by Jami Klein
“Do you think she's doing okay?” Andrei asked.
"She has to be. She's the toughest thing I've ever seen, and that was when she was wearing kitten heels and pearls at her desk in the library. Now, she's a great black dragon,” I said. “She’s unstoppable.”
“Speaking of black dragons,” Stefan said. “I’m assuming Obsidian is a black dragon like your mother.”
"I found out about Obsidian the same time you did," Andrei said. “My mother won’t talk about him. Much like the way Lola's mother won’t talk to her about her aunt and uncle."
“I don't see how the truth would be any more dangerous as not telling us," Stefan said.
"I think they're trying to control the information we hear, so that we don't make bad decisions,” I said. “Yay evil. I’m joining the dark side because it had cooler toys."
"What do you think would happen if we did join that side, but as double agents?" Andrei asked. “It would be completely believable. We could be spies.”
"Wouldn’t it be better to the change the organization from within?"
“I don't know if that sounds like a good idea.” Stefan frowned.
“Considering they don’t trust us to be outside of the Jewel Academy for more than a few days a semester, I doubt they're going to trust us take on the world's evil."
"And yet, we’re here. "Stefan said.
"How much of that was because we were all that she had? It was either us or the janitorial staff. And while Mr. McSweeney is hell on wheels with a mop and bucket, I don't think he'd be an effective force against these armed menfolk," Andrei said.
"They could have taken the underclassmen. I'm not sure were going to be doing much better, if we have to fight. These guys are wearing real armor and carrying real weapons. They're not going to be an easy take down like the ghouls," Stefan said.
"Easy? You think the ghouls were easy?" I was so dead.
We made it through the panicking city packed with people wanting cover from the falling shards of the domes. Because most people were cowering in doorways and shutting themselves the buildings, it made it easier to climb down the coral stairs that led to where the feeding pens that I saw in the guards’ minds. Two other guards were in front of a fenced in paddock. I could see various humans and other creatures in the area. I recognized our Enforcers just by their uniforms.
There were ten of them. I didn’t see Grantaire or Headmistress Magee. I hoped they were all right.
"How are they breathing?" I asked.
"Probably the same way we are,” Andrei said. “If they don't do what they’re supposed to, maybe they don't get their water breathing potion or magic to keep them from being crushed in this depth."
"That would be very effective way of stopping people from trying to escape. If they knew they were more than a day away from escape or if they were just hours away from running out of air, that might make them think twice about resisting."
“Let's creep in a little bit closer.”
We skirted away from the guards and went around the back of the paddock. They were treating these slaves like livestock, I noticed that all the humans had weighted belts on their ankles and on their wrists. They had leashes and chains that tethered then in the pen.
I didn't recognize any of the Enforcers by name, but since they wore Jewel Academy uniforms, I tried to contact the one closest to me via mindtalk.
"Hello? Can you hear me? I'm here to help rescue you."
The enforcer looked around and mindtalked back, “Who are you?"
“We’re from the Jewel Academy. Mrs. Barnes, the librarian, is a black dragon. She put together a strike team consisting of the Sigil cup team and herself."
"Lola Bragg, I should've known."
“He knows us. I'm not sure that's a good thing or bad thing." I said to Stefan and Andrei. “Who are you?”
“I’m Chris Benedict.”
“How did you get here? How are you breathing?”
“They climbed aboard the ship the first night and cast a spell that kept us sleeping. One moment I was in my bunk. The next moment I was in the mine being kicked awake and I could breathe and speak underwater. The inject us with something every morning to keep us breathing, talking and understanding them. Magic,” he sneered.
"Where is Headmistress Magee and the other teachers?"
"They have them down in the mine. The teachers are protecting the students from predators, while the students gather the blue dragon’s hoard of sapphires."
I relayed the information to my team.
"Ask who is keeping the teachers from escaping or taking over?" Stefan said. "Because I can't see Headmistress Magee going down without a fight."
I relayed all of this to the Enforcer.
"They kill a student every time anyone tried to either escape or disobey orders. The Enforcer instructors were the first to die. The merfolk have already killed seven students.”
“Who?” I cried. Was it one of my pack mates? Was it a coven member? “Is Grantaire all right?"
"I haven't seen him since the first day when they brought us all down to the mine. In our first escape attempt, when they killed our instructors it was pandemonium. He didn’t make it back here. They put the vampires to work hauling heavy stuff out of the mines. The shifters are clearing rocks out of the way, and they have the witches chanting shielding spells so the dragon doesn't wake up while they’re stealing from him. The Enforcers are not supernatural or magic, so we’re just food,” Chris said bitterly.
I looked up. “That dome is coming down. If we free you, can you swim straight up to the surface?”
“Yes, but what’s waiting for us at the surface?”
“The ship is on alert for survivors, and the Coast Guard should be there as well. If you can whistle or make noise that will help them rescue you.”
“Or we could swim for the island if we’re still near it.”
I was all turned around, but I thought we were still close. “I don’t know where we are in relation to the island.”
