The Coven - Academy Magic Complete Series

by Chandelle LaVaun

Focus, Bettina.

  Jackson stood there just in front of the gate staring into the fog ahead. His two-toned sword talisman was gripped tight in his right hand, and a mean-looking dagger was strapped to his left thigh. He held up a piece of paper in his left hand with notes on it scribbled in perfect penmanship, and what looked like a drawing.

  He turned to face us, and the fear in his eyes made my pulse go wild. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. I spoke with Chutney, the Fool Card. She says they are animals we’ve never seen or heard of. We’re not supposed to attack unless it’s self-defense. Chutney was abundantly clear on this.”

  I exhaled a shaky breath. That didn’t make me feel better at all.

  Warner shifted his weight around. “Um, did she say anything else?”

  “Like maybe a map of where to go?” Erin pulled her long red hair up into a ponytail.

  Gen raised her hand. “Is no one worried this dragon isn’t going to kill us on sight?”

  Trey chuckled, his brown eyes wide. “Maybe we won’t feel it? Swift deaths for the win?”

  “Apparently Chutney can speak to animals.” Jackson held the piece of paper up and waved it. “She gave me instructions that Lonan gave her, should they ever need to get to him quickly. It says once we get through the fog, there’s an unpaved pathway that we’ll spot by this flower she’s drawn. We’re to follow those, and it’s supposed to lead us straight to him.”

  “Yeah, a quick dinner,” Gen mumbled.

  Jackson frowned and shook his head. “Chutney wrote down what I’m supposed to say when we get to the clearing. It’s not in a language I’ve ever heard, but we’re going to have to trust them.”

  Warner nodded. “Unsettling, but The Coven wouldn’t lead us to our deaths.”

  “It’s probably shifter language,” I said. When everyone turned to me, I shrugged. “If we have our own language that pre-dates English, then it’s safe to assume they do, too.”

  Jackson smirked, his eyes sparkling and making my heart do that weird flutter thing again. “Come on. We better get moving.”

  Without another word, he spun and marched toward the gate. I leapt forward, wanting to be right behind him and not in the back. The others fell in line. When I crossed through the gate, a cold wave of energy brushed over me. I peeked around Jackson’s broad shoulders at the fog, and my stomach flipped and turned.

  As we stepped into the dense fog, I huddled in closer to him. The heat radiating off his body was the only thing keeping me from turning around. My legs trembled as we walked.It felt like a lifetime before the air cleared and I could take a deep breath.

  Then I saw. We were in the Old Lands…and it was breathtaking. It was like we’d stepped into another dimension. At quick glance, it looked like ours. The sky was blue, and in the distance, mountaintops towered over everything. All around us were vibrant shades of green with little pops of colorful flowers and plants. But the air… It almost had a golden tint to it, and it shimmered like glitter. And this forest was alive. I felt it deep down into my bones. We were being watched. Energy pulsed up from the ground and through my feet. It was beautiful, but it was dangerous.

  “Hey, Jackson…” I cleared my throat and moved to stand beside him. “Why don’t you give me that note? Your hands are better for swords.”

  His lips curved up to one side, and he handed me the paper. I took it and inspected the drawing. The flower was black with little gold spikes on it. It looked like a lotus flower. The note said to follow the flower. I nodded then glanced around.

  I spotted it almost immediately, though it was tucked under a cluster of bright purple flowers. I pointed. “There! Okay, the path is this way.”

  Jackson unsheathed his dagger and moved to stand right behind me. “Take the lead, but I’m right here.”

  Ah shit. I hadn’t thought that one through enough. But it was too late. I’d stepped up to the plate, and now I had to bat. I pushed my shoulders back and walked forward, following a narrow opening through the trees. The path we were on wasn’t so much a set path but slightly less wild than the rest. We ducked under branches and climbed over fallen trees or random roots. Every ten feet or so, I’d spot another black lotus flower. I had no idea how long we’d been walking, but I’d already found twenty flowers.

  The sky above us was getting softer, less bright.

