They couldn’t have picked a worse day for this, Abel thought to himself, ducking aside as a blast of green magic soured over his head, blowing his hood down. The heavy downpour had killed all visibility, so there was no telling how many students were in the surrounding area. Flashes of vibrant reds and blues, oranges and pinks, whites and purples, all pierced through the rain like booming fireworks. 

“To see in the dark, as the eyes are blind! Grant me sight and free me of this bind!” A male voice shouted from beyond the rain. Abel squinted as a bright burst of yellow light shot forth into the air directly above him, hovering like a mini sun. The field was suddenly illuminated, and there were about thirty students all fighting for a spot in the zone that Abel was at the center of. The rain fell heavier then, the light reflecting off the tiny droplets. Abel could see the glares, sense the aura change in those who’d now set their sights on him. 

“Only one of us can stand here!” He declared suddenly, shouting over the rain and bursts of magic. “And I’m not going anywhere!”

That was as good as a declaration of war. He readied himself, casting a defensive barrier around his body and evoking searing flames in every direction. Though flame’s natural enemy was rain, Abel’s determination kept them burning long into the fight. Fire for fire, dazzling barriers protecting their casters, all kinds of elements coming together for a spot at the top.

 

Andromeda paced back and forth in her office. Zeidan and Rexx stood side by side at her door, masking their angst behind plain faces. Never in all their years of knowing her had they seen Andromeda do anything to suggest she was anxious. But this incessant pacing along with her silence and pursed lips was anything but a good sign. And when she stopped, her gaze was locked not on Zeidan, but on Rexx, who stood even taller than he had been.

“Did you feel it?” She questioned, her voice no more than a whisper. Rexx could only nod, his eyes moving to Zeidan who only looked forward. “And you, Zeidan?”

Zeidan’s bright blue eyes met with Andromeda’s flowery pink irises, and for a moment he had nothing to say. He finally spoke as Rexx cleared his throat. “Yes. I felt it. I’d bet almost all of the staff felt it as well. That wave of nothingness piercing through the lands.”

“Nothingness.” Andromeda repeated with a snort. She rounded her desk and stood to gaze through the window. The two men didn’t move an inch. “Have we heard from any of the local law enforcement?”

“No.” Zeidan replied.

“Military?”

“No.” Rexx added. 

Her fiery red hair danced as she sat behind her desk, staring at the two men in her office.

“Track it.” She ordered Rexx. “Track whatever it was, and get rid of it.”

Rexx opened his mouth to speak, but Zeidan quickly interrupted. “What is it? What was that power? That wave of energy was so dark, so…fierce.”

Andromeda was silent for a moment. The bell rang for those who were in class to switch, but the three of them in that office didn’t move a muscle. “It is the void. A power belonging to one of the oldest witches to ever walk this land. And it seems as if the very seal that kept her locked away from the world, imprisoned in a way that she could never interfere with the living, has been broken.”

“And we have to track this power, this witch, for what reason?” Rexx inquired with a cocked brow.

Andromeda booted up her computer, typing away for a few minutes before printing off a few sheets of brown parchment paper. Rexx and Zeidan watched as she stamped and signed them all before having them swallowed into a peach colored gemstone. With a wave of her hand, the gem floated to Rexx, who held it in both hands as if it were a fragile egg. 

“Tell me, dear Rexx. Does the name Soren ring any bells?” 

Zeidan inhaled sharply.

Rexx stared blankly at Andromeda. 

“Should it?”

Andromeda laughed, burying her head in her hands. And as she peered up at Rexx and Zeidan, there was a new look, another look they’d never seen her make. “That name, being uttered at this very moment, means war is coming.” That look was malice. That wide eyed, twisted, battle lustrous face was full of malice and hate and excitement and anxiety. 

“Ensure that gemstone makes it to General Gabryel Oran at Battlebloom Citadel before tomorrow morning. Take whatever soldiers and supplies he gives you and find the source of that damned magic.”

Rexx’s head began to swim with questions; but before he could ask any of them, Andromeda’s boundless magic began to press down on him. “Do not make me order you.” She breathed. Rexx didn’t meet her gaze then. Scared of what he’d see on her face, he left her and Zeidan alone in haste.

