The goddess-like woman sharply grinned in my direction as the undead army gradually homed in on me, and her giggles echoed like a thunderstorm as Lex and his teammates took long strides toward me. They were all smirking from ear to ear as if the battle had already been won. The odds certainly weren’t in my favor, but I’d be damned if I didn’t go out without a fucking fight.
As I stood tall and unwavering, I took a moment to glance back at the helpless women. My own team was still frozen in place, and their beautiful faces looked as if they were made out of ice. It almost appeared as if their eyes were devoid of any life while their horrified expressions were paralyzed like stone, and it pained me to see them under an elder goddess’ power. The Vipera women were in an even worse position, just inches away from a flaming death, and they couldn’t even scream as the flames drew closer and closer.
I knew time was of the essence, and it was up to me to save all their lives while keeping my own.
But how the hell was I going to accomplish this?
My thoughts were rapidly firing like a whirlwind of chaos, until a familiar and calming voice broke through the madness.
You can defeat her, Cole, the dark-haired woman’s voice whispered inside my head. She may be a powerful elder goddess, but you are greatness and evil reborn. Let go and become the man you were born to be. You have more power than all of them. You are an agent of the all-powerful Satan.
I nodded and took a step closer to my foes, and I knew I must have looked like a madman leisurely walking to his own death, but I didn’t care.
I could fucking do this.
As I drew closer, the white woman raised her hand, and then each skeleton soldier stopped in its tracks. Lex and his team also came to an abrupt halt, and then the beautiful but deadly creature stood up from her throne.
“You possess courage,” she purred as her blue eyes twinkled with malice and mischief. “I respect that… perhaps I’ll even give you a chance to join me?”
“But, Your Majesty--” interjected one of the warlocks until she flicked her wrist, and then his neck snapped.
The warlock fell dead to the floor, and not one of his counterparts even bothered to look down at his limp body.
One down, six left to go.
“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” the woman continued, “you do not need to remain bonded to the Wicca way of life. Or the foolish Satanists. Join us, and you can become even more powerful than you ever imagined.”
“Thanks, lady,” I replied with a deep chuckle, “but there’s no chance in fucking hell. So, why don’t we skip the foreplay and fuck already?”
Her gorgeous face darkened, and then she bit down on her lip before she responded.
“So be it… Lex, you may kill him.”
“Thank you, my queen.” He bowed.
The pale-haired warlock smiled a cocksure grin before taking a step closer toward me, and rage seethed throughout my body as he drew closer. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of taking a step back in fear, so instead I remained as still as a statue. Finally, when we were face to face, he leaned in closer to whisper into my ear.
“You know you can’t defeat us, right?” he hissed. “We’ve got the power of the elder gods on our side. Ravana knew greatness laid with them, yet you refused to join us. The queen has placed a holy prayer on this room… so you can’t use your magic against us. I hope you enjoy dying, knowing you could have prevented it. My queen is all supremacy and greatness.”
Become the man you were meant to be, the woman from my dreams repeated. Show them what true greatness is.
I smirked and then looked into Lex’s cold, lifeless eyes.
“Your queen may be powerful.” I grinned as my eyes darted toward the dagger on the marble floor. “But she didn’t prepare for me.”
Motus.
I stretched out my hand as the weapon came flying back into my grasp, and with one quick slice, I cut deeply into Lex’s throat.
His eyes widened with shock before he wrapped his pale, quivering hands around his bleeding wound. Then he fell down onto his knees while blood seeped through his fingers, and when his hands fell from his throat, gore spurted out into the air like red rain.
As I watched the life drain away from his eyes, something in me changed, and heat coursed through my veins like a scorching river. I felt a great supremacy flowing through me, too, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
My wrath had been unleashed, and there was no stopping me now.
As Lex fell dead to the floor, I glanced at the towering stained-glass windows, the looming columns, and the grand sculptures and willed them to come crashing down onto the rest of the warlocks and the massive army.
