Gods, if he had simply transformed on the ship, he would have killed her. Hell, he would likely have killed all of them.

  What made this worse, though, was that she’d attacked him after he had saved her life. It really was unforgivable. Which left her wondering what she could do to balance the scales. How do you make amends for a crime which can never be forgiven?

  Modessa mulled over everything from enslaving herself to Nico, to voluntarily going into exile, to surrendering her life to him. The thing was that she didn’t want to die—not now. Galbrecht may have passed her up again, which bothered her immensely, but she didn’t want to die. She loved that big lunk of a man and wanted to see what a future with him might hold.

  Suddenly, a charm on a necklace she wore under her armor began to buzz. It was attached to an item she’d given Cami. The fact that it was humming told her that Cami was in danger. The fact that it had started to grow hot told her that the girl’s life was on the line.

  Modessa would have to use a very rarely invoked power. Once she used it, she couldn’t activate it again for another month. It was the pinnacle ability of the Shadow Slayer class.

  Target’s Shadow - You may shadow step out of your target’s shadow no matter where they are in the world. You may only have one shadow designated at a time, plus one more for every level over 20.

  Mana Cost: 200

  Cooldown: 30 days minus 1 day per level over 20

  She activated the ability and an instant later was stepping out of Cami’s shadow into a world of trouble. Nico sat on a chair in the center of the room with a massive troll looming over him ready to cut him in half with a heavy axe, while in the corner an oni was chanting a spell.

  Wait, she recognized him. He was the one they’d fought before.

  Then, on the other side of the room, she saw how Cami was desperately struggling against a trio of were-tigers. Modessa was proud of the girl’s achievements, but this was too much for her. She had to act, but Nico appeared to be lost in his mediation and was completely helpless.

  Modessa sprang forward, driving her dagger into the troll’s lower back as she chanted a quick spell.

  Acid Bite

  The troll’s green skin blackened as her magic spread through it, but the main point was that the creature’s attack was thrown off. The blow which would have cut Nico in half instead smashed into his chest, sending him flying across the room. She had to hope he was alive, because she had a feeling this was going to be a real fight.

  _____________________________

  Serius loved being right, but today he hoped above all other things that he wasn’t. He’d believed that something was up with Tolston, yet there had been no evidence. There had been a few erratic decisions and then the overblown attempt to discipline Nico and Cami—that had been a cluster of the highest degree.

  The Emperor had been none too pleased. Instead of reprimanding the headmaster, the Emperor had simply tasked Serius with keeping a closer eye on the man. The Emperor could be shockingly insightful, but always seemed to be operating from information he didn’t share.

  Serius still remembered the conversation they’d had when he had teleported to the capital to report the incident. “You want me to do… nothing, Your Majesty?”

  “Is that what I said, Serius?” The Emperor had frowned at him.

  “No, it’s just… I don’t understand.” Serius had felt bitter as he’d muttered those words.

  “That’s because you don’t see the full board, but don’t worry. Everything will be revealed. Speaking of revealing, I need Tolston in place long enough to reveal the rat in our cupboard,” the Emperor had replied rather cryptically.

  Serius knew better than to ask for an explanation, because the Emperor only ever said exactly what he intended to say. “As you command, Your Majesty. But what about Nicosandumas? What if another attempt is made on his life?”

  “That’s why you and your team are there. Besides, what is it that you adventurers are so fond of saying?”

  “You’ll have to be more precise, Your Majesty. I lack your prescient abilities, and there are probably as many sayings as there are adventurers.”

  “Something, something… XP only coming from adversity,” the Emperor replied.

  “Ah, so you’re testing him?”

  The Emperor shook his head. “No. He is what he is. I’m simply suggesting that we need not shelter him from adversity. He needs to grow, and to grow strong.”

  Looking back at the conversation, Serius realized that the Emperor had foreseen this day coming. Now, Liam and Galbrecht were in his chambers telling him shocking things. Looking up at the two men, Serius asked, “You’re sure about this?”

  “I’m sure that I sensed necromancy—or the residue of it—on the campus. We were busy with the headmaster and Nico at the time and I had just evolved my class, which left me still shaking,” Galbrecht answered.

  Liam smiled. “That reminds me. I’ve never properly congratulated you. It’s quite an accomplishment, reaching legendary level in a combat class.”

  The paladin looked at the floor uncomfortably. “It is as the goddess wills it. But getting back to my point… I researched it. Necromancy is very rare, as you know. Occasionally, a wild mage will show up dabbling in it, but in my research of the church records from previous champions, I discovered that it used to be prevalent in the Empire.”

  Serius nodded. “Before the current dynasty, you mean?”

  “I began to wonder if some relic or such had been uncovered on the campus from those days. When I began to look around, I quickly realized this was hardly my forte, so I asked Liam to help me search.”

