Chapter 11

“Found you~~.” Clavic sang with derision.

Mud had entered one of Raiel’s eyes, and trying to scratch it out only seemed to make it worse. With his one good eye, he saw that three familiar silhouettes stood gazing down at him, two with the same expressionless faces as the day before, and a third with a contemptuous sneer, showing white and perfectly straight teeth.

“Changed your hair, I see.” Clavic commented. “You’re so pretty now, that we almost couldn’t recognize you.”

Raiel felt a wave of rage flare up inside his chest, and a surging heat flowed through his body. He leaned on his elbows and glared up at the trio. He felt his blood carry strength all the way to his fingers and toes, and everywhere in between. His fingers curled on the ground in tension, elongating nails tracing furrows in the earth. They were, or at least Clavic was, vexed enough to have come after him again less than a day since their last encounter. This would have to end today, one way or the other, or it would never end.

“How did you find me?” Raiel asked.

Clavic chuckled and waved an index finger towards Raiel. “Don’t you realize who I am? I have eyes everywhere on this campus!” he declared. “All I had to do was order it, and you were located. Imagine my surprise when I saw you following in the heels of Eryna Arnwulf.” he spat scornfully. “Like a dog!” Clavic stomped the ground between Raiel’s legs and stared at him with narrowed eyes, all signs of the mocking smile long gone.

“I will never let you enjoy your life here.” he asserted. “That new look might make you look better, but you will never be more than a simple dog!” Clavic put his face in Raiel’s, snarling.

“Now, get up, so I can teach you—…” Raiel’s palm smashed into Clavic’s temple, sending the older boy flying sideways. Clavic landed on his shoulder with a grunt of pain and surprise. He immediately tried to regain his bearings, but Raiel was already upon him, furiously beating and raking his face, drawing lines of blood across the smooth skin. Unable to control himself, he let out a bloodcurdling roar that echoed through the forest, startling chirping birds from their perches in the trees. An ache in his mouth was slowly becoming more and more noticeable, before, in his frenzy, a piercing pain erupted from his lower lip.

He seized his onslaught on the now disoriented and half-conscious Clavic, who moaned and struggled weakly as Raiel held the collar of his shirt in an iron grasp. Raiel spat on the ground and saw that his saliva was a deep red. He felt around his mouth with a finger and noticed that his canine teeth had grown significantly and must have punctured his lip as a result.

Suddenly, Clavic, having found a sliver of strength, ripped his dirt- and bloodstained shirt free of Raiel’s clenched fingers. He stumbled awkwardly to his feet, turning his back to his assailant, whimpering with fear as his eyes welled with tears. As if drunk, he lumbered away with his knees nearly buckling under him, unable to summon the strength to fight back.

Raiel stared after his victim and its pathetic attempt to escape, his eyes wide and wild, nostrils flaring with anticipation and exertion. No… not his victim. His prey. Everyone, even humans, were animals, after all. And in the end, instincts and the fear of death could not be suppressed, only accepted. A ferocious grin cracked Raiel’s face as he resumed the hunt.

Voices that seemed distant could be heard behind him, but he was a one-track mind. A forceful palm thrust between the shoulder blades sent Clavic to the ground again, and Raiel flipped the boy over so he could see his face as he destroyed it. He struck Clavic’s nose with a fist, a soft crunch echoing through the canopy as warm blood spurted from both nostrils. Clavic’s eyes rolled back as he fainted, but Raiel kept pummeling him. A cut opened up on the downed boy’s eyebrow, further bloodying his face.

Slowly, Raiel’s mouth began to open wide, his tongue tracing his teeth hungrily. This was the end. His eyes found Clavic’s throat as he prepared to strike the final blow.

“What the… fuck!” a voice exclaimed from behind Raiel. Startled, he whirled around, still straddling Clavic’s limp body. The twins stared wide-eyed at the scene before them, showing real expressions for the first time since Raiel had met them. He couldn’t help but smirk and feel a sense of satisfaction at having forced such a reaction from those two stone statues.

