“The members of Scarlet Justice had tracked the missing girls to a basement of former Councilman Kaufman’s mansion. The adventurers led the guards deep below the surface of Aachen, through tunnels carved by magic. There they found the bodies, and the cabal that had abducted them. They were gathered in a circle, surrounding a blood-stained altar, chanting a name. Cyäegha, the dark that waits.”

Chapter 77

15 years ago

A 5-year-old Wil ran down the hallway towards the dining room. His mother had told him to be here at noon for lunch with her guests, but he had lost track of time.

He had been playing out in the backyard, hiding in a tree from Nanny. He didn’t like studying, and she would always force him to sit in the study and read from his father’s books. He only climbed down because he was hungry.

He burst through the door of the dining room and saw his mom, sitting at the long table. She was wearing a blue dress and talking to another woman and a little girl.

“Wil! You’re late.” His mother chided, smiling at him. She motioned him over to stand next to her.

“Wil, this is Lady Albrecht and her daughter, April.” His mother said, introducing him to the dark haired, hazel eyed little girl.

5 years ago

Wil stood outside the closed study door, listening as his father and Lord Albrecht discuss his future.

A simple spell matrix glowed dimly against the aged wood, a trick that April had taught him years ago when they would listen in on their mother’s gossip. She had always been more talented than him when it came to magic.

“She has her heart set on him, she won’t hear different. It’s time to announce their engagement.” Albrecht said.

“Very well, I’m in agreement, provided you are agreeable regarding the dowry.” Wil heard his father’s reply. There was a rustling of papers as his father slid a document across his desk.

“This is a substantial amount, Tiberius. You can’t honestly expect me to pay this as a dowry, it would ruin me!” Albrecht replied, slamming the paper down on the desk.

“As you said, your daughter’s heart is set on this marriage. It would be a shame if I would deny it. Think of what it would do to your darling daughter’s reputation, the gossip they would spread. Not good enough for even the Earl’s second son? Shame…” Wil’s fathers voice sounded out, the threat hanging in the air between the two men.

Wil felt sick at his father’s behavior. The Albrecht’s were a good family, they treated him like one of their own, and his father saw an opportunity to squeeze them dry for it.

“Fine! I agree. We announce it as soon as the emperor approves the match. Have the papers drawn.” Lord Albrecht stated. Wil could hear the scraping of a chair as the lord stood up and walked towards the door.

Wil let the magic fade as he quickly ducked behind the corner, out of sight. Not leaving his hiding spot until the well-dressed lord was out of sight. Wil walked the corridor back to his room, thinking about what he had heard. His father would bleed them dry through a marriage, and Wil would be the cause.

He couldn’t let this happen, not to a family that looked at him like their own son, and to a girl he had loved for years.

He couldn’t stop the betrothal, his father was too invested now, he would already have plans for the dowry. And if he spoke against the marriage, it would ruin April’s reputation. It was already understood they would eventually marry, they had been close for years.

If he spoke against it, people would think she were to blame, that she wasn’t good enough for him. He knew how the nobility thought, how the assumed the worst of everyone. His father would make sure the blame fell on the Albrechts for a canceled betrothal, even if he did agree to annul it.

No…she needed to be the one to put a stop to this. The fault would need to fall on Wil’s reputation, he would need to be the cause.

It would break her heart, but he couldn’t let her family suffer, not because of him. She needed to not want to marry him…she needed to hate him.

3 years ago

The classroom was silent, save for the shuffling of papers and scratching of quills. Over one hundred of the finest students in Illyria were gathered here, taking an exam that could determine their entrance into the prestigious Imperial Academy.

Magic, art, literature, even swordsmanship and archery, the Academy was home to a wide range of academic pursuits. Every year, thousands of students fought tooth and nail to enter, with only a select handful making it into its hallowed halls.

The silence was broken by a loud snore from the back of the room. The noise was so sudden that several of the students jumped in fright, knocking their examination papers to the ground. One poor young man had his quill snap in half, spilling blobs of ink all over his paper.

Irate, he turned to yell at the troublemaker.

The source of the snoring was a handsome young man, with long, dark hair, dressed in fine, nobleman’s clothing. Black silk jacket, white shirt and black pants, he had his heavy leather boots propped up on his desk, as he leaned back in his chair, asleep.

