Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Selene
Before the dark mage could advance, I used a combo of wind and earth magic to heave a cafeteria table at her.
She easily deflected it to the side with a swipe of magic and started toward us.
Ender lashed out with sharp slashes of wind-like whips, causing her to wince but barely slowing her down.
Someone flung the flames from a nearby torch onto the dark mage’s cloak, catching it on fire.
“Fry, rotten flesh bag!” Sydney shouted.
With my magic, I picked up a wooden chair and sent it crashing into the dark mage, who had to stop and douse the fire burning her cloak. She flinched and staggered but remained on her feet, the fire out. I battered her with chair after chair while Ender continued his attacks, causing her to halt.
Ender pushed with his hands out in front of him, and the air felt heavier.
He was attempting to crush her with pressure.
I joined him. The dark mage crossed her arms in front of her face like a shield but forcefully brought them down, straining against the crushing air.
Tiny sand particles appeared out of thin air and headed straight at us and forced us to halt our attack.
I flipped a nearby table, pulling it in front of our small group as a shield against the mini sandstorm.
My friends crouched down beside me, taking refuge.
Students who weren’t near an exit had taken shelter behind whatever they could find. The noise from the mage’s attack had drowned everything else out, but the panic and fear were evident on the other students’ faces.
My arm ached from pushing my magic into the table, and my eyes burned from the wisps of sand that had found a way around.
Ender had put his hands on the table, using his weight and force to help me push against the sandstorm.
Vivian and April joined him, and then David took up the only spot left, leaning in to the table.
As soon as the pressure of the attack disappeared, I released my hold on our barrier.
Sand had made its way inside my mouth, leaving me tasting grit, and I spat.
Water burst from the top of a bottle refill station situated at the front of the cafeteria and lifted into the air, swarming into a giant ball, and I instantly knew it was Viv controlling it with her water magic. Then she wailed a battle cry.
For the love of all Oreos, please help my sister.
She threw the mass of water at the dark mage, but the dark mage threw her hands up and sliced right through it, the water falling to the floor like a popped balloon. Viv’s plan had been most likely to drown her, something I’ve seen her practice.
The dark mage clapped her hands and stomped a foot. I reached for the sand on the floor, hoping to use it to tear at her flesh and stop her attack, but I was too late.
Her air magic crashed into me, and the ground shook below as her earth magic took root.
Rocks and chunks of earth ripped through the flooring, and everyone was sent flying in different directions.
My back slammed against an uprooted rock and my breath left my lungs.
I fell and looked around for my friends.
I couldn’t see Ender, but the others were all down.
Viv stood and rushed to April’s side before meeting my gaze.
I took a deep breath. Screw it.
I stood and glared at the dark mage, who was now only ten feet from me. She drew a deep breath in through her nose, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.
“It’s just me you want.” I felt the heat of my magic rise—the same magic she wanted to siphon from me. “Come and get me.”
I melded my magic around the water at the feet of the dark mage and froze it.
“Ignis uror. Ignis lucidus …” I wielded a frozen shard like a knife and managed to slice part of her face.
“Viam reperi, donec accendat.” I finished the enchantment and flames erupted at her feet.
She screeched, the sound laced with more anger than pain.
If it wasn’t obvious to my friends that I’d been using elements other than earth, it was now.
A black-veined vine wrapped around my hand and pulled it to my side with enough force to nearly snap my hand in two.
I lost the fire that was holding the dark mage in place, and she closed the gap between us, her moves choppy but inhumanly fast. Her hand moved to my neck, wrapping her decaying, boney fingers all the way around.
My heart beat harder as she crushed my airway, and vines slithered from my toes to my torso like a boa.
My body was pinned, and using magic without movement wasn’t easily done, especially with my brain in a state of shock and struggling to keep up without oxygen.
Ender’s shadow fell over her from behind and a sickening crunch came from her rotten flesh.
The dark mage let out a small cry and released her hold on me.
I fell to the floor, gasping for air. The mage glanced down where the tip of a knife protruded from her chest. A second later, she let out a deafening laugh, blood bubbling at the creases of her pale lips.
“How old are you?” I whispered between coughs.
Dark mages were killable; you just had to get close enough. Their magic was strong, but for a dark mage to still be unaffected by our attacks, they had to have been hundreds of years old.
“You missed,” the dark mage hissed and turned around, grabbing my makeshift ice shank and stabbing Ender in the shoulder.
“No!” I roared as I got up, but the vines wrapped around me, trapping me once more.
Ender flinched, but moved to disarm her, blood pouring from his wound. He retrieved the knife in one solid motion and landed a kick to her abdomen. Vines grabbed his wrists and ankles, slamming him against a stone pillar and stopping his next attack.
The vines crushed him against the rock, and he grunted. The dark mage cocked her head toward him, her nose pointed upward as she breathed in.
“What a pleasant surprise.” She glanced between Ender and me. She thrust her hands to the side, her palms bare of the clan mark, and faint screams came from around me as she pushed the others back with a force of air magic.
A vine with black tendrils shot from her hand and wrapped around Ender’s neck. It pulsed against his skin as the veins on his neck turned dark. She was draining him.
Dark mages could only drain ether mages.
And it was going to kill him.
I thrashed against the vines, about to do another fire enchantment, when the dark mage’s hand grabbed me by my throat and lifted me into the air, her cloudy white eyes turning to me.
