Chapter 15
“Well, it’s settled, then, isn’t it?” Professor Luna called out. “Everyone, come together and brace yourselves… we’re about to shadow port to the Mors Academy!”
As everyone formed a shadowy group, cheers rang through the air, and I knew everyone was eager to kick some fucking ass. I wasn’t sure if it was because of our new powerful forms, or because every witch had been secretly yearning to do this for quite some time.
Either way, I was fucking ready to kill every last Mors warlock.
In seconds, a cloud of purple smoke wrapped around us while the forest faded away from view. Then I could feel my shadowy figure tossing and turning through realms, and in mere moments, we were all hovering just outside of the Mors castle.
I’d never seen it from the outside before, since the last time we visited, we’d been transported straight into their dungeons. The academy’s entire exterior was made from ebony stone, and each one was a distinct size and shape. The architecture was not as grandiose or as elegant as Scholomance, but it was still a reasonably massive fortress. Black gargoyles were perched along the front doors, and each window was made out of muted stained glass. The sky was the color of steel, and charcoal clouds hovered over the pointed towers. We could hear a trace of thunder off in the distance, and the promise of rain hung in the air.
“What’s the plan, Cole?” Akira asked as we all hovered near the towers and away from the windows. “Should we just burst in and attack?”
Yes, my shadow’s voice echoed inside my head. That’s precisely what you should do.
“What if we burst one of these windows open and attack the hell out of them?” I suggested as Professor Luna looked all around her.
“Hmmm,” the blonde professor pondered with wide black eyes. “I do like a spontaneous attack… by Satan… this is all happening rather quickly, isn’t it?”
“Just to be on the safe side, though, I’ll use my premonition to sense any possible dangers lurking behind this window,” I said as I pointed to the nearest stained-glass window. “If the coast is clear, I’ll break the glass using motus, and then we devour those bastards using our teeth, claws, and feral strength.”
“Excellent idea, Cole,” Professor Luna agreed. “Go on, then… do what you must.”
I nodded before I closed my eyes and forced myself to turn my mind into a completely blank slate. As I focused on what laid beyond the window, I freed my mind from any sense of doubt or fear and then recited the incantation inside my head.
Periculum.
Suddenly, my mind wandered past the stained-glass window and through the corridors. There were only a few warlocks dressed in those hideous white suits walking down the bare hallways. No paintings hung against the walls, and the place was unbearably dreary and depressing, but the good news was I couldn’t sense any impending danger.
We were in the clear.
My mind pulled away from the corridors, and when I returned to my shadowy form, a smile broke across my face.
“They have no barriers I can sense, nor do they possess any sort of defenses.” I grinned. “They must still be in the process of rebuilding their student body.”
“And failing miserably, it would seem,” Akira snickered with bloodthirsty glee. “Ooooh, I can’t wait to eat some Mors flesh.”
“Now, remember, in our shadowy forms, we are nearly invincible… however, the bond won’t last forever,” Professor Luna explained.
“Wait,” Morgana said with wide black eyes. “When does it fade?”
“It can fade at any moment,” Professor Luna answered with a small shrug. “It all depends on how well you can control your shadow and force it to share power.”
“Professor, with all due respect,” Penelope said in a tight voice. “Don’t you think you should have warned us about that little detail before we decided to kill off an entire academy?”
“I was so excited by Cole’s prospect that it must have slipped my mind!” Professor Luna responded in a defensive tone. “Besides, no one bothered to ask, so you’re all to blame as well.”
“That’s some messed up logic,” Akira mumbled.
“Miss Akira!” Professor Luna snapped. “I’m still your professor, so you would do well to remember your respect.”
“Yes, Professor,” the short-haired witch answered in a small voice. “My apologies.”
“Hey!” I said as I waved a shadowy hand in their faces. “If what you’re saying is accurate, Professor Luna, then shouldn’t we move with a little more haste?”
“Oh, right,” the pale-haired witch responded as she shook her head. “Let’s proceed.”
“Excellent,” I said before I rubbed my hands together.
Without wasting any more time, I swiftly turned around and focused on the stained-glass window, and I used all my mental strength to picture shards of colored glass breaking apart and flying into the hallways. Once I opened my mind to the power of Satan and felt no ounce of fear or doubt, I narrowed my eyes at the glass and raised my shadowy hand.
