"Boy," Magnus said, his voice a cold whisper, "humans are so fragile, so easy to dismember."

I woke from my sleep, my heart pounding, to find Magnus sitting on the edge of my bed. It felt as if my breath was being sucked away from my body. I couldn't move, paralyzed by a mix of shock and fear.

Then I saw it—Bethany. Or at least, part of her. Her head was in Magnus's hands, held as if it were a mere toy. There was no emotion on his face, only the lifeless, empty eyes of Bethany staring back at me. I was frozen in disbelief, my mind struggling to comprehend the horror before me.

Tears began to fall from my eyes. "What... is this?" I whispered, my voice trembling. "What have you done?"

Magnus’s expression remained cold, almost bored. "Yes, that's the expression I wanted to see," he said softly, a twisted smile curling his lips. "The expression of hope dying. The confusion. This is true, raw emotion."

"Why?" I screamed, my voice breaking into a roar. "Why her?"

Magnus tilted his head slightly, his eyes glinting with cruel amusement. "Why not her?" he asked with no emotion in his voice

He paused, his gaze shifting to the distance. "I must admit, you have been a thorn from the very start. How many of you must I kill before you finally understand?" His voice was calm and composed

I could not speak. All I could do was stare in horror. How had he figured out what we had been up to?

"It's useless now. Just like Isaac, I'm tired of your meddling," he said, turning to look me dead in the eyes. The bloodlust in them was so intense, like sharp spikes pointed at me. I had to do something, but what? As his hand came closer to me, I knew that if it touched me, I would die.

Madoxx what is going on Eliza said waking from the noise she too became completely over taken with fear as she saw Bethany and Magnus

"Maddox, do you mind if I rant for a bit? I still can't fall asleep..." Ola walked in and was immediately silenced by what she saw. A flashing red light lit up the room, and Magnus shot a beam at Ola, hitting her in the leg. She fell to the floor instantly, her screams echoing loudly, almost deafening.

Eliza stood up and lunged at Magnus but while she was mid air Magnus sent a red mean of violent magical energy in her direction hitting her in the head she fell immediately to the floor her body going limp I saw her life leave her body just as it did Ethan reality broke everything want dead quite I could not mover or comprehend what had happened in front of me Eliza could not be dead I refuse to accept that

The others woke up from olas screams and Ren looked over to Eliza's body abd began crying the blood oozed from her head painting the floor in red

Magnus turned his attention back to me as another red beam shot straight at me. I instinctively rolled out of the way, barely managing to avoid it. I looked up and saw a gaping hole in the wall, pieces of concrete splattered everywhere, some hitting me in the face. I ran towards the door where Ola sat, screaming in pain.

Professor Malinda ran for her room to investigate what was going on to her horror and shock she saw us In the door way and Magnus standing over Eliza's dead corpes

Help us Professor I said tears falling from my eyes my voice rough and hores from pain

Another flash of red light lit the room. I jumped to the side, barely dodging it. None of this made sense. Why would he risk all the attention this direct attack would bring? Why not take us out quietly? What was with this strange attack? Wait, I had no time for this; I needed to get Ola to safety.

The second shot landed near my feet, exploding and sending me flying into the air. As I hit the ground, the air was knocked out of me. I turned back and shot an ice shard at him. He smiled and swatted it away like he was swatting a fly. Attacking him would be pointless, so I created an ice barrier in a desperate act to create some room between me and him.

Unfazed, he walked through it as if it was never even there. I ran towards the door and tried to shield her from any other attacks

Ren jumped from his bed amits the chaos and ran towards ola and me Professor Malinda looked at me and said only you can stop this Madoxx she lifted her wand swirling it in a circular shape a white worm light surrounded us The last thing i saw was a red thunderous beam striking Malinda in the head as she fell to the ground.

I'm not sure if what I saw was actually real, but I swear in the split moment before Magnus killed Milinda, her body burst into flames.

and the next minute we landed deep in the forest .

"What... what is going on?" Ren muttered, staring at Ola's amputated foot in horror, tears streaming from his eyes.

"I...I don't know," I replied, my voice shaking. "Bethany... oh no, Bethany." I fell to my knees again Eliza thire dead. "It's all my fault. Why them? They did nothing wrong. So why..."

