Wake the fuck up!
I stirred in the bed and slowly peeled my eyes open. A pale light was streaming in through the stained glass window, and it cast a ray of colors to shine across the wooden floor.
Alexander was lying on my chest and staring at me with his red eyes, and I blinked groggily at the black rabbit. Who knew how long he had been staring at me for?
When I said nothing, he extended one of his feet and kicked me in the face.
“Hey!” I grumbled. “I was already up!”
No, you were awake, he said, but you weren’t up. There’s a significant difference.
“Great,” I muttered as I shook my head, “my familiar is a smart-ass.”
And you better get used to it, he said as he sniffed the air. I’m here to serve you, and to take care of you. Now, stop lying about and get up. You should take an ice-cold bath. It will help you wake up.
“Sure,” I sighed. “Why not? Since you seem to know what’s best for me, all of a sudden.”
One perk of being a familiar, he replied, is that we always know best. Now, hurry the hell up! You’ve got a game to win.
I shook my head before I pulled the red covers off. Then I stepped onto the floor, stretched, and yawned. When I glanced back at Alexander, I could have sworn he rolled his eyes, but I just chuckled under my breath.
“Cordelia?” I hollered. “Could you please draw me a freezing cold bath?”
“But of course, sir,” the obedient ghost-maid replied. “Are you sure you want it to be freezing cold, though?”
“Apparently, that’s what’s best.” I winked at Alexander.
“As you wish, sir,” she responded.
Once I’d done some stretches to limber myself up, I headed into the bathroom and stepped into the tub, and I shivered violently as I submerged myself into the icy water. It was like needles were piercing my nerves as I forced myself to soak in the tub. Ice coated the edges of the bathtub, and it felt like my bones were shaking.
“W-Well, I-I’m certainly a-awake now,” I said through chattering teeth.
Good, Alexander said as he hopped into the bathroom. You should come out now, though, your lips are turning purple.
“Oh, are they?” I responded sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes before I stepped carefully out of the tub and quickly wrapped myself up in a towel. Goosebumps pricked my skin, and I shivered in the cold air. Then I headed slowly into the bedroom and spotted a clean set of clothing on the blue velvet chair by the window. I was still shaking as I buttoned up my black shirt and slipped on the matching black trousers, but by the time I tossed my cloak over my shoulders and strapped on my boots, I was back to a normal body temperature.
Before I left, I took one quick glance in the mirror that hung by the bathroom door and studied my reflection. The color had returned to my lips and cheeks, and I didn’t look like a ghost. My black hair was plastered over my forehead, and as I pushed it out of my eyes, I thought I saw someone else staring back at me in the mirror.
I thought I saw her. The woman from the painting.
I shook my head and tried to forget about the dark-haired beauty with the same color of eyes as mine. There was no use dwelling on matters that would only distract me during the game. I’d question Theodora about it when the time was right.
You look ready to kick some ass, boss, Alexander said.
His voice broke me away from my thoughts, and I glanced down at him as he twitched his nose and stood on his hind legs.
“Thanks.” I grinned. “Wish me luck.”
Good luck… but you don’t need it, he snorted. You are the best. You are my master.
I nodded at my little buddy, and when I came downstairs into the common room, I was surprised to see no one was in sight. I mentally debated going into the witches’ bedroom to retrieve them, but then their door opened, and I smiled as I watched them come down the stairs.
Each witch had worn their hair in a unique style for the third game. Morgana had her dark curly strands in a long, intricate braid. Faye wore hers in two high red ponytails, and Vesta had hers wrapped in a sage-green bun. Akira wore her short hair down, with just the sides pinned back with bone pins. They all wore their plaid short skirts and button-up white blouses with knee-high socks and leather thigh-high boots, and their cloaks floated behind them as they swept down the stairs and talked amongst each other.
“I’m just saying we should treat newts with more respect,” Morgana sighed. “Do you know how good they are for the environment?”
“So what?” Akira laughed. “Now, you’re going to be a leo?”
“A what?” I asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs, one by one.
“A leo,” Akira repeated. “You know, a plant-eater?”
“Are you all seriously discussing dietary preferences before the third tournament game?” I asked in amusement.
“The nerd started it,” Akira snickered. “I’m just giving her a hard time.”
