Aether Chronicles: Birth Of A Legend-Chapter 338: Vaelthorne Estate!

Raegar stared at the scared Jeremy, and an angry Caroline rushed in their direction, exclaiming. ''That's an ancient power! What are you, boy!''

He glanced at the old woman as Nivara appeared beside her with her dagger aimed at her heart, as she warned. ''Don't move, human, and take that look from your eyes if you look at Ael'varyn.''

Drusilla appeared, looking serious as she pointed at Jeremy. ''Don't doubt our lover! He beat an Old One, Devils in the thousands, and cleaned the empire of bandits, alone! And he'll break this place before we escape!'' she exclaimed, slamming the door shut.

Raegar turned toward the blonde, who was angry but calming down. ''Thank you for that, Dru. I think it will be best if we get out of this place.''

''I'll locate the portal while you guys fight off the Night People,'' she responded, looking determined. ''I'll use my small form to search, but you two need to follow behind, killing any creatures who're stalking me.''

''That's fine, I want to fight anyway,'' Raegar replied, taking out his daggers. ''It's boring waiting for them to come out.''

Nivara eagerly agreed and readied her weapons as Drusilla transformed while flying out of the room through the open window. The other two trailed behind the Dark Fairy, making sure not to lose track of her as the trio entered the dark forest. As they left, the survivors watched from the safety of their homes, thinking the young ones were crazy.

Raegar used their bond to keep on the blonde tail, and she led them to a pit in the ground, stopping above it. She turned to the duo, revealing. ''This is one of their homes, I believe they may be asleep during the day.''

The group prepared to jump inside to find a way out of the realm they found themselves in.

***

While Raegar, Drusilla,, and Nivara fought to escape the Old Ones realm, the rest of the group attended classes in a Drakenwood forever altered. No one met their eyes the same way again. Zahara strode toward P.T, when Selene and Dominique stepped from the shadows of the arched colonnade.

The demoness spoke first. ''We're being isolated by the student, Zee. How about we head south? That Cecelia wants to join us.''

Dominique nodded. ''I don't like it, neither does Alice,'' she added.

Zahara's sigh carried the weight of everything they've been through since returning. She couldn't deny the truth: the only people who spoke to them were Rune, Caspian, Luna, Vianna, and the twins. Sasha was the one growing closer with the harem as she was with them everyday.

Then Mirelle burst from a nearby hallways, red eyes wide with alarm. ''Girls! They've cornered Alice on the Training Fields. She's bleeding, they mean to break her!''

''Where?'' Dominique's voice cracked like a war drum.

''Fields, now!'' Sasha's answer came as a snarl, already streaking past in a comet of fury.

The news sparked something inside them. Selene vanished in a crimson streak, parting the crowded halls. Students spun aside; professors shouted too late. She hit the Training Fields at full speed, boots slamming earth that answered with a thunderous crack. Aether erupted from her in a shockwave of scarlet light, flattening grass and scattering the mob in a halo of dust and fear.

Sasha arrived next, a whirlwind of fists and vengeance, carving a path through the ring of seniors. Rune's roar followed, tearing from his throat; arcs of lightning lashed out, hurling upperclassmen into the air like broken dolls. Selene's gaze locked on the ringleader, a towering sixth-year with Alice dangling by the throat, blonde hair matted with blood.

Something primal snapped inside the Demoness. She blurred, shoulder slamming the bully's ribs with the force of a battering ram. The girl rocketed backward, crashing into the ground like a cannonball. Selene landed on top of her, knees pinning arms, each blow a thunderclap, each impact spraying blood across the grass.

Around them, Drakenwood ignited. Spells flared. Fists flew. The Training Fields became a crucible of chaos, and at its heart burned a unbreakable fury. Selene glanced at her friends who fought with the older student and roared. ''Kill them all! They want us dead, return the favour!''

Following that, Dominique's shadow split open like a wound in the world. From the shadows stepped her strongest Death Knight, an iron colossus wreathed in grave-cold mist. Plate armor black as night, edges weeping death. The visor glowed with twin embers of hellfire. It raised a great swrod longer than a man is tall.

The newcomer spoke in the horrifying voice ''Who dares attack my mistress!''

