64. Control
C rimson blood dripped from the tip of Aeden’s sword as he screamed out profanities towards Orion for what he had made him do. The problem was, no words left his mouth, as he was under Orion’s cursed Domination.
He had just struck Nyra with his blade, something that he never would have dreamed of doing, not in this lifetime or the next.
Shame coated him like thick tar. He wanted to be sick, he hated himself even though he had no control. This wasn’t his will.
Nyra spun around, limping slightly as she looked at her leg and then at Aeden. She let out a low grumble.
“ Aeden? ” Nyra asked, confused.
“Nyra, get back,” Lyric said, “that isn’t Aeden, he’s under Orion’s control.” He stood in front of the other students like a protective father, though there was no hiding the fear on his face .
“What do we do?” Rowan said. She was as equally confused as Nyra, judging by her worried look and trembling voice.
“Take one step forward and I will not hesitate to cut you down,” Kael warned, his sword gripped tightly in his hand, his arm straining under his anger. Kael didn’t need an excuse to kill Aeden; his hatred was clear on his face.
“ You see what I can make you do? ” Orion’s voice boomed inside Aeden’s head as if they were his own thoughts.
Aeden desperately wanted to claw at his head, to find a way to break the connection.
He wanted to tell the others to run, to somehow distract Orion enough so that he would break his line of sight.
They had tested this theory when they stood against him last time he tried to Dominate Aeden, and it had worked.
He just needed the others to realise that now, before anything else happened.
“ Stop ,” Aeden said, his voice pleading. “ I won’t hurt them .”
“ Oh, but you see ,” Orion said, his tone cold and threatening, “ you will do exactly what I command of you. Attack them .”
Aeden stepped forward against his will and took another swing of his sword at Nyra. This time she jumped back and lowered her head into a more threatening position.
Kael took a step towards Aeden, but Nyra used her tail to block his path as Kael pressed against her.
“We can’t let him attack us, he’s stronger, he’ll kill us!” Kael said with gritted teeth. “His life isn’t worth more than the rest of ours.”
Lyric looked up at Orion. “We need to sever the connection so that Orion can’t control him. Then we need to run. We’re not strong enough to fight one of them on their own, let alone both at the same time.”
“We can’t wait for him to kill one of us,” Kael protested.
For once Aeden agreed with him. He wanted to tell them to run, in fact he kept trying, despite the words not leaving his mouth.
“ Aeden, please focus, please don’t do this ,” Nyra pleaded with him. He could hear every word as clear as water, could feel every emotion that Nyra was feeling, the fear, the anxiety, the confusion. But he was powerless to resist.
“ You will kill them, or they will kill you. Whichever comes first ,” Orion said.
“ I won’t hurt them! ” Aeden continued to fight back. He needed to find a way to sever the connection if the others couldn’t. He was desperate.
“ Shame you didn’t strike down that runt of an Aer-Kin of yours.
That would have killed two birds with one stone, taking you and it with one strike .
” There was clear disdain and hatred in Orion’s voice for her, like she had done something wrong, like she was some kind of lesser creature, all because her wings were damaged. “ She is an abomination .”
Something snapped inside Aeden like a branch of a tree, a spark of clarity.
“ You don’t know anything about her, or how brave she is.
You all think she’s broken. She is perfect, brave, loyal.
I wouldn’t want to be bonded with any other Aer-Kin.
You don’t know what we’ve been through, what we’ve faced together.
She defied death the day she was born .”
“ Defied death? ” Orion’s voice turned curious, which was even more sinister.
Aeden could have kicked himself. He had already said too much, but from what he could tell, as much as Orion could force Aeden to complete actions, he was free to speak out in his own mind. “ Tell me, what did you mean by that? ”
Aeden remained quiet.
“ Oh, you really have not figured this out yet, have you? I am in your head now. Your thoughts are my thoughts. What you think, I can see. With a little bit of pressure, I can delve as deep into your mind as I wish, even if it does turn it into nothing more than a ball of pulp .”
Searing pain gripped the back of Aeden’s head.