Motus.
The window immediately shattered, and shards of pointed glass went soaring backward into the halls. A few students were passing by, and as soon as the window broke, the bits and pieces of dagger-sharp glass penetrated their bodies and cut clean through their skin.
I grinned in murderous satisfaction as I watched one fragment of glass soar right through one warlock’s eye and killed him instantly.
“Attack!” Professor Luna screamed.
The Mors students who hadn’t been killed by the flying, broken glass gaped in horror when they saw an army of fleshed filled shadows soaring through the hallways like a horde of hungry, bloodthirsty ghosts. As we flew down the corridors, cries of terror instantly filled the air, and it sounded like music to my fucking ears.
“Attack!” I called out before I hovered over the head of a green-haired warlock and then snapped his head clean off with my mighty claws. “Don’t leave anyone behind!”
Shall we destroy them all? my shadow’s voice echoed inside my mind. I vow not to leave your side until we kill every single one of them.
“Then let’s do it,” I growled as I spotted another crowd of students sprinting down the hallway.
Before I followed them, I turned around to see where my coven, Beatrix, and Circe were. They were just behind me, though, and they all had sunk their teeth into warlock necks and ripped their tendons out from their bodies.
“Delicious meat!” I heard Akira growl through a mouthful of raw flesh.
“Hey!” I called out. “Follow me! There’s a crowd trying to escape!”
“I’m right behind you!” Nyx said as she flew in my direction.
The others stopped what they were doing and joined us as we flew after the fleeing Mors students. It didn’t take long for us to reach the sprinting crowd of warlocks and swiftly take them down, and they cried out in fear and pain as we sunk our teeth into their sweet and salty flesh.
“Who knew such shitty warlocks would turn out to be so delicious!” Akira growled like a ravenous wolf. “I need more!”
We laughed as our Scholomance sisters roamed the hallways taking down every warlock they could find. As my group followed closely, we tore through the tuxedo-wearing students, ripped their heads from their bodies, or sank our teeth into their pulsating necks. Each bastard we killed felt like a victory, and I relished in the taste of their traitorous blood.
“Should we go upstairs?” Penelope purred once we came across a stairwell. “There could be more hiding up there.”
“Good idea,” I remarked before I turned to look at the others. “Come on, let’s go!”
We flew up the stairs, and within seconds, we were on the second floor.
“Wow,” Morgana breathed in fascination. “It would have taken us at least ten minutes to climb up those stairs by foot, huh?”
“Yeah, probably.” Vesta nodded in agreement. “I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of the black eyes, but I do love flying.”
“Me, too!” Nyx squealed with joy. “It’s so much fucking fun.”
“You’d know what would be even more fun, though?” Akira grinned, and her black eyes flashed with bloodlust. “Finding more Mors students to drain dry.”
“Oh, I’m inclined to agree,” Circe added with a pointy smile.
“So, let’s go,” I agreed. “I can smell them… they’re close.”
We only came across one or two students as we wandered through the corridors, and it didn’t take us long to rip their heads from their bodies. Most students tried to use their magic against us, but we were either too quick, or they were too slow.
“Hey, wait a minute…” Morgana said as we quickly floated down the hall. “Isn’t this the second floor with the study hall? Do you think warlocks could be hiding in there?”
“Hmmm,” I pondered aloud. “Perhaps… come on, let’s go and check it out.”
We flew down to the very end of the hallway, and once we burst through the doorway, we looked around their study hall. It appeared the same as before, but now there were even fewer books in here. The room was still in pristine and neat condition, but it was relatively empty and all too quiet for my liking.
“It doesn’t seem like anyone is in here, Cole,” Beatrix pouted as her black eyes wandered around the expansive room.
“No,” I said after a long moment. “Wait… I can sense something.”
“What?” Beatrix asked.
“Shhhh!” the others all ordered at once.
“Let him focus, for Satan’s sake!” Akira snapped.
Can you sense them, too? my own shadow’s voice asked. I can smell them as well… we should kill them and rip their limbs from their bodies.
As I narrowed my eyes and searched around the room, I felt a powerful force drawing me toward a bookcase in the very back of the room. Its pull was almost magnetic, and without a word, I found myself floating toward it.
“Oooh, look,” Circe gasped. “He must have sensed something!”
