...ASSIGNED A NEW MISSION...
~ CAIN ~
'Welcome back, Cain. Come to my office. We have much to discuss.'
I put my phone back in my pocket and released the girl's legs. After returning to Arcane Academy, a school for the young and gifted children of the three kingdoms, I was forced to adhere to additional rules devised just to control me: No magic. No summoning. No fighting. No abilities. No leaping off the rooftops of buildings. No drowning in aquatic facilities allocated to water affiliates. No hanging myself from any of the campus trees. Ugh. No fun. I wasn't even permitted to wear any colour other than black or white since it was thought to make me more inclined to deviate from my directives and influence my emotions.
I sighed and trained my eyes on Reed's hands. He kept them steady and applied pressure to Kiera's wound. Having lost most of its viscosity, the blood gathering between his fingers finally began to resemble cherry red. The smell was disgusting, putrid, and rich with a stench of decay, but at least it wasn't black anymore.
"What is it, Cain?"
"Nothing. When you're done, take her up to my room, and have her rest. I suspect she might try to escape, so keep a close eye on her. Oh, and, make sure to feed her something when she wakes."
"Of course," Reed responded with a curt nod.
He peeled away the towel, which had been pressed against her wound, and slipped his hands underneath it. Chanting softly, he began the tedious task of mending her flesh with a complicated healing spell. A wound that large required a lot of mana to heal.
"Not going to ask, are you?"
"What is there to ask? Her origins mean nothing to me. You brought her here, and that is all that matters."
I could tell that he was upset, but he didn't let his personal feelings hinder his ability to heal. He's already made that mistake in the past.
Kade's daughter closely resembled Cynthia Moon. Losing her was difficult, even for me, but Reed had a much harder time. He held himself responsible for not taking Wilka's advice. Now, however, he had an opportunity to make amends. A chance to overcome the past and regain confidence in his skills.
"I should go. Staz wants to talk."
"Alright. See you later, Cain."
Shutting his eyes, he concentrated on controlling his mana. Excessive use was harmful, and poor utilization would be ineffective. The process of healing was delicate and complex. It just took one slip-up, one error, to cause the death of a patient. But I trusted him completely. Regardless of what happened six years ago, he was still the most talented healer on the island.
When I stepped outside of the mansion, I trained my eyes on Arena leaning against my car with her arms crossed. Like Rivian and his brother Reed, she was dressed in her school uniform. Wearing tight black jeans and a black T-shirt.
There were three green stripes on her left arm. The number of bands indicated the pupils' strengths, while the colour categorized them into tiers. There was a lot more to it than that, but to be honest, I was too preoccupied with falling asleep to care about a student's status when Wilka explained it to me. Everybody was dreadfully weak. Nobody at the academy was strong enough to oppose me.
"Still here?" I asked.
"He's not going to like her," she said with a bitter tone and turned her head in my direction. A gust of wind swept through her long blonde hair and her cold blue eyes narrowed. "You know how he gets..."
"Where is he?"
"Where he always is when he's trying to forget about his feelings. With Cora," she said and turned her head towards the ruins.
Rivian spent most of his time with Cora. He would listen to her stories about layers he could never visit and ask about what her life was like before coming to Ri'elle. He'd never admit to anyone that he cared deeply for her, but I knew.
Even after Daemun laid waste to the academy, he never stopped viewing them in a positive light. He had a kind heart and knew it wasn't their fault, and that they were just carrying out their master's will.
"Thanks," I said and moved down the steps. "You're always looking out for him when I'm not around. He's a handful with that temper of his. So, thank you."
She scoffed, "Did the most arrogant member of the Cain family just 'thank' me?"
"The sexiest one did." I corrected her and put a confident hand on my hip.
Arena's face twisted into a mess of disgust and doubt, and she flicked her eyes up and down my body. I already knew that she was about to shit-talk me.
"Seriously? You reek and it looks like someone took a huge dump on your head. And what is that on your clothes?"
"You're just jealous because I look like a hot mess and you don't," I remarked, running my hand through my hair. Of course, my charms drove her to cringe. I looked at my car and discovered that the keys were missing. I couldn't see them in the ignition. "Got my keys?"
"Rivian has them."
'Of course.'
"Whatever, I'll just fly to Staz," I muttered and turned around.
Arena inquired about the body in my trunk, which I disregarded and moved away from my vehicle.
