Chapter 92: What Is Happening?

Nymeria was standing near the bed in the Infirmary, with her arms still a little stiff from the long day.

She looked at the boy in the wheelchair by the open window and let out a quiet breath.

"Thank you," she said. "Even though you literally scared me out there..."

Richard turned his head with a teasing smile visible at the corner of his mouth.

He then murmured under his breath, just loud enough for her to hear.

"Nymeria... the Queen B... worrying about me. I must be one hell of a lucky guy."

Nymeria narrowed her eyes.

"It is not funny. Worse could have happened."

Richard shrugged one shoulder with the smile still on his face.

"But it did not."

He raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the cards on the small wooden table between them.

Nymeria looked at the cards, then back at him as she then dropped her hand away from her hip and let out a sigh.

"By the flames... you will never change."

She walked over, pulled out the other chair, and sat down.

Richard chuckled once as he picked up the card with both hands and started shuffling the cards the way they did in the betting houses.

He then dealt five cards each without looking up.

They picked up their hands.

Richard studied his cards for a second, then said while he rearranged them.

"So... what about the Starweaver boy?"

Nymeria did not look up from her own hand.

"What about him?"

Richard placed one card face-down on the table and drew another.

"I do not know. But if I did not know my cousin well, I would say there was something between you and the Starweaver boy."

Nymeria’s fingers stopped moving as she stared at him from across the table.

"What gave you the impression there is something between us?"

Richard leaned back a little in the wheelchair as the teasing smile returned, but softer this time.

"There was definitely tension on that representatives stand before you went into the Wildland."

Nymeria shook her head and laid down two cards.

"You are overthinking it and you saw wrongly."

Richard made a low sound in his throat.

"Hmm."

He played his last card. Five matching symbols stared up from the table.

He won.

Nymeria stared at the cards for a second, before Richard started gathering them again for the next round.

Richard spoke again while he studied his new hand.

"You can say whatever you want but i know what i saw."

Nymeria did not answer right away. She discarded one card, took another, and kept her eyes on the table.

"You saw nothing, cousin."

Richard let out a chuckle as he looked at his hand, smiled, and dropped his last card on the table. "Gold dragon. I win again."

He leaned back with a satisfied look.

Then the whole Infirmary shook.

It was like a giant hand had grabbed the building and thrown it sideways.

Glasses rattled hard and the open window slammed against the wall and then flew all the way open with a loud BANG sound.

The cards scattered across the floor.

The table legs scraped and Richard gripped the arms of his wheelchair.

Nymeria stood to her feet quickly.

Both of them turned to the window at the same time.

Outside, the sky was a bit dark.

Thick grey smoke covered the academy grounds.

Zinc roofs were falling off buildings and flying through the air like paper.

Trees were bent and almost to the ground. Small stones and broken wood were also flying past the window.

Up in the sky, a huge purple symbol burned in the sky.

Nymeria and Richard said at the exact same moment.

"Holy flames..."

Nymeria’s voice dropped lower.

"It’s them."

She moved quickly to the window. She grabbed both sides and slammed it shut.

Running footsteps were sounding at the Infirmary hallway

"Someone get the rune channelers now!"

Outside the Infirmary was worse.

Reynold had been walking near the main yard, still waiting if he could spot Nyx.

The ground under his boots suddenly shake violently.

Reynold staggered.

The buildings were shaking, windows were exploding outward.

A wooden baord flew past Reynold’s head and smashed into a wall.

Cadets were screaming and running in every direction.

Some fell and some landed on top of each other. Dust and broken pieces of roof filled the air.

Suddenly, a strong blast of wind pushed Reynold right off his feet.

​BAM!

Reynold was thrown off his feet. His shoulder slammed into a stone wall.

​"Urrgh..." Reynold made a low, painful sound as he tried to get back up.

Reynold stood up and held his arm up to shield his face from the flying dust and broken pieces.

He raised his head a little to see the rune channelers standing in a circle in the middle of the yard.

Their hands were moving fast. Orange light gathered between their palms. It was trying to form a glowing barrier in the air.

Professors ran past, shouting over the noise.

"Everyone to the safe house now.!

Safe house?

What the hell was happening?

Reynold took to his heels quickly. His legs still felt shaky, but he forced them to run.

He turned toward the academy gates and started running.

"Aurion!" he shouted into the wind. "Pyreus! Thornox!"

Before he even reached the open gates, a deep roar sounded beside him.

Aurion dropped from sky with his wings half-open.

Reynold did not slow down. He jumped, grabbed the leather saddle, and pushed himself up.

Aurion kicked off the ground the second Reynold settled on him.

The gate guards were not there so no one tried to stop them.

Behind them, two more roars sounded.

Pyreus and Thornox burst from the smoke, following behind..

Outside the academy, things were even worse.

​Houses were broken, fires were burning, and smoke was everywhere.

Aurion dive to the right as a large piece of roof came spinning toward them.

The broken zinc missed them by just an inch and smashed into the ground below with a loud CRASH.

Reynold twisted in the saddle and looked back at the fallen roof.

What the hell was happening?