Behind the Eight Spell

by Samantha Silver

  Kyran pulled us back out from that offshoot, and as much as I wanted to resist leaving Amy, I knew he was right. When we were back in the main part of the lava tube, Kyran began to whisper.

  “We need to come up with a plan. How are we going to get her out of here?”

  “There was a broom in the corner,” Sara said. “Titan must have been using it and left it there since Amy can’t move.”

  “Right,” Kyran said. “If it comes to that, you’re obviously the one who gets to use it.”

  “I vote we storm in, take Amy, and battle whatever comes after us,” Ellie said, and I groaned.

  “That’s always what you vote. I say we try and get her out without him noticing. I know I’m going to have to face him eventually, but I’d rather do it when you guys aren’t around.”

  “We can discuss that part later, but you are right. We need to get Amy out of here with as little fuss as possible and get her to a Healer to make sure she’s ok,” Kyran said.

  For the next five minutes, we discussed what was going to happen in hushed tones, and when we finally had a decent plan in place, we got ready to set it into motion.

  We made our way as a group back to where we had been standing before, then noiselessly put our hands in a circle, like a sports team ready to do a team cheer. But instead, we silently moved our hands away, indicating that it was time to go.

  I knew Kyran was going to the entrance of this offshoot, from where we’d just come. If anything came from that direction, he would sound the alarm. Seeing as he had an elf’s intuition and the best night vision of all of us, it made sense that he would be furthest from the light of the candles and be in the best position to warn us if something came to attack from that end.

  Sara was supposed to go over to the broom and wait for a signal from Ellie and me. The plan was for us to cast a spell to give Amy use of her limbs once more and for her to jump on the broom with Sara, who would immediately get her out of the lava tube. Ellie, Kyran, and I would follow right behind, and hopefully we would make it out of here without anyone noticing.

  It was a big call. I took Ellie’s hand and the two of us made our way to Amy. Ellie let go of my hand and I looked at Amy’s eyes. Ellie was going to whisper to her that we were here and ask her to blink twice if she understood. When Amy blinked twice, I smiled. Perfect. Next, I waited for Ellie to whisper what the plan was. When Amy blinked twice again, it was time to go.

  I was up next. I needed to be able to cast a spell without using my wand. Once more I focused on my magic, thought about the two candles in front of us, and imagined them extinguishing while I went through the incantation in my head. Jupiter, god of lightning, I need you to extinguish this lighting.

  When I opened my eyes a second later, I found myself in complete darkness. Perfect.

  Now it was Ellie’s turn.

  “Jupiter, god of war, extinguish this spell and let Amy move once more.”

  “Did it work?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Amy replied. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “At your service, m’lady,” Sara’s voice sounded from a couple of feet away. I could just barely make out the outline of the broom hovering like magic since she was still invisible. “Hop on and hold on tight.”

  As Amy jumped onto the broom Sara muttered a spell, and a second later the invisible tip of her wand illuminated the tube just enough so she could make out the walls. The broom rose into the air and zoomed off without a sound.

  “Now it’s our turn,” Ellie said, and the two of us raced toward the exit as fast as we could. I hoped that Amy, Sara, and Kyran had gotten out of there in time. There came a crashing sound from behind us.

  “Run!” I called out to Ellie.

  “Only if you run too,” she replied. The two of us sprinted toward the entrance as fast as we could. Whatever was behind us was coming up fast.

  “Jupiter, god of war, build a wall, big and tall,” I shouted, pointing my wand behind me. I didn’t stop to see if it worked, but a second later I heard a roar, then the sound of stone collapsing. Great.

  On the bright side, light up ahead proved that we were almost at the entrance. Just a few more feet and we’d be out, completely free. I could hear Ellie muttering something next to me, and as we approached the mouth of the lava tube, a strange rumbling began beneath my feet. Pieces of stone began falling around my ankles, and I rushed forward, stumbling out of the lava tube and back into bright daylight just as the entrance collapsed.

