61. Under Siege
A eden’s legs felt like they were made of lead.
He wanted to move. He wanted to get to Serene, to Harrison, to Vivienne, but he found himself frozen by what had just happened.
His heart beat rapidly against his chest as the horns continued to sound, low and reverberating.
All of the remaining Support students left in the hall looked around at each other in confusion.
“Everybody stay calm,” Director Vale said. “Mistress Jara, Master Storme.”
The two of them nodded before rushing off out of the Great Hall, past where Aeden was standing.
“Master Sorrel, Master Bennet, please remain with the students. The rest of you head through to the rest of your cohort. You will remain there until I send word.”
Director Vale hitched up her long, flowing robe, and with a brisk walk, she made her way inside the bonding pen.
“Right, everyone, this way.” She moved at speed towards the tunnel where the rest of the cohort was.
“Master Ember, could you secure the younglings?” she said as she passed the concerned Lyric.
“Of course,” he said, nodding his head as she passed him.
Time stood still. Aeden’s pulse throbbed in his ears. Vivienne had just died. She was gone, and now the academy was under attack.
“ Aeden, what’s going on? ” Nyra said through the Weave, snapping him from his thoughts. It was so good to hear from her, though Aeden wished it were better circumstances. “ Your heart, why is it hurting, what’s happened? ”
“ We’re under attack ,” he said.
“ Under attack? ” Nyra replied, and Aeden could feel her stress levels elevate straight away.
“ I’m going to head to you as soon as I can, okay? ” He didn’t care what the instructions were; there was no way he was being separated from Nyra.
“ Hurry ,” she said, “ I don’t like the sound of those horns, and Aeden? ”
“ Yes, girl? ”
“ I’m sorry for snapping at you .”
“ You don’t need to apologise, Nyra. I’m sorry for hurting you, that was never my intention .” Aeden followed the other Supports into the pen and observed as Lyric waved his arms around to shepherd the younglings together. “ We will speak properly, when all this is done and I know you’re safe .”
“ Please be careful ,” she said.
“ I will .” He closed off his connection before heading towards Lyric. “Do you need help?” he asked.
“They’re restless, they know something isn’t right. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way,” Lyric said. “They should all be bonded. I’m going to have to just bring them round the back with the others.”
Aeden did what he could, following Lyric’s direction as it quickly became only them two in the Great Hall and a group of about thirty younglings. Luckily, most of them were easy enough to usher down the tunnel, all except Midnight, who seemed reluctant to move.
“You’re okay,” Aeden said as he slowly approached her. “We need to get you to safety. We need to get you with the others.”
Midnight let out a chittering noise before hesitantly looking at Lyric, who hadn’t given her a second look.
“He’ll come around,” Aeden said. “He just needs time.” Just speaking was difficult. This whole situation was such a mess.
Aeden rubbed the top of Midnight’s head. It was a rough texture, which contrasted with the smooth look of her dark scales. She let out a rumble of contentment as Aeden scratched her behind her ear. “Come on, there will be more of those once we know everyone is safe.”
He shooed Midnight along, who thankfully followed Aeden towards the tunnel. More blasts of the battle horns rang out, this time more frequent. Now there was a low rumble in the distance but close enough for Aeden to feel the vibrations reverberate through the ground.
They had been preparing for this moment, and now was the time to put everything to the test, for the academy to stand up to the Sable twins.
Aeden rushed down the tunnel, Midnight ahead of him. Another loud blasting noise sounded out, rumbling the very foundations of where he stood. This time dust particles fell from the ceiling as the tunnel shook.
Midnight sped up, spooked by the noise as the horns continued to blare out.
This wasn’t good, not good at all. Aeden sought to reach everyone else as fast as possible so that he could get to Nyra.
When he exited the far side of the tunnel, he was greeted by a second larger tunnel, where Lyric was waiting for him.
“This way,” Lyric said, guiding Aeden along. Midnight passed him, but Lyric didn’t pay her any attention. Even in these circumstances, he was acting coldly towards her. “This will lead us to the cellar. All the others are heading down there, they’ll be as safe as possible there.”
