Page 74 of Blood Currents
“Uncle, stop!”Keane shouted, his portals opening to carry us down faster than the mechanical platform.
We materialized in the wellspring chamber just as Alstone raised his hands over the corrupted pool.Dark energy poured from his fingertips—not just the oily corruption we’d seen before but something worse.Something that felt ancient and hungry and absolutely wrong.
“You think you understand magic?”he snarled, not turning to face us.“You think your little harmony matters?I’ve spent years learning to channel forces that make your power look like children’s games!”
The wellspring writhed under his touch, its silver light flickering as the corruption spread deeper.Through my necromantic senses, I felt the wellspring’s consciousness crying out—not just in pain but in betrayal.This place had trusted the council to protect it, and instead they’d been slowly poisoning it for decades.
“Get away from it!”Cyrus roared, blue flames erupting around him as he charged forward.
But Alstone’s corruption magic lashed out like living shadow, slamming into Cyrus and sending him flying backward into the chamber wall.The impact would have broken bones if Elio’s illusions hadn’t cushioned it at the last second.
“Touching,” Alstone said, finally turning to face us.His eyes had gone completely black, no longer human.“But you’re too late.The process is already—”
Keane’s portal opened directly behind his uncle, and Keane stepped through with murder in his expression.“You’re done hurting people.”
“My dear nephew,” Alstone said, dodging the portal with fluid grace.“You still don’t understand.I didn’t corrupt your magic to break you.I corrupted it to prepare you.To make you compatible with what magic is about to become.”
“What are you talking about?”I demanded, my necromancy reaching toward the wellspring to assess the damage.
“The master isn’t just some ancient vampire,” Alstone replied, his corruption magic growing stronger by the second.“He’s the original source of vampire power—the first to discover how to bend magic to his will rather than serve it.And he’s been waiting centuries for the magical network to develop enough sophistication for complete domination.”
Horror flooded through me as I understood.“The corruption isn’t random.It’s creating a network he can control.”
“Finally, someone who sees the bigger picture.”Alstone’s inhuman smile was terrifying.“Every corrupted wellspring becomes a control point.Every poisoned ley line becomes a conduit for his influence.We’re not destroying magic.We’re reshaping it to serve its rightful master.”
“Which is what?”Elio asked, his illusions beginning to weave defensive patterns around us.
“Control,” Alstone said simply.“Magic was never meant to serve humans.You are temporary custodians of power that predates your species by millennia.The master will reclaim what has always been his—absolute control over all magical currents.”
The wellspring’s light flickered more violently, and through my connection to it, I felt something else stirring.Something vast and ancient and absolutely malevolent reached through the corruption toward our reality.
Above us, chaos erupted in the auditorium.Through the opening in the ceiling, I glimpsed a sudden surge of darkness—shadows moving against shadows.Screams echoed as the academy’s protective wards continued to fracture.
“The Lightfords!”Aurora shouted, pointing upward.“They’re escaping!”
Through the gap, I saw them moving with unnatural speed toward the exit, surrounded by what looked like living darkness.The silver-haired witch stood in their path, not blocking but guiding them, her hands weaving complex patterns that carved a corridor through the Shroud Guard’s defenses.
“That’s impossible,” Keane said, his voice tight with shock.“The academy’s wards—”
“Are designed to keep vampires out.”Alstone laughed.“But what happens when the master’s servant is already inside?”
“Who is she?”I called.Through the opening above, I could see Raven being helped to her feet by Lucas, both of them staring in horror as the Lightfords escaped.
“A vessel,” Alstone said with disturbing pride.“Just as I am.Just as we all will be, once the network is fully under his control.”
“We have to stop this,” I said urgently.“If he completes the corruption here—”
“The academy’s wellspring is the central node for this entire region,” Aurora said, understanding flooding her face.“If it falls, every connected wellspring gets dragged down with it.”
“Exactly.”Alstone’s magic flared brighter, and the corruption spread further through the silver pool.“Once this wellspring falls, the master’s control will extend throughout the entire eastern network.And there’s nothing you can do to stop it.”
“Not happening,” Cyrus said, hauling himself upright despite his injuries.His flames burned brighter than I’d ever seen them, blue threads now dominating the gold entirely.“We’re not letting some ancient parasite control our magic.”
“You can’t stop what’s already begun,” Alstone replied.“The network is primed.The corruption is spreading.The master—”
“Will have to find someone else to play with,” I interrupted.
I looked around at my friends—my family—and saw the same determination in their faces that I felt burning in my chest.We’d come too far, sacrificed too much, learned too much about what magic could really be to let it all be perverted into service of some ancient evil.
