Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

Cold air billowed around us where we stood on the turret above my room, and the others kept a lookout for signs of anyone noticing us here while I worked to get us inside. There was a door up here which led down into my old room, but I’d long since figured out that my father had placed detection spells and magical alarms on it to keep him informed of my movements.

I moved to the side of it instead, ignoring the door and activating the magic I’d left there which made the bricks rumble and part for me, bypassing my father’s magic and allowing me entry into my old rooms.

The others followed me into the dark and I hurried down the twisting stairway, a feeling of deja vu stirring my senses as the familiarity of this, coupled with the length of time it had been since I’d returned here mixed into something that sent the hairs along the back of my neck standing on end.

I moved into the dark space, passing the familiar layout of my furniture and quickly moving to a safe which I had concealed beneath a flagstone by the foot of my bed as the others followed.

I unlocked it, grabbing the fat pouch of stardust from inside and smirking triumphantly as I wondered if I could try and break into Father’s vault and steal a whole lot more of it while I was here too. This bag wouldn’t be nearly enough to transport our army, but if I could get my hands on his stores, then I could use his own beloved form of transportation to relocate an entire legion of so called ‘unworthy’ Fae with it. There would be some sweetness to that act which was hard to ignore.

I snatched the few pieces of treasure I had hidden in the safe too, jamming them into my pockets greedily as the Dragon in me practically purred with happiness over being reunited with it.

“Holy shit,” Caleb breathed and I looked up, my flesh prickling at the fear in his tone as I spotted him by the window on the far side of my room which looked down onto the internal courtyard far below us. 

I shoved to my feet and jogged over to him, tugging the curtains wider so that I could see down there too.

My lips fell open at the sight that awaited me there, and I could only stare on in horror as I took in the altar of coal black stone which now dominated the courtyard, a swirling vortex of shadows hanging in the air above it which pulsed and hummed with that dark power which I’d been able to sense since we got here.

But that wasn’t the worst part. My breath stalled as I looked down at the row of Fae who were lined up on their knees before the altar, their hands outstretched in what looked like an offering, their wrists cut and shadows latched to the wounds as they shuddered under the power of the dark magic.

I recognised the other Heirs’ parents and their siblings too, each of the spares latched to that vile thing by shadows which seemed to be drawing on the raw essence of their power before feeding it back out into the sky.

“Lavinia found a way to connect herself to the shadows again,” I breathed in horror as realisation dawned and the magnitude of this fucked up situation fell on me. “She must be drawing on the shadows via this, using their power to fuel the opening and allow the darkness to slip through to our realm once more.”

“Why isn’t it killing them?” Max ground out and I could tell he was on the verge of snapping and tearing straight down there to rip his father from the hold of the dark magic which contained him and freeing him from Lavinia’s power. But we all knew it wouldn’t be that simple. And who knew where the rest of their families were? There was no sign of Seth or Caleb’s fathers, and where were their other siblings? Were they even here in the manor?

“I think it is,” Seth whispered, pointing to a cloaked figure as he strode forward, his arms raised into the air while he called out praise to the Shadow Princess before descending on Caleb’s brother Hadley and angling his chin up.

Hadley’s face was written in agony and my heart hurt for him as I watched Vard forcing a vial of something into his mouth before a flash of green healing magic blazed in his palm and he pressed his hand to Hadley’s side.

“What the fuck is he doing to him?” Caleb growled, his grip tightening so hard on the window frame that a chunk of the wood shattered in his fingers beneath the force of his gifted strength.

“I think it must have been a blood replenishing potion,” Max said, frowning as he used his Siren gifts to feel for the answer. “He’s regaining strength rapidly.”

“They want to keep them alive to suffer on with this,” I growled. “They clearly need their power to channel the shadows to Lavinia and don’t want them dying.”

“What about their magic?” Seth demanded. “It isn’t endless. Once they’re burned out, then what?”

But the answer to that became clear as a Nymph strode out of a dark corner, a man clutched in his grasp who kicked and thrashed and started begging for mercy. Vard moved forward with a knife raised, cutting into the man’s arm and he screamed bloody murder as he was forced towards Hadley, the wounded arm shoved against his mouth.

Hadley tried to fight against his instincts, shaking his head and cursing in a raspy voice as he fought against the beast within him, but he was clearly in need of the magic and with the shadows latched onto his own power, he was growing frantic with the need for blood. 

Vard shoved the man’s arm to his mouth again and Hadley snarled as he ripped into his flesh, drinking deeply as he recharged his magic, and the foul hold of the shadows tightened their grip on him to feed their queen.

“The Sirens are being fed with pain,” Max rumbled, pointing out movement on the other side of the courtyard where two Nymphs were torturing several Fae, their mouths parted in screams which must have been shielded by a silencing bubble because I couldn’t hear them at all. 

