Casters

Chapter 19

Tory immediately cast every fire spell she could think of at Blake. "Incendo!" she shouted. Blake dogged the spell and smirked, "you are undeniably weak."

"You monster!" she screamed. Blake pointed at her and shouted, "You must be referring to yourself? Blades of light, penetrate!" Suddenly, a light was swiftly coming in at her, forming a large dagger figure. Tory eyed the spell and locked her fists to where the light was heading. "Burn," she whispered. As soon as the light started to approach, her fists let out a massive fire, attempting to stop the light.

"Matilda," Charlotte whispered, trying to connect with her while she fights multiple casters aiming at her at once.

Sister, Matilda answered back. Charlotte turned and saw Matilda was with Sheena and Bridget. 

I might need you to protect Aunt Grace and Aunt Annalise. she said. Tell Sheena and Bridget to protect the rest of the casters.

Matilda nodded and sent the message. Charlotte punched the ground, forcing the entry out of her. The force created by this energy pushed the shadowwalkers away from her.

"Hi, chosen one," a shadowwalker approached. "You look fantastic in that dress!" Charlotte slowly stood up and turned to them.

"You chose the wrong side, dear," another one smiled,. He held out his hand and smirked. "Why not come with us?" he invited. Charlotte raised a brow on the two of them and suddenly, they were frozen. The shadowwalkers looked at each other in confusion.

"I'll see you on the other side," Charlotte sarcastically smiled. Suddenly, a cloak formed above them, opening a portal. The casters' eyes widened and instantly, they were sucked into the other side of the portal.

Charlotte closed her eyes and suddenly, the whole field shook. Everyone stopped in their tracks. The ground cracked open and creatures appeared from below. The sword of Luna then formed in her hands. Everyone gasped at the sight of the creatures. In just a moment, the field was filled with human bones walking, Lycans, and even the shadows. "I summon you all to accompany me during this battle," Charlotte said. The Lycans howled and jumped over the nearest shadowwalker it could catch. Screams and spells were all over the place. Charlotte wields her sword, enemy through enemy.

She stopped for a while and closed her eyes. Someone is aiming from behind, a voice whispered. She opened her eyes and turned with her hands on the man's face.

"You must be the blood caster who froze me days ago," she smirked, "it is nice to finally meet you." Fred looked at her in terror. He could not move a single muscle. Charlotte stared at him as cloaks of darkness slowly circle him.

"Please," he whispered, "don't kill me."

"I won't," Charlotte smiled. "Just a little bit on the inside."

The cloak swallowed him in, slowly sucking him out of his consciousness. Stephan saw this and rushed towards Fred. He raised his arms and floated, casting a bolt of lightning above her. The cloak that swallowed Fred turned to ashes, but he was unconscious. Stephan was angry at this and decided to cast more bolts of lightning against Charlotte. Stephan smirked and went to Fred. He felt his pulse and sighed in relief. When he looked up, he saw Charlotte giving them an expressionless stare. Stephan was surprised, I hit you with my lightning, how can you possibly? 

"Moron," she smirked, "You people really are stupid." She pointed at him and he started to float and slowly suffocate. "Look at me," she hissed. She waved her hand and he was forced to look at her. He saw the golden dark eyes of Charlotte, sensing she was hungry to release more power. "You -" he attempted to speak, "you are holding back, aren't you?"

Charlotte smiled and bit her lip. "I'm glad you noticed. With that, I shall let you and your brother go."

She dropped Stephan and he backed out. He dragged Fred as fast as he could alive.

Tory, in the middle of a battle with Blake, saw the incident. Her eyes widened and she screamed. A conflagration started to burn on Charlotte's feet. She turned to Tory and smiled. "You can never burn someone who feels like she is already burning in hell inside, Aunt."

Tory was taken aback by this. "Aunt? Does she know?" She stopped her spell and absentmindedly, a white flame hit her to the ground. Weak, she tried to rise up. She moved her eyes to Charlotte and saw she was giving her a genuine smile. This angered Tory so much.

"Hey," a voice called.

Tory turned and looked at Blake, who was already ready to strike, "Eyes on your opponent." He smiled as a large light appeared from the skies, almost blinding her.

As the clouds move apart, a cloaked man flew on top of the battlefield. Charlotte turned and sensed her head hurt.

Time has come, a voice whispered.

"What?" Charlotte asked, confused.

Welcome home, darling, the voice replied.

She held out her hand and pointed at him, attempting to bring him down. 

Try harder, child.

The cloaked figure raised his arms aside and suddenly, shadows of blades flew out of the figure's body. Charlotte's eyes widened as soon as she realized who the target was.

"BLAKE!"

She shouted. Everyone stopped moving and all spells cast on the battlefield dropped. Tory let out an evil smile and looked at Charlotte. Blake turned to Charlotte while moving his hands towards his abdomen. He raised his hands and saw that it was all covered in blood.

"No!" Bridget screamed, her voice echoing through the wind. All the creatures summoned on the field disintegrated to ashes. Blake raised his head to look at Charlotte and let out a smile before falling to the ground. As he fell, Aunt Annalise gasped at the sight.

Raven, weak, was still standing up. His body was pierced with daggers all over as he used his body to shield his nephew from it. He stopped himself from screaming in excruciating pain, for he knew it would pain Annalise to hear his cries. Blood was falling out of the man's mouth. Unfortunately, one dagger pierced through and hit Blake on his abdomen. Raven looked at Annalise for one last time, whispering the words "I love you" before finally passing away.

