23. Broken Spirits
A eden’s chest swelled as he continued his brisk walk to the healers wing, his mind dizzying as he replayed what had happened over and over again.
The academy had allowed Master Storme to do that. They had given him permission.
This all but solidified in Aeden’s mind just how unsafe this place was – not that his recent experiences hadn’t already planted the seed of doubt.
He had been naive in thinking the teachers at the academy were there to support the students. He had been wrong; the students were all just a means to an end. Another number in the quest for aerial supremacy.
He would make them pay for what they had done. He had no idea how or when, but he found himself ruminating on the desire.
No, you have to keep focused on the task, he thought to himself.
You have to find out exactly what happened to your mother and father.
That was the mission. That was the only reason he had signed up to join the academy.
He wasn’t here to make friends, he wasn’t here to get attached to others.
He was here to get an Aer-Kin, so that he could become strong enough?—
His thoughts jarred as he swung around the corridor onto the healers wing. Serene was sitting on a bench opposite some large wooden doors, which were closed shut.
She had her head in her hands and was sobbing into them.
Aeden forced his anger to one side as he made a slow approach towards her, his footsteps echoing around him loudly. This was all down to him – what had just happened to Serene, Vivienne, and Harrison was all his fault, and he hated himself for it.
But bonding with Nyra had been completely out of his control. As much as he knew it was the academy’s rules that were to blame, it did not make the weight of guilt pressing down against him any lighter.
A twisted knot formed in his stomach, making him feel like he was going to be sick all over the finely polished floor.
Serene raised her head as Aeden approached, her face blotched from her tears. Her cheeks were wet, and there was a sadness in her eyes that pained him to see.
“How is he?” he asked, his voice sombre as he fought with the internal guilt.
Serene sniffed and dabbed at her face with a tissue.
“He’s a fucking mess,” she said. “Mistress Plato was far from impressed with how banged up he was. Vivienne, too, although her injuries were not as severe.” Serene pointed at the door.
“She took both of them in there, along with some other healers. They could have killed him, Aeden. Why did he get back up? Why didn’t he just stay down? ”
“This whole situation is so fucked,” Aeden said as he took a seat besides Serene. “This is all my fault.”
“Stop!” Serene’s tone changed from one of upset to frustration, maybe even anger. She continued to face the door as she spoke, as if she was tentatively waiting for any sign from the other side. “After today, do not make this about you, Aeden. Not when Harrison is as badly injured as he is.”
“But it is, if I hadn’t?—”
“Just cut the shit!” she snapped. “We knew what we were doing when we stood beside you and Nyra. We’re in the same class.
You’re our friend, and friends are meant to support each other.
” She turned her head to glance at Aeden.
“And to tell you to take your head out of your ass when you’re being a dick.
Now, I’ve already told you. This isn’t about you or me right now.
It’s about making sure that our friends are okay. ”
Aeden opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again given Serene’s reaction. Instead, he sat on the bench beside her, the cold stone wall soothing the dull ache he felt in his back. It was bruised from Master Storme slamming him against the wall not long ago.
The two of them sat in silence while they waited for anyone to open the door and let them know what was happening.
The entire time they waited, Aeden replayed the sparring match. If you could even call it that. He analysed each section of the fight, reflecting on what they could have done differently and how that might have played out. Should he have intervened sooner? Could he have stopped Harrison’s beating ?
Then the thought jumped into his head, his heart rate suddenly elevating.
Aeden bolted forward on the bench. “Where’s Kael?
” he asked. They were also bringing one of their own to the healers.
He clenched his fists tightly again until his knuckles whitened.
What he would give to be left in a room alone with Kael for just five minutes, maybe even two.
That was all he would need to make the asshole pay for what he had done.
“Relax, they’re not here. The room they took Viv and Harrison into was empty when we got here.
They must have just headed back to the Offence wing.
I think they have their own healers there.
Even if they were here, I don’t think getting into another fight would help anyone, do you?
” Serene stood up. “What’s taking them so long!
” She sighed as her frustration spilled out, and she started pacing up and down in front of Aeden.
“ You’re angry, your heart is elevated, what has happened? ” Nyra’s voice reached out to Aeden through their bond, catching him off guard. She sounded as clear as day, as if she was right beside him.
