Page 133 of On Wings of Blood

I lay back against the pillows on my bed,The Dark Art of Eternal Bondscradled in my hands, and scanned the page with the spell for the hundredth time.

Florence was in the library studying. She’d left me behind with clear instructions to go into her room at seven o’clock and feed the fluffin. The little animal had been safely ensconced in her chamber ever since that day in the arena. Blake had come to fetch his bag, but Florence had brought it to him herself. I hadn’t even had to talk to him. Thankfully.

At least, the fluffin had beenmostlysafely ensconced. The pup had developed a bad habit of darting out the door anytime it was left open. He would disappear for hours, even overnight, then reappear outside of Florence’s room with a happy yap.

At least the pup felt comfortable navigating the school and finding his way back.

In the meantime, Florence was desperately fighting her conscience. We weren’t supposed to keep pets so she was breaking the school rules. But since she was a warden she was also getting away with it–for now. Some of the other students had glimpsed the fluffin. They’d kindly offered their silence...in exchange for the occasional chance to cuddle with the adorable creature.

Florence was basically offering bribes in the form of fluffin snuggles.

But I wasn’t about to point that out to her.

While Florence had gone off to the library, Naveen had gone to practice in one of the training yards.

But just in case one of them decided to walk in, I’d pushed a heavy chest in front of my door.

The ritual had to be performed at night, under the open sky, and in a place of ancient power.

I already had a place in mind. I’d use the Dragon Court. There was no doubt it was a place of power. The sculptures seemed to have been standing there for centuries. Not to mention there was a grove of trees there and part of the ritual involved using the earth.

The Dragon Court was usually empty during the day time. I was sure it would be completely quiet at night. No chance of interruption.

Then came the ingredients.

One was easy. I needed to use some of my own blood. Blood was the essence of the living soul. It served as the basic conduit for breaking the bond within me.

The next was a little more tricky. I needed the blood of someone I either loved or hated. It had to be a strong emotion. I only needed a few drops, but apparently the connection was key.

“Love and hate are the only emotions potent enough to fuel such a dangerous spell,” the ritual text read. “They are the emotions that bind souls, making them the only ones strong enough to undo such bonds.”

I already knew who I had to use. There was only one obvious solution. Blake Drakharrow. I hated him.

I might have tried to use Florence but our friendship was still fairly new. I wasn’t sure if what I felt for her as a friend would count as a strong enough emotion.

I also didn't want to involve her in this in any way. So Florence was out.

Getting Blake’s blood might have been a problem, but I’d thought of a possible way to do it.

Lastly, there were two ways the ritual could be cast.

One involved an anchor. The soul would enter an inanimate object and be bound to it until such time as the anchor was destroyed. Orcades could live for hundreds, even thousands of years, if she entered an anchor.

The downside to casting the ritual this way was that the caster could inadvertently become consumed by the emotion from the second conduit’s blood, potentially transferring not just the soul they wished to expel, but part of their own essence into the anchor.

The other way did not involve an anchor. It was also safer for the caster.

I’d thought my mother would prefer the option with the anchor but to my surprise she chose the latter.

Now there was just the matter of getting my hands on some of Blake’s blood.

Oh, and the tiny little issue of my technically not being able to do magic at all.

I’d basically failed all of Professor Wispwood’s tests. That would have been enough to discourage most people from attempting what was probably one of the most difficult spells in existence.

The ingredients might have been basic, but the power required to make everything work was not.

And if I messed this up, the results could be disastrous. According to the book, a number of things could happen in the event of failure to cast the spell properly:

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