I was just starting to doze off when the first explosion rocked the castle. The whole room shuddered, and I shot upright in bed, heart pounding.
“What the hell was that?”
A second explosion followed, louder than the first. Shouts echoed through the hallway outside my door, and I could hear the distinct clatter of armor and weapons. Something was going down—something bad.
I scrambled out of bed, throwing on my jacket, just as the door burst open. Aric stood in the doorway, sword in hand, his face hard with urgency.
“Stay here,” he ordered, his voice leaving no room for argument. “The city is under attack.”
“What?!” I blurted out, my brain struggling to catch up. “Who’s attacking?”
“A fallen,” Aric snapped. “Now stay here and don’t get in the way.”
Before I could protest, he turned and disappeared down the corridor, his cloak billowing behind him. The sounds of battle outside were growing louder—screams, shouts, the unmistakable clash of steel. My chest tightened.
Stay here? Yeah, right.
I wasn’t about to sit back and do nothing while the city was under attack. I wasn’t sure what I could do, but sitting here didn’t feel like an option. My legs were moving before I could think it through, carrying me down the hall after Aric.
By the time I made it outside, chaos had taken over the streets. The city was in a full-on panic—people running in every direction, soldiers barking orders, and somewhere in the distance, the roar of fire. Black smoke billowed into the sky, and the acrid stench of burning wood filled the air.
The soldiers were converging on a single point near the marketplace, weapons drawn, trying to form some kind of defensive line. I could see the telltale shimmer of magic in the air, streaks of fire and lightning arcing toward something in the middle of the chaos.
Then I saw it.
A hulking figure stood in the center of the market square, towering over the soldiers. Its skin was a dark, mottled gray, like stone, and its eyes glowed a sickly green. Massive black wings unfurled from its back, and it swung a giant sword with ease, cutting through soldiers like they were nothing.
Another fallen. Like me.
I stopped in my tracks, the sight of it freezing me to the spot. This thing was a whole different level of strong. The power radiating off it was like a storm, crashing against the air with every swing of its sword. The soldiers surrounding it were trying to fight, but they were outmatched, struggling to even get close without being flung aside like ragdolls.
A dozen soldiers charged forward, magic crackling in their hands. The fallen let out a guttural roar, its wings beating once, sending out a shockwave that blasted them back into the surrounding buildings. The entire marketplace seemed to shake from the force of it.
“Fall back!” one of the soldiers screamed. “We can’t hold him—!”
“Get out of the way!” a familiar voice cut through the chaos.
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Aric.
He was already there, striding toward the fallen with his sword drawn, completely unfazed by the destruction around him. His eyes locked on the creature, his expression cold, determined.
The fallen let out another roar, swinging its massive sword down at him, but Aric didn’t even blink. He moved faster than I thought possible, ducking beneath the swing and bringing his own sword up in a blur of silver.
The fallen’s roar turned into a scream of rage as Aric’s blade cut deep into its side, sending black blood spraying across the cobblestones. It lashed out with its wings, but Aric was already gone, moving too fast for it to track. He darted around the fallen like a blur, each swing of his sword precise and brutal.
For the first time since the attack began, the fallen seemed... afraid.
The soldiers, who had been struggling just to stay on their feet, watched in stunned silence as Aric carved through the creature’s defenses like they were nothing. With a final roar, the fallen raised its sword for one last desperate strike—but Aric was quicker.
His sword flashed, and the fallen’s head hit the ground with a sickening *thud*. Its body followed a moment later, collapsing in a heap of dark, twisted flesh.
The entire marketplace went still.
For a long moment, no one moved. The soldiers stared at Aric, their weapons still raised, as if they couldn’t quite believe what they’d just seen. Then, slowly, one by one, they began to lower their swords.
Aric stood over the fallen’s corpse, his breathing steady, his sword still gleaming in the sunlight. He barely seemed winded.
I was still standing a few yards away, my mind reeling. I’d known Aric was strong—he’d nearly taken me down in the woods without breaking a sweat—but this? This was something else. I’d seen soldiers struggling just to land a hit on that thing, and Aric had taken it down in less than a minute.
He was on a completely different level.
Before I could fully process what I’d just witnessed, Aric turned, his gaze locking onto me. He didn’t look surprised to see me out here—just... annoyed.
“I told you to stay in the castle,” he said, his voice low.
“I—yeah, I know, but...” I gestured helplessly at the destruction around us. “How was I supposed to just sit back and do nothing?”
“You would have gotten yourself killed,” he snapped, his eyes narrowing.
I opened my mouth to argue, but the truth of his words hit me like a slap in the face. He was right. That fallen had torn through soldiers like they were paper, and I’d barely managed to fend off a single wolf-creature in the woods. If I’d gone up against that thing, even with my enhanced magic and strength, I wouldn’t have lasted two seconds.
Aric sheathed his sword with a sharp motion, glancing around at the destruction. “You don’t belong out here, Cal. Not yet.”
I frowned. “Not yet? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you don’t understand your own power,” Aric said, his tone matter-of-fact. “You’re reckless. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
I bristled at that, but I couldn’t argue. He wasn’t wrong. I didn’t know what I was doing, not really. But that didn’t mean I wanted to be benched.
“I could have helped,” I said, though the words sounded weak even to me.
Aric’s eyes hardened. “If you had tried, you would have been nothing but a liability. You’re not ready for this.”
I clenched my fists, feeling a flare of frustration rise in my chest. I was stronger than Aric, but that strength was useless right now.
The soldiers were starting to regroup now, picking themselves up from the rubble, checking on their wounded. Some of them cast glances at Aric, a mix of awe and respect in their eyes. They knew just how outclassed they were compared to him. And now, so did I.
Aric turned to leave, clearly expecting me to follow. I stood there for a moment, watching the soldiers as they struggled to put things back in order. I didn’t belong out here, he’d said.
Not yet.
I gritted my teeth and followed Aric back toward the castle, my mind racing. Maybe I wasn’t ready to fight, but I wasn’t going to sit back and let everyone else take the hits for me, either.
I had magic—more magic than these soldiers could dream of. I just had to figure out how to use it.