Page 8

T he moment the sun starts to drop in the sky, my stomach twists into knots.

Last night, I could barely sleep because of the screaming, the sound of doors opening and shutting.

The screams haven’t lasted all day, just a few now, and I wonder how many died in the first twenty-four hours at the academy.

I can smell blood in the air, and it’s horrid.

I continue to pace, touching the dagger that I’ve clipped to my new belt that I found in the drawers.

I walk over to the mirror and look at myself again.

I pulled my dark hair up into a high ponytail, the locks falling around my neck and onto my shoulders in dark brown waves.

The Bloodstone uniform clings to my body because it’s made to be tight, with a slightly high collar around my neck.

I’ve never liked my wide hips or the curve of my body, and this outfit only makes my faults more obvious.

I do love the heavy black boots I found, which lace up to my calves.

My parents survived this academy, and they once stood here, just like me, wearing the same uniform.

I swore to myself I’d make them proud—that I’d fight because they can’t anymore.

I will fight for the Daygan clan because I’m all it has left.

They named me after the clan that stood for over a thousand years, and that has to mean something.

I have to mean—do—something to make sure my family isn’t lost and forgotten.

I look over at the door when I sense something—a small creature.

It moves so fast, like a shadow, and all I see is cat-like ears before it’s gone.

The small creatures won’t speak to me, and I’m not used to that or the way they hide from me.

I guess it’s normal for small creatures to hide from witches in most places.

The creature has taken my empty plates, and there is now a dress hanging on the back of the door that wasn’t there before.

It’s a gray gown, plain but effectively grand with its massive skirts, and there is a note pinned to the corset.

I almost don’t want to read it, knowing that the dress isn’t random. I pick the note off the dress.

“To leave the room, you must wear the gown. May you greet death or your bonded future in the best attire.”

What the fuck? I can’t run in a dress! I grit my teeth, tugging the gown off the door and putting it on the bed.

I take my uniform off and wrestle the dress on, which fits me perfectly.

After tying the laces at the side, I walk over to the mirror.

The skirt flows out from my waist where it’s tight—almost too much.

It hurts with every breath. The gown is also too long, hiding my boots, but I know I’m going to trip on it the second I run.

The note said nothing about fixing the dress, only that I have to wear it.

I attach the dagger belt to my waist over the dress before pulling the dagger out.

Using the mirror as a guide, I cut a massive slit down the one side and trim the bottom of the dress until it hits my lower legs, just above my boots.

I throw the leftover fabric on the floor.

It’s gone nearly instantly, thanks to another small creature that I don’t get a look at this time.

“You’re quick and I’m friendly! I won’t hurt you! ”

I know I’m shouting into the void and they might not even be listening to me, but I have to try.

A morbid thought echoes in my mind—am I wearing a dress for my coffin, so I look nice?

Are they that certain most will die tonight?

My eyes drift one more time out the window over the forest and up to the sky. Goddess, please be by my side today.

The door creaks and I turn, seeing it opening on its own.

I push the dagger back into my clip and run to the door, peeking out into the silent and dark staircase.

The lanterns have been dimmed so much that only a little shadow of light pours out under each fixture on the way down the staircase.

The rest is cloaked in black shadows, and it’s far too easy for people to hide in this staircase.

Run . I hear Rue’s warning in my mind before I take off, going right past Wini’s room, where her door isn’t open yet.

Mine opened first, I soon realize, as I pass more closed doors.

I get halfway down when I see students waiting at the bottom in a line, all of them hooded and hidden, but their whispers echo in the air as much as the air suddenly goes cold with their magic.

Whispers are magic in our world. We can only say the spells as whispers because to say them aloud would make them never work.

Our goddess is one of whispers, and right now, they might as well be chanting.

The floor under my feet turns to ice, and I scream as I slip and slide right down into the hooded witches.

I slam into them, unable to stop, knocking two of them off their feet.

Vines snap like snakes out of the hands of one of the standing witches, and I roll to the side, gripping the banister as he walks towards me, his deep voice familiar somehow.

“This one is mine. Run, kill the others.”

The others leave as my heart races, as he steps closer, a spell whispering under his breath that I know. A death spell. I throw myself over the side of the banister, not knowing what else to do to avoid the spell.

A scream echoes out of my throat as I fall for what feels like seconds, right before I slam straight onto the stone, hearing my ribs crack.

I taste blood in my mouth as I climb to my feet, barely feeling the pain over the shock.

Screams echo from above, their pleas ringing in my ears as I walk backwards.

My heart is still racing as I hear the sound of so many footsteps on the stairs, and I don’t know if people are coming down or up them, but I can’t stop. I turn and I run.

I don’t look where I’m going. I don’t even think about the corridors of paintings and shadows.

I barely see any of it, barely register the way my ribs are hurting and how hard I’m breathing.

I just run and run, desperate to get to the forest, to get out of this castle.

I feel blood trickling out of the corner of my mouth, and I wipe it away with the back of my hand.

I will not die at the hand of some witch in this academy.

If I die, it will be avenging my parents.

I studied for this; I worked my ass off to be the best in my class, the best in my school, for this chance. I can survive a little longer.

I unexpectedly run right out onto a balcony and slam into a metal railing that overlooks the forest. There is a small staircase right next to me that leads to a path, the path disappearing into the dark, creepy forest. I look back at the academy, seeing an endless stretch of corridor I ran down.

The academy somehow led me here, just like Rue predicted.

It knew where I wanted to go. My hands cling to the metal railing for a treasured second for me to breathe.