“Well, excuse me, but initiating random conversations helps to calm me down,” the bookworm replied in a defensive tone. “Especially when I find the topic to be interesting.”
“I see.” I nodded before I stared at each witch. They all wore neutral expressions on their beautiful faces, and I knew even if they were a little nervous, they were ready to go kick some fucking ass.
“Are we ready?” I finally asked.
“Yeah, let’s get this over with,” Vesta sighed.
“Agreed.” I smirked. “Let’s kick some ass.”
We headed out the common room door and sauntered down the halls, and it was eerily quiet, aside from the occasional portraits that waved and cheered as we passed them by. As soon as we reached the banquet hall, I took in a deep breath and mentally prepared to open the doors, but before I did so, I turned to look at my coven.
“Are you ready?” I asked again. I wanted to be sure they were solid before we faced the masses.
“As ready as we’ll ever be.” Faye grinned as she tossed back her shoulders.
“Yeah, not like we can back out now,” Akira snorted. “Let’s do it.”
I nodded and took in a long deep breath before I pushed the doors open, and as soon as the entranceway parted, the cheers and screams from the Scholomance students deafened me.
Pride swelled in my chest as I walked past my fellow classmates, though. It still felt strange to see these witches cheer for me and my coven, but I relished in it. I’d grown used to the side eyes and the disgusted looks, but I couldn’t deny this was a pleasant change of pace.
We continued to march onward, and Theodora and Vanessa were at the front of the hall, with the other two headmasters behind them.
What completely caught me off guard, though, was the Mors team.
Bram was standing there with only one arm left, but somehow a smirk played across his face as his other two teammates stood by his side. Malcolm shot me a cold glare, and I briefly wondered how the hell they had survived the last game. By all rights, they should have died where we left them, and it just didn’t seem possible they’d somehow made it out alive. I had a feeling that something, or rather, someone, had interfered, and I intended to find out what exactly happened after we completed the third game.
Still, the warlocks looked pretty beat to shit, and satisfaction burned in my gut.
I smirked in their direction until I caught Theodora staring right at me, and as we approached her, I had a feeling she knew exactly what I was thinking. If she could, I knew she would tell me to ignore the idiots for now and just focus on the games.
So, that’s exactly what I did.
When we reached the front of the room, we all took our spots among the other teams. Then I stared at the students in front of me, who continued to cheer until Theodora raised her pale hands up into the air.
“Welcome to the third game of the Ludi Mortiferum!” she roared.
Everyone began to clap wildly, and the headmistress had to raise her hands even higher to calm everyone down. When I discreetly turned to look at my coven, I noticed Akira was smirking, while the others wore forced smiles plastered across their faces.
I turned away from them and discreetly checked out the other Scholomance team. They all appeared straight-faced, and it was hard to read their genuine expressions. The Vipera women, however, all looked incredibly pleased with themselves, and when Nyx caught me staring, she flashed me a discreet wink.
I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about it.
“Now, this game is one of my personal favorites,” Theodora continued. “It is the Battle of Bones, and the task is simple, in theory.”
Everyone stared at us with wide eyes, and it felt as if the entire room was holding their collective breaths. Theodora was good at making this into a real fucking show, and she waited and teased the students before carrying on.
“For this game, the teams must enter a graveyard and bring a Wicca back from the dead,” she explained. “They will be given the proper ingredients to concoct the right spell, but it is up to them to find the strength to battle against shadow demons and other beasts while they locate a golden locket somewhere in the graveyard.”
“Doesn’t sound too bad,” Akira muttered at my side.
“And what makes these undead Wicca so special,” Theodora went on, “is the fact they possessed elder magic when they were alive. Of course, these witches were tried and prosecuted for forming relationships with Elder Gods in exchange for power, which is why they were kept in pristine condition for educational purposes. Should any team member fail to resurrect them properly, or if they lose control of their witch, their souls will be tethered to their hosts, and they will be forever trapped in purgatory.”
“I retract my last statement,” the short-haired witch gulped.
I remained composed as I tried not to think about being dragged into a grave and stuck with a law-breaking Wicca for all eternity, and when I glanced back at my coven, I could tell they were all thinking the same thing.
“Now, without further ado,” Theodora announced. “Let the Battle of Bones begin!”
