History of Magic (Ember Academy for Young Witches Book 2)

by L. C. Mawson

  I was going to be locked away and experimented on because I was too stupid to solve some stupid riddle...

  Hot tears began to burn behind my eyes as the rest of my body screamed, everything struggling under the crushing pressure, my lungs barely able to take in air.

  I wasn’t just going to fail the trial, I was going to die if this kept up.

  If I couldn’t fight the gravity, I had to do something to lessen its effects on me.

  I groaned, knowing that even if I knew a strengthening spell, I couldn’t lift my hand to wave my wand.

  Even healing spells...

  But then I realised that I didn’t need healing spells.

  Not in the traditional sense.

  I slowly moved my hand across the stone of the step, the lateral movement easier than trying to lift it up off the ground.

  Once it reached the edge, it slammed down to the next step, and I cried out, sure that the force had broken something in my hand.

  But I just took a deep breath to steady myself and kept moving it.

  Along to my pouch.

  The clumsy struggle to open it confirmed that something was wrong with my hand beyond the weight crushing it, but I didn’t have time to think about that.

  As soon as my finger brushed the plants inside the pouch, I felt what remained of their energy flow into me, healing me.

  It didn’t stop the pain of being crushed, but it held back the worst of the damage, the bones in my hand snapping back into place as the cuts and bruises that were forming where my skin met the stone disappeared.

  But I was still trapped.

  And the plants would only work for so long, cut from the ground as they were.

  I needed to do something else.

  Anything!

  And then there was relief.

  Gravity didn’t go back to normal, but it was enough for me to move with the help of my spells.

  I scrambled to the top, ignoring how my muscles burned, my right hand still tucked into my pouch.

  I gasped in air as I reached the top and gravity returned to normal.

  I’d almost forgotten what it was like to breathe.

  I turned back to give the stairs a wary look.

  Whatever had happened, it seemed that they had been sabotaged.

  And then my friends had finally fixed it.

  Hopefully, that meant that they would be able to fix the rest of the sabotage as well.

  But as I turned to the next segment of the trial, I realised that that hope might have been optimistic.

  The floor before me narrowed into a thin walkway, while thin, sharp blades swung from side to side.

  I sighed, cursing my younger-self for her want to be on one of those obstacle course TV-shows.

  This felt like the universe’s idea of a twisted joke.

  Especially when the blades were moving almost faster than I could see.

  Almost, but not quite.

  I made my way to the first one and watched carefully, holding my breath as I waited for the blade to just brush past in one direction.

  Once it had, I jumped forward, careful not to jump into the path of the next blade.

  Relief swept over me as the blade swung past my back and I realised that I had made it.

  One down, just four more to go...

  I didn’t remember much about getting past the next four, just that I somehow managed to get to the other side.

  But then, as I stopped, my leg burned.

  I gasped, looking down to see a slice taken out of my calf, red dripping down.

  One of the blades must have caught it.

  My whole body seemed to throb with pain, and I grasped at what remained of the plants in my armour’s pouch.

  The wound healed enough to stop bleeding, and it no longer screamed with pain at the weight of standing on it, but it still throbbed, the barely healed skin looking nasty.

  And I was now out of healing plants.

  I looked at the next set of obstacles, groaning as I saw large wooden planks, as big as me, spinning around each other.

  I groaned as I realised that I had no option but to get through them.

  At least they wouldn’t cut me...

  Though the drop off the side of the walkway was sheer, down so far that I couldn’t see what was below.

  I hoped that the Amazons would have safety spells to stop any of us from actually dying in these trials but given how much they seemed to have it out for me, I wouldn’t be surprised if they ‘forgot’ to activate them.

  Hopefully, figuring out how I was so powerful was more important to them than just getting rid of me.

  But that didn’t settle my nerves as I approached the spinning planks.

  Either knocking me off the side killed me, or it would disqualify me.

  Either way, my life was over.

  So, not letting that happen. That’s what I needed to focus on.

  Which would have been so much easier if my leg wasn’t throbbing and every muscle in my body wasn’t groaning with every move I made, my breaths coming short and haggard from my chest.

  Was this still sabotaged?

  It had to be.

  Maybe if I just waited...

  But no. If I did, then the Amazons would likely know what I was waiting for and investigate the removal of the sabotage.

  If they hadn’t already.

  If they had, there was every chance that these obstacles would never slow down.

  If I waited, it could be worse.

  I was tired, and I would only get more so.

  I gave the planks another look.

  They were still moving fast, but... They no longer seemed so impossible to cross.

  Whether it was just my imagination, or if they were really slowing down, I couldn’t tell.

  But either way, I had to move.

  I waited carefully until I was sure that there was a spot that I thought I could slip through, and I went for it.

  I danced through the planks, careful not to let them touch me.

  And then my bad leg throbbed as I tried to put weight on it, throwing me off balance.