“ Now let me in! ” Orion seethed. He was angry, frustrated, and that didn’t help one bit.
Aeden did his best to keep his guard up, to repel Orion from the deepest points of his mind, but he had no clue how to. The agonising pain was as if a creature was burrowing through his skin, frantic and unforgiving.
“ No! ” Aeden said, fighting back with everything he had.
“ What are you hiding from me? ” Orion demanded, delving even deeper into Aeden’s mind.
The pressure continued to build in Aeden’s head, so much so that he feared his head was about to explode.
“What’s happening?” Rowan spoke, fearful of what was unfolding.
“I don’t know,” Lyric said.
Aeden didn’t understand why they weren’t moving, why they weren’t running away now that the opportunity had presented itself.
It was taking everything out of Aeden as he continued to fight, his vision darkening.
He feared he would pass out. At least that drew hope that it would sever Orion’s Domination of him.
“ This can’t be . ”
A cold sensation slithered down Aeden’s spine as the darkness rescinded and clarity came back to him.
Orion turned to his right towards his sister, finally breaking the connection.
Aeden gasped and dropped to his knees, placing his hands in front of him to brace himself from falling. He had control of his body once again. Blood dripped from his nose, splashing against the back of his hand as he looked up at the others.
“ Nyra, can you hear me ?”
“ Aeden! ” she cried as she rushed towards him.
“You all need to run, you too, Nyra!” he called out, more of a desperate scream than a plea.
“This is him, who we have been looking for,” Orion said, his smirk leaving his face. “This abomination hatched from a consecrated egg. That means?—”
“The prophecy,” Rosheen finished, her stony gaze falling on Aeden now.
They knew about the prophecy and had confirmed what Aeden feared most – the bloodline they were searching for, the one they wanted to eradicate . . .
It was him they had been searching for, despite him not wanting to believe it.
Orion turned to face Aeden once more. “Well, isn’t this poetic.
We thought when the Supports were slaughtered that the bloodline had been stopped, but apparently not.
Still, looking at your Aer-Kin, I don’t understand exactly what our master fears.
At least we know it’s the two of you that we need to kill to finally end all of this. ”
“Stay away from her, I won’t let you take her!” Aeden screamed, climbing to his feet. He gripped his sword. “Get to the Great Hall!” he told the others. He didn’t care if he died, he would sacrifice himself if it meant the others had a fighting chance of escaping.
Orion’s griffin was at least five times Nyra’s size, who was the largest of the Aer-Kin in their party. There was no way she could put up a fight against them. What he did know was that she could survive their Weave breaking, whereas Aeden couldn’t if it was the opposite way around.
A loud roar came from above as the unmistakable form of Vegar came swooping down at high velocity.
Master Storme channelled his power and sent forth a blast of lightning towards the Sable twins.
The forked magic exploded in front of them as Vegar swooped around in a loop, her roar a sign of her rider’s discontent.
“Run!” Master Storme’s voice echoed across the field as he came back in for a second attack. He was dangerously low to the ground for a rider in flight. He sent forward another blast of forked lightning, and this time it hit Rosheen’s griffin, who let out a roar of pain before flapping its wings.
The gust of pressurised air was enough to nearly send Aeden hurtling backwards, but he planted his feet. He wanted to stay, he wanted to help Master Storme.
“Go!” Master Storme screamed again as the two griffins’ attention turned towards him. This was the chance they were waiting for, a chance for them to make their escape.
“Aeden, let’s go!” Lyric said as a firm hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.
Orion and Rosheen took flight. There was no way they could focus on Aeden and Nyra, not with Master Storme attacking them, but Aeden also feared for the academy master .
Reluctantly, Aeden turned to run, grateful for the master’s intervention, having been moments away from certain death.
“ Climb on ,” Nyra said as she lowered down to her knees to allow Aeden to mount her. It wasn’t a request
“ Your leg, Nyra .” Blood was pooling on the ground beneath where she stood.
“ I’ll be okay ,” she said.