As the crowd roared, the headmistress whipped around and smiled at us before she twirled her wand around three times. A purple smoke began to engulf all the teams, and I could feel myself being tossed and turned in between realms. The banquet hall disappeared from view, and I squeezed my eyes shut before I landed on something hard, like dry dirt.
When I opened my eyes, I stared all around me, and I saw my coven and I were lying on a massive patch of deep, red soil that extended for as far as the eye could see. The sky was the same color as the dirt, and the only other things that surrounded us were bare, black trees that grew from the earth.
But other than that, there was not much else.
“Where are the others?” Akira asked as she slowly sat up.
“I’m sure they are nearby,” I replied.
“Wait, where are the graves?” Morgana wondered, and she whipped her head back and forth like she’d missed something. “I thought she said we would land in a graveyard?”
“I don’t know about the graves,” Faye said, “but we have the ingredients with us.”
I followed her gaze and spotted a small cauldron right behind us. It had been placed carefully against a tree, and I headed over and peered inside the small pot while the others all got to their feet. Inside, I spotted the bright red flowers and blue herbs needed for the spell, and next to the small pot were a wooden spoon and a small vial.
“Great,” Morgana said as she hovered over me. “So, we have Persephone’s flower and the herb of Hades… but we have no corpse to resurrect.”
As soon as her pessimistic words left her lips, I felt something beneath my feet, like a voice calling up to me, and when I peered down, I noticed the dirt was covering something up. So, I crouched down, swept the soil away, and smiled.
There, beneath my feet, was a stone with the word “traitor” and the name “Magda” marked across it.
“I think we found it.” I grinned. “Whoever this Magda is, she’s our assigned Wicca.”
“Well done, Cole,” Morgana gasped, and then the brunette cleared her throat and pointed her wand at the stone. “Vos!”
The dirt in front of the stone parted, and we were staring down at a chained-up coffin. Worms, maggots, cockroaches, and other critters were crawling all over the grave, and I wrinkled my nose at the sight.
“Well, that’s new,” Akira muttered. “I’ve never seen a chained-up coffin before.”
“This Wicca used elder magic when she was alive,” Morgana reminded us. “That’s why she’s marked a traitor. Who knows how this resurrection will play out… the ones who buried her probably didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Let’s find out who we’re dealing with, then,” I said.
The coven nodded, and Morgana raised her chin up into the air and looked at each of us. Then she placed her hands on her hips, and I knew she was ready to take charge, but she still glanced at me for permission.
I really enjoyed being their master.
“Go ahead,” I chuckled. The bookish witch was excellent with plans and spells, so I’d let her take the reins for a bit.
“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do,” the brunette said in a firm voice, “Faye, stand guard and make sure no one comes out to surprise us.”
“Got it.” The redhead nodded.
“Akira, you will work with Vesta to mix the ingredients,” Morgana continued. “And Cole, you will keep watch over me while I bust this lock open and take something from the Wicca. We have no idea why she’s chained up, and if you need to kill her on the spot, then do so… even if it means we lose the game.”
I nodded and took out my wand, and Akira and Vesta began to mix the ingredients while Faye stood in front of us with her wand extended outright. Then Morgana looked at me with wide, pale blue eyes before she glanced down at the coffin.
“You’ve got this,” I whispered.
She nodded, and her long eyelashes fluttered downward as she aimed her wand at the coffin.
“Recludo,” she muttered.
The thick chains fell off the coffin, and then the lid slowly lifted open. It began to hover up into the air, and when I caught a glimpse of the corpse inside, my mouth parted open in surprise. It wasn’t a corpse at all. Instead, I was glancing down at a beautiful, pale woman with long blonde hair and a white gown, and she looked like an angel that had fallen into a deep, peaceful sleep.
“What--?” I said slowly.
“She’s preserved,” Morgana said as if she could read my mind. “Elder magic keeps her beautiful in death, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t suffering. She’s still torn between the dead and the living.”
“She deserves whatever punishment was given to her,” Akira huffed from behind us where she was still with Vesta by the tree.
“That may be,” Morgana replied, “but that’s not important right now. Have you lit the herbs and flowers on fire?”
“Yeah,” Vesta responded, “we just need something from her.”
