The violent commotions upstairs grew louder and more distinct as Katherine stood there clutching her wounded side.

Magic spell callouts echoed from upstairs, which was then followed by blasts of wind that rattled the walls and crackling sounds of lightning that lit up the stairwell with brief flashes of light.

Then one after the other the sounds of windows shattering rang out from different rooms above.

Katherine forced herself upright and waved off Piers who had moved to support her. "I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth. "I need to check upstairs."

She climbed the stairs with Piers following close behind and when she reached the upper floor she found Elena stepping out of her room while panting aggressively with sweat dripping down her face.

"I don't know what got into Innis," Elena said breathlessly.

Kayden emerged from his own room with lightning streaking across his body in crackling arcs and he held up a short knife with a black leech impaled on the blade.

"I might have some idea," he said. "That thing got into Oliver who made it out through the window."

Elena's eyes widened when she noticed the captain's bloodstained nightgown and she immediately began casting. "Goddess Embrace," she said and greenish aura of light enveloped Katherine's wound.

Katherine's expression looked puzzled then turned into realisation as the pieces came together.

"That thing on your blade has taken control fo them ," she said to kayden, then turned address the other mages who had gathered in the hallway. "Everyone look around and account for one another."

The mages moved quickly through the rooms and checked each space before returning with their reports and it became clear that only Bernard, Innis, and Oliver had been taken.

Kayden had managed to kill his parasite before it could latch onto him properly.

Elena spoke up again with concern written across her face. "Before Innis left she said their main target was the elf but that this body would do just fine."

Kayden's expression shifted again, hearing that Innis had also been taken.

Katherine frowned as she processed what Elena had just told her but she couldn't make sense of why Laela would be a target when she wasn't even here. "I don't know what that means," she admitted, "but we're going to find our people."

In that moment very loud explosions erupted from different parts of Dragonhold city and the sound carried through the broken windows, as flames lit up on roofs, in multiple locations.

The blasts came from other guild halls, from the Arcane Spire, and from the palace itself.

Within minutes the mages of Ravens Grave had filed out of their building behind the captain, with some of them managing to throw on parts of their uniforms, while others had not bothered.

Katherine herself had only grabbed her sword before leaving while Piers had managed to pull on his trousers but nothing else.

The moment they stepped outside they froze at the scene before them.

Mages floated in the air above them in formation, with their faces turned downward toward the guild.

Elian, Ambrose, Talen, and even several guild masters hovered among them.

At the front of the gathered mages Cassian floated with his arms crossed and a cold smile on his face.

On the ground below stood Bernard, Innis, and Oliver alongside other possessed mages and every single one of them bore those black line markings on their faces while devious smirks revealed their clawed teeth.

Cassian's smile widened as he looked down at Ravens Grave. "I've always hated this guild the most," he said with venom in his voice. "I'm going to make sure every last one of you is dead before midnight falls."

He paused and his expression turned somber as he raised one hand. "Kill every one of them."

——

When Aiden teleported away from Dellheim, his arrival placed him hovering high above the city and what hit his sight first made his breath catch in his throat.

Flames rose from buildings across Dragonhold, sending thick smoke into the night sky while the orange glow of destruction spread through the streets below.

"What the…" he whispered as his Dragon's Sight stretched through the city and took in the full scope of the devastation.

His enhanced vision locked onto the bodies of Ravens Grave members lying motionless on the ground in front of their guild hall and he teleported instantly to appear beside them.

"No no no no," he repeated as his dragon form receded into something more humanoid without the tail, wings, or dragon face but still retaining scales and claws across his body.

His enhanced hearing strained to catch the sound of heartbeats but he heard nothing and the silence was deafening.

"No… they're dead?" he said with widened eyes and in that instant he created several avatars that materialized around him in a circle.

Each duplicate held a replicated Life Restoration Potion in hand.

The avatars moved immediately toward the fallen members of Ravens Grave and each one knelt beside a body to cup their heads gently and pour the potion into their mouths.

The original Aiden cradled Elena's head in his arms as he tilted the bottle and let the liquid flow past her lips.

"Please work please work," he whispered desperately because this sort of loss was not something he was sure he could bear right now.

His dragon side currently suffered the possibility of him losing Cronyssia, and now was he about to lose the ones that anchored his humanity?

The gaping wound in Elena's chest began to close and flesh knitted back together as the potion took effect.

A smile broke across Aiden's face and he felt this wave of relief wash through him.

Elena's eyes snapped open suddenly and she gasped as her hand flew to her chest where the wound had been only to find smooth skin beneath her fingers.

Her expression shifted from confusion to shock as she realized she was alive.

The others jolted awake in the same manner.

Each of them woke to find Aiden staring down at them before their hands flew to the places where they'd taken finishing blows only to find nothing but smooth skin beneath their fingers.

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