Chapter 2
“Corrumpam vineam eius,” I said casually as I aimed my wand toward Jonis’ feet.
A bolt of white light exploded free from my wand, and then thick, green vines grew from the stone floor and slithered around Jonis’ ankles like serpents. The warlock didn’t realize what was going on at first, but as the vines tightened around his legs, a look of confusion crossed his face, and I watched in amusement as he struggled against the greenery.
“You can summon up some vines?” the second warlock snorted. “Even preschoolers can do that. It doesn’t tell us shit.”
“I wasn’t trying to show you anything,” I replied. “Unless Jonis needs to piss, there’s no need for that constant fidgeting.”
“Fuck you,” Jonis spat as he struggled against the vines.
“Vincula!” Morgana shouted from beside me.
I knew what the witch had tried to do with the vines, and her quick-thinking impressed me, but the warlocks also caught onto the threat.
“Novis!” Jonis cried.
Then, before Morgana could react, large, heavy, metal chains appeared around her waist and chest, and her face contorted with pain as the chains tightened. She dropped her wand to the floor and twisted her body back and forth, and a painful moan left her lips.
The moment the warlocks aimed for my coven, the fight began.
“Proelium!” I shouted.
The bolt of light threw the second warlock against the far off wall, but the sudden distraction gave Revna the opportunity to break the chains free from Morgana.
“Intermissum!” Revna shouted with her wand aimed at the chains. The metal crumbled to the floor in a pile of dust, and Morgana wasted no time in collecting her wand and standing guard once again.
Jonis then used the intermissum spell against the vines, and then his feet were free to move as he pleased.
The second warlock brushed the rubble from the wall off his back and came to stand beside his partner. An expression flashed across the warlock’s face, but I couldn’t decipher what it meant, or what he had planned. So far, they hadn’t made much of a move, but I knew that could change in the blink of an eye, so I considered my options.
On the one hand, my army was over a thousand strong, and they were all immortal as long as I was breathing, so we could wipe the floor with these assholes.
But not every single witch in Scholomance was as proficient and powerful as my original coven.
And I also didn’t want to play my hand just yet.
These warlocks had heard rumors of my declaration and dominion over Scholomance, but they didn’t know my army was undying, and I didn’t want that knowledge to get out just yet if I could help it. It might be an advantage to us later in facing both non-believers and the Elder Lord.
“Clypeus,” I whispered once I’d made my decision.
All of a sudden, barriers began to form around all of the students, which kept them “safe” from the warlocks and kept up the illusion of their vulnerability. Then, from inside the barrier, a purple smoke began to form as the students disappeared from the hall, and the barrier vanished the second the final student shadow-ported elsewhere.
But as the students’ wall of safety came down, a clear, glass-like sheet similarly formed over the two men. The barrier stopped them from shooting at us, but it also stopped us from shooting at them.
My coven, the professors, and I had to break the wall, but I knew a simple incantation wasn’t going to shatter it.
“Aim everything you have at them!” I demanded my coven. “The wall will break, but it will take some power to do so. These terrified motherfuckers won’t be safe in there for long.”
As bolts of red, green, and blue lights darted from the tips of my women’s wands, I began to think more about the warlocks’ intentions. They didn’t want a male witch to become the ultimate ruler, but so far they hadn’t put up much of a fight. They’d barely taken a shot at any of us, and they hid behind a barrier the first chance they could.
Either the ruler of Utulah hadn’t picked their men very well, or they had other intentions.
“Dissulto!” I shouted as I aimed my wand at the barrier.
“Glacies!” Morgana cried.
“Illuminana!” Vesta added.
Vanessa, Crimson, and Luna all stepped forward as they assisted my coven with breaking the barrier, so I took that chance to summon Alexander. I could sense the presence of evil in the air, but it was difficult to know whether it was from the warlocks, or if something else lurked in the compound of the academy.
Alexander, I said once our connection was complete. Gather all the familiars and search the grounds. I have a feeling there are others out there.
I’m one step ahead of you, he replied. We’re just trying to lure Isobel from Vanessa’s office.
