Descendants of Gibbous
Chapter 37: Corrupt aura

Chapter 37: Corrupt aura

The flames surrounding Damien flared, their crackle filling his ears and sending a chill up his spine despite the heat. His skin burned. He tried backing away but there was nowhere to escape. He was trapped.

The boy couldn’t even hear what was happening outside because of the flame wall surrounding him.

"How many have you killed and devoured? One? Ten? Hundreds?" The woman before him asked.

She was levitating now, the embers of fire rising with her accordingly. Everything on her crackled. The clothes, the hair, her body—nothing wasn’t lit. Damien even noticed the small embers that dropped from her feet like lava.

"I haven’t killed anyone."

"Stop lying! I never take pity on demons, no matter the age."

"But—"

"Shut up!"

Damien immediately sealed his lips.

"I Nalani Starweaver, will burn you to ash. Make sure you pay your respects to those whom you devoured once you ascend into the afterlife."

Before Damien could reply, the woman raised her hands, making the red flames rise with her hands.

Then she twisted her wrist. A hot whirlwind formed around them, the wind hot enough to make the young vampire’s eyes water.

Damien winced. His skin became dry and itchy.

"I didn’t kill anyone!" He cried, standing.

But Nalani wouldn’t listen.

He eyes turned blood red, her jaw clenched.

"Now I want to torture you endlessly for every life you took," she seethed, horns protruding from the sides of her head as the raging fire began closing in on Damien.

’A dragon shifter!’ He noted, backing away.

The boy glanced around at his surroundings for anything that could help him ward off the woman but to no avail. Everything in the small circle he was trapped in had been burned to ash, leaving for the ground beneath him.

’Fuck, what do I do?’

Ahara should have noticed something was wrong by now, and maybe Kingston was doing something to get him out of danger, but he was being awfully slow.

’Should I use flow state and sprint? No, I’ll die the moment I touch those burning flames. Call for help? But I can’t hear anything because of the wind.’

Then it hit him.

Closing his eyes, Damien drew in a breath of the hot air, wincing in pain before shouting:

"I’m the former Numen’s son!"

At first, nothing changed. But then, the hot air subsided, followed by the demise of the noise made by the swirling flames. Then everything came to a halt. Soon, Damien began hearing the murmurs from the crowd surrounding him and he slowly opened his eyes.

’Did I succeed?’ He wondered as the dragon who tried to burn him came into full view.

She was bowing he head to someone on Damien’s left.

"Still causing problems everywhere you go I see."

Damien’s eyes glistened with delight when he heard that familiar old man’s voice. He snapped his head at him, tears threatening to escape his eyes.

"Principal Twiller!"

"In the flesh," the old man grinned, his white hair flailing when a wind howled past them. His blue eyes still held the calming sensation that eased Damien, and the boy felt himself relax in his presence.

However, Kingston ruined that momentary peace by grabbing his shoulders and pulling him, standing between him and the old man clad in white armor.

"Principal Twiller," the werewolf nodded at the old man, pushing Damien behind him.

The portal where Ahara had disappeared a while ago hissed as she came out, scrunching her face.

"What’s taking so long, Damien? I told you, there’s no spider—" she paused, taking in the scenery before her, a concerned look masking her face in an instant. "—what’s going on?"

The trees whooshed loudly in unison, blending in with the continued murmurs coming from the crowd. Damien’s chest constricted, a regular occurrence ever since he came to Gibbous. Everyone was looking at him, a few even scrunching their eyes in disgust.

"Why don’t you all calm down and tell me what’s going on, hmm?" Twiller announced, glancing around at the crowd.

"Certainly principal," Nalani interjected, her hair turning into flames once again as she pointed at Damien. "The portal just rejected that boy and I was about to cleanse him with my flames. He’s a rogue."

Waves of gasps came from the crowd. Damien looked down, wishing the ground would open up and just swallow him away. This was too embarrassing.

"No, he’s not!" Ahara rushed to her brother’s side and covered him, glaring at the dragon just when Twiller cut her.

"You don’t mean Damien, do you?"

"If it’s that boy with the ugly hairstyle and amber eyes then yes, I mean him."

Damien’s mouth dropped.

Ahara’s glare intensified and Kingston took a step back, shielding Damien from the Principal.

The old man’s eyes fixated on the boy, clearly amused by what he just heard. Ignoring Kingston’s deadly glare, he took a step towards them, his eyes still glued on Damien.

"I don’t want to fight you Principal, but if you don’t stop, I will," Kingston warned.

"Are you sure you can take me on?"

The noisy crowd was immediately silenced.

Even the wind seemed to halt after Twiller’s challenging question. Everyone knew who the two men were and what positions they held. If a fight were to break now, everything in their paths would be turned to rubble, the crowd included.

"And to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing X-ranked heroes fight outside Gibforge’s walls?"

Heads turned to the source of the voice—a woman dressed in a black and white robe dress with sharp spiky ends by its shoulders.

"Vice-Principal Mei-ling," Twiller beamed at her, ignoring her the next moment and drawing his attention back to Damien, the curious look still glinting in his blue eyes.

