Daxelle felt the hackles of her magic rise at the woman in front of her. There was something wrong—seriously wrong. The woman's dark eyes were muted and tinted in red. Her black eyes glowed with unholy light as her black clawed hand remained outstretched midway in the air.

"Don't move, or I will kill you," the woman's hoarse voice rasped, her voice tinged with an unnerving screech.

Her fingers curled and a chill ran down Daxelle's back.

"Malia, what are you doing?" Gwydion asked, peering at his half-sister.

The woman—Malia—didn't even react to her brother's pleading words.

"I must collect the Destroyer," Malia growled, slashing her hand in the air again. Adahlia's face paled. "And you are all in the way. The Sin is coming and it will kill, for it thirsts for Fae blood."

Daxelle glanced at Iaelie and was glad she wasn't the only clueless one.

Iaelie moved her hands behind her back and Malia's gaze snapped to her. "Don't move." Her hand hovered dangerously in the air and dread filled Avanth's eyes. Daxelle peered at the air surrounding Malia's hand, seeing nothing but the translucent gas.

"Malia, please stop," Gwydion said, his arms rising slightly to put a stopper on some of the tension. His sister let out a dangerous laugh.

"Malia. Such a pretty name for such a weak mortal. She did not resist the Sin. But you? Oh you will fight."

Gwydion stiffened, looking over his sister again. He didn't seem to see the red-rimmed eyes and clawed fingers. They seemed to be the only ones seeing the hellish creature before them. Daxelle held up her hands as well, quietly dropping low into her power. And from the vacancy in Adahlia's eyes, Daxelle could see that she had also dove into her well of magic.

Malia didn't take her eyes off Adahlia though, monitoring her every breath. 

Avanth, noticing the stare, provided a distraction. "So, like, you want to kidnap us?"

Malia glared at him, "I do not understand you incompetent half-mortals."

Avanth was pale. There was a slight tremor in his hands as he smirked. "Oh, I'm sorry. ¿Hablas español?"

Malia snarled, her void-black eyes flashing.

"Parlez-vous français?" Avanth asked. The only thing giving his confident performance away was the slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. "你會說中文嗎？"

It was honestly kind of impressive.

A growl ripped from Malia's throat. "Do not think me stupid, Faeling. I am capable of much more than only you and the girl can see."

Daxelle gave Avanth a questioning glance, but his eyes widened, the scent of fear drifting from him and Adahlia. She gulped. Malia seemed to revel in their trembling.

When her gaze landed back on Adahlia, Daxelle released her magic and let her mind shoot for the woman in front of her. Half of her consciousness speared toward Malia's head, shattering against black gold.

Daxelle shouted in pain, struck with a blinding headache that made spots swim in the periphery of her vision.

Malia laughed darkly. "You will pay for that."

Her hand shot out and a sense of freedom beckoned to her. Voices swirled around her brain and she caught snippets of their words.

You should take—

—settle for less—

—hate them.

The presence in her mind urged her towards them, calling out encouraging words.

A wave of darkness slammed into her and the voices disappeared. 

She opened her eyes and slammed her hands onto either side of her head, trying to drown out the remaining echoes. No, she didn't want to hurt anyone. She didn't want to harm or kill or torture or enslave or steal or—

When the final whispers faded away, Daxelle lowered her shaky hands to find Avanth gaping at her.

Malia's attention already turned back on Adahlia and saw she was trembling. A smirk curved her lips upward.

Daxelle collected her mind and let her thoughts strike Adahlia's head, bypassing all her mental barriers. There was a steady chant filling up her head. Dive deep, attack hard. Dive deep, attack hard. Dive deep, attack hard.

With a thought, Daxelle waved the words away. Drop into your power, slowly, and stop when you have enough so you can climb back out without a delay.

Adahlia's breathing steadied and Daxelle felt her soul sink deeper into herself.

Ok, good, now gather the magic. It doesn't matter how, scoop it up or haul it up, whatever. Just get the power back into your physical self.

Adahlia's presence slowly faded. After a few moments, her consciousness started climbing back up, bringing her magic with her.

Disperse it around your body, will the power into your hands, or channel it into a certain element. Make sure the power doesn't dissipate, that might be your problem. Control it. It's your magic, you can tame it.

Through Adahlia's eyes, Daxelle saw her hands charge with power. The lightning flowed over her skin, ether filling the air around them.

Malia narrowed her eyes.

Adahlia aimed the bolt of lightning gathering at her hands toward Malia's hands. And looking at everything from Adahlia's perspective, Daxelle saw a dark slash near her hands. A starry night scene floated among the midday sunlight and shimmering lake.