Raiel gazed down at his victim on the ground as abandon drained from his mind, inspecting the damage he had done. Along with several ugly gashes from which blood freely flowed, Clavic’s face was mess that resembled a putrid tomato more than anything else.

Immediately, he regretted going so far. The consequences would be dire, to say the least, and there was no doubt that Clavic’s family would seek revenge in one way or the other. Clavic was the son of a powerful noble family, with money and influence. Raiel was no one, with nothing and no one. How was he to stand against anything on his own?

Yet, he could have seen no other way it could have gone. From embers to flames, so to speak.

Raiel was pulled back by a firm grip on his new hair, landing him flat on his back. Looking up, he saw that Duhen and Hector Huntley seemed to have regained their cold, indifferent expressions, and along with it, anger.

“We can’t let you leave this place alive.” Duhen said. Or maybe it was Hector. “Your disappearance will never be connected to us.” he stated matter-of-factly, and Raiel thought he saw a shadow of a grimace of displeasure cross the boy’s face, before disappearing just as quickly.

Once more, fury pumped through his veins, clouding his judgement. If he died here, the fate of the wolf pup would be sealed. His tongue traced along his teeth, now sharp like knives and he snarled viciously, showing fangs. He felt his nails morph once again, thickening and growing into his fingers, attaching themselves more securely deeper within.

At the same time, the Huntley brothers looked at him with surprise, really noticing his transformation for the first time. They looked at each other, confidence suddenly wavering. Raiel looked on as the moment drew on, wordless communication seemingly passing between the two identical boys. In the end they nodded to each other. They both dropped their aggressive stances in an attempt to alleviate the situation, which was turning into something they did not feel ready to deal with.

“Hey” Hector or Duhen suddenly called. “What family’s bastard are y—…” The boy could do naught but throw himself out of the way in a panic, as Raiel charged him in a rage, lunging for his throat with a clawed hand. Raiel, who was seeing red, lost control of his own momentum and tumbled face first to the ground. The two stunned boys looked on in astonishment.

“Calm down, please!” the other twin tried, as his brother got to his feet again. “Let’s talk, before more of us get hurt.” he pleaded calmly with his hands lifted in an attempt to soothe his opponent.

“No, we’re done talking!” Raiel growled through clenched teeth and rushed forward again, raising his arm to strike. The twin who had just spoken caught Raiel’s wrist with both hands, stopping him dead in his tracks and surprising him with abnormal strength.

He recalled Yaeth’s warning about the nobles and their power as he saw the twin’s fist connect with his unprotected solar plexus, throwing him backwards. He landed on his back with a dull thud, which knocked out the last reserves of air in his lungs, causing him to gasp and wheeze for air. Propping himself up on an elbow, his breakfast was forcefully expelled onto the ground, a puddle of discolored liquid and chunks of meat emitting a sour and nauseous stench. Again, a twin called for his attention.

“Ready to talk now?” he asked, vexation clear in his voice.

Raiel wiped his mouth with a handful of grass he pulled from the earth, as he studied the two boys closely. Their strength was beyond what he had expected. He hadn’t exactly disregarded Yaeth’s advice to keep away from them, but he certainly hadn’t thought they would be so much stronger than other humans this early in their life. He was no longer a predator against prey. He was a lone predator facing a pair of equals. Finally, he nodded, the hit to his gut having lifted the blood red veil from his eyes and placated him somewhat.

Both boys simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief in a strange sort of symmetric fashion. “Good… Look, we don’t want to hurt you, and we don’t want to be hurt, either. We didn’t know you were a noble’s son.” one of them said.

Raiel scrutinized them with narrowed eyes, ignoring the ignorant assumption concerning his ancestry, before he spoke. “Why do you hunt me?”

“We… don’t hunt you. Maledes does.” the other twin clarified, nodding his head towards the unmoving figure on the ground. “Duhen and I are not interested in fighting with you.” he finally said.

“Then why?” Raiel exclaimed, almost yelling with distress.

