...A DANGEROUS SITUATION...
~RIVIAN~
The Mjrna tree had a thick collection of compound yellow leaves and smooth white bark. It resembled a short and stout willow tree that didn't belong in our world.
The Epican Lao was a great forest covering the northeastern half of the island. It was dominated by Myrkv trees, tall, towering trees with dark brown bark and bright green ovate-shaped leaves so densely packed together that light barely reached the forest floor.
Cora's black scales shimmered in what little moonlight reached her. She squeezed around a low-hanging branch, as if suffocating prey, and slowly angled her head down towards the water. I eyed the roaring river with a calculating gaze. It was over five meters wide and deceptively deep. Its powerful current cut through the Lao and sounded like a screaming waterfall.
"Are you sure this is going to work?" I asked, raising my voice loud enough for her to hear. Her tongue flicked in and out of her mouth. Her hesitation was making me feel anxious. "I could just touch it," I suggested again.
She glanced in my direction. Her eyelids narrowed, as if she offered me a glare. "She already explained to him why that is a terrible idea," Cora's voice came, soft like silk. "The tree will take his mana and use it against him. That is how it defends itself."
"Even so, I don't want you to risk your crystal. It would be the safer alternative."
"No, she will pull it into the river. The current will help bring it down. Keep his attention on the roots. Only when they have been severed, burn them. That is the only way the two of them can take care of this nuisance."
"This better fucking work, Cora. If you fail, I'm not fishing your crystal out of the river. I can't survive this current. You'll be lost."
She ignored me as she entered the water, her sleek form disappearing beneath the surface. I moved closer, my eyes following her as the current tried to drag her away. Her body tightened around the branch, and its string of leaves slapped the water's surface, not yet being sucked under its current.
My mouth dried up, my palms felt sweaty, and I was having second thoughts. The tree groaned and tilted slightly. Her plan was working, but the stubborn thing wasn't budging.
I sighed, knowing that I had to get to work. I grabbed hold of my spear, stabbed into the soil next to the tree's trunk, and began to loosen its roots.
The spear slid through the roots with ease, severing them as though they were paper. Every strike felt like an insult, as if I were dragging a legend through the dirt. I knew what this weapon was. I had read its story in Cain's vault, hidden among crumbling scrolls. He never spoke of it, but the records told enough.
Its blade was crafted from dragon glass he obtained from the Draegr dwelling beneath Ski'Mar. The material gleamed like a clear sapphire crystal, blue as the sky, and was said to be the sharpest weapon he ever owned. Not that it was ever of any use to him. It had been locked away beneath his mansion for thousands of years, left to gather dust in the corner of the vault where I had found it.
The staff was no less extraordinary. It had been carved from the tooth of Bismyrae, an extinct Daemun that once towered larger than a mountain. The story inscribed on the scroll claimed that Cain himself slew the beast with a short yet devastating burst of pure mana, which had taken no elemental form, only raw energy condensed and crystallized until it tore through reality. He used a Regalia. That single blow left the scar on Ataraxia'a, the great crater that earned the world its name in ancient scriptures: The Eye of Bismyrae.
The tooth was carried into our layer and bound to the crystal blade, inscribed with a transformation spell that allowed the wielder to alter its length by channeling their mana through it. A weapon shaped from extinction, sealed by Cain's own hand, and meant for greater battles than this.
Yet here I was, cutting roots with it. I hadn't asked for it. I had taken it from the vault three weeks ago, the night Cain left me drunk and alone at Reed's party. I meant to return it, but somehow, I grew attached to it, keeping it in my pocket after shrinking it down to the size of a pen.
Every stroke against the earth felt like I was tarnishing a relic that should never have touched the ground. But Cain wouldn't miss it. Not really. He had a hoard of artifacts and ancient treasures he didn't know what to do with, other than lock them away in one of his many vaults. He was rich. So rich, in fact, that money was a meaningless concept to him, and this spear was just one more hunk of junk left to gather dust.
The Mjrna tree came from their world. Layer 689. It didn't belong in ours and had to be removed. It was poisoning everything around it and sucked the land dry of mana and nutrients. On their layer, it was just a normal tree, but in ours, it was killing everything around it to eliminate competition and survive.
Layer 86 didn't have even a fraction of the mana Ataraxia'a radiated. Their world was overflowing with magic, and it was seeping out through the rift, giving us what little mana escaped their planet. It was the source of our power and the only reason we could cast spells.