  “Ellie! Tina! No!” Sara shrieked, rushing forward. She had obviously undone the invisibility spell at some point. She ran toward the entrance, tripping over nothing and falling flat on her face. That had to have been where Ellie was.

  “Tina, are you ok? I’m fine,” Ellie’s voice called from where Sara had tripped.

  “I’m good,” I replied. “Let’s get out of here before whatever’s coming after us gets through those rocks.”

  Ellie quickly undid the invisibility spell on us. It would be faster to move as a group if we could all see each other, and we needed Kyran to get us to the portal. I’d been there with him before, but I didn’t remember enough about the geography of Kilokilo to know where to go.

  Kyran led us back to the residential street. Grabbing a couple of brooms from the sides of houses, Kyran jumped on one behind me, and Ellie took the other, with Sara and Amy riding the broom that had been in the cave. Kyran guided us back to the portal, and the next thing we knew, we were all back in Western Woods.

  We had gotten Amy back. We were safe.

  Chapter 12

  Well, at least, I initially thought we were safe. We came back through the same portal from which we’d exited, and Drake was still there, looking a little bit surprised at the state of us.

  “Are you guys alright?” he asked. “What’s going on?”

  Kyran looked at me. “I need you to take Amy to the hospital. She needs to be looked over. One of you has to find Lita and tell her what’s going on. I’m going to tell Drake, then I’ll go see Chief Enforcer King. I’ll be in touch.”

  I nodded, the relief that had washed over me disappearing almost instantly. Of course we weren’t safe. Amy had been taken from here once before. Titan was obviously able to come in, somehow.

  “I need you to close the portals,” Kyran told Drake. “Immediately.”

  “You got it,” Drake replied. I didn’t realize it was possible for the portals to be closed. I also didn’t realize Kyran held so much clout with Drake that he didn’t need an explanation, or anything. As soon as Kyran told him to shut down the portals, he was on it.

  I had a sneaking suspicion this wasn’t the first time it had happened.

  “Come on,” Ellie told me, shaking me out of my thoughts and bringing me back to reality. I nodded, hopping back onto my broom, and the four of us went straight to the hospital. Sara pulled out her phone and was talking into it on the way there—not strictly legal, but if any witch had the skills to multitask on a broom, it was Sara—and her mother Heather was ready and waiting for us by the entrance.

  “Come in, come in,” she said, with Amy following mindlessly after us. She seemed a little bit dazed, not her usual self at all. I really hoped whatever she had been affected with wasn’t permanent. At least she had been able to understand Ellie when we escaped.

  Heather immediately led us to a private room with a bed and guided Amy into it. She lay down without protesting, and Heather grabbed a potion from the side table and got Amy to drink a couple spoonfuls of it. Amy’s eyes immediately closed and her breathing deepened; she’d fallen straight asleep.

  “What did you do that for?” I asked, alarmed. “We don’t know what’s wrong with her yet.”

  “Exactly,” Heather replied. “She’s just been in contact with one of the most dangerous wizards in the world, and she’s acting a little bit strangely. We don’t know what spells he may have cast or what potions he might have given her. We don’t know what effect they’ve had on her body, or if he
’s used them to spy on her here. There’s a chance he used a potion to, for example, be able to see through Amy’s eyes. Right now, her being asleep is safest for everyone.”

  My stomach lurched as I absorbed Heather’s words. I hadn’t even considered that Amy might be used to get to us, or to hurt us. I had thought it was all over, but what if I was wrong? I sat down in a small chair in the corner and buried my head in my hands. What if Amy was permanently affected by what Titan had done to her?

  I couldn’t think about that.

  “I’m going to run some tests,” Heather said. “I want the rest of you to stay in here. Do not leave this room. I’m keeping Amy’s presence here secret for now.”

  Heather cast a couple of spells while Sara and I sat down on the chairs in the corner, looking at our friend. She looked peaceful, at least.

  “She was conscious,” I said to Heather. “She was able to understand what Ellie told her, and she came right onto the broom when the candles went out. But she has seemed fairly out of it.”

