THE BLOODLESS DEAD

Mumbles rippled through the crowd as everyone stared at Elysia, who had collapsed to the ground with her head on Darian’s leg. Their expressions perfectly conveyed their astonishment. Elysia lay there on the ground, her head on Darian’s leg and the gold crystal in her hand. Evren went to Elysia, bent down and took the crystal.

He carefully examined it.

“It’s real, Your Majesty,” he said, facing Aurelian.

“Really?” Seraphina asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” he answered.

A few minutes later, physician assistants from the academy infirmary came to carry Elysia away, whose head had been on Darian’s leg the whole time. Darian’s eyes were focused on her the whole time. His chest tightened—he couldn’t explain what he felt.

Kael and Lyssandra went towards him.

“Looks like you wouldn’t be needed at the Woods,” Kael said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, we know. Even a dumb person can acknowledge that,” Lyssandra said, rolling her eyes.

“So we can all agree that I am a seer.”

“Oh, please.”

“I predicted the future.”

“You predicted nothing. You only said, ‘What if?’ and that’s a possibility that already exists!” Lyssandra shouted.

“You know what? You’re just jealous. You don’t want to acknowledge the fact that I am smart!” Kael said.

“You? Smart? Sounds like opposite words to me.”

Darian, who was just standing there, totally lost in his own thoughts, simply walked away into the academy.

THE ROYAL PALACE

THE ROYAL INFIRMARY

Evander was examining the dead wolves brought to the palace when Cassian walked in.

“Greetings, Your Highness,” Cassian greeted immediately.

Evander went to him, where he was standing in between the patients.

“Greetings, Evander,” Cassian replied.

“Tell me, what happened to them?” Cassian asked.

“Your Highness—”

“Tell me, Evander.”

“I have examined them, Your Highness, but I do not know for sure what happened to them.”

“Oh, Moon Goddess!”

“I am sorry, Your Highness,” Evander bowed.

“This is not good. I am getting a terrible feeling.” Caelum, the Omega, walked in.

“But when I did examine them, I saw no traces of starvation. In fact, it is as though they had just eaten before they died.”

“Really?” Cassian asked in surprise.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I just need to cut through them and get a sample of what they had eaten.”

“Well, be quick,” Cassian instructed.

Caelum stepped forward.

“Greetings, Cassian, the Beta,” he said, bowing slightly.

“Greetings, Omega,” Cassian answered.

Evander left them and went to his dispensary.

Caelum glanced at the wolves. He placed his hands on one of their foreheads. He put his fingers on the eyelid and forced the eye open.

It was white—pure white.

“Oh! Moon Goddess!” he exclaimed.

“What is it?” Cassian asked, startled.

“Your Highness—”

“Speak, Caelum.”

“I fear that these wolves were attacked by a great force.”

“A force?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“A force so great that not a droplet of blood remains anywhere near their system.”

Cassian just stared at the wolves.

“I’d prove it to you,” Caelum said, springing out his claws. He took one of the wolves’ arms and tore the flesh. It gave him a scratch, but there was no blood left there. The body… It looked like blood had never touched the internal part of the body before.

“Goodness!” Cassian gasped.

Minutes later, Evander came out of his dispensary holding some medical instruments.

He approached one of the wolves and used his instruments to examine its abdomen.

No trace of blood. He stopped, making eye contact with Caelum. He continued his examination and brought out something that was paste-like.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, heading back to his dispensary.

“What is the way forward?” Cassian turned to Caelum.

“I will need some time to go through some scriptures, Your Highness.”

“You have to be quick with that. We cannot waste any more time,” Cassian instructed.

“I will go through them tonight, Your Highness, and give you feedback tomorrow morning, Your Highness.”

“No, you take your time and go through them properly. The induction ceremony for the new students is tomorrow morning. Therefore, I will expect feedback later in the day.”

Evander returned, worry written all over his face.

“Your Highness,” he called.

Cassian and Caelum faced him.

“Yes, what is it?” Cassian demanded, almost urgently.

“Well, I got some of the food samples the wolves had eaten before they—” He paused.

“Did you discover anything absurd?” Caelum asked.

“There was no trace of blood in their gut or even in the food.”

“Yes, we had established that,” Cassian said, nodding slowly.

“Which even makes it more puzzling,” Evander heaved.

“What is puzzling?” Cassian raised a brow.

“I tested the food sample I took from them in the dispensary, and I figured—”

“Speak, Evander!” Cassian thundered.

Evander heaved in. “The wolves are cannibals.”

“What?!”

UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION

Huge wolves were training, combating and tackling.

Flashes of light were sparkling over the places as they fought and trained with their superpowers.

A big wolf came from behind. “Train harder!” he roared. “We are not attempting something simple. We have to be ready.”

As he spoke, the other wolves intensified their training. There was a large number of them.

A wolf began howling from a distance.

It seemed to be coming from on top of the building.

It was familiar. He smirked. He super-sped out of the building. He got out. The building was surrounded by a barrier, a glowing one which illuminated the area with red light. He looked on top of the building. He smiled. There was a wolf there, completely covered in a huge robe that had a hood. The hood fell across their face, making their face totally unseen.

He jumped high to the top of the building.

They hugged.

“How are you?” the wolf said.

“I am fine,” the other wolf replied. It was a thin, feminine voice.

There were several bags surrounding her at the flat, square-shaped top of the building. The building was like a decked bungalow, but it was tall and vast.

“I brought food,” she said.

“Thank you,” the big wolf appreciated.

“I hope everything is going well?” she inquired.

“Yes, we are planning, and of course, we are getting prepared for tomorrow,” he answered.

He approached her and took her hands, folding them in his.

“I’ve missed you,” he said.

“I miss you too,” she chuckled.

He pulled her into a slow kiss. She responded. His hands cupped her face.

She pulled away slowly.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Why did you—”

“How prepared are you for tomorrow?”

His eyes squinted. He sighed. “He’s ready.”

“And how do you know that?” she asked.

“Dreadwing sent this back,” he replied, pointing downwards.

She looked. It was a dead wolf lying on the floor beside the building’s walls.

“I see,” she smirked.

He grabbed her hands and pulled her closer. He kissed her again, this time increasing his pace. She pulled away again.

“Why? What happened?” he sighed.

“Where are they?” he asked.

“They are at Lycoria, but Cassian is at the Palace.”

“So what is wrong?”

“I have some things to handle, and if we continue like this, I won’t be able to return tonight.”

“Shhh… Just enjoy the moment,” he said, pulling her closer and kissing her again.

She struggled, trying to free herself, but he increased his pace, not allowing her to pull away. Eventually, she stopped struggling and responded.

He chuckled. “I know you missed me,” he whispered slowly in her ear.

LYCORIA ACADEMY

THE ACADEMY’S INFIRMARY

Elysia opened her eyes slowly.

She saw Vesper sitting on a chair beside her. She was lying on a bed at the infirmary.

“Where am I?” she mumbled, getting up slowly.

“Welcome back. You collapsed after you returned from the hunt,” Vesper answered.

Elysia looked around. There were about four other beds in the room. There were also two nurses/physician assistants, and the room smelled like medicine.

“Huh?” She faced Vesper.

“You collapsed after finding the gold crystal, girl.”

Vesper nudged her slightly. She seemed excited.

Then the memory came flowing back into her head.

She blinked.

Nymera. The crystal. And how she had fainted.

“How did you do it…? I mean, you’re so lucky,” Vesper chided her.

“Well, I don’t know too—I was being chased by…”

Elysia paused.

“What? You were being chased?”

Then something rang in Elysia’s head.

“TRUST WISELY.”

“No… no… no,” Elysia quickly said. “I mean, I was being chased by my intuition and my anxiety.”

“Oh, you were pretty scared, huh?”

“Very scared,” Elysia answered, touching her chest.

“But how did you—”

“Excuse me, you’d need to excuse us. We need to examine her again,” one of the physician assistants said.

“Oh, okay. Meet me at the preparation hall. We need to prepare for our induction ceremony at the Royal Palace tomorrow,” Vesper informed her.

“Ahh… okay,” Elysia nodded.

“And guess what?” Vesper beamed.

“What?”

“Our uniforms are ready!” Vesper said excitedly.

“That’s cool!”

“So meet me at the preparation hall. I’d be waiting for you, girl!” Vesper winked and left the room.

The physician assistants examined Elysia again. It took them about 20 minutes.

“Okay, you seem fine now. It’s okay for you to leave,” one of them said.

“That’s great, thanks,” Elysia said, getting out of the bed she was lying on.

She headed for the door.

“And oh… be careful. You are still very weak, and your powers seem very feeble,” the physician assistant said.

“Alright, thank you,” Elysia said and walked out of the room.

She walked down the hallway, trying to find her way back to the preparation hall.

As she approached the end of the hallway, she felt her head hit someone’s chest.

She had bumped into someone.

She looked up.

She barely recognized the face, but it seemed to be the person she had fainted in front of.

Darian.

He looked at her.

“Oh, I am sorry. I am so sorry. Please forgive me,” she apologized, bowing repeatedly.

“Congratulations,” Darian said.

She slowly looked up.

He was already staring at her.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

She felt something tighten in her chest.

Their eyes locked.

And neither of them looked away.