by Nikki Dean
Mallory instinctively ducked, even though they didn't make it through the open doorway.
“You can really do that?” Janae asked in surprise.
“Yeah, I think so. It's worth a shot, at least,” Mallory answered. “It's really going to depend on the animals staying out of their line of site. Conner, can you drop your spell a little, just so they can see that the flag is here?”
He nodded and she unrolled it again, then flashed it in front of the doorway a few times. A loud cry of victory went up from outside, and it was almost ripped from her hands.
Chapter 7
“What the fuck?” she exclaimed, pulling it back to safety.
“Telekinetic. I told you,” Conner said with a droll stare.
“Shut up. I didn't lose it, and now they'll focus on getting in here, instead of following it,” she replied as she wrapped it back up as tightly as she could. Mallory closed her eyes and concentrated, pulling one squirrel from the woods to join them. It bounded into the structure, running along the walls before jumping to her shoulder and chittering in her ear.
Mallory rubbed its soft fur with her cheek, then held up the flag. Thankfully, the material was pretty thin, so it compressed down to a little ball about the same size as the squirrel's body.
“You need to take this away from here, okay, little guy? Climb a tree and leave it there. No, no, don't hide it inside the tree, leave it in the open,” she instructed. It bristled in annoyance, its instincts demanding that he bury it somewhere, like he did with his other precious possessions. “Trust me on this.”
It finally gave in and took the clips between its teeth and ran out, awkwardly dragging the flag along with it.
“Is that slow enough for you to shield him?” Mal asked Conner.
He huffed at her and the squirrel disappeared the moment it stepped outside of the outpost. She watched his eyes track something across the grass and a little way through the trees, only releasing it when it was far enough away to not be seen. “This better work. I don't want to lose this battle just because the new girl thought she had a good idea.”
A particularly loud thud drew their attention back to the battle at their walls, cutting off Mal's retort. She wedged herself into the corner and closed her eyes, tracking the squirrel with their flag on her web. It had climbed a tall oak tree and wedged the flag into a hole in the trunk, ignoring Mal's instruction to leave it in the open.
Damn squirrels. Ugh. An owl landed in the tree and hopped from branch to branch, getting close enough to hook its strong beak beneath the clips and pull the bundle out. It transferred the flag to one taloned foot and took off, gaining altitude quickly until it was little more than a speck in the sky. Perfect.
“Hey, Janae, we're getting pretty tired up here. Do you think you could do something about that?” Gavin called. “Mallory, is anyone else coming?”
Janae sighed and climbed the ladder to the catwalk. She closed her eyes and put one hand on either guy's shoulder, and Mallory felt, more than saw, her energy flowing into them both.
It was a lot of energy.
“Janae? You okay?” Mallory asked as her new friend wobbled, then sat down heavily at the edge of the catwalk.
“Yeah, I'm just really tired. It's been a long week,” she said, raising her hands to her forehead. “I think that's the last boost I've got in me, guys.”
Mallory checked her watch. Apparently all of the standing around arguing while the other students threw random magic at each other had taken a lot longer than it felt like, because they only had twenty minutes of class left.
“Good, then this will be easy,” a new voice said from behind them. Mallory and Conner whirled to see another student, one with a black band tied to his arm, in the other doorway. Mallory immediately pulled back her fist and punched him in the nose.
“Janae, get down, we have to run! The special team is after you!” she ordered. “Now, now, now!”
Janae groaned and got back onto the ladder, descending as quickly as she could. Conner helped her the last few rungs and pulled her onto his back. “Come on! The special team has their orders, just like we do with the flags. Janae is basically their flag, so we have to protect her!”
Mallory nodded and checked outside to make sure the other two specials weren't standing there. This one had surprised her somehow, which she needed to figure out.
“Coast is clear, can you keep us shielded?” Mallory asked as she rushed to keep up with Conner and Janae. The guy she'd knocked out was getting to his feet behind them, and she turned to make sure he didn't get the jump on them again. He looked around wildly, his bloody nose freely dripping onto his shirt as he wiped it.
