Heavy footfalls echoed around the students and teachers. The students and teachers eyes widened in stark shocked fear. An enormous wave of almost 300 demons was marching towards the children and teachers. Fear rippled across the battlefield. The teachers traded exhausted glances. They were outnumbered and knew there was a 90% chance they would not survive this. But, if they were going to die, they would die fighting—and also take as many demons with them as they could.
That fierce resolve ignited a fire in the students. They steeled themselves, gritted their teeth, and charged along with their teachers.
The demons were roaring towards them like a black ocean. The instant the two sides collided was brutal and bloody. The children were screaming war cries through their clenched teeth and felt like their hands were shaking uncontrollably. Swords clashed. Magic roared. The battlefield became a chaotic storm of violence.
In the midst of the pandemonium, a scream broke through the noise. A student fell to the ground and a demon's claws tore a massive gash in his chest.
The remaining students' terror deepened.
"Do not be afraid! Give it everything you have!" Isla shouted, her voice cutting through the fear like a knife.
Leon pressed his teeth together, keeping his tone steady. "Keep your heads! Keep fighting! Protect each other!"
In the insufferable chaos, Amelie was a silent miracle. She moved with frantic speed and skill, her hands glimmering with healing light. Each wound she stitched closed, and every child she saved cost her own strength, but still she persisted.
Unfortunately, the tide was simply too great. A small flood of demons broke loose and made it to the back of the lines.
At the back stood 4,500 helpless children.
Screams erupted as the demons crashed down like a wave, spilling slaughter where they fell. The teachers, equally locked in brutal combat, stood aghast to only watch.
There was no saving them. It was far too late.
Blood coated the ground. Small hands reached out for help that would not ever arrive. Little bodies crumpled to the dirt. Innocence destroyed without mercy.
The screams of the teachers filled the air. Some fought, as they wept. Some simply wept, because they had no power to protect them. Guilt wrapped Leon like chains. He turned his blade around us, in renewed rage, aiming for another demon—until a demon faced up against him, leaping jaws wide.
He fell back, and blood poured from a gash on his side.
As the killing blow came down, roots exploded from the ground around the demon. It was impaled, frozen mid-scream.
"Leon!" Amelie screeched.
As fast as she could, she wheeled herself over to him, dropping down beside him. She gently placed his head into her lap, her fingers already glowing faintly. Her smile wavered as she wiped the blood on his close.
But then - a quick whistling. A gasp.
A demon was behind her in a single movement.
He swung - struck with a blade.
Amelie jerked. Blood soaked quickly through her dress, spilling like a river.
Leon screamed.
"No! Amelie!"
She collapsed on top of him, gasping.
Leon tried frantically to catch her limp body, tried to stem the blood but there was nothing he could do.
Her fluttering fingers grazed against his face. "Love you, Leon... thank you... for everything..."
He shook his head. He cried. "No, no, stay with me please! Amelie!"
Her eyes did not see him anymore.
He felt utterly defeated.
Fifteen minutes later, all was quiet.
The battlefield was a scene of violent red. The ground saturated from the blood of 4,500 helpless children and over 50 not-so-helpless gifted ones. Demons were dead, but what did that mean really?
The children who lived limped toward the medical room, dragging heavy broken limbs and heavy broken spirits.
Leon did not move.
He kneeled in the sticky grass, pressing Amelie's lifeless body against him.
Bloody the head rested in his arms, nothing could take away the warmth of her hand pressed upright like a dead fish in his palm.
He looked around numbly. Nothing was as quiet.
He stared vacantly. The world was too sterile.
The storms absorbed the pain, the aching pain—is also buried deep in the soil.
There was blood that had come from Leon's eyes; like tears, a horrible twist to the suffering of his soul.
That was it. His body gave up. He fell right beside her.
There was a lone petal, torn from a hanging branch, that danced in the wind - carried shallowly down… and landed upright in a pool of blood.
Many years ago—Leon was just six. Black hair. Black eyes. He was hunting a beetle in the jungle with his grandfather in their orange truck.
"Don't go too far," his grandfather warned.
But the beetle surged ahead, and Leon followed. Deep into the woods, they found a house.
A girl was sitting there in a wheelchair and stared at him.
She had golden hair. Golden eyes.
They looked at each other - they were curious and not afraid.
His grandfather guided him in behind the boy. "Looks like you made a new friend," he said, and nudged him forward again.
"I'm Leon," the boy said shyly.
She smiled back at him, "I'm Amelie."
