Oath Of The Witch: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (School of Necessary Magic Raine Campbell Book 4)

by Judith Berens

  Everyone hurried over to slap Adrien on the back and congratulate him once more. They had a captain for next year.

  Etienne jogged to catch up with his departing brother after practice. There was still important business to discuss. Adrien needed to understand why he was the new captain. “Adrien, wait.”

  “What is it?” The younger brother slowed.

  “I wanted to talk to you. About the team…and other things.” Etienne’s mouth tightened into a thin line, and he glared into the woods in the distance.

  Adrien looked that way but didn’t see anything unusual other than a few Arc Eighty-Eight players who swung weapons at creatures visible only to them. “So talk.”

  “Are you comfortable leading the team?” Etienne raised a brow in question.

  “Yes. I’m only confused as to why I was chosen and not Cody or Daniel.” He didn’t worry too much; they both seemed happy with the choice, but not worrying wasn’t the same thing as not being confused.

  “Me.” Etienne rubbed at his nose, tension in his shoulders.

  “You?” Adrien asked in response, now even more confused. “What do you mean?”

  “I talked to Cody, Daniel, and Matt. I asked them to make you team captain. None of them had a problem with it.” Some of the family pride painted itself on his face. “The others are good at Louper, no one can doubt that, but you’re destined to be a Guardian.”

  “Is that what you told them?”

  “Yes, actually.” Etienne raised his hand, and a sword winked into existence. He pointed the polished blade at the sun. “You and your friends have done a good job taking care of different troubles. Good, practical experience, but you need more leadership experience.” He cut through the air with his sword. “That way, you can reach your maximum potential. Your kidnapping was only a sign that even those Raven fools see that. It’s not as if the headmistress will let you run off to hunt dark wizards on the weekend, so being the Louper captain is a good way to get leadership experience.”

  “You might…have more faith in me than I do.” Adrien looked at the ground. “I’ve screwed up more than once, including letting the Raven Clan kidnap me.”

  “I know I’ve been hard on you in the past, but no warrior wins every battle.” His older brother lowered his sword and it disappeared. “And you’ve had a lot of successes, including helping take down that insane Gunnar. I don’t say it enough, but I’m proud of you, little brother. You’ve grown a lot this last year and a half, and I think both Louper and your friends have helped with that. I worried before that you had become…too soft, but I realize I was wrong.”

  “I’m growing yes, but I have a long way to grow still.” Adrien kept his gaze focused on the ground, not quite sure what to do with his brother’s high praise.

  “Fine. This school is a good place to do that, and I know you’ll never forget that with enemies like the Raven Clan out there, we both need to do everything we can to improve ourselves and do what we’re meant to do as Guardians—protect what’s important.” Etienne clapped his brother on the shoulder. “Will you miss playing Louper with me?”

  “Yes, I will.”

  “Then good. Let’s make the rest of the season together count.”

  Chapter Seven

  Raine brushed a pile of dust and wrappers into the dustpan with a broom. They’d been in class for a few weeks, and they’d not yet managed to have a movie night. Other clubs and homework hacked away at their free time. They’d not even visited the kemana yet and were overdue for a Bubble and Fizz treat.

  It was time for all that to change, starting with the return of movie nights but first, they needed to get their movie room in order. Somehow, the room looked almost as bad as it had when they’d first found it. Maybe even worse.

  Evie and Sara worked on the armchairs and couches, while Philip, Adrien, Cameron, and William swept the rest of the room and patrolled for stray wrappers or food.

  “I think Horace purposefully came in here and threw a bunch of dust around,” Philip said, with a frown. “Just to teach us a lesson.”

  Evie shook her head. “That doesn’t sound like Horace.”

  “We simply got lazy toward the end.” Raine started on another pile of dust and a surprisingly high number of stray M&Ms. So much wasted chocolate, a true crime. “And then the vacation and the start of the semester happened.”

