by A. J. Macey
“Uh...” I stuttered, unable to come up with any form of coherent thought as I glanced between Ruslan and Rafe. Only Olive would be able to recruit one of the strictest teachers in the school to help her break laws and go against the council.
How she did it, though? That will probably always be a mystery.
No one spoke as two of the students and Ruslan worked their magical talents on the frame of the door and around the perimeter of the room. When they finally were satisfied it was secure, they returned to the rest of us in the center of the room.
“We’re good to talk now, swept for any possible eyes or ears,” Olive explained excitedly. “So, meet the team behind the Witches Bitch Vlog! You probably know Professor Ruslan and Professor Rafe, and these three are Henry, Jenn, and her brother Jarrod.”
“What about Allain?” I couldn’t imagine keeping a secret this big from my guys.
“Oh, he keeps an eye and ear out in the rest of the school most of the time,” Olive told me.
“And I tend to keep an eye on anything from in here,” Professor Rafe added. “I also do the complex rune work when needed.”
“Ruslan helps with the initial masking of the area where we’re filming and makes sure everything during the session goes smoothly. It took a few tries to get used to talking while keeping my disguise in place. Figured it’d be better to have a physical disguise while I’m actually filming versus overlaying one someone could possibly mess with later and discover who I am. Jarrod and Jenn help, monitoring the feed and the actual site during upload and any live feeds since their powers see true intentions from people. So, they’re able to check the comments and watchers to tell who’s following for more... sinister purposes versus actual viewers, then boot them quickly before they can see too much. Finally, Henry is the major technomage who encrypts the feed with the help of Professor Rafe.”
“Wow,” I exclaimed, “that’s awesome. How did you guys even get started?”
“I had an inkling there was something more to what was going on when I first heard about the council, and I’ve known Jarrod and Jenn since we were kids, so I had them read the crowd when you were packing up and heading out. It was pretty easy after that to discover what was going on,” Olive continued to explain as the others willingly stood by quietly.
What does it say about our world that so many were blind to the council’s corruption, but a bunch of our classmates could find out so much, so quickly?
“Then I stumbled on one of their first meetings,” Ruslan added. As he talked, the gruff and strict attitude seemed to disappear, making him seem actually... likable. “I was initially going to turn them in, but then they explained what was going on, and yeah, that was basically it for me.”
“I got roped in because I couldn’t leave him to his own devices,” Rafe huffed with a laugh. “He tends to lose things when he’s baking cookies, and I knew helping keep the lot of them out of trouble would be best.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ruslan grumbled, but his cheeks tinted a light pink in a blush.
“Are you guys...” Torryn trailed off, his hand gesturing between the two of them. His brows seemed to be permanently knitted together since we’d walked into the room, but I couldn’t blame him—or the others—because so were mine.
“Married, yeah. Ten years this Yule actually,” Rafe answered with an excited clap. “What an exciting anniversary this year.”
“Yeah, let’s just hope we don’t end up getting caught,” Kye muttered.
“That’s what I’m here for,” Henry finally spoke, shoving the mop of blonde curls away from his eyes. “Professor Rafe brought me in after the first vlog went out to ensure there was nothing being leaked.”
“Is it just technorunes keeping the feed secure?” Drayce asked, seemingly the only one still on track with the original conversation.
“That, along with the clocktower,” Henry explained. “We’re able to amplify the encrypted feed through the power of the crystals, like a big antenna. I think we hit the maximum reach with the last feed that went out, but it gives us the ability to project the vlog across the world for short bits of time.”
“Crystals?” Caspian questioned, his eyes darting to us. It took a moment, but I realized where he was going with the prompt.
“The cave,” I murmured. “Would more crystals give you the ability to have more time for a feed? Or even project from a separate location?”
“Separate location?” Xan asked me, but I ignored the looks from my guys.
“Depends on how many. I think we could have longer feeds if we had another clocktower’s worth of crystals. To project from a separate location would require a lot…” Henry trailed off, glancing at Professor Rafe for confirmation.
