Soul Fire (27 page)

‘If you wanted to move,’ he seemed to be asking. ‘Why
don’t you just move?’
I wiggled my fingers. Such a simple movement, but one
that I hadn’t for the life of me been able to achieve a
second ago.
Suddenly, anger filled my veins with fire. I wrenched
my right arm free of the trap, and something shattered.
Shards of what looked like black ice skittered across the
floor. My magic swelled in my chest, and with a cry I
broke free of the prison they’d tried to hold me in. I fell to
all fours, still cradling my arm across my chest.
Someone rushed up the stairs, and I didn’t have to look
up to know who it was.
I was going to bring Phoenix back because I had
something to tell him. I stood up, Jett watching me
suspiciously.
“Don’t, Sky.”
I looked at him innocently, pain creasing my brow.
“Don’t what?”
He crossed the space between us in two strides, taking
me by my shoulders and glaring at me.
“Don’t you
dare
try to play innocent with me. I
know
what you’re planning to do, and don’t do it.”
“What am I planning to do then?” I snapped. “You seem
to know all about me.”
“You’re going to go after him. Don’t. It’s too dangerous!
Especially for one mage, one fe-,”
I gaped at him, and he immediately backed off, realising
he’d crossed the line.
“I mean…”
“One
female
mage?” I asked in disbelief. Jett stuttered
something, but I cut him off. “That’s what you were going
to say, wasn’t it?”
He just looked at me. I think he realised he’d lost.
I picked up my swords and pulled them onto my back.
Then I headed downstairs and through the ashes of the
fire they’d managed to start. Without hesitating, I flew out
of the double doors, looking about to see if I could see
which direction they’d taken.
Iain said they’d come from the coast. It was true that
they’d come from the west, so that was the way I struck
out.
As I neared the forest, the pain from my wrist made me
stop. I held my arm out in front of me, wincing as the
movement made a jolt of pain shoot up my arm.
Reluctantly, I held my right hand over my wrist and
began a healing spell that I knew would take all feeling
from it.
Thirty seconds later and I couldn’t feel the break
anymore. My left hand was still useless, but now I wasn’t
on the verge of passing out.
I headed off again and reached the edge of the forest,
not slowing down; they had too much of a head start.
After a few minutes I became aware that I was being
followed. My first thought was of a rogue mage, and I
quietly unsheathed my left sword with my right hand. I
slowed, letting the person catch up. Sensing them right
behind me, I whirled, pressing the person against a tree
trunk, the sword at their throat.
“Don’t hurt me!” A familiar voice squeaked. “It’s
Eleanora!”
I let her go, and she slid down the tree trunk.
“What are you doing here?”
“Same thing you are,” she said, brushing herself off.
“I’m off to find Phoenix.”
Anger flashed through me.
“What does it matter to you?” I snapped.
“If you haven’t noticed, Sky, I kind of care about him.”
“And if you haven’t noticed,
Eleanora
, he doesn’t
return the favour anymore!”
Violet fire blossomed, illuminating both of us.
“And just what makes you so sure of that?” She asked
smugly.
I opened my mouth to tell her ‘just what’ made me so
sure, but then remembered what Jett had said about Iain
and Netalia. I scowled and turned around to keep walking.
“Sky-”
“Don’t follow me.”
She immediately bucked this order, stomping through
the forest litter after me.
“We have a better chance of getting him back as a pair,
Sky.”
I mulled this over, steadily walking. I didn’t protest
when she caught up to me and walked by my side.
We walked in silence for a long while, covering ground
quickly. I prayed Phoenix was putting up a fight to slow
them down, but I couldn’t see why he would if he’d gone
with them willingly. Watching the ground, I became
interested in scuff marks in the dirt.
“Eleanora,” I hissed. I knelt to the ground and beckoned
her over. She knelt next to me. “They were dragging
something.”
We looked at each other simultaneously. Just then, a
voice echoed through the trees. It sounded like they were
ordering something to move faster.
“There’s a clearing just up ahead.” She murmured
almost silently.
I nodded. We stalked silently, reaching the clearing
faster than we anticipated. It was empty.
“They must’ve moved on through,” she said.
Suddenly we were under attack, rogues coming at us
from every direction.
Ambush, I realised too late.
We fought them off the best we could, but there were
too many of them and I could only use one hand.
Eventually we succumbed, surrounded and held at sword
point.