The Mjrna tree was only trying its best to hold on. It resisted every magical attack I threw at it. By our standards of magic, of course. Its bark was impervious to ordinary weapons, a living shield that seemed to laugh at anything I threw at it. Its roots, by contrast, were soft and squishy, but they could only be severed by Cain's spear. I had tried using my regalia, letting the blade sing through the air, only for it to bounce uselessly off the roots. Cain's spear was the only thing that could cut them.
Even then, cutting the roots wasn't enough. The tree was alive, and it would use the mana stored in its veins to fuse the severed roots back together, healing itself like nothing had been done. They had to be burned. Only fire could prevent the Mjrna from mending, only destruction could stop it from leeching what little mana we had.
'It must be done. This tree is weakening the academy barrier. We cannot allow it to open us up for another attack…'
Cora swam along the current. She pulled her tail-end closer to the water, and the tree finally bent. Some of the compound sting of leaves were sucked into the water and helped to pull it down. The ground and roots buried underneath my feet moved, but it still wasn't coming free.
I worked on the thicker roots, knowing that the thinner and smaller ones would snap off eventually, given enough tension and force. Five roots later, the tree popped out of the riverbed and smacked into the ground, kicking up dust and leaves. I sensed the mana it was holding onto spread out into the soil. Its canopy fell into the water. I stabbed the spear into the ground and rushed closer as the current began to drag the tree with it. My heart thudded in my chest, fear tightening around my ribs. I had to make sure Cora was safe.
She could smack into a rock and hit the back of her head. It was a Sypher's weak spot and the location of their crystal. I'd already lost too many close to me. I couldn't lose anyone else. Not her. Not Maeve. Not anyone. Never again.
"Cora!"
"Rivian!" she shouted. Her head poked out of the water as I jumped over a few knee-high rocks along the riverside. She fought the current, struggling to keep herself from being pulled under.
"Gods! You can't even see. I knew this was a bad idea! Hold on, I'm coming!"
"She may be blind, but she is not without sense! Burn the roots, Rivian. It is the only way!"
"Fuck! You better not die on me, Cora!" I screamed over the roar of gushing water, desperation clawing through every word.
I returned to the Mjrna's roots. They were wiggling themselves out of the soil, already trying to return to the rest of the tree.
My left hand opened. I held it out in front of my face, curled my right hand into a fist, and placed it in my left palm. I closed my eyes and bowed my head to show my respect.
'May you be set free of your suffering and rest in peace and tranquility.'
A moment of silence passed, and when I opened my eyes, I held my hands out in front of me. My fingers pulled back and spread apart. I released mana from my core and felt it move from my chest, into my arms, and gathered in the palms of my hands.
"Ygni," I said softly.
It was a shortened incantation I have been perfecting over time. Shortening the words meant for quicker casting, which made me more useful in battle. To cast magic with elemental properties, one had to speak the proper words of power. Fire was the easiest to cast, but the hardest to keep under control because of its unpredictable nature.
I imagined what the fire spell would look like. Bright, orange, and streamlined. Like water spewing out of a fire hose. I wanted the roots to burn quickly, not wanting to prolong their suffering.
Mana burst out of my palms and gathered in a tight line a few inches away from my hands. It set ablaze and incinerated the tree's roots. They hissed and writhed, then went silent and still.
My left arm itched. At first, it was bearable, a crawling irritation under the skin, but then the burning started. I glanced down. Cain's mark was glowing so brightly it bled through the fabric of my sleeve. Golden-yellow, the exact shade of his eyes. I stopped casting and yanked back my sleeve. Cain's mark glowed so bright it seared through flesh, and it flowed like molten metal. The black ink of the tattoo writhed across my skin, no longer still, each line flickering like tongues of fire pressed beneath my flesh.
The heat burrowed deeper, stabbing into muscle and bone. My fingers curled against my will. My entire arm felt like it was about to catch fire and fall off my body.
My stomach knotted. I knew what this meant. Cain was summoning me. But before I could prepare myself for the spell, it already began tearing me apart.
My ribs cracked one after another with the sound of dry wood snapping in a fire. My spine bent backward until I thought it would shear in two. Tendons stretched until they tore, then reknit only to tear again as my body crumpled in on itself. I was crushed into a fist-sized knot of blood, bone, and screaming nerves. For a heartbeat, I was nothing but shredded meat and shards of myself, squeezed through a slit of burning space. Then, the rift spat me out on a dried bed of leaves.
The world slammed back into me with a wet cracking sound. My ribs snapped back into place. My tendons lashed together like whip cords. Blood rushed where it shouldn't have, slamming through my veins like fire. My organs sloshed, some too slow to settle, leaving me twisted and feeling wrong inside.
