A Mastery of Magic

Chapter 5: Cassandra

The creature hit the front of the stage with enough force to knock us off our feet. The lion roared, and the dragon sprayed the stage with fire. Braeden quickly countered with a protective shield, but it did little to stave off the heat. The hairs on my arms singed, and I ducked away as if I were about to be a toasted marshmallow.

"We're losing!" Kyler yelled.

"Move closer together." Oliver herded us like cats. "Stay close and work together!"

When Braeden lowered the shield, I fired a half-dozen fireballs at the chimera, three hitting it in its heads, three others hitting the walls and ceiling. Walls shattered, and part of the roof collapsed, nearly crushing students running for their lives. Several students stopped and screamed for me to stop. I ignored the calls because I knew if I stopped the creatures would win.

"Concentrate, Cass!" Braeden knew exactly what I needed to do.

"I'm trying!"

I saw the Sarchi approaching from my left and blindly cast a fireball in their direction, missing wildly and taking out one of the windows. Students screamed, but once again I ignored their requests to stop attacking. I looked around and noticed I'd caused a lot of damage without killing an attacker. My past nipped at my heels, and those in attendance would never let me forget what I'd done to the auditorium. I needed to stay on task.

"f**k!" I started back toward the chimera, but fell to my knees when a crippling pain entered my right leg. I grabbed for my leg and noticed Braeden had gone down as well. We were losing a fight we had to win.

"Braeden!" Oliver darted toward Braeden, casting an ice spell at the chimera and freezing the creature momentarily.

I glanced at Braeden's leg and then at mine. Blood seeped from the wound on Braden's right leg. I'd felt his pain. A praying mantis bound onto the stage, and I split its head open with a single fireball. "I need to fix that," I said and knelt over Braeden's leg. Kyler, Dash, and Oliver surrounded me, fighting off the chimera that had broken Oliver's spell. To my left I saw Nicolette and Ruby battling Sarchi, winning against the monstrosities.

"What're you doing?" Oliver yelled over the lion's angry roar. He cast another ice spell but the dragon melted the ice as it approached.

"I'm trying to heal the wound!"

Dash and Kyler moved in front of us, creating a double-dome of protection. "Hurry up." Kyler looked at me then at the failing dome.

"I need a minute! I've never f*****g done this!"

"We don't have a f*****g minute!" Dash yelled. The veins in his arms bulged as he kept his hands pressed against the dome. The chimera was practically on top of us. Its five sets of eyes glared at me, waiting to complete its task.

"Damn it, we're dead meat!" Kyler's eyes were bulging from his head.

"Hold it!" Oliver screamed at the others. "She needs more time!"

I held my hand against Braeden's leg and closed my eyes, calling from deep within my soul a healing power that passed from my fingertips to Braden's leg. A blinding glow rose from the wound and I had to turn away. I shook as if having a seizure, my mind diving through the deepest, darkest areas of my very being. The wound quickly closed, and Braeden kissed me. "You're welcome." I kissed him back and then we stood, our connection even stronger than before. I glanced at each of the guys as they struggled to keep the dome in place. Our relationship went way past the day to day. It went past the small talk, the innuendos, and the s*x. Our relationship with each other was a matter of life and death.

"Let's beat this fucker," Braeden said and nodded at the guys. He stole a glance at his leg and then smiled at me. A chimera's bite was lethal if not healed immediately. Later, Braeden would be thanking me in his own special way for saving his life. I couldn't wait.

"Work as a team!" I yelled. "It's the only way."

The chimera moved back as four Sarchi and the remaining three praying mantes jumped onto the stage. Combining our powers, the five of us quickly disposed of the creatures, leaving only the chimera that watched from the far side of the auditorium. The creature paced back and forth like a caged animal at the zoo. I didn't sense fear in the chimera. It watched us as it built a strategy in its heads.

"Nice work, Cassandra."

I looked to the left of the stage and tried to blink away the apparition. The woman who stood there could not possibly have been real. I squeezed my eyes closed and then opened them. "You're not real."

"Nice try," she said. "I'm real. As real as you and your boy-toys." She shifted her gaze to the chimera. "Looks like you have your hands full."

"Cassandra!"

I ducked as a line of fire came at me from the dragon's mouth, but Dash's own wall of fire absorbed the dragon's onslaught. I'd been seconds away from being torched. The five of us stood together and combined our elements. With no other creatures to distract us, we took aim at the chimera. With a combination of earth, wind, and fire, we cast a spell that disintegrated the chimera, the creature catching fire, exploding and then turning to ash. Ash lazily floated through the air, covering the floor and the creatures we'd killed.

"Braeden, Cassandra," she said and stepped onto stage. "Long time no see." She chuckled. "I can see by the shock on your face you're surprised I'm still alive." She checked out each of the guys, but I noticed her stare turned into a glare when she saw Oliver.

Ashlyn and I had been good friends when we were at the guild together, despite her brash and often times childish behavior. Her shiny black hair reached to her ass. Her pale skin was in definite need of a week at the beach. She had beady black eyes that never bothered me before today. Something in her had changed. And I guessed Ren had something to do with that. He had allowed her to escape Edius' destruction.

I glanced at Braeden and then turned to Ashlyn. "Ren said you'd made it out, but we didn't believe him. I'm glad you're alive."

"I assure you, I'm very much alive. Me and a few others managed to escape Edius' destruction with Ren's help." She was withholding some important information. Edius doesn't let anyone walk away without a good reason to do so. She glared at Oliver again, and the rest of us looked at him. "I hear you killed Ren."

"We all did." I stepped between Ashlyn and Oliver. All we needed was a repeat of Kyler and Sonny. "Ren was a traitor and sold us out to Edius. I'm sure you know what Edius has been up to the past few years."

"I'd heard rumors he had an affinity for the Enchanted Academy. I'd also heard you had been killing off his minions and the creatures he has managed to control. It's good to see you guys." Ashlyn moved around me and glared at Oliver. Braeden and I shared a confusing look. Then I noticed the electrical charges at Ashlyn's fingertips.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Oliver?"

Ashlyn put her hand on my shoulder. "Move aside, Cassandra." She nodded at Oliver. "I was wondering where you went off to."

"You need to leave them out of this." Oliver nudged me out of the way.

"Then they shouldn't stick their noses where they don't belong." Ashlyn's face moved awkwardly, and I had to blink several times to chase the sight away.

"I suggest you back down," I said. "Otherwise you'll have to deal with all five of us."

Ashlyn looked around the auditorium. "I think the building is more afraid than I am. You did quite the number on the place."

"Cassandra, don't. Don't worry about it." But Oliver knew I couldn't back down. He knew I couldn't let him fight on his own.

I suddenly felt myself falling to the side, several hands catching me before I fell off the stage. I looked up in time to see Ashlyn going at Oliver.