“If we swim for freedom, they’ll try to kill us,” Chris said.
“The guards are distracted, but you’re welcome to hide until we free everyone else.”
“No, we’ll swim for it,” he said grimly.
“Show me in your mind how to get to the mine from here.”
Chris’ thoughts were tinged with fear and for a moment I was lost in them, feeling the shackles at my wrist and seeing the fight break out and the merfolk using their greater numbers and better underwater fighting techniques to subdue and dominate the Jewel Academy students.
“Lola,” Andrei said, shaking my arm. “We’re visible.”
I broke free of Chris’ mind. Stefan and Andrei had dragged me behind a building out of sight. I hadn’t even felt them moving me. “Sorry,” I said, trying to shake the vision. “I know where we need to go.”
I almost couldn’t get the invisibility spell to go off. I was shaking by the time all three of us were invisible. “I can’t do much else, but keep us invisible.” I hated admitting that I was weak. I should have had better control and a greater depth of magic. No wonder no covens wanted me.
Stefan pulled us back around to the front where there were only two guards standing guard. “Why don't we knock them unconscious, take their keys and then unlock everyone?” I said.
“We can even secure the guards in the paddock with their own chains once everyone is free.”
Andrei and Stefan let go of my hands.
“Stay in front of me,” I strained, desperately keeping the invisibility spells up.
Immediately, there were two sickening snaps and both guards jerked as their necks were broken.
“That’s not unconscious,” I said.
“Neither are our seven classmates,” Stefan said.
I heard Andrei rifling their pockets until he came up with the keys. “I’ll go inside and unlock everybody's chains,” he said. “Stefan, go round up some more weapons so we can arm the Enforcers. Lola, yo
u stay here and convince anybody who looks into the pen, that everything is normal.”
"This is the opposite of not splitting up," I said. “I can’t cloak you if you get out of sight.”
“We don't have a choice. We want to free these guys, and then get the get down to the mine as soon as possible. We can't take the risk that once they discover that we’re here to rescue them, that they kill all the prisoners out of spite.”
“All right, just be quick about it.”
Stefan the took off in a rush and I caught a sense of relief and in a little bit of glee that he was able to finally do something. It felt good to drop one of the invisibility spells. I hoped Stefan would be careful. But he was an apex predator and I trusted his instinct for tracking down prey.
Andrei was the next to move out of my sight and his invisibility spell cancelled out as well. I sank to the ground in relief. I was so tired. I could go to sleep right now, but I was afraid I’d never wake up. Andrei swiftly unlocked all the prisoners’ chains and shackles. Most of the merfolk captives rushed through the door by me. I couldn't blame them for not wanting to be trapped any longer. Chris and the rest of the Enforcers came out, looking for the weapons that Stefan was carrying back. There were nine of them and six weapons.
“What's going on here?” One of the guards came swimming up with another squadron of merfolk.
“Swim to the surface,” Stefan said. “We’ll cover you.”
“No,” Chris said. “We all fight.”
I tried to seize control of the merfolk leader’s mind. “There’s nothing to see here,” I thought. “They’re helping us battle the dragon.”
“Kill the witch first,” the merman pointed at me.
Whoops.
Stefan attacked him and Andrei attacked the one behind him. And then it was pandemonium when the Enforcers joined the battle. I stood back and watched them swim around each other and fight.
“Drop your weapons,” I thought at the mermen, but no one was listening.
I was afraid that the blood in the water was going to attract sharks.
“Watch out for the dome. It’s coming down,” I thought at the merfolk.
That was slightly more helpful as a few looked up, only to be skewered and slashed by the Enforcers.
I was desperately keeping the fight from attracting more attention and reinforcements. “Nothing to see here,” I broadcasted out.
As much as I wanted to be a generalist in magic, this was my strength. It was effortless. Or it would have been if I hadn’t worn myself out with the other spells.
Eventually, team Jewel Academy defeated team fish.
“Do we even bother chaining them up?” I asked.
“No sense chaining corpses,” Chris said. “We got lucky. They didn’t have a shaman with them.”
“Shaman?” I said.
“There’s not a lot of them. They dress up with shell necklaces and carry staffs. I’ve only seen two of them and I think they have magic similar to yours. I think that’s how they got us. It could be how they’re controlling the students.”
“See you on the surface.”
“Aren’t you going to help us free the others?” I asked.
“If they see a big force like this coming after them, they’ll kill them.”
That made sense. We had to sneak into the mine without any more merfolk trouble.
“Be careful,” I said.
Chris and his team swam up towards the holes in the dome. I hoped that they would get out, but it still left the three of us alone to fight our way down to the mine.
“Invisibility again.”
The two spells almost knocked me out.
“Are you all right?” Stefan asked.
“Let’s just get this over with. I hate concentrating on these spells. It’s ripping my head apart.” But to keep our attack a surprise, it was worth it. I could only hope we wouldn’t be too late saving our classmates.
Chapter Eight
Keeping the invisibility spell up felt like struggling to breathe, but it allowed all of us to get to the mine entrance without anyone challenging us.
