Skimming the Surface

Chapter 3

Jay felt the slice of wind brush against his cheek as he swerved to the wind mage's side. Using his sword, he cast a crescent wall of fire as he sliced upwards. The wind mage dodged out of the way while propelling smaller slices of wind towards Jay. Covering his sword with flames, he sliced the wind gusts.

Sweat rolled down Jay's face as he circled his opponent. Their eyes locked on each other, the tension almost palpable. The wind mage held their fans, posed to strike. Each looking for any small movement to indicate the next move. Jay tightened his grip on his sword. The wind mage pushed off, Jay dashed along him. His opponent pulsed the fans towards him creating a small cyclone. Jay dodged, but the pull of the whirlwind threw him off balance. The opponent sensed his chance and launched stronger slices at Jay.

Jay rolled under the slices and slung another wall of flames towards the mage. The wind mage, gracefully cast a gust of wind towards the ground pushing himself into the sky. Jay anticipated this move, hurling a second wave of fire into the spot the wind mage jumped to. The flame arc blasted the wind mage squarely in the chest, knocking him out of the air.

A whistle sounded signaling the end of the match. The Venus mages came in to heal the burn wound of the Uranus mage as Jay walked out of the arena. It was a tough match but he still held his title of captain of the mage fencing team. Aamir, the wind mage, held position of second on the team and thought he could move up to the top. Jay needed to invest a few more hours at practice, the match ended too close for his liking.

"You left yourself too exposed after Aamir's whirlwind attack." Coach Belmont instructed.

"I agree. I misjudged the distance that the whirlwind would pull from." Jay conceded.

"You plan to spend more hours practicing now?"

"Yes, coach."

"Atta boy. Your dad will be proud."

"My dad is never proud."

"He just has a hard time showing it. Go hit the showers and rest. I will see you tomorrow." The coach jogged over to Aamir, probably to give him an earful.

The cool shower felt great against his skin. The match repeated in his head, reliving all the mistakes he made. Mentally fighting his opponent over and over again until he was satisfied. School work popped into his head and he groaned. He did need to study for the quiz tomorrow.

Nick was waiting for him as Jay exited the locker room. It was hard to miss the brooding werewolf leaning against the wall. The only indicator that a werewolf stood there was the collar around his neck. Unless you counted the eyes that were staring through Jay's soul. Nick crossed his arms and his foot tapped impatiently. Jay purposely took a little longer than usual getting ready, he hated Nick in these moods.

"Why did you pick this sport again?" Nick questioned.

"It's the only one I'm good at and are we really having this conversation again? We have it after every match." Jay complained.

"It would be easy to slip in an assassin to kill you."

"Yeah, so easy. The coaches, along with the healing mages. Super easy."

"I don't like it."

"Deal with it." Jay commanded. Nick snorted in response and walked beside him. He seemed on high alert today with his eyes darting to every sound on the pathway home.

"Something wrong?"

"Some of the staff are more on alert than normal. Tension is high."

"That's strange. Any idea?"

"None."

"Alrighty then, did you study for the Devil's War quiz tomorrow?" The conversation continued on the topic of class until they reached their house. Nick retired to his room to do some homework and Jay entered his room to study for the exam tomorrow.

He always enjoyed the warfare tactics of the old battles. The cleverness those mages possessed to combine certain spells always fascinated him. He was studying the battle of Iron Hill when drowsiness overcame him. The match that morning took more out of him than he thought. He set an hour alarm for 2pm. A quick nap should help him focus.

Jay passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. He felt a dark cloud consume him before he started floating in the sky. Strange creatures flew above though, almost like gryphons from his mythical creatures book but they were all black, their wings like whispery shadows. He didn't have long to dwell on the creatures before he plunged into the water.

Surprisingly, he didn't feel the cold brush of the water, it just felt like air. More black figures floated beside him but none that he could tell the shape of, just ink blobs. One creature stood out in the sea of black. One of the most beautiful beings Jay has ever seen. Her skin seemed to glisten in the reflecting sunlight and her long, violet hair swayed with the tide. Her eyes were a deep shade of amethyst, that sparkled with life. Her tail matched the rest of her appearance with different shades of purple patterned through it. He could even see a faint lavender aura surrounding her body.

This beautiful mermaid faced a creature he could only describe as grotesque. The creature appeared to be half lion and half seal but its seams leaked a black ooze. A hortrid scent invaded Jay's nose as if the creature consisted of dead fish. Even in his dream state, he wanted to throw up.

The mermaid attempted to flee the foul-smelling creature and Jay desperately wanted to help except everything he touched he phased through. The jaws of the lion's head inched towards her tail. Jay shoved his incorporeal body in front of the creature. The creature twitched just long enough to miss the mermaid's tail. After that hesitation, the monster continued its chase. Jay followed and saw the mermaid hurl a rock with magic. He didn't know if mermaids could use magic, he would have to look that up later. The sea lion took the hit, not even phased by the rock and continued to chase.

They were darting in and out of the rocks, Jay could hardly keep up. The mermaid casted a small whirlpool that tangled the lion. Relief swept through him, now she can escape. Except the creature didn't stay in the trap for long and reached the mermaid in seconds, swiping its claws down her side. She screamed in pain and his head swirled.

Alarm blaring in his ear, Jay cursed as he reached for his phone. His head felt groggy, but it always did when he woke up from one of his strange dreams. He also felt more tired now than before his nap. Groaning, he sat up and pulled out his dream diary. He quickly wrote what he remembered, magic mermaid, sea lion, a chase, a scream. The dream started to dissipate already. His father thought the dreams to be silly but too many coincidences had occurred from his dreams for Jay to believe the same. He liked to keep track, just in case.

Stretching, Jay stood up and noticed a shadow from the corner of his eye. He jumped around but it seemed the shadow disappeared out his door. Following it, he observed nothing in his living room but it happened again with it appearing outside of his window. It seemed to only exist in his peripheral vision. He walked outside but whatever it was, it had vanished. He walked to the waterside and sat down, sighing heavily. Now he was chasing shadows. Jay could already hear Nick's voice, What happened if it was a trap!

While sitting, trying to regain some energy, he heard a splash and a loud thud coming from the boathouse. He jolted up, full of energy and dashed towards the deck. He pulled out his Swiss army knife and slowly opened the boathouse door. A young woman laid on the ground. He noticed a small pool of blood forming around her and rushed to her side. Upon picking her up, he realized it was his classmate and she needed help now.