Zeidan took one of the seats in front of Andromeda’s desk, battling to calm his thundering heart as her magic pulsed and writhed angrily throughout the room like an unchained beast. This was another rare side of her he seldom saw, and it was another side he never wished to see again. 

“You understand it, don’t you?” She questioned, meeting his blazing blue eyes. He nodded, tying his black hair into a draping ponytail. 

“If Soren has truly returned, much more than this academy is in danger.” Andromeda nodded in agreement. “I’ve had the security detail on red alert since the wave hit. The barriers and wards around the school are running at max capacity and are being double and triple checked every hour. We should be—”

“Zeidan,” Andromeda cut him off. His throat bobbed in anticipation. “I will need you by my side, you understand that much?” Zeidan laughed loudly, clapping a hand to his forehead.

“Have I not always been with you? As much as my time allows it, I am—”

She held up a hand, and the magical aura that thundered throughout the office almost made Zeidan puke. Andromeda was not trying to control her magic, she wanted Zeidan to feel the urgency in her words. “I don’t mean as a bodyguard, Zeidan Lovelace. You and I both had the privilege of not battling with that bastard witch in the Great War centuries ago. Before she was sealed for her corruption, she cursed these lands, these people, the very air we breathe. She cursed it all. And it was said that in a few books she wrote, she proclaimed her inheritance of unimaginable strength.

And that upon her return, she would send to hell the very world that persecuted her.”

Zeidan listened in silence, and when Andromeda was done, her face remained solemn. Her fear, her anxiety, was not for herself, or her own life. It was for those around her. She told Zeidan a tale of the witch Soren’s battle starved ways of brutalizing her opponents. Tearing limbs and consuming their flesh, corrupting magic and turning humanoid bodies into masses of living, breathing, discolored piles of flesh. Soren had never needed a wand, according to Andromeda. Not from the very first moment she’d blown a city apart as a child, all the way up until her macabre final battle in the Seventh Realm of Immortals. She’d fought toe to toe with several of the world's most renowned warlocks, killing two and brutally injuring three others before she was finally sealed within her own grimoire and cast away to an unknown part of the continent.

“So, Zeidan Lovelace. I need you beside me not as a guard, but as a warrior.”

Zeidan stood so suddenly that his chair toppled over. He paid it no mind as he bowed deeply before Andromeda. “I am your sword.” He breathed with firm assurance. 

“You may lose your life.” Andromeda stated.

“Of course.”

“These students may all perish.”

“We won’t allow that.”

“I…may die.” Andromeda said slowly. Zeidan lifted from his bow, staring intently into those rosy eyes that had bewitched him all those years ago.

“I am your sword, and also your shield. Every breath and every drop of blood and every bit of flesh shall be stripped from my bones before I allow you to die before me.”

“And if I die in some place that you cannot reach me, that you cannot see me or hear me?”

Zeidan smiled at those words, as if he knew she’d say them long before she thought of them, as if he’d had an answer prepared for years. His right hand moved to his left breast pocket, where he rested it upon a small token, one of his remaining hopes in life. “You haven’t left my sight since we first met each other, you know this. Soren will not change that, the void will not change that, and my death—will not change that.”

Andromeda did not smile as she stood, reeling in her beastly magic before moving to stand face to face with Zeidan. “Kneel.” She commanded. And Zeidan kneeled. His cheeks began to burn as Andromeda removed his hair from the ponytail, letting it hang down over his dark scarred face. “You have lived for me?” She questioned, resting a hand atop his head, imbuing her words with flowery magic.

“Yes.”

“And you will die for me?”

“Yes.” Zeidan confirmed without an ounce of hesitation

“And if the lives of these students are in danger, you will put them before me.”

Zeidan did not answer. “That was not a question, dear.”

“...yes, I will protect the lives of these students with all my power.”

The warmth from Andromeda’s magic was like a shower to Zeidan, or perhaps a warm blanket. He’d ask her to shower him in it everyday if he could. One day he would ask for her to be with him every day. But that day was not today, he decided. And as her flow of magic ceased, he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips.

