Page 179 of Court of Aether and Shadows

But another voice, slick as oil and cold as void-touched ice, whispered through our shared consciousness:She challenges our dominance. Our right to lead. Would let a female dictate our worth?

My wolf form - larger than any natural shadow wolf, with fur that seemed to absorb light itself - circled our opponent. Nyx hadn't shifted, choosing instead to remain in her humanoid form. Void energy danced around her like living galaxies, herperfectly pressed suit somehow remaining immaculate despite the chaos.

Too proud to even take us seriously, the foreign voice hissed.Show her what true power looks like.

I lunged, shadow magic propelling me forward with deadly intent. But Nyx simply... stepped sideways, not through space but through reality itself. My attack met empty air as she reappeared behind me, void energy crackling around her like dark lightning.

"Is that really the best you can do, Shadow Wolf?" she taunted, her galaxy eyes swirling with ancient power. "All that posturing, all that pride, and you can't even land a single hit?"

She mocks us!the voice raged.End her insolence!

My wolf whined mentally, recognizing the disparity in power. We had always known Nyx was strong, but this... this was something else entirely. She moved like water through mist, each gesture tearing holes in reality itself. The void energy around her wasn't just power - it was pure possibility, the ability to rewrite the very laws of existence.

Stop, I pleaded with myself, with the darkness driving us forward.This isn't right. We're stronger together, not-

Weakness!the voice snarled.Female weakness infecting our thoughts. We are Alpha. We are strength incarnate!

Another lunge, another void-step dodge. But this time Nyx didn't just evade - she struck back. A ribbon of pure darkness wrapped around my hind leg, yanking me off balance. I crashed into a floating table, sending it spinning through the air along with its contents.

"You know," Nyx said conversationally, as if we were discussing the weather rather than trying to tear each other apart, "I've been holding back for so long, playing the court jester, hiding behind chaos and mischief." Her galaxy eyesblazed brighter. "It's actually rather liberating to finally show what I can really do."

To demonstrate her point, she opened a series of small void rifts around me. Not to attack, but to show she could have at any time. Could have ended this fight before it began.

She toys with us!the voice howled.Destroy her!

But my wolf was starting to resist more strongly now, recognizing the true extent of what we faced. This wasn't about gender or dominance anymore - this was about power on a scale we hadn't imagined. Nyx wasn't just stronger than us; she was in an entirely different category of existence.

Then, cutting through the chaos of battle and the screaming in our shared mind, came a scent that made both wolf and man freeze in recognition.

Starlight and shadow. Power and possibility.

Sparrow.

My head whipped toward the cafeteria entrance, where the doors had simply ceased to exist. A void tear in reality framed three figures - our Omega flanked by both Lords of Shadow and Light.

Stop this, I pleaded with the darkness controlling us.She's here. She'll see-

She'll see us claim our rightful place!the voice roared.Show her your strength. Prove your worth as Alpha!

No!both wolf and man howled in unified desperation. But our body was already moving, shadow magic condensing around us like armor as we charged toward Nyx with lethal intent.

Only Nyx wasn't there anymore.

Sparrow was.

She had stepped directly into our path, chin raised and eyes blazing with a mixture of disappointment and determination. No fear, no hesitation - just the quiet confidence of someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

STOP!We threw everything we had into halting our momentum, but the foreign presence driving us forward wouldn't yield. Couldn't yield. We were going to hurt her, going to-

Light and nature struck simultaneously. Solaris's Aether magic blazed like captured sunlight while Cypress's elements wove through it, creating a net of pure power. They had shifted too - a wolf of living radiance and another whose fur shifted through all four elemental aspects.

Their combined magic caught us mere inches from Sparrow, who hadn't so much as flinched. The net burned where it touched our shadow-wrought fur, but the pain was nothing compared to the horror of what we'd almost done.

"Well," Sparrow said, her voice carrying that edge of authority that made both wolf and man want to bow in submission, "I leave you alone for one class period and this is what happens?"

The foreign presence raged against our restraints, but with Sparrow so close, her power washing over us like waves of starlight, its hold was weakening.

Something was wrong. Something beyond wounded pride or pack dynamics had driven us to this point. If only we could fight through this darkness long enough to warn them...

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