Trinity's brutal, untamed attack on Thomas continued. The clatter of metal on claw, the heavy grunts of effort, and the savage snarls from Trinity's lips filled the air. The crowd of students stood awash in astonishment, captivated by the spectacular sight before them. Never had they assumed a defective could stand toe-to-toe with any wolf, let alone their teacher.
With his superior strength and experience, Thomas continued to land blow after blow on Trinity. Her body became a tableau of unhealed gashes and dripping blood that painted the dark brown soil a crimson red with shimmering pools of gold. The gold lost its radiance the longer it remained outside her body.
Amidst the brutality of the fight, no one noticed how the dead soil beneath them began to pulse with life. Sprigs of green grass that had long since died seemed to cling to life once more.
A deep rage began to build beneath Ryan's skin. He couldn't stand by and watch his friend be torn apart, ripped to shreds by her persistence to fight. Ignoring the earlier warning, Ryan dashed toward Trinity, his heart pounding furiously in his chest, wanting to intervene.
The growl rumbling in her throat halted as she watched in horror as Keal raised his blade high for a lethal blow at Ryan's unsuspecting back. She knew he wouldn't be able to defend himself. In that moment, a strange calm washed over Trinity, and her mind snapped into focus. She wasn't just aware of who Ryan was, she felt it, a profound connection. She remembered that she cared for him. The primal instinct that had taken over her mind released its grip ever so subtly. Without much thought for self-preservation, she lunged forward, a desperate surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins. With a guttural cry, she rushed to raise her blade, intercepting Keal's descending sword. Her gold irises lost some of their iridescence as she growled at him while shielding Ryan behind her.
The two of them now stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a new front, their backs resting against each other, poised for an attack.
Thomas hid his smile as Trinity rushed to protect her friend, the defective boy who always seemed to be at her hip. Placing his sword back on his back, he stood and watched. As Trinity's eyes lost a bit of the glow, pulling her from the edge of no return and from becoming a feral wolf, it seemed like Ryan was her anchor, that one person who could pull her back from the brink.
"You're still in there!" Ryan said, feeling the warmth of Trinity's back.
Trinity tried to use her vocal cords, feeling like she could understand the world again, but she still couldn't speak. She opted for a simple thumbs-up, greeted by his deep chuckle.
"Should we help?" Timothy asked, looking to Mona and Jess, wondering if they should jump in.
Cockling her head to the side, Mona raised her eyebrows while looking at Timothy. "Could you help?" It was a jab at Timothy, who wasn't exactly excellent at defending himself. It was good to know when you're out of your depth.
"Shut up," he huffed, focusing back on the fight.
Her face was a mask of cold concentration. The cumulative injuries had started to catch up with her, and every movement felt heavy and sluggish. Trinity's body screamed from her previous battle wounds. Keal's brutal force rained down on her, their blades meeting in mid-air, rattling the bones along her arms painfully. She hissed in agony, pushing him back. Each thrust, each jab, each movement was like a vibrating rattle through her bones, her already injured arms screaming for her to stop. The once dull throb and insistent ache in her wrist was now a sharp, insistent pain that shot up her arm with every movement.
Relentlessly pressing his advantage, Keal struck her weakened arm, every slash meant to force her to yield. She stumbled back, a gasp escaping her lips as she fought to regain her footing. He watched as she shook her head as if a fog was overtaking her. His movement paused for a moment, thinking they had brought her back under control.
Press on, Thomas spoke into Keal's mind. He had a plan, and it relied on Keal at this moment. Don't stop, he ordered, the words slithering through Keal's consciousness.
Behind her, Ryan was a blur of emotion, his sword a flashing arc of steel against Skip's own blade. He held his own, his movements fluid and precise, but his gaze kept flickering back to Trinity, a worried frown creasing his brows as he saw the blood seeping through her torn clothes. He felt a spike of fear, his eyes narrowing as he made a split-second decision. With a powerful kick to Skip's shin, he sent his opponent stumbling backward.
As Skip's balance wavered, Ryan lunged forward with a swift jab to the pommel of Skip's sword, sending it flying from his hands. He didn't wait to see if Skip would surrender, kicking him squarely in his chest, sending him tumbling backward.