I hit the ground on all fours, gagging.
Blood and vomit splattered the leaves, thick ropes of mucus swinging from my lips. I choked on bile and heaved again until nothing but blood came up. My nostrils stung with the acrid tang of iron, each breath scraping my throat raw. My eyes burned, tears spilling hot down my cheeks.
I felt like I hadn't been put back together quite right. As if some pieces were missing.
'What the fuck just happened?'
"No! He should not be here!" I heard Maeve roar.
I looked around. My vision was blurry, and I realized I was somewhere unfamiliar. Dense fog surrounded me. I didn't know where I was. Only that I was in pain. I felt like shit. I could sense Cain again. Cora wasn't around to block him out anymore. He was still alive. Barely.
I couldn't see Maeve anywhere. My body was shaking, and I could barely keep myself from falling apart. Pain clawed at me, sharper than anything I had felt since Cain returned to the island. I teetered on the edge of collapse, nearly fainting, but some primal instinct kept me upright. To let myself fall now would be death.
'Fuck. A cigarette won't fix me this time.'
Next to me, something moved. I looked down and squinted, not being able to make out my own hands digging into the soil. Something trickled down my right elbow. Blood. It took me a few seconds to register that something just fucking bit me.
And as bad luck would have it, I didn't have Cain's spear with me. It was jabbed into the soil next to the Mjrna's disintegrated roots, and I only hoped that I could go back and retrieve it before Cain realized that it was missing from his vault.
'Fuck. If I lose that spear, I'm dead.'
I conjured my regalia and smacked it into the thing running circles around me. I felt it make contact. The impact knocked mana back into my hands, causing it to travel back up my arms and into my core. I winced and felt my regalia force back into my hand. It was an uncomfortable experience. Mana liked to flow in one direction. The opposite felt like my crystals were splintering and cutting into my flesh as it was forced back up into my core.
I felt lightheaded and lost my strength. I collapsed and fell face-first into the dirt. The thing returned and bit me again on the same spot. I felt its tongue dip into the wound and slurp up my blood. I was in too much pain to move.
"Ygni!" The word ripped from my throat, and fire surged out of me in a violent ring. The fog tore back in an instant, revealing the pack of Fiends circling me. Their red eyes gleamed, teeth dripping, half-rotten bodies dragging themselves forward on trembling limbs.
One of them hissed at me. It was a screech, a sound a was familiar with, only half its throat was missing so it came out wrong.
I conjured my regalia a second time, the blue-green spear forming in my grip, and forced fire to crawl along its edge. The spear quaked under the strain, heat biting into my palms. I rose to my feet and swung anyway. The blade struck one Fiend square in the chest, and it shrieked, then burned. Its skin split, its body crumbled, and the thing collapsed into ash that scattered on the wind.
I froze. That was not supposed to happen. Fiends did not burn. They were puppets. Mere human corpses bound by a vampire's blood-curse.
'Fiends aren't supposed to turn to ash. They aren't Daemun. Just what the fuck is going on? Where are we?'
Another lunged at me. I reacted too slowly, and claws raked across my ribs. I bit back a cry, shoved the spear into its stomach, and flared my fire. The Fiend convulsed, its eyes bulging, its body collapsing into cinders just like the first.
"What the fuck…" My breath came ragged. Each kill twisted the pit in my stomach tighter. This was wrong. All of it.
The fog surged again, and shapes darted through it. Dozens. Too many. My grip faltered, the spear's weight dragging at my arms. My mana was bleeding out of me too fast. The fog was stealing it.
"Ygniran!" I shouted, desperate, forcing the flames into a wider arch. Orange fire roared to life around me, searing through the mist. The Fiends shrieked and drew back.
In the corner of my eye, Maeve was slammed to the ground beneath a mass of black limbs, but before I could get a better look, the fog returned and obscured him.
"No! Do not use magic!" His voice carried, ragged and furious. I moved closer and followed his voice. A hand grabbed me. I smacked my fiery spear into it and heard the Fiend screech as it burned up.
I could not stop. If I stopped, they would tear me apart.
Another Fiend clawed out of the mist and grabbed my arm. I jammed my burning spear into its face. It dissolved into ash, and I staggered back, chest heaving, vision blurring. My fire guttered. My strength was slipping.
The pack was still closing in.
'There's too many of them. They know fighting is pointless. The fog will drain me dry. Then they'll strike. I need to get the fuck out here.'
"Welcome, Raegus. I've been waiting for you."
