Chapter 233 — The Girl Behind the Tree

Chapter 233: Chapter 233 — The Girl Behind the Tree

~ Raven ~

By the following morning, Raven had decided that whatever was happening within House Blackthorn was none of her business.

That would have been considerably easier if half the academy hadn’t spent the morning discussing it.

She’d heard enough whispers on her way to the library to know that Kieran and Alaric’s fight had already become common knowledge. Some students were arguing about what had caused it, while others seemed more interested in the fact that two Vanguard heirs had actually exchanged punches in public.

Raven couldn’t particularly blame them.

She’d never expected to witness something like that herself, especially when the entire disagreement had begun with Celeste’s usual attempts to humiliate her.

What bothered her was Alaric’s behavior.

He had never shown much interest in protecting Raven before, and she couldn’t understand why he’d suddenly chosen to intervene when Celeste had hardly said anything worse than what she’d been saying for years.

Something was clearly going on within the Blackthorn family, but Raven had enough problems of her own without taking responsibility for theirs.

She’d spent eighteen years dealing with those people, and if they wanted to start fighting among themselves, she certainly wasn’t going to complain.

Besides, there was something considerably more important she needed to investigate.

The little girl behind the tree.

Ever since her confrontation with the Dreamwalker, Raven had been unable to stop thinking about the frightened little girl she’d glimpsed behind the enormous tree.

During the Founders’ Hunt, she’d seen only the black-haired child standing between the masked attackers and the tree, seemingly determined to protect whatever was behind it. She hadn’t expected to discover another child hiding there when the vision returned.

What bothered Raven most was how close she’d come to seeing the second girl’s face. She could still picture the way the child had crouched against the trunk, trembling with both hands pressed over her mouth. Yet just as Raven tried to get a better look, the entire scene had fallen apart.

Who were those children, and why did she keep seeing them?

Raven sighed as she settled into a chair near the back of the library, placing the books she’d collected across the table.

She wasn’t entirely certain what she expected to find, although her earlier investigations into the Dreamwalker had introduced her to enough accounts of supernatural mental interference to give her somewhere to begin.

Some records described people experiencing dreams that felt like genuine events, while others discussed altered perceptions, inherited supernatural impressions and mental abilities capable of affecting a person’s awareness of certain experiences.

Unfortunately, none of those descriptions matched her situation closely enough to be useful.

Raven opened the first book, which dealt primarily with defensive sigils and their relationship with mental interference. It wasn’t exactly what she’d been looking for, but she decided to read it anyway.

Several pages passed before something caught her attention.

According to the text, certain forms of supernatural interference could make an experience difficult to access without necessarily removing it completely.

An experience that had been entirely erased might leave nothing for the affected person to recover, but something obscured by interference could still influence their dreams, emotions or instinctive reactions.

In rare cases, unusual supernatural disturbances could bring portions of those experiences back into awareness.

Raven read the passage again, leaning closer when she noticed the author’s explanation beneath it.

The effects apparently varied depending on the nature of the interference and the supernatural abilities involved. Some people experienced vivid dreams, while others reported brief impressions that appeared during moments of emotional distress.

That was interesting, especially considering what had happened to her.

She turned to the next page, where the author discussed the relationship between mental resistance and Natural Sigils.

Unlike ordinary inscriptions, Natural Sigils were inherited through bloodlines and didn’t always require deliberate activation. Some remained dormant until their bearers experienced particular conditions, while others responded instinctively to danger.

According to the text, natural mental defenses could sometimes interfere with external influence in ways their bearers didn’t consciously understand.

Raven frowned as she considered that.

She’d already seen something similar happen with her wolf.

During the Founders’ Hunt, the creature had responded to danger with a strength Raven hadn’t even known she possessed.

Then, during the confrontation with the Dreamwalker, it had struggled against the chains restraining it until another one finally broke.

Both incidents had involved tremendous pressure, and both had been followed by that strange forest vision.

Was there a connection?

Raven leaned back in her chair, turning the possibility over in her mind.

She’d never deliberately summoned the vision herself. It had always appeared after something extraordinary happened, usually involving her wolf, which made her wonder whether the creature was somehow responsible for what she kept seeing.

