Free Web NovelChapter 18: The First Deaths
Warning: The Concordia Program officially begins. This Chapter contains graphic violence, blood, injuries, death, and scenes of distress.
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Panic was the brain’s way of informing the body that something had gone terribly wrong, and that survival had become the only priority.
The problem was that when twenty people panicked at the same time, survival became a competition.
And competitions always produced losers.
"MOVE!" Maverick Nightshade had boomed, not, "Run!"
Perhaps in the future, the wolf prince should be more specific about which direction people were supposed to move.
Aria barely had time to think before she felt her arm nearly dislocate from her shoulder. Maverick had grabbed her and hauled her to her feet with enough force to make her stumble before pulling her behind him protectively.
"Stay behind me and don’t leave my side!" he barked, his eyes wide with urgency.
Aria looked around. There was nothing but screams and chaos everywhere as the herd slammed into the courtyard like a living avalanche.
"Stop running! Stay behind the shifters!" Maverick roared, sounding more like a battlefield commander than a professor.
Aria didn’t even realize he was still holding onto her until she found herself being dragged from place to place as he shouted orders to the others.
Unfortunately, Maverick might as well have been singing a lullaby. Most of the girls weren’t listening. Panic had taken hold of their reasoning, and they were making the very mistakes that got people killed.
It wasn’t until the first bull crashed into one of the shifters that Aria finally understood the strategy.
The beastman planted his feet and met the charge head-on. Muscles bulged beneath his clothe as he fought to hold the creature back, his boots carving trenches into the ground while the bull tried to force its way past him.
If only the humans stayed in the center, the shifters could protect them. Unfortunately, try explaining that to a crowd that had already lost its mind.
Several girls had broken formation entirely. Others were running in random directions. Charlotte was among the worst of them, screaming at the top of her lungs while sprinting across the courtyard, her red gown billowing behind her like a giant warning flag.
The bull noticed her immediately.
"Go away! Leave me alone!" Charlotte shrieked as the creature thundered after her.
The distance between them vanished frighteningly fast.
"Somebody save me!" she cried right before her heel caught the hem of her dress.
Aria winced.
Oh great. The girl was dead.
Or so she thought.
The next second, Maverick exploded into motion.
One moment he was beside her and the next he was a blur. Aria nearly lost her footing as he dragged her along behind him.
"Dude! Let go!" she shouted.
There was no way she could keep up with that speed. Maverick either didn’t hear her or didn’t care.
Charlotte was on the ground now, desperately crawling away while the bull closed the remaining distance. With a terrified scream, she squeezed her eyes shut and threw her arms over her head, waiting for the impact.
Except death never came.
She slowly opened her eyes only to see the bull mere seconds away from her. Except it was frozen solid.
Beside her stood the most beautiful beast she had ever laid eyes on.
"Daddy!" Charlotte cried.
Then before Aria and Maverick could process how much the girl had completely lost her mind, Charlotte launched herself at the wolf prince and clung to him like her life depended on it.
Maverick froze instantly.
Charlotte didn’t even seem aware of the effect she was having on him. Right now, the only thing that mattered was holding onto her savior. freeweɓnovel.cøm
Aria was the only one who noticed because it was wildly inappropriate.
"Let go of him right now!" she ordered.
Instead, Charlotte tightened her grip. She didn’t seem to notice the way the blood had drained from Maverick’s face or how every muscle in his body had gone rigid with tension.
Unknown to them all, a certain red-haired dragon stood on a balcony overlooking the courtyard, watching the entire scene unfold. To him, it was pure entertainment.
"That bastard Caelis really does know how to put on a good show," Rhydian chuckled, his eyes dancing with amusement.
Tamara stood beside him, observing the chaos with the same morbid fascination.
Neither of them cared much about the fate of the humans.They could die for all they cared.
Well, Rhydian was mildly interested in one human.
Aria.
And so far, she was falling short of his expectations. How long was she going to hide behind Maverick like a frightened rabbit?