I took in a deep breath and relaxed my body, allowing my shape to morph into a full-grown raven. Even when 'they' sealed more than half of my magic, they couldn't take my abilities away, which is why they used other ways to try and control me. My name, my bond, even the members of my clan.
I flapped my small black wings and soared down the cliffs towards the academy. I ignored Arena's fuming. She wasn't done talking, but I wasn't in the mood to be lectured by her.
I glanced at the ruins visible from the sky, but I couldn't see Rivian anywhere near them. He must have retreated deeper into the forest. It was better that way. Cora would ease his pain by consuming it and the two of them would keep each other safe.
Arena cared a lot about the Carter brothers. They were like family to her. But she didn't understand. She never could. Being my bond was dangerous. Not because of my enemies, but because of my emotions. He felt everything for me. My pain. My guilt. My anger. Even my lust. It was complicated and I had to be careful. He was the Kjevsky of Thaenia. The Crown Prince. And I was just... Cain.
I flew towards Wilka's office overlooking the academy's garden. The pink tree towered over the three-story buildings below and cocooned most of the academy underneath its canopy.
I hated that tree. The sweet smell of cherry blossoms forever in bloom was not to my taste. I preferred something more refined. Something more masculine. Earthy. Dry. Rich. Musky. Stuff like that.
There was only room for one sweet thing in my life anyway. Me.
The giant tree served as the academy's protective barrier, which protected the students from outside threats.
It was Thornwood's doing. She combined her light magic with Gray's earth magic to grow the tree, then used her fire and light magic to create the barrier alongside a few other Professors.
She was Marquis de Thornwood's eldest daughter. Arena Adriana de Thornwood. A noble from the southern continent of Raemalia and a powerful Maji. Though her three green bands did not do her power justice, she was widely known for her versatility. Whereas other Maji specialized in one element, Thornwood specialized in three of them.
When I arrived at Wilka's office, I landed on his windowsill and pecked the glass pane repeatedly until he turned around in his seat and looked at me. His jade green eyes had bags underneath them, and his ebony brown hair had been tied up into a messy bun.
He got up and walked closer, then opened the window wide enough for me to enter. I flapped my wings and hopped onto his shoulder. He tried to remove me, but I pecked his hand when it got too close to me.
"Bloody hells, Cain. You had me worried," Wilka said and turned to his desk.
"Just tell me what they want, Staz."
Wilka Stazgaarde was a Maji from the western regions of Raemalia. Had his brother not eradicated their entire family and their servants in the name of power, he would have inherited his family's estate and title.
However, he chose to be a headmaster of a prestigious school of magic, over being a count. He was often mocked for his choice but didn't care for gossip and didn't let bad rumours break his back – and that had earned him my respect.
He sat down and organized his desk. He sorted through papers, files, and books and neatly piled them up into groups. I hopped off his shoulder and perched myself on top of his green desk lamp.
His office looked the same as always. Polished pepper-black tiles. Dark red walls decorated with maps of the surrounding islands and some of the eastern coasts of Thaenia. Two large windows were overlooking the gardens below and a large brown writer's desk was in the middle of the room. Two comfortable leather seats sat across the desk and a wall-to-wall bookcase on the right side of the room contained important documents and files related to the academy and all her students.
"There is trouble up north. They want you to investigate – but before that – I have invited the others to join us." Wilka pressed his brows together. His tone was flat and didn't fluctuate, making it sound more like he was forcing himself to sound calm.
'Shit on my dick. He just had a vision, didn't he? A bad one.'
"The others?" I asked and flexed my tail feathers. "Why did you call them over? Did something happen while I was away?" I asked and turned to look at the door. Two of them already arrived.
"It is open," Wilka said and leaned back in his seat.
The door creaked open, and Gray stepped inside. His long white hair was braided on top of his head while the rest hung loosely in a ponytail behind his back. He was dressed in black attire. It was Runetag, or as humans called it, Monday. We were expected to wear black on days dedicated to the moon, and on Syntag – Sunday – we were expected to wear white. The rest of the week we could wear what we wanted.
I stared at Khalidis Grayhound, or as I called him, Gray. He was a Maji from the heart of Ski'Mar. He transferred to our academy a year after the attack, and he brought his friends with him. Over a hundred of them, to be more specific. They were his familiars.
I cast my gaze at the other member behind him. Vera Flamesworth. She belonged to the Maji kingdom's only remaining Duke House. The van Aarsens were the second home, but they disappeared many years ago, along with Richard van Aarsen. The sixth member in our circle.