“You’re next.” Her voice was raspy, like a ghost, and for the second time in my life, I was terrified.
Her hands looked so frail, but they held immense strength as they tightened around my neck. My lungs burned, aching for even the slightest bit of air.
Ender stopped fighting against his restraints, his eyes fluttering shut.
My heart began to crack as if her hand crushed it instead of my windpipe.
The dark mage’s grip never loosened, though something felt different. Her hand was a searing brand—but not of fire. It was powerful energy, emitting at me like a beacon. Not just her hand but her entire body begged me to take it. The dark, deadly magic wanted to be siphoned.
It felt slick and greasy, like black goo. A voice in the back of my head told me to take it, but another warned against it. Was this the darkness calling to me? To take the power and take the plunge into the cold void?
The mage’s gaze flicked from Ender to me, worry creasing the corner of her eyes as her milky eyes widened.
Did she realize her magic had opened to me like a funnel?
I slammed the funnel closed, ignoring the powerful sensation to draw her dark energy from her.
I didn’t want to be her and closing it had been harder than I would’ve liked to admit.
She suddenly went rigid. Something else happened when I cut off the funnel.
The top layer of her skin turned into a hazy, frothy fog, as if something was moving it.
Heat radiated from my skin and a burst of energy echoed from me, sending the mage flying into the cafeteria wall.
Not only did it send her backward, but it sent Viv and the others, who had been making their way back over, to the ground again.
I dropped to my knees, gasping for air and using my hands to keep me upright, the cold tiles welcome against my sweaty palms. Soft white fur rubbed against my bare arms, providing warmth and comfort and motivating me to look up.
Aura’s eyes were almost black like her nose before turning a shade lighter.
It took me a moment to realize she too was covered in dust, and dark blood stained her muzzle.
She shrieked and flitted her gaze to the dark mage.
The mage tried to stand, wobbly in her attempt, as fury flared in her now obsidian eyes. Before she could fully stand, she was engulfed in flames. Her screams filled the room and then ceased as she fell to the ground.
“Sal.” A hand rested on my back. “Are you okay?”
I looked up to see David, his brow creased in worry. The hand that wasn’t on my back was bare—no glove.
I think I’m okay? But were the others okay … Was …
“Viv!” I shot to my feet—too quickly—and the cafeteria began to spin.
“She’s okay.” David helped steady me as I found Viv in the rubble with the others. They had cuts but overall appeared to be fine as they regained their bearings.
I turned to find Ender slumped against the stone and I panicked at his stillness.
“No!” I ran to him, Aura leaping over uprooted stones as she kept pace with me.
Once I reached him, I found his pulse. I let out a long, shaky breath that helped release a ball of panic that had threated to burst inside my chest. Aura rubbed up against his hand on the ground, her eyes fading to black again.
I brushed Ender’s hair from his forehead, sand falling from it.
He stirred and his eyes fluttered open, taking in his surroundings.
After a moment, he opened his mouth. It took him a second try before coherent words came out.
“I think I like this new cafeteria remodel.” He forced a half grin.
My gaze roamed over his disheveled state. His magic felt different, almost like it had been awoken yet attacked. Like his magic had been siphoned? And why did I feel so in tune—
Viv crashed into me.
“You’re okay.” She squeezed me tight, and I winced at the aches across my body.
“You are too.” I hugged her back, debating never letting her go.
John stepped into view with a few guards behind him. I wasn’t sure when they had arrived, but dust and sand coated the blood and scrapes they wore. I pulled away from Viv and glanced back at Ender, who grunted as he tried to sit up.
“Don’t move.” I tore a piece of my shirt and held it to his shoulder wound. “You’re making it bleed more.”
Ender looked at me with a lopsided grin that wavered slightly as he placed his hand over mine. “It’s just a scratch.”
“Ender?” A worried voice came from the side door where Miss Lee stood assessing the room. Sun filtered through the broken windows, reflecting off the broken glass scattering across the ground-up stone floor.
“Miss Eleanor Lee.” John stepped out in front of us.
“Yes?” Miss Lee entered the cafeteria, her gaze on Ender.
“We will be addressing your true identity further.” He motioned for the guards to contain her, and they placed enchanted tungsten shackles on her wrists.
Once locked in place, the nullifying cuffs glowed green, making her magic unavailable to her.
It was the first time I had seen the magical cuffs in person.
“What are you doing?” Ender slowly got to his feet, using my arm to steady himself.
I stared at Miss Lee. Her vines … her show of power … It had confirmed the suspicions I had been hoping weren’t true.
“She’s the one who’s been trying to kill me,” I said, glaring at her with new eyes—she was a strong earth mage who—for some reason—had a vendetta against me. Had she let the dark mage in?
“Someone has been trying to kill you inside the academy, Sal?” John turned his attention to me.
“Yes.” I didn’t want to give him any details. He wasn’t on my People I Can Trust List—my really small list.
“She’s the one that attacked you?” Ender’s brow furrowed as he looked from me to her. “You have it wrong.” He waited for Miss Lee to respond, but it never came. I could feel the anger and hurt radiating off Ender at her silent admission.
“Why?” he demanded.
“Her true name is Bernila Galang.” John faced him. “She’s your grandmother.”