"What is this place?" I felt myself saying, but the words were not spoken aloud. Just as easily I heard another voice, his voice echoing in my mind.
"I'm not sure, but I think we're in the hallow." His mind's voice was powerfully resonant but carried the same timbre that I recognized.
"Do you think it's like this because the two of us cast it together?" I theorized.
"It's possible." He affirmed my line of thinking.
His fingers were still intertwined with mine, and I made no move to change that. Here, I felt connected to him. Somehow we had built this place together. It was ours.
The enchantments were easy. We were given three necklaces to enchant with three different spells. We finished within several minutes and were able to just talk. Neither one of us was eager to leave the beautiful space.
"Where do you think that light is coming from?" He asked as we sat cross-legged in the middle of the chamber. There were no windows to speak of but the room was filled with a warm glow, that nearly exactly mimicked natural daylight.
"Maybe it's the Luminous Ether," I said. I didn't know for sure, but I had a theory. Hallows were a circle of area that allowed us to use magic, so it must be connected to the Luminous Ether. If there were a door in this room and we stepped outside, I imagined that we might see what it looked like there.
"You might be right." He said. "Can I ask you something?" He added.
"Of course," I answered him, still enthralled that we were speaking to each other without words.
"Do I scare you?" He stated simply, the words forming clearly in my mind.
I had to think about that. In a way yes. For a long time, I had thought he was bound to a demon, or worse. But even then, I was still drawn to him. I didn't want to admit that to him, the magnetic force that kept bringing me to him.
"I don't think so," I said. "I've been...." I paused, trying to figure out how to say what I meant without giving away my feelings. "I mean, I am curious about you." There that was enough. His eyes were fixed on me, and I felt the connection between us intensifying, like a force that was trying to bring us together.
"I find myself curious, about you too," He admitted, still maintaining his gaze.
"Is it always like this?" I asked, gesturing towards the room in general. My uncommunicated thoughts, however, were about the connection between us. Could he sense my unspoken meaning? "When people do magic together."
"No," He said. "It almost certainly is not."
"Why is that?" I wondered reflectively. He was not able to give me an answer because at that moment we were brought back to awareness by the ringing of the bell. Stepping out of the hallow was like the feeling of being in a cool dark room, then stepping out into the harsh light of day. The feeling of connection between Kairn and I was gone as soon as we left the hallow. It was an empty feeling.
24
The semester passed quickly, and each time Kairn and I entered the chamber inside the Hallow together our connection grew stronger. It felt like we were in our own universe together. It was a rude awakening when I realized that there was still an ever-present danger. The day had come for us to destroy the demon.
Kairn arrived at Halewick late one evening. "She's back." That was all he said. We rushed to Professor Atwater's office immediately. He seemed to be expecting us.
"I knew the time would be coming sooner rather than later." He sighed.
"Let's send this demon back where she belongs," I said seriously.
"Do you have the summoning ritual?" Professor Atwater asked me.
"Yes. How is this going to work?"
"First you will begin to summon the demon, then Kairn will transform and use his power to banish the demon to the liminal world." He said.
Kairn nodded soberly. He was strong, almost unbelievably so, but I knew that this was going to be hard.
"The ruins?" Kairn asked.
Professor Atwater thought for a moment. "Yes, I think that might be the best place. The energy there is amplified. It will help us banish her."
We hiked out to the great stone wall. My eyes were always drawn to the inscriptions on the stone. It was magic.
I drew out the parchment from my pocket as well as the remaining ink black and an athame.
"Are we ready?" I asked, preparing myself for what we were about to do.
"Yes," they both responded at the same time. Kairn was standing ready to shift into his God form and Professor Atwater was standing by, ready to provide assistance.
I sliced into my palm, across the scarred burns and let the blood drain into the ink well. It created the dark red hue that was seared into my brain, from night after night of nightmares. I began to etch the sigil onto the parchment with the dark red ink. My hands connected with the sigil and the burning sensation started almost immediately.
"What is this?" I yelled.
"Esther, are you okay?" Kairn came to stand beside me.
"It's burning my skin." I could feel tears welling up but I couldn't stop. We had to banish the demon. "This happened last time but not as badly."
Professor Atwater spoke up, "There's something inside you that's trying to protect itself, some latent power or ability."
Tears were welling up in my eyes, but I continued and began to repeat the words of the spell. My hands were on fire, but I pushed through the searing pain. A blowing wind picked up in the darkness around the ruins. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as the feeling of being watched overcame me.
"There's something inside you that is fighting back. You have some power against this demon." Professor Atwater said.
"I think she's here somewhere," I shouted to Kairn over the wind.
He began to transform. His taut muscles rippling beneath his skin as the swirling tattoos grew more prominent, almost glowing with energy. I realized then something that I'd been lying to myself about for months. I wasn't indifferent to him. How could I be? My heart pulsed with energy, and I knew I was sensing his magic.