“You okay?” Serene asked with a puzzled expression.
“I’m fine,” Aeden said, rubbing his temples. There was a ringing noise that accompanied Nyra’s voice, which caused him to wince as his eyes started to water.
This was going to take some getting used to.
There normally wasn’t a ringing noise when they spoke.
Why was that happening now? Aeden deduced it must have something to do with the distance between them.
In fact, he was certain he had read that somewhere.
“It’s just Nyra reaching out to me through our bond. ”
“ What has happened to make you feel this way? ” Nyra asked, a panicked tone to her voice.
“ I thought you could read my mind? ” Aeden said as he reached back through the weave. His voice sounded tin-like, barely noticeable. Just hearing her voice brought a level of calmness to Aeden that he so desperately needed.
“ It doesn’t work like that. I can’t read your thoughts, but I can read your emotions ,” Nyra said with a slight air of discontent. “ But not when I’m asleep. What has happened? ”
“ Kael and Master Storme ,” Aeden said with a sigh. “ They made us spar, and my friend, Harrison . . . he got injured pretty bad .”
“ The flame-haired one? ” Nyra asked.
“ Yeah, that’s him. We’re at the healers wing now, waiting to find out how bad he is .”
“ I’m sorry I didn’t reach out sooner. I’ve only just woken from my sleep. Lyric said I’ll need to rest loads as my body adapts. He seems nice. He has a good energy around him .”
“ I think that too ,” Aeden said. “ Is he looking after you? ”
“ He is. He has brought me food and water, and my bed is filled with the most comfy ” – she paused as if searching for a word – “ straw ,” she finally settled on, as if not quite sure if what she was saying was correct.
“ Straw sounds about right ,” Aeden said. “ Are you still in the hatchery? ”
“ Yes, Lyric has said I am not to leave the hatchery unless it’s with you for a lesson, or if there is an emergency.
He is trying to spend as much time with me as possible, I think.
Every time I open my eyes, he’s watching me.
I don’t think he wants me to be alone. It’s nice to be able to talk to him . ”
Hearing Nyra’s voice only solidified how much Aeden actually missed being around her, being able to see her all the time.
It was like having an itch at the centre of his back that he couldn’t scratch.
He couldn’t fully settle or relax. But at least in this moment, hearing her voice, being reassured that she was okay and that she was being looked after – that made things easier.
“ I’m glad he’s looking after you .”
“ Hang on, Lyric is saying something .” Nyra’s speech slowed, like she was reading the words off parchment. “ He’s saying to come to the hatchery when you can. He has something he wants to update you on. He doesn’t seem happy, though. I sense a sadness about him .”
Aeden wondered what it could be about, but at the same time, he wanted to get to Nyra to check over her anyway.
“ I’ll come over as soon as I’ve seen Harrison .”
“ I can’t wait to see you . Lyric has brought me some food, and he says I have to rest again. I do feel awfully tired ,” she said with a yawn.
“ I’ll see you soon, Nyra. Rest easy, girl .”
“ I will ,” she said and then her voice faded away.
An air of contentment came over him that wasn’t entirely his own. Aeden smiled to himself; just having the briefest of conversations with Nyra had re-centred him.
“Is everything okay?” Serene asked.
“Yeah, Nyra’s just woken up. She says Lyric is taking good care of her, but he wants me to head over to the hatchery. I’ll head over once we’ve seen Harrison.”
“I can update you later if you need to head over now,” Serene said .
As much as Aeden appreciated the sentiment, he wanted to see Harrison. He would only fully settle once he knew that Harrison was going to be okay. They were still none the wiser about how severe his injuries were.
“It’s okay, thank you though. I want to make sure both of them are okay before I go anywhere else.”
The large oak door in front of them groaned loudly as is creaked open, the hinges clearly needing some oil.
The outer edge of the door was larger than it needed to be, much like the entranceway to the academy.
As the opening grew wider, a familiar face greeted them on the other side of the door.
Mistress Plato gave them both a soft smile.
“I thought I could hear chitchat. Are you waiting to see your friends?” she asked. Her voice was tender and caring, completely different from the rest of the faculty members that Aeden had met so far, aside from Lyric.
