Court of Aether and Shadows (Crowned Monster Trilogy #1)

39. Spirit Sight

Spirit Sight

~ S PARROW~

Time seemed to slow as I watched the corrupted tendril race toward Liam. My body moved before my mind could process what I was doing, hand thrust forward through the protective cube my wolves had created around me. The barrier parted like water at my touch, recognizing me as its master rather than its ward.

"No!" The word tore from my throat as power surged through me. Shadows – not the corrupted darkness attacking us, but true shadow magic – poured from my fingertips, wrapping around Liam in a protective cocoon mere seconds before the tendril struck.

The impact made reality shiver, and suddenly I was between .

Just like when I'd fallen through the rift, the world shifted into something more real than reality itself. But this was different from my first transition. Here in the academy, where magic saturated every crystal and stone, the spirit realm blazed with unprecedented clarity.

Everything existed in stark contrasts – deep blacks and brilliant whites, blood reds and ethereal teals. Regular students appeared as simple white silhouettes with cores of varying colors denoting their court affiliations. The academy's walls pulsed with teal lines of protective magic, creating a lattice of power that reminded me of computer circuit boards.

My wolves, though... they took my breath away.

Liam blazed like a dark star, shadow magic coating him in layers of deepest black shot through with silver. Nyx's form rippled with void energy that bent light itself around her, creating patches of absolute nothing that somehow still managed to glow. Solaris burned so brightly he was almost painful to look at, pure light radiating from his core in waves of gold and white. Cypress was a symphony of colors, each element within him moving in perfect harmony with the others.

But more importantly, I could see the attack for what it truly was – not just corruption, but manipulation. The dark tendrils weren't random chaos; they were puppets, all connected to a single source by threads of tainted magic.

My eyes followed these threads, tracking them through walls and floors, watching them wind through the academy's magical infrastructure like parasitic vines. They all led to a single point, a nexus of power that pulsed with malevolent purpose.

"It's coming from the Advanced Realm Walking classroom," I said, my voice echoing strangely in this between-space. "Everything connects there. Someone's using the natural thinness between realms in that location to channel this power."

My wolves' heads snapped toward me, their magical signatures flaring with surprise. In this state, I could see their energy responding to my voice, reaching for me instinctively through our pack bonds.

"Sparrow?" Nyx's galaxy eyes had become literal galaxies in this view, swirling with cosmic power. "How are you doing this?"

"More importantly," Solaris added, his form barely contained by physical boundaries, "how are you seeing the magical pathways? That's high-level Aether Court magic."

"Questions later," I said, noting how the threads of power were beginning to pulse more rapidly. "We need to get to that classroom. Now."

"But your barrier—" Cypress started.

"Was never meant to contain me," I finished, stepping fully out of their protective cube. In this spirit-sight view, I could see how their different magics had woven together, creating something beautiful but ultimately unnecessary. "I'm not the one who needs protection right now."

Liam, still encased in my shadow shield, stared at me with an expression I couldn't quite read. His magical signature reached for mine, shadow calling to shadow, but there was something else there too – a recognition that went beyond court magic.

"You can see it all, can't you?" he asked softly. "The paths between realms, the flow of power..."

I nodded, already moving toward our destination. The corrupted threads were pulling tighter, suggesting whatever was controlling them was preparing for something big.

"Then lead the way," Nyx said, void energy coiling around her like excited serpents. "We'll follow."

"Three minutes past class time," I noted with grim amusement as we began to move. "Think Lord Helios will accept 'fighting corrupted magic' as an excuse for tardiness?"

"Only one way to find out," Cypress replied, his elemental powers leaving trails of harmonious energy in our wake.

We raced through the academy's halls, following the dark threads that only I could see. Regular students appeared as bright blurs in my spirit-sight, scattering out of our path as we ran. The academy's magic responded to our presence, crystal walls pulsing with recognition as we passed.

The closer we got to the classroom, the more concentrated the threads became. They twisted together into thick ropes of power that made my skin crawl just looking at them. Whatever waited for us in that room, it was old. Ancient. And very, very angry.

"Ready?" I asked as we reached the classroom door, beyond which I could see a nexus of power that blazed like a dark sun.

My wolves moved into formation around me, their magical signatures blazing with determination and protective fury.

"Born ready," Nyx grinned, her void energy creating patterns that hurt to look at directly.

"Just try not to get us expelled," Solaris added, light gathering around his hands.