Although, the fact Maverick was holding onto her was interesting. The bastard barely tolerated handshakes. He certainly didn’t let people touch him. Yet he had dragged Aria around the courtyard himself.
Interesting.
What was so special about the girl? Rhydian wanted to know. That is, assuming she survived the herd.
Back in the courtyard, it didn’t take long for another bull to mark them as a target.
The creature pawed at the ground repeatedly, lowering its head as it prepared to charge.
"Oh no..." Aria felt the breath leave her lungs.
The bull exploded forward.
"Incoming!" Aria screamed in warning.
At the very last second, Maverick snapped out of whatever frozen state he had been trapped in. He tore Charlotte off him and shoved both girls aside. Then he turned and met the charge head-on.
The impact was brutal. A horn ripped across his side and sent him skidding several feet across the courtyard.
"Maverick!" Aria screamed.
Blood immediately stained his shirt.
But she barely had time to react because another bull thundered past so close she felt the rush of air against her body. Aria threw herself aside before its hooves could crush her.
"And now the little mouse is trapped between monsters," Rhydian murmured.
Below, Aria had been completely separated from the wolf prince and dragged into the heart of the commotion.
This had to be a nightmare.
Aria desperately tried to locate Maverick, but everywhere she looked there was screaming, running, and blood.
So much blood.
Not all of it belonged to the humans and beasts. Some of it belonged to the bulls as well. With the situation completely out of control, some of the beastmen had resorted to killing the animals.
She watched as one of them ripped a horn straight from a bull’s head. The creature bellowed in pain and outrage. Then the beastman drove the jagged horn upward beneath its jaw. The broken point burst through the top of its skull before he punched his hand straight through its chest. The bull collapsed instantly.
The sight was horrifying.
However, if there was one image that would remain with Aria forever, it was the sight of a bull lifting one of the girls into the air with its horns.
The girl screamed.
Then the animal tossed her aside like discarded trash. Her body struck the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
Aria’s heart twisted. She knew without a doubt that the girl was dead.
It shattered something inside her.
Even though Aria knew this was a possibility, she hadn’t been prepared for the reality of it.
All of this for what?
To integrate with the beasts?
Was it worth their lives?
How dare they use them like this?
While she was having her internal crisis, Aria spotted Brittney.
The girl was hiding behind one of the beastmen, using him as a shield without realizing another bull was charging toward her from behind.
"Brittney!" Aria screamed her name, but the girl didn’t react.
Her voice was drowned out by the chaos so Brittney couldn’t hear her, and she was seconds away from being killed.
Aria couldn’t let that happen.
She could make it. That was the lie she told herself.
Aria ran like she had never run in her entire life, her heart pounding violently against her ribs.
"What the hell is she doing? Has she lost her mind?" Rhydian’s brow furrowed into a deep frown. Even he knew that was a suicidal move.
Tamara frowned as well, but not because of Aria’s actions.
Rather, because of the sudden interest the dragon prince seemed to have developed in the girl. She had been watching him this entire time, and out of all the humans below, Aria was the only one who had managed to hold his attention.
That was concerning.
Good thing the girl was about to get herself killed. Tamara smirked.
Rhydian wasn’t the only one who had noticed. Maverick had as well, and he was already moving, trying to catch up with her.
But Aria got there first. Her wide eyes locked onto Brittney, who had finally noticed her.
Without hesitation, Aria shoved the clueless girl out of the way. Then she turned to face the bull.
The creature was only moments away from impaling her. There was no time to run or think. Aria didn’t know what came over her.
"STOP!"
The command ripped from her throat and the bull skidded to a halt.
It was not a gradual stop, nor hesitation. It simply stopped.
Its massive horns hung inches away from Aria’s body while dirt and stone sprayed across the courtyard from the force of its halted charge.
Silence seemed to descend for a fraction of a second. Aria stared at it. The bull stared back.
Her heart hammered so hard she thought it might burst from her chest.
"What the hell?" Rhydian lost his composure.
Except the dragon prince wasn’t the only one watching.
Maverick Nightshade saw it too.
And somewhere else within the academy grounds, a certain basilisk saw it all play out.
