Page 19 of Castings & Curses

The vile words flew from her lips and formed a sizzling black arrow. The destructive magic flew straight at Aricin.

With inhuman reflexes, he threw himself to the side, escaping the arrow by a hair’s width. His own power made him flip over twice, but he recovered almost instantly, now on their side.

Lucille was still reeling from using that particular spell. It would take a few moments for the natural rivers to replenish what she’d ripped from them. At this point, she couldn’t even cast a shield spell.

Claws extended, Aricin stretched his body, his aim Mikaela, when something hit him in the side—Hanne.

She, too, had taken on her wild form. Her claws sank into the soft skin on his side. Together, the two crashed towards the ground.

“Get back.” Lucille pulled Mikaela with her as she stumbled away from the two Verenimijä.

Just then, a boom like from a detonation sounded and shook the warehouse. Lucille fell to the ground. Stunned, she looked to the side. There, daylight broke through a cloud of dust, black magic crackling around the edges. It took her a moment to realise she was staring at the roof, or the lack of a roof.

“I did that,” she whispered, recognising the fading tendrils of her magic arrow. At the same time, she remembered something else. “Fabian! Jan!”

Back on her feet, she dashed into the dust billows, cold fear gripping her stomach. Half the roof had come down, the corrugated metal panels and wooden steel beams covering the empty shelves, some of which had been knocked over.

“I’m fine.” Jan crawled out from a triangular structure, where the wall had stopped the panel from flattening him. “But I lost the sword.”

“Fabian?” Lucille dove deeper into the dust, climbing over the irregular surfaces. She slipped and cut her shin on one of the panels before she remembered that she was a witch. “Globus Igneus.”

A green fireball ignited in her hand, casting its shimmer across the shelves and a foot. “Jan, get over here.” She herself dashed over as well as she could.

She heard a cough and nearly cried with relief. The dust had cleared by the time she reached the shelf. Lucille spotted the telltale ginger hair on the other side of a metal sheet. A puddle of water had formed underneath.

“Fabian…” She dropped to her knees, suspending her fire, and pulled on the sheet. Unfortunately, the shelf had become lodged with it when it tumbled, and it wouldn’t move a bit. “I’m so sorry.”

“Let me.” Jan stepped over her and jerked the shelf the other way.

As soon as it became dislodged, Lucille was able to lift the metal sheet. Underneath, Fabian groaned, but he managed to turn onto his backside and from there, pull out his legs. As far as Lucille could see, she only spotted a few bruises and minor cuts.

“You’re okay. How are you okay?”

“Water,” Fabian croaked, then coughed again. “I used water to shield myself. It didn’t stop it much.”

“It stopped it enough.” Lucille threw her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry.” She would’ve never forgiven herself if her magic had caused harm to him.

Fabian cleared his throat. “What about Hanne and Mika?”

With Jan’s help, Lucille pulled Fabian out from his trap and steadied him. On the other side of the hall, the two Verenimijä were still entangled with each other. Blood was flowing from numerous wounds, but neither of them showed any signs of slowing down.

Just then, Aricin managed to tear free. He lunged for a shelf and brought it down on Hanne. A scream alerted him to where Mikaela was standing, her only exit blocked by the chaos that had ensued following the vampire fights and Lucille’s black magic arrow. In three bounds, he was at her side and slammed her into the ground. With his claws pinning her down, Aricin bent down to bite her neck.

“Proturgo!” Lucille slammed her hand forwards, and a blue shield covered Mikaela’s body moments before Aricin bit down.

He snarled when the shield repelled him, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t break through. With a hiss, he let go of Mikaela and lunged for Lucille instead.

Panicked, she threw her fireball at him, but the Verenimijä only snarled as the flames engulfed him and extinguished. Another leap brought him right in front of her.

“Watch out!” Fabian pushed her to the side, throwing them both onto the metal panels. Aricin flew over their heads, his claws screeching and throwing out sparks as he slid over the metal. Then Hanne was there and engaged him again, looking a little worse for the wear.

Lucille’s heart felt as if it would burst from her chest. Aricin had almost hit her. She’d seen the claws glinting in the sun. But she was alive, safe for the moment in Fabian’s arms. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” He was breathing just as hard as she was.

A terrible scream made them whip their heads around. Somehow, Aricin had got on top of Hanne, his face buried in her side as he tore and ripped through her flesh. Despite being unable to die from it, Hanne screeched in pain.

When her movements slowed, Aricin grabbed her head with both paws, his face momentarily returning to that of a male. “If I can’t have you, no one will.”

---