Serene’s POV

I woke up in the Infirmary amidst the chaos. Glancing around me I found all beds were occupied and saw new faces tending to my wounded friends who lay on the numerous beds.

"Serene, how are you feeling?" Kilamin’s voice made me turn towards him, worries deeply lined his handsome face. He was here, he heard my call.

"I am fine, what happened? Where is Zeph?" I craned my neck to find him but couldn’t.

"Meliana escaped after your attack and took Arlo and a few others with her. A lot of vampires were captured and the creatures she brought along were mostly killed." Kilamin explained while watching me closely.

"I lost control Kiliamin, did I hurt my friends and Senseis too?" I remembered the energy sizzling through me and hitting everyone in the hall.

"No, on the contrary, I think your power has evolved. It was able to detect friends from foes and only affected the enemy while lifting the mind control from all those she had put under. Your power freed their mind and Artins arrived on time as well. Sadly, they couldn’t capture Meliana." Kilamin placed his hand on my arm as if reassuring me.

"Any losses?" My heart thudded against my chest as I asked this question. He stayed quiet, not wanting to answer me.

"Who?" Uneasiness began to rise in my stomach.

"One of your seniors and Salillah." A sharp shriek escaped my throat and tears began to spill from my eyes. I couldn’t believe Salillah was gone, her smiling face danced in front of my eyes.

"How?" I whimpered, choking on my words.

"Her brain couldn’t handle the mind control for a such long period and when you freed her mind, she found eternal peace. Your senior succumbed to his injuries after fighting creatures." He replied, his voice seeming to be coming from far away as he offered me his arms and I openly cried on his shoulder.

"What about the rest of my friends? Are they all safe?" I inquired in between my whimpers, I could see Mikasim, Ralph, Tanzil, and Ayrden on different beds. Most of them were sleeping.

"They are, stop worrying."

"Where is Zeph?" I was unable to locate him and I knew Kilamin was evading my question.

"He is fine, just rest a bit so you can replenish your energy." He laid me down on the bed, this made me restless. Something wasn’t right.

"Kilamin, I want to see Zeph," I told him with defiance.

"Serene, he is still unconscious. We have called some renowned healers and they are trying to heal him. You have depleted too much of your energy, rest a bit and I will take you to see him." His words fell like lightning and burnt me to my bones. The last I remembered was Meliana forcefully putting him under her mind’s control and sucking his blood. What had she done to him?

"Take me to him, I beg you...please." I jolted from my bed and clutched Kilamin’s shirt, banging my fists on his chest.

"Serene, get a hold of yourself. I will take you to him, that I promise but you are not strong enough yet. Have a little patience." He tried to calm me down but my mind was too restless and all I could think of was him.

Time seemed to have stood still for me for every second felt like an eternity but Kilamin stayed with me. Mariela Sensei came twice to check up on me and asked:

"How are you feeling? I have bandaged the wound on your neck, it will take some days to heal. You lost a lot of blood, so I brought you this. Drink, it will help your body replace the blood you have lost." She handed me a glass full of amber-coloured drink. I took it from her and inquired:

"How is Zeph? And when can I see him?" Her gaze instantly went to Kilamin and he shook his head.

"He is better and soon, and you will see him soon." She patted my hand, trying to convince me.

"How are Shumal and Lavaria Sensei?" I asked seeing both of them were not in there as well.

"Both of them are well, they are tough. Your energy removed their mind control and they were able to go unscathed, sorry we couldn’t reach you on time. Once the barrier broke, the whole hell was let loose. There were so many creatures that attacked us simultaneously that it took us a while to realize it was just a distraction to reach you, people. Her goal was to take as many novices with her as possible. But we were able to push her back without letting her take anyone with her." Mariela Sensei explained and I could see the number of bruises on her face and hands.

"I figured that she must have you people occupied. How is Artins Sensei?"

"He is putting the barrier up with other warlocks, witches, and the ones who are experts in this field, making sure that Institute is safe and no creature is lurking." She explained with a little smile.

"And are all my friends going to be alright?" I averted my gaze to look at them, they were all fast asleep. Ralph had a bandage on his head while Ayrden had it on her hands.

"They will be, all of them are alive thanks to you." Mariela Sensei tried to reassure me.

"Not all of them Sensei. We lost Salillah and I am not sure what state Arlo was in but I couldn’t reach him anymore. She has zombified him." My words left a stabbing pain inside my heart, thinking about them made my head hurt and my eyes burn.

"Serene, your shield kept them alive. From what Shumal told me, you singlehandedly kept your shield up against her mind control for 15 minutes. Not even Famios or the top slayers can do that. It’s impossible to fight her mind control and yet you did. Never were you under her for even a single second today. It’s a big accomplishment and see how far you have come. I understand your frustration for not being able to save everyone but you saved a lot of lives today. Give yourself some credit." She gently squeezed my hand, letting me know she was proud of me. But I didn’t feel any pride, all I felt was remorse and frustration as I started back at her with helplessness.

"Kilamin, stay with her. I need to check on others." She instructed before leaving and he nodded at her.

"Drink, it will help you with energy replenishment as well." Kilamin slightly pushed the glass toward my mouth and I slowly began to drink.

After a few agitated hours, I asked Kilamin again:

"Can you take me now?" And he watched me helplessly. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Serene, I will take you but you have to promise you won’t try to heal him." I knew this was exactly the reason he wasn’t taking me.

"Why? You expect me to see him suffer when I can end that suffering?" I glared at him.

"I expect you to act rationally for now. You are bearly healing yourself, how will you heal him? There are wise people there trying to help him. Leave that task to them." His forehead creased as he gave his verdict of what I should do.

"For once feel my pain, Kilamin. My heart is so wounded right now." I pleaded.

"I understand your pain, doesn’t mean I should stop using my head. If you can restrain yourself from using your power on him for at least the time being, then I will take you." This pained me more than I could bear but I knew he would go to any length to prevent me from using my powers and I was too tired to fight him.

"Alright, take me to him. Let me at least see him." I had to see Zeph and after that, I would figure out a way to heal him, in case of healers failing.

Kilamin helped me to my feet and placed my arm on his shoulder so I won’t fall and he would easily be able to guide me.

He took me to our common room and entering through the door, I realized it had been turned into a temporary infirmary. I could see five beds had been lined in a row, some injured slayers were resting on the three of them, one bed was empty and there was Zeph on the last one.

His eyes closed and his hair ruffled, there were numerous wounds on his face and his leg was bandaged too. There was a childish innocence on his face as he seemed to be sleeping. My heart shrieked in pain seeing him like that and I wanted to take him in my arms.

Two people were standing with him, an old woman and a middle-aged man. I had never seen them before and I wondered who they were.