Chapter Thirty Six

Aerilyn

Chaos erupted around them as glass rained through the crowd. The window at the far edge of the ballroom was completely shattered as large shadowed beasts entered from the night. The hounds all had wings and were larger than the ones she’d encountered thus far. The winged ones were less common than the large beasts that ran on the land. She couldn’t count how many entered the ballroom at once. It all happened so fast. Azazel had been several feet before her and was now rushing towards the chaos with his sword drawn. The people of Korth screamed in panic as they attempted to run from the beasts. Aerilyn watched as one swooped down and grabbed a woman within its talons. In a split second, the hound lifted her towards its mouth and easily bit her right in half.

It took everything within her not to throw up as the blood rained down on all of them. She grabbed her dagger from her thigh quickly, but it felt completely useless. She’d killed hounds that had been on the ground and half the size of the ones circling overhead. The dagger wouldn’t help her with anything during this attack. Everett was grabbing for her, throwing his arms around her waist as he shielded her body from the attack. The screams still rang out around them, replacing the music that had been playing previously. She kept her dagger in her grasp, looking up at each circling beast. They took turns swooping down to grab the completely helpless people. None of them had weapons to defend themselves.

“We need to find Blaise and get out of here!” Everett shouted over all the noise, trying to tug her away from the window where everyone else was headed to move deeper into the palace. There was a part of her that wanted to run. These people had despised her only minutes before the attack. They’d given her dirty glances and excitedly watched her kill one of her close friends. She couldn’t help but feel some sort of sympathy for them. The citizens of Korth were completely helpless in an attack against the hounds. She dug deep within herself and debated the decision. She let out a breath before shaking her head at him once. “I can save them. I won’t let hundreds of helpless people die,” she pulled away from his grasp, staring into his eyes. “Run. Go find Blaise and get to safety. Just trust me,” she begged, her bottom lip shaking. She wasn’t sure if it would work. What she was about to do was going to risk so much. She could kill the entire room of people, but they were dead anyway if she didn’t try.

Everett tried to protest, but she turned on her heel and ran towards the chaos. Within seconds, the crowd came in a wave towards them, separating them in a sea of bodies. She was unable to see if he had followed her instructions, but she refused to turn back. She left the man behind without a word, running towards where Azazel had disappeared in the crowd. She spotted him swinging his sword at each hound that dipped down to grab someone. A few got away from his blows, while others were knocked from the air with a spray of black blood. The ballroom was a mess of blood and death. Bodies scattered the ground before her, causing her to stumble as she got closer to Azazel. She saw a hound begin to swoop in her peripheral vision, heading right towards her. She ducked down quickly, shielding herself as she curled into a ball. It angrily roared before flying back up towards the ceiling as it missed her.

Aerilyn knew it was now or never. She had been practicing using her light for this exact reason. She tried to find every ounce of confidence within her as she called to her magic. It only seemed to come to her in the most stressful or painful situations. Within moments, her hands began to glow with light. She felt her skin warming as the power spread through every inch of her. It felt more controlled than it had been the night she’d been attacked. The power had been overwhelming and so foreign to her. It felt more familiar as she sucked in a deep breath and placed her focus on the winged hounds before her.

“Azazel!” She screamed for him, his attention quickly moving to her. The panic in his expression was evident. He was afraid. The king of Korth was afraid. His gaze moved to her hands and he gave her a small nod. He ran towards her with his sword drawn. The moment he reached her side he let out a heavy breath. “Do it, Aerilyn. I’ve got your back!” Azazel yelled over the screams, their eyes locking for a moment. She never thought she’d be in a position where she trusted Azazel to guard her back. The selfish bastard was the type to stab you right in the back if it meant it benefited him. But for some reason, she did trust him then.

Aerilyn let everything bubble within her for too long. She forced herself back to the night when the two men had come after her, the night she discovered her powers. She channeled those same emotions, letting the fear and pain consume her. She couldn’t hold back the power any longer as she pointed both hands toward the hoard of hounds flying above them. A scream ripped through her as a hot light exploded from her palms. The hounds echoed back in pained howls as the light began to obliterate each of them. They turned to ash under the beam of light coming from the girl. Some tried to fly back out the broken window, fighting to escape. Her entire body began to shake as she let out every ounce of the light. When she finally felt it all drain down, she collapsed to her knees gasping for air. She felt arms grab her and a hand touched the side of her face. Her eyes met Azazel’s pair of green ones, worry written across his gaze. “How the fuck did you do that?” He let out a breathy chuckle, but there was no amusement behind his tone. She shook her head once, knowing he’d question her more later.

