by Evie Wilde
Dash tried to pull me into the woods, but I broke free, the fireballs in my hands tight and deadly, my confidence driving the desire to defend both us and Barbarus. With a precision I’d never had before, I slung both fireballs at the witch, knocking her wobbly. She cried out but quickly regained her composure and prepared another spell, glaring at me, seemingly stunned I’d actually hit her with my spell. Like us, she glanced toward the trees when another group emerged, their hands in attack mode. The witch cackled but didn’t back down, reveling in the challenge. “I’m going to enjoy this,” she said and cast a spell at my feet. She laughed hard and zipped cross the clearing. “Who’s first?”
Rain and lightning suddenly burst from the sky above her, and then I heard Oliver yelling. He brought his hands down, and the lightning nearly hit the woman.
The witch cackled. “Best you got, little man?” she taunted.
Kyler moved in front of Oliver and blocked the witch’s next spell with a slab of earth. She screamed at Kyler and darted away, returning with another spell.
Braeden was the first to block the witch’s next spell, shielding me with a large sheet of light, temporarily blinding the woman. The witch scurried away but returned moments later, her eyes shielded. Braeden shoved his hand toward the witch, and a violent gust of wind blew her into the trees. Branches seemed to swallow her up, and for a moment we had a reprieve. We watched and waited, breath held, spells ready to be cast.
“We need to surround Cassandra!” Oliver yelled, and the four guys did exactly that, none hesitating at all. They understood my need for protection and understood they had been assigned to do so, each willing to give their lives for the woman they had a connection to.
The witch circled us in the air, studying her opponent, a group of Enchanted Academy students who were under their first real test. She swiftly swooped up and down, moving as if riding a roller coaster. She prepared another spell and as she cast the dark magic, Kyler grabbed a stick from the ground and swiped it across the dirt in front of us. A reverse waterfall of earth sprang upward, deflecting the witch’s spell, sending it crashing into the trees. The witch cried out, disappointed yet preparing another spell. Once again she had been bested by an academy student.
Oliver stepped behind the wall of earth before it began to fall. He cast his own spell, sending water through the dirt. A dozen mudballs soared toward the witch, half of them hitting her. Covered in mud, she disappeared into the trees, and everyone sighed.
“She’s not finished,” Dash said. “Stand ready.” He turned to me. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head. “You all saved me.”
Dash shook his head. “We’re doing what we swore to each other we would do if you were ever in trouble.” He placed a hand against my cheek. “We will lay down our lives for you.”
“Here she comes!” Braeden yelled from behind. He threw up his hands and prepared a spell, the intensity on his face like nothing I’d seen before. He was probably the reason I was still alive after all the mishaps.
The witch swooped in close to Dash and blew him a kiss, taunting us all as she dodged Braeden’s gust of wind. Dash quickly cast another spell toward the sky, the fireball bursting in the clouds. For several seconds a cloud of fire floated before finally changing to Dash’s intended creation. I watched in amazement as the flaming phoenix charged toward the witch, its massive wings blotting out the sun, its large beak opening and closing as it sang its battle cry.
The witch tumbled to the ground, the phoenix atop her, clawing and biting. When she managed to kick the phoenix away, I wasted no time with my own spell, casting two fiercely wound fireballs in her direction. To my amazement both fireballs barreled into the witch, setting her ablaze. She cried out in shrieks of terror. But even more amazing, the witch cast a water spell and doused the flames. A small swirl of smoke rose from her head. Every time we thought we’d won the fight she came back better and stronger as if toying with our abilities. She was being driven by something greater than her own magic.
The tops of the trees rattled again, and Sarchi attacked from all directions. I raised my hands to unleash holy-hell but found my palms empty. The witch cackled and stared me down. While the guys fought the Sarchi, I was left to watch the witch. She waved her hand toward the sky, and a bolt of lightning exploded overhead. A black horse appeared and swooped to the ground. The witch mounted the monstrous horse, and the creature reared to its back legs.
