Dancing With Demons (The Academy of Amazing Beasts Book 3)

by Melody Rose

  “Beyond that, I can’t tell you much more about what happened to him,” he explained. “While I was looking over him, I noticed some personality changes here and there, but nothing major. Then, he started to either get really riled up or motivated. I have no idea if this is a Cavallian hound attribute, or if this has anything to do with that demonic duel.”

  He went on, cool and laid back. “Anyway, there’s nothing to worry about. This is rare, but not totally unheard of, and if we don’t mention what went on, then no one will connect this with any infernal contact. You can just pass it off as elemental magic.” I scrunched up my forehead, suspicious that this would work out. “Didn’t he save you from a fireball during your first semester here? Wicked awesome, by the way! You can just connect those dots, say he overcame some deep phobia. Like, uh, Batman from your world?”

  Even though I was thrown off by how easily he spun a story, I had to admit it was a good idea. That memory was still fresh despite happening semesters ago, so I felt that I could pull this off. I walked over toward my now fiery Aurelius, tentatively at first, and then confidently. Sure, he underwent a transformation, but we both went through so many changes together. This was nothing, really, and nothing would keep us apart. Even if he could singe my hands right off. I guess it just meant I’d have to learn some type of palm protection charm.

  “Hey, there, boy. It’s okay, I’m here. You’re just as lovable as you’ve always been,” I told him soothingly, and I really meant it.

  As I reached out to reunite with Aurelius and pet him, the flames died down to a red sheen. He wasn’t back to his usual white-furred self, but he was able to control his powers enough so I could safely touch him.

  Bast flitted over, landing on Damian’s shoulder, who looked at my familiar and I approvingly. While I stroked my scarlet hound, my heart near bursting with joy to see him alive and well, regardless of how he looked, Damian marveled over Aurelius’ newfound abilities.

  “See! New and improved! He’s evolved like one of those... Poh-ket Monsters? He can tread right through walls, catch on fire to keep the baddies at bay, and douse the flames at will,” he gushed. “Again, it’s pretty inexplicable to me, but he’s fiercest than any Cavallian pup I’ve heard of, and that’s really saying something seeing that his kind are fit for kings and… queens!”

  I didn’t really consider Aurelius “improved,” but if he found these new skills necessary, and better, if he liked them, then I supported that. As far as I was concerned, my pup was perfect any way he turned out. I knew he had a good heart, and any magic he harnessed would be used for the right purposes. In that respect, I knew we were a perfect match.

  “Yep,” I said, choosing to be non-confrontational. I needed to save my “spoons” for my first advanced combat-related class, Familiar Hunting. As Aurelius nuzzled my leg with gusto, I knelt down and threw my arms around his neck. I peppered his velvety ears with kisses, noticing that he’d gotten even warmer. It was actually really comforting.

  “Okay, sweetie-pie,” I lulled in a soft sing-song. “I know we’ve had a little ‘vacation’ from Bouclier responsibilities, but we’ve got to go back on the wagon, okay? Let’s knock it out of the park and make a good first impression! This class means a lot if we’re going to make a name for ourselves.”

  My darling hound wagged his tail and nodded his head, almost as though he were a mage instead of a familiar. Based on his radiant yellow aura that just screamed earnestness, I knew he was ready. Now it was just up to me to prepare myself and put my game face on. After just one more quick cuddle session.

  13

  Joan

  After Damian sent me off with a timed teleportation spell so that he appeared in class before me, I found myself standing in front of a door so towering that it was downright ominous. I still stood by my decision that Damian and I should have staggered our arrivals. I didn’t want to start this period with a barrage of questions, and if Aurelius was going to look like he leapt out the depths of the abyss, I needed to keep everything else pretty lowkey.

  I took a deep breath, then let them out through my diaphragm. I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to being tossed recklessly through time and space. Only Theo seemed to be the only one who knew how to evoke interdimensional travel in a way that was tender on my nerves. By my estimates, I had forty seconds to a minute to get my act together.

