Orison | Celeste Academy Series BK #3

Chapter Eight ۞ Largesse

While Valeriana found her eyes fluttering close on their own as the alpha beast took the first attack, everyone else were unable to blink.

With the beasts successfully held captive in the cages of their elements, the Twelve and one extra were straining to keep their walls from collapsing from the sheer force the beasts were putting into their breakout attempts. This was the reason why they partnered up according to their abilities, to help keep up guard uniformly and prevent the unwanted escaping of their preys. Their only job now was to keep them in until the fight between Cifaro and his brother was finished. That was a lot harder than it seemed, though.

'Amril, I beg thee as thy brother.' Cifaro started as they circled each other. 'Please, regain thy sanity.'

'Is darkness not sane?' He asked. 'Is light sane? Which of it?' His eyes were slits that bled red and his scleras were black--an epitome of everything dark he was. 'Thou callest thyself my brother, yet thou showest not a bit of the strength behooving of the alpha blood. Thou art weak! In every sense there is!'

With a proud roar, the dark panther-beast pounced sharply on Cifaro, his powerful jaws opening to display a row of narrow-edged teeth that he used to gnaw at the skin of his brother. Cifaro gave a pained howl in return before shaking off the other beast, swiping his paws that left marks on the velvety fur of Amril. Thrown off balance momentarily, the alpha backpedaled and gnarred at his brother before swooping down upon him once again in a mighty leap.

"How surprising." Corvan seemed to have noticed something that amused him to the point that he had his brows rising. "It seems only a Gilerad can hurt another Gilerad. It might be something with their teeth and nails."

Zion huffed at him, flashing an arrogant smirk. "You only knew now? I already knew it wayyy before you did."

Corvan was wise during that moment not to initiate another argument between himself and Zion. With the task of keeping the beasts locked in hard enough, a distraction in his concentration would prove to be unnecessary, not to mention troublesome.

Trying to estimate the difference in power, the beast called Amril was obviously in advantage. Aside from Cifaro's frame being feeble in comparison to the alpha's, he was obviously overpowered in all aspects. Seeing the difference in strength, one would think the fight was concluded. However, Valeriana knew better than to underestimate the underdog.

"Cifaro said he was having trouble detecting their alpha's presence." Valeriana said to Genevieve. "Do you think this was only on his part?"

Genevieve was silent, unable to conclude anything on her own at the moment. Incapable of anything else except doing her current assignment, she just gave her partner a shrug and turned to watch the fight commence. Her brain was feeling strangely muddled that drowsiness became her enemy. Did she use that much of her energy a while ago?

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "I'm feeling a little strange."

"It's okay. Just relax." Valeriana answered.

With a worried glance, she looked back to Cifaro just in time to see him being thrown backwards. His back hit a spot on the hardened ice that left cracks on it as he weakly regained the balance on his paws. The whiteness of his fur made his wounds visible, a contrast of colors that made the scene all the more dramatic and unbearable for the fifth-ranker and a few others to watch.

"I feel sorry for him." Keelan muttered. "But respect him all the same."

'This beast admits that I was never physically strong to begin with.' Cifaro said, limping on one leg. 'And being one of the alphas was a sore topic. However, a being is not awarded everything by the gods. Where I am weak, thou art strong. But where thou art weak, I am strong! And with this only capability, I, Cifaro, shall bring this entire pack back to its former glory!'