“I have done my master’s bidding,” the witch said to me while the others fought. “You will see him when the time is right.”
I tried again to cast a fireball, but my magic failed me. The witch rode off into the sky and over the trees, her laugh echoing in my head. I had survived, but my magic had not. My life was no longer dependent on me; it had fallen into the hands of the four men I held dear.
Two Sarchi came speeding toward us, and Braeden quickly stepped forward, casting wind blades toward the charging monstrosities. The blades caught both in the torso, shredding them like cheese. I turned to see Kyler casting a spell into the trees. Two trees splintered and the shards of wood impaled three other Sarchi.
“Watch it!” Oliver yelled, and I turned. He quickly moved in front of me and created a wall of ice, causing three Sarchi to slam headfirst and dropping dead to the ground.
“Behind us!” I screamed.
Dash whirled on his heels, fireballs in his hands. He caught the last two Sarchi in the head. The flames engulfed the Sarchi quickly, and they shrieked in pain before dropping at our feet.
“We need to spread out,” Braeden said, “and make sure they’re all dead.” He looked at me as they slowly moved away. For almost thirteen years he had protected me with his own life, taking me under his wing and teaching me all he knew about magic. And once again he’d saved me.
The four guys moved in four different directions, nudging the dead Sarchi. I raised my hands and tried to cast a spell. Nothing. The witch had stolen my powers and with those powers she’d stolen my confidence.
“Guys,” I said, holding out my hands. All four turned. I started to show my powers were gone, but one of the warp gates glowed blue and suddenly Aurelius appeared. He watched us from afar and then disappeared, reappearing next to me, his face full of concern.
“Are you okay?” he asked me, and I nodded.
“My magic’s been stolen,” I said. “She took it.” I looked at my hands and tried to conjure a spell. Nothing happened. I closed my eyes and concentrated, moving every bit of energy to my hands. Again, nothing. “It’s gone.”
“Any witch capable of taking down Barbarus is going to be powerful enough to take the powers of a student,” he said. “We need to go.”
I grabbed his arm. “Who sent her?” Aurelius looked at my hand, and I removed it. “I’m sorry,” I said.
“You four,” he said to the guys, “carry Barbarus back to his house before more Sarchi appear.”
Braeden waved his hands, and a thin cloud swooped down. They lifted Barbarus from the ground and laid him on the cloud. Together, we accompanied the cloud back to Barbarus’ home.
“I’m sorry we weren’t there for you,” Dash said as he walked next to me. A small cut had opened up beneath his chin. I reached up and wiped the thin line of blood away. “We should have done better.” He nodded at my hands. “We’ll get your powers back, I promise.”
“Who was the witch?” I asked.
“She was sent by Edius,” Aurelius said, and moved ahead of us.
“I’ll fix this,” Dash promised.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Oliver
We failed to protect the one person we all made a connection with. Cassandra. Though we saved her life from the witch who came out of nowhere, she lost her magical powers and, for a witch, that was as bad as losing your life. We let down our guard, and Cassandra paid the price. The question became, how did we get her powers back?
The others warmed up to Cassandra right away, mainly because they understood women a
nd were comfortable around them, whether it was in the classroom or out on a date. Before the academy, I doubted a date was anywhere in my near future. But then Cassandra arrived, and along with her the powerful connection. Drawn to her, and her to me I believed, I finally saw hope. She made me nervous. Gave me anxiety and made me hard between the legs. Most girls were turned off by my intellect, but I got the feeling Cassandra maybe liked it a little. I wondered if she noticed when she got closer, I tended to rattle on with information I knew most people couldn’t understand. It was how I dealt with my inadequacies.
When we returned to Barbarus’ home, we carried him to his room, and Aurelius sat with him for several hours. He refused to let us tell Headmaster Eliphas. Something told me Aurelius and Headmaster Eliphas either didn’t get along, or something in their past had driven a wedge between them. I didn’t mention it to the others, but I thought the wedge between Aurelius and Headmaster Eliphas was the number one problem, not the witch stealing powers. I wanted to stay at the academy, so I said nothing.
