by Logan Jacobs
After a long moment, the resurrected witch slowly sat up, looked at each of us, opened her mouth, and let out a terrible screech. Her white teeth were jagged at the edges, and I knew if she wanted to rip out someone’s throat with one bite, she would be able to do so easily.
All the witches covered their ears, except for Morgana, who pointed her wand at the Wicca’s chest. The brunette’s blue eyes were filled with determination, and if she was afraid, she was doing an excellent job of concealing it.
“Praecipio tibi ut facias!” she screamed over the dead woman’s wails.
A red cloud of smoke emerged from the tip of Morgana’s wand, and it seeped around the blonde Wicca. Her screaming instantly came to a stop as the smoke shot up her nostrils and into her mouth. Then her face set into a neutral expression, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
When I knew no one was going to say anything, I cleared my throat and looked at the beautiful, still creature.
“Rise,” I commanded. “Come out of your home.”
Magda slowly rose from the grave, and another chill coursed through my entire body. She looked perfectly alive as she stood before us, and her long blonde hair swept through the wind as her gown blew across her body. Her perky breasts, pointed nipples, and the gap between her slim thighs were visible under her sheer dress, and she seemed even more hauntingly beautiful outside of the coffin.
“Take us to the golden locket,” I ordered.
“Yes, master,” she echoed.
As she slowly spun around to guide us, I turned to look at Morgana.
“Fill up the vial with more potion,” I said, “then give it to me.”
The brunette nodded quickly and did as she was told, and when she handed me the glass vial, I tucked it into my trouser pocket. Something told me it would be safer to travel with the potion in case we needed it for whatever reason.
We followed Magda across the red field, and we walked for about twenty minutes until Morgana tugged at my arm. Then she leaned in to whisper into my ear as we walked.
“Are we sure we can trust her?” she muttered.
“No,” I answered honestly. “But these are the rules of the game. We just have to be smart about how we proceed from here on out.”
“What I want to know is where are the others,” Akira added as her black eyes darted to and fro. “I think it’s just too weird we haven’t seen them yet.”
“Yeah, I mean, when Theodora said graveyard, I thought she meant an actual graveyard, you know, with proper graves to mark the dead,” Faye said, and her red eyebrows furrowed over her freckled face.
“Some graveyards can range for miles,” Morgana remarked. “And considering this is a graveyard for witches who committed treason, it makes sense they would place them far apart from each other.”
I nodded as we continued to follow the undead woman. She was like a ghost leading us over miles of red earth, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what Akira said. She was right, it was strange we hadn’t encountered anyone else yet, even if we considered Morgana’s explanation.
We were still walking across desolate lands when suddenly, the earth began to tremble beneath our feet. Then the dirt just gave way beneath us, and as I started to fall, I looked at our guide, who was still walking smoothly as if nothing was happening.
“Stop!” I ordered. “Magda, I command you to stop!”
The ghostly woman came to an abrupt halt as we all fell down. We tried to stand upright, but the earth continued to convulse, and it was impossible to get to our feet.
“What’s happening?” Vesta screamed and fell to her knees again.
“I don’t know,” I responded as I looked ahead and saw a crack beginning to split the earth. Then it widened, and I scrambled back. “Look out!”
The coven crawled backwards as the earth continued to pull apart, and when the shaking stopped, I took in a sharp breath and waited. The crack was over ten feet wide now, and nearly twice as long, but it didn’t seem to be growing anymore. Finally, we stood up, but I could hear a faint menacing laughter coming from the opening.
Then massive, red spider legs emerged from the crack, and we all stared in horror as these gigantic creatures, at least six feet tall with round, black heads and large pointed ears, popped from the earth. They had the mouths of a goblin, but multiple eyes like those of a spider.
“Djieiens!” Morgana whispered. “They can’t be killed… their hearts are buried in the ground.”
“So, what do we do?” Akira snapped.
Three of the monsters started scuttling toward us at a lightning fast speed, and we stumbled several steps back. Suddenly, one of them shot a leg out and pierced Morgana straight through the stomach. She screamed, and bright red blood spurted out from her lips.
In retaliation, I aimed my wand at the creature’s leg, and with all my anger and hatred, I cast the only spell I could think of.
“Secare!” I shouted.
The leg tore in two, and the beast shrieked in agony.
Vesta and Akira dragged Morgana back, and Faye pulled the leg out of the brunette’s stomach. Her face went pale as they continued to yank her away from the crack and the spider monsters, and all I could do was stare at the massive creatures while my blood boiled with a primitive fury.
That’s when I did the only thing I could think of.
“Magda, destroy the djieiens!” I shouted.
The resurrected witch turned around slowly and glided toward us. Then she hovered over the crack on the earth and raised a pale hand at the monsters.
“Immortui potestate meo moriar,” she echoed.
The earth trembled again, and a bright green glow surrounded the spider-like beasts. They wailed as their bodies shook violently, and then they all burst into a blue flame. Whatever she was doing, it wasn’t killing them, but it certainly was hurting them.
