When we finally stopped spinning, we landed with a hard thud on slick red soil. The texture was unsettling, and it reminded me of blood-soaked quicksand. However, the unusual consistency of the ground wasn’t the only thing that caught my immediate attention. There was also a thick layer of fog hanging in the air and obscuring my vision, and the vast blanket of white quickly began to suffocate me. It felt as if my lungs were being filled with poisonous gas, and I did my best to quietly fight against the sensation and focus on the others.
“Oh, Satan,” Akira coughed as she tried to sit up. “That fucking hurt. And why is it so fucking hard to breathe?”
I rubbed my head and forced myself to sit up, and when I looked around, I noticed the toxic mist was slowly evaporating. When it finally cleared, my mouth gaped open at the vision in front of us.
We were in a massive crimson field that expanded for acres and ranged as far as the eye could see. The sky above us was a deep stormy gray, with inky black clouds that hovered directly over our heads. I’d been in many unusual realms before, but this place sent a strange chill down my spine. As I looked more closely, I noticed a row of wooden stakes wedged into the earth a few feet in front of us, and when I glanced to the right, there was a colossal stone tower with only one small black arched window placed at the very top. The structure was at least two-hundred feet away, and it towered up into the clouds, so Satan only knew exactly how tall it was.
As I stared at the stone column, I felt a strange, furious presence expanding through the air and penetrating into my bones.
Whatever took place here, it was terrifying, bloody, and painful.
In the next moment, I began to hear loud, feral, female screams that pierced my eardrums, and I had to shake my head to rid myself of the unpleasant noise.
“What the fuck?” I squinted against the onslaught and glanced around, but I realized I was the only one who could hear the screams since no one else seemed to be affected by the sound.
“Cole,” Morgana said with wide, concerned eyes. “Are you alright? You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” I reassured her with a smile. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Oh, get up, for hell’s sake,” Theodora tutted. “On your feet! All of you! We have work to do.”
Everyone, aside from Vanessa and Theodora, was splayed out on the vile soil, and each witch looked pale as death as they cautiously glanced around.
“Come on, now,” Vanessa snapped, since, as usual, her patience was wearing thin. “You heard the headmistress. We don’t have all fucking day.”
We scrambled to our feet and then tried to dust ourselves off, but it was useless. The soil stuck to us like blood and refused to budge, no matter how hard we scrubbed at our skin and clothes. I desperately wanted the red, waxy substance to come off, and I could tell the others felt the same. It made no logical sense to me because I could have been covered head to toe in a man’s guts with no problem, but being drenched in this soil made my hair stand on end.
“Um, Headmistress, what are we doing here, exactly?” Faye asked in a small voice.
“We’ll be combining psychokinesis with blood magic,” Theodora replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
“How invigorating and informative!” Morgana gasped.
Akira rolled her eyes at the bookworm and then edged a little closer to me.
“You’d think Professor Vanessa and Morgana both forgot we’re in one of the most notorious and infamous realms known to Wicca kind?” she whispered.
“That may be true, Miss Akira,” Vanessa said in a loud voice, “but rest assured, I’ve forgotten nothing. There’s a specific reason you’re all here, and it is disrespectful of you to question my motives.”
Akira shut her mouth and then stared down at her soil covered boots. Even the outspoken witch would not dare contradict or challenge the short-tempered professor.
“We brought you here because we need you to be prepared for anything,” Theodora added in a softer voice. “So, stop complaining and stand in a straight line. It’s not like this is the first time you’ve been in a dangerous territory--”
“With all due respect, Headmistress,” Vesta interjected. “This is the first time we’ve been on holy land… and I must say, it’s actually quite beautiful in a blood-thirsty kind of way. I know it’s wrong, but just look at the uniquely colored soil and the ominous sky--”
“Wait, did you say holy land?” I interjected with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, this is where holy men would take witches and burn them, but not before they had their way with them first--” Morgana explained, but Vanessa raised a hand to cut her off.
“I didn’t realize this trip would turn into a history class.” The professor scowled. “Would you like to lead the lesson instead, Miss Morgana?”
“It’s all right, Vanessa,” Theodora said. “Cole is curious about this place, and he has every right to be.”
