Sapphires & Rubies
Heaven
The Academy has changed, and Head Commander Maria, my jaddati, is doing incredibly as the new leader of this training academy.
“Did you hear? There was another attack on a pack up north, the Stone Light Pack. It was a tiny pack, but I don’t think anyone survived…”
“No… not manananggals, they say it was something coming through the veil…”
“Oh yeah, the town had some casualties, too…”
“Yeah, and human victims, too.”
“It’s being dealt with by the higher-ups, but it’s not looking great.”
The whispers follow me as I make my way outside for morning training. It’s specific training for witches only, so Allie won’t be here. Although I can sense some magic in her, it’s minimal, not enough for her to attend these classes, but it doesn’t stop me from making her learn outside of class.
Sometimes I think people are fools. How else are we to tap into our full potential if we don’t push every part of us to the limit? But Allie prefers to use physical skill rather than mental. She is more animal than human, I guess.
I hide my smile at that, remembering when she once tried to pull back her lycan form, keeping her own long hair, but her face was still in lycan form. It just looked hilarious and ugly. For Halloween, she should go like that; it would be fun.
“Yeah, they say the death toll is still rising,” someone murmurs.
I frown slightly. There’s not even just cracks in the veil anymore; they are tears, huge gaps like the one in the sea in Puerto Rico.
Barriers are created where the tear is huge, but finding the tears before damage is done isn’t always possible.
When they appear, most of the time, something horrific comes through.
It’s happening all around the world, and despite patrolling and monitoring with technology, we usually learn of the tears when something has already occurred.
“Hey.” An arm slings around my shoulder, and I arch an eyebrow, looking up at Tatum.
“Hi, but I didn’t spend all morning styling my curls for you to ruin them,” I reply, brushing his arm off.
He raises his eyebrows. “Really? I thought you just ‘magic them’ to perfection.”
“Regardless, still effort.”
“Well, sorry for damaging your perfect hair. Here, I was on patrol last night, and Aunt Del caught up with me. She said to pass this to you.”
My eyes widen. “And you waited until now to tell me?” I swipe the package from him, displeased.
“We got back late, and I just got up, showered and headed your way,” he replies defensively.
“Well, thank you,” I say haughtily before turning and slipping the package into my bag, whispering a spell as I seal my bag shut.
I might be a little paranoid, but with things like this, you have to be careful.
Especially after what happened to Ares. They may have scoured the school, but there is a traitor amongst us, if not more than one.
“Aldona.” I look up and see Sister Hesta, who will be leading the session, walking over to me.
“Sister Hesta,” I respond politely, standing to attention.
She smiles slightly. “I want you to lead one of the teams today.”
Me?
I mask my surprise. “I’m only a second year, are you certain?” I ask politely, despite the satisfaction I feel over the fact that she even suggested me.
“Yes, and you are strong beyond your years. I want to see your skill as a leader, or if being a lone witch is all you will be.”
“I will aim not to disappoint,” I answer, determined to do my best.
It’s a challenge, because as witches we work better alone, unless things are preplanned… I skim across the witches as they teem in, going through everyone’s strengths. Depending on who Sister Hesta puts in my group, I should have an analysis of what they can do prior.
“Alright, today we’re doing something different! We received a gift that I requested from the King himself! And he delivered. This is going to be a little more dangerous, but it should help you for the overnight field examination that we will be having later this month!”
“Exciting,” someone says from behind. This class is for witches, but excluding those who have taken the healer’s path.
“So, we will work in two teams, in two separate parts of this field. We have a few teachers to help in case things go awry, but the winning team will be whoever defeats their opponent first.”
Opponent? So, we aren’t going up against each other.
A few of the other professors come onto the field, but they don’t hold my attention. Sister Hesta snaps her fingers, and the illusion she had created is brought down to reveal two large metal containers sitting on pallets. The shrieking from within makes my blood curdle.
Manananggals.
