The earth beneath me was cold, damp, and uneven as I approached the maze. Stones, twigs, and dead leaves were scattered all around the ground, and knotted roots made it hard to walk steadily. I could feel the wet soil as I pushed forward, and it seeped through my new leather boots and sent cold shivers up my body. The air around us was cloudy with mist, and it had a strange, smoky smell to it. All I could hear were the twigs and dead leaves that snapped and crunched underneath me and a murder of crows that fiercely cawed above us, as if they were trying to warn us to turn back. The sky above us was the color of charcoal, and occasionally, a bolt of lightning would split the ebony blanket.
The witches panted heavily behind me as they followed my every step. The deeper we went down the path, the thicker the fog grew, and the sky blackened. So far, though, we hadn’t come across any twists or turns, and the maze just seemed to be leading us deeper into its core.
Finally, we came to an opening of some kind. It was made from the same gray bush as the maze, and the circular black entranceway was covered with thorns and vines. I found it odd we hadn’t spotted any other turns yet, but this was just the beginning. Who knew how deep, dark, and deceiving this maze would prove to be.
“That’s it,” I said as I pointed to the opening, “that’s where we have to go.”
“Satan,” Vesta breathed behind me, “I have a terrible feeling about this, Cole. It’s like we’re about to walk into the belly of a beast. ”
“But look deep within yourself … can’t you feel as if this is the way forward? I want you to think carefully before you answer that,” I said as I slowly turned around to face her. “Because personally, I feel this is exactly where we need to go.”
Vesta studied me with those molten silver eyes and bit down on her full lower lip.
“Yes, it is,” she said, now with more confidence and determination in her voice. “Let’s go.”
I flashed her a quick smile and then turned my attention back to the opening. The darkness ahead of me almost had a magnetic pull that I couldn’t resist, and while I knew this was the way to go, I wasn’t about to walk in blind.
“Illuminana,” I whispered.
My hand glowed a fiery green and lit the way ahead of us. I took the first step inside the mouth of the small passageway, and gray bushes and thorns surrounded us. My heart pounded with anticipation, and my other hand was slick with sweat as we walked through the small burrow. I knew anything could emerge at any time, so all my senses were on high alert as my eyes darted in every direction.
While I lit the way and led the witches ahead, I pulled my dagger from my waistband and extended it outward as I walked. If anything tried to leap at me as soon as we reached the other side, I’d be ready to plunge my weapon into its heart.
Well, as long as it wasn’t a troll, or a giant, or something ten times my size. If that were the case, then other methods of magic would have to be used.
We all made it through the gray maze tunnel, and when we were officially deep inside the center of the labyrinth, we all formed a small circle. I glanced around, and there were four different paths we could take.
But only one of them would lead us out of here.
Now was the time to use my premonition skills, so I closed my eyes, breathed in, and felt the energy all around me.
“Well?” I heard Morgana hiss under her breath. “Which way is it?”
“Maybe if you keep quiet and focus, you’ll figure it out, too,” I muttered.
The brunette huffed but then went silent.
Suddenly, I could sense something, and it was pulling me upward.
“North,” I blurted with excitement, and I snapped open my eyes. “We have to go north.”
“I felt that, too,” Morgana gasped.
“Same,” Vesta breathed.
“Let’s go, then,” Faye insisted with her wide, greenish-gold eyes.
Everyone made a move to go, except for Sweeny. She just stood there with a frown on her gruesome, pallid face, and her scarred arms were folded across her flat chest.
“I don’t feel it,” she snapped. “My mind is telling me to go west, not fucking north.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Sweeny,” Akira hissed, “it’s five against one. We’re going north. Come on.”
“You can go wherever the hell you want,” Sweeny sneered. “I’m not going to follow this one.”
The scarred witch jabbed a crooked finger at me, and her bloody mouth curled into disgust. She hated me even more than the others, and this fully proved it. She’d rather risk her life than take the wiser choice.
Akira was right, though. It was five against one.
“Then so be it, Sweeny,” I replied in a stoic voice.
“Did you all do the blood oath with him?” she growled.
“Yes,” Vesta sighed.
“Fucking traitors,” Sweeny hissed and barred her sharp teeth. “He’s a man. A human man. I can’t believe you’d let him control you.”
“We want to live,” Morgana grunted. “Are you coming with us? We’ll be safer together.”
“No,” Sweeny scoffed. “We are witches. We are Satan’s chosen. It’s our job to defeat the minions of the Elder God, not submit to some male and become pregnant.”
“Uhhh, that’s not at all how it’s going to--” Vesta started to say.
“You’ve already taken his seed,” Sweeny interrupted her. “And now he’ll just fuck each of you whenever he wants. You are his toys now. No. The rest of you can trail after him like loyal bitches. I’m going to win this on my own.”
The scarred, bitter witch turned around and started to walk toward the path that headed west.
