na

ess held

o weakness, the nightmar

e Whispering Woods during ou

rogant and desperate to harvest a rare

ght-creepers had closed in, and I ha

mett who

mocked my

ugh five miles of brambles and howling dark, his breath ra

ene shifted

air of the Advanced

d a fissure under an unstable

atening to splash flesh-eating

yzed, droppin

, casting a dual-layered barrier with his bare left

is forearm, the corrosive acid eating

ot made

checked my f

s of Gloomfang during

med wild lycans had caug

alm, using his rich Dragonkin blood to d

ter, his robes were shredded, his ribs broke

single

his blood, and my repayment had been a roll of sev

n my sleep. "Please... d

d like that of a

a Ste

es is boring you to tears, you are entirely welco

ids tor

of midnight-blue stone, inlaid with spinning brass rings th

lean scent of crushed sage, beeswax

ugh high Gothic lancet windows, illuminating floating mote

led with

stinctive charcoal robes

eath trapped in my

the hall stood Professor Eleanor Fo

ron-gray hair pulled into an unforgiving bun,

retired thr

southern coast to c

nding before a blackboard cov

r every student dreaded. "Are you with us, or have you decided that passing yo

down at

heet of fresh, unw

unblemished, glowing

ribs with such violence I tho

reached over and s

Collette hissed

anic, her curly brown hair bouncin

s from Abyssal this morning, s

urned to being

sn't a

passive, washed out in

under my fing

k and pinched the flesh of my

g pain bloomed b

asp escape

our focus on the parchment. We are covering the Tripping Impediment hex, a staple of the practical def

r the rest o

o my eyes, spilling over my la

urying my face in the wool of my sleeves

s shook unc

t Collette's hand rest gently on my back, con

had just spent five years su

as

ment hadn'

was still locked in its

e agreement

Kowalski