by Logan Jacobs
“Tardesco!” I screamed.
A blast of light hit the redheaded elder right between his eyes, and he stumbled back. The other witches took note and then began to shout the same incantation at any other elder soldier we could see. It slowed them down, and their eyes went wide with sheer surprise and panic when they realized we harbored the ability to slow them down using ancient magic.
As a pale man with gray hair and red-rimmed eyes used all his energy to try and swing his blade in our direction, Akira pulled out a long, slim sword, and with one quick thrust, she jabbed him right in his Adam’s apple. When she pulled back her weapon, thick red blood dripped from the blade, and then she began to tear through the rest of the men with all her vigor and fury.
“Kill them all!” I shouted as I pulled out my own dagger.
We swept through the small legion of dizzy men and elders and killed them all by cutting their throats or stabbing them through their hearts, and Nyx’s herbs were even more powerful than I anticipated. The men’s eyes were glassy and red-rimmed, and their pupils were the size of small, black dots. The thick smoke also made it nearly impossible for them to see as they wildly swung their blades in every direction, with no sense of direction or aim. As the deep green smoke wafted up their nostrils, the drugged men continued to clumsily sway to and fro, and their weakened state made it easier to plunge our blades through their throats and chests, like a knife slicing through butter.
Alexander wasted no time to help, either, and he flew through the air and jabbed the men through their heads with his bladed wings. Soon, we’d diminished every single soldier who tried to come through the front doors. The floor was now slick with their blood, and their insides were curled up on the floor like piles of rotting, red snakes. There were a dozen dead men lying on the floor, crumpled up onto piles with open throats and missing limbs, and their pools of blood were spreading like a crimson flood at our feet.
“Well done,” I said as I looked at my coven.
Their faces all broke out into proud smiles, but our moment of success was interrupted by a violent explosion from somewhere within the castle. We nearly fell off our feet as the ground rattled beneath us, but we managed to remain upright as we looked around in horror and confusion.
“Sounds like something broke through the castle,” I breathed as my heart skipped a beat in my chest. “Come on, we need to help the others!”
The women all nodded in agreement before we sprinted away from the pile of dead bodies we left by the doorway and made our way through the corridors. Soldiers and witches were blasting spells in every direction, and walls and paintings crashed and crumbled to the floor.
The entire academy was breaking apart, and if we didn’t finish off these bastards soon, we’d have nothing left but a pile of rubble.
“Attack all those in your path!” I cried out as I met the gaze of a brunet, elder soldier with sharp, blue eyes.
He raised his hand in my direction, but Morgana beat him to it.
“Vomica!” the bookish brunette shouted at the top of her lungs.
An orange light spurted from her wand and hit the elder right in his throat. He immediately stumbled backward and clutched at his throat, and his blue eyes went as wide as saucers. Then his perfectly carved face began to erupt in boils and ulcers, and he screamed as he scratched and clawed at his skin. He was flailing around in panic, and when he neared a stained-glass window, I decided to finish him off, once and for all.
“Dissulto!” I yelled.
Another light hit him in the forehead, and he went flying through the window and fell to his death.
“Let’s keep going!” I urged. “We need to destroy them all.”
We blasted through the corridors and took out every elder and soldier we came across. Violent explosions of colors shot throughout the hallways, and the floor was littered with bodies. Windows were broken into bits, and the castle was falling apart. The combination of corpses and rubble made it challenging to navigate smoothly through the academy, but we still managed to hit each soldier with our ancient spells.
But then, when we turned a corner, Akira took a step in front of me, and out of nowhere, a soldier wearing a quilted jacket grabbed her by the throat and jabbed a knife right through her neck.
“Akira!” I cried out as a reflex.
The black-eyed witch stumbled back with the blade still sticking out of her neck, but before any one of us could kill the motherfucker, she aimed her wand at the soldier.
“Sorbere,” she gurgled, and the spell was almost incoherent, but she still managed to cast it on the unsuspecting bastard.
A blast of blue light hit him, and his face turned three shades paler as he staggered back. His pupils suddenly contracted, and then he hunched over as if he were about to spew out his intestines.
Akira had been clever and used the ancient incantation to steal energy away from him, and once he was utterly weakened, she viciously wrenched the blade from her own throat, flipped the weapon in her attacker’s direction, and then swiftly stabbed him in the eye over and over again.
He cried out in agony, and with one final jab, she managed to push the blade through his skull. He then fell down to his knees and laid dead on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
“Akira,” Morgana gasped as she gazed at the gaping wound in the black-eyed witch’s neck.
Akira couldn’t even respond as she clutched onto her gaping throat, and dark blood spurted out from her wound and seeped from her purple lips.
“Here,” I said before I ripped the hem of my shirt, and I thanked Satan our blood pact would keep the black-eyed witch from dying.
I tied the white fabric around her dainty neck, and even though it was already stained with blood, she weakly nodded in my direction and forced herself to smile.
“T-Thank you,” she coughed.
“Try not to speak,” I ordered. “You should heal soon.”