“What’s going on in that head of yours, Aris?” Tor murmured, his green gaze sharp and focused on me. “You wouldn’t just ask about if you didn’t already have a plan brewing.”
“Ha, pun,” I chuckled, unable to help myself. When I finally got my giggles under control, I took a deep breath and started in on my explanation. “Look how the school responded to the rally. We already know we have supporters in the capital—”
“All over, actually,” Jenn added in. “We have several hundred thousand subscribers all over Akasha.”
“Wow, that’s so much higher than I was expecting,” I muttered under my breath, not trying to hide my surprise. “We need to rally as many as we can. The council’s only six witches and their handful of enforcers. And Delilah,” I tacked on. “There are over a million witches in Akasha, and over half follow us. We need to show that we have a united front.”
“We actually have several witches at each academy who’ve reached out, wanting to know what they could do to help,” Jarrod said. “I don’t think it would be difficult to get something together. It’s just getting enough juice from the crystals.”
“There’s a cave,” Tor explained, picking up on where I was going with this. “The entrance is in the forest, but it spans all the way back to the clocktower. Crystals cover the entire cavern, including the internal hollow of the tower. I’d say at least... five or six times more crystals than just the tower. Would that be enough?”
“Whoa,” Olive breathed with wide eyes.
“We’d need to test it, but I think so. At least, depending on what you have in mind, Miss Calisto.” Professor Rafe’s gaze fell on me, and it felt like he was seeing right through me into the plans I hadn’t brought up yet to the guys.
Well, here goes nothing.
“We set a time to rally the schools, so we’re all doing the protest at the same time,”—I took a deep breath to steady myself—“and project that on a few of the holo boards in Divus and on the vlog. It’ll not only show the council but also the rest of the witches in the capital that the other territories stand with us on confronting the council.”
There was an eruption of opposition from the guys, so I stood quietly, waiting for them to get their initial protests out of the way before continuing.
“We can’t run forever,” I told them firmly. “I refuse to live my life like that. I don’t want to spend the rest of our lives together, looking over our shoulders and worrying when anyone has to leave our temporary hideout, living in fear they’ll get caught or worse. We did nothing wrong, and the only way to finally get our freedom back is to take on the witches who started this whole thing—the council, and they’re in the capital.”
“Why can’t we just project a stream of you to the capital?” Caspian asked, his face etched with worry, making my heart squeeze, but I knew this was the right thing to do—what I needed to do.
“We can, and we will, so everyone can see it,” I told him with a sad smile. “But the witches following us deserve to see that I’m willing to stand with them, that we’re willing to take the risk, so they feel they can, too.”
“I don’t like this,” Caspian muttered in irritation, but he didn’t argue further, choosing to cross his arms and pout.
“I don’t, eithe
r. All I want is to go to classes and spend time with you guys, Olive, and our familiars while stuffing myself full of Hex Mix, but until we deal with the problem, that’s not going to happen. I know...” I trailed off with a sigh, hating how worried and scared they all looked, “I know it’s scary, and I’m worried about what could happen to us, but as long as we have a solid plan, I think we’ll be okay.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Olive asked, her bubbly and happy personality smoothed over, her game face on, ready to work.
“Yule’s coming up, which means the markets will be flooded with witches from all over Akasha. We need to hit during one of the peak market times, if at all possible. The more witches surrounding us and seeing the feeds from us as well as the schools, the better. Not only will it help increase our numbers, but it will hopefully offer a show of force if the council wants to cause trouble. Obviously, we would first need to check to see if there are enough crystals to make it work and get in touch with the other academies. We could even try reaching out to Bernadette and Seamus; they might be able to get some details around the city.”
“Academies, I agree with, but I think alerting anyone within the capital would be too risky,” Torryn stated. “They support us, yes, but we don’t know who would hear the information with the security rounds, and the council could find out before we even get to the market.”