I watched as my coven aimed their wands at our opponents, and the more spells that hit the clear wall, the more the warlocks’ barrier thinned. No matter how hard they tried to keep it up, I knew it wasn’t going to last for too much longer.
“Intermissum!” I shouted.
A bright light appeared at the tip of my wand, and I shot it straight at the center of the barrier. Then I shouted the word once again, and the light grew larger. Various cracks began to form from the center of the wall, and they snaked out in all directions until the barrier finally gave way.
Jonis was the first to move, and he aimed his wand into the air.
“Displodo!” he cried out as a white light shot up into the ceiling.
Before either of us could react, a thunderous bang echoed around the hall as part of the ceiling came caving in.
“Move out of the way!” I ordered.
My coven and the professors cleared the area as monstrous chunks of stone and brick rained down around us. Morgana let out a squeak as a piece of shrapnel flew past her head, but once the dust and smoke had died down, I noticed nobody was harmed, but a crater-sized hole had been formed in the stone floor.
Er… Cole… Alexander’s voice suddenly appeared in my head. You’re right, these warlocks aren’t alone. We’re doing what we can to fight them off, but there’s only so much we can do…
I peered around the hall to make sure everyone was protected, and my coven had the opponents under their control. I wasn’t sure what the warlocks had brought with them, but I was keen to find out, so I closed my eyes, willed myself to connect with my familiar once again, and summoned him toward me.
Come into the hall, Alexander, I ordered. Have the others lead this new threat in here, and we’ll slaughter them together.
Fuck, yeah, the wolverine said. We’ll be right with you.
Then I looked toward the hall doors as Alexander and the rest of the familiars swarmed into the room, followed by five, giant, dog-like creatures.
They were kiori.
The beasts stood at least five-feet tall on all fours, their legs were large and muscular, and their entire bodies were covered in gray and black matted fur. Each dog had the same piercing eyes, which ranged from yellow to red and all the shades in between. Their snouts were long and pointed like a werewolf’s, and pointed black teeth protruded over their bottom lips. Their teeth looked as sharp as daggers, and they gleamed with a coating of thick, clear saliva.
I remembered reading about kiori in The Book of Beasts, but this was the first time I’d ever seen them in the flesh. They were larger than I’d pictured in my head, but they held no more threat than the warlocks did.
“Satan,” Akira gasped as she noticed our new arrivals.
“Don’t focus on the size of them,” I told her. “You’ve been up against creatures much larger than this before.”
“Of course, master.” She nodded.
I wandered down the left side of the hall, all while keeping my eyes on the kiori, and as one dog noticed my movement, he lunged at me. He cleared the space in the matter of seconds, and his large mouth opened to reveal the menacing teeth inside. His orange eyes narrowed, and I sensed a look of excitement inside them, but before he could reach me, I aimed my wand straight at his head.
“Dissulto!” I shouted.
The kiori stumbled backward on his paws, but the beast was too strong to fully feel the impact of the hit. His growl caused his entire body to vibrate, and he went to lunge again.
“Conligo,” I said confidently.
The kiori instantly came to a halt, and no matter how hard he tried, the dog couldn’t take a single step. The binding hex wasn’t going to last long, but it disabled the beast just long enough for me to end his life.
“Tragicum,” I ordered with a smirk.
The kiori continued to fight against the binding hex, but despite how strong he was, he couldn’t move a muscle before small flames formed at the base of his paws. The fire flashed upward, and the dog let out a harrowing cry as the flames worked their way up the dog’s flesh and bones. The harsh smell of burned fur and boiling blood filled my nose, but the smirk grew wider across my face. Then, as the fire spread over the kiori’s back and shoulders, I walked away without a single look back.
A blood-curdling scream suddenly hit me from the other side of the hall, and I turned in the direction of the noise to see that Faye had been forced to the ground, and another kiori towered over her. I noticed a pool of blood under Faye’s right leg, and then I saw the giant bite mark right across her thigh.
I didn’t hesitate to sprint across the hall, but before I could reach Faye, the dog bared his teeth and aimed for her neck.