“Wait, Sweeny, stop!” Morgana called out as she tried to reach for Sweeny’s arm, but Vesta stopped her and pulled her close.
“There’s no use in trying,” the lavender-skinned witch whispered. “She didn’t even partake in the Pact. She made up her mind, and now her fate is in her own hands.”
“But--” Morgana tried to argue, but I raised a hand to cut her off.
“Vesta’s absolutely right,” I said. “I’m sorry, but there was never any hope for her. She just never listened.”
Morgana sighed and nodded. The rest of the witches looked around, and I could sense they were feeling awkward, ashamed, and worried for Sweeny. Then I realized I could sense their emotions easily because of our bond.
“Let’s keep moving,” I suggested. “We’re as good as bait if we just stand here with our thumbs up our asses.”
The witches muttered their agreements, and we headed north. The dark path led us deep into the maze, and above us, the charcoal sky only grew blacker with each step we took. It was also getting darker, chillier, and more claustrophobic the deeper we went.
We walked in heavy silence for quite some time, until suddenly, I heard something shuffling in the bushes ahead of us.
I stopped dead in my tracks and raised my blade.
The witches all pulled out their weapons and gathered into a tighter circle, and I stood in front of them, with my dagger extended and my feet firmly planted on the ground.
I scanned around me, but I couldn’t make out anything. Then I lit up my palm and used the flames to get a better look.
That’s when I saw a pair of yellow eyes with red pupils staring right at me. A massive paw emerged from the bush, and then another one followed. A moment later, a large creature with a long snout, enormous claws, and black fur stood on its hind legs and towered over us.
“Werewolf,” Akira whispered behind me. “Fuck.”
The giant, wolf-like beast raised its huge, protruding snout, and its massive nostrils flared with each heavy breath it took. The creature started to sniff at the air and then hunched over as it took a significant step toward us.
The wolf’s stomach growled like thunder as it approached. It licked its mouth, and thick, mucus-colored salvia began to drip like heavy raindrops down his mouth as he took another step forward.
I gripped my blade, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t going to do the trick. This beast was three times the size of a wolf and at least twelve feet tall when he stood up on his hind legs.
Just as I thought this couldn’t get any worse, we heard giggling from behind us. It was a cackling kind of laugh, and the witches gasped in terror. I didn’t have to turn around to sense other creatures had emerged from the darkness and circled us. I could feel their teeth, sharp eyes, claws, and hunger without even having to look at them.
“We’re totally surrounded,” Vesta panted. “Cole, what are we going to do?”
“We need to focus,” I reminded her. “Let go of your fear and fight. Use all the skills from each class to defend yourselves.”
As soon as I muttered those words, the werewolf leapt into the air, and he was seconds away from knocking me down to the ground and killing me.
“Conligo!” I yelled as I snapped my hand up.
A purple bolt of lightning exploded from my palm, and the other witches screamed as the werewolf froze in midair. Its eyes flickered back and forth as it hung in the grasp of my spell, and I could tell the beast was confused and unable to move.
I kept my hands up, and my feet planted down on the ground. When I looked around, I saw several bestial eyes glaring at us. Suddenly, a massive monster that looked part human and part scorpion scuttled toward Morgana, Faye, and Akira.
The witches all took a step back, and before I knew it, they were running down another path and away from Vesta and me.
“Wait!” I called out.
“Cole … ” Vesta breathed as she inched closer to me.
“What?” I asked through gritted teeth. It was getting harder to hold onto the werewolf. Its paws were starting to twitch, and I knew it was going to regain mobility soon.
This spell was only temporary, after all.
All of a sudden, the werewolf dropped down to the ground and charged at me, and I heard Vesta scream right before I whispered another spell.
“Me avolare,” I muttered.
Just as the beast lunged at me, I could feel my body evaporating. Then I was transported to another corner of the small clearing, where a spear-like stick was lying on the ground.
The wolf pounced through my shadow double and shook its massive head in frustration when it realized it hadn’t managed to kill me. Then it growled in fury when it couldn’t figure out where I was.
Meanwhile, I spotted Vesta with her knife extended toward a thin, white-cloaked figure. She was close enough to slit the figure’s throat, and I hoped she could hold her own.
Because right now, I had my own shit to deal with.
I whistled to get the werewolf’s attention, and its yellow, menacing eyes focused on me again. I was crouched down and used my body to cover the spear-like stick that was hidden behind me. Then, without moving too much, and with my hands behind my back, I curled my fingers around the thick branch and prepared myself to use it.
The werewolf grinned, almost like a human would, as it squared off with me. Then the beast bared its slobbery fangs, hunched down on all fours, and charged at me. It was hungry, impatient, and tired of playing games.
But so was I.
The creature leapt high into the air, ready to descend on me, but at the last possible second, I brought the stick around me and pointed the sharp end of it upward. The wolf’s eyes widened as it came down, and it howled in agony as it impaled itself onto the jagged edged rod. I gritted my teeth and pushed my weapon deeper into its fur, skin, and bone. Blood gushed down the werewolf’s matted fur, and its eyes rolled into the back of its head as I shoved the stick deeper into its heart.
