy was long gone, Arryn was able to tell the blood had belonged to Amos, the first victim she'd had contact with.
On further search, she found a large stain on the floor not far from the cuffs. A thick, loadbearing pole stood almost in the middle of the room, and at the bottom on the hardwood floor was a massive black spot. Leaning down, she brushed it with her fingertips and knew that it, too, had belonged to Amos.
Anger clenched her throat as she stood and examined the room further. Across the room on a table against the wall, she found several jars. When she reached the table, she opened one of them, nose almost immediately assaulted by the scent of blood.
This is a room of death, she thought. She couldn't help but wonder how many people had died down here. She could only sense Amos' blood, but she knew what was in the jars was someone else's. She imagined several people had fallen victim to Talia in that room.
Arryn took one of the smaller jars and made her way back upstairs, satisfied that she wouldn't find anything personal of Talia's down there.
When she reached the door to Adrien's office, she carefully peeked to make sure no one was around. She'd been lucky so far, and she hoped her luck would continue.
Assuming she knew Talia, anything personal she had would be kept in Adrien's office. Not only because he was her father, but also because she would believe that no one would want to go into his office.
Even after his death, his office carried a certain level of respect and fear. Not even Amelia herself had wanted that office, and had avoided it at all costs. No other teacher, and especially no student, would dare nose around in there.
Her office, however, the office of a sweet, kind Dean, would not be off-limits and thus would be at risk from nosy people, including young Jackson.
No, if Arryn knew anything at all about her enemy, it was that she would hide her most important belongings in Adrien's office where no one would enter.
She searched the desk, knowing it more than likely held the very item she was looking for. The bottom right drawer was sealed with another magitech lock, but like the one on the entrance to the basement, it was no match for Arryn’s skills.
Within moments, she pulled the drawer open and stared into the space, empty save for a single box. She pulled it free and saw the same designs she'd seen on a blueprint in the box of Adrien’s things Amelia had given her. It was identical.
Unfortunately, Arryn didn't have the key, but she knew that if she took it to Elon he would be able to open it without one, or he would just make another one.
Arryn smiled as she clutched the box to her chest before closing the drawer and standing, crossing the room. She had what she came for and was confident that all the evidence she needed would be hidden inside.
Arryn had almost reached the door when she heard the handle move.
Shit! she thought, realizing at that moment that she hadn't kept her guard up. The one lesson Elysia and Cathillian had always reinforced for her, and she had failed! In her excitement, she had forgotten to sense for anyone who might be approaching or was already inside.
She realized that she was at the highest point of the building when she looked out the window. If her magic failed when she fell out the window this time, she more than likely wouldn't survive the fall.
Planning wouldn't matter anyway, because she'd run out of time. The door was opening right at that moment, so Arryn decided to fight instead of hide.
Once the door was wide, another student, Leon, stepped inside, and he smiled as he locked eyes with Arryn.
"Wow, I'm surprised it took you this long.
We've been waiting for you to show up, though we figured it would've been a lot sooner than now," Leon told her.
Arryn smiled sarcastically. "Well, I'm all for surprises. I feel like it really makes a person feel special to get the unexpected. For instance, I'm going to kill you, so if you happened to survive, it would be totally unexpected and seem like a real treat, now wouldn't it?"
He shook his head, his smile never fading as he took another step and shut the door behind him. "Are you always so incessantly sarcastic?"
Arryn shrugged. "I really feel like a good sense of humor is the key to any situation, even bad ones. Take yours, for instance."
"My situation? I think you should probably be worrying more about yours. We have more power than ever thanks to Talia and Scarlett. With their help, we've been able to use the blood of others to grow and complete ourselves. We're unstoppable, and once you're gone, we're going to restore the city to the way it was, the way it should be."
Arryn looked at him incredulously. "See what I'm talking about, Leon? You clearly have a wild sense of humor if you believe any of that crap you just spouted. And you have no more power now than you did the day you met Talia. I don't know if you've been bathing in the blood or drinking it or what the hell you been doing, but I promise you it doesn't work that way."
He laughed. "Well, I think you'll come to understand once I show you just how strong I am. You're not walking out of here alive."
"Funny, because I sure as hell didn't plan to walk out of here dead. Obviously, because I mean, how would that even be possible? Am I right? Who even came up with that saying? He was an idiot, and you're another one for using it. I'm bored—you're boring. Did I mention that I have attention issues?"
While stalling, Arryn sensed that he was the only one present just then. No one was in the halls, and no one was below them outside, though she couldn't tell if anyone was on the lower floors.
If she wanted to get out, the best way to do it would be to go out the window.
Leon looked at her in confusion. He'd obviously expected her to quiver in fear at his presence, but she hadn't given him what he’d sought. "Okay, I'm done stalling now. You don't have any friends around, so let's get this over with. I have shit I need to do, like take down that bitch friend of yours."
"Stalling?" He seemed angry, his entire body going rigid as his fists clenched. When he realized he'd been had and she hadn't even touched him, his face grew angrier.
He threw his arms straight out, creating a blast of telekinetic energy that sent Arryn backward toward the wall. She managed to tumble in mid-air so her feet hit first, forcing her into a crouch on the wall before she pushed off, somersaulted across the floor, and rolled to her feet.
She smiled. "My turn!"
Echoing his own move, she threw her arms straight out, creating her own blast of energy to send him backward into the door. Leon wasn't nearly as agile as she was, slamming hard against the wood and grunting.
Releasing her energy, her eyes turned black as she arced her hands over her chest and created two fireballs. Just as she was about to throw them, she saw his hand move, but didn't see the object until it was too late.
