Chapter 4 Vaxan
~Vaxan~
This was a curious place.
Well, to be perfectly frank, the very notion of Loxley Academy itself was strange to me.
Different species interacting safely and pleasantly.
Easily. Actually coexisting in every way imaginable, something that had been furthered when the negative rhetoric concerning hybridized beings had been dismantled and utterly overturned.
The concept of peaceful and powerful coexistence was something my kind was still adjusting to, something we had only recently become an active part of.
The Basilisk species.
Furthering that was one of the main reasons that I was here attending this academy and immersing myself in this environment.
More accurately… attempting to immerse myself in it.
I couldn’t simply thrust myself into the heart of it. Not without first conducting a detailed assessment. I certainly was no fool.
Nor could I afford to be as High Lord Heir of the Excetra Crown.
My parents led our people, and their current mandate—touted as progressive—was to integrate with modern supernatural society. As next in line to the throne, I’d been sent here to gain the knowledge and wherewithal to be able to carry that further forward.
At least that had been the framing my mother, the High Empress, Norla Canor, had sold to our people.
In actual fact she was looking for any excuse for integration to prove unviable.
Integrating, more of our people moving above ground, would make them far less dependent on her protections.
And she saw that as a threat to her power and control.
To say it was a delicate situation didn’t quite cover it.
Prior to the Severance, which had permanently disconnected the Celestial Plane from the mortal plane, Basilisks had been considered by those True Celestials who resided above as an inversion of the natural order, believed to be violators of lifeforce.
We were reptilian apex predators born of corruption and unnatural magics, and thereby literally driven underground for decades.
Since the Severance, the Celestial Plane’s hold and therefore any outstanding directives had been shattered, the mortal plane now free of it.
As a result, my people had emerged and formed our own kingdom that still technically existed below ground, but which now interacted with the supernatural world.
And here I was now, among them.
The curious place I found myself in currently wasn’t merely Loxley Academy, it was an underground party venue termed The Caverns. I’d discovered that at this precise time, five days into induction week before classes truly began, students convened here.
The air hummed with bass music, a gentle thrum that melded both dance music and a sensual beat. Fortunately, nothing high-pitched that would harm my sensitive hearing.
I stood in the shadows of the cathedral-sized chamber, the walls resembling that of a cave, yet one that was of magical construction with ridges and fractures that glimmered with enchantments.
Violet, indigo, and electric blue orbs of light hung from the cavern ceiling, illuminating the space in a muted hypnotic way.
The place was part lounge, part nightclub.
Along the walls, alcove lounges were cut directly into the stone and lined with dark velvet seating.
There were students chatting and drinking away, some munching on light snacks.
Others weren’t so… restrained. Within several alcoves, brazen fornication was occurring, students in various states of undress. There was a great deal on display.
To say that it wasn’t affecting me would be a lie.
And, although I’d obviously imagined encountering eroticism like that at an Academy party, I hadn’t expected it to this extent.
It had been titillating enough when a true beauty smelling of coconut had inadvertently brushed up against me as we’d both been entering the venue at the same time.
Ice-white flowing hair with blue streaks had filled my vision, swiftly followed by her voluptuous breasts pressed up against my chest, her skin radiating a soothing chill that had flowed through my very being.
They had been undeniably visually appealing presented in the metallic strappy scrap of fabric that had barely encased them, and that had exposed most of her back too, putting a great deal of her snowy-white markings on display.
She’d smiled at me, drank me in for several seconds rather brazenly, then sauntered off, wherein I’d been spellbound by the sight of her swinging hips and her derriere encased in a pair of shimmering pale-blue leather pants that clung to her wonderfully.
Evira Vortimer. I was aware of all power players throughout the supernatural world—and their heirs.
Although I’d never met her before, she certainly fit the description I had familiarized myself with.
The hair, the markings, the forthright and bubbly nature.
Most noticeably, the staggering power rolling off her.
