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TAYLOR SPRATT
Chased by Darkness

All Rights Reserved © 2019 Tiffany Bent. First Printing: 2019.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical review and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Author’s Note: All characters in this story are 18 years of age and
older, and all sexual act are consensual.

Dedication
Dedicated to my parents, sister and cousin Mandi. Thank you for
believing in my dream.
 CONTENTS

Chased by Darkness

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY -THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
 CHAPTER ONE

Aria

The banging. Please, God. Make it stop. The dinner table quaked as
bowls of turkey and mashed potatoes went tumbling to the ground,
shattering over the wooden floor.
My parents braced the door, holding on for dear life.
They can’t come in here, they just can’t, but the way the door was
tearing off its hinges, it wouldn’t be too long before the gates of hell
opened and life as I knew it would burn to cinders.
“Aria, get in the corner!” my mother screamed, tears streaming
down her sweat-drenched face.
I ran, every squeaky floorboard crying under me as I pushed old
furniture out of my way getting to the corner by the dusty old
fireplace. Crouching down didn’t make it any better; the racket was
inescapable, targeting my huddled body like a bullseye. I sunk my
nails into my arms, deep enough that blood now dripped onto the
ground. I couldn’t help but do this, when things got too scary. It
didn’t even hurt; I couldn’t feel anything anymore. I didn’t deserve
to.
“Is this how you were raised, is this how you treat a little girl?” My
father yelled.
“Leave us alone!” my mother said, her voice cracking. But the
banging only increased. She screamed, the fear of God in her eyes.
Then she flung herself against the door and wedged her frail form
against it as it shook, almost ripping off its hinges.
My dad braced with her, his face hard from strain, as he
shouldered most of the force. Our brave protector still no match for
the hoard.
 The world blurred through my tears as I sunk to my quiet place.
The only place I still felt safe, the world before this terrible curse, my
memories.

***

Food stalls lined the busy streets of Hallendere Village. Apples and
plums sweetened the air, bringing a smile to the face of every
passing villager. Their clothes were raggedy, but the colors shone
clear and bright.
“Hello, Mrs. Kolgrim,” an old woman said as she passed us, my
mother returning a cheerful greeting, smiling the most beautiful
smile in the village. I wanted to smile that pretty when I grew up
too.
One hundred greetings, two pretty plums, sixty sweet berries, and
two yucky chickens later we left the market to go back up the dusty
trail home.
The purply pink hue of a summer dusk hung in the skies like a
color show of magic and wonder.
The houses were small and rustic, but birds loved these homes.
Hundreds roosted on each roof; what a pretty song they made.
My mother would say the world had left us behind, that life was
better in the cities. But I wouldn’t know because we weren’t allowed
to go there, we were ‘different’ from others. I thought she meant it
was because we were magic.
The sun was falling fast and moonlight covered the street making
it hard to see where my mother and I were going. She held my hand
tight as she maneuvered the fallen rocks in our path.
“Aria baby, look,” my mother said, pointing to a patch of light
ahead. It came from a greenhouse with a pointed roof of
shimmering gold. Inside was buzzing with activity; there was music,
with tons of grownups drinking and laughing. They rallied around a
kid with a huge birthday cake in front of him…
Oh my god! Presents were everywhere!
“Mommy?” I asked, tugging on her dress. “What are they doing in
there, can we go too?”
 “No, Aria,” she said with a laugh, smiling down at me. “Today is
his eighth birthday. Today he becomes a real wizard and gets his
powers.”
I’d seen my parents cast all sorts of spells around the house.
Spells for invisibility, strength, healing, and tons of other cool stuff.
“Wow! So… when do I get mine?” I asked as I jumped up and
down taking my mother’s skirt with me for the bounce.
“Aria!” She grabbed her skirt, pulled it down looking around in
every direction, her cheeks turning pink. “You’re seven now so you
only have a few months to wait,” she said with a pinch to my
cheeks, and we continued our walk.

***

My half-eaten unicorn birthday cake lay forgotten on a table in the

corner of the room along with the remnants of my favorite foods and
drinks. All eyes were on me now, boring into me even more harshly
than the overhead lamp.
“It’s time now baby,” my mother said standing off to one side, a
smile gracing her face from ear to ear as my father stood by my
other side beaming at me with pride in his eyes.
I stretched out my hands to cast my first spell, but instead of the
ceremonial green sparks, a dark substance emerged from my palm
and globbed its way to the floor. Every smile in the room vanished, a
deafening silence taking over as we all stared.
I looked to my mother with a million questions in my eyes as the
amorphous black blob grew, tripling in its size every second that
passed.
“What is that thing?!” the next-door neighbor yelled out, clutching
Billy to her chest.
It just kept on growing as everyone in the room watched in horror,
no jaw more open than mine. It was almost triple my size when a
loud boom rang out. Darkness descended in the tiny cottage, and
the smell that came with it made me nauseated.
I stood, trembling in fear while my friends and neighbors sped out
the door, covered in the infinite black slime.
 My parents pulled me into their arms, reassuring me it would be
okay. I was so confused, but something told me that for the first
time in my life, my mom and dad were lying to me.

***

At school the next day my best friends had looks of pure horror
burned into their faces as I approached them in class.
“L-l-leave us alone, monster!” They stammered, petrified at the
mere sight of me, before turning and running away. Tears streamed
down my cheeks but I couldn’t say a word.
Why did I have to be born this way?
The once bright classroom with pink walls and shiny silver desks
was now grey, dark and eerily silent. Glancing to the side, my eyes
met a few of my classmates. Six of them leapt from their seats and
crammed themselves into the corner, cowering away from me. They
looked petrified, as if they were staring death in the face.
My mother told me I was what they called a Void User; and that
someone like me could only curse, jinx, or hex. But she assured me
that it wasn’t such a big deal, promising people would get used to
me and forget I was different.
But that never happened.
When my mother and I made our usual trip to the market,
everyone gave us strange looks as they whispered? My mother clung
to me, bending her head down so low you could barely see her
beautiful face.
Our leisurely walk turned into a near run as the villagers shouted,
“Dark walker!” and “Plague!” at us, throwing fruit in our direction.
Were they talking about me?
Years passed but things never get better. Especially at school. I
wished my classmates would still run from me, too afraid to come
too close. Now I would give the sun, the moon, and the stars to get
one minute alone.
“Hey, Void User! Void User!” One of my classmates called out as I
walked out to the schoolyard. I didn’t answer, I never did but I
increase my pace.
 “Where you going?” Another voice called out. There were three of
them, beating the dirt towards me. Not again.
I sprinted out of the school yard and tore down the empty,
country road, taking turns down random streets as we entered the
town.
Please don’t let them catch me, my scars haven’t healed from the
last time.
The path ended, fences surrounded me on three sides with bullies
on the forth.
“Leave me alone!” I cried as they sprang for me, pummeling me to
the ground.
The air left my chest. The pain; there was so much pain. Curse
the stars, I can’t do this, not again.
They kicked at me, using language so foul it shouldn’t be coming
from ten-year-olds, but neither should this level of evil.
The pebble laced soil tore deep into my side, scratching my skin a
little more with every blow. Then, dulling my senses, a cool
sensation settled in my core as a dark pressure began expanding
from inside me. Within an instant, it shrouded the little bullies in a
dark miasma that seemed to roll right off my arms, attracted to
them like a magnet.
“Ahhhhh stop!” They cried, tearing back down the path, batting
frantically at the black cloud as their hair slid from their scalps and
blew away with the wind.
I lay on the ground, my heart racing, unable to comprehend what
had just happened. Right now, only two things were clear. My power
had a mind of its own, and I had just cursed three boys.
I’d just cursed three boys. I’d just cursed three boys. God, how
could I be so stupid?
A loud bang brought me from my memories.
The door, close to shattering, was now completely off its hinges.
My father was the only thing holding it in place as my mother left
the door to spring toward me. She knelt beside me and shielded me
with her arms, her shiny blonde hair the only light in the cold,
desolate cottage.
 “Get away from the door!” A woman outside demanded, “she
hexed my son!”
“It’s just some hair, it’ll grow back!” My father yelled back, losing
his grip on the door.
“It’s not just the hair! Our crops are failing; we all know it's her,”
Mr. Damion the village head said, with a deep ache in his voice. “She
can’t help but be evil, John. It’s her nature.”
“That's our child you’re talking about,” my mother shouted, still
holding on to me for dear life as she outstretched her wand to the
door.
Crops?
“They’re lying, Mommy. They're lying!” I cried, clenching my
mother’s arm and shaking it. “I didn’t go in the fields.”
“Shh shh, baby, don’t worry about it. Stay quiet now.”
Boom!
The remaining parts of the door flew off, slamming into my father
like an angry train and knocking him to the ground. The mob
swarmed the tiny cottage like an ant army, trampling my father
unconscious.
They were almost on top of us, when a beam of the purest, bluest
light burst from my mother’s wand, washing the room in a blinding
blur.
Time seemed to freeze, and I clenched my eyes shut, squeezing
my mother’s arm till my fingers burned.
The light faded to show a quiet room, covered in shadows. Bodies
littered the floor, still and lifeless. Not even a twitch.
My eyes gaped open at the sight and my mother cupped my
cheeks to look me in the eyes. “Don’t be afraid, baby, they’re not
dead, they’re only unconscious. We don’t have much time.”
Throwing me over her shoulder, my mom tore out through the
front door.
Once outside, she stumbled over body after body of unconscious
villagers.
We left the village, walking uphill till the moonlit trees of the
Horetia forest came into view. The foliage was so densely packed all
you could see was infinite black. Light itself could get lost in here,
but my mother didn’t stop.
Is she really taking us into that scary place?
“Mommy?”
Boom!
The roar of an explosion filled the air and my mother put me on
the ground, both of us turning to look down at the village.
My heart sank to my stomach. Daddy was sprinting in the village
square, two dozen men hot on his trail.
My father drew his wand as they crowded around him, barely
giving him an inch to breathe. Beam after beam flew from his wand’s
tip, but those evil men didn’t look like they even felt it. The swarm
thickened, pelting him with blasts of their own, and my father
staggered back and forth.
He cried out, blood rushing down his side like a river, washing
away any hope of things ever going back to normal.
“Daddy!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, and my mother’s
hand flew over my mouth. She moved her face to mine, her
eyebrows drawn.
“Baby, listen to me. I need you to go in the fore—”
“No, I can’t. I can’t leave you. I’m scared!”
“Shhh, sshh. Your father needs me. Run into the forest and we’ll
come for you. I promise,” she said, with a smile bright enough to
light up the night.
I clung to her dress with all my might and it tore as she turned to
run back down the hill. Sobbing, I whirled around and peered into
the quiet forest.
After a moment’s hesitation, the dark foliage engulfed my body as
I ran into the trees.
That was the last day I ever saw my parents.
 CHAPTER TWO