“Stupefaciunt!” I cried out as I aimed my wand at the dog.
The spell smacked the dog in the side with just enough force to knock the creature over, which gave Faye the opportunity to stand up and reach for her wand that had been thrown off to the side.
The kiori let out an angry growl, and he took one giant step forward with Faye still in his line of vision. I forced my legs to move faster as I dodged the various people and obstacles in my way, and as Faye used the binding hex to hold the kiori still, I slipped up beside him, quickly pulled my dagger from my pocket, and brought the tip of the blade right across the dog’s jugular. A river of black blood exploded from the kiori’s wound, and it looked as smooth and as shiny as silk. The dog’s eyes widened as he became weaker, and he let out a whimper mixed with a pained growl as he slumped to the ground.
“Vomica,” I ordered.
The second the orange light left my wand, the kiori’s body began to erupt in boils and ulcers, and the life finally left the creature’s eyes as he took one final, deep breath.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I placed an arm around Faye’s shoulders.
“Yes.” She nodded her head with a sigh, and the wound on her thigh was already healing. “Thank you, master. Fuck, I thought that was going to be the end of me.”
“You know I wouldn’t allow that to happen,” I replied. “Your soul and body belong to me, and you cannot die.”
“Yes, thank you, master.” Faye smiled at me, and I saw her injuries were already starting to heal because of our bonding ritual.
I glanced around the hall to get an idea of the battle, and I noticed there were two kiori still to defeat, as well as the warlocks, but my women worked as a team to overcome that hurdle. Different colored lights crossed the room in all directions, but the rubble from the ceiling acted as the perfect shield. Alexander swooped through the air as he assisted in the fight, and other familiars were spotted running and slithering across the ground.
“I bet it’ll be over soon,” I said with confidence. “How are you feeling?”
I crouched down slightly to get a better look at the wound, and the bite mark across Faye’s thigh had almost finished closing. Soon there would be nothing left apart from a rip in her black tights and the blood on the floor.
“It hurts a little, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it was.” The witch smiled. “At least they’re not venomous. That’s a real bitch to heal.”
“You’re not wrong,” I agreed. “Now, we’d best get back to the fight. We can’t let the others have all the fun.”
I stood back up, patted Faye’s shoulder with one hand, and then turned and ran toward the opposite side of the hall. I needed the perfect view of the room and the fight, especially if I wanted to plan my next moves.
I knew the warlocks held no real threat to us, so we had to work on defeating the final two kiori first. Once the dogs were dead and done with, we could focus on ending the men’s lives. I knew the warlocks had only brought the kiori with them, because the second that another died, the intense feeling of evil slowly began to vanish, and the air became clearer.
I stood back and watched in delight as my women took on their opponents. Ursula, Vesta’s snake, slithered through everyone’s legs as she eyed up her target, and a smile grew across my lips as Ursula opened her mouth and revealed her terrifying fangs.
It looked as though the kiori had no idea the snake was behind him.
Then Ursula curled into an ‘S’ position before she launched across the air and latched onto the dog’s thick neck. The pained howl was loud enough to shatter windows, but Ursula dug her fangs in deeper as she coiled her beautiful, ivory body around the dog. It wasn’t enough to kill the creature, but it was enough to keep him steady while someone else delivered the final blow.
Professor Evanora was quick to spot what the snake had done, and the pink-haired beauty appeared to take great pleasure as she pointed her wand toward the kiori. Evanora muttered a word under her breath, and then a green bolt of light flew from her wand and hit the kiori directly between the eyes. Ursula detached her fangs from the beast’s neck and slithered back to the ground seconds before the dog collapsed. The kiori’s tongue lolled out from his mouth, and I watched his chest deflate as he took one final breath.
Then Evanora caught my gaze, and as I gave her a pleasant smile, the professor simply nodded, turned on her feet, and looked for a new victim to kill.
But that wasn’t hard to find.
The final kiori had cornered Nyx and Beatrix against one wall, but the dog didn’t have anyone to watch his back. I knew we all wanted the chance to kill the final beast, but I allowed my women to have their fun.