“Ooh,” I grimaced. “Yeah, good point. Alright, we’ll keep it to just the schools.”
“That’s it? That’s the whole plan?” Kye questioned sharply. “Magically hope showing up in the capital will make the council stop?”
“Of course, not,” I huffed. “Xan’s dad is contacting the Prime Minister. Once he’s done that, we’ll coordinate our timing with his return. There’s no doubt there is evidence somewhere in the capital building. We’ll narrow it down with Xan’s dad when we get back. The parents will need that information, so they can plan out their part and stay as safe as possible. Our job is to draw the council out into the market, then do our thing there, and while that’s happening, your parents can get in and find evidence.”
“That’s a lot of variables, Muse,” Xan said quietly.
“It’s not a bad plan, per se, but if one thing goes wrong, it could snowball,” Drayce added in agreement.
“And everything else we’ve done up to this point hasn’t just been winging it while hoping it works?” I countered with a brow raise.
“Yeah, that’s fair,” Drayce responded with a small chuckle.
“There’s definitely evidence in the council building,” Xan redirected the conversation. “They keep records of anything and everything, even stuff they shouldn’t be doing. It’s just a matter of finding where they’ve hidden it.”
“Which we can figure out later,” I stated, hearing the clocktower chime to signal classes were going to start soon. “You guys head to class. We can show you where the cave is later, so you can decide if it’ll work or not.”
“I have a free period this morning, actually. If you want to show me, it would probably be safer to have it just be two or three of us,” Professor Rafe interjected. Glancing to Torryn, I silently asked if he would be alright with that since he was the one who had the lanterns. Tor nodded, agreeing with Rafe’s plan.
“Alright, let plan ‘take down the corrupt hexing hellions of the council’ commence!” Olive announced brightly, making me laugh. Her antics broke up the tension in the group. It was a relief to have even a small moment to breathe and let the weight drop from my shoulders.
“Probably need a shorter name than that, Miss Voss,” Ruslan joked as he stepped to the door. “Alright, get to class, and we’ll reconvene later. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you six, but try to stay out of trouble.”
“Aye, aye,” I responded with a salute, but only one thought filled my mind.
No promises since trouble is quickly becoming my middle name.
December 5th
Thursday Morning
Aris
We walked toward the familiar barn, curving around back, so we could go to the open corral areas. My heart was pounding at the idea of seeing how our powers had changed. We’d used what we already knew how to do or what came easily, but my duel with Edmund was proof we could do even more.
“I figured we could use the familiar fields. It’s open space, and I can spell it to absorb anything too big. Inside would be a bad idea,” Torryn said, laughing at the thought. I couldn’t disagree. If I’d fought Edmund inside, it would have been way different, and I would have fried myself with the lightning.
“I have a spell for a practice dummy that clones the user and their powers. It’ll be a complete reflection, including your specific magic and attacks. You can feel the magic and be hurt, but it’s not as strong as it would be if it was a real witch,” Xan said, his face already lighting up at the prospect. “Basically, it’s like fighting yourself, so each of our opponents will match our elemental power and affinity.”
“Perfect,” Torryn agreed, walking to the field furthest from the barn. Once we were all inside the fence, he threw his hands up and began to mutter a spell that formed a shimmering dome above us, umbrellaing over the entire area. “Alright, Xan, do your thing.” He turned away long enough to make sure our familiars were behind their own protective bubble. “Let’s keep them from running in just yet.”
Walking to the middle of the dome, Xan looked from one of us to the next. “Who’s up first?”
“I’ll go,” Caspian volunteered, pushing off of the wooden fencing and joining him in the middle.
“Alright, stand in front of me,” Xan said, gesturing to the spot where he wanted him. Once Caspian was in place, Xan whispered his spell, holding one hand in front of Caspian and the other in the air to his side. After a few moments, magic flowed between Cas and the spot until a glowing blue figure stood there. “You have sixty seconds before he goes into attack mode. Good luck.”
