Basics of Spellcraft (Ember Academy for Young Witches Book 1)

by L. C. Mawson

  No, I wasn’t just a conduit for the spell.

  If I were, anyone could have cast it.

  Maria had cursed my mother specifically to bring me here so that I could cast it.

  Another Angelborn, like her, to counteract the magic of an Angel.

  I was powering the spell with my magic.

  I looked back over the Demon in front of me, remembering what he’d said about choosing.

  Light or Dark.

  All spells draw from one or the other, so which was this?

  I had the answer before my mind had even finished forming the question.

  Dark magic.

  She was drawing from my pain.

  The pain of my mother being cursed, of having to leave home, of not being good enough to help...

  The pain that had been driving me for weeks was now fuelling my enemy.

  I managed a watery smile with a bittersweet edge. “You know, if my Dark Energy is fuelling something so strong, maybe I am a Dark Witch.”

  Mr Stiles managed to return the smile, though it was strained, and it was clear that the spell was taking everything he had. “No, Amelia, it... If it was so clear... I would have told you...”

  “But I don’t know how to stop it. I don’t know how to let go.”

  “You don’t have to... Not yet... Just need something else...”

  It took me a moment to realise what he was saying.

  Light magic.

  I couldn’t just let go of my pain. I couldn’t just forget.

  But I could only produce so much Energy at once, and if the Energy I was producing was Light...

  I looked over to Natalie and a burst of Dark Energy sparked at the reminder that she was hurt, fuelling the spell further.

  I took a deep breath, reminding myself that she was alive.

  We had magic, and she would heal.

  She had to.

  I cared about her too much for her not to.

  The darkness around me lifted and I looked to the string of black connecting me to the basin.

  It was getting weaker.

  I thought back to my other friends. If I got out of this, I would apologise to Lena and Charlotte for keeping them at arm’s length.

  For not listening to them when they were worried about me.

  The darkness faded further, the string tying me to the basin now almost imperceptible.

  And Willow... If I got out of here and could see her again...

  “Amelia, don’t,” Maria said, giving me a pleading look. “Please. My sisters are still trapped. If we don’t finish this spell...”

  “How can I trust that you’re telling the truth? You cursed my mother and then lied to me about who you were.”

  Maria cringed. “I’m sorry, Amelia. I... I forgot what it feels like when you’re still young. The scars of losing my parents are so old, I forgot how deep they are when they’re fresh. But I swear, I’ll lift the curse. I will. I just need your help.”

  I stared at her for a long moment.

  I wanted to believe her. I wanted to believe that everything – her understanding, her caring, her faith in me – hadn’t all been an act.

  But I couldn’t.

  I shook my head just as I heard another voice.

  “Mary? What the hell is this?”

  I looked over to see Gail approaching.

  I turned back to Maria, but she hadn’t even turned to look at Gail, her gaze still on me.

  “I can’t force you to help me, Amelia. But I hope that one day you will. That you’ll come and find me. Angelborn lose everyone in the end. Everyone but each other.”

  She flicked her wand and broke the connection to the liquid in the basin before disappearing into thin air.

  I collapsed to the side, my arm barely managing to hold my weight as the spell left me, along with the last of my strength.

  Gail rushed over, her wand out.

  She looked between me, Mr Stiles and Natalie before turning the wand to Mr Stiles and muttering the incantation for a healing spell.

  “That’s not going to be of any use,” he said, though his voice sounded stronger than before. “She took a good portion of my life force with a binding spell I don’t recognise. I’m a walking corpse at this point.”

  Gail gave him a stern look. “Don’t say that. You’ll be fine. But what happened here anyway? What was Mary doing?”

  “Not Mary. Maria Brown.”

  Gail’s eyes widened. “Shit. How did I not...?”

  “Don’t beat yourself up, Gail. You weren’t the only one she fooled.”

  “No, but I am the one in charge of keeping the students safe.”

  “Again, not the only one.” He rolled up one of his sleeves to reveal a tattoo on his bicep in the shape of a crescent moon.

  Gail frowned. “So, Mary wasn’t the only one lying about who she was. What’s one of Queen Freya’s most trusted guards doing at my school?”

  “Protecting Amelia. A task that I failed.” He reached over to grab Gail’s arm, giving her a measured look. “Gail, Freya cannot return to Earth. She cannot protect Amelia herself. But if anything were to happen to her...”

  Gail nodded. “Don’t worry. You don’t need to warn me of the Queen’s wrath.”

  Whether that was good enough for Mr Stiles or not, I didn’t know, as he passed out before he could respond.

  Just as Auntie Jess arrived.

  She rushed over to me. “Amy, what happened?”