I knew Vanessa’s patience was dangling on the edge of a knife, but she would never dare to contradict her mother, so she remained tight-lipped and took a small step back.
“As Morgana mentioned,” Theodora began, “this realm has been placed under a holy prayer, and the earth itself is permanently drenched with Wicca blood. Human soldiers and elder knights brought witches here to be burned to a crisp, and that tower you see over there… It was built by ancient Wiccas when the elder gods and warriors abandoned the realm, and they’ve long since forgotten about this territory, for it means nothing to them now. So, that’s where we keep men who’ve scorched our kind. They were brought here ages ago and have been placed under an extensive life extending spell. This land has a terrible history, but we must face our fears and learn to conquer them. Understood?”
Before anyone could answer, there was a long, drawn-out scream that erupted from the tower. It sounded like a man, and it seemed like someone was peeling the skin from his bones.
“Never mind that.” Theodora smiled. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
The headmistress then waved her hand, and we all jumped back as the wooden stakes beside us simultaneously caught on fire. The flames weren’t yellow or orange, but instead, they were black as night, and the blaze smelled like burning, rancid meat.
The witches all pinched their noses and then took a couple of steps back.
“Our goal today is to move the flames with our mind,” Theodora explained. “This will be achieved by combining a blood spell with the power you’ve already harnessed through the man you harvested. Not only have you gained insight through his sacrifice, but you also hold the ability to move elements with your mind… it all just takes a bit of practice.”
We all nodded our heads, and then Theodora turned to look at her daughter.
“Right,” Vanessa said. “Let’s mix up the teams for this one.”
Everyone exchanged confused looks with one another, and then Penelope stared right at me with her chocolate brown eyes.
“Shall we partner up?” I flashed her a small smile and then inched closer to her.
“Fine,” she muttered as she looked away from me.
I repressed the urge to smile and waited as the others paired off into groups of twos and threes. Vesta teamed up with Beatrix and Faye, while Akira and Morgana each paired up with a twin.
Once everyone had their respective partners, we stood in front of the burning stakes and then waited for Vanessa or Theodora to deliver the next command.
“We will begin by forcing the flames to disappear,” the young professor declared. “Everyone stand together with your partner and try to picture a bare wooden stake. Then cut into your hand, and when you’re ready, aim your wand at the fire and say, ‘imperium meum.’”
I stood tall in front of the fire with Penelope by my side, and I could feel her trembling. It didn’t take my advanced premonition skills to guess the orange-haired witch was nervous.
“Can you go first?” she whispered as she shifted from foot to foot.
“Of course,” I drawled.
I cleared my throat and then stared at the black flames. At first, I thought this would be a piece of cake, but then I heard strange voices echoing in my head.
You can’t do it, the voices taunted. You’re not as powerful as you think.
I clenched my jaw and shook my head. Whoever placed a holy prayer on this land was trying to fuck with me, but I wasn’t about to let that happen. So, I aimed my wand at my hand and focused all my energy into the next spell.
“Secare,” I whispered.
The spell hit my open palm, and my skin slowly started to split open. Then blood trickled down my wrist as I raised my wand and aimed it at the flames. I focused on the black blaze and narrowed my eyes at the wooden stakes, and I did my best to ignore Penelope’s intense stare and the nearby screams from the tower. I could also feel Theodora’s eyes on me as I continued to gaze at the fire, but I disregarded that, too.
Finally, when my mind was free from all doubt and other distractions, I raised my wand even higher and took a deep breath.
“Imperium meum,” I muttered.
No one else had recited the incantation, and I could feel all their eyes on me as my body and soul became one with the flames. Hot blood coursed through my body like a scorching river, and my heart began to violently hammer against my chest. Each heartbeat echoed through my head, and images of thick, crimson blood seeping into the soil replayed in my mind. I felt the presence of cold, dead fingers wrapping tightly around my throat, and its nails dug into my flesh.
Can you hear us? echoed a chorus of women. Can you feel what they did to us?
That’s when I could see witches burning in my mind, and each image burst into my head like a flash of lightning. The taste of metallic blood lingered on my tongue, and it felt like a dagger was piercing my heart. I could barely breathe as I fought against the violent pictures and terrified screams, and blood began to trickle down my nose and ears as my hands violently shook. I was playing a game of death, and I could still feel icy fingers pressing against my neck.
