Spellcaster series #4: The Virtuoso

To the Void

HEIDI

The teenager eyed me warily, lips quivering. I could feel the density of her dark energy, alive and beckoning.

"Heidi," she pleaded weakly, "this isn't you."

I tilted my head, reading her discomfort. There were tears in her eyes.

"I won't tell anyone, I swear!"

Something inside me churned. She was tied to the chair, hair dishevelled and a slight cut near the hairline above her left eyebrow. Her hazel-green eyes pleaded. Was it mercy? My energy was swirling, a strange movement that spread to my fingertips. It wasn't cold.

It stopped as soon as Dean walked into the room. His golden eyes floated in the dark and landed on Beth. He slipped an arm around my waist as he stood beside me, eyes on her.

"Welcome home, Beth."

She began to cry. And then anger. "What did you do to her?"

"I only brought out her true self. She's embracing it. You'll soon learn how to."

A silhouette at the door. We all turned to see a blonde-haired dark Spellcaster staring with wide eyes.

"What is it?"

"They got Renee," she said and swallowed her throat.

Dean let go of me and walked to her. "She brought an entire army of djinns and you're telling me—"

"They killed every one of them, Dean. Renee's dead. He killed her. It was...brutal."

"And yet you're here. How?" Dean's voice was dripping with skepticism.

A slight hesitation. "They sent me here to give you this message as a warning."

Dean stuck his chin out, jaw clenched.

The girl continued. "Sir Tristan sends his regards."

I felt the energy churn in me at the mention of that name. Why did it sound familiar? There was heat and coldness mixing inside me. I felt dizzy.

Silence followed after, dangling those words in the air that grew tense. Dean moved away from me and wiped his face in frustration. He sighed, hands on his hips, before he let out an explosion of fury.

"Damn it!" Dean flipped a table behind me.

Warm energy wound my bones, slowly creeping up, but coldness wrapped around it, pushing it back down. I felt a slight headache throbbing and flinched.

"I'll do it," the girl volunteered, "I'll finish him myself."

"No." Dean turned to me. He bore his green eyes on mine and they turned gold. "I have a better idea."

~

A portal tore open the material world and peeked into a whole other realm. I stepped through it with Eden behind me—whose name I learned eventually—before Dean closed it behind us. Ember dots spread across the sky above us, a galaxy of stars arranged in a swirling pattern.

"He's in there," Eden lifted a finger towards a window on the top-most level of the building before us.

I made my way through the Gardens and Eden tailed me, readying her bow and arrow while churning the dark energy in her. She moved with light footfalls, aiming her arrow downwards as she scouted for a good aim.

"I'll be on the roof," she said before teleporting. I headed to the room that Johnny was held in.

As I made my way down the hallway for the staircase, a couple of Virtuosos spotted me. Their faces paled and held out their wands. Without turning, I held out my palm towards them and clenched my fist. They both dropped to the floor lifelessly. A few more emerged from their rooms and spotted me. Soon, the bells went off all around the Academy.