Chapter 33
Aiden’s POV
I slashed a demon through the chest before swinging around and catching another right across the neck. Blood splattered on my face. I noticed most of the first years were gone, which was good, but then my eyes landed on Rynlee.
Alaric was beside her, and I let out a sigh. Of course she was still here; her stubborn ass wouldn’t even listen to Alaric. The clash of steel and screams rang through the field, chaos swallowing the air. I started toward them when a piercing cry froze me in place.
Jasmine.
I spun just in time to see her thrashing in Erebus’s grip, his pale fingers clamped tight around her throat. My blood turned to ice.
“Let her go!” I roared, shadows already surging at my heels. But Erebus only smiled, and then he opened his mouth. Dark smoke poured from him, twisting like serpents before forcing its way into Jasmine. She convulsed, her green eyes rolling back, turning pitch black.
The fight drained out of her in an instant.
Erebus released her, letting her stumble forward like a broken doll.
My pulse thundered. “What did you do to her?” I demanded, stepping closer.
Before I could reach them, Jasmine’s head snapped up, and she wasn’t Jasmine anymore.
Her arm lashed out, and suddenly I was yanked backward, thick vines exploding from the ground, their thorns tearing through my skin.
“Shit.” Shadows burst out from me, wedging between my body and the barbed coils. I ripped free just as the vines recoiled. “I don’t want to fight you, Jasmine,” I said, voice low, almost pleading. My sword gleamed in my hand, but my grip shook.
“You don’t really have a choice,” Erebus drawled, his smirk curving sharp as a razor.
“Kill her… or be killed.” And then she lunged.
I barely brought my blade up in time, sparks flying as steel met steel.
Jasmine moved fast, faster than I remembered.
She spun low, cutting across my ribs. White-hot pain tore through me, forcing a grunt from my throat.
I stumbled, slamming my palm against the wound, sealing it with ice before the blood drained out of me.
She came again, relentless, and desperation clawed at my chest. This wasn’t any other cadet.
This was Jasmine. My best friend. The one person who had been there before the bond, before the shadows.
Even though we had a sort of falling out, I couldn’t kill her.
I wouldn’t.
Snarling, I surged forward, encasing her in ice, locking her inside a jagged prism. She slammed her blades against it, over and over, her black eyes burning, her screams no longer her own. My chest heaved, heart breaking. And the shadows whispered.
To break the curse, be the shadows. Their hiss crawled through my skull. I clenched my teeth, choking down panic. Be the shadows?
Again, they whispered, insistent. Be. The.
Shadows. And I understood. The ice shattered away, shards scattering as Jasmine lunged once more.
This time, I met her head-on. My shadows surged outward, black tendrils wrapping tightly around her limbs, locking her in place.
She thrashed, snarling like some feral beast.
I grabbed her jaw, fingers digging in as I forced her mouth open.
My shadows poured inside, colliding with the darkness Erebus had shoved into her.
She screamed, a sound that tore me apart, but I didn’t stop.
My shadows coiled, tore, pulled. And then, like smoke sucked from a fire, the black ink bled out of her veins, writhing as my shadows devoured it whole.
Jasmine collapsed against me, her body trembling.
Her green eyes flickered back, her olive skin paling.
Alive but barely. I caught her before she hit the ground, cradling her against my chest. Her breathing was shallow; each rise of her chest was weaker than the last.
“Stay with me, Jas,” I whispered, voice breaking.
Erebus was already gone, vanishing into the chaos, leaving his poison behind.
I didn’t hesitate. A portal split open at my feet, shadows curling like a doorway to salvation.
I stepped through into the dim tunnels, where Professor Anders turned sharply at the sight of us.
“Take Jasmine,” I barked, voice hoarse. My arms refused to let her go, but I forced myself, lowering her into his hold.
Anders’s face paled as he nodded, rushing her away.
And I stood there, chest heaving, shadows still writhing around me.
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I’d saved her.
But the manner I saved her, the way it felt like the shadows had fed.
It left something cold and wrong gnawing at me.
I tore through the portal and back onto the battlefield only to be seized by the throat and slammed against a tree.
My skull rattled from the impact, pain shooting down my spine.
Bark splintered against my spine as Erebus loomed over me, silver eyes blazing with malice.
“You listened to the shadows, Aiden,” he said coldly.
His grip tightened, cutting off my air. I clawed at his wrist, lungs burning.
Across the field, I caught sight of Rynlee staggering, her own breath faltering.
She felt it. Every ounce of this through the bond.
“You went against my plans,” Erebus snarled.
Shadows leaked off him like smoke, coiling, hungry.
“Jasmine was meant to be mine. My new pawn.”
“Fuck you,” I spat, even as my vision blurred at the edges.
His face twisted into a smile, cruel and sharp. He leaned closer, his shadows clashing against mine, dragging at them like predators scenting blood.
“How did it feel?” he hissed. “Feeding on my darkness. Tearing my curse away. Did it thrill you? Did it scare you?” I glared, refusing to answer, but the truth gnawed at me.
The shadows had wanted it. They had taken Jasmine’s corruption like a feast. And part of me hadn’t hated it.
“Khonsu cannot save you,” Erebus whispered, his voice slicing through me.
