Called by Darkness

by Sean Fletcher

  “Pomp and circumstance,” she said. She gave a small shake of her head, smiling. “Accidentally blow stuff up? Really?”

  “And finally,” Lucien went on, “we at the Academy use the entrance ceremony to remember what brought us together: the great Battle of New York thirty years ago that united our boroughs and brought more harmony between the supernatural races. Today, the Academy stands as the pinnacle of that unity, and we honor those who lost their lives in gaining it. Thank you.”

  All of us bowed our heads for a few seconds in silent remembrance.

  And then the waiting began.

  I had to stifle more than half a dozen yawns as each of the new academy inductees and all of the previous years were paraded up. The only exciting moment was when the boy I’d talked to took his turn on the stage. Lucien warmly shook his hand, and as he did so the boy’s white robes instantly changed to the onyx black of a Master’s.

  There were some gasps, a few laughs. Lipstuck’s head immediately snapped around, attempting to deduce the culprit. I tried to keep a straight face.

  “Smooth…” someone said. Asher was glancing back, giving me an appraising look. “Way to fight the authority, Rivest.”

  I ignored him.

  Lucien merely laughed and directed the boy to join his friends, who all began talking at once, checking out the robe.

  And finally—finally—it was our turn.

  “Now we reach those among us who wish to continue their study,” Lucien said as my group stepped forward. “Whether it be for a specialized job, a desire to teach, or that the real world is a scary place they wish to avoid as long as possible”—some more chuckling—“these students have shown merit and skill the Academy has deemed worthy of further education.

  “But continuing in our advanced program is more than just study. It’s about real-world, practical application. It’s about cooperation with your fellow Supes. It’s about working beyond yourself. That’s why each advanced level student is partnered with a classmate, to help with study and teach these values.”

  Lucien leaned forward, a twinkle in his eye. “So why don’t we get started!”

  My stomach was doing circus flops, my legs beginning to shake as they started pairing off partners one-by-one. A couple of my classmates who’d been matched with Vamps or ghouls or necromancers would meet their partners later, but I watched plenty of others I knew pair off and gather on stage.

  Mia was fidgeting nervously with the sleeves of her robe again, and I almost grabbed her hands, if only to stop my own from shaking. Partners were a big deal. Get stuck with a bad one, someone lazy or unmotivated, and they could screw up any plans you had at doing well. The Academy was supposed to pick them based on compatibility, but we’d all heard the horror stories: Students with lousy partners who’d been forced to flunk out and work lesser jobs. Some who’d even been seriously hurt because their partners didn’t watch their backs during the many, many practical assignments we took out in the city and beyond.

  The knot in my stomach tightened. I could already feel an ulcer burning a hole in my esophagus.

  “—Mia Marquee,” Lucien announced, “and…Colson Keller!”

  If Mia could have spontaneously combusted, she would have. Her face grew so red I waited for it to burst into flames. Her entire body trembled as I gently prodded her forward. I felt partly sorry, but partly glad at her…misfortune? That was the wrong word now that she was partnered with the guy she’d crushed on for the last four years.

  Mia’s legs wobbled like a newborn giraffe’s as she stepped onto the stage, shook Lucien’s hand, and—still in a shell-shocked daze—took her place with the other pairs beside a stoic-looking Colson. Her terrified eyes searched for me. I gave her a thumbs up.

  “Acknowledge her…” I muttered under my breath to Colson. “Say something to her…”

  Colson craned his neck to look down at Mia, his immense frame towering over hers, and gave a curt nod.

  I scoffed. “Are you freaking kidd—that’s it?”

  “That’s like a high-five, coming from Colson,” Asher said. I had almost forgotten he was one of the few still left among us. My heart did a weird backflip at what that might mean, but I ignored it.

  “He’s not the most expressive guy,” Asher went on.

  “I know,” I snapped. “We go to the same school, remember? I’m pretty sure I know the guy, thanks.”