“We had to, okay?!” Duhen hissed with a sudden grimace. “We don’t have a choice.” He almost looked like he wanted to cry.

Raiel climbed to his feet, a dull pain emanating from his stomach, where the fist had connected. “So, you’ll keep coming after me?” he asked as he prepared to fight to the end.

“No.” Duhen declared. “After the humiliation this piece of shit suffered at your hands, he and his father wouldn’t dare to risk the public shame that could spring from such an embarrassment becoming known.” the boy kicked Clavic lightly on his torn cheek, eliciting a muffled grunt of pain from the downed noble’s son. Just as Clavic started to stir awake, Hector stepped in and planted a precise strike right between the eyes of the vulnerable boy, before he could open his eyes, instantly knocking him out again. “Keep sleeping.” he commanded coldly.

“As you can see, we have no love for Maledes.” Duhen noted with raised eyebrows as he observed his brother’s harsh treatment of Clavic. Raiel couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing.

“Why are you friends with him, then?” Raiel asked simply, keeping his distance as a precaution. Duhen cleared his throat nervously as he pondered on a way to explain the situation properly. He opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately interrupted by his brother.

“Don’t! Duhen, don’t tell him anything about it. We can’t trust him.” Hector warned anxiously. Duhen’s lips closed up instantly, emitting a quiet pop. He closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath as he seemed to try to gather his thoughts. He massaged the bridge of his nose in frustration, before sighing loudly.

“You’re right… We can’t tell him.” Duhen admitted. He looked to Raiel apologetically, pointing a thumb at his brother next to him. “Sorry. As Hector says, it’s not something we can discuss with just anyone. Preferably no one, really. Private matter, that one is.” Duhen paused, considering his next words carefully, but before he was able to continue, his brother took over where he had left the conversation hanging.

“So, what we’re trying to say is… we’re not interested in making the relationship between us any worse than it already is. We were, for reasons we can’t disclose, forced to go along with Clavic and his pathetic and childish farce of harassing students of lesser birth.” he explained. “If I had to make a guess, Clavic’s father will severely reprimand his son for his actions today, and then hire an unquestionably expensive healer to fix his… wounds. In that order.” he said, absentmindedly studying Clavic’s bloody and ruined face closely and with curiosity as he stroked a few thin hairs starting to show themselves on his chin.

“In a couple of days, it will be as if the cuts and bruises were weeks old and less grievous, and he will be able to write it off as training accidents. Clavic will then return to the College. Hopefully, and I say this with reasonable confidence, he will avoid you, or at least not seek you out, in order to keep any rumors from spreading and to keep the episode from happening again.” Hector finished.

Raiel didn’t know what to believe and frankly, he was at a loss for what to do with the situation. It was clear that they were a match for him, especially with the two of them fighting together with their inborn coordination. He was pretty sure that he would be able to emerge victorious if he were to fight just one of them, but not the two of them at the same time. At the same time, they had been distinctly rattled by the sight of his mildly transformed body and display of power as he beat Clavic to a pulp. Understandably, the twins seemed unwilling to risk injury just to avenge a person they had expressed such distaste for.

The thoughts whirled around inside Raiel’s head as he carefully weighed his options against each other. Again, he saw the complications brought along by the life he’d chosen to throw himself into. The twins quietly observed him while he wrestled with the decisions he had to make, his face pulling off some impressive frowns.

Analyzing the short fight they’d had, he was exceedingly aware of his low chances of victory against the combined might of the twins. He had no choice, but to bide his time and see how the aftermath of this violent encounter would play out. Hopefully, it was as the twins said, and Clavic would realize the uselessness of pursuing the matter further. There were just a few things he wanted clarified before he could make up his mind about walking away.

“I beat that boy so easily.” Raiel begun, gesturing with a hand towards the unconscious Clavic. “So, why do you say you must follow him, when both of you are much stronger.” he asked, puzzled.

