A black… thing… shot out of the shadows, so fast that it was barely more than a dark streak in the air. Valentina felt the back of her neck tense – she knew this cat, but not like this. Not in this form.

It was still a normal-sized cat, but any natural movement had given way to an abnormal smoothness. Its eyes glowed with an inner, hellish fire, and as it snarled with a hair-raising howl, it revealed several rows of needle-sharp teeth dripping with a corrosive venom.

The first Emberwarden didn't stand a chance. The cat landed on his chest, its claws slicing through the thick leather of his neck protection like paper, its fanged maw gouging into his face. He cried out as the venom touched his skin, staggered back and fell to the ground, writhing in pain, his face nothing but a bloody mass.

"Get back!" roared one of Illumination's Essence Weavers. "Everyone back!"

The crowd panicked. Students screamed and tripped over each other as they tried to escape. Professor Emberfell, Professor Veilford, the Decan and other faculty desperately tried to bring some order to the chaos and get the students to safety.

"Over here!" Innogen hissed, pulling Valentina and Crispin behind a low stone wall. "This will give us some cover."

Valentina could already feel her lips forming into the beginning of the protective amplifying incantation Vyxara had taught her. But it wasn't necessary yet – they were still out of danger.

The cat moved with a speed and precision that had nothing to do with a real cat. It leapt from one Emberwarden to the next, its attacks aimed at unprotected areas – neck, face, the gaps between pieces of armor. Its claws left burning wounds, and where its teeth found skin, nothing remained but a bloody, bubbling wasteland of flesh.

The Essence Weavers of the Illumination tried to capture it with Ard patterns, but the cat slipped through their threads like smoke through a grate. Its body seemed to deform grotesquely at will, it was nauseating.

"By all the flames of the Martyr," gasped Crispin, "what is that thing?"

"Not a normal cat," Valentina whispered. She could feel Vyxara's presence in her mind, but the demon remained silent – had to remain silent.

A young Emberwarden tried to spear the cat with his halberd. It dodged effortlessly, leapt up at the weapon and landed in his face. His screams became gargled as the venom ate through his flesh.

"Form a circle!" the Illuminator thundered. "Drive it into a corner!"

The surviving Emberwardens regrouped, moving in a coordinated formation. Their halberds formed a deadly barrier of steel.

The cat hissed – a noise that sounded like a thousand damned souls. Its eyes glowed even brighter as it recognized the threat and then it made an impossible leap over the heads of the Emberwardens, but one of them – a particularly tall man with broad shoulders – reacted with lightning speed.

His halberd caught the cat in mid-leap. The blade pierced its body, he pulled it down and shortly afterwards several halberds pinned the cat firmly to the ground.

The creature screeched abnormally – a sound that could have shattered glass and made several people whimper. The creature's body disintegrated as its own venom ate away at it from the inside out. The air filled with an acrid stench.

"There!" shouted an Emberwarden, pointing upwards. "On the roof!"

The old gardener – no, Thereon Gladder – moved with astonishing speed over the bricks of the gardener's house while everyone was distracted, on his way towards the wall. His movements had none of the frailty he had feigned all those years.

The Essence Weavers of the Illumination responded immediately and cut his way off. Their hands moved through the air as they wove Ard patterns that shimmered through the night like crystal nets.

But Gladder was faster. With a single fluid movement, he created a counter-pattern that tore the Ard constructs apart like cobwebs. The elegance of his technique took Valentina's breath away – she had never seen anyone weave so precisely, so effortlessly.

"Impossible," gasped one of the Illumination Weavers. "Without Distilled Essence..."

Gladder took advantage of their confusion. His hands danced through the air, forming patterns that Valentina's eyes could not follow. Luvt and Wazzer Essence merged into a wave that washed the first Emberwardens trying to climb the roof off the tiles.

"Surround him!" the Illuminator roared. "From all sides!"

The Essence Weavers of the Illumination scattered as they wove a network of intersecting patterns. Valentina recognized the basic structure – they were trying to encircle Gladder in the middle.

But the old man just laughed. There was nothing human about the sound.

His next Weaving sequence was so twisted, so fundamentally wrong, that Valentina gagged when she saw it. Corrupted Essence flowed through the air like iridescent oil. Two of the Illumination Weavers collapsed, screaming, blood pouring from their eyes and ears.

"By all the flames of the Martyr," Innogen whispered in horror and nearly crushed Valentina's hand. "What kind of Weaving is this?"

The battle on the roof escalated. Essence patterns canceled each other out, sometimes even blending into grotesque new forms. Where corrupted Essence touched the normal patterns, disgusting cracks appeared in the Essence currents, like runs in a tapestry.

Professor Emberfell tried desperately to push the students back. "It's too dangerous! Everyone back!"

Another Emberwarden reached the roof but was caught by one of Gladder's sickening patterns. His screams stopped abruptly as his body began to warp like wax.

"He's too strong!" one of the surviving Illumination Weavers shouted. "We need reinforcements!"

But he was wrong. Gladder was showing the first signs of exhaustion. His movements became slower, less precise. Sweat ran down his contorted face, which looked like a grotesque mask in the torchlight.

The remaining Illumination Weavers recognized their opportunity. They used every reserve of Distilled Essence they had, their patterns condensing into a tightly woven cage of all Essences. Gladder tried to dodge, but his strength was waning.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Three Emberwardens seized the moment. They climbed onto the roof from different sides, their movements coordinated as in a rehearsed choreography, not one at a time, but all three at the same time, advancing on him from three sides.

Gladder then wove a final, desperate pattern. Valentina felt the Essence oscillating throughout the environment, swirling around them all, seeing the corrupted pattern take shape – something vile, something evil that manifested like a tumor in reality.