“These ones are cute,” one said with laughter in his
voice, circling me. I glared at him.
“Foolish ones,” another said, apparently in charge. “To
think that we would leave our tracks so easy to follow.
Take their weapons.”
Two rogues held us while another two took every
dagger, sword, bow and arrow on us. I was grudgingly
impressed at how much Eleanora had managed to store on
her person.
A strange tug in the air wrenched me forwards a few
steps. I staggered, the rogue holding me pulling me
upright again.
“No magic for you now,” the same rogue said.
“Wouldn’t want you trying to rescue your friend now.”
I saw Phoenix then, being held between two mages. He
was conscious, but only just. His lip was split, his eye black
and a large bruise rising on his cheek. I wrestled against
the grip of the rogue holding me. He’d been expecting it
however, and held me easily.
“This one’s intent on getting free,” the rogue holding
me said, laughing.
“She’s very stubborn,” Aloysius said. I growled, wishing
him a very painful death. “That lock wasn’t meant to
break for a long time.”
“Surprise,” I snapped.
“But this one is new,” Aloysius said casually, looking at
Eleanora. “How did you manage to break so many hearts,
Diego?”
The mages laughed but Phoenix didn’t stir. I realised
there was something much more sinister at work with
what was wrong with him.
“Who are you?”
This was directed at Eleanora. She locked him in a fiery
glare.
“Girlfriend,” she snapped.
“Ex,” I said immediately.
We glared at each other, and I felt the mage holding me
shift uncomfortably.
“So apparently not the two most harmonious rescuers,”
Aloysius said, laughing cruelly. “Tie them.”
It was as my mage loosened his grip to accept rope from
a colleague that I made my move. I twisted in his grasp,
seeing Eleanora do the same out of the corner of my eye. I
pulled free, lashing out in a kick that connected savagely
with his temple as I saw Eleanora punch another squarely
in the face. I gripped the fingers of a mage reaching for
me, bending them back at an awkward angle. With one
sharp movement, I broke three of them. The mage howled
in pain and backed off. Before we could continue our
assault, I was locked with magic in a way that felt rather
familiar.
“Coward.” I snarled. I was still able to talk.
“Coward?” Aloysius repeated, laughing. “Why would
that be, small one?”
I flinched at the nickname.
“Phoenix left you! He didn’t want your tutelage. He
didn’t agree with your views! He came to the Academy to
be free of you, and you just couldn’t let him go!” The last
three words came out as a screech.
The mages that had managed to keep their distance
earlier laughed in unison with Aloysius. I gritted my teeth,
taking a quick survey of the situation. I knew they would
find my apparent naïveté amusing; I had used it to buy
time.
I couldn’t see any way out, but I was hoping that a
certain hunch of mine was due to pay off any minute.
Phoenix was drooping into unconsciousness; he didn’t
recognise either Eleanora or me. I fought the enchantment
that was keeping me pinned but to no avail.
“We don’t need the other girl,” Aloysius said over his
shoulder to another rogue. “I’m intrigued by this one
though; keep her alive for the moment.”
I saw Eleanora’s eyes widen as the rogue approached
her, drawing his sword as he walked. I struggled harder
than ever, my mind racing as I tried to come up with a
plan.
“Stop struggling,” Aloysius advised. “There’s no one
coming to save you.”
“How about their teacher?”
I smiled as I recognised the voice. Bingo.
“Jett,” Aloysius said. He didn’t seem surprised, which
worried me. “I suppose you’re going to take on all of us for
three mages?”
“Perhaps,” he replied coolly. “Or perhaps I can leave
with my three charges and no one would be any the
wiser.”
Aloysius barked out a laugh.
“And
why
, pray tell, would we let you do that?”
I fought to turn around. Aloysius, seeing me struggle,
allowed me to do so. The look on Jett’s face utterly
terrified me. He raised his left hand, something behind
him following the motion. I realised it was the body of an
unconscious rogue, the scout that Raven and I had taken
prisoner.
“Hyde,” Aloysius said, something flickering in his eyes.
“How are you able to use magic here?” he snapped angrily.
Jett shrugged.
“My magic is still infused with that of a rogue. You
can’t block my magic without blocking your own.”
My heart seemed to stop as my breath caught in my
chest. Jett had been a rogue?
Looking around, I saw that they all had black eyes and
hair.
Exactly like Jett.
I could talk to him later. But right now I needed to
trust him.
