Guardians Of The Arcane Chronicles

Chