Part Two

Polaz Detreeve

I had already explained the situation before we arrived at the spot where I found the kid.

“Well?” Marius panted, leaning onto his knees. “Where is he?”

“No… No, he was right here I swear. There’s even blood on–” I trailed off, staring at the pathway where there was once puddles of deep red blood.

“There’s nothing here but nature, Poe.” Marius says, following the direction I was looking at.

“Maybe this isn’t the right spot?” Mar suggests. “Or maybe it was just a prank.”

“If it was, I don’t think they’d go this far.” I snapped. The only proof this had ever happened was just me. “I know I left him here. I did.”

“How did you even know there was someone in here, this deep in the forest? This place is forbidden to be crossed by students.” The guy with glasses states, taking a step toward me.

“I… I thought I heard something.”

“You thought you heard something?” He repeated, “If we’re caught in here, we’ll be suspended. You out of all us should know that.”

“Back off, Mr. A-Student.” Marius put an arm between us, “There are actually people who care more about lives than digits on a paper.”

“Klaus.” Mar pulled the guy away by the arm as his attention turned to Marius. “Not now.”

There we all stood in the loudest silence. Mar had no words to offer. I had nothing more to say. Marius was still silently staring down Klaus.

Klaus.

Klaus?

My eyebrows rose at the realization. He was Klaus of House Flynt, the family who made one of the most favored liquor brands across Ravamore. I remember the officers surprising our batch after graduation with a crate of a dozen bottles to go around.

“You couples done fighting?”

Shanzina was crouched, back facing us as she studied something on the ground.

“Did you find something?” Mar’s voice quivered from the tightness of the previous conversation.

“Just blood.”

“Oh my Gods, Shanz!” Mar yelled, scrunching her nose as Shanzina revealed her palm was covered in it. “Wipe your hands. Are you crazy?”

“Maybe,” Shanzina shrugged, “He isn’t lying about someone being wounded here. Based on the consistency, it just happened. Whoever it was couldn’t have gotten far.”

“Hah! Told you.” I sighed in relief, “But, what happened to the rest of the blood I saw earlier? The trail?”

“Evaporated.”

Marius’s face twisted from confusion to mock prayer. “Please tell me this isn’t a lesson.”

Shanzina drew her lips to a tight smile. “Then I’ll show you, better?”

She took a leaf from the ground, walking towards us. Beside me, Mar took another step backwards, almost cowering behind Klaus, who was eyeing Shanzina’s hands.

“Blood.” She opened her palms, “And some weird green fluid.”

She tilted the leaf and we all watched as its liquid dropped onto her blood-covered hand. The moment they’d mixed, steam replaced the blood on her palm.

“Ah!” Shanzina hissed, holding her injured hand. “Should’ve seen that coming.

“Are you alright?” Klaus walked over to Shanzina’s side, pulling a napkin to wipe off the excess blood. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s just a small burn.” She said assuringly.

Then it hit me. The kid I saw had his arm burned off. He must’ve been sprayed with… whatever that is. He must’ve not gotten far with his broken leg, unless whoever was after him hasn’t got to him already.

“I have to find him, like you said, he mustn’t have gotten far.” I gesture to Shanzina, and then to all of them, “Thank you for your help. Sorry for troubling you all but I’ll take it from here now.”

“I’ll come with.” Marius began to follow in my direction.

“Wait.” Shanzina called out, “You’re not wasting my time bringing me here and not letting me do what I intend to. You’re gonna need me to aid whoever this kid is. We’ll find him faster that way.” She put her foot down the way my teacher would, “Mari and Klaus will go back and prepare a bed for him in the infirmary.”

Mar almost beams, one foot towards the direction of the school, “Don’t have to tell me twice-”

“We don’t know how bad this situation is.” Klaus steps forward in protest.

A loud explosion erupted not far from us, cutting Shanzina’s reply short.

“I guess we’re about to find out.”

…

The bursts grew louder now, following an unspoken rhythm as we followed it. My heart raced at the thought of the source being the kid or his brother.

As we ran towards it, a beautiful landscape came into view, and so did the edge of the mountain. I squinted as the sunlight poured its brightness into us and our surroundings, with the blast echoing even stronger in our ears.

Another explosion burst and a wave of force slowed our pace as we neared the borderline of the trees. At the corner of our eyes, we saw two figures moving around a spot. We exchanged glances before we continued, hiding behind piled up logs of wood.

“What’s happening?” Mar asked me, leaning her back onto the log as I peaked over the pile, Marius mirroring my action.

“Looks like,” I paused, my eyes locking on the hooded figures. One had a whip, flicking it towards a target, and the other had their hands full of magic, directing it the same way.

“Like?”

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” Shanzina replied, almost making me jump as I realized she was there beside me.

I adjusted my position, following the direction of the whip and the magic, and what I saw made my heart sink lower than it ever had.

The kid was being choked by the whip, tightened into place by the second person’s magic. He was crying, pleading for a stop, and it was loud enough for all of us to hear it. The hooded figures continued, as if they couldn’t hear him.

My heart pounded now, its quick beat filling my ears as my sense of touch had almost left me. It wasn’t until Marius pulled me back that I realized I was about to jump over the logs and run towards them.

“What are you doing?” He whisper-yells.

I try removing his grip on me, “He’s being cornered at the edge. I can’t just sit by and watch him die.”

“No,” Shanzina joined, “Look closely. That’s not a kid.”

A gasp came from Mar, hovering a hand over her mouth, “She’s right.”

I looked at Klaus and Mar’s expression, beside Shanzina, their eyes grew wide in fear as they watched. I turned my attention back to the kid, squinting. His eyes turned black as his veins turned a dark purple, threatening to pop off his skin.

My stomach turned like a washer at the sight. He switched back and forth, somehow glitching from the innocent wounded kid I’d met earlier, to a monster trying to rip itself out of the body, as if there was a filter swaying around, shielding us from its true form.

At the corner of our eyes came another hooded figure zapping towards them. When I looked back at the kid, he was in two pieces. His head rolled towards the end of the cliff, balancing itself until it tilted off.

The three hooded figures watched, but alarm washed over the scene as Mar let out a gasp, causing them to look in our direction.

Quickly, we tucked down our heads, turning our backs to the logs. Klaus covered Mar’s mouth, allowing her to calm down quietly.

“Did you finish the other one?” One of the hooded figures said.

“Yeah, he left a trail behind him so it wasn’t that hard.” The other replied, “He’s got a broken leg, too.”

It took a breath to calm myself after hearing what they’d done to the kid. I clenched my fist. I never got to him. But how could I save… that?

“It seems like we don’t stop at broken legs.” One of them said.

I gave Shanzina a nervous look and she returned it as we heard the footsteps stop.

Right behind us.

In a flash, one of them was in front of us, holding out their palm, ready to blast us.

“Who wants to go first?”