Wiping mud off his face, Aidan took a deep breath and started pulling the demons’ energy closer to him, piece by aching piece.

The demons let out a wail of pain as muddy saliva flung through the air, splattering Aidan. He refused to move an inch from the spot he was currently at. Pulling away and redirecting the demons’ dark essence required a focal point during the process otherwise it would all slip away and destroy anything at random.

“I’m stronger than you,” Aidan spat as he looked one of the demons in the eye. “I’M STRONGER THAN YOU!”

All at once, the demons rushed forward, their jaws snapping, saliva dripping, promising the end for Aidan.

He planted his feet further in the ground, brought his arms slightly forward, spreading out his hands, and arched his back as he used his entire body to create a circular motion while keeping his feet firmly in place.

A dark, black mass was quickly approaching Aidan as he continued to move his body in a steady rhythm, taking deep, measured breaths.

Already he could feel sticky sweat forming on his body despite the mud and water clinging to him. His entire body shook as the weight of the demons’ essence fell onto his invisible aura, threatening to consume him.

With a painful yell, Aidan brought his arms above his head, palms facing the sky, and spun his hands in a fast figure eight, causing the dark mass of energy to quiver in anticipation. He brought his hands down to his sides in a forceful wave of power, creating a force that pulled the dark energy closer before spewing it outwards and attacking the vicious demons.

Just as he did this, one of them broke away before the dark mass ripped through its companions’ bodies, shredding their skin and sending large chunks of their body flying through the air, landing with a sickly splash in the water.

Panting heavily, Aidan sucked in deep gulps of air while turning to face his opponent. Part of its sickly colored head was caved in from the blast, exposing part of its bloody skull. Dark blood covered the left side of the demon.

Aidan pulled out a knife, not trusting his magic to protect him anytime soon. He pulled his feet out of the mud and took a few shaky steps forward before a wave of nausea hit him. He could feel the aftereffects of the dark energy that briefly touched him. An acid taste filled his mouth.

The demon let out a long hiss, its tongue flicking out in anticipation. It slithered forward, using its arms and legs to add more force. Its blood red eyes were piercing in the soft glow from the ward. Thick, putrid poison spilled from its claws, turning the water around it a dark, inky black.

Aidan knew the underside of the demon was soft and squishy. His goal was to get underneath it before it killed him.

“Easier said than done,” Aidan muttered as he lowered into a crouch, his entire body protesting the action.

The demon let out a roar before it coiled its body and launched itself at Aidan. He only had just enough time to push himself forward and flip onto his back before the demon landed on top of him, its claw raking through his chest.

Letting out a yell, Aidan thrust his knife deep into the demon’s chest and pulled backward, slicing its underbelly in half before pushing it off him.

Aidan sat up in a daze, surrounded by bloody chunks of demon while water and mud penetrated his clothing with blood and poison oozing out of his chest. Moments later, a bright flash of yellow blinded him before he heard shouts of surprise.

The last thing he remembered was seeing Fabien’s silver eyes, bright and full of anger.

~~~

Ravick and Fabien stared at the mess surrounding the ward in different forms of silence. It had taken them twenty minutes to move locations and portal to the ward Aidan had traveled too.

One of Ravick’s teams communicated that several wards were down which was interfering with portal travel. Waves of the city’s magic was rolling in, causing interference and demanding dominance over the place. Add that to the apparent presence of demons and the entire system was falling to pieces.

Fabien had managed to cleanse Aidan of the poison and stop the bleeding. It was another matter entirely when trying to move him. The wound wouldn’t clog and the slightest twitch to Aidan’s body caused his wound to start bleeding again.

Ravick had created a giant shield around them, blocking out the rain, before examining the ward and the mess surrounding it. Without the pounding of rain, they were able to see the full destruction of Aidan’s successful attack.

Chunks of demon floated on top of the standing water mixed in with dark, gooey blood and thick saliva clinging to anything solid. The water formed into a shallow pool around the ward, collecting most of the carcasses and crud that surrounded it.

“The good news is that the ward is still strong and intact. Although it feels as if the smaller one, a mile away, has been broken and consumed.” Ravick stated when he made his way back to Fabien.

Fabien met the older man’s eyes with flat ones. “Has this ever happened before?” 

Ravick’s eyes flashed in anger. “If you’re trying to lay blame—” 

“It’s a simple question.” Fabien replied in a cool voice. “Something went wrong and we need to figure out what happened. Do I need to repeat myself?”

Ravick regarded Fabien in a different manner. When he had first met him, he didn’t seem threatening. But now, Ravick was beginning to question that. “Just once when the university was founded. That was over a century ago.”

“What monitors the wards when you aren’t checking them?” Fabien’s hard voice demanded as his eyes focused on Aidan.

Ravick narrowed his eyes, anger fizzingly just below the surface. “A new form of magic tech was developed three years ago and has slowly been perfected since. It’s programmed to alert us the moment there’s a disturbance.”

“Did an alert go out for each ward that was breached?” Fabien’s silver eyes swam in controlled anger.

“I can’t answer that on grounds of confidentiality.” Ravick shot back. 

Fabien’s eyes snapped to Ravick’s, cold and sharp. “Aidan almost died because of magical interference. If you don’t tell me, I will find out on my own and take matters into my own hands. If you’re worried about me leaking details, don’t. I have no intentions of revealing what happened here. And neither should you.”

Ravick forced himself to stand his ground. It had been many, many years since he felt so much anger and wrath from a single person. “What are you implying, Zale? I have to report what happened.”

Fabien narrowed his eyes as he turned his attention back to the mess surrounding the ward. It must have taken most of Aidan’s strength to kill the first three before killing the last one. He was starting to understand why Aidan didn’t want to rely on magic when he learned to fight. In this moment, he proved beyond words that he wasn’t always going to have access to magic during a fight.

“Who created the technology?” Fabien demanded. 

“I did.” Fabien glanced behind him and met eyes the color of flames. He wondered if these people knew that allowing their specialty to show in their eyes was more detrimental than helpful.