11. Quill
Quill
Iwas only halfway through the race when the alarms began to shriek.
“THERE HAS BEEN A WARD brEACH.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and turned around. All the other racers were gone, either too far behind me to see in the woods or they’d already turned back because of the alarm. I was all alone in the middle of the forest, the northern ward only fifty feet away through the trees.
My breath came in sharp gasps, my lungs burning from the exertion.
I stood frozen for a moment, listening. The forest around me had gone eerily quiet as Dean Thornfield’s words died away, the usual ambient sounds of wildlife and rustling leaves completely absent.
It was the kind of silence that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
Then I saw them.
Flashes of light erupted through the trees ahead, brilliant and blinding against the darker forest. I squinted, trying to make out what was happening, but the brightness made it impossible to focus.
There were shapes colliding with the wards, the ward flaring each time.
The figures, as far as I could tell, were definitely humanoid, but I couldn’t discern any details.
They seemed to be trying to get through, but their movements were strange.
My heart hammered against my ribs. Whatever was trying to breach the perimeter was right there, just through the trees, and I was standing between them and the rest of campus. Between them and everyone else.
I took a step backward, my instinct screaming at me to run, to get back to safety, to report this to someone in authority.
But my legs felt rooted to the ground, frozen by a mixture of fear and some sort of sick curiosity.
The figures kept pushing, and with each surge, the light intensified.
I could practically see the wards now, a shimmering barrier that flickered like it was struggling to hold them back.
One of the figures turned its head in my direction.
Even though I couldn’t see its face clearly through the blinding flashes, I felt its attention lock onto me, like a hand around my throat. My stomach dropped. It knew I was here. They all knew.
I forced my feet to move, backing away from the trail, deeper into the forest and away from the breach. My mind raced through possibilities, none of them good. Should I run? Should I find somewhere to hide? Should I try to get back to campus and alert someone?
Another flash of light, brighter than before, and I heard something crack. The sound was unmistakable. The wards were crumbling one by one.
Heavy footfalls echoed through the trees as something bright caught my attention. A red shape came hurtling down the trail, calling out my name.
“Red! Where are you?!”
It was Aeron.
I didn’t think. I just ran toward that red blur, my fear overriding every rational thought in my head. Aeron burst through the trees like he was moving at mach speed, his golden eyes wild and fixed directly on me. He looked terrified and relieved all at the same time.
“Quill!” he shouted again, closing the distance between us in what felt like an instant.
Behind me, another crack echoed through the forest. Another layer down. I could feel it in the air now, a kind of electrical charge that made my skin prickle. The figures beyond the barrier seemed to sense it too, their movements becoming more frantic, more desperate.
“We need to go,” I gasped, but Aeron was already there, his massive frame blocking out the light from the flashing wards. Up close he looked even larger than before, like his fear had caused his dragon form to swell with power. His jaw was clenched so tight I thought he might crack his teeth.
“I’ve got you,” he said. Before I could respond, he scooped me up like I weighed nothing, one arm wrapped around my waist and the other supporting my thighs.
My instinct was to protest, to demand that he put me down, but another flash of light and the sound of something massive slamming against the wards made the words die in my throat.
Aeron turned and ran.
He moved through the forest with an impossibly fluid grace, dodging trees and undergrowth like he’d been doing it his whole life.
I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his neck, my heart still pounding so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest. Behind us, I could hear the sound of the more layers finally giving way, a sound like glass shattering mixed with the low hum of magic collapsing.
“Don’t look back,” Aeron commanded, his voice a low rumble against my ear. “Keep your eyes on me.”
I obeyed without thinking. My face was pressed against his shoulder.
His muscles bunched and released beneath me with each powerful stride, and despite everything, despite the terror and the chaos, a small part of me registered that this felt good somehow.
That being held like this felt like exactly where I was supposed to be.
We burst out of the tree line and onto the main campus path.
The sun hit us suddenly, bright and disorienting after the shadows of the forest. Aeron didn’t slow down.