Morgana bent down and quickly plucked a long blonde lock from the beautiful corpse, and her hands were trembling as she handed it over to Vesta and Akira.
The black-eyed witch snatched the hair and placed it into the cauldron.
“Here we go,” Morgana breathed.
The brunette took the vial and scooped up just enough of what was needed. Then she looked at me with her large, blue eyes, and her hand hovered over the body.
“I’ll part her lips,” I said without breaking eye contact.
Morgana nodded in gratitude, and I lowered myself down into the shallow ditch, but when I touched the dead Wicca’s rosy red lips, a strange jolt shot up my arm. A vision took over my mind, and all I could see was this woman as she laughed like a maniac while two other witches burned at the stake. I nearly flinched back from the suddenness of it all, and Morgana must have noticed because she stared hard at me.
“What’s wrong, Cole?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I lied. “Sorry.”
I forced myself to touch the woman again, and I parted her lips just wide enough for Morgana to seep the brew into her mouth. As soon as Morgana poured the mixture into her mouth, she aimed her wand at the Wicca and took in a deep breath.
But then she just stood there for a long moment.
“I’ll do it,” I offered.
“Okay.” She nodded and bit her lip. “Thanks.”
I pulled out my wand and pointed it at the witch named Magda. “Revenite!”
The air grew ice cold all around us, and we all held our breaths as we stared at the dead blonde Wicca. Then she slowly peeled her eyes open to reveal black orbs. They were even darker than Akira’s, and there was no white around her irises, so the eyeballs were as dark as a night with no moon.
After a long moment, the resurrected witch slowly sat up, looked at each of us, opened her mouth, and let out a terrible screech. Her white teeth were jagged at the edges, and I knew if she wanted to rip out someone’s throat with one bite, she would be able to do so easily.
All the witches covered their ears, except for Morgana, who pointed her wand at the Wicca’s chest. The brunette’s blue eyes were filled with determination, and if she was afraid, she was doing an excellent job of concealing it.
“Praecipio tibi ut facias!” she screamed over the dead woman’s wails.
A red cloud of smoke emerged from the tip of Morgana’s wand, and it seeped around the blonde Wicca. Her screaming instantly came to a stop as the smoke shot up her nostrils and into her mouth. Then her face set into a neutral expression, and we all breathed a sigh of relief.
When I knew no one was going to say anything, I cleared my throat and looked at the beautiful, still creature.
“Rise,” I commanded. “Come out of your home.”
Magda slowly rose from the grave, and another chill coursed through my entire body. She looked perfectly alive as she stood before us, and her long blonde hair swept through the wind as her gown blew across her body. Her perky breasts, pointed nipples, and the gap between her slim thighs were visible under her sheer dress, and she seemed even more hauntingly beautiful outside of the coffin.
“Take us to the golden locket,” I ordered.
“Yes, master,” she echoed.
As she slowly spun around to guide us, I turned to look at Morgana.
“Fill up the vial with more potion,” I said, “then give it to me.”
The brunette nodded quickly and did as she was told, and when she handed me the glass vial, I tucked it into my trouser pocket. Something told me it would be safer to travel with the potion in case we needed it for whatever reason.
We followed Magda across the red field, and we walked for about twenty minutes until Morgana tugged at my arm. Then she leaned in to whisper into my ear as we walked.
“Are we sure we can trust her?” she muttered.
“No,” I answered honestly. “But these are the rules of the game. We just have to be smart about how we proceed from here on out.”
“What I want to know is where are the others,” Akira added as her black eyes darted to and fro. “I think it’s just too weird we haven’t seen them yet.”
“Yeah, I mean, when Theodora said graveyard, I thought she meant an actual graveyard, you know, with proper graves to mark the dead,” Faye said, and her red eyebrows furrowed over her freckled face.
“Some graveyards can range for miles,” Morgana remarked. “And considering this is a graveyard for witches who committed treason, it makes sense they would place them far apart from each other.”
I nodded as we continued to follow the undead woman. She was like a ghost leading us over miles of red earth, and I couldn’t stop thinking about what Akira said. She was right, it was strange we hadn’t encountered anyone else yet, even if we considered Morgana’s explanation.
