SYSTEM ASCENSION

Fayera’s tentacles tightened around Claude’s arms as another convulsion ripped through him. His heels dug furrows into the dirt, teeth jamming together with a sickening force.

”It’s fine,” she said, though the tone in her voice said otherwise. ”It’s normal. It happens every time he transforms beyond a minor shift. His body can’t keep up with the change since he does it less.”

”Normal?” Davon yelped. ”This is what normal looks like?!”

”Every time. It passes.” She swallowed. ”Usually.”

”Usually,” Kael repeated flatly.

”It would be better if his mate were here.” She said.

”We’re his mates though.” Davon replied.

”Not that sort of mate, Davon.”

”What else is the definition of a mate?”

”I meant his spouse. Wife if you’re using a popular term.”

”I’m sorry what?!” Kael yelled. ”He’s married?! I thought he was supposed to be a teenager!”

”He’s a teenager. Mate bond isn’t age driven or a legal binding.”

”That makes no sense!”

”Okay, okay, solutions.” Quil crouched, hands hovering over Claude’s shoulders and not quite landing. ”Do we hold him down? Keep him warm? Cold? Should someone put something in his mouth?”

”Not unless you want a missing hand,” Fayera snapped.

”Then what do we do?”

”I’m thinking!”

”Think faster!” Davon said. ”We’re in the middle of an invasion.”

”Hey, guys, I need...”

The voice came from the slope above them. All four froze. Tiana stood at the top of the rise, one hand still raised mid-wave.

Her eyes swept the clearing, the scattered bodies, the blood, the iron spikes. They landed on the boy shaking in Fayera’s arms.

”...what happened to Claude?”

Nobody moved. Fayera’s mind went blank, then rallied. ”His ability,” she said. ”It backfired. This is the aftermath.”

”His ability?” Tiana started down the slope, slowly, eyes darting to the bodies again. ”Since when does his ability do that?” She waved vaguely at the carnage.

”Since today,” Kael said. ”Big day. Lots of stress.”

Davon nodded far too hard. ”Very stressful.”

Tiana stopped a few steps away. She looked at Claude’s blackened veins, then at the four of them, then at the gouges in the soil. Her mouth opened, closed, and opened again. ”Okay. I’m going to pretend that makes sense, but we have a bigger problem.”

”What is it?” They chorused.

”Don’t you feel it?”

With the sudden silence, they began to notice that the air was hot. Extremely hot.

”What?” Fayera glanced around.

”Is that...” Kael muttered.

”Tyler.” Quil completed.

”What happened to him?” Davon asked.

”I think he faced some pretty strong opponents and went all out.” Tiana replied. ”Now, he has lost it, and even the ground is melting!”

”That sounds like a problem.” Sienna muttered.

”Yeah, but what are we going to do about Claude?” Kael asked.

The air above them cracked at that time.

A man stood where there had been nothing a heartbeat earlier. Tall, composed, his dark coat settling slowly around him. He did not look at anyone. He looked only at Claude on the ground.

Every one of them went rigid.

Then, in perfect, panicked unison, they bowed. ”Your highness!”

Richard tilted his head in a languid manner.

”My lord, where have you been?” Sienna asked. ”I haven’t seen you since we sound the bell.”

”I was...having breakfast.”

”...”

The students exchanged glances. It sounded unreal.

They glanced at Sienna, watching the woman nod.

Was this normal? Eating in the middle of crisis? Did he seriously don’t care or he trust the people to handle it.

Richard walked forward without another word. He crouched, slid one arm beneath Claude’s knees and the other behind his back, and lifted him as casually as if he were picking up a sleeping child.

The effect was instant.

Claude’s spine unbent. The tremors faded from his limbs. His ragged breathing smoothed out, in and out, slow and even, and the black veins along his neck sank beneath his skin like water draining from sand. His head rolled against the man’s shoulder, and he went completely limp and unconscious.

Fayera let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. ”He’s...”

Richard’s eyes finally lifted. They passed over each of them, one at a time, unreadable, and settled on Fayera for the length of a heartbeat.

Then he was gone in a blink. Only a few leaves drifted down where he had been standing.

The silence stretched.

”Did that just happen?” Davon whispered.

”Yes,” Kael said faintly.

”My lord is controlling Claude’s energy to calm himself down, since he’s unconscious.” Sienna said.

”Controlling someone else’s energy?” They found it baffling.

”C’mon. Let’s go find the one that is frying everything.”

They all moved in union, taking any direction they could find. It wasn’t hard to track Tyler. Just trace the hottest location.

They got closer and found it harder to advance. The air was boiling.

”This is a problem.” Quil muttered.

”What do we do?” Fayera asked.

”You, with the wings,” Sienna pointed to Kael. ”Fly above and—”

”Mother!”

They turned to the new voice. Rory was approached with a speed too baffling for her age.

”I can’t find him! I can’t find him!”

Sienna caught her. ”Calm down. Calm down. Now, who are you—”

”Their objective is to kill the ones with the mark. They already got two. Fin is missing.”

Sienna’s expression hardened.

She glanced back at the students.

”We’ll handle things.” Quil said.

She nodded, and ran off with Rory.

The students proceeded by themselves, until they arrived at the place.

It was simply called a disaster. All eyes were wide. Mouths opened.

They couldn’t get close and just stayed on the rock and watched.

There was Tyler. Or at least they recognised him because he uses the flame.

Now, he wasn’t using the flame, but he was the flame.

He was burning.

The ground beneath his feet was melting and their was this sickening grin on his face.

The people around him. The melting ground. The hot unbreathable atmosphere. The burning trees. Everything that got implicated, were just collateral damage.