Next to the sleeping young man was a beautiful, dark-haired woman dressed simply, with a white shirt and dark brown leggings. Her pretty face was marred by a frown as she looked at the sleeping man at the nearby desk. She could smell the sour wine and pipe smoke from him.

‘Ever since our engagement was announced, Wil’s been getting worse every day.’ April thought to herself.

She knew that something needed to change, either in his behavior or their relationship. It was getting to the point where everyone was discussing how terrible her fiancé was, and it was reflecting poorly on her, and more importantly, her family.

It wasn’t just the drinking or smoking. Recently, he was becoming a lecher, flirting with every woman in sight. She wouldn’t stand for it any longer.

Another loud snore ripped through the classroom, this time waking Wil up from its intensity. He looked around, confused as to where he was, before his sight landed on her. With a crooked grin, he gave her a wink before going back to sleep.

The most frustrating thing about Wil wasn’t the smell of him filling the room, or his snoring, or even the fact that he couldn’t care less about going to the academy. What frustrated her the most is that he will undoubtedly make it into the Academy regardless of his test scores, just because of his last name and his relationship with the Crown Prince.

Unlike him, she needed to score high to enter. Her family was noble as well, her father is a Baron, but they lacked the long history of the Brookmoor’s. Wil could slack off and succeed, she couldn’t afford to.

Frustrated, April angrily pressed her quill to the test paper, her loud scratching covering up Wil’s snoring beside her. She would speak with her father about the engagement, it would be a mistake to continue with it any longer.

2 Months Ago

Wil entered the Magical Theory classroom, heading for his usual seat near the back. Setting his satchel containing his supplies on the desk in front of him, he didn’t bother to grab his quill and ink, or even a book. After three years at the Academy, he had built a carefully crafted persona of indifference and arrogance.

Leaning back in his chair, waiting for the class to start, he felt a set of eyes boring into him from the front of the room. April had just entered, her beautiful face cold and indifferent, but her hazel eyes were staring daggers at him as she walked to her seat, her brother Jameson by her side.

Wil let out a sigh as her back turned to him. It still hurt, even after all this time.

It broke his heart, the way he treated her, humiliated her, made someone that he cared for hate him. But it was necessary. He had finally made her snap, shortly after they were accepted to the Academy, and she had ended their engagement.

It was something he needed her to do, to save the Albrechts from his father’s greedy hands and protect her reputation. Better that it was his fault, not hers, for their relationship’s failure. No one could blame April when Wilhelm the Wastrel was clearly a terrible choice to marry.

He snapped back to reality as Tidelok entered the classroom and began to discuss 2nd tier spell theory.

Wil ignored the lecture, he would review everything later at home, as he always did. Better to be seen as useless here, to irritate his father and protect his horrible reputation. The last thing he wanted was to be seen as a desirable marriage partner.

No doubt his father would take the first opportunity to marry him off if anyone showed interest.

He saw April glance back at him, so he quickly focused on a beautiful student just below him, putting a smirk on his face as he leered. He wasn’t interested the girl, he could care less about anyone in his class, but he needed April to think he did. He had gotten quite good at making her hate him.

Class ended and Wil made his way out into the hall.

“Still drunk, Brookmoor? I would have thought that a wastrel like you would have been too ashamed to show your face here again, after making a fool of yourself yesterday.” A voice said loudly behind him.

‘Perfect, just what he needed, a face to face with Jameson.’

Wil couldn’t remember what he said to his former best friend. Ever since the engagement fell through, they had been at each other’s throats. He barely paid attention to their whole interaction, his entire focus was on the beautiful woman beside him.

Her hazel eyes were staring deep into his, and he could almost see a trace of the love that she used to have for him. He couldn’t let her feel that, couldn’t let that love remain, better it be replaced with hate, otherwise it may give his father something to exploit.

“Miss April, how wonderful to see you again.” He said, and her face lit up for just a moment, a flicker of thawing in her icy eyes.

“Is it? I thought you were too busy with your drinking and debauchery to remember me, lecher?” She said, and Wil thought that maybe she was testing him, trying to get him to repent.

Unfortunately, there couldn’t be any repentance, not from him, not with his father’s eye still on her dowry.