The beast gave a final high-pitched yelp, and then it slumped over my makeshift pike and died.
I slowly raised myself up from the ground and wiped the sweat from my brow. Then I took in a few deep breaths and looked at Vesta, the only witch who hadn’t run off. She was standing over a dead, thin and pale old woman with giant claw-like hands and sharp teeth, long as daggers. A thin, bloody red line was slashed across her throat, and her black eyes were still open in shock.
“What was that?” I asked.
“A Chunari,” Vesta replied as she stared down at the corpse with wide, silver eyes. “A demon.”
“Ah.” I nodded my head. I remembered reading about those in the Book of Beasts. “Well, it’s much better than an imp.”
To my surprise, the lavender-skinned witch actually laughed.
“Fuck you,” she said with a smile.
I couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. It seemed like for once, we almost saw eye to eye.
Suddenly, owls and crows cawed above us, and we stopped laughing. I looked around, and a sinking feeling grew in my chest.
“Where are the others?” I breathed.
Just then, I heard rustling and pulled out my blade, but when the bushes parted, instant relief washed over me. There, standing there in the darkness, was Akira, Morgana, and Faye. All of them were covered in black blood that shone, even in the dark. They were panting, and when I looked down, I saw they each held a severed head of some kind of beast.
Faye was grasping something that resembled a human man’s face, mixed with scorpion-like features. I recognized it as the creature that had chased them off into the maze.
“It’s an aqrabuamelu,” the redhead said with pride.
“And Morgana and I found a pair of kluddes,” Akira explained as she held up a massive, bloody head.
When I looked closely, I saw the heads they were holding looked like a mixture of a rabid dog and a bat.
“Well done.” I nodded. “I hate to admit it out loud, but for a moment, I was worried about you three.”
“Whatever,” Akira scoffed as she rolled her black eyes.
I smiled, but then my face slowly fell when I sensed something else hiding among us. I looked past the witches and stared into the thorny bushes they were standing in front of.
I squinted and, suddenly, a white face with no eyes and a large bloody mouth appeared from behind the three women. It was closest to Morgana, and the creature lunged forward and bit down on where the brunette’s shoulder and neck met.
Morgana screamed in pain, and I instinctively raised my hand and hurled the dagger in the creature’s direction. The sound of the blade flipping end over end through the air was like a cracking whip, and then the dagger embedded itself right in the center of the monster’s forehead.
Morgana stifled another scream when the blade whipped past her face, and she jumped when the body of the creature fell down to the ground at her feet. A pool of black blood emerged from the corpse, and the brunette took a big step away.
Dark blood gushed from Morgana’s shoulder, and for a moment, I thought it might have been a fatal bite. Until it started to heal on its own. The witch’s porcelain skin knitted back together before my very eyes, and it was like the wound had never even been there.
“It’s the Blood Pact,” I said.
She was safe, thanks to me.
“Oh, unholy Satan,” Morgana panted with wide, blue eyes. “Thanks, Cole.”
“Don’t mention it.” I smirked. “Guess we’re lucky we did the Blood Pact after all.”
“You’re right,” the brunette breathed, and she still looked a little shaken. “I thought I was done for. I’ve never been so scared.”
“We really are immortal,” Vesta breathed as she stared at Morgana in disbelief.
“Well, to an extent,” Akira said with a frown. “I think it’s obvious we need to do whatever we can to keep Cole alive because his life is tied to our own.”
“Agreed, and with that being said, we’re not safe out here,” Morgana whispered as she frantically looked around. “We should find a safer spot to enact the sacrificial spell, now that we’ve killed our beasts.”
“Agreed.” I nodded. “Let’s go.”
I cut a limb off the werewolf with my blade. I took one of its long fingers, not only for the blood, but because I would need the bone when the time to use a curse arrived.
I also took its tongue and heart and stuffed it into my cloak pocket. It could come in handy sometime.
Vesta followed my lead and cut off a long finger from the dead, old demonic woman.
I slipped the bloody finger into my pocket, and we all headed down a series of twists and turns that continued north. We eventually found a small, open circular space, and I closed my eyes and felt for any danger that might be lurking around.
This time, I didn’t sense anything.
“We’re okay, here,” I said, “at least for now.”
Everyone nodded, and we started to conduct a group, sacrificial spell. We had no cauldrons, so we dug a medium-sized hole in the ground and poured the ingredients in there.
“Did you all bring the ingredients I asked for?” I questioned as the witches quickly tossed items into the hole.
“Of course.” Faye rolled her green eyes.
I clicked my tongue as they threw in vampire ash, black sea salt, spider’s eyes, a red moth’s wing, and nightshade in the hole. Next, we set the mixture ablaze and used our own blood, the blood of our kills, and finally, the human heart the witches had taken before the exam. We recited the incantation as a group, and we could feel the energy of our kills seep into our skin and take over our bodies. Then we all linked hands, and our bodies shook as the mist seeped into us.
