Chapter 7 – The Night of Claws
The storm came without warning.
The academy's bells tolled midnight, their chimes still echoing across the towers when the first scream cut through the air.
Karl bolted upright in bed, his heart hammering. He wasn't the only one. Doors creaked open down the dormitory hall as groggy students stumbled out, whispering nervously.
Then came the sound—low and guttural. A growl. Not human. Not even close.
Karl grabbed his boots, tugged them on, and sprinted for the courtyard.
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The air outside was thick, heavy, as though the night itself had gained weight. Moonlight fought to pierce the clouds, but shadows bled across the stones, curling and twisting unnaturally.
Students clustered in frightened groups. Professors shouted orders, wands raised, their spells forming shimmering domes of light. But beyond the wards, something moved.
Something big.
A clawed hand slammed against the barrier, long fingers tipped with talons that screeched across the magic like blades on glass. The hand withdrew, and then a creature stepped into view.
It was made of shadow, but its form was wrong—too many joints in its legs, a wolf's head stretched into a grotesque grin, eyes glowing like molten coals. Its chest heaved, and the growl it released rattled Karl's bones.
The Void King's hound.
More shapes followed, crawling from the darkness. Six, seven, eight of them, circling the academy walls. The wards pulsed, straining.
Mistress Elowen's voice rang out: "To arms! They've breached the veil!"
The hounds lunged. The barrier shuddered. Cracks of black lightning spiderwebbed across its surface.
And then, with a sound like shattering ice, the wards broke.
The courtyard erupted into chaos.
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Students scattered, spells firing wildly into the night. Bolts of flame seared across the grass, arrows of light streaked through the air—but the hounds were faster. They darted between the attacks, their bodies dissolving into smoke, then reforming mid-leap.
One landed in front of Karl, its claws gouging the stones. Its burning eyes locked onto him.
For one frozen heartbeat, Karl felt the dream surge back—the wasteland, the chains, the Void King's voice whispering You are mine.
Then instinct took over.
The hound lunged. Karl ducked, fists tightening. He swung upward with all his strength, his punch connecting with the creature's jaw.
The impact rang through the courtyard like a thunderclap. The hound's head snapped sideways, its body dissolving into smoke before reforming a few feet away. It staggered, shaking itself, then snarled.
Karl grinned grimly. "Yeah? Come back for more."
A flash of light streaked past him. Lira stood behind, her wand raised, a glyph glowing at her feet. The hound yelped as a chain of radiant energy wrapped around its legs, dragging it back.
"Now, Karl!" she shouted.
Karl didn't hesitate. He charged, drove his fist straight through the creature's chest, and ripped. The shadow howled, splitting apart into black mist that scattered into the night.
One down.
"Two hundred to go!" Jax yelled, barreling into the fray with both hands glowing. He hurled an orb of unstable fire at another hound. It exploded with a boom that knocked him backward, singed half his hair, and left the hound flailing in flaming smoke.
"Controlled blast!" Jax coughed. "Totally controlled!"
"Totally insane," Karl muttered, hauling him up before the hound could recover. He slammed his boot down on its skull, the shadow bursting apart beneath his heel.
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Around them, the courtyard was a battlefield. Students screamed as more hounds broke through. Professors fought fiercely, but for every shadow they destroyed, another seemed to crawl from the dark.
And in the sky, the storm churned—a swirling vortex of black clouds and red lightning.
Karl froze as a voice slithered through the air.
"Yes… Fight, fracture. Break your chains. Each blow feeds me."
His vision blurred. For a moment, the battlefield melted into ash and fire, the Void King towering over him, laughing.
"Karl!" Lira's voice snapped him back. She grabbed his arm, eyes wide. "Stay with us!"
Another hound lunged. Karl roared and swung, his fist connecting with a sickening crunch. The creature shattered.
His breath came ragged, sweat dripping down his face. Every strike, every flex of muscle, felt heavier than before—like the Void King's words were sinking into his bones.
But he couldn't stop. He wouldn't.
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The last hound fell beneath a barrage of spells from the professors, its shadowy body dispersing into nothing. Silence followed, broken only by the crackle of fading magic and the ragged breaths of survivors.
The courtyard was a ruin—stones cracked, scorch marks everywhere, students pale and trembling.
Mistress Elowen lowered her wand slowly. "They should not have been able to breach the wards. Not so soon."
Her gaze swept the crowd—and landed on Karl.
His stomach dropped.
The whispers had already begun. Students looked at him, their eyes wide, fearful.
The sparkless one walks among you.
Karl clenched his fists, his jaw tight. He wanted to shout that it wasn't him, that he hadn't let them in. But the words caught in his throat.
Because deep down, a part of him wasn't sure.
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That night, while the professors reinforced the wards and the students huddled in fear, Karl stood at the edge of the courtyard, staring into the forest beyond the walls.
The shadows there seemed thicker. Watching. Waiting.
He whispered to himself, "I'm not yours."
But in the silence of the night, the Void King's laughter echoed back.
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✨ End of Chapter 7 – ~2,220 words
This chapter delivered:
The first real monster attack (Void Hounds breaching the wards).
Karl, Lira, and Jax's first battle as a team.
The Void King speaking directly to Karl during the fight.
Suspicion from the academy growing heavier on Karl.