Untouchable Witch: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (School of Necessary Magic Raine Campbell Book 7)

by Judith Berens

  “Why would I be worried? This island is known for these minor tremors, and the earthquake wasn’t any more severe than the ones we’ve already experienced over the last few days. This is merely the first one that happened in the middle of the night since our arrival. That’s another possible explanation for feeling the magic.”

  Professor Hudson stared at her cabin, her eyes narrowed. “We should check for cracks. There could be structural damage.”

  “Of course, of course.” Professor Kaylis yawned. “Safety first, but I’m not too concerned as none of the previous quakes did any damage. But, of course, it wouldn’t hurt to check, and it would be an excellent exercise. Always be prepared. I trust your students are capable of simple spell repairs—all but Cameron, obviously.”

  The shifter frowned and folded his arms over his chest. Raine gave him a reassuring smile.

  “Yes,” Professor Hudson said. “Of course.”

  The Orono professor clapped approvingly. “Excellent! I doubt we would need something like that, however. Check for cracks and that sort of thing and take all the time you need. We won’t force anyone up at dawn tomorrow or any such nonsense.”

  Evie waved to catch their attention. “I packed a few repair potions if we need them. I didn’t know what we might use, so I brought a few different ones.” She gasped. “I should check on them and make sure they didn’t break.” She scurried toward their door.

  Raine raised her wand and summoned her own light orb. She might not be able to prepare for magical earthquakes, but she could fix a few cracks in a wooden cabin.

  Chapter Seven

  Raine swallowed another bite of eggs. The shells might have been a strange mottled color, and she’d never heard of the type of Oriceran bird that had laid them, but they tasted like normal chicken eggs to her. Maybe the actual birds tasted like chicken too.

  The students from both schools sat around the tables. The professors were all gathered in Professor Kaylis’ cabin to plan groups and assignments for the next few days. Other than providing the ingredients for the late brunch, they’d kept out of the young people’s way.

  Both groups of students had exchanged stories about their schools. Raine had briefly highlighted their misadventures with Hap in the kemana and the trouble with the druids soon after her arrival. The Orono students had shared a few funny anecdotes and Finn was now in the middle of their latest tale.

  He grinned. “So, there we were. No one wanted to admit to the professors that we screwed up when we messed around with Good Ol’ Basil’s transformation potion after he specifically told us only to do it with him around. We had our boy Harris running around campus as a giant hamster. Yeah, he was only a few feet long, but that’s still big for a hamster, and I swear the potion made his teeth extra sharp.” He grimaced and shook his hand out as if the memory was all too vivid. “How uncool would it be to lose a hand to a hamster?”

  Josephine sighed, her hand to her face. “You should have gone to the professors from the start. I told you that at the time. It would have saved us all a lot of trouble.”

  “You’re usually right, Jo, but hey, you sometimes want to avoid the inevitable for as long as possible.” Finn shrugged and high-fived Asher.

  Adrien frowned. “I don’t understand. Why was he running around? Why didn’t he want to be returned to his normal form?”

  “That’s the thing.” Finn shook his head. “The professor didn’t explain at the time that the potion didn’t preserve your normal mind when you changed forms, so Harris wasn’t only a wizard in giant hamster form. He was a giant hamster with giant hamster instincts. And a fast little guy, too, in addition to those nasty teeth.” He smirked with dark humor. “But our boy Asher, here, convinced us all we could get out of the situation without too much trouble.”

  The elf laughed and slapped his knee. “We had to take turns to go around and create distractions so the professors wouldn’t catch on. We didn’t know how to undo the magic at first, and we hoped it would run out.”

  Raine smiled. Although the Orono students didn’t seem to be a true trouble squad, they obviously were still close friends who had their share of adventures together.

  The corners of Cameron’s mouth turned up in a wicked grin. “It didn’t wear off, though, did it?”

  Finn and Asher looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  Kelly snorted and rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t that funny at the time.” She muttered something foul under her breath. “They used the stupid potion in the morning, and it was close on dinner by then, and Harris was still a hamster. Rumors were all over campus about the ‘Doom Hamster.’”