The black-eyed witch nodded once more, and then we continued to sprint down the corridors and take out every single soldier we came across. Our familiars kept up with us every inch of the way, and they never missed a chance to kill something or someone as we sped through the castle eliminating our foes.
“Let’s return to the banquet hall,” I suggested once we came across several empty corridors in a row. “We can glance outside and see how the dragons and shadows are doing. I think we’ve nearly slain all the soldiers within the walls.”
“So, we’re actually going to win this?” Nyx panted before we reached the banquet hall. “I have to admit, I had my doubts.”
I was also in high spirits until I pushed open the doors, and then my jaw nearly hit the floor.
There, standing before us, was a giant, troll-sized man with bulging muscles, a bald head, and black tattoos running across his chest, arms, and face. His eyes were small and beady like a rat, and his teeth were long, sharp, and stained with blood.
But what truly made my stomach turn was the fact that he was holding two parts of a witch.
She was split in the middle and had her insides spilling out like wet, red snakes. The beast was devouring her head when we walked in, and when his beady eyes met mine, he growled and tossed the remains aside.
“Fuuuuuuuuck,” Nyx groaned as the creature took quick, giant steps toward us.
“Dissulto!” I shouted at the beast, and when the light hit him, he stumbled back.
“Tardesco!” Morgana screamed next, and our opponent froze in place.
“Let’s finish this fucker off,” I growled before I pulled out my dagger.
The rest of the women pulled out their own weapons, and we rushed toward the paralyzed beast. Then we carved into every inch of him like a feasting turkey, and he barely made a sound as our blades pierced his tough skin until black blood seeped out from his open wounds and spilled down his body like small rivers. Finally, he went crashing down to the marble floor, and the ground cracked from the weight of his giant body. Then he laid completely still, and we all
took a moment to catch our breaths.
“What a giant fucker,” Penelope sighed before she wiped the sweat from her brow.
“I wouldn’t fancy doing that again,” Vesta mused as she stared at her blood-splattered armor. “What a mess.”
“I’m just glad it’s dead--” Nyx muttered, but then we heard a thunderous noise coming from down the corridors.
It sounded like a group of wild, massive horses galloping toward us.
“What could that be?” Faye whispered in terror.
“A number of things,” Morgana muttered back as she clutched onto her wand and dagger.
“And it’s coming this way,” I hissed before I looked around the banquet hall and tried to see what we could use for cover.
Whatever was coming for us, it was even larger than the giant we just faced, and we knew it.
My eyes focused on the doorway, and as I took a couple of steps back, I had an idea.
“Help me flip these tables over,” I said in a rushed voice. “Hurry! We can use them as shields.”
The others nodded and then quickly began to toss the tables over and have them face the doorway. We took cover behind them, but as the rumbling grew louder, I realized we needed more backup.
And that’s when an idea hit me like an unsuspecting spell.
“Look,” I said as I turned to the others, “fuck the tables, I have another idea, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Oh, shit,” Nyx muttered.
“What is it, Cole?” Morgana asked with wide blue eyes.
“I want to summon the beasts from the forbidden dungeon to help us,” I explained. “We can all use the apertum spell and have them obey our bidding.”
The others all turned to look at each other with wide, fearful eyes, and Faye was the first to speak up after a long, painful moment.
“What if it doesn’t work, and they just decide to kill us?” she asked.
“I think we can do it,” I said as I stared into her golden-green eyes. “No, fuck that, I know we can do it.”
The women chewed on their lower lips and then glanced up toward the ceiling, but then Akira snapped her fingers, and the rest turned to look at her.
“It’s Cole,” she croaked. “If he says we can do it, then we can do it.”
“Yeah.” Morgana nodded before she turned to look back at me. “Of course, master, we’re with you all the way.”
I smiled, and before the echoing footsteps of whatever was coming our way could grow any louder, I pulled out my wand and took a deep breath. Then I pictured the dank, dark dungeons and willed ourselves and our familiars to transport there as quickly as possible.
“Hos parere imperio,” I muttered, and we were swept up in a cloud of purple smoke as the entire banquet hall vanished in the blink of an eye.
We landed in the dungeons moments later, and when we turned to look at the wooden doors, they were trembling as deep growls echoed within. My only guess was the beasts must have sensed something was amiss, and they were desperately trying to escape.
Cole, are you sure about this? Alexander asked.
“Yes,” I said before I looked at the others. “Okay, are we ready to do this?”
“Yes, master,” my coven responded, and Nyx nodded, too.
“Alright,” I said before I took in a deep breath. “Don’t forget to open your mind up to the darkness before reciting the spell. You must be as confident in yourself as you are in our Lord Satan.”
The witches all muttered their agreements before we collectively closed our eyes. I pictured the different beasts behind the doors and then willed them to obey my every whim and dark desire. They were mine to command, and they needed to respect me as their master.
Finally, when I felt as if I had control over the situation, I took another deep, steady breath.
Apertum.
A brisk, chilling wind swept through the air, and then the doors slowly stopped their violent shaking. All was still and quiet, and the women turned to look at one another with wide eyes and tightly pressed lips.