That wasn't Cain speaking, but it did sound like him. Shit. I felt cold suddenly. My body chilled. Instinctively, I sucked my mana back into my crystals. It fucking hurt. I felt worse after doing that. It didn't feel like mine. It felt like another person's.
'Dammit, this fog holds too much foreign mana. I need to be careful.'
Suddenly, I dropped to my knees, feeling the crushing pressure of the Daemun's presence. I picked up on its hostility. It was about to attack, but Maeve appeared underneath me, and I desperately clung to his fur as we burst through the fog. He clicked every few seconds.
"He must close his eyes, Rivian," Maeve ordered.
I shut my eyes. Screeching and wailing and eerie growls and snarls came from every direction. It was quiet before, so why were they making so much noise now? And why did Maeve tell me not to look? What didn't he want me to see?
The Fiends were closing in. But… there was something else, something worse than the Fiends hiding in the fog. It wasn't Cain. It was only mimicking his presence.
Then, the realization came to me. I was around a lot of Daemun every single day. I spent time with them. Talked with them. Touched them even though I wasn't supposed to. But there was only one Daemun Cain told me to stay away from.
Drathir.
Even though I was terrified, I had to stop it. I sensed it closing in. I don't know why, but it felt like it was about to lunge at us. We were in deep fucking shit if that thing got hold of either of us. There was no fucking way I'd let that happen.
"Azran!" I shouted, focusing every ounce of my remaining mana into one last spell. I raised my arm, conjured my regalia, and set it ablaze with blue flames. I threw it at the Drathir. He smacked it down with one of its tentacles. The spear exploded into a burst if blue fire.
The fog scattered. And then, there it was. Entity 387. The Drathir. It was menacing. A cloak was draped over its ghostly black body. Its hood was down and its tentacles on top of its head slowly rose up into the air. It watched us with a wicked smile.
"Interesting," it said, lowering one of its arms. I shivered in terror. It swatted my most powerful spell into the ground like it was nothing. It was overwhelmingly strong. It felt like I was facing Cain with most of his restrictions removed, and that alone terrified me.
"Do not look at it, Rivian!" Maeve roared.
"A bit late for that, Maeve!"
The Daemun laughed maniacally. It pissed me off hearing it do that while using Cain's voice. It faded away and disappeared, just as the fog covered it back up. I felt its presence fade. It was leaving. The Fiends, however, were still following us.
"Faster, Maeve!"
"He is going as fast as he can!" Maeve hissed.
He shot forward, weaving through the trees with agility that seemed impossible. The fog parted as we broke through it, and suddenly we were in a vast courtyard, surrounded by students and teachers.
The girls wore uniforms: heeled shoes that clicked on the cobblestones, black stockings that hugged their legs, knee-length skirts, white button-up shirts with stiff collars, and brightly colored bow ties that popped against the dreary backdrop.
'Well, fuck. Maeve was right. I shouldn't be here.'
I tumbled off his back, landing hard. My breath hitched as the wind knocked from my lungs. I wheezed like a frightened child in front of all those eyes. The heat of embarrassment spread through me. But at least we were alive.
"What was he thinking? His impulsiveness is unacceptable!" Maeve's voice boomed in my mind, furious.
"Oh, spare me the lecture. I already know it was reckless," I shot back, pushing myself up. Maeve circled me, his gaze tracking every inch of me.
"Dangerous? Maeve was not referring to Rivian's reckless magic. If he thought it was only dangerous, then he is a fool," Maeve's growl was low, full of disgust. "Not only has Rivian attacked it directly, but he has also gazed upon its true form. The Drathir's restrictions have been lifted. It has been set free from this place."
"Well, I had to do something. It was about to kill you!" I snapped, frustration bubbling in my chest.
"What he did was mindless. That Drathir was trapped here. And Rivian's actions have set it free by interfering. Maeve saved Rivian. Not the other way around. He warned him not to use magic. And he urged him not to look at it!"
"Fuck! Do you ever say thank you?" I shot back, the words hot on my tongue.
"What for? He was not saved. There was never any risk to him."
"I don't care! I saw that thing tackle you. Cain would burn the world down before letting anyone hurt you. I did it for him. Don't get it twisted," I crossed my arms over my chest, defensive, even though the sharp sting of guilt twisted in my gut. It was a lie.
'Fuck! Did it use Maeve to bait me into attacking it? Did I really set it free? Is that why it left after I attacked it?'
Maeve's sharp eyes softened for a moment, his tense body loosening. His alert tail lowered slightly. He had every right to be angry. I'd acted on instinct and nearly killed myself for it.