The problem was that she still didn’t know what the vision represented.

The book discussed experiences obscured by interference, but Raven had no evidence that somebody had interfered with her mind in the first place. For all she knew, the forest might have nothing to do with anything she’d personally experienced.

It could be connected to her wolf, some inherited ability she didn’t understand, or something entirely different.

Goddess, why did every answer she found seem to create another five questions?

She continued reading, searching for anything about visions associated with inherited supernatural abilities, but the information became increasingly vague.

One author claimed that certain bloodlines could preserve impressions beyond conscious awareness, while another argued that such experiences were often misinterpreted dreams caused by unstable essence.

Neither provided a reliable way of distinguishing between the two.

Raven eventually closed the book and reached for another, hoping it might offer something more useful.

Unfortunately, the second volume was even less helpful, and by the time she’d worked through the third, she was beginning to regret coming to the library at all.

Especially when she remembered there was still another strange experience she hadn’t managed to explain.

The figure she’d seen inside herself.

During the confrontation with the Dreamwalker, when she’d reached toward her chained wolf, she’d briefly noticed someone standing within the darkness.

At first, she’d barely been able to distinguish its shape, but then she’d seen its eyes.

They had been blood-red, and something about the way the figure stood watching her had made Raven deeply uncomfortable.

It hadn’t spoken or approached, and before she could understand what she was seeing, it had disappeared.

She’d been so occupied with saving Deb afterward that she hadn’t given it much thought at the time, but now the image was becoming difficult to dismiss.

Was it another consequence of her wolf’s strange condition, something connected to the chains restraining it, or had she encountered another presence entirely?

Raven searched through the remaining material, hoping to find some reference to multiple supernatural presences within a single individual.

The few passages she discovered concerned phenomena that bore little resemblance to what she’d experienced, and none mentioned anything like the dark figure she’d seen.

Eventually, she closed the final volume and rubbed her tired eyes.

She’d spent most of the morning searching, and all she’d accomplished was discovering that her situation could have several explanations, none of which she could actually prove.

Raven looked down at the books scattered across the table before slowly beginning to put them away.

She wasn’t going to make the mistake of deciding she’d discovered some extraordinary truth simply because one passage sounded vaguely similar to her experiences.

She needed more information, preferably from someone who understood Natural Sigils considerably better than she did.

For now, however, she had another problem to worry about.

The Concord was approaching, and unlike the little girl behind the tree, the people she was preparing to face were going to become very real, very soon.

~~

"You’re late."

Raven looked toward Cassian as she entered the training court.

He was standing near the center with his sleeves rolled back, studying several training inscriptions arranged along one side of the floor.

She adjusted the strap of her bag as she approached him.

"Good afternoon to you too."

Cassian glanced up, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

"I was beginning to think you’d decided to avoid training today."

"I was at the library," Raven explained, setting her bag near the boundary before stretching her arms.

"That explains it."

She frowned at him. "What’s that supposed to mean?"

"Whenever you spend too long in the library, you usually arrive looking irritated."

Raven opened her mouth to argue, then thought better of it because, unfortunately, he had a point.

Cassian’s smile became a little more noticeable as he watched her finish stretching.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Not particularly," Raven admitted, adjusting her training clothes before looking toward the inscriptions.

Cassian studied her for a moment, perhaps expecting her to elaborate, but she wasn’t ready to explain the entire situation involving the forest vision when she still couldn’t make sense of it herself.

Fortunately, he seemed willing to leave the subject alone.

"What are we working on today?" he asked, stepping away from the markings.

"Vampires."

One of his eyebrows rose.

"That covers a rather broad subject."

"I know." Raven finished stretching and turned toward him. "I’ve been thinking about the Concord, and there’s something I realized yesterday."

"Which is?"

"I know almost nothing about the people I’m supposed to fight."

Cassian folded his arms, considering her.

"You know they’re vampires."

"Thank you, Cassian. That’s incredibly helpful."

His mouth curved, and Raven gave him an irritated look before continuing.

"I’m serious. I know about the Cardinal Houses, and Instructor Berry has explained some of the competition rules, but that’s different from actually understanding how they fight."

Cassian considered her point before nodding toward the inscriptions he’d arranged along the floor.