If anything, he ran faster, his breathing controlled despite the exertion.
Around us, I could hear students shouting, could see people running toward the dormitories, could hear the sound of magical barriers being reinforced.
Security witches swarmed past us, delving into the forest toward the source of the attack. Some of them were already casting spells, trying to reinforce the wards before they went down completely. Others shot us suspicious looks before running past, like we had something to do with the attack.
Aeron carried me directly toward the residential buildings, not slowing until we reached what I assumed was his dorm. He took the stairs three at a time, the impact of each step jarring through me, and I didn’t protest. I just held on tighter.
He shifted all my weight to one arm as he unlocked his door. As soon as we were inside, he kicked it shut and collapsed on his bed, breathing hard.
I was still in his arms.
For a moment, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. My mind was still caught in that moment of terror in the forest, still hearing the sound of the wards cracking, still feeling that awful sensation of being seen by something I couldn’t quite comprehend.
Aeron’s chest heaved beneath me, his breathing gradually slowing from ragged gasps to something more controlled.
His arms remained locked around me, one still supporting my thighs, the other wrapped securely around my waist. I could feel the rapid thud of his heartbeat against my ribs, and it matched the frantic pace of my own.
“You’re okay,” he murmured into my hair, and I realized he wasn’t saying it to me so much as he was saying it to himself. “You’re safe. You’re safe now.”
I should have pulled away. Every rational part of my brain that wasn’t still running on pure adrenaline was screaming at me to untangle myself from him, to demand to know what the hell those things were, to process what had just happened.
But I couldn’t seem to make my body cooperate.
Instead, I just lay there against him, my hands still gripping his shoulders like he might disappear if I let go.
“What were those things?” I finally managed to ask, my voice coming out hoarse and shaky.
“I don’t know,” Aeron said, and there was nothing in his tone that suggested he was lying. His jaw tightened against the top of my head. “But whatever they are, they’re not getting anywhere near you again.”
The possessiveness in that statement should have irritated me. Under normal circumstances, it probably would have. But right now, with my heart still hammering and my hands still trembling, I found I didn’t have the energy to argue about it.
“I need to...” I started, then trailed off. What did I need to do? Report to someone? Find out if other students were safe? Tell Dean Thornfield what I’d seen?
“You need to stay here,” Aeron finished for me, and this time I did try to shift away. His arms tightened around me immediately, keeping me pinned against him. “No. I mean it, Red. You’re not going anywhere until we know what’s happening out there.”
“You can’t just keep me—”
“A ward breach means we stay in our rooms,” he said, cutting me off. “Sorry this isn’t ideal for you, but that’s too damn bad. You’re staying here.”
I swallowed hard, trying to focus on something other than all that muscle flexing beneath me. “People need to know I’m safe. My roommate will be worried.”
“Lysander already knows,” Aeron said, and now there was definitely something possessive in his tone. “He saw me take off after you. He’ll figure it out.”
Great. Knowing Lysander, he was probably already spreading the word that I’d been “rescued” by the hot dragon guy. Perfect. Just what I needed.
I felt my irritation spike, which was almost a relief. Anger was better than the bone-deep terror that had gripped me in the forest. “So what, we’re just supposed to sit here and wait? We saw something out there, Aeron. We saw those people trying to breach the wards. That’s important information.”
“I know,” he said, his tone brooking no argument. “And we’ll report it. But not right now.”
“Why not?” I demanded, finally managing to push myself up enough to look at him. His golden eyes were still wild, still intense, but there was something else there too, a kind of grim determination that made him look older somehow. More dangerous.
“Because,” he said slowly, as if choosing his words very carefully, “we can’t just go getting everyone even more riled up.
The security team will deal with it for now, then we can give our account later.
There is literally nothing we could tell them that they aren’t seeing with their own eyes right now.
So there’s no reason to get hysterical about it. ”
I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’m not being hysterical.”