The djieiens screeched as they returned to the crack in the earth and slipped inside, still on fire and crying out in pain. Then the earth slowly closed back up, and the air settled as if nothing had ever happened.
“Morgana,” I breathed as I rushed over to the brunette.
Her blouse was stained with dark blood, and she was alarmingly pale as she coughed and looked up at me.
“Well done,” she rasped as blood trickled out from between her red lips.
“She needs a moment to recover,” Akira said, and I could tell she was stubbornly fighting back tears. “I hate seeing her in so much pain.”
“Ahh,” Morgana choked. “I… knew… you… liked me.”
“Oh, shut up.” The short-haired witch was holding Morgana’s head in her lap and stroking her hair, and the others all turned to me as if they had no idea what to do.
“She’ll be fine,” I reassured her. “The Blood Pact, remember? It’s going to be alright.”
“I know,” Akira sniffed.
I squeezed Morgana’s hand in reassurance and smiled at her, and we stayed like that for a moment, until I heard something like boots brushing against the soil.
“Now, what’s this?” a familiar voice that grated on every single nerve drawled.
I scowled and turned around, and I saw Bram, Malcolm, and their loyal teammate all grinning at me. They had a witch with them, and she was dressed the same as Magda and had the same black eyes, but this woman had long, auburn hair.
“Did you have a little mishap with your bitch?” Bram cackled. “She doesn’t look like she’s doing too well over there.”
“I dare you to say one more fucking word,” I growled as I aimed my wand at the trio, and it took all my willpower not to use the killing curse on all of them. These bastards weren’t worth a piece of my soul, though, and with Morgana still hurt, I needed to be smart with my next move.
“You know what?” Their third teammate grinned. “I think I’ll take you up on that dare… Kiara, I command you to kill their resurrected Wicca. With her gone, the Scholomance bitches will lose.”
The auburn witch bowed her head and took a
step closer to Magda, and I gritted my teeth and focused all my anger and hatred against them.
“Magda,” I growled. “Murder that bitch.”
“Yes, master,” Magda echoed.
We all watched as the blonde witch took a step closer to the undead Wicca named Kiara, and the two black-eyed beauties glared at each other.
“Dilacerant ex toto corde suo!” Kiara shouted, and a wind picked up as an orange light rocketed straight toward Magda.
The blonde witch ducked, and the light hit a tree behind us and made the entire thing split in half. Then the tree fell apart and went crashing into the red earth.
“Excorio fructus eius tamquam aperto,” Magda replied in a calm voice.
She raised her hand, and her black eyes were solely focused on her opponent. The air began to pick up again, and it blew across our faces as a bright, white light hit the auburn-haired witch right in the chest. At first, nothing happened, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath.
“Your Wicca is useless,” Bram cackled. “You’re all going to die here.”
Just as the words left his lips, though, something happened. Their witch convulsed, and her reddish-brown hair fell out in clumps. A moment later, she opened her mouth and wailed as her scalp peeled downward over her beautiful face.
My lips curled up in disgust as her skin continued to turn inside out. Muscle and bone replaced her creamy white skin, and she slowly started to crumble down into the earth. By the time her bones melted away, she was nothing more than a puddle of blood and gore, and Bram screamed out in a fury.
“You son of a bitch,” he roared as he looked at me. “Just wait… this isn’t over… wait until we find another corpse.”
“That’s not how it works, asshole,” Morgana muttered, just loud enough for them to hear.
“What are you--?” he started to say, but then his eyes widened in fear.
Their Wicca might have died again, but a transparent entity of her began to float upward from the pile of gore. Except, she was no longer beautiful. Her face had aged decades, and when she opened her mouth to screech, my head felt like it was going to explode.
Hot blood trickled down my cheeks, and I crouched down and covered my ears. Then I watched in both horror and fascination as the ghost hovered toward the nameless teammate who had given her the order to attack. His eyes widened as she screamed at him, and when her mouth opened, she began to suck his soul right out of his body. His eyes went black as the last bit of life left him, and then both the ghost and the warlock vanished from sight.
The air grew quiet until Akira laughed like a madwoman.
“You fucking idiots,” she chortled.
“W-What happened?” Bram stuttered as he stumbled back a step.
“Were you not paying attention?” Morgana sneered with more strength in her voice. “If you fail, your soul becomes bound to your host for all eternity… your friend is stuck in purgatory.”
“Serves him right,” Akira snarled.
The idiotic duo took a step closer to us before Vesta tutted and shook her head.
“Unless you want to stick around and find out what else our undead minion can do, I suggest you get the hell out of here,” she warned.
Bram and Malcolm exchanged furious looks with each other before they glared back at us.
“This isn’t fucking over,” Malcolm growled.
As I stared at the two pricks, I realized just how sick and tired I was of their warlock bullshit. I could kill them right now. Slowly and painfully if I wanted to, but first, I thought I’d mess with them for fun.
“It’s over when I say it’s over.” I smiled as I raised my wand. “Volant!”
“Novis!” the duo screamed simultaneously, and just in time, too.
My spell had nearly hit the warlocks, and my coven began to fire more spells in their direction. Malcolm and Bram may have been idiots, but at least they knew they didn’t stand a fucking chance. They had used a reversal spell, and there was no way for them to defend themselves for a full minute.
