He flung out another spell. From his magic emerged a powerful illusion— a monster, one Arthur had conjured, twelve feet tall and scaly, with curved horns, cloven hooves and twelve-inch fangs. It looked like a cross between a bull and some kind of lizard, truly a creation of Arthur’s imagination.
The creature let out a roar, and tossed its head. It reared on its hind legs and charged with its horns down. Soldiers went flying as the monster crashed into them, crushing them underneath its feet. A couple of soldiers transformed into shifters and tried to fight back, but their claws and fangs went through nothing but thin air as the monster approached. Arthur’s illusion ran wild, eliminating soldiers by the dozens and giving us a chance to make it across the Conservatory.
“Let’s move, before my illusion fades!” Arthur cried.
We bolted around the Conservatory, ducking arrows and jumping over bodies. Arthur’s monster was keeping the soldiers busy, but with all illusions, it wouldn’t hold forever.
Arthur and I burst out of the Conservatory. In the time since the battle had begun, the skies had started to pour rain, and thunder was echoing through the sky. We found like the rest of the university, the gardens were an utter madhouse. Other students had the same idea we did. They were hiding out, taking down soldiers as they stormed through campus with traps and spells. There seemed to be an equal amount of bodies on both sides littering the grounds.
The fight seemed to be fairer. Better than that— it looked like we might have a shot at winning. Arthur and I forged onward, and soon, we were soaked under the downpour of the rain. Our shoes sunk into the mud, which was becoming difficult to manage in the fight. Slogging through it slowed us up.
Professor Hemlock was dueling soldiers near a fountain, a sword drawn that was stained red with blood.
“Callista!” I heard Professor Hemlock cry out, calling for her daughter. “Callista, where are you?”
My heart ached. She didn’t yet know. We tried to sneak past, but Hemlock noticed us as she beheaded another soldier. She cut down soldiers in her path as she stormed through, and grabbed my shoulder. “Miss Sosna, have you seen my daughter? Please tell me you know where she is!”
My throat got tight, and despite the roar of the battle raging around us, my soul went very quiet, wishing I wasn’t the one who had to deliver this news. Arthur glanced away as Hemlock’s eyes pleaded with me.
“Professor,” I forced out. “The Black Claw… the collapse of the catacombs…”
She caught the meaning in my strained voice. Hemlock backed away, shaking her head.
“No,” she whispered as rain flecked across her face. “No.”
Hemlock tore off. She ran in the direction of Dolinska, calling Callista’s name even more desperately.
“We can’t help her,” Arthur told me as tears beaded in my eyes. “She’s already lost.”
I forced my tears to subside and told myself we had to move onward. Callista was gone, but Ethan was still alive. “You’re right. Come on!”
Arthur and I ran throughout the south gardens, avoiding fights when we could and slaying soldiers when we could not. I didn’t feel relief until I spotted Ethan, who was cornered against the university wall with my friends. They were surrounded by soldiers, and clearly, there was no way out.
A strong urge to protect my mate swelled within me. I didn’t know what I was thinking, but when I knelt to the ground and placed my fingers upon the grass, the only thought in my mind wasflowers.
White roses made of glass and edged with silver sprouted up from the earth. They bloomed rapidly, spreading from my fingertips and circling the soldiers that were approaching my mate. Soon, the soldiers were surrounded by glass roses. The sight made the soldiers pause in place, before several of them laughed.
“What’s this?” a soldier asked mockingly. “Pretty little flowers?”
He stepped on a glass rose, shattering it beneath his boot. Once he did, the glass rose emitted a plume of white gas. It funneled into the air, and once it hit the soldier’s nose, he began choking. His eyes became bloodshot. He grasped at his neck as he struggled to breathe, skin turning purple. He fell onto the ground, twitched once, and died.
“The roses are poison!” another soldier cried, and the group at large began to panic. Some soldiers were trapped, unable to move as the glass roses continued to bloom around them, while others had to carefully tip-toe around the area in order to avoid setting the poison off. Others were clumsy, tripping or accidentally stepping onto the roses, poisoning themselves in the process.
While they were distracted, I turned to my brother.
“Arthur, go find Vara!” I said. “We’ll meet up with you later! Tygrys, go with him, to protect him!”
Arthur nodded, then changed into a wolven before he bolted off in the direction of the dining hall. My tiny faekin zoomed after him.
I surged toward Ethan. He grabbed my waist and brought me to his side as he said, “Thank the gods you’re all right. Lady Magdalina was right. This was a foolish fight— we need to go.”
I opened my mouth to object, but I didn’t have the time. With a glance at the fence line surrounding the university, I saw that more soldiers were coming.
We ran. There was no escaping campus, so we headed inward. I cast more white roses behind us, to give us more time.
“Hold the line!” Ethan cried out to other students as we darted past. “Don’t let any more soldiers into the university, or we’ll collapse!”
“Hey buddy, we get you have a boner for being all noble and shit, but we gotta go!” Stefan screamed.
