Chapter 003

The Terror of Night

“Why is your skin so damn cold?” asked Jaysaun as he helped Alevier to his feet.

“We have a damn Nightstalker standing in front of us and you want to know about my body temperature?” snapped Alevier. His fists were clenched tight and his legs were shaking. On the other hand, Jaysaun was relatively calm.

“Relax, I just need my wand and my grimoire to make some fresh Nightstalker chutney,” he said with a grin. Wands were also a spellcasting medium, they contained spell formulae engraved in them which could be used to quick cast a spell, and they also compressed mana and made it easier to cast other spells. Timing was something crucial in battles, something which made wands quite popular.

“What the hell is a chutney?”

“You will know soon,” Jaysaun hurriedly began using mana to construct a spell.

“You don't have a wand!”

“That is exactly why I am trying to summon it with this spell!” Jaysaun quickly muttered a charm as the spell-model in his hands started glowing. With a flash, a ten-inch wand made out of Blackwood appeared in his hands

“You have got any last words?” Jaysaun pointed his wand towards the Nightstalker who had been standing still in the messy hallway and observing them for a moment now.

‘Stupid! Stupid!’ Alevier slammed his palm on his face. It was a goddamn Nightstalker! A literal terror of the night who has incredible physical power, agility and superior senses that overshadowed those of a human. Alevier had read about them in his 2nd year in the Academy. Not only were they physically strong, but they also did not lack much in magical aptitude. On the brighter side, their only weakness was that they were weak to light magic and their abilities were quite weakened during the daytime.

Alevier shuddered, his luck sucked more than any of Jaysaun’s girlfriends. It was still four hours until dawn. Could they survive this long?

The Nightstalker stood there as still as a statue. Suddenly, his vertical mouth started moving revealing rows and rows of small sharp teeth. Such a sight would not let Alevier sleep for nights yet to come - if he had any more nights yet to come.

After that, the Nightstalker spoke. Alevier knew that Nightstalkers could speak and we're quite sentient, but seeing it for the first time was rather terrifying.

“Greetingzzz!” it hissed. “Greetingzz Prudentia!”

Jaysaun flinched back the mention of that word, however, Alevier failed to notice it since he was busy trying to hold himself back from screaming.

“I come herez on the behalf of my mazterz,” it did not move from its place. “To deliver hiz wordz - ‘Prudentia, if thou zurvivest my underling, then thou art worthy of fazing me. If thy body lies not cold when the dawn arrives, we zhallth meet in ze near future’”

“Who is your master? Answer me!” bellowed Jaysaun, his earlier cool had been shaken.

“You worry about my mazterz name and not your life?” the Nightstalker bent his knees.

“Alevier run!” shouted Jaysaun. Alevier’s body naturally turned and began to run towards the end of the hallway where the staircase was. Alevier had no intention of abandoning Jaysaun, he would have fought alongside him if it was not for his rationality exclaiming that he would only be a burden. So Alevier did the next best thing he could do - run and find help.

“Hmm?” the Nightstalker’s gaze turned towards the fleeing Alevier. “Him? Blezz my luck!”

“I am your opponent!” Jaysaun quickly chanted a spell. He muttered under his breath, “Flamethrower!”

A jet of white-hot flames shot out of the tip of his wand. The Nightstalker casually flapped his wings causing powerful gusts of wind to blow in Jaysaun’s direction. The jet of flames could not reach the Nightstalker and instead spread out setting the adjacent tapestry on fire.

The Nightstalker charged. Jaysaun activated a spell formula in his wand and fired a translucent conical projectile out of it. The Nightstalker sidestepped and avoided it but a similar projectile appeared in his path. It slammed into his torso and threw him back. This was another reason why modern mages prefered to use wands during combat - the inscribed spell formula in the wand could be used to cast that spell multiple times unlike in grimoires which had a certain cooldown. Although there was an activation delay, it was very short So as long as you had the mana, you could indiscriminately and repeatedly cast those inscribed spells.

Another volley of ‘magic missiles’ came shooting out of Jaysaun’s wand. The Nightstalker was slightly dazed by the blow on his chest but managed to remain on his feet. He flapped his wings again, this time harder, powerful gusts of wind pushed back Jaysaun. The Nightstalker used his talons to punch into the wall and kicked himself upwards. He twisted and stepped on the ceiling. With another kick, propelled himself forward. Then he flipped while folding his wings and avoided the missiles. He landed on his feet while Jaysaun chanted a spell with an aggressive gaze.

He gave a menacing look to Jaysaun. A feeling of fear welled up in Jaysaun. His chant was stopped because he could not utter a single word. The red eyes of the Nightstalker glowed as he stepped forward. Jaysaun felt his blood run cold. His heart ran wild in his chest, he felt his legs go jelly. The Nightstalker neared and stretched out his claw towards Jaysaun’s face. His vertical mouth opened to reveal Jaysaun’s end.

But before the Nightstalker could take a bite, a flower vase came crashing onto his face.

