by Diana Nixon
“It is.” We swam towards the light and I remembered what Marion once told me about dark magic – Even when there’s no light, you can find it if you know what to look for.
As soon as Elu, Songaa and I swam to the source of light, it grew bigger. We took a deep breath and dived into the water, letting the light swallow us. A few seconds later, we found ourselves in Dever.
Coughing and soaked to the bone, we stood up and froze, terrified…
People were fighting, everywhere. And all of them were using magic to attack one another. There was no place for any other power, but magical spells.
“Start singing,” I said to Songaa.
“It’s too late…”
“No, it’s not! Start singing!” I was so scared, but full of determination at the same time. I couldn’t run away and leave those I loved and cared about to die. They needed me, now more than ever. And I was going to fight too, regardless of how little I was ready to kill…
I hid behind one of the rocks and concentrated on Christian and Evan. Amanda felt the less scared of the three of them, so I thought she and Tai must have been hiding somewhere, probably in Madeline’s hut. They were safe there, because no one except those who knew what to look for, could see the charmed home of the old witch. I listened to my feelings and realized that both Christian and Evan were surrounded by fire, and the water, and the air, and the earth…
The Great Hall, I thought to myself. It was the only place all around Dever where you could feel the presence of all the natural elements.
I ran to the Hall, trying to stay in the shadows. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marion fighting with one of the hermits. The woman tried to attack her, but Marion managed to block her attack and hit her with a death spell…
I stopped running, both scared and shocked. Apparently, tonight it was not going to be the only death I was going to witness. I had never seen anyone using this particular spell, right in front of me. It didn’t just kill the hermit, it turned her into a stone that shattered and became nothing but a handful of ashes. My hands shook, my heart missed a beat at the thought of one of those I knew being killed like that.
“Now look at you, lost doll!” Someone said behind me. “How about we have a little fun together?” The ugly Clarion smiled, stepping closer. The darkness surrounding him made me sick. I panicked.
“Maybe next time,” Christian said, stepping in front of me and shielding me with his back. He didn’t hesitate even for a second before sending a freezing spell into the hermit. In the blink of an eye, the man turned into ice. Christian covered the icy figure with fire, and the next thing I knew, the hermit melted and was gone forever. It all happened so fast, I didn’t have a chance to stop Christian from killing the hermit, even if I wanted to punish him in a different way.
“You okay?” Christian asked. He had a bleeding scratch running across his right cheek and his shirt was torn and dirty. He hugged me, and I was relieved. “I’m sorry, I didn’t meet you at the gates,” Christian whispered. “Clarions blocked them.”
“Never mind. I’m fine. Elu, Songaa and I used the secret entrance.” I was trembling from head to toe, not only from my drenched clothes and the cold, but also from what was happening around me. It was the first time ever that I felt like I couldn’t make myself create magic. I never thought I would need those most dangerous spells that Marion and my father told me so much about. But it looked like I didn’t have a choice.
“Where’s my mom and Patricia?”
“They are fine. Your father took them to one of the charmed rooms, right after Allister brought them to Dever. Eileen, we need to go. Evan needs us.”
Christian pulled me by the hand, and together we ran to the Great Hall. We entered the building through the back door and I saw my father, Patrick and Evan fighting with a group of hermits, right in the middle of the Hall.
“You need to help Evan, and I will help my father,” Christian said.
“How about this, Mr. Fairey?” One of the hermits smirked, sending a spell right at my father’s back.
“Oh, you don’t mess with the Fairey family!” I walked from behind the curtain that had been hiding Christian and me, and blocked the hermit’s spell before it could hit my father. The intensity of my spell was amazing. Only later did I notice a golden coin lying on the floor, right on Dever’s emblem. It must have been one of those coins brought by Peter. I looked at the wall with the pictures of Dever’s founders, then at Evan, who obviously needed extra help, and waved my hand, making the pictures fly across the hall, hoping it would distract the hermits and give us a moment to take a breath.
Christian followed me, sending various spells at Clarions running towards me. They were damn good at what they were doing. One of their spells scratched my shoulder, but I didn’t care. I moved forward, blocking the attacks, until I got to Evan and combined my power with his to break the spell one of the hermits was using against him.
“He’s mine,” Evan hissed. “Step back, Eileen!”
I didn’t argue with him, not this time. I stepped back and Evan finished him off.
“You okay?” He asked, breathing heavily.
I nodded.
“Jeez, have you been swimming, or what?” A single wave of his hand was enough to dry my clothes.
“Better?”
I smiled slightly. “Much.”
“Good. We need to find Alistair. We missed him. Christian!” He called, motioning to the exit. “Stay close to me,” he said, taking me by the hand.
We went outside, followed by Christian and my father.
“Where’s Dad?” Christian asked.
“I’m here,” Patrick said, walking out of the building. He shook his head, and I saw pieces of broken glass falling from his hair. “The ceiling,” he said. “We will need to restore it.”
“Let’s think about the remodeling a little later,” Evan said, blocking another spell sent at him.
“Listen everyone,” I said. “Taima is their main target. They won’t leave until they kill him.”
“Why do they want to kill him?” Evan asked. “I was hoping they would come here to see me, actually.”
