Page 26 of The First Trial
Just as I stepped foot outside the dorm building, Hawthorne and Enid came running around the side of the building, almost colliding with me as they skidded to a halt.
‘The academy is under attack,’ Thorne exclaimed, fear creeping into his words.
I swore loudly through my teeth, the dread spinning in my gut picking up speed. ‘She went to her garden,’ I told them, unable to say my sister’s name out loud in front of an audience. I just hoped they knew who I was talking about.
‘Juniper?’ Enid asked.
‘I shouldn’t have let her leave,’ I said by way of confirmation. I wanted to berate myself further, but there was nothing for it now. Time travel wasn’t possible, no matter how many had tried, so the only option was to be her backup in the fight.
‘Who’s attacking?’ I asked as I led them toward the section of the forest where I remembered she kept her garden.
Hawthorne huffed a humourless laugh. ‘You’ll never believe it, man, but they’re not… human.’
I frowned even though he couldn’t see it with my position in front. ‘What?’
‘We don’t know what they are,’ Enid admitted.
‘What do they look like?’ I asked as we approached the treeline.
‘Like that,’ she responded in a shaky voice. I turned to see what had caused her fear and followed where her finger pointed to the right. Stepping out from the treeline was a tall man with light features that softened his hard build. Muscles upon muscles with veins popping as he wielded twin blades, he glared at us through deadly eyes bisected with silvery scars from previous battles, but it was what his braided hair revealed that drew me up short.
Two long, narrow ears tipped with sharp-looking points poke out from beneath the braids.
There was no way…
Immediately, my thoughts went to the tomes currently stashed in Junie’s room. He wasn’t here for them, was he? Were they seeking the information hidden inside, just like we were?
Full lips pulled back in a snarl as he bared his teeth at us and growled. The sound was almost musical, but the deadly intent had my hands raising in preparation to fight him off.
Thorne took up a fighter’s pose beside me, and on his other side, Enid pulled out a dagger. From where I had no clue, sinceshe was wearing form-fitting yoga pants and a tank top, so there was nowhere to really hide them…
The Fae man saw our defensive positions and charged, blades slashing through the air with a whistle that spoke of skill and experience. He was faster than I’d anticipated, so I wasn’t quick enough to prevent the blow to my face. Thankfully, I dodged it enough that it only sliced through my eyebrow. The sting of the wound was close enough to my eye that I knew he wasn’t messing around. This guy was going to kill us if we didn’t put him down first.
Without thinking, I shoved my palm against him and shouted a spell that would incapacitate him without killing him. He may have wanted to kill us, but he was Fae after all. It hadn’t escaped me that capturing a Fae could give me and Junie a chance to translate the tomes faster, and it was worth a shot.
‘Enervo!’
His eyes, a light blue so pale that they were practically white, widened as my magic washed over him and depleted him of his strength. His arms sagged where they held the twin blades, which fell to the ground with a thud since his fingers no longer had the strength to grip them. He dropped to his knees, then tilted to the side where he lay, too weak to move. It wasn’t a pleasant spell, but it was necessary. I really didn’t want to kill him, and this was the quickest way to incapacitate him.
Unfortunately, as soon as he hit the ground, shouts echoed in the distance, mixing with the sounds of more blades clashing and what sounded like animalistic roars.
‘Gods above,’ Thorn and Enid muttered breathlessly as we turned our attention toward the central courtyard that connected the three campuses. There were more than just Fae, it seemed, as winged beings darted from the sky to strike at those fighting below. Beasts roared, biting and clawing at anyone who got too close. Fae swung their swords, the blades whistlingthrough the air as they sliced through flesh. Horned creatures with skin in a rainbow of colours joined the fray, but they only batted away anyone who tried to hit them. Strangely, they didn’t attack, only defended themselves.
But there was an odd divergence creating two separate groups. Both contained a mix of all the races, but where one was fighting, upon further inspection, it seemed it was vicious protectiveness over the second group that was dazedly forming a circle around an iridescent shimmer floating in mid-air.
A portal. It was growing by the second and sending off waves of powerful magic. It was so potent, I didn’t think we could overcome it while also holding back the enemy. We were being attacked from all angles.
Twigs snapped beneath heavy footsteps, and my head whipped toward the treeline. First to exit a short distance away was another Fae, with white hair pulled back in a series of intricate braids, silver rings flashing at the tip of his pointed ears, and an impressively long blade strapped to his hip. I tensed, ready for another fight, but he didn’t even seem to see us. His attention was rigidly fixed on the strange, steadily growing shimmer, like the rest of the world didn’t exist.
My heart sank as the next to step out was Juniper. Her gaze was just as blank and just as transfixed on that shimmer as the others. She walked woodenly as if someone else was controlling her movements, and panic seized me, stalling the breath in my lungs.
Another Fae stepped out behind her, his features slightly darker than the first. He was also caught in the haze of whatever magic was responsible for their catatonic states, and my stomach twisted with unease. What the fuck was going on?
I took a step toward Junie, intent on halting her progress when a battle cry sounded from behind me. All three of us turned to defend ourselves against another attack, only this timeit wasn’t a Fae. Instead, it was a giant, muscular woman charging right at us. We watched on in horror as, within a moment, her teeth elongated into fangs as her face seemed to pushoutwardto form a muzzle. Next, her nails sharpened into claws, thick grey fur spread across every inch of skin, and her bones cracked and twisted until they reformed into a completely different shape. Lastly, and most horrifically, her voice morphed from human to a monstrous growl.
On all fours, furry lips pulled back in a wicked snarl as drool dripped from her jaws.
She was a Shifter.