“Damn, remind me not to piss you off again,” Conner hissed. “That was a good hit. I've got us shielded, but I'll have to let go of the one on the outpost soon. Then they'll realize we're gone, and probably come after us. We have to stay quiet though, this doesn't block loud noises well.”
Mallory nodded, squinting a little as she tried to peer through the darkness that enveloped them.
The guy that had tried to jump them was still searching, trying to figure out where they had gone. Mallory reached out and grabbed Conner's elbow, then pointed at the grass and the guy behind them. Conner shrugged as he tried to jerk out of her grasp.
“He's watching the grass for movement,” Mallory whispered into his ear. “Be still.”
“We have to move or he's going to find us,” he hissed back. “We're not far enough away.”
“Just wait a second,” Mallory ordered. She spread her hands and searched the medium level of her web, the one with the lizards, squirrels and snakes. “What's this guy's magic power? I don't want to get anything killed.”
Conner shrugged.
Mallory sighed and asked for quick, stealthy help, but warned any who answered to be careful. A squirrel answered first, the same one from before. It dodged through the trees, kicking up leaves and chittering as it went. The guy jumped, raising his hands before he realized what it was. The squirrel leapt onto a tree and hurried up it, flicking its tail in rebuke.
“Go, now!” Mallory urged her teammates. “While he's distracted.”
Conner nodded and took off, jogging behind a thicker copse of trees while Janae bounced along on his back. Two more squirrels and a bunny ran past, drawing their pursuer's attention between.
They ran another minute or so, leaving the other student behind them. Conner finally stumbled, then stopped.
“I can't carry you anymore, Janae, I'm sorry. I can keep us shielded, though. Mallory, do the birds say if anyone else is behind us?”
Mallory leaned against a tree, nearly out of breath, too. Shit, Damon was right. I do need more stamina. Her head was beginning to hurt after keeping continuous track of the owl with their flag, as well as everyone else. Still, she pulled her web into focus and sure enough, all three students on the special ops team were closing in on them. Someone else was behind them.
“Yes. All three of the black team, plus Erica from the blue team, I think? Who are the special team members and what can they do?” Mallory asked.
“Sam, Dwayne and Kruze,” Janae answered. “Dwayne's good with electronics, Sam has super strength and Kruze can control the earth.”
“The earth?” Mallory repeated.
“Yeah, he's an elemental witch. He can control dirt and rocks to form different things. It's pretty cool,” she said, struggling to her feet. “I can walk on my own. Thanks for getting me out of there, Conner. You too, Mallory. I still need your help, though.”
“Absolutely,” Mallory immediately promised. “We should hurry if we can. So this earth thing, how extreme is that? Because he might be the one tracking us, if he knows who's walking where.”
They both stared at her for a second.
“Ha, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard,” Conner finally said. “There's no way he could feel where we are walking just because we're on the ground. Especially not from this far away.”
“
Have you ever asked him?” Mallory asked, checking her web again. They were definitely closer, but it looked like Erica had caught up with the guy Mallory had punched, and was now keeping him occupied. She couldn't tell what his powers were, so she didn't know which member of the black team was now out of the equation. The other two circled back to help.
“Come on. There's only five minutes left of class, and the blue team's outpost seems pretty deserted. We can either go there, or try to figure out what to do in the woods,” Mallory said as she slung Janae's arm over her own shoulder. “We might make it through this.”
“Or we might not,” Conner said. “I see something.”
Mallory checked her web. There was nothing around them, but it wouldn't be long now. “There's no one around. What do you see?”
“That.” He pointed into the trees. There was nothing there.
“I don't see anything. The animals don't see anything. If you do, then it's in your head, which means someone's found us,” Mallory whispered. “Just walk behind us and watch Janae. Don't look around, just watch us and keep us shielded.”