“Damn.” Vesta smiled. “I feel incredible.”
“Me, too.” I nodded before I looked at the concoction in the dirt hole and then bent down to dip my blade into the mixture. “Everyone coat your blade. That way we can harness the power of anything we kill with our weapons from now on.”
The witches obeyed and began to coat their own weapons, and as I stirred my blade into the mixture, it was like I’d just taken a drug of some kind. My senses were all on high alert, and I felt as if something alive was moving through my body and sending me waves of intense energy. Everything was brighter, even in the dark. My eyesight had improved, and adrenaline pumped through my veins.
I felt feral, wild, and unstoppable. Like a wolf.
“Let’s try and find a way out of this fucking maze,” Vesta suggested.
“Right, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we will find the woods and the portal,” I agreed. “Come on, I can sense we need to take a right at the next turn.”
The women all nodded their agreements, and we slowly walked on ahead. With my newfound energy and loyal premonition abilities, the path forward was growing clearer, and I felt like I was high as I moved through the maze with quick and quiet steps. I wasn’t sure how long this heightened energy and strength would last, but I wanted this sensation to last forever.
“Do you all feel that?” I whispered a few moments after I thought I sensed something.
“Yeah, something is coming,” Akira breathed.
“Everyone,” Vesta urged, “protect Cole. If anything happens to him, we’re fucked.”
Before I could protest, the witches formed a circle around me. Then there was a low rumble, and something emerged from the darkness. Whatever it was lunged on top of Vesta, who went down with a hard crash.
“Protect Cole!” the lavender-skinned witch shouted as she grappled with her assailant.
When I looked down to see our attacker, I saw some kind of wildcat, but it wasn’t just a feline. The beast had the body of an antelope, and its hooves were as large as an ox’s. A pair of twisted horns also protruded from its ugly head.
Vesta screamed as her blade was knocked from her hand by the monster cat’s paw. As we all raised our own weapons to kill the cat, it bent down and tore into Vesta’s lavender throat with serrated fangs. Blackish blood spluttered from her wound, and we all brought down our weapons into the creature’s hide and stabbed it over and over again until we were all covered in its gore.
The creature finally collapsed dead on top of Vesta. Her silver eyes were glassy and wide open, and for a moment, my heart started to pound anxiously.
Was she dead?
We shoved the cat’s corpse off the still witch, and then we stared down at her bloody, gaping neck wound and her frozen eyes.
“Vesta?” I whispered, but nothing happened.
Then she suddenly gasped as her eyelids fluttered, and her throat slowly began to stitch itself back together before our very eyes.
“Unholy shit,” Morgana nearly sobbed.
“For a moment, I thought we might have lost you,” I said as I helped Vesta to her feet.
“I thought so, too,” she rasped and felt at her neck. The skin was still slick with her blood, but the jagged gash had completely healed over now. Then Vesta’s silver eyes met mine, and I knew she was grateful. There was no need for her to say it aloud. I knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Come on,” I said to take her mind off what had happened, “let’s keep going.”
As we navigated through the maze, the darkness grew more ominous the deeper we went. Despite my newfound energy and senses, I could no longer see where the hell I was going. It was now pitch black.
“Illuminana,” I whispered.
But nothing happened. There was no fire or light to guide my way.
“What the hell?” I muttered.
I tried again, and so did the others, but none of us were able to light the path. I cleared my worries and then took a deep breath before I closed my eyes. I felt something brush against my skin as I breathed in and out. I didn’t move or flinch, but it felt like a cold, clammy hand, and it sent a shiver down my spine.
“Someone is preventing us from using basic spells,” I whispered.
I could feel eyes watching our every move, and I realized someone had created a forcefield around us. Whoever was following us, they wanted to make the exam as challenging as possible. I knew the only way we would make it out of here was through our premonition skills, since it would be the only way to figure out how to make it out of this goddamn maze and into the black wood.
So, I tried to focus on the earth beneath my feet, the black sky above me, and the frigid air that whipped across my face.
I could hear my heartbeat. I could hear my own blood coursing through my veins. I could feel my arteries pumping with blood. I could sense the other witches and their fear.
I could feel it all.
That’s when I opened my eyes. I searched around me and tried to feel for the correct route, and when my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I thought I could see a wisp of mist twirling ahead of us. Our surroundings were pitch black, but the mist was as clear as day to me. It was like a smoke signal that urged us to follow it.
“This way,” I said as I took a step forward. “Come on.”
We ended up at a wide patch of dirt, and on the other side, two gates led to the end of the maze. One door was red, and the other was black.
“Which one do we take?” Morgana whispered.
“I--” I started to say, but then something behind us made a loud noise that caused the women to jump.