  Sara groaned as she extricated another wrapper from between the couch cushions. “Guys, we need to be more careful. We’ll attract ants if we keep this up. Probably giant ants.”

  “Dude, we need to watch a movie about giant ants.” Philip’s eyes lit up at the possibilities, even though there weren’t that many.

  “Can we even get ants here?” Evie asked as she crouched down to run her hand behind another cushion. “Wouldn’t they give Horace some sort of anti-ant potion to spray? I’ve never seen any ants inside a school building.”

  Raine picked up her full dustpan and emptied it into a trashcan in the center of the room. “I don’t know. Honestly, I never thought about it.” She continued to sweep until another thought popped into her head. “I read on vacation that a gnome was behind the creation of DVDs, but I couldn’t find much else about it. It was weird. All the articles I found pointed back to the same few articles like it’s some big secret.”

  “Yep. Since it was before the gates opened, there was still a lot of secrecy, and some of the companies still cling to trade secrets arguments.” Philip grinned. “Why do you think we use such outdated stuff for our movie nights? I don’t understand it all, but something about how DVDs are made makes it easier for magic to work on them, and that helps for things here like transferring movies onto them since we can’t stream stuff off the net.”

  Sara now moved her broom with strong, long strokes like she was scrubbing the floor, her brow furrowed in concentration. “We should also talk about the movies we’ll watch this semester. Don’t hate me, but I’m tired of vampires, zombies, or slayers. We hit that hard last semester and last year.”

  She wouldn’t dare tell them she was in the mood for something far lighter, but she had an idea how everyone could get what they wanted—if they played along.

  Philip stopped his work and rested his hands atop his broom handle. “What do you want to watch?” he asked, honest curiosity in his voice. “A different theme? How about mummies? Lots of fun, cheesy mummy movies. More werewolves? We found decent movies with werewolves.”

  Cameron snorted but didn’t say anything.

  “You’re more than a decent werewolf.” Raine smiled at him.

  The shifter grunted and looked away to hide his own smile.

  Philip cleared his throat and nodded at Sara. “You were saying, Sara?”

  The kitsune looked down and blushed. “Nothing in particular, but I think we should mix it up a lot more. Maybe we should rotate what we watch each time and let a different person have the chance to bring a movie. Any movie, but everyone has to agree to watch it. That way, we’ll all see films we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. We will be forced out of our comfort zones.”

  “I think it’s a great idea.” Philip nodded his head in eager agreement. “It’s not like any of us have sucky taste.”

  “That’s assuming a lot.” Adrien offered him a wry grin.

  “You’ve liked what we’ve watched.”

  “Maybe.”

  Raine tilted her head at an odd bump under a rug. She leaned down and lifted it to find a dust-covered Twizzler. After making a sad face over the waste of candy, she dropped it into the garbage can. “I think it’s a good idea, but maybe we should vote or something. So it’s official.”

  They all nodded their agreement.

  “All in favor of the weekly rotating plan, say aye.”

  “Aye!” they all cried in unison.

  “The motion carries.” Raine grinned. “Who should go first?”

  Adrien smirked. “Maybe me. I should bring something very cinematic, very philosophical, very slow, and very Fre
nch. Our movie watching’s been very American.” He held up a hand to stop any protest. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

  Cameron, who had continued his work the entire time except for the vote, grimaced. “I wonder if we’ll all end up regretting this.”

  “If you like action, the French have made some of the greatest action movies of the past century, too.”

  “Oh, then that’s okay.”

  “More seriously,” Adrien continued, “I’d suggest we simply draw at random.”

  After a brief discussion, everyone agreed to the plan.

  Raine all but bounced, energized by her friend’s suggestion. “I think it’s great. If we do this right, we’ll watch a different kind of movie each time, and it’ll be super fun for everyone. Great plan, Sara.”

  The redhead smiled back. A little gore, vampires, and slaying could be fun, but fighting crazy wizards and black dogs made her think it’d be nice to view a variety of films—and happy ones at least once in a while. Even if the others brought horror or war films, she’d know they’d switch it up. With this plan, she could feel better without making anyone else feel bad about what they wanted to watch.