The inky red shadows took form in my peripheral vision. It was her, the demon that had tormented me. She was close. Kairn mounted the horse that had appeared from the shadows as well. He circled the perimeter of the ruins, keeping watch, but I knew that he couldn't keep her out. Not when I had summoned her. The sigil was still burning me, but I could hardly feel it anymore. The damage that it had done to my hands would likely be permanent. A heavy presence made itself known by the sickening feeling in my stomach.
"Kairn," I called out. The magnificent man with dark wild hair, adorned by the skull-shaped mask, turned to me. "Be careful," I choked out. I felt her then. She gripped my shoulders wrenching me back.
"Finally," She hissed in my ear. Could the others hear her too, or did she speak to my mind? "You've decided to come to me on your own." Her inky red tentacle wrapped itself around my arms. Kairn crossed the space between us, giant sword in hand. The metal gleamed with etched runes of its own. She restrained my arms, but he came closer. She spat at him.
"Think that you can save her now," The wretched demon seethed. "Think that your weak feelings will be enough for her." What was the demon talking about? Kairn growled. What feelings did he have that she was trying to hold against him? I was beginning to lose feeling in my arms as she wrapped tighter and tighter. I could feel her barbs trying to gain traction in my skin. When they began to pierce me I screamed and tried to wrench away from her. She made a horrible shrieking sound as I pulled away. My skin was burning. It had burned her. Kairn made his move then. He charged her. The inky dark shadow crossed the clearing and Kairn engaged her in a fight. We had to send her back to the liminal world, where she would be stuck.
The runes across the giant stone wall began to glint to me. Kairn was growling as he fought the demon in my stead. I examined the wall where the glow emanated from. There was a drawing of the man, who I now knew to be the Lord of the Wild Hunt or Kairn. Beside him was another drawing, of a woman ablaze. I read the inscription, trying hard to recall the runes with the di
straction of the fight. The demon was using her tentacles like whips trying to ensnare Kairn into her grasp.
I remembered then what Sybelle had said. There was supposed to be some kind of door at the place where I met my match. Met my match. This was the first place I had ever seen Kairn. He had saved me from the shifters when I first came to the Mage's Academy. It dawned on me then what I could no longer suppress. He was my match. I was in love with him. It made everything I'd experienced come back to me in crashing memories. The hours we'd spent in the chamber of the Hallow, talking and wondering about magic. I love him. It was a revelation, but also strangely comfortable. I knew that it was not the time to unpack what all of it meant. If the door was here somewhere where was it?
Sybelle's prophecy had two parts. I had to meet my match in love as well as a fight. The fight was mine. If I loved Kairn, I couldn't let him fight this fight for me.
"Hey, over here," I shouted. I brushed my fingers against the wall of runes silently asking for something, protection or hope.
The demon whipped around, abandoning Kairn. "Ready to take your binding?" It wailed.
"Not in this life or ever," I screamed. I pushed every ounce of energy I had at that wall, hoping for something. Kairn stared at me wide-eyed and I met his steely gaze. For a moment it felt like we were connected again through magic. I thought the three words as hard as I could, willing him to understand.
There was a whisper behind me, a breeze of cold air. Impossible, the wall behind me would block every breeze. As the demon pummeled toward me, I glanced at the wall. There was a huge door, like a stone arch in the middle of the wall, leading to a strange place. All I could see was mist and a strangely filtered green light. I stepped out of the way as the demon flew at me. She miscalculated and entered through the doorway. I placed my hands quickly back on the stone wall, visualizing it closing behind her. The stone beneath my hands obeyed me and shut as I commanded.
The howling wind died immediately, bringing us hurtling back into reality.
Professor Atwater adjusted his bifocals. "I can't even begin to understand what just happened." They were both looking at me. He continued. "I've never in my life seen magic quite like that.”
I shrugged, still trying to catch my breath. "There's something here, on the wall," I called my attention back to where the doorway had just been. "It called to me somehow." I couldn't look at Kairn. Did he know how I felt? I could feel his gaze pressing into me.
"These ruins are very ancient." Professor Atwater explained. "They harbor many secrets, I'm sure."
I pointed to the image of the girl ablaze. My advisor read the inscription surrounding her aloud.
* * *
There is one who does magic by her own will, the child of none but she, Queen of .....
* * *
There was a rune that he couldn't read. I didn't understand it either. "It's related to the word for magic, but I've never seen this form before." He said, stumped. He read on.
* * *
She is bound to nobody but herself, and her power comes from her blood, she, the daughter of a goddess.
* * *
He smiled then.
Kairn said, "Esther, it's you."
"Me?"
"Yes, you didn't see yourself during the fight, but it's definitely you. You burned the demon somehow." He said.
Professor Atwater added, "And you somehow opened a door to the Liminal Realm, which I have never seen done before. It was remarkable. This would also explain why you're unbound."
The words filled my mind. She is bound to nobody but herself.
25
We went back to my advisor's office and he looked up the rune he didn't know.
"Interesting," He hummed. I waited expectantly. "It seems to be an archaic form of the word mage, but with a slightly different association. I think the closest thing I could come up with would be the word Witch." He explained.
"Witch?" I asked. "So that means that this Goddess, is the Queen of Witches?"