“They will leave you for dessert. But first of all, they will deal with Tai. Because he locks the magical triangle.”
Everyone stared at me in surprise.
“What the hell does that mean?” Christian asked.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “Let’s just make sure no Clarion gets to Tai. He’s in the hut, isn’t he?”
“No,” Evan said. “We didn’t have time to take him there. Clarions appeared out of nowhere.”
“Then where is he?”
“He’s in my room, together with Amanda.”
“And Ami?”
But I got the answer to my question even before anyone would say anything. The song in my head suddenly became so loud, I felt like my brain would explode.
“What is it, Eileen?” Christian asked, holding me, so I wouldn’t faint.
“Ami’s singing. She’s helping her parents with the song.” I don’t know why I was the only person, apart from Clarions who could hear the singing, but I was not enjoying it, not even a bit. It made my head spin; it was hard to concentrate on what I needed to do.
We looked across campus and saw Amitola together with her parents, standing at Dever’s gates, holding hands and singing. And then, something happened.
Hermits, one by one started to fall to the ground, crying, with their palms pressed to their heads, as if they couldn’t stand the visions the song made them see. But not all of them were neutralized by the song, there were also those who kept fighting. And one of them was Alistair, whom I recognized as the man from my vision. Who would have thought the bastard still had so much magic in his hands? I thought Dominick took it all away, but I was wrong.
“Where’s Will?” I asked Evan, as an idea came to my head. As soon as I switched my thoughts from songs to what I needed to do, the pain in my head lessened. I could barely feel i
t now.
“He’s staying in his room,” Patrick said. “We thought it would be best for him to stay there. He has no magic, remember?”
“But he has another talent, remember?”
“What do you have in mind, Eileen?” Christian asked.
Evan couldn’t use his power of masterminding to make Clarions leave and never come back. Because if he did that, his power would affect everyone present in Dever, including teachers, students, and us, of course. Masterminding Clarions, one by one, was not an option either. We needed Evan to help us protect the university; he had no time to mess with the hermits’ minds.
“Bring Will here. Tell him to mastermind as many hermits as he can find. We also need Carine. She, of all people, knows how to make men obey her.”
“What shall they make Clarions do?” Evan asked.
“Attack Allister Woodrow.”
Chapter 22
The air was filled with the bittersweet scent of dark magic that Clarions used against those who were protecting Dever. The fight turned the university into a hell on earth, with blood and death covering every inch of it. Unlike us, Clarions didn’t just kill, they hurt those fighting against them, and left them to bleed to death.
Another wave of sickness overwhelmed me. We could try and cure those who were still alive, and stop their suffering, but we didn’t have time to do that.
As if reading my thoughts, Patrick spoke, “Christian, go find your mother and Marion. Tell them to heal as many people as they can. We can’t let them all die. They have come here to help us, but this is not how their lives were supposed to end.”
We were not going to give up. Despite everything, we needed to keep fighting. As well as the hermits who came to protect Dever by using the powers they had been abandoning for so long.
Songaa, Elu and Amitola kept singing their song, making more and more Clarions agonize. Some of them ran away, leaving Dever and saving their lives before it would be too late. But the biggest part of the evil hermits were still there, perfecting their magical skills on those who couldn’t stand against their darkness. Now, that all of them were inside Dever, it was even harder to stay alive.
“We need to stop this,” I said after Christian and I made another hermit break into pieces. “There are too many of them here.”
“Aren’t you enjoying the fun, Sweetheart?” Evan asked, sending more and more spells everywhere he could see Clarions attacking our people.
“Not really,” I said, watching Will masterminding one of the hermits. My father and Patrick made sure no one attacked Will. Losing him was not in our wish list for tonight. Kevin stayed close to Carine, shielding her from anyone who could distract her while she was masterminding Clarions. I could see dreamy smiles on their ugly faces. In mere seconds, they were falling for her, ready to do whatever she was telling them to do.
I saw Elizabeth fighting with three hermits at the same time. I can’t but admit, she was damn good at it. Marion was fighting too, together with her daughter, Elena helping her. After they dealt with another enemy, Marion ran to a couple that I recognized as Sky’s parents. They had been wounded, but they were still alive, and Marion was there to help them heal faster.
On my right, Lucas made one of the hermits fly up into the sky; the poor thing landed right on a huge rock, dying right then and there. His parents came to the dead man, turned his body into ice and melted it, making the wind take away the water left on the ground.
Amelia, Christian’s mother was one of a few who refused to kill Clarions. She fought against them, but never once did I see her killing anyone. She hurt them badly, but not enough to take their lives away. She also helped those who needed her healing skills, only tonight it was not the herbs book that she used for healing; it was magic, pure and powerful.
Suddenly, I heard Amitola screaming. I turned around and saw Tai running towards her. Blood froze in my veins. He should have stayed in Evan’s room!
“No!” I ran after him, trying to stop him, but it was too late…
He ran to one of the Clarions and stabbed him with a silver dagger that I recognized as Evan’s protective amulet. He must have left it in his room where Tai found it. Sparks flew all around the man the boy killed. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Tai didn’t hesitate, he just did what he thought was the right thing to do.
