by L Cross
I was too busy avoiding looking at him, determine to rip my pizza crust to shreds. When the silence from his side of the table stretched on, I finally looked up.
“What kind of field trip?” he asked.
Wyn had been ready to answer me, but he waited until I could look at him to answer me.
He had infinite patience. He taught me so much in just a few hours, I wondered what it would be like to be his apprentice.
“The kind of field trip that would take us back to Blazers, that laser tag place?”
“Why did they call it “Blazers” anyway? They had to know they sound like a really specific Men’s Wearhouse?”
I snorted up my soda. “I think they were trying to play off the whole Trailblazer and laser tag thing, but it totally flopped. So, would you be game?”
He leaned back in his chair. “Let’s say—because of my warden-y status—I wouldn’t necessarily be able to lead you there. But I would game to follow you wherever you decide to go.”
“Ah, so if I read between the lines: You can’t take me anywhere potentially dangerous, but you’d follow after me and make sure the silly little girl didn’t break her neck or something? Does that sound about right?”
Wyn see-sawed his head. “I wouldn’t say those words exactly…” He let the rest of the sentence trail off. Unspoken was the part that, yeah, he wouldn’t say those words, but it was exactly right.
I rolled my eyes. “Men,” I muttered, standing up. We cleaned up our table, and he left a tip.
I took out my phone. “I think I can get a car service in like five minutes.”
Without a word, Wyn wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and walked me forward.
In two steps, we were inside of Blazers.
“I swear I need to learn how you all do that,” I said.
Wyn chuckled, his laugh reverberating in his chest. “Now that is definitely advanced-level magic. I’d need more than hour to help you with that.”
I swallowed down a squeal of delight, and moved away from him before he could pick up on how his words affected me. He said that he’d help me. No conditions, just a random person offering to help another person out.
Like real friends.
I looked at my watch. “It’s just barely after dinner time on a Saturday. Why is this place closed? It should be hopping by now?” Last night was a zoo of people running around and tearing through the place.
“You don’t think that they would let the people walk around with the risk of a rogue demon on the loose?” Wyn responded.
Oh. Right. Magical people probably waved a few spells around to make this business close for as long as they need it closed.
“I’m guessing mages or whoever had already raked through this place? So traces of the other magic is already gone.” I was bummed.
“It’ll still be there, but unless you knew what to look for, it’s like looking for a specific needle in a stack of needles.”
I bit my lip. “And here I thought I was onto something.”
“Tell me,” he asked.
“Okay, it’s just a thought, and you have to promise not to laugh.”
He mimicked crossing his heart, and then zipping his lips closed.
“Well, I find it convenient that Hanami’s wand was found to have been used to conjure black magic, but not the specific spells. Especially when Hanami said that at one point her wand was thrown from her hand.”
Wyn nodded. “They also would have conjured a trace spell. If they saw something definitive, Mimi wouldn’t be in this much trouble.”
“Do you all call her that?” I asked.
“What? Mimi? Yeah, she used to go by that,” he shrugged.
“And she liked it? She introduced herself as Hanami.”
“Yeah. Probably because her parents and family are really strict and conservative. She always gets a little more uptight after a visit with them.”
He said it so offhand, but I felt like it was a huge revelation. There was definitely more going on beneath the surface, and I didn’t know whether I should pry or not.
“So you all used to be friends?”
“Yeah. Then Lance did something to piss her off and it’s been ice cold ever since. I just figure she was doing the whole keeping her distance thing. Getting a head start on being the new Merlin.”
“Proactive, that seems to jive with her,” I said.
“She’d say, ‘Prudent planning.’” The way he grimaced made it seem like that was a direct quote from a past conversation. “So, what did you have in mind?”
“A spell that would reveal anything hidden, like what you were showing. But more specific.” My skin flushed. “I don’t know exactly what I’m asking.”
“Like, maybe a spell that would show where people were? Would that be helpful?”
“Yeah, at least if it could be recreated so I could see it all play out. I tried asking for revealing anything, but nothing happened.”
Wyn put his hands on his hips. “Remember what I said about focus? And how long it took you to get into that mind space you needed to feel magic?”
“Well, if I take twenty minutes to find my focus every time I need to cast a simple spell, it’s gonna take me a while.”
“Or,” he said, “You can ask a friend to spare you a bit of energy.” He smiled. “Magic requires a lot of energy, but it doesn’t have to be from the same source. Why do you think we all move out in units or teams.”
He paused, mulling things over in his mind. He seemed to come to a conclusion because he nodded, as if he won a debate with himself.
“It’s actually easier with a third. Hold on a sec.” Wyn grabbed his phone from his back pocket, and swiped it open. “Lance, you busy? Need you a sec.”
Before I could even think to protest inviting another into this field trip, Lance appeared. He was in a simple black shirt, black jeans, and combat boots. If he had on his cloak, he’d look like he was on patrol.
