Through Smoke and Ashes

Thirty Nine||Whispering Shadows

It was as if my voice had been the spark. Before, the Kellso had lingered in eerie silence, frozen like shadows pinned to the roof. Now, they moved, a tide of teeth and claws and anger, surging across the Academy's rooftop with a terrible, rhythmic pounding. Their battle cries tore through the morning air, a chaotic symphony of rage that grated against my nerves like nails on stone. Each scream, each stomp, made the ground beneath me shiver.

"There's... many," Naxan's voice rumbled in my mind, low and tense. I let my gaze lift, peering through his eyes, and my chest tightened with a cold, familiar dread. The roof of the Academy seemed alive, rippling under the weight of the Kellso. They swarmed like insects, and yet, for all their fury, they stayed put, hovering along the edges of the roof, their claws clicking on the stone tiles.

I didn't understand. They weren't leaving the roof. They couldn't breach the Academy unless they leapt onto the balcony where we now stood, the vast drop stretching beneath us. What were they waiting for? What were they planning?

Then I froze. A sharp, crawling sensation pricked across my skin, as though every nerve were alive. I felt it—Kayne's father. His presence pressed against me like a shadow crawling under my skin, twisting and hissing, venomous and unnatural. The sensation was the same I'd felt with the Kellso: a dark heat crawling across my body, a warning I couldn't ignore.

Naxan's roar thundered in my mind, urgent and jagged. "Twoleg! Out! Now!"

"We need to get off this level—now!" Ronan's voice cut sharply through my thoughts, and he yanked at my arm. I barely registered his words before nodding, moving as fast as my legs would carry me, my heart hammering in rhythm with the Kellso's assault above. Danazzo and the others followed, their movements tense, each step careful yet hurried.

I stumbled at the assault against the Academy, heart hammering, and forced myself to move. Clawing my way forward, I gripped Aelric's arm, letting his steadying presence anchor me as we tore down the stairs. Ronan and Danazzo surged behind, boots pounding on stone, echoing through the hollow halls of the Academy.

The walls around us shuddered violently, dust and loose stones raining down as another impact struck the Academy's façade. The ground beneath us quivered, threatening to give way, and I had to press a hand against the wall to keep my balance. The old stones groaned like they were alive, protesting under the relentless assault of the Kellso and the dragon screeches above.

I could feel the Academy tearing itself apart around us, each crack and groan amplifying the panic in my chest. The smoke from the fires outside crept in through shattered windows, stinging my eyes and filling my lungs with the acrid scent of charred wood and stone. Even the distant cries of dragons battling in the skies above sounded hollow and urgent, pressing against my ears with the insistence of warning bells.

Somewhere deep inside, I knew this was only the beginning. The Kellso weren't just attacking—they were testing us, pushing us. The venomous sense of dread crawling along my skin wasn't imagination. It was a predator's warning.

That's when it hit me, why I was so confused about the Kellso being on the roof, why the army wasn't fighting back. They weren't fighting because their battle hadn't begun. It was their intention; to wait and let us kickstart their plan of action into motion. We were helping the enemy.

"Aelric, call off your dragon. We're helping the Kellso get inside!" I shouted as I looked to the roof of the Academy. Aelric's face went slack with realization, which turned into a blank stare as he communicated with his Ceosil dragon, Tezzy.

Nax, already hearing about my findings, rushed to deter the other dragons from their warpath, but he was too late by this time. I watched from Naxan's eyes as the surrounding dragons of all different colours sent out multiple blasts onto the Academy's rooftop.