Chapter 199: The Beast Clan!
"What happened?!" Cecelia said. She rushed forward. The others quickly followed.
They reached a small clearing where one of the students had fallen to the ground and his face was sacred.
He pointed a trembling finger toward the shadows between two trees.
"Th-there! Look!"
Everyone turned their gaze in the direction he indicated.
From behind a cluster of glowing flowers, bones appeared.
A skeletal creature stepped into the forest.
Several students gasped, stumbling back. One of them clutched her staff tightly, ready to defend herself.
"W-what is that?! A... skeleton?" a boy said in a shocked voice.
"It’s an undead beast!" shouted another.
"But... How?! There’s no necromancer here!"
Another student said, "It must be Cecelia’s skill. Her healing power... it’s so strong it’s waking up the dead."
"That’s impossible," another one said.
"Healing magic doesn’t—doesn’t do this..."
The skeletal animal, resembling a long-dead wolf, took a hesitant step forward.
Then, with a creak of dry bones, it turned and disappeared back into the misty forest.
"Everyone, let’s stay alert," Cecelia said.
"Do not scatter. We continue searching."
"Yes, Cecelia!" they replied.
They called Kael’s name again and again.
"Kael! Kael, can you hear us?!" shouted Veyla.
It took an hour while they still searched for him.
Cecelia hurried.
She paused near a shallow stream and she scanned the surroundings.
"Nothing..." she muttered under her breath. "Not even a trace of blood..."
One of the boys knelt to inspect a patch of river. "Did he directly fall into this river?"
Cecelia crouched to examine them.
"The river must have carried him away," she said.
"If that’s true, he could be kilometers from here by now."
"Then we need to follow the river," Veyla insisted.
"He could still be alive."
Cecelia hesitated. "The forest becomes dangerous the farther we go. But... we can’t abandon him."
"Then we don’t stop here," said another healer firmly. "Kael wouldn’t give up on any of us."
Meanwhile, far downstream, Kael’s unconscious body drifted along the rushing river. The current carried him away from the academy, past moss-covered rocks and twisted roots, until he finally washed ashore several kilometers away.
His clothes were torn. He lay motionless on the muddy riverbank.
From the dense undergrowth, shadows moved, stepping lightly across the forest floor. Their shapes were humanoid but carried an unmistakable aura of beastly power.
The first figure to appear was a woman. She had long silver hair. Her ears were slightly pointed, and faint markings glowed across her bare arms.
Behind her came others, five, maybe six, each with similar beast-like features. Some had tails swaying behind them; others bore faint claws at the tips of their fingers.
Their presence radiated both beauty and danger.
The silver-haired leader stepped closer to Kael’s limp body. She crouched beside him, her sharp senses analyzing his condition.
"He’s alive," she murmured.
One of the others, a tall male, tilted his head.
"Shall we leave him? Or kill him, Myra? He’s human. He can become our delicious food"
"No," Myra replied, brushing a wet strand of hair from Kael’s face. "This one... feels different. His scent... it’s unlike the others."
"He doesn’t carry the killing intent".
Another female beast stepped forward.
"So you think he’s dangerous or not?"
Myra smiled, "Let’s cure him first."
She gestured to two of her companions. "Take him. We’ll bring him to the base. The elders will want to see this."
The group obeyed without hesitation. Two of them carefully lifted Kael’s unconscious body.
As they moved back into the shadows of the forest, Myra lingered for a moment, her eyes drift toward the distant glow of Arcadia forest barely visible through the trees.
"Humans," she whispered softly to herself.
Then, with a flick of her silver hair, she disappeared into the darkness, following her companions deeper into the wild heart of the forest—taking Kael with them, far from the searching students who continued to call his name in vain.
Kael’s body was battered and barely breathing as the current carried him further into the dense forest.
When he finally crashed onto the shore of a hidden lagoon, the water and mud mixing on his skin, he groaned faintly.
He opened his eyes slowly. Around him, a dozen pairs of glowing eyes watched silently from the treeline.
Beasts of all shapes, some in humanoid form, some more monstrous emerged from the shadows, their claws digging into the earth.
"Kill him... he is human!" one said stepping forward with the threatening hiss. "He is one of them. He must not leave alive!"
Kael tried to rise but he collapsed back onto the ground and he still had blood cloned in his body.
Just as one of the larger beasts lunged forward.
"Stop!" Myra stepped forward.
She placed herself between Kael and the approaching beasts, raising her hand in a firm gesture.
"Enough! Stand down," she shouted. Her voice was respected, the kind only a respected warrior among her kind could wield.
Myra’s gaze softened as it landed on Kael, lying bruised and battered on the ground.
One of the elders stepped forward. "Myra! Why... Why did you bring a human here?"
Myra lowered her eyes but did not release her protective stance. ]
"He is... not like the others. He did not come to harm us. He was washed away by the river and to be honest, he must be in a fight with a stronger one."
"Ha!" another elder hissed, stepping forward.
"A human! you are risking everything. Humans kill beasts! They destroy our kind! This one is dangerous. One false move, and he could bring war upon us."
"Everytime we have to deal with humans".
Kael could barely lift his head, but even through the haze of pain, he saw Myra’s expression, the subtle tension in her brow, the way her hand trembled from concern.
"You... you do not understand," Myra said. Her eyes flickered toward Kael once again. "He is different. I... I can sense it."
The eldest of the elders narrowed leaned forward, examining Myra carefully.
"What is the difference?" he said.
"Myra, this is not a personal matter. You must think with your clan’s safety in mind. The risk is too great!"
Myra’s shoulders stiffened, but she did not falter. "I do not act recklessly. I have judged him. He does not seek to harm us, at least not now. I will not allow you to destroy him before you understand."