  All around us, animals stirred and went on with their lives. I couldn’t see them, but I heard them. The clawing of their nails against tree barks. The gnawing on leaves. The hissing. The growling. Every sound sent a chill down my spine. Yet…nothing approached.

  Just then, the trees swayed. Jackson leapt in front of me with his weapons drawn. A large shimmering gold lion with wings on its back and talons on its feet stomped into our pathway.

  Spoke too soon. I raised my sword, but then I remembered Chutney’s warning. We weren’t supposed to attack unless they did first. It didn’t make sense. In fact, it went against every survival instinct in my mind, but if The Coven said so, then I was going to follow. Especially a Coven member who could speak to animals.

  The gold lion stopped in the middle of the path and turned toward us. Its eyes were like liquid gold. It raised its snout in the air, and its nostrils flared. A loud rumbling sound slipped out of its mouth, and it rumbled the ground. It narrowed its eyes and looked around…like it couldn’t see us. I grabbed Jackson’s shirt, both for comfort and to keep him in place. A few terrifying seconds later, it huffed then disappeared into the trees.

  “What the hell just happened?” Erin hissed.

  “I don’t think it saw us,” Warner whispered. “Though don’t ask me why.”

  I frowned and looked to my left to where a big black lotus flower with golden spikes grew near a tree. “I think the lotus flowers… They must…I don’t know…cloak us or something.”

  “Interesting,” Jackson grumbled. He took a few steps forward, pulling me with him. “Let’s not wait around and find out.”

  When he stepped to the right, I spotted a massive cluster of the lotus flowers. They’d only been individuals up until now. I dropped Jackson’s shirt and sprinted over. The cluster sat at the base of the what appeared to be the biggest tree I’d ever seen in my life. Right across from it was another cluster and giant tree. And right in between was a narrow opening.

  I glanced over my shoulder and found my group right on my heels, watching me. I pointed. “We go here.”

  Jackson nodded and moved to stand in front of me, then he waved for us to follow. This pathway was only wide enough to walk in single file, and there was a line of black lotus flowers on the ground like they were guiding us to our destination. We followed it in tense silence until everything around us flattened out. For the first time since we’d left Eden, we were on level ground with open air around us.

  But it was dark. Somehow night had fallen already. I looked up and found a perfect crescent moon above. There was just enough light off it to see we’d found a clearing of some kind. It was a small circle, maybe thirty feet across, with trees lining the perimeter like skyscrapers. Images from the Gathering flickered through my mind.

  Shut up, brain. NOT HELPING.

  A blast of hot energy hit my back. My eyes widened, and I glanced over my shoulder but found only darkness. My pulse kicked into overdrive. The dragon. It was here…and it was watching. Almost like it was waiting for something. But I had no idea what it would be waiting for—unless…maybe…

  Acting on an impulse I couldn’t identify, I walked to the edge of the clearing where I felt the heat coming from and knelt down. The darkness moved. That heat I felt intensified and slammed into my face. Without standing, I crept backward until Jackson’s brown boots came into view. But I kept my eyes on the darkness in front of me…and then a massive pair of scarlet red eyes appeared from within the blackness. Standing in front of us was a twenty-foot dragon as black as night itself. Its wings stretched up and over its head, blocking my view of the moon above. It turned and whipped its tail through the cle
aring.

  Oh god, oh god. I knew I’d seen this dragon fly into the school’s courtyard with The Coven on its back. I knew I’d heard them talking to it like they were old friends. I knew we were sent here to find it. But none of that clicked as I stared up at the ginormous creature. We weren’t The Coven. It didn’t know us, and we’d just walked right into its territory.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  BETTINA

  “Bettina, give me the note,” Jackson whispered.

  I moved my hand down his arm and slid the paper between his sword and thumb. He took it and held it up by his face, then read the words out loud. I had no idea what the language was, or what he was saying, but it sounded beautiful rolling off his tongue in that British accent of his. When he finished, there was a beat of silence, and then the dragon’s red eyes shined brighter. His big body rumbled, and it shook the ground. His wings twitched and flapped. He shook his head, and puffs of smoke billowed out of his nose. We all jumped backwards.