Vera's vibrant red, orange, and yellow hair which resembled the colour of phoenix fire, hung well past her hips, curving down in waves. She was dressed in a tight black skirt that hugged her thin waistline and stretched down to her ankles. A frilly black blouse with long sleeves covered her large chest and thin arms. Her familiar sat on her shoulder. Raziel. He was a raven.
She followed Gray inside the office and quietly placed herself in the corner of the room. She had a nail file pinched between her fingers and quietly worked on her pinkie.
Gray sat himself down in one of the leather seats and crossed his arms. His familiar, Kye, was wrapped around his right arm and hidden underneath the sleeve of his buttoned-up shirt. I could see its tongue flick in and out of its mouth, licking the air around Gray's wrist. Gray had a talent for taming animals, and they came running to be his familiar. His apple-green eyes glanced at me.
"Good to see you, Cain," he greeted.
"Good to be back," I replied.
Flamesworth stopped filing her pinkie and looked at me. Her orange eyes, nowhere near as vibrant as Rivian's, narrowed. As she eyed me her raven glared at me for stealing her attention.
"Blazes! That's Cain? I thought he was one of yours, Gray," Flamesworth said and held out her hand in front of her face. Raziel hopped onto her fingers and puffed out his chest – feeling jealous that his owner was looking at another raven.
'Hmph! Give up birdie. I'm clearly more adorable. Just look at my beady black eyes and soft feathers!'
"It would have perched itself on my shoulder as soon as I had entered the room. But it didn't. So, it was either already taken or it was Cain. Last I checked, Staz didn't have a familiar."
Aside from sitting quietly in his chair and observing the other members of the Six, Wilka didn't entertain the idea of speech. Or even reacting. He may as well have been part of the decoration. He was unusually quiet.
"Want me to sit on you?" I teased and turned my little body suggestively.
Gray looked tempted to accept the offer, but with everyone's eyes on him, including Wilka's, he was starting to feel embarrassed that he even considered it.
"Getting all shy, Gray? How cute," Flamesworth teased and shoved her nail file into a hidden pocket in her skirt. Her hand moved up to the other still holding out her Raven. His dark brown eyes never left me.
"I'm not late, am I?" White asked and stepped inside the office. He shut the door behind him and made his way over to the empty seat next to Gray.
"Good, you are all here," Wilka finally spoke and waited for everyone to look at him. "Before we start, what we will discuss in the next few minutes must not leave this room."
"We understand, Staz," Flamesworth said and addressed him by his nickname.
The four of them did that when they were in my presence. Though they didn't need to, they insisted, because they wanted to be considerate towards my customs. For my people, the Daemun, it was extremely rude to address someone by their first name and it was respectful to address them by their clan names.
"I called you all here to discuss what we will do with Kade's daughter."
"His what?" White barely sat down long enough to warm the leather underneath him and was already back on his feet at the shock of the news.
I glanced at Wilka. I worried about where this conversation was going. He ignored the look I was giving him and allowed his words to be absorbed by everyone in the room.
"He has a child?" Gray asked, raising his eyebrows.
Flamesworth turned pale and her raven squeezed her fingers tightly as if to comfort her – still glaring daggers at me.
"Of course." I puffed out my feathers to appear larger. I felt adorable.
It's been a while since I took on the form of an animal. I was a small ball of feathery cuteness. Raziel didn't like being challenged, so he mirrored me. As everyone focused on me and waited for me to continue, I felt my body shake with excitement.
I coughed to clear my throat and briefly flexed my wings, "For us, it's only been six years, but for Kade, it's been much longer. It shouldn't be that surprising to you that he got married and had a child."
Flamesworth and Gray turned their heads to look at White. The old man was frozen stiff and blue at the sudden news of his brother having a wife and a child. White was an honest man, and it was obvious that he had no prior knowledge of their existence.
"Now, onto the reason I have summoned you all here. I had a vision earlier today…" Wilka began. Drawing the eyes away from me. "I envisioned a far more awful future than the one we faced six years ago. To prevent this, we must keep the girl as far away from Henry as possible and keep her secret," Wilka urged. His gaze shifted as if he were staring at something far and invisible. As if he were remembering what he had seen.
It was weird to see him so still. He wasn't the type to sit quietly in a chair and daydream. He was always on his feet and kept his body busy and moving.
"Specifically, Staz, how will her secret lead to the end of life as we know it?" Flamesworth asked. She stepped closer to his desk and returned Raziel to her shoulder. She brushed his beak with her index finger.
