by Rain Oxford
“How do I stop him?”
“You must retrieve the last key before Heather Anne does.”
“Can’t I just stop Heather?”
“The only way to stop Heather Anne is to kill her.”
“She’s already dead,” Darwin pointed out.
I rubbed my eyes. “Yeah, but I don’t think I could kill her. If I could, Langril would kill me. If Heather and I both die, there’s no way Kre… I mean, Omonus… there would be no way he could get the key, right?”
“That is incorrect. There are many children Omonus can train to attain the key for him when they become strong enough.”
Train them? Like he tried to do to Astrid? “Can Astrid get the key?”
“As of now, no, she cannot.”
“Why not?”
“What is most precious to her cannot be sacrificed.”
What’s most precious to her? I couldn’t make the words come out of my mouth. I wanted to know, but not from Adesra. “You’re sure of this? You’re sure that the only possible way for me to stop the shadow man is to get the key?”
“Yes.”
“I’m supposed to be the one with visions of the future. Why haven’t I had a vision warning me of this?”
“The fire elementals have determined that your visions with Heather Anne endanger you. By purifying you of your unclean blood, they are protecting you and---”
“My what?!” I interrupted, suddenly and unreasonably angry.
Adesra was unconcerned. “Your blood was tainted by the shadow realm. You have since returned to the shadow realm, so the effect of the purification has already begun fading.”
“How do I help the sylphs so they’ll stop this damn storm?”
“You must break the magic that controls the sylphs.” With that, she vanished.
“Is she always that helpful?” Darwin asked sarcastically.
“Pretty much.” Henry started to raise the sword when the three griffins appeared. “Okay…” I said. We followed the griffins back through the tornado. Once we reached the other side safety, I turned and saw all three of them vanish.
“What’s the plan?” Darwin asked.
“We’ll go to bed tonight, wake up in the morning, and get ready for battle.”
* * *
Instead of going back to our room, however, I went to Langril’s room while my roommates went to bed. I listened for a moment before knocking just in case I could overhear something.
But alas, it was quiet. “Come in,” Langril said when I raised my hand to knock. I opened the door, entered, and shut it behind me. Langril was in his bed on top of his covers, with a business shirt, dress pants, and muddy boots. Without looking at me, he tossed his red ball up in the air and caught it.
“How did you know I was there?” I asked.
“For the same reason you knew I was here.”
“I knew you were here because this is your bedroom and you don’t teach night classes.”
“You knew I was here because you needed me to be here. No matter how diluted your blood is, you are still a descendent of Dothra and therefore a being of the shadows. For us, to understand something is to control it. That’s why I can control you.”
“You don’t understand me at all.”
“Really? Then you’re not going to make a deal with Heather to save Astrid?”
I didn’t answer, but it wasn’t because he had a point. “One of the water elementals said that the storm was caused by the sylphs. How can Krechea have enough power to control them after I killed Gale?”
“I find it very interesting that you come to me instead of Vincent or Logan,” he said. “He has plenty of power in Dothra, but he does not yet have the power to affect our world. If he was here, that would be another story.”
“So Felicity is helping him.”
“Someone is, but if Felicity is involved, she’s not alone. This is a summoning.”
“Another one?”
“I have seen this magic before; there must be thirteen sacrifices in order to summon Krechea here completely, without a contract or a key. Be glad; the missing students are still alive. They will live until the sylphs have taken the twelfth sacrifice.”
“You said thirteen.”
“The thirteenth sacrifice doesn’t have to be kidnapped; it’s a self-sacrifice.”
“So we have until the eleventh victim is taken. Why don’t they have enough yet? There are three schools and they’ve only taken a few people. And why is it only over the schools?”
“Someone chose to use Logan’s students as the sacrifices, but the requirements are very specific. They can’t just take twelve kids. If I had my old books, I could tell you who they’re going to go after, but I’m a bit rusty. I remember that they have to have a child who has been raped before puberty, someone who has hurt the person they love most, someone who has witnessed absolute evil without letting it scar them, and a virgin. The rest of them, I don’t remember.”
“Well, those are pretty specific requirements. We might have enough time after all. How do I stop the sylphs?”
“The person who cast the magic will have something in place to bond it. You’ll have to find the focus source.”
“I have to track down Felicity then. There’s also the key to deal with. Adesra, the water elemental, also said Krechea was going to use Heather to get the key. What’s most important to Heather?” If I couldn’t get the key myself, maybe I could prevent her from getting it. He just smirked at me until I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Don’t answer my question, but don’t expect me to trust you.”
“If I gave you all the answers and only told you the truth, I wouldn’t need you to trust me.” He tossed his ball up in the air again.
I sighed. “Okay. You’ve never once made any attempt to hide that you will do whatever is best for you. I trust that you will do whatever you have to do to get your way. I also believe that you don’t want to destroy Earth or enslave humans.”
“Well, a couple of human servants would be nice,” he interrupted.
“My point is, I believe we have the same immediate goal of preventing Krechea from making it to Earth. Is that correct?”
