Chapter 23 #5
“Maybe,” he replied, eyes distant now. “But I’ll need to dig deep.
If it’s what I think it is…” His gaze darted back to mine, sharp and grave.
“Then something is very wrong, Aiden. I will be in touch.” And just like that, he was gone, dissolving into stars and sand until the Moon Realm snapped away, my dorm reforming around me.
“Shit,” I muttered, glancing at the clock.
“I’m going to be late.” I grabbed my black cloak and formed a shadow portal.
After Rynlee caught me once already, I couldn’t afford another slip-up.
Cold air slapped my face as I entered. Time to meet Derek.
And gods help me, I hoped he had better answers than Khonsu.
I stepped through the portal, shadows sealing behind me as I arrived at The Arc tavern Derek and I met at once a week. The place was quiet, dimly lit by flickering lanterns and a fire crackling low in the hearth. Derek sat at our usual table, already nursing a mug of ale.
But he wasn’t alone. Kerian was beside him.
The infamous leader of the Blood Assassins.
He looked exactly like the reports described, shoulder-length black hair falling in loose, deliberate strands around a face carved from hard angles and sharper intentions.
His skin was pale, almost stark against the dark armor he wore, dragon-scale plates catching the low firelight in muted obsidian glints.
The Blood Assassin armor was unmistakable.
Black as night. Forged from dragon scales.
And on his right shoulder, stitched in deep crimson, the emblem of a dragon coiled in silent warning.
His eyes were silver. Not soft silver. Not reflective.
Steel. Cold. Measured. Ancient. Eyes that didn’t just reflect darkness, they understood it.
Hades’ power clung to him like a second skin.
Not loud. Not chaotic. Controlled. Contained.
Waiting. “Derek. Kerian,” I greeted as I slid into the booth across from them.
“Aid,” Derek said with a quick nod, he was wearing the same armor as Kerian. “Kerian wanted to come this time, hope that’s alright.”
I shook my head. “Not at all. Honestly, it’s better this way.” Reaching into my leathers, I pulled out the letter I’d stolen from my father’s office and slid it across the table. Derek opened it first, reading carefully. Kerian leaned in, scanning each line with the stillness of a predator.
“The Eastern Encampment fell?” Derek muttered, brows furrowed. “Shadows. Demons? Is this real?”
“It’s real,” I replied tightly. “Commander Varek described soldiers made of smoke, twisted creatures, and something that was feeding off the wards. Leeching the protection magic to empower themselves.” Kerian didn’t speak, but I saw his jaw tick, his fingers slowly curling around his mug.
“How’s the castle coming?” I asked, shifting my gaze to him.
“Good,” Kerian replied. “We’ve cleared out the worst of the dust and rot. Started bringing in furniture and supplies. It’ll be ready soon.” I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. At least something was going our way.
“Thank you,” I said quietly. “I mean that. You didn’t have to help, especially not after how Arcanna painted you.”
He met my gaze, completely unmoved. “I didn’t come for gratitude.
I came because what’s coming doesn’t care about sides.
” He was right. Whatever darkness was creeping toward us didn’t follow banners or loyalties.
It didn’t care who it killed. It was slow.
Deliberate. Patient. And it had spent years letting us look in the wrong direction.
The more I worked with Kerian, the clearer it became, he wasn’t the monster the academy had made him out to be.
He wasn’t some bloodthirsty villain lurking in the shadows.
He was a leader. One doing whatever it took to protect his people.
I leaned forward, lowering my voice. “Rynlee informed me Firebeard had confirmed the professors have been paid off or threatened to not reveal anything about what is really going on.” I take a deep breath, the weight of everything she told me bearing down on me.
“She also told some other pretty compelling things,” I add before informing them on everything from the history of Celetian, to the founders, to the connection with the prophecy we found.
Afterward I let out a sigh running a hand through my hair leaning on the table.
“Holy shit,” Derek breathes out, “so the darkness we may be fighting against is ancient and the High King is literally letting it slip free so he can have power.”
“Not only that,” I said, “but something is rotting Arcanna from the inside out. Something dark.” That finally caught Kerian’s full attention.
“What do you mean?” he asked, one dark brow arching.
“Two students so far have turned up dead,” I said. “No signs of struggle. No wounds. Just… no blood.” I told them everything, the bodies found within Arcanna’s walls, untouched, drained, with no indication of how they’d died.
Kerian’s expression didn’t change, but something sharp flickered behind his eyes. “That sounds like ancient dark magic,” he said flatly.
Derek nodded. “Magic like that is rare. It usually involves runes, old ones. If you can find markings, traces, anything like that, we might be able to identify it.”
I leaned back in my seat, the weight of it settling heavy across my shoulders. “Rynlee’s looking into that tomorrow night. What I can’t understand is why this darkness is only slipping into Arcanna. If this were a wider attack, we’d see it elsewhere.”
“The real question,” Derek said slowly, “is who’s pulling the strings. The High King isn’t working alone. And whatever’s behind those deaths, it doesn’t feel like something he fully controls.”
I nodded. “Exactly. He’s drawing black magic from Celetian and trying to keep it quiet.
But if he’s wielding that much power, why isn’t he using it against you?
” I glanced between them. “According to Arcanna, you are still the enemy.” I sat back letting out a sigh “What I also don’t understand is why the High King is doing this at all. ”
Kerian’s voice dropped, calm but edged with steel.
“Control. Power. He’s tasted darkness, Aiden.
And once someone does, they always want more.
” He paused. “Keeping up the illusion, that everything is normal, makes it easier to manipulate people. They don’t rebel when they believe they’re safe.
” I nodded slowly. “The fact he isn’t coming after my kingdom tells me something else is at play,” Kerian continued.
“If everyone stays focused on us, distracted by an old enemy, it enables infiltration to be easier to obtain.” He was right.
Arcanna didn’t need an external war if it was already being hollowed out from the inside.
“Let’s keep preparing the castle,” I said. “If this keeps spiraling, it may be the only safe place left. I’ll keep digging on my end.”
“We’ll head to the Eastern Encampment,” Derek added. “See if there’s anything left. Or anyone.” We all stood. I gave them both a firm nod. “Stay in touch. If you find anything, no matter how small, we need to know immediately.”
Derek hesitated, then met my eyes. “And Aiden… watch out for my sister. Especially now.”
“I always do,” I said.
I slipped back into the shadows, the cold void wrapping around me before I stepped into my dorm once more.
But something had shifted. This wasn’t just a magical threat.
It wasn’t even a war anymore. It was something worse.
Something ancient. Something hungry. And for the first time since all of this began, fear curled in my chest, not for myself.
But for her.