We were still walking across desolate lands when suddenly, the earth began to tremble beneath our feet. Then the dirt just gave way beneath us, and as I started to fall, I looked at our guide, who was still walking smoothly as if nothing was happening.
“Stop!” I ordered. “Magda, I command you to stop!”
The ghostly woman came to an abrupt halt as we all fell down. We tried to stand upright, but the earth continued to convulse, and it was impossible to get to our feet.
“What’s happening?” Vesta screamed and fell to her knees again.
“I don’t know,” I responded as I looked ahead and saw a crack beginning to split the earth. Then it widened, and I scrambled back. “Look out!”
The coven crawled backwards as the earth continued to pull apart, and when the shaking stopped, I took in a sharp breath and waited. The crack was over ten feet wide now, and nearly twice as long, but it didn’t seem to be growing anymore. Finally, we stood up, but I could hear a faint menacing laughter coming from the opening.
Then massive, red spider legs emerged from the crack, and we all stared in horror as these gigantic creatures, at least six feet tall with round, black heads and large pointed ears, popped from the earth. They had the mouths of a goblin, but multiple eyes like those of a spider.
“Djieiens!” Morgana whispered. “They can’t be killed… their hearts are buried in the ground.”
“So, what do we do?” Akira snapped.
Three of the monsters started scuttling toward us at a lightning fast speed, and we stumbled several steps back. Suddenly, one of them shot a leg out and pierced Morgana straight through the stomach. She screamed, and bright red blood spurted out from her lips.
In retaliation, I aimed my wand at the creature’s leg, and with all my anger and hatred, I cast the only spell I could think of.
“Secare!” I shouted.
The leg tore in two, and the beast shrieked in agony.
Vesta and Akira dragged Morgana back, and Faye pulled the leg out of the brunette’s stomach. Her face went pale as they continued to yank her away from the crack and the spider monsters, and all I could do was stare at the massive creatures while my blood boiled with a primitive fury.
That’s when I did the only thing I could think of.
“Magda, destroy the djieiens!” I shouted.
The resurrected witch turned around slowly and glided toward us. Then she hovered over the crack on the earth and raised a pale hand at the monsters.
“Immortui potestate meo moriar,” she echoed.
The earth trembled again, and a bright green glow surrounded the spider-like beasts. They wailed as their bodies shook violently, and then they all burst into a blue flame. Whatever she was doing, it wasn’t killing them, but it certainly was hurting them.
The djieiens screeched as they returned to the crack in the earth and slipped inside, still on fire and crying out in pain. Then the earth slowly closed back up, and the air settled as if nothing had ever happened.
“Morgana,” I breathed as I rushed over to the brunette.
Her blouse was stained with dark blood, and she was alarmingly pale as she coughed and looked up at me.
“Well done,” she rasped as blood trickled out from between her red lips.
“She needs a moment to recover,” Akira said, and I could tell she was stubbornly fighting back tears. “I hate seeing her in so much pain.”
“Ahh,” Morgana choked. “I… knew… you… liked me.”
“Oh, shut up.” The short-haired witch was holding Morgana’s head in her lap and stroking her hair, and the others all turned to me as if they had no idea what to do.
“She’ll be fine,” I reassured her. “The Blood Pact, remember? It’s going to be alright.”
“I know,” Akira sniffed.
I squeezed Morgana’s hand in reassurance and smiled at her, and we stayed like that for a moment, until I heard something like boots brushing against the soil.
“Now, what’s this?” a familiar voice that grated on every single nerve drawled.
I scowled and turned around, and I saw Bram, Malcolm, and their loyal teammate all grinning at me. They had a witch with them, and she was dressed the same as Magda and had the same black eyes, but this woman had long, auburn hair.
“Did you have a little mishap with your bitch?” Bram cackled. “She doesn’t look like she’s doing too well over there.”
“I dare you to say one more fucking word,” I growled as I aimed my wand at the trio, and it took all my willpower not to use the killing curse on all of them. These bastards weren’t worth a piece of my soul, though, and with Morgana still hurt, I needed to be smart with my next move.
“You know what?” Their third teammate grinned. “I think I’ll take you up on that dare… Kiara, I command you to kill their resurrected Wicca. With her gone, the Scholomance bitches will lose.”