“And they’re making my family run,” Seth said, the horror in his voice turning to rage as the ground beneath Antonia’s feet began to move under the power of an earth Elemental’s magic, creating a rolling wheel which forced her legs to move against her will, replenishing her magic as she ran beneath the moon.

“Come on,” I growled, turning from the view of that horror show and gritting my teeth in determination as I moved towards the door, fully intending to head down there and rip every single Nymph and follower of my father apart in a bid to rescue my friends’ families.

But I only made it a few steps when the sound of an Atlas ringing cut through the air and I looked around in surprise, frowning at my nightstand where one of my old spares had been left, still plugged in and clearly forgotten.

Max went to stride past me, but I caught his arm, my skin prickling with the feeling that that call was important, and for a moment I swear I could hear the stars whispering amongst themselves all around us.

“It’s Gabriel,” Caleb said as he shot across the room to check the caller ID and he answered it before we could register our surprise at that.

“Darius?” Gabriel barked as Cal put the call on speaker and we all moved closer as I answered.

“We’re all here. What is it?”

“The Burrows are under attack and your father is here,” he said urgently and any last remaining shred of hope that I’d been holding onto withered and died with those words. “Lavinia must have planned this. I didn’t see it coming until they were already here,” I could hear the anguish in his voice, but that didn’t make the news any easier to bear.

“What’s happening?” I demanded, the beast beneath my skin writhing with the need for blood.

“His entire Nymph army and his Dragon guard are attacking,” Gabriel said quickly. “We’re meeting them in the open field and the twins are leading the charge. I think Lavinia lured you away from here to turn the odds in their favour.”

“Or to trap us,” Seth growled and my hand tightened into a fist as I considered that. The Councillors had clearly been here for a while which meant that message Cal had received had never come from his mom. “They want to add us to that shit fest down there.”

“Fuck,” Max breathed in agreement and a growl rumbled through my chest.

“I’m still not leaving without my family,” Caleb said firmly, and my heart felt like it was being ripped in to two directions because as much as I understood that, I needed to get back to that fight, I had to be there to stand beside my girl, and I needed to be the one to take on my father.

“Fate is twisting too fast for me to keep track of it,” Gabriel said. “But Darius, you need to return now or Xavier will die. His fate is set unless you can change it. He’s gone up against your father, but I’ve seen his fate, he can’t win. I’ll leave you to decide on the rest, but Darius – you only have six minutes.”

The call cut out as the sound of screams filled the background of it and I looked up at my brothers in horror as the magnitude of how spectacularly wrong this had all gone pressed down on my shoulders like an endless weight.

“Go,” Max commanded. “We can stay here and save our families. Your brother needs you.”

The others nodded their agreement and I lunged at them, wrapping them all in my arms and crushing them against me as we embraced for what I feared could be the final time.

“I have loved you all like family from the day that I was born,” I said firmly. “No matter how this plays out, know that.”

“We love you too, brother,” Caleb replied and Seth howled mournfully as I pulled away, taking the stardust from my pocket and grabbing a fistful of it for myself before tossing the bag to Max.

“We’ll throw you to the border,” Max said, shoving me back towards the twisting staircase which led to the roof, and we raced up them at a fierce pace.

“Good luck,” I said, taking off in a sprint and launching myself from the edge of the parapet just as Seth and Max threw a blast of air magic out to catch me and hurl me away from the manor at a ferocious speed.

I crashed through the barriers which prevented travel via stardust at the edge of the property, and threw the glittering substance over my head in the next breath, the stars whipping me away from Acrux Manor and sending me straight into the heart of the battle.

I emerged above the fight, the clash of magic and swords clanging below me as the rebels fought against my father’s army with the ruthless need to survive which all Fae held deep within their hearts, their weapons flashing with Phoenix fire.

I shifted as I fell, my enormous golden Dragon form tearing from my body as I locked eyes on my father, the asshole snapping his jaws at Tyler who was flying with Sofia on his back. Tyler put on a burst of speed, and my father gave up on him, turning and diving towards the ground. He landed with a tremendous thud and my heart lurched with terror as I spotted him closing in on Xavier in his Pegasus form sprawled in the mud. My brother tried to get up, but Father slammed a clawed forefoot onto Xavier’s side, his beautiful Lilac body pinned beneath the bulk of the jade green Dragon who I despised above all other things in this world.

A roar of challenge escaped me and father whipped his head sideways, a scream of pain escaping Xavier as the Dragon who had sired him tore his beautiful lilac wing from his back with the movement, blood and feathers flying through the small space which divided us, the wing landing with the other one which he had already severed.

I dove hard and collided with him.

My bones rattled as I sent him crashing away from my brother who lay bleeding and broken in the dirt, and the pain in my heart bled into a fury unlike anything I’d ever felt before as I swore one thing to myself which I was determined to follow through on, no matter the cost.

Lionel Acrux would die tonight, and I would be the one painting the world crimson with his blood.