  Raine’s brow lifted. “Doom Hamster?”

  The witch shrugged. “I don’t know how that even started. No one ever admitted to it, but by dinner, the professors were out in force, half-convinced that some crazed Oriceran monster had been summoned to the school and could breathe fire. I was sure they would tell us to gather in the cafeteria and prepare to be attacked.” She flicked her hand accusingly toward Asher. “All the while, he continued to assure us, ‘We have it under control. Don’t worry.’”

  The elf winked. “We did have it under control. Silas and Heidi’s quick research at least revealed the kind of magic we needed to reverse the transformation. We only needed more time.”

  Kelly scoffed. “We didn’t have any experience with the magic. Your master plan to hide Harris until we knew what to do was lame, Asher.”

  “I admit, there were a few details that needed to be worked out, but we did have things under control until the Doom Hamster charged the headmaster. I’ve never seen the old man whip off a spell so quickly. I was scared he would blast Harris with a fireball, but instead, chains appeared.” Asher pantomimed a flick of a wand. “All the professors rushed out there like Rhazdon had attacked the school with a squadron of dragons and a fleet of Kraken ready to emerge from the river.”

  He cackled with real mirth. “It was the funniest thing ever. All these high-powered magicals scared of a giant hamster. That was when Kaylis wandered out, looking confused, and without missing a beat, he said, ‘Oh, wait. That’s the hamster everyone’s talking about?’” The elf howled with laughter and slapped his thigh before he wiped his eyes. “He said, ‘It’s a great time to test another potion,’ and poured the concoction over Harris before the headmaster even knew what was going on.”

  Kelly shook her head, her cheeks slightly red.

  Raine stared at Asher. “And you didn’t get in trouble?”

  “Oh, no, we got in major trouble, me most of all. We couldn’t leave school grounds for a while after that, and we had all kinds of extra chores.” Asher rubbed his hands together. “But it was worth it to see the look on the headmaster’s face.”

  Adrien stared at the Orono elf and curiosity battled confusion on his face. “This might sound rude, but does that sort of thing happen to you often?”

  “Oh, not that exact thing, but we do have a lot of fun at our school.” He sighed happily. “It’s good to be in a magical academy, right?”

  “How can I put this delicately…”

  Raine’s jaw tightened. The other Trouble Squad members exchanged looks as all tried to decide who should be the one to stop their friend from offending the Orono students.

  Asher waved a hand dismissively. “Honestly is the best policy, I always say. Lay it on me, Adrien.”

  “We’ve had various adventures and misadventures at the School of Necessary Magic,” the Light Elf said when the confusion on his face finally defeated curiosity. “Many were dangerous, like what happened with the druids. Although it’s not bizarre that strange things might happen at a magic school, we have, for the most part, not gone out of our way to look for trouble. It has always sort of found us.”

  “Although Raine can’t let anything go,” Cameron said with a smile.

  Sara grinned and nodded. “I fear for all the criminals she confronts in the future. Not only that, if someone needs help, I think she’d di
e rather than not help them.”

  The Orono students all looked at Raine and her cheeks heated under the unexpected attention.

  “The point is,” Adrien continued, “that in most of our cases, it was either a person in trouble or someone who attacked us for whatever reason.” His expression darkened. “We’ve developed a relationship with the professors wherein they trust us and know we won’t go off and do strange things simply because we can. I presume that relationship is at the core of why they selected us for the trip.”

  Asher leaned forward. “And you wonder why a group of real troublemakers was selected?”

  Raine sighed. “He doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s merely…straightforward.”

  Josephine cleared her throat quietly. “If I were in Adrien’s place, I would wonder the same thing.” She looked at her friend and raised an eyebrow.