“What a useless shit,” the queen grunted as she curled her upper lip at Lex’s corpse, and then she flicked her wrist. “Kill him, and the others, and be quick about it, for heaven’s sake.”
Her army and the remaining warlocks edged closer toward me, but I stood as still as one of the statues. I didn’t feel any fear as my enemies drew nearer, and instead, I let all my fury take over my soul as I willed everything on their side of the throne room to come crashing down. Soon, the columns began to crack and crumble, the windows started to shatter, and the ceiling fell down like a storm of stones. Everything was falling apart, and I smirked as soldiers were instantly crushed, or warlocks were pierced with colorful glass shards.
Then I raised my hands up higher into the air and willed the floors in front of me to crack open.
Motus.
“Everything will be mine!” I growled as I pulled the castle down toward me.
Everything continued to collapse, and the room echoed violently with my ferocity and will to kill every last bastard in my way. My dark grin widened as my enemies perished under my command, and I couldn’t stop yearning for more of their blood and souls. I didn’t feel weak, even though I should have been dead. Instead, the more souls I took, the greater I felt.
“No!” the white woman cried out in feral fury. “How is this possible?”
The fire, Cole, the woman from my dreams whispered. Use the flames before they kill your witches.
I raised my hands even higher into the air and then urged every single element to do my bidding. When I turned around, the fire was no longer threatening to burn the Viperas, but instead, it had turned into a flaming cloud that hovered above the women. So, I willed it to spread across the room in enormous fireballs, and I grinned as I set some warlocks on fire. They’d been too busy trying to avoid being crushed or falling through the cracks, so they didn’t even see their fiery deaths heading right toward them.
“Nooooo!” Their screams were like music to my ears as I watched them burn alive and wail helplessly into the air, and I focused even harder and made sure the flames penetrated every fiber, organ, and nerve ending while they were still alive.
I’d never heard such deafening screams as they turned into black, charred pieces of meat that collapsed onto the floor and then morphed to ebony flecks of dust, and my grin grew impossibly wider.
I had no idea what had come over me, but nothing was holding me back.
The white woman’s face was twisted with rage as she stood up from her throne, and as the room crumbled, she began to mutter something in a language I’d never heard before. A blue glow surrounded her, and then her eyes lit up with fury as she protected herself from the flames and falling stones with her holy forcefield.
As I stared back at her, I noticed her diamond necklace was pulsating with light, and it thumped like a rapid heartbeat.
Yes, Cole, it’s her lifeforce, my guardian dream-woman said. Kill it, and she will leave this plane of existence. The elder gods can’t take shape here without an avatar.
I knew I could do it, but I wasn’t sure if I could do it alone. My hatred, lust for death, and determination were still there, but I could feel my mortal body slowly growing weaker. So, I turned to look back at the other witches and then narrowed my eyes at them, and whatever the white woman had done to keep them frozen in place, I used all my energy to free them.
Motus.
My skull ached and throbbed as I worked to break the hold on the women, and finally, they all gasped as the color returned to their faces. When they realized what was happening, though, they all stared at me with wide, panicked eyes.
“Cole, look out!” Akira shouted.
“Volant!” Morgana cried out as I whipped around.
The last remaining warlock had been running in my direction with his wand pointed right at me, but as soon as Morgana’s spell hit him, he went flying back into the air and then impaled himself on a skeletal soldier’s spear.
“I need you to free the Viperas,” I called out to the Scholomance women as they remained on the safe side of the throne room. “Once you’ve done that, I’ll need you to use your premonition powers and whatever spells you can think of to kill every single soldier while I take care of that bitch.”
“What are you going to do?” Penelope called out with wide, dark eyes.
“You’ll see,” I growled.
The women all nodded quickly and did as they were told. Once the others were free, each witch with a wand shot spells in every direction while also doing their best to bring the other side of the throne room down into ruins. The other side rumbled as it came crashing down, and the goddess stared right at me with feral determination and fury.
“Who are you?” her voice echoed above the chaos.
“Your worst fucking nightmare,” I retorted.