Aeden stopped in his tracks. “I can’t,” he said, “I need to get to Nyra. She’s alone at the hatchery.”
“She isn’t alone, some of those that bonded first are already over there. They were transferred once they had made sufficient recovery from the bonding process.”
The thought of Nyra alone with Kael was a thought that made Aeden’s blood run cold.
“Master Bennet has gone across to support them and bring them back here. You should wait here with everyone else, Aeden. That is the safest option.”
Aeden wanted to find Serene and Harrison. He wanted to be with them, to be with Vivienne, but despite that need, he couldn’t leave Nyra alone, not in the midst of an attack.
“No,” he said defiantly, “I can’t leave Nyra alone. I’ll go and fetch her and return with the others.”
Lyric let out a deep sigh of defeat. There was nothing he could say in these circumstances to change Aeden’s mind. He would have to cast him in irons in order to keep him from getting to Nyra.
“Fine, but I’ll come with you. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back.
” Lyric set off at once towards a separate large wooden door, a smaller version of the Great Hall entranceway.
“This will take us beyond the courtyard and around the southeast corner of the academy, towards the hatchery. It’s the quickest route there.
Follow me.” He slammed his hands onto the door to open them.
Light cascaded through the gaps, dazzling Aeden, reminding him how long he had been inside observing the ceremony.
Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw as he exited the Great Hall.
The sky was filled with more Aer-Kin and riders than he could count, the noise of the battle horns reverberating in his chest as they continued to sound.
“This isn’t good,” Lyric said, “I can’t tell who’s ours and who isn’t.”
Above, Aer-Kin flew in circular motions, dipping and diving around one another as flashes of light and loud bangs echoed around them.
A blast of fire exploded on the ground ahead of them, the heat of which was intense and unforgiving.
The fireball erupted into a mushroom-shaped cloud as hot earth spewed over two fleeing students, whose screams quickly vanished as they were consumed.
Stones and earth sprawled over Aeden and Lyric, with Aeden raising his arm to shield his face.
It was warm but bearable, though he knew that the two students captured by the fireball had no chance of survival.
“Come on!” Lyric roared .
Loud shrieks and roars rang out from the skies, warnings and threats between the Aer-Kin that now lay in defence of the academy against their attackers. Just above them, one large Aer-Kin clashed with something far larger, far more brutal and unforgiving.
“What is that?” Aeden called out, pointing towards the sky. They were too far away to pick out any discernible detail, but whatever it was, it was furiously clawing at the Aer-Kin it was battling.
The Aer-Kin shrieked before plummeting from the sky like a stone, slamming into the ground with a sickening thud. Its rider was wearing the same uniform as Aeden, her body twisted unnaturally as she sat harnessed atop the dead Aer-Kin.
His heart sank. They were not ready for war, let alone an attack like this. More Aer-Kin battled overhead, the third-year students rallying and taking to the skies as fast as possible. A loud roar caused Aeden’s head to snap upwards.
Vegar shot over the top of them, close to the roof from the Great Hall, quickly followed by another squadron of riders.
Vegar’s unmistakable shadow engulfed Aeden as he let out another ear-splitting battle cry. A dark cloud formed above him, and crackles of forked light glowed within. One lightning bolt shot forwards, not making contact with any of the other riders in the sky but rather serving to disperse them.
It was a warning shot, and it worked. A cluster of around five riders separated into different directions, with Master Storme and his squadron of riders diverting to attack the righthand flank .
“Come on, Aeden! We don’t have time to stop!” Lyric roared, snapping Aeden out of his stupor. He quickly gathered himself as bangs, roars, and screams filled the grounds of the academy.
Aeden sprinted as fast as he could to catch up with Lyric, who was just a short distance ahead of him, turning past the corner of the Great Hall and heading towards the courtyard.
Another scream came from above as another rider plummeted from the sky, a student.
He slammed into the ground, unseated from his Aer-Kin.
Aeden rushed towards the fallen student; he had healing powers, the least he could do was try to help him.
The man twitched and spasmed as Aeden checked over him, blood pooling at the base of his head, his eyes wide with fear and shock.
He tried to speak, but only gargled blood spilled from his mouth.
There was nothing Aeden could do to help him.