But he never got around to finishing it.

The Emberwardens were too quick. They threw themselves at him, one kneeling on each arm. Valentina saw the flash of a blade.

The first cut was precise and brutal. The blade severed Gladder's right wrist with a single, clean stroke.

His scream echoed across the campus, a sound of such fundamental horror that all witnesses flinched. Valentina felt it in her bones – for any Essence Weaver, losing their hands was the worst nightmare imaginable.

The second hand followed seconds later. Gladder's body reared up under the Emberwardens, but they held him fast. Blood poured over the roof tiles, black in the darkness.

"Ligate it!" the Illuminator barked. "Right away! We can't let him bleed to death!"

One of the men pulled leather straps from his pocket – they had been prepared, had known what they might have to do. Faustus had been wise not to try to defend himself with Essence Weaving. Like experienced field surgeons the Emberwardens tied off the stumps.

Gladder had stopped screaming. He lay still on the bloody bricks, his face a distorted mask of sweat and exhaustion. But in his eyes, which had once been so kind and friendly, something was still burning – an insane fire, a window into an abyss of madness.

"Bring him down," the Illuminator ordered from below. His voice dripped with satisfaction. "Careful. He has a lot of explaining to do before he burns."

The Emberwardens dragged Gladder to his feet. One of them had a sack with him, which he put over the old man's head.

As they led him over the roof to the edge, Valentina could hear his hysterical laughter.

"Get rid of the bodies," the Illuminator instructed the remaining Emberwardens. "And if there are any survivors, show them mercy. Send them to the Martyr. Let him redeem them. No one should have to endure such a ruined existence."

The rising dawn revealed the full extent of the devastation. Two of the Illumination Weavers lay motionless on the ground, blood still seeping from their ears and eyes. The cat had brutally killed three Emberwardens. They had been lucky.

Four more Emberwardens had been seized by the effects of Gladder's corrupted patterns, their bodies grotesquely deformed. One of them had survived.

He lay on the ground, as a haunting remnant of a human, half melted into a puddle. His eyes had swum in two different directions and he whimpered in whistling high-pitched tones, like a kettle.

Valentina wanted to look away, but she couldn't avert her wide-open eyes. People were vomiting.

Two of the Emberwardens went to their wounded brother to give him the coup de grace – but they did not know how. They sent a prayer to the Martyr, begged for forgiveness and thrust their halberds into the amorphous mass again and again until he made no more sound and stopped moving.

Professor Emberfell and Professor Veilford took care of the distraught students, shooing them back to their quarters.

But Valentina couldn't take her eyes off Gladder as the Emberwardens led him away. What did he know? What could he tell?

And why, by all the flames of the Martyr, was he still laughing?

~

The Decan and the professors tried to send the distraught students, who were milling around in the courtyard, back to their quarters. "Go to sleep," they admonished in a tired voice. "It's over."

But no one left. They all wanted to see what happened to the prisoners. Valentina and Innogen clutched each other tightly, Crispin stood beside them with his eyes wide open, a stain of vomit on his doublet.

The Illuminator had Gladder and Faustus brought into the courtyard. The two of them were kneeling on the hard cobblestones, Gladder's stumps bound in makeshift bandages, Faustus shivering in his soaked nightgown.

"Look!" Eastwald's voice thundered across the courtyard. "Look what's been hiding in your midst! A demon servant and his foolish henchman!" Now in the bright light of day, Faustus looked so pitiful.

The crowd was silent. Dazed.

"Corruption has been eradicated," the Illuminator continued. "But not without a price. Good men, righteous servants of the Martyr died tonight. Their blood cries out for justice!"

He stepped up to the prisoners. "You will be taken to the city dungeon. There you will confess everything – your crimes, your allies, your plans." A cruel smile flitted across his face. "And tomorrow at sunset, you will burn."

Faustus burst into tears. "I knew nothing!" he sobbed. "He gave me the artifact, I didn't know."

"Shut up, you worm!" Eastwald cut him off. An Emberwarden kicked him hard. "You'll have enough opportunity to talk."

Valentina watched the scene with growing unease. What would Gladder reveal under torture? Did he know about her connection to Vyxara? Of her manipulation of the Eye of Deceit?

She felt Vyxara's presence in her mind, tense and silent. The demon still couldn't talk about Gladder, not even now.

Her eyes wandered to Faustus. He looked so small, so lost. Despite everything he had done to her, she felt a pang of pity. The corrupted Essence in his rooms – that was her fault. She had lost control when she manipulated the Eye of Deceit. She had let the corruption leak into the university's Essence currents.

"The charges," the Illuminator announced, "are possession and trafficking of demonic artifacts. Tampering with corrupted Essence. And murder." He swept his gaze over the crowd. "Let this be a warning. The Martyr sees all. No sin goes unpunished."

The Emberwardens dragged the prisoners to their feet. Faustus stumbled, but Gladder walked upright despite the sack on his head.

The crowd parted in silence as the prisoners were led away.

"It is done," said the Illuminator with satisfaction. "Now go about your day's work. Tomorrow evening we will ignite the purifying fire of the Martyr to burn out the corruption in this university for good."

The crowd slowly dispersed. Students and professors went their separate ways, exhausted from the long night. Innogen and Crispin also wanted to make their way back to their quarters, looking questioningly at Valentina. "Are you coming?" Innogen asked anxiously.

"In a moment," Valentina replied quietly.

She stood still, her fists clenched so tightly that her fingernails dug into her palms.

She had to do something. As much as she hated him, she couldn't let Faustus burn for her guilt. And Gladder... If he knew even half of what she suspected, then...

A plan formed in her head. A dangerous, insane plan.

"That's risky, little Weaver ," Vyxara warned. "If they catch you, we're done for.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.