“The darkness is already in your bones. One day, your shadows will consume you unless you embrace them. And trust me, little Moon God, Rynlee won’t save you, either. ”
Ice slithered down my spine. For a heartbeat, doubt flickered. Before I forced it back. “She’s stronger than you. We’ll defeat you.” I kicked out hard, my boot slamming into his chest. The impact tore me free; his grip slipping. I landed hard, coughing, shadows curling instinctively at my heels.
“I don’t need you. I’m stronger without you.
And my shadows—” they lashed outward, wrapping him in a black coil, “should scare you.” He stilled, his silver gaze glinting in the half-light.
The shadows around him writhed against mine, twisting, pulling.
And then he laughed. Low, soft, and terrifying.
“They do scare me, Aiden,” he murmured, his voice brushing against my skull like poison.
“Because your darkness is raw. Untamed. The kind that could end everything. Or change it all.” And then, just like that, he vanished, leaving nothing but smoke and silence.
Once the haze cleared, and I staggered forward, chest heaving, my hand still braced against the tree where Erebus had pinned me.
The shadows lashed at my feet, restless, almost frantic. Louder than before. Inside me.
They hissed of blood, of power, of surrender.
My fingers curled tight, nails digging into my palms just to keep steady.
Through the bond, I sensed it–her. Rynlee.
Her lungs fighting for air, her pulse quick with fear.
Not hers alone, but mine bleeding into her.
I shoved it down, walls slamming up as hard as I could.
She couldn’t feel how shaken I was. Not now.
Not ever. I wiped the blood from my lip with the back of my hand, forcing my back straight.
Soldiers were still clashing on the field around me, steel ringing, arrows cutting through the smoke, but it all sounded distant.
Distant compared to the echo of Erebus’s voice in my skull.
Your shadows will consume you, unless you embrace them.
A chill crawled up my spine despite the heat of battle.
For a second, just a second, I almost believed him.
Almost. I forced air into my lungs, grounding myself, shoving the whispers back into the pit of my chest where they belonged.
Focus. Control. I was the Moon’s chosen.
I wasn’t some pawn to be bent, twisted, or corrupted by empty promises and poisoned words.
Still… my hands trembled. Not from weakness. From rage. From fear. From the truth, I refused to name. I tore my sword free and stepped back into the fray, steel singing as it met shadow and bone. I couldn’t afford to hesitate. Couldn’t afford to crack, not now.
Not when Rynlee, Alaric, and everyone else were counting on me to hold the line.
I would not fail them. But beneath the mask I wore so well, my heart thundered.
My shadows writhed, restless and hungry, brushing the edges of my control.
And the taste of Erebus’s words, his poison, still lingered on my tongue.
And gods help me…part of me wondered if he was right.
But I pushed those thoughts aside and threw myself back into the chaos.
My blade carved through shadow knights, disguised as Blood Assassins, but their movements gave them away.
Demons lunged from every angle, teeth snapping, claws raking, but my shadows struck faster, devouring them one by one.
I shoved the remaining first-years toward the tunnels, barking orders, dragging the stragglers through when panic froze their legs.
The second years fared better, but even they bled.
Even they fell. Then came the roar, the sickening groan of stone and timber as the dorm tower collapsed into itself. Dust billowed into the sky, blotting out the sun in a choking plume. Arcanna War College was gone.
“Aiden! Most of everyone has retreated!” Keiran’s voice cut through the din, sharp and commanding as he motioned for me to follow.
But my gaze wasn’t on him. It was on them.
Rynlee. Alaric. Still fighting. Still too far away.
I summoned a portal, shadows pooling beneath me. I had to get to them, I had to.
But before I could step through, a rope snapped tight around my waist and yanked me backward.
My lungs seized as I hit the ground hard, the air wrenched from my chest. A demon loomed over me.
Gangly limbs. Skin pale and stretched too thin.
Ebony eyes that burned with hunger. Its jagged teeth gleamed as it raised its weapon high.
I rolled, the blade slamming into the dirt where my body had been.
Derek came out of nowhere, slicing the creature across its abdomen. Black ichor sprayed, sizzling against the snow. He tried to shape it, twist it, but the thing moved too fast, crashing him back to the ground.
“No!” I roared, shadows exploding from me as I cast ice around the demon’s body. It hissed, thrashed, and cracked against the walls of frost. My shadows surged forward, wrapping it whole, consuming it with their hunger. The screams cut sharp and shrill before dissolving into nothing.
Gone.
When the last echo faded, I peered up, and my gaze locked with Keiran’s.
Only for a moment. His silver eyes narrowed, something unreadable in them.
Fear? No. That vanished too quickly, buried beneath his usual mask.
I turned to Derek, who groaned as he pushed himself weakly off the bloodstained snow.
I grabbed him by the arm and hauled him upright, steadying his weight against me. He was breathing, barely, but alive. My gaze snapped across the battlefield. Alaric and Rynlee were still out there. Still fighting. A spike of panic punched through my chest. I didn’t think I just moved.
“Alaric! Ruin!” I yelled, already breaking into a run. “Fall back now! Let’s go!” My heart was hammering so hard it hurt, every instinct screaming that something was wrong. Too wrong. I pushed harder, boots slipping in blood and ash as I forced my way toward them.
Get back. Get back. Please gods, get back.