Aria

10 years later

So, this is how I die? Taken out by the march of the pinheads?
Were there twenty out there? Or two hundred? It didn’t matter.
Either way, I was screwed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Open up or we’ll kick it down!” a deep voice outside barked as
they continued pounding at the entrance. I didn’t care, Hercules
himself couldn’t tear my butt off this door.
“Go ahead, I dare you. Asshole!” I screamed.
The door was rattling now. It wouldn’t be long till the pathetic
enchanted lock I used on it broke.
My breathing slowed and my legs trembled. Ten years I’d lived in
peace in the Horetia forest, you’d think I would have gotten used to
this little hut of mine. These old dusty shelves were lined with bright
jams, sweet jellies, and the most delicious root crops mother nature
had to offer. They all mocked me with flavor I’d never taste again.
The stuffed bears, rag dolls, and toy brooms from my childhood
littered the dirt floor. Even in the shadows they sang to me. A
farewell song to the only mother they’d ever known.
In the corner was a pile of leaves, bound by a red blanket. The
soft and protective place where I slept and dreamed the most
spectacular dreams of the most amazing life. Now, what have my
dreams brought me?
 Crack! The door hinges jerked out of place as the banging
continued, my back now numb to the pressure.
Tears slid down my cheeks. Please God, just twenty minutes. I
had to go find my friends and say goodbye.
With a final bang the door flew off its hinges, and I went flying
across the hut and into the shelves. The jars crashed to the ground,
throwing glass in every direction.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I snarled, scraping myself off the floor
and staring daggers at the two tall men shadowing the doorway.
Enforcers. They wore jumpsuits the color of gangrenous toes and
towered over me with scowling faces. One was a redhead, the other
a blond, but they both looked like Frankenstein’s ugly stepbrothers.
They stalked toward me, wands pointed at my face.
“There’s been a report, Void User. Keep your hands down and
slowly walk toward us,” the redhead commanded.
“I’ve done nothing. Get out!” I said, pressing my back into the
wall. Ignoring my cries, the men came at me. I clenched my hands
into fists and bent my knees, readying for a fight. If they wanted to
play, then I’d play. A cool sensation erupted in my core and black
orbs of dark energy formed in my palms.
The enforcers’ eyes widened, and their jaws falling open.
“The Void is activated! The Void is activated! Prepare to stun the
target!” the redhead bellowed, and he lunged, grabbing my arm.
“Let me go!” I reacted and launched an orb. It hit his jaw and
sank in, spreading.
His screams echoed off the walls, his face twisting with pain. He
thudded to the ground and his jaw line swelled to the size of a black
tennis ball.
“That’s what you get, asshole.”
The blond, eyes fixed on me with trembling fingers, looking like
he’d seen a ghost, fumbled to pull something from his pocket. He
held a small black box with several sharp spikes on top.
If he thought I was going to let him stab me with that thing, he
was dumber than he looked. I crept toward him, orbs raised, glaring
at him.
 “Stay where you are, Void User!” he commanded. Coming at me,
he jabbed the device in my direction in three quick stabs through the
air. I twisted, narrowly missing them all.
My last dodge landed me hard against the fragile wall.
Crap! Not now, this can’t be happening right now.
The old hut groaned and swayed, and with a series of earth-
shaking snaps, the clay walls cracked apart.
My heart raced a mile a minute. What do I do? What do I do?
Heavy branches fell from the ceiling, hitting me over the head and
slapping me in the face.
The tiny window in the corner tore open. Big enough for an
escape?
“Oh, no you don’t!” The blond lunged at me.
The walls caved in around us; the hut cracking apart. I sprang
through a thin opening in the walls, tearing the loose roofing
branches from my path.
Oh, god. My face, my arms, my legs. The scratches hurt, but I had
to get through. I was already halfway there.
Hands gripped my ankles tight, and I kicked at the darkness
behind, hitting something hard.
I fell to the ground outside, pain tearing into my shoulder as light
flooded my eyes.
The roof gave way, burying the men and stifled yells filled the air.
My home! Those assholes. I hoped they got squashed like the
cockroaches they were. Tears streamed from my eyes, blurring my
vision. It was all gone, everything I owned was destroyed.
“I hope you stay in there, you monsters!” I yelled at the wreckage.
Boom!
What the hell are they doing!? This can’t be happening.
Dozens of men in jumpsuits rampaged the surrounding forest.
Some in bulldozers, demolishing the tallest of oaks to the tiniest of
saplings. I knew they were vultures, but this? Had they no respect
for life?
The patch of forest I’d called home for a decade was being torn to
shreds. The vine swings I’d lovingly twisted, the makeshift shower
with pretty rainbow rock flooring, and even the hollowed-out tree
where I kept my parents' old clothes, was now reduced to a compost
heap.
Someone would pay for this. Big time.
A few of the enforcers caught sight of me, and their expressions
soured.
“Don’t let her escape,” One of them called out, causing six of them
to come tearing after me.
Crap, crap, crap!
I turned and sprinted into the forest. The foliage fanned out in an
endless spread of green and brown. The densely packed branches
snagged my dress, tearing it and scraping at my skin.
The pain demanded I slow down as my ankles twisted and
contorted over the broken branches and jagged rocks, but I didn’t
dare. Who wouldn’t pick a few cuts and fractures over eternal
damnation?
After all these years, you’d think the villagers had finally forgotten
about me. I kept to myself, took care of myself, and bothered no
one. Ten years they pretended I didn’t exist and now this? Why
now?
Maybe they're tired of the Void freak, haunting their precious
forest. Or, maybe their stupid crops are failing again, and they
needed a good scapegoat.
So, what do they do? They call the extermination crew.
“Stop, Void User. Wait!” one of them yelled, his voice echoing off
the trees.
A thick patch of ivy and perennial vines covered the path ahead,
angry thorns spread through it, just for fun.
With a hard swallow I tore through the patch, ignoring the pain
shooting through my lower half.
Almost there, almost there, just a little bit longer.
My thin legs waded easily through the patch. Like it recognized me
and spared me its full ferocity.
“Ahhh, stop!” Deep voiced cries filled the air, and something told
me the enforcers weren’t offered the same kindness.
Growing up in the forest could make a grown man cry. Summers
were harsh, and the Winters were brutal. But in here I was free; I
was happy. I had loads of friends. Pixies, fairies, and even a few
sentient trees.
Tears continued to course down my cheeks, and they wasn’t from
the thorns biting my ankles.
How far would they go with their bulldozers? Would they get to
the fairy settlements? My friends wouldn’t stand a chance; they’d no
doubt still be sound asleep after last night’s firefly festival.
The thorns ended and the trees ahead thinned. I’d left them in the
dusk for now, but for how long?
After a few more steps, tall buildings loomed in the distance,
higher than Father Oak himself. And a wall of stale air wafted into
my nose, stinging it a bit. My ear drums were assaulted by what
seemed like angry music, screeching and banging. Human transport
machines zipped around busy streets adding to the eternal racket.
So unnatural. If this is the present, give me the past any day.
But this was freedom, my one way out. And yet… I looked back
at the thick greenery, and pictures of Tonxy and Yolanda rushed
through my mind.
Mornings of laughter, evenings of berry picking, and nights of
dancing under the sparkling stars morphed to the image of pixie
screams, fairy wings littering the forest floor, and agonizing death.
I froze, my heart racing. Those damn enforcers. If they hurt them,
I’d… I’d… I’d kill them all! See how they liked it.
I couldn’t leave now. So what if they terrified me? I was no
coward.
Maybe I could run along the forest’s edge, enter from another side
and warn the fairies before the enforcers came.
I turned, decision made to do just that. I’d only made it about
thirty steps, when a cold, hard wand jabbed me in the back of the
neck, freezing me in place.
My heart stopped. No. Please, not yet.
A harsh masculine voice behind said, “Raise your hands and turn
around slowly.”
I turned and faced a lanky enforcer with a wand pointed at me.
The bastard’s expression was grim yet pleased.
 Black orbs formed in my hands and I bent my knees, shifting to
the balls of my feet.
I’m gonna wipe that dirty grin off his face if it’s the last thing I do.
A whooshing sound rent the air and another enforcer came out of
nowhere, riding the wind. A grimy hand wrapped around my neck
from behind, choking the life out of me.
“If you resist, I’ll snap your neck, Void User,” he barked.
“I didn’t touch the crops!” I choked out, and my orbs
disintegrated. I grabbed for his hands, yanking at his fingers to no
avail. “Let me go, you bastard.”
The Enforcer in front jabbed the spiky tipped box into my belly. It
tore through my dress and dug deep into my skin like a lethal
injection. With one click time froze, and the world spun like a merry-
go-round from hell.
Right then the only thing that existed was me and the earth-
shattering pain that now radiated from my belly.
Oh, my God. God, God, God, God! I opened my mouth to scream,
but only a tiny whimper escaped my lips before everything went
black.
 CHAPTER THREE