Ola's screams echoed around the forest before she passed out from the shock. I got up and pointed my wand towards her. I knew no healing spells, so I did the first thing that came to mind and used ice to cauterize/ freez the wound. My mind was in a fuzzy state, but I knew we needed to keep moving. I couldn't let Ola and Soren die too. I grabbed Ola, strapping her to my back, and signaled to Soren that we needed to keep moving.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

We ran for what seemed like hours, running until our lungs felt as if they would burn straight out of our chests, deeper and deeper into the white forest. We didn't speak; our mouths were too busy gasping for air. The only sounds echoing through the forest were our feet stomping rapidly through the wilderness.

The moonlight served as our lantern, shining through the forest canopy, casting eerie shadows onto the forest floor. I could only see a couple of feet in front of myself, not that there was much to see anyway except trees and the occasional animal roaming around peacefully before getting spooked by us and running off.

"S... stop," Ren gasped. "I can't keep going any further."

"Who dares come into these woods " a deep voice growled menacingly. The voice.

A white figure leaped from the trees, landing before us. Standing tall on two legs, it had a white fur coat and a wolf-like appearance, complete with sharp claws and gleaming teeth. Sharp spikes protruded from its back along its spine. It towered over us, exuding a primal aura that sent shivers down my spine.

"So you are not lost, boy," it growled.

"You must be brave, wandering in these woods, brave or stupid," it said as drool oozed from the sides of its mouth.

"It's been a while since we've had human meat," it snarled, eyeing Ola hungrily.

More of its kind began falling from the trees, surrounding us, moving forward, encasing us.

"The gods must be smiling on us today, gifting us with such a wonderful supper," it said as the others began to growl, inching closer and closer.

These were white keeth I'd read about them in a book at the school orphanage but I'd never actually believe they were real

In a desperate attempt to escape, Ren grabbed me, and we ran a few meters away from the Keeth. We began running, trying to create distance between them and us, running quite literally for our lives.

The Keeth were fast and were gaining on us. When they ran, they got down on all fours and sprinted in an animalistic, feral way, locked in on their prey. One lunged from the darkness, biting Soren on his shoulder and dragging him down to the ground.

I quickly turned around and shot a sharp ice shard at it, piercing straight through it. It let out a whimper before retreating back into the shadows.

Soren got up, now bleeding from the shoulder, wincing in pain. We were surrounded in seconds again.

"It's pointless to run, children," one of the Keeth taunted. "Accept your fate."

What was going on? Was this really how we were going to die, eaten in the woods by some savage beasts? Eaten in the woods, and it was all my fault. Why was I the one giving the orders? Look at how good my orders were. Ola lost half her leg and was on the verge of bleeding out. Soren was so tired and injured he fell to the ground, and here I was, the hopeless so-called leader, so frightened and deep in self-pity to move Eliza Ethan Isaac Bethany everyonen around me was dying.

Suddenly, a Keeth lunged, sinking its teeth into my leg. I cried out in pain, collapsing to the forest floor. In the chaos, the Keeth seized Soren and Ola, dragging them away from me.

I fought back, summoning ice shards in a futile attempt to fend them off. But outnumbered and outmatched, my efforts were in vain. There were thousands of them, some still in the trees, watching.

"This is useless, boy i Ogunt Ki will not let you escape. Why do you fight? You cannot win. Just close your eyes and accept your fate. Prey is prey, and we are the hunters," it growled menacingly.

All this time, I'd felt I was special, like the main character in a book or something. Deep down, I felt that everything would always work out for me, no matter what, and so far it had. Deep down, even after hearing the terrible secrets of the orphanage I thought it was my duty to be the shining hero, the one the one who comes inat the last minute to save everybody Some hero I was. All i managed to do was get my friends killed. I'm no hero. I'm barely able to stop myself from crying right now.

"But I can't allow ola and ren to die.

This cruel world can take me if that

means they get to live. I refuse. I reject

that reality.

In a last-ditch effort, I stood up as the

Keeth lunged mid-air in their ruthless feral

attack

Ice rushed from my palms, forming a barrier around us. The barrier quickly transformed into a dome, encasing us and sending waves of long, sharp spikes rippling outward, growing uncontrollably in all directions. The spikes pierced through the Keeth, spreading further and further, engulfing large areas of the forest. I wanted them to die. I wanted them to suffer. My arms felt as if they were breaking, the strain unbearable, but in my rage, I couldn’t stop. The Keeth had to suffer for what they’d done. Magnus had to burn for what he did to Bethany, to Lucas, to Eliza... and for hurting Ola.

