Chapter 25 #3
“Wrong again,” I growled. “Drop the disguise, or I’ll rip it off piece by piece.
” The facade collapsed. His flesh melted away like wax under flame, revealing something monstrous.
Skin like cracked obsidian. Horns that curled back, resembling a ram’s.
Eyes glowing a violent red. A lesser demon.
I didn’t even blink. Forming a portal with one hand, I dragged us both through, ripping us from the academy and into the frozen woods far beyond the outer perimeter.
The air was colder here. Clean. Free of prying ears.
I threw him down into the snow. “Who are you working for?” I demanded, my voice low and venom-laced.
The demon gurgled a phrase in Latin. I stepped closer, shadows slithering like blades. “Speak in English or die screaming.”
His lips curled into a grin. “Not me killing students,” he rasped. “Only here to wear the skin. Fool the boy.”
“You mean me?” I snapped.
“Yes,” he replied, blood oozing from his cracked lips. “Wore it well… for a time.”
“Where is my father?”
He paused, his blackened tongue flicking out like a lizard’s. “Don’t know. He was gone when I arrived.” Gone? I asked the question that haunted me.
“Then who’s been killing the students?” He opened his mouth to speak.
And then-boom. His body detonated. Black blood sprayed in every direction, soaking the snow, the trees, and me.
I stumbled back, my shadows retreating in a defensive hiss.
The forest grew still. He was gone. Not killed by me. Not suicide. Silenced.
By whomever he was working for. Someone didn’t want me getting answers. Someone watching. Close. Too close. My jaw clenched as I wiped the blood from my face.
I needed to speak to Derek and Kerian. Now. Because if demons were infiltrating the academy and whoever this darkness was could reach that deep, then we were already at war. We just didn’t know it yet. Summoning a portal, I stepped through into the Blood Assassins’ territory.
Despite the propaganda we were fed at college stories of blackened skies, dying lands, and monsters lurking in ash, what I saw was the opposite.
The kingdom was thriving. Rolling hills.
Towering evergreens. The air smelled cleaner here than back home.
The Blood Assassins didn’t live in a wasteland.
That was a lie. Like so many others. I walked through the castle halls, shadows curling around my boots like old friends.
“Where are Derek and Kerian?” I asked one of the sentries in passing.
“War room,” he replied with a nod.
When I stepped inside, Derek looked up from the table and burst out. “Whoa, what the hell happened to you?” Kerian arched a brow, his dark eyes narrowing on the blood coating my leathers.
“A demon exploded on me,” I replied, dragging a rag across my jaw, black ichor smearing into the fabric.
Derek’s mouth dropped open. “A what now?”
“A demon,” I repeated flatly. “One was impersonating my father. Wearing his face. His voice. The same cold glare. But it wasn’t him.”
Kerian straightened from the map table. “How long?”
“I’m not sure but definitely for a couple months,” I replied. “And I don’t know where the real Commander Dagon is. If he’s even alive.” Silence fell over the room, thick and sharp. I let out a breath and looked between them. “Please tell me you found something at the Eastern Encampment. Anything.”
Derek nodded grimly. “We did. Survivors, including commander Varek. A few of your people were still breathing. Of course, they fought us at first. Thought we did this to them.”
“I’m not surprised,” I muttered.
“But we convinced her otherwise. She’s in our infirmary now, in bad shape, but alive,” Derek continued.
“Said the wards didn’t just fail, they were drained.
Like something fed on them. Same as what that letter mentioned.
” Kerian remained silent, still studying the map.
His fingers traced along the eastern ridge and paused near Arcanna.
“Kerian,” I said, stepping closer. “What are you thinking?”
He looked up, his voice low and cold. “The first strike was the Eastern Encampment. The next target is the Academy. It’s already compromised.
” My stomach turned. It made sense. The students.
The runes. Firebeard’s disappearance. My father was replaced.
Erebus slithering through the halls like a snake. It was all building to something.
“To take it from within,” I muttered. “One student, one teacher at a time.” I turned to Kerian. “If war breaks out, can I count on you for reinforcements? Will you help us defend it?”
He met my gaze without hesitation. “We’ll be there.”
I nodded once, firm. “Then it’s time I start preparing the school. I can’t keep this under wrap any longer, not with everything unraveling. The students have a right to know. They deserve a chance to fight. And with my father gone… that makes me the acting commander now.”
Derek smirked. “Always knew you had it in you.”
“Let’s hope that’s enough,” I muttered. Because war was no longer a theory or whisper in the dark. It was here. And it wasn’t going to wait for permission.