The second does nothing to calm me down, escaping when I turn to the left and see a row of corridors appearing in the stone, with people running down them towards me in gray suits or gowns, some covered in blood.

Within moments, I’m not alone, and the entire balcony is full of first-years.

I run down the steps before anyone can get near me.

The mossy ground path makes it hard to run on, almost bouncing my every step, and I know if I hadn’t cut the dress, I would have tripped minutes ago.

“I can do this.” I don’t know why saying it out loud helps me, but it does.

I focus on the tree line, on finding Aster and a bloodstone.

One cut, one drop of blood, and the hunt is over.

I glance behind me and see the other first-years, and I search for Wini, but I don’t see her in the crowd.

It’s too much chaos and too many of them are getting closer.

I drop my hand on my dagger just in case, just as a roar makes me clamp my hands over my ears, and I fall to my knees as my ears ring with utter pain.

The roar is so loud it shakes the very ground under my knees, and leaves fall from the sky, along with the newly falling snow, until the ground is covered in the black leaves.

A dragon lands on top of the trees, branches cracking under its clawed feet.

It’s a huge, monstrous silver beast of a dragon, and it’s nothing short of massive.

It stretches its neck, roaring again into the night sky, so loud it must even shake the stars.

Silver scales, the very color of the moon above, cover every inch of its body as it lowers its head.

Its eyes are so silver they almost look white, and it breathes fire within a second—and no one can run away.

I scream as I jump to the left, narrowly avoiding the line of blazing hot fire that I feel drift up every inch of me.

My dress sets aflame, and I pat it, rolling to put the fire out as the smell hits me.

The smell of burning people. I lift my head, my ears still ringing, and see something I will never forget.

People burning in gowns and suits, students who just wanted to learn.

I stare for far too long, breathing in far too much smoke and death, trying not to pass out as the world spins.

Sickness rises in my throat as I climb to my feet in a daze and run right into the forest, as far away from the burning people as I can, and the dragon leaps into the sky once again, only to dive and begin to burn a path right through the forest. I choke on the smoke as I run past the trees, disappearing off the path and into the thick woods.

I slam straight into a tree, smacking myself in the face, and I drop, falling onto the damp ground.

Another roar echoes through the trees, further away this time, and it’s the only reason I manage to get up.

I climb onto my knees and come face to face with a bear.

The bear isn’t a normal size, it’s black-furred and the size of a car.

It swings a paw at me, catching my dress as I stumble away, the fabric ripping as I get to my feet.

The bear snarls behind me, but I don’t dare look back as I take off, jumping over a fallen log before finding a clear path through the forest.

Aster, where are you? I listen for the noise in the forest, but the dragon roars block out any howls I might have been able to hear.

I can only hear the dragon. The deeper I get in the forest, the fainter the smell of fire and smoke becomes until it’s easier to breathe, until I know I’m alone and slow down.

Touching my chest, feeling my racing heart, I try to focus.

I can’t see anything but trees and bushes, and it’s silent here.

I glance up, but the tall trees have hidden the sky, and I can’t make out anything in the darkness.

I can’t even see the top of the trees. Moonlight shines through the trees to the left, and I walk to it until it’s shining over me.

I walk slower, my legs hurting, and I glance down, seeing burns on my thighs and dozens of cuts all over me.

I know shock has a hold on my senses, because I’m not in pain like I should be right about now.

What am I going to do? How could Aster find me in this chaos when we have never met?

I don’t know how long I walk until I come out to a clearing in the forest, where the moonlight has illuminated a stone circle on the ground.

I can’t see what it is. Most of it is covered in thick moss and glowing red mushrooms.

Something makes me look to the skies, a feeling someone is watching me, and I’m right.

A familiar roar echoes from the skies above again, and when I look up, it’s not just one dragon now—there’s four.

All of them are the same color, all silver and beautiful as the moonlight dances across their wings. Moonlit death. I’m going to die.

Three of them fly straight down and land around me, thumping onto the stone one by one and shaking it so hard I nearly fall over.

The biggest dragon stays in the sky, gliding in a circle around us.

I don’t know which dragon to look at first. The one right next to me, so close his hot breath is warming my side, has no eyes.

They look like they have been scratched out, with big scar lines down the tissue instead.

Claw marks are everywhere on his scales.

Not a single one looks untouched. The dragon roars at me, spit cascading all over my dress and hair.

“Don’t eat me!” I put my hands up, stepping backwards.

The other two, whose eyes are bright silver, watch me so closely as bright orange fire rumbles in their mouths.

Something instinctual tells me that these aren’t Kane, but he is likely to kill me anyway.

He doesn’t remember me, and even if he did, he owes me nothing from our childhood.

I turn my head up as the wind blows against my dress—not the wind but the force from dragon wings.

The final dragon descends from the sky as chunky snowflakes fall between us.

I’ve always loved the snow—fitting I’ll die on the first snowing night of the year.

I reach up to catch a single snowflake that will die in my hand, just like I’m going to die in dragon fire.

The dragon lands with a thump, and I stumble back, pulling the dagger out of the sheath.

I will fight to the end. I have to. They aren’t going to listen and what else can I do?

A woman with a dagger against four dragons might not win, but I will damn well make them bleed.

The blade runs straight across my palm. I look down as the world slows, and a drop of my blood falls in the air.

Slowly, it drops right onto the ground—onto a bloodstone.

A bright, blood red light blasts out of the ground in lines, and my eyes widen as it slams into the dragons, cutting through their bodies like blades.

I see my hair turning silver, the very colour changing as it flickers around my face.

They each roar as I feel like my soul is ripped apart into four, and I will never be the same again.