When we turned to locate the source, all our weapons were extended in front of us, but then a hand shot out of the bushes, followed by a head.
It was Sweeny, and she crawled out of the bushes as we watched. Then she stood to her feet and looked at each of us with a frown.
“There you are,” she said with her arms crossed.
The scarred witch looked like hell and was covered in blood. Scratches were engraved into her sallow skin, and her dark hair was matted with black blood. If I hadn’t known it was her, I would have killed her, because she genuinely looked like a monstrous demon.
“You made it out alive.” Akira smiled. “I can’t believe it.”
“I told you I would,” Sweeny said as she smirked a blood-red smile. “Now come on, we have to go through there.”
She pointed to the black iron gate.
“No,” I said as she took a step near it. “Look, Sweeny, I know you’ve made it this far without us, but something is telling me that you’re wrong. It’s the red gate we need to go through.”
“Troll shit,” she argued before she turned to the other witches. “I’m going through that gate, and I’m going to make it to the black wood. You can either follow my lead or follow him through the other gate. Your choice.”
“Wait, Sweeny, stop!” I called out as she pushed the black gate open.
The scarred witch took about five or six steps away from the rest of us and smiled when nothing happened. She turned around to keep going, but I still had a bad feeling about her choice.
“Sweeny,” I called out again. “I’m serious, stop!”
“I’ll stop and do this,” she said as she turned around and shot me a crude gesture with her hands.
As soon as her arms and fingers were raised, there was a cracking noise beneath her, and it sounded like an earthquake was happening right under her feet. She looked down, eyeless, but still capable of sensing that the soil was cracking.
Then the earth gaped open like a mouth and swallowed her whole.
The scarred witch screamed as she fell down into the pit, and we all heard a thud as she hit the bottom.
“Sweeny!” Vesta called out.
The witches rushed to the hole, and I had no choice but to follow them. When we neared the pit, I pulled Vesta back before she could fall into the hole as well. Then we peered down into the ground, and Sweeny was at the very bottom of a deep, dark chasm. Her ankle looked twisted and broken as she cried out in pain, and the other women panted in panic as they stared down at their fellow classmate.
“We should get a rope or something,” Akira suggested.
“Maybe I can shadow transport her up here,” Faye added.
While the witches debated on how to save Sweeny, I sensed that something was approaching. Then I heard the distant sound of cackling and giggling that made every hair on my neck stand up, and I looked down in pity.
Something was coming for Sweeny, and it was hungry.
“Don’t you hear that?” I hissed to the rest of the witches.
“Hear what?” Vesta asked, and her voice was laced with panic. “Cole, there isn’t any time for this, we need to get her out of there.”
“I don’t think we can,” I said as I peered back down.
Suddenly, dozens of red, spider-like creatures with infant-sized heads started to emerge from the dirt underneath Sweeny. They were twice the size of crabs, and they were probably some kind of evil little beings that lived in the depths of the earth.
We watched in horror as the tiny monsters slowly started to climb on top of Sweeny, and the scarred woman screamed as the creatures began to feed on her body. They bit her arms, face, legs, and every part of her they could snatch on to, and the little monsters giggled as they continued to tear into her raw skin. They soon began to rip off pieces of flesh as Sweeny screeched in pain and fear. Her skin and muscles were being pulled apart, and organs started to spill out from her torso bites. Intestines were being removed from her gut, and the little beasts giggled as they pulled and ate her insides.
They were devouring her alive.
“Coleeeeeee!” Sweeny’s mouth started to bleed, and blood gushed from every bite that was being taken out of her. She tried to fight the monsters off, but it was no use. There were dozens of dozens of them. They laughed and ate her, while the other witches covered their mouths in disgust. Eventually, Sweeny’s cries started to die down, and I knew she was seconds away from death.
Then some of the baby-faced monsters looked up toward us.
“Get back!” I cried out as the ground started to rumble. “Get back! Right fucking now!”
All the witches looked at me with wide, panicked eyes. Then they started to scramble several steps back and ran out of the black gate, with me hot on their heels. I swung the gate shut and watched as the ground on the other side broke, and another massive hole took its place. If we hadn’t backed away in time, we would have been down there, too.
I turned to look at the others.
They were all pale, and their lips quivered. I could tell they were shaken up, and I couldn’t blame them.
Finally, Vesta cleared her throat and turned to look at the others.
“As fucked up as it is to say … I think we need to keep moving,” she whispered.
“We just watched Sweeny be eaten alive,” Morgana snapped. “Give us one minute at least.”
“Look, I don’t like it either, but I refuse to die as well,” Vesta said with tearful, silver eyes. “I won’t die here.”
“Me either.” I nodded. “Sweeny made her choice, and she reaped the consequences. Now, come on. The woods are through the red gate.”
Then I heard a small squeak, and when I looked down at my feet, I saw one of the infant spider demons grinning back at me. None of us had seen it until now, and it caused Akira to scream.