She laughed like a madwoman, and when she closed her eyes again, I raised my wand and then aimed it at her necklace.
“Mortuus cadunt!” I shouted at the top of my lungs.
Her beautiful face fell before a violent wind picked up, and then my wand began to tremble as my own soul seeped out from my body and transferred into the spell. My hand glowed a pale white as a burst of light went straight toward the goddess’ necklace, and her forcefield stopped the spell, but I knew it was draining for her to continue fighting against me.
Then I thought back to the day in the holy realm when Vanessa wanted me to will the flames away from the stakes. If I could do the same with her forcefield, I’d be able to shatter that fucking necklace.
So, without breaking eye contact and with my wand raised and pointed at her, I bit down into my other hand, and my teeth sunk so deep into the skin I tore a chunk of flesh from my bone. Then I spat the blood onto my wand and smiled a bloody grin.
“You’re a madman,” the woman cackled and then stared deeply into my eyes.. “Just what do you think you’re doing? You can’t get past my holy enchantment.”
“We’ll see about that.” I bared my bloody teeth. “Imperium meum!”
Somehow, I miraculously managed to burst through her forcefield with the premonition spell, all while holding onto the killing curse. I had no idea how it was possible, and I briefly wondered if Satan was listening to my pleas. Then her forcefield exploded, and the sound echoed violently above the rest of the chaos. As soon as the spell was through, the light hit her glowing necklace, and it shattered into pieces before she stumbled backward.
The woman gasped in horror, looked down at her broken piece of jewelry, and then back at me. Her skin slowly started to turn gray, and then her beautiful features morphed into an old woman’s face before it began to dissolve from her bones.
“What have you done?” she wailed as her skin melted away like candle wax. “Noooo!”
As she slowly began to liquefy into a puddle of bones, blood, and gore, the rest of her army began to disintegrate as well. The skeletal soldiers burst into flames and then turned to dust as their queen died, and their cries resonated through the room like a chorus of crows.
As they died, I nearly fell down to my knees. I never felt so weak in my life, and when my hand stopped glowing, I slowly turned around to face the others. I had no idea how the hell we were going to get out of here, and now the entire throne room was collapsing.
“Cole!” Morgana gasped as she rushed to my side. “Make it stop! It’s over!”
“I can’t,” I panted. “I can’t control it any longer.”
“We need to shadow port out of here,” Nyx said as she joined us, and the blue-skinned Vipera witch still looked shaken from nearly being burnt alive.
“Agreed.” Akira nodded. “But how--”
“You’ve done well,” Theodora’s voice suddenly echoed around us. “But you have one last task to complete…you must save Scholomance by killing Ravana.”
Before any of us could respond, a purple smoke engulfed all the familiars and witches, and we were sent tumbling through another shadow portal. My head ached and pounded as we spun violently through endless vortexes and worlds, and as we continued to travel through the air, a part of me wondered how I wasn’t dead yet. I’d not only used every inch of my mind to bring the throne room down into ruins, but I also used the killing curse.
By all rights, I should be dead, or at least in a deep comatose state, but I couldn’t worry about that right now.
Finally, we landed with a painful crash on a stone floor, and before I opened my eyes, I smelled charred flesh and burning wood. Then sound returned to my ringing ears, and maddening screams filled the air as I laid on my back, unable to move. I knew I needed to find Ravana, and I had to be quick. My body may have been weakened, but it didn’t matter. I had to get up, fight, and save Scholomance, even if it robbed me of my last bit of life.
You must fight, Cole, the woman in my head whispered. Do not give up on your witches. They need you to save them. Find the one responsible for all of this and kill him.
“I will never give up,” I muttered groggily, “I’ll see this to the very end.”
“Cole?” I heard Penelope’s shrill voice above me. “Cole, wake up!”
I finally managed to open my eyes, and my vision was dangerously blurry. All I could make out was the shadowy outline of Penelope’s bright orange hair, and her delicate, doll-like features, but as my eyesight grew clearer, I could see the others as they hunched down closer. The fire blazed above them, and stone corridors were coming apart, but the women and familiars solely seemed fixated on my wellbeing.