The wound to Barbarus’ side was fairly bad, though, using Braeden’s light magic, I was able to determine no organs were damaged, and there was no internal bleeding. His light magic illuminated Barbarus’ side to the point I could see his insides. I bandaged him up and gave him antibiotics for his human DNA. For his wizard DNA, Aurelius conjured a potion and told us to apply the potion every two hours. He never shared the ingredients of the potion, despite me asking several times. I finally decided I'd sneak a speck of the stuff back to one of the labs and figure it out for myself. The only way to learn was to ask questions, and if no one was willing to answer then you figured out your own answers. For the most part, we applied the potion when we were supposed to, and when one of us forgot, we added a little extra the next time.
Aurelius informed us he was unfamiliar with the witch who attacked and therefore couldn’t be absolutely sure she had been sent by Edius. After Aurelius left, I sat with Barbarus and thought back to the fight. Our formation around Cassandra had been strong as we managed to protect her from every angle possible. The problem had been there were too many attackers. The witch took advantage of the situation and robbed Cassandra of her powers. She used a plan of shock and awe to distract us from her primary goal. And since we didn’t have a plan, we failed. One of us should have cast a shield spell, and that would have saved Cassandra’s powers.
When Cassandra lost her powers, I felt something inside me disappear, as if part of her powers had been part of me. I believed this was what Braeden and Dash did not understand. While they were letting their hormones and jealousy cloud their judgment with Cassandra, Kyler and I were understanding that each of us helped form the essence of Cassandra’s magic. We were her, and she was us.
“How’s he doing?” Dash questioned when he entered the bedroom. Dash’s clothes were ripped, and the cut on his chin had dried. Though I thought like a warrior, Dash was built like one. Physically, there was no question why Cassandra would choose him over the rest of us. But unlike Dash, I understood what each of us meant to her. As individuals, we were useless to her. We had to be one cohesive group in order to defend and support her.
“I think he’ll be all right.” I pointed at Barbarus’ wound. “The bleeding has stopped. Aurelius said we shouldn’t take him to a hospital. Let him recover at home. A hospital would start asking questions and, for right now, Aurelius wanted to keep this under wraps. I think there’s a lot going on at the academy that we just don’t know about or understand.”
“Aurelius couldn’t return Cassandra’s powers,” Dash said. “She’s pretty bummed. We need to come up with something before she quits.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” I said. “I thought the spell he was using on her was going to kill her. It took all four of us to hold her down. I didn’t like it, and it wasn’t working. That’s why I told him to stop.”
“He was pretty pissed when he left,” Dash said. “I’m not sure if his anger was directed at us or the academy for failing to protect its students. Maybe a little of both.”
“It’s not the olden days,” I replied. “We’re going to have to fight new magic with new magic. I don’t know what else Aurelius has in mind, but we need to change our way of thinking.”
“You felt it, didn’t you?” Dash asked.
“Her pain? Yes,” I said. “We feel everything she feels, and I have my suspicions she feels the things we feel.”
“I guess I don’t feel some of the things you do,” Dash said. He looked out the window. He wouldn’t admit his feelings, but the disappointment was clearly on his face. I understood Dash better than he thought I did.
“Listen,” I said, and shook my head in disbelief. If Dash were as smart as he were handsome, he would not have an issue understanding feelings and emotions. “That’s because you’re too busy fighting your feelings for her. You need to let that go and let her aura consume you. Let whatever this is take over. You’re battling something that’s going to happen whether you like it or not.”
Dash smirked like he always did when he turned defensive. “You go with that, Oliver.”
“Dash, you and I have been friends for a long time. I'm just telling you what I’ve observed.”
“Well, maybe you should keep your observations to yourself.” Again, he turned defensive.
“I made another observation, Dash.”