  My auburn waves were now more like a frazzle of tousled baby hair, and even Aurelius was affected by shooting through dimensions. His flames stopped flickering for a moment, wispy plumes of smoke sending grey puffs toward the castle’s stone ceiling. While my familiar focused on using his will to stoke his fire, I slid my hand in front of me with one vertical motion.

  “Regarde ma création, montre-moi,” I murmured a spell Theo taught me. “Looking glass of my creation, show me myself.”

  A sheet of rippling fluid crystallized into a plane of glass before me. This makeshift mirror let me get a good look at Becks’ makeover magic for the first time and see what Damian’s teleportation had done to me.

  Even though my hair was pretty rustled by the ether, it didn’t look bad. It was wild and natural, framing a face that was glamorized to be so angelic that it was almost eerie. That probably wasn’t the intended effect, and it only unnerved me because I was so used to my ordinary self.

  Becks had truly gone above and beyond. I guessed she was trying to compensate for the fact that I was demon-touched, putting all the mana she could into making me look sweet and squeaky clean. My eyes were very doe like with voluminous eyelashes, my lips pillowy, my cheeks dusted with an extra sprinkling of freckles, my chest even more enhanced, and my nose just slightly adjusted to look button-cute. While I had just told her to conceal the infernal script, she apparently decided to paint me as the picture of innocence, with a dash of unaware beauty queen thrown in.

  Truth be told, it was awkward for me, but I had to hand it to the girl, it was definitely a diversion. There was so much to be distracted by, and I looked so achingly dainty that no one would’ve possibly thought that I had any trace of the abyss on me. As far as Aurelius was concerned, my peers probably would have thought he was the result of one of my spells gone awry.

  For all the academy cred I’d racked up, I didn’t have fans that unanimously agreed about my greatness, nor did everyone far and wide stop whispering the slur “lamb’s blood.” I wouldn’t at all put it past some mages to think I tried to perform a bathing spell on my hound that ended up catching him on fire. Well, it would turn out in my favor that others underestimated me.

  Intent not to get roped into any more overthinking, I slid my hand down, ordering the mirror to disappear. With a short, resolute nod to tell both myself and Aurelius that it was time, I then rapped on the enormous door leading to what might end up being the most challenging course of my life. I never considered myself much of a fighter, but I guessed that I would learn what I was capable of here at Bouclier.

  The gateway swung open with the sound of ancient hinges, followed by the swaying and crackling of twigs. I had to stop myself from grimacing because this all seemed way too familiar.

  I glided into the wooded outdoor arena of the class, and the hem of my robe would have rustled the leaves if I didn’t secretly cast a sound stifling charm. I barely even provoked a glance from the assembled students until they noticed the glow emanating from Aurelius. Damian, of course, was stony-faced since this wasn’t a surprise to him at all. An obvious wave of murmuring broke the ominous silence of the forest, but for what it was worth, it didn’t seem like they were raking me over the coals. It just seemed that my familiar was attracting a lot of attention.

  I had to brave the storm and just accept what this class would turn out to be, but it didn’t exactly bode well. This place was a perfect simulation of the depths I’d traveled into in the circle of eternal death. I didn’t expect that, right after a string of absences where I was trying to nurse my wounds, I’d have to relive my trauma all over again. Right whe
n I was starting to feel really sorry about myself, as though all of Lemuria was against me, I remembered that Aurelius and I were out wandering for a reason. Lander had advised me to go searching for boggarts.

  Provided that my familiar didn’t have a mental breakdown, I would be given the go-ahead to attend this class. Of course, I’d have to be immersed in the same environment where Aurelius and I fought for our lives. This was exactly what we were supposed to be preparing for.

  I wondered what my damage control team, Becks, Theo, and Damian, told Abelard and the dean to make sure I could both take time off and slide back into this class. If everyone thought I was fragile, why didn’t I get punted out of such a challenging field of magic? Maybe the fact that my familiar was not only alive and well but also ferocious cinched the deal.

  I’d have to investigate later, but for now, I’d have to prove my chops.

  “Mage MacKenna!” the professor who I’d never met before shouted out. I couldn’t tell if there was any malice in his voice, but he sure was loud. “How nice of you to join us! The human from the other side of the portal! Are you finally ready to test your hunting mettle? You’re just in time for the mid-quarter exam.”