“Cole?” Morgana whispered as she pushed back my hair. “Can you get up?”
“Yeah.” I nodded and forced myself to sit up, and then my mouth slowly opened in horror as I looked around.
Lex hadn’t been exaggerating. The corridors were burning down, and witches were either running, screaming, or fighting for their lives. Shrieks echoed in the classrooms and halls as professors and witches fought against the Mors warlocks, and I thought I could see Vanessa and Crimson fighting back to back as they shot spell after spell against the bastards.
“We need to find Ravana,” I growled. “His death ends all of this.”
“Well, we’re coming with you,” Faye said as she lifted her chin stubbornly.
“Yeah.” Akira firmly nodded. “There’s no way in hell we’re letting you go after him alone.”
I chewed on my lower lip as I considered my options. I was weak right now, and the backup would surely be welcomed.
“Fine,” I conceded, “you can help me find him, but when it comes down to it, I’ll be the one to rip his soul from his body.”
“As you wish, master,” Vesta purred before she offered me a dainty, purple hand to take, and with unwavering strength, the graceful elf pulled me to my feet and then smiled demurely at me.
“Let’s find this fucker,” I growled.
The witches, including the Vipera women, all raced after me as I bolted down the corridors. My powers were weak, but I was still using the periculum incantation to hunt for the son-of-a-bitch who started all of this. I tried my best not to dwell on the fact that professors and students could be dying and burning, and instead I focused solely on Ravana and nothing else. If I couldn’t keep my mind solely focused on one thing, I would never find him. He was a coward, and it wouldn’t have shocked me if he was somewhere hiding as all this was going down.
And that’s when it hit me.
He was probably hiding in his private quarters.
“He’s in his office,” I said to the others. “Quick, follow me. I know the way.”
The witches quickly nodded, and I used all my strength to run down the burning hallways and past students and professors fighting for their lives.
As we ran, one warlock with pale green skin and white hair stepped in front of us and then raised his wand. He smiled maliciously at us before he opened his mouth, but then I heard Penelope’s shrill voice echo through the air.
“Conligo!” she screamed.
The warlock’s smug face froze in place, and then an enormous piece of the stone ceiling came crashing down on his head, and it split open his skull and brains as his body fell and twitched under the massive rock.
“Did that stone fall on its own?” I breathed as we continued to run toward Theodora’s office.
“Nope.” Faye grinned as she ran by my side. “You’re not the only one who can cast a badass motus incantation.”
Despite my exhaustion, I couldn’t help but laugh as the determined women ran by my side. They were not only a gorgeous group of witches, but they were badass and loyal, too. They could have shadow ported out of here and called it quits after all the shit they went through, but instead, they all chose to stand by my side and help me finish this fucker off.
We finally managed to reach Theodora’s office, and I wasn’t surprised to see she wasn’t down here. She was the opposite of Ravana, noble, fierce, and loyal, and I tried not to picture the worst as I briefly wondered where she was.
“Now, where do we go?” Morgana panted as she wildly looked around.
“Follow me,” I ordered.
I swiftly glided toward the fireplace and rearranged the artifacts on the mantelpiece, the same way Theodora had done before. When I moved the golden clock, the fireplace grumbled, and then the stones began to rearrange themselves. Finally, there was the cold, dark tunnel in front of us, and I didn’t waste another moment before I stepped inside and lit my wand.
I don’t think I can fly in there, Alexander said as he peered inside.
“So, stay out here and look after the other familiars.” I smiled. “You better not let anything happen to Silvia.”
Not a chance in hell, he answered as he puffed out his chest. Good luck, Cole. Kill the fucker as painfully as possible.
“Will do,” I answered before I turned my attention back to the witches. “Are you ready?”
They all nodded and took in deep, shaky breaths before we stepped into the darkness. We raced past scurrying rats and slithered through the dank, musty pathway as quickly as possible. The air was thick, not only because of the confined space but because of the tension and fear. The witches were brave, but they weren’t stupid. Our chances weren’t exactly the most promising, since I was fragile, and I honestly didn’t know what my odds were against the aged and experienced headmaster.