The creature giggled, and then turned its attention to her. The creepy fucking thing lunged for Akira, latched onto her ankle, and started to quickly climb up her leg.
The dark-haired witch panicked as the monster sank its tiny sharp teeth into her calf, right through her robes. We all pulled out our weapons, but Akira was already prepared with her knife. She screamed in rage and swooped down to stab the bastard straight in the head. The spider-baby let out a wail as she stabbed it again and again, and it finally went limp, but it still had its teeth buried in her lower leg.
“Fuck,” she groaned as she shook it off. “It burns so bad.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I need a … ” Akira’s coal-black eyes fluttered, and then she started to fall forward.
“Woahhhh,” I soothed as I caught her in my arms, and then her body began to twitch.
“It … fucking … hurts … soooo bad,” Akira hissed through clenched teeth, and then she suddenly went still in my arms.
“Shit,” Faye gasped. “Is she dea--”
Then Akira’s body jump started with a shudder, and her eyelids fluttered.
“Those things are poisonous,” Vesta breathed.
“Yeah,” the black-haired woman in my arms gasped. “Fucking, fuck, shit. That was quite unpleasant. I fucking died. It hurt so bad.
“Thank Satan for the blood oath,” Vesta sighed.
“Yeah,” Akira said as her eyes met mine.
I was still holding her in my arms, so I gently let her go so she could stand on her own wobbly legs.
The women all glanced at me, and I could tell the reality of what we’d done had finally settled in for them.
“Okay.” I cleared my throat. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”
The witches nodded shakily and followed me through the correct gate. Then I slowly pushed the red bars open and held my breath as I took a step outside the labyrinth.
When nothing happened, I breathed a long sigh of relief.
We’d finally made it out of that maze.
“Thank Satan,” Vesta whispered.
“We’re alive,” I said. “For now. Come on, the exam isn’t over just yet.”
We might have completed the maze, but now we had to find a way to the portal and the village.
The witches followed me as I headed down a cobblestone pathway that led downhill, and I could see the black woods from here. Tall, naked, ebony trees loomed over each other, and crows flew up into the dark sky.
Our footsteps echoed as we neared the forest, and I spotted an opening in the thicket. The hole was round, deep, and dark, like the mouth of a monster, but it seemed like the right way to go.
At least, that was what my abilities were telling me.
“There’s the entranceway,” I said. “Once we make it through there, we will find the portal to the village.”
“We’re getting closer to the finish line,” Akira murmured as she flicked back her ebony bob. “I almost can’t believe it.”
“That may be true,” I agreed, “but that doesn’t mean we should get comfortable or anything.”
“He’s right.” Morgana shuddered, and her ice blue eyes darted back and forth. “I can still feel danger lurking in these woods.”
Right,” Akira sighed. “Okay, let’s go and find that fucking portal.”
We headed into the thicket, past the bare trees, and through the woodland. As we carried onward, I could feel the darkness pressing against my skin. These woods were deceiving in their quiet nature. It seemed as if the entire forest was deeply asleep, but I knew that wasn’t the case, since I could sense cold, dark eyes on me as we headed through the woods.
“Keep your senses on high alert,” I muttered. “Silent does not mean safe.”
Everyone nodded, and the leaves crunched under our feet as we trekked through the woodland with our hoods up.
“There it is,” I said when we arrived at the entrance to a cave. “That’s where we need to go. The portal is in there.”
“He’s correct,” Morgana murmured, and her eyes grew wide. “At the very end of the cave, we’ll find the entranceway into the mortal village. I can see it perfectly in my mind’s eye.”
“Let’s go, then,” Vesta suggested. “No time to waste.”
We headed toward the cave, and as soon as we stepped inside, it was damp, cold, and dark. I illuminated the cavern with my palm, and we eventually came to a large, stone-like door blocking our way.
“For Satan’s sake,” Vesta groaned. “How the hell are we going to move this?”
“Maybe we can teleport to the other side?” Morgana suggested.
“No.” I shook my head. “There is some kind of barrier skill that will not allow us to pass through with our shadow abilities.”
“Shit,” Faye muttered and pulled at her red hair.
“Ugh, of course.” Akira sighed. “Why make it too easy, right?”
I pressed my hand against the cold stone and tried to grasp any kind of feel for what we were dealing with. Suddenly, the rock quivered, and I pulled my hand away. I felt as if someone had just cut me, but when I looked down, there was no blood on my palm.
“What?” Vesta asked. “What did you feel, Cole?”
“It wants blood,” I breathed, “my blood.”
“Are you sure?” Faye asked, and her long red hair was plastered across her tired, but pretty, face.
“Yes.” I nodded before I cut into my hand.
Dark blood trickled from my open palm down to my wrist as I pressed the blade down as hard as I could. I then brought my hand up and smeared the crimson fluid over the stone, and carvings and markings started to appear in red on the door.
