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

47. Chaotic Lessons

Chaotic Lessons

~ S PARROW~

The first thing I heard upon approaching the academy cafeteria was the rhythmic chanting of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" echoing through crystalline halls. The sound carried harmonics of different court energies - Aether students' voices chimed like bells, while Void practitioners' calls seemed to bend reality itself.

"Well," I said, glancing between my two powerful escorts, "this is... festive for a first day?"

Lord Helios walked with perfect grace, his iridescent robes shifting through colors that somehow managed to convey both amusement and academic interest. To my left, Lord Aetheron's shadows danced with barely contained mirth. Between them, I felt like a mortal caught between two forces of nature - which, technically, I was.

"Aren't you going to stop them?" I asked Helios as we neared the cafeteria doors. "I mean, as a professor..."

His perfect lips curved into a smile that held centuries of secrets. "My dear Lady Sparrow, why would I interfere with such an... educational display?"

"But..." I gestured at the chaos we could hear building behind the massive doors. "This is supposed to be neutral ground, isn't it?"

A rich chuckle escaped Aetheron, his shadows curling playfully around my feet. "Neutral is such a... flexible term in our realm. The lines between courts have always been more suggestion than law."

"Indeed," Helios agreed, his harmonious voice carrying undertones of ancient knowledge. "The Council of Elders only truly concerns themselves with attacks on professors or their own ranks. Finding beings of sufficient power and knowledge to fill those positions is... challenging."

"What my old friend means," Aetheron added, golden eyes dancing with barely suppressed amusement, "is that student squabbles hardly register compared to the political maneuvering of the courts themselves. The Elders save their wrath for those who dare disrupt their carefully maintained hierarchy."

A particularly loud crash from within the cafeteria made the crystalline walls vibrate. The very air seemed charged with competing magics - void energy creating patches of absolute darkness while what felt like shadow magic tried to claim territory.

"Speaking of disruption," Helios mused, his iridescent eyes tracking the patterns of power, "that feels like quite substantial void manipulation. And unless I'm mistaken..." He paused, head tilting slightly. "Yes, definitely traces of twilight court energy as well."

Aetheron's shadows suddenly stilled, his perfect features arranging themselves into an expression of recognition. "Fenris," he said, the name carrying weight beyond its two syllables.

My heart dropped. "Wait, Liam?!"

Before either Lord could respond, musical laughter cut through the tension - the sound beautiful yet somehow cruel, like crystal breaking in perfect harmony. Lady Aurora materialized from a beam of pure light, her perfect features arranged in an expression of mock concern.

"Oh dear," she said, each word dripping with false sympathy. "Having trouble keeping your wolves in line, Lady Sparrow? How... disappointing. Though I suppose we can't expect much else from someone so new to our world."

The temperature around us dropped several degrees as both Lords reacted to her presence. Helios's robes darkened to colors that shouldn't exist, while Aetheron's shadows coiled like angry serpents.

"Lady Aurora," Helios's voice carried harmonics that made the air vibrate warningly. "Shouldn't you be preparing for tomorrow's lessons? After today's... performance, you have much ground to cover."

A flash of something - anger? Fear? - crossed her perfect features before she composed herself. "I merely thought someone should inform you of the situation, my Lord. After all, when pack bonds break so spectacularly..."

Understanding hit me like a physical force. "Nyx," I breathed, already moving toward the doors. "She's fighting Liam?"

Aurora's smile turned predatory. "Oh yes. Your void wolf and shadow wolf seem to be having quite the... disagreement about pack hierarchy. Something about gender and power, I believe? How delightfully mundane."

Both Lords moved with me, their powers creating a wake that made other students scatter. The air grew thick with competing court energies - Helios's celestial force meeting Aetheron's shadows in patterns that spoke of shared purpose rather than rivalry.

"Before you rush in, Lady Sparrow," Helios said softly, his perfect features softening slightly as he looked at me, "consider that some lessons are best learned through experience."

"Indeed," Aetheron agreed, his shadows reaching for mine comfortingly. "Pack dynamics often require... practical demonstrations of power."

Another crash shook the walls, followed by what sounded like reality itself tearing. The chanting had grown louder, different courts taking sides in whatever conflict raged within. I could feel Nyx's void energy pulsing with ancient power, while Liam's shadows seemed to carry an edge of desperation I'd never felt before.

"But they could hurt each other," I protested, though something in me recognized the truth of their words. "This isn't like training or sparring, this feels..."

"Personal?" Aurora suggested sweetly. "Well, when one questions another's right to power based on something as trivial as gender..." She let the words hang in the air, clearly enjoying my growing horror.

Helios's perfect eyebrow arched slightly. "Ah. So that's what triggered this particular demonstration." His iridescent robes shifted through colors that somehow managed to convey both disapproval and anticipation. "How... educational this should prove."

"Indeed," Aetheron's shadows danced with ancient memory. "Some prejudices can only be corrected through rather... dramatic means."

The doors before us suddenly disintegrated - not destroyed, but rather ceased to exist as void energy rewrote that section of reality. Through the opening, we could see the cafeteria had been transformed into an arena of chaos.

Tables floated at impossible angles, held aloft by competing magical forces. Students pressed against the walls, their different court energies creating barriers of protection as they watched the spectacle before them. In the center of it all...

"Oh, Liam," I whispered, finally understanding what had brought us to this point. "What did you do?"

Aurora's musical laughter echoed through the halls once more, clearing proving she wasn’t afraid of her next set of words, despite Hellios’ attempt to control her desperate need to be noticed.

"The question, dear Sparrow, isn't what he did. It's what your void wolf is about to do about it. After all..." Her perfect features arranged themselves into false concern. "If you can't control your pack now, how can you possibly hope to handle the trials ahead?"

Both Lords tensed at her words, their powers surging protectively around me. But my attention was fixed on the scene before us, where two of my wolves circled each other like predators about to strike.

And I had a feeling we were all about to learn some very important lessons about power, prejudice, and the price of underestimating someone based on something as meaningless as gender.