Chapter 55: Chapter 56: Is Nyx dead?
Thorne
The horn echoed through Morvalis like the dying scream of some colossal, ancient beast awakening from centuries of slumber.
Low.
Violent.
Unnatural.
It tore through the dense forest canopy with such raw power that every muscle in my body tensed on pure instinct, adrenaline surging through my exhausted veins once more. Even after everything we had barely survived through that endless night, the relentless Blood Ants, Ivy’s sudden and shocking death, the suffocating fear that had crawled under everyone’s skin like a second layer of darkness, that single sound still managed to make the air feel impossibly heavier, thicker, more oppressive.
And I hated it.
I hated that Morvalis had already conditioned us so thoroughly to expect monsters behind every unfamiliar sound, every shift in the shadows, every whisper carried on the wind.
But before the horn had shattered the fragile silence...
Before the night’s hard-won calm had been ripped away...
I had already witnessed something far worse.
Ivy.
Pushing Nyx.
I noticed it immediately.
Observation had always been one of my sharpest, most reliable traits. While most people focused only on the obvious, glaring dangers directly in front of them, I had trained myself to notice the subtler things happening in the periphery. The tiny shifts in posture. The hidden intentions flickering across faces. The micro-movements that revealed true motives long before any attack landed.
And Ivy had moved wrong.
Too intentionally.
Too precise.
Too calculated.
Her body had angled toward Nyx just slightly in the moments before the push, her footing adjusting with cold premeditation, as if she had already mapped out exactly where Nyx would fall... straight toward the roaring flames of the torch and the waiting sea of Blood Ants below.
I moved instantly.
But I wasn’t fast enough.
By the time I lunged forward...
Elion and Ashriel had already reached her first.
Ashriel caught her arm in a vice-like grip.
Elion pulled her back by the waist with surprising strength.
And for one brief, dizzying second, relief crashed over me so sharply it almost irritated me, leaving a bitter aftertaste in my chest.
Because if Nyx had fallen into that swarm...
She would have died.
Not maybe.
Not possibly.
Definitely.
The Blood Ants only needed one bite as Ashriel had told us. Just one.
And the horrifying image of watching her collapse the same way Ivy eventually did later that night....
No.
I shoved the thought away violently before it could take root and poison me further.
Nyx stumbled slightly after they steadied her, her expression caught somewhere between raw fear and that familiar, defiant sarcasm she wielded like a shield.
"...Wow," she breathed, staring down at the exact spot where she would have met her end. "That was... almost a very dramatic death."
Even now she joked.
Even in the face of certain death, she still found a way to make light of it.
I didn’t understand how she did that.
How she could stand there with her hands still trembling while pretending the terror hadn’t touched her.
My gaze shifted toward Ivy.
She didn’t look sorry.
That was the real problem.
There was no panic in her expression. No horror. No guilt over nearly ending someone’s life. Only cold frustration.
Like she regretted failing more than she regretted the attempt itself.
Nyx either hadn’t fully realized the intent yet...
Or she had realized it and still chose not to retaliate immediately.
I was not nearly as patient.
So I moved.
Before Ivy could speak or defend herself.
Before she could twist the moment with more lies.
My fist collided with her stomach harder than I had originally intended. The solid impact folded her body instantly. A sharp, choked sound escaped her throat as she staggered backward, clutching herself in agony.
The force of it vibrated up my arm.
And disturbingly enough....
It felt satisfying.
Not because I enjoyed hurting women. But because she had intentionally tried to kill Nyx.
And some ugly, primal, protective part of me had wanted her to feel even a fraction of the panic that had seized my chest when I saw Nyx falling. Why would she try to hurt Nyx? Because of jealousy? Over her playboy boyfriend who clearly gave no real damn about her?
"What the hell?!" Theo snapped immediately, shock rippling across his face.
Lyra looked horrified.
Kaden appeared confused.
But Nyx...
Nyx simply stared for a moment, processing.
Then she moved toward Ivy herself.
I watched carefully as she raised her hand to deliver a slap.
A reckless decision, but understandable.
Ivy was a pure vampire.... faster and stronger by nature.
And exactly as expected, Ivy caught her wrist mid-air with effortless speed.
I simply stood there and watched the tense exchange unfold between them.
Because strangely enough...
Nyx didn’t look weak standing there.
Angry, yes.
Emotional, definitely.
But not weak.
And that irritated me for reasons I didn’t want to examine too deeply.
My gaze lingered on her longer than it should have.
On the way she stood defiantly between dangerous people despite being terrified half the time.
On the way she had stepped fearlessly between Ashriel and me earlier without hesitation. That memory still bothered me more than I cared to admit.
I couldn’t understand it.
Why would she protect me after everything that had happened between us?
Why risk herself like that?
Did she still love me?
Or was it simply the lingering pull of the mate bond refusing to break completely?
I didn’t know.
And for perhaps the first time in my life.... I hated not knowing something with such painful certainty.
The night dragged on endlessly after that.
Blood.
Fire.
Ants.
Fear.
The once-relatively-safe clearing had transformed into a desperate battlefield against creatures so tiny they were almost invisible until they were already crawling across your skin or near your feet.
