Chapter 5
Finn
My black cloak whips viciously in the winter wind. The sting of Martin’s death is fresh; it’s bitter in my mouth. His blood soaks the snow beneath my feet, a dark, disturbing red.
I clench my teeth. I pity the poor bastard from the Ekko House who will face me; I’m in a really fucking bad mood.
Corvus already fought, and so did Kai. Both were successful in their battles, thank gods. Fistfights mainly, beating their opponents into bloody messes, but not killing them. No one exerted as much cruelness and power as Frederick did against Martin. And I’ll remember that when I’m tearing his head clean off his shoulders.
I see a flicker of white. I glance up at my opponent and my eyes widen. A brilliant white cloak dances with the wind. A sharp young man, maybe a handful of years older than me, wears it like a warrior sent from the gods themselves. His hair is as white as Kai’s. His eyes are gray. A Fernestian? Why is he the only one wearing a white cloak?
There’s something dark in his soul, making my Shadow, Laphia, curl inside my veins.
“He’s not a student from Ekko House,” one of the Ekko students says.
A roar of agreement rallies around them, but Emerai raises his hand to silence them. Smiling, he shouts, “It would seem that our destruction instructor, Elias, has finally arrived. He will have his fill. Proceed.”
Elias smirks, making my blood chill. My brows pull inward and I can’t keep the terror from pooling inside my chest. The circle hushes as everyone holds their breath.
“What are you waiting for?” Elias says in a low tone. “It’s not fun if you don’t struggle a little first.”
I grit my teeth and change my stance, firm against the uneven snow. Taking a sharp breath, I try to focus on my inner magic, picturing the bird made of flames I summoned in the Cosmos homeroom. Martin appears in my mind. In his hand is a long, fiery blade. A buck-toothed smile passes over Martin’s face and then the darkness whisks him away.
When I open my eyes, there’s power flowing through my veins, burning hot like the phoenix’s flames, collecting in the palm of my right hand. A blinding flare whirls through the air, lashing out at everyone standing in the inner circle to the right of me.
Elias takes a step backward, his eyes flickering with fire and excitement.
I grasp the flame in my palm and it solidifies into a blazing sword of fire, like hot steel just pulled from the forge. Licks of embers spew from the blade. I can’t help the manic grin that curls my lips. There is darkness inside me and I want to kill this man more than anything. He’s not some student in the same boat as me, he’s Fernestian and a professor at this heinous academy.
Elias doesn’t waste time; he charges me and lunges at my left side. I spin hastily on my heel and swing the fire blade down with a heavy thrust. My bloodlust is peaking inside of me, Laphia urging me on.
Elias throws his head up and evades a slice to his throat. My blade digs deep into the snow, farther even, into the frozen earth beneath. I wince from the hold the ground has on my sword and look up in horror. He’s already on top of me, throwing me to the ground and away from the weapon with ease. Elias follows up with a bone-shattering kick to my ribs.
This guy is lethal. He’s strong.
My lungs instantly ignite with pain and I cough violently, curling in on myself. I gasp for air and try to push myself to my knees but Elias is already in my face, smiling wickedly, bloodlust gleaming in his eyes. A starved demon.
The evil within this man is unlike the rest of the Fernestians I’ve encountered. He truly enjoys what he’s doing.
It makes my skin crawl.
“Get out of my fucking face!” I shout. Elias cocks his head, smiling, looking almost bored with me.
Fine, you want to play games? I grab Elias’s forearm and set fire loose in my palms. Flames burst from my skin and the instructor’s eyes flash with surprise. He groans in pain as he jerks away from me. His flesh melts down to the bones. His tendons are crisped, but still function, making a grotesque crunching sound as he lifts his arm to inspect it. I look down at my fingers; burned flesh clings to me like meat stuck to a skewer. I gag at the sight and the rancid smell of it, shaking my hand to try and get rid of the muck.
A manic, too-long smile crests over Elias’s face. His gray eyes shift with a white crescent moon of light. It reminds me of Kallos’s eyes when he used his powers. Something is about to happen. What power does Elias hold? A surge of malicious magic thickens in the air, and Elias’s Shadow spills from behind his body like a shroud of black mist. A few gasps shrill from students. They feel it too.
He is an unholy god in the flesh.
Sweat drips down my face. What the fuck is he? Elias smiles and raises his destroyed arm. The smell of his burnt flesh nauseates me.
“You were fun. Nothing special though, unfortunately,” Elias says nonchalantly as his arm rebuilds itself. His skin is the last to restore; it forms like cloth pulled from thin air and wraps around his arm.
What the fuck has Fernestia done to us?
“Bye, asshole.” Elias’s voice is resentful, as if he knows me. How could he possibly know me? He raises his hand to deliver his final blow.
“Elias!” An angry feminine voice rises from the crowd. A woman in a brilliant white cloak steps in front of Elias. Her brown hair wisps beautifully in the breeze. My eyes widen slowly. It can’t be her.
“You can’t intervene in the fight,” Emerai shouts from his place at the head of the circle.
Elias’s expression shifts from bloodthirsty to something warm and affectionate within the span of a millisecond as he looks at the woman.
No, that’s not her. Why is that monster looking at her like that?
Elias reaches his hand up and brushes her face softly. Fernestians showing any sort of affection is laughable. Fury swirls within the chambers of my heart. This fight isn’t over yet. I’ll fight both of them if I have to. I pull my fire blade from the ground and slash it toward the two. Embers spray over them and Elias’s face hardens once more.
“Oh, you’re still here, are you?” Elias hisses at me. Then he speaks to the woman beside him. I still can’t see her face. “He clearly doesn’t value his life, Terra. Let me kill him.”
My chest twists and the air is suddenly colder.
Terra.
The woman turns to face me, her cheeks rosy and emerald eyes gleaming like the gems I once adored more than life itself.
“Terra?” My voice quivers.
She stares at me for a few seconds before a flicker of regret crosses her face. Her gaze isn’t what I remember. Her eyes are dancing with Elias’s. Who is he to her? Worst of all, she doesn’t look at me the way she once did. The warmth is gone. She looks like Terra, but she’s so different.
“Finn,” Terra murmurs like this moment is as bittersweet as ripping a bandage from your skin. “It’s been a while, huh?”