  “And I know he’s my best friend,” he said, not the least bit put off. “He’ll be a good partner. Mia’s lucky to have him.”

  “Wait, she’s lucky to—”

  “Skylar Rivest!” Lucien called. “And…”

  I knew it. I knew who he was going to say even before his lips formed the words. He gave it away with the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, the humorous glimmer in the corner of his eye.

  “Asher Dunadine!”

  “No!” I burst out at the same time as Asher said, “Shocker.”

  I couldn’t be with him. I mean, yeah, we might have been compatible at one point, but those days were long gone. Asher was…Asher was frustrating, infuriating, a total tease, a lay-about, literally the opposite of everything I needed to prove myself different from my mom and not flunk out these next four years. This was when I was supposed to show what I, Skylar Rivest, could do, when I proved to the world that I was so much more than just my famous parents.

  How was I supposed to do that with him?

  “You coming?”

  Asher was already at the stage steps, looking back at me like I’d keeled over and died where I stood. “Stop being so dramatic. It’s not like we’re getting married.”

  Getting…

  I was about to embarrass myself right then and there, probably say something I’d regret later and once again show everyone that I wasn’t even close to ready for the advanced studies, that it was a mistake letting me in.

  I opened my mouth—

  The ground shook, making me stumble and throwing some of those on stage to the ground. Frantic shouts came from the stands. I forced myself back to standing and regained my balance, looking for the source of the disruption. Another tremor hit, and I turned back toward the center of the park, just in time to see a tunnel open up in the earth and a manticore come charging out.

  Chapter Two

  For those who don’t know what a manticore is, let me paint a picture for you:

  A lion’s head, with a mouth full of sharp, serrated teeth.

  A scorpion’s tail.

  Razor claws.

  An all around seriously bad attitude.

  The manticore let out an earsplitting roar that seemed to shake the very air. Students and parents alike broke apart screaming as it swung its massive head around, its beady eyes searching for its first victim. Its tail lashed out and nearly impaled a second year. One of my classmates cast a mint-blue freezing spell that glanced off its back, only pissing it off more.

  And I…I just stood there.

  “Skylar, come on!” Mia tugged at my arm and the part of me that’d frozen in shock started functioning again.

  The reality of what was happening slammed into me all at once: the screams, the roars, my heart thudding too hard against my ribs, the ragged breath in my lungs. What was my problem? People were in trouble. They were getting hurt. And all I was doing was scurrying away like a scared mouse, too afraid to fight.

  The manticore blew a ball of fire that soared over my head and exploded into the nearest now-empty stands. Mia and I cut right, quickly hunkering down with other blue-robed classmates behind a small earthen barrier one of the druids had conjured. All around us, families were clustered in cover, some clutching their children close.

  “We need to drive it out of here!” someone said.

  “And into the city?” someone else answered. “Pretty sure the Norms would notice that.”

  “You got a better idea?”

  “I could try to calm it down,” said a low, soft voice. Colson was watching the rampaging manticore,
as though gauging the best way to approach a golf shot. “If I could just get closer…”

  Asher clapped him on the shoulder. “I think even you’d have problems with this beast, Colson.” He turned to the others. “We’re the most experienced students here, and that means it’s our job to help. Half of you come with me and distract it, the rest funnel everyone else to safety.”

  His words made sense, but that wasn’t what bothered me. How was he able to think straight when I’d been unable to move earlier? How was he being brave when I’d felt so scared? I was strong. Skilled. I was my mother’s—

  No. I clenched my fists, tightening my legs, readying myself to spring. I was me, only me. I could do this. I could protect everyone.

  Another freezing spell collided with the manticore’s side, distracting it from a group of second years. Lucien rushed in, ducking beneath the manticore’s claws as it took a swipe at him. I’d never seen him fight, but he appeared so calm as he cast spells, so collected as he danced safely out of range of the beast’s attacks.

  “First group, go!” Asher said. “Second group—”

  “With me!”

