Chapter 64:

  Kithina’s wind spell blasted Stryg right off the pillar’s edge. He wasn’t sure what happened, only certain of the radiating pain on his side. He spun in the air, his eyes catching a mere glimpse of a victorious Clypeus, before disappearing over the edge.

  Stryg’s uninjured hand shot out and grabbed the rough side of the pillar. His claws dug into the pillar’s wall, carving through the stone as he slid a few feet down. His body jerked to a halt, the force of the stop ramming into his shoulder. He grimaced in pain, certain he had pulled a muscle.

  Stryg took a shaky breath. His other arm had already been cut open by Clypeus and his kidney was pounded by a magical blare of wind.

  He stared down at the chasm pit below. It reminded him of the black pit that served as the entrance to the cave of lamias. The cave where he had run from. The place where he had abandoned what made him a member of the Blood Fang tribe.

  Kithina cried out from above. She was in danger, she needed help. He wouldn’t abandon his teammates, not this time. Stryg grit his teeth, dug his claws deep into the pillar, and threw himself up with all the strength he could manage. His hand shot out and managed to grip the pillar’s edge. With a shaky hand he pulled himself over the edge.

  Kithina lay on the floor at the other side. Her legs were covered in blood.

  Clypeus stood over her, blades pointed at her abdomen. “You won’t die, but I’m afraid you’ll wish you had.”

  Stryg stood without another thought.

  Clypeus’ ear twitched, he swerved around, eyes wide. Stryg tackled him in the gut, sending them both over the edge.

  “Stryg!?” Kithina shrieked.

  Clypeus and him were in free fall, their bodies careening to the chasm floor. The climbing ropes yanked them back up. Clypeus’ body jerked backwards as the rope dangled him between the pillars. He cursed as one of his gladii slipped out of his hand. He reached to the side of a nearby pillar, trying to regain his balance.

  The rope dragged Stryg upwards before he caught the horrible sound of tearing. His harness slammed him into the side of a pillar. He wheezed for breath. He tried gripping his harness and rope. His eyes turned upwards.

  “Oh shit,” Stryg muttered in horror.

  The dangling lifeline was ripping at the strands, half the rope had already frayed. He glanced at the nearest pillar. It was at least twenty feet to the top. He needed to move fast before gravity did it’s work and smeared him into the chasm floor. He didn’t dare pull on the rope anymore. He gripped the pillar as best he could.

  “I’m impressed!” Clypeus yelled.

  He lunged at Stryg with his remaining gladius. Stryg kicked off the pillar, evading the attack. The rope’s fibers split even more. Stryg cursed his luck, he couldn’t afford to put pressure on the rope.

  “After pushing us down here, where are you running off to?” Clypeus swung himself over at Stryg.

  He wouldn’t let Stryg run away. The moment Stryg had thrown them both off the top of the pillar was the moment the goblin had sealed his fate. Clypeus had the environmental advantage. He still had a bit of yellow mana to spare and a good amount of green.

  Stryg swung around another pillar, hoping to create some space. Clypeus quickly cast a yellow wind spell. The air converged on his back and pushed him forward. He’d wait for a perfect opening to cast a green stone spell to finish the goblin off.

  Kithina couldn't feel her legs, but it didn’t stop her from dragging her bloodied body to the pillar’s edge. She glanced down, past the pillar’s limits at the ensuing fight.

  “Please, please, be okay,” she whispered.

  Stryg was trying to swing away from Clypeus, who kept slashing his gladeus at him. The vampire changed his attack pattern, making a high thrust. Stryg ducked, but Clypeus followed up with a swift kick to the head, slamming his skull into a pillar. Stryg dangled from the rope dazed.

  “Stryg, hang on!” Callum shouted from afar.

Callum was dangling from his own rope only a few pillars away.

  “You’re not getting to Clypeus!” Nora screamed.

  She attacked Callum with a blast of water. He was forced to swing away from his friend’s plight.

  “Dammit, how do you still have any mana left?” Callum asked, astonished.

  They had been fighting for the past ten minutes and Nora still had enough blue mana to fling bursts of water at him. He glanced at the weakened Stryg. Something was wrong, the goblin was moving erratically. He hadn’t been trying to fight Clypeus so much as run away from him.

