Outlast: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Warden of the West Book 3)

by Annabel Chase

  Help arrived in the form of Warden of the West and clinical instructor Theo Armitage. He swaggered onto the scene with two fourth-year trainees, Caldecott and Fiona Blatherwick, trailing behind him. They struggled to keep up with his long strides. They didn't seem to grasp the fact that his pace was deliberate. He wanted them to scramble.

  "Morrow, why am I not surprised to see you here?" Armitage queried.

  "If you're here to berate me, I've been doing plenty of that myself," I replied.

  “My time is too valuable to come all the way out here just to give you a hard time," he said. "We're here to investigate. See if we can figure out what happened to the girl."

  “Cerys is her name," Dani said. "Cerys Davies. She's a first year in your clinic." Which explains why Armitage didn’t bother to learn her name.

  "I understand she has an earth specialty," he said, dumping his toe at a group of pebbles on the ground.

  "That's right," I said. "She was looking to see if she could find any good rocks at the bottom of the lake."

  He turned to face me. "Except the water refilled the basin before she could get out. Is that right?"

  My gaze lowered. "That's right. It was my fault. I got distracted."

  Armitage glanced at Dani. "And you were in there with her?"

  "I was," Dani said. "I didn't see her, though. I’d been focused on the ball when the water came crashing in.”

  "You had your eye on the ball?" Armitage repeated with a smirk. "Seems more like you dropped the ball, Degraff."

  Dani’s features flashed with annoyance. "I wasn't expecting the water to rush in. It went straight over my head. I shot right to the surface and swam to shore."

  Armitage turned his attention to Mia. "How about you, quiet girl? Any sign of your friend after the water returned? You were on the shoreline, right?"

  Mia nodded. "I was standing with Bryn. I saw Dani’s head, but I never saw Cerys after the magic broke."

  “If she drowned, shouldn’t we see her floating?” Fiona asked.

  “Not necessarily this soon, Armitage said.

  “Cerys wouldn’t drown,” Dani insisted, scowling at Fiona. “She’s too competent.”

  Armitage hooked his thumbs through his empty belt loops. "I guess I need to see the bottom of this lake for myself." He squinted at me. "I guess I won't be asking you to drain it for me. Too risky, under the circumstances."

  It took all my self-control not to punch him in the face. "Can you do it?"

  "I've requested assistance," he said. "No point in working with powerful magic users if you can't call in a favor now and again."

  "I hardly consider it a favor, considering Miss Davies is one of our own.” Chancellor Tilkin approached us, her wooden staff in her hand. That staff was like her third arm. I was pretty sure she took it to the bathroom with her.

  "You can part the water, too?” I queried.

  The chancellor offered a vague smile. "My magic in this area is based more on experience than raw talent like yours, but the end result is the same." She pointed the blue-grey tip of her staff at the water and uttered a word that I recognized by now as Etruscan, even though I had no clue what she said.

  The water shifted, clearing a larger area in the basin than what I’d done earlier. The water formed a huge wall around the part of the lake bottom. Armitage didn't hesitate. He marched straight down into the basin to search for clues. His two trainees followed like baby ducklings.

  “I'm going down there, too,” I said. I was the reason she was missing. Although I didn't want to think about what I might find, I had to join the search.

  We combed the area for half an hour, inspecting every inch of space. There was no sign of Cerys, not even a rune rock from her cloak pocket.

  “I'm thinking it’s a kelpie," Armitage announced.

  I glanced at Dani. "What's a kelpie?" It made me think of kelp. Armitage thought Cerys got tangled in seaweed?

  “Kelpies are shapeshifters that live in water,” Carson explained. “They can appear as humans or horses.”

  “What makes you think it was a kelpie?” I asked.

  “Hoofprints, right here,” Armitage said, pointing.

  Sure enough, there were hoofprints in the lakebed that I hadn’t noticed before.

  “And these kelpies live in Mercer Lake?" I asked in disbelief.

  "There haven't been any sightings on record," Armitage said. "But there's always a first time. They’re sneaky suckers. They always find a way.”

