by Logan Jacobs
The beast had been impaled on a branch.
Most people would have left the creature to die on its own, but I knew I needed its blood. The more powerful the creature, the more potent the blood spell would be, after all.
So, like a madman, I gripped my dagger a little tighter, leapt into the hole, and landed on top of the creature with a thud. I dug my heels into the beast’s stomach, and it tried to move its neck closer to snap at my leg, but it was unable to get any closer to me.
For now, at least, but I wasn’t about to give it a second chance. Without thinking, I brought my blade downward and stabbed the monster in the chest with all the force I could muster.
As my dagger sliced into the creature’s skin, it wailed louder than anything I’d ever heard before. Warm blood gushed out unto my hand, and the beast tried to wiggle away, but it tore its flesh as it tried to pry itself from the branch.
I briefly wondered why this thing wasn’t immediately turning into ash like the centaur. Perhaps the dagger didn’t work on all creatures? Or maybe it took longer for the dagger’s power to take effect, especially if the creature was more powerful.
Either way, a blade was a blade, so I pulled my arm back and stabbed the creature again, and this time, I shoved the dagger deeper and deeper into its flesh until I hit bone.
The beast’s agonized cries bounced off the trees and caused a murder of crows to fly out into the night. I glanced up and watched as they ascended upwards, and a heavy silence filled the air. Then I looked back down at the monster and slowly pulled out my blade. Its yellow eyes were faintly moving back and forth, and I watched as the life drained out of them.
I inhaled sharply and stared down at the dying monster. Dark blood trickled down its skin, and then, the thing took one long, final breath before it began to shrink and turn slowly into dust.
I sighed with relief, but then I heard another rustling sound coming from above me, and when I looked back up, all four witches were staring curiously at me from the lip of the pit.
“Satan’s fury,” Morgana whispered with wide blue eyes. “You killed a wendigo?”
“I guess so,” I breathed.
I stepped on the dead wendigo and jumped as high as I could to reach a dangling vine that hung above me. I managed to grab onto it and then climbed it like a rope.
When I was finally out of that fucking hole, I looked back at my dagger as the thick blood continued to drip off the blade. I knew I needed to collect the precious blood before it all dripped away, so I reached into my cloak pocket to retrieve my vial, but there were only shards of glass inside. I pricked my finger on the edge of a piece and cursed under my breath.
It must have shattered when I jumped out of the wendigo’s way earlier.
“Does anyone have an extra vial by any chance?” I asked.
“Maybe … ” Vesta looked down at her robe and pulled out an empty glass vial. Then she twirled it in her fingers before she looked back at me, as if she was silently contemplating whether she should give it to me or keep it.
“Come on,” I growled as I held out my hand.
“Fine,” she finally sighed as she handed it to me.
“Thanks,” I said, and I was mildly surprised at her generosity.
Vesta cocked her head at me, and then she rose up on her toes to whisper in my ear.
“This makes us even.”
Her breath sent a pleasant shiver down my spine, but I shook it off. I needed to collect this blood, so I let it drip from the blade and into the vial. It was a dark, almost blackish liquid, and it looked like I had enough to concoct the sacrificial spell.
“Well,” Faye huffed once I sealed the vial with a cork, “we should probably head back now.”
We all nodded in agreement, and I stared at the women’s blood-splattered cloaks as we headed back to the castle.
“So, what did you all manage to get?” I asked.
At first, no one said a word, and I wondered why until Morgana turned to face me slowly, and her blue eyes dropped to the ground.
“A leprechaun,” she finally whispered.
“A fairy,” Faye answered with her eyes also lowered.
Everyone then stopped in their tracks and turned to Akira, who then crossed her arms.
“Fine, I’ll tell you!” the black-haired witch snapped. “I got … a … gnome.”
The girls snickered, and I tried not to laugh. Akira looked like she could hold her own, so I supposed most of us were expecting her to hunt down something significantly larger, like a werewolf or a griffin.
“Stop laughing,” she hissed at all of us. “It’s not like the rest of you managed to kill something more powerful.”
“Cole killed a wendigo,” Vesta pointed out as we moved on ahead.
“And that’s what makes the situation even more humiliating,” Akira growled. “A man showed all of us up. He shouldn’t even be at Scholomance.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. These witches just wouldn’t accept the fact that I was excelling at this.
“Look, as far as I know, it’s not a fucking competition,” I said. “The point was for us to kill something in these woods, right? We did that. So, now, the most important thing is that we pass this Blood Magic quiz tomorrow.”
The witches all stopped in their tracks and quietly nodded, but some of them crossed their arms in defeat and looked in other directions as they avoided eye contact with me.
“Whatever,” Akira finally said. “Let’s just get back inside before something that none of us can handle manages to find us.”
“Agreed.” I nodded. “Follow me.”
“Why should we follow you?” Faye demanded with her arms still crossed. “Maybe we should stay behind and let you go alone since you seem so fucking confident.”
“Because I killed the wendigo, the centaur, and the onikuma,” I replied with a smirk. “Can any of you say the same?”
“We know of two of those for certain,” Akira snarled. “Who knows if the onikuma is true.”