Leaning forward in his chair, Gray commented, "Kade's daughter must have something he wants." He lowered his elbows to his knees and brought his hands together in front of his face.
"Blazes, Gray. We know exactly what he wants!" Flamesworth hissed and dropped her hand. Raziel finally tore his eyes off me and glanced at the white-haired man. "And we can't let him have it."
Gray pointed out, "That doesn't change the fact that Henry wants something from that girl."
White finally reanimated and slumped down into his seat. He was paler than before and seemed to have finally come to terms with reality.
CAW!
"And just what in the blazes would he want more than Cain himself?"
"I'm not sure. He desires whatever it is as it will allow him to capture Cain."
"And what exactly would that be?" Her hand snapped to her hip, and I could have sworn a flame briefly danced over the back of her hand before it disappeared.
'Oh. Nothing big. Only a teeny-tiny Daemun with the power to slay gods...'
CAAAAWWW!
White shook his head as if he could shake out whatever he was thinking. "Henry had the entire Demicaux Clan backing him last time, and the support of other Clans as well."
"Blazes, White!" Flamesworth exclaimed, briefly covering her mouth with her hands.
"I know we don't talk about that day in front of Cain… but if we lose him, then we not only lose the war but everything else too. This world and possibly many others... Where will we go? Another layer? Henry won't stop with just one. He'll want to conquer all of them."
"We know that!" Flamesworth shook her head. "This is exactly why we came together. We had a common goal and a common enemy, but one of the Six already betrayed us. Kade. And now you expect us to trust his daughter? What if she's a spy? Or an assassin?"
CAAAAAWWWWW!
"We cannot hold her accountable for her father's sins, nor should we," I retorted, not happy with where this conversation was heading. The atmosphere was getting heavy, weighted by everyone's resentment and fear. What Kade did was awful, yes, but his daughter had nothing to do with it. Blaming her wouldn't be right.
"Cain," Wilka spoke and calmly placed his hands on the armrests of his chair. "You should tell them."
'I was hoping to hold onto that information a bit longer but…'
"Gray's right. There is something Henry wants from her. It's my familiar." No one dared to speak after hearing that. "I found a few of his goons already targeting her, and the other Clans were pretty riled up as well."
"As you know, just being in possession of him, is a crime punishable by death. 'They' will target her and try to take him for themselves or potentially use him to further control Cain – that is if Henry doesn't get his hands on him first," Wilka explained.
"If the students don't pursue her, the other Daemun will. Don't you think that seems suspicious? What will she think when the entire student body and every red-eyed creature in Ri'elle pursue her?" Gray questioned. He glanced at White, wondering what was on his mind, since he, too, had been silent.
"There's no need to worry about that. If she stays at my house with the princes, people will assume that those who want her head are envious of her."
"I suppose…" Gray wasn't that convinced, but he knew the Daemun were extremely possessive. Ever since Kade took Claudiseus from me, other Daemun kept hanging around me wanting to take his place. And fights often broke out between them.
Wilka reached for the blue file on his desk. He delicately brushed his fingers over the cover, as if to draw everyone's attention, "News has not yet reached our students' ears, but a transfer student was on her way here from our sister institution. She struggled with magic and remained unaffiliated with any element. The child was meant to come two days ago, but her headmistress informed me that she was found this morning..."
Wilka's head angled down and his eyes pinched shut. From the sound of his voice, everyone could tell that the girl wasn't alive anymore. I was likely being sent to investigate what happened to her.
"Are you suggesting we have Kade's daughter assume her identity?" Flamesworth raised a brow and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Not entirely," Wilka said. "His daughter was raised on a different layer. Even if Kade tried to teach her magic, it would not have been possible for her to learn without access to mana. It is a coincidence that the two girls are the same age, but I say we use this as an opportunity to create a background for his daughter and bring her into our academy where we can protect her."
"Then how will we explain where she's been all these years?" Flamesworth briefly closed her eyes. She asked a valid question. It would look suspicious if Kade's daughter appeared out of thin air.
"Professor White frequents their academy for a variety of reasons. It would not be strange for us to say that he was also paying visits to his niece," Wilka suggested and trained his gaze on White.
He was still engrossed in his thoughts. Thinking several haunting thoughts, I'd imagine.
"She might not know how to use magic, but that is only temporary. The girl has a disgusting number of crystals. Even more than her father. She'll pick it up eventually, whether she wants to or not. But which one of us will take her in?" I asked.