“Sure,” he said, pushing himself up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to contact my grandfather.”
“The Elder?”
“Yes,” he nodded, walking over to his desk. He flipped open a box that contained a rather cheesy looking crystal ball. “He told me to check in with him if something goes wrong. He wants to make sure I’m safe.”
I watched as Aeron settled into the chair at his desk, cradling that ridiculous crystal ball like it was actually going to work.
No communication device could pierce the wards anymore, not after the attacks over the past few years.
There was so much security now that you could barely get a letter out through the teleportation circle.
But he closed his eyes anyway, and for a moment, nothing happened.
Then the ball began to glow with a soft, ethereal light.
“Grandfather,” Aeron said quietly, his voice taking on a formal tone I’d never heard from him before. It was strange, hearing him sound almost... respectful.
The light in the crystal ball intensified, and I could make out a shape forming inside it. To my great surprise, an older man’s face materialized, stern and angular, with the same golden eyes as Aeron but colder somehow. This had to be Elder Thaddeus Pyre.
I felt my stomach twist. Professor Blackwood had asked me to keep an eye on Aeron, and here he was, literally contacting the head of the Elder Council.
This was exactly the kind of thing she’d wanted me to notice.
But watching him do it made me feel like a spy, like I was betraying him somehow even though I didn’t owe him a goddamn thing.
“There’s been another ward breach,” Aeron said, keeping his voice level. “On the northern perimeter. I saw the figures attacking the ward, but not who they were. Campus security is handling it now.”
The Elder’s face was unreadable. “And you? Are you safe?”
“I’m fine,” Aeron replied. “I got to… I got to safety before anything could happen.”
I noticed he’d almost said something else. I got to Quill. He’d stopped himself just in time.
“Good,” Elder Thaddeus said, his gaze sharp even through the crystal ball. “Listen to me carefully, Aeron. Don’t speak about what you saw to anyone. Do you understand? Not the other students, not even the security team unless they specifically ask. This needs to stay contained.”
“Why?” Aeron asked, and I could hear the tension in his voice. “Do you know what’s going on? Why this keeps happening?”
“Not yet,” the Elder said, which somehow felt like a lie. “But panic spreads faster than any actual threat and we need people to trust the Elder Council right now, for them to have faith that everyone is safe. Can you keep quiet about this?”
“Yes,” Aeron said after a pause. “But my friend saw them too. He was—”
“Then he stays quiet as well,” Elder Thaddeus cut him off firmly. “The fewer people who know details, the better. Make sure he understands that. No talking to his roommate, no gossiping with friends. Nothing.”
I felt my chest tighten. They were asking me to keep silent about what I’d seen. As much as I understood his reasoning, something about it just didn’t sit right with me. Why all the secrecy? Why was keeping Widdershins open so important?
“I’ll tell him,” Aeron said.
“Good. Stay in your room until further notice. I’ll be in touch.” The Elder’s face faded from the crystal ball, and the light dimmed back to nothing.
Aeron sat there for a long moment, staring at the now-dark crystal. Then he turned to look at me, and I quickly looked away, pretending I’d been staring at the wall the entire time.
“My grandfather says we need to stay in here,” he said, confirming what I’d just heard. “And he wants us to keep what we saw to ourselves. No telling anyone about those things trying to breach the wards.”
“Why would he say that?” I asked, trying to sound innocent despite knowing exactly why.
“Because panic helps no one,” Aeron said, walking back over to the bed. He sat down beside me, closer than before. “And because whoever those people were trying to get inside, they’re not a threat to students. The wards are too strong.”
I nodded slowly, my mind racing. Elder Thaddeus wanted this kept quiet. Professor Blackwood wanted me to spy on Aeron. And now I was sitting in Aeron’s dorm room, having just witnessed a ward breach, with explicit instructions not to tell anyone what I’d seen.
This was getting far too complicated.
And now, to top it all off, I was stuck in Aeron’s room until further notice.