“You can ask Vanessa, but whatever,” I sighed, since I was running out of patience. “I’m going back, you can join me if you want to, or you can stay out here and take your own chances. I don’t fucking care.”
I was sick and tired of these women giving me a tough time when I was just doing everything I was supposed to do. In all honesty, I knew they were just jealous that I, a male outsider, was showing them up.
The girls all looked at each other as if they were all silently agreeing that the best course of action was to follow me back to the castle.
“Fine, let’s go,” Akira said with her eyes downcast.
“Finally,” I grumbled as I led the way back to the castle.
It took us about an hour and a half before we were back on the grounds. Once we were inside, we all headed back to the main hall.
“Let’s all get to bed,” Faye suggested as she pulled down her hood. “We have a big day tomorrow and should probably grab a couple hours of rest.”
We all agreed and muttered our goodbyes.
I headed back to my own bedroom, took out the vial, and studied it by the dying candlelight. The blood was a bluish-black color and was bubbling.
“Strange,” I said before I set it down on the table by my textbook.
Since I smelled like gore and raw meat, I decided to take a bath before I climbed into bed. Once I was cleaned up, and inside the covers, though, I had trouble falling asleep, because all I could do was think about the quiz tomorrow. I felt confident but also slightly nervous about the outcome.
I knew these witches would do anything in their power to see me fail, but I wasn’t prepared to go out without a fight.
After an hour or so of tossing and turning, I finally managed to fall asleep, and when I woke up, I was refreshed and ready to get down to the classroom and prove myself.
Vanessa and the others would see just how determined I was to get through this. I would ace this fucking quiz, just like I would ace the final exam.
/> I had to. The only other option was death, and I would fight tooth and nail to see this to the very end.
Chapter 6
I arrived to class before anyone else. I wanted to get there as early as possible, not only to prepare, but also because I wanted to get a little bit of reading done before the quiz.
As soon as I walked inside, I noticed there was very little daylight pooling into the classroom. I could hear the rain beating against the window, and again, it was another gloomy day.
I sat at my desk and flipped through my textbook as I waited for Vanessa and the others to arrive. I wanted to read more about blood bonded weapons since I still had many questions. Like why did the blade cause the wendigo and the centaur to turn to stone? That didn’t happen when Vesta used it … and I’d been wondering about that all night.
When I came across the chapter I was looking for, my eyes scanned the pages until I found an interesting passage.
“A blood-bonded weapon may carry the soul of its master once they have passed onto the next stage of life,” I muttered aloud. “While the master of a blood-bonded weapon is living, she alone may utilize the power harnessed within.”
I furrowed my brow. If that were true, then why did the blade exhibit extraordinary abilities when I used it? I wasn’t its owner.
I continued reading the text, and then I found my answer.
The power contained in blood-bonded weapons may only be used by a select few once the weapon’s owner is no longer in the living world.
So, the only logical explanation was I was considered to be one of the selected few … but why? I still had so many questions roaming through my head, and I was about to read more until a low growl broke me away from my train of thought.
I snapped my head up and saw Vanessa standing in the doorway with a feral black wolf by her side. The beast’s fur was the color of night, and it had a pair of sharp, ice blue eyes that were both alert and threatening at the same time. I should have been startled, but the sight didn’t faze me, not after everything I’d already seen.
“Good morning, Professor.” I grinned.
Today, Vanessa was wearing a black ebony gown with a white lace collar that reached her ears. Her dark hair was pulled up into a tight bun, and her pretty face was contorted into a scowl.
“Using the classroom to do some extra reading, I see,” she said as her eyes darted to the open book on my desk.
“Well, no one was here,” I replied. “So, what’s the harm?”
I tried to maintain eye contact with her, but it was difficult not to stare at the wolf by her side. I could feel its gaze on me, so I made eye contact with it, and it continued to stare me down. Then it growled deeply and bared its fangs in my direction.
“Easy there, Isobel.” Vanessa smiled. “He’s no threat to us.”
“Who is Isobel--” I started to ask, but then she raised her hand to cut me off.
“This is my familiar, a bonded creature,” she replied. “And if you pass the final exam, then you will receive one, too. No use wasting familiars on weak preschoolers, after all.”
“Will I get a wolf, too?” I asked as my eyes widened eagerly.
“No,” Vanessa sighed with impatience. “You’ll start off with something smaller, like a mouse or a chipmunk. Then, as you progress with your magic, it will evolve into whatever you desire.”
“I see.” I tapped my finger thoughtfully against the desk and smiled to myself.
A familiar of my own would be fucking awesome.
As I daydreamed about my own animal buddy, Vanessa marched over to her desk and pulled open a drawer. Then she rummaged through it with her brow furrowed until she finally found whatever it was she was looking for.
“Here,” she said as she walked over to me with a book in hand.
She slammed it down on top of my own open book, and this one looked to be in better condition than the textbook she initially gave me. This tome was quite beautiful. It had a sage green cover and a crimson spine with golden letters carved into it.
“In Libro Bestiae,” I read aloud from the cover.