Aria

I woke up on the cold damp ground of a tiny jail cell. The grey dingy
walls reflected a bleak hopelessness, and the room was dark and
ominously silent. Outside the thick rust reddened bars stood a
dreary brown wall that seemed to stretch forever. I sat up, my arms
cramping from the metal handcuffs that strangled my wrists.
“Let me out of here!” My screams echoed off the walls and
traveled down the infinite hallway.
What could I possibly have done to deserve this place? The stale
air stank of death and decay. Oh God, I wanted to hurl. My throat
burned for water like I hadn’t had a drink in days and my stomach
growled viciously, begging for the tiniest scrap of food.
If those assholes hadn’t destroyed my home, I’d be there now
eating the smorgasbord of summer fruits I’d picked. The sweet
juices, the crunchy texture, all running down my throat.
“I’m thirsty! I want out of here! Someone, please!” Tears ran down
my cheeks, soaking my chest.
Loud footsteps came banging toward my cell.
“Hey! Somebody please, I don’t belong in here. I didn’t kill the
crops!” I cried, stifling back a dry throated cough.
Two enforcers came right up to the bars. The blond and redhead
who’d broken into my forest hut.
I stood, trembling. How dare they. I was going to kick their stupid
faces in.
“You assholes!” I ground out, forcing my arms through the bars.
I’ve got to grab one of them. Just one; at least one has got to feel
the hell they’ve put me through.
 “Looks like it can’t channel the void when it's hungry,” the redhead
said, with a smug expression smearing his ugly face.
“Let me out of here” I yelled and they both just stood there,
barely out of my reach. Mocking me with their closeness.
“Good. It was worth starving her then,” the blond replied.
Pointing to a dark blotch on his cheek, the redhead sneered, “See
this, girl? See what you did to this gorgeous mug?” He thrust the
key in the lock, yanked open the grill, and grabbed me by the arm
pulling me up to his rough sweat-drenched face.
“You’re gonna pay for this tenfold. We’re under orders not to
touch you. But where you’re going, they eat bitches like you alive. I
only wish I could be there to see the look on your pretty little face
when the hazing squad’s got you cornered and all you’ve got to
defend yourself is a boil curse and a broom handle.” He laughed.
“W-where am I going?” The words shook their way off my lips and
my legs trembled as I fought to mask the fear in my voice.
“You’ll soon find out,” the blond replied. Both men grabbed me,
sinking their grimy calloused hands into my arms, and pulled me
down the passage. My bare feet stumbled and dragged over the
rough ground as I kicked and twisted in their arms.
“Take your hands off me!” I growled, but their vise like grips only
tightened. “Ow! I said take your hands off me!”
Cell after cell passed. Each one dirtier and dustier than the last.
Thankfully, no one was in them; it’d kill me to see anyone else
forced into such a filthy hole.
We neared the end of the hallway and a bright light came from
the opening. It was almost enough to bring a hope to this dreary
hell. Almost, but not quite.
What was ahead?
Would they haul me up into a courtroom, push me into the stands
and brow-beat me into a confession? All over some stupid crops I’d
never even seen? They’d railroad me, I just knew it. I wouldn’t see
daylight for years. Oh God, someone please help me!
I struggled, kicking and screaming as we entered the landing
leading to what seemed like a mile-long upward staircase. I punched
the blond, and he fell backward, his back smacking into the wall.
 His brow furrowed, and he came at me, grabbing my hair.
“Ah! Stop!” I yelled, scraping at his fingers.
Yanking me by the hair, he hauled me up the stairs, every step a
new agony as my hair ripped, sending bursts of pain straight to my
tortured soul.
“Wait. Stop. Stop!” My screams echoed off the walls, my voice
cracking.
At the top of the staircase, they pushed me into a room and threw
me onto a hard wooden chair so fast it gave my butt splinters.
I didn’t think it was possible, but I missed that filthy cell. This
room with bare concrete walls and chipped up flooring looked like a
messy construction site. The windowless walls groaned, bearing
cracks, burns, and bruises from wars long passed.
Clack! A table was thrown to the ground in front of me and it
clattered over the choppy ground, sending pebbles flying into my
already sore shins.
“What in the hundred hells is wr—”
“Shut up! You’ve lost the right to speak.” It was a tall older man
who spoke before he slammed a chair down at the other end of the
table and sat.
Okay, now I was screwed. This guy’s frown lines had frown lines.
He might have been old as Methuselah but he was anything but frail,
boasting a thick chest and arm muscles big enough to rip someone’s
head clean off her shoulders.
I swallowed hard and my shoulders sank.
He wore a grey suit and red bow tie, his grey hair combed back
severely. This was no courtroom but, by the look of the two
enforcers standing in the corner eyeballing me, this was worse. Way
worse.
The old man plopped his elbows on the table, cupped his hands
under his chin, and studied me.
“Do you know why you’re here, Miss Kolgrim?”
“Because you idiots are too incompetent to know an innocent
woman when you see one?” I said.
“So you deny murdering Henry White?”
My jaw dropped. “M-m-murder? I didn’t murder anyone!”
 Dead crops I could handle, but a dead person?
The old man reached for a worn briefcase on the floor, flipped it
open, and pulled out several pictures. He flung them onto the table
and they scattered across the surface.
My heart stalled.
Every damning picture showed the same gruesome sight. He must
have been forty, maybe forty-five, sporting a green jacket and black
shorts, his skin black and blue all over with boils so big it distorted
his face, arms, and legs. If it wasn’t for his clothes, he could have
easily been mistaken for a goblin or troll in such a state.
His lifeless body lay nestled in the grass near a Mugwort patch.
Lilly’s patch.
I gasped. My hut couldn’t have been more than a few feet away.
“I have no idea what happened to him. I’ve never laid eyes on
that man before!” I said and the old man raised a silencing hand.
“Henry White was a famous explorer of exotic locations. He wasn’t
a wizard, but humans like him sometimes hear about magical
communities. He went to see the pixies,” he stated. “Now you expect
me to believe he’d wind up dead, twenty feet from your home,
covered in boils, and you had nothing to do with it?”
“Why would I hurt a passerby?” I argued. “He was no threat to
me.”
“She attacked me just fine!” The redhead snarked from the corner.
“She’s completely out of—” The old man raised another hand to the
redhead’s face and he went silent, his gaze falling to the floor.
“We’ve spoken to the villagers who live on the outskirts of your
forest and they say you're an unstable Void User. They say you once
destroyed an entire field of their crops and terrorized their children.
All while your parents refused their attempts at sending you to
Reform School.”
“Those villagers were crazy,” I blurted. “Everything my mom and
dad did was to protect me, and I didn’t terrorize anyone!”
“But you agree you can’t control your powers?”
“Well, yeah, I’ve had an accident here and there, but I would
never actually kill someone!” I protested, standing up.
 “Sit down, Miss Kolgrim!” He commanded, and I slowly slumped
back in my chair.
These bastards. The gods themselves couldn’t convince them I
was innocent.
“Miss Kolgrim, we are here to protect the entire magical
community and as you can imagine it’s a lot of work. You didn’t
make things easier on yourself by attacking my men when they
came to talk to you.”
“Talk?’ My eyes flew open. “They destroyed my home.”
He waved a hand, dismissing what I said. “That was unfortunate,
but we couldn’t have you staying in the forest, could we?”
“And what about the pixies and fairies, did you kill them too?”
If even a single wing had been detached, I’d show him a real
murderer and it would take more than two enforcers to stop me.
The old man sighed with a pained expression on his face. “Your
friends are fine, Miss Kolgrim. But unfortunately, I can’t say the
same for you. The higher ups have come to a decision. Having a
rogue Void User on the loose is dangerous enough, but one that
can’t even control her powers is madness.” He slid an old folder from
the briefcase, pulling out the contents and slapping it on the table.
Pictures of a massive gothic style building and snooty looking
people dressed in silly uniforms covered the table.
“What in the hundred hells is this?”
“You have a choice to make, Miss Kolgrim,” he said. “This is
Ravenwell Academy, a college of sorts for wizards and witches who
have already completed the eight Trials of Youth. You haven’t
completed yours. Nevertheless, you’ve been accepted to study
magical manipulation so you can learn to better control your Void.”
“And if I refuse?”
“If you were dumb enough to refuse, and I hope you’re not, we
would be forced to send you to Alcadene.”
My mouth went dry. No, not there, anywhere but there. My hand
clenched around my arm, nails sinking painfully deep into my skin. It
hurt but I couldn’t stop myself.
Alcadene, the oldest and most notorious wizarding prison. Within
those accursed walls, escape was impossible, joy non-existent. Every
wizard, witch, or halfling unfortunate enough to lose one of those
so-called ‘trials’ were all stuffed in there, suffering perpetual
tortures, until they literally rotted from the inside out.
He had me beat, and by the smug look on his haggard face he
knew it.
“When do I start?” I sighed.
“You’re in luck, Miss Kolgrim. You're just in time for orientation.”
 CHAPTER FOUR

Aria

So, this is it, the gates to hell? Cast iron, big and black. Nice touch.
The sun shone brightly, illuminating every inch of the unending
greenery that was the Ravenwell school grounds. But somehow,
even the sun wasn’t strong enough to burn away the shadows that
clung so desperately to the sultry old buildings that spread across
the campus.
God. I really don’t want to go in there. I should just turn and run,
before it’s too late. Only problem was the big, stupid Enforcer to my
right. It was the blond one too. Bet he’d be too happy for an excuse
to drag me by the hair again.
My whole life gone to shit all because some asshole thought it’d
be a good idea to use me as a scapegoat for his crimes. Why me?
My fists clenched. Whoever did this, I hope they burn in hell.
My hands clamped down hard around my backpack straps, my
eyes darting in every direction. There had to be a way out of this.
Guys in blue vests and girls in white blouses and plaid skirts
marched through the Academy gates, spell books in hand, their
heads held high. Could they actually be happy to be here? Proud to
call this ‘noble institution’ home? Poor suckers had no clue what it
meant to be free, but I did.
For the last ten years I’d reveled in the freedom of my forest life. I
may not have had a fancy education with stuffy classrooms and
snooty professors, but I had Dad’s old book collection and that was
the only teacher I’d ever need.
 Making my way as my own teacher. The world my classroom,
that’s how people were meant to learn. Not like this, caged and
forced to bend over backward for someone else’s approval.
“I don’t wanna be here!” I yelled, and the enforcer grabbed me by
the arm and pulled my face into his.
Sweat slid down his miserable face and his greasy blonde hair lay
soggy over the roughness of his blocky forehead.
“Look, you little bitch! You’re only my problem for the next two
minutes. After I drop you off, you do whatever the hell you want.”
“I’ve changed my mind! I don’t wanna go!” I clawed at his fingers,
trying to pry them off my arm, and his grip tightened.
“You’re going whether you like it or not.” Pulling me by the arm,
he heaved me through the gate toward a massive building.
I jerked away in vain and stumbled over every rock on the cut
stone walkway.
It was hopeless, everything was hopeless. I might as well save my
energy. My shoulders sank as we walked through delicately pruned
hedges. Each one bearing the face of a famous wizard or witch.
There was Heronitus the Great. Great philanderer, I’d say. Gretta
the Phony Seer, and even Yanning Greenwich the 26th,. He was a
famous scholar of Magical history and a known necrophiliac. He’s
rumored to have killed almost thirty women to satisfy his sick and
twisted desires. Why in the world would they honor a man like him?
They all stared down at me with harsh disapproval in their eyes.
Wow, even magical’s like them shun me?
Gangs of students leered at me as I passed. The enforcer
dragging me along didn’t make for a great first impression, I
guessed.
A sign that read Chancellor’s Office came into view. Behind it
stood a building with dark shingle roofing supported by
intimidatingly tall black columns. There was an expansive veranda
awash with students. Their chatter came to a screeching halt the
moment their eyes landed on me. The girls turned up their noses as
if they’d smelled something foul and the guys added their own
malicious glances, their silence deafening.
 Yup, this was the warm welcome every girl dreamed of on her first
day of school.
I’d almost forgotten how much it bothered me to be stared at like
this. But at least no one was throwing rocks. Definitely an
improvement over the last time I’d been around other witches.
When we stepped through the door and entered the building, my
eyes burned, struggling to adjust to the intense lighting.
Wow. The furniture and the color scheme were beautiful. The
couches were a soft green, walls a soothing beige, and the
hardwood floors shiny and inviting. Fluffy rainbow-colored pillows
lined the walls, all leading up to a dazzling crystal counter.
There wasn’t a dark or dreary thing about this room. This couldn’t
really be the principal’s office, could it?
A beautiful business suit clad brunette with bright red lipstick
popped up from behind the counter. Her bright smile warmed me
from the inside out. The enforcer must have liked her too, because
for the first time since he’d grabbed my arm, I could feel my fingers.
“Here she is,” he declared, shoving me toward her, and I glared at
him. She raised an eyebrow considering me, then her shoulders
jumped and her eyes grew wide.
“That’s right! It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Kolgrim,” she said.
“The Chancellor will see you now.” She gestured for us to follow her
and the enforcer tugged me in her direction, his calloused hand
sinking into my arm with bionic strength.
“Ow! Do you see me running anywhere? Moron,” I said, and he
turned to me, his grimaced and his lips tightened.
“Soon not my problem. Soon not my problem,” he muttered,
rolling his eyes.
We stood outside a tall redwood door and she gave it a quick
knock.
“Y-y-y-you may come in,” a timid voice stammered from inside,
and the lady pushed it open. A wide black desk took up half the
room, and a balding, middle-aged wizard sat behind it.
His glasses were almost as thick as his belly, and he gave me a
nervous smile. The man stood, not gaining a single inch, and
stumbled over to me, shaking my hand.
 This was the principal? He was who I had to answer to? My
disciplinarian? I stifled a laugh. This was going to be cake.
“G-g-good morning, Miss Kolgrim,” he said, pulling his hand from
mine. My palm came away soggy, clammy, and icky. What the hell?
“Um, Good morning to you too… sir,” I said, wiping my hand on
my skirt.
“My name is Chancellor Biggsby, w-w-welcome to Ravenwell
Academy.” He gave a slight nod before he continued. “Now, I know
there’s been some trouble in your past. But every student who
attends this school leaves not only well-rounded but also a well-
adjusted adult. So, we have very high hopes for you here.” He
smiled and handed me a bag filled with papers, tattered old books,
toiletries, and even, yes! Snacks!
I pulled the schedule from the bag and gazed down at it. This was
all so normal, maybe this wouldn’t as bad as I thought, maybe I’d
actually come to like this place. I’d just have to take a few boring
classes then I’d get back to my carefree life in no time.
A cold shiver ran down my spine. From the corner of my eye I
glimpsed a dark figure leering at me from where the chancellor
should be. It was a foot taller than the chancellor, with piercing red
eyes boring into me.
With my heart racing, I turned to face it. What the? It was just the
Chancellor, as squat and nonthreatening as he’d been a minute ago.
Was I hallucinating or was this a spell of some kind?
The chancellor smiled at me but all I could see was the red-eyed
monster. Whatever he was, it was dangerous and hungry, very
hungry.
I swallowed hard, and he handed me a room key. I held on to it
but he didn’t let go, his eyes fixed on me. He paused for a second,
as if pondering something, and in a voice at least three octaves
lower than it had been before he said, “So, the students here can
play a bit rough at times. Be careful, will you? We don’t want you
getting hurt, now do we?” His mouth curled up into a wicked grin so
tight, you’d think his cheeks would crack.
“Um, um. Thank you, sir,” I said, with a nervous smile.
Okay, now I really need to get out of here.
 He told me to head straight to the orientation hall and I was more
than happy to finally get out of that office and shake that damn
enforcer off.
But the moment the orientation hall came into view, I wished I
still had the redhead tied to my hip. Because I now knew exactly
what he meant by hazing squad. I’d just walked into a war zone.
 CHAPTER FIVE