“Damn, I really need to learn how to teleport.”
Lance looked a little worn out, but his face lit up when he saw me. “I’ll teach you,” he said with a wink.
Then he realized that Wyn was there, and he took his time looking from Wyn then back at me. “What were you two kids doing?”
He made it sound more naughty than it actually was.
I snorted. “Working.”
Lance snapped his fingers. “Dammit, that’s what I was afraid of. I just got off shift.”
“Good, then you’re warmed up,” Wyn casually interjected. “Don’t worry about it. I just need a tiny bit.”
“What are you planning on doing?”
“Just a shadow spell, no biggie.” Wyn grinned.
Lance groaned again, melodramatically this time, so I knew he’d already do it. “Fine but you’re buying me pizza. Hadn’t eaten yet.” He rolled his shoulders like he was getting ready to fight. “So, you’re gonna be the center?” He asked.
“No, Artura.” Wyn nodded toward me.
Center? What? I pretended to know what they were talking about and just stood there wide-eyed.
“Ooh, Artie in the center. I like that.”
His words conjured up a whole different dynamic in my mind. “Are you capable of saying something that doesn’t sound like an innuendo?” I asked.
“Well of course, but what’s the fun in that,” he said waggling his eyebrows.
I turned toward Wyn. “Please tell me what to do, and I hope you don’t mean focus, because I don’t know if I can.”
“You don’t have to worry about this one. We’re going to be the base, and you will be the conduit, so to speak. We will take care of the magic flow and focus, and you will direct it and shape the magic with the spell.”
“And, what spell is it?”
“You can use revelare but hold in your mind the intention of what you want to see. You have to be very clear, okay?”
“Okay,” I said swallowing my nerves.
“You can do this,” he said. His confid
ence in me made my nerves settle.
When he said it, I believed him.
“Okay,” I repeated, my voice stronger.
They joined hands with me, and there was a rush and flow of energies that felt both like a gentle stream and a rushing wind.
The rush of warmth that ran down my arms made me realize that this was what Wyn meant about magic and energy being different with each mage.
This shared life force was invigorating. It was like going skydiving. The rush of adrenaline filled every molecule of my being.
“This will be fun, I haven’t been in a threesome in a while,” Lance said.
I laughed out loud at the unexpected comment, and that bit of joy added a jolt to the shared energies.
“Lance,” Wyn warned in lethal whisper that I wasn’t used to with him. “If you could please stop being an ass, that would be helpful.”
I’d already felt energized being connected with them, but after a minute, I felt…Charged. Like it was the combination of euphoria, rest, and electricity.
I felt like I could take on the world.
I was unstoppable.
It was this feeling and belief that I held loosely in my belly. And it was at this point—when I felt the doorways of the world align—that I knew what I wanted to see.
I fixed the image of the laser tag game in my mind’s eye. I wanted to see what happened. When the tension increased in my muscles, and my mind’s eye was clear, that was when I formed the words.
“Revelare.”
15
The World Starts Tonight
Behind my eyelids, the shadows of what happened last night flickered in front of my as if in a movie.
Hold the vision, Wyn said in my mind.
I wanted to ask him if he could see what I saw, but I had to trust that I needed to hold that tension.
Whenever I thought to grip too tight on the image or when I felt like I could step back away from it, the vision itself wavered.
It was like balancing on a tightrope, and I focused on my breathing.
There. The image was able to play more clearly this way.
The lasers and light show pulsed in the shadows. Echoes of the thumping music rippled into the air. Then, I saw the demon creature, and how we surrounded it.
There were too many lights and too much movement, but just before the demon was blasted into a blackened stain on the floor, something darted along the floor.
What’s that now?
I focused deep into that one spot, rewinding the action until I saw clearly what had darted across the floor, too quickly for regular sight.
A second Hanami-figure had appeared and jumped at the demon.
That was what caused the destruction.
I unlinked from Wyn and Lance. I was gratified to see that I wasn’t the only one breathing heavily from the exertion.
“What the hell was that?” I asked. “What does that mean?”
Wyn’s expression was grim. “It means that there are foot soldiers from Morrigan’s army here that are unaccounted for. Where there is one, there could be a lot more.”
“How much more?” I asked.
“A legion.”
Wyn and Lance took me to their townhouse. Considering it housed a bunch of guys, it was clean and kind of fancy.
“This house belongs to Morgan’s family,” Wyn supplied as information. “Morgan. Kitchen.”
Considering how Morgan had texted me to meet him at the Oubliette, I was thoroughly satisfied with how Wyn ordered him to the talk.
Morgan appeared in a swirl of black smoke. “This better be good.”
Wyn brought him up to speed about what happened in the laser tag building, and how he wanted to bring it up with the Merlin and Roark.
“We need a game plan before the Academy goes into full swing.”
Morgan’s face was immovable during the run down. His arms crossed over his chest, drumming his long, elegant fingers against his body.