  “That’s me,” I answered calmly. “Ready and willing.”

  The man in front of me was imposing, just the type of authoritative and powerful figure I’d expect to see in a class that whipped beasts and their mages into shape. He looked like some type of barbarian king, broad-chested and adorned with a leather vest that partially exposed his pectoral muscles, dark britches, a fur-trimmed cloak, shoulder plates, and a headdress crafted out of a taxidermied dire coyote.

  The synchronicity of seeing two coyotes in the same afternoon sent a shiver through me. All the déjà vu of this semester was dizzying, but I tried not to show it.

  “Very well!” The warrior-professor grinned at my peppiness. “Let’s all take our positions now that our witch-come-lately has finally manifested, yes?”

  In retrospect, it was pretty funny that I was so sunshiny, seeing that this was slated to be one of the most morbid classes at Bouclier. Were all the animal skins on my professor were an illusion, or was he really so ruthless that he was allowed to shun all of Lemuria’s bylaws? It was considered to be in super poor taste to eat meat or don fur, but I could see why no one would want to pick a fight with this guy.

  While I was a little bit behind, the rest of the mages lined up on the professor’s hand signal. They all executed their movements with perfect synchronicity, like well-trained soldiers.

  “Yes, Professor Refuir!” they all cried out in unison.

  I should have performed a “ditto” charm, a way to replicate the behavior of everyone around me. I hoped that no one noticed that my lips weren’t moving, but I thought I saw Damian give a knowing smirk.

  Without any warning, grotesque ghosts and hideous apparitions began pouring out from the dark skies. I wondered if this Professor Refuir had given his students advance notice about what this test would be like, and I was just left high and dry. Then again, wouldn’t Theo and Damian have told me about this if it were public knowledge?

  Even though the sight wasn’t pretty, I had gone through so much that I was nearly desensitized to fear. Besides, I figured that these were just as harmless as boggarts. There was no way that they all could’ve been pulled from the abyss because they all looked so different. It would’ve taken too much mana to evoke demons of several varieties from all the circles of the abyss. Not to mention incredibly illegal.

  Many of the other mages had gone pale, even a shadow dweller, a spellcaster known to conceal herself in the darkness and had no problems with nocturnal encounters. Her familiar, a spider so large that it was able to reach the midpoint of her thigh and a deathly collection of shiny eyes, recoiled at an apparition in the form of an enormous eagle. For the moment, it had not yet dived to attack the fearful, eight-legged creature that rushed to face her.

  Ironically, Bast, who was on the other end of the line-up, had to come face to face with a giant, levitating tarantula, its fangs clicking tauntingly. It seemed that even though familiars of all ilks were able to be “simpatico,” as Theo would’ve put it, they still had a deep-seated fear of one another.

  That actually made sense. Outside the dynamics of Bouclier that kept every mage and beast civil, there was no promise that there wouldn’t be an all-out war between their species. It made me wonder what would happen to me once I graduated, but I decided it was best to deal with one challenge at a time.

  While all the other mages’ familiars were paired up with a phantom that looked like some manner of beast, the one that faced Aurelius was the outlier. His ghostly foe was not only nightmarish, but it also looked straight up murderous. It appeared to be a man with a couple of unnerving parallels with the demon we both fought. For one, its eyes were cold and merciless, and it was startlingly tall. It also wielded a battle axe of stomach-churning proportions, making it the most fearsome of the lot in my opinion.

  Yes, it was unusual that the apparition Aurelius and I had to defeat had weapons, but I told myself this was no big deal. We were in a safe zone, a heavily warded academy that had surprises but no deaths that I was aware of.

  I even got a funny flashback from when I was making pies for the MacKenna Bakery. A few kids were playing a game called Magic: The Gathering. When I asked them about it, they explained some of the rules. One of them really stuck out, that the creatures took the hits, but not the wizards. Hopefully, though, there wouldn’t be any “graveyard” in this test. If all went well, this would just be a sham with excellent special effects.