  The Wood Elf’s smile faltered for a second. “That part of Maine has a lot of weirdness, especially magical creatures. It turns out that as good as we are at causing trouble, we’re also good at ending it. We’ve helped stop more than a few actually dangerous critters, including one time where these magic-seeking hungry worm things were somehow released in Orono. And we’ve had a few wacky things happen in the Bar Harbor kemana too.” He leaned forward to whisper his next words. “But we’re not supposed to talk about them like I bet you have a few things you’re not supposed to talk about.” He straightened and spoke at a normal volume. “We don’t have a cool nickname like you guys, but we’re the unofficial magical beast control around our school. Even the professors admit that we have great instincts.”

  Kelly ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “I think that’s why Old Basil wanted us. For whatever reason, we handle magical creatures well, so we’re the perfect ones to deal with any that get out of hand—except when we’re the reason for them.” She grinned. “And you’re the FBI Trouble Squad, so you can handle all kinds of trouble.” She peered intently at Raine. “We heard that the School of Necessary Magic had something to do with identifying that there was a dangerous bug in Arc Eighty-Eight. It wasn’t huge at our school, but Silas was into it in a big way.”

  The shy wizard shrugged and his face reddened.

  Raine’s heart rate immediately lurched up a notch. Of all their adventures, the legacy of Arc Eighty-Eight might last the longest.

  “You could say that.” She sighed. “I don’t want to go into all the details, but basically, a character from the game came alive at our school. She ended up being powerful enough to draw us into her world, and we were almost trapped there.”

  “Woah. Seriously? That’s crazy.” Kelly looked horrified

  Raine nodded. “We defeated her, but after that, she came into the real world. Somehow, she separated her soul into two parts—two Coral Elf sisters, one shy and one angry. They ended up attending classes while they tried to figure out a way to stabilize themselves.”

  Asher stared at her. “You’re messing with us, right? This is weird even by magical standards.”

  “If only,” Cameron muttered.

  Adrien nodded his agreement, his shoulders more relaxed than before. With his curiosity sated, much of the tension had fled his face.

  She nodded. “No one knew at first, of course, but when we were dragged into the mess with Eris, the sisters were there as well. It turns out that they didn’t have enough power to continue living for much longer, and they were looking for something to help them with that.” She sighed. “In the end, they found what they needed, but it was only enough for one of them—the shy one, Madelyn.”

  Asher demonstrated something he hadn’t in all their encounters before—silence and shock.

  Josephine shook her head. “Let’s set aside the fact that you casually mentioned that you personally faced off against the Witch Queen of Chaos. You’re saying a whole new life was created by the game at your school, and now…what, is this Madelyn a student of the School of Necessary Magic?”

  Raine shrugged. “For now. From what we were told, the PDA doesn’t know what to do with her, and Headmistress Berens has taken responsibility until they work it out.”

  The Orono students stared at Raine in silence. Asher sat with his jaw agape and Josephine blinked as she processed the information. Everyone turned toward Finn when he started clapping.

  “Your school is crazy,” he said and sounded genuinely impressed. “Straight-up crazy, but it also sounds awesome, and you guys are awesome. We’ve had some weird adventures, but nothing approaching that. You showed us up, Raine.” He bowed in exaggerated deference, a grin on his face.

  She sighed and shook her head. “That wasn’t what I tried to do.”

  Asher managed to shut his mouth and smiled before he spoke. “I heard what they said earlier. You like to help people. Sometimes, with magicals, things will be complicated. I think it’s cool. We all do. We couldn’t ask for a better group to help us out during this project.”

  The Orono students all grinned in agreement.

  Asher nodded and his eyes twinkled. “Now, let me tell you about this teleporting acid-spitting butterfly we had to catch in our sophomore year.”

  Chapter Eight

  Days later, Professor Powell stood in a swaying rowboat and surveyed the teams while he tapped his wand against his palm. The fifteen students had been separated into five groups of three and assigned their own rowboats. The small fleet of young magicals floated near the dock and the students clutched wands, except for Cameron who held an oar tightly with both hands.