  I fell to the side and one of the planks knocked my left shoulder with a sickening crack that would have been bad enough on its own.

  If it hadn’t also hit my scars...

  But it had, and the world swam around me, making it impossible to tell which way was up and which way was down as the pain enveloped my thoughts in thick fog that I couldn’t push through.

  The next thing that I managed to register was one of the planks hurtling towards me.

  I became hyper aware of the fact that there was nothing behind me, my left foot behind my right and teetering on the edge of the path.

  It was going to knock me over.

  And then it stopped.

  Or not stopped, but slowed down to the point where it might as well be stopped.

  It took me a moment to get over my surprise and step out of the way, making it to the other end of the planks.

  They kept moving slowly, and I frowned.

  Had that been the original speed? A child could have managed that.

  Though, I wasn’t complaining. The slowdown probably saved my life.

  Everything still ached, and I limped over to the next obstacle, trying not to move my left side too much.

  I could see the door now, and between me and it was a large gap, filled with floating platforms.

  They were all going at a snail’s pace, and I waited patiently for the one nearest me to arrive.

  Once it reached the edge of the gap, I stepped onto it, and it took me across to another platform.

  If they’d been moving faster, this probably would have been difficult, but at this slow pace, it was like stepping off an escalator.

  Still something I had to focus on in my current state, but nothing I couldn’t handle.

  I made it to the other side and frowned warily at the door.

  I’d survived the sabotaged chambers, but not without cost, an
d now there was only one left.

  The chamber that the Amazons hadn’t felt the need to sabotage.

  I shivered, the move not unpainful given my state.

  I wanted to give up.

  Go home.

  But there was no going home.

  Not anymore.

  There was no way out but forward.

  So, I limped on, ignoring the exhaustion setting into my bones.

  The final door swung open for me as I approached.

  And then slammed behind me once I was through.

  I frowned as I looked about the room. It was a large, circular stone chamber, though there were four hallways leading off from it, all shrouded in darkness.

  I would have thought it was another maze, but right in front of me was another set of large, wooden doors, just like the first ones I’d stepped through.

  It couldn’t be that easy...

  Could it?

  I looked around the room once more and spotted some moss on the stones.

  I frowned. This place had just been built, so had the Amazons planted it?

  Or maybe they’d moved this entire structure to the school.

  Either way, I would take the help.

  I moved over to the moss and let its energy flow into me.

  I sighed as my aches began to soothe and I felt a little more awake, though it was far from perfect, and I suspected it wouldn’t last long.

  Not against whatever this next trial was.

  After all, there was no way that I could just walk across the room and open the door.

  I looked around the room, but once again saw nothing.

  I frowned at the door, casting a sensing spell, looking for malicious magic.

  But no, it was just a door.

  A door that would lead me to my freedom.

  I sprinted across the room, hoping to be through with this as fast as I could possibly manage.

  I heard the thundering hooves just in time and rolled back out of the way of the creature that would have barrelled into me if I’d stayed my course to the door.

  I recovered into a crouch and looked up to face the creature that stood in my way.

  It was a large, hulking thing that was walking on its hind-legs, despite its hooves and bull’s head.

  A minotaur.

  I suppressed a sigh.

  One day, I would be used to discovering that magical creatures were real.

  Today was not that day.

  I cursed myself as I realised that aside from knowing vaguely what it looked like and that it guarded the labyrinth, I knew nothing about the minotaur.

  If I had known that they were real, I might have corrected that oversight before, but as it was, I had no idea if it had any weaknesses or if it had a poisonous bite or anything...

  If I had anything red, my instinct would have been to go all bullfighter on it, but as it was, I had nothing, and no other creature-specific ideas.

  The minotaur growled at me and I stood my ground.

  If he charged at me, I could dodge out of the way and then make a run for the door.

  Unless, of course, the door would remain locked until I defeated the creature.

  But he was twice my height and built like a brick house.

  There was no way that I was expected to defeat him in combat.

  Hopefully...

  No, the door was my safest bet.

  I could worry about actually defeating the minotaur if – and only if – the door wouldn’t open.

  For now, I could just try to get past him.

  I waited for him to move, to make some indication that he was about to attack.

  But, no.

  There was nothing.

  He just stood between me and the door, growling menacingly.

  It became clear that he wasn’t going to make the first move, so I attempted to dart around him, hoping that his size would put him at a disadvantage.

  It did not...

  Whether he was just supernaturally quick, or I was just too slow after so many injuries, he barrelled towards me again, and I barely managed to dodge out of the way in time.

  Back away from the door...

  I gave my own growl of frustration as the creature glared at me.

  “I take it asking nicely isn’t an option?”

  He just roared.

  “Yeah, I figured.”

  I looked around the room, desperately searching for something.

  Some way out or weapon.