  I craned my neck for a view of the chancellor to gauge her reaction, but she was too far away to overhear us. The head of Spellslingers would surely know if there were a dangerous creature lurking in the academy lake, wouldn’t she?

  “So, if a kelpie took her, what does that mean?" I asked.

  The others exchanged silent glances. Finally, Armitage spoke up. "It means we’ll be conducting a search and recover rather than a search and rescue.”

  “Kelpies eat the flesh of their victims,” Carson said. "We need to look for bones."

  Behind me, Mia whimpered.

  “How about a little sensitivity?" Dani demanded. Despite her harsh tone, her cheeks were flushed with worry.

  “I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself,” I said. “We scanned this whole area and didn’t see any sign of a flesh-eating monster.”

  “You didn’t see these prints either, did you?” Armitage asked pointedly.

  "What about this?" I asked. I noticed a long fissure in the lake bottom. "I don't remember seeing this earlier."

  Armitage came over to examine the crack. "You may not have cleared this area of the basin."

  "I'm pretty sure she did," Dani said, joining us. "That is a really deep crack." The fissure was about a foot wide, big enough to try and glimpse the layers of earth below.

  "I don't think a kelpie could fit down there," Armitage said. "It likely escaped at the other side of the lake out of view."

  "But what if it's not a kelpie?" I asked. "What if this crack is connected to her disappearance?"

  "We’ll have someone examine the area for evidence," he said, in a way that suggested ‘evidence’ really meant ‘remains.’

  “The lake will have to be off limits until the investigation is over," Fiona said.

  “Blatherwick, you put up the ward," Armitage said. "I don't trust a sign to get the job done. Trainees can be morons sometimes.”

  “Yes, Warden Armitage,” Fiona replied.

  I stared at the fissure for another moment. Maybe there had been an earthquake so subtle that we hadn't felt it on land. Maybe it had shifted the lake bottom enough to swallow Cerys and then come together again. Unfortunately, that thought was no more comforting than a kelpie. They both meant that Cerys was likely dead. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—accept that. It was time to apply those critical thinking skills, just the way Professor Langley wanted.

  “Don’t you know how to knock?” Robin gave me a look of utter disdain as I barged my way into his room.

  “There was a risk you wouldn’t answer,” I said. “Not after our last tutoring session.”

  Robin Chambers was the fourth-year prefect also tasked with tutoring me in basic paranormal subjects. Because I was raised in Terrene—the human world—it seemed the Board of Regents had concerns regarding my knowledge gap. Robin was the lucky wizard with the thankless job of educating me.

  “What do you know about kelpies?” I asked.

  He remained seated at his desk, absorbed in a thick leather-bound book. “Any particular reason?”

  “Theo Armitage thinks a kelpie murdered Cerys,” I said.

  Robin whirled around to face me. “Apologies, did you say something has happened to Cerys?”

  “Armitage’s working theory is that a kelpie got her in Mercer Lake.” I elaborated on the day’s events.

  “Oh, Bryn, this is terrible.” Robin rubbed his forehead.

  “And it’s all my fault,” I said. “We have to find out what happened. If she’s not i
n the lake, she has to be somewhere.”

  He struggled with his next question. “Her…remains haven’t been located?”

  “No, and I’m worried that, Armitage is wrong, we’re wasting valuable time following up on the wrong theory.”

  Robin’s head bobbed. “I agree. What do you propose? I want to help.”

  I knew he would. As uptight as he could be, the wizard was always ready to roll up his tweed sleeves and pitch in. He’d make an excellent justice someday, provided he lived through his service as a warden first.

  “A visit to the oracle,” I said.

  Robin’s brow lifted. “So soon?”

  “Is that a problem? Can we only get our oracle loyalty cards punched a limited number of times?”

  Robin gave a surprised chuckle. “No, it’s just that I don’t want them to think we’re taking advantage of them.”

  “First, we bring them booze from Terrene, somewhere they can’t go, so that’s the opposite of taking advantage. Second, Cerys is missing. She may be hurt…or worse.” I pushed past the ‘worse’ part. I couldn’t dwell on it or I’d crumble. “If I risk pissing off the oracle in an effort to help her, then so be it.”