“ At least let me heal you while we move .” Aeden started to draw on the Weave, but this time, he found it painful. He cried out as his focus snapped back like he had been pushed away from their bond.
“ No! ” Nyra said. “ You’re too weak, you can’t .”
“ But your leg ,” Aeden said.
“ It’s fine, it’s just a flesh wound ,” Nyra insisted.
“It’s time to go, Aeden!” Cassian called as the rest of the party rushed ahead, desperately trying to reach the Great Hall.
Aeden snapped his heels into Nyra’s side, and they set off at speed, supporting from the rear. She still had her speed, but Aeden could feel the jolt in her hind leg as she ran.
“ Just keep going, Nyra, we need to keep you away from the battle . Now that they know about you, it’s you they’re wanting to come after. I am certain of it .”
“ What do you mean? ” she said as they continued to surge through the field.
“ It’s my bloodline. They’ve all said the prophecy is about me, but what if it was about you this whole time? What if it was my bloodline that helped wake you, allowed you to hatch from your consecrated egg? ”
Another explosion threw earth through the air as magic smashed into the ground to their left. It wasn’t close enough to harm them, but it was close enough that they needed to steer away from the blast.
“Up there,” Aeden said. Ahead of them, three soldiers were running towards the group.
Nyra sped up, passing the party and reaching the soldiers at speed, letting all of her frustration out as she trampled them, slicing at them with her claws.
Screams were quickly muted as she made short work of them.
Aeden was impressed with how fierce she was, how unfazed she was by the battle that surrounded them.
“Not much further!” Aeden called as they approached the southern side of the Great Hall, blasts of magic continuing to illuminate the sky.
For the first time, Aeden was able to take in the destruction.
Crumbling stone and fallen riders littered the grounds.
One Aer-Kin was slumped over a wall that had crumpled under the force of its fall.
It was another one of the academy students.
Aeden wondered when all of this would stop.
He spotted the unmistakable griffin darting around Vegar, the two of them flying towards one another at speed and clashing in the sky as their bodies collided.
“ Where’s the other? ” Aeden asked, reaching out to Nyra. “ I can only see one of them .”
“ We need to keep going ,” Nyra said as the two of them waited for the others to catch up.
The group was fatigued, battle worn, and exhausted, but they had made it. The Great Hall was still standing firm, despite clearly being subjected to some blasts of magic, which had smashed windows and destroyed a section of the roof .
“Look out!” Lyric roared as a screech alerted Aeden to an assault from above. It was Orion, coming in from the flank, and he was diving straight towards the group.
“Run!” Aeden called as the rest of the party sped up past him.
Orion was too fast as he swooped down towards them, his griffin’s claws stretched forward as it reached down for Nyra and Aeden.
They barely managed to escape the attack, but the same could not be said for Corra, who was clasped between one of the griffin’s talons, hoisted into the air, and launched into the courtyard with a sickening thud.
Aeden knew there was no way she could have survived that, and he also knew they had no chance of getting to the Great Hall cellar with Orion in pursuit.
He was after him and Nyra. They were the whole reason why the academy was under attack.
“ I’m ready when you are ,” Nyra said as if she could read his thoughts. “ I can sense your impulsiveness, and I agree. We need to draw Orion away .” Nyra spun around, ready to leave.
“We’ll distract Orion, it’s us he is after!”
“Don’t be so stupid!” Lyric said. “You need to survive this!”
“Don’t do it, Aeden, Lyric is right, we need you!” Rowan added.
“If we don’t, you guys won’t be able to get to safety. At least this way, it will give you the best chance.”
Aeden wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Lyric, thank you for everything you have done for me and for Nyra! ”
“Don’t you dare!” Lyric said. “Don’t you dare speak like this is goodbye, because it isn’t, you two are too important in all of this!”
“I guess I’ll see you later, then,” Aeden replied, and he and Nyra spun back around to face the oncoming Orion.
“ Are you ready, girl? ” Aeden said, patting Nyra on the side.
Nyra chittered and lowered her head. “ He may have the skies, but we have the ground .”