Larkspur | ONC 2023

Chapter 16

Still reeling in memories I get up from my place and head to the edge of the tower, peering over the stone railing. The grounds are empty. Not a soul in sight. I try to shake my phone awake but it’s dead. I might have slept for three to four hours. My eyes scan the surroundings for guards or students still looming. No one.

The shift in the bushes is so slight that even my trained eyes almost miss it. A figure in a black hoodie emerges from the bushes interspersing the Oak Grove. It raises its hand in the air and stands there for a while, not moving. Balancing on the edge with my hands, I lean forward to get a closer look. A flash of light rises like a dome from the ground and disappears high up in the sky. The familiar smell of the wild hits me like a truck. It’s like a gush of air entering a closed room, which means—shit! A shrill whistle sounds and suddenly they’re everywhere, jumping between and over the Oaks—thin four-legged creatures that look half human and half toad-like, with dirty greenish skin and awkwardly thin limbs—Noires! 

I am frozen on the spot. The nightmares of the night have infiltrated the university. It’s an ambush in the middle of the night. The earlier figure in black has deactivated the wards. It takes me a second to snap into reality. I shoot out through the trapdoor and sprint for the stairs, taking three at a time. There’s no more time for stealth. I burst through the door connecting to the B wing. The lone guard patrolling the floor looks at me like a deer caught in headlights.

“They’re here!” I scream at him.

“Who?”

“The Noires!” But he goes very still, his eyes bulging out of their socket. It’s almost like he has been stuck by lightning. I whip my head toward the railing and sure enough, there is a Noir, crouched like a monkey, its glowing red eyes sucking all the magic from the guard. “Let him go!” I scream. Firebeams shoot out from my fingers and the creature catches fire. A shrill cry rents the air like an annoying scratch of chalk on a board and the creature falls off from the railing.

The guard drops down on the ground too. He’s barely breathing. He gulps down air in gasps, trying to speak, but no sound comes. He points towards his pocket. I realise it’s an intercom. I drag it out. He takes the intercom and pushes a red button at the centre of the keypad. Loud alarms blare across the halls. A commotion rises as students rush out, most of them confused about what is happening. They think it’s a fire alarm and so they file out into the corridors and try to rush downwards. 

I look down at where the creature fell, but it was only a crisply burnt piece of black nothing. Cordelia’s words ring in my ear—humans feared fire until they learned to tame it. I sense all of my magic rushing back to me, breaking free of the reins I keep it under. The guards on the campus are rushing everywhere, panicked students making it difficult to see the Noires. But they’re everywhere. The worst part is they don’t restrict themselves to sucking magic. They can feed on humans like vampires. Another one tries to climb in my path as I start running downstairs. I shoot my magic again, incinerating it on the spot. At the same time, a slicing pain cuts through my chest like someone has slashed me with a sword. I clutch my chest and double up on the ground, screaming in pain.

The words from the book float in my vision— every time they use this power, they burn themselves from the inside. The realisation hits me like a freight train. I can destroy all the Noires and save the campus but kill myself in the process or I could just save myself and lie low. 

“You’re an assassin,” the voice in my head says “You don’t sacrifice yourself for anyone. You have a bigger motive.”

A scream tears the air and freezes my bones. A guy collapses in front of me, his throat snapped brutally by—a noir. A campus full of innocent students, mostly humans, who did nothing wrong. Who would be so desperate to bring Noires on campus and deactivate the wards? Another scream. The creature has grabbed her by the neck and sunk its teeth into her soft flesh. One guy tries to save her from the noire, but he’s flung far against the wall. 

“Let her go.” I aim at the creature and it vaporizes. The girl collapses on the ground, limp and I scream again, pain searing through me, incapacitating me on the ground.

Author's Note : What do you think will happen next?