Finally, we reached the end of the narrow passage, and when I stuck my head out to look around the pale, stone corridors, it seemed clear, untouched, and safe, but by now, I knew better than to be deceived by a mere glance.
So, with all the strength I could muster, I closed my eyes and tried to perceive any danger that could be lurking behind any corner. After a few seconds, I vaguely sensed something or someone guarding the headmaster’s door, and I weakly turned to the others before I leaned in to whisper.
“I can feel someone, or maybe more than one person, standing guard in front of the headmaster’s office,” I said.
“We’ll take care of them,” Akira affirmed with her chin raised.
“Alright.” I nodded. “Let’s do this, quick and messy.”
The others muttered their agreements before we sprinted down the hallway and toward the headmaster’s office. As soon as we turned a corner, there was a group of warlocks standing watch, and when their eyes landed on us, they raised their wands and prepared to attack.
“You heard what Ravana said,” one warlock with pale skin and black eyes yelled. “Kill them on sight!”
“Mortuus cadunt!” they all shouted at once, and for a moment, I thought it was going to be the end until the witches behind me all screamed out in unison.
“Novis!”
The warlocks’ death spells were reversed in midair and hit each one square in the chest before they collapsed to the ground.
“Thanks,” I breathed before I took a deep breath and then focused on the headmaster’s door. I knew it was locked, but before I had a chance to open it, Morgana stepped in front of me.
“Patentibus,” she muttered, and then a click followed.
The door cracked open, and when I gently craned my neck to take a look inside, it was exactly as I remembered it. Ravana’s hideous portrait stared back at me with those beady rat eyes, and anger coursed through me as I glared into those painted black orbs.
I could sense him hiding somewhere in this room.
Fucking coward.
“Stay out here,” I ordered without turning back.
“Yes, master,” my coven answered reluctantly, but then someone grabbed me by my shoulder and forced me to turn around.
“You can’t take him on alone,” Penelope argued with a scowl.
“She’s right,” Nyx added, and her own eyes blazed with determination. “You used every ounce of energy you had left to defeat that fucking bitch and bring down an entire palace.”
“And now you want to defeat a headmaster with twice your experience and at least three times your age?” Beatrix questioned with a raised eyebrow.
I looked at each determined and loyal witch and couldn’t help but smile at their willingness to see this through with me until the very end.
“Alright,” I sighed. “We’re going in, but you will follow my lead. Do you understand? This asshole is a powerful motherfucker…. who knows what kind of dirty tricks he might have up those dusty ancient sleeves of his? I need you all to be careful and look out for one another.”
The strong-willed witches all swallowed hard before they nodded and then took a small step forward.
“We’ll follow your every order, master,” Vesta purred with her head held high. “No matter what.”
“We’re united in evil for all time,” Faye added with confidence. “Together, we can be stronger than this one man.”
“Yeah.” Akira grinned. “Let’s kick his fucking bitch ass.”
“We can do it,” Morgana remarked with a shaky smile. “We’ve been training and studying like hell for a moment like this… we can take him on.”
“So, let’s stop talking about it and just do it,” Penelope chuckled somewhat nervously. “It’s now or never.”
“Are you ready, Cole?” Nyx asked.
“Yes.” I nodded with a forced smile, and then I turned back to the door.
I had no idea if we were about to face a bloody death or glorious victory, but there was no time to doubt myself.
Not when we’ve come this far.
So, I slowly pushed the door open and then took another careful look around before the others all stepped inside and then closed it. It was eerily quiet inside, but an intense chill creeped up my spine, and my heart pounded with a fierceness that made my brow prickle with sweat.
“So,” Ravana’s voice echoed through the room, “you finally decided to show yourself.”
“That’s rich coming from you,” I growled. “You fucking coward… come out where we can see you.”
“Yeah, you creepy motherfucker,” Akira sneered.
“Show yourself!” Faye added.