"He admires Rivian's bravery and ability to take action, but he does not want Cain's Raegus to risk his life for Maeve's. Even if Maeve dies, he will return to Ataraxia'a. But Rivian will be lost forever. Cain's Raegus is the only thread of sanity he has left. If he loses Rivian, the world will burn."
The girls around me watched, eyes wide, confused by the conversation they couldn't hear. They saw me talking to myself. Lucky them. If they could see Maeve, they'd be frozen in terror. He was a force of nature. A monster wrapped in shadow. But right now, he was right. I could die any moment. I wasn't Daemun. I wasn't immortal.
"Then let it burn. Because I won't lose you, Maeve. I can't."
A pool of shadows flickered beneath him, dark tendrils stretching out, as if the very ground responded to his presence. He had a strong affinity for shadows and the ability to store things inside them. Maji surfaced from the pool of darkness. They were unconscious and bleeding, covered in teeth marks and other abrasions. Six girls with ash blonde hair and coral-colored bow ties. The seventh girl had been Cain. A blueish bruise was forming around his neck. I examined his chest, noticing his shirt had been drenched in silver. There was a hole where my mark had been.
"What happened to him?" I asked, my voice shaky, as fear crept into my chest.
"Cain was never their target," Maeve answered. "They were after the girls. And the Drathir forced Cain to summon Rivian, and now that he has served his purpose, Rivian is no longer of use to it."
"Then why the hell is he still unconscious?"
"Is it not obvious?" Maeve's tone was dismissive. "Cain has lost too much mana and thus has entered a state of recovery. He shall wake in due time. Once he has accumulated enough mana to circulate through his crystals. Fear not, for he is not dead. Yet."
I lowered next to him and stared at the hole in his chest. If the Drathir was capable of forcing Cain to summon me, then what else was it capable of?
"Stay here. He will return soon."
"What? You're going back out there?" My gut tightened with worry.
"It will not come back, Rivian. Cease your worrying. There are too many Fiends surrounding the premises. Maeve will cull their numbers. Stay here. Do not follow him."
I was still trembling, but Maeve stood still, staring at me. He wasn't leaving without extracting a promise from me.
"Yeah, okay, I get it. I won't follow you," I muttered. Maeve nodded and faded into the fog without another word.
"Kjevsky!?" Aeron's voice shattered the tension. "By the stars, what are you doing out here? Cain will be furious. And the Kjevskanna—"
"—Can kiss my ass," I interrupted, the words escaping before I could stop them.
Aeron's face drained of color when he saw the blood dripping from my arm. I ignored him, though my mind screamed at me to sit down and tend to the pain. It wasn't a big deal. Not yet.
"What is this boy doing in my courtyard?" A voice, smooth and sharp, cut through the air like a blade. I turned to see a woman approaching. Her gaze was hostile, even though her face was set to appear indifferent.
"This is Headmistress Valere Flamesworth," Aeron spoke, barely keeping his composure. "I apologize for his unexpected arrival. This is—"
"I know who he is, Aeron," she interjected. "And he's not welcome here. Escort him back to Arcane Academy."
I felt my lip curl in annoyance. I tried to hide it, but her sharp eyes caught me anyway. One of her eyebrows shot up.
Aeron cleared his throat nervously. "It would be wise to keep your tongue in check, Headmistress Valere. This boy is Cain's Raegus."
"So what?" The woman sneered. "He's just a pest. He is not the first Carter clinging to Cain's legs, nor will he be the last. I will grant him one night, but he'd better be gone by noon tomorrow, or I will exterminate him."
With a final, dismissive look, she turned on her heel and stormed off, leaving me standing there.
The headmistress left the courtyard and helped escort the injured Maji to the infirmary. She was a Flamesworth through and through. Their family looked down on me for being a Demi who could wield magic just as skillfully as any Maji.
In her eyes, I was a disgusting existence. A stain on her family's legacy. She felt that way about every Demi. And honestly, I did not care about one person's opinion. She was all talk anyway.
Someone else approached to pick up Cain, but my glare scared them off. I lowered to my knees, and scooped him up, careful not to touch any exposed skin, then I rose to my feet.
"Kjevsky, you shouldn't be here," Aeron said, his voice hesitant.
"My name is Rivian," I snapped, irritation flickering through my words. "Stop calling me that, Aeron. You know how I feel about being called Kjevsky in front of others."
"Yes, of course, Kjevsky—Rivian," he stammered. "Come. I'll escort you to Cain's chambers. You need rest."
"Lead the way."