Two glowing, red eyes stared out back at her—at Adahlia.

It blinked once as if noticing the foreign presence in Adahlia's mind. There was a flash of white against the night sky, amusement lighting up the blood eyes.

Daxelle's breathing hitched and she slowly drifted back to her own body.

Malia screamed in outrage as Adahlia's lightning made contact with her gnarled hands. Static crackled in the air and she snarled. Malia hissed, shaking out her hand. Daxelle squinted and saw that her fingers were singed.

Lightning can harm her. Make her blackout, Lia. Daxelle shot her thoughts toward Adahlia.

She gave barely a hint of a nod and rallied her energy again.

But she knew why this was going so slow. None of them really wanted to hurt Malia. She was still Gwydion's sister and an innocent human.

Lightning sparked in Adahlia's hands. Malia's wrath lit up her eyes.

Gwydion finally came to his senses. He splayed his arms in front of his sister, eyes wide with desperation. "Don't hurt her. Please." 

"Look, I need a pathetic weakling to protect me. Get out of the way, dear brother," Malia shoved her other hand out, the one that once held the portal cradled against her chest.

Gwydion stumbled back and stared, mouth agape, as his human sister leaped forward for Adahlia.

In a natural reaction, Adahlia crouched slightly and raised her arms over her face. When her arms connected, a blast of air knocked her back. A wall of hard air separated Malia from Adahlia, summoned by Adahlia's power.

Malia, face twisted into a feral grimace, stalked forward. Adahlia, who was sprawled on the sandy beach, glanced up, calm all of a sudden.

Malia bounced off the shield up around Adahlia, but her eyes drifted to something behind the woman.

Daxelle followed her line of sight and her jaw fell open.

Apparently, Iaelie had been watching the whole exchange, and now, standing atop the small hill, she held a large boulder over her head.

With scarily accurate aim, she tossed the rock and it sailed over their heads toward the lake. Daxelle had no idea what she wanted to accomplish but—wait, no.

The rock hit the water and the impact of the long fall sent a tsunami up shore. The massive wave swept over them and was about to crash down when Adahlia's arms shot up. Eyes closed and face solemn, she dove deep into her magic, manipulating the water particles in the air.

Because the water was already present, it was no hard thing to bend the water to her will.

Adahlia's arms strained like a physical weight was put onto them. She couldn't hold back the wave forever. No, she was too new, too inexperienced with her magic to pull this off for any longer.

Adahlia cried out as she twisted her arms around and the torrent crashed down upon them.

But with one last push, the water redirected itself and crashed over Malia.

Using her distraction, Daxelle sent her consciousness towards the mortal witch and she slipped past the black gold barriers, the momentary diversion causing a few cracks in her armor.

Diving into her well of power and simultaneously going deeper into Malia's power was secondary to the woman turning rage-filled on her and preparing to leap. When she was about to fly, strong arms wrapped around her waist and sent her falling back.

Daxelle didn't have time to register who attacked her and used her energy on claiming Malia's mind.

When she grasped even a bit of her mind, Daxelle twisted and Malia's mental self was sent onto its knees. Daxelle gasped as she pushed harder, forcing her into submission. Malia's snarl was echoed in her mind.

You are mine to control.

Daxelle flashed her teeth, hoping to assert dominance. She had once read about wolves doing that in their packs as a show of leadership. Or was it a threatening sign?

She had no idea, as long as Malia was intimidated. Or at least slightly terrified.

Daxelle reached forward and Malia shrunk back against the light building in her head, Daxelle's influence. Daxelle inched forward again and kept on fighting for every bit of space she dominated in Malia's head.

When there was only a scrap of consciousness that belonged solely to Malia, Daxelle grinned.

Gotcha.

She shoved forward one more time and she had full mind control over Gwydion's possessed sister. Daxelle went deeper into her mind and found everything lifeless. Not only was it dark, but everything was eerily muffled. There wasn't a single thought or memory floating around.

Like Malia wasn't thinking at all. Or wasn't even real.

Every other mind Daxelle had broken into was full of color or light. Full of memories and thoughts.

Even when she entered Yermai's mind, the infamous serial killer, he had some light—some motivation to drive him forward.

But Malia's mind was utterly blank.

There was nothing to grasp onto; nothing to alter. The suffocating darkness swallowed any attempt to send a thought into Malia's consciousness, deflecting her tries to force Malia to back down.

There was nothing of Malia in her mind.

