Chapter 53 – Alexandros
Chapter
Fifty-Three
ALEXANDROS
40 MINUTES BEFORE THE LIGHT GOES OUT
“ A lexandros!” Malachi snaps me out of the daze I was in, and I run to him. He is bound with silver chain, but there are no links and no obvious end point. No weak spot at which to break or snap or unlock. It appears to be forged from a single piece of silver, and the only way to break it is to snap the metal.
The silver burns my hands, but I ignore the pain and try to break him free. My efforts prove futile. I roar my frustration and glance at Axl, who is bound by the same magic.
Lucian lies bleeding out onto the unfinished cellar floor, his eyelids fluttering. “Wraith m-magic.”
“I’m okay. Go help him,” Malachi urges. I give the chains a final wrench that does nothing and run to Lucian.
Ophelia could break those chains, but that would mean leaving the protection of Anikêtos, crossing campus grounds, and potentially encountering the wraith. She is not doing that without me by her side. “As soon as Lucian is healed, I will fetch Ophelia and she will set you all free.”
Axl nods. “We’re okay. Help him.”
I drop to the ground beside Lucian and cradle his head to my chest, squeezing the folds of his neck together whilst it heals.
Are you still protecting her? I ask Anikêtos.
Always, Dragon Whisperer, but we have a problem , he answers. There are more coming. Hordes of shadows we cannot kill.
What do you mean shadows you cannot kill? More wraiths?
No, Alexandros. They are the undead. Someone has opened a crack in the veil.
How do we stop them? How do we protect her from beings we cannot kill?
Elpis and I will set up a ring of Dragonfyre. None of the creatures will be able to cross it, not even the undead.
The veil has been cracked. How is this even possible?