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The spider screamed as it finally fell onto its side. Its convex shell made it easy for the crowd to roll it all the way over, and as soon as its belly was exposed, all of the mages, demons, and dragons attacked at once. The force of it split the spider at the seam in its abdomen, boiling its innards.
I barely had time to cover my face before the felled monster exploded.
Chapter Sixteen
Bedraggled but whole, our entire slime-covered student body made its way to the castle doors. The dragons had flown out to clean up any stragglers who may have fled, but I didn’t think there were any. We had made paste out of the whole horde.
“No, no, don’t even think about it,” Professor Shen called, wrinkling her nose. She stood in the doorway, keeping us out. “Everybody line up where I can see you.”
We did, silent and compliant in our exhaustion. Shen spoke a chant, and a sparkling blue cloud of magic wafted from her fingertips. It engulfed us, thickening so much that I couldn’t see anyone else around me. As I stood stock still, a deliciously clean smell seemed to run all the way through my body. Every molecule vibrated with the clean sensation, and even the bloody images in my mind seemed to be sterilized. I inhaled deeply, wanting that clean feeling to last forever.
It disappeared in a flash, but so did the mess. Every bit of dirt, blood, and unknown monster goo was gone. We all blinked at each other in awe.
“You should do that every morning!” someone called out.
Shen smiled tiredly. “Trust me, I’ve considered it. Come on in now. Those of you who need medical attention, get to the infirmary. Cassandra is waiting.”
I caught sight of Toland in the crowd, a little singed and battered but no worse for wear. I was a little surprised he’d joined us, though I guessed I shouldn’t have been. He’d been reluctant to send us out into the fray, but he probably would’ve faced the monsters alone to protect his school.
A sudden surge of warmth toward the older man surged inside me. He was a bit of a stick-in-the-mud and too much of a rule follower for my tastes, but I got the impression he genuinely cared about this place.
We split up as we left the large entryway of the castle. Those who needed serious medical attention headed toward the infirmary, while the rest of us headed toward the cafeteria. Most of the students who went to see Cassandra were still on their feet, at least. I only saw one person being carried by two friends.
The cafeteria was more than prepared for our return. Piles of food lined the tables, so we didn’t even have to stand in line. That was good. Looking around at the pale, exhausted faces, I didn’t see how anyone could have managed it. As I settled down next to my men, I met the eyes of the kid Sonja had been bullying. Taylor. He smiled at me, obviously proud of himself. Hell, I was proud of him too. He’d fought and survived.
My stomach flipped as I wondered if there were any who hadn’t—everyone who’d made it back to the castle seemed okay, but were any of our own among the bodies strewn outside?
We sat in silence, each recharging however we needed to. There was a blissful calm over the whole room. I didn’t know if it was Shen’s crazy cleaning spell or our victory, but it didn’t matter to me as long as it lasted a while.
After dealing with the worst cases in the infirmary, Cassandra appeared in the cafeteria. She moved around the room as quietly and unobtrusively as a ghost, healing people here and there as she went. Her nurses followed suit. Like a silent wave, they healed and treated everyone in the room.
“We did good,” I said quietly. “I didn’t think we would, not after how badly everyone freaked out with Owen’s pathetic little attacks last year.”
“Everyone in this school has been in the underworld for a while now.” Xero’s expression was serious. “It has a way of hardening you.”
“Or breaking you.” I thought of Wyatt and the others who had been sequestered away downstairs. “Do you think they’ll ever adapt? The ones who haven’t been handling it well?”
Xero squeezed my thigh comfortingly. “I haven’t stopped hoping that they won’t have to.”
I gazed around the room, which hummed with the low murmur of conversation. Everyone was quiet and subdued. They’d all been through hell. That had a way of toughening people up, no matter what their hell happened to be. I’d been to hell and back a few times myself.
So it is doable. Now we just need to manage the “back” part.
We’d been sitting for maybe an hour—all of us too exhausted to move—when Toland came in and stood at one end of the cafeteria. He looked out over all of us somberly, not having to use his power to get our attention. He’d had it the moment he’d walked through the door.
?
??I want to commend each and every one of you for the part you played in protecting our school. You fought well.”
He paused for a moment, seeming reluctant to go on. Dread filled my chest, and I clutched Xero’s hand, squeezing hard.
“The wards were not destroyed, but they have been weakened.” His lips pressed together under his thick mustache. “Although we looked for stragglers at the end of the fight, we don’t know for certain whether any of our attackers escaped, or how they knew to find us here. But regardless, there is only one conclusion we can draw at this time: our cover has been compromised.”
Nobody gasped or groaned, but the atmosphere in the room changed as heavy tension cut through the calm. Everyone was back on red alert.
Toland shook his head. “The wards are still intact for now. We appear to be isolated here, apart from any civilization, so any escaped scouts will need to travel before they will be able to bring anyone else to us. We have time. But we have less time. Your battle studies will become of utmost importance going forward. Keep your heads clear, protect your spirits, and do not lose hope. You’ve proved yourselves to be a formidable army. Take solace in that.”
A wave of depression crashed through me, displaced almost immediately by a wave of adrenaline.