“I did,” I muttered as I edged closer to the simple bookcase. “Look… there are only two books on the shelf.”
“And?” Beatrix asked with raised eyebrows. “This place barely has any books at all, so I’m not that surprised--”
“It’s a secret passageway!” Penelope gasped. “Isn’t it?”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” I growled before I yanked back both spines.
Nothing happened at first, but just before disappointment could wash over my senses, there was a low rumbling sound, and then the bookcase slowly started to swing open. There in its place was a dark entranceway, and I could hear water dripping inside. The air was cold and dank, and I knew something or someone was inside.
Yes, a feast lies down there, my shadow’s voice resounded inside my head. If you want to claim it… you’re going to have to put up a fight.
“We can do it,” I said in a firm voice.
“Do what?” Morgana asked with wide dark eyes.
“There’s something down there,” I responded, “and it’s not going to go down without a fight.”
“How do you know?” Beatrix gulped. “Your premonition skills?”
“No.” I shook my shadowy head. “My shadow told me.”
“Your shadow told you?” Penelope questioned, and there was a trace of shock in her voice.
“Err… yeah,” I answered. “Haven’t you been able to converse with your shadows inside your minds?”
“Nope,” Circe said before anyone else could. “It must only be you… what does it sound like?”
“Strangely, he sounds exactly like me.” I shrugged. I wanted to question why I was the only one who could hear their shadow’s voices, but I knew now wasn’t the time or place, so instead, I took a deep breath and looked at the others. “Let’s go.”
The others all nodded in agreement before we swiftly headed into the mysterious, dark entranceway. As we ventured deeper, the air grew colder and darker, but we could still see thanks to our heightened senses.
“What are we looking for?” Circe’s voice echoed.
“Hey!” a panicked voice called out and echoed down the passageway ahead of us. “Professor Nicholas, I thought I heard something!”
Fuck.
“Oops,” Circe whispered as soon as we stepped into a dark, dank room.
For some reason, the name Nicholas sounded strangely familiar to me. I wasn’t sure why for a moment, but then I remembered where I heard the name before. It was when we used the ‘secretum mentis’ spell on the warlock we interrogated in the storage closet when we came back for the forbidden books.
If my memory was correct, he was the premonition professor who would take on the role of headmaster.
If so, why was he hiding in a secret room while his students were being slaughtered like lambs?
Because he’s a coward, my shadow answered.
Before any of my women could say another word or move an inch, a deep voice rang through the air.
“Illuminana!”
A bright light shone through the stone room, and when I looked around, I realized we were surrounded by warlocks and one professor. The older warlock was a tall, lanky man with a salt and pepper goatee and dark beady eyes, and unlike his students, he wore an ebony suit with a sheer black tie and a small golden crest sewn into his breast pocket. His bony fingers were adorned with gold rings and red rubies, and there was a small diamond earring in one large, mole covered ear.
“Wait a fucking minute,” the rat-eyed professor snarled as he stared right at me. “I’ve seen you before… in my visions… you are the male witch they speak of… but you’ve been shadow tethered?”
“That’s right, asshole,” I laughed before I swiftly flew toward him.
“Umbra subsisto!” he shouted as he pointed his wand right at me.
A blast of light spurted out from the tip of his wand, and I was sent flying back until my head hit the stone wall behind me. My vision went hazy, and I could feel bile rising into my throat like I was made solely out of flesh and bone and not a mighty shadow.
“Cole!” my coven screamed before they turned to face the smug professor.
They tried to pull out their wands, but for some reason, their hands couldn’t grasp the rods that stuck out of their waistbands.
“What the hell?” I muttered as I rubbed my head.
You can’t use wands while tethered to a shadow, my dark doppelgänger’s voice explained. You can only use the natural powers we harbor as dark doubles.
“Ah,” I grunted. “Of course, Luna forgot to mention that as well.”
“Umbra subsisto!” the lanky premonition professor screamed again as he aimed his wand at the women.
They were thrown backward, and as I watched their shadowy bodies slump against the wall, I could feel hot rage coursing through my body.
“Hey, you piece of shit!” I clenched my fist by my side and hovered up into the air.
“I’m sure you’re wondering how I can harm you when no one else can?” Nicholas grinned.
His students slowly crept behind him as I neared the smug professor, but he seemed too confident and cocksure to even notice his students cowering behind him like a pack of terrified rats.