  “Do you have your new ID card yet?” he asked. “We’ll need it to cross the border.”

  I patted my cloak pocket. “I do.” As someone who’d spent a lifetime dodging the system—any system—the ID card had been an issue for me. The Order of the Edge—the organization that handled border patrol between the paranormal world and the human one—had recently rolled out a new identification system involving blood. I knew if anyone analyzed my blood, my father’s identity would be revealed. Now that the information about my heritage was public knowledge, I was able to obtain one. Lately, I’d been carrying the ID card around, not because I needed it, but for the sheer novelty of the experience.

  “I can go now, if you’re ready,” Robin said. “I just finished reading a chapter.” His expression brightened. “We can discuss more of our tutoring topics on the way. Two birds, one wand.”

  I groaned. “I appreciate the multitasking, Boy Wonder, but I’m sort of hyperfocused on Cerys at the moment.” My stomach was still in knots, and they wouldn’t untangle until I found her, preferably safe and uninjured.

  “And my suggestion will help alleviate that,” he said reasonably. “There’s nothing you can do on the way to see the oracle. You may as well learn.”

  “Fine, but is there any chance we can borrow a scooter or something to cross the border? I’d rather avoid the bicycle built for two.” During our first trip together to Terrene, the only mode of transport available had been a bicycle built for two, complete with a wicker basket. I felt ridiculous riding on it, although in his tweed jacket and bow tie, Robin seemed perfectly at ease. Go figure.

  “There may be two solo bicycles,” he said. “We’ll have to check.”

  An idea occurred to me. “Or we can ask William Fonthill to borrow his pickup truck.” Fonthill was the academy groundskeeper. While he was generally a curmudgeon, he could be persuaded to part with his truck. My roommates and I had managed to borrow it to return a dead demon to the hallowed grounds of a Slavic god—long story.

  “You don’t know how to drive,” Robin said.

  “I know, but you do,” I shot back. “Don’t you?” He wasn’t that handy on a flying broomstick, but he could manage a pickup truck, couldn’t he?

  “I’m quite capable behind the wheel,” Robin sniffed. “I’m just not certain we can convince Fonthill to spare it.”

  We managed to catch up with Fonthill in the gardens not far from his caretaker’s cottage.

  “As it happens, I have errands in Terrene,” Fonthill said. “I was planning to go later, but I can change my plans if it’s that important to you.”

  “Very important,” I said. “My roommate is missing, and I need to get to the oracle to see if they have any information.”

  “Missing?” Fonthill repeated. “Which one? The tall, sassy one with an air of self-importance?”

  I suppressed a smile, knowing he meant Dani. “No, Cerys. She’s a few inches shorter than me with blond hair and brown…blue eyes.” I’d discovered late one night that Cerys’s natural eye color was brown, but she used magic to make them appear blue. For whatever reason, she felt that her brown eyes were at odds with her pale blond hair. While I didn’t agree, it wasn’t my face.

  Fonthill appeared concerned. “She took off like that other one? What was her name?”

  “You mean Beth?” Beth was the roommate I’d replaced when I first arrived at the academy.

  “That was her name,” Fonthill said, nodding. “Quiet witch. Barely noticed that she’d left.”

  “She’d been unhappy, as far as I know,” I said. “Her father was the one that wanted her to train for the AMF.” I felt sorry for the witch, but, at the same time, if she hadn’t left, I wouldn’t be roommates with Dani, Mia, and Cerys, and my life here could have turned out much differently.

  “Let’s go then,” Fonthill said. “You don’t want to waste time jabbering with me if your friend is in trouble.” He ambled over to the truck. “You can either ride with me in the cab or in the back. Your choice.”

  “The back is bumpy,” I warned Robin.

  We squeezed into the cab with Fonthill. I worried that he might smell like the inside of a hellhound enclosure, but he actually smelled fresh like a forest. We rode in relative silence to the border. No matter how hard I tried not to worry, I couldn’t stop thinking about Cerys. If I hadn’t lost control of the water, she’d be fine. She’d be in the dining hall or our room, snuggling her familiar or rearranging her rune rocks.

