Aftermath | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 35

Felix POV

I wake up in my bed, confused. I can tell it's evening, the room is only dimly lit by the fireplace instead of the stained glass window up above. I stretch out in my bed, barely fitting my entire body. They really don't make these things big enough for people over 6 feet. I reach my right hand up to my grab both temples on the sides of my face. I having a pounding headache, and I try to recall the events that took place yesterday.

Helping that girl out in the infirmary, speaking with y/n. Getting chased down by y/n. Learning about Xaiden.. My body shoots to an upright position. Xaiden. So many emotions rushed through me yesterday, I'm not sure I know where to start with them now. But I do know one thing, I have to confront him. He had lied to me my whole life. He had manipulated me into using my magic, making me believe I was helping people when in reality I could have been harming them. He groomed me into this powerful puppet. A play thing.

I stand up and grab my black robe. I'm still in my clothes from yesterday, a long charcoal sweater and black trousers. I had instantly crashed from exhaustion when y/n walked with me back to my dorm, and I really do not give a damn to change. I have to leave, now. I step out into the common room and realize it must be supper time, there are no students in sight.

I make my way out of the castle and around the greenhouse. I let out a loud whistle and hear screeching as my thestral rounds the corner and flies directly towards me. A gift, from my.. Xaiden, which I'm realizing now was some sort of sick prize for having witnessed death due to him. The fact that no others can see him makes it easier for me to summon him and leave undetected. The thestral lands before me. "Shh, it's alright. Keep quiet." I coax him while I pet his leathery, bare skinned head.

I reach to firmly grab underneath his right wing, using it to holster myself up and onto his back. I lean down low and whisper to him, "Fly, Hades." He gallops forward and kicks off the ground with his feet, gliding into the night sky. I use the long ride to gather my thoughts, I'm still in disbelief that this could actually be true. Xaiden has always been different, he's experimented and studied different types of magic for as long as I've known him. That's how I figured he was able to help me with mine. Little did I know he was trying to use me to control it. Was it for this reason? Was he to use me with his dark wizards to fight and kill innocent people?

I squeeze my eyes shut at the thought. Then I open them back up when my nose catches a smell. I should be smelling the salty air as I near the coast, but all I'm smelling is smoke. Not your normal smoke coming from lit fireplaces. This is stronger, thicker. I open my eyes quickly and grow weak at what I'm seeing. What was once the small hamlet of Marunweem has now turned into a nightmare. There are people below, dueling and drinking. Fighting with each other. The magic they're using is bolting in green. Dark magic. One shoots another wizard and kills them, and the others continue laughing at this. Half of the livestock are now dead rotting corpses that have been eaten away. There's dark wizards everywhere, if they're not already residing in the huts that are left over, they've built large tents within the now encampment.

Hades lefts out a puff as we fly over other threstrals with glowing green eyes. Merlin's beard. "It's alright, Hades. Let's go." We veer to the right and head towards Manor Glen.

The Manor is still in tact from when I was last here, when Xaiden repaired it. But there are now more dark wizards roaming about the grounds. Hades and I land in the back, near a large maze in the courtyard. I jump off of him and storm inside the manor. I can feel the magic inside of me burning my veins as I'm headed towards Xaiden's study. There are a few wizards that turn their heads as I walk by, but I keep going. They should know exactly who I am.

I raise my hand and shoot a ball of my magic to throw open the double doors leading in, revealing Xaiden sitting at his desk. He looks worse than when I last saw him. His face is hallowed out more as if he hasn't been eating, and he looks like he hasn't slept in days. His white hair is half-tied up behind his head, leaving the rest to fall down below his shoulders. He clearly wasn't expecting me, but smiles nonetheless. "Felix, what a pleasant surprise. Come, sit." He stretches out his long hand towards the seat in front of his desk.