Aria

The orientation hall was a massive, white dome-like building that

shimmered under the midday sun. A line of students stretched down
for what seemed like forever from an entrance to the side, that one
line the only beacon of order in a sea of freaking’ chaos.
The surrounding gardens were a cesspool of fighting and
screaming.
Punching and kicking I’d understand, but these people had
swords, scythes, and were even throwing kunai at each other. Had
they all gone insane?
A pair of rough hands shoved me into the line.
“Hey! Watch it!” I yelled, looking back to see a 6-foot-tall guy with
a paddle on his shoulder.
“Stay in line, freshmen!” He barked, a look of disdain shrouding
his face. He turned to trail away toward a group of other students
and when their eyes zeroed on him, their jaws dropped, and they
scattered in the opposite direction.
What in the hundred hells was going on here?
“Please stop!” A voice echoed from behind, and I spun my head to
see a gang of maybe about three or four girls tackle a younger girl
to the ground with a booming thud.
That had to hurt.
“Stop!” She begged as the gang threw her over their shoulders to
carry her kicking and screaming over to the hall’s white wall. They
smacked her against the hard surface and she squealed in pain.
 How could they turn on their own classmate like that? It just
wasn’t right.
The poor girl struggled like her life depended on it as the gang
swarmed her, their bodies intertwining like a den of snakes. You
couldn’t tell predator from prey if it weren’t for the difference in
armband color.
Terrible, simply terrible. Couldn’t they see the look of absolute
horror on the poor girl’s face? The tallest of the bullies grabbed her
by the neck and savagely yanked the blue ribbon right off her arm.
My heart raced as one of the bullies started pushing the poor girl’s
face into the wall, her cheek crushing against the surface.
“Please, stop! I’m claustrophobic!” She cried.
With a wave of her wand, the tallest bully phased the girl’s entire
head into the thick, concrete wall, stifling her wailing. Her arms
thrashed desperately, trying to pull her head out and breathe. The
gang of girls only stood there laughing. Laughing at her pain.
How cruel. Wasn’t anybody going to help her? The air left my
chest leaving a numb hollowness behind; all I could see were my
orbs plunging deep into those bullies’ faces, see how they like being
tortured.
My fists clenched so hard it burned. That’s it. I can’t watch this
anymore!
I jumped out of the line, marching toward them, and out of
nowhere a stiff arm wrapped around my neck from behind, pulling
me right back in to formation.
“Looking to die so soon, love?” The person behind me in the line
said in a flowery British accent. “They’re only trying to scare her, it’s
unlikely they’ll actually kill the girl. But, if you interfere, I can’t say
the same for you. One must never join a faction fight, at least until
you’re in a faction yourself.”
I swallowed hard. Die?
I tugged the arm off and turned around.
Wow… she was gorgeous. My apparent savior was a girl with
cascading fiery red hair and piercing green eyes that almost seemed
neon, sparkling brighter than the midday sun. Her cheekbones went
on for days and she had the fullest most perfect crimson lips I’d ever
laid eyes on.
“Love, you can’t help that girl. You can’t help any of them,” she
said, her expression warm yet grim.
She raised an arm, gesturing at the pandemonium in the garden.
My God, there was a guy, buried up to his neck in dirt, his eyes
bloodshot darting frantically at the gang of guys around him.
His mouth flapped open, saying something, no, begging for
something. His grief-stricken pleas met by evil grins from the blue-
ribboned gang. Oh God, I can’t watch. So why couldn’t I look away?
I kept my eyes burningly open, not even squinting for a blink as
the gang encircled the poor guy.
One bully slid a long grey wand from his back pocket and flicked it
twice over the buried guy’s head.
Plop! Out from the tip popped a giant python head, its jaw
snapping open and shut ferociously
My arms ached; I could almost feel the pain those sharp, thick
teeth would bring him.
The thick yellow python slithered down from the tip, toward buried
guy’s face, hunger in its eyes. Tears streamed down his cheeks
mixing with the rivers of sweat that ran down his face and neck.
The python was inches from his face, and the guy’s brows knitted
and all tears vanished as if stolen by the sun.
He no longer looked afraid, now he was just mad, mad as hell.
Buried guy gave it to the bullies, with a string of insults ranging from
whose mother was a whore to which of them had rod rot.
You tell them, buried guy! Yes, that’s it, never back down, unless…
uh-oh.
The gang’s smiles melted to deep frowns. Their jaws clenched in
rage and all five bullies marched toward buried guy and started
kicking him square in the face.
Thud. One foot after the other launched at his face, beating him
to a pulp.
My hand cupped my mouth. I couldn’t find the words. Is this what
things have come to? This savagery?
 “Ew! His blood’s on my shoe!” One of them said as the five of
them turned to walk away from buried guy, his face now dirtier and
bumpier than the ground itself. Of course, they didn’t leave him
empty-handed, dropping the python a foot from buried guy.
Just when I thought the drama was over a broom came
whooshing by, inches from my face, thrusting me and several others
in the line to the floor.
Ripping through the air, the broom zoomed about fifty feet in an
instant and whipped through the sky like an angry bull ride from
hell.
Why the hell wasn’t the rider controlling that crazy thing? My
shoulders fell. Oh no, that’s why.
There was no one on it, just one poor soul with his ankles tied to
the end of the broom and a dirty old burlap sack over his head. He
gave it his all, wiggling, thrashing, trying to break free of his
impossibly thick ropey shackles, but what was the use?
There was a hollowness in my chest where my heart used to be.
This level of bullying was inhumane.
He wasn’t even a Void User. What would they do to me if they
found out what I was? Not if. When?
Coming here was pointless.
Broom guy’s screams filled the air as the broom’s whipping
intensified.
“Don’t be so boring, Francis!” A guy shouted at the sky, from the
garden. “At least try to take control. You’re a man, aren’t you?”
Six red ribboned students lounged on a picnic blanket, pointing
and laughing with glee at broom guy from a shady spot in the
garden.
Popcorn? They are actually eating popcorn. Those jerks. Did they
put him up there?
Dozens of onlookers gathered in the garden watching the sky
show, laughing at every twist and turn of aerial acrobatics. How
could they all enjoy themselves like that at someone’s suffering?
These students weren’t magicals at all, they were demons,
straight from the fires of hell.
My fists tightened and my every muscle stiffened.
 As if sensing my unease, the British girl cradled her arms gently
around me.
“Don’t be afraid, love,” she said, “You’re not on the field. You’re
over here.”
Her voice kind and compassionate, I turned and faced her, tears
spilling down my cheeks.
“Why are they doing this?” I cried.
“The winning side gets more converts.” She shrugged.
“Converts?”
She raised a brow and rubbed her dainty chin. “Love, haven’t you
noticed the red and blue ribbons the students wear?” She asked,
“It’s a sign of fealty. The red are Flamenados and the blue,
Floodquakes.”
Flamenados, Floodquakes? What are these, some type of clubs?
“Look!” She whispered, pointing to the left. “The Flamenado Kings
are coming this way.”
A set of blonde twins came striding across the garden, their
towering forms eclipsing the sun. Yet somehow, the shadows of
chaos and discord turned tail and ran the moment they arrived.
Oh, my. Damn! Damn! Damn! I can’t breathe. I couldn’t hear or
even smell either. All my brainpower rerouted to my bulging eyes.
My lips curled up in a smile, and my heart raced.
The threads of their vests strained to contain the girth of their
powerful, heavily muscled arms and chests. They must have been at
least 6’5, maybe more, with shoulders so broad you could land a
plane on them. Their jaws so squared, their cheek bones sharp and
divine.
It should be illegal for men to have lips that pink and luscious. My
God, I’d give almost anything to feel them against mine.
One of them beamed flawless white teeth exposing adorable
dimples that sucked my heart in, promising never to let go. His long
blonde hair swept gracefully over his shoulders, bouncing as he
went. Was he an angel? No, he had to be a god.
The other twin scowled like a savage beast. The thin scars on his
beautiful face now clearly visible. His blond hair shorter and spiked
up in a bit of a mess. His eyes were like two blue flames, wild and
inescapable.
I gave a deep inhale willing their scents to traverse the air
between us and burrow into my body to satisfy this terrible hunger.
Pause. What in the world am I doing? I smacked myself in the
face.
One minute I was wallowing in despair and the next minute I was
ogling some oversized twin kings? Okay, Aria. Get it together!
I hadn’t noticed it before, but the minute they strolled into the
garden, the chaos of minutes earlier froze in time.
The gang of girls heaved the younger one’s head from out the
wall. The trembling girl’s eyes trailed the kings, and she bit her lip,
cutting off her own cries, as if desperate not to offend the kings.
Even buried guy stopped shouting for help. He just stayed there,
silent as a mouse, his face white as paper as the massive python
encircled his head snapping its jaw.
Only the soaring broom refused to show the Kings respect.
Still? The poor guy was still up there whipping through the air?
I gasped when — Crack! A breaking sound rang out, echoing
through the air.
A football-sized fireball went crashing right through the handle. My
eyes darted in every direction, landing on the angry twin whose
hand was engulfed in ferocious flames. That monster, what’d he do
that for?
A high-pitched scream filled the garden as broom guy rushed to
the ground, like a bullet tearing through the clouds. My heart sank
imagining the inevitable splat.
That guy was a king? Why the hell would he go and do something
like that?
“Someone! Please help him!” I cried as everyone around, with
mouths ajar, merely watched him fall like an episode of Rena’s
highflying adventure.
All the while he tore downward blindly, kicking and screaming, his
hands desperately grabbing for something that didn’t exist. A knot
formed in my throat and my nails dug deep into my arm. Thirty feet.
Twenty feet. Ten.
 Please no, please no, this can’t be happening.
He was inches from the ground and out of nowhere, the smiling
twin flicked his wrist and a mini cyclone exploded out of his fingers
and spiraled over the grass, stopping right under broom guy. The
winds caught him like a safety net and gently plopped him onto the
grass.
I exhaled, my back slumping. I don’t believe it.
The smiling twin beamed his perfect smile at the bystanders and
bent into a performer’s bow, his dimples taking center stage. Crowds
of girls exploded with cheers and applause, an animated standing
ovation to the golden-haired crusader.
The scar faced twin took one look in their direction and the girls
went silent, their gazes falling to the ground.
Guessed they weren’t fans, and ghee and I wondered why?
The twins made their way to the entrance of the orientation hall
when the smiling twin stopped. He was looking right over here. Wait.
Was he looking at me?
I swallowed hard as nerves took me over. Oh, no. My heart
pounded out of my chest as his blue eyes flared open with what
seemed like intrigue. He stopped dead in his tracks, prompting his
brother to turn and look at me as well. No, not the flame thrower
too.
My cheeks heated under the power of their double scrutiny and I
lowered my eyes, focusing on the floor, before darting back up at
them, drawn helplessly to their hypnotic gazes.
Flame thrower’s brows relaxed, his expression softening as his
eyes trailed all over my body. Was that possession in his eyes?
The smiling twin wasn’t smiling anymore. He just stared at me
with an intense focus, studying my body from my red-hot cheeks to
my embarrassingly naked legs.
I grabbed the hem of my skirt, willing it longer, tugging it down.
Curse the stars! Couldn’t this damn fabric stretch even an inch or
two?
The friendly twin began walking toward me and everyone in the
line gasped. He was only three feet away when the most amazing
scent in life hit me square in the nose. Oh, man! He smelled like
roses and honey. His aroma stunned my body, my eyes blowing wide
like a deer in headlights, and my mouth flooded like a swamp.
He was only a precious few feet away when his brother grabbed
him by the arm and yanked him back, impatience marring his face.
I gave a deep sigh as my handsome king went tumbling toward
the hall, forced away by his evil twin brother. They disappeared
through the hall’s side entrance at the front of the line.
Everyone around was now leering at me for some reason. Had I
done something wrong?
“Not good, love. Seems one of the Flamenado kings is interested
in you,” the British girl said. “It might make your choice more
difficult.”
“What choice?” I asked, turning to face her. God, I was tired of
Academy 101.
“What did you think this line was for?” She asked incredulously.
“Inside the hall the Four kings wait. Two Flamenado, two
Floodquake. Every year, new students must choose a monarch to
serve. These are the rules. Everyone knows this, love. Even the first
years.”
No way, Nuh-uh. I did not sign up for any king drama. I came to
study, not get dragged into the battle of the psychos.
“Sorry but, what was your name again?” I asked.
“It’s Cassandra but you can call me Cas,” she said with a smile.
“Okay, Cas. It’s nice to meet you, but I’m not here for this. I think
I’ll just skip this orientation stuff and head on up to my room, okay?”
I said stepping out of the line. I waved her goodbye and marched
my way back across the garden.
For some reason I started breathing heavily as if I were running a
marathon. Why was I sweating so much and did my legs always feel
this way?
The first few steps were cake but by the fourth, it felt like I’d
gained a hundred pounds. By the ninth, I was on the floor crawling,
my bra filling with grass. What in the hundred hells?
“It’s magic, Love! Get back in the line!” Cas screeched, panic
bursting in her voice. Thud. Thud. Thud. Several feet beat the
ground, tearing toward me.
 Crap! It’s the same gang of bullies who’d kicked ditch guy.
The kings were gone and chaos was back to party, and I was its
next target. I started crawling back toward the line but… heavy. I
was so heavy! My knees buckled under my weight.
Wands raised, the bullies sped up, grinning at me fiendishly.
With each desperate lunge, I got a bit closer to Cas, each inch
making me feel lighter and moving faster. I jumped back into the
line and finger nails scraped over the back of my neck. My skin
crawled at the nasty sensation and I spun around to face them. Five
guys, tall and mean.
They scowled at me, with a few of them rolling their eyes, and
they walked away dragging their feet and kicking rocks. They’d
planned to beat the crap out of me.
My heart raced, my head spinning. Cas’s hand rested on my
shoulder and I jumped.
“Relax love, you’re safe now. They can’t touch you till you’ve
chosen. And they’re Flamenados, so if you choose their faction,
they’ll be your friends by tomorrow.”
“I don’t want friends like that!” I said between clenched teeth, my
muscles tensing as I slowed my heavy breathing. “And I don’t want
anything to do with factions or fighting, either.”
Her eyes dulled and her tone flattened as she said, “I’m so sorry
to be the bearer of bad news, love. But once you’re here, you have
to choose. There’s only one place for you now and that’s in the
hall...”
 CHAPTER SIX