  Callum caught the potent scent of Stryg’s blood. He was bleeding, probably severely injured based on his clumsy movements. Callum dodged another torrent spell. He needed to make room for Stryg to recover, but he was too far to help and Nora wouldn’t let him get closer.

  Red magic couldn’t help Stryg from this distance. Callum clenched his jaw. It was now or never.

  “Burn the shit out of them,” he whispered Loh’s words.

  Callum had never cast a bright spell of such a large scale before, but for some reason he wasn’t scared, only nervously excited. He took a deep breath and called forth all the white mana within his heart. The immense flood of ethereal energy surged through his body. His veins felt like they would melt from the heat.

  Callum raised his trembling hands. “Stryg, look away!”

“Huh?” A dazed Stryg looked right at Callum.

  A radiant explosion of white light erupted from Callum’s palms, blinding all within sight. The light bathed Clypeus in a wave of agony, his vampiric nature unable to handle the enormous light purity.

  The light burned right into Stryg’s eyes. His vision was bleached white. He screamed in pain, blinded. His eyes felt as if they would split open, the irises shivered as they drank in the brightness. The dark ring around his eyes burst, the irises expanded, their lilac color covering most of the whites of his eyes. The pain disappeared instantly. His vision darkened to a pitch black. Lines of silver appeared in his sight and gave shape to the outlines of his surroundings.

  Stryg tottered his head with an unsteady gaze. He could see a silver silhouette of Callum with outstretched hands. A blanket of white poured out of Callum’s hands and spread all around. With a sluggish daze he realized Callum was casting a bright spell. Yet, the cold light looked almost physical, as if Stryg could reach out and grab it. A nearby silver silhouette of Clypeus screeched.

  The vampire dropped his gladius as he writhed in anguish. His eyes were closed and he spun from his rope. He couldn’t see, he felt as if his body was burning to a cinder. He had to make it stop. Clypeus reached within for whatever green mana he had left. He swung his hand blindly around, ripping the stone out from the pillars around him.

  Shards of rock flew at Stryg. He looked at them for a mere moment as if time had slowed. Some part of his addled mind told him he needed to protect himself. A splatter of orange light twisted around his hand. It was different from Callum’s light, it was warm and felt alive, it was fire. The flames flared and blasted the stone shards away.

  Stryg’s rope snapped from the fiery burst. His body felt weightless as it dived through the air. Loh’s scattered voice echoed in the distance. He should have been terrified, but the obscurity of the dark world around consumed his muddled thoughts.

  “Beautiful,” he murmured.