  “Let me be clear since this is the first time I’ve dealt with all of you on my own,” the professor shouted. “I have full authority over both groups. After discussion with Professor Kaylis, we agreed I’d be best suited to help you practice the necessary locomotion spells.”

  He pointed his wand toward the rocky beach. “We’ve spent these last few days doing little jaunts into the forest, and everyone should now understand that even with our magic, there are limits to our travel ability. We’re not about to cut down the forest to make a road, so that brings us back to something Professor Kaylis told me even before I arrived.” He pointed to his boat. “He told me that we’ll need to take advantage of these boats to move around quickly.”

  Cameron groaned quietly from the craft he shared with Raine and Kelly, but the professor had cast the anti-seasickness spell on him, so at least he didn’t look completely miserable.

  Finn raised his hand. “Hey, Professor Powell.”

  Xander nodded to the boy. “Yes?”

  “Why not simply teach us a water-walking spell or something? Why bother with boats?” He tugged on his lifejacket as if to highlight his displeasure.

  “If you lose your wand in an accident, that boat might very well save your life.” Professor Powell made several quick movements with his wand and rattled off a complicated incantation. After that, he stepped onto the water and didn’t sink, but the choppy waves still splashed water on his pants and boots.

  “For one thing, this spell demands a significant amount of energy.” He gestured to his pants before he stepped back into his rowboat. “That’s another reason. The other is that it’s hard to carry as much gear. We don’t want to risk the quick-transfer scrolls you’ve used for notes either.”

  He tapped his wand against the side of his head. “Always remember, the best way to use magic is often to enhance something you already have rather than replace it completely.” He knelt. “You don’t have to use as much magic, and it will generally be easier and quicker. That has utility, and it might save your life, too, when you think about it that way.”

  Asher’s face quirked into a smirk but he didn’t say anything.

  Professor Powell pointed his wand toward the back of his boat. “The good thing about everything I’m about to teach you is that it’s really applied versions of magic you already know with some slight modifications, rather than something completely new. Basically, we’ll combine shield spells with similar magic to burst spells. You redu
ce the drag on the boat and you propel it with the other spell. It’s more challenging to do and maintain both spells on your own, but you all have at least two active casters on each boat. For now, let me demonstrate what I’m talking about first.”

  A few precise movements of his wand accompanied his incantations, and a faint shimmer surrounded the boat.

  “It’s better if you can see the shield.” Professor Powell shook his wand a few times. “It’s a nice visual reminder that you have the prerequisites to get the boat moving as efficiently as possible with the next step.” He pointed his wand and spoke the next incantation slowly. The bulk of it sounded similar to a burst spell, but the ending was different.

  His craft surged forward.

  Raine gasped. She’d expected the rowboat to glide through the water, not cut through the waves like a rocket.

  A grin on his face, the professor shifted his wand and the boat turned with it to narrowly avoid another one containing Evie, William, and Adrien. Some water splashed them, however, and fire appeared in the half-Ifrit’s eyes.

  The fast-moving craft slowed. Professor Powell repeated his incantation and it increased speed again. “You won’t have to constantly recast the spell. I’m merely feeding it minimal direct magic as a demonstration. You’ll practice over the next couple of days and get a feel for the right amount of magic you need to channel into a boat for the speed you need.” He twisted his wand, and his small vessel jerked almost ninety degrees to its side. The sudden change killed its momentum and water splashed inside. “You’ll also have practice with water movement spells. Since you’ll be in groups, a good strategy is to have someone driving at all times, someone maintaining the shield, and someone bailing water if necessary. When you get good enough at this sort of thing, you can actually move in a wooden boat like it’s a speedboat. I once traveled the entire Amazon this way.”

  He gazed off into the distance and smiled. “That was indeed an…interesting summer. I was almost eaten three times.” He shook his head and returned his attention to the lesson. “Anyway, it’s time to get started. Let’s do this one by one. Raine, Kelly, and Cameron, we’ll start with you. Obviously, Cameron can’t contribute to the spells, but he needs to adjust to being in boats, which is why I didn’t excuse him from this lesson.”