by Demi Dumond
The monsters sped up at the sight of living creatures to torment and descended on the screaming students on that end of the courtyard.
A moment later I gasped and covered my mouth with my hands at the sight of my fellow students being massacred.
Professor Kiln shook her head sadly. “What the hell have you done, Julius?” Her voice broke us out of our trances. “You,” she said to me. “Spell. The rest of you come with me and try to help save the rest of the student body. Ivy…”
“I’ll protect Malachai,” Ivy said. Then she elbowed me. “Do the spell.”
Turning my attention back down to the book, I muttered loud enough for her to hear. “You do the spell with all of the monsters and the screaming and the running and the growling and the murder. Seriously, how am I supposed to concentrate?”
I looked up and she was giving me a very severe look. Which I fully deserved. “Fine, the spell. Got it. Okay.” Looking over the first page, I tried to wrap my mind around the entirety of it. Why did it have to be fifteen pages long? And it was like, single spaced on both sides of the old, weathered pages.
My shoulders sagged and I made eye contact with Ivy. “It’s not as simple as it sounds, Ivy. This spell, it’s like fifteen pages long. It’s going to take forever.”
Her face drained of color. In the entirety of Professor Kiln’s class, we had never done a spell that was longer than a page and a half. Even then, some of the students had passed out from the effort. Magic comes with a price. And on my limited understanding of such things, it takes at least two minutes per page to do the spell right, and I couldn’t afford to get it wrong. I didn’t have that kind of time.
She shot me a sympathetic look that quickly melted into worry. “Then you’d better get started, Keira. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to hold them off.”
After allowing myself a final glance over to where Professor Kiln, Rafe, and Ian were fighting the horde of monsters, I nodded to Ivy and put a hand on Malachai’s resting form.
It was now or never.
40
Keira
As soon as I concentrated on the words, the book itself began to heat. I nearly dropped it from the pain and surprise.
My fingers objected. They felt like they were on fire. In fact, the entire book was glowing a bright yellow color, as if it were about to burst into flame.
I continued saying the words as fast as I could, forcing my fingers to hold on and hoping that the book did not, in fact, ignite while I was holding it.
And then it was time to turn the page. I licked my finger again and held onto the book with one hand for dear life while it felt like it was burning my fingerprints off. Hey, if I did get out of this alive, I could totally go on a crime spree without getting caught.
Turning the page, I ignored the fact that the screams around me were getting louder and closer and continued reading off the spell.
I heard Ivy’s voice. “Um, Keira?”
“Trying to concentrate here,” I answered.
“I know, it’s just that the monsters. They’re getting close.”
I could hear the panic creeping into her voice.
“I can probably take two or three at most,” Ivy continued. “And even then, I may lose a limb or something based what I’m seeing out here. I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive and keep them off of Malachai is all I’m saying.”
I read off a few more words of the spell while I processed what Ivy was saying. Then I got dizzy and everything got dark. I dropped the book forward onto the grass. Then I felt myself hit the ground face first, my arms stretching out onto the cool, damp earth.
“Keira!” I heard Ivy yell. And then I could feel a hand on my back.
“You have to get up, Keira.”
“Do you mind? I’m having some sort of physical breakdown here.” Truth be told, I really wanted to get up like Ivy was telling me to. But everything was still dark, and I couldn’t move.
Probably due to all the magic I had been trying to perform way too quickly. I tried to move my arms and legs, but nothing worked. I tried to blink and succeeded. At least my eyes were working. This way I’d be able to see myself get ripped to shreds by the monsters that I knew were coming. I could feel them, they were close.
Fear washed over me as I was finally able to lift my head and see the bloody, murderous, screaming horde of monsters closing in.
That’s when I felt it. The earth moved under my feet. It was an earthquake I had felt before. And before I had been terrified, but now I knew I was saved. I’d know that earthquake anywhere, it was dragon Tor. He could feel my fear and he was close.
“Oh yeah!” Ivy said, turning to stare at the forest. Then she looked at me, her face wild with fear. “He remembers us, right? You don’t think he’s gone full dragon on us, do you? Please tell me that dragon Tor is going to remember what side he’s on.”
“He remembers,” I answered. I turned toward the tree line just in time to see Tor breach it, belching fire and roaring. The trembling earth quieted the monsters and the flame cut through the night. Each footstep sent the monsters further and further from us and back toward the lobby where they had come from.
For a moment, I thought maybe they’d even leave on their own, back to the lower level of the academy. That was, until I felt another rumble underneath my feet. This rumble felt nothing like Tor.
“What in the living hell is that?” I asked, turning my attention toward the lobby end of the courtyard. The sight of what stood in front of the building now caused my body to go numb. Well, even more numb than it already was.
It was a giant, dark, figure that stood even taller than dragon Tor. Its body was a muddy reddish color and it had curly black horns on its head and flame orange eyes that were too big for its face.
It roared, and the sound that it made short circuited not only my fight or flight response, it made me want to surrender on the spot. The fear I felt melted my brain, my emotions, and my psyche. My body trembled in fear before it.
Ivy fell onto the earth next to me. “Um, what the fuck is that?”