A deep chuckle emerged from the portrait, and when I looked closer, I noticed his painted dark eyes were moving back and forth. Then one black leather boot emerged from the picture, and another one followed. The headmaster was materializing from the painting, and as soon as he stood in front of me, his wormy lips curled into a malicious grin. He was wearing a long, black velvet cloak with fur trimming along the collar as if he were some wealthy duke or mortal king.
“Here I am, and I see you’ve brought your bitches with you, which is good since I’ll certainly enjoy killing them slowly, one by one,” he bellowed as he raised his bony hands into the air, and his golden rings and ruby jewels twinkled under the dim firelight. “My, my, my… you’re looking a little pale there, Cole.”
“Hmm.” I smirked. “Well, killing your precious queen and your team took quite a toll on me.” I smirked.
“What did you say?” he croaked as his beady eyes darkened.
“You heard me,” I snapped. “They’re all dead, and you’re next.”
His greasy mouth twitched into a strange smile as if he were harboring some kind of secret he was dying to share with me. Then he took a long stride toward us with his hands folded behind his back.
“You seem so sure of that,” he remarked as he clucked his tongue. “Yet, I can see that even standing pains you. Your legs are trembling like a newborn lamb’s… I almost feel sorry for you, Cole.”
As much as I wanted him to be wrong, there was no denying that I was running on fumes. The world was spinning, and even breathing was a painful endeavor, but I did my best to push the agony away and stand tall and unwavering. There was no way I would give him the satisfaction of knowing I was barely hanging on.
If I died, it would be on my terms.
“Why don’t we get this over with?” he asked as he tilted his head to the side. “You will never join us, so perhaps I will make this as quick and as painless as possible.”
Before I could raise my weak hands into the air, something pushed me backward, and I went flying into his dining table and onto the floor. I heard the others scream my name, and when I looked up, Ravana flicked his wrist. The witches’ wands went flying from their hands, and they were all shoved against the back wall and unable to move. As I tried to regain my strength, my head throbbed with an intense pain I’d never felt before, and I took in a deep breath before I forced myself to get back up and face the ugly bastard.
He cackled as soon as I stood weakly on my feet, and then he nodded his head in my direction once more.
Again, I felt a surge of force throw me into the stone wall, and I hit my head so hard, it was like my skull had split open. Then I slumped down against the wall, and Ravana took another step closer to me.
“Cole!” the women all screamed, but then Ravana whipped around to face them, and with one snap of his bony fingers, all their mouths were clamped shut.
It pained me to see the helpless looks in their eyes because I knew they desperately wanted to help me, but it was impossible.
Now, it was just me and this sinister son-of-a-bitch.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Ravana clucked as he lowered himself to meet my eyes. “Is this how you pictured your death, Cole? You know I could kill you with just one spell… but I think I’d prefer to torture you first.”
As I looked into his dead eyes, I remembered another entity that was devoid of emotion and filled with nothing but malice and pure evil. A force that could take on this bastard in a heartbeat, and I knew it was my only chance of saving Scholomance and my beloved coven. My wand was still tucked behind my waistband, and I wondered if I had enough mental energy and power for what I was about to do next.
“We’re not done here,” I finally growled. “Not by a fucking longshot, you ugly, treacherous bastard.”
His rat-eyes darkened, and before he could utter another word, I snatched his beard and then slammed his hideous face into the wall by my side. He grunted in pain as he struggled to recover, and then I recited the ultimate spell to end all of this.
“Qui vocat umbra mea,” I chanted.
Thick red smoke began to morph in the air, and all the candles started to wicker slowly away. Darkness took over as a violent wind swept through the room, and then the walls vibrated, and the floor trembled.
Ravana tried to quickly pull himself away from the wall and raised his hand in defense, but it was too late.
My evil shadow had already formed, and his massive, scarlet horns were curled like a ram’s as his eyes glinted like pale, yellow lightning. Then he outstretched a smoky hand and wrapped it around the headmaster’s throat.