The jar of blood she'd brought from the basement smashed into her face, breaking on contact, and shards of glass sliced her face and embedded themselves into her eyes. Completely unable to see, she couldn’t brace for his attack.
His fists slammed into the side of her head, easily taking her to the ground because of the amount of pain she was already in. Wrapping her hair in his fingers, he slammed his knee into her face several times before dropping her head to the floor.
"You know, I helped with the setup. It wasn't difficult. We already had the murders in place, and Talia had been to the Madlands. The remnant are under our control, the Chancellor is under our control, the entire fucking city is under our control, and you want to say that Talia hasn't given us more power? That we aren't more powerful?" He laughed as he stepped in front of her. "You're about to understand just how wrong you are, and I can't wait to see what I get for delivering your fucking head to Talia."
Arryn was completely blind, since the little bastard had fought dirty. Not just dirty, but dirty dirty. She was covered in her own blood as well as someone else’s, someone innocent whom she should've been able to protect.
The very thought of that pissed her off more than she could have imagined. Arryn used her power to sense around her, pinpointing her position in relation to the rest of the room. By her calculations, the window was somewhere behind her target.
His hand once again wrapped around her hair as he snapped her head back, the angle causing incredible pain in her neck and head. But instead of giving him the satisfaction of knowing he was causing her any discomfort at all, she smiled.
"You know, I think there might be something to this blood thing. I suddenly feel very powerful," she told him, hoping to invoke even the slightest bit of fear in him.
At that moment, she called on all her rage to save her as she thrust her hands into his chest, her magic blasting in all directions. Arryn was thrown backwards, her body smashing into the desk before flying backwards over it and into the wall.
There'd been an explosion across the room, and she could feel air coming in from outside, though she had no way of knowing what had happened to her opponent.
Taking a deep breath, Arryn used a little of what was left of her energy as she covered her face with her hands, making sure to keep her eyes opened as she slowly and carefully pulled her hands away. She used her nature magic to sense her own anatomy and physical magic to pull anything that didn't belong there from flesh and eyes.
She blinked, sighing in relief since the broken glass was removed. She once again covered her face as she used her magic to heal herself, wiping the blood from her eyes as she did.
Everything was cloudy at first when she opened them, but it quickly cleared and she took in the damage. Her body had somehow smashed the desk in half before landing on the floor behind it. She had no idea how she hadn't crushed her spine, but it was something she certainly didn't take lightly.
Across the room, the entire wall and a good portion of the floor were missing, flames licking the wood where she'd used both telekinesis and a large amount of fire to blow her attacker into oblivion.
She couldn't help but wonder if Leon actually made it outside and onto the ground below, or if he'd disintegrated in the blast.
Either way, she didn't give a damn. All that mattered was that he had been a cold-blooded killer and now he was dead. He'd never hurt anyone else.
Arryn could hardly move as she searched for the box. She sighed as she found the object she'd literally gone through hell to find to her left. Feeling unconsciousness approaching, she scooted across the floor and grabbed the box, pulling it to her.
Footsteps sounded inside the room, and Arryn's entire body stiffened as her eyes widened.
"Arryn!" Cathillian's voice called to her over the roar of the flames.
She sighed in relief, thanking the Matriarch that it was her friend and not another enemy.
"Over here," she croaked.
"Celine is causing a distraction," Cathillian said. "Come on, I have vines ready to lower us to the ground. Pretty sure everyone's gonna know it was you, though. So much for subtlety."
Arryn smiled, her head falling back as he lifted her into his arms. She took a breath, willing the words to come. "Well, you know me—I like to make an entrance. Or in this case, an exit."
Wrapping her arm around the box, Arryn fainted.
24
Elysia stood in the trees, overlooking the barrier to the other side. A Schatten shadow warrior had retrieved her and told her what had happened.
Ever since the battle training, Elysia and the Chieftain had ordered the Schatten to fan out around the border, hide in the trees, and watch for anything out of the ordinary. They were to stay well inside the border so as not to be seen, heard, or sensed, and they were not to engage unless attempts
were made to cross the border.
Even with her precautions, somehow the dark druids had been stealthier than the shadow warriors had been able to detect.
As Elysia looked down at body after body, she imagined the hundreds of animals that had been sacrificed for this incursion. Deer, raccoons, birds, and everything in between surrounded the Dark Forest border.
The tree she stood in began to creak, and she looked down to see her father using a root to elevate himself to the branch his daughter stood on.
"I don't understand," Elysia murmured, looking at the lifeless bodies decaying around their walls. "Ryel said the other walls weren't as heavily affected. It seems the southern wall is the worst, but they strung the dead out around our entire perimeter."
"I can't pretend to understand what's going on here," the Chieftain muttered. "And while I don't like admitting it, at this point I can't help but believe they are more than capable of coming through our barriers. They can apparently come in anytime they want, so I'm not sure why they’re waiting."
Elysia shook her head, unable to take her eyes away from the beautiful buck on the other side. He was one of the biggest deer she'd ever seen. It was early spring and there had been many births in the forest, but not even the young had been spared in their latest assault.
"I'm beginning to wonder if this has anything to do with Arryn and Cathillian," Elysia mused.
The Chieftain turned to look at her quizzically. "Why would you think that?"
Elysia took several steps back, leaning against the tree trunk before sliding down to sit on the thick branch. A small squirrel ran onto her shoulder and hid inside her cloak. Smiling, she took a moment to pull him free and cradled him in her hands, gently stroking the side of his face with the pad of her thumb.
She could sense the fear in the little one, and she took a moment to push her magic, reassuring him that as long as he remained in the Dark Forest, they would keep him safe. Within moments, the little guy had curled into a ball in her hands and closed his eyes, falling asleep.
