Milkweed: Short Stories for Wizards

INVADERS! (Part II)

INVADERS! (Part II)

The courtyard was worse than the sorcerer had expected. Immediately rushing out, the boys were entrenched in combat. The Royal Guards were definitely having a hard time, but the upperclassman that had been recruited seemed to be making more of an impact. Spotting Sigmund in the field, one of the older students waved him down.

"The Jinn are trying to possess people!" They called out. Sigmund nodded.

"I know!"

"They already took down three guards! Watch your back!"

Turning back to his own fight, Sigmund watched as the student impressively conjured down a beam of light to stun the demon in front of him, then blasted him with just as much light to vaporize it.

"Did you see that?!" Sigmund gasped in awe, turning to face Kyle. The sorcerer jumped when he noticed Kyle backing away quickly, towards him. There was a demon right across from him and although he was equipped with his wand, it was almost as though he was frozen in thought and fear.

The demon, up close, was even bigger than it had looked from a distance. It easily towered over the boys. Acid drool looked to drip from his jaws and it's glowing red eyes were fixated on the young spell casters. When Sigmund noticed the Jinn raising its long, sharp talons to attack, he quickly pulled Kyle behind him, ran through a sequence of motions and managed to strike the demon with a beam. It worked to stun the monster, giving Sigmund enough time to hit it with another forceful attack. Kyle was at a loss for words when the demon vanished. Sigmund quickly turned around to check him over.

"Are you alright?!"

"I-I don't know..."

"Kahl, you have to be faster than that! You can't cower!"

"I'm sorry! It came out of nowhere!"

"HEY!" An upperclassman called out. "GUARD THE DOOR! DON'T LET THEM PASS YOU!"

Looking up from their conversation, Sigmund spotted another demon headed towards the common hall door in the courtyard. Kyle watched him take a stance, focus his energy and once again, stun the monster. There seemed to be a method to this, but he wasn't sure if his light magic technique would be enough for a battle like this. With another one down, Sigmund was starting to feel more confident.

"We got this!" The sorcerer grinned, giving the wizard a thumbs up. Kyle shook his head, making Sigmund's smile fade. "What?"

"I can't do it..." Kyle called back to him. "I..I don't think I can..."

"You're afraid?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. And I can't conjure light the way you do." Sigmund frowned, but he was glad Kyle was being honest. This wouldn't be the best place to try and figure out their abilities. This entire situation was extremely dangerous.

"It's okay. Go back inside." Sigmund nodded. "I'm sure they need help with the cauldron, so don't worry."

On the inside, Kyle felt bad about leaving Sigmund outside to fight. He was the youngest student there and even though he knew he was more than capable, he still didn't want to leave his roommate to handle something like this alone. On the other side of the coin, he also felt as if he was holding Sigmund back. Being distracted right now wasn't the best idea, no matter the intention. Sigmund gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I mean it!" He called, noticing Kyle seemed to be pondering. "Go! I'll be alright!"

The wizard nodded in response. Quickly, Kyle headed back towards the common hall, pushing his wand back into his cape pocket. Before going through the door, Kyle looked over his shoulder. He gasped towards what he saw.