Chapter 264 Music to my ears

Chapter 264 Music to my ears
Kael's pov
I hear Benson shouting like a madman as I watch Aria fly over the forest, her fire rolling down to the trees.

One by one the creatures around us stop attacking, their bodies convulsing before they collapse onto the ground with agonized shrieks. 

It’s working. 

I can feel the darkness lifting.

My eyes betray me, following Aria instead of the fight. She looks magnificent against the smoke, wings spread so wide they blot out the sunlight, every beat scattering embers like stars. Draven sitting on her back ruins the picture, and a growl crawls up my throat as jealousy punches me straight in the gut. 

I don’t know why the guy is helping us after what he said before, but my main issue is that Lux had tried to rip my throat out twice before deciding I was worthy of breathing the same air as her, yet he climbs onto her back like he has belonged there all along.

Kindred bond, my furry ass Ghost snorts in my head

I bare my teeth as I tear through the throat of the creature lunging for me, blood spraying across my muzzle before the body crashes at my paws. 

Okay. Wrong bloody time to be jealous, buddy I say to Ghost as we spit fur from our mouth as another creature staggers, shrieks, and collapses without us touching it.

Around us, the remaining creatures are no longer fighting. They lie twitching across the ground, their monstrous bodies wracked by violent spasms as black mist leaks from them.

It really worked.

Then I hear Benson laugh. A laugh that sends dread through me and I turn towards him.

"Very impressive, I will give you that," Benson calls, applauding as though we have entertained him. "You destroyed my forest. You even crippled my army. Yet all of you have forgotten the one thing that truly matters. Your precious mate bond makes you stronger... but it also gives me the perfect target. You see, I only have to kill one of you."

Without warning a bolt of white lightning tears through the sky and strikes where Aria is and her pain rips through our bond like a blade through flesh. I watch in absolute horror as her burning form tumbles before disappearing into the forest below.

No!

Ghost launches towards the forest without thought, driven by nothing except the desperate need to reach our mate but another bolt crashes into the road directly in front of me. The explosion hurls me backwards into Thalric, and together we are flung across the yard. I can smell burning fur, but I don’t care about any of that.

Aria! I mindlink her, my panic rising.

I can feel she is in pain but still alive. That’s the only thing preventing Ghost from running into the lightning.

I'm alright… her voice comes through, strained. 

That gives Ghost and I the relief we need and we rise. 

Look for cover and stay where you are and heal. I'll deal with Benson.

I’m done showing mercy. I can put up with a lot of shit but not when it comes to someone hurting Aria. I had kept myself in check the day the bastard had broken her ribs but not today. The instant Benson appears distracted, we are on him. I bite down on his uninjured shoulder and I feel his bone crack beneath my teeth before the bastard disappears.

“I will destroy this whole academy!” the madman bellows as he appears. “None of you know the value of following rules or doing as you’re told so you can serve your communities. There are other things out there that are stronger than anything you have ever seen, and they will destroy you before you even know what is happening. I built this future for you, and you repay me with betrayal!"

Benson is getting too emotional and every warrior knows emotions had no place in the battleground. He will understand that if he didn’t make other people do his dirty work. 

“I will not have my life’s work be ruined by a bunch of disrespectful children without consequences,” Benson says as he holds his palm up.

Dark clouds start to form in the sky, covering the afternoon sunshine and the wind picked up. I can feel it blowing through my fur. Thunder starts to rumble as lightning flashes through the sky. I know Benson controls the air element but Professor Claude hadn’t had enough time to teach us more than a crash course and we had all assumed he controlled earth. 

Thalric attacks before more lightning strikes, biting his torso and Benson swears and disappears. 

I sense the ripple before he reappears and Ghost strikes, forcing him to teleport again. If we can weaken him enough to stop him from disappearing, we will have a better chance, but the bastard took a while to reappear and when he did he appeared a long distance from us. 

“I’m done playing games,” Benson shouts, his palms already lit. 

He’s going to fry us. 

I spin, running toward the forest, praying Aria has found cover, but it’s too late. A bolt crashes into me, throwing me through the air, and this time I hear something crack before I hit the ground. I feel the electricity shooting through my body, frying my fur as I twitches.

Lightening is starting to rain down all around us. 

But yet…..I’m not dead.

When I can lift his head, I realize why. 

Professor Claude stands in my place as he takes the blunt hit meant for I and Thalric. The lighting was blinding as it continually hit him. 

Why did he do this? 

Benson is significantly stronger than him and he has already been weakened. Grief fills me as I struggle to get to my feet. I hadn’t trusted the man in the beginning but I don’t want him to die. 

Plus he is the only one who can stop Benson and now he is dying

The lightning keeps hitting him, yet Professor Claude keeps standing. He has his arm outstretched and Isn’t moving. 

How?

The storm finally dies and when Benson sees Professor Claude, the stench of fear increases and Ghost breathes in, relinquishing it. 

“Man, that feels so good,” Professor Claude says as he cracks his neck. “You have no idea how long I have waited for this.”

And then for the first time since I met the Professor, his power isn’t masked. And it’s immense.

“This has nothing to do with you. Leave and let me clean up this mess,” Benson says. “I’m doing this for us all.”

"Vance... Vance... Vance," Professor Claude says, shaking his head. "You slaughtered nearly our entire race because we were a threat to you. Do you really think I will ever believe a word you say?”

Mr Benson snarls and lifts his palm again, this time directing it at Alpha Roderick. But in an instant, Alpha Roderick disappears, appearing next to Claude, free from his bonds.

"I think it's time we made this fight a little fairer,” Professor Claude says before a little box appears in his palm.

I know it’s the ash that had been in his bag. Professor Claude chants and a wave of magic hit Benson along with a cloud of ash. I have no idea what the hell just happened but Benson’s palms stop glowing m. 

Just then a deafening roar rises from in front of us and two enormous shapes burst from the burning forest overhead. One is Lux and the other is a dragon.

Draven.

But how?

Neither of them slows as they sweep over Benson who still stands, looking at his palm, confusion on his face. Then he looks up and screams as fire comes raining down on him and Professor Claude raises a shimmering shield around the rest of us just before the flames hit. 

Benson’s screams were like music to my ear. A symphony that soothes me like a balm and promises me freedom for the first time in my life. 

I didn’t look away from the burning man. 

Then the music ends.