“I don't see anything either,” Janae whispered. They hustled through the trees, dodging bushes and stepping over upturned roots.
“Does anyone do illusion magic?” Mallory whispered. “Make you see things that aren't there?”
“I don't know,” she replied. “I haven't heard of it, if they can.”
“Stop, don't go that way!” Conner cried out suddenly, grabbing their arms to hold them both back.
Nothing unusual was in front of them. Just trees. “Conner, there's nothing there! Close your eyes and hold on to me!” Mallory ordered. “We need to keep going. The outpost is just ahead, I think.”
“No! Mallory, you're too close to the edge!” Conner yelled, pulling them backwards. They both fell on top of him, tumbling back onto their backs.
“Conner, shut up!” Janae hissed. “What edge?”
“The edge of the cliff, right there!” he shot back. “I just saved your lives!”
Oh. It is an illusion, probably to protect the blue team's base. That's pretty clever, Mallory realized. I wonder what he sees, and why Janae and I aren't being affected.
“You're being ridiculous, and way too loud! We're in the middle of the woods, there aren't any cliffs out here!”
“Conner, just close your eyes and hold on to Janae's arm on my shoulders,” Mallory instructed. “It's an illusion to protect the blue team's outpost. We must be getting close.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, doubtful. His eyes were still wide, and continuously flicked back toward one spot. “It looks so real, and you said no one is around.”
He's right. Who's casting the spell? Mallory frowned. “It doesn't matter, we only have two minutes left, and the black team is coming up fast.” Except they aren't. They're still back there, stopped. Is the spell affecting them too? Why not me and Janae?
“Janae, why don't we see anything? It all looks perfectly normal to me,” Mallory whispered. “What's happening?”
“That's probably my fault,” Janae admitted. “I keep giving you little pushes since your head keeps bothering you, but you're helping me. My healing must be preventing the spell from taking hold.”
“Holy shit, for real? You can do that? Why not do it to Conner, too?”
“Because I'm about dead on my feet, girl,” Janae muttered in exasperation. “It's been a long week.”
“I feel that.”
They kept going in silence, Conner pulling on their arms as he leaned on Mallory. She looked back and saw that his eyes were closed, like she'd ordered. Good, at least he listens now.
Until he jumped and opened them, then immediately cursed and closed them again. “There's a dragon behind that tree.”
“A what now?” Mallory asked, suppressing a tired chuckle.
“A dragon.” He swallowed hard. “For real. It was glowing red, like it was about to breathe fire.”
“Boy, there is no such thing,” Janae whispered. “And even if there was, we're invisible. Pull yourself together.”
He cracked one eye open. “Nope, it sees us. We need to get out of here!”
Mallory couldn't help it. “What tree?”
“The big one to the right. Come on, let's just go. Class has to be over by now, isn't it?”
She checked her watch. Only one minute left. No dragons on her web. They couldn't have, could they? “Conner, sit down right here. Janae and I are going to check it out.”
“We are?”
Mal nodded. Conner opened his eyes, squeaked and dove behind a nearby tree.
“I think the blue flag is back there. There's no one here to do the spell, and no dragons. So let's go see what's back there.”
Janae looked at her for a second and Mallory tapped her watch. “We don't have time to argue. Let's just go see.”
Janae nodded and they hurried over to the one that Conner had pointed to. There was nothing there.
“Shit. I was hoping you were right,” Janae grumbled. “No one's ever gotten two flags at once before.”
Mallory kicked at the bottom of the tree, clearing away some leaves that were piled up. A bit of blue poked out from beneath them and she knelt, pulling the fabric up from between the tree's roots.
“Well, we just did.”
Chapter 8
The sound of an air horn being blown echoed through the forest and Mallory wadded the flag up and shoved it into her pocket.
They made their way back to the gated entrance that led to campus, Conner trailing behind in silence. He refused to talk to them on the way back, instead looking around suspiciously.