Stryg’s body slammed right past the shallow water and cracked on the chasm floor.

~~~

  Loh paced back and forth in front of the infirmary room. She was tired, thirsty, and above all worried. It was already nightfall, but there had been no good news.

  A white mage appeared from the end of the hall and walked over. “Miss Noir,” he bowed.

“How is he?” Loh asked in a strained voice.

  “It’s a miracle he isn’t dead,” the white mage sighed. “My fellow doctors and I tried our best. We used our healing spells, medicine, and potions, but it still shouldn’t have been enough.”

  Her nose crinkled, “Shouldn’t have been? Is he stable then?”

  “Yes, for now. His right arm broke most of the fall. The forearm seemed to have already been cut beforehand, added with the several fractures incurred from the fall, I don’t know if he’ll ever regain movement in his right arm. As for his left arm, it seems to have sustained severe burns, focused around the fingers, palm, and wrist.”

  The doctor continued, “Because of his unknown hybrid nature it has been difficult to ascertain the complete scope of his injuries. His irises were enormous, covering most of the eyes, similar to a dog. However, they seem to have returned to normal. We have also determined that he has four fractured ribs, and a tibia with three separate breaks.”

  “Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any serious injuries around his abdomen. We’ll have to do a more thorough examination to determine the state of his organs and to check for internal bleeding. Unfortunately, he seems to have suffered from several concussions, judging from the injuries to the skull... We don’t know if he’ll ever wake up.”

  Loh clenched her jaw, the shadows in the hall darkened. The white mage backed away in fear.

  Loh had failed again. Just like with Aziel, she had failed Stryg. She would have never guessed Stryg’s rope would break. They were supposed to have held strong. She should have checked to make sure each rope had been without any faults before the exams had begun. Instead she was helpless and could only watch Stryg fall to his doom.

  Loh stared through the door’s glass and into the room. Stryg lay unmoving on a simple white bed. His body was covered in bandages, a cast on his right arm and leg. He seemed so small and fragile. A young woman sat next to him. Her purple hair concealed her face, but Loh had a pretty good idea how she was feeling. The shadows in the hall returned to normal.

  “I should go tell her the news,” Loh sighed.

She opened the door and walked into the sparse room. “Feli, right?”

  Feli looked up with tear stained eyes.

“I’m Loh.”

  Feli bowed deeply. “Of house Noir. I know. Stryg talks about you a lot,” she smiled weakly.

  Loh was surprised. She hadn’t known. “Did Stryg ever mention the nature of our relationship?”

  “Yes, but he swore me to secrecy. To everyone else he’s just your assistant. But, I’m guessing you are actually here to check on your apprentice.”

  Loh nodded in understanding. She didn’t wish others to know that she was Stryg’s master. She should have been angry that her apprentice disobeyed her. Yet, now, it seemed so trivial.

  “The doctors said that Stryg will make it, though they aren’t sure when or if he’ll awaken,” Loh said softly.

  Feli’s bottom lip trembled, “Stryg’s strong. I just saw him this morning. I came to the academy to bring him something to eat. He has to wake up, he has to.”

  “I take full responsibility for his injuries. I should have been a better teacher, a better master.”

“I heard it was an accident,” Feli clasped her hands together.

  “Nonetheless, it shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry, your loved one is injured because of my lack of foresight,” Loh bowed her head in shame.

  Feli laughed bitterly, “That’s the irony isn’t it? Our whole engagement was set up because we both wanted something from each other, not because we loved each other. We’ve only been together for some months now. It hasn’t been easy. I’ve had to deal with all the antics of that violent little oh-so-ignorant goblin every single day.”

  Feli looked at the comatose Stryg, “I’ve watched that adorable face scarf down plate after plate of food, sometimes eating my own food. The latter part was annoying. A lot of things he did were annoying. Some guy tried groping me once. Stryg could have just knocked him out, but he killed him. Blood got everywhere, even on my clothes. It was disgusting.”

  Feli chuckled, “This one time Stryg dragged me out on a walk late at night. I couldn't see anything and I tripped and sprained my ankle. It was horrible… But, then Stryg carried me in his small arms all the way back home. He didn’t complain once, even though I couldn’t stop whining the entire way.”

  Feli cleared her throat, “I don’t love him. Affection sure, maybe even attachment, but definitely not love. Because. B-because if I do...” A tear fell down her cheek.

  Loh gripped Feli’s shoulder gently, “I can resonate with the feeling.” The image of the beautiful Tuari fluttered in her mind’s eye.

  “D-don’t,” a soft whisper of a voice muttered.

Loh and Feli’s faces froze. They both rushed to the bed. Stryg’s eyelids shifted, but didn’t open.

  “We’re here, Stryg,” Feli smiled in pain. She placed her hand gingerly over his cheek.

His chapped lips parted, “Please, don’t…”

  “Please, don’t what?” Feli leaned closer, hoping to catch his words.

  Stryg’s eyes opened slowly. He blearily looked around. Feli and Loh were at his side. His sight was back to normal, the vision of darkness and silver gone. He couldn’t remember what had happened, only the faint wisp of a dream now gone.

  “Stryg, can you understand me?” Loh asked intently.

“M-master? What happened?” He asked weakly.

  His throat felt parched, his head stuffy. He tried shifting, pain shot through his entire body. He grimaced.

  “Try not to move. You’re lucky to be alive. We’re in the infirmary of the academy... You fell, Stryg. During the exam your rope ripped and you fell down the chasm. It’s my fault, I’m so sorry,” Loh bit her lip.

  “Ugh,” he groaned. He remembered the blast of light, the darkened beautiful silver vision of the world. He remembered the fire and falling.

  Feli wiped away her tears. “How do you feel?”

“Feli? I’d feel better in my own bed,” he winced.

  “Once the doctors finish healing you up, we’ll go home, I promise,” she sniffed.

Stryg rocked his head to the side, “I finally thought of a name.”

  “Eh? For what?”

“A name for our tribe. The Ebon Hollow. What do you think?”