  I sprang over the barrier, sprinting straight toward the manticore even as others yelled after me. We hadn’t learned about too many super dangerous creatures in Beastology yet, but I remembered from reading ahead that a manticore’s weak points were right beneath its wings and neck.

  Also, I needed to watch out for its claws. And its stinger. And…everything else.

  I thrust out my hand. “Defendi!”

  I felt a gentle pull in my gut as the magic running through my veins shot from my hand and formed an invisible barrier over a group of students. My heart stuttered as the small physical drain from casting hit me.

  The manticore’s claws crashed against the barrier. I winced as it battered it over and over again, but the magic held.

  “Get out of here!” I yelled to the students. “Back to the Academy!”

  Already the manticore was turning toward me. I felt its hate-filled eyes drink me in: prey.

  I wouldn’t freeze. I wouldn’t freeze. I wouldn’t—

  “Move!” Asher snarled, pushing me aside right as the manticore’s fireball would have roasted me where I stood. We hit the dirt and I rolled immediately, barely avoiding getting skewered by its scorpion tail as it crashed down.

  More of my classmates joined Lucien, keeping the manticore occupied on all sides. Asher and I dodged between its smashing legs and threw ourselves into the cover of another barricade.

  “I thought you had the skill to back up that bravado!” Asher said, pressing against the stone wall and glaring at me. “But no, you just run in with a spell and a prayer!”

  We both ducked as another spurt of flames singed the top of the barricade.

  “Oh, you want to see skill?” I yelled back, furious. He was so frustrating and annoying and…

  Hex it all, he was right. This was what I’d wanted, wasn’t it? To show others what I could do? The opportunity had been practically gift-wrapped on a manticore-shaped platter and I was screwing it up.

  “Watch this skill!” I growled.

  I thrust out my hand just as the manticore pounced at a group of my classmates. Ropes shot from the ground and wrapped around its legs, jerking it to a stop and holding it in place.

  I gave Asher a smug look as I vaulted over the barrier. “Easy! Now we just have to finish it off.”

  The manticore was thrashing against the bonds, entangling itself more. I had nearly reached it, aiming my next spell beneath its wings. This was it. This was the moment where—

  “No, Skylar!”

  I plowed into something soft and invisible, stopping me in my tracks a mere ten feet from the manticore.

  Right as it easily ripped through the ropes and lunged at me.

  Oh, I thought. It was laying a trap. Clever.

  I desperately tried to backpedal as the manticore charged closer, but my legs were slow to move, my focus only on its widening mouth. It jumped, right before a spell slammed into its side, sending it sprawling.

  “Get the other students back to the Academy,” Lucien demanded, dropping the protective spell that’d stopped me. I tore my eyes away from the recovering manticore and shook out of my shocked stupor.

  “We can still help!” I said. “Let us—”

  “No, Skylar! Leave this to me—watch ou—”

  I didn’t even have time to turn before a thousand pounds of manticore pummeled into me.

  I twisted as we tumbled, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws trying to close around my head. My vision was a roller coaster, my sense of direction shot. My shoulder scraped the ground and, on instinct, I pushed off with my arms, throwing myself an extra few feet from where the manticore’s enormous claws came down. Something hissing—its acid salvia, maybe—dripped onto my arm and I screamed as searing pain ate away at my robes.

  My world stopped spinning as I came to a shuddering stop. I rolled over.

  The manticore loomed over me, teeth bared, eyes saying, “Game over, sucker.” Its stinger hovered lazily overhead, dipping closer and closer toward my heart. I didn’t have time to move, no time to even utter a spell.

  The manticore roared. I squeezed my eyes shut.

  Suddenly I was flying backwards as a concussive boom erupted in front of me. The manticore stumbled away, blue blood leaking from a gash in its side. I gazed at it in astonishment before turning to see who my savior was.

  My mom.

  Of course.

  Aspen Rivest strode through the manticore’s carnage like a vision, magic crackling in her wake, robes billowing, silver hair whipping behind her. There was no panic on her face despite the destruction; nothing but calm assurance.