Aria

The line to the hottest part of hell no longer stretched on forever.

Soon it would be my turn to enter the hall, to face my fate.
The big semicircular opening to the side wall had no door,
probably for the best. I wanted to see what I was up against. If the
girl at the front of the line was any indication, I wasn’t about to walk
into another room filled with fluffy rainbow pillows and cute couches.
She stood there at the door, her thin little body trembling. She had
blonde hair swept up into a neat bun, and her uniform molded to
her curves in a way more flattering way than mine. Just look at her.
Perfect body and perfect make-up, light and clean. Except for the
sweat beading up and sliding off her cheeks. She even held her
hands gracefully to her sides.
How could a girl that elegant and pretty be so terrified? Her eyes
were practically glued to the floor, blinking rapidly like Morse code.
A loud male voice inside called, “Next!” She jumped, her head
popping up and, taking a hard swallow, she crept in the hall.
There was deathly silence as I marched forward. Stretching my
neck toward the entrance, I could almost… almost… Yes! So that’s
what it looks like in there.
From its size I’d figured there’d be several floors, but nope. It was
just one big dome with mile high ceilings. Frosty mists spewed from
a/c vents that lined the ceiling. Human tech, huh? No cooling
charms?
Beautiful flowers of different colors and shapes grew along every
wall and ceiling, cascading downward like rainbow drapes. Strange,
so many flowers but no dirt or water. So unnatural. Nothing in this
room was natural.
Students filled the hall to the brim, lined up like robots, only
separated by armband color. Blue or Red, both sides were cruel.
Both sides hurt people.
I won’t join either of them, I just can’t.
The line slugged forward and more came into view. At the head of
the hall was a massive stage with golden curtains pulled back on
either side.
I couldn’t stop blinking. This couldn’t be real, could it? Four
grandiose thrones, big and dazzling, decorated the stage.
The first, made of mighty oak, was engulfed in a blanket of red
ferocious flames. I sighed, my shoulders falling. Of course, that’d
have to be flamethrower’s seat. The jerk.
I scowled, folding my arms. He deserved to burn for almost killing
broom guy. But look at him, sitting all relaxed doused in flames. I
bet he didn’t even feel it. He was slumped over, chin in hand, his
eyes heavy, barely even registering whatever bun girl was saying.
No, I didn’t want to look at him anymore. Not with dimples sitting
right next to him. His smile was bright, and just look at those
luscious lips of his.
His throne was made of the purest crystal, and it shone brighter
than the pathetic lights in here should have allowed. How could it
not with him on it? Encased Inside the hollowed out crystal were
green leaves that danced and twirled, carried by celestial winds. A
fitting tribute to a kind and deserving king.
He gazed down at bun girl with a sort of absent-minded grin, like
he was looking right through her.
On the other end were two more thrones. One was made of what
looked like a shining silvery stone and the other to be made of some
form of blue solid ice.
My heart stopped, my mind going a mile a minute. Who in the
hundred hells were they? This had to be a battle of the mega hot
twin kings because I was seeing double.
They had sleek midnight black hair and powerful jaw lines with
squared chins, hard and masculine, everything about them raw and
savage. From their deep-set silver eyes and thick, wild eyebrows
straight through to their broad shouldered, towering bodies.
And those muscles. Damn, those muscles. They were hard enough
to stump Einstein. I drooled just looking at them. They had to be the
kings of the other faction. What was it? Floodquakes?
The one on the ice throne held a book to his face, his expression
cold and uninterested in anything but the pages in front of him. His
black hair was jelled back neatly, so controlled. Nothing like the
ferocious way he tore through those pages.
Curse the stars! Handsome and smart too? A deadly combo.
Couldn’t he just put the damn book down and read me instead?
Stealing my attention, a sharp sensation exploded in my chest.
Was the earth shaking? My head darted in every direction and no
one even looked up.
If the earth was moving, then it was vibrating to a frequency that
only I could feel. I was being watched; I could feel it from the tips of
my fingers to the depths of my void. But by who?
My eyes scanned the area and my jaw dropped. It was the one on
the Stone throne. He leaned forward, his eyes hitting me like an
electric dart. As our eyes met, the entire world went quiet, silenced
by some unknown force. His stony expression softened slightly as
the side of his lip lifted in a slight smile.
His jet-black hair was balled up into a big old man bun with a few
loose strands dangling effortlessly down the sides. His beard and
mustache combo was neat and perfectly angled to show off his
strikingly masculine features.
Man, those silvery eyes of his gave me chills. The sheer power of
that gaze of his was so magnetic, so strong, it could heave the very
soul from your bones.
My legs trembled and I couldn’t stop them. I didn’t want to. The
shivers running down my spine were too intense. Too good. His cold,
determined eyes roamed every inch of my body, circling my chest
and legs. He broke his steely expression with a raised brow and his
lips curled up into a wicked grin.
My cheeks reddened. Was that grin for me?
 Breaking my gaze on the hot bun dude, a force crashed into my
backpack, thrusting me forward. I stumbled a few steps, my face
nearly diving into the girl in front of me.
“Hey!” I said.
“So sorry love, the A-hole behind pushed me first,” she said with
furrowed brows, giving the guy behind the finger. There was now a
big empty space in front of me and I made my way to second place
in line.
My heart raced. What’ll happen when I go in there? All this time
I’d been busy ogling when I should have been thinking. I patted my
cheeks.
Okay, Aria, what faction will you choose? I thought, but images of
the mega hot guy I’d just been eying kept invading my mind. Silver
eyes, glorious sex god, so damn sexy… No! Aria you need to focus!
“Next!” A voice called out and my blood ran cold.
Crap, I’m next in line! Ahead of me was a girl with shining black
hair that cascaded down to the back of her curvy thighs. How
absolutely adorable. She couldn’t have been more than about 5’1
with a skirt so short it was a miracle you couldn’t see her underwear.
She turned and my shoulders sank. Her face was cute as a button
too? I sighed.
Was every girl at this school a supermodel except for me? This girl
looked like a human-sized version of Glendalla or Rini. All she lacked
was the fairy wings.
She had thick black eyelashes that stretched on to infinity, balcony
high cheekbones, full pink lips, and perfect make-up.
Her head held high, lashes batting confidently, there wasn’t a
single drop of sweat on her. She looked more like she was at the spa
than about to be thrown to the lions.
Did she know something the rest of us didn’t?
Swinging her hips, hand on her waist, she strutted through the
entrance like she owned the place. She beamed at the blond twins
as she walked, amusement in her pretty hazel eyes.
She was supposed to be choosing a faction, right? Something
weird was going on here. Instead of smiling back at her, dimples
jerked his head back and his eyes flew open in surprise. While
Flamethrower’s bored expression soured to a deep frown. He
slumped in his seat, folding his arms in annoyance.
I glanced over at silver eyes. All life had drained from his eyes and
his face turned to a steely, emotionless default as he leered down at
fairy girl. At least he was paying attention. His brother next to him
hadn’t even looked up from his book, still turning away at those
stupid pages. Didn’t they care what faction she chose?
I was next and totally about to have a heart attack here. Couldn’t
he at least show a little more interest in all this?
“What’s all of this about?” Dimples whispered to fairy girl, his eyes
roaming the room as if searching for someone as he rubbed the
back of his neck, nervously.
His eyes explored the room, then over to the line, landing on…
me? His brows rose as if he’d found what he was looking for. Wait,
was he actually looking for me?
Okay, Aria, there’s a limit to wishful thinking.
“Rebecca, darling,” Dimples said, gritting his teeth. “You’re in
second year. You shouldn’t be here.”
She flicked her hair and smiled at him sweetly, pushing her full
chest up to him and batting her lashes, like a seductress with an
agenda.
“I’ve come to reaffirm my allegiance to King Bane and the
gloriously handsome King Luca of Flamenado,” she announced, and
turned to face the entire rest of the hall.
“With my body and brilliance, I pledge to bring continued glory
and victories to the great and mighty faction that is ours.”
The Flamenado half of the room exploded in a flurry of cheers and
the pounding of feet stomping filled the air.
Somehow, Dimples and Flamethrower didn’t seem quite as
impressed. Dimples took her in with furrowed brows and his brother
straight up stared daggers at her. Flamethrower’s hands tightened
around his throne’s armrests, like he was just itching to incinerate
the girl right where she stood. Guess he didn’t much care for
Dimple’s little girlfriend, not that I blamed him.
She curtsied, bowing her head to Dimples, or Luca, as she called
him. Hmm, I liked that name, Luca. And Bane? Figures.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Sic gula porcorum viguit, quod in vrbe quietos
Vix poterat proprios diues habere cibos.
Amplius hospicium porcorum non ara fertur,
370 Sordidus aut puluis lectus habendus eis:
Immo sua sorde calcarunt regia tecta,
Vrbis et in medio nobiliora petunt.
Nuper deformes modo transformantur, et illos
Qui fuerant porci forma superba colit:
Vt leo qui rugit fuerat grunnitus eorum,
Ad quorum sonitus concutit Eccho nemus.
Hii fuerant porci, maledictus spiritus in quos
Intravit, sicut leccio sancta refert.