“No!” Ravana cried out. “What the hell is it… I’ve never seen a shadow double like this before--”
“He’s me,” I grunted. “And he obeys my every whim… vinculum.”
I didn’t know how I had the strength left, but even without my wand, my fiery red double turned to me and then waited patiently for my next command.
“Kill the motherfucker,” I panted, and my lungs felt as if they were burning.
I knew I was on the verge of passing out.
Or even dying.
My blood-red double grinned a yellow smile and then slowly nodded, and with his large, red muscular hands, he squeezed Ravana until his face turned a deep shade of indigo. His beady eyes were bulging out of his sockets, and his tongue was lolling out of his mouth as my shadow squeezed even harder.
“Cole,” the headmaster gasped. “Please… make him stop.”
“No,” I said, “I’d rather he rip your measly head from your useless body.”
Before Ravana could utter the last word, my loyal shadow pulled Ravana’s head right off his neck, and blood spurted everywhere. Ravana’s headless body remained upright for a moment, and I could have sworn his fingers twitched before he collapsed to the ground. Dark, black blood pooled from his open wound, and when I looked back at my shadow, he grinned as he held Ravana’s head up in the air. As soon as Ravana was dead, the women were released from their hold, and they all collapsed to the floor and then tried to scramble toward me as quickly as possible.
“Cole,” Morgana gasped. “Are you alright?”
At first, I couldn’t find the words to speak. My tongue felt as dry as sandpaper, and it seemed like the world was growing dimmer by the second.
“Say something!” Nyx gasped.
“Cole?” Vesta asked in her soothing voice.
“We need to get him out of here,” Penelope added. “He looks like he’s on the verge of death!”
“I’m fine,” I whispered as I stared at the dead headmaster’s face with his vacant eyes and gaping mouth. His tongue was still hanging out of his mouth, and his beard was speckled with gore and blood.
My ruby-red double was still smiling as he held up the bleeding head like a prized trophy in his shadowy grip.
“Give it to me,” I said in a weak voice.
The shadow nodded before he handed me the head, and then I stood slowly on my feet before I headed toward the door with each woman trying to support me as we sauntered off.
“Oh,” I muttered before I turned to look at the shadow. “Sorry… but I need to send you back.”
The crimson shadow slowly nodded, and then I could have sworn it smiled knowingly at me before I pulled out my wand and aimed it at his chest.
“Forma reditus,” I muttered.
The scarlet phantom slowly dispersed into pale red tendrils of smoke and then seeped back into my wand. The frigid air settled, and the candlelight gradually brightened up the room once more. Then I slowly made my way toward the door, with Ravana’s head dangling from my hand, but everything was growing dimmer by the second.
As I reached for the doorknob, pain surged through my lungs and penetrated my heart, but I pushed through the pain and forced myself to open the door. As soon as it was open, I nearly stumbled forward, and the moment I did, all the witches gasped and tried to catch me before I fell to the ground.
“Cole, where do you think you’re going--?” Penelope started to ask, but I had to cut her off.
“We need to show the Mors students that their headmaster is dead,” I breathed. “As soon as they realize he’s gone, they’ll know they’ve lost… and don’t help me walk. I need to show them I still have my strength left… even if it’s a facade.”
The women all quickly nodded in agreement, and we headed back through the halls, down the dank fireplace, and past Theodora’s office. The familiars followed us, and I could feel my world growing darker as we sped through the castle and toward the combat.
Finally, we reached a crowded, burning corridor filled with Mors students fighting against Scholomance witches. I saw a broken statue, just above a staircase, and then I took a step on the dismembered sculpture and raised the bloody head as high as possible.
“Your headmaster is dead!” I roared at the top of my lungs. “You’ve lost!”
Warlocks slowly stopped casting spells as they stared in my direction in both horror and fear. Some of them immediately started to shadow port out of the academy, while witches snatched others to take as prisoners. As the attack came to a gradual halt, a heavy and overwhelming sensation took over my body, and it felt like the last droplet of life was leaving my consciousness before my entire world faded into blackness.