“The thought did cross my mind,” I answered.
“I am a master of premonition,” the professor proclaimed with a wide smile. “I have as much power as your fucking bitch of a Headmistress… maybe even more.”
“Her name is Theodora,” I growled, “and she’s far more powerful than you.”
And so are you, my shadow reminded me. I never said you couldn’t use other forms of magic, Cole… remember your skills of premonition far outweigh his. Use it!
“Theo-fucking-dora,” Nicholas cackled, and I could see his yellow, rotting teeth. “Whatever her fucking name is… it doesn’t matter. Soon, the elders will have her, and Scholomance will be theirs.”
“I don’t think so,” I snarled as I stared at the stones all around him. “Turns out… I also have a knack for premonition.”
“What--?” he began, but it was too late.
I was already focusing on the moss-covered stones, and when I pictured them falling apart and crushing each filthy, cowardly warlock inside this hiding room, the stones quickly began to vibrate and crack.
Motus.
In seconds, the walls collapsed, and panicked screams filled the air as the room caved in.
“Let’s fly out of here!” I commanded as the roof gave out, and I could spot a sliver of grey sky above us.
As we swarmed through the small opening, I looked down just in time to see all the stones crushing the warlocks into a pile of bloody bones. The women continued to fly upward, but as I studied the crumbling room, I thought I could see a hand sticking out of the mass of rubble.
When I looked closer, I saw the same rings Professor Nicholas was wearing, and I could have sworn I saw his fingers twitching as he tried to climb out of the mess.
The bastard was still alive.
“Cole, what are you doing?” Morgana called out as she looked down at me. “We should go and find the others before our shadows grow sick of us!”
“One moment,” I grunted before I dove toward the shattered room.
As I hovered above the stony rubble, I narrowed my eyes at the pile that crushed the Mors Professor but didn’t kill him. Then I used all my willpower to separate the stones and reveal his broken body.
Motus.
When the stones spread apart, I spotted Nicholas lying in between two large rocks with a few of his students dead beside him. His body was broken in different places, and his eyes were half-shut as he tried to look at me. His wand was broken in half by his side, too, and his other hand was utterly crushed into blood and bones.
“N-N-No,” he coughed as blood dripped from the corner of his lips. “Have mercy… please. Satan, have mercy.”
“Betrayer, you can answer to Satan when you meet him,” I growled as I stared down at his broken body with not an ounce of pity in my heart. “Ladies… would you like to help me finish this fucker off?”
“With pleasure,” Akira growled.
We dove toward his limp body, and as the women dug into his chest and stomach, I wrapped my hands around his neck. Then, with one quick hard pull, I separated his head from his neck and tossed it aside. Blood spurted out from the opening like a red waterfall, and I watched with desire and pride as my women tore his body into bits. Akira was clawing through his stomach and digging out his intestines until they spilled out like pink snakes from his open gut, and meanwhile, the others were ripping off arms, legs, and Nyx even managed to pry his ribcage apart and rip out his heart.
“Hey, I want a bite, too!” Circe moaned as Nyx helped herself.
“Oh, sure,” the shadowy blue witch replied as she handed the purplish-red organ to the blonde witch.
“Yummy,” Circe giggled before she sank her sharp teeth into the muscle.
“I think we’d better go,” Morgana said after she took a massive bite out of his lung. “Who knows how much longer our shadows will remain with us.”
“We’re feeding them, for fucks sake,” Akira grunted as she slurped some small intestine. “I’m sure they’re grateful.”
“Still, Morgana is right,” I remarked in a stern voice. “We’ve killed the Mors’ soon to be headmaster, and I’m sure everyone’s had their fun by now. I say we’d better find Luna.”
“You’re right, master,” Akira sighed as she looked at the half-eaten body. “He doesn’t taste that great anyway… the younger meat was far juicier.”
Before we left, I decided to grab Nicholas’ head and take it with me to show Professor Luna, just so she knew he was taken care of, once and for all.
As the women wiped their mouths and flew up into the opening, we swarmed around the castle until we found the broken window again. When we flew inside, we were lucky enough to find Professor Luna hovering in the same corridor.
“Ah!” she gasped as she looked at us. “Did you have fun… my, what in hell’s name are you carrying with you, Cole?”