Meanwhile, I fixed my eyes on Jonis, who was still hiding like a coward amidst the rubble.
Samara became the one to kill the kiori, and she used an impressive spell. A blast of orange light poured from her wand, and as it reached the kiori, the dog let out a loud howl as his body began to spasm like he was being electrocuted. Pools of saliva gathered in his mouth and dropped to the floor, and the longer Samara held the spell, the harsher the outcome became.
The kiori vibrated violently against the floor as his howls became weaker and quieter, and his legs curled into his body as Samara continued to electrify his body from the inside out. The kiori’s yellow eyes dulled down as the beast died, but Samara held the spell for one final minute, just for good measure.
“Master.” Circe distracted me from the kiori’s death.
“Yes?” I asked as I turned my head to look at her.
“We feel it’s only fair if you give them what they deserve,” she said with a coy smile as she motioned her hand toward the other side of the hall.
That was when I noticed Jonis and his partner had been disabled by the binding hex, and they stood in the center of the room with my women as their excited audience.
I left Samara, Nyx, and Beatrix to deal with the deceased kiori as I walked over to the rest of my women. I caught Lilith’s proud smile, and the small nod of her head made my grin grow wider.
“Do you believe me now?” I asked the men as I stood before them.
“Fuck you,” the second warlock spat.
“Well…” I shrugged. “In that case, you’ll be the first to die, and Jonis can watch as we mutilate and slaughter your body.”
“I’m not scared of you,” the warlock snorted. “You pretend to be the Dark Lord, but we all know you’re nothing but a male witch.”
I looked over at Jonis and saw his face held more fear than his partner’s. I assumed Jonis believed the truth, but that didn’t mean I’d allow him to leave.
“My lord, may I have the honor of destroying them?” Theodora begged as she placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“Sure.” I smiled. “But leave Jonis for me.”
“Of course.” Theodora nodded and then took her place a step in front of me. “Dolorum fuga.”
A red light grew in Theodora’s palm, and as she wriggled her fingers, the light continued to become bigger and stronger.
Then the headmistress raised her opened hand slowly in the air, and one of the large pieces of rubble began to lift off the ground. Whenever Theodora moved her hand to the left, the boulder would follow the movement.
The two warlocks tried to fight against the binding hex, but they could only move their eyes. I crossed my arms over my chest and watched in pride as the warlocks’ eyes widened in fear, and the boulder rose higher and higher in the air.
Theodora slowly twisted her hand and adjusted her position slightly until the boulder was directly in front of the second warlock. The headmistress paused for a brief second, and then she threw her hand forward, which caused the boulder to fly across the open space.
I thought I heard the second warlock scream, but the boulder crashed into his head before the noise became known. The thunderous force and speed caused the man to collapse to the ground, and blood and brain matter erupted across the floor as his head exploded. I couldn’t see what was left of his head due to the size of the rock, but I imagined it was as flat as a pancake, and perhaps all squashed to one side.
Jonis instantly began to panic when he realized he was next, but I liked to play with my victims before I fully ended their lives, so I sauntered slowly over to the final remaining warlock, and before the binding hex could leave his body, I forced Jonis to the ground. I noticed his little finger twitched, but that was the only movement he could make. Jonis began to hyperventilate, and his eyes looked around the room as if to find a way out of the situation, but he was shit out of luck.
As the warlock slowly began to break from the hex, I shoved my knee down onto his chest to keep him in place, and that was when he really began to panic.
“N-No, please, I-I apologize for everything we’ve done,” Jonis stuttered like a terrified child.
I loved it when they begged for their lives.
“Do you believe what we’ve told you?” I asked and directed the tip of my wand into the base of his throat.
“I do, I do!” Jonis cried out. “Dark Lord, you have returned! I believe it now!”
“Because my woman killed your friend?” I snickered. “Pathetic.”
“Please, Dark Lord,” he begged. “Forgive me.”
I paid close attention to the gash that ran across his greasy hairline, and a trickle of blood seeped from the torn skin. I could have easily widened the wound until it split his face in half to reveal his skull, but I much preferred to hear Jonis squeal before I killed him.