I felt like I was dying.
“Cole!” I heard Penelope scream.
The other witches cried out my name, but I paid them no attention. All I could do was fight back against the brutal images which refused to go away. Sweat dripped from my brow, and when I licked my lips, I could taste salt and blood.
They murdered us! Kill them all! Make them burn!
I growled as the black flames from each stake swiftly flew toward the prisoner tower, and then the fire began to devour the stone walls. Loud, blood-curdling screams filled the air as men began to burn and die an agonizing death, and black smoke billowed toward the crimson sky.
“Excellent!” Vanessa cried out. “Do not falter, Cole! Burn them all! Give in to your feral desires!”
The professor then turned to the rest of the group, and a malicious grin broke across her beautiful and bloodthirsty face.
“Now, everyone, aim your wands at the tower!” she exclaimed. “Forget about destroying the flames! Burn the prisoners instead! Make them fucking suffer!”
As I stood there and violently trembled, the rest of the witches stepped up by my side and pointed their wands at the burning tower.
“Imperium meum!” everyone shouted.
The black flames quickly towered up over the stone prison, and the manic screams from inside grew louder and more satisfying. In my mind, I could see the flesh melting off men’s bones as they desperately tried to escape the deadly inferno, and a dark satisfaction flooded my veins.
The witches all screamed out in pain and fury as the tower began to crumble down into the red earth, and massive stones fell from the sky like rainfall and crashed into the soil. Gigantic clouds of bloody dirt exploded into the air, and soon, the entire column came crashing down.
In the next moment, the prisoners’ screams all died at once, so we slowly lowered our wands and then turned to look at each other. Penelope’s chocolate brown eyes had turned blacker than Akira’s, and the whites of her eyes were completely bloodshot. Blood was dripping down her nose and ears, and her breathing was labored.
“It’s over,” I panted. “You’re safe.”
The orange-haired witch shook her head and then stared deeply into my eyes. She looked as if she were on the verge of tears, and her entire body was trembling.
“I-I saw them burning,” she croaked. “It was… worse than I could have ever imagined.”
“I know,” I whispered.
When I looked toward the others, each witch had angry tears in their eyes and was struggling to breathe. Before I could utter a word of comfort to any of them, though, a loud, long, drawn-out screech made each of us cover our ears and stumble forward. I’d never heard such a sound before, and I felt as if the screams were like small knives stabbing at my eardrums until I turned deaf.
“It’s the Sanctus Militum!” Morgana cried out with her hands pressed tightly against her ears. “Only a holy army could make such a piercing, deathly sound!”
When I looked toward the dark horizon, I saw a group of golden horses with massive, white wings flying right toward us. Broad-shouldered men with ivory robes were riding the horses, and they had bows and arrows aimed in our direction. They were a fair distance away from us, but I could still see their leader.
He was a dark-haired soldier, and he was the first one to notch one of his arrows at us. He took aim and fired, and the arrow flew toward us at the speed of lightning. It was coming right at Theodora, and without hesitation, I pushed her out of the way. We fell to the ground, and thankfully, the arrow missed us both by an inch. When I turned around to see where the arrow had landed, I spotted it right behind us. It had pierced the red dirt, and the arrowhead was wedged deep into the soil and had turned the ground around it black. The blight was quickly spreading like a poison through the earth, and I immediately knew that if one of these arrows hit us, even by just a nick or a graze, we’d undoubtedly be poisoned.
I could protect my coven, but what about Vanessa, Theodora, and the other witches?
They’d be dead in a matter of seconds.
When I turned to face the deadly army, the lead soldier was already preparing to notch another arrow, and so were the rest of his men. Soon, we would be the target of a rain of lethal arrows.
“Quick!” Theodora bellowed as she got up to her feet. “Everyone gather into a group!”
I jumped to my feet and then turned to look at the pile of rubble we had created. My eyes quickly scanned the debris, and I spotted a single black flame, still burning in the stones.
Then an idea sprang to my mind, so I focused on the smoke and aimed my wand right at it.
This better fucking work.
“Cole, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Vanessa cried out.