"Fair enough. Then perhaps we should start there."

Raven followed him, looking down at the markings.

They were ordinary training inscriptions, the sort used to demonstrate how different sigil structures interacted. She recognized a basic barrier pattern and another arrangement intended to restrict movement within a designated area.

Cassian crouched beside the first marking.

"Tell me something. What’s the biggest difference between werewolf and vampire combat?"

Raven considered the question for a moment.

"Werewolves are generally better at instinctive combat and physical enhancement, while vampires specialize in inscriptions?"

"That’s a reasonable starting point, although you shouldn’t assume vampires are physically weaker simply because they’re better at inscriptions."

He indicated the barrier pattern before continuing.

"A werewolf from one of the Cardinal Houses can draw upon a Lattice that’s been developed and integrated into their bloodline over generations. It doesn’t mean every technique is automatic, but much of what we do is connected directly to our bodies and inherited abilities."

Raven nodded because she’d seen enough of Cassian’s Air Lattice to understand what he meant.

"And vampires?"

"They possess supernatural strength, speed and inherited abilities of their own, so they can fight perfectly well without using Bloodscript. What makes them particularly dangerous is how precisely they can use inscriptions to enhance those abilities."

Cassian traced one of the patterns with his finger without activating it.

"Bloodscript allows a vampire to use their own blood as part of an inscription. Depending on the technique, it can reinforce their body, strengthen a weapon, create a defense or interfere with an opponent’s movements."

Raven frowned as she considered the explanation.

"Actual blood?"

"Yes. Their blood can serve as the material for a pattern, help sustain it or provide the connection needed to activate a particular technique."

He looked up at her before adding, "That doesn’t mean they have to start cutting themselves every time they want to attack. Skilled vampires can prepare inscriptions beforehand or create temporary ones during combat, and they don’t need Bloodscript for every movement they make."

Raven studied the markings more carefully.

"So they can use it to improve their physical abilities, just as we use our Lattices?"

"In some ways, although the methods are different. Our Lattices are inherited structures that work with our bodies, while Bloodscript allows vampires greater flexibility in how they construct and combine techniques."

Cassian straightened, brushing his hands together before continuing.

"Of course, the stronger techniques still require sufficient essence, proper control and suitable resources. Using too much blood comes with its own consequences, and their elemental abilities have limitations just as ours do."

Raven nodded slowly, beginning to understand why Instructor Berry had been so insistent about studying vampire inscriptions before the Concord.

"So their advantage isn’t necessarily that they can hit harder?"

"Not necessarily. A skilled vampire can make an ordinary attack considerably more dangerous by combining it with the right technique. And if you’re only watching their hands or waiting for them to activate something obvious, you might miss what they’ve already prepared."

Raven frowned.

"Meaning?"

Cassian stepped toward the center of the court and gestured for her to join him.

"Let’s say you’re fighting someone who uses Bloodscript. You see them activate an inscription, recognize the effect and move to avoid it. What do you do afterward?"

"Attack before they can prepare another one."

"Good. Now what if the first inscription wasn’t the real attack?"

Raven hesitated, considering the question.

Cassian glanced toward the training markings, a faint smile appearing on his face.

"Come here. I’ll show you."

She approached cautiously, having learned from their previous sessions that agreeing to one of his demonstrations without understanding it was usually a mistake.

Cassian gestured toward the markings on the floor.

"These are ordinary training inscriptions, not Bloodscript, but they’ll help you understand what I mean. I want you to reach me without getting caught."

Raven studied the arrangement before looking back at him.

"That’s all?"

"For now."

She didn’t particularly like the way he said that, although there didn’t appear to be anything especially complicated about the exercise.

Cassian activated the first inscription, causing a faint barrier to rise between them.

Its surface shimmered with essence, and Raven examined it for a moment before deciding that moving around the obstacle would be easier than trying to break through it.

Cassian remained on the opposite side, watching her with an expression she couldn’t quite read.

Raven shifted toward the left, intending to circle around the barrier and approach him from another direction.

The moment her foot entered the next marked section of the floor, however, another inscription flashed beneath her.

Her movement slowed abruptly, and as she struggled to pull her leg free, Raven realized too late that the barrier had never been the real attack.