“You are forgetting your formalities.” She breathed but did not pull away as he kissed the top of her pale hand, resting his lips for a few moments. “But, I suppose you are owed a treat, for your continued loyalty.” Zeidan did not mind that she spoke of him like a pet. As long as he could occasionally taste her skin and be showered in her magic and in her presence, he was content.

A deep boom drew the both of them to the large window immediately. Nothing was visible through the dark and the pouring rain. But a long flash of lightning revealed the source. A giant plume of ice exploded upwards toward the sky, freezing the trees and the rain, sitting in place at the back of the forest. 

“I guess Ms. Tourneau isn’t holding back.” Andromeda said with a laugh. Zeidan ached to wrap his arms around the woman next to him and whisk them away to some quiet, unknown location; but he withheld his desires, smirking at the plume of ice that became illuminated by occasional flashes of lightning. 

“Why would she?” Zeidan questioned halfheartedly.

 

Angelique Tourneau, monster incarnate, deviless of the cold, queen of ice. She fought with style and grace, her crystalline wand firing off round after round of cyan colored magic. Ice had always been her go to, and it had never let her down. She spun around, sweeping her wand in front of her to blast away the surrounding students before invoking a beastly chant, freezing her entire zone and encasing it in a mile high plume of spiked ice. Not a single one of the students could penetrate that ice, not at their levels anyway. Angelique had succeeded, turning away anyone who would have dared attack as she sat cross legged on the frozen ground, oblivious to the storm raging outside her icy walls, her eyes closed in meditation. 

The moment Abel’s eyes were drawn toward the plume of ice, a beam of raging water blasted him from his feet, hurling him into a tree outside his zone, knocking the breath from his body. 

He cursed, shakily standing before eyeing the mass of students surrounding the clear grass zone he’d stood upon seconds ago. 

“Certainly you guys can do better than this. How the hell did you all make it into this academy?” It was the triumphant, teasing voice of a young lady. Her deep purple eyes glowed glamorously beneath her cloak, glaring at the group before her.

Students who were unknowingly bound for Hawkaun were immediately intimidated, knowing that this girl and the swirls of water that twisted and writhed around her body were equally more experienced and deadly. Others who overestimated their powers began to chant spells, only to be interrupted as she danced again, her arms stopping to aim just long enough for bursts of water to blast into them. Abel watched this from his position among the trees. The water she cast was not being conjured from her own magic, he realized. She was constantly pulling the rain from the air around her, turning it into her own protection and weapon. And to top off that amazing feat, she was not using a wand. Abel guessed her magical power must have at least been on par with Angelique’s, which made him even more determined to beat her away from his zone so he could remain king. 

One student managed to sneak in close while she was gloating, packing a glittering burst of silvery blue magic into a single punch that collided with the girl’s jaw, she staggered, a surprised look on her face. “You’ve got a lot of nerve talking shit when your battle awareness is so low.” He said loudly as he stood over the stunned girl who raised a hand to touch the spot he’d hit. Everyone was focused on the two of them at the center, even Abel watched those wide purple eyes as they began to glow even brighter.

“Good battle awareness would have blown me off my feet already.” the girl muttered.

“What was that?” The boy asked mockingly. “You’ve gotta apologize louder than—hey! What the!” The girl began to laugh as her assailant began to struggle for breath, raking his hands through the sudden bubble of water that encapsulated his head. Abel watched in terror, finally moving from his leadened feet forward. The rain began to fall harder, and the magic light from overhead began to dim, making those powerful purple irises seem as if they belonged to a demon.

“GOOD battle awareness,” She snapped, overflowing with pride and malice. “Would have kept you away from danger, away from me!” She stripped away her cloak to reveal a toned dark body marked with deep scars. A trail of water flowed from her left hand to the drowning boy, while the other hand remained aimed at the group of students to her front.

“Hey, you can’t do that!” A girl from the group shouted.

“You’re gonna kill him!” Another shouted as the boy fell to his hands and knees, struggling to hold his breath amidst the capsule of water.

“Kill him?!” The girl shouted as water began to twist around her body faster and faster, like an angry serpent wrapping around its prey. “I would have done that already if I wanted to!” She knelt down next to her opponent, leaning in close and announcing, “I only want him to apologize!” 