Duhen huffed in mild amusement before he answered. “We don’t follow him around because he’s stronger than us. It’s more complicated than that. I can tell you that much.” He gazed intensely at Raiel as he spoke. “However, what you witnessed is not his true strength. Both times we’ve met, you’ve taken him by surprise because he’s arrogant and careless. One on one, he’s definitely better than either of us. So, don’t underestimate him.” Duhen warned.

So, Clavic was that strong, after all? Now that Raiel had the twins’ prowess as a reference point, it suddenly became much easier to take Yaeth’s exhortation seriously. He wasn’t sure if he could let Clavic go back alive. If the older boy ambushed him without the urge to mock him beforehand, it could be over before Raiel could manage to defend himself properly.

Hector interrupted his thoughts. “I can imagine what you’re considering, but if you kill him here, we’ll have to tell his father who did it. Otherwise, the responsibility is on us. I don’t know where you or your odd and bestial approach to fighting came from, but Duke Thor Maledes is not someone you want to challenge. You’ll lose.” he stated flatly, as if there was nothing in the world he was more certain of. “If you want to kill someone, you had better be sure no one knows you did it.”

Raiel felt his stomach drop. His intentions had been so easy to see through. “Then how?” he asked with desperation. “How can I become strong enough?”

Both twins frowned as confusion showed on their faces. “Don’t you have classes for that?” Duhen questioned

“… No.” Raiel admitted.

“Oh, well, then I suggest you apply for admission.” Duhen said. “But, that’s up to you, of course. Now, I think we’ll be taking our leave.” he said carefully, making sure to accentuate every word while keeping an alert eye on Raiel.

“We will not tell anyone about your infusion abilities. They’ll think you knocked his lights out with a lucky punch and just started wailing down on him, which isn’t even that far from the truth. You should keep a low profile about this, for all our sakes.” As Duhen spoke, Hector had knelt to heave the limp Clavic onto his shoulder, his brother shielding them protectively, half expecting Raiel to rush them.

He didn’t, however. He just watched them retreat, unmoving. As had become common these past few months, Raiel’s mind was racing.

After a long day in the books, Yaeth opened the door to his room, looking forward to getting started on a new novel he’d recently gotten his hands on, only to find Raiel slumped on his bed. He raised an eyebrow when Raiel failed to even acknowledge his presence. His new roommate was completely unresponsive, even when Yaeth snapped his fingers loudly in the small room. Raiel’s mouth hung slightly open and his gaze glued to the wall. Yaeth wondered if someone had snuck in, cut open Raiel’s skull, removed his brain, and sewn him back together before leaving his empty shell lying around haphazardly.

“What are you lazing around in my bed for, mate?” he asked.

Raiel continued to stare into space for a few seconds before he blinked and focused on Yaeth standing by the door, backpack in hand. He looked around, as if noticing his mistake for the first time.

“Oh, sorry. Hadn’t noticed.” he said inertly. He slowly got up and wandered to his own bed, only to let himself flop back down in the blankets.

“So, what happened to make you like… that?” Yaeth sighed resignedly.

Raiel stared into the ceiling for a moment before he answered. “I vanquished Clavic Maledes seven hours ago.”

“You did what?!” Yaeth exploded, eyes bulging as spittle flew everywhere. “And you’ve been lying here ever since, like a dried-up slug?” Could he not let this nutcase of a new roommate out of his sight for a single day without everything going to shit?

“Pretty much, yes.” Raiel answered dully.

Yaeth could hardly believe his ears. “But why?” he demanded. Suddenly a frightening thought hit him. He almost didn’t dare ask for fear of confirmation. “Wait… you didn’t kill him, did you?”

“No, no, I didn’t kill him.” Raiel reassured him. “He came after me, and it just sort of happened. I think I might have made things worse.” he admitted.

“No shit, you made it worse!” Yaeth exclaimed “He’s going to get serious now!”

This seemed to pull Raiel from his daze, and he sat up, propping his elbows on his knees as he gazed into Yaeth’s panicked eyes with determination.

“I know.” he said gravely. “And that’s why I have to prepare and get stronger…"