  With a flick of her fingers I was enveloped in a cushion of air and deposited out of harm’s way.

  “You okay?” Mia said, helping me stand. Colson was beside her, watching the manticore assess its new threat as my mother warily circled it.

  “I’m fine.” I tried to hide my embarrassment at being saved not once, but twice, and instead tried to focus on the fight. Lucien and my mom had now closed the manticore in. Its shrewd eyes flicked back and forth between them, weighing who to attack first.

  “It’s spectacular to have you back, Aspen,” I heard Lucien say.

  My mom gave a sardonic grin. “Great to be back. What’d I miss?”

  “Oh, you know, same old, same old. I see you’ve met our new school mascot.”

  “Can’t say I’m a fan.”

  The manticore roared. My mom and Lucien crouched, ready.

  “Just like old times?” Lucien said.

  “I can’t think of anything better,” my mom answered.

  As much as I hated others comparing me to how great my mom was, when she started fighting I could totally see why they did.

  My mom fired off spells faster than I could think, her hands a blur as she weaved in and out of the manticore’s range. Her every attack was perfectly timed, every dodge performed at the last possible moment, executed flawlessly. She and Lucien worked in perfect sync, never overlapping their moves, always shifting so their attacks wouldn’t overshoot and hit each other. The air was soon filled with the colored blaze of magic and the sharp crackle of discharged spells.

  Overwhelmed from all sides, the manticore pumped its massive wings, trying to knock them both away, but my mom and Lucien merely conjured a shield that kept them rooted firmly in place.

  “Now, Lucien!”

  Golden bands shot from Lucien’s hand, wrapping the manticore’s legs in a tight binding.

  “Sectspra!” my mom cried.

  Deep cuts appeared in the manticore’s hide. It let out another earsplitting roar and twisted, breaking from the bonds, but my mom had already drawn her knife and, faster than a blink, magically sprinted toward it and plunged the blade into the soft part beneath its wing.

  The manticore’s roar turned to a whimper. It gave another powerful flap and my mom
was forced to leap away. Before any of us could move, the beast limped back into the hole it’d emerged from and vanished, the earthen tunnel collapsing as soon as it was gone.

  The grounds went silent.

  “She was…amazing,” Mia breathed.

  Colson grunted, which I took as an agreement.

  “And that’s how you fight,” Asher said, arms crossed.

  I wanted to glare at him, but found I couldn’t quite summon the desire. Because he was right. She’d beaten the manticore without breaking a sweat. Everything she’d done was just another stark reminder of everything I wasn’t.

  My mom and Lucien warily approached the hole and peered through the slim cracks between the rubble.

  “You got it beneath the wing?” Lucien said.

  “I wounded it pretty bad,” my mom said. “I can follow it. Try to see where it came from.”

  “Not alone you won’t. And we don’t have the man-power right now to track it. Let’s get everything under control and work from there.”

  My mom nodded, though she didn’t look happy about that. “Wish it didn’t have to suffer.”

  She sheathed her knife and gave Lucien a tight hug. “Let’s try this again: I’m glad to be back.”

  Lucien chuckled. “Are you?”

  “Well, the welcoming party was a bust, but there’s time to make up for it.”

  Both of them turned to us. My mom’s worried face broke out in a kind smile. “Asher, Mia, Colson—yes, I know you, Colson. I was only gone a month, my memory’s not that bad. Good to see you all alive and well.”

  Her eyes fell on me. A mixture of elation at seeing her alive, and embarrassment that she had to step in to save me, warred within my chest.

  “Hey, Mom,” I mumbled.

  “And of course, good to see you, my love.” She glanced back at the hole and the wrecked entrance ceremony grounds.

  “So…anything else fun happen while I was away?”

  Chapter Three

  I’d tried more than three times to listen in while my mom and Lucien talked, but Lucien had cast a muffling charm on his office door. That left me out in the hallway. Alone. Well, alone except for my thoughts, which were busy berating me about the fight.