  “Not Modessa?”

  “No, as much as I love that woman, she shouldn’t be the one digging for secrets related to dark mage and wild mages. She is not entirely balanced in her perspective.”

  Serius snorted, “Not entirely balanced…”

  Galbrecht gave him a look with an arched eyebrow as Serius struggled to contain his reaction.

  Liam interrupted the awkward moment by saying, “Something about what Galbrecht said worried me, so I’ve been spending a great deal of time looking into this. Sadly, we were able to find more traces of necromantic energy, the problem is that they all lead to one place in the university.”

  Serius pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Tolston.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Have you let anyone know besides me?”

  Liam tapped Galbrecht’s armored chest. “Someone wanted to march into the headmaster’s office and accuse him of practicing necromancy, but I convinced our friend here that we should wait to speak to you, first. When he felt another surge of dark power just a few minutes ago, it was all I could do to get him to come to you first.”

  “Very good, Galbrecht, but Liam is right. We need to prepare if we’re going to confront a legendary wizard,” Serius said.

  Then they all got a danger warning from Modessa. The magic which Serius had shared with the team allowed them to request help and, under the right circumstances, even summon one another. Modessa’s message said that there was danger to Nico and that it was urgent.

  Serius closed his eyes and placed a hand on each of the other men’s arms. Then he cast Teleport. The spell carried them away in an instant, but something interrupted his spell—a magical barrier and powerful at that, if it was going to stop Serius from getting through.

  He opened his eyes as they rematerialized. They were standing just outside the Archmage’s tower. He groaned. This was bad. If the danger they faced was from Tolston and Modessa was already confronting him, things might go very poorly.

  Galbrecht must have come to the same conclusion because he said, ‘We have to get inside right away.”

  “The tower’s defenses have been activated. Normally, I can teleport right through them, but they are on full lockdown. I can get us through, but it will take time.”

  “If I break the barrier, can you teleport us directly to Tolston? We need to hit him hard and fast,” Galbrecht asked.

  “And with surprise, if possible,” Liam added.

  Serius said, “This all depends on Galbrecht being able to bring the barrier down. Did you gain some unique magic busting ability?”

  “Nothing so specific… just a spell usable only by paragons. My goddess may not be thrilled with me using it for something this simple, but I believe the matter to be urgent.”

  When the big man held his hand out, Serius shivered as the magical aura around him grew stronger. There was a weight to it as the mana in the air condensed. Before he knew it, Serius could barely stand under the weight of divine glory. Just when he was about to demand the paladin stop, Galbrecht’s spell came to fruition.

  Miracle

  Chapter 14 - Monsters Go to School

  The line of pain across my chest left by the troll’s axe was a perfect wake up call. I saw Cami fighting a were-tiger and Modessa hurling shadow spears at a monster in the corner. I only had a second to take him in, but immediately recognized it was the same oni we had confronted before. Something was different, though.

  The air around him was full of magic. He’d been preparing. There were layers of defensive spells around him, as well as offensive powers waiting to be triggered. This wouldn’t be the same fight and we didn’t have Serius and Lisella here to help us.

  I would have been nervous, but our enemy wasn’t the only one who had grown in power since our last encounter. Cami was holding her own against the swiftly moving were-tiger, although I saw that two others were trying to flank her. No, both Cami and I had become much more powerful.

  As I got up, I roared in anger. A wave of dragon fear rushed out of me and filled the room. A spell shield around the oni sprang to life, protecting him from the effect. Lesser versions appeared around the other monsters. They really had come prepared. That might have been enough if my dragon fear was no stronger than it had been at our last encounter, but it was now so much more.

  I unleashed the full fury of a dragon who would NOT be denied. Not only had my ability leveled up, my mastery of my power made it that much more effective. It wasn’t enough to completely blast through the wards they had protecting them from its fear effects, but it was enough to make the were-tiger fighting Cami stumble.

  That was all it took for her to spin her spear around, bringing the sword like blade at the end down in a tight circle as she severed one of the monster’s extended fingers. Unfortunately, I couldn’t dwell on her situation as I had to deal with the troll suddenly bearing down on me.

  Dragon fear bought me a second, but that was all it bought me. It wasn’t the only power I had activated, though. I was already mid-transformation before I was fully standing. Shape Change was a powerful ability and my training with the dragon clan, and Edgar had shown me the advantages of the draconic warrior form.

  My body grew until I was every bit as tall as the troll. Wings sprouted from my back as brilliant blue scales covered every inch of my flesh. I even allowed my head to elongate to form a proper jaw—all the better to bite them with.