“The Book of Beasts,” she translated. “Study it and learn the name of every creature in that book and what power they carry. It will come in handy one day. That is, if you actually take the time to study the material.”
“Thank you,” I said as I set the book aside, smiled smugly at her, and crossed my arms. “I’ll be sure to do that.”
“We shall see,” Vanessa snorted, and then took a seat behind her desk.
“I’ve gotten this far, haven’t I?” I smiled.
“True, but you should heed my warning,” she said as she met my eyes.
“Which particular warning?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.
There had already been so many insults and warnings from her that I was losing track.
“The one where you shouldn’t overestimate yourself,” she sneered. “It might get you killed.”
“We’ll see about that,” I answered in the same icy tone.
She furrowed her eyes at me and was clearly irritated. The wolf must have sensed her anger because it curled up at her feet and rubbed at her ankles, and Vanessa slowly petted Isobel as the other preschool witches began to pour into the classroom.
When I glanced up to watch them, Vesta shot me a look before she sat behind me. I couldn’t read her expression clearly, but if I had to guess, it was a mixture of worry and jealousy.
Akira slammed herself down on the chair beside me a moment later, and when I turned to look at her, I noticed bruised colored shadows under her black eyes. Her short dark hair was also disheveled, and her clothes were all wrinkled.
“Akira,” I whispered. “No offense, but you look like shit. You alright?”
“Well, that’s none of your business,” she snapped with her head down, and she refused to meet my eyes.
“Fine,” I said with my hands raised up in defense. “Forget I asked.”
She huffed in silence and then turned to face me.
“Fine, if you must know,” she sneered, “I went back out into the woods after everyone went to sleep.”
“What?” I hissed. “What the hell possessed you to do that?”
“Nothing possessed me,” she replied, and her hostile voice was suddenly laced with confusion. “Why would you think I was possessed?”
“It’s just an expression,” I sighed. “What I meant to say is, why the hell would you go out into the woods alone after what almost happened to Vesta?”
“I could protect myself,” the dark-haired witch answered with a defensive snarl.
“Well, even so,” I grumbled. “It was stupid.”
“Whatever,” she snapped and rolled her coal black eyes.
We sat in silence for a moment, while everyone waited for Sweeny to arrive, since she was the only witch not in her seat.
“Did you manage to actually hunt something else down?” I asked after a long moment.
I couldn’t help it, I was curious.
“No,” Akira sighed and sunk in her seat. “I only managed to find fairies, gremlins, and pixies.”
“Well, I’m sure the gnome blood will do fine,” I reassured her, but I couldn’t stop my lips from twitching upward.
“It’s not fair, though,” she snapped as she whirled on me. “How did you manage to find a fucking wendigo? And kill a centaur? I just don’t understand how you find them.”
“Honestly,” I replied, “it’s more like they find me.”
“Whatever.” She shook her head. “It’s so unfair.”
We all continued to wait in silence until Vanessa glanced at the ghastly grandfather clock by her desk and huffed impatiently.
“Does anyone know where Sweeny is?” she asked. “Class is about to officially start in two minutes.”
“Maybe she couldn’t kill anything,” Morgana whispered as she tucked a dark curl of brown hair behind her ear. “Stubborn witch that she is, it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“What
was that, Morgana?” Vanessa called out.
“Nothing, Professor,” Morgana replied in a louder voice, “just thinking out loud.”
“Well, if she doesn’t show up, it’s not going to go well for her--” Vanessa started to say until there was a crash at the door.
Sweeny stood there with a vial in her hand, and her already scarred face had fresh new cuts in different places. Her long auburn hair was tangled with leaves sticking out of it, and her skin was shiny with sweat and blood.
“Apologies, professor,” she panted. “I’m not late, am I?
Her voice quivered at the last question, and I realized it was the first time I’d ever heard the witch sound afraid.
“No, but you were cutting it dangerously close,” Vanessa said with a frown. “Please take a seat.”
Sweeny nodded and collapsed into a chair behind me.
“What happens if we’re late to a quiz?” I asked Akira in a whisper.
“You’re dead.” She shrugged. “Literally. Burned at the stake, because if you don’t show up, it’s taken as a sign of weakness and defeat.”
“Will you two shut up?” Sweeny hissed from behind us. “I can hear everything.”
“We’re not even talking to you,” I snapped back.
I was done with her constant bullshit.
“You impudent, unintelligent, mortal piece of--” she started to say, but then Vanessa cut her off.
“Silence,” the professor demanded with a raised hand. “The quiz is about to begin.”
Everyone, including myself, pulled out their blood vials as Vanessa started to walk around the room with her arms folded behind her back. Then she glanced down at Akira’s vial, and her face remained stoic as stone.
“Gnome blood.” She nodded. “Not terrible.”
She ignored me and headed toward Faye and Morgana’s table instead, but when she looked at their blood, her face remained neutral. She was clearly not impressed.
“Blood of leprechaun and fairy,” she sighed. “Alright, better than nothing.”
She then turned her attention toward Vesta and Sweeny.
“Imp and gremlin blood,” she mused. “A little more impressive, but not by much.”