A loud boom pounded in the night, but no one paid it attention as the boy fell onto his side, ceasing all movement, the water around his head splashing away onto the earth. Silence. No one said a word to the girl who just drowned another student. “Shit! Oh shit! Hey!” She rolled him over, placing her head on his chest. Abel was at the back of the crowd then, and watched in disgusted shock as the girl began to pull water from the boy's mouth with a wave of her hands until he began coughing and sputtering. Abel moved to the center of the group of students who knew they were outmatched. If she’d drowned that guy, what would she do to them? 

Abel aimed his wand at the ground, the blue dragon tear radiating a cool glow. “To the skies above, away from the earth. Grant me wings to soar with birds.” The near silent spell sent Abel soaring into the sky, his black cloak trailing behind him until he hovered only for a moment, before plummeting again. A wave of his wand killed the spell-light that had been illuminating the zone they all stood in, sending the students below into darkness; and a sweeping wave created a cascade of red fireballs that began to plummet with him. The shouts of caution, and the body’s that rushed away from the light of the flames brought a smile to Abel’s face; but those purple eyes stared up at him wondrously, piercing through the balls of fire as they crashed around her. A final wave of his spell placed a buffer of air below his feet to prevent his legs from breaking as he landed. 

“That’s pretty advanced magic, Mr. Wolfe. I don’t think they teach that to students who aren’t a part of the military pathways.” The girl said, tying her fluffy hair behind her with a band made of water. 

Abel smirked. “And they don’t teach you how to drown your classmates either.” He noticed that the bands of water that were swirling around her body had grown thinner, by a lot. He could win this if he was careful.

“As if!” The girl said, like she was reading his mind. “You’re a wand user, there’s no way you thought getting rid of the rain would give you an advantage!” Her purple eyes seared through the flames that burned between them.

High energy began to rush through Abel’s veins as he entered a battle stance. His wand arm crossed over his chest, his free arm below it crossing to the other side, his feet spread apart, his gaze determined. He was going to show Andromeda that she didn’t need to grant him the privilege of going to Cyrean because he was going to take a spot with his own power.

“Shayde, don’t lose!” A female's voice tore through the crackling flames. Abel quickly looked around, then back to his opponent whose face was unreadable. She mouthed something to herself and spread her arms upwards, dowsing the area around her and Abel in water. Abel countered, sweeping a spray of red flame across the area. The girl, Shayde, quickly put up a shield; but she didn’t see Abel fire several rounds of piercing blue magic. Her shield held against all but the last, which pierced through and struck her in the shoulder. 

Abel dashed around her in a wide circle, narrowly missing the blasts of water she fired toward him. One hand aimed for him while the other sprayed the fires away; but Abel kept them lit. And again he blasted himself high into the air. “That won’t work a second time!” Shayde shouted from below. Her eyes flared, her hands waved above her head and down to her side, balls of swirling water hovering over her. And as liquid blades fired up into the air, aiming to knock Abel as far away from her as possible, he cast a final spell. Swirling his wand overhead, a wondrous bloom of sparkling flame took forth, and it grew and grew and grew as Abel’s body began to glow that same sunset orange. He hadn’t realized he was floating, nor had he realized the magnificent ball of fire above his head, until he swept his wand downward, bringing the sun-like ball searing toward the earth. Shade’s eyes widened as her attacks were swallowed into the flames. “Impossible,” she murmured, her eyes wide. “He’s gonna burn this entire area!” 

Shayde would have moved, she would have ran, but it would have been futile. The ball of fire spanned much farther than she could travel in the time before it collided with the ground, so she thrust her hands overhead, drawing all the moisture she could from the air around her, from her own body, anything she could fuse with her shield to survive the behemoth ball of fire as it struck. Brush and trees burned immediately, scorched into nothingness by the bombardment of flames. For yards and yards, nothing remained

Angelique opened her eyes, gazing wondrously upon the student that glowed in the sky above his fiery massacre. She unleashed her own magic as the icy fortress around her began to melt. Impossible. No fire could have caused her magic to so much as sweat, but Abel…he had done it. She stood, almost leaving to see the true damage he’d caused; but she sat back down, remembering that this was a test, king of the hill. And if she didn’t have a hill, then she would lose. And losing to him, losing to Abel, would not happen a second time.