"Or killed," Cypress suggested helpfully, his tattoos shifting into battle configurations.

Liam said nothing, but his shadows reached for mine, twining together in a display of unity that went beyond words.

I took a deep breath, gathering my strange new power around me like armor.

"I sense three signatures entering the classroom," Nyx called out as we raced through the chaos-filled corridors, her galaxy eyes seeing beyond normal vision. "Maybe four. Energy patterns are too chaotic to get a clear read."

"Academy handbook, section three, paragraph two," Solaris recited, his sun-bright energy creating a path through the darkness. "All professors must observe a five-minute grace period for student arrival."

"Great," Cypress panted, his elemental tattoos pulsing with effort. "Because we've got exactly three minutes before even that deadline expires."

My attention split between maintaining the protective shadow bubble around Liam – who was radiating frustration so strongly I could practically taste it – and navigating the increasingly congested hallways. Corrupted shadows writhed along the walls like living things, while panicked students created magical bottlenecks with their uncontrolled power releases.

The strain of holding Liam's shield was beginning to take its toll. Each pulse of magic sent waves of exhaustion through me, but I couldn't risk releasing him. Not when I could still see the corruption targeting court-specific magic. His wolf form would be like a beacon to these things.

"I know you hate this," I muttered, knowing he could hear me through the barrier. "But please trust me."

His only response was a low growl that made his shadows dance agitatedly against my protective magic.

A soft sound drew my attention downward, and my heart leaped at the sight of familiar ruby eyes. The white fox sat primly in the midst of chaos, its pristine fur somehow untouched by the darkness swirling around us.

"You!" I couldn't help the joy in my voice as I scooped up my mysterious guardian. "Where have you been? No, wait, never mind that – we need to get to class but everything's blocked and?—"

The fox's eyes shifted from deep red to that haunting cyan teal I remembered from my first transition between realms. Its form began to change, body elongating and shifting until a pure white snake coiled around my wrist.

"Oh!" I gasped as its scales touched my skin. Where we made contact, magic surged through me like liquid starlight. An intricate pattern began to form on my flesh – a skull, but not like any I'd seen before. This one was a masterpiece of magical artistry, decorated with flowers that seemed to grow and move across my skin. A crown perched atop the skull's brow, its points sharp enough to draw blood yet beautiful enough to make my breath catch.

The design radiated power – not just shadow or starlight, but something older. Something that felt like it had waited centuries to mark me as its own.

The snake hissed, its body beginning to glow with increasing intensity. The light built until it was almost blinding, then suddenly?—

Everything stopped.

The chaos in the hallway froze mid-motion, corrupted shadows hanging suspended like dark sculptures. Students stood like statues, their faces caught in various expressions of panic and confusion. Even the very air seemed to have paused, creating an eerie stillness that felt both wrong and incredibly right.

Only my wolves and I remained mobile, our powers creating ripples in the frozen time around us.

"What did you do?" Nyx breathed, her galaxy eyes wide with wonder.

"I think," I said slowly, watching the snake's scales shimmer with satisfaction, "it just gave us a shortcut."

The new mark on my wrist pulsed with ancient power, sending waves of energy through me that felt like possibility itself. A clear path had opened before us, reality bending aside to create a direct route to our classroom.

"Well," Cypress said after a moment, his elemental tattoos shifting rapidly as they tried to analyze what was happening, "I guess we're not going to be late after all."

"Assuming time is actually passing while everything's frozen," Solaris added, his sun-bright energy crackling with curiosity.

The snake flicked its tongue at them, somehow managing to look smug.

"We should move," I said, feeling the power maintaining this pause in reality ripple slightly. "I don't think this is permanent."

"What about the corruption?" Nyx asked, gesturing to the frozen tendrils of darkness. "We can't just leave it?—"

"One problem at a time," I cut her off, already moving forward. "First class, then we deal with whatever's trying to tear holes between realms."

The snake tightened slightly around my wrist in what felt like approval.

As we moved through the frozen chaos, following the path that had opened for us, I could feel Liam's energy shift from frustration to something more contemplative. His shadows reached for mine through the barrier, not fighting now but... questioning.

I knew we'd have to talk about this – about trust and protection and the balance between them. But for now, we had a class to get to.

And somehow, I had a feeling Lord Helios was going to have quite a few questions about our dramatic entrance.

We reached the classroom doors just as reality began to flicker around us, time struggling to restart its natural flow. The effort of maintaining Liam's shield while running through the frozen chaos had drained me more than I wanted to admit. My legs buckled, vision swimming with exhaustion.

