Time went by, and Hildr got even more used to her life in the academy. She made a few friends, or rather followers for herself, but her only real friend was Luna.
After the bond was confirmed, all the trouble that Hildr had been going through for breaking into Anastasia's room was forgotten. The world was shaken by this bond that involved three people. This was the first time the fates had done something like this. A few reasons for this were put forward by so called specialists and wise men, but none of the reasons made complete sense. The academy had made a few changes with the advent of this revelation. Anastasia had been moved into the same quarters as Hildr and Amelia. The quarters were now shared by six students instead of the usual five. To make this happen, the academy had used great Sol power to shift the rooms around until each quarter had six private rooms. The common areas had also been greatly expanded, and security was increased even further.
Even though the bond between the three people had been made known to the world, none of them wanted to go through with the bonding ritual that would forever bind them together. It was very clear that the three of them hated each other. Amelia and Anastasia hated Hildr more than they hated each other. In fact, Anastasia did not harbor any great hatred for Amelia, but she was not willing to be bound to this woman who was half-human.
The tension between the three grew thicker as the world waited for them to go through with the bonding ritual. There was no way to avoid the ritual. Even though the three of them had used powerful magic to evade fate temporarily, this was only a matter of time. Hildr had the most powerful magic of the three, the Stone of the Doomed hanging on her forehead and yet she could still feel the bond growing stronger with each passing day.
Sooner or later, she would have to give in to the bond and perform the ritual, or face death.
Still, Hildr ignored the bond and went about her life as though nothing was wrong.
On this day, Hildr left the Sol Palace after a lecture. She was accompanied by Luna, and the two were discussing everything from boys to the most annoying girl in their group.
"Have you heard about the Mad Beast that has been terrorizing the continent of late?" Hildr asked Luna. The girl had been talking about boys, and although Hildr had some interest in that subject, she had never met a boy or man with enough charisma to make her heart flutter.
Luna was initially surprised by what Hildr was talking about. She had, of course, heard about the Mad Beast, just like everyone else. The Mad Beast was a figure who had recently appeared, and it seemed to hate its own people ,the Otherkind. This being had recently attacked a shopping mall in the Strigoi Domain, killing hundreds in the most horrific manner possible.
This was not the first time it had done something like this. The death toll attributed to this beast was already in the thousands, and it had only been less than a year since it began killing. The Mad Beast had been labeled a terrorist by the Lemuria Empire. The Premier had just a few days ago appeared on a broadcast and made his anger towards the subject known. He had established a special task force from the Lemuria Guard and other forces to hunt down the beast. So far, there had been some progress, but everyone was sure that the beast would soon be caught and killed for its horrendous crimes.
"I have, of course, heard of the beast," Luna replied with confusion in her sweet voice.
"What do you think of its actions?" Hildr asked.
Luna did not know where this conversation was heading, but she still answered the question. "I think the beast is someone who is going through the Fading. They have been neglected by their family, and the madness has taken its toll on their mind. This is why they are terrorizing the world," she said. Hildr nodded. She did not agree with this assessment, but she acknowledged that most people would think this way. After all, the only time an Otherkind would commit this kind of terror was when they were going through the Fading. That is, a time in the life of an Otherkind when their time on the mortal plane was coming to an end. Most of the Otherkind have very long lifespans, and some are outright immortal. Still, they all had to go through the Fading, meaning that their time on the mortal plane was limited. However, they could be on the mortal plane for thousands of years ,some even reaching hundreds of thousands of years, depending on the lifespan of the Otherkind.
Those with immortality could stay on the mortal plane much longer.
Hildr continued discussing the Mad Beast with Luna as they walked toward the academy coliseum.
The more Hildr learned about the Mad Beast and what the world thought of him or her, the more she reconsidered her plans moving forward.
As they approached the coliseum, Hildr sensed a tag on the bond and decided to share it.
"I need to do something before going to the coliseum. Let's meet up there," she said to Luna.
"Okay, I will keep a seat for you," Luna replied cheerfully as she sipped toward the magnificent coliseum ahead. Hildr moved to the other side of the coliseum and entered after showing her academy identification. She followed the bond and soon heard voices coming from a closed room. Hildr could make out Amelia's voice. Without thinking too much about the situation, Hildr flew to the ceiling and created a hole that allowed her to enter from above. She moved above the room and saw everything inside through the ventilation.
Inside the room, Amelia stood opposite Adrian, and the air between them was thick with tension.