  Before I could respond, Gail glared at her. “I suspect this will be a long story. And one that you will have more than a few of the answers to. For now, we need to get everyone to the infirmary.”

  Auntie Jess stared at Gail with wide eyes, but then nodded before reaching over to take my hand.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The ground fell out beneath me and then I realised that I was in the infirmary.

  Auntie Jess had also brought Natalie with us, arriving in such a way that she landed on one of the beds.

  I turned to find the nurse, but she was already hurrying over to another bed, where Gail had placed Mr Stiles.

  “It’s okay,” Auntie Jess said. “I can wake her.”

  She brought out her wand and cast a healing spell.

  A moment later, Natalie groaned, pushing herself up to a sitting position as she rubbed her eyes. “Amy? Ms Bennett? What happened?”

  Gail made her way over to join us. “That is a question I think we would all like answered.” She turned to my auntie. “Aaron said that Ms Maltere was Maria Brown. And she had Amelia performing some kind of spell.” She turned to me. “What exactly happened?”

  I shrugged. “I had no idea who she was. Ms Maltere just asked me to help her with a spell, and I didn’t see any reason to refuse.”

  Gail frowned. “But why you? She’s been teaching here since last year, why didn’t she get another student to help her last Samhain?”

  I turned to my auntie. I couldn’t answer that question without admitting my connection to Freya.

  Though, maybe Mr Stiles had done that already.

  Gail cut in before either me or my auntie could say anything, “I swear, Jess, if you’re not honest with me right now...”

  My auntie winced before giving me a sheepish nod. “It’s okay, Amy. I think it’s past time for the truth.”

  I turned back to Gail. “Ms Maltere said that she needed the help of another Angelborn, like her.”

  Gail turned to Auntie Jess. “Did you know that Amelia was Angelborn?”

  Auntie Jess shrugged. “If you’re referring to her connection to Freya, I know about it, but I didn’t know that there was a term for it.”

  Gail sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “You would have known if you’d asked me. If you’d told me the truth. Couples used to go to Angels of Life and ask them to bless them with a child. The child would carry a part of the Angel’s magic. Much like a child would carry a parent’s. As Queen Freya is the only Angel of Life alive today, I assume she was the on
e to give Amelia her magic. And I assume that is also why she sent one of her guards to protect her.”

  Auntie Jess nodded. “Yes, I would assume so.”

  “But your brother and his wife didn’t know about magic. How did they ask an Angel for her blessing?”

  “I don’t think it was deliberate. They adopted Freya when she was a child, and she knew that they wanted a child of their own. I think the blessing was an accident on her part.”

  Gail glared at her. “So, you’re telling me that you brought Queen Freya’s sister to my school and you didn’t think that I should know? You didn’t think that there might be security concerns?”

  “I did! And I was right, Maria fucking Brown was here disguised as a teacher. I suspected there was a spy – which is why I didn’t say anything – but I never expected this.”

  Gail’s glare didn’t lessen. “It didn’t have to be a school-wide announcement of Amelia’s identity, Jessica, but you could have at least trusted me.” She folded her arms tight across her chest. “Do you really hate me that much?”

  “I don’t hate you. I just... I wasn’t sure how far I could trust you.”

  Gail snorted. “That’s almost worse. I have done nothing to earn your distrust, Jessica. Nothing except not be a rebel like you.”

  Auntie Jess gave her a measured look. “When it comes to Amy’s protection, that might just be the most dangerous thing.”

  Before Gail could respond, the nurse made her way over. “I’m afraid Mr Stiles’ life force is still being siphoned.”

  Gail frowned. “But the spell it was being used for is no longer being cast.”

  “No, but the binding spell wasn’t released. With the caster of the spell gone, I’m assuming that it’s a cursed object binding him, but I cannot find a way to trace it.”

  I grimaced. “It’s in his house, under his bed.”

  Gail turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

  I looked down at the tiled floor. “I knew Maria Brown was working with people who had once been loyal to Lord Uther, and he has the tattoo that means that he’s married to someone from Lord Uther’s house. Ms Maltere said that the box was a listening device that would let us know if he was going to attack me.”

  Auntie Jess frowned. “Why didn’t you come to me with this, Amy?”

  I shrugged. “She also said that she could help me to lift the curse from my mother, but you said that if there was danger, we would have to leave. I... I couldn’t risk it...”

  Auntie Jess sighed, while Gail pinched the bridge of her nose.