Cypress caught me before I could fall, his elemental energy steady and grounding. "I've got you, Star Girl."

"Sparrow?" Nyx's galaxy eyes filled with concern as she moved closer. "You're pale as moonlight."

"Are you alright?" Solaris added, his sun-bright power reaching out instinctively to offer warmth and support.

"I'm fine," I tried to wave off their concern, though the room wouldn't stop spinning. "Just need a moment to—" My words cut off as I lifted my head to look into the classroom. Through my spirit-sight, something was terribly wrong with the energies flowing through the space.

Where the academy's normal magical current flowed in organized patterns of teal and white, the classroom's energy signature was... distorted. It moved against the natural flow, creating discordant ripples that made my newly awakened senses scream in warning. Even worse, what should have been Lord Helios's blindingly bright aether energy was somehow muted, wrong, like looking at a sun through muddy water.

"This isn't right," I murmured, the snake-turned-fox shifting restlessly against my skin. "The energy patterns are all wrong. Even Helios doesn't feel like himself."

"What do you mean?" Nyx asked, trying to peer through the doorway with her void-sensitive vision. "I mean, yes, something feels off, but..."

"I can't explain it exactly," I frowned, watching the corrupted energy patterns twist in ways that defied natural law. "It's like... imagine sheet music where all the notes are slightly out of tune. Everything looks correct at first glance, but when you actually listen..."

"The harmony is wrong," Solaris finished, his own power flaring as he tried to sense what I was seeing. "But without your spirit-sight, we can only catch glimpses of the discord."

Liam's energy pulsed against my shield, and I could feel his frustrated concern. He couldn't speak through the barrier, but his shadows managed to convey his meaning well enough: something was very wrong here.

The white fox unwound itself from my wrist, dropping gracefully to the floor. Its ruby eyes shifted to that haunting cyan teal as it looked up at me expectantly. A quick glance at my enchanted watch showed barely a minute left before even the grace period expired.

"We have two choices," I said, straightening despite my exhaustion. "Either we go into that classroom where something is clearly wrong with both the energy patterns and Lord Helios himself, or..." I gestured to where the fox was already padding down a different corridor, "we follow my mysterious friend here and probably get in serious trouble for missing class."

"Oh please," Nyx snorted, her galaxy eyes sparkling despite the tension. "Like there's even a choice. I haven't survived this long by ignoring void-touched instincts."

"Following the magical fox down the suspicious hallway it is," Cypress grinned, his elemental tattoos shifting into more alert patterns. "Though maybe we should move fast? Time magic isn't exactly stable."

"We're really doing this?" Solaris asked, though he was already moving to follow the fox. "Deliberately skipping Lord Helios's class to follow a shape-shifting spirit guide?"

"Would you rather walk into whatever mess is waiting in that classroom?" I countered, feeling Liam's energy signal reluctant agreement through our bond.

The fox looked back at us, its ethereal eyes somehow managing to convey impatience. Around us, the frozen time was beginning to crack, reality pushing to resume its natural flow.

"Forty-five seconds," I noted, already moving to follow our guide. "Anyone who wants to play it safe should probably head into class now."

"And miss whatever chaos you're about to cause?" Nyx fell into step beside me, void energy swirling excitedly. "Not a chance."

"Where you go, we go," Cypress added, still helping support my weight as we moved.

Solaris sighed dramatically but kept pace. "The things I do for pack bonds."

I could feel Liam's frustrated acceptance through our connection. He didn't like this – any of this – but he understood the wrongness we were sensing. His shadows curled protectively around my shield, adding his strength to the barrier.

The fox led us deeper into the academy's winding corridors, each turn taking us further from the designated classroom. My spirit-sight showed cleaner energy patterns this way, untainted by whatever was corrupting the original room.

"Thirty seconds," I muttered, watching reality continue to fracture around us. "Please tell me you know where you're taking us?"

The fox's only response was to pick up its pace, leading us toward what appeared to be a dead end.

"Um, Sparrow?" Solaris called from behind us. "I don't mean to question your spirit guide, but that's definitely a wall."

The fox sat down before the solid crystal barrier, its eyes shifting back to ruby red as it looked at me expectantly.

"Twenty seconds," I whispered, feeling power pulse through the skull mark on my wrist. "I really hope you know what you're doing."

Time resumed its natural flow with a sound like shattering glass.