Griff
The sounds of the ongoing battle were muted for . His body felt like it could take no more grief, no more loss. Lost in thought, he stared into space as Haven picked him up and carried him to the closest sideline bench.
At some point, the noise inside his head lowered enough for his ears to pick up the comforting voice of his new lover. “You there, darl?”
“Haven,” whispered as he caressed his caretaker’s face.
“Thought I lost you, too, for a minute there,” Haven sighed, a relieved look on his face.
offered up a teary-eyed smile before slowly turning and looking back to the body.
Coincidentally, that’s when Darcy sat straight up. “I don’t… No. I don’t have to listen to her,” he muttered to himself. “She’s n-n-not my queen. S-she attacked me on my way home from class. Made me forget, but I remember now.”
and Haven watched with wide eyes as Darcy used his magic to rip the remaining wolfsbane arrows from Luna’s body, sending them whipping through the air. They were soon joined by the arrows pulled from his own body just minutes before, creating a dark circle in the sky that hummed as it rotated.
“He’s alive,” said in disbelief.
“More than that,” began Haven, his forehead wrinkling. “H-he’s right. It’s like I suddenly remember everything. Luna came into my room the night before I met you. She attacked me—and Strix hypnotized me into forgetting everything.” Still in the werewolf’s embrace, felt Haven’s body tense up.
A disheveled Quinn ran up to the men. “, I’ve got the goods.” grabbed his bag from the professor and dug through it. “Oh! And hey, glad to see Darcy’s back with us. Or, uh, is he?”
“Um, um,” mumbled as he pulled a small glass bottle with a green potion inside of it from his bag. A small tag wrapped at the bottle’s neck told this was his full moon energy spell. He tossed it to the ground, the bottle shattering as a thin green mist spread out across the field. “To temporarily reduce the power of the full moon!”
Haven eased out of his lap and made his way to Darcy’s side. “Landon! Hey, man. Everything’s gonna be okay. We thought you were dead a moment ago, so just take it easy for a second, okay?”
“N-not yet,” Darcy grunted, his concentration now on the whirring circle of arrows in the sky.
pulled another bottle from his satchel, this one containing a purple potion. “ To invoke an original ,” Quinn read its label aloud, a concerned look crossing his face. “What with all this talk of Theodulf—and then you finding the grimoires—I figured you were trying to cook up something like this. The question is, are you stupid enough to use it?”
“Desperate times,” said as he struggled to pry the cork off the bottle.
“in, you’re talking to an original,” replied Quinn, his voice stern. “Trust me, this will not work the way you want it to.”
“It can stop this,” pleaded . “All of this.”
Without a second’s notice, Quinn knocked the potion out of the younger witch’s hand. “And just who do you think is going to answer your call?” he shouted.
“My friends are dying,” screamed angrily, jumping to his feet as he made a run for the discarded potion. “If you’re an original, prove it! ”
Quinn looked from to Pruitt, who was now some fifteen feet away and still attempting to keep Luna from sinking her teeth into Uriah. “Your familiars need you, , and all you can think about is power?” He let out a deep sigh before super-speeding over to the vampire and werewolf in need.
grabbed up the potion as his professor’s words sank in. Am I doing the right thing? he asked himself. Pocketing the invocation elixir, he ran toward Pruitt, Uriah, and Quinn.
“Good timing, prof,” Uriah whimpered as Luna’s wolf snout moved closer to his neck.
“Doctor, I’m afraid your tenure is over,” Quinn hissed, his vampire canines extended as he grabbed at her arm. “Consider this your exit interview. Any last words?”
“Certainly, but not for you,” the low voice of Luna’s wolf form growled. “Listen to me , Darcy!”
Darcy cried out in agony as he tossed Haven aside like a rag doll. “The Queen of Wolves has spoken.”
’s attention shifted away from the peril of his familiars as blue energy swirled around Darcy.
“Back down, Darcy,” Quinn cautioned, his grip still firm on Luna. “You know my magic is much more powerful than yours.”
“That vampire cloaking spell you gentlemen must’ve cast worked quite well, but you’ve just revealed your weakness to me, professor,” Luna cackled. “ And thanks to your friend , my witch knows just the spell. ”
“Though the moon sits high and dark is the night,” mumbled Darcy, a blinding glow emanating from his palms.
’s mouth hung open as he realized what was happening. He’s using the same spell he found in my notes this morning.
Darcy looked at him, a smile on his face as he finished the incantation. “I call the sun to give me light.”
“No!” shouted as he ran toward Darcy. “Quinn! Uriah! Look out!”
As soon as the words left ’s mouth, Darcy’s hands produced a continuous beam of sunlight into the air like a laser.
“Move!” Pruitt shoved Quinn to the side as the light blasted them.