  Professor Refuir made another soundless hand signal, then melted away into the thick of the woods. This development was a bit creepy, but while it wasn’t ideal to be stuck here without any responsible instructor, it wasn’t exactly unheard of. Either Bouclier had its own tenure track, or Abelard absolutely didn’t care about quality control at all, because I’d seen many professors just waltz out of class whenever they pleased. Mostly it was because they were irritated or bored, but Refuir’s message was different.

  He was telling us that we were on our own and that we needed to fend for ourselves.

  Just as the professor temporarily abandoned us, the apparitions began to take more realistic shapes. No longer transparent, they took on the textures of the creatures they were based on. Some of the familiars were now frozen solid, too afraid to stand up to their opponents. The shadow dweller’s spider buckled under the pressure, crumpling into a screeching pile and folding all eight of its legs under its abdomen. The eagle’s feathers gleamed in the scattered moonlight, and its sharp sickle beak snapped at the spider.

  I couldn’t tell if the bird of prey was actually drawing blood, but the shrill screeches were terrified enough to fool me.

  Besides that display, I wasn’t able to keep tabs on all the other mages. Maybe there was some type of protection circle around us students since the brutal man standing before Aurelius didn’t seem to take any swipes at me. Not the least bit intimidated, my hound showed the apparition who was boss. He bared his fangs and growled, pacing around the man with his glittering armor and weaponry. From the looks of it, Aurelius was pulling a power move, proving he was fully alert and sizing up his prey.

  His rival swung the axe with a battle cry, but Aurelius bounded over the sharp edge with ease. My hound was also able to sink his fangs into the man’s cheek, tearing it off like a choice cut of steak. He then landed gracefully on the pads of his paws.

  I clapped my hands over my mouth. The rivulets of blood were unmistakable. I began to feel nauseous, but not so much that I couldn’t still stand and watch. I wouldn’t be a good companion to Aurelius if I just bowed out or fainted while he took on the whole fight on his own. Still, I’d never seen any illusion spell this convincing before.

  Aurelius’s dexterity grated on the axe-wielder’s nerves, causing him to stomp forward as he manically swung Aurelius. This time, the sharpened blade did not s
tay out of bounds. It sliced into my robe, cutting not just the thick velvet and exposing my midriff, but also dealing me a stinging scratch. Even if it was minor, I screamed as though I’d been betrayed. This seemed absolutely insane, especially since none of the other mages had so much as a hair on their heads touched.

  Driven with bloodlust over seeing me in pain, Aurelius’ fur burst into a seething hot blaze. Everyone near him gasped in fear and scrambled backward, but my reflexes weren’t half as sharp. I was rooted to the ground, unsure whether this class was the real deal or a trap. Never before had I felt seriously jeopardized by the faculty, but now? I wasn’t so sure.

  In one surreal freeze-frame, my whole world was blindingly orange. Aurelius channeled his elemental magic to its fullest capacity, devouring a thirty-foot radius with fire. Amazingly, the trees and the mages remained untouched, a sight I was taken away with when I finally blinked back to reality, and we all patted ourselves to make sure we were still alive.

  As my familiar’s flames subsided, the darkness had been burned away, and sunlight filtered through the treetops until the surroundings were fully illuminated. All the apparitions that tormented us were nowhere to be seen. That is, except for some grisly remnants to tell the tale. Broken tarantula limbs, tattered feathers, swatches of bloody fur, and scattered talons. Where my assailant had stood was a pool of melted iron and steel.

  Without a second thought, I fell to my knees and wreathed my arms around Aurelius. I was so glad that we both survived that I didn’t even notice the thin, red ribbon of blood on my stomach, nor did I pick up on the sound of slow clapping.

  “Ah, an… intriguing display, wasn’t it?” Professor Refuir announced. I didn’t know if he was saving face or if this all went according to his plan. Though I detected doubt in his tone, his face was stoic.

  No one was ready to answer yet and simply watched as our instructor lowered himself on his haunches. He picked up a feather by its stem and examined it carefully. His eyes gleamed with fascination when he noticed mottles of blood on its black-tipped length, then he trained his eyes on me. I was the mage that had what appeared to be a battle-warlock with a menacing axe attacking me, after all, so my battle had been the most dangerous.