Magic Guardian Academy Series

Chapter 7: An Uncertain Welcome

"Magic Guardian Academy? What is that supposed to mean?" I asked, daring for a little bit of pride to swell. "Like we're witch cops?"

Reed's mouth twisted into a smirk, and I pushed aside how it made my heart beat faster in response. "We ensure that the world, both magical and human, are safe. But all this is too much for you if a simple wraith scares you."

His mockery had me burning up on the inside.

"I'm not scared." I stuck out my chin and marched toward the students clustered around the black, cloaked figure. But inside I was quivering, unsure I could do this, but still, I called over my shoulder, "Piece of cake."

Two older students carried out an unconscious student who had a bloody arm and his eyes were as wide as Frisbees. I swallowed down the terror that squeezed my chest. What was I thinking? This was way out of my league. I only had experience with bullies...human ones.

Wraith. Okay, what did I know about these things? The memory of my dad going over a demons of the underworld book with me flashed in my mind. They were creatures of the underworld who craved flesh and drove people mad if they were able to possess them.

So no touching the thing.

Check.

I didn't even want to get near it, but I took my place in the opening the failed guy had vacated. A coldness seeped into my bones like I'd suddenly opened a deep freezer. At least they were having us do this as a group and not one on one.

"Travis, you're next," the professor called, her voice echoing.

My stomach plummeted into my shoes. Damn! So much for all of us taking it all at once.

A boy with spiked green hair grinned, showing off more like it. "Been putting these b*stards down since I was five." He lifted a hand, closed his eyes and muttered, "Redi, nec amplius noceat."

The wraith shrieked, and I covered my ears from the sound, wincing. Its black cloak whipped in an invisible wind. Inside its hood was an empty blackness. A hollow. It floated like a ghost and seemed more phantom than physical except for its skeletal arms and hands that occasionally peeked in and out of the cloak's long sleeves.

"Redi, nec amplius noceat," he shouted the words again, high-pitched this time.

I glanced at him, his face was pale, and all the earlier confidence was gone. Oh double-damn crap, this is going to go bad. He had no control.

Travis strangled out a cry, his eyes bulging.

"Help!" one of the girls screamed.

"Prohibere, prohibere," the teacher yelled, clapping her hands and magic shot forward into the wraith.

But the creature didn't flinch or anything. Not even a teacher could put this thing back where it came from. The wraith struck out its boney hands and power crashed into me, zapping along the circle like a live, exposed wire. I fell on my knees as did the other eight students around me. If we didn't get the creature back to the underworld, if it got out...it could kill dozens of people before dusk.

The wraith hissed, flying toward us so fast that we scrambled backward.

I ducked my head as another uncontrolled blast of magic zipped over my head. Sweat drenched me as fear clutched my throat, squeezing. I stood on shaky legs. Somehow, I had to put this monster down.

My magic sparked across my hands as I gathered up the power, aiming it at the creature. Instead of dodging or moving back, it merely crooked its boney finger at me. I tossed out the spell, the magic ripping from me like a heavy weight, and it sank into the creature, making its dull, black robes seem to glimmer.

Damn!

Around me, everyone's faces paled, but they started spewing out spells so fast I couldn't make them out.

Magic zigzagged around the small circle. A pop sounded in my ears and one of the girls was lashed backward. Wind churned around us forming a vortex.

"Zoey, don't!" Reed's body crashed into mine at the same time my spell unleashed and sizzled over our heads. It crashed into a car in the school's parking lot several feet away. The entire vehicle blew apart. "It's feeding on your magic."

"How do you know that?" I yelled. I hadn't given my spell that much juice.

Reed grabbed my hand and yanked me to my feet. "Stay behind me."

"But I - "

"Do you even know how to expel a wraith?"

"No," I admitted, my throat dry. How were we going to beat this thing? "If throwing magical energy at it isn't the answer, any other ideas?"

"Yeah, don't die."

The wraith in the middle of this chaos cackled like this was the funniest sitcom he'd ever seen. It stretched out its skeletal hand to the boy who'd cast the spell. Magic flared forward, striking the guy in the chest. He crumpled face down into the dirt.

Oh no, oh no! Is he dead?

Another girl screamed as her body went flying along with the first one. Dirt, leaves, and two more bodies sailed along in a tight circle around us. The air snatched out of my lungs as I opened my mouth to attempt a counterspell.

"Præcipio tibi in profundum inferni." Reed tossed a glowing silver ball at the being who just sucked it into its body like a black hole.

None of the magic was working!

"I will feast on all of your flesh," the wraith shouted against the wind, laughing. "Unleash the dark powers with the dark mage's child."

Another scream echoed in my ears. This one was from a guy who was bent backward. Some wayward spell threatened to break his back.

Suddenly, the power yanked me from the ground like a giant fist. I choked out a breath as my ribs constricted. I couldn't breathe.

"I will taste your flesh first," the wraith's voice echoed as it floated closer.

"Zoey!" Before he could take a step, Reed was thrown backward into one of the poles of the football goal. He groaned. Blood coated the side of his face.

No! I thrashed, trying to get free to help him. But the invisible grip only tightened. I fought for air as spots danced before my vision. "I banish y - "

I couldn't get any more words to come out. My power sizzled across my palms then flickered out. The wraith's black hood showed its void-like face inside as red glowing eyes stared down at me...into my very soul. Terror snaked down my spine. I stared at death.

"Taste the darkness," the wraith's voice rumbled inside my skull.

The edges of my vision dimmed as I gasped, trying to draw in a breath, but only finding a vacuum that sucked my soul out bit by bit. I gritted my teeth. Tried to fight. Muscles growing weaker. Oh god, I'm gonna die.

Sounds around me faded. The wraith's skeletal hand reached out. My body jerked. Starved for oxygen. Tears streamed down my face as I fought once more. Fought to finish the spell. Fought for my life. Colors around me spun into grays and blacks while the icy hands of the wraith stroked my cheek.

I convulsed as my body hung in the air within the creature's grasp.

Cries sounded in the distance. They seemed so far. It felt like the wraith had taken slivers of my soul and only a fragment remained. Flares of magic from others burst at the corners of my vision but neither the wraith nor the vortex it had created stopped.

I tried to scream, choking on blood as it filled my mouth.

My vision dimmed. Sorrow slammed into me that I'd failed. My first test. My first freaking day here at the academy. Failed my mom.

A rumbling vibrated around me, pulsing the air, matching each slow beat of my heart.

The creature flinched back. Power flared inside my chest hard and fast.

What the hell?

Searing pain rushed forward, bowing me back. Heat surged throughout every cell of my being. I screamed without sound. I was being burned alive from the inside out.

Then the magic blasted out of me with a boom like a bomb. The wraith exploded into tiny fragments of black ash that floated harmlessly to the grass. I collapsed onto the ground, coughing out blood, gasping in the air that stung my lungs.

Students who had been locked in the tornado dropped around me, choking and coughing. Two hugged each other. Others cried. Blood was splattered on their faces and clothes. Teachers and spectators on the edge of the field muttered, pointing at me as they raced toward us. Self-conscious, I ran a trembling hand over my dark hair and made sure I still had clothes on.

"How did you do that?" Travis asked with a shaky voice.

"I-I..." I wasn't sure how to respond because I had no idea how my magic had ricocheted out of me like that. Everyone stared at me, judging me, but I didn't want to be a freak. Not here, not among those who were supposed to be my own kind.

"Thanks," Travis said in a hoarse voice. "I thought I was a goner!"

So had I.