Caspian’s eyes went wide as he looked after Xan’s retreating form. My pulse pounded when the seconds ticked away, but he still hadn’t woken up from his shock. The clone came to life at exactly one minute, the glow intensifying before he lunged for Caspian.
“Caspian, fight!” Torryn yelled, his voice sounding as tense as I felt. Luckily, his brother’s deep voice pulled him back to reality. Cas gasped, turning back and throwing his hands up to defend himself. He dodged, just barely, and yelled out a scream of frustration before thrusting his palms toward the clone, ice and water flowing from his hands in a huge gush. Overtaken by his attack, the clone flickered out of sight for a moment before reappearing on the ground.
As quickly as it fell, it was back on its feet and sent a similar wave at Caspian, who flew backward and landed with a thud. A flood of water spilled over him to the point I nearly rushed forward, afraid he was going to drown. Xan’s hand snagged my wrist just as I moved, pulling me to a stop.
“The clone’s attacks are mirages of magic. It’s water, and he’s even getting him wet, but it’s not strong enough to truly harm him,” he explained, pointing as the attack ended, and a fully dry Caspian was left behind.
The look on Cas’ face was pure fire and determination. Now that he knew he wouldn’t really be hurt, he’d gained back some of the confidence that had been shaken. He jumped to his feet and pushed one hand out, forming arrows out of ice, the pointed ends sticking to the clone in a macabre display. The moment they stuck, his other hand shot out, and he directed a steady, but pointed stream of water, aiming for his throat. Mere seconds of that and the clone exploded, a shower of glowing blue glitter raining down.
“Okay, that was hexing amazing!” Caspian cheered, his confidence shining through as he pumped a fist in the air and let out an excited whoop, running forward and picking me up before spinning us around.
“Alright, who’s next?” Xan asked with a small, satisfied smile as Cas set me down.
“Me,” Kye said, rushing forward before anyone could protest. The rune tattoos swirling around hi
s arms were glowing brightly, making him look like an ethereal warrior. Xan didn’t hesitate to form a clone of Kye, this one a deep purple instead of blue. It seemed he was matching the clones to the opponent’s powers. Magic is so cool.
Xan rushed back to the sidelines, and I held my breath, waiting for the battle to start. Kye’s power of shadows was more useful for stealth, not corporeal attacks like Cas’ ice or even lighting someone on fire, but Kye didn’t look the least bit worried. A small smirk played across his lips before he threw me a wink and dropped his hands to his sides. After a second, he slowly moved them in front of him as if he was picking something up. The moment his hands started lifting, shadows rose from the ground and encompassed the middle of the field, the entire battle blocked out.
“What a brat,” Caspian muttered, glaring at the shadowy wall. The sounds coming from behind it were wooshes of wind and the occasional grunt or growl. After what felt like the longest wait ever, a purple explosion shot above the shadows, and the darkness dissipated, leaving behind Kye, who was trying way too hard to be casual and unaffected. When we’d first met, I might have bought his act, but now, the twitch in the corner of his lip as he fought back a smile was all too obvious.
“Keep your secrets,” Caspian huffed, dramatically rolling his eyes, which broke the last of Kye’s composure, and he burst out laughing.
“Okay, these new powers are badass. I used the shadows to block visibility, then wrapped shadows around his face until I won, mimicking the way a constrictor encircles their prey,” he said, an arrogant shrug following as he gestured for the next person.
Drayce took the field this time, his face set in a grim line, the expression he had whenever he was intensely focused, which meant he was already thinking of a plan. As Xan conjured the yellow clone, Drayce was drawing wind toward him, no words or hand waving visible. As soon as the clone sprang to life, Drayce used air to lift him off of the ground into the air. Once the clone was near the top of the dome, he was slammed down to the ground with so much force, a crater formed, and we were rained in yellow dust, the slight tingle of magic dissipating slowly.