She withdrew slowly, her skin ashen and she felt her heartrate spike.

And she took in the scene before her.

Malia was pinned down by Avanth and Adahlia aimed a spear of lightning at her chest. Their matching expressions were utterly lethal. Zadyn held an arm outstretched, his fingers curled and palm facing Malia. He had an army of small thorns floating in the space between him and Malia.

And then she saw why their faces were so full of rage.

Gwydion lay unconscious, his cheek marred with a red scar, probably from Malia's wretched black claws. Daxelle twirled back to her. 

A shout from above was the only warning as Iaelie tossed another large stone. This time, she aimed right above their heads.

Avanth rolled back but held onto Malia's arms. Adahlia backed up slightly.

And as the rock sailed towards their heads, Zadyn cried out and dropped his cloud of thorns, the spikes raining down on the sand. Throwing his arms up, his bandaged shoulder making him scream in pain. There was a slight ripple of power as Zadyn brought out his magic and slammed it against the incoming rock.

Its plummet slowed down just enough for Zadyn to correct its course to Malia.

Daxelle squinted at the boulder as Zadyn gave another shove of power and estimated where the rock was going to land without his interference. Shuddering, she realized it would have crushed Avanth and Adahlia.

The rock continued down, about to smash into Malia, when Adahlia and Avanth, blasted a mix of white and black swirls against the hurling rock and pulverized it into jagged pieces.

The rock shards fell in a perfect circle around Malia's body, nearly impaling her hand.

A swift shot of lightning hit the closest rock towards Adahlia, turning the rocks encircling Malia electric. The stone cores were metal, Daxelle realized. Which was a power conductor.

Lightning hit Malia's body and rendered her unconscious.

Adahlia blew out a breath, "That was an unnecessarily long process just to knock her out."  

Avanth huffed a laugh, rubbing his arms, and stared at the body slumped against the floor, head lolling to the side. "So, what are we going to do with her?"

Zadyn shuddered and collapsed, his knees finally giving out.

Adahlia rushed to him and slung his arm over her shoulder to help him up. She bore all of his body weight, surprising Daxelle with her disproportionate strength.

"I guess we bring her up and tie her to a chair?" Zadyn said, his voice strained from the pain.

"Would that hold her?" Adahlia asked.

"Probably not," Avanth wrapped his arms around himself and glanced at Malia. "I don't think anything any of us do will contain her."

Zadyn shot a glance at Malia and paled at the twitching black eyes—wide open. "What do we do then? We can't possibly leave her like this. She might hurt someone else." There were a few glances around the group. Daxelle couldn't blame them though, she doubted any of them dabbled in witch imprisonment on their weekends.

"What do we do with Gwydion?" Zadyn asked as well.

"Carry him back up?" Adahlia suggested.

Avanth arched an eyebrow. "Up that?" There was a collective glance towards the steep hill leading to the camp. They all had slight trouble hiking down—how the heck would they be able to carry Gwydion uphill?

"Ok, maybe not. But we can't leave him here," Adahlia leaned all her weight onto one leg as she made Zadyn transfer his weight to her. His legs were trembling as he shifted and he sucked in a breath, grimacing.

"True," Daxelle glanced around and her gaze caught on Iaelie still atop the hill, waving her hands frantically.

She narrowed her eyes as her mind shot towards her silhouetted figure and when she made contact with the barriers of her mind, she slipped in.

Iaelie? Iaelie.

She seemed to jump a little and quickly recomposed herself. Yeah, Daxelle?

Daxelle started to nod but remembered her physical self was still on the beach and replied, Yeah. Do you mind coming down? We need your help transporting Gwydion back to camp.

Oh, what happened?

Daxelle realized that from her vantage point, Iaelie couldn't see much from where she stood.

Malia—the woman—knocked Gwydion out. He's passed out on the beach and we can't carry him up.

Iaelie's emotions shifted towards disbelief. She frowned, Daxelle feeling the movement through the brain waves rippling around them.

Ok, I'm coming down. Give me a minute.

Daxelle watched as Iaelie sprinted down the hill, practically flying over the uneven land. She never faltered, her gait steady as she made her way onto the beach. When Iaelie reached the sand, she immediately slung Gwydion over her shoulders and huffed.

"Do I just . . . take him to his room or . . . ?" Iaelie asked, shifting slightly under Gwydion's weight.

Daxelle nodded and Iaelie was already starting for the slope, ready to make the trek back up.

Avanth eyed the climb, "I really regret coming here for lunch."