  Sara kept her smile on her face even as she wondered if it was the movies or her own magic she was more concerned about. She pushed the thought out of her head. Their movie club was about fun with friends. It should be a happy place, even if the movies weren’t.

  Her magic would come in fully. It had to. The cupcakes alone proved the potential was in her. That disturbing baking mishap couldn’t be the end of her magical experience.

  Chapter Eight

  Raine, Sara, and Evie filed into their potions class and moved to their stools, while Christie headed to a different table with small cauldrons. She had to repeat the class after a small incident with a liquid potion, some frogs, and her parents’ house over the holiday break.

  This semester was the first time since coming to the school that they didn’t share the same potions schedule with their other friends. It would take them a while to adjust to the idea, but they were grateful for the luck that had kept them all together before.

  Small trays containing two dozen ingredients sat at each station on the tables. Each held several leaves or flowers, mushrooms, some sort of rodent tail, and crystals and vials of small colorful powders, including one with a dull yellow light. A small cracked piece of wood also lay on each tray along with a glass jar of crystal-clear water.

  Professor Fowler stood at the front, her arms folded and a small smile on her face. After all the students finally settled into their seats, she cleared her throat. “The potion reviews have gone well, and I wanted to move onto something new. But before that, there’s something I need to talk about.” Her careful gaze swept the room. “Arc Eighty-Eight. I appreciate that many students find the game enjoyable, and when you’re not in class, your recreation choices are your own. However, I’ve seen far too many students still trying to play the game in class.”

  Raine wondered how that even worked. The game was linked to the player’s surroundings, but maybe there were things you could do while seated at a table.

  “Therefore,” Professor Fowler said with a flourish of her arm, “I will now implement a policy wherein I’ll confiscate any Arc Eighty-Eight glasses from any student who wears them in class. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, Professor Fowler,” the students replied as a chorus.

  “Good, now let’s go to—” The redheaded elf professor stopped and raised a brow before a slight frown replaced her smile. She stared at a Wood Elf boy in the back. “Really, Jordan?”

  He slumped, his Arc Eighty-Eight glasses in his hand and halfway to his pocket. “I only wanted to check if my crystal fountain had recharged. I wasn’t really playing. Not really.”

  Professor Fowler raised her palm and shook her head as she murmured something under her breath. The glasses floated away from Jordan and into her hand. “Potions is a detail-oriented class. When students don’t pay attention, accidents can happen, and I don’t want any of my students getting hurt.”

  Jordan groaned, defeat on his face and in his slumped shoulders.

  “You can have the glasses back in a week.”

  “You don’t understand. I was almost to the next major level for my crystal fountain.”

  The professor set the glasses on her desk. “You should prepare instead for the next major level in potion making.” She pointed toward the board and a recipe appeared in careful script. “This is what we’ll explore over the next couple of weeks—a general repair potion.” She gestured to several numbered lines on the board. “First off, this is a complicated potion in terms of ingredients and preparation, even if it’s not time-consuming otherwise.” She moved her finger toward the next line. “Second, it only works on inanimate objects, and the complexity and effort of the potion preparation will affect the complexity of the possible repair. I will note that the ingredients and other necessary reagents for the spell are rather expensive, so in many cases, it’s not cost-effective to use a repair potion if a conventional repair spell or a normal repair process is in order. Third, it’s even more difficult to prepare a repair potion that works on a magic artifact or item.”

  The students scribbled notes.

  Raine raised her hand.

  “Yes?” Professor Fowler nodded at her.

  “If this is so difficult and expensive, why bother?”

  “A good question. Magic doesn’t always have to be practical.” Professor Fowler pointed at her desk. A white bolt shot from her hand, and a huge jagged crack appeared in the wood.

  The students jumped a little on their stools.

