A few steps away from the fateful spectacle unfolding before his eyes, Caspian stood impassive and calm. Having witnessed a similar event before, it didn't seem to panic him in the slightest.
"Caspian, we've got to help him!" Sian rushed toward Orpheion's main courtyard, completely panicked.
"Don't do anything."
"What?" The teacher looked at her son, dumbfounded, and quite taken aback.
"Don't do anything. He has to face this power alone." Caspian finished his sentence and turned on his heels in the direction of a classroom.
Sian watched her son walk away. Did she really have to do nothing? As a teacher, not coming to the aid of a student could be considered a rather serious act.
She moved towards the courtyard, she had to help the poor boy.
The orders were clear. He was the hope of Thepra, the hope of two entire kingdoms. On her way to Devion, Sian was once again stopped by another student.
Galahad Morwynn. Why was he there? Hadn't he returned to Valterys to spend holidays with his parents?
"Prince Morwynn, what are you doing here? Didn't you return to Valterys?"
"No, I preferred to stay here."
The confused professor simply nodded and resumed her walk towards Devion, who was drowning more and more in this strange power with every passing second. He was completely out of control. She was, however, blocked again, this time by the prince.
"Mrs. Robertson, there's no point in trying to help him."
"Galahad, come on, I can't leave him like this."
"There's nothing you can do for him. Believe me, I've tried already."
Galahad had locked his gaze in Sian's. He was worried but sure of himself. His eyes sent out a very clear message: he knew what he was talking about and he wanted it respected.
Sian then stopped, placing herself in front of the student. If she couldn't help one, she would at least try to protect the other. Orpheion's future seemed to be hanging by a thread, and already it seemed to be breaking at a terrifyingly slow pace.
Devion, you must resist, the young magician told himself. His head was spinning and everything around him seemed dark and lifeless. There were only these horrible voices and darkness everywhere.
Devion, your power has awaken.
He concentrated, short of breath and exhausted, his breathing slowing down and picking up again. He had to do it. He'd promised Adrian, he had to resist those malevolent voices. In a burst of lucidity, he remembered that he was still wearing the pendant that had summoned Umbra.
"I rely on you, Umbra."
Devion closed his eyes, holding the medallion firmly in one hand.
He felt a tingling sensation throughout his body and when he opened his eyes again, he was standing in a very dark room with a kind of moon beneath the floor. A white light was emerging in the distance, but the closer he tried to get to it, the further away it became.
Despite his attempts to call Umbra, and even Adrian, no one was answering his call. It occurred to Devion that perhaps this was a test, and that neither of them would help him get out of it alone. But how could he if he didn't even know how.
He kept running, under the curious impression that things were repeating themselves and that his questions would not be answered unless he sought them out himself.
Devion stopped and looked again at the striking landscape around him. All around him was black, yet he could make out every detail, and as the light grew dimmer and dimmer, his vision sharpened. This place seemed to show a completely contradictory reality. The dark was perceptible and the light was absolute darkness.
Perhaps this was the key, perhaps the best way to master a power that clearly defied all logic and all knowledge of this world.
"Okay. If I'm stuck here, I might as well be comfortable." Devion stopped and laid down on the ground, one hand raised in the air and the other behind his head.
Devion, Devion, Devion...
"Hmm." He chuckled.
The scene that followed was breathtakingly beautiful.
"If I can't master this power." Devion activated his powers gradually, spreading them around him in a tornado of fire and ice. "Here, Cristael won't be able to scold me for destroying what's around me."
Frostfire took possession of the infinite space around Devion, stretching as far as the eye could see, tracing vivid reds and blues in the blackness of darkness. Devion's scar emitted a fiery glow that continued to grow. The dark-haired man's powers were growing, and even though he was in danger of using up all his power, he continued to summon more and more magic around him.
Peaks of ice began to lift him upwards, towards a sky that was barely perceptible. Hot tears of fire traced snaking shapes in the ice.
"Ugh..." Devion said as he gasped, resuming his usual smile. "I promise I won't rot here. It's time to get out of this place."
Devion placed one hand on the icy ground that had lifted him to these dark skies, raised himself with his other hand and closed his eyes again.
Devion, we're waiting for you.
He laughed for a moment and concentrated on standing upright in the middle of this sublime tower of ice, on which fire flows at an astonishing speed.
Join us-
With his last reserves of power exhausted, Devion cast a final spell, directed at the tower he had beaten with his frostfire. In one fell swoop, the strange universe around him shattered like glass, and with it, darkness gave way to the familiar landscape of Orpheion.
When he returned to the world he knew, Devion, drained of his strength and his last reserves of magic, began coughing on all fours and out of breath. He seemed to be coughing up the entire contents of his body.
Galahad watched Devion engulfed in the smoke that seemed to want to swallow him whole. He had prevented the Professor from acting, and he knew he was right, but he couldn't help feeling at least a little guilty. He himself, as a prince, should have come to the aid of a brave comrade and all the more so who had to deal with a situation as complex as Devion's.