  And I cursed the fact that we hadn’t even gotten to the magic part of Magical Self-Defence classes yet...

  I gripped my wand tight.

  Well, if I hadn’t learned the spells yet, that meant relying on instinct.

  Here goes nothing...

  I sprinted at the door again, trying to give the creature as wide a berth as possible.

  It charged, just as before, but this time, I didn’t focus on dodging.

  No, I funnelled all of that desperate, fight-or-flight instinct into my wand, my years of sparring giving me the discipline to divert my natural reaction.

  Magic hummed through me, and I raised my wand at the creature.

  A wave of force and fire knocked the creature back, the smell of scorched fur filling the air as it tumbled back at the wall.

  I squeaked at the deafening thud as it hit the wall, every inch of me wincing in sympathy.

  “Sorry,” I said, as I saw the burns across the minotaur’s skin. “I didn’t... I didn’t think...”

  The creature howled in pain before making another charge at me, more ferocious than the last.

  I barely managed to dodge out of the way in time.

  I couldn’t hurt it again.

  I just... I couldn’t.

  I looked back at the door.

  Maybe with its injury, it wouldn’t notice where I was heading.

  Maybe I could make it to the door without hurting it further.

  It felt wrong to take advantage of a wound that I’d caused to get through the trial.

  But the damage was already done.

  I could grab some plants and heal the creature once I was out of the door.

  Assuming that the Amazons didn’t have their own healers on hand.

  I bolted for the door again, getting closer than ever before.

  Just a few feet and I would clasp my hand around the cold metal handle and be free...

  Thundering hooves came behind me, but I tried to ignore them.

  I just had to get there first.

  And then a blur of brown muscle and fur bounded straight past me, careening off the door.

  By the time I realised that the minotaur was now hurtling towards me, I barely had time to dive out of the way.

  A large hand clasped around my ankle, dragging me back.

  “No, no, no, shit!”

  I gripped my wand tight, the same spell from before buzzing within me, demanding release as I was hoisted upside down, into the air.

  I cringed.

  I didn’t want to hurt it again.

  But then it started to swing me back, and I knew that the next thing I would feel was my skull smashing against the stones of the wall.

  I unleashed the spell once more, my desperation fuelling a blast twice the strength of the last.

  The creature reeled back, its fist loosening enough for my ankle to slip through.

  My arm hit the ground first, my elbow taking most of the shock as I fell.

  My vision went black for a moment as I forced myself to sit up, my right hand clutching my wand, though my elbow refused to move.

  I leaned back against the wall, clutching my right arm to my chest.

  It hurt like a bitch, but it was the elbow that wouldn’t move, nothing more.

  I still had my hand, and my legs would move.

  I could work with that.

  I groaned as I looked over to the creature, seeing it stumble back, its fur singed to reveal burns beneath.

  I almost laughed as the familiar feel of magica
l exhaustion began to set in.

  I’d hurt the creature, yes, and I still felt guilty for the pain...

  But that was all it was.

  Surface burns and pain.

  Here I was, battered, bruised, and probably unable to get another blast off.

  And the creature just had a few minor burns.

  How the hell was I getting out of this one?

  Clearly not with more offensive magic.

  If I could shift, I would just try that to get to the door, but the Amazons had blocked it.

  I needed something.

  Some way to keep the creature from attacking me.

  Some way to trap it.

  As soon as I realised that I needed a trap, I knew what I had to do, the magic flowing through me to direct my wand.

  It lit up, and I moved it to my left hand for better movement before clumsily drawing a rune in the stone beneath me.

  I scrambled across the ground, away from the door.

  The minotaur growled, glaring at me with fury in its eyes.

  But charging me would mean leaving the door undefended.

  So, I kept moving.

  And kept drawing runes until I nearly had a circle.

  With just one gap.

  A gap that I couldn’t fill until the minotaur stood here.

  And he wasn’t going to leave the door.

  I gripped my wand.

  Just the thought of more magic had me exhausted, but I couldn’t see another way.

  So, I stood up and sprinted towards the door once more.

  The minotaur barrelled at me with more ferocity than before and I barely lifted my wand in time.

  It was so close that the blast also knocked me back, but I forced myself back to my feet, lurching forward to the last spot and drawing the rune before the minotaur could realise what was happening.

  As soon as the rune was drawn, I fuelled it with magic and streams of red light stretched out between the runes, along the sides of the circle, as well as over the middle, crossing over the top of the minotaur and keeping it pinned down.

  The creature struggled against the magical bonds, and I watched warily as I got to my feet, hoping that the wards held.

  I sighed with relief as I realised that the creature wasn’t going to break free.

  Still, I hobbled towards the door as fast as I could, not wanting to risk the wards breaking before I got there.

  Everything within me went numb as I reached the door and opened it to reveal Dana, Esme, Sarah, and a few of the other Amazons waiting for me.