61. Under Siege #2
Aeden searched the skies for the Aer-Kin that was now riderless.
At least it would still be able to fight, even if it was now weaker.
He couldn’t see anything other than pure chaos above him.
Aer-Kin flew at speed around one another, some crashing into others, varying blasts of power as magic was hurled at each other.
Aeden took a moment to close the fallen student’s eyes before setting off again.
He couldn’t see Lyric now, but he knew the way back to the hatchery.
As he approached the courtyard, there was no mistaking the sound of steel on steel. Had the forces already breached the academy on the ground? He rounded the corner to see a group of students in combat against their enemy, and for the first time Aeden saw them .
They wore long, ash-grey tunics, a layer of armour plating coated in obsidian scales, metal shoulder pauldrons, and gauntlets that had a ridge of spikes down the sides.
“Dragon armour?” Aeden said to himself, it couldn’t be.
Such a thing was incredibly rare, but here he could see at least seven attackers wearing it.
Their faces were hidden behind black cloth, revealing only their eyes.
Dragon armour was made from the scales of Aer-Kin, a practice outlawed in Nevaria, for good reason, too.
Scales had to be harvested while the Aer-Kin were still alive in order to capture the magical properties.
The students were using all of their skills as they fought back, but they were no match for their attackers, the dragon-armoured warriors showing far superior skills with a mixture of weapons that ranged from swords, axes, and spears.
“Help me.”
Choking words to Aeden’s right caused him to look down. He recognised her straight away – it was one of the second-year students who had attacked him and Nyra. Ramona, if he remembered correctly. Her hands were clasped to her stomach, blood seeping between the gaps.
Aeden didn’t hesitate as he dropped to his knees. “ Nyra, I need to draw on the Weave. It’s not me, it’s someone else that needs help .”
“ Hurry, I can hear the fighting, it’s getting close .”
Aeden focused on the Weave as he pulled on the strings of light between them, channelling his power into the second-year student’s wound. It was bad, and he knew he needed to keep her calm.
“Keep still,” Aeden said as his arms throbbed.
“I’m not sure I can heal it fully, but I should be able to stop the bleeding.
” He drew on the Weave, his head throbbing so hard that he could swear he heard his own heartbeat.
Tendrils of light stretched across the open wound as Aeden pulled the student’s hands away.
The lights pulled towards each other as the student grimaced and cried out in pain.
“I’m nearly there,” he said as he focused, still very much aware of the fight continuing just a short distance from him.
When he was done, the student remained blood soaked, but Aeden checked to see that the wound was sealed. For now, anyway. “Come on, let’s get you up.”
“How?” Ramona asked. “It still hurts.” She grimaced as he stood to his feet.
“That’s because you’ve still had your stomach cut open. I’ve done what I can to stop the bleeding, but you need a healer to help you fully recover.” Another student rushed towards them to help, taking Ramona’s other arm and wrapping it over her neck.
“Head to the basement, by the Great Hall. There are other students there,” Aeden said.
“What about you?” the student asked. She had a nasty-looking cut to the side of her head.
“I need to get to Nyra, go!” he shouted before setting off through the outer edge of the courtyard. He counted four more bodies of students lying sporadically around the courtyard and one of a master who he was not familiar with, a gaping hole in his chest.
This wasn’t an assault, it was a massacre. How had they managed to get so many people inside the academy grounds so soon?
“ Aeden, hurry ,” Nyra said, panic in her voice. It caused a surge in Aeden, who could feel the fatigue from the magic he had drawn on already. “ They’re trying to breach the hatchery, I can hear the fighting. They’re here .”
Digging deep, Aeden sprinted as fast as he could towards the hatchery.
“ I’m nearly with you, Nyra! Just hold on .
” Desperation gripped around his chest as he ignored the fighting around him.
His legs burned and his chest heaved. A blast of magic exploded beside him, sending him hurtling to the side.
He didn’t hesitate to drag himself back up as his ears rang with a tinny noise.
Dirt and stone sprayed over him. Thankfully it wasn’t warm. He turned to see where the blast had landed; a large piece of stone lay protruding from the ground, a giant boulder. Had it been magic or a catapult that had done that? Just how well equipped were the Sable twins’ forces?
A shrill shriek above alerted Aeden to another falling Aer-Kin, and he prayed that it wasn’t another one of theirs.
Judging by the crackle of lightning that had hit it, coupled with the unmistakable Vegar nearby, he guessed it was one of their enemies.
At least that gave Aeden hope that they were not indestructible.
Aeden surged towards the hatchery, which was now in sight, his right leg not moving as it should. His knee was struggling, the movement uncomfortable, but he didn’t have time to stop. Nothing would stop him from getting to Nyra.
When he passed the hatchery entrance, there was no sign of the guards, but as he approached the hatchery entrance, he could see why.
Four guards were deep in combat against the attackers.
These were better equipped and trained for combat, and they were putting up a better fight at holding off the enemy who were trying to breach the hatchery.
One lay dead on the ground, making it a three-to-one fight in the guards’ favour.
With numbers on their side, they made quick work of the remaining attackers, one receiving a sword through the neck before the three guards rounded on the final enemy.
He raised his sword to defend himself, but the guards attacked simultaneously.
Despite the fighter’s best efforts, the guards were able to bring his life to an end.
One of them looked up at Aeden. It was Galen, his face covered in blood. “Get inside,” he called out. “Damien, Corra, we will remain by the entrance, we must protect the younglings.”
Aeden shot inside, Galen following behind him. This was not how he had expected the bonding ceremony to go.