Academy of Mages and Shifters 2

by Laura Wylde

  “Are you okay?” Andrew asked in a soothing tone of voice. “What’s the matter? Have you seen something?”

  “Can you feel that? That heat? There is something here, some kind of magical trickery. It’s freaking me out. I don’t want to be near it. It’s making me uncomfortable. I know that it’s nice, but it doesn’t feel real.”

  Andrew wasn’t sure what I was talking about, I could see it in his eyes, but that didn’t matter. I knew that I needed to get out of the area, and quickly, so I tugged on his arm and pulled him with me. Trent came as well, which finally freed all of us from whatever that was. That magic was intoxicating, and I knew that we could get sucked in to it if we allowed ourselves, and I really didn’t want any of us to. If this was demonic then there was no telling how it would control us and what it would make us do. We didn’t have time for any drama right now.

  Finally, once outside the roped area, I felt my lungs free up and that I could breathe a lot easier. I was free, I was out of the grasp of whatever form of magic that was, I could finally settle my mind and gather my thoughts. By that time, Joshua joined us and swooped down to stand beside us, seeing that we were done. We were almost all together again.

  “Where is Evan?” I barked. “We need to get back to the hotel room. I don’t like it here.” IT felt like my heart was in my throat. “It’s freaking me out, guys. Evan should be here by now; he should have seen us like Joshua did…”

  “Don’t worry, you go ahead,” Andrew insisted as he rested his hand reassuringly on my back. “I will find him, okay?”

  I parted my lips, about to argue, because I had a gut feeling that sending Andrew after Evan when he was already in this weird mood wouldn’t go down well, but we did need to find him and Andrew did have a practical head on his shoulders. I couldn’t do it myself anyway because Stonehenge was stressing me out.

  “Okay, well don’t be too long. We need you to be back at the hotel room with us, okay? We need to be together.”

  Andrew turned his back on us and shifted as he raced off alone finally showing me his elf form. That was the moment I started to realize just why he came across as he did. He definitely didn’t have the traditional look of an elf. Brown hair instead of blond, more rounded ears, less elongated and muscular. Then as he turned to give us a goodbye wave, I noticed softer features than most elves and much grayer eyes. He didn’t look like a typical elf, which might have put him in a difficult position growing up because there could be a lot of snobbery in the elf world.

  Perhaps he was an outcast, something that I could relate to, and that was why we got on better than anyone else. That wasn’t something that Evan would understand, he was always popular and fit right in with whoever he was with, so I could see why he wouldn’t get it. Perhaps that was something I could try and make him understand… you know, presuming that we got through this with our lives intact and could continue being friends.

  Maybe if Andrew saved Evan now, this would be the first step in the right direction for their friendship.

  “Come on.” Joshua put a reassuring arm around my shoulder. “Let’s go. We can’t do any good here. We can get started on working out where we go next once we’re in the hotel room. The three of us can achieve a lot.”

  That was true, so I let Trent and Joshua guide me all the way back to the hotel. My mind spun crazily the whole time, I couldn’t really get myself together. I wouldn’t either, not until we were all together again and locked away in the hotel room. There, with the four concrete walls surrounding us, I could relax and let the boys comfort me in the way that they so clearly wanted to. Without Evan and Andrew around, I couldn’t let them yet.

  “Where are they?” I demanded as I paced up and down the room. “Why aren’t they back yet? It’s been too long. We need to go out and look for them. I can’t just sit around like this; it’s driving me crazy.”

  “I will go,” Trent declared determinedly. “I will go and search for them. See if I can find them.”

  But that wasn’t really what I wanted, not at all. Another person out there alone and me still stuck in here. Sure, it would be okay to be stuck with Joshua, but I couldn’t cope without the rest of them…

  “Oh my God.” Luckily, the door swung open at that moment, meaning the guys were back and Trent didn’t have to go out there. But the relief was short lived because this wasn’t a sight I wanted to see. “Oh God, Andrew!”

  He had Evan slung over his shoulder and looked exhausted probably from having carried Evan’s weight. I couldn’t move, this had me frozen to the spot with terror, but luckily Joshua and Trent snapped in to action and helped Andrew carry Evan to the bed where they laid him down gently on the sheets.

  “What happened?” I snapped once they stepped away from him. “How did Evan end up like this?”

  Andrew gave me a desperately sympathetic look which made my blood run even colder. “It seems that Evan was right, there was someone following us. Or more something.” I could feel my knees shaking and trembling. “A demon. A weird red colored creature unlike anything that I have ever seen before.” He shuddered hard. “It was attacking Evan and hissing a strange language at him. I couldn’t work out what was being said. But I knew it wasn’t good.” He shook his head sadly to himself. “I thought that I was going to find him doing something dodgy, but instead I found him being attacked. I wasn’t sure what to do, I didn’t know if he needed my help or not, but I tried anyway. I’m not a good fighter, but I tried. I know that we aren’t supposed to like one another, but I couldn’t let him get attacked by a demon. So, I had a go…” He hung his head low making me suck in a terrified breath. “But I only made it worse. It’s because of me that Evan ended up in a bad way. He might have even been killed if the demon didn’t suddenly vanish. I don’t know what happened, but it just disappeared.”