“Argh!” the Nightstalker looked away. Water and pieces of porcelain fell on Jaysaun’s lap. A stool came flying and hit the Nightstalker on the head. He looked at the assailant standing a few meters behind Jaysaun - it was Alevier. He was chanting a spell with a spell-model glowing in his hands.

The oppressive atmosphere around Jaysaun disappeared as soon as the Nightstalker had looked away. Jaysaun quickly grabbed his wand and fired a Magic Missile. It hit the monster square in the chest and sent him flying back.

Alevier finished his chant and activated his spell model. Just because he hated offensive magic did not mean he didn’t know any. A small ice ball quickly flew out of his hands and struck the now dazed Nightstalker on its leg. The ball exploded into shards of ice and cold. A thin layer of ice spread onto his skin. The shards did nothing more than giving him a few scratches on his black hide.

Alevier cursed, that spell should have at least made him bleed.

Jaysaun fired more magic missiles, thus pushing the Nightstalker to the end of the hallway. The Nightstalker threatened to get up.

“Yez, I zlacked off a bit,” he said as he stretched out his arms and whispered something.

A rotating crystalline ball made of purple and black appeared before him. It expanded a foot or two before shooting forward.

Jaysaun clenched his teeth and finally decided to expend a major chunk of his mana, “Flame Drive!”

A stream of fire poured out of his wand coiled itself like a snake in front of Jaysaun. He waved his wand and commanded the snake-like mass if fire forward. The stream of fire opened up and quickly moved towards the incoming sphere.

All this time Alevier was chanting a spell. A spell-model glowed in his hands, he injected some Mana and activated it after the chant was complete. A bluish translucent screen opened up in front of Jaysaun and him.

On the other side of the shield, the orb and the stream of fire collided. With a deafening boom, a bright explosion occurred blowing off the roof of the dormitory. The walls were burned through and there was a gaping hole in the floor. A major part of the roof collapsed. The hallway of the first floor was now pretty much destroyed.

Through the hole in the ceiling, large amounts of smoke and dust swirled and rose in the night sky.

Alevier's ears were still ringing, his clothes were burnt and he had suffered some bruises and cuts. The force of the explosion had blown him off his feet, the shield did little to protect him. He lifted his heavy head to see that the hallway in front of him had turned into a fiery inferno. He coughed as he got up, his vision was a bit blurry. He saw Jaysaun, who was lying beside him, get up. Jaysaun dusted his charred clothes and looked at Alevier.

“Hey,” he held out his hand. Alevier grabbed it and lifted his aching body off the ground.

“Did we kill him?” asked Alevier as he rubbed his eyes.

“I don't think so,” replied Jaysaun as he glanced over the burning mess of fire and smoke they had created.

“Lest hurry downstairs, I doubt the first floor will hold on any longer,” said Alevier.

“Yes we-” Jaysaun's stopped speaking and his face turned serious. Suddenly he pushed Alevier back as something pounced through the fire and smoke.

Alevier groaned in pain as his back hit the wall and he sipped down. The Nightstalker steadied himself and turned. He quickly landed a kick at Jaysaun, sending him through the wall. The Nightstalker picked up Alevier by his collar.

“My mazter would be happy to know of you,” he hissed. “To think zat I would not meet ze four but you yourzelf! I am beyond lucky!”

Alevier struggled and kicked in the air but it was no use.

“Yez your zikn is cold, you have the power of ze fourth I guezz, I can't be zure. Letz take you to my master, he will reward me for it!”

The Nightstalker grabbed Alevier by the neck and dragged him behind him. Alevier tried punching and kicking which only made the Nightstalker tighten his grip around his neck. He tried to scream but, he could not, the grip was already suffocating him.

He did not want to die, he did not want to know what horrible fate awaited him. The Nightstalker dragged him to the blasted end of the hallway and glided down from the first floor. Alevier saw his two-story dormitory set on fire, its roof was now burning like a torch in the dark.

The Nightstalker walked in the silent courtyard, he intended to leave the dormitory area now. Alevier was dragged on the grassy ground, now unable to struggle.

“Where the hell do you think you are going, dragging my brother with you?” came a female voice from behind.

Alevier had never been happier to hear his elder sister’s voice. The Nightstalker turned and looked back at the dormitory, a beautiful young woman wearing a cloak was standing in front of the flowerbeds. She had long black hair tied into a ponytail behind her. Her long bangs waved about her slightly flushed cheeks. Her cold brown gaze was fixed on the Nightstalker.

A purple-covered book floated in front of her, it glowed a soft light. She chanted a spell and glowing spell model opened up in her hands. She activated it and a large burning ball of fire shot forward. The Nightstalker flapped his wings in order to extinguish the flames but the stubborn fireball kept moving forwards, unfazed by the strong winds. The Nightstalker hurriedly dodged while still gripping Alevier who flew around like a rag doll.