The containers shake and tremble as they scream to be free.
“Remember, they are rather hungry, too. This training can cost you your life,” Sister Hesta continues with a smile on her face.
And I’m in charge.
“Training for today, as you might have guessed, is to kill your manananggal first. The winning team will get some extra supplies on the Field Examination! Aldona leads team Sapphire, and Liremai leads team Ruby! If your palm is glowing red, you are on Team Ruby; the rest move to Sapphire!”
The sound of crisp grass crunching under the boots of the witches as they shuffle into their two teams is the only sound that I hear for a few moments as everyone obeys.
The witches on my team glance at me. For the most part, I have proven myself to them with class and grace, and for the few who still think I’m somehow just delusionally getting by, well, they’ll realise soon enough.
“Remember, manananggals are dangerous, be ready!” Sister Hesta raises her hand, ready to remove the seals on the containers, when Liremai steps forward.
“Won’t we get a few minutes for a strategy?!” she asks, casting me a disdainful look.
I turn my head and fire back an eye roll. “If we were attacked by a manananggal, we won’t have time to plan, but knowing you’re the team leader, you should be taking these few moments to perhaps start devising a plan, not complaining,” I reply haughtily.
“Snob,” someone mutters.
Call it what you want, it’s the truth.
Sister Hesta chuckles. “Aldona is correct, and it’s that attitude that will make you win. Now be ready!” she thunders, her voice magnifying as I step back, a partition rises between the two teams, and a dome is created around us, leaving us with the container inside the shimmering green walls.
“What is the plan?!” a first-year whispers.
She stands beside me. To be at this school, we are the strongest, but even strength doesn’t erase the quiet tremor before the first strike. Her eyes flick toward me, searching for certainty.
“We will be fine,” I tell her, hoping my confidence brings her ease.
“Fire witches, attack. Earth, hold the defences. Everyone else, protect the ones attacking. Olga, Maralai, you’re in charge of the left and right.”
The commands are crisp, cutting through the murmurs. I step back just as the reinforced container groans, cracks, and collapses in on itself.
The manananggal steps out, its dark aura spreading across the field as it hisses ominously.
I let out a slow breath, the cold making it mist.
The manananggal’s hiss rattles the air like nails dragged across glass. The stench is immediate, rot layered over old blood, thick enough to taste. Magic clings to it, foul and oily, sinking into my skin and making the hair on my arms rise. I fight the urge to retch and keep my expression still.
“Stay ready…” I murmur.
It lunges at us with a violence that makes us all scatter, its knife-like claws slicing the air, searching for flesh.
The witches move in formation, voices low and urgent as they begin chanting spells.
Fire arcs in wide sweeps, walls of stone slam upward, and wind lashes like invisible whips, but the creature doesn’t slow.
“We can’t kill it from here!” someone yells.
“Keep it back! Strike from under him, use the ground!” I call out.
My hand goes to the band I have tied around my thigh as a bandage.
The moment I untie it, runes sizzle to life, glowing, dazzling orange across the length.
Steel blooms from nowhere as I whisper the release spell.
A few around me gasp in surprise as weapons appear around me.
I allow myself the faintest smile as I grab hold of two of the large daggers.
I never walk into battle unarmed. I just prefer that they stay hidden until I need them.
I drop to one knee and press my palm to the ground. The earth listens. My eyes flare orange as blades slip silently beneath the soil, moving unseen toward their prey, carried by the soil.
A scream tears through the noise.
I snap my head up. The same first year from earlier has ignored my orders and is charging forward.
“No!” I shout. My hair whips in my face as I turn, but the manananggal is faster, snatching her with sickening speed, its claws piercing deep.
Heat floods my vision. The spell leaves my lips before I’ve finished the thought, and brilliant green light flashes around me.
A razor-edged wave of magic slices through the air, severing its arm.
The girl falls, dragged to safety by another witch, while the arm reattaches to the monster’s body with a wet, crawling sound.