Aloysius’ eyes flicked to Hyde, and in that instant I
realised that he wasn’t willing to put the young man in
danger. Jett saw this also, and took immediate advantage
of it. He drew his sword.
“Fine,” Aloysius snarled. “Take them.”
The magic that had been holding me vanished. I
staggered, trying to regain my balance. I saw Eleanora do
the same.
“And Phoenix.” Jett added quickly.
The two mages holding him let go. I darted forward and
caught him, almost falling under his dead weight.
Eleanora, seeing me fight to stand up, helped me with
him. We crossed the clearing to Jett.
“Leave Hyde.” Aloysius commanded.
Jett promptly dropped the rogue on the forest floor,
who fell in an ungracious heap.
Jett turned quickly and headed into the forest. Eleanora
and I followed, supporting Phoenix.
“Don’t follow us.” Jett called back.
There was no response.
We walked silently back towards the Academy. I could
feel Jett fuming silently next to me. He was angry… very
angry.
Phoenix seemed to get heavier and heavier as we
walked. Adding to the fact that I was feeling unwell all of
a sudden, I was worried that soon we would just have to
drag him along, but sooner than I expected, the tree cover
opened up to the campus grounds. It seemed to be more
populated than when I’d left it.
“Take care of Phoenix.” Jett snapped at me.
Eleanora reluctantly let me take Phoenix.
“Dustin.” I said, nodding over to him as he came out
onto the grounds.
Eleanora turned on the spot and ran to him. Ispin and
Petre hurried over to me with the girls, taking Phoenix
from my grasp.
“To the infirmary,” Dena instructed, and we all moved
as one towards the Academy. Rain supported me as my
strength failed, my broken wrist throbbing and nausea
began to swell in my stomach.
All of them were mildly injured, but none of them
seemed bothered by it. Something swelled in my heart,
and tears grew in my eyes. By the time we got to the
Academy, I was such a ball of emotions that I didn’t know
what to do.
We got to the infirmary and Petre and Ispin laid
Phoenix on a bed. I looked over him properly for the first
time.
His lip had stopped bleeding, but the bruise on his
cheek had become incredibly prominent. I winced as I
looked over the discolouration.
“Sky.” Phoenix mumbled, surfacing briefly from
unconsciousness.
I rested one hand on his good cheek and looked at him.
“I’m here,” I whispered. “It’s going to be okay.”
Dena shouldered me aside, examining Phoenix.
“His physical injuries don’t seem to be too serious, but
I’m more worried of the fact that he’s been exposed to
rogue magic.”
We all looked at her.
“Their magic is very different from ours. You should
feel a little off, Sky; just by being in their presence you’ve
been infected.”
That answered that question then.
“How do you mean, different?” I asked.
“Their magic is fuelled by anger and malice,” Dena said,
sending a wash of blue sparks over Phoenix’s unconscious
body. “Remember how Professor Yu kept saying ‘from the
heart’?”
We all nodded. We’d had him yell it at us enough
times.
“Well, he actually meant ‘from the heart’. We use
power and grace, love and intellect when we use our
magic,” I decided not to tell her about the time I’d
destroyed my target; it had been pure frustration. “Theirs
is everything we’re taught to avoid. No wonder it poisons
us.”
We sat about the infirmary watching Dena work on
Phoenix until midnight. The matrons flitted around us,
healing the other wounded.
Jett came to tell us to go to sleep, promising to watch
over Phoenix. As I passed Jett at the door, he gripped my
shoulder. We didn’t look at each other, but silent
understanding ran through us both.
I got back to my room and opened the door. I expected
it to be empty. Instead I found Larni fast asleep on my bed.
She awoke and sat bolt upright when I closed the door.
“Miss,” she said, and then crossed the room and hugged
me fiercely. “I didn’t know if you were going to survive,”
she said. “I was in the infirmary when the attack began,
I’ve been there all day until one of the matrons sent me
here to rest, but you didn’t come back in the evening...”
“It’s okay,” I told her, rubbing her back. “I’m here, I’m
alright, just... tired.”
Larni held me at arm’s length.
“And everyone else?” she asked, concern in her eyes.
“Are they alright?”
I explained Phoenix’s situation, and she trembled.
“And, Larni.” Tears spilled over before I could stop
them. My hands shook as I remembered. “Larni, I killed
someone.”
My shoulders shook with sobs as she took me in her
arms again. The phrase kept echoing around my head.