Zane dropped his sword and caught Eliza before she hit the ground. Blood was pouring from the wound in her side, soaking through her clothes and pooling on the stone path. Her face was deathly pale, and her breathing came in shallow, painful gasps.
"Young... Master..." she whispered, trying to smile even through the pain. "Are you... okay?"
"Don't talk or move." Zane's hands shook as he tried to put pressure on the wound, but there was too much blood. The ice spear had gone clean through her side, probably puncturing internal organs. The blood wouldn't stop flowing no matter how hard he pressed.
Seeing Eliza in such a state Zane felt great hatred overwhelm him.
Something broke inside him. All the careful control he'd maintained since arriving at this world shattered in an instant like glass.
He looked up at Freya, who had gotten to her feet and was staring at Eliza with wide eyes.
"I didn't mean—" she started to say.
Zane didn't let her finish. He gently laid Eliza down on the path and stood up. His Aura exploded outward in a wave of pure rage that made the air itself tremble and the nearby plants wither. The pressure was so intense that Freya actually stumbled back a step.
"You're dead," Zane said, his voice cold and utterly terrifying in its flatness.
Freya took another step back, her earlier confidence evaporating like mist. "Wait, I didn't mean for her to—"
Zane moved quickly, crossing the distance between them in less than a second, his speed enhanced to its absolute limit. His fist, wrapped in concentrated Aura that glowed with silver light, slammed into Freya's hastily-formed ice shield and shattered it completely. The fragments scattered like harmless snow. The follow-through caught her in the stomach and sent her flying backward into a tree.
She hit the trunk hard enough to crack it and fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
Zane didn't give her even a second to recover. He was already there, his hands grabbing her by the collar and hauling her to her feet before slamming her back against the damaged tree.
"You wanted to put me in my place?" His silver eyes blazed with fury. He threw her to the ground and she tumbled across the path, her perfect hair coming undone and her clothes tearing. "Let me show you what happens when you cross the wrong person."
Freya tried to cast a spell, her hands moving desperately in the patterns she'd practiced thousands of times. Ice began to form, but Zane was faster. He stomped on her wrist and bones crunched audibly causing her to scream in pain.
"That's for Eliza," he said coldly.
He kicked her in the ribs hard enough to lift her off the ground. The impact made a horrible cracking sound as several ribs broke. She crashed back down and curled up, trying to protect herself with her uninjured arm, but Zane grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up to face him.
"You think you're special?" He slammed his fist into her face. Blood sprayed from her nose and her head snapped back. "You think your ice magic makes you better than everyone else?"
Another punch ran on her face making her lip split open and more blood flowed.
"You're nothing." His voice was devoid of emotion, which made it even more terrifying. "Just another arrogant noble who doesn't understand consequences."
He threw her down again and she lay there, barely conscious, blood pooling beneath her head. Her gray eyes were unfocused and her breathing was ragged. But Zane wasn't done. He wanted more he wanted her to suffer more to appease his hungry fury.
Freya tried to crawl away, leaving a trail of blood on the stone path. Zane walked after her slowly, his footsteps echoing in the quiet garden.
"Please..." Freya whispered, her voice barely audible. "Stop..."
"Did I ask you to stop?" Zane grabbed her ankle and dragged her back. "Did you show me mercy?"
He channeled Aura into his leg and prepared to deliver a kick that would cave in her skull and kill her instantly. She deserved it for nearly killing Eliza. She'd attacked him without provocation and she deserved to die here in this garden.
"ZANE, STOP!"
The voice cut through his fury like a blade. He turned his head and saw Seraphina running toward them from the main path, her face pale with horror. She must have come looking for him when he didn't show up at the restaurant after a long time.
"Don't do this," Seraphina said, breathing hard as she reached them. She positioned herself between Zane and Freya's broken body. "You'll kill her."
"She deserves it." Zane's voice was rough, barely human. "She tried to kill me and she nearly killed Eliza."
"...I know… I can see Eliza's state." Seraphina went silent for a moment before quickly holding up her hands, trying to calm him down. "But if you kill her here, you'll be expelled at minimum. Or worse, they'll arrest you for murder. Everything you've worked for will be destroyed."
"I don't care." And in that moment, he truly didn't. All he could see was Eliza's pale face, the blood pouring from her wound, her weak smile as she asked if he was okay.
"Yes you do." Seraphina's voice was firm but gentle. "Think about Eliza. She needs help right now and every second you waste here is a second she doesn't get proper treatment from the healers."
That broke through the red haze of rage. Zane blinked and looked back at where Eliza lay on the ground, still bleeding. She'd thrown herself in front of that spear to save him. And here he was, wasting precious time on revenge when she needed immediate medical attention.
