Page 21 of Mantle (IMMORTAL FLAME #3)

~Vorzyr~

Things were tense at Maven Academy.

The invocation of Blackline Protocol was no small thing, and every student—and faculty member, despite their attempts to hide it—felt the weight of it.

But in spite of that, I was actually having a good morning.

First, I’d woken up peacefully entangled in Ariana, Kai, and Nyx, in Ariana’s dorm room.

We’d come back here last night and spent hours letting loose on one another.

It had been amazing to see Nyx go all out as well now that he had the Soulweld Ring ensuring he didn’t have to worry about his allure leaking out and impacting anybody.

He was really feeling the freedom of it and he’d shown it last night in spades.

There’d been a lot of intensity coming off him after that memory blast. That, combined with all the tension and pressure we’d each been carrying, got unleashed last night—in the form of us fucking all over each other.

It had really helped to take the edge off.

Being with the three of them always did, even when sex wasn’t involved.

I couldn’t honestly get enough of them.

We’d woken up early and had breakfast in the Cafeteria, then I’d been called into the office of Dean Valorian Drake just before we’d been scheduled to head to our first classes of the day.

I’d been grumbling about that, because I’d been slated to attend Controlled Transformation and Shifter Regulation with that shithead, Professor Magnus Holloway.

But all that had changed once I’d seen the Dean.

Somebody had pulled some strings for me.

I didn’t know whether it was Jaxon or Cornelius—Kai had told me what Cornelius had done for him and us as a whole, so his involvement was plausible also.

Either way, not only had I been pulled out of Holloway’s class permanently, I’d also been accepted into the class that Ariana, Kai, and Nyx were attending this very morning, one that had been closed to me before.

Combat and Power Suppression with Professor Veyna Morrigan.

I made my way down the corridors and came to Combat Hall where the class usually took place.

But as I peered inside the impressive space it was empty.

I pulled out my phone, opening our group chat.

Vorzyr: Was Combat and Power Suppression canceled?

That would be unbelievably disappointing. The class being canceled at the very time I’d been accepted into it.

It wasn’t a stretch, though, with everything going on. Some classes had been postponed and others shuffled around.

My phone buzzed and I looked down to see a response already.

Hell Lord: Moved outside. Far end of the main building near the rear entrance of the Cafeteria.

Vorzyr: Where you attacked Cassius?

Hell Lord: You’ve got it.

Goddess: Why aren’t you in Professor Holloway’s class? Did something happen?

She was worried about my stability because of my state of mind with what had happened in the Dracoryn Realm.

Luscious: Want us to send Kai to give that bastard his just desserts?

Just desserts. That phrasing had me chuckling.

Goddess: No one is going after a professor or dealing out brutal justice.

Hell Lord: Who said anything about brutal?

Goddess: Kai.

Hell Lord: Love that your mind went there, though.

Vorzyr: No backup needed. I’m out of his class. I’ve been accepted into Morrigan’s class instead.

Luscious: Yes! Get out here! This is gonna be fun!

Goddess: Congratulations, my dragon.

Hell Lord: It’s about time. How did this happen?

Vorzyr: All the Dean would tell me is that my curriculum has been revised effective immediately.

Goddess: Sounds like something my dad would put forward.

Hell Lord: His suggestion. Cornelius’ string-pulling, I’m betting.

Luscious: No more texting, we want you here in person!

I chuckled to myself, pocketed my phone, then hurried on out to their location.

In moments, I was teleporting right where they’d described.

Clusters of students were already gathered there, chatting animatedly.

That Dark Fae clique leader, Kelsana, was doing more than that—currently making out with her boyfriend, the sorcerer, Rennick, against a tree. His hands were tangled in her green hair as her sparkling gold romper caught the morning light.

The other members of her clique stood nearby, visibly irritated. Zephyra, with her peach romper and silver curls, and Nexi, her pastel blue pigtails bouncing as she gestured, were arguing with the vampire girls.

Cyrene, the one with the inky-black hair and choppy bangs, was getting really worked up, throwing her hands around dramatically.

Nyx had once told me about a rumor—that she’d made a student hallucinate they were being devoured by bats, all as part of some dare from the clique.

Talk about unnecessarily vicious. It was an abuse of power. A fucking nasty one at that.