“Do you know what I do to men like you?” I asked as I lowered my head closer to his. “Idiots who only say what they need to say to save their pathetic lives?”
Jonis shook his head, and I heard the loud gulp that came from his throat. I pressed my knee further into his chest, and the quivering warlock let out a deep breath, I assumed to help with the pain.
“I get my revenge.” I smirked. “You and the other pathetic warlock came here to end us, but now I’m the one to end you. You mentioned something about your power, but I’m about to show you what real power looks like.”
“Noooo,” he sobbed. “I beg of you, Dark Lord, please!”
I thought I saw a tear form in the corner of his eye, but that only made me laugh harder.
“End him, master!” Akira shouted.
“But make sure he screams,” Penelope added with a laugh. “Nothing beats their final scream.”
“Especially when it’s guttural,” Nyx giggled. “Or full of blood. Take your pick.”
“Oooh, yeah!” Samara joined in. “Have him choke on his blood.”
“Silence,” I ordered with one hand in their direction. “Jonis will meet his death, and it won’t be pleasant, but it will be up to me to decide. Now, you quivering fuck, what should it be? A snapped neck? Instant cremation? You pick.”
“No, no, please.” More tears rolled down Jonis’ cheek. “I believe you, I do! If you let me go, I’ll have all of Utulah realize the same thing. You are Satan reborn, I see that now!”
“You didn’t answer my question.” I smirked. “Your little realm will soon receive the same treatment if they follow in your footsteps, so I doubt you’ll be any help to them.”
Jonis’ fearful cries continued to fill the room, and his sharp screams scratched against my ears as he realized he wasn’t going to leave Scholomance alive. But his tears began to anger me, and if he wasn’t going to pick his death, then I had to be the one to do it.
“Fine,” I sighed. “You had your chance, but your time’s run out.”
The warlock wriggled and shook under my hold, but I was stronger than he was, so I let out another cheerful laugh and then shoved my wand deeper into his skin.
“Glacio,” I whispered.
His clammy skin shone under the light of my wand, and as I repeated the word over and over again, I watched in delight as his skin froze and became cold to the touch. Jonis let out another harrowing scream as the ice slowly attacked his throat, then worked its way up into his head, and down into his chest. The warlock’s screams died down as his windpipe froze over, and the rest of his body halted as the chilling death took over.
It wasn’t my most gruesome attack, and it was a surprise not to be covered in blood and guts by the end of a fight, but it definitely gave me what I was after. Jonis had felt every ounce of the hex as his body slowly shut down, and his organs painfully froze over, but it was what the fucker deserved.
I stood up proudly as I took in the sights around me. The kiori had all been killed and slaughtered in some way, and the two deceased bodies had been abandoned in the center of the broken floor. The hall was a mess, and some of my women were wounded, but we were all alive, unlike the warlocks.
I felt a gentle breeze brush against my cheek as Alexander lowered himself to sit beside my feet, and he looked up at me with a clear expression on his face, one I spotted on a regular basis.
“Alex,” I said as I patted my familiar on the head. “You’ve done well this morning, but you may lead the rest of the familiars from the hall. Get some rest, I imagine I’ll be needing you again shortly.”
Are you sure, master? he asked.
“Of course, I am,” I replied. “I can tell how hungry you are from the look in your eyes.”
Alexander covered his ruby-red eyes with both wings and then peered out from behind them.
Damn, these things say more than my words do! Alexander laughed. Alright, fine. I’m sure I can rustle something up.
The wolverine took flight and motioned with one wing to gather the rest of the familiars together. Isobel remained at Vanessa’s side, but a silent look from her master caused the feral black wolf to follow the line of animals as they left the room.
“Let us clean up and get everything back to the way it was,” I spoke to the women around me.
My coven brushed off their dusty, marked clothing and set off to clear up the hall. Then I turned to see Professor Luna and saw her wand aimed toward the broken flooring.
“Instaurabo,” Luna commanded smoothly.