He took a shaky breath and the murderous Aura around him began to recede slowly. The clarity started returning to his mind, though the anger still simmered beneath the surface.
"You're right," he said quietly, his voice returning to something more normal. He stepped away from Freya's broken body. "I need to get Eliza to the infirmary."
"I'll handle this situation," Seraphina said, glancing down at Freya with a mixture of disgust and pity. "Go. Run as fast as you can."
Zane didn't need to be told twice. He ran back to where Eliza lay and carefully lifted her into his arms, mindful of her wound. She was unconscious now, her breathing barely perceptible. He channeled Aura into his legs and sprinted toward the academy infirmary at maximum speed.
The world blurred around him as he ran. Students scattered out of his way, staring in shock at the blood-covered girl in his arms. Some shouted questions, but he ignored all of them. Nothing mattered except getting Eliza to the healers.
He burst through the infirmary doors so hard they slammed against the walls.
"HELP!" he shouted into the room. "Someone help her!"
A healer rushed forward immediately. She was an older woman with silver hair tied back in a bun and kind green eyes that quickly assessed the situation. She took one look at Eliza and her expression turned grave.
"Put her on the bed. Now." She pointed to the nearest examination bed.
Zane laid Eliza down as gently as he could, trying not to jostle her injury. The healer immediately began working, her hands glowing with golden healing magic as she examined the wound carefully.
"What happened?" the healer asked, not looking up from her work as golden light flowed into Eliza's body.
"She was hit by an Ice spear…"
"That's what I thought." The healer's magic intensified, becoming brighter. "She's lost a significant amount of blood. I need to stabilize her internal organs first before I can properly heal the wound. This is going to take time."
"Will she survive?" Zane forced himself to ask the question, even though he was terrified of the answer.
The healer hesitated just a fraction too long before responding. "I'll do everything I can."
That wasn't the answer Zane wanted to hear, but he understood what it meant. Eliza was in critical condition. The next few minutes would determine whether she lived or died.
He stepped back and let the healer work, his hands clenched into fists so tight his nails drew blood from his palms. The rage was still there, simmering beneath the surface, but now it was mixed with fear. Raw, primal fear that Eliza might not make it.
Other healers arrived to assist, summoned by the commotion. They worked together with practiced efficiency, their hands moving in coordinated patterns as healing magic flowed into Eliza's broken body. Golden light filled the room, so bright it was almost difficult to look at directly.
Zane watched every second of it, refusing to look away. Minutes stretched into an eternity. He could see Eliza's face slowly regaining some color, see her breathing becoming slightly stronger. But she still wasn't conscious.
Finally, after what felt like hours but was probably only twenty minutes, the head healer stepped back and wiped sweat from her brow. The other healers gradually reduced their magic as well.
"She's stable," the head healer said, exhaustion clear in her voice. "The internal bleeding has stopped, and I've repaired the worst of the damage to her organs. But she'll need several more days of treatment and rest before she's fully recovered."
Zane felt something in his chest unclench. Relief washed over him so intensely he almost staggered. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet. She was extremely lucky you got her here so quickly." The healer looked at him with serious eyes. "Another ten minutes and I wouldn't have been able to save her. The blood loss would have been too severe."
Zane nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He walked over to Eliza's bedside and looked down at her peaceful face. She was still pale, but she was breathing steadily now. She would live.
"What happened?" the healer asked quietly. "This kind of injury... it wasn't an accident."
Before Zane could answer, the infirmary doors opened again and Seraphina walked in. She looked exhausted and her clothes were slightly disheveled, but she seemed unharmed otherwise.
"I reported the incident to the academy security," she said, walking over to join them. "They found Freya and took her to a separate healing facility under guard. She's... in very bad shape."
"Good," Zane said without any remorse in his voice.
Seraphina glanced at the healer. "Could you give us a moment?"
The healer nodded and moved to the other side of the room to give them privacy, though she kept a watchful eye on Eliza's condition.
Seraphina moved closer to Zane and spoke quietly. "The security officers will want to speak with you about what happened. They'll need an official statement."
"I'm prepared, i'll tell them exactly what happened."
"Zane..." Seraphina touched his arm gently. "What you did to Freya… You nearly killed her. If I hadn't arrived when I did..."
"She tried to kill me..." Zane's voice was flat and cold. "I showed restraint by not finishing the job considering what she did to Eliza."
"I know. And I'm not saying she didn't deserve what she got." Seraphina squeezed his arm. "I'm just worried about you."
Zane didn't respond immediately. He was too tired to think about long-term consequences right now. All that mattered was that Eliza was alive and would recover. Everything else could wait.