“Slander! I may have had too much wine yesterday evening, but it was because I was depressed over your continued refusal to go out with me!” Wil exclaimed, before sidling closer to her casually.

He could see that hope die in her eyes, whatever love remained turned cold as her reply was lost to him over the pounding of his heartbeat in his ears.

He saw her grab her brother and leave. If she had turned around again, she would have saw the look of anguish on his face, quickly covered with his indifferent mask.

Better she hates him, better that everyone hates him. Wil turned to find an empty classroom, his hands shaking from the interaction.

Present

Wil stood in the doorway to the decrepit building, staring at the beautiful woman in front of him. Filled with regret, he wanted nothing more than for April to forgive him.

He jerked in response to a woman screaming his name from behind him, bolting upright and pulling his face away from April. They had been so close together, only inches away from each other when he snapped out of the trance.

He looked around wildly, he barely remembered how he had gotten here. The interior of the building was dark and dingy. A black and foul sludge covered everything inside the structure, clinging to walls and coating the floor in its filth.

He turned his eyes to April, where she stood just out of the sunlight’s reach. Her red lips were drawn back in a playful smile, like he was a source of amusement to her.

Wil stumbled back from the hideousness of the room’s interior, trying to get deeper into the light, when April grabbed his arm. Her slender hand wrapped around his wrist in an iron grip, stronger than even Garman’s had been.

“Wha-” He started to ask, as she yanked him into the building, tossing him easily inside. The force of her pull took him of his feet as he launched through the air, slamming into one of the decaying walls and falling heavily to the floor.

He had hit the wall with enough force that his indent remained, plaster and dust falling around him.

His hacking cough filled the empty room as he lay on the wooden floor, trying to catch his breath. The smell of rot and decay filled his nostrils, and he could taste the foulness on his tongue.

He lifted his head slightly to look at April, confused as to how the slender and beautiful woman could easily toss him around.

To his horror, he watched as she melted. Her flesh slowly sagged and sloughed off her body as her slender figure distended and distorted, changing into a horrible, hunched back creature, barely human.

Her ruby lips were now black and peeled back into a hungry expression. Rotten, yellow teeth and a blackened tongue filled his vision as the ugly and repulsive Hag approached him.

Shocked by her sudden shift of appearance, Wil scrambled backwards, pressing hard against the wall behind him. His feet pushed against the slimly floorboards, desperately trying to distance himself from the Night Hag.

The hideous creature laughed at his futile attempt to escape from her, as she leapt towards him, crossing the distance between them in a flash.

Desperate, he pulled on his mana as he threw his hands up, pointing them towards her. His fingers were spread wide, the tips of his thumbs touching.

“Burning Hands!” Wil shouted, not even bothering with the spell matrix in his hurry to drive the hag away. Fire erupted from his fingertips, a wild, uncontrolled fan of flames that he pushed towards the approaching monster.

With a scream, the hag stumbled backwards, shielding its face from the fire that engulfed it. Her greasy, lank hair was burning as she tripped and rolled backwards.

Taking the opportunity, Wil stood and ran towards the exit. He nearly made it to the light when he felt a hand wrap around his ankle, dragging him backwards. He fell to the ground, off balance from the hag’s grip.

Turning his body, he slammed his boot into the Hag’s face, feeling the satisfying crack as her nose broke.

Screaming at the attack, the Hag twisted her body, her grip on his ankle tightened as he felt himself being hauled backwards, her long nails digging into his flesh. Looking around, he focused on the open doorway, and the sunlight outside.

Pulling on more of his Mana, he desperately channeled the magic he needed to escape.

“Burning Hands!” He cast again, thrusting his hands into the hag’s face as fire flew from his fingertips again.

With a screech, the hag let go and flailed wildly at the flames that engulfed her.

Wil stood and ran. Not willing to risk being caught again, he channeled his mana for another spell, the last he would be capable of.

“Misty Step!” He screamed, focusing all his concentration on the sunny street outside. His vision turned white as the distance between him and the space outside shrunk. The hag’s frenzied screams faded behind him.

With a heavy ‘thump’ Wil reappeared on the street, landing on the dusty stone ground.

Breathing heavily and shaking as the adrenaline left him, he lay panting on the road. He could hear the hag’s frustrated screams from the building behind him.

Safe in the sunlight, Wil closed his eyes and tried to catch his breath.