Hic dicit se per sompnium quartam vulgi

turmam in canes vidisse mutatam.

Capm. v. Post vidique canes stantes quasi millia dena177

380 Latrantes, que suis vocibus arua tremunt.
En dederat cantus lucis prenuncius ales,
Aera iam furiens verberat ira canum.
Mica set a mensa dominorum que cadit esca
Non fuit hiis canibus, ossa nec ulla placent;
Faucibus immo suis meliora cibaria poscunt,
Ac vbi perueniunt singula crassa vorant.
Gentiles tamen ecce canes hiis associati
Non sunt, set viles quos scola nulla docet:
Hii neque venatu spaciantur, set neque gaudent
390 De cornu, nec eis quid nisi vile manet:
Non nemus vt leporem capiant transcurrere
querunt,
Nec ceruos agitant de leuitate sua;
Set magis ad talos retro latrare virorum
Affectant, et eis tedia multa ferunt.
Cutte que Curre simul rapidi per deuia currunt,
Linquentes miseras degenerando casas:178
En pastoris adest canis, et qui nocte latrando
 Atria conseruat, hii duo sepe grauant:
Omnis pistrine proprium pariterque coquine
400 Rupta cathena suum laxat abire canem:
Carnificum grandes vidique venire molosos,
Atque molendini nec manet ipse domi;
Nec stabulum veteres poterat retinere latrantes,
Quin veniunt sociis et sociantur eis.
Est ibi monoculus, set et ille tripes quasi furtim
Claudicat a retro, latrat et ipse comes:
Voce sua rauca tunc rinx ringendo fimumque
Deserit, atque loca spirat habere noua.
Hii sunt quos dorsa nullus planare valebit,
410 Tangere nec caudas, nec retinere caput;
Irati semper denudant nam tibi dentes,
Nec sua rusticitas quicquid amoris habet.
Omnes conueniunt iuuenes que senes, et in
vnum
Concurrunt, que sua morsibus ora parant:
Erectis caudis gradiuntur more superbo,
Est nichil hiis sanum quod lacerare queunt.
Aprini dentes deformant ora canina,
Est quorum morsus pestifer atque grauis:
Quanto plus escas sumunt minus hii saturantur,
420 Insaciata fames semper inheret eis.
Hii quibus in nocte solito fimus extitit hospes,
Mollibus in lectis sordida membra fouent.
Copia tanta fuit, quod eorum nullus habebat
Respectum proprii quomodocumque status.
O tunc si quis eos audisset, quomodo mundus
Vocibus attonitus hic et vbique fremit,
Dicere tunc posset similes quod eis vlulatus
Auribus audiuit nullus ab ante status.
Cumque canum strepitus Sathane descendit in
aures,
430 Gaudet et infernus de nouitate soni,
Cerberus ecce canis baratri custosque
gehenne179
 Prebuit auditum letus et inde furit;
Aque suo collo, quibus extitit ipse ligatus,
Ignea disrupit vincla furore suo;
Exiliensque statim centri penetrauit abissos,
Promptus et in terras accelerauit iter.
Sic socius sociis, sic par paribus sociatur,
Prefuit et canibus dux malus ipse malis;
Dux ita tartareus violens violencius omne
440 Vertit, et ex homine conficit ipse canem.
Dumque canis rabidi sumpsit mutata figuram,
Ipsa dolens Hecuba non ita seua fuit,
Quin magis in canibus istis furit ira, que morsus
Figere quo poterant singula membra terunt.
Tale canes, Cadmi qui dilaniare nepotem
Acteon instabant, non coluere nephas.
Ille gigas Gereon ingens, Hispannia dudum180
Quem genuit, capita trina canina gerens,
Non ita sanguineos dentes de morte virorum
450 Exacuit, nec ita pestifer ille fuit,
Quin magis humana strages madefacta cruore
Fertur ab hiis canibus de quibus ipse loquor.
Bestia pestifera, nuper quam misit Athenas,
Destruat vt ciues, mota Diana palam
Vrbis in exilium, neque talia bella parauit,
Nec sub ea tanti procubuere viri:
Nec Cephali canis ipse, feram qui prorsus ab vrbe
Depulit, in nullo robore talis erat,
Sicut erant isti, de quorum morsibus omnis
460 Ciuis et ingenuus contremuere magis.

Hic dicit se per sompnium quintam vulgi

turmam in murelegos et vulpes vidisse
mutatam: dicit murelegos, vt seruos
domesticos; dicit vulpes, quia fures ruptis
vbique Gaiolis liberi tunc eos comitabantur.
Capm vi. Taliter in sompnis cum me vidisse putassem,
Visio discurrens en noua monstra dabat.
Vulpes, murelegos, numero sine post venientes
Vidi, qui canibus se tribuere pares.
Quod super est terram nichil aut quod subtus
eisdem181
Occultum latuit, set magis omne vident:
Discurrunt campis, scrutantur et inde cauernas,
Et nemus et pratum quid sit vbique petunt:182
Vrbs neque castellum lapidum nec in ordine murus
470 Denegat introitum, quando venire volunt:
Hii penetrant cameras fortes, sine claueque cistas
Intrant, vt preda stet patefacta sua.
Dentibus ex ferro longis que ferocibus omnes
Corrodunt artes, quod nichil obstat eis.
Hoc tamen in morsu viuens quod virus eorum
Leserat, ad vitam non medicina iuuat:
Mortis habent morsum, nec scorpio plus grauat
illis;
Quo veniunt tales, mors venit ipsa comes.
En statuunt cani nemoris dimittere vulpes183
480 Antra, que gentiles vrbis adire domos:
Que nocturna solent latitanter furta parari,
Illa dies clara tunc manifesta parat.
Ammodo quid sibi sunt nec ouis nec p a u p e r
ouile,
Nec sibi de predis pullus et agna placent,
Que tamen existunt maioris in vrbe valoris,
Hec rapiunt, nec eis lex aliqualis obest.
Qui suberat terra seruilis vulpis in aulas
Scandit, et hospicium liber vbique petit:
Qui prius extiterant canibus vulpes inimici,
490 Mutua concordes federa pacis habent:
Fit lupus, atque fere rapidus vestigia seruat,
Qui solet ante magis esse bidente pius.
Hiis quoque murelegus sociatur, et horrea
linquens
 Nititur in vetitum rusticus ipse malum.
Ammodo murelegus desistit prendere mures,
Nec natura suum curat habere modum:
Qui solet a domibus expellere rite nociua,
Tunc nocet, et nocuas prouocat esse domos.
Non ita mordebant mures, qui nuper in vrbem
500 Accharon intrarunt, quo fuit archa dei,
Illa nec hos rabies sic terruit Accharonitas,
Hoc neque vindicta tempore talis erat,184
Quin furor ex istis que vidi lurida monstris,
Plus grauat et ciues terret vbique magis.

Hic dicit se per sompnium sextam vulgi

turmam in aues domesticas vidisse mutatam,
quibus dicit quod bubones, id est185 predones,
commixti associebantur.186

Capm. vii. Res michi mira fuit, dum talia prospiciebam,

Et stupor in mente cordis ad yma ruit.
Non erat ex brutis animal quodcunque creatum,
Quod de seruili condicione fuit,
Quin genus in campis vidi de talibus omne,
510 Mixtaque sic pariter sunt metuenda magis.
Per iuga, per colles, per deuia queque locorum
Diruptis stabulis soluitur omne pecus:
Ex omni genere venit incola rusticitatis,
Maior et est subito quam seges orta solo.
Nunc huc nunc illuc trepidus dum lumina volui,
Aspiciendo suis singula monstra locis,
Affuit en auium mutata domestica turba,
Quorum ductores gallus et ancer erant.
Qui residere domi que fimum calcare solebant,
520 Presumunt aquile sumere iura sibi:
Falconis rostrum rapuit sibi gallus et vngues,
Ancer et ex alis sidera tacta cupit:
Et sic de bassis succumbunt alta, que cara
 Vilibus ex causis exule lege cadunt:
Nam quo non poterant animalia figere gressus,
Vt predas capiant, h i i s u p e r omne volant.
Mutatos subito vidi variare colores
Anceris et galli, quos noua forma rapit:
Transformat c o r u i noua penna nigredine gallum,
530 Ancer et in Miluum vertitur ecce statim.
Non tantum pennas sibi sumunt sic alienas,
Immo modos similes condicione pares:
Quos natura prius pascebat ad horrea granis
Contentos minimis, alterat error eos;
Nam magis vt comedant sibi grossa cadauera
poscunt
Corporis humani, que sibi sola placent.
Qui patuere pii dudum cuicumque vocanti,
Spectabantque manus que tribuere cibos,
Hii magis ecce feri falconibus atque rapaces
540 Pretendunt predas vi rapuisse suas.
Qui solet in nocte gallus cantare, quod omnes
Eius in auditu gaudia ferre solent,
Clamat vt infernus, superatque tonitrua vocis
Horrida terribilis eius ab ore sonus;
Multociensque suum fera Coppa pedisseca gallum
Prouocat ad varia que putat esse mala;
Quod nequit in factis ex dictis garrula suplet,
Ad commune nephas milleque sola mouet.
Ancer et ipse suam, cum qua se miscuit, aucam
550 Linquit, et in predam spirat vbique nouam:
Sibula per tenua nuper qui terruit ancer
Infantes tantum simplicitate sua,
Nunc nimis horribili sonitu perterret adultos,
Atque magis fortes dilacerare cupit.
Nuper et hec volucrum bubones que solet ira
Spernere, cessat, et est tunc amor inter eos.
Esse dies licitos statuunt, quibus atra frequenter
Furtiuas dederat noctis ymago vias:
Conuolat vt socius auium de carcere bubo,
 560 Liber et in campis associatur eis.
Hoc fuerat tempus, quo bubo per aera pennas
Colligat, vt predas tuta mouere potest:
Ista tamen turma pennata suas acuebat
Pennas cum ferro, quo moreretur homo.

Hic dicit se per sompnium septimam vulgi

turmam in muscas et ranas vidisse mutatam.