I sensed my energy was being drained from my body and being transferred into the rock wall. The carvings began to glow brighter red with my blood, and they stretched across the entire stone. Then the obstacle crumbled into pebbles that scattered across the ground.
There, in front of us, was a cave-like room. A fountain stood in the middle of the cavern, and multicolored water spurred from the sculpture. I could feel a strong pull that begged me to come a little closer.
“It’s the portal,” I whispered.
“We found it,” Akira muttered as her mouth dropped open. “I almost thought we wouldn’t make it this far.”
“Same here,” Vesta agreed with wide, silver eyes.
“It’s not over yet,” I reminded them, and as I stared into the colorful water, I thought I could see fragments of a city in the reflection. It wasn’t entirely clear, but it was there.
“We need to hold hands,” I said slowly. That was what my premonition sense was telling me, and my instincts hadn’t led me astray so far.
So, we all linked hands and closed our eyes, and I could instantly feel my body grow lighter. It was the same sensation I experienced when the headmistress had sent us to the casino. Everything spun, but I kept my eyes shut. My mind and body were whirling, but we still had our hands linked. No one screamed or said a word as we continued to spin and spin.
When everything finally came to a slow stop, I slowly opened my eyes, and I realized we were back in the woods.
But these were not the same dark trees we had encountered after the maze. No, these woods smelled and felt completely different. The sky was lighter, too. Stars illuminated the navy-blue blanket above us, and a large moon hung over the full trees.
“We’re in the mortal realm,” Vesta gasped. “I can sense it.”
“Me, too,” I agreed. “Come on, we have to move quickly and find the village.
We continued down the dark hills and swiftly made our way past the trees. These trees were different from the ones in the black wood, and there was no heavy mist to obscure our vision as we walked. These were full of life, and I could hear small woodland creatures rustling about.
It was just a forest, with no demonic creatures hiding in sight. The only threat that lurked in these woods were humans.
And they were close. I could feel it.
As we moved on, I thought I could hear distant singing and strange music, so I gestured for the others to move ahead quietly as we approached a small hill surrounded by trees. We all took a spot behind a wide trunk, and when I craned my neck to look down below, I spotted a group of humans around a fire. They were dressed in peasant clothing, and from what I could tell, they were having a good time. It was a group of five men, all laughing and cooking something that looked like a rabbit.
At least they had a chance to enjoy their very last meal.
“We have to kill them,” Vesta hissed as quietly as possible.
I nodded. She was right. They would kill us if they spotted us, and we also needed them to complete the necromancy task.
“I’ll distract them,” I whispered. “The rest of you can sneak up on the others and slit their throats.”
Before the women could reply, I crept through the thorn bushes and casually strolled up to the fire. I had my cloak over my dagger, so they had no idea I was grasping onto the hilt as I made my way toward them.
As soon as the men heard me, their heads shot up. These humans were young, probably in their mid to late twenties. They all had their hair pulled back into ponytails and sported long beards, and they wore long crosses on their necks and woven sandals on their feet.
Clearly, they were a group of holy men.
“Hello, there.” I grinned. “How are you doing this fine evening?”
“Who are you?” a blond man demanded in a hoarse voice. Then he stood up and grabbed the cutting knife sticking out of the cooked rabbit. “What brings you to our neck of the woods?”
“I come begging for food,” I said. “I mean no harm.”
He raised an eyebrow at me and lowered his knife. He took a step closer to me, and I fought back the urge to look over at the others who were staring at me with curious eyes.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the arms of the witches emerge from the darkness. They brought their knives to the throat of each man and with one, swift stroke, cut them from ear to ear.
The humans’ gurgled and stifled screams caught the blond man’s attention, and when he turned around to see the rest of his group bleeding to death, he whirled around with his knife extended, ready to stab me in the gut.
But I was too quick.
I plunged my dagger into his throat, right through his Adam’s apple. His mouth filled with blood, red spittle drooled down into his beard, and his wide brown eyes stared at me for a moment before they rolled back into his head.
Then the man collapsed onto the ground and died.
“Let’s be quick about bringing them back,” I said to the other witches. “We never know who else might show up from the village.”
The women nodded as we all placed our hands on the corpses’ foreheads and recited the incantation.
The man I killed slowly peeled his eyes open, and they were now a murky piss-yellow. His skin was gray, and he gently rose from the ground and faced me. He was waiting for a command, and when I looked at the others, they all had an undead servant of their own.
“The village is north,” I said. “Follow me.”
We walked with our new minions leading the way, and my footsteps were heavy as we approached a small group of houses. They were poorly built, made from mud and stone.
“I don’t see anyone on guard,” Vesta whispered.
“Doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” I answered. “I’m going in first.”
“Oh, no, you’re not,” Akira argued, and a scowl twisted her full, darkly painted lips. “You better watch your ass and stay close to us for protection. We can’t afford to have you die and kill us in the process. So, just stay back and look pretty, alright?”
“Fine,” I chuckled and raised my hands.