“Go help your people, we can discuss it later,” she waved him off, not wanting him to focus any more of his attention on her. He stared at her for a long moment, she could see him contemplating listening to her. Finally, he bit his lower lip and pulled away from her, rushing into the crowds of sobbing people. She looked around the room to see the aftermath of the damage that had been done. People lie bleeding and crying over their loved ones. There were too many bodies to count. Each of them was so mutilated it was almost impossible to identify their features. She’d never seen something so tragic. She’d thought Brinley’s missing limb had been the worst sight she’d ever seen, but it couldn’t even compare to the sight before her. There were body parts scattered throughout the floor. The silver walls were now stained with black and red blood. The ballroom they stood in would never be the same after that night.

Aerilyn focused her attention on the various people who were still alive and bleeding out. Some had received injuries from the shattering glass while others from the hounds. She moved to the man closest to her, examining his injuries. He had several claw punctures in his right shoulder that oozed with blood. “It hurts,” he whispered with such raw pain in his voice. Her heart broke for the man and the people who had shown her such hatred. “I’m going to help you, it’s going to hurt but I need you to stay still,” she explained as she slowly moved her hands towards his shoulder. She sucked in all of her air and begged for the light to come back to her hands. She prayed to anyone who would listen that she could help save these people. Her fingertips began to glow and she found herself smiling in satisfaction. She pressed her palms into the wound, attempting to drown out the man’s winces in pain.

After only a few minutes, the wound was completely healed and the man’s face was no longer pale from the excruciating pain. He looked at her with wide eyes, confusion within them. “Why are you helping me?” He questioned, his lips pulling into a tight line. “Nobody deserves to die, even if none of you have shown me kindness. I expect nothing in return for saving you. I just hope you will remember this,” she offered him a friendly smile before pushing to her feet and examining the bloody mess for someone else who needed her help. She didn’t give the man time to respond before she ran towards a mother grasping a smaller figure to her chest.

The mother held the young girl, rocking her back and forth carefully in an attempt to comfort the child who cried in pain. The girl had a large shard of glass lodged into her chest that was profusely bleeding. She had several other cuts across her arms and face from smaller pieces of glass, but Aerilyn decided that those would have to be fixed later. She kneeled beside the two to get a closer look at the glass that was dug into the girl’s chest. “Can you help her?” The mother asked with hopeful eyes. Aerilyn nodded her head quickly. “I just need you to hold her still for me,” she explained as she quickly tore off a piece of fabric from the edge of her dress. She balled it up in her hand and used it to shield her skin as she grabbed the glass. She pulled it from the girl’s chest, evoking a horrifying scream from the child. She swallowed her fear as she placed her hands directly on the wound and again prayed for her powers to once again work.

The mixture of the mother and child’s cries was enough to destroy someone’s soul. It pained her to be around so much anguish. She wished she could help the entire room all at once, but she had to focus on one person at a time. Her hands were warm as she worked on healing the wound before her. The child’s cries slowly began to fade as the wound closed itself up. The mother watched with wide eyes, wiping away her tears as she realized what Aerilyn had done. The wound no longer existed. The bleeding had stopped and it was as if she had never been injured in the first place.

“Thank you!” The mother cried out as she hugged Aerilyn quickly. The hug only lasted a moment but it was more than enough for her. She knew that the woman was truly grateful for her help, it was written all over her face. “You did so good, little one. I’m proud of you,” Aerilyn smiled, rubbing the girl’s hair before she stood and scanned the room once again.

That was how Aerilyn had spent the next hour. She continued to go from person to person in hopes of healing any injuries that she could. The ones that had injuries too extensive to save, she sat with them and held their hands while they slipped away. She told them how strong and brave they were, whispering sweet nothings to bring them some sort of peace in the chaos around them. Each life that slipped away weighed heavily in her mind. She knew that all of their faces would remain engraved into her mind for as long as she would live. At some point, the other healers had joined them, but their skills weren’t as strong as Aerilyn’s. It took them much longer to heal someone as compared to her. She was weak and stumbling as she helped the final person that she could find. Her body ached everywhere, but she still scanned the mess once more to ensure that nobody else needed her.

A warm hand touched her shoulder and she quickly turned to see who it belonged to. “You must rest, miss. Your magic is surely drained. Thank you for everything that you’ve done,” the woman smiled at her. She had seen the woman in the crowd helping with the other healers. She didn’t know what her name was, but she was too exhausted to ask. She only nodded her head before running her hands over her face. She made her way to the ballroom doors to return to her room. As she made her way through the mess of bodies, she felt her heart clench. Aerilyn kept her head high and walked the rest of the way without looking back, in fear of what pain it may bring her to see the aftermath of it all.