  Then I was on the troll. It was bringing the axe back down in an attempt to finish what it had started, but its balance was off. Edgar’s training showed me how to spot the error. There were definite advantages to fighting in this quasi-humanoid form. One of them was the way that I could catch the haft of his axe in my hands, spin my hips, and, using his own momentum flip the heavy troll before slamming him down into the unyielding, magically reinforced tower floor.

  I didn’t need any special training to know what to do with the tail that I’d grown as I adopted this form. It slammed down with the force of a dozen sledgehammers into the troll’s skull. Bone gave way, and I knew I’d pulverized its skull. Unfortunately, I also knew that wouldn’t be enough to kill a troll.

  I sucked in my breath and then made use of an alternate breath weapon. Suddenly, a thick stream of acid blasted out of my mouth, spraying the troll from head to toe. It might not be enough to completely consume the troll, but from the way the monster thrashed about on the floor as weak noises rose from its smashed face, there was no doubt the acid was doing its thing.

  I wanted to taunt the dying troll, but the biggest threat was still here and I had to protect Cami, too. Looking up, I saw that Modessa was busy with the oni, but that left three were-tigers for Cami. One had been maimed, but she had received a couple of cuts from them as all three pushed her to her limit.

  Smart girl that she was, she used the range which her spear gave her to her advantage. She had also worked herself around to where her back was against the wall, so they couldn’t get behind her. The battle between Cami and the beasts was fierce, filling the room with snarls, roars, and the clash of steel against claws.

  The air was thick with magical energy, different currents of power running through it like invisible streams—some warm and some a biting cold. Watching Cami in action, I was proud of how much she’d grown. Now she stood boldly with her back against the cold stone wall, her blonde hair a stark contrast to the gray, worn stone.

  It was then that I realized just how glad I was to have her as my dragon knight. Humans were far from perfect. I had even had a rough bit with Cami, but I knew I could trust her. She had my back and had protected me against an overwhelming foe while I was meditating. That wasn’t something I’d ever have entrusted to a fellow dragon. There really were some advantages to working with humans… well, at least to working with Cami.

  Rather than jumping right in, I gave her the room she needed to see what she could do. I prepared myself to act, if necessary, casting Call the Charge so I’d be ready to help. In the meantime, though, it was Cami’s turn to shine.

  Her spear tip glinted in the magic-lit room as she jabbed and whirled, pushing back the three were-tigers that lunged at her. Their humanoid bodies were sleek and muscular, tiger fur sprouting in patches over the exposed skin. Their claws clicked against the stone floor and their tiger-like eyes glowed with savage delight.

  Even though she was outnumbered, Cami stood her ground. She wasn’t quite as fast or strong as they were, but the potent magic of her spear, along with its reach, more than made up for that. She darted forward, suddenly shifting from defense to offense.

  The air hissed as she sliced her spear through it, opening a deep wound in one were-tiger's chest. It roared, the pain and anger rippling off it. The wound wasn’t enough to stop it, but for the moment it slowed its assault just enough to create another opening for Cami.

  She went low under the swipe of her second foe, shoving her spear between his legs. He would have blocked an attack to his body, but she didn’t come straight at him. Instead, she contented herself with tripping him, causing him to fall into the one she had just injured. If it had only been the two of them, I had no doubt that Cami would have prevailed without needing any help.

  Unfortunately, the third were-tiger, nursing its severed claw, had been biding its time. It pulled forth a dagger, and I noted the unmistakable glint of green poison on the blade. Cami shared a portion of my resistance to poisons, but I wasn’t going to risk her life to find out how durable she was. Besides, several inches of steel shoved into her side would be just as deadly as the poison.

  Her entire focus was on finishing the two were-tigers she had taken down. I was proud of her focus, but it was going to cost her—or it would have, if I didn’t act. Leaping over the incapacitated troll, I charged forward and spread my arms wide as I scooped up the smaller creature. My scaled feet pounded against the enchanted stones as I swept the threat away from Cami.

  The beast twisted, trying to bring its dagger to bear against me, but I bit down on its shoulder. I knew taking a proper head would benefit me much more than the flat, squishy human face I normally wore these days. My teeth rent the were-tiger’s flesh and that arm went limp beneath the crushing power of my jaws, causing the dagger to tumble from its nerveless hands.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cami glance in my direction. She had a grim smile on her face but only spared me a fraction of her attention to briefly acknowledge my presence before refocusing on her own foes. The message was clear. Trust. She trusted me to handle this, to have her back, just like she’d had mine.

  Cami thrust her spear through the throat of one of the two were-tigers she faced, ending that threat—at least for the moment. Their regeneration might not be on par with the troll’s, but simple wounds were almost never enough for monsters like this. The second were-tiger recovered much faster. Perhaps seeing its comrade skewered like that while I was mauling the other one, motivated it to be just that much faster.