Page 105 of Owned

He was enjoying this too much.

Maybe I should, too.

“Enough!” The old man barked, but his command lacked conviction and his shoulders slumped as he realized he couldn’t bully us the way he had when we were children. He let out a groan as Bastian’s magic wound tighter around him and draggedhim to his feet. His toes dragged on the polished floor as he came level with us.

“Ah, there’s the resignation we were waiting for,” Bastian mused, his voice lilting with mockery. “You see, Headmaster? That wasn’t so hard!”

I felt a surge of satisfaction as the man I’d feared for so many years couldn’t meet our eyes.

Good.

“Shall we?” Bastian asked no one in particular.

The Elder didn’t look up.

“Splendid!” Bastian chirped, clapping his hands together with feigned enthusiasm. His eyes danced with a delight that bordered on sadistic, and for a moment, I wondered if Bastian had finally lost his mind. “Such a wise choice! I knew you had it in you.”

I glared at my brother, but Bastian ignored me and turned on his heel and walked toward the ruined doorway.

The headmaster floated behind us, suspended by Bastian’s ink black smoke magic.

Brave onlookers had gathered to see what the commotion was.

Wide-eyed students scattered from the doorway as we approached, and as we stepped out into the corridor, the once-still air was filled with choked gasps. Students and faculty alike halted their conversations, wide eyes turning toward us, drawn by the spectacle unfolding before them. Murmurs swept through the crowd like ripples across water—fearful whispers and cries of disbelief.

“What’s happening?” A girl clutched her friend’s arm, her knuckles white against the fabric of her sleeve.

“Why are they here? What do they want?” A boy leaned forward as he peered past the heads that blocked his view.

Their fear was a rich, intoxicating tension that swirled around us.

It made me smile, just a little.

They were witnessing a power play, and I reveled in the knowledge that we were planting seeds of rebellion in this place, sowing doubt and unrest among the students who dared to look upon us.

Bastian flashed a grin over his shoulder at the growing crowd, charming yet sinister. “Don’t mind us!” he called out, his voice dripping with mockery. “Just taking our esteemed headmaster on a little field trip!”

Elder Ireni floated behind us, a whipped dog on a leash. Bound by magic, his shoulders slumped and blood dried in his straggling beard.

He hadn’t eventriedto fight us.

I wondered if they knew.

I wondered what they would think of their fearsome headmaster if they knew what he had given away for power—and what power was that? He’d been helpless.

This was more than just about us; it was about shaping the future of Messana Academy and leaving a mark that would not easily fade.

“Tell everyone,” Bastian called out as we approached the main doors.

The whispers behind us swelled and hung in the air like smoke from a dying fire.

“Is he really going to let them do this?” someone hissed.

“Look at him—he’s finished,” another replied.

Bastian walked beside me, his grin wide and wicked as he soaked in the spectacle. It was intoxicating to watch their reactions. No one ever stood against the Sages—and here we were, humiliating them. And we’d been met with only the barest hint of resistance.

With each glance cast our way, I saw not just fear in the eyes of the gathered students, but the flicker of something deeper—curiosity, even defiance… the next generation of Sages and power brokers in Messana.

---