  “But something described as repair implies practical use,” the elf professor continued. She reached into a desk drawer and produced a small opaque glass bottle. With a flick of her wrist, she opened the potion and dumped the contents up and down the crack. The damaged area glowed and fused itself over a matter of seconds. “The main answer to your question, Raine, is that given the natural distribution of talent, some magicals will lack ability in repair spells but might be better at potion-making, and this is something that can be given to a non-magical. In addition, if you have a large number of items to repair in the future, it might be worth it to spend the time to prepare the potions ahead of time.”

  Evie raised her hand.

  “Yes, Evie?”

  “These only work on inanimate objects?”

  “Yes, that’s correct.”

  Evie scrunched her face up in concentration as she worked through some of the possibilities. “And an Oriceran made of, say, rock wouldn’t be healed by this?”

  Professor Fowler chuckled quietly, although she was pleased by the question. “No. I understand what you’re getting at, but even such a being would require a type of healing potion, not a repair potion. It’s the life itself that makes a difference regardless of the nature of that life.” She looked around with a smile. “Any other questions before we get to making the potion?”

  The students all shook their heads.

  “Excellent.” Professor Fowler nodded toward the recipe. “As you can see, there are a number of very precise steps, and this results in most of the complexity for these potions. The actual brewing time is rather modest compared to many comparable potions. Any failure in any of these steps can affect the success of the potion preparation or negatively impact its effectiveness.” She gestured toward a few particular steps. “This is why we’ll also do these checks at different points to confirm our progress. Before we start, let me stress that many of you will fail to make even the simplest version of this potion.”

  “This is the simple version?” Raine murmured.

  “Yes. This spell is only sufficient for fixing things like small cracks in wooden blocks. More powerful potions have not only more ingredients but far more steps.”

  Most of the class groaned, but Raine and Evie smiled, even more interested. Sara didn’t groan, but she wasn’t overj
oyed at the idea of a potion recipe with a huge number of steps.

  Professor Fowler clapped twice. “Now, let’s get started. For the first step, please add the water into your cauldrons. Once you’ve poured that in, please pick up your valerian root along with your mortar and pestle. Grind it to a fine consistency before you add it into the water.”

  Raine sighed and stared at the yellow liquid in the small glass jar in front of her. Evie’s potion already bubbled with all the ingredients added, but hers remained stuck at an earlier check step. The recipe said that when a tiny amount of salt was added to the liquid, it should turn red, not yellow.

  “Ugh. This is so hard.”

  Evie stirred her cauldron with a wooden spoon. “Did you grind the moonflower extract?”

  “I thought I did.” Raine bit her lip. “Maybe I didn’t?”

  Sara peered into Raine’s cauldron. The kitsune was still adding ingredients, but she was far beyond Raine’s step. “When mine was yellow, I forgot the saltpeter.”

  “Maybe I forgot that, too. There are so many steps. I think this is the most complicated potion we’ve ever worked on.”

  The other two girls both nodded.

  Jordan yelped in the back of the classroom as his cauldron bubbled over and cracked. The now amber liquid spilled onto the table and hissed. “Professor, um…I think this will blow up.”

  “Oh, I hate it when that happens.” Professor Fowler sighed and strode toward the table. “It’s a good thing we’re working on repair potions.”

  A loud pop sounded, and Jordan groaned. His cauldron lay in eight pieces, and his desk now glowed.

  Evie leaned toward Raine and winked. “See,” she whispered. “It could be worse. At least you haven’t blown your desk up.”

  Raine put a hand over her mouth to mute a quiet laugh.

  Chapter Nine

  Raine finished brushing her teeth and stepped out of the bathroom. It’d been a hard week, if only because of the stupid repair potion. Evie mastered the basic recipe on the first day, but Raine and Sara still struggled to even complete the first basic one, as did most of the class. She was more frustrated than concerned, but Evie’s assistance helped to push both her friends toward being able to fix the wooden blocks. Raine could only imagine how hard it would be to prepare a powerful repair potion.