  The dragon threw its wings up in the air, and my heart stopped. A dark shadow passed over it...and then the dragon was gone. The shadow vanished, and then there was a shirtless guy standing there. Laughing. He was laughing. Like that belly-roll kind of laughter. He bent over and braced his hands on his knees, still giggling. He had short jet-black hair and deeply tanned skin. He had on black jeans and black boots that looked a lot like something we’d wear. When he stood straight and shook his head, I realized he was our age. He chuckled a few more minutes then wiped his face.

  “Shit, that was hilarious.” He shook his head with a huge grin on his face. “Let me guess, Chutney?”

  Jackson nodded.

  “What did he say?” Trey asked from behind me.

  “Inside joke,” the dragon-turned-guy said, still shaking his head and smiling. “All right, I’m Lonan. Who are you?”

  We all looked to Jackson.

  “I’m Jackson.” He gestured to each of us. “These are my friends Bettina, Warner, Erin, Genevieve, and Trey. We’re students at Edenburg.”

  Lonan nodded and took a long, hard look at each of us. “You better have one hell of a good reason to come into the Old Lands, especially as civilians.”

  Jackson sighed and sheathed his dagger. “The Emperor sent us… The Coven is in Salem trying to close the Gap, and as a result, demons are attacking Eden. It’s been days of relentless, merciless attacks. No matter how many we kill, they just keep coming. We’re in trouble and we need help, but The Coven can’t help us.”

  “The Emperor sent you in for me? The guy who should have died here sent five civilians into the Old Lands just to ask for my help? Am I hearing this right?” Lonan asked with his eyebrows raised. His sapphire blue eyes were much older than his face. All signs of humor were gone. When we nodded, he cursed and ran his hand through his black hair. “We better— Down!”

  We all dove for the ground right as a dark object swooped down out of nowhere. I caught a glimpse of long fangs and serrated talons glistening in the moonlight as it flew over me. It dove and sank its claws into Erin’s back then shot straight up into the sky. Erin screamed as it flew off with her. She swung her sword up and sliced into one of its legs. It hissed and dropped lower.

  Suddenly, Jackson was upright. He planted his feet and threw his dagger. It flew in a perfect arc then buried into the creature’s chest. And then Erin was falling out of the sky.

  Lonan leapt into the air, and massive black wings shot out of his back. Erin slammed into a long tree branch, but it snapped in half and she fell again, still twenty feet in the air. Lonan plucked her right out of the air, but she was limp in his arms, her red hair spilling over.

  Lonan was halfway back to us when three more of those creatures appeared out of thin air and landed on his back. He roared and tried to roll them off, but they sank their talons into his wings. They crashed into the trees.

  And then all hell broke loose. One second we were alone in the clearing, and the next it was raining gargoyles. Or at least that was what they looked like.

  We jumped to our feet and charged into battle. I tightened my grip on my crystal sword then swung it through the wing of a monster. It hissed and spun toward me as dark blood poured from its severed wing. Then I got a real look at them. They were about my height, but their fangs alone were the size of my head. Their eyes were solid white and reflecting the moonlight.

  One lunged for me. I tried to slide back like I’d learned in training, but I tripped over something and tumbled to the grass.

  At the last second, I thrust my sword up just as the gargoyle pounced on me. My opal blade sank into its stomach. I rolled out of the way and onto my knees. Something grabbed my ponytail and yanked me backward. I gasped and started to swing my sword at it when a dark wing swooshed by my face. The tip of the wing had a razor sharp point that would’ve sliced right through my throat had I not been pulled back by my ponytail. I crashed into something large and warm.

  The thing holding my ponytail let go…and then I saw a large hand with a red rose tattoo fly in front of my face. Jackson! He wrapped his arm around my body to grip my right shoulder. I didn’t let myself pause to register the pain or shock. I pushed up on my hands and knees under Jackson, his body providing a protective barrier around me.

  Bright orange flames lit up the sky…and then Lonan leapt from within the trees in his glorious dragon form. He roared and spit his fire at the monsters, burning a few to crisps.

  “LONAN! GO!” Jackson jumped up and used his sword to point toward the sky. “GO!”