I hopped down the desk lamp, waddled over to Wilka, and climbed on top of his hand. I allowed him to place me on his shoulder. Gray looked annoyed that I didn't go to him, but he didn't say anything about it.
'Sorry, Gray, but despite how he looks, Wilka's not in a good headspace right now. Whatever vision he saw is affecting him even as we speak.'
Carefully, and as gently as I could, I consumed some of Wilka's emotions, allowing his mind to calm down. He was very good at fooling others, but not me. I knew he was crying on the inside and probably wracking his brain for any solution to the future his eyes had shown him – thinking of ways to prevent another tragedy.
"That depends on her element." Flamesworth sat down on the armrest of Gray's chair. He didn't like having her so close, but she didn't seem to notice the man glaring daggers at her for having the audacity to enter his personal space.
"Kade is affiliated with three elements. Air is his primary affinity, followed by earth and then water. Assuming a human birthed his child, then she should affiliate with air." Gray raised his arm out in front of him. His familiar, Kye, slithered out of his sleeve, down onto Wilka's desk, and disappeared behind the stack of books.
"Aria was the girl's mother," Wilka said and brought his hand up to stroke my feathers, thanking me for helping him. The others didn't take note of Wilka's use of past tense, but I did.
CAW! CAW! CAW! CAW!
"Raziel, be silent!" Flamesworth snapped at her raven. He's always been rather vocal, but his short and repeated noise was different from his usual behaviour. I was surprised the three of them didn't freak out like her raven did. Aria was a wanted criminal, and she was the most hated woman in the Maji kingdom.
"She needs to learn the basics first. I'll take her. Besides, I'm an Earth affiliate and now that we know the identity of her mother, we know that she will most likely have Earth magic."
"At least Thornwood is in your class, and we can trust her enough to keep an eye on the girl," Flamesworth said and stood up. She straightened her skirt and ignored Gray's eyes on her well-rounded ass as she leaned a bit forward to reach her knees.
"Then I'll prepare the documents for her transfer." Wilka gathered his files, books, and papers, and slowly rose out of his chair.
"Well, if that's everything, I'll be on my way home then. Could use a decade's worth of sleep, if I'm being honest."
"Cain, I already told you earlier that 'they' want you to investigate the academy up north. Professor Flamesworth and Professor Gray will keep an eye on the girl, while you and Professor White head to Rayhaven Academy," Wilka said and walked around his desk towards the door.
"Yes, and as exciting as that sounds, we can leave together at the break of dawn."
"Unfortunately, you're both leaving right now."
"What!? Staz? I just got here!" Wilka didn't turn around and instead opened his office door and ignored me. "I'll kill them!"
"You say that every time," Flamesworth said and rolled her eyes, Wilka held the door for her, and allowed her to step out into the hallway. Gray sighed and shook his head. And White was still no better than a statue.
"Well, I really mean it this time!"
"Best of luck, Cain. I'll see you again. I still have another class to teach, so I'll be off," Gray said, stepping out of Wilka's office. He walked down the hallway leading to the stairs.
"Same goes for me. See you, Cain," Flamesworth said and followed Gray. She glided over the polished tiles and smacked Gray for leaving her behind, then fell in beside him. Raziel gave one final glare in my direction, before cuddling up against Flamesworth's neck.
'Yeah, those two will definitely end up dating,' I thought.
A minute of awkward silence passed before Wilka nudged the door as if to tell White that he wanted to lock up for the day.
When White stepped out of the office, Wilka closed the door and locked it. He transferred me from his shoulder to White's and gave me one final stroke with his fingers before stepping back.
"Find out who or what is tormenting our sister school and put an end to it. I have informed Professor White of the details. He can tell you on your way there. Oh and, take Maeve with you. You will need him. I trust your 'luggage' will be of use as well. Now, be off with you."
"What about Kiera?"
White responded to her name and snapped out of his trance. Her name was remarkably close to i'era, which meant darkness and did not resemble her at all.
"Focus on your task, Cain."
"No, I meant them. Do 'they know about her?"
"Not yet. But they will. Word about Kade's daughter will reach their ears. It is just a matter of time. Oh, and just so you are aware, Cinder was one of the victims at the academy. How fortunate that she was found early..."
'Ah. So that's why they wanted me to get involved. Their precious Cinder was injured...'
"I have a spare key in my office, White. We'll take my car."