“It’s Professor Nicholas’ head.” I grinned as I held it up, and blood dripped to the floor.
“You seem to have a talent for ripping Mors heads off,” the blonde professor remarked as she studied the head in my hands. “Satan… he was an ugly fellow, huh? Well, excellent work. Headmistress Theodora will be most pleased.”
“Um, Professor?” Morgana spoke up in a small, timid voice. “Shouldn’t we be heading back to Scholomance now?”
“Oh, indeed!” Professor Luna nodded. “We’ve been here for far too long… and judging by the lack of screaming… I’d say most of the warlocks have been wiped out.”
“There’s one way to ensure none of them survived,” I said with my chin raised up into the air. “I can bring down the entire castle using my premonition power.”
“Cole!” Morgana gasped. “That will take an immense toll on you.”
“I can do it,” I said. “I know I can.”
“Very well,” Professor Luna sighed before she placed her shadowy fingers in between her lips and then whistled.
The noise was so loud and high-pitched, we all crouched down and covered our ears from the shrill sound.
“Broom fucker!” Akira snapped.
“Sorry about that!” Professor Luna called out. “Now that I have everyone’s attention, I’ll be shadow porting us all back outside… in three…two…”
Then we found ourselves briefly moving through space, and in a second or two, the whole class was flying outside of the castle and staring at its looming towers and uneven stones. The bleak gray sky was growing darker, and as the wind swept across my misty skin, I could feel unlimited power surging through my body.
Let’s take this fucking castle down, my voice echoed inside my mind. Leave nothing but rubble behind.
“Well, Cole?” Professor Luna asked as she hovered by my side. “Are you going to take it down or what?”
Instead of responding, I narrowed my eyes at the stone castle, and with all my might, willpower, and fortitude, I willed it to come crashing down into a mass of rubble and stones.
Motus.
In seconds, the entire school came crumbling down, and my whole body shook as the stones disintegrated down into the earth until there was nothing left but a giant pile of rubble.
“It’s done,” I breathed when my hands finally stopped shaking. Damn, I felt fucking exhausted.
“Well done, Cole,” Professor Luna said before she snapped her fingers. “Let’s return to Scholomance.”
A giant cloud of purple smoke surrounded us, and when we returned to the academy, we found ourselves back in Professor Luna’s classroom.
“Why do I feel so exhausted all of a sudden?” Akira asked as she placed a suddenly fully fleshed hand against her forehead.
“Because you and your shadows are no longer tethered,” Professor Luna explained as the class continued to groan. “When we shadow ported, they decided to head back into the forest… I think they like it there.”
My own body felt weak and woozy as I tried to keep my knees from buckling out beneath me. The room was spinning, and I knew everyone was feeling just as exhausted and drained.
“Now, all of you go and rest!” Professor Luna commanded as she clapped her hands. “I will inform Headmistress Theodora about the Mors Academy, but for now, I want you all to return to your quarters and get a good night’s sleep. You’ve earned it.”
Everyone mumbled their goodbyes as they headed out of the classroom and down the halls.
“I’ll be heading my own way now,” Beatrix grunted before she turned a corner and slumped off.
“Me, too,” Circe remarked before she parted ways. “Have a good night, everyone! That was awesome.”
“Glad to see she’s in such a good mood,” Akira muttered as we headed to our common room.
“I feel fine, actually,” Morgana said with a wide smile.
“Me, too!” Faye added with glittering eyes. “I guess it doesn’t affect everyone the same way, huh?”
“Well, don’t rub it in,” the black-eyed witch snapped.
“Sorry,” the two of them responded with small shrugs.
When we slipped into the common room, Akira, Vesta, Penelope, and Nyx mumbled their goodnights before they slowly sauntered upstairs, but for some reason, Morgana and Vesta remained behind. The two remaining witches stared at me, and then they bit down on their lips and blushed as their eyes trailed up and down my body.
“Master,” Morgana purred. “How tired are you feeling?”
I could practically smell their sweet arousal from here, and when I realized what they had in mind, my heart began to race, and blood rushed down to my cock.
I didn’t get any sleep last night because I’d fucked Nyx silly, but I never wanted to refuse my women when they were begging for my cock.
“I’m not tired at all.” I grinned. “Not anymore, anyway… let’s go up to my bedroom, shall we?”