"Oh my god." The teacher couldn't contain her surprise at the terrible tableau taking place, a student being swallowed up by a power and the whole academy looking on not knowing what to do.
Time passed at an insanely slow pace, and as one student after another joined the others, teachers were called in. Everyone knew about Devion's impressive powers, but few, if any, had seen them in action.
Devion was no longer visible, only a sort of cocoon in the center of the courtyard. Thin tornadoes of black smoke swirled around, forming a kind of dark bud inside which the boy laid.
"Devion!" Cristael stormed in, completely panicked and held back by Jaz. "I've got to help him! Let go of me, Jaz!"
An instant was all it took for absolute silence to reign, broken only by the magic of fire and flame in the second that followed. The bud of darkness opened, as if a strange flower had sprung from it. Its petals, of complete darkness, gave way to a bloom of red and blue stars followed by small fragments of ice.
The scene, disturbing as it was, was insanely magnificent.
Devion was in the center of it, almost folded in half, coughing with all his might, several splashes of blood following his coughing as he crashed to the ground.
The students looked around in amazement, almost more interested in the beauty of the remnants of magic that Devion had enabled to escape from the strange space in which he had been confined. He continued coughing without anyone daring to move an inch.
Galahad came to his senses, enough was enough, he wasn't going to stay like this. The worst was over, and now it was time to help a comrade in dire need. When the prince began to move, the assembly seemed to finally react and come out of its silence.
Cristael, Jaz and Galahad approached Devion, still on the ground. Cristael almost ran towards him in panic, Jaz followed in his sawing, on the other side Galahad was also closely followed by Sian.
"Are you alright? Devion?" Galahad asked, leaning over to put a brown arm around his shoulders.
"I've been better." Devion smiled back at him, a few drops of blood running down his mouth. "Please, don't move too fast, I'm not in very good shape."
While Cristael dried a few tears, Galahad tried as best he could to help his comrade to his feet, remaining steady despite the boy's trembling. The headmistress was shaking all around him and moving so much that it was also difficult to remain stable.
The assembly of students who had witnessed the whole scene moved closer together for some and began to speak for others, all agitated and wanting to know what was actually happening to this boy who had been designated as the chosen one of a power that no one knew about and which they had all witnessed a few moments ago.
The crowd grew even more agitated, becoming difficult to manage for the teachers who had stayed back to deal with the consequences of this no less unique incident.
In a flash, an earthen wall was beaten down, separating the few people around Devion from the rest of those present.
Caspian stood leaning over one of the pillars decorating the courtyard around them. He sighed before turning around again.
"I guess I still have to do everything myself."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, I'm sure." Devion huffed as a healer healed the few wounds around his face. "I've told you everything anyway, what more do you want?"
"Are you sure?" Cristael asked once more, which earned Devion another gasp of annoyance.
"I'm staying with him, don't worry." Galahad replied, looking at Cristael with a smile.
Reluctantly, they all left the room except Devion and the prince.
"Thank you." Devion replied, shyly scratching the back of his neck.
"Thanks for what?
"Thanks for helping me." He laughed. "But mostly for making them go away. I confess I'm a little tired of having to explain everything."
Galahad didn't have time to answer.
Passing the tip of her head and then the whole of her body, Umbra entered the room, purring. The animal approached and rested her head on Devion's lap, sitting on the edge of a hospital bed.
"You never come at the right time, don't you?" Devion replied, scratching the top of her head between the ears. "You can touch her if you want. Believe me, she's a lot nicer than she looks. She's just very intrusive."
Galahad timidly advanced his hand towards the creature, which was rubbing its head on his comrade's thighs, begging for more scratches. When Galahad placed his hand on Umbra, she froze. Her intense green eyes and the runes on her body glowed for a moment, but she didn't move.
After a few seconds, her eyes and the runes on her body stopped glowing and the panther responded to Galahad's kindness offering him, in turn, affectionate purrs.
"Can we agree that was weird?"
"I think she's even more special than she looks." Looking gently and with a slight sneer at the creature wriggling over his comrade, he replied. "I think she's capable of analyzing people."
"What do you mean?"
"My father has already told me about similar phenomena." Galahad sat back down and stopped his stroking, which earned a small growl of displeasure from the animal. "Mythical creatures are so rare that not only are they endowed with powerful powers, but for some, they even have gifts to boot."
"What do you mean?"
"My father also had a mythical creature. It was his most faithful companion but he lost him during the war." With a hint of nostalgia and sadness, he resumed. "His name was Feyr. He was a lion and from what my father told me he was as strong as he was gentle."
Devion nodded, waiting for the rest of his story.
"He had the power to see the future in a matter of seconds. That's how he died, he saw my father was about to be hit and took the impact of the spell instead."
Devion opened his mouth slightly, looking apologetic.
"But Devion I'm not telling you this to get your pity but because I think Umbra is even more special than Feyr was. I think she's capable of guiding you to the right people."