So, they ducked and bobbed and weaved before they both bolted off. My coven continued to throw spells in their direction, but I raised up a hand.
“Stop,” I ordered, and the coven turned to me as confusion swept across their faces. “We can always kill them later. It will be more satisfying to win this game and rub it in their fucking faces back at the academy.”
The women nodded, and I glanced down at the injured bookworm and noticed she seemed to be healing quickly. So, I crouched down to examine her more closely, and a wave of relief washed over me when I lifted her shirt and saw the wound on her stomach had closed up.
“How are you holding up?” I asked her.
“Better than before.” She grinned. “Seeing those guys get their asses kicked seemed to speed up the recovery process.”
I laughed before I held out a hand to help her up. She took it and slowly rose to her feet, and then I looked at each witch.
“Now, let’s find that fucking locket.” I grinned.
Chapter 17
Magda continued to lead us down the red fields, and we trekked on for hours. The sun was setting, but for some reason, the air was growing even hotter. We were sweltering as we passed by the fenced in fields of red soil, and there was still no one else in sight.
“Why is it so fucking hot?” Akira groaned, and her pale cheeks were bright red from the heat.
“We must be in a retrorsum graveyard,” Morgana replied.
“Where?” I breathed as I mopped at the sweat on my brow.
“A backward realm,” she answered.
“Like the island?” I asked.
“No.” The brunette shook her head. “This is different.”
“How so?” Vesta asked as she fanned her flushed, purple face.
“In retrorsum, the night brings out a reversed environment,” Morgana explained. “But in the daytime, everything is seemingly normal… at least that’s what I’ve read. When night falls… there will be other obstacles we’ll have to worry about.”
“Such as?” I asked.
“Demons and ghouls that guard the Wicca graves,” Morgana answered slowly. “That must be a part of the test… we have to find the locket, even if the sun sets and all literal hell breaks loose.”
“Well, shit,” I sighed.
“Why didn’t you mention this before?” Akira snapped.
“Because I wasn’t sure if we were actually in one,” the bookish Wicca replied. “I was just as lost as you were, but when the heat set in… I knew something was dangerously wrong.”
“You seriously--” Akira started, but I cut in.
“No arguing during the rest of the game,” I ordered. “That’s a command.”
“Fine… let’s just hope that blondie knows where she’s going,” Akira growled as she gestured toward Magda. “She’s been walking for hours now.”
I sighed as I tried to ignore the sweat trickling down my back and forehead, and we pushed forward. As the sky grew a darker shade of red, the heat became more intense. At one point, we collectively decided to toss our cloaks away and leave them behind, since the weather was becoming more unbearable by the second.
“Satan,” Akira panted. “Where do you think the others are?”
“Who knows?” I responded. “As long as we don’t bump into them, I don’t really care.”
“He’s right,” Faye said, and I saw her flushed skin was almost as red as her hair now. “I have a feeling we’ll have a lot more to worry about once the sun has completely set.”
“Just keep your eyes peeled,” I warned them.
The coven nodded, and we carried onward, and after another hour or so, there was only a sliver of sunlight left. Time was running out, and if we had an hourglass with us, there would only be a few grains of sand left.
“Be prepared for anything,” I cautioned once more. “As soon as the darkness falls, we’ll need to be on high alert. Magda, how much farther until we reach the locket?”
“Only a few more miles,” she replied in an echoing voice.
“Great,” Akira huffed. “We’re going to die out here.”
I glanced up at the dark, blood-red sky and pursed my lips. We would certainly have to fight, there was no question about it.
“The sun has nearly set,” I warned.
“We’re ready,” Vesta replied, and her silver eyes shone with confidence.
I nodded as we kept close to our guide. Magda glided forward, and my heart lifted when I thought I saw something off in the distance. It was a black peak that towered over the horizon, and a smile broke across my face, since it was the first thing we’d seen in this red and desolate desert.
“Is that a castle?” I asked.
“Where?” Morgana gasped as she wildly looked around. Her eyes squinted toward the black shadow in the distance, but she looked skeptical.
“Right where you’re looking.” I pointed ahead.
Morgana narrowed her eyes at the castle, and then her face broke into a smile.
“You’re right, it is!” she squealed. “The locket has to be there!”
I grinned, but then the last bit of sunlight disappeared from view, and the air immediately grew hotter and thicker. We all began to cough, and I struggled to breathe. Then I thought I heard laughter and rustling around us, and when I glanced over my shoulder, I saw a great, drifting shadow approaching us from behind.
“Uh, what’s that?” I struggled to ask.
I pointed to the silhouette that seemed to be moving quickly toward us, and Morgana gasped and violently coughed.
“It’s a group of umbra daemonium,” she panted.
The shadow demons. I remember Theodora had mentioned them before the game, and I also read about them in one of the books down in the cellar.
If that demon army caught up to us, we would be dead within seconds.
“Run for your fucking lives!” I commanded. “Now! Magda, that includes you! Head toward the castle as fast as you possibly can!”