A pale pink mist appeared and coated the crater in the floor along with the rubble and shrapnel, and then Luna lifted her hand into the air as she directed the stone back toward the ceiling where it belonged. The mist grew darker in color as it bound the stone together, and the pieces stuck together like glue. By the time the mist had evaporated, it looked as though nothing even happened.
“Instaurabo,” I copied, this time aimed at the smashed windows.
I overheard Professor Olivia and Evanora repeating the restoration spell on all the other broken objects, including chairs, a few tables, the wooden platform where the professors tended to sit, and even my golden throne. The pink mist covered the entire hall, but it only took a matter of minutes before every object had been restored.
Vanessa, Crimson, Nyx, and Akira had great fun disposing of the kiori and the warlocks’ bodies in any way they wished. I noticed Crimson formed two pairs of metal handcuffs, which she clipped around the warlocks’ wrists, and I could only just imagine what she’d do with them, and where the men would go. I pictured Crimson bringing the warlocks back to life before she then used their weakened bodies to teach with.
Morgana, Faye, Vesta, Marina, and Samara cleaned up the blood from the floor, and even from each other, and Revna, Penelope, Beatrix, and Circe attended to a few wounds the group received. There were a few broken bones, cuts, grazes, and burned skin, but nothing life-threatening, and thanks to the blood pact I now shared with all the witches of Scholomance, any injuries would be quickly healed.
“Cole,” Lilith spoke from behind me.
I turned around to face my mother and noticed the pride that coated her blue eyes. Then Lilith placed one hand against my cheek, and her words flowed freely into my mind without her even having to open her mouth.
I’m so incredibly proud of you, my son, my Dark Lord. Lilith smiled. But you must realize what this will cause. Utulah will not hesitate to attack, and I doubt they’ll give you the chance to explain yourself and show who you really are.
“I’m aware of that,” I replied. “But we’ll be ready whenever they decide to fight back. Utulah will soon know Satan has returned, and I’ll be sure to prove it to them if they dare to ignore my words.”
“Dark Lord,” Headmistress Theodora said as she came up beside Lilith and me. “Thank you for all you did this morning. Those were two of the most powerful warlocks in Utulah, and you dealt with them and their summoned creatures easily.”
Theodora dropped down to one knee and bowed her head, and she kept it there for a brief second before she looked back up at me and met my gaze. Her vivid, ice-blue eyes swam in a sea of emotion and gratitude, and I smiled down at her.
“You know I’ll always protect you and the rest of Scholomance,” I said honestly. “Those men and the kiori were a mere bug compared to what we’ve faced in the past, and what’s on the horizon, but it’s nothing we cannot handle.”
“I’m aware.” Theodora nodded. “Now, I’d say it’s safe to bring the others back?”
I peered around the hall with a smile on my lips and nodded at her words.
“Please, do the honors.” I motioned with one hand.
“Recupero,” Theodora commanded with her wand high in the air.
A large gray cloud suddenly appeared in the center of the ceiling, and as the cloud darkened, the rest of the students returned to the room. It took a few minutes for all of Scholomance to come back, but soon the hall was full once again with terrified and bewildered witches. I noticed the fear on the preschoolers’ faces, but this wasn’t the first time they’d witnessed a fight of that magnitude, and it definitely wasn’t going to be the last.
I took my place in front of my audience once the final witch had taken her seat.
“That was only the start of what’s to come,” I announced to the school. “Utulah have shown their disrespect toward me, and how little they believe! We must take this fight into consideration and use it to power forward!”
The sea of witches cheered and clapped, and their fearful expressions had quickly changed into looks of excitement and eagerness.
“You must remember this as you travel in your groups,” I continued. “We cannot afford for a single non-believer to continue with that mindset. I command you all to spread my word, spread my name, and have them see the truth!”
My audience clapped and cheered again, but as they celebrated, I pondered about the problem this fight could have caused. Utulah clearly didn’t believe us, but it could pose an issue if one single school believed whatever their minds told them. If that were the case, then it wouldn’t just be the Elder Lord I had to think about.
But I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I wasn’t going to rest until I had every witch and warlock under my control, and I became the ultimate ruler.