Chapter 31 A surprising act
Chapter 031
DARIUS
I rushed into the hall after Raven, my wolf surging forward with every intention of dragging her to safety.
But the moment I stepped through the doors, the chaos hit me like a physical wall.
The rogues had ransacked the Grand Hall. Destroy it if that's the right term to use. The elegant decorations were torn down. Tables overturned. Glass shattered everywhere.
And in the middle of it all, wolves were shifting into their full forms, preparing for battle.
Dorian appeared at my side, his face grim. "What do we do?"
I looked around quickly, assessing the situation. The humans were panicking. Some were trying to flee. Others stood their ground, looking ready to fight despite having no chance against rogues.
"Half-shift," I ordered Dorian. "We need to make a path for the humans to evacuate."
He nodded and began the transformation. His body shifted partially, becoming stronger and more imposing but still maintaining enough humanity to speak and coordinate.
I did the same, feeling my bones crack and reform, my muscles expand, my senses sharpen even further.
Then I raised my voice, letting it carry across the hall with the authority of an Alpha heir. "All humans, evacuate immediately! Get out of the hall now! Do not try to fight the rogues. You will be no match for them. Move!"
Some listened immediately, running towards the exits.
Others hesitated, torn between their instinct to help and their survival instinct.
"Now!" I roared, and that finally got them moving.
I engaged with the first rogue that came at me, my dagger already in my hand.
In half-shift form, I was faster and stronger than in my full human form, but still coordinated enough to use weapons effectively.
The rogue lunged. I dodged left, brought my dagger up, and sliced across its throat.
It went down hard, blood pooling beneath it.
A scream tore through the air from my right.
I turned and saw Samantha struggling with a massive rogue wolf. It had her by the arm, dragging her across the floor.
I started towards her, but before I could take more than two steps, Raven was there.
She fought the rogue with a broken champagne bottle, driving the jagged glass into its neck with precision and brutality that shocked me.
The rogue released Samantha immediately, and Raven pulled her friend to her feet.
I was going to yell at them. To tell them to get out. Demand that they follow the other humans to safety.
But then I saw Raven grab Samantha and start heading towards the exit. "Good. At least they were leaving and they'd be safe. Less headache to worry about."
I turned my attention back to the battle.
Almost immediately, I heard Dorian whimper.
My head snapped towards him. He was engaged in a headlock with three rogues at once.
They were massive, coordinated, working together to bring him down.
Blood was already streaking down his chest from multiple claw marks.
"Shift!" I yelled at him. "Full shift, Dorian!"
"I am trying!" he yelled back, his voice strained with pain and effort.
I started towards him, but three rogues intercepted me. They came at me in a coordinated attack, forcing me to defend myself.
I fought them brutally, using every ounce of training I had: slashing with my dagger, dodging their attacks and using my half-shifted strength to overpower them.
But I kept glancing back at Dorian, watching him struggle, trying to figure out how to get to him.
But when I would turn back to check on him, I saw Raven fighting side by side with Dorian using a broken bottle as a weapon and moving with surprising speed and precision.
I thought I was hallucinating. I had just seen her leave with Samantha heading towards the exit.
"How was she here? How was she in the middle of this fight?"
My distraction nearly cost me my life.
A rogue came at me from behind. I did not see it. I didn't notice it in the chaos.
Raven's turned and her eyes widened. She threw a knife. It sailed through the air with perfect aim.
I saw it coming and my entire body tensed, thinking she was trying to kill me. But the knife passed right by my head, so close I felt the air displacement.
I turned quickly to find a dead rogue behind me. The knife had pierced directly into its heart. It collapsed, lifeless.
"I know I fight incredibly well," Raven yelled across the chaos, "but you should stop staring or else Papa Pike and the academy would lose its heir."
She tossed her hair and winked at me. "And you are welcome."
Something inside me cracked.
Actually cracked.
I stood there for a moment, staring at her. She was bloodied. Her red dress was torn and stained. Her hair was wild but she was fearless.
Absolutely fearless fighting against rogues twice her size with nothing but broken glass and sheer determination.
And she was still jovial about it. Still making jokes and acting like this was just another day.
"She had just saved my life."
I moved towards her and Dorian, forming a triangle with them. Three points of defence. And we began fighting together.
The synchronicity was frightening. We moved like we had been training together for years. Like we knew each other's fighting styles intimately.
Dorian would create an opening, and Raven would exploit it. Raven would draw a rogue's attention, and I would strike from behind.
I would engage multiple rogues, and both of them would cover my flanks.
We fought as one unit. Despite our rivalry. Despite everything that had happened between us.
Raven ducked under a rogue's swipe, and I brought my dagger down into its spine.
Dorian pinned another rogue down, and Raven drove her broken bottle into its eye.
I grabbed a third rogue by the throat and snapped its neck with my enhanced strength.
The rogues started to falter. Started to realize they were not winning this fight.
They had expected chaos. Expected the academy students to scatter and panic.
They had not expected organized resistance. Had not expected us to fight back with this level of coordination and ferocity.
One by one, they started retreating. They started pulling back and fleeing into the night.
The last rogue tried to make a final attack, lunging at Raven from the side.
But Dorian intercepted it, his fully shifted wolf form finally complete. He tore into the rogue with savage efficiency, ending the fight quickly.
Silence fell over the Grand Hall.
We stood there, the three of us, breathing hard covered in blood and surrounded by bodies and destruction.
I looked at Raven. Really looked at her. She was swaying slightly on her feet, exhaustion finally catching up with her.
But her eyes were still sharp. Still alert.
"You should have left," I told her quietly.
"And miss all the fun?" she shot back, though her voice was weaker now. "Not a chance."
Before I could respond, the Academy directors burst through the doors.
"Lock down the Academy," one of them commanded. "All students go to their dormitories immediately. No one leaves. No one enters. We are sealing the wards completely until we understand how they were breached."
Guards flooded in, beginning to usher surviving students out of the hall, checking for injuries and
coordinating the response.
I hissed as my anger flared. "Where had the damned teachers and school directors been when the school needed them most?”