The second the words left my mouth, it was like the room itself came alive.

Dozens of teachers, the ones most able-bodied, bruised and beaten but now unbound, sprang from the ground. Their tears from Hopsander’s death turned to fury. They rushed forward, some still in human form, others shifting mid-lunge into hulking bestial infusions.

A chorus of snarls, roars, and war cries filled the smoky air. And for the first time since Hopsander fell, I felt a flash of real hope spark in my chest.

“We’re not alone,” Fern hissed in his now snake-head-tail form. Noah flew up high and took in the scene.

“Prove yourselves!” He shouted to the three other Magebloods. “Don’t let me down,” He leaned back in the air as if he was sitting on a chair.

Al, our friendly bearded beast mastery teacher, exploded into his infusion. And to my lack of surprise, it was a beetle-infused form—thick chitin plates grew on his back and slid into place all around his body, giant pincers formed on his head and his fist bulged into armored balls for punching. He barreled straight across the floor toward the runic circle, which the black-hooded man and the elven girl had begun trying to restore. Sparks danced as they frantically carved fresh lines into the stone, hoping to salvage the ritual.

“Oh no you don’t!” Al roared, slamming his horned forehead against the half-repaired circle. The floor cracked under his impact, and fresh runes scattered like broken glass. The elven girl shrieked in frustration.

“You worthless bug!” she spat, electricity crackling over her palms. A jolt of lightning speared from her fingertips, striking Al’s torso. He stumbled, his mandibles clacking wildly before he collapsed, unconscious but still breathing. She started to move in to finish the job, but a snake-like figure darted between them, hissing.

Professor Srilick, now infused, looked like a super-sized version of himself. He was infused into a serpentine beast with a humanoid torso and a coiled tail at least ten feet long. He spat globs of hot poison at the elven girl. She yelped, twisting away and flinging lightning in retaliation. Srilick hissed, weaving left to avoid a direct hit. As she jumped or side-stepped to dodge she did it with the speed of lightning and left sparks on the ground where she was. But Srilick was ready for this and used all his senses, like he had taught us, to sense his movements when his eyes couldn’t keep up. Their battle raged, each sidestepping the other in bursts of agility and venom.

Meanwhile, the black-hooded man hissed incantations under his breath. Bright white spears of light took shape around him—a hailstorm of shining projectiles. He flung them at the cluster of professors charging his flank.

One teacher shouted, “Scatter!” and they dove aside. Even so, two or three were struck by the spears and went down, groaning before they collapsed. The black-hooded man advanced another step, scanning for a chance to re-draw the circle. But more staff piled on him, forcing him to keep casting defensive spells.

Across the room, Lotrick hovered in midair. He locked eyes with me for a split second. I couldn’t read his expression fully—fear, guilt, maybe both. Then he whipped around to fend off Laska and Professor Gallon, who struck at him with a whip while Laska sliced at his hands with her sword. He shielded himself with conjured flames, but I saw his face twist every time he had to fight them.

I helped hurry the less able-bodied professors out of the circle and out toward one of the closer exits to the room. Mel and the others helped everyone out and we all returned to join the fight.

Mel and Sora ran towards Srilick and the Elven girl with lightning. Lucius and Nora went to aid in fighting the black-hooded man. I felt my spine lurch as my tail twitched behind me—Fern was watching Lotrick caught up in his duel with Laska and Gallon.

“What did you just tell me, Fern? Focus.” I said to bring his focus back. His snake head snapped back and he drew out the cursed sword in his mouth.

A primal growl tore from my throat. I raised my gaze to Noah, who hovered midair like some god of war. Golden chain spells still pinned Fan, Waelid, Piqah, Jiho, and Jako underneath him; they struggled and spat curses, but the bonds refused to break. Noah had covered them in too many for them to break it.

“Noah!” I yelled, my voice echoing. “Face me!” I pushed myself up in the air and torpedoed through the air.

He didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, he merely stood up in the air. A wave of his hand sent a dozen coils of gold spiraling toward me. I braced, arms up—and the chain slammed against my body mid-air. Pain flared across my forearm, but I kept flying forward, claws gripping the metal chains and ripping them off. My infused strength with our Twin-Soul enhancement let me snap the chain into fragments. Noah’s icy blue gaze flickered in mild surprise. Fern’s fury and focus were just as strong as mine, though I felt moments of disconnect when he flicked his gaze at Lotrick.

“You’re more durable than I expected,” he commented, voice detached. “Perhaps there’s something to a Voidblood Twin-Soul. But alas, some stones should be left unturned.”

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He raised a hand again, conjuring more of those radiant filaments, half a dozen at once. They lurched forward like living whips. I twisted in mid-air and flew around him dodging them as I circled closer towards him. Fern deflected several with the sword he had in his mouth as we flew. Another lashed toward my head. I ducked and felt the chain graze my horns, slicing off a chunk of hair in a hiss of energy.

“Close one!” Fern shouted, heart pounding in sync with mine.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the freed professors pressing the advantage. They rushed the black-hooded man and elven girl, aiming to wreck whatever scraps remained of the circle. The floor erupted in dust as another professor—a massive rhino-like figure—stampeded across it, further ruining the lines. The elven girl screamed curses, a few shards of electricity crackling helplessly off her fingertips.

Laska’s roar cut through the bedlam. She sprang at Lotrick, claws raking. Her feline form was swift, but he deflected her with a swirl of ice that froze her midair for a moment. Professor Gallon’s whip cracked overhead; he ducked it, eyes flickering with calculating movements. Unlike the others, he wasn’t looking at everyone with disgust and anger.

“This is looking bad for us Sir, I suggest we leave, we can use the Frog-man’s body,” he yelled to Noah. He flung another wave of magic. Laska broke free of the ice and pounced again, and this time her claws caught him across the upper arm. Blood spattered the floor. Lotrick’s shriek was part agony, part terror. I saw him twist in midair, pinned by that slash; his left arm dangled uselessly, nearly severed. He pushed himself away from the two and reached up to his arm, half cut off. Before he could cast a healing spell, Laska jumped through the air and raised a paw finishing the job. Lotricks left arm fell to the ground.

“Lotrick!” Fern shouted.

My split-second of distraction cost me. Noah lunged in, chain-whips swirling, and I caught three at once with my claws. Another sliced my thigh—white-hot pain made me stagger. I hissed, Fern lashed behind me. Deflecting oncoming chains from behind. The next chain soared for my face. I ducked and battered it aside. But another followed up behind me and struck me across the side of my forehead. I fell to the ground crashing shoulder-first into the stone floor. Bones cracked, blood spilled from the cuts, and my head was spinning.

—He’s too fast, I realized with dread. I pushed myself up on my feet and turned to watch Noah floating above me smiling. Another chain hammered me from behind, driving me to my knees. I heard Fern drop the sword in his mouth and let out a pained groan.

Blood trickled down my leg, face, and arms. My breath came in ragged gasps. Was this it?

Noah hovered just above me, gold filaments trailing from his fingertips. His lips curved into a razor-thin smile.

“Erik, Erik, Erik. Now I remember you and just how you are. It was hard to remember you since your real body is gone, and I don't know...this face,” he said mockingly. “But you know how I remember you now? You’re always so… stubborn. Always were if I remember correctly” He snapped his hand towards him, and the chains whipped around me—too many to swat aside at once. They constricted my arms, my torso, and, worst of all, my tail.

“Guh—!” I grit my teeth as Fern thrashed, pinned by the glowing golden chains.

—‘Erik, I can’t breathe—’

Death had its hold on us. The links in Noah’s conjured chains slid as Noah slowly tightened them. I felt my neck tighten. My lungs clenched in sympathy. We were two souls in one body, would it be fitting if we were to die at the same time?

I wrestled with the bindings. My muscles bulged with the chimera’s might, but they wouldn’t budge. Noah twisted his fingers with measured cruelty, tightening the golden hold. He still hadn’t broken a sweat.