The Nightstalker did not expect, however, for Waelecia to jump out from behind of the fireball while swinging a sword towards him. He tried to rebuke the sword aside with his claws but, the blade of the sword bent unnaturally and he ended up getting a deep gash on his torso. Dark red blood stained his dark body.

He hissed in anger and threw Alevier aside. Alevier slid on the ground and rolled on his back, groaning in pain.

The Nightstalker tried to jab Waelecia, but she was too quick for him and she stabbed him instead. The Nightstalker did not notice her chanting a spell. After all, it was absurd to chant a spell while in close combat - if you mess up the chant, then the spell-model will explode. However, Waelecia had the support of her grimoire. She jumped and slashed at him. He deflected the sword back with his claws. A few sparks flew out from the powerful collision.

She was still in the air when the Nightstalker slashed at her, he parted his vertical lips for a makeshift a smile - he had her cornered. But then she suddenly disappeared. His hands slashed through thin air, then a sharp pain erupted from his back. He turned and saw Waelecia behind him. She had stabbed him with her sword. She quickly pulled out a dagger out of a small portal hovering next to her waist and planted it deep in his butt.

The Nightstlaker screamed in pain and tried to thrash Waelecia but, she pushed herself back using her sword. She threw another dagger at him. The Nightstalker grabbed the knife so he could use it against her. Waelecia smiled at this and whispered something under her breath while quickly stepping back. The knife in the Nightstalker’s hand and the one sticking out of his butt exploded.

Waelecia steadied herself and brandished her sword, ready for any incoming attack. The Nightstalker yelled through the smoke, “Dark Orb!”

The purple-black ball, as large as Waelecia herself, shot forth. Waelecia quickly moved her legs and sidestepped, barely avoiding the spell which obliterated the fountain in the courtyard.

The Nightstalker suddenly came as a surprise to her, he had used the orb as a cover and closed the distance between them. His glowing pairs of eyes suddenly incited a deep fear in her. However, she swung her sword at his face and breaking his gaze. The terror suddenly disappeared.

The Nightstalker deflected the sword with one claw and the other claw tore away a part of her cloak while injuring her shoulder. She fell on her back with a bleeding shoulder.

“NOT MY SISTER YOU!” screamed Alevier from the side. He had his grimoire floating in front of him and his left arm hung loosely from his shoulder. He had managed to summon it using a spell.

Standing in tattered clothes, a look of mad rage was expressed on his face. “Ice pike!”

A long thin shaft of ice formed beside Alevier's head, its sharp tip had a deathly glint to it.

Alevier would have to hit the Nightstalker with this else it was over for him, it was his only chance as the Nightstalker was focused on his sister.

Waelecia was hurt and would not be able to fight the Nightstalker properly, whereas Jaysaun was nowhere to be seen and help did not seem to arrive any soon. It was all dependent on him. If he missed it, his sister would die and he would be taken to this horrific creature’s ‘master’.

One shot. One chance. So he would put his everything in it! He actively poured mana in the ice Pike, overloading the spell-model. The Ice pike glowed with a chilling light and its tip vibrated creating a buzz. He had to pour all his mana in it!

The Nightstalker looked at Alevier, half surprised and half annoyed.

Walecia muttered, “You fool! What are you doing?!”

The Ice Pike started glowing brilliantly as a sharp tune replaced the buzz. He had (unexpectedly) more mana to spare but, pouring in more might collapse its structure or the Nightstalker might flee. With a silent prayer in his heart, he commanded the Ice Pike to shoot.

The Ice Pike whistled as it pierced through the air crossing the distance of fifteen metres in a blink of an eye. Alevier was pushed back due to the recoil force and painfully fell on his butt. He was taken aback, was this not too fast?

The Ice Pike drew a straight line as it pierced through the surprised Nightstalker’s chest leaving a wide frostbitten hole in it. Waelecia looked at the wound with slight surprise in her eyes.

The Nightstalker stared at its wound, it took him a moment to register what had happened. Then it suddenly screamed, “Shadow Sphere!”

A cloud of darkness enveloped the whole area. Alevier fell back due to the sudden push he experienced when the Nightstalker cast his spell. He could not see anything in the darkness. There was an ominous silence.

Alevier picked his body with his right arm and frantically looked around. He could see nothing, he was scared now.

‘Was Waelecia alright? Did the Nightstalker die? What should I do?’ a stream of questions poured in his head.

Then he felt the darkness dissipate. He glanced forwards, the 7-foot tall silhouette of the Nightstalker walked towards him. With each slow step, the darkness cleared. Alevier saw his dark body, the fire burning the dormitory lit up his face. Those small red eyes all focused on him, that vertical mouth slightly agape. A wide bleeding hole in his chest.

Alevier panicked, ‘Why won’t he die?!’

He shivered and crawled back. Beads of cold sweat appeared on his back as the Nightstalker pointed his bloody finger at him. His red eyes radiated hostility and contempt.

“Ze fourth bearer, you… you are fated to zuffer,” with those words it dropped dead at Alevier’s feet.