Spellcaster series #3: The Adept

Aftermath

TRISTAN

I raced to the edge of the courtyard. I stood on the ledge, my eyes desperately scanning the fog. A faint voice nearby, frail and soft, called out to me.

"Tristan!"

I spotted Heidi hanging onto a large stone jutting out at the side of the cliff. She had one hand clinging onto it with all her fingers and the other arm swung loose. I knelt and extended my arm with my wand.

"Hang on, Heidi!"

She swung her loose arm and reached out for my wand. I pulled that arm as much as I could until she could plant her feet onto the rocks at the cliffside. I pulled more of her up onto the ledge. When she was steady enough, I pulled her by both arms and into me. I sat on the floor of the courtyard, embracing her as I felt her ragged breathing slowly soothe.

She closed her eyes and counted, the way her grandmother told her—a story from her childhood that she shared with me once. "One, two, three, four..."

"You're all right," I whispered into her hair.

When her breathing calmed, she pulled herself away from me and we locked eyes. That was when a Virtuoso stumbled over, his voice trembling as he called for us.

"Sir Tristan! Heidi!"

Heidi stood up first. "Johnny?"

"Where were you—" he caught his breath. Then he flailed his arms. "I was looking all over for you two! Wynona sent me here to look for you."

The statue was the first thing that caught my eye. The large stone Eagle stood erected in the middle of the courtyard despite breaking asunder just moments before. I turned to the concrete landslide that was caused by the Necromancer. Nothing. The walls of the South wing were still in tact.

"We've been here, Johnny. We've been fighting the Necromancer," Heidi explained, pointing her finger to the statue.

"Heidi," I interjected. "The courtyard is untouched."

Heidi turned. When she noticed, her face turned quizzical.

Johnny shook his head. "What are you talking about? The Necromancer has been attacking the North wing this whole time!"

"Is she there now, Virtuoso?" I asked, dusting myself off and striding to the direction of the North wing.

Johnny stared at me like I was insane. "Sir, that's what I'm here to tell you. The Necromancer and her army won. She came to capture Wynona."

A short silence before Heidi spoke, "Rose tricked us. I think she sent a doppelgänger to divert our attention while casting the lateral phenomenon spell."

"That's why the courtyard is untouched," I muttered. Then I turned to Johnny. "We'll head to the North wing."

I teleported Heidi and myself there. She said couldn't summon her energy.

Do it, I remembered Rose saying to Heidi, use your dark magic the way you did just now. That's all you can feel inside you, isn't it?

She did seem downcast ever since the poison. I would ask her later.

When we arrived at the North wing, we found ourselves in the middle of where the building once stood. Now it was just a heap of fallen debris. A number of Spellcasters searched through the rubble for anybody they knew. An arm hung loosely from under a pile of bricks. I moved them away to uncover a young face—a Neophyte. I dragged her body out of the rubble and laid her at the side. Heidi gasped.