Vexxa, the other vampire, stood with her arms crossed and her platinum-blond bob angled sharp enough to cut glass. She was throwing dagger-eyes toward the Light Fae couple nearby—Aerlyn and Thalen—who were, as usual, basically grinding on each other out in the open.

I couldn’t imagine putting our foursome on display like that. The idea of anyone seeing us in the throes of pleasure… it made me sick. That was something sacred. Private. Something to be protected.

From what I was picking up, the clique was pissed.

Now that Kelsana was officially with Rennick, the original group dynamic was shattered. They couldn’t all be on the same team today—the rules were strict: groups had to be four or, at a stretch, five. So now Cyrene and Vexxa were stuck teaming up with the Light Fae couple.

“Vorzyr!”

Nyx’s voice had me swinging my head toward them.

They were standing about fifty feet away on the periphery, off to the side, and away from everybody else. Sounded about right.

I strode over there, and the moment I reached them, they all embraced me, congratulating me on getting into the class, on what it meant for me—that I was no longer viewed as a reckless, out of control danger.

Pink power erupted at the forefront of the area, and then Professor Veyna Morrigan materialized.

Her fiery auburn hair fell in wild waves down to the waistband of her wide-leg gray pants. A scoop neck top beneath a black robe with pink embroidery perfectly matched the color of her magic.

She clapped her hands together rapidly, and the commanding and assured act managed to quiet everyone immediately.

Nice.

"Welcome back to Combat and Power Suppression . As you can infer from us convening outside rather than within Combat Hall, today’s teachings will follow a different trajectory.

With Blackline Protocol in effect, our realm is under heightened alert.

That means our training and curriculum must evolve to match the threats we now face.

One way in which we’ll do that is to conduct this lesson within sanctioned pocket realms known as Rifted Cradles.

As many of you will be familiar, a Rifted Cradle is a magically isolated training zone suspended between realms, crafted for high-risk combat forms and volatile power expression.

It exists beyond plane boundaries. No outside threat can penetrate it, and no magical surge can escape it.

Even the worst-case scenario becomes manageable, as a result. ”

Murmurs of surprise and excitement broke out.

Focused, she continued, “Regarding the second way of us evolving—you will not be practicing magic in ideal conditions during this lesson. You will be adapting, challenged by terrain, opposition, and the complications and intricacies of working within a team while also possessing different power sets and abilities. The goal of this lesson is to learn balance. Power is only impressive when it’s controlled.

And suppression is not about limitation.

It’s about refinement—about using what you have intelligently . ”

She gestured around the student body gathered.

“Align yourselves into teams no larger than four. The objective once you enter the training zone is to retrieve an enchanted medallion, while circumventing or overcoming obstacles, and guarding one another against incoming threats. Threats that you will work as a cohesive unit to dispatch. High-level illusionary magic will create your environment. It will feel very real and while the threats you will face aren’t technically based in reality, harm can still befall you. Take heed and perform accordingly.”

She waited patiently as the teams were formed and everyone readied themselves.

Stepping up to us, because we were already prepared, she called her pink magic to her fingertips of her right hand. “Ready to begin?”

“Hell, yeah,” Nyx answered all too quickly, his excitement palpable.

She nodded, then swept her magic a few feet to the side of us, forming a swirling vortex about ten feet in diameter.

We stepped forward, moving together.

And then it swallowed us.

We all jolted as the air tore like fabric around us, spiraling pink sigils warping the space into a twisting tunnel of light. It felt like falling—but sideways. The sigils rushed past, then shattered into sparks, dissolving as our boots hit solid ground again.

The portal snapped shut behind us, leaving us in this new reality.

“Whoa,” I uttered, taking in the Rifted Cradle she’d created for us.

Jagged mountains loomed overhead, their black rock streaked with veins of glowing silver. Fractured platforms floated midair, drifting or spinning lazily. A pale lilac sky swirled above, and the air buzzed faintly, like it wasn’t entirely stable.

“So… talking about us moving in together… how does this crazy-ass place work for everyone?” Nyx commented.

Kai and I swung our heads toward him.

Ariana didn’t look the least bit surprised by the content of the words, although she was eyeing him curiously as to why he’d brought it up now.