My heart flipped when I recognized Headmistress Magee at the opening of a large hole in the seafloor. It must be the mine. She was guarded by two merfolk and while she was unbound, it was clear that they had their weapons trained on her. She was helping move large bins filled with sparkling blue stones and stacking them on large wagons.
I spoke into her mind as politely as I could. “Mrs. Barnes is here. The dome is almost completely down, and we've been sent to get you and the other teachers to help rescue the Jewel Academy students. The Enforcers are already freed. They are swimming up towards the surface and hopefully Mrs. Barnes will be able to cover their escape.”
The only reaction Headmistress Magee gave upon surprise of hearing my voice in her head was her shoulders straightened slightly. She turned to one of her captors and quickly and casually snapped his neck. The other one got out a “Hey!” But in a heartbeat, her fangs were at his throat. The guard shook and shivered as she drained the blood from him. The force of her grab snapped his back and she drank to completion.
Andrei took in great shuddering breaths as Magee finished and threw the body to the ground.
“I’m assuming you’re invisible?” she said.
“Yes,” Andrei said.
I could only gape in horror.
“Get down the ladder and be prepared to move on down to where they have the shape shifters clearing the paths. Let me know when you are there, and I will descend and take care of the guards on the vampire level below.”
“I’ll go first,” Stefan said.
“You go next,” I said to Andrei, wanting to keep them both in my line of sight. Climbing down the ladder facing front was hard. I should have gone down first. I slipped and would have tumbled down, but Headmistress Magee caught me. I wanted to jerk away, but I forced myself to relax.
Down on this level were six merfolk guards. I recognized a few of the vampires from Andrei’s kiss.
“Wait for me to take care of the guards,” Headmistress Magee said. She was in mist form. I probably should have had Andrei do that. It would have helped me conserve my magical strength by casting one less spell.
I saw that one of the guards had more shells and a staff. He turned to me and a flash of alarm crossed his face. Magic rushed towards him. Raising his staff, he was about to cast a spell. Then his body spasmed as Magee tore his heart out.
She darted from guard to guard, but she would have been too late with the last one. He loomed over Andrei’s friend Thom with a sharpened stake when he was picked up and thrown against the wall.
“Stefan,” I whispered. “Be careful.”
“I have this,” Magee said and dispatched the final guard. “Students, we’re being rescued. Go to mist form. Enter the city and fly up to the surface. I’ll be right behind you.” Headmistress Magee turned to me, seeing me even though I was invisible. “Go down to the next level.” She pointed to a stairway by the ladder. “Free the other teachers like you freed me. They will take care of the guards. The guards must be dispatched before you free the students, or they will retaliate by killing the students. Lola you need to shore up the invisibility spells. I can see your outlines.”
“Actually, Andrei stay in mist form. That will help.” Taking a deep breath. I concentrated and slowly the slight shadows and peaks showing in Stefan and me faded back into the background. “I'm not sure how long I can keep this up. My head is throbbing. I can barely think. I don't know if I make everyone invisible."
“No one is asking you to do this on your own, Lola. The teachers will help. Remember, the next level should be shifters and then when you get to the witches, they will help with the spellwork."
"Okay," I said.
“Let's get to it," Stefan said. “The sooner we can free the shifters and witches, the better. I want to get out of here."
I went down the ladder first this time, looking up at Stefan. I nearly
tripped and fell, but Stefan grabbed and steadied me. “Do you want me to carry you?” he asked.
"Of course, I don’t want you to carry me." I said.
On this level were a bunch of shapeshifters. The football team was snarling and carrying large boulders off to one side. They were chained together like prisoners. My unkindness pack was huddled together in the back, squeezing through smaller holes in the cave, and coming back. Mr. Urso was was bound in silver chains and I could see where they were leaving red and painful welts that the saltwater irritating even further. There were six guards here too and another shaman. This time, I darted into the shaman’s mind before he saw me and encouraged him to go to sleep.
The shaman yawned and shook his head. He didn’t go to sleep, but he didn’t turn my way either.
“Mr. Urso," I said as gently as I could into his mind. “It's Lola, Stefan, and Andrei. We're here with Mrs. Barnes to rescue you. We've already rescued the Enforcers, Headmistress Magee, and the vampires.”
Mr. Urso hung his head and said, "I can barely move because of the silver chains. Go down to the next level and get Miss Carrier. She'll come up and take care of the guards."
Before I could open my mouth to say anything, Andrei whooshed forward and sunk his fangs into one of the six guards. The shaman snapped out of the light doze.
“Help!” I shouted, dropping all of the invisibility spells.
The werewolves started to charge, but the chains held them back. The unkindness changed to birds, but flying through water didn’t help their speed. Stefan and Andrei ripped into the remaining guards, so it was up to me to keep the shaman busy.
The dropped a silence spell over the hole leading deeper into the cave so the sounds of battle didn’t carry. The shaman started chanting and the shifters, Stefan included doubled over in pain.
“He’s killing them,” Mr. Urso said, between his teeth.