That was the truly terrifying part.
Not giant monsters with claws and fangs.
Not visible threats you could fight head-on.
But something so small you could miss it with a single exhausted blink.
Morvalis was truly cruel in the most inventive ways.
It didn’t just test raw strength or combat ability.
It tested constant awareness.
Patience.
Luck.
And eventually... someone always failed the test.
Ivy’s final scream still echoed faintly in the back of my mind even now.
The way her body had collapsed.
The way it convulsed violently.
The way the life had simply... switched off inside her like a snuffed flame.
And the worst part?
I felt almost nothing.
No real grief.
No heavy guilt.
No deep sorrow over losing a teammate.
Because deep down, through every grueling second we had spent in Morvalis, I had been haunted by one terrifying possibility....
That the person dying in my Liora vision would be Nyx.
I had done everything possible not to dwell on it, but the fear had stayed there anyway, rotting quietly beneath every other thought.
Because I knew one thing with painful, unshakable certainty:
I could not lose her.
Even now.
Even after everything.
Even after trying to distance myself.
Even after convincing myself she would be safer far away from me.
I still couldn’t accept the thought of her dying.
So when Ivy died instead...
Relief came first.
Cold.
Immediate.
Ugly.
And I hated myself a little for feeling it.
"I would’ve bet my life Nyx was the one dying in Morvalis," Kaden suddenly said into the heavy silence.
The words snapped something inside me instantly.
"Are you insane?" I growled before anyone else could react, my voice low and dangerous.
Everyone looked toward me.
Even Nyx.
Kaden lifted both hands slightly in defense. "I was just saying..."
"You should’ve kept your thoughts to yourself," Theo cut in sharply, disapproval clear in his tone.
Lyra nodded beside Nyx, her expression colder than I had ever seen it. "I don’t know why you feel the need to speak when your silence would be more honorable."
Kaden looked genuinely uncomfortable now. "I didn’t mean it like that. I was just shocked."
Elion finally spoke, his voice calm but edged with irritation. "We’re all shocked. But saying something like that about a teammate just show how little you think before you speak."
Ironically enough...
Kaden had spoken my exact private thoughts out loud.
And somehow hearing them voiced by someone else made me want to hit him for it.
"its enough," Nyx suddenly said tiredly, cutting through the rising tension. "Everyone’s allowed to think what they want."
Even completely exhausted, she still defended people too easily.
That annoyed me too.... Maybe everything annoys me these days.
Then the horn sounded again.
Loud.
Violent.
Closer this time.
Nyx visibly tensed beside Lyra, her shoulders tightening.
"What the hell is that now...?" she muttered under her breath.
Quiet.
Barely audible.
But I heard it anyway.
Everyone immediately stood alert once more, weapons ready, bodies tense, prepared to face yet another nightmare.
And embarrassingly enough...
My first instinct was to position myself closer to Nyx. To protect her.
The realization irritated me immediately.
"It’s just the bus," Ashriel said flatly, recognizing the sound without hesitation.
Without another word, he picked up his bag and started walking toward the exit of Morvalis like none of this had truly affected him.
The rest of us exchanged exhausted glances before following.
Then another silent problem surfaced between us.
Ivy.
No one said it aloud, but we were all thinking the same grim question.
Do we leave her here?
Or carry her body back?
Kaden eventually sighed heavily and bent down to lift her lifeless form himself.
I wasn’t surprised.
Despite all his complaints and rough attitude, he had genuinely considered her a friend.
We walked out of Morvalis together in heavy, broken silence.
Nyx stayed near Lyra while Elion remained glued to her other side, his attention still annoyingly fixed on her.
I had no particular issue with Elion.
Or maybe I did.
I couldn’t tell anymore.
But one thing I knew for certain....
Nyx deserved better than him.
Hell.
She deserved better than me too.
And somehow that realization irritated me most of all.
The bus ride back to Altheris was oppressively silent.
No arguments.
No sarcasm.
No teasing.
Just pure exhaustion and the heavy shadow of death sitting between all of us like an unwelcome passenger.
When we finally arrived back at the academy, the entire place seemed to already be waiting.
Arbiters or Professors whatever they cared to answer to. Amd Students or Purgers anything they also what to be called.
All gathered outside in a large, expectant crowd.
The moment Kaden stepped off the bus carrying Ivy’s covered, lifeless body....
The crowd erupted into frantic whispers and shocked gasps.
Shock spread like wildfire across their faces.
Then someone spoke up, voice carrying clearly over the murmurs.
"Is Nyx dead?"
I recognized the voice immediately.
It’s was Irene.
And for reasons I didn’t fully understand, I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to knock her unconscious right there in front of everyone.
What kind of so-called professor reacted like that?
Nyx stepped off the bus last.
The second people saw her alive and relatively unharmed....
Something shifted noticeably across the entire crowd.
Not relief.
Not happiness.
Disappointment.
Subtle.
Ugly.
Widespread.
Like the majority of them wore the exact same expression.
And suddenly....
I realized something was very, very wrong here.
Because what the hell was this reaction?