“Are you sure this can’t wait until morning. After all, you didn’t find out any new information exactly.” The sardonic drawl of his voice irritated me, but I swallowed it down.
“I found enough new to wonder what the hell the mages on site were doing last night. If a recruit without training could find something on her first shadow spell, I start to wonder what the fuck the others were doing.”
Morgan conceded with a flick of his eyebrow. “Very well.”
“Don’t forget to unsuspend Hanami,” I added.
Morgan rolled his eyes. “I think the priority of a demon infiltration has precedence over a matter of paperwork. It can wait in the morning at which point, the suspension will be lifted automatically. The truth is still going to be the same at a decent hour as it is past midnight.”
In another time and place, I would have seen the sense and logic of his words. But Morgan had wasted my time and I wasn’t feeling very gracious.
I smiled my sweetest smile. His perfectly smooth face rippled in an unnamed emotion in reaction. I counted it as a win for me. “Fine. But I’ll make sure you live up to your word.”
“Oh? And how?”
“Because I’ll be crashing here for the night and we can go into see the Merlin together first thing in the morning.” I whirled back to the living room and plopped down on their really comfortable overstuffed leather couch, and popped on the TV. “Have fun talking to the Merlin, I’ll be hanging out here and waiting for some pizza delivery.”
I turned to Wyn. “You were gonna pay for pizza right?”
They left and soon after the pizza arrive. I gorged myself and ate a whole pie by myself. Wyn wasn’t joking; magic took a lot energy out of me.
I fell asleep watching TV. I didn’t even notice the guys’ return, nor hear when they demolished the rest of the pizza.
I woke up snuggled against Wyn’s shoulder, a couple throw blankets thrown over me.
Lance was spread out on the floor.
Shaking my head at the sight, I tiptoe toward the bathroom. I step a little off, and try to catch my balance. Before I could fall or attempt to catch myself, Lance caught me and held me steady against his body.
“You ‘kay?” He yawned.
“Yeah,” I said unsteady at the fact that he had been in a dead sleep and was able to catch me. “Bathroom?”
With a groggy nod, he herded me toward the bathroom. The house was cold, and so I didn’t mind stealing his body heat.
When I was done, he was still standing by the door. “Come on, you should get a real bed.” Before I could object, he had teleported the both of us into his room.
“I really need to learn that,” I said.
“Anytime. Seriously.”
His room was neat, too. Again, it was a complete surprise. I honestly expected a trashed frat room or something.
This was almost obsessively clean.
“You’ll be comfortable here,” he said. His voice was still sleep-rough. “And Morgan’s room is right next door.”
I should have tried harder to say no. That I’d invited myself to crash here. That he should have his own bed.
But, I couldn’t be held accountable for decisions when I was half asleep. “Mmmkay,” I said. “But my mom can never know.”
Why did I say that?
“Your secret’s safe with me,” he said.
I crawl under his layers of blanket and slip between honest to god silk sheets.
Lance tucked the sheets around me, and dropped a small kiss on my forehead. I snorted in response, which made him laugh.
I felt him pull away from me, my eyes so heavy. Before I drifted away from unconsciousness, I reached up and tugged on his arm. “Stay and snuggle?”
“Not arguing with that.”
The last thing I felt was Lance’s warmth behind me, wrapping me in his arms.
Epilogue
The demon glared at the sleeping students from within the safety of their dorms before checking on the ranks that were on display in every common room.
> The demon had thought that it was enough to take out the high rankers one by one, starting from the one that would be the future Merlin.
But it clearly wasn’t enough. The Merlin and her wardens knew that their favorite would never partake in black magic.
No executions.
No strife.
All because of another mage that hadn’t been accounted. Someone that even Queen Morrigan hadn’t foreseen.
Artura Drake.
She would be the one to beat. She had been the one who had pulled the dragon sword, according to the whispered rumors among the students. She was the one who was special.
The demon had followed her, waiting for Artura Drake to be alone. Instead, she had a warden and knights at her back.
Worse, tonight they had cast a shadow spell to see the demon’s golem implicating Hanami Saito as the wielder of black magic.
So, not only were key players not automatically executed, they were now even more protected than ever before.
No matter. The demon was still undercover. The message that the demon sent to the Morrigan would arrive to her soon.
Until word comes down from the queen, the demon needed to be careful, especially around Artura. Her prescient hunches were impressive.
The demon would work that to its advantage.
After all, Artura already had one sword of power. The other artifacts of power would most likely reveal themselves to her as well.
The Grail.
The Shield.
The Table.
The Crown.
When they do, that would be when the demon would strike—and reap the power and rewards.
The jeweled handled end of the stolen wizard's staff pulsed with a glowing light in the demon’s hand.
Soon, she'd get what she was promised.
About the Author
L. Cross is an emerging author of New Adult and Young Adult fantasy. The Sword of Avalon Academy is her first series.
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