“Let me get this straight. You accidentally traveled to the hereafter, encountered a weird horned druid, a reaper, a myriad of shades, and a giant snake,” Alex said, still waiting for the punchline.

“That about sums it up, though you forgot I also met the spirit of Crann Eolais.”

“Yes, silly me. How could I forget that?” Alex muttered, fighting off the impulse to pull his hair. “Does anything you do entail something cute and fluffy like bunnies?”

Like on cue, Coney jumped up on the bed, wrinkling his nose at Alex.

“Nevermind, what about Denesha?” Alex asked.

“Oh, she was mad. I think she was ready to ground me for life. She kept wondering how I have been able to survive until now with my luck,” Blake answered, rubbing his ear like he had phantom pains.

“I have to agree with her, this is just insane.”

“What about you? You were also attacked,” Blake pouted, and Alex rolled his eyes.

“Once, you keep drawing trouble to you like a magnet.”

“Nevermind that! I wonder what that druid meant by me standing in the dark spot. The spirit of Crann Eolais said I should heed his words.”

“You said it was a spot where nothing grew, the earth was black?” Alex asked, feeling an unpleasant shudder run through him at the memory of the entrance of the temple he and Hadrien had ventured into a month ago. It couldn’t be that place.

“You know of it,” Blake said, leaning closer, eyes wide and expression eager. Alex turned his gaze away, remembering that Ahriman didn’t want the place known.

“I do, I have been there. It is a bad place and you should avoid it.”

“Why?”

“People died there, and dark magic taints the place,” Alex finally forced his eyes to meet Blake’s. “Besides, Ahriman has closed of the temple-“

“Temple?”

“Yes, an old one. Built by a cult who worships Zarazen, the archon of taint. He created dark magic. They killed people down there. Ahriman didn’t want anybody to know.”

“And still you told me.”

“Because I don’t trust Ahriman. The guy has far too many secrets besides, I know you. You will try and find the place and now at least I can say that I warned you, “ Alex said, grinning when Blake pouted. His friend was truly a magnet for trouble. Half of them were caused by himself.

*****

Walking over the field, Jaxon shuddered. The air had started to grow colder and the field, though still green, was hard from the morning frost. Several of the players were chatting cheerily, joking and hollering at the girls who just ignored them.

At the corner stood a strange couple, Ronan stood talking to Ahriman. That combination made him nervous and Nightmane agreed. It didn’t help when Blake suddenly went up to them with Coney in his arms. The boy between the two men with big eyes before the green emeralds turned to him, making it obvious who they were talking about.

With a frown plastered onto Jaxon’s face, he tried to sneak closer but was hit with a wall of air. Falling back, he rubbed his nose and looked over at the trio. Blake looked ecstatic; his eyes gleaming as he showed off his new spell. Jaxon would be angry but the happy smile on Blake’s face ensured that he only huffed in pretend annoyance before standing up and walking over to Aeron and Haley, standing there laughing their asses off.

“It is not easy to eavesdrop when your boyfriend is a witch,” Aeron said slapping Jaxon over the back.

“Tell me that isn’t suspicious!” Jaxon grumbled nodding at the strange trio.

“Surely, but that doesn’t mean that they want you hovering over them like a nasty mother-in-law,” Aeron replied, clearly not taking his side in this. Jaxon just snorted, trying to strain his ears to hear their conversation but the wind was blowing the wrong way today. Nothing but the sound of horny boys could be heard.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” But Jaxon’s bad feeling had to wait because Freya and Kai had just arrived to make this day go from bad to worse.

*****

Feeling the tense air as Blake walked along the hall, he couldn’t help but to halt and frown at the students. They were whispering eagerly and some seemed upset. “What is going on?”

“You still haven’t heard?” Ahriman suddenly said, popping up from nowhere.

“Heard what?”

“That red-haired kid you saved last year from Ronan Walsh-“

“Dale?”

“Whatever his name was, he has asked permission from Elliott to learn magic. He will start to learn fire magic alongside you, as he apparently has the fire element.”

“Why would th-“ Blake silenced, as the meaning hit him. “Doesn’t shifter’s abhor magic?”

“Exactly, the thought of a shifter learning magic is sending the fools into a hissing fit,” Ahriman said, gesturing to some shifters walking past with clear annoyance written on their face.

“If Dale starts to learn magic…” Blake’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “That means that I finally have a rival!”

Ahriman just stared at Blake, not saying anything for a while before,” You do realize that despite learning magic for a year your skill level still lays at barely able to lit a candle without burning yourself. If this continues, Dale will be better than you in just a month.”

Blake’s face darkened at the thought. “I’m working on it!”

“Please do, I am tired of you almost burning down the dorm.”

“You are immortal!”

“Yes, but for some reason, Elliott keeps scolding me like it is my responsibility,” Ahriman sighed, seemingly recalling the memory and Blake frowned, wondering when Ahriman had met Elliott.

“Speaking of you, where is the temple of Zarazen you tried to hide from me all these years?”

Ahriman flinched, not ready for the change of question. He started to babble something about the clock and a meeting and in a puff of black smoke, he was gone.

Apparently, asking for the truth was one way to hunt the Archon of Strife away.

*****

With a shudder, Alex walked along the dark path. Patrolling at night was a bother, the moon was barely full making it hard even for his cat’s eyes to see anything and the cold never agreed with him. He watched the river, streaming down with such a speed that he wasn’t able to hear anything else.

