Following her gaze, Juliana searched for what drew her attention. It was dark. Far darker than it had been on the way to school. Dark enough with the heavy storm clouds that it took a moment to comprehend what she was seeing. Juliana let out a quiet, “oh.”
Something moved right in front of her face, prompting a small start. It took a second to realize what it was. She had activated her ferrokinesis and failed to notice until the helmet molded itself around her head.
“Oh,” Shalise repeated.
Two members of the security force stood between the academy building and a group of monsters. A large group. Juliana stopped counting at twenty and that was only a fraction. It didn’t help that it was difficult to tell where some of them ended and the next ones began.
A number of the monsters looked to be swarming into one of the dorm buildings.
Both of the security members only attacked when one of the creatures got too close. A massive wall of water formed up and swept a creature off its feet before freezing the creature to the ground. Icicles formed in the middle of the air and dropped straight down.
A short distance away, creatures just seemed to die. The two water mages didn’t have anything to do with it. Like an invisible line that would decapitate anything that crossed.
“I think there is someone else there,” Shalise mumbled to herself. “Every time a thing dies, there’s a little humanoid flicker.”
Juliana squinted, but couldn’t make anything out. She did see one of the creatures shrug off the wall of water and the following ice spikes.
Both security guards started backing up as water pooled around its legs and started to freeze.
That did nothing to slow its gradual charge.
A thick arm reached out and gripped one guard around the chest. Icicle after icicle impacted the arm until it froze and shattered. The guard fell to the ground and started crawling away on his hands and knees.
The still-standing guard had to run back and help drag the first to his feet. Still supporting him, they turned back and renewed their attacks against the tide of creatures.
They both were alive, but they lost a good chunk of ground. Worse, their attacks did not seem to be on the same level they were before the creature. The one who had been partially crushed got slower and slower in his casting until he stopped completely.
It was only a matter of time until another creature shrugged off the attacks.
“We need to get out there and help out.”
“You will do nothing of the sort Miss Rivas.”
Juliana turned to face a furious Zoe. She had her own horde of concerned children at her back.
“But Eva’s out there!”
She wasn’t certain, but if Juliana were Eva, she would be out there. It was a pretty good bet.
Zoe agreed if her narrowed eyes and pursed lips were any indicator. “Of course she is. Miss Eva cannot help but involve herself in every trouble in this city. You will
“The security force is being beaten back already! Even if Eva and Arachne are out there, they’re still outnumbered a-lot-to-one.”
“Ylva is already moving out there.”
“She’s just one person,” Juliana said without thinking. She bit her lip. Ylva was powerful. She had forced both herself and Zoe to their knees with a single word. But that was inside her domain. Juliana had learned a great deal since then.
Domains twisted themselves and reality within to suit the whims of the owner. It took a great deal of willpower to override the subconscious wish-fulfillment, but even then, the subconscious was still there. A word that forced everyone to kneel likely wasn’t troublesome for someone like Ylva.
Outside the domain, Ylva’s power lessened by orders of magnitude. Juliana had no idea to what degree, but it wouldn’t be insignificant. Surely she wouldn’t object to assistance.
“The little girl?” Someone said, breaking Juliana from her thoughts.
“There she is!”
“She’s all alone. What is she doing?”
Juliana moved right next to the window along with several other students, all shouting about Ylva.
Ylva walked slowly, almost casually, past the two security guards. One shouted something at her. She ignored them.
Someone to her side let out a loud scream–causing Juliana to jump a few feet–as an ogre of some sort swung a club at Ylva.
She sidestepped. The club crushed the concrete and nothing else.
Ylva moved up and placed one hand on the ogre’s wrist. Charcoal black veins spread outwards from her touch.
The ogre jumped backwards, leaving its club and part of its arm behind.
Someone broke the silence. “What was that?”
“Nothing to concern yourselves over,” Zoe said with a note of finality. “Keep away from the windows. It isn’t safe. And keep moving.”
With the help of Professor Carr and another teacher that showed up, Zoe got the students moving again, if slowly. Some backed away immediately upon hearing that it was unsafe. Most tried to stare out the window as much as possible before they went out of view.
