The four students ran to the East end of the ramparts. The assault had already begun. As Bwoire suspected, these Oren had the Xalnog curse. An unknown number of Oren and a few hundred converted villagers climbed as the head-master Calmantos dispatched them as soon as he could.

“Where is Bwoire?” shouted Calmantos slaying another Oren. The cursed Oren looked far more terrifying than Caltheon, even though Caltheon was world’s stronger. Their height especially, their lack of skin was disturbing. “Where is Bwoire!” he shouted again! Falcon answered in a jittery voice, “Fighting some guy named Caltheon.”

Without time to react to the news because he was acting as a flood gate, Calmantos said, “Go down to the entrance. They are about to breach it!” Anarion yelled “What about you? What if you get bit or ingest their blood?”

“I’ll be fine up here. I know how to fight these creatures” he said decapitating another. “You need to be at the front gate. Go! Now!” he shouted. The four ran down the ramparts towards the entrance. There was a terrible crash at the bell tower. As soon as they got down the stairs, the front entrance burst open. Blood, there was so much blood simply oozing from the cursed Oren and Villager. Their demonic smiles struck fear into all of the students.

Calmantos appeared in front of the entrance right as it burst open. He had sealed the entrance to the ramparts, ensuring none could ambush from behind unless they climbed up and traveled towards the North Rampart entrance where Bwoire was. The instructors could protect the younger students if they breached through, and Calmantos could provide a barrier to defend against an attack from behind.

Calmantos cut down the cursed Oren and villagers with swiftness. Calmantos did not produce some kind of power from his blade. He just continued to massacre. He was so fast the only time he was visible was when he killed one of the abominations trying to get through. One slipped through the cracks. It bolted right towards Caend who was on the right side of the room. He froze up completely, the fear was too much for him. Something snapped within Falcon. He moved with cool calculation, leaping through the air decapitated it before it could reach Caend.

Another crash was heard near the bell tower, but the noise traveled down to the same level they were on. “What the hell was that?” yelled Ithilious. He was doing his best to hold his calm. “Bwoire was back there.” replied a shaken Amma. Calmantos had managed to kill almost every single cursed Oren and villager. Suddenly the roof in the middle of the room collapsed, bringing Caltheon with it.

Panic spread across the face of Calmantos. There were five Oren left. But Caltheon was the threat. Calmantos immediately shifted his focus to Caltheon. One Oren jumped over the two of them and charged at Ithilious. The only thing he could do is guard the rest of his body as the Oren chomped down on his right arm breaking multiple bones while bulldozing him into the nearest wall.

Amma stabbed the Oren in the heart from behind, it slumped to the ground. The demonic curse was spreading rapidly across his body. Anarion ran up to Ithilious and bit his left hand. Like some sort of miracle, the curse vanished from his body. Amma turned around to discover another Oren swinging its blade. Amma blocked the blade, however when the Oren pulled back for another attack her katana broke into multiple pieces.

As the Oren brought his mighty broad sword down on Amma it was met by a blade. Anarion had made it in the nick of time. But the swing was so mighty that it sliced through his Katana like butter. The broad sword cleaved Anarion from his left shoulder to his right hip.

Blood, there was so much blood. Before Amma realized what was happening Anarion was lying on the ground a bloody mess. He wasn’t moving. The Oren wanting to finish his opponent was readying itself for an overhead swing.

A flicker of light beamed in the distance. As the Oren was moments from finishing Anarion it’s blade was met by one the shone so bright and golden the skin on the Oren began to burn. The angry face of the stranger glared deeply into the eyes of the Oren. Amma could see wavy auburn hair. A silk white scarf waved in the breeze. His garb was as black as the night, however for some reason he was soaking wet head to toe.

The man grabbed a hold of the Oren’s blade with his bare hand and crushed it. Before the Oren could react the swordsman plunged his hand into its chest and ripped out its heart and crushed it with his bare hand. The light from the blade began to shine so brightly it burned the remaining Oren to a crisp. Caltheon took a tactical retreat.

More Oren poured through the hall for a surprise attack. The light shone brighter, it spread so far it engulfed the entire academy incinerating all of the cursed Oren. Even the bodies of the dead cursed Oren and Villagers became piles of ash. Caltheon was in full retreat. He knew this enemy all too well.

The wounds that afflicted both Anarion and Ithilious were gone! The light glowing from the sword vanished. Anarion was still unconscious. The man sheathed his blade. He turned back around and sat next to Anarion. He looked young like he could be in the same group as Anarion. “Don’t scare me like that you dumbass.” Amma escaped from shock long enough to ask a question.

"Are you Aenos Ragnor?" The man looked at Amma and smiled. "Yeah, I came here for my brother." His voice was soft. From the way Anarion reacted based on his name being mention, Amma did not understand why he hated his brother. He was nice. His presence was comforting.

Bwoire walked into the room. His wounds were gone as well. Falcon and Ithilious gathered around Aenos. "Took your bloody time," said Bwoire. Aenos bowed "Sorry master. I had to swim the rest of the way here when the ferry captain saw what was going on here.

Bwoire looked around. Everyone was alive. He breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m going after him,” said a furious Calmantos. “Don’t bother, he’s long gone,” said Bwoire. “What happened to you?” asked Calmantos. “He beat me, I can’t use my power here just like you, no one here except the instructors could survive it.”

Aenos smiled mischievously. “Ah, it’s so nice to have a power that can’t cause harm to others. I can let loose as often as I want.” Bwoire glared at Aenos. “Didn’t I tell you not to brag?” Aenos bowed in apology. “Sorry master, I’m just glad,” he said hiding the smile as he bowed.

The students gathered around the scene. They had blank faces. What just occurred was so traumatic. They did not understand how Aenos and Bwoire could joke around, especially considering Anarion just nearly died. “Um, will he be okay?” asked Amma who was now supporting Anarion’s head.

“He’ll be fine. He just needs to sleep for a while” said Aenos smiling at Amma. She was noticeably shaken from the whole thing. “Sorry, I wasn’t fast enough. I saw what happened. The deeds of stupid men often don’t go unpunished.” said Aenos.

A group of Swordsmen entered. They were from the ferry. One was an older grizzled man with a long beard. He is tall, muscular, and bald. He had many scars covering his face including one that reached from his brow down to the bridge of his nose.

Aenos looked at the man with disdain. The man walked up to Aenos. “Is that him?” he pointed at Anarion who was still lying on the ground. “Yeah Dad, that’s Anarion.”