Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Ender
“Take her!” Vivian shouted at me. Gwen was slung over her shoulders like a heavy rag doll.
“Where’s Selene?” I slowed but didn’t completely stop as I scanned the three of them for injuries.
Ivy clutched a book in her hands, her face alarmingly pale as she hobbled next to Vivian.
Gwen’s sides slowly rose and fell, indicating she was alive.
Other than that, they seemed fine. My gaze briefly fell back to the rough, brown leather-bound book with gold calligraphy.
Its title easily identified it as a forbidden book of creature summoning spells, and it was supposed to be locked in the library basement.
“I need to go help her.” Vivian took a step toward me, clearly indicating for me to take Gwen from her. Instead, I started in the direction they had come from.
“Hey, wait!” Vivian called after me. “Prick!”
I couldn’t help a small smile as I ran. Besides a match or hidden scowls, no one vilified me to my face or held my glare. The Thomas sisters weren’t afraid to.
The ground shook again and I pressed harder, uneasiness settling in my gut.
I’d never seen Ivy so quiet or pale; she was always up for a challenge.
Up ahead through the trees, I could make out Selene.
When I reached her, her arms were stretched in front of her, aimed at a giant pile of rocks underneath a tree.
The pile started to shake, and off to the side, another heap of boulders shuddered underneath a nearby fallen tree, slowly getting taller as it formed into a sentient being and stood.
Rock creatures. Someone powerful had to have summoned them because not only were there two, but there was a third behind them. And neither Ivy nor Gwen was an earth mage nor powerful enough to summon creatures like this.
“What are you doing here?” Selene gritted through her teeth, her chest barely rising faster than a normal rate.
“I should be asking you what you are doing?” I examined her and then the rock beasts—the trees hadn’t been knocked down by them.
Ivy was strong, but not strong enough to uproot a tree of that size with her air magic, let alone do it twice.
There was no sign of Gwen’s water magic, and Vivian was only a level two water mage.
The rock creature behind the others made its way toward us, its empty orbital sockets somehow managing to still devour us like prey.
Selene sent boulders flying into its head, slowly causing it to step backward.
Because these were made with earth elements, it would be easier to destroy them by controlling them with earth magic.
Unfortunately, if you didn’t create them, your magic wouldn’t work to manipulate them—unless the creature was weak.
I twisted my hands, circling them in small motions as the cold touch of my magic singed the insides of my fingertips. A small tornado formed and grew as my motions became wider until it was the size of the creature. It acted as a small distraction but did not stop it.
The creature was too heavy for the tornado, so I changed tactics and sent whips of air against its stony body, slowly crumbling its exterior.
The air slashed through its arm like a sword, cutting it off and making it crumble to the ground.
Selene uprooted another tree—much smaller than the first two—and sent it crashing into the creature.
It fell to one knee and braced itself with its only remaining arm.
The rocks and pebbles from its chopped arm moved, piling on each other and sticking together like magnets.
After the creature’s arm reformed, it reattached itself so it was whole again.
We continued our attacks. Once we would take one down, we focused on the next one closest to us.
They were slow, and we used that to our advantage.
But despite our best efforts, they continued to get back up again.
My magic left my blood flowing like a river of ice as I sent strike after strike.
At one point, I focused on pressurizing the air around the approaching rock creature with enough force that should’ve crushed the majority of it but only impacted a single boulder on the edge of its body.
“We need a different strategy,” I shouted to Selene and glanced at her. Her breathing was now quick. She was getting tired, and so was I. Magic used endurance and was similar to running or lifting weights.
Selene held my gaze and nodded before looking back at the creatures. Her brows set, determination spreading across her face, and somehow, I knew she understood the creatures would wreak havoc on the academy if they made it past us.
One of the creatures was still down after our recent attack, and the other two were slowly advancing.
Selene knelt, placing a palm to the ground and closing her eyes.
Cracks spread around her hand like a spider’s web, and a fissure broke through the earth, trailing toward the creatures.
It ran underneath their stone-stubbed feet, and a rift formed behind them, the dirt falling in on itself.
“Now!” she shouted and glanced at me. I nodded, realizing her intentions.
I breathed deeply, focusing all my magic. With a giant push of my hands, I sent a forceful gush of wind toward the two creatures. The wind sent them toppling backward into the crater. The small internal frosty hum of my magic faded, the entirety of it depleted.
The magic-charged air stilled, creating a blanket sensation.
The air along my arms should’ve risen at the abrupt change, but it didn’t.
The thin blades of grass and pebbles at my feet began to shake, and a loud pop echoed through the air like thunder.
The edge of the mountain behind the creatures cracked like something out of a movie.
Selene had her hands out, palms facing the mountain.
Sweat laced her forehead and her cheeks were flushed.
Her mouth moved, whispering words I couldn’t hear.
In a swift motion, she brought both hands down.
Boulders came tumbling down like a landslide and covered the rift, piling a good twenty feet above ground.
I looked back at Selene. She clutched the ground, fisting the dirt as she held herself up.
It took a moment to come out of my stupor and race over to her.
I reached out as she tilted her head up, her expression unreadable.
She hesitated before taking my arm. Her hand brushed against my skin, sending a small shock through my arm.
That was new … and different.
I pulled her up and we froze with my arms underneath hers, her face inches from mine.
The heaviness of the charged air still didn’t make my skin crawl.
It was like the inferno of her magic and the iciness of mine happily intertwined as it dissipated.
The only sound in the quiet forest was our breathing, and the beating of my heart drummed in my ears.
I swore I could feel her heartbeat like my own.
Her rich brown eyes looked at me as her mouth parted, accentuating her cupid’s bow. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
“Sal!” Headmaster John shouted as he emerged from the forest, Aura right behind him. Murphy trailed behind him with more guards. Selene tugged out of my grasp, her cheeks reddening even more.
Different felt good.