"Hi again, Madoxx," a voice suddenly said.

It was as if I were hallucinating. The girl with long white hair appeared beside me. She sat next to me, her presence strangely familiar.

She smiled warmly, a smile that felt genuine, like someone I had known my entire life. "This was the only wsy," she said softly.

"Please, let go... it’s not—" she started, but before she could finish, her form dissolved into a cloud of white mist.

I snapped back to reality. The Keeth were gnawing at the ice dome, ripping chunks off bit by bit, violently scratching and biting, smashing their jaws and claws into the ice.

My palms felt warm, then unbearably hot, as black runes appeared on them—runes etched with strange symbols, circles, and shapes I couldn’t decipher. Not again not now I thought, the heat becoming intolerable. The symbols glowed red, intensifying the burning sensation.

For some reason these damn runic symbols would always appear when I tried to use magic and whenever they did I would lose all abilities not even able to cast simple spell.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through my mind, dropping me to the ground. Visions of the girl with white hair echoed in my head. Her smile filled my thoughts.

"Madoxx," she whispered, still smiling.

"Stop!" I shouted, my voice cracking with frustration.

Ogunt Ki stood nearby, fists clenched, ordering the Keeth to attack the ice dome. "Boy, it’s too late," he taunted menacingly. "You never had a chance of making it out of this forest alive."

His voice became distorted, fuzzy, as my head pounded. My ears rang, and though I could hardly hear my surroundings, tears began to fall. But strangely, they weren’t tears of fear. It was... something else.

"Get up and fight," the voice in my head urged.

I was furious—furious at the Keeth, furious at Magnus—but mostly, furious at myself. My heart ached as I thought of Eliza and the others.

"Fight!" the voice commanded again.

The runes on my hands flared up, burning violently before vanishing in a puff of smoke, slowly peeling away from my skin. It was as if I were watching my own body from outside of it. I saw my head snap upward, my eyes fixed on the ice ceiling above.

Then, black shadowy mist erupted violently from my arms.

At the same time, the ice dome shattered into thousands of pieces, those pieces breaking into smaller shards until nothing remained. The mist seemed to have a mind of its own, forming into hundreds of shadowy hands that reached out, grabbing each and every one of the Keeth. The shadowy palms multiplied, splitting from the mist and stopping the Keeth in their tracks.

"What is this?!" Ogunt Ki shouted, struggling to escape the grasp of the shadowy arms.

For a moment, everything was silent.

Once the hands reached the Keeth, they pulled a white, transparent substance from their bodies. Everything froze, and all I could hear were the whimpers from the Keeth. I stood, watching in shock, taking in the scene in full detail.

I walked toward Ogunt Ki, the leader of the Keeth, and looked him directly in the eyes.

"What wizardry is this, child?" he demanded, his voice filled with fear. I looked at him, understanding that, in his nature, he was simply a beast. I was the intruder in his territory. This was the brutal reality of the world—the strong devoured the weak.

The truth was, I wasn’t angry at the Keeth. My rage was entirely directed toward Magnus.

"We Keeth are sorry. We did not know you possessed such overwhelming power," Ogunt Ki stammered. "I, Ogunt Ki, the leader of the Keeth, bow before you and swear loyalty to you. I ask only that you spare the pack."

My hands clenched tightly, and as they did, the shadowy hands pulled the very souls from the Keeth. They whimpered in agony.

"Mercy... please," Ogunt Ki begged.

But all I could think was perish, as the shadowy hands ripped their souls free. Their bodies went limp as life drained from their eyes, just as it had happened to Ethan.

The shadowy hands retracted, carrying the souls toward a black portal. The Keeth made no physical sound, but the soul-like substance being torn from them wailed in despair as it was swallowed by the portal. Each soul was absorbed into the dark void, pulsating as it claimed them one by one.

Ogunt Ki’s soul was different—red in color—as it was torn from his body and rushed toward the portal.

"How... unfortunate," he whispered as his soul plunged into the void.

Before the portal closed, it pulsed violently, red and black energy swirling within it. Sudden it disappeared.

Exhausted, I stumbled back toward Ola and Ren. I knelt down beside them before everything went black, and I passed out.