“Let go!” I gasped, thrashing in a strained frenzy.

Noah tsked. “An annoyance from my old life, wearing the face of a worthless cinder boy.” He leaned in. “I think it’s time we ended you properly.”

A flash of movement above us—Lotrick soared in, ignoring his bloody stump of an arm. He streaked across the warehouse, face contorted in desperation.

“Fern!” he shouted, voice cracking. “Hold on!”

Noah’s gaze snapped up. At that moment, I saw the fury in his eyes. “Traitor,” he snarled.

Lotrick dove, aiming his good arm at the chains binding my tail. A bright blue conjured blade appeared from his hand. But Noah was faster. Another coil of shimmering chains shot up from the floor, lancing toward Lotrick’s chest.

—‘No!’ Fern screamed in my head.

Lotrick twisted in mid-air and he cut part of the chains that bound us. I wrenched a claw-free, ignoring the pain, and swung wildly ripping the chains and choking Fern in his snake-head form.

My vision blurred and I fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Through the haze, I saw a glimmer on the ground—the cursed blade Fern uses in tail form. Fern had dropped it while we fought Noah. I reached out with trembling claws, ignoring the shooting pang in my chest. My fingertips brushed the hilt and I gripped it. The sharp piercing sound rang in my ears as I held it.

Noah sneered and flew down to me. I rushed to stand up and swing the sword but Noah unleashed a hundred chains towards me pinning me back down to the ground, sword in hand.

Lotrick flew down next to me facing Noah. The thirteen-year-old no longer looked like Fern’s little arrogant brother, he was our savior.

“Let…him…go,” Lotrick said. He raised his glowing blue sword and with one quick swipe, cut and broke the chains covering me. I pushed myself up and raised the cursed sword. The ringing was almost unbearable in my ears, but I needed something I knew was strong. This sword, helped me defeat the guardian. It’s strong. I needed a reliable weapon for this, and I couldn’t feel Fern. My tail felt limp.

—Fern! Where are you? Did you get knocked out?

Noah reeled back. Golden energy crackled around him, and black venom oozed from his ears. His eyes burned with unimaginable fury. “You… traitor…”

He not at me, but straight at Lotrick. Noah closed his eyes and he let out a long breath.

“I should have known to not trust a Landaluce.” Then with a sudden jolt, his eyes shot open and he unleashed a torrent of golden threads—thicker, more jagged. They whipped forward in a lethal flurry. I barely had time to shout a warning.

“Lotrick, look out!” I shouted and jumped out of the way.

But before the threads could strike home, something tore free inside my chest. A bright, greenish aura exploded out of me. For a heartbeat, I thought I’d died. I fell to my knees, my limbs went cold, the chimera form wavered, and then…I felt…empty. Then I realized it wasn’t me dying—it was Fern. In an instant, he separated from our shared body ripping his soul free and forming a projection of a body.

Fern stood across from me. It stood in front of Lotrick. His translucent, glowing body was holding back all the chains Noah unleashed with one hand. And the sword he, his father, and brother forged, in the other. Lightcutter.

The chains danced in the air for a moment before Fern’s ghostly green form closed his hand. The chains shattered.

Fern stood there in front of his little brother, translucent and glowing, a silhouette of green light. A silhouette of himself. His eyes shone white-hot, and the swirling black smoke parted around him as if repelled by this raw surge of soul energy.

Fern raised his glowing blade towards Noah. A bright shocking burst of power arced around Fern’s spirt-form body. The threads around Waelid and the upperclassmen snapped and evaporated like spun sugar in a flame. The whole warehouse seemed to vibrate under the collision of Noah’s spell and Fern’s hand.

My mouth dropped open. I could only stare up at that flickering specter of my friend, my co-tenant soul, Fern.

Noah, froze, eyes wide with shock. His speechlessness spread through the entire room.

For a moment, everything stilled—the swirling dust, the pained groans of the injured, the crackle of the runic circle. Time itself seemed to hold its breath.

Then the blazing white light in Fern’s eyes pulsed once—

—and the world went dark.