Seconds later, the seniors who had been closing in with blades and crackling magic froze. Then the knight moved. One swing carved the air; three attackers flew apart in sprays of blood and shattered bone. Another step, and the flat of the blade hammered a guard into the ground so hard the earth cratered beneath him.

Zahara sprinted through the storm of steel and spellfire. Her Aether Book materialized in a burst of light, pages flipping themselves. She dropped to her knees beside Alice, whose breath came in wet gasps. Blood soaked the blonde's uniform, one arm bent wrong, face swollen almost beyond recognition.

''Hold on, sister,'' she whispered, voice trembling but steady.

Golden light poured from her palms, weaving into Alice's wounds like liquid dawn. Bone knit with soft cracks. Torn flesh sealed in glowing seams. The books pages burned brighter, feeding her will into every pulse of mending Aether. Around them the battle roared. Rune's lightning chained between foes.

Sasha's fists left craters. Selene's knuckles dripped red as she pummeled another bully senseless. The Death Knight strode through the chaos like a reaper at harvest, each swing reaping screams. Alice's eyes fluttered open, green meeting Zahara's through the haze. ''Took you long enough,'' she croaked, managing a broken grin.

Zahara laughed through tears. ''Shut up and let me finish.''

Following that, the Training Fields became a killing ground. Iron-shod boots thundered in from every gate. Drakenwood's elite guards poured onto the grass, halberds lowered, spell-lances humming. They ringed the chaos in a tightening noose, eyes fixed on Dominique. The Death Knight stepped between its mistress and the wall of steel.

A guard captain barked an order. Spears flew. The knight moved blade spinning in a black arc that sheared the first rank in half. Limbs pinwheeled. Blood steamed in the cold. Another guard lunged; the zweihänder's pommel crushed his helm like tin. The knight waded forward, a tide of death, and the circle broke around it.

Then, an orange comet appeared on the battlefield. A blur of fire and claws exploded through the guards' rear line. Halberds snapped. Bodies parted all over the place. Elara landed in a crouch amid the carnage, twin swords dripping, tail lashing. Her green eyes blazed.

''Drakenwood has fallen!'' the Tigress roared, voice carrying over the screams. ''The Council wants Raegar's head, and every one of you girls on a pike! RUN!''

She spun, sabers singing. A guard's spell-lance shot toward her; Elara caught the beam on crossed blades, reflected it into the archer's chest. Another soldier charged; she vaulted, heels scissoring his neck mid-air, landed already moving. Dominique's eyes widened at the sight of the older woman as she muttered. ''Elara?''

''No time!'' The Tigress slashed a path toward them, carving a corridor of falling bodies. ''Head for the main gate, go now or die here!''

Behind her, the Death Knight planted its sword point-down, slammed a gauntlet to its breastplate. A pulse of necromantic frost rippled outward, flash-freezing the nearest squad mid-scream. Zahara hauled Alice upright, the blonde swaying but alive. Selene cracked her knuckles, blood-slick grin feral.

Rune's hands glowed as he looked at the group, revealing. ''Caspian and the others has escaped once they found out what was happening, as we're friends. We need to meet up with them before escaping the empire.''

Sasha cracked her neck, ready. The noose of guards tightened again. but the Elara was already among them, and the knight's shadow loomed larger than the walls.

''Get to the gate!'' Elara bellowed, swrods flashing. ''I'LL HOLD THE GATE, MOVE!''

The girls sprinted for the crypts, boots pounding frost and blood. Behind them, the Training Fields burned with spellfire and screams. Elara planted herself at the shattered gate, sabers crossed. A fresh wave of guards, hundreds now, reinforced by war-mages, surged toward the breach.

She turned, stripes rippling in the wind, and flashed them a fanged grin that belonged to legends.

''Vaelthorne Estate!'' she roared, voice cutting through the chaos. ''The Empire's in open rebellion, invaders at every border! Dahlia's vanished just like Valentina, find Raegar and come back for me!''

Then she moved, blades became liquid fire. She carved the gate in a single arc, metal screaming as it parted. Guards lunged; Elara spun, tail whipping, claws raking throats. A war-mage's fireball detonated against her back, she absorbed it, armor igniting in golden flames, and hurled the blaze back in a roaring inferno that swallowed the front line.