The boy couldn’t help but squirm even though he was being guarded by Ahara and Kingston on all sides.

"We have a rogue amongst the students Ma’am," Nalani interjected yet again, slightly bowing her head.

"And who might that be?" Mei-ling asked, coming to a halt.

"Damien Amaris," Twiller replied as another wave of murmurs filled the air.

Damien could tell the people had recognized his name. They all did every time it was said in public. He sighed and was about to hide his face behind Kingston’s back when he sensed the bit of aura seeping out from him.

When he turned his head to look at the wolf, he was glaring at Twiller who was closing in on them again, ignoring Kingston’s glare.

"Principal Twiller!" The wolf growled loudly.

"Kingston Kapoor," Twiller came to a halt, nonchalantly gesturing at the man. "Do you honestly think I’d harm the Numen’s son in front of everyone?"

Silence.

A cold wind whooshed past them, making Damien shiver, although, it might as well have been the tension surrounding him that made him quiver.

From the two men glaring at each other, looking as though they were about to fight, to his sister gripping his shoulders and glaring at the fire dragon—then the whispers coming from the crowds surrounding them. It was all too much, and when the tensional silence between Kingston and Twiller stretched, Damien couldn’t suppress himself any longer.

He wriggled his shoulder away from Ahara’s grasp and stepped to the side, drawing the adult’s attention as he turned to the only calm person among the lot.

"Umm, excuse me," he gestured at the Vice Principal. When she turned to face him, he took a step in her direction.

"I’m sure you know this already, but I’ve lived in the human world since I was a kid and would never do anything to hurt them, worse yet, eat them. So I don’t understand why she’s calling me a rogue," Damien pointed at the fiery dragon, who snorted.

"That’s because Gibforge’s portal gates never lie damnit."

"Nalani!" The woman Damien was addressing warned the dragon and she immediately shut her mouth.

With practiced gait, Mei-ling closed in on the boy, her face giving nothing away when she bent towards him. Then she sniffed him and hummed in approval.

"He’s right, he’s never devoured a human before. I can’t detect any corrupt aura on him."

"Then why did the portal deny him?" Nalani asked, a confused expression on her face.

The woman in robes moved away from Damien’s face, raising her head to address the dragon shifter and the now silent crowd in Damien’s queue. He hadn’t noticed, but the people who had been forming lines to each of his sides had vanished, and so had the portals they were entering.

"I suppose you all know how the Numen and his family were ambushed eleven years ago, and how his little son lost his aura and was sent to the human world?"

No one replied, and the woman continued her speech.

"Well, he got his aura back not too long ago, just in time for the enrollment. It’s possible that the portal denied him access because his aura isn’t yet accustomed to his body, thus it’s detected as corrupt."

The crowd began murmuring again, but this time, Damien felt a bit at ease, as though they weren’t talking bad about him anymore. He caught a glimpse of the plump guy behind him staring, but he quickly looked away once he saw Damien stare back at him and immediately started biting his nails.

’Guess he’s now super scared,’ Damien pitied the boy just when he felt Vice-principal Mei-ling’s hand tighten on his shoulder a little.

"Ever heard of the flow state?" She asked.

Damien nodded.

"Can you do it?"

"Hmm."

"Good. Try using it whilst you enter the portal next time to allow your entire body to have a fair share of aura, okay?"

Damien nodded again just when the woman let go of his shoulder and turned to Ahara and Kingston.

"You two go with him. If he fails to use flow state, you know what to do."

"Yes, ma’am," Ahara and Kingston simultaneously replied, each taking Damien’s shoulder and turning with him in the portal’s direction.

The fiery dragon was still in their way—glaring—but she moved aside when Vice-principal Mei-ling gestured her hands at her. However, as Damien and his pretend parents passed by her, she warned:

"He might be able to make it inside, but let’s see if he can make it through this year’s selection process."

Damien found himself gripping Ahara’s hand at the uncalled-for warning he just received.

"Ignore her and focus on your flow state," Ahara soothed, rubbing his hand.

"And if it’ll make you feel better, no one here knows what kind of enrollment test Gibforge is holding. The Academy changes them every year," Kingston smiled soothingly at the boy, letting go of him when they reached the entrance.

Damien relaxed a little at Kingston’s revelation. At least he wasn’t the only one in the dark.

"Make it quick, we have an entire crowd waiting to enter through the same portal!" Nalani hissed.

"Let the boy focus, Nalani," Twiller retorted, making her look to the side begrudgingly.

Damien closed his eyes and concentrated. Soon, he felt the familiar sensation burbling from within, spreading until it was everywhere in his body. When he opened his eyes the next moment, he was surprised to see Nalani looking at him.

"You—" sigh. "Just enter."

"I’ll see you inside, Amaris."

"Likewise."

The principal and his vice vanished into thin air before everyone’s eyes, leaving Damien to focus on entering the portal.

This time Ahara let him pass first.

"Make a run for it," she advised, and just like his sister told him, Damien dashed into the portal with considerable speed.

Unlike the first time he tried entering the portal, he passed through with ease and appeared on the other side of the wall—a whole new world that made his eyes widen at the sight before him.