I ignored her and the others as I stared at the flame. The flying soldiers were coming closer, and I knew what I had to do. So, with my bloody fingers wrapped tightly around my wand, I took a deep breath and concentrated on the fire.
“Imperium meum!” I shouted.
The flames quickly grew, towered over the pile of stones, and then began to morph into a black fireball. I envisioned the blaze flying toward the incoming soldiers and burning them in the sky, and a dark bloodlust rushed through my veins.
The witches stopped calling out my name as the flames sped through the air and set the row of flying horses and soldiers on fire. Their screams echoed across the field, and then they began to fall from the clouds and down into the red dirt. Even from afar, I could smell the burning corpses and scorched horses, and as they continued to plummet from the sky, I quickly turned to the others.
“Let’s go,” I ordered. “Now.”
Theodora nodded, and then we huddled together in a circle. She swirled her wand, and purple smoke began to engulf us. We spun through the air, and my stomach flipped as we were tossed and turned through realms.
When we finally landed back in the classroom, every single witch turned to look at me with wide eyes and parted lips. Even Theodora, who had probably seen crazier things in her lifetime, looked partially shocked.
“Well.” Vanessa cleared her throat. “That was somewhat unexpected.”
“What the hell was that?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “I thought the holy men were gone from that realm.”
“They were,” Vanessa snapped. “I thought perhaps we’d be faced with shadow demons, but never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d see those bastards of the Sanctus Militum.”
“Well, what the hell is the Sanctus Militum?” I questioned.
“The Sanctus Militum,” Morgana repeated, “is a holy army that guards sacred lands. They work for the Elder Gods, and they rarely come out of hiding.”
“It still makes no sense,” Vanessa breathed as her dark eyebrows pinched together. “They abandoned the realm ages ago… Why in hellfire would they come back after all this time? How did they even know we were there? I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
I nodded my head and looked at each witch. They were still staring at me with large eyes and trembling lips.
“Cole,” Theodora finally said, “what you did back there probably saved our lives. We could have shadow ported out of there, but they could have traced us back to the academy through elder magic. Well done.”
“Thank you, Headmistress,” I replied. “I… I don’t know what came over me.”
“Who cares?” Akira snorted. “It worked… but Cole, how did you manage to expand the flames when we were supposed to extinguish them?”
“I-I don’t know,” I responded. “My mind just took over, and I had a sudden urge to burn everything to the ground.”
“Cole’s power is unexplainable at times, and thank Satan for that,” Theodora said before she tossed back her dark curls. “If you hadn’t managed to do what you did, we’d all be dead, and no matter what the intention of the exercise was, you all did an excellent job back there. Now, go and get yourselves cleaned up. We have an exceptional dinner to attend tonight.”
“Sorry, Headmistress?” Vesta raised her hand timidly. “Did you say a special dinner?”
Theodora looked at each of us and then broke into a cheeky smile.
“Did I not mention the other schools would be joining us for dinner tonight?” she chuckled. “How forgetful of me.”
We all exchanged brief, exhausted looks with one another. We were covered in blood and had nearly been attacked by a group of elder soldiers, but Theodora still wanted us to attend a dinner.
“You heard the Headmistress,” Vanessa snapped. “Go and get ready, for hell’s sake!”
We took our leave, but before I parted ways with the other group, Penelope snatched my arm and looked deeply into my eyes.
“Cole… thank you,” she said, and I was surprised by the sincerity in her voice. “You saved all our asses, and I’ll never forget what you did.”
“You’re welcome,” I answered.
She nodded and then separated from the coven, and the rest of her group remained silent as they followed her down the halls.
“Well, that was fucking intense,” Akira said while we watched them leave.
“No shit,” I sighed. “Come on, let’s go get ready for this dinner. Judging by the look on Theodora’s face, I have a feeling we’ll be the talk of the evening.”
As we headed down the halls and back toward our common room, I couldn’t help but think back to the red field and the witches who’d been burned to death, tied to those stakes. I knew their faces would never leave my mind, and as I walked slowly past the moving portraits, I vowed to do whatever I could to protect my coven and the entire school.
And the first step toward achieving that was by finding out if there truly was a traitor in our midst.