  “I’ll park in the middle of downtown, and you two can go about your business,” Fonthill said, as we pulled up to the fairy border guards. “We’ll meet back at the truck in forty-five minutes.”

  “ID, please,” the fairy said. I didn’t recognize this one. I’d only met Hans and Fritz, two fairies with more brawn than one would expect from guys with pastel wings.

  We handed over our identification cards, and she gave them to her partner to be scanned. I watched with interest as the fairy waved a wand over the drop of blood embedded in the card. When she scanned mine, I noticed her brow furrow.

  “Is there a problem?” I asked.

  The fairy’s expression hardened. “No problem. I’d heard the rumor. I guess I didn’t believe it was true.” She returned the ID cards to us. “What’s your business in Terrene today?”

  “Same as always,” Fonthill replied. “Errands for the academy. I needed helpers and these two lucky ones got the assignment.”

  I punctuated his remark with a petulant look for good measure.

  “See you on the return journey,” the other fairy said. He seemed less bothered by my identity than his partner.

  Fonthill hit the gas and we crossed the border that separated the worlds. He cast a sidelong glance at me.

  “Guess you ought to get used to that,” he said.

  I nodded mutely.

  “I’m sorry for it, but you’ve got to put yourself in the position of other folks,” he continued. “The name Volans Moldark will instill fear in our hearts for generations.”

  “I know, Mr. Fonthill,” I said. “Trust me, I do understand.” He’d instilled fear in my heart, too. I’d never known life without it until I arrived at Spellslingers and discovered he was dead.

  “But Bryn isn’t like her father,” Robin said. “Far from it, in fact.”

  Fonthill gave him a cursory glance in the rearview mirror. “Yeah, I know that, Prefect Chambers. I’m just telling her what the reality is. She’s Moldark’s daughter, and that’s a tough burden on a young witch.”

  “Technically, I’m a…” I intended to say ‘sorceress,’ but Robin cut me off.

  “Stop saying that, Bryn. You’re officially in training at the academy. That makes you a witch.”

  I bit my lip. I’d only just gotten used to the sorceress label. In the human
world, I’d been a waitress suppressing my magic. Now, I was meant to use magic to the best of my ability. I still wasn’t used to the change, nor was I entirely comfortable with it. My magic was raw and powerful—the kind of magic that brought my father to the doorstep of dark magic. Of evil deeds. I intended to avoid that path.

  “You’re right,” I said. “I’m a witch now. I need to embrace it.”

  Fonthill parked the truck on a side street. “Meet you back here in forty-five minutes. Don’t be late. My time’s as valuable as you kids’.”

  Robin and I hurried in the direction of the liquor store. At least we knew exactly which items to purchase to appease the oracle.

  “Maybe we should buy something else for the wolves this time,” I said. “I bet that ball we brought is already in a thousand pieces.”

  “Good idea,” Robin said. “More beef jerky, though. They seem to enjoy it.”

  “We should bring something aside from a potion, too,” I said. “They won’t have used up their beauty potion yet. I noticed a store with kitchen accessories nearby. Could run in there for a new oven glove?” I pictured something with polka dots.

  Robin grinned. “That’s a lovely idea, Bryn. Very thoughtful.”

  We gathered the vermouth, rye, bitters, and a fresh lemon, and paid for them at the register.

  “You certainly seem to have won over Fonthill,” Robin said, as we left the liquor store and headed for the kitchen accessories store. “How did you manage it?”

  “I helped him with a problem at Poseidon’s Dance,” I said. He’d been trying to fix the three-tiered fountain and I was able to shift the water to make his job easier.

  Robin inclined his head. “I know it worries you, but you must realize that your magic is but a single element of who you are. It only defines you if you allow it.”

  “Thanks, Boy Wo…Robin.” I paused. “I’m cool with using my elemental powers. It’s the blood magic that makes me uncomfortable.”

  “Yes, I agree it is a potent type of magic,” he agreed. “A great responsibility.”

  A woman poked her head around the corner, intrigued and disgusted by the mention of blood magic. Robin quickly raised a finger to his lips.