Capm. viii. Sompnus continuus mea sompnia continuauit,

Et dabat vlterius plura videre noua.
Amplior vt rabies monstrorum multiplicetur,
Et quod iniqua magis sit manus aucta malis,
En venit omne genus muscarum, que lacerare
570 Morsibus et stimulis omne salubre vouent;
En redeunt vaspe que nuper Vaspasianum
Torquebant, varia dantque nouata mala.
Horrida muscarum furiens tunc copia tanta
Creuit, vt a stimulo vix latitauit homo:
Vt furit infernus, agitant hinc inde dolores,
Omnia prestimulant, omnia lesa dolent.187
Rana quidem musce plures sociata pervrget,
Hec volat ad facinus, saltat et illa sequens.
Verterat in ranas quos Latona turba colonum
580 Ecce redit, que nouo dampna furore parat.
Vlcio ranarum fuit horrida valde nouarum,
Omnibus in domibus non nocuere parum:
Omnia fercula, cuncta cibaria rana comedit,
Fudit et in variis dira venena locis.
Hee fuerant rane, sterilis quas nuper abhorret
Egiptus, que pari iam grauitate nocent:
Non erat in terra sapiens illesus ab istis,
Plangunt philosophi vulnera facta sibi.
Rana grauat, set musca magis, violencia cuius
590 Spergitur et cuncta torquet vbique loca.
O vindicta grauis, grauior q u a n u l l a perante
 Contigit, vnde viri plus doluere boni!
Non fuit horridior Egipti musca nociua,
Nec magis ingenuos terruit ipsa viros,
Quin magis hee furie penetralia cuncta volantes
Scrutantur que viris dant nocumenta probis.
Nil seruile tamen ledunt, set ledere querunt188
Quos magis ingenuus ornat in orbe status:
Sic similis similem, sic rustica rusticitatem
600 Turba iuuat, quod eis sint mala mixta malis.
Conueniunt musce, vaspe glomerantur in vnum,
Aera conturbant improbitate sua.
Toruus oester adest, ciniphesque, cynomia,
bruchus,
Est quibus vt noceat ipsa locusta comes.
Vrbibus et villis volutant sine lege vagantes,
Obstabantque suis recia nulla viis:
A musca carnes tunc servans non fuit olla,
Vas ita nec clausum, quin noua rima patet,
Muscarum veniens princeps excercitus huius189
610 Belzebub accessit, heeque sequntur eum:190
Ex vario genere muscarum tunc variatur
Pena, que diuersis dant nocumenta modis:
Hec ferit, illa rapit, hec mordet et altera pungit,
Hec saltat que sua de pugione nocet.
Musca grauis pestis, qua nulla nociuior vnquam
Extitit, aut mundo plus violenta lues:
Tanta fuit rabies tantus feruorque diei,
Tutus vt in nullo quis valet esse loco.
Ex nimio musce subito feruore calescunt,
620 Quas prius oppressit cana pruina gelu:
Sic calor estatis subito feruore per agros
Spersit, yemps modica quas retinere solet.191
O res mira nimis, vaga dumque locusta labores
Formice proprios vendicat esse suos!
O res mira nimis, cum musca rapacior omni
Niso de predis feruet vbique suis!
 O res mira nimis, pennati quando superbe
Pauonis fastum sordida musca tulit!
O res mira nimis, cum sit velocior alis
630 Musca volans minimis, quam sit Alauda suis!
O res mira nimis, dum viribus atque volatu
Debilis attemptat vincere musca gruem!
O res mira nimis, aquilam dum musca supremam
Precellit, que suum spirat habere gradum!

Hec erat illa dies, que muscas dente caninas

Misit, et ex viciis conviciauit humum:
Hec erat illa dies, qua vix fortuna iuuabat,
Vel loca que musca tangere nulla potest:
Hec erat illa dies, asino dextrarius in qua
640 Succubuit, que suo victus honore caret:
Hec erat illa dies, in qua fera corda leonum
Subduntur, que boum pressa vigore pauent:
Hec erat illa dies, qua porcus sordidus omnes
Sorde sua mundos commaculauit agros:
Hec erat illa dies, canis in qua forcior vrso
Fit, neque murelego pardus obesse potest:
Hec erat illa dies, mediis qua liber in aruis
Ad predas rapidus errat vbique lupus.
Hec erat illa dies, fortem qua debilis, altum
650 Infimus, et magnum paruus vbique terit:
Hec erat illa dies, subito qua maxima quercus
A modico leuiter stramine vulsa cadit:
Hec erat illa dies, fragilis qua tegula vires
Marmoreas vicit viribus illa suis:
Ecce dies, in qua sua stramina stramen habebat,
Que nullo precio grana valere putant:
Hec erat illa dies, qua libertate dolente,
Gaudet rusticitas rusticitate sua:
Hec erat illa dies, seruos que duxit in altum,
660 Subdidit et proceres, nec sinit esse pares:
Hec erat illa dies, virtutum dira nouerca
Que fuit et cuncti mater in orbe mali:
 Hec erat illa dies, qua preteriisse futuram
Est qui vir sapiens omnis in orbe cupit.
Hec erat illa dies, manifestam numinis iram
Qua pro peccatis quisque venire timet:192
Hec erat illa dies, que sola tremenda per orbem
Tanquam iudicii plena timoris erat:
Hec erat illa dies, de qua, si vera fatemur,
670 Cronica consimilem nulla per ante docet.
Heu quam terribilis! heu quam tristis vel amara!
Quam districta malis tunc fuit illa dies!
Vlcio celestis grauis et velox et aperta
Destruat hos per quos sic furit illa dies.
Tarda sit illa dies, nostro redeat nec in euo,
Absit et hec causa qua reditura foret:
Si prius est aliquid nobis hac luce petendum,
In loca ne redeat amplius ista rogo.

Hic dicit se per sompnium vidisse, quod,

quando omnes predicte furie in vnum extiterant
congregate, quidam Graculus193 auis, anglice
Gay,194 qui vulgariter vocatur Watte, presumpsit
sibi statum regiminis aliorum, et in rei veritate
ille Watte fuit dux eorum.

Capm. ix. Copia dum tanta monstrorum more ferarum

680 Extitit vnita, sicut arena maris,
Graculus vnus erat edoctus in arte loquendi,
Quem retinere domi nulla catasta potest.
Hic, licet indignus, cunctis cernentibus, alis
Expansis, primum clamat habere statum.
Prepositus baratri velut est demon legioni,
Sic malus in vulgo prefuit iste malo.
Vox fera, trux vultus, verissima mortis ymago,
Eius in effigiem tanta dedere notam.
Murmura compressit, tenuere silencia cuncti,
690 Eius vt auditus sit magis ore sonus:
 Arboris in summum conscendit, et oris aperti
Voce suis paribus talia verba refert:
‘O seruile genus miserorum, quos sibi mundus
Subdidit a longo tempore lege sua,
Iam venit ecce dies, qua rusticitas superabit,
Ingenuosque suis coget abire locis.
Desinat omnis honor, periat ius, nullaque virtus,
Que prius extiterat, duret in orbe magis.
Subdere que dudum lex nos de iure solebat,
700 Cesset, et vlterius curia nostra regat.’
Singula turba silet, notat et sibi verba loquentis,
Et placet edictum quicquid ab ore tulit:
Vocibus ambiguis deceptam prebuit aurem
Vulgus et in finem nulla futura videt.
Exaltatus enim cum sic de plebe fuisset,
Ad se confestim traxerat omne solum:
Nam sine consilio cum plebs sibi colla dedisset,
Conuocat hic populum iussaque verba dedit.
Vt solet ex magno fluctus languescere flatu,
710 Et velut a vento turbinis vnda tumet,
Vocis in excessu reliquos sic commouet omnes
Graculus, et mentes plebis ad arma trahit:
Stultaque pars populi que sit sua curia nescit,
Que tamen ipse iubet iura vigoris habent.
Dixerat ille, ‘Feri,’ ferit ille;—‘Neca,’ necat alter;—
‘Solue nephas,’ soluit, quis neque fata vetat.
Auribus extensis quemcumque vocat furor ille
Audit, et ad vocem concitus vrget iter:
Sic homo tunc multus suadente furore coactus
720 Sepe suam posuit mestus in igne manum.
Omnes, ‘Fiat ita,’ proclamant vocibus altis;
Est maris vt sonitus, sic fuit ille sonus.
Ex nimio strepitu concussus vocis eorum
Vix potui tremulos ammodo ferre pedes;
Attamen a longe prospexi qualiter ipsi195
Complexis manibus mutua pacta ferunt.
Hoc etenim dicunt, quod quicquid perstat in orbe
 Ingenui sexus rustica turba ruet.
Hiis dictis pariter omnes gradiuntur in vnum,
730 Ductor et inferni ducit iniqus iter.196
Nubes nigra venit furiis commixta gehenne,197
Cordibus infusum que scelus omne pluit;
Roreque sic baratri fuerat tellus madefacta,198
Crescere quod virtus ammodo nulla potest:
Omne tamen vicium, quod homo perfectus
abhorret,
Crescit, et ex illo tempore corda replet.
Fecerat incursus tunc demon meridianus,
Inque dolente die torta sagitta volat:
Ipse solutus adest Sathanas omnisque caterua
740 Pauperis inferni preuaricata simul.
Perditur ecce pudor indocti cordis, et vltra
Criminis aut culpe nulla verenda timet:
Dumque duces Herebi sic vidi ducere mundum,
Celica nullius iura valoris erant.
Cum magis hos vidi, magis hos reor esse
timendos,
Ignorans qualis finis habendus erit.

Hic dicit se per sompnium vidisse progenies

Chaym maledictas vna cum multitudine
seruorum nuper regis Vluxis,199 quos Circes in
bestias mutauit, furiis supradictis associari.

Capm. x. Estus erat nimius, rabies fera, turmaque

magna,200
Dum furit infernus associatus humo.
Sicut arena maris, monstrorum concio feda
750 Vndique progrediens innumeranda fuit.
Demonis ex stirpe furiens fuit illa propago,
Horrida facta viris et violenta deo;
Contemptrix superum, seueque auidissima cedis,
Vt lupus est, ouium dum furit ipse fame.
 Protinus irrupit vene peioris habundans
Omne nephas, que viros inficit aura probos.
Septem progenies, quas ipse Chaÿm
generauit,201
Cum furiis socii connumerantur ibi.
Terribilis, fedus, celer ad scelus, ad bona tardus,
760 Quilibet arte sua deteriora parat.
Praua creatura spernit metuenda futura,
Omne quod imponunt sub paritate ferunt:
Semper amans crimen fuit hec, actrixque ruine,
Moreque carnificis aspera cede furit.
Narrat Ysaïas, Ysidorus, Apocalipsis,202
Tangit et in titulis magna Sybilla suis:203
Gog erat atque Magog dictum cognomen eorum,
Actibus in quorum stat magis omne scelus.
Quid sit rex vel lex furiis nescitur ab illis,
770 Regula nulla ligat ordo nec vllus eos:
Non homines metuunt, superos cultu nec
adorant,204
Sed quod habet mundus turpius illud agunt.
Carnibus humanis solet hec gens sordida vesci,
Taleque dat populo vita ferina forum:
Turpia sunt plura quibus vtitur atra figura,
Quo capit exemplum turba maligna malum.
Hec etenim rabies furiens connexa malignis
Conuenit hiis furiis, de quibus ante loquor:
Conueniunt eciam socii quos nuper Vluxis205
780 Mutauit Circes, et sociantur eis:
Nunc facies hominum, nunc transformata ferarum
Gestabant capita, que racione carent.

Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii

qualiter audiuit nomina et eorum voces
diuersas et horribiles. Dicit eciam de Iohanne
Balle, qui eos ad omne scelus tunc206
 instigabat, et quasi propheta inter eos
reputabatur.