“Oversimplified, but essentially, yes.”
“So tell me what I need to know to do that.”
He sat up. “Now you’re getting it. What you need to know is that there are two paths you can take. One is that of a hero, and the other is that of a wizard. If you choose to be a hero, you’ll lose everything important to you, struggle to figure out how to fix a broken world, and then die from your curse. However, you will die knowing you did make the world a better place. If you choose to be a wizard, you will have just as many enemies, but fewer allies. You’ll live a life fighting not to become your father, toeing your own moral boundaries, and eventually getting far more powerful than you ever wanted to be. You will succeed in the end, though. Should you choose this path, you will have everything you ever wanted, you’ll defeat the greatest threats to the paranormal community, you will be feared, and you will die peacefully and painlessly.”
“I don’t like either option.”
“Well, get over it, cupcake. This is life. If you don’t like it, you can go to Dothra.”
“What choice can I make that will result in the least deaths?” I asked.
“You’re the one with visions.” He tossed his ball to me and I caught it instinctively.
* * *
A vision instantly came over me. I saw the castle burning, heard the screams of powerless mortals, and smelled a sweet mixture of blood, fire, and death. That was the tipoff that I was in another’s mind; I could smell death. It wasn’t the scent of rot or dirt; it was entirely unique and indescribable.
The vision changed to see Krechea standing in front of the tower. His shape was humanoid, but it also made my skin crawl, as if there was something subconsciously wrong, or twisted. I couldn’t really describe him because the light would not reach him. Light was reflecting off of everything around him as if my
eyes weren’t meant to focus on inanimate objects. From these eyes, I could see Krechea as a solid body of darkness. These were not the same eyes I was seeing out of before; these were the eyes I had seen Scott through.
My familiar.
Krechea held up his hands and all four doors opened at once. When they did, it was light, not darkness that poured out of the tower. At this point, it dawned on me what I was seeing; this was what would happen if Krechea got the key.
What if I make a deal with Heather and have her get the key? That wouldn’t be the hero thing to do, but it wasn’t what John would have done either.
My vision changed again. Now I saw through my own eyes as Heather handed me a cloth sack. I could feel something like a large coin inside it. “What did you have to sacrifice?” I heard myself asking. It was a very odd sensation.
She smiled. “Don’t worry about me. I wanted to lose what is most important to me. And with this deal, I’m free, right?”
“That was the contract.”
Even so, it’s wrong to make someone else give up what is most important to them. My vision changed again. This time, I saw Astrid. I was still in my own mind, still feeling my real sensations and thoughts. I felt cornered, like I had no options left to me. Astrid stood facing me and we were surrounded by men who were all fading in and out, tendrils of shadows wafting from them as if it were smoke. It was as if they were made of darkness and only mimicking corporeal form.
“There’s no other way,” Astrid said.
Again, I felt my mouth move and heard my words as if I was unable to control myself. As if they were coming from someone else. “I take it back. I wish I hadn’t gotten the key. I was wrong.”
She smirked. “We were always coming to this.”
“I wanted to save you.”
“You did. I’m free.”
“You’ll die.”
“Better to die free than live as a shadow.”
I came out of the vision panting and nauseated. My heart pounded, but I wasn’t feeling pain. Or, I wasn’t until I noticed it. Then pain came on so strongly that black spots formed in my eyes. “There has to be a way to stop this without someone dying,” I said.
“Like I said; all magic comes at a price.”
I was still holding the red ball and his words threw me back into another vision. This wasn’t mine, though. I saw through Langril’s eyes, but his actual thoughts were closed off from me. I heard him say the same words to a little girl. Although this girl had easily recognizable big brown eyes and gold hair, I couldn’t tell if she was Heather or her mother because she was only about ten.
She was also crying. “I’ll pay it, whatever it is. Please help me.”
“What are you offering?” he asked.
She held up a red foam ball. “You can have this.”
“That’s just a ball.”
Her face scrunched up like a child’s does when she’s about to throw a major hissy fit. “This is the most important ball in the world. It keeps me safe. Mom said that every time someone wanted to hurt me, I just had to hold this and make a wish. She said an angel would hear my wish and protect me. I’ve seen it work.”
“You have, have you? If it worked so well, why do you need my help?”
Her face changed to despondent. “It brought you to me. You’re the only one who can help me now.”
Something changed in Langril, but I couldn’t be sure what since I couldn’t read his mind. He knelt to look her in the eyes and cupped his hand over hers with the ball between them. “You’re right. That is a pretty important and magical item. I’ll tell you what. Keep it. I will do this for you and protect you from every monster. In a few years, when you’re all grown up and you’ve forgotten this, you’ll look into a mirror, see me, and remember everything. And you’ll remember that you owe me something. The next day, I’ll return and ask you to do something for me. I’ll ask you, not demand it, but you’ll do it anyway no matter what it is. Right?”
She nodded. “I’ll do anything.”
