Kyle
We had seen Britt fall and Aria rush to her aid too late. It was like reality bitch slapped us and laughed in our face. We weren’t ready for this. It wasn’t that long ago that we were kids, fuck I think we still were kids. This shouldn’t be happening. Liam and Sykes saw the moment that she fell at the same time as I did. We did what we could to reach her but another demon stood in our path and we cut it down as quickly as we could, before it could realise that it only needed to turn around and it could easily rip our mate’s life from us as well. Mae and Aeryn had taken position to shield Aria from the front but her back was still open and vulnerable and we moved as fast as we could to offer her as much protection as we had left in us. It wasn’t lost on me that we had little left to give. The battle had been exhausting and whilst the number of demons was drastically less than it had been, the fight was definitely not over. Caleb had regrouped with the headmaster and a few other teachers and were hastily drawing up a plan to retreat.
I had never seen Aria cry, I had never seen her look so lost as she did the moment that Britt breathed her last breath and passed over to the other side, while she begged her to stay. It broke my heart that I couldn’t stop this. Not just because I was losing my friend but because it was one more thing that I couldn’t protect my mate from.
As Aria clung to Britt’s body, her body shaking with sobs the air started to shimmer around her. I had felt her magic growing over the last few weeks, we all had. But now the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and not just from the keening noise that Aria was making. It was like a split second before a storm broke and the storm that came was the most magnificent thing that I had ever seen.
A set of pure white wings exploded from Aria’s back, blood spraying as they seemed to tear free from inside her. Aria cradled Britt’s broken body in her arms. The air around her shimmering like a mirage and I recognised it as the shift taking place. The curious thing was that Aria didn’t shift into something else but as her magic reached a crescendo, she changed in other ways. Her hair was still the same beautiful auburn but it was braided down the sides away from her face, the plain fighting leathers that she had worn before changed into a tight-fitting leather suit with armour curling around her. It looked like it was black but as the light hit it, it reflected a deep red. The weapons which she had always seemed to just pull out of the air were now strapped to her body. Her twin short swords were sheathed between her wings, throwing knives were strapped to her thighs and a collection of throwing stars were housed in a belt riding low on her hips. She was the picture of a warrior, she looking ready to deal out death, she looked magnificent. And as the change came to an end, she threw back her head and screamed out her rage and her grief. It was like the entire world held its breath and every remaining demon turned towards her with something akin to terror in their eyes.
