School of monsters

CHAPTER 12: THE FALL OF PRINCESS

"I've got the guards!" Emily yelled, letting out a ferocious wolf howl that shook the dust from the cavern ceiling.

Her body surged forward, shifting mid-stride into a massive, muscular silver wolf. She slammed directly into the lead guard, throwing him off the stone bridge into the dark chasm below.

Emmie moved like a phantom, her movement a blur of pure speed. She unhooked her silver flasks, throwing liquid holy-water compound into the faces of two oncoming guards. They screamed as the liquid burned their armor, forcing them to stumble back.

Drake didn't hesitate. He lunged straight for the remaining guard, his silver blade clashing against heavy iron in a shower of bright sparks.

"Issac!" I shouted, sprinting past the chaos toward the stone pillar where my brother was bound.

"Not so fast!" Princess shrieked.

She dropped from a high ledge, landing directly between me and Issac. She slashed her dagger toward my face.

I remembered Drake’s combat lessons. Don't flinch. Use their weight against them.

I ducked beneath her swinging arm, grabbed her wrist with both hands, and twisted hard while driving my heel into the back of her knee. Princess let out a sharp cry of pain as her leg buckled, her dagger clattering onto the stone floor.

"You insolent little rat!" Princess spat, her dark vampire magic flaring around her hands like black fire. She lunged forward, her sharp nails aiming straight for my throat.

Before her claws could touch me, I pulled the silver knife from my belt and slammed the flat of the blade against her chest.

The silver, infused with my Warden blood, discharged a violent shockwave of golden light. Princess was blasted backward, slamming hard against the stone wall of the cavern. She slumped to the floor, coughing and clutching her chest, her dark magic completely extinguished.

I didn't waste a second. I rushed to Issac, pulling the cloth from his mouth and slicing through the ropes binding his hands with the silver knife.

"Lisa!" Issac gasped, pulling me into a desperate hug. "You... you just beat up a vampire princess!"

"I took lessons," I said, giving him a quick, relieved smile. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but look!" Issac pointed toward the hanging Core.

The massive orb of silver light was cracking. Deep black fissures spread across its surface, shooting beams of corrupted red light in every direction. The stone floor beneath us began to split open, rocks falling into the roaring abyss below.

"The Seal is rupturing!" Isabella called out over the deafening roar of cracking stone. "The Headmaster isn't coming to fix it! He’s using the destruction of the Core to draw the human military into the valley!"

"Drake!" I called out, turning toward the stone bridge.

Drake had just knocked the last guard unconscious. He ran over to us, his eyes wide as he looked at the disintegrating silver Core. "The Core needs a catalyst to stabilize! Without the Warden’s Key, it's going to detonate!"

"What is the Warden's Key?!" I demanded over the rising roar of energy.

Drake turned his gaze to me, his face pale in the flashing red light. "It's not an object, Lisa. It's your heart."

(To be continued in Chapters 13–20! Let me know when you're ready for the next installment!)