“Seriously, Conner, there's nothing there,” Janae said for the tenth time. “No dragons.”
“Dragons?” someone repeated. “You saw a dragon?”
Mallory and Janae looked up to see another guy, this one a slender waif of a creature, standing beside the gate. Mallory had seen him in class. Bryan.
“What kind of dragon?” Bryan asked.
“It was big,” Mallory replied. “Huge. We ran. Conner, tell him.”
Conner narrowed his eyes. “It looked like it was about to blow fire.”
“Wow, how'd you get so close?”
“We didn't. We saw it through the trees, so we weren't dumb enough to keep going that way. It's a fucking dragon,” Mal replied with a laugh. “I didn't even know those were real. What is this, the Harry Potter Academy?”
Janae laughed with her as the few remaining students filtered in one by one.
“That's Dwayne. I guess he's the one you punched,” Conner pointed out. Dwayne did, indeed, have smeared blood on his face and more drops on his shirt. He glared at Mallory, who waved and mouthed, “Sorry.”
Professor MacKenna was the last to arrive. He saw Janae standing between Mallory and Conner and nodded, earning groans from the three members of the black team. But the other two flags were nowhere to be found.
“Well, what happened?” the professor asked without preamble. “Everyone looks fine. Mostly. But I don't see any flags.”
A radio buzzed and Professor MacKenna held it up. “Find it?”
Static crackled and they could all hear the TA on the other end. “No, sir. Nothing here.”
Bryan frowned. “Tell him to check under the tree roots. I hid it there myself.”
MacKenna relayed the message and they all waited a second. Janae hid her face in Mallory's shoulder so no one could see her smile.
“Nothing here, Professor.”
“Then someone must have it. Which one of you has the blue flag?” Professor MacKenna asked, surveying the class. “Mallory Serra and Conner Greson get credit for one of the special ops flags, because they successfully kept Janae safe under duress. The special ops team gets credit for one flag because they successfully captured Jessica White from the blue team. Now the only question is, where are the other two flags?”
“It has to be there. I hid it there myself under the roots on the southeas
t side, and piled leaves over it. I charmed that tree so hard the spell could be seen from a half-mile away. You can't convince me that it's not there!” Bryan insisted.
“It's not there,” Janae said. “Sorry, Bryan. We didn't tell you the whole truth.”
“Ahh. That makes more sense,” Professor MacKenna declared with a smile. “You have it?”
“Mallory does. She figured out the defense spell.”
Dammit, Janae, why'd you have to say that? Mallory glanced over at Bryan and shrugged. “Sorry.” She pulled it out of her pocket.
“Congratulations, red team. You have another point in your favor. And now for the red flag?”
Mallory raised her arm and waited. The owl swooped low, resting for just a moment on her outstretched forearm so that she could take the red flag, then it took off again, flying away on silent wings.
“What the fuck was that?” Sam, one of the special ops team members, asked in shock.
Professor MacKenna glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, then lifted his hands for Mallory to toss the little red wad of fabric over. She did and he unfurled it for the class to see.
“And the red team has successfully defended their flag, as well. Congratulations red team, no homework for a week. Blue and black teams, you'll have to complete your assignments as usual,” the professor declared. “Well done, Mallory and Janae.”
“Conner helped, too,” Mallory said. “We wouldn't have been able to do it without him and the rest of our team.”
“Duly noted. Your entire team wins the prize, so don't worry."
“I know. I just wanted to say," she murmured. Janae was starting to sag a little, and Mallory hefted her up more. The bells rang on the main campus, indicating that class was over.
Professor MacKenna waved his hand in dismissal and they all left, filtering through the gates that led from the back acreage to the special ops building. Mal stopped by a stone bench that sat beside a little-used side entrance to the building and let Janae slide down onto it.
“I'll go grab your bag. Do you need anything else inside the classroom?" Mal asked. “We can grab a coffee on our way back to the dorm."