“Yeah, what is that? The sky is blue.”
I ignored his comment. “The witch who attacked us. Who is she?”
Dash shrugged. “How should I know?”
“That’s exactly my point,” I said.
“Mind your own business, Oliver. It’s safer that way.”
I pulled the blanket up to Barbarus’ chin and filled the cup next to the bed in case he woke thirsty. We had done all we could, and the rest was on him. I followed Dash into the living room.
“Aurelius will be back in an hour,” Kyler said. “He wants to continue our training. He thinks we’re almost there but still have a lot of work to do.”
“What about Cassandra?” I asked and looked at her curled up on the couch, sleeping. Sometimes I thought if I concentrated hard enough, I could enter her dreams and the two of us could talk in private. I could tell her things without my body going all crazy.
Braeden sat on the floor with his back against the couch. He glanced at Cassandra. “He said she could still train. He will offer her a staff to use during training. He said it might help her confidence.”
“Great,” Dash said and headed outside.
“What’s up his ass?” Braeden asked before he charged after Dash.
“Stay here and watch over her,” I told Kyler who smiled at the order and the prospects of being alone with Cassandra.
“What the fuck is going on, Dash?” Braeden asked, the two standing almost face to face on the back porch.
Dash pointed at the house. “All these fucking years I’ve been able to avoid that woman. And now, as soon as Cassandra appears, so does she.”
Braeden glanced at me. “He’s talking about the witch,” I said. “He knows her.”
“Damn straight I know her, and Cassandra led her right to me.” Dash paced back and forth. “And if that was the only thing bugging me, maybe I wouldn’t be in such a shitty mood!”
Braeden held up his hands in surrender. “What the hell are you talking about now?”
“Cassandra,” Dash said calmly. He pointed toward the house again. “I don’t want to have the feelings I have for her.”
Braeden looked at me then back at Dash and laughed. I knew better than to laugh at him when it came to his feelings.
“It’s funny?” Dash crossed his arms, and for a moment I thought he might slug Braeden. I scratched my head, wondering if the two guys would ever be able to get along. Their relationship was the key to the group thing working out. Cassandra needed to address them as soon as possible.
“No, it’s not funny,” Braeden said. “It’s typical.” He sat in one of the porch cha
irs. “You're not special, my friend,” he said to Dash and then looked at me. “Cassandra has a way of worming her way into people’s hearts. You're no exception. Doesn’t matter if you’re the smart guy or the bad boy.” He laughed again and stood. “Welcome to the club.”
We watched Braeden return to the house, and then Dash took a seat on the porch steps, looking into the woods lining the backyard. Sometimes even the toughest guys needed to be taken down a notch.
I sat next to Dash and stared into the same woods. We had come a long way together. Gone to the same schools. Fought side by side. Though we weren’t related, I still considered us brothers. And now we had feelings for the same woman.
“What do you want, Oliver?” Dash asked. He had his arms crossed on his knees. Talking to him about his feelings or emotions was like walking on an ice-covered pond.
“You see it, right?” I said. “Cassandra is the reason we’re all together. Remember, before we came to the academy, we were talking about splitting up and going our own ways? We talked about heading in different directions after graduation. That’s all changed. Because of her, we’ve stayed together as friends.” I chuckled. “Look at the way we’re growing as people. She’s been good for us, Dash. We’ve added a couple of friends to our group, and we’re all happy. That's what counts.”
“That’s all fine and dandy but, for me, it’s better to have walls, to be tough, to carry a façade. That way I can’t be hurt again. You’d understand if you were me.” He turned and looked at me. “Between you and me, I'm scared of the way I feel for her. Hell, I’m terrified.” He shook his head as if to get rid of the thought. “But believe me, there’s a strong part of me that wants to give into the love I feel for her. I want to give her what I know she wants. Everything ... everything you’ve described about feeling a connection to her, feeling her heartbeat and her pulse, I feel those things. And damn it, I want to let those things engulf me.”