  Natalie frowned. “There are only two people left in House Lycan. When Lord Uther and his siblings were exiled from the Underworld, they were stripped of their titles. They no longer belong to House Lycan, and their spouses’ tattoos wouldn’t match. The only two people left with a claim to the House are Lord Uther’s children. Lady Helena is still a child, so I would assume that Mr Stiles isn’t married to her. Which leaves Prince Damon, who turned on his father because he fell in love with Queen Freya. I’d heard rumours that he had a heartbond, but no one ever knew who it was.”

  I folded my arms. “What’s a heartbond?”

  “A second marriage,” Natalie said. “It’s a Demon custom. It’s fairly well known that Queen Freya’s heartbond is a Dragon Priestess, but that’s all the information anyone has on her or Prince Damon’s heartbonds.”

  My stomach twisted. I hadn’t just hurt the person my sister had sent to protect me. I’d hurt her husband’s husband.

  My head hurt at the thought of trying to figure out exactly what kind of familial relationship that gave the two of us, but I couldn’t deny that there was one.

  And yet I had trusted Maria Brown over him.

  Gail disappeared into thin air, appearing once more a few moments later with the box in her hand.

  She passed it to the nurse. “Is this what you need?”

  The nurse nodded. “Yes, it should be. Though, it will take me a while to unravel the binding. And if everyone else here is healed, you should take your business elsewhere.”

  “We will. Just keep me informed about his condition.”

  The nurse nodded before heading off.

  Gail turned back to the three of us. “Well, I suppose we’ve all had quite the night, and I suspect tomorrow won’t be much better. Everyone saw that spell being cast – it was why I went into the maze in the first place – and I will have to come up with something to tell the other students.” She sighed. “After all, it’s not as if I can tell them the truth without causing a political incident.” She turned to my auntie. “We’ll talk about this in the morning.”

  She turned to leave, but before she could, a piece of rolled up parchment appeared in front of her.

  Gail reached out to take it, before unrolling it.

  “What is it?” Auntie Jess asked.

  Gail turned to her with a grim look. “It’s the Amazons. It would appear that they have been notified of the unusual occurrences tonight, and they are now on their way to investigate.”

  “Gail... Please. You can’t tell them the truth about Amy.”

  Gail’s expression remained grim. “I doubt they are going to give me a choice.”

  She disappeared from the room before my auntie could argue, and she cursed under her breath.

  I turned to her. “Do you really not trust the Amazons?”

  “In all honesty, Amy, I’m not sure if I trust them or not. I had hoped that I would never have to answer the question.” She sighed. “If you want, we can leave now.”

  “Would it really be safer if we did?”

  “No. Not with Maria Brown still out there. She shouldn’t have been able to get into the school before, but now that she has, we should be better able to keep her out. That’s probably safer than being on the road.”

  “Even with the Amazons here?”

  My auntie shrugged, and I got the impression that that was the best answer I was going to get out of her.

  I looked over to Natalie, the worried look in her eyes making the decision for me.

  “I’ll stay.”

  Want to continue onto Book Two?

  You can find it here!

  Or you can download a free prequel here!

  Author’s Note

  Hi there! If this is the first book of mine you’ve ever read, welcome! If you’re a returning reader, I hope you like the new series.

  I’ve been waiting for so long to start writing this one. I’ve been working on Amy’s story in the background for years, but I needed to wrap up the Freya Snow series first.

  But now we’re here and I am so excited that I could barely tear myself away from writing Book Two to write this Author’s Note.

  Though, I really do need to get on with writing Book Two. I’ve been contracted for more hours at my day job starting next month, so I want to get as much writing done as possible before then.

  And I’ve also got a half-written PhD proposal to finish...

  Hmm, it might be time to make some more coffee.

  While I’m doing that and you’re waiting for Book Two, there are several other series in the same world as this one, and I’ve got a... Well, I don’t like calling it a “Reading Order” and even “Reading Guidelines” sounds too prescriptive.

  I’ve got a description of where in the chronological order of this world each of the series falls over on my website.

  Okay, I will see you next time!

  Special Thanks

  I just wanted to give a shout out to my Patreon supporters as well as everyone who has left reviews of my books!

  My Patreon supporters are a massive help to me being able to do this as my job (or, well, one of them... Cue a joke about being a millennial in this economy while I cry over my two degrees...) and reviews are a massive help to me being able to do this emotionally. Seriously, they make my day and everyone who has left one deserves cookies!

  Want to Keep in Touch?

  If you want to connect with me and other fans
of the series between books, I have a weekly newsletter where we discuss things like the best fantasy soundtracks to work to and which vampire lore is the best, and there’s also a closed Facebook group where I talk about secret projects that aren’t ready to be shown anywhere else just yet. And finally, when I can find the time and space to stream, I can occasionally be caught hanging out on Twitch and we would love for you to join us in chat some time!

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