“What?! How?!” someone shouts.
“Keep focused,” I command. “Harilla, Jareena, heal her! Four of you, shield them.”
Flames hammer into the manannggal’s chest again and again as the six witches obey my command.
She’ll live even if she’s injured.
It roars, thrashing, its fury breaking the air into shreds. I’m almost there…
I whisper the spell, focusing everything I have as I push more power into it. The ground quakes as roots erupt upward, wrapping around them, my power creating a barrier around the branches so they don’t catch fire.
“Good. Keep it busy,” I shout as I rush to the left. “I’m going behind.”
I stay low, aura drawn tight so it won’t notice me. The branches are destroyed as it breaks free and charges at the others. I rush forward, guiding the buried daggers beneath its shadow.
One breath.
One heartbeat.
One of the blades erupts from the ground, spearing between its legs and carving upward through bone and rotting flesh.
The scream it makes is not of this world; it jars through me, making my teeth ache.
The manananggal splits, spraying dark, putrid blood that coats my skin and the surroundings as the two parts of its body crash to the ground.
The stench is enough to make my stomach twist.
I flip back, landing lightly on my feet. Its body collapses into two pieces. The sight is one worse than a horror movie. The air is still again, but my heart is not.
I whisper a spell, cleaning away the blood as my team cheers and our barrier comes down. I glance over at Liremai’s dome shield, which is still intact, satisfied that their manananggal is still very much alive.
“Well done, Team Sapphire. Excellent leadership skills, Aldona,” Sister Hesta says, clapping with approval as the other teachers also nod.
They were here in case something went wrong…
“You were incredible,” one of the girls says.
“And thank you for saving me,” the young girl says.
I look her over, pursing my lips. “Follow orders, or you might just die next time.” Her face falls, but she needs to understand the rules are there for a reason.
I glance at the time, realising it had taken us nearly fifteen minutes to kill it. It hadn’t felt so long inside there. They aren’t easy to kill, and there were so many of us… Things really are getting harder.
Someone whistles, and I look up to see Holden watching from the sidelines, and he isn’t the only one there. I smile slightly at the way he’s looking at me. He is extremely handsome…
“Nice work!” Holden says, clapping lightly.
“You can have the rest of the lesson off,” Sister Hesta says, filling the team with relief. Some have already emptied their stomachs at the sight of the gutted manananggal.
I walk towards the small crowd, and Holden steps forward.
“Let me treat you to something tonight. Come on, you did great.”
“Tonight… I’m a little busy, I have…” I trail off, remembering the parcel.
The parcel! Where’s my bag?!
My heart thunders as I spin around. “My bag, where is my bag?!” I ask, panic filling me.
“Whoa there, I haven’t seen it. What does it look like?”
“The same one I always use, the white with the gold-”
“Looking for this?” My eyes darken in annoyance at the voice. I turn to see him holding my bag in one finger.
“You!” I snatch my bag, unable to control the quickening of my heart rate. I hate him.
He smirks. “You missed me, j-”
“No, I didn’t. And don’t talk to me unless you change your mind about what I asked,” I say quietly. Our eyes meet, but he doesn’t push it. He wouldn’t risk wanting anyone to know about his truth.
“Ok… well, excuse us,” Holden says, placing a hand on my back, pulling me closer. I open my backpack, relieved to see the package still inside.
How careless of me.
“What was that about?” Holden asks, cocking a perfect brow.
I shake my head. “Nothing. A date night sounds great, just don’t let me down,” I say to him. “I’ll see you at seven.”
He smirks, tilting his head. “I definitely won’t, not when you agreed after so long.”
I think a little distraction will do me some good. He leans in for a kiss, but I look at the manananggal. “I need to shower,” I say apologetically, although he doesn’t seem to care.
“Alright,” he says, throwing up his hands.
Now to go shower and see what Aunty Delsanra sent me…