The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 32

32

The old trees shrieked and groaned as the wind played with the roof of leaves and tested the strength of the roots in the ground. Nestled in the highest branches, birds sung and twittered as they filled the forest with music.

Everything about this place was magical and somehow reminded me of Aellyn. She always talked about how she missed the green of the woods and right now, I understood. This was a place to miss when you were away from it. Despite the circumstances of how I got here, I didn't want to leave.

"Keep up," the man said, breaking the spell.

I shook the mesmers out of my head and followed him deeper and deeper into the heart of the forest. My insides were screaming to turn back and leave while I still could, but I shoved denial on those thoughts and stubbornly pushed forward.

This could be my only chance to find Hyde and free him and the other wolves from this man. Evil or not, he was still a thief and he was hurting them. The burns of the poisoned silver chain were my anchor to remind myself of who I was dealing with.

"Where are we going?" I asked again, not expecting an answer.

He studied one of the strange markings on a tree and scratched Lick's chin. "Just a little further."

"You still haven't told me who you are."

The thief turned to face me, wrinkles of exhaustion permeating through his features. "Are you ever going to shut up?"

I looked back challengingly, the wind in my heart rustling. "No."

"Fine. You can call me Var."

"Var." I tested his name, racking my brain for any memories or associations. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't pinpoint why.

Determined to figure it all out, I followed him across knobbly roots and more foreign markings. The deeper we ventured into the forest, the more light the trees swallowed. With every step, the birds grew quieter until the were was just silence. The fresh beauty changed into an eerie mist, somehow resembling the grey of the Veil.

The trees opened up into a circle with nothing in it. No grass, no flowers, no trees. The open patch a scar on the landscape, it was a harsh contrast with the rest of the woods.

What was this place?

Var crouched down and brushed his hand across the ashen ground. "Just as I thought."

"What?" I asked, kicking up some of the dirt. It was curious, but certainly not as fascinating as the man tried to make it out.

"Lick, we've got a lot of work to do," he said, ignoring me.

The wind in my chest hissed, flaming up the coals of anger in my stomach. Who did he think he was? Why was he ignoring me?

"Tell me what's going on!" I shouted, my voice echoing into the empty forest. "Where's Hyde? I don't know what you think you're doing, but I'm not leaving without him."

The man stared at me, his eyes penetrating and filled with amusement. He chuckled darkly and returned to examine the forest floor.

"What's so funny?" I growled, looking around for anything I could use as a weapon. Maybe I could threaten him to tell me where the stolen wolves where.

"I can see where your wolf got his temper." He rose back on his feet and dusted his coat off. "If you're that desperate to get him back, I think we can help each other."

"Why would I do that?" I sneered, anger boiling up. He was delusional if he thought I would ever help him.

"Because you also want life."

I scoffed. "You overestimate how much I care about myself."

Var clacked his tongue, smiling again. "I'm not talking about your life. I'm talking about all of it. Humans, nature, elementals. If you don't help me, it'll all be gone. All the animals, all your friends, all your family. Gone with the wind, erased without a trace."

"What are you talking about?"

"The war."

"What war?"

This man was delusional. There hadn't been an elemental war for centuries.

"You don't know?" he asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Know what?"

Var reached into his pocket and held out a bullet casing. "Humanity has declared war on itself again."

"So? They do that all the time."

He shook his head, his eyes darkening. "Not like this. Never like this. If they don't destroy the planet while they're alive, they'll rip it apart when they're dead."

"That's a little dramatic," I muttered under my breath, still searching for anything that would give me an indicator of where Hyde was.

"There aren't enough Afterlife Assistants to guide all the dead and keep them from tearing the world apart. Surely, even you know what would happen if the souls mutate."

My heart sank. I did know. It was one of the few things Hagen taught us in his class. If souls weren't collected in time, they festered and corrupted everything within their reach. If he was telling the truth about a war, it would explain why all our teachers were so absent. They were dealing with the dead.

Var laughed humourlessly. "I see you've caught on."

"It still doesn't explain why you stole the wolves," I countered, trying to ignore the worry bubbling up. Something told me Var wasn't lying and that was even more terrifying than him.

"I needed them. They help me safeguard the world," he said, shrugging as if his cause warranted his theft.

A little sceptical, I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "Why didn't you just ask for help?"

"All the other Assistants and companions are already doing as much as they can. But the dusk pups imprinted on students are useless until you've all learned to master the Veil. But they were of use to me."

"So why did you need my help then?" I sneered, spotting a glint of something metal on the ground. Whatever it was, if it had a sharp edge it could help me overpower Var and Lick.