And of course, that primal essence, something I felt from all supernatural beings who had animal natures like me.
I’d watched her order a spicy margarita and scrunch her nose up, then she’d gravitated toward a sorceress couple and engaged with them, talking animatedly, confidently.
At least on the surface. There was an undercurrent of nervousness and anxiety that I’d discerned.
Perhaps the crowded space, given how she kept looking around every now and then, where she would then blink and draw in a centering breath.
Hmm. She hadn’t come into her true power yet.
That was to be expected given her attending an academy.
It was where most came to learn and become more comfortable in themselves and their abilities.
Although that wasn’t technically the case for me. Mine was more along the lines of a diplomatic mission. However, I did have a particular issue.
And that was why I still remained here on the periphery of this party venue sipping at my glass of cognac and not shrinking from the stark sexuality and untamed desire that was utterly stifling as it permeated the area and threatened to overwhelm my senses.
Yes, sex was my issue.
With my Basilisk nature, there were inherent dangers to others should I engage in intimate acts. Even Basilisk to Basilisk that issue was prevalent. And especially for me due to my greater power within my species as heir.
My attention drifted to the spelled acrobatic play happening just beyond the dance floor in the middle of the space.
There were magic-wielders creating a vibrant magical lightshow where others like them and vampires, vampire-sorcerers and werewolves were floating in the air and performing somersaults.
There were wolves, shifter hybrids and a couple of dragons in human form leaping and hurtling through an obstacle course that several Light Fae had fashioned, pulling forth vines and raising earth to form walls.
A rush of intense power caught my attention, and I turned from where I still stood observing just a few feet from the cavern entrance to see the True Celestial sauntering in.
She was a golden beauty, no doubt. However, that sort of power didn’t interest me.
It was rooted in too much purity. And given my people’s history with Celestial beings, I obviously had some issues where their kind was concerned as well.
That said, the being she was walking in with certainly did interest me. In ways far beyond just his power set.
The Wraith-Necromancer, Winter Nox.
He was a true beauty also. His rugged handsomeness and his impressively broad and muscular frame that was delightfully appetizing to me was merely the tip of the iceberg.
He had been little more than a myth fused with unobserved reality until the last few days that I’d spent here watching him.
To some, stalking would be a more appropriate term. To those favoring dramatics, actually. I was merely… cataloguing.
He wasn’t wearing his hoodie for once. Instead, a cobalt-blue muscle tee stretched over his glorious body, leaving little to the imagination when it came to the marble-carved lines of his chest. He was tugging at it uncomfortably as I got lost in the way his jeans pulled taut across his posterior as he turned slightly while addressing the Celestial.
“You look good, Win,” she was telling him. “At least give it a try before you conjure your usual overly casual look.”
“Comfy,” he rumbled.
“It’s a party. Feel the fun.” She gestured the length of herself in a skin-tight golden dress that had cutouts in strategic places. The color very nearly matched her wavy hair. “Look at me dressed for the occasion.”
His gaze bounced off her, making it clear they were solely friends.
That made sense given that one of his fathers had been her teacher and mentor for many years at Haven Initiative.
They’d grown up around one another in a strictly platonic environment.
And now it seemed she was trying to assist him, encouraging him to let loose.
She, like many, couldn’t see that a being like him couldn’t let loose in this way.
It wasn’t possible for him. He stood apart.
I understood that deeply.
And he had my utmost respect.
Although, he also had a side that I didn’t quite understand.
He was constantly assisting others. Even when they didn’t realize it.
Strangers to him.
His empathy was beyond anything I had ever seen.
I’d witnessed him rescue a sorcerer who’d been on the verge of being knocked to the ground when a crowd of rambunctious students led by the aggravating Zayn Riene had rushed through the halls.
With a flick of his shadows, he’d stabilized the poor soul without the being even realizing where the assistance had come from.
Winter had also used his shadows to prevent a student from dropping their tray in the Cafeteria, resettling everything before then turning back to eat his oatmeal.