Next Mage
33.Warning

~Narrator

Elvira opened the door to her room, red eyes glowing in the dim light. A thin sliver of moon shone in the sky, illuminating Elvira's pale face. She moved swiftly and silently through the darkness. Then her head jerked as she noticed another door opening.

Laila was already up. She closed the door carefully behind her, so as not to let it creak, and walked towards Elvira, expression pure evil. Elvira nodded towards her companion. Laila inclined her head in response, and together, they slithered down the corridor.

They stopped at Emma's bedroom door. Should they? They waited for their master's orders.

No. She is of no use to us. Unless...

Elvira and Laila grinned manically as the Ragnarok plotted and schemed. Capture the girl. Now.

"Yes master," The two girls said mechanically, their voices almost laughing. Laila's hand moved towards the doorknob, but as soon as she touched it, soft footsteps echoed throughout the hallway. Laila and Elvira jerked backward, their red eyes darting frantically around the corridor, looking for a room or alcove to hide in. As the footsteps drew nearer, Elvira spotted a small door on the right. She tugged on Laila's wrist, and the other girl followed.

They squeezed into the small closet and shut the door just as a shadow passed by their hiding place. Elvira and Laila waited until the footsteps retreated, then calmly stepped out of the cupboard and brushed themselves off.

Silly humans, the Ragnarok sniffed. The two girls crept up to Emma's door once more, this time scanning the hallway with narrowed eyes before approaching the door.

Wait.

Elvira and Laila stopped in their tracks, listening for their master's voice. In that closet. There's a sack, the Ragnarok growled. The two girls understood. While Elvira retrieved the brown burlap sack, Laila put her hand against the knob once more, twisting it sharply before swinging the door open.

Emma was sleeping soundly, her soft snores muffled by her duvet. As the two other girls sneaked up on her, she muttered in her sleep. Her assailants froze until she turned over and began to snore once more. Elvira and Laila crept forward slowly, careful not to wake their target.

NOW!

As fast as a praying mantis capturing its prey, the two girls put the sack over Emma's head.

dashy line thingo

~Marilla's POV

I watched the sky lighten, vibrant golds and blues spreading throughout the sky like paint on a canvas. Slowly, I climbed out of bed, stretched, and yawned. Today was the day.

The day that we'll go back to Myragon, I thought. Though we had only managed to replace one mage so far, a trip to the Mage Realm was in order. It wasn't safe, with the Ragnarok taking over the bodies of the spirit mages like that. Shuffling out of my bedroom, I walked towards Oliver's room.

He was already up.

"Hey," he said, putting on his socks. "I'm ready. But you're still in your pajamas." Oliver stared at my pink bunny slippers. I rolled my eyes and yawned once more.

"Okay, okay. Just don't bug me about it already!" I exclaimed, heading back to my room to change. I threw on a pair of denim shorts and a tank top, then grabbed a cardigan. "Done," I said triumphantly as Oliver stepped out of his room, his shoes on.

"Wow, okay then," he replied, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Anyway, what's for breakfast?" I gave him a look.

"Is food the only thing you think about?" I asked irritably. Oliver gave me a sideways look.

"Other than you, yes," he replied cheekily, giving me a lopsided grin. To my annoyance, I blushed. I turned away, but not before giving him a slap on the arm. "Hey! I was just being nice!" Oliver protested as we stepped into the kitchen. I sniffed and poured myself some cereal, and Oliver followed suit as mom walked into the room.

"Good morning," she yawned. Her voice was a little relieved, as if she were relieved that we were on speaking terms again. I smiled weakly at her, but didn't say anything else. We ate our breakfast quickly, gulping down our cereal. "Bye mom, see you after school!"

"Goodbye Mrs Waterson!"

dashy line thingo

"They're late!" James complained. Kuro was tapping his foot on the dusty earth and Rika was biting her fingernails. Carissa, Cam and Hanako were looking like they wanted to be anywhere except for a remote field in the middle of nowhere. "It's almost school time. We'd be better off just going without them," I said to Oliver, who was frowning. Oliver nodded uncertainly.

"It's strange," he said, then opened the portal. "Elvira would never be late for something like this." He finished. I bit my lip worriedly.

What if...no. No way. I shook my head and stepped into the portal.

~Oliver's POV

I felt my heart swell with emotion.

Home. My mother. My friends...or what't left of them anyway. As we approached the end of the portal, I glanced over at Marilla. Her expression was strange, as if she were trying to figure out the answer to a difficult problem, but like her life depended greatly on the solution. I felt my forehead crinkle in a frown, but then I looked forward.

The portal ended in a blinding flash, sending us tumbling over a grassy hillside. Some parts of the grass was a little bit singed, but the rest was growing bright and green. We tramped up the slope, the balloon of emotion in my chest lifting up into the sky as we spotted the first sign of the Academy: the tallest spire twisting upwards like a unicorn horn.

Home, I thought once more, as we drew nearer to the Academy.

The rest of the mages had rebuilt it well. Most of the parts that had been burnt off were now restored to their full glory, and the building seemed to shine in the morning sun. My pace sped up to a jog, then a faster run, and then a full force sprint.

Mages began to open the doors of the Academy, mouths open wide, their expression full of surprise and joy.

"They're back!" One of them shouted, and more mages ran out of the Academy to greet us. My mother ran towards me.

"Mother!" I cried, burying my face in her shoulder. "I missed you mother," I pulled away from her, forcing my expression to turn serious. "But now we need to warn you."

"Everyone!" Marilla shouted across the clearing. "Oliver and the rest of us have something very important to tell you!" I nodded towards her in thanks as the the other mages began to gather around, curious to replace out the cause of all the commotion.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat. "On our trip to the Mundane world, we made a terrifying discovery." I paused hesitantly, and looked over at Marilla pleadingly. She understood.

"The...Ragnarok has the ability to...control Spirit mages," she said. Heads whipped round to stare at her. The mages began to mutter and murmur, shocked. Some looked around fearfully at the Spirit mages, as if they suspected that the Ragnarok was already controlling them. I put my hands up to silence the crowd.

"Please calm down. None of the mages are being controlled now; you will be able to tell as when they are under the Ragnarok's control, they have...red...eyes." I choked out the last part, feeling something painful tug in my chest. I scanned the crowd, relieved to replace some of the mages calming down a little. My mother was glancing around nervously, but she remained silent. "That is all," I finished, taking in a sharp breath immediately after I finished my sentence. Marilla walked over to me and patted me comfortingly on the back.

"That was pretty good, for a fifteen-year-old talking to, like, a crowd of thirty-year-old mages," she joked.

"Thanks," I replied sarcastically.

"Hey, I was just being nice!" Marilla replied, her voice mocking and sing-song.

"I do not speak like that!" I retorted. "And I'm turning sixteen soon, anyway." Marilla rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, we don't have time for joking around now. Let's to get down to business,"