"It would seem that way," He explained. "Queen of Witches is a moniker for one of the ancient ones, the goddess of magic and the crossroads. She is so ancient we don't even know her name."
"Has anyone ever been bound to her?" I asked.
"Not that I've ever heard of. For a long time, magical scholars thought she was a fictional construct because she hadn't ever bound with a Mage." He laughed. "I guess we can now say we know that's not true."
I wasn't so sure. "I'm really supposed to be her daughter?" I asked. It all seemed so far fetched, but so was being here at a school for magic. Was it really that far out there?
I turned to Kairn in bewilderment. "I'm just tired, I think I need to go home," I said, yawning.
"I'll walk you back." He answered, putting his arm around me. It was such an intimate gesture, IT made my heart race.
On the walk back to Halewick, I had a terrible feeling. "It feels like it was too easy," I said.
"I know what you mean," Kairn agreed with me. "Don't get me wrong, we fought hard, but I wonder if she's really gone for good."
"I guess we just have to wait and see," I said.
He walked me to the front door of Halewick and paused. He looked like he was going to say something, but he didn't.
"What is it?" I asked, feeling brave.
His face darkened, "I have to tell you something."
"Okay," I said. He sounded so serious it scared me.
"Ever since you came here," He started. "It just feels like I'm losing control. And ..." He paused.
"I can't stay away from you." He finished with a grimace as if he expected me to slap him. My heart felt as if it would explode. All this time, he could feel it too. I was insatiably drawn to him since I first saw him really, and now he was telling me that he felt it too. It almost more than I could take.
"Kairn," I whispered and he reached out to put his arms around my waist. "I feel that way too. I..." I wanted to tell him what I'd felt in the woods, but something held me back.
That sick feeling was there in the pit of my stomach. A voice whispered in my ear, "It's a lie." It was her, was she back. No. It had to be simply my own fear.
He leaned into me, and I was met with the unmatched brilliance of his face. It was angular and harsh, but somehow also beautiful. He pressed his lips to mine and I kissed him back fervently. We were like ice and fire, the two of us. He was shifting as we kissed between being a god and being a man. When he pulled away, I could still feel the place where his lips had touched mine.
"Good night, Esther," he said, his voice melodic and intoxication.
"Good night," I replied before going inside. My stomach was tied in knots but I didn't want it to end. I went upstairs and laid down on my bed where I promptly replayed the scene in my mind. I fell asleep fast and hoped that my dreams would be filled with his face.
* * *
It's dark. I can see the Headmaster's office as though I'm watching from above. The headmaster is sitting behind his desk, reading. A shadow moves out from the corner. The demon is watching him. She moves silently behind him and wraps her tentacles around his neck. She chokes him until he is gasping for air. I watch horrified. She releases him and says, "You have failed me time and time again. You have one more chance." She looks up then. She knows I am watching.
* * *
I startle as I awaken. My body is freezing and I realize I've kicked off the blankets. Some nightmare. No that wasn't right. It felt real, more real than real. I knew we had been right the night before. It was too easy. I had to warn Kairn. I got dressed in a rush and ran out of the house. I made it all the way to the library when I saw the headmaster. I tried to turn around, but I was too late and he saw me.
"Miss Crenshaw," He said sternly, his eyes black as night. I could see a faint marking around his neck. So it really had happened. "Come with me."
"I've really got to get to the library, to uh- study," I said, making something up on the fly.
"Not so fast," He said, h
is tone becoming sinister. "I just need to speak with you for one moment." I knew this was coming, but I had no idea what to do.
He dragged me to his office and sat me down. "I'm sure you will understand, that this has become a safety hazard, Esther."
"I don't know what you mean sir."
"I simply cannot allow you to roam around the school unbound. It is irresponsible of me to have let it go this long, honestly" He said.
I decided to face it head-on. "I think you and I both know that's not what this is about," the venom in my voice was audible. His eyes flashed with a mean glint.
"Oh?" He said, his tone eerily calm. "Do tell me what you think this is about."
"I know you're bound to a demon, and she gave you those marks." I pointed to his throat.
He looked shocked momentarily but recovered his collected appearance. "Hmmm. Is that right? Well, then I guess there's no need for me to drag this out. You will bind with her." He said forcefully, his voice growing louder.
"I will do no such thing," I shouted.
"Now, now, Esther. I did think we were going to be able to settle this with some civility. But if you prefer it this way, so be it." He was back to the cool tone of indifference. "She wants you and that is that. There's nothing I can do it, she must have you."
"I won't let you do this," I said, hoping that the uncertainty didn't show through. He couldn't make me bind with her right? A spell wouldn't work if my will was not focused on it, right? He seemed to read my thoughts.
"Oh, indeed, I can't force the binding on you, but I can send you to the liminal realm to decay until she decides to devour you whole." He said. That's where we sent the demon last night. I would be trapped with her.
He stood up and I turned to run, but he let out a blast of power, knocking me unconscious. When I stood up everything was different.
Unbound: Mage's Academy I Page 12