Chapter 37
My eyes snapped wide open as war horns ripped through the silence. I scanned the darkness in a panic, heart pounding in my chest. I heard the heavy thud of boots just outside the door. The clanging of metal and marching soldiers erupted through the Compound.
Was I dreaming?
No.
The sounds above proved otherwise.
We were under attack.
I jerked my eyes towards the ceiling. Frantic orders echoed through the Compound.
"Raine!" I yelled, my voice straining against the noise. "We're under attack! Get up, get dressed!"
“Holy shit,” I heard from across the room.
I leaped from the bed, urgency lending speed to my movements as I struggled into my leathers. My fingers fumbled for my boots in the darkness.
Another blast of horns shattered the air. "I'm ready," I called, quickly tying my hair at the nape of my neck .
"Let's go." Raine's figure, barely discernible in the night, darted for the door. I followed closely behind.
She wrenched it open, revealing the chaos that engulfed the Compound, darkness swallowing everything in its path.
"We need to find the others," she commanded.
I fell into step beside her as we raced down the corridor, the stone-lined wall our only guide. I focused on controlling my breath, letting instinct and training take over.
"Arrow nocked!" The command echoed from above as we sprinted towards the men's dormitories, navigating obstacles as best we could in the darkness, every movement fueled by urgency.
“Fire!” The voice called out again as we rushed past recruits of all factions, only discernible by the clink of armor and sudden glimpses of crisp white fabric.
My stomach lurched as my mind wandered. There was only one thing that permeated my thoughts.
Wraiths.
It had to be. The Compound was never this dark.
They had made it. They had reached Luminaria.
Chills ran up my spine as the realization settled in.
Suddenly, Raine hit the ground with a loud thud. In an instant, she was back on her feet, blindly looking around for whatever she had crashed into, before bringing sparks to her fingers, lighting the small space around us.
I noticed a figure on the floor.
“Raine? Fia?” Draven’s voice sounded from below us. I reached out and pulled him up.
“Raine, can you make that brighter?” A flash of fear splintered across Nazul’s expression.
“Not unless you want to be incinerated,” Raine huffed, eyeing the closed-in hallway.
“Fine. We need to get to the north control room. Briar will lead the way.” Nazul turned quickly, feeling for the doorway.
A scream echoed through the corridor, and we were off in an instant, racing once again through the darkness in trained formation. Briar summoned a trail of roots that blasted through the floor and crawled across the walls, allowing him to feel his way forward. “Stay close.”
As soon as we breached the doorway to the Great Hall, my legs froze. The other recruits stopped dead in their tracks, and we all looked around aimlessly.
“Which way?” I asked, trying to steady my racing heart.
Screeching whispers engulfed the room in a vortex. They were coming from all directions.
“We need to split up. We’re too vulnerable as a group,” Briar snapped.
He grabbed Raine’s arm and shot off toward the sparring gyms to the left of the Compound. Draven looked back and forth between us, watching Raine’s sparks disappear in the distance before taking off after them. Suddenly, I was being pulled right by Nazul, and we were full-on sprinting again.
I refocused on the threat above.
We would meet back up at the control room. In an unexpected attack, our orders were to go there for a briefing before engaging in any combat.
I squinted my eyes, trying to better make out my surroundings. I could see, but barely.
Nazul slammed into a table beside me.
“Fuck, I can’t see shit in here.” He gasped.
I quickly helped him up, allowing him to steady himself before we took off.
I stepped forward but was blown back by an invisible force and launched into the air. I twisted my body, preparing to make contact with the ground. My feet hit first, and I threw my hand down to steady myself into a crouch.
“Fia! Where are y–” Nazul called out just as I heard his body hit the wall in front of me.
Lighting exploded on the opposite side of the Great Hall, illuminating the space around us for a split second.
My eyes burned from the sudden brightness, but I saw the Wraiths’ inky forms for the first time, the monstrous shadows that tore through the air–diving, twisting, spreading. All at unimaginable speeds.
My entire being threatened to collapse, but I refocused. There was no time for fear right now. I had to get to Nazul.
I stayed low, crawling over to where I heard him make an impact.
“If you can, cover me. I’m going to try to find them,” I commanded.
“Do it quickly. My shield is up, but if we get surrounded…” he trailed off as we heard more screams from above.
I slammed my eyes closed, imagining the blindfold. The webbing was already making its climb.
I reached out with my mind, searching.
I could sense Nazul beside me. I extended the tendrils further into the space, beyond him, branching out.
Searching.
Come on.
I wasn’t picking up anything. Just the faint traces of those fighting above.
“I can’t sense anything around us. We should keep moving.”