"Not all the wolves are cooperating and performing to their full potential. You're going to make your wolf obey."

As he turned to feed Lick another piece of bread, I dove down and grabbed hold of the nail. Quickly, I shoved it in my pocket and pretended nothing had happened.

To mask the hope fluttering in my chest, I thought up another question to keep him occupied. "What makes you think I'm going to help?"

"Didn't I just explain?" Var sighed, shaking his heads. "Children."

"I'm not a child," I defended myself, curling my hand around the nail and pressing my finger against the sharp point. It wasn't overly sharp, but it could seriously hurt someone if I stabbed them in the right place. Perhaps in an eyeball or in the neck.

Var clicked his fingers as he started walking again. "Unless you want the world to end, you're going to tell your wolf to listen."

"How do I know you're not lying?" I called after him, tightening my hand around the nail.

"You'll see."

I jumped over a fallen tree and slapped some branches out of my way. On the one hand, I could be making everything worse by helping him. On the other, if I agreed, he'd take me to Hyde and then I was one step closer to figuring out how to get him away from Var.

"Fine. I'll do it," I lied, silencing the wind coursing through my veins. None of this seemed like a good idea, but I was going to roll with it. I had no other choice but to wait and see.

"Good. Now be quiet."

I rolled my eyes, mouthing his words.

"I heard that," he sighed.

"Whatever."

Var went back to ignored me as he dragged me away from the grey patch and further through the forest. The sun returned, but the sound of birds didn't. Instead, a faint rumble played in the distance, growing louder with every step.

"What's that noise?" I asked, catching up to Var. Apart from his rough appearance and questionable moral choices, he didn't actually seem hostile. If he wanted to kill me, he'd have let me suffer the poisonous burns or done it already.

"You'll see soon enough," Var replied, his voice grimmer than before. Without elaborating, he kept walking until the forest thinned out and brought us to the edge of a cliff.

The sun stroked my face and a gust of wind embraced me, erasing the last of my worries. I was no longer alone. The wind carried all the strength of my ancestors and as long as I could feel the cool touch on my skin, I was invincible.

Reassured, I directed my attention to whatever we came here for. I didn't see a sign of the wolves or Hyde, but we clearly stopped for a reason.

"What are we—"

"What do you know about death?" he interjected.

"Ummm..." Really? Was this the right moment for a quiz? "Dying in battle is a noble cause. Odin honours the fallen warriors by welcoming them into Valhalla and giving them a place in his hall. When it's for the right reasons, there is beauty and glory in death."

Var gritted his teeth as he petted Lick between his ears. "I see they're still teaching this nonsense. Come closer, let me show you something."

I followed him to the edge of the cliff and looked down. The sight of the valley underneath took my breath away.

The entire landscape was destroyed, scarred by fire and flames. Just like the grey patch within the forest, but infinitely bigger. The scar stretched across the vale, further than the eye could reach. Scattered across the plains of ash, the bodies of countless humans piled between metal wrecks and their fallen comrades. Blood pooled between their massacred corpses, soaking into the earth and running through the cinders as rivers.

Most of the souls were still attached to their respective bodies, swaying in the breeze of smoke and fire. Others had already untethered and were wandering off in all the directions of the wind.

"f**k," I voiced, my chest clenching as I witnessed a scene more gruesome than I could've even imagined.

"Indeed," Var said, even his face betraying grief. "An entire army wiped out in less than a day. Tens of thousands of men and women, fallen in battle.They were bombed from the sky in a brutal slaughter. They never even laid eyes on their enemy. Tell me how this is an honourable death."

I tried to swallow the lump that formed in my throat, but I couldn't. There was just so much death and destruction in this vale, I couldn't quite believe it. This was not how death had been described to me, how it was supposed to be.

The eerie silence was a stark contrast with the committed horror. There were no screams of pain, no wails of agony. There wasn’t anyone left to cry.

"Where are all the Afterlife Assistants? All the Valkyries?" I asked, looking at Var. "All these souls need collecting. Why is nobody here?"

He sighed. "I told you the world was at war. It's not just here, it's everywhere."

My chest clenched as the realisation settled in. I knew his answer before I even spoke my question, but I had to ask. Otherwise I wouldn’t believe it.

"So who is cleaning up this slaughter?" I looked at him dread settling in my stomach and constricting my throat.

Lick growled lowly as Var unfolded dark wings from his back, his eyes filled with sorrow and despair. He turned to me, pain carved permanently into his features. "We have a lot of work to do."

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To be continued…