Ryan intercepted a downward blow meant for Trinity's injured wrist, the echo of his blade ringing in her ears as he shielded her with his sword and his body, holding her tight to his chest. His brown orbs glowed with a fierce pulse, and his skin rippled with intention before he slashed back, painting the ground with Keal's blood. The silver blade sliced through Keal's left eye with a sickening squelch. It didn't just cut the eyelid; the honed edge of the sword sank through the tough fibrous tissue of the cornea and tore through the soft, gelatinous vitreous humor and the lens. The iris, once a piercing blue, was shredded, and the eyeball itself was cleaved in two. A geyser of blood mixed with a thick, syrupy fluid—the vitreous humor—erupted from the ruined socket, hot and metallic, painting the air and ground in a violent arc of crimson. The wound bled profusely, the torn flesh refusing to clot. As Keal fell back, groaning in pain, forever pull at the corner of his eye.
Keal's remaining eye widened in shock as he saw Ryan's body look as if it was going to shift, as if his wolf was emerging too. What the fuck was going on with all the defectives? He rolled back, his hand coming to cover his eye as he groaned in pain. The edges of the gash began to twitch, a testament to his wolf's healing factor. Slowly, agonizingly, the mangled tissues knitted themselves together, the raw, angry red of the wound sealing into a thick scar that would soon fade away.
The gold receded, and Trinity could feel her esophagus shrink and reform, the bones sliding around her throat column painfully as it righted itself into its human position. Her blue eyes shone brightly with little flecks of gold.
"Ryan," she grinned, feeling her eyes swim and her vision blur. Her body was covered in her own blood, and it was hard to keep her eyes open.
Turning his head, he locked eyes with her, her blue eyes on full display. Still mildly changed, but it was her again. He smiled as his chest loosened. The anxiety and fear from the last few days finally left his body as he looked down and saw his friend, back to how she was supposed to be.
"Thank-"
A sharp growl pierced the air as Skip threw his blade at Ryan. It whizzed through the air, the sound a sharpened fluid.
Thomas was quick to intercept, catching the blade by its hilt in midair, less than an inch away from entering Ryan's shoulder.
"That's enough for today. Get cleaned up. Everyone back here tomorrow." He announced, looking down at Trinity, his eyes roaming over her injured body. "No excuses!"
Trinity watched in complete shock as he walked away as if this class hadn't been anything less than chaos and attempted murders.
"This place is completely insane," Jess sighed, brushing this off like she did everything else weird here before going to help Ryan get Trinity to her feet.
"I have a million questions," moan said as she filled her group, placing her arm around Timothy's shoulder. Dragging him along.
"Yeah, since when were you able to teleport? I thought everyone here's wolves, not magicians," Timothy smiled, coming over to ruffle Trinity's hair, happy to have her back.
The four guards stood in a line together as they trailed behind Trinity and her friends.
"Is this something we should report to the Beta?" The condescension in Skip's voice was more than apparent.
Ian couldn't believe how chaotic everything had gotten. It shouldn't be this hard to look after one tiny, semi-defective girl. "I mean, Keal might die! He nearly killed the Beta's daughter!"
Keal didn't comment. They didn't know that Thomas had made him continue, even when he first swung his blade at Ryan's back. Thomas had told him to, that it was all part of the plan. He watched Thomas walk past the warrior house into the woods that would lead him to the Beta's house. He was going to explain his actions to the Beta.
The silence in the Beta's grand home was a stark contrast to the chaos of the training ground. Alana sat in her study, the soft chime of a nearby grandfather clock echoing the quiet anticipation that coiled in her stomach. A triumphant smile played on her lips as the maid poured more coffee into her mug. She was ecstatic to be home, content in the knowledge that Trinity had been put in her place.
The sound of knocking echoed throughout the house.
Taking a sip of her coffee, Alana walked to the archway that led from the kitchen into the main hallway. She saw a maid speaking to Thomas, their voices a low hum. As their eyes met, Thomas gave her a respectful bow before following the maid toward Boris's office. He was here to report, and Alana hoped that he came with good news. That the stress of training had triggered Trinity's full shift.