We launched to our feet and took the path closest to the perimeter. Whispers flew through the Compound, dampening all other sound. The wind picked up around us.
I reached for Nazul just as another invisible force slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. My ribs cracked upon the impact, and I cried out into the darkness.
Suddenly, I was in the air, my arms bound behind me as something brushed against my back. I tried to jerk away but couldn’t budge. The wind was louder than ever, spewing guttural whispers in all directions .
I could feel them approaching, surrounding me. The world disappeared from my view.
All I could see was black.
A void.
I fought to break free from the Wraith’s grasp, but my hands wouldn’t move. I wasn’t strong enough.
I slammed my eyes shut and summoned the web, commanding it to find my attacker. To kill it.
It shot out around me, desperate to find its target.
But nothing.
There was nothing to latch onto.
Impenetrable darkness.
A void.
The air around me began to thin as the shadows twisted into a tighter vortex.
I was going to die.
“Nazul…” I managed to croak out in a last act of desperation. My eyelids were heavy, my limbs burning with numbness. The webbing was going wild around me, still snaking through the darkness, on the hunt with a maddening fury.
It was going to die with me.
Ma. Osta. I wouldn’t be able to save them.
Fog enveloped my mind as I kicked, my lungs begging for air that wouldn’t come.
It would be over soon.
My body slowly lost its will to fight, and I went limp, suspended in complete darkness. Accompanied only by the Wraiths that were sucking the life from me.
My powers were useless against this enemy.
I was completely and utterly useless.
Laryk had been wrong about me.
My mind began shutting down. My pulse was weak.
The pain from my fractured rib subsided. I couldn't feel anything at all .
Suddenly, something tore through the whispers. My body convulsed, waking up my lungs and sending me into violent gasps. I felt a hand on my arm as the vortex around me disappeared.
I fell to the ground, still retching. I couldn’t get enough air, my mind still drenched in mist. Even the tendrils lay limp, braided loosely around my spine. They seemed to be heaving.
Nazul dragged me to the perimeter once again.
“I tried to get to you sooner. I fought my way through the shadows and was able to project my shield onto you.” He sounded winded, frantic.
“Control…room…” I whispered. It was all I could manage at the moment.
Nazul’s powers had grown in the face of the Wraiths, and mine had proved futile.
“We’re close now. Can you run?” he asked quietly.
I nodded, allowing him to pull me up.
Nazul wrapped his arm around my back, and we set off again, rushing towards the door at the end of the room. My ribs ached, and I did my best to hold my core still, but gasps escaped me every time I took a step forward. The pain was back in full force. A testament to being alive.
We were reaching the end of the hall. Just a few more steps and we’d be in the control room. .
The vortex of whispers picked up behind us just as we bolted through the door.
My eyes slammed closed as the room lit up around us.
“Well done, recruits!” Lieutenant Mercer said as I fell to the ground, clutching my side.
What the fuck?
Suddenly, Raine was helping me up. I peeked at the room through my lashes. My vision caught a glimpse of copper hair in the corner.
Laryk .
His face was serious, stoic, but his eyes softened when they met mine. His jaw clenched as his eyes shifted down to my ribs.
I looked around to find a few officers, initiates and the rest of my recruit class.
The rest of team V that remained at the Compound was in the room.
“It wasn’t real,” Briar said from his seated position. He looked rough, gripping his ankle.
“Healers will be here soon to deal with any injuries,” Mercer said. “I’m pleased each one of you made it back here in the allotted time. I was beginning to worry about you two.” He tilted his head toward Nazul and I. “We didn’t take it easy on you either. You all proved yourself tonight.”
“All of that was an illusion?” Draven asked, looking around at the unfamiliar guards.
“Well, it was a combined effort. But essentially, yes. We used illusionists, levitation experts, and wind wielders. This seemed to be the most accurate simulation of the real threat.”
“But she failed,” a curse of a voice murmured, and Blood Clot stepped out from behind a few of the officers, and a coy smirk played at her lips.
There was nothing but hatred in her eyes.
“She’s clearly not ready for combat in the West. Unless you want her dead.” Narissa crossed her arms, moving her attention to Laryk and clearing her throat. “Which, in that case, let’s get her there immediately.”
“The goal was to make it to the control room,” Mercer said, stepping in her line of sight. “Fia made it here. It’s not a perfect experiment by any means, but teamwork is certainly a factor. And all of you showed strength in working together to overcome the threat. It was impressive to see.”
Narissa rolled her eyes, slithering back into the shadows.
Both anger and relief invaded me.
I wanted to scream.
I shot a narrowed glance at Laryk, who winked at me before stepping forward and clearing his throat. “I guess congratulations are in order. This wasn’t just any test. It was your last test. Welcome to the Guard, initiates.”