“I don’t know,” I answered, “but now I miss the monsters.” What felt like a herculean task with the monsters breathing down our necks now felt impossible. I had like, twelve pages left of the spell. And only a few pages had caused me to temporarily black out.
Tor roared at the creature. No, Tor. I was afraid for him. I was afraid for all of us. I didn’t know what I was more afraid of; dying, getting killed by that creature, Tor getting killed by that creature, or letting all of my friends down when I was the only one who could attempt the spell that could save them.
Then something else caught my eye. Underneath and slightly behind the awful creature was the Headmaster. And he was grinning like a fucking maniac. Of course, this was his doing. I should have known. And Professor Smythe was right there with him.
I could only guess that this was the magic that Professor Kiln had tried to stop them from using. And then it got worse. Sensing that the creature was on its side, the monsters were coming back.
I decided I’d rather die attempting the spell than let everybody down. I grabbed the book and flipped it over, continuing where I had left off.
Ivy stood up. I felt her release her magic. Whatever was coming, it was close enough that she was now having to defend herself. And me and Malachai. I had seen what we were up against though, and I knew that I couldn’t get distracted. I crawled forward on my knees to where Malachai lay. I wanted to be close to him.
Line by line I read, using my finger to not lose my place. My brain was scattered to the point of exhaustion already and my mind and body were screaming for a break.
Ivy yelled out in pain. Out of my peripheral vision I could see her down on one knee cradling her right arm. The zapping and crackling sounds of magic battles rang out all around me. Maybe I should help.
Despite my pledge to keep reading, I looked up to see Ivy fighting three of the monsters. One had a tentacle ex
tended that was wrapped around her ankle.
I tried to cry out and warn her, but there was a disconnect between my brain and my body. Everything went into slow motion. And then I felt Malachai get up. A moment later I saw a flaming sword flying around the dark courtyard. It crashed down on the end of the tentacle, freeing Ivy. Then the area in the immediate vicinity got quiet.
“You’re okay,” I said to Malachai.
He knelt beside me and put a hand on my shoulder. “You can’t get rid of me that easy.”
The moment he touched me, I felt relief. My mind cleared a little. His dark magic. “Malachai, I need help with the spell. I need all the magic you can send my way.”
His face broke into a smile. “Since when do you have trouble with spells?"
"Since this one is like fifteen fucking pages long,” I replied.
“Seriously?” he asked.
It became clear from his demeanor that he had not seen the giant demon creature that the Headmaster had wrought upon us. That’s because he was looking at me. I made a tense face and pointed behind him.
Malachai slowly turned around. “What in holy hell is that thing?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but if I don’t finish this spell and pop the time bubble, it’ll be the end of us all.”
Malachai turned back around to face me. “Read the spell faster, Keira!”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, focusing on the words to try to find the place I had left off.
A roar sounded again, this time it was Tor. There was more rumbling and the two titans must have clashed, because the resulting double earthquake knocked me off my feet and onto my ass. The book again fell from my hands to the ground.
“I have to be able to concentrate here,” I said. “All the earthquakes and fire and roaring and monsters are not helping. How’s a girl supposed to get through twelve or so more pages like this?”
I squinted into the crowd fighting the bulk of the monsters, hoping that Rafe and Ian were okay. I closed my eyes for just a second and reached out to them with my magic. Yes, for now, they were okay. Even Tor. I hoped he could hang in there with whatever pet-from-hell the Headmaster had unleashed on us. Right now, this courtyard truly felt like the apocalypse.
“You guys hold them off, I’m going over here to finish the spell.” Satisfied that for now everybody was okay, I grabbed the book and the sweater bag again and retreated. I no longer had to stay here to protect Malachai, so I headed across the courtyard and found a quiet place to hide next to the building.
I opened the book back up, ignoring the burning on my fingertips, and continued the spell. What I wouldn’t give for an energy drink right now. My lips moved and the spell continued. The objects we had gone on the magical scavenger hunt to obtain were nearby and the magic was humming along. I could feel it.
I focused as well as I could, then I remembered that Malachai’s dark magic had helped me focus. If he channeled some of his magic to me, I might be able to finish the spell.
I stopped reading and ran back out to the courtyard. I waved to get his attention. That brought a monster from around the other side of the building.
A flash of anger rose inside of me at the chaos all around me that I was trying desperately to control. And failing.
I sent a stream of dark magic at the monster that rushed eagerly at me. Its mouth was open, and I could see yellow jagged teeth glistening menacingly, even in the darkness.
My magic made contact with it causing a loud sizzling noise and then it collapsed backward onto the earth.
Malachai caught up to me. “That’s one down and several hundred left to go.”
“Funny.” Before I could run back to the cubby indented into the building that I was using for cover, I felt a thud that shook the earth under my feet and threw me to the ground. The building shook. Even the trees seemed to sway with the impact.
I lay on my back and turned toward the middle of the courtyard which was now a reality bending battle royal between titans. And it looked like Tor was losing.
The hell spawn titan that towered over Tor swiped at my dragon with a cruel claw, making contact with his wing. He roared in pain, sending a whoosh of fire at the creature. The creature, unfortunately, didn’t even flinch at the barrage of fire. No fair.
