Bearly Bewitched (Mystic Hollow #4)

Chapter 40

FORTY

A deafening roar cut through her words, followed by the sound of shattering stone. Vail’s heart lurched at the raw fury in that bearish sound. Whatever Kaine had encountered below, it wasn’t going well.

“Go.” Neve stepped forward, adding her power to the protective barrier. “We’ll hold this. Find out what’s happening down there.”

Vail hesitated, torn between duties. The ancient stone’s erratic pulse matched her racing heartbeat.

“She’s right.” Sabine shifted back to tigress form, muscles coiled to spring. “Something’s very wrong. I can smell it. Romi and I will handle the gargoyles. Clover and the twins can maintain the defenses.”

Before Vail could respond, arcane energy exploded from below. The blast knocked them all off their feet as corruption surged through every crack in the stone. Vail rolled to her knees, throwing up a hasty shield of fire magic.

“What in the seven hells...” Romi scrambled up, lightning crackling around her hands. Through the window, they watched in horror as every gargoyle on the grounds suddenly turned toward the academy’s highest tower.

Ledger stood there, silhouetted against the darkening sky. His crystal rod had grown to twice its original size, pulsing with stolen power. Energy streamed up from the broken anchor points, feeding into the crystal-like tributaries into a river.

“Oh, this is bad,” Sabine growled, her tiger form bristling. “Very, very bad.”

“The protective barrier.” Vail pushed to her feet, fire magic flaring defensively. “We have to?—“

Another explosion rocked the foundations. This time, the crack that formed in the floor ran straight toward them, dark energy blazing from its depths. They barely had time to dive clear before the stone split apart.

Felicity burst through the door, ancient scrolls clutched to her chest. “The archives!” she gasped. “I found—“ She broke off, staring at the growing chasm in the floor. “Is that...”

“Explanations later,” Vail snapped. “Everyone out. Now!”

They retreated into the corridor as more cracks spiderwebbed through the stone. The magical protections guttered like a candle in a storm. Despite all their efforts, the academy’s defenses were failing.

And somewhere below, Kaine still fought whatever horror the corruption had spawned.

The library floor split with a sound like breaking ice. Dark energy blazed from the widening fissure as books flew off nearby shelves, their pages fluttering like startled birds.

“Everyone back!” Vail threw up a wall of fire magic, forcing the corruption to retreat momentarily. The flames cast wild shadows across the ancient bookcases, turning the library into a maze of light and darkness.

Romi raised her hands, storm magic crackling. “The students in the North Wing?—“

“Already on it.” Sabine shifted to tiger form, muscles bunching as she prepared to spring. “Clover?”

“I’ll stabilize what I can.” Green energy rippled from Clover’s fingers into the cracking stone. “But something’s interfering with my connection to the earth. The corruption’s spreading through the ley lines themselves.”

A familiar voice cut through their planning. “Madame Headmistress!” Rook burst through the library doors, his usually neat clothes covered in stone dust. “You need to see—“ He broke off, staring at the chasm opening in the floor. “Well. That’s not good.”

“Understatement of the century,” Romi muttered, sending another lightning bolt to drive back creeping shadows. “Please tell me you have better news.”

“Define better.” Rook moved to help Clover channel earth magic into the foundations. “The good news is we contained the shadow creatures Ledger’s crystal spawned. The bad news is they were just a distraction. While we fought them, he activated something in the old ritual chamber beneath the school.”

Thunder boomed overhead as Romi gathered more storm power. “Apparently Ledger’s been busy. Those creatures sound like twisted versions of the academy’s original guardian spirits.”

“The archives mention them.” Felicity spread another scroll across a table, weighted down with hastily grabbed books. “The founders bound protective entities to the school’s foundations. They were supposed to activate during celestial events to help channel and stabilize magical energy.”

“And now Ledger’s corrupted them,” Vail finished grimly. She could still feel phantom pain in her chest where the darkness had burned her before. “Turned the academy’s own defenses against it.”

The crystal atop the tower pulsed with taken power. Every corrupted anchor point responded, energy streaming upward like reversed lightning. The gargoyles circling Ledger moved with mechanical precision, each targeting a specific point in the magical network.

“He’s creating a feedback loop,” Neve realized, examining the ancient blueprints over Felicity’s shoulder. “Using the corrupted anchors to amplify the crystal’s power, then feeding that power back into spreading more corruption.”

“But why?” Clover pressed her hands flat against the floor, fighting to stabilize the spreading cracks. “The eclipse isn’t until tomorrow. What’s he gaining by?—“

The floor heaved beneath them. More books cascaded from the shelves as the library’s protective enchantments strained against waves of corruption. Through the windows, they watched Ledger raise his crystal high. Dark energy blazed from its faceted surface, and every shadow in the academy writhed in response.

“He’s going to collapse the entire protective network,” Vail said, the pieces clicking into place. “Create so much chaos that we’ll be too busy dealing with the aftermath to stop whatever he’s really planning for the eclipse.”

A bone-deep resonance shook the walls. The corrupted gargoyles turned as one, diving toward the academy’s remaining magical anchors with devastating purpose. Stone wings scraped against ancient walls as they pursued their single-minded mission of destruction.

“We need to evacuate,” Rook said, catching Vail’s eye. “Now. Before?—“

The crystal flared like a dark star. Power exploded outward in a shockwave that shattered windows and buckled stone. Only their combined magical shields kept the group from being thrown across the library.

When the blast faded, Ledger stood balanced on a gargoyle’s shoulders, the massive crystal cradled in his arms. His smile carried centuries of patient malice.

“Until tomorrow, Headmistress.” His voice echoed unnaturally in the settling dust. “Consider this a preview of what’s to come when the eclipse reaches its peak. After all—“ His gaze swept the destruction he’d wrought. “—the academy’s true purpose is about to be fulfilled.”

Before anyone could react, the gargoyle spread its stone wings and launched skyward. Other corrupted guardians fell into formation around Ledger as he disappeared into the gathering dusk, taking his crystal and its stolen power with him.

The library groaned ominously. Cracks spread through centuries-old stone as the academy’s wounded magical network struggled to compensate for the damage.

“We need to secure the foundations,” Clover called out, her earth magic straining to hold back the corruption’s spread. “Or we’ll lose the entire building!”

“Romi, Sabine—help evacuate any remaining students. Get them to the dorms.” Vail ordered, already moving to reinforce the weakening barriers. “Madame Zephyrine, Neve—we’ll need your expertise with the magical anchors. Felicity?—“

“Already on it.” Felicity gathered the ancient scrolls, her earlier uncertainty replaced with fierce determination. “I’ll start researching countermeasures. Whatever Ledger’s planning for the eclipse, these archives might hold the key to stopping him.”

Thunder rumbled overhead as Romi gathered her storm magic. “Just another normal day at Arcane Academy,” she quipped. “Random magical disasters, architecture trying to kill us, megalomaniacs with cosmic timing...”

“At least, it’s never boring,” Sabine said, shifting back to tiger form. She paused at the door, whiskers twitching. “Vail, Kaine’s heading this way.”