Magnus Academy: The Cursed Blood

Chapter Forty-Four

What Does Silence Sound Like?

The sound of silence has always been comforting, despite the fact that it could also be defeaning, rendering some into a suffocating solitude. That may be the case for me, but that doesn't mean I don't find pleasure in such place. An empty space, a void, where nothing can be heard but one's own heartbeat—or sometimes even the rushing of the blood inside their vessels.

But this silence was different for there was the sound of the spreading fire, the sight of ruined buildings, cracked paved streets, trees laid on the ground, smoke blending with the air, that familiar scent of blood...and the thin mist enveloping. There were no signs of life in the area, nor any sight of corpses laying around. Everything appeared deserted, and I wasn't liking it.

Stereden is a small island located inside the range of the border of the Kingdom of Zyrendel. The Academy is located right at the middle, surrounded by a force of invisible barrier, as though looking at a thin line of mirror with a castle town past through the two gates inside the barrier.

It took us a month traveling from Siegber back here in the country, so it had almost been seven months since I last left. But I never expected things to escalate this quickly. I knew war against the Leomer Empire is inevitable since they've been overthrowing countries and kingdoms near their continent, and Zyrendel isn't an exception.

That's the reason why I had them prepared before I left anyway, why whether they like it or not, they would eventually have to defend themselves, but the enemy sure is quick on their feet. I don't know what exactly happened in this place nor the general state of the country for we went directly here in Stereden, not over the Capital itself. But I could already tell it isn't anything great.

"Something real bad happened here." Lucis Voltron murmured, as we continue our way forward where the Academy perfectly stood still.

Well, he did insist that he wanted to come with me, along with figuring out where in this vast universe is Cretian Plains. Along with our journey back in this country, were several overseers sent by the Organization to execute me—as well as attempts on taking the Dragonborn away.

It seemed like they were indeed waiting for me to find the Plains, but when my time limit ended, they started trying to kill me—which they had always been trying to. Only now, they have no more reason to keep me alive. But of course, I didn't even have to face them myself, Finé was enough to finish them off. As for that, we arrived Stereden without much of a hindrance.

"I smell something...casted through each passing breeze...the air." Finé covered her nose, her eyebrows furrowing. "The scent is making me dizy."

Clutching my cloak tighter, Astoria pointed at her left. Following her gaze, my eyes landed on the thick building mist having a gaseous colour of green. Mists are said to be tiny droplets of water embedded through the air in a condensed phase, turning from an invisible gas to visible droplets of water molecules—one of my assignment reports back in Magnus Academy.

I remember Andrea saying a long explanation over and over again just for Iyana and I to memorize. Andrea has always been the academic type, and Iyana wasn't the kind to pay attention in class for she would always sleep, it was because of her rank that she got away with it most of the time.

While as for me, I never truly cared about the lessons I was forced to study, but there were times those are actually important, especially when I started moving around. I sighed, my hood almost falling of when I turned my head away from the springing memory. I noticed the green building mist beginning to get denser, slowly moving around to envelope everything with no visibility.