“Stop!” I heard Amitola shouting. But Tai didn’t listen. He stabbed another hermit with the same weapon, and the woman fell to the ground, dead.
I ran up to Tai and took away the dagger from him.
“How did you get out of Evan’s room?” I asked, looking frantically around for any signs of Clarions or Alistair.
“I opened the door and left,” he said, as if the room had never been charmed at all.
“He can’t stay here,” Evan said. “Take him back to my room.”
“Okay.” I gave Evan his amulet. “Tai has found it.”
“Oh, good. I thought I had lost it during the fight.”
“Alistair,” I heard Amitola saying.
I looked at the man she was staring at and my heart missed a beat.
He was standing just a few feet away from us, from Evan and Tai whom he wanted to kill so badly, wearing the most ridiculous smirk on his scarred face. To my huge disappointment, no masterminded Clarions were around. Only Evan, Amitola, Tai and I. I saw Christian rushing toward us, but then he saw Amanda running away from two Clarions and was now trying to get rid of them. My eyes switched from Christian and Amanda to Alistair, and then to Evan and Tai. I didn’t know what to do or who to protect first.
“Why don’t we sit and talk?” Evan asked Alistair. Slowly, he stepped forward, motioning for me to stay behind him.
The man laughed. No one dared to attack him. I couldn’t stop wondering about how he managed to get his magic back.
“Talking is not what I came here for, Mr. Murray.”
“Then what do you want?”
“You know the answer. I want the boy.” He pointed at Tai, who was standing next to his mother. “Give me the boy and I will leave.”
“For that, you will have to kill me first,” Amitola said with as much hate as she could put into those words. I could feel her anger growing. It was impossible not to feel it. After what I saw during her training with Evan, I had no doubt she would try to attack Alistair. The question was whether or not he would let that happen.
Allister laughed. “As you wish, Ami.” In an instant, he raised his hands and was about to comply with Amitola’s wish, but Leno stopped him, piercing his hand with an arrow.
Allister growled, waving his wounded hand and sending a death spell at Leno.
“Don’t you dare!” Evan cried, blocking the spell.
But Allister’s next spell was aimed straight at Evan. Only he didn’t know Evan had a guardian angel ready to sacrifice her life to save him. Nely appeared out of nowhere, got on her hind legs and shielded Evan with her massive body, taking the brunt of the death spell.
Fireworks of white shimmering sparks exploded in the place the horse was standing just a few seconds ago. The light from the sparks was so blinding, I had to cover my eyes with my hand. The wave of energy from the explosion was so strong, Evan fell to the ground, as well as everyone who was there with us now. And by the time we realized what had happened, Nely was gone…
Allister was the first to come to his senses. He rose to his feet and grabbed Tai by the hand, pulling him away from his mother.
“No!” Amitola cried, and sent a spell at Alistair. Of course, he blocked it even before it would get midway through the distance between him and Ami.
“Say good-bye to your mommy, kid.” Allister took out a knife and pressed it to Tai’s throat; a thin trickle of blood ran down the boy’s skin.
“Let him go,” Leno said.
Allister laughed. “Who the hell are you to stop me?”
“I am his father,” Leno said, stepping closer.
No, no, no, I prayed mentally. Please stay away from him, just s
tay away…
I stood up and something fell out of my pocket.
Dominick’s emerald amulet.
I grabbed it from the ground and looked at Alistair, holding Taima. It was time for Dominick to save his son.
“Tai!” I cried and then threw him the amulet.
He caught it and as if he knew exactly what I wanted him to do with it, he stabbed Allister in the hip, making him growl in immense pain. The man fell to the ground, pressing one hand to the bleeding wound.
Evan pulled Tai away from him.
“It is not over,” Allister hissed through his clenched teeth and then with his other hand he threw a spell at Amitola. But Leno was there to protect her. The spell hit him right in the heart, and he fell to the ground, with his hand gripping his shirt, where a bloody spot was getting bigger and bigger. For a moment, I thought I was imagining things, and nothing of what was happening was real. But when Tai broke free from Evan’s grasp and ran to Leno, I knew something terrible was about to happen. I could feel Amitola’s pain. It was crushing.
Evan came to Allister and looking down at him, he said, “This is for Tara.” Then he hit the man will all the force his magic was capable of creating. The ground beneath Allister started to move, then a huge hole formed, swallowing him and his darkness forever.
But what happened next, could be a perfect beginning of a horror movie.
Huge clouds of black smoke surrounded me, like chains that wouldn’t let me move or scream for help. I could hear Songaa’s song playing in the back of my mind. He and Elu never stopped singing, not even for a second. The last thing I saw before I drowned in what felt like the scariest of my nightmares ever, was Amitola looking down at her hands. And they were all black, just like the magic held in them…
I didn’t see or hear anyone. Even the song stopped, or maybe I was too shocked to hear it.
“Evan!” I called.
No one responded.
But when the darkness started to clear, I saw that the fight was over. The air crackled with magic, left from the spells. Darkness and light were mixed in one. Wounded people were everywhere around me. But what surprised me most, was the absence of Clarions. There were all gone.