I woke up in my bed, my heart was calm, and I tasted my healing potion.
* * *
“This calls for war!”
I sighed when I recognized Jackson’s voice before I even got to the dining room door. I opened it and entered, followed by my roommates, and was unsurprised to see Jackson standing on one of the tables and riling the students.
“What’s the problem today, Jackson?” Darwin asked. “Did they forget to add salt to the hash browns again?”
Jackson scowled at him, but then his expression softened ever so slightly when he looked at me. It occurred to me that this was one of the very rare times he wasn’t being completely unreasonable. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
His eyes narrowed. “Are you on the council’s side or ours?”
“I’m on my side. What’s wrong?” I asked again with less patience.
He held up the cell phone he took from Marcus. “The council paid my wife a visit yesterday.”
“You actually got some poor sap to marry you?” Darwin asked. Henry stepped in front of him in case Jackson decided to try anything. Of course, we all knew by now Jackson’s aim was so bad that the only one safe was the one he was trying to hit.
I was thinking along the same lines as Darwin; it was no mystery that he had a girlfriend he never talked about, but he also slept with any woman at the school he could. Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard of him harassing anyone this semester.
Jackson ignored him. “She’s human, but she knows what I am. Our son was born six days ago and the council just came by our house and took him.”
I didn’t need to know why. I didn’t really care. “We’ll get him back.”
“They arrested my brother because he wouldn’t agree to their mark!” one fae student said.
“They denied my marriage to a shifter!” a wizard added.
More outraged accusations followed and blended together. The arguing went on for about ten minutes until I held up my hands and they all fell silent. I took a moment to be shocked that that actually worked. Without using my mind control powers, I had their complete attention and possibly compliance.
“Yes, it’s all true. The council has been trying to bring down the school for months and when they couldn’t find plausible evidence, they made it up. Last semester, they arrested Professor Nightshade and Henry Lycosa and sentenced them both to death. They harassed Darwin and tried to get him kicked out of school for being a throwback. They quarantined us.” I had to pause for a moment as the students made grumbles of agreement.
“Did they create this storm to quarantine us again?” Mack asked.
“No. This wasn’t caused by them, but I’m working on it. They’re going to attack the school tonight.”
“On a school night?!” Brian asked.
“Hell yeah!” was Theo’s response.
I ignored them. “They can’t attack until the storm comes down, but they’re going to have traps in place on their side. We’re going to be ready for them with our own traps and our own magic. They’re going to be nine overconfident wizards against everyone here who wants to fight.”
“What if we don’t want to fight?” Mack asked.
“Then you don’t have to. Stay in the dorms where you’re safe.”
“What about the good rules they’re trying to enforce? What about the rules they want to use to protect us?” another student asked.
“We can’t destroy the council altogether,” I said.
“We can’t?” Henry asked, surprised.
“No, bro,” Darwin said. “A new and worse set of wizards would step into their vacancy in a millisecond. Effective government keeps the good guys honest and bad guys from ruining everything for everyone else. The wizard council is not an effective government, but wizards need an effective system of rules and consequences because it’s not like one of you can just be arrested and go to prison. Shifters have alphas, vampires have coven masters, humans have police, and fae have tribe le
aders. Wizards need the wizard council, just not the one that’s in place now.”
“Not all shifters have alphas and not all vampires live in covens,” Jackson pointed out.
“No, but they’re expected to follow common rules or they’re killed. If a shifter starts killing people, it’s the responsibility of every shifter to take him out, because humans can’t be expected to do it.”
“What’s so wrong with the council now?” a wolf shifter asked.
I could feel half the room about to burst out in outrage again. “They plan to separate the paranormal factions into different continents,” I said.
Silence.
I literally heard a pen drop.
After a few moments, Becky stepped forward. “Are you sure? Are you absolutely certain?”
“I heard them say it.”
She looked sick to her stomach. “You’re not going to kill my father, right?”
“We’re not going to kill anyone. We’ll knock them out or lock them up if we have to, but no one is going to die. Nobody here is a killer. That would make us as bad as them. Instead, we’re going to forcefully disband them.”
“Quick! Where can we get a single woman named Yoko to marry one of them?!” one student in the crowd yelled.
“What about calling in other paranormals?” Brian asked.
“No way,” Jackson argued. “That would endanger more people. Is Headmaster Hunt going to stop us?”
“Is he going to help?” Darwin asked.
Becky still didn’t look too sure. “I need to use that phone, Jackson.”
“What about Misty Jones?” Lacy asked.
They didn’t know about the missing children. “We don’t know what happened to her,” I lied
Everyone organized themselves into four groups; distance attack, close attack, defense, and hiding in the dorm. We all had to go to class soon, but the upcoming battle was all anyone was talking about in the halls. The students who had missed the impromptu meeting were quickly caught up, as were the teachers. In fact, there were already several teachers who agreed to train students in the field all day. Less than twenty-four hours was not enough time to prepare, but it was all we had. Those who were required to go to class as usual decided to train between classes.
