Celeste’s POV

*****

"... Sierra from the witch’s side has been eliminated," Professor Varrick finally announced as a flash of light covered the witch I knocked out, teleporting her out of the arena grounds.

Not only that but two students rushed to the girl from the audience stands, frantic and worried as the professor busied himself with ensuring she wasn’t badly hurt.

I subconsciously hid my arms behind my back, chest tightening with guilt.

I did that.

I hurt someone. Badly.

"Celeste!" A yell snapped me out of my reverie in time to see a fireball spell heading for my face.

With widened eyes, I dodged, watching the ball of flames whoosh past me like a cannonball. It slammed into one of the force dome’s edges, causing an explosion of flames that washed away the rest of my disorientation.

When I searched for the person who gave me the heads up, I saw Lysandra, back in her human form and standing in front of me with her claws out.

"You’ve got to focus," she warned, half concerned and half irritated. That first half confused me until she added. "I’m already in a lot of trouble with my dad and the school. There’s no way on earth and Hades that I’m losing the points this match will give me."

Her eyes glinted when she glanced over her shoulder at me.

Teamwork.

It felt so weird but for once I was willing to push our differences aside. And fight.

"Not like I’ve got the best grades in this hall anyway," I mumbled, putting on a fighting stance as I backed her. "I’ll destabilise enemies with my magic while you break them with your wolf strength."

She let out a thrilled laugh. "Gladly."

I pinned my gaze on two wolves charging straight at us. One shifted into a beast with dark green fur while the other stayed in her human form, claws drawn out.

Like that was supposed to make me quiver.

A muttered spell and a couple of hand gestures created a dent in the ground right underneath the shifted wolf. He tripped and the other one was forced to leap back as more dents appeared around them.

"Spin!" I yelled, tapping Lysandra once on her waist.

We switched positions, her facing the wolves and me fixing my attention on the opposite end of the arena. Lysandra snarled, transforming into her wolf and darting like a bullet at the wolves.

"Are they... are they actually working together?" Someone from the audience exclaimed.

"Look at them move!"

"They’re coordinating themselves like they’ve done this several times before."

Truly, how Lysandra and I were able to work so fluidly was beyond me. Perhaps our contrasting approaches to fighting unintentionally balanced each other.

On the other side of the arena, the chaos was in abundance. Two of the remaining Hunters stood against the senior year hybrid, trying to tire her out with evade, strike and repeat movements.

Luther and Caelum were still in a stalemate, the Alpha surprisingly keeping up with my brother despite his magic. I knew that could quickly change if Caelum shifted.

One of the remaining witches had his sights on me—the person who flung a fireball at me earlier. The other one—Inari—faced off against the other Hunter.

Leaving Azrael as the only one not fighting.

My muscles tightened with preparation as the male witch chanted a spell. That’s why he hadn’t attacked since the fireball.

He was preparing a bigger attack.

"Celeste?!" Lysandra called out behind me, voice distorted because of her wolf form. "Are you ready? These guys aren’t playing."

I looked over my shoulder for a bit, noticing how she faced off against the two wolves. She headbutted the unshifted one away before narrowly dodging slashes and bites from the other one.

’Watch out!’ my wolf warned, guiding my attention back to the witch.

His spell activated—a magic circle composed of multiple spinning runes glowing with a bright red light. The circle was right above me, pulsing like a bomb waiting to explode.

Then—

—Hundreds of red energy bolts rained upon me.

My heart jumped to my throat, adrenaline pushing me to raise my hands. A force bubble of silver light materialised around me, holding strong against the barrage of energy bolts.

"Nathaniel eliminated!" Professor Varrick thundered.

I snapped my neck to another part of the arena in time to see Inari standing over an unconscious Hunter, a club made of orange energy slung over her shoulder.

Her eyes blazed like twin suns as she angled her head to me.

’Shit!’ I gritted my teeth, giving out more energy to make the silver force bubble hold longer.

Sound was greatly muffled outside the force bubble. But for a few seconds... time seemingly slowed around me. The red bolts slowed mid-air.

I blinked once with confusion only to see nothing but darkness around me, replacing the entire hall and everyone within it. Even my force bubble and the energy bolts disappeared.

"Is this what you’ve tied your destiny to?" A familiar voice dripping with condescension echoed from every corner. "Participating in petty squabbles like you’re one of them?"

... Nyx!

Cold swept through my very soul as I swerved my head desperately in search of her. Nothing.

"No matter how hard you try," she went on. "No matter how much you struggle to fit in... you’ll never belong to this world."

I stumbled, every breath leaving me in shuddering gasps. "J–Just leave me alone."

"They’ve called you weak for so long."

"Stop."

"Never believed you’d be anything other than a wolfless failed princess."

"Please."

"It’s time to wake up, Celeste Bloodoak." The words were louder. More pressuring. "Embrace it. The chaos. The darkness. All that you are."

Tears split down my cheeks, hot and uncontrollable. I collapsed to the floor, placing my hands on my head.

"Stop... stop... just... STOP!"

Instantly, the darkness retreated like it was never there, giving way to the blinding light of the combat hall.

But that wasn’t all.

The spinning runic circle above me shattered like glass. The ground around me shook. A wave of silver energy erupted from my chest, swatting every contestant like flies and dissipating the force dome into light specks.

Terrified screams rippled through the hall as the lights switched off completely.

And at the centre of it... was me.

I lowered my head, a loud ringing hitting both my ears while the professor boomed:

"The exercise has been dismissed! Effective immediately."

Hugging my arms to myself, I shakily raised my head. Looking past the destruction I’d left in my wake.

Standing at the other end of it was Azrael. He had an arm over his head, his coat flapping wildly around him due to the shockwave.

His horror was clear despite the glasses shielding his eyes.