“If that’s okay,” Serene said. “We don’t want to stay longer than is okay. More than anything we just want to know that Viv and Harrison are both all right.”
“Come on in,” she said, stepping inside the room to allow both of them past. “Now, it isn’t visiting time, so you can’t stay for long, but you’re more than welcome to check on them. There’s not enough empathy in this place if you ask me,” she said as she led the way to the far side of the room.
Aeden recognised the space as he walked past the bed that he himself had woken up in after his encounter with Kael.
Towards the bottom of the room were two beds which sat opposite each other. A lantern lit up the space, despite there being large windows that lined both sides of the room.
Vivienne was sat up in her bed, a bandage wrapped around her head. She wore a look of frustration, her arms folded as she sat stony faced, staring ahead of her. When she saw Serene and Aeden approaching, her features softened.
Harrison, on the other hand, was lying down in bed, and there were two healers still tending to him. Their white robes were splashed with stains of red.
Aeden’s heart sank.
“I would suggest starting with Vivienne,” Mistress Plato said before walking over to the bottom of Harrison’s bed. “We should be finished with Harrison soon too.”
Aeden couldn’t help but stare as the mages continued to channel their healing magic into him, a soft, pulsating energy emitting from them as their hands hovered just a short distance over Harrison’s body.
The healers’ positions meant that he couldn’t see Harrison’s face, but he felt drawn to the magic that they were wielding.
“How are you holding up?” Serene asked as she sat on the bed by Vivienne’s feet.
Vivienne remained stony faced. “A few bruises and a cut to my head.” She tapped a finger against the bandage that was wrapped tightly around her crown. “I’m absolutely fine.”
“Why are you bandaged up? Could the healers not heal your cut?” Serene leaned forward as if she was inspecting every inch of Vivienne in case the healers had missed anything.
“I asked them not to,” Vivienne said. “I would prefer it if they saved their magic for a more serious injury. Besides, I want the scar.”
Serene looked both confused and horrified at Vivienne’s reaction. “Why? ”
“It will serve as a reminder of today. Next time, my opponent will not get the better of me. This scar will serve as a promise to myself.”
Aeden couldn’t help but think that Vivienne was a bit of a badass as he mustered up the courage to talk.
He wanted to apologise, but after the way Serene had reacted, he was unsure if this was the best approach.
Instead, he reached over and grabbed a jug of water that sat beside Vivienne’s bed on a table, then poured it into a glass and passed it to her.
“Thank you.” When Vivienne took the glass, Aeden noticed that light lacerations marked the edges of her knuckles.
“Have they said when you can leave?” Aeden asked. He glanced over at Harrison once again, but the healers were still working on him.
“They’ve insisted I stay the night. They suspect I have a mild concussion, but nothing serious.”
“That’s positive.”
“That asshole really wanted to teach us a lesson, didn’t he?” Vivienne said.
“He told me that actions have consequences. That was clearly a dig at me. He wanted me to see what would happen to you all. He even told me I’d be too strong to spar with anyone else in our cohort, until everyone has bonded with Aer-Kin.”
“Don’t blame yourself,” Vivienne said, echoing Serene’s sentiment. “This was all them, not you.”
As well intentioned as Vivienne’s words were, they fell on deaf ears. Aeden felt every part to blame for all of this. His true plans were quickly unravelling.
“You can see him now,” Mistress Plato said, disrupting their conversation.
Her hands were resting on top of each other in front of her.
“His wounds are healed, but he still needs to rest. He suffered a lot of trauma to the head. I really hope you all don’t make a habit of ending up here,” she said.
“It’s always the first ones who come in injured that keep coming back.
Please take care. Healing magic certainly has its benefits, but too much power at once or too often is not good for anyone. ”
Mistress Plato moved aside to reveal a beaming Harrison. He was sat up in bed, and his shirt was off, revealing his slight frame with a bedsheet covering his modesty.
“Why are you so happy?” Aeden asked.
His gaze was firmly on Serene, who was looking over at him as if the world had been lifted off her shoulders. Evidence that she had been crying was etched all over her face.
“Admit it,” Harrison said. “You like me.”