Magic of Shadow and Secrets

Chapter 4

Saiyah had no tears left to cry as she trekked toward the gymnasium. The school had turned into a survival of the fittest, and no one knew why. But one thing was obvious: Saiyah had to stay, no matter what. For Romelle. For West. For Skip. And for herself.

"Nice of you to join us at long last." Tyson goaded at her. She gave him an irritated glare that made him flinch. Saiyah nearly yelped when she realized only eight students remained. Did they do the tests already?

"We're about to begin."

Saiyah approached her friends, seeing the hopeless expressions they wore. "Where is everyone?" She inquired.

"Gone," Romelle replied, a haunted look on her face. "They quitted after Tyson said what our test was." West had gone pale too.

"What's the test?"

West's Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke. "He's taking us to spend five days in Chyte's Wood." Saiyah grew light headed. Chyte's Wood was a haunted forest. Those stupid enough to go in never came out.

"The goal is to survive the wood for five days and return alive before the sun reaches its highest peak." Tyson explained with nonchalance. Bastard. He was sending them all to their deaths. Not even Romelle tried to say anything encouraging.

As they reached the outskirts of the wood and began to prepare, Markus Antonyn began to enter first. "It's wise to stick together." Judius Taleen called after him.

Antonyn peered over his shoulder, a smirk on his face. "Why? Afraid? The haunted wood is just a story." Then he disappeared into the prickly undergrowth. It wasn't long before a scream sounded, making Saiyah's blood curdle. Despite his stubborn nature, Antonyn was a pretty funny guy. In fact, it was because of that attribute that he and Saiyah were often paired up for assignments. He was a decent worker, but often got distracted.

Now he was gone.

Vex stood up and stomped over to West. "You, glow stick, you're gonna light our way." West recoiled, but he didn't argue. The arsonist then turned to Romelle. "Attack anything that moves that isn't us." She nodded dully. Vex was staying—surprisingly—level headed, which was admirable.

....Then he turned to Saiyah. "I don't even know why you're still here. You stick near the back and pray you don't die."

"Don't joke about that!" Romelle cried. "She'll be okay, we'll be okay."

Vex just frowned at her, his eyes crinkled with what looked like pity. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat the situation."

Saiyah was no longer listening. What if one of her friends were attacked? Would she reveal her magic then? What if it does more harm than good? Well there was only one way to find out....

Taking a deep breath, they entered the wood in single file. West, Romelle, Zadro, Taleen, Vex, Axol, then finally Saiyah. Being all the way at the back, she could hardly see the light emanating from West's hand, which veiled her in shadow. It was somewhat comforting to be covered in something familiar that she could manipulate if truly needed.

"Stay in formation," she heard Taleen command. It was a smart idea to travel at the edges of the wood. Saiyah tried to swallow her fear, staring between Axol's shoulder blades instead to focus on something else.

Then Axol stopped in his tracks, causing Saiyah to slam into his back. "A-Axol?" She whispered. He slowly turned around to face her. Her eyes widened in horror.

Axol's mouth had been cut from ear to ear, his eyeballs missing from their sockets. (Saiyah once wondered what an empty eye socket would look like, but now she wished she could burn the sight from her mind) Blood had stained his shirt. There was no noise, no implication that he had been attacked. He began to fall forward. A squeal escaped Saiyah as she moved to the side. He landed face first on top of the forest floor. She watched in terror as worms, plump and white, feasted on his back and neck. Axol moaned through it all, still alive.

A warm hand grabbed her arm and pulled her into a run. "Let's go!" Vex shouted.

"B-but Axol-"

"There's nothing we can do for him now." They caught up with the other, who had stopped and waited for them.

"Umm....where's the other guy?" West asked, his light flickering as he shivered. Vex shook his head calmly as Saiyah began to fidget, her breathing accelerated.. All the blood, the cuts, the pain, it reminded her much of—

Vex backhanded her. "Hey, war orphan, the last thing we need is a trigger happy moron. Pull yourself together." Despite the rude manner, Saiyah was actually grateful for the wake up call. She couldn't believe the academy would send their students to die like this. Saiyah wasn't sure that they'd last a day.

Pushing past Vex, West cupped the sides of Saiyah's face. "You're okay, right?" Taking a deep breath, Saiyah nodded. No, she wasn't okay, but she'd live....probably. Romelle gave her a small, reassuring smile, gripping her weapon tightly.