"We didn't invite you," Adahlia said savagely. Zadyn offered a weak smile. Avanth laughed and followed Adahlia and Zadyn up the hill, watching the male in case he stumbled.

Watching four of her friends head back to camp, Daxelle had a faint distinct feeling of falling—like her very soul was disrupted by some deity laughing at their pathetic fight.

. . .

Gwydion woke up right after the clock hit three o'clock in the afternoon. Iaelie had carried him to his bed and dropped him down promptly, not bothering with gentleness. Her hard eyes were already staring down his unconscious form, as if mentally forcing him to wake up, to explain.

She had glimpsed the flash of power from the training ring and had looked to investigate. Thank the gods she had heard the clang of magic or they would have been killed out there.

Right after Iaelie dropped off Gwydion, Daxelle went back down to the beach and dragged Malia far, far away.

And after that, they all gathered in Gwydion's room to stal—to make sure he was ok.

When Gwydion started blinking rapidly, all of their fae ears picked up the sound and they sat up straighter.

"You ok?" Avanth asked.

Gwydion cleared his throat and said hoarsely, "Yes, of course. What are you all doing here?"

"You were knocked on the beach and you weren't waking up, even after Iaelie practically threw you up the hill—" Iaelie threw Daxelle a sharp glance. "—and we decided to stay to make sure you don't have permanent brain damage because you might've hit a rock on the way up."

His lips twitched upward. "Well, I thank you for your concern."

Daxelle's face turned solemn. "Did you know your sister was like that?"

Gwydion's eyes darkened as well. "No, we grew up together and she has never acted like that. Even when we were fighting." He paused. "What did you do with her?"

"We knocked her out as well and now she's far away from the camp," Iaelie said, a warrior's composure set in every line of her body.

Gwydion's eyebrows shot up.

"Uh, we didn't kill or hurt her or anything, we just dragged her to the nearest bus stop," Iaelie quickly amended. Relief tinged Gwydion's face, but he cleared his throat and the light in his eyes retreated.

"Do you know what happened?" Adahlia asked.

Gwydion shook his head, "No, I don't. She asked to come over like she always does and there was nothing off about her. Only when you guys started attacking each other did I sense something wrong."

Avanth cocked his head. "But, she had black eyes and those creepy claws."

Gwydion's expression was pure confusion, "What do you mean? She looked normal."

"But, she had literal pits for eyes," Adahlia added.

Zadyn chimed in, "She looked like any other woman though."

All four of them turned towards Daxelle and Iaelie. She shrugged, "I felt something off about her, but I didn't see anything." Iaelie pursed her lips but nodded in agreement.

Gwydion's brows bunched together. His expression was contemplative and they all turned their attention to him. "I—I don't know why you two are seeing something completely different from the rest of us." He gestured towards Adahlia and Avanth as best as he could with his arms tucked into the blankets—courtesy of Daxelle.

"Are you sure of what you saw?" he asked. The two outliers nodded in unison.

"Are there any more of . . . possessed beings like her?" Avanth ventured.

Gwydion shrugged. "Possibly, yes. There are probably many of them out there terrorizing people."

Daxelle shuddered. "Are we going to do anything about it?"

Pleasant surprise crossed their teacher's face. "Would you like to?"

Daxelle gave a grim yet determined nod. "There's really no choice is there? Help and be a good person, or leave this alone and be a piece of shit for the rest of eternity."

"Dax is right, Malia was absolutely lethal. If she attacks anyone who isn't fae . . . someone's going to get killed," Adahlia said.

Iaelie gave a brief nod of agreement, with Zadyn following suit.

"How exactly are we going to help?" Avanth asked. When all attention focused on him, he shrugged. "We need to be realistic about this, too." There was a collective glance around the room with everyone looking towards someone for answers. Their gazes settled on Gwydion.

He sighed, "You've been training for seven days now, you've honed your skills. I believe you're all ready."

Avanth raised his eyebrows at Adahlia.

"Come to me tomorrow morning so I can get you all prepared for your . . . hunting. Until then, let me rest in peace. Thank you and good afternoon," Gwydion turned onto his side, his eyes were closing within seconds.

They all filed out of the room, each one brimming with questions.

They had only started practicing magic a week ago—only six hours each day. Not even mentioning the fact that the only one who seemed to be progressing was Iaelie out of pure determination.

Even if they somehow found the possessed humans, what were their chances against them? Nearly zero.

After all, if it took all five of them to defeat one beast, how would they ever fight an army of them?

march 05, 2022
𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖍𝖊𝖊, 𝐁𝐚𝐢
© azalyme ₂₀₂₂