She plucked a white flower from her lap and handed it to him.
From that moment on, Leon returned more often. He never met Amelie's parents. One day, his curiosity got the best of him.
"Why don't I see your mom or dad?"
She looked away.
"Please, tell me," he said.
She sighed with a low voice, "my dad left my mom for another woman. She never was the same. Depressed forever. And she saw me, and said I looked like him, and then she started hating me, I think. One day, I accidentally knocked over a flower vase. She exploded. She... stabbed my legs with the glass."
Leon felt his heart break.
"After that, I moved in with my grandma."
He squeezed her tightly. "You don't need anyone else. I'm here. Always."
while in present
Doctors worked around the clock in the Academy's hospital. Green-blooded healers worked their magic on the wounded.
Leon blinked in and out. Everything was blurry. He looked around, his classmates were bandaged and broken all around him.
A sudden memory came back: Amelie. Her last words. Her blood on his hands.
Tears stained his view. He started to cry hard.
Finn sprinted to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Leon! You need to be strong!"
Leon shook his head with his voice cracking. "She is gone, Finn. Amelie is gone."
Finn pronounced a gulping noise. "I know. I know… But just look around. So many other people are gone as well. You need to be strong Leon. We need to be strong. We need to be powerful. So this can never happen again."
Leon looked up.
There were tears in Finn's eyes.
A switch flipped in him.
His fists clenched.
"I will kill them. Every. Last. Demon. One by one. I will erase them from this world."
Finn tried to calm him. "Leon… you need to rest."
Leon did not reply. Grief burned like a furnace inside of him and twisted it into resolve.
One week went by.
Leon stood before Amelie's grave wearing a black suit. He held white flowers in shaking hands. The grave yard was quiet. Too quiet.
Her smile played in his head. Her laugh. Her touch.
Finn approached slowly and put a hand on his back. "Amelie wouldn't want you like this. She wanted you to smile."
Leon slowly nodded. He carefully placed the flowers down. "Good night, Amelie."
At Astralis Academy, Magnus Holloway slammed his fist against a table. His voice was loud, booming as he yelled.
"Why were all the knights removed from the school?! Your incompetence resulted in thousands of children dying!"
A knight stood with firmness. "The king commanded us to the border. Demons attacked in numbers we have never seen before. We had no choice. For 500 years, the academy was untouched. Nowhere in our wildest dreams did we think this would happen!"
Magnus's voice cracked. "What do we tell the parents?!"
The knight bowed his head down. "I'm sorry, but all we did was follow orders."
"Your apologies won't bring them back."
Darius Falken rested his hand on Magnus's shoulder. "That's enough."
The knight left.
Darius turned to Magnus. "We failed them. We still have students alive. We train them. We prepare them. Stronger than ever."
Magnus sighed. "You are right."
Selene and Edric appeared, Selene's voice soft. "The students are shattered. We need to lift them up."
Darius nodded, though Magnus would not entertain the idea. "No. We're harnessing their rage. Their anger will fuel them. They're not sad—they're burning. Let them burn." Selene frowned. "Don't fuel their fire too much. They've suffered enough." Darius smirked. "I'll try. No promises about Magnus." Not far off, in a dark chamber deep inside the kingdom, four lords and ladies from four noble families were meeting with the king. Their whispers were quiet and hidden from the world. Back at the academy, Leon stepped into his hostel. Finn stepped in behind him. The room was luxurious. "This place is awesome!" Finn exclaimed. "Let's go meet our neighbors!" Leon sighed. "Nah, I'm good." But Finn tugged at him towards the next door. A girl opened it. Golden hair. Sharp eyes. Isla Beaumont. She stared at them for a moment. Then her eyes landed on Leon. Recognition lit her features. "You... You saved me. During the raid." Leon shrugged. "No big deal." Finn was slack-jawed. "Is she talking to Leon?!"
Isla's voice softened. "I heard about Amelie. I'm sorry."
Leon nodded. "Thanks. I'm… trying to move forward."
Then, perhaps hoping to lighten the mood, Finn grinned. "How about we all go have lunch?"
Isla shook her head. "No thanks."
Finn showed his disappointment when his face fell in a frown at being rejected.
Suddenly, a knight came up and handed them a letter.
They opened it and read it:
"All students must prepare for training and lectures starting tomorrow."
Finn gasped. "What?! Already?! After what we just went through, and they expect us… to take classes that soon? We need more time to recover!"
However, Leon smirked. There was a glimmer of determination in his eyes. "No… this is perfect."