We slowly approached the village, and as soon as we neared one of the huts, a woman emerged, and her eyes went wide.
“Silentium,” I muttered before she could scream.
The simple hex sewed her mouth shut, but it was still too late. Other villagers had emerged from their huts, and when they spotted us, they started to shriek in terror.
A man in cheaply made armor started to run toward us. He was young, with wild dark eyes and a curly mop of hair, but he was far too skinny to be a proper guard. He only wielded a flimsy sword, a wooden shield, and a rusty metal helmet for protection. He was brave, I would give him that, or incredibly stupid.
The two often went hand in hand.
My new, loyal servant turned to look at me as if waiting for a command, and I slowly gestured at the poor, pitiful guard.
“Kill him,” I ordered.
The resurrected men rumbled a low growl as they slowly approached the trembling guard. Despite their slow pace and deathly state, our undead minions were able to dodge the guard’s attacks. The young man desperately tried to fight for his life, but it was useless. I watched as one of the undead villagers caught him by the wrist and twisted the blade out of his hand. Then I heard his bone break as he cried out in pain.
“Gregory?” the guard panted as he stared at his attacker in disbelief. He must have recognized my minion, despite his new ghoulish appearance. “Why are you doing this? For the love of God, please stop!”
The undead villager, whose name was Gregory, simply smiled a bloody smile before he sank his brown, jagged teeth into the neck of the guard. The guard cried out in anguish as Gregory started to bite down deeper and then devoured him.
The other guards, who had tried to run up and save their man when they heard the commotion, could do nothing but watch in horror and sink to their knees in defeat. Then they raised their hands and stared at us with panic and confusion.
“God have mercy,” muttered a young man with blond whiskers and wide blue eyes.
“Sorry.” Morgana grinned. “He’s not here.”
“Gather your people,” I demanded.
Not one of the guards made a move to get up.
Impatient and ready to return home, I turned to the blond man and raised my hand.
“Dolorum fuga,” I muttered. It was a simple hex that caused light-weighted objects and humans to go flying through the air.
As soon as the words left my mouth, a red light surrounded my hand, and the blond man flew backwards. He soared through the air for several yards before he crashed into the dirt and didn’t move again.
“Now,” I said as I turned back to the other men as calmly as possible, “gather the others, and bring them to me.”
One man struggled to stand upright from where he’d collapsed in fear. As soon as he was back on his trembling legs, the man fiercely nodded and ran off. He found a bell and started to ring it as he ran by the small houses. Families emerged, and they trembled as they neared us.
Vesta, Morgana, Faye, Akira, and I all stood in a row as we watched the villagers gather round, and then we all shared a look.
“Let us begin,” Akira whispered.
I nodded as we started to pull out our ingredients and dug a shallow pit. I took the werewolf’s tongue and bone from my pocket, and I heard several children scream as we tossed everything into the hole. Akira pulled dried rose petals from her robe pocket and scattered it over the bone, tongue, and herbs. Then I lit the mixture, and as soon as the brew began to bubble, there were more shocked gasps and cries of terror from the villagers as they just stood and awaited their fates.
“Which curse are we going to do?” Akira whispered.
“The plague,” I said. “A rapid one. Are you all familiar with it?”
The witches nodded their heads, and I closed my eyes before muttering the curse. Then the others followed my lead.
“Ne velox morbum praeter corpora vestra,” we chanted.
The villagers began to wail as their skin turned a sickly green, and boils formed on their faces, arms, legs, and hands. Their bodies convulsed, and they started to vomit blood before they collapsed onto the naked earth beneath them.
It only took a minute for them to die, and then the air was eerily silent around us.
“Now, we must bring them back,” I said. “Is everyone ready for the final step?”
“Hell, yes,” Vesta whispered at my side, and her bright, eager silver eyes reflected the moonlight.
We recited the same resurrection incantation, and soon, the bodies on the ground started to come back to life. They smelled like rotten meat mixed with stale vomit as they hobbled near us, and I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“Now what?” Akira asked with a tinge of panic in her voice.
“We cursed them and brought them back,” Morgana hissed. “Do the professors expect us to tread all the way back to the castle with a small army of the undead?”
Suddenly, the earth beneath my feet started to vibrate, and something electric was coursing through my body.
“Wait … can’t you feel that?” I asked.
“No,” the witches said all together.
I could, though. We were about to be transported. My body was slowly beginning to evaporate, and I could feel it in every bone and organ.
“Quick!” I shouted. “Link hands and do it now!”
Everyone grabbed onto each other as we formed a circle, and then we slowly started to spin. We went faster and faster, and my stomach knotted and churned as we spun. My eyes were clenched shut, and whoever was holding onto my hand on both sides, they were squeezing hard enough to break bones.
I couldn’t feel if we were heading back to the academy or somewhere else entirely, and it sent a cold shiver up my spine.
For all I knew, we could have been heading anywhere.