The fire Tor belched continued through and around the creature and onto the ancient academy building, setting it on fire.
“No!” I heard the Headmaster scream. My eyes scanned the courtyard until I found him, his gaze on the turrets of smoke and flame rising from the academy.
I wanted to kill him, to rush across the courtyard and end him once and for all for causing all of this. But I didn’t have time.
Professor Kiln came running up to me and Malachai. She was bruised and bleeding. “What the hell are you waiting for, Keira?”
“I’ll continue the spell, but you have to help Tor. If he goes down, we all go down with him.”
Professor Kiln’s shoulders sagged; she knew I was right. “Okay,” she said. “Come on, golden lover boy.”
“Nope,” I answered, “he stays with me. There’s no way I’ll get through twelve more pages if he doesn’t lend me some dark magic, and he’s the only one who has it.”
With a nod, she walked away.
Once again, I grabbed the book and found my place. Doing my best to block out the agonizing sounds around me, I started reading again. I attacked the spell, going even faster than before, since I had Malachai by my side.
I read kneeling on the cold grass by the light of a stray dorm nearby that had a window open.
Malachai stood behind me. He placed his hands on my shoulders as I read, sending me extra magic. It was working. Not only was I able to go faster without getting woozy, I could almost feel the spell itself grabbing hold of me. It felt like it did when I was changing Tor into a human. Right now, the spell seemed to be strengthening me, not sucking me dry.
I had no idea why and I wasn’t about to question what was going on, I was too busy moving my fingers across the ancient pages.
A sound I had never heard before filled the courtyard, echoing off of every surface. It was pure rage, and it wasn’t coming from Tor. That had to be a good sign. Maybe the spell wasn’t just damaging the time bubble, maybe it was helping us.
“More, Malachai,” I whispered to him without losing my place. “Send all the magic you can. I think it’s helping.”
I waited for him to whisper back, squeeze my shoulder, or throw out a sarcastic comment, but he didn’t. Instead he let go. I stopped reading and turned in time to see him hit the ground. “Malachai!” What the hell had happened?
My gaze followed behind him to see the Headmaster grinning at me. The Headmaster had followed the path of the stray monsters who were making their way around the opposite side of the building.
A blast of magic hit the Headmaster. He sizzled for a second, and then fell to the earth.
It was Professor Kiln. She rushed toward him and re-assumed her magic stance, but by now the Headmaster had recovered and was assuming his own stance. It was like a wizard’s duel and I had never seen the wild, furious expression that Professor Kiln wore.
She got blasted with magic, knocking her backward onto the ground. Only the blast didn’t come from the Headmaster.
It was Professor Smythe. He was wearing a glowing necklace that illuminated his cruel, triumphant expression. He assumed his stance again, but Professor Kiln was still stunned, she wasn’t even back on her feet yet. That dirty fucking cheat.
I dropped the book of spells and stood up, blasting Professor Smythe with everything I had. It was the best feeling ever. I watched as he was thrown ten feet in the air onto a stone bench. I saw him get up quickly to one knee, but he wore a furious, surprised look.
I waited for his gaze to find me and I was already in position to hit him again. Again, I blasted him with the emotional, intuitive dark magic. Not the cold specific magic of the spell book, so it didn’t drain me, instead it lit me on fire from th
e inside. I wanted to hurt him more, the magic churning inside of me wanted him dead.
“No!” A hand grasped my shoulder. Malachai. His face was contorted in pain. “The spell, we have to win, Keira. Besides, look. She’s back up.”
He pointed to Professor Kiln, who had indeed gotten up and re-assumed her magic stance. The best part was Professor Smythe was still looking at me when she blasted him.
I pointed behind Malachai. “But we can’t just continue the spell with the Headmaster standing right there. He’s already blasted you twice, Malachai. You look terrible.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Headmaster assume his magic stance. I waited for him to release it and then I pulled Malachai out of the way.
Then I heard a howling. Rafe in wolf form had circled back around the building the same way the Headmaster had and got the drop on him. A second later I heard the Headmaster scream. It was music to my ears, along with the savage growling noises.
“There, you happy?” Malachai asked.
I shook my head. “A little.”
“Read.”
I read the spell book. A few seconds later I heard a whine and shriek that I knew was Rafe. Then I heard Ian’s voice as he joined the fight.
“Read faster, Keira,” Malachai said. He had taken one of his hands off my shoulders and I could feel my own dark magic suffer because of it. “What now?”
“Well, we’re about to get a visit from tall, dark, and glowing.”
“You gotta be kidding me.”
“Spell,” he said. “I’ll let you know when we’re out of time. How many pages are left?”
“Two and a half,” I answered.
I moved my fingers across the line and prepared to turn the page.
“Time’s up, Keira.” Malachai lifted me to my feet without warning. I was barely able to hold onto the book while I grabbed the sweater bag. And then we were both running through the courtyard.
Thundering footsteps followed us, threatening to knock me off of my feet. Then there was another roar and more fire and a collision that I felt vibrate all the way down to my feet. Tor.