Sinatus

✨Chapter Twenty-Five✨

"What just happened?!" Lily exclaimed.

"How?" Kaia asked, staring at Lily. Lily looked down at her hands, which were trembling. Instead of creating fire the way Kaia had, large purple flames had roared to life in her hands. 

"You tell me!" Lily's eyes were wide. 

"Normally that doesn't happen unless..." Ivy shook her head. "Never mind." 

Lily narrowed her eyes at her. "Unless what?"

Ivy sighed. "Well, normally, things like that only happen to younger wizards who are just started to learn magic. Because, well, the magical power has been pent up inside them. It wasn't quite that bad for me, since I'm not that powerful with magic... But similar things would happen to Kaia or Dalton when they were first learning."

Lily's stared at her for a second. "I... Are you saying I was actually born a witch? Because, um, that can't be. My parents--my whole family--We're Sinati." 

"I know." Ivy shook her head. "That's why it's actually not possible."

"Okay, you're kinda scaring me," Kaia commented. "Ivy, do you have any idea what's going on?"

Ivy took a deep, rattling breath. "Um... no. But I know who might."

"Who?" Lily, Kaia and Dalton asked in unison.

"Eliphas." Ivy said. "I heard him talking to Deianira once, and he said--he said something about the history of wizards and Sinati, and that they should keep it protected. I think something happened, a long time ago, that people aren't being told."

"So how do we figure it out?" Lily asked. "I mean, we can't just go up and ask him. I doubt he'd tell us."

Dalton dropped out of the tree they were sitting under, rolling his eyes. "Of course he wouldn't."

"Maybe we should focus on one thing at a time?" Kaia suggested. "This could be nothing. And I mean, we kind of still have to deal with the Montem's. And then we have to get Lily's brother. And then we have to get Archie out of prison. And then he has to prove he's innocent. And then-" She stopped. "You get the idea."

"Yeah, no pressure there," Dalton sat down. "So are we waiting for the Montem's now, since Lily can do that big purple-fire thingy?"

"She could be better prepared, but I think we should get them over with as soon as possible." Ivy decided. "We can also start a fire and just light torches." 

"Of course, why didn't we think of that before?" Kaia face-palmed.  

〰️〰️〰️

"Do you here something?" Kaia whispered in alarm. There were sitting around their fire, waiting for the Montems. Lily was clutching a reasonably thick fallen tree branch. 

Her heart started beating wildly against her ribs. Wind whistled through the trees, and the thump, thump, thump of many feet echoed down the path towards them. The four of the got to their feet silently, exchanging nervous glances. Lily tipped her branch in the fire, keeping it there until the tip of it started burning. Her branch was barely on fire when the first Montem came rushing toward them. Dalton ran towards it and smacked it in the face with a flaming hand. It vanished with a small screech. More of the scraggly creatures raced towards them, and Lily waved her branch around, trying to hit them with it. She'd caused two Montems to disappear when she realized how many of them there were.

"Aargh!" Kaia had been knocked to the ground. Lily turned and swung the flaming branch she was holding at the creature towering over Kaia. She scrambled back to her feet and pushed Lily out of the way of a charging Montem, which Ivy whacked in the face with her flaming branch. 

"A little help, please!" Dalton yelled from where he was trying to ward off three Montems at once. Ivy hit two of them from behind, allowing Dalton to focus on the third. 

A Montem came charging at Lily, and she swung at it, but it jumped out of the way, growling. She went after it again, missing it just barely. She was so intent on causing the one Montem to vanish, she didn't realize when another plowed into her from behind, causing her to fly into the air before tumbling through the dirt, somehow smothering the flame on her branch. 

Lily gritted her teeth and stumbled to her feet, trying to get back  to the fire, but it was too far.

"Incignis!" she muttered at the branch desperately. Nothing. "Come on! Incignis! INCIGNIS!"

The tip of the branch in her hand ignited, and she whacked angrily at the Montem charging her. "Take that!"

She swung at all the other Montems that came towards her, since they were seemingly unaware she was holding a flaming branch. 

When she wasn't being charged, she looked around. There where only four more Montems--each of her other companions was trying to get rid of one of them, while the last one was sneaking up behind Ivy and Kaia.

"Look out!" Lily screamed. 

Ivy whirled around, jabbing with her branch. She got the Montem, but the one behind her jumped at her--Ivy, without looking over her shoulder, ducked, and the Montem flew over her, hurtling straight towards Lily's outstretched flaming branch. Kaia attacked the other Montem in a fiery hug, and they turned to see Dalton making the last one vanish. "Sucker!"

"We did it." Lily panted, sinking to the floor in exhaustion.

"Yeah," Ivy agreed, leaning against a tree. "That...wasn't very fun."

"I hate those things." Dalton decided. "They're annoying."

"You should be able to relate, then." Ivy muttered.

"Rude." Dalton huffed.

"Are you guys okay?" Kaia asked, looking around.

"Yeah," Lily nodded. She was aching slightly from her hard fall, but it was nothing serious.

"Fine." Ivy said.

"I just got rid of a bunch of creepy monster thingies!" Dalton sighed when he saw their expressions. "That means I'm doing great, obviously. Except for the fact that, you know, my best friend is in prison."

"Yes, well, we're trying to fix that, brother." Ivy told him. "So soon you will be doing even greater."

"Ah, I can't wait!" Dalton grinned.