The forest turned into a battlefield.
The first wave of skybeasts slammed into Jorin's electric barrier, wings snapping and talons screeching as sparks erupted in every direction. His lightning carved the air, bright arcs scattering across the clearing and throwing beasts back into the branches, but there were too many. For every one that fell, two more dove in.
The students huddled behind him, their crude weapons trembling in their hands. Some swung wildly when a beast got too close, others froze entirely, their fear rooting them to the earth. Feyla's water shaft lashed out, catching one skybeast and hurling it aside, but even her arms shook under the strain.
Jorin roared, his voice raw. Lightning exploded outward in a wave, blasting three skybeasts out of the air, their bodies crashing into the dead trees with bone-splintering thuds. The force rattled Kael's chest, but even through the chaos he could see it—Jorin's knees dipping, his breath coming ragged. The great instructor was burning out.
Another beast broke through the storm and raked its talons across his arm. Blood spattered the dirt, and Jorin staggered back.
"No!" Feyla screamed, water spiraling defensively around her, but her control faltered.
A skybeast slammed down near the students, wings thrashing. One boy cried out as talons ripped across his shoulder. Another was knocked sprawling, his core pouch spilling across the ground. Panic broke their line.
Still Jorin stood tall, sparks raging, holding back the tide with nothing but sheer will. His eyes burned, locked on Kael even as another beast slammed into him from behind, claws sinking deep into his back.
The instructor bellowed in pain, unleashing another desperate wave of lightning that shook the clearing. His gaze snapped back to Kael, as if screaming without words: Do something.
Kael's blood ran cold. His grip on his dagger tightened. He could feel Nathan's voice whispering in the depths of his mind: You cannot keep hiding. Step forward, or they all die here.
His hood fell into his hands before he even realized it. With one motion, Kael yanked it over his head, shadows crawling along his arms like living smoke.
Then he stepped.
The world blurred.
One instant he was standing among the students. The next, the ground cracked beneath his boots as he appeared in front of Jorin, his shadow blade exploding to life in his grip. Purple and crimson light bled from the weapon, dripping like molten flame, hissing as it touched the dirt.
The dive-bombing skybeast screamed down toward Jorin, wings cutting the air like scythes. Kael met it head on.
His blade rose in a blur, slashing through its throat in a single arc. The beast's body split, wings spasming as it collapsed in a heap, blood spraying across the clearing.
The air itself shuddered.
A wave of heat and force burst outward from the strike, sending a shockwave through the clearing that threw dust and dirt into the air. Students screamed, blinded, coughing.
No one could see.
But Jorin could.
Through the haze, his eyes caught the figure standing tall where the beast had fallen. A figure cloaked in darkness, his face hidden, but the mark on his arm glowed faintly beneath the fabric. And in his hand burned a weapon of shadows, dripping violet flame, alive with power.
Then he moved.
Faster than Jorin's eyes could follow, the figure leapt into the air, blade flashing. One skybeast fell, its wing severed clean in a single strike. Another shrieked as Kael's blade pierced its chest before he vanished again, stepping across the battlefield in a blur.
Students gawked in disbelief, still blinded by dust and fear. They only heard it—the thunder of wings, the cries of beasts dying one after another.
Jorin staggered back, his wounds forgotten, his breath ragged. He tried to track the boy but could barely keep up. Each movement was a blur, each strike absolute.
Kael landed on a branch high above, shadows coiling around his body. The next beast lunged, beak wide, and Kael was already moving, his blade carving through its skull before it hit the ground. He sprang again, cutting through wings, throats, hearts, until the sky itself seemed to bleed.
The storm of red-scaled monsters thinned in moments.
Each beast struck the earth with a crash that shook the clearing, dust pluming into the air until the ground was littered with corpses.
The students clutched one another, wide-eyed. They couldn't see the figure, not fully—not in the haze. Only Jorin bore witness, his jaw clenched as he stared into the storm of dust and shadows.
And still, Kael moved. His body screamed in protest with each step, every muscle fraying at the edges. The power was tearing him apart, but Nathan's voice was steady in his mind. Do not stop. Finish it.
The last skybeast shrieked above. It swooped low, talons spread wide, aiming for the terrified students at the back of the group.
Kael appeared in its path, cloak snapping in the wind. His blade carved upward, splitting the beast clean through its chest. It crumpled mid-flight, body crashing into the dirt with a final, echoing screech.
Silence.
Dust hung thick in the air. The students coughed, blinking desperately to see what had happened.
And through the haze, Jorin alone saw him—Kael, his hood drawn low, his shadow blade dripping with light like blood. His chest heaved, his body trembling. He stood amid the carnage, alone, like a figure torn from nightmare.
Then the blade flickered, fading into smoke. Kael staggered, his knees buckling. The hood slipped, shadows retreating. His body gave out, collapsing into the dirt.
Jorin's heart pounded—not with fear, but with the weight of revelation. He had seen. He alone had seen.
The boy they called a Blank had just slaughtered twenty beasts as if death itself had walked among them.
And no one else knew.