  “I’m glad she was able to make a decision like that,” Heather said. “That’s good to know.” She finished her spells and went to leave the room, stopping before the door and looking over at us. “I’m really glad you’re all safe. Please, stay in here. I want to keep your presence here a secret.”

  We nodded, and as Heather closed the door behind her, it was like she had dropped a weight on my chest. I needed to know what was wrong with Amy.

  “Do you think she’ll be ok?” Sara asked, looking over at her sleeping form.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Your mom is the best. She’ll be able to figure out what he gave her and reverse it.”

  “I hope so,” Sara whispered. “I’m so glad we got her out of there.”

  “Me too.”

  Sara turned and looked at me. “You do realize it’s not over though, right?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I do. And I know I’m going to have to take him on. I never imagined he was going to go after one of us first, though. As soon as we know Amy is safe, I’m going to go after him. How secure is the sealing of the portals?”

  “Completely secure,” Sara said. “There should be literally no way to get to Western Woods without passing through the portals. There’s no secret way through. So we have a bit of time. He won’t be able to come after us until the portals reopen.”

  “Yeah, but we also can’t keep the portals closed forever,” I said. “The economy of this town relies on people being able to get in and out. I don’t want someone to lose their job because they couldn’t take the portals to another town to get to work, or anything like that.”

  “Honestly, I think most employers will understand. Basically everyone in the paranormal world over forty grew up when Titan was active, and anyone under forty knows the legend of him. If people find out we’ve closed the portals because Titan is coming, they’ll be on our side. No one wants that wizard around.”

  I nodded. “Good. Well, hopefully that’s going to buy me a bit of time. I know I’m going to have to take him on. But honestly, I have no idea how to do it.”

  Sara gave me a sympathetic look. “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling. But do know that if there’s anything—literally anything—I can do to help, please let me know. We all love you, Tina. We want to see you defeat him. You have to let us help.”

  I nodded. “I know. I was wrong to leave you out of it when I went to rescue Amy. Without you three there, I don’t think I would have managed to get her out without being caught. I should have come to you all from the beginning. We only got her back by working together.”

  “I understand why you did it. You were trying to protect us. But I promise you, this is our fight as much as it is yours. Someone coming after my friend is just as bad as someone coming after me.”

  “You’re the best, you know that?” I said with a smile.

  Sara and I sat there together in each other’s company for about ten more minutes before Ellie entered, followed closely by Lita, the short, dark-haired head of the coven of Jupiter, her ordinarily cheerful face marked with worry.

  “Witches,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re alright. Ellie has told me everything that happened today.”

  “Everything I know, anyway,” Ellie added, turning toward me. I took the hint and recounted the early part of the story to Lita as accurately as I could.

  “So he has come after you,” Lita said, and I nodded.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for him to come after Amy. I never thought he would try and get to me through my friends.”

  My eyes began to water, but I blinked back the tears.

  “It’s not your fault,” Lita told me, resting her hand softly on my shoulder. “His actions are his choices. You are not responsible for them.”

  “So what do we do?” I asked. “We can’t keep the portals sealed forever.”

  “No, we can’t,” Lita agreed. “However, we can keep them closed for a while. I’m having a chat with the head of the coven of Titan in an hour. We will discuss how best to handle this then. But in the meantime, the portals stay closed. I am not having Titan come after any of the witches in my coven, and that includes you.”

  I wanted to reach forward and hug her. Lita had always been so supportive when it came to my inclusion in the coven, and I really appreciated it.

  “You have no idea what that means to me,” I managed to say.

  “Right now, what’s most important is for you to stay here with Amy. We don’t know if she will have any ill effects from what Titan did to her, and when she wakes up, she’ll want to see a familiar face. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with Heather, and then I have to see Chief Enforcer King before my call with Christian.”

  “Of course,” I muttered. “Thank you for coming.”

  “I had to check on my witches. Please, try not to feel as though you’re in too much immediate danger. I spoke with Drake and Kyran. They have assured me that the portals were closed the instant Kyran called for them to be, and that no one could have possibly made it through to Western Woods in the time it took for Drake to get the call out to the other shifters guarding the portals. You are safe from Titan until we open them back up.”