“Well,” Penelope said after a moment of stillness. “Did it work?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” I said before I focused on each prison cell door.
Motus.
The wooden portcullises began to rise from the ground, and when they lifted, we were standing in the middle of a dungeon surrounded by countless beasts who could rip us apart in mere seconds. I could see half-breed centaurs, rabid trolls, wild griffins, giant reptilian man-like beasts, and other terrifying hybrids Faye probably knew by heart, but I had no idea what their official names were. There were at least a dozen or more down here, and I prayed to Satan there would be enough of them to help us take down whatever enemies remained behind the castle walls.
I slowly turned in a full circle to meet the many pairs of menacing eyes staring right at us, and a part of me expected them to lunge for our throats, but it never happened.
“Attention,” I called out. “You are now ours to control. You will obey every order without question, and you will serve us as obedient slaves. Understood?”
I almost felt ridiculous giving out verbal commands to a group of senseless beasts, but to my utter surprise and relief, they all slowly began to bow down before me.
The women started to cheer and clap, and a smile broke out across my face.
You did it, Cole, Alexander praised.
“Almost,” I reminded him. “Come on, we need to take these creatures back to the banquet hall and finish this battle once and for all.”
I transported us all back to the hall, and as we landed in the expansive room, a thunderous explosion erupted from the doorway and sent us flying backward. I landed with a painful thud on the marble floor, and for a moment, I struggled to regain my breathing. When I stood up and shook my head, I had to wait until the dust settled to see what we were facing. Once the clouds of debris finally cleared, though, I glared up at a dozen giant men with tattooed bodies and towering, muscular frames.
Their beady eyes focused on us, and then they charged.
“Attack!” I called out to the beasts we’d just released.
Different creatures rushed past us, and they attacked the giants with full force. Even our familiars joined in on the battle, and as the rest of my coven got back on their feet, we pulled out our wands and started to blast out spells and curses.
The entire banquet hall was falling apart and smeared with blood and gore, but we were in control. The monsters we’d used for lessons were now tearing through the giants like wolves devouring sheep. As our new servants ripped the towering men apart limb by limb, the professors and the other students came sweeping into the hall, and their eyes widened in both fear and amazement.
“Fight with all you’ve got!” Vanessa shouted before she charged into battle.
The dark-haired professor wasted no time attacking any remaining giants with her ancient incantations, and the other students and professors did the same. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I shouted spell after spell, and finally, when the last of the giants fell to the ground covered in blood, a cheer echoed in the hall.
“We did it, Cole,” Faye squealed as she grabbed my arm.
“Can you believe it?” Nyx also shouted. “We actually won!”
“I wouldn’t start celebrating just yet,” a deep voice from the doorway growled.
When we spun around, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach, and my hands began to shake. The leader of the flying brigade, the elder with the scar across his face and the piercing green eyes, was standing by the broken doorway with Theodora in his clutches. He held a golden blade to her throat, and even though she was a hostage, the poised headmistress didn’t show an ounce of fear in her calm, placid face.
Still, my blood instantly boiled at the sight of her. Our fearless headmistress was covered in bruises, her lip was split open and bleeding down to her chin, and there were fresh bruises all over her beautiful face. Her dress was ripped and cove
red in dark stains, and who knew where else this bastard had cut and beat her.
There was a small army of men behind the lead elder, and it was difficult to read the expressions on their faces. Some looked worried, while others showed no emotions at all.
“Mother!” Vanessa cried out, and then her face twisted into a furious scowl as she bared her teeth at the elder holding Theodora. “Don’t you dare touch her!”
“I’ll do whatever I please,” he said as a smile broke across his scarred, but angelic face. Then his emerald eyes darted back to me, and his jaw began to clench. “You. We’ve heard all about you, but I didn’t believe any of it for a moment.”
“What the fuck did you hear, exactly?” I growled as I took a step closer toward him.
“A male witch with extraordinary power has entered the walls of Scholomance,” he said in a mocking tone of voice. “Let’s just see how powerful you truly are… I dare you to face me. Man to man. Let’s end this charade once and for all.”
“Fine by me,” I hissed, “just let her go.”
“With pleasure,” he answered before he violently shoved the headmistress aside.
Theodora flew to the ground and hit her head on the edge of a stone, and then she laid limp on the floor.
Before I could even call out her name or raise my wand high enough, the elder general raised his hand in my direction.
“Praevolo!” he yelled.
A blast of bright, blinding red light erupted from his hand, hit me straight in the chest, and sent me flying back into a mass of rubble. Gasps and high-pitched screams filled the air when I landed with a thud and hit my skull against something sharp, and I could feel hot blood seeping from the back of my head. My eyesight grew hazy as hot bile rose up into my throat, but I still forced myself to get back up on my feet.
From the corner of my eye, I saw my coven aiming their wands at the general, but before they could utter a word, he waved his hand and sent them soaring back into the air as well. They screamed as they flew in different directions and hit their own heads against marble and stone, and my blood grew hot as I stood on my feet and gazed at their limp bodies.
“Your bitches can’t save you now,” the blond elder sneered through gritted teeth. “You’re a dead man.”