Capm. xi. Watte vocat, cui Thomme venit, neque Symme

retardat,
Bette que Gibbe simul Hykke venire iubent:207
Colle furit, quem Geffe iuuat, nocumenta parantes,
Cum quibus ad dampnum Wille coire vouet.
Grigge rapit, dum Dawe strepit, comes est quibus
Hobbe,
Lorkyn et in medio non minor esse putat:208
Hudde ferit, quos Iudde terit, dum Tebbe
minatur,209
790 Iakke domos que viros vellit et ense necat:210
Hogge suam pompam vibrat, dum se putat omni
Maiorem Rege nobilitate fore:211
Balle propheta docet, quem spiritus ante malignus
Edocuit, que sua tunc fuit alta scola.
Talia quam plures furias per nomina noui,212
Que fuerant alia pauca recordor ego:
Sepius exclamant monstrorum vocibus altis,
Atque modis variis dant variare tonos.
Quidam sternutant asinorum more ferino,
800 Mugitus quidam personuere boum;
Quidam porcorum grunnitus horridiores
Emittunt, que suo murmure terra tremit:
Frendet aper spumans, magnos facit atque
tumultus,
Et quiritat verres auget et ipse sonos;
Latratusque ferus vrbis compresserat auras,
Dumque canum discors vox furibunda volat.
Vulpis egens vlulat, lupus et versutus in altum
Conclamat, que suos conuocat ipse pares;
Nec minus in sonitu concussit garrulus ancer
810 Aures, que subito fossa dolore pauent:
Bombizant vaspe, sonus est horrendus eorum,213
 Nullus et examen dinumerare potest:
Conclamant pariter hirsuti more leonis,
Omneque fit peius quod fuit ante malum.
Ecce rudis clangor, sonus altus, fedaque rixa,
Vox ita terribilis non fuit vlla prius:
Murmure saxa sonant, sonitum que reuerberat
aer,214
Responsumque soni vendicat Eccho sibi:
Inde fragore grauis strepitus loca proxima terret,
820 Quo timet euentum quisquis adire malum.
Contigerat plures infamia temporis huius,215
Que velut ex monstris obstipuere magis.216
Terruerat magnas nimio pre turbine gentes
Graculus, a cuius nomine terra tremit.217
Rumor it et proceres sermonibus occupat omnes,
Consilium sapiens nec sapientis erat.
Casus inauditus stupefactas ponderat aures,
Et venit ad sensus durus ab aure pauor.
Attemptant medicare, sed inmedicabile dampnum,
830 Absque manu medici curaque cessat ibi.

Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii

qualiter furie supradicte precones sibi et
tribunos constituebant, et quomodo senes et
iuuenes eorum fuerunt armati.

Capm. xii. Inter eos statuunt precones atque tribunos,

Et pro lege suum velle licere iubent.
Hoc sua iura ferunt preconis voce, quod omnis
Sit domus exusta que maledicit eis:
Qui scelus illorum non fortificat sceleratus,
Decapitatus erit, et domus igne perit.
Constituunt socios sceleris comitesque furoris,218
Ex quorum manibus pendeat istud opus.
Hac quoque de causa vidi quam plurima dampna,
840 Dum preco fatui clamat in aure fori:
 Rusticus intonuit, datus est celer ignis in edes,
Fitque repente sonus, plena fit igne domus.
Hec sibi rusticitas furiens statuebat, vt omnis
Et vetus et iuuenis que valet arma ferat:
Hii palos veteres gestant, qui sunt veterani,
Aut contos cicius quam sibi desit onus.219
Membra leuant baculis fessique senilibus annis,
Quos, velut est ouium, tussis eundo notat.
Rusticus hic veniens fert euersamque pharetram,
850 Hic fractos arcus, hic sine luce facem;
Quique colum baiulat non se reputauit inermem,
Debilis armatus sic furit ipse senex.
Rusticitate tamen iuuenilis quos furit etas
Quicquid adest manibus asperiora gerunt;
Ascia, falx, fede quos roderat atra rubigo,220
Gestantur, que suo cuspide colla secant.
Quem vagina tegit ensem vix dimidiata,221
Gestat et ingenuos rusticus inde ferit:
Est ibi vanga loco gladii, baculus velut hasta
860 Vibratur, que simul prompta securis adest:
Arcus ibi multus fumo que etate retortus,
Et sine tunc pennis multa sagitta volat:
Tribula, furcula tunc quasi rumphea rite feruntur,
Fertur et vt gladius malleus ipse ferus.
Dixerat, ‘Ista decent humeros gestamina nostros,’
Rusticus, et tali murmure transit iter.
Sic saltant iuuenes catulorum more per arua,
Et transire feras de leuitate putant.222
Est ibi funda manu lapides quoque limpidiores,
870 Vnde dedit varias rusticus ipse minas.
Hii glebas, hii direptos et ab arbore ramos,
Est vbi nil aliud, de feritate ferunt:223
Pars gerit et silices, ne desint tela furori,
Menteque mortifera dant fera bella sua:
Perfusam multo sapientum sanguine terram
Hoc genus insipiens inmaduisse ferunt.
 Hii gradibusque suis iter arripuere gradatim,
Quo sibi non racio velle set ire iubet.

Hic dicit secundum visionem sompnii

qualiter et quando dicte furie instigante diabolo,
nouam Troiam, id est224 ciuitatem
Londoniarum, ingresse sunt: nam sicut Troia
nuper desolata extitit, ita ista ciuitas protunc225
quasi omni consolacione destituta pre dolore
penitus ignominiosa permansit.

Capm. xiii. A dextrisque nouam me tunc vidisse putabam

880 Troiam, que vidue languida more fuit:
Que solet ex muris cingi patuit sine muro,
Nec potuit seras claudere porta suas.226
Mille lupi mixtique lupis vrsi gradientes
A siluis statuunt vrbis adire domos:
Non erat in terris monstrosum quicquid abortum,
Seu genus, vnde furor ledere posset humum,
Quin venit et creuit, spersus velut imber ab austro,
Qualibet ex parte parsque furoris adest.
Tunc in aperta loca que monstra prius latuerunt
890 Accedunt, paribus suntque recepta suis:
Belua vasta, ferox, siluis que palustribus exit,
Qui tantum rabie non furit, immo fame;
Plus tamen ex rabie dispersam seuit in urbem,227
Que stupet ignotum tale venire malum.
Agresti furia iurat siluestris, vt vno
Legibus excussis iura furore ruent:
Tantus adest numerus seruorum perdicionis,
Cingere quod murus vix valet vllus eos.
Cum furor vrget opus, remanet moderacio nulla,
900 Set magis in vetitum quodlibet ipse ruit:
Sponte sua properant, nichil est prohibere
volentes,
Sic valet inceptam tollere nemo viam:
 Omnia traduntur, postes reserauimus hosti,
Et fit in infida prodicione fides.
Vt fremit acer equs, qui bellicus ere sonoro
Saltat, et ignorat proximiora mala,
Sic fera rusticitas incircumspecta malorum
Incipit, et finem non videt inde suum:
Victricem repetit dextre coniungere dextram
910 Concio seruilis, quam furor omnis habet.
Sic adeunt vrbem turbe violenter agrestes,
Et maris vt fluctus ingrediuntur eam.
O quam magna nimis res et spectabile mirum
Creuit in introitu de nouitate mali!
Aula palentina grandis mutatur in vrbe,
Omnis et in formam vertitur ipsa case;
Atque casas minimas subito mutauit in aulas
Sors, que iudiciis tunc fuit egra magis.
Ecce Iouis festiua dies de Corpore Cristi,
920 Cum furor accinxit vrbis vtrumque latus:228
Precedens alios Capitaneus excitat vnus
Rusticus, vt cuncti consequerentur eum.
Ipse viris multis prefultus conterit vrbem,
Ense necat ciues, concremat igne domos:
Non solus cecinit, set secum milia traxit,
Involuitque malo milia multa suo;
Colligit os rabiem seueque cupidine cedis
Auribus in vulgi concinit, ‘Vre, feri.’
Que via salua fuit, furit ignibus impetuosa,
930 Quo longum castrum ductile nescit iter;
Baptisteque domus, sponso viduata, per ensem
Corruit, et flammis mox fuit illa cinis;
Flagrabant sancte sceleratis ignibus edes,
Mixtaque fit flamme flamma proterua pie.
Attoniti flebant trepido de corde ministri,
Abstulerat vires corporis ipse timor.
Qui fera terribili iaculatur fulmina dextra,
Iussit vt igne polus torqueat orbis humum.
Si qua domus mansit poteratque resistere tanto
940 Indeiecta malo, dat pia vota deo.
Est nichil vt queram dominans si vulgus in vrbis
Spirat opes et eo tempore furta parat:
Vt multe gracili terrena sub horrea ferre
Limite formice grana reperta solent,
Sic vehit examen furiarum furta per vrbem,
Nec valet in numero quis recitare forum.
Hic tenet, iste trahit, stetit ille que circuit alter,229
Fit cito per multas predaque lecta manus.230
Hos Bachus attingens tandem precordia vino
950 Mersit, et in finem clauserat ipse Iouem:
Nox erat, et vinis oculi mentesque natabant,
Membra mouent, nec habent quo sibi ferre pedes.
Postera sidereos Aurora fugauerat ignes,231
En dolor excrescens iam noua dampna parat.
Si prius ira Iouis nocuit violenta, sequenter
Mota Venus duplo facta furoris agit.
Discurrunt agiles furie, quasi fulgur ab austro;
Sunt, vbi perueniunt, prodolor, heuque! pares.
Tunc simul vnanimes lupus et canis vrsus in vrbe
960 Depredant, que suas constituere moras.
Ecce senem Calcas, cuius sapiencia maior
Omnibus est, nullum tunc sapuisse modum:
Anthenor ex pactis componere federa pacis
Tunc nequit, immo furor omne resoluit opus:
A vecorde probum non tunc distancia nouit,
Fit cor Tersitis et Diomedis idem:
Lingue composite verbis nil rethor Vluxes232
Tunc valuit, nec ei sermo beatus erat:
Et quoniam tantis fatum conatibus obstat,
970 Quisque sua sorti frena relaxat homo.
Tunc neque bella iuuant, nec tela, nec vsus
equorum,
Nec probitas veteris quid probitatis habet:
Vt lactante furit catulo priuata Leena,
Et ruit in pecora proximiora sibi,
 Sic fera rusticitas iuris priuata salute
Irruit in proceres de feritate magis.
Omnibus est casus communis, non tamen vnum
Omnibus attribuit vna ruina locum.
O denaturans vrbis natura prioris,233
980 Que vulgi furias arma mouere sinis!
O quam retrograda res est, quod miles inermis234
Expauit, que ferus vulgus ad arma vacat!
Prelia Thebarum, Cartaginis, illaque Rome
Non fuerant istis plena furore magis.
Non hic Capanëus valuit, nec et ille Tidëus,
Non facit excursus iste vel ille ferox:
Non hic Palamades superat, neque nobilis Aiax,
Nec regimen gladius Agamenontis habet.
Subdita Troiana cecidit victoria victa,
990 Troiaque preda fero fit velut agna lupo.
Rusticus agreditur, miles nec in vrbe resistit,
Hectore Troia caret, Argos Achille suo:
Hectoris aut Troili nil tunc audacia vicit,
Quin magis hii victi rem sine corde sinunt;
Nec solito Priamus fulsit tunc liber honore,
Set patitur dominus quid sibi seruus agat.
Vix Hecube thalami poterant tunc esse quieti,
Quin dolor interius languida corda mouet;
Set neque tunc poterat in turribus Ilion altis235
1000 A furiis clausum fortificare virum.

Hic tractat secundum visionem sompnii,

quasi per figuram, de morte Cantuariensis
Archiepiscopi.

Capm. xiiii. O qui palladium Troie seruabat ab ara,

Helenus Antistes raptus in ense perit:
Predicat ipse satis prius vt sibi vita daretur,
Nec tamen in melius corda ferina mouet.
Est satis hoc quod ait, si gracia tangeret aures,