  Lonan’s red eyes looked back and forth between Jackson and the gargoyle monsters, like he was confused. He snorted and a puff of smoke billowed from his nose.

  “We’ve got this! Go!” Jackson spun and sliced a gargoyle in half. Then he turned back to Lonan. “Eden needs you NOW! GO! PLEASE!”

  Lonan growled and spit a hose of fire through the clearing. Then he reared back on his legs and shot into the sky like a missile. My heart sank as our dragon friend disappeared into the darkness. He was our ride back. That was the plan. But I understood why Jackson had sent him off. Eden was in trouble, and Lonan was their only hope right now. That was why we’d come here.

  Jackson sprinted to the center of the clearing. “Pull in!”

  I scrambled back to my feet then raced to his side. Warner, Trey, and Gen met us in the middle. We turned our backs to each other and defended ourselves. We were outnumbered five to one and this was far from our territory, but we knew how to fight together.

  Jackson led us brilliantly. He called out instructions like a football coach calling plays. I sliced when he said slice. I jabbed when he said jab. Without him, I might’ve panicked, might’ve been overwhelmed. Instead, I shut that part of my brain off and just went with it as we killed monster after monster until there were none left.

  When it was finally over and they were all gone, I wanted to collapse right there. The moon sat higher in the sky. My lungs burned. My body throbbed. I bent over and gasped for air.

  “Jackson…” Erin croaked, and then she screamed.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  BETTINA

  “ERIN!” we all shouted, and raced toward the sound of her voice.

  But under the cover of trees, it was almost impossible to see. We ran blind in the dark with only little slivers of moonlight peeking through to guide our way. Erin screamed again, and we skidded to a stop. It had come from the left. She was moving. My pulse quickened. Something had her. It was the only explanation.

  “Erin!” Gen yelled, her two swords raised and ready to kill. “Erin, keep screaming! We’re here!”

  There was a beat of silence, and then an ear-piercing shriek filled the darkness. And it didn’t stop. We turned and sprinted toward the sound. It grew closer and closer yet still out of sight. And then the noise cut off.

  I gasped. No, no, no.

  “ERIN!” I wasn’t even sure which one of us yelled that, or maybe it was all of us.

  I squinted and
looked up ahead—and then the darkness moved. It wasn’t like with Lonan where I saw his big body moving—this was the air itself. It wasn’t solid, yet it was living. I had no idea what made me do it, but I planted my feet, pulled my arm back, and threw my sword like a spear.

  The fire opal crystal looked like a shooting star as it soared through the air. The blade vanished into the blackness, and I was about to panic that I’d lost it when a wall of ice-cold energy slammed into us. We were thrown backward then crashed into the ground. The second I went down, I scrambled back to my feet. Every muscle in my body throbbed and there was a new ringing in my ears, but we had to get to Erin.

  I took a step forward, but my legs gave out under me. Something warm wrapped around my back, and then the scent of pine trees brushed over me. I sighed and leaned into the heat of his body. I felt each of his fingers dig into my skin, and I relished the feel. With Jackson supporting half my weight, we hobbled forward, searching for my sword and our friend.

  “Erin?” Genevieve yelled and then sped past us. She raced ahead to where a small patch of moonlight lit up something bright red. When she got there, her eyes widened and she dropped to her knees. “Erin! Are you okay?”

  There was a groan, and then Erin said in a weak voice, “Boogie monster… Leg…”

  Jackson tightened his grip on my waist then lifted me up as he closed the distance between us and the girls. When we got over there, he sat me gently on my feet but didn’t take his arm back. I felt fine by then, but there was absolutely no way I was telling him that until it was necessary. The heat of his skin soothed some of the tension in my bones.

  Erin’s red hair was fanned out around her face with dirt and twigs tangled in the strands like she’d been dragged. A breeze swept through the trees, and the coppery, bitter scent of fresh blood invaded my senses. Erin groaned, her eyes squeezed shut and her face ashy pale.

  Gen frowned and looked down at her friend’s body, and then her eyes widened. “Her leg… I think it’s broken.”