Annalise fell on her knees, screaming in excruciating pain. Grace was kneeling beside her in total shock.

Charlotte felt numb at the moment. She didn't know how to react. Everyone was staring at her.

She stared at his brother and uncle. She could see Sheena trying to stop Matilda and Bridget from rushing into the scene. She was the only one who could see the humans, and they were terrified of the moment.

Welcome, my gate, the voice whispered, my child.

Charlotte closed her eyes. She felt anger. She felt rage.

"Everyone!" a voice exclaimed, "look up!"

Clouds swirled above the field, cloaking them all in darkness. The wind started to blow harder and harder as Charlotte began to float. Everyone held to the ground as the earth began to shake. "Cee!" Matilda shouted, afraid she might lose her sister next. She was still in shock at the sight of Blake.

"Bridget!" she whispered.

Bridget wiped her nose and nodded, "Yes?"

"I could still sense Blake!" she whimpered. "Please, help me!"

Bridget's eyes widened and turned to look at Blake across the field. "He's far, but I'll try."

"Yes, child," the cloaked man said to Charlotte. "Come near."

As the sky was filled with darkness, the moon was a clear sight. The moon's light shone upon Charlotte, as she was being claimed.

Meanwhile, Grace and Annalise turned to the house. The insides of the home were filled with light.

"Ma!" Grace sobbed. Annalise took Grace and hugged her. "We need to be strong for them, now."

"Everyone, silence!" Tory's voice echoed through the field. The breeze stopped, and the skies cleared.

"Welcome home, our chosen one," the man said. "We are the Elemental Posse, the followers of Gideon."

"I don't care who you are," Charlotte hissed, "nor whom you serve. You killed my family!"

Grace stopped crying and pushed Annalise away. "Sister, what's wrong?"

"That energy..." she whispered in terror. "It can't be..." They both turned to the man.

"I am your family, child," he smiled.

He took off his hood and showed his face.

"I am your father."

Charlotte dropped her guards. She looked at the man and couldn't even recognize his face, "You're lying," she said. She turned to her Aunt Grace and saw she was in shock.

"You couldn't be my father. He was a great man!" Charlotte cried.

"I still am," he said.

"YOU KILLED MY BROTHER, YOUR SON!" She exclaimed. "YOU ARE A LIAR!"

Daggers made of ashes formed around her, aiming for the man. "Pierce!" The daggers flew swiftly towards the man. He raised his hands and the daggers turned to ashes.

"It is him," Grace whispered. "but how...?"

The man turned to look at Grace. "My wife's sister, Grace! We finally meet again," he said. "You must have forgotten your youngest, Tory."

He motioned for Tory and she smirked. She stood up and curtsied, "Hello, dear sister."

Grace shook her head and said, "you're lying, we never had a younger sister!"

Tory pouted at this and turned to the man. "Tell her, brother."

"I have erased all of your memories related to Tory," he smiled. "I had to. She was the purest, the favorite child and sister. I had to do what needs to be done."

Grace felt her blood boil as realizations dawned upon her, "You broke our family apart! You used Lily because of the prophecy! You killed my brother and your own son! You could never be a father, not even a human!"

"Hush, now," he said, silencing Grace. She tried to speak but she couldn't make a sound. She looked at Tory and made eye contact. Instantly, she saw Tory display a look of sadness.

I miss you, sister, Tory's voice said as Grace connected to her thoughts, I'm sorry I could never approach everyone ever again. I hope Ma will forgive me.

Grace's eyes teared up upon hearing this.

Charlotte looked down and saw Blake was being carried away by the ground and the air. She sensed Matilda and the ladies taking him away.

She waved her hand and motioned the humans to enter the house.

Steven looked at Fred when suddenly, the force field formed into a ball and floated to the home.

"Charlotte, no!" Steven tried to scream, punching the force.

"get straight to the point," Charlotte hissed, "what are you doing here?"

"The Elemental Posse isn't as what you've been taught, child," he said. "It serves the people of the magic realm, bringing the power and glory into our world.

"Our kind deserves much more than you could ever imagine, and we have been treated unequally with the other realms."

"Why did I even ask for your story," Charlotte rolled her eyes, "I never even cared."

"You are a typical teenager," the man smirked.

Charlotte smiled and waved her hand goodbye. The man was confused with this and suddenly, a massive cloak circled them all, plunging them into darkness.

"It could have been that easy?" Matilda commented as Charlotte descended to the ground. Charlotte shrugged, "There's something wrong."

Grace ran towards her and hugged Charlotte and Matilda, "I'm sorry all of this happened. I never knew..."

Charlotte and Matilda jumped unto her and hugged her tightly, "we're sorry, too."

Grace cupped Charlotte's face and sobbed, "Use your powers wisely, niece."

Charlotte nodded and whispered, "but something feels off. I couldn't use my powers to their fullest potential. All of you cast very powerful flames and spells and powerful creatures and I -"

"We'll talk about that later," Grace said, trying to smile. She stood up and ran towards Annalise, who was sobbing as she hugged Raven for the last time.

Charlotte bit her lip and tried her best not to cry at the sight of the bodies of her family.

She turned and looked at Sheena who was trying to recover Blake. Bridget was biting her lip, holding Blake's hand. "Not yet," Bridget whispered, "don't leave me and your sisters yet."

Charlotte covered her mouth and ran to the house. She locked the doors and broke down. She felt arms wrapped around her. Slowly, the barriers disappeared, seeing Steven hugging her.

"Why do I feel so weak?"