On the other side was a thick forest, the trees moving eerily in the wind making ghastly shapes in the gloom. Alex’s eyes turned to the path he was walking; he had been waiting for Hadrien the past hour but he was late. Worry trickle into him at the thought of something happening to the bloody frog, but he shook it off remembering that Hadrien has been almost always late for all their patrolling.

Not out of laziness but out of diligence, he always has to look extra carefully at all the imagined threats in every nook and canny. Not to mention help ladies walk home in the dark, or maybe, Alex imagined, help an old lady over the street. The latter was not likely considering that Vale Academy doesn’t have any old ladies, but if there was then Hadrien surely would stop to help her over the street. Even despite this area having almost zero traffic. The old lady was more likely to be attacked by a badger than be run over by a car.

His eyes turned back to the river, only to feel a force push him from behind. The water was suddenly far too close for his liking, and he could feel its cold plash onto his face. The currents pushed him under and he waved his arms, grimacing as he remembered that he couldn’t swim.

His eyes gazed up, to see a shape above the surface. It watched him without any intention of helping, which confirmed Alex's suspicion that he had been pushed on purpose. Feeling his consciousness wavering, he tried to claw himself to the surface but the surface still was a long way from his face. Now cursing himself for not learning how to swim, he tried one last thing.

He swam down, putting his legs against the stony ground. His cat was in full panic, hating the water, but Alex ignored it and focused on putting all his strength into his legs. With a force not human, he pushed himself off the bottom. His body catapulting out of the water, and into the air with a roar.

His mind was already clear when air filled his lungs, and he focused on the shape that had started to run. The speed was not human, and neither was the movement when the shape avoided Alex’s fist and jumped up into the trees. Fleeing by jumping from branch to branch.

Alex tried to follow the brisk shape, but his entire body had grown rigid because of the cold and he fell forward. The adrenaline leaving his body and his vision going blurry. He could hear Hadrien’s voice from a distance. “Alex?”

Then another voice,” Is he okay?”

“Mon p’tit chaton is strong.”

“Did you see who did this?”

“Non.”

“We need to get him back, can you carry him?”

Alex could feel himself floating, groaning as he could feel Hadrien’s warmth fill his body and he curled up to him. He was forcing himself to stay awake, wanting to grimace when his bloody cat took a comfortable nap in his mind leaving this mess to him.

He has no idea how long he was gone, but when he finally got his sense back he was staring at Blake’s worried eyes. Along with a rabbit laying on his chest, no wonder it was so bloody hard to breathe.

“Get off me!” Alex muttered, trying to push the rabbit of but Coney just scrambled back on top of him.

“Blake, the cat is awake!”

“Principal Price, Alex is awake!” Blake shouted so loud that Alex groaned, laying an arm over his eyes.

The room was suddenly filled with people and Alex felt too tired to look at who it was.

“Are you okay Mr. Lloyd?” Elliott’s voice reached his ears, filled with worry.

“That is a bloody dumb question,” Alex replied, finally looking at them. Elliott stood, leaned over his bed, watching him with worried eyes. Behind him stood Kai, with a furious expression crossing his every feature while Hadrien and Joshua just stood there looking grim. Joshua was holding onto Hadrien’s shoulder like to stop him from pouncing on Alex.

With the cold still seeping through his entire body, he wouldn’t mind the wolf pouncing at him, but he guessed that was out of the question with everyone in the room watching. Maybe he could kick them out.

“A bit late on the year to take a swim, Lloyd,” Kai said.

“I was pushed, your damn wanker,” Alex hissed, not caring to be respectful with the coach. Not that he ever has.

“Why?” Blake asked, his voice shaking and eyes big as he grabbed onto Coney and squeezed him to his chest. “I mean, that is a very nasty joke if-“

“It wasn’t a joke, it was an attack,” Hadrien’s said, his teeth clenched. “Alex can’t swim.”

The room fell into silence, “Yeah, and the attacker knew that which is in itself a red flag. There are, as far as I know, only three people alive who know that fact. My mother, Hadrien and-“

“Your father.” Elliott finished his sentence.

“Exactly. Though I suspect that wasn’t my father, he wouldn’t do something like this on his own,” Alex groaned as his body was still stiff. “He is too much of a coward to take the risk.”

“Which means that he has support from the inside and that is worrying, but why would he want to kill you?” Elliott said. “He has shown no signs of wanting to do so before.”

“He didn’t want to me, he wanted to knock me unconscious so I would be easier to handle. A physical attack is doomed to fail so he most likely thought that holding me down under water until I lose consciousness was a better idea,” Alex said, feeling shivers at the memory of the shape. Standing there, waiting for something. He had the thought already back then, but now when he had time to breathe, it made sense.

“Did you find any scent of who did this?” asked Elliott, turning his gaze toward Hadrien and Joshua.

Joshua shook his head, “Non, the moist from the river hid most of it and the ones that we were able to catch was from a multitude of shifters. All patrolling the same path.”

“I feared it would be so,” Elliott muttered, rubbing his temples before turning his gaze back to Alex. “Since you are confirmed to be a target, I would appreciate it if you didn’t walk around alone. Choose a few people you trust to always walk with you, please, and try to keep close to campus.”

Alex just waved him off, too fatigued to argue, and just turned around and fell asleep.