  I nodded. “That’s good, at least.”

  “It really is. Now, I also imagine the two of you must be exhausted. Please don’t forget to take care of yourselves as well.” Lita pointed her wand at Sara and me and muttered a quick something under her breath. I let out a small yelp of surprise as the plain plastic chair beneath me suddenly turned into a luxurious recliner. A third recliner appeared next to me.

  She took another quick look, nodded in satisfaction, then left the room.

  “Lita’s right, we should try and get some sleep,” Sara said. “Mom will wake us up when she gets the results back from her test.”

  I nodded in agreement, but the reality was, my brain was in no condition to go to sleep. Worry for Amy swirled along with worry for my future, and for my friends. No matter how long I kept my eyes closed, my brain refused to shut off.

  Eventually I gave up and pulled open my phone, idly scrolling through nothing.

  “Can’t sleep either?” Ellie eventually whispered, and I shook my head.

  “That makes three of us,” Sara chimed in. “I just keep thinking about Amy. I hope she’s ok.”

  “She was able to help with the escape, at least,” Ellie said.

  “Right. I just hope Heather was wrong about Titan possibly using her to spy on us,” I said, shivering involuntarily. “The idea of that gives me the chills.”

  The three of us sat in silence for a few minutes before the door opened and Heather poked her head in.

  “Do you have any news, Mom?” Sara asked immediately.

  Heather nodded. “It appears the only potion Titan used was one designed to slow the reflexes and mental abilities of a person. Essentially make them a little bit more malleable than they ordinarily would have been.”

  I grinned. “Sounds
like maybe Amy was a little bit more than he could handle. Is it easy to reverse?”

  “Yes,” Heather said. “I’ve already made the antidote, and combined with a waking potion, she should be back to normal. Of course, as with anything, we won’t know for sure until we’ve tried.”

  The three of us got up off our chairs and immediately made our way to Amy’s bedside. I took her by the hand while Heather went to the other side of the bed and carefully dripped a couple of spoonfuls of potion into Amy’s mouth, careful not to give her so much at once that she would choke on it.

  About five seconds later, Amy’s eyelids fluttered open, and her brown eyes scanned the room, looking from face to face.

  Chapter 13

  “Where am I? What happened? Did I pass the exam?”

  I burst out laughing with a mixture of relief, amazement, and happiness. I couldn’t help myself; Amy waking up from being kidnapped by one of the worst wizards in paranormal history and immediately wondering about her grade on a test was so on brand for her. I instantly knew as soon as she said those words that she was back.

  “We don’t know if you passed the exam,” Ellie said. “But you’re in the hospital. You were kidnapped, but you’re fine now. Do you remember what happened?”

  Amy leaned back against the pillows and closed her eyes. “That’s right. I do remember. I finished the exam. I thought it went alright, actually. I totally aced the question about the famous Ardelean v. coven of Uranus trial, and the ensuing precedent it set throughout the magical world. But I wasn’t completely sure about some of the questions on the Shifter/Elf Treaty of 1846.”

  “In the name of Jupiter, Amy, I’m sure you got them all right,” Ellie said, exasperated. “Tell us what happened after the exam.”

  “You’re right. Sorry. Though I doubt I got them all right. Anyway, I was one of the first paranormals finished. I handed in my exam paper, and I sat outside on a bench for a while mentally going over the exam. I like to do that immediately afterward so I can look up the answers to questions I thought I might have gotten wrong. After about ten minutes, the first of the elves who finished started shuffling past. Most of them gave me dirty looks, but that’s normal. They haven’t really accepted the fact that I’m a part of their classes yet. I eventually left the building and started heading toward The Witching Flour. I wanted to let you all know that the exam was fine and I wasn’t panicking about it like I normally would have been. Although, I did think that maybe that was a bad sign. Maybe I should have been reacting like I normally did, and the fact that I wasn’t worried about it meant I’d actually failed. It was right as I was thinking that thought through that it happened.”