  Maybe this was a warning message against us, or the demon was pulled away to work on something else. I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. As long as Evan was alive, that was the main thing. I could see his chest rising and falling with every breath. But he wasn’t exactly ‘’okay’.

  “What can we do for him?” I asked Andrew. “Do we need to call anyone?”

  “You can handle it,” he reassured me. “You have enough magic to heal him. Don’t doubt yourself.”

  I nodded and gasped, hoping and praying that he was right. At this moment, everything was on me, and I needed to make sure that I didn’t mess everything up. Evan’s life was on the line. So, I walked slowly over to the bed where he lay, and I pressed my hands on his chest. A surge of love for this guy raced through me as I dug deep for my magic, and I allowed it to flow through me, desperate to heal him.

  “Huh? What?” Evan’s voice broke the silence in the dark just before 1 AM in the morning, as he finally prized his eyes open, making my heart sing with joy. All of my hard work finally paid off. “Felicia?”

  “Oh God.” I took my hands off of his chest and grabbed him in for a hug. I could tell that he felt weak, but I could sense the life in his body, which was all that I needed. “You’re okay. You don’t know how worried I was. What happened out there, Evan? Andrew said that you were right, and you saved him but got hurt…”

  “You healed me?” he asked instead. “You saved me? I can’t believe you did that for me.”

  “Of course. You’re my best friend.” With tears streaming down my face I rested my forehead against his to look in to his eyes. “I would do anything for you. You know that, right? I was so afraid without you. You have no idea.”

  “Oh my God, you are wonderful.” He returned the favor by wrapping his arms around me. “You have no idea. Thank you so much for saving my life. I won’t do anything crazy like going out like that on my own again.”

  “Well, you were right. You were the one who tried to tell us that someone was following us…”

  All of a sudden, my voice got caught in my throat as there was a change in the atmosphere. The other guys were in the room with us, all sleeping at
different angles and positions on the bed, but they blended in to the background. It was just Evan and me in our own little bubble and I liked it. The feelings that I had for him flew to the surface and I couldn’t hold back any longer. I needed things to be different between us, I needed us to take things up a notch, he was alive now and it was time for us to see what could be there.

  I wasn’t sure who made the first move, whether it was me or Evan, but the next thing that I knew, we were kissing passionately, fervently, like there was no tomorrow, and I had to admit that I really liked it. It consumed me and drowned me in intense firework of emotions like nothing else had, and I never wanted it to end…

  Chapter 10

  Andrew

  I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but there was something different in the air this morning. At first, I assumed it was because of the demon attack last night, and I thought that the others blamed me as much as I blamed myself. I couldn’t stop myself from going over and over my actions in my head and cursing myself for every mis step… I wasn’t sure if Evan and I could ever be friends, it did seem like there was too much water under the bridge for that, but me messing up and upsetting him, even getting him hurt, wasn’t going to help that.

  But as time passed, it seemed like it wasn’t that after all. There was something else under the surface that I couldn’t figure out. The dynamics had changed, and I didn’t know why. It was starting to unnerve me somehow.

  “Okay, I have some news!” Trent announced, breaking the weird silence. “The professor is now sending us to Conway Castle in Wales. That’s your neck of the woods, isn’t it, Andrew?” I nodded. “Okay great. And you know this castle?” Again, I nodded. “So, you can show us around. Help us do this quick.”

  Wales didn’t exactly have happy memories for me since I had grown up in an orphanage, not wanted by my family, but I would push that aside today for the sake of everyone else. I messed up last night and I wasn’t going to do it again. I would be strong and hold my head up high, learn something from the rest of these guys.

  “Okay, so how are we going to get there?” Trent glanced at us all in turn, waiting for a response. “This time, I don’t think we should split up. After what we went through last night, it’s safer if we all stay together.”

  “I can transport all of us using magic,” Felicia offered. “That way we can be there in moments. Get on with the day…”

  “Remember that you were using your magic all night long,” Trent reminded her. “To revive Evan, so you might not have the strength for all of us. It could be a good idea to get public transport instead…”

  “I’ll do it,” I interjected. “I know that I might not be as strong as Felicia, but I can get at least two of you there. We could split in to two groups. Felicia with one other person, me with two… it could work, right?” No one was giving me anything just yet. “I know that we will be separate, but only for a few moments…”

  “Okay yes,” Felicia agreed quickly. “I think that might be the best way. Split up, just for a moment. Joshua, I will take you since you are the lightest, if that’s okay with you, Andrew?” I nodded, knowing that I couldn’t say no even if I wanted to. I was a little more comfortable around the two guys than I was when we first started this journey. “Right, so we should get going now. No point in hanging around here anymore. I don’t like it here.”

  Felicia really had a hatred for the magic around Stonehenge. I didn’t get it myself; I didn’t notice anything too dramatic, but I didn’t know enough to argue with her gut feeling. I was willing to get going anyway. In her haste, Felicia and Joshua left almost right away, giving me very little time to finish getting packed up.

  “Hold on,” I said to the others. “Just give me a second. I need to get my things from the bathroom.”