The auburn witch bowed her head and took a step closer to Magda, and I gritted my teeth and focused all my anger and hatred against them.
“Magda,” I growled. “Murder that bitch.”
“Yes, master,” Magda echoed.
We all watched as the blonde witch took a step closer to the undead Wicca named Kiara, and the two black-eyed beauties glared at each other.
“Dilacerant ex toto corde suo!” Kiara shouted, and a wind picked up as an orange light rocketed straight toward Magda.
The blonde witch ducked, and the light hit a tree behind us and made the entire thing split in half. Then the tree fell apart and went crashing into the red earth.
“Excorio fructus eius tamquam aperto,” Magda replied in a calm voice.
She raised her hand, and her black eyes were solely focused on her opponent. The air began to pick up again, and it blew across our faces as a bright, white light hit the auburn-haired witch right in the chest. At first, nothing happened, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath.
“Your Wicca is useless,” Bram cackled. “You’re all going to die here.”
Just as the words left his lips, though, something happened. Their witch convulsed, and her reddish-brown hair fell out in clumps. A moment later, she opened her mouth and wailed as her scalp peeled downward over her beautiful face.
My lips curled up in disgust as her skin continued to turn inside out. Muscle and bone replaced her creamy white skin, and she slowly started to crumble down into the earth. By the time her bones melted away, she was nothing more than a puddle of blood and gore, and Bram screamed out in a fury.
“You son of a bitch,” he roared as he looked at me. “Just wait… this isn’t over… wait until we find another corpse.”
“That’s not how it works, asshole,” Morgana muttered, just loud enough for them to hear.
“What are you--?” he started to say, but then his eyes widened in fear.
Their Wicca might have died again, but a transparent entity of her began to float upward from the pile of gore. Except, she was no longer beautiful. Her face had aged decades, and when she opened her mouth to screech, my head felt like it was going to explode.
Hot blood trickled down my cheeks, and I crouched down and covered my ears. Then I watched in both horror and fascination as the ghost hovered toward the nameless teammate who had given her the order to attack. His eyes widened as she screamed at him, and when her mouth opened, she began to suck his soul right out of his body. His eyes went black as the last bit of life left him, and then both the ghost and the warlock vanished from sight.
The air grew quiet until Akira laughed like a madwoman.
“You fucking idiots,” she chortled.
“W-What happened?” Bram stuttered as he stumbled back a step.
“Were you not paying attention?” Morgana sneered with more strength in her voice. “If you fail, your soul becomes bound to your host for all eternity… your friend is stuck in purgatory.”
“Serves him right,” Akira snarled.
The idiotic duo took a step closer to us before Vesta tutted and shook her head.
“Unless you want to stick around and find out what else our undead minion can do, I suggest you get the hell out of here,” she warned.
Bram and Malcolm exchanged furious looks with each other before they glared back at us.
“This isn’t fucking over,” Malcolm growled.
As I stared at the two pricks, I realized just how sick and tired I was of their warlock bullshit. I could kill them right now. Slowly and painfully if I wanted to, but first, I thought I’d mess with them for fun.
“It’s over when I say it’s over.” I smiled as I raised my wand. “Volant!”
“Novis!” the duo screamed simultaneously, and just in time, too.
My spell had nearly hit the warlocks, and my coven began to fire more spells in their direction. Malcolm and Bram may have been idiots, but at least they knew they didn’t stand a fucking chance. They had used a reversal spell, and there was no way for them to defend themselves for a full minute.
So, they ducked and bobbed and weaved before they both bolted off. My coven continued to throw spells in their direction, but I raised up a hand.
“Stop,” I ordered, and the coven turned to me as confusion swept across their faces. “We can always kill them later. It will be more satisfying to win this game and rub it in their fucking faces back at the academy.”
The women nodded, and I glanced down at the injured bookworm and noticed she seemed to be healing quickly. So, I crouched down to examine her more closely, and a wave of relief washed over me when I lifted her shirt and saw the wound on her stomach had closed up.
“How are you holding up?” I asked her.
“Better than before.” She grinned. “Seeing those guys get their asses kicked seemed to speed up the recovery process.”
I laughed before I held out a hand to help her up. She took it and slowly rose to her feet, and then I looked at each witch.
“Now, let’s find that fucking locket.” I grinned.