  I started to rush, to get my things quickly, but before I could quite make it back in to the bedroom, it quickly became obvious that there was a conversation going on that I wasn’t supposed to be a part of. However, I couldn’t stop myself from pausing by the door to let them finish up what they were saying. It wasn’t that I was trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t exactly miss it as I was waiting for my cue to go back to them.

  “…so, you and Felicia kissed last night?” Trent gasped in shock, but not horror. Not the way that I felt inside. I was struck with jealousy. I already knew that Evan felt like he had a claim over Felicia, but now he really did. She was never going to look at me if she had kissed him. I clutched my belly to try and keep my emotions inside.

  “Yes, but she didn’t say anything about it in the morning,” Evan replied. “Do you think that I should be worried?”

  “Well, she wasn’t exactly ignoring you, was she? I just think that she doesn’t like it here. She has it in her head that there is some magical trickery here, so she probably wanted to get out quick.”

  “But what if that is the end of it?” Evan asked desperately. “The longer that time goes on, the weirder it will be to talk about it. I just want to know where her head is at, you know? This is so confusing for me.”

  “Talk to her. As soon as we get to Wales. Tell her how you feel. You have had feelings for Felicia for such a long time that it makes sense for you to finally say it. You need to get it out there.” A mumbling came from Evan, but I couldn’t pick it up. “Well, if she turns you down then at least you will know. You’ll have closure.”

  Urgh, but I knew how Evan felt. If I got closure with Felicia by her turning me down, then there was no telling how I would react. It sure as hell wouldn’t be something that I could take easily. But it seemed like the conversation was over for now and it was time for me to re-enter the room and act like I had heard nothing.

  “Shall we get going?” I asked with a thin slightly fake smile. “Meet the others?”

  Evan and Trent circled around me and we all held hands. I couldn’t look at either of them as I set the magic in action because I didn’t want to be distracted by the thought of Felicia kissing Evan while we were all in the same room. I couldn’t allow jealousy to get the better of me and destroy the journey…

  Moments later, we were by Conway Castle, with Felicia and Joshua waiting for us. If they were suspicious about the length of time it took us to get here, neither of them said a thing about it.

  “This is Conway Castle, right?” Felicia asked me. “So, shall we go inside? Take a tour?”

  “Sure.” I nodded. “I came here once when I was younger, but I don’t know much about it. I never thought that we would end up here, so I haven’t done much research about it either, so I don’t have many facts.”

  Felicia gave me a surprised look, not that I could blame her. My historical knowledge was a bit limited about Wales because I didn’t do as much research, but that was okay, I knew that they had tour guides here that we could grill. Obviously not in a suspicious way, just in an interested, casual manner.

  “Right,” she finally smiled at me. “Well, let’s go and join the groups of tourists and hear what they have to say.”

  I knew that hanging back and not joining the first couple of tour groups was a good idea, even if Trent tried to argue about it at first, because we needed to find the right tour guide. I needed to get a sense for someone who would give us a little more than they were supposed to, who would go in to the gory details if we asked for it, and I was right to do so. Gary was perfect. He relished in telling us juicy little facts that he found very exciting.

  “So, what happened in the well?” I asked as I leaned forward to get a closer look. My instincts were tingling, it had to be important because it was smack bang in the middle. “It looks a bit gnarly.”

  Gary tossed his head back and laughed. “Oh, you aren’t wrong there! It has a gory history. Prisoners of the castle were thrown down there as punishment. Most of them got broken bones from the act, but seven of them died.”

  Hmm, seven again. Things kept coming back to that number. I couldn’t help but wonder if there was another link to the seven deadly sins, bu
t I didn’t think that I could ask that without seeming suspicious.

  “Right, once you have had your fill of the well, it’s time for us to head outside to see the fortress. This was used during the English invasion of Wales and is very violent. So, if you liked the well stories, you will love this…”

  We all started to go outside as a group, but before we could get too far, Felicia grabbed my arm and pulled me to one side. I thought that it would be hard to look her in the eyes again after learning that she kissed Evan, but her beauty drew me in all over again and I couldn’t stop myself from falling for her, all over again. Like a fool.

  “I think that the mark is down at the bottom of the well,” she hissed at me. “Can you feel it? I think we might need to get down there. But at night, obviously, so more sneaking around.”

  “We can do that,” I agreed. “I don’t know if I feel it, but your senses are much better than mine anyway.”

  “Plus, the violent history…” She nodded determinedly. “I mean, most places in Great Britain have a violent history, so that isn’t too different, but it could be one of the reasons for it being a demon portal.”

  She was right, but then any of our theories could have been right. We couldn’t really be sure about any of it. So, for now, we were going to have to continue on with Gary’s tour, and see if there was anything else that we could pick up along the way.

  Joshua flew over the castle walls, getting inside easily, and Trent found a small gap to climb through in his fox form. Evan, Felicia and I were a different matter though. For the first time since all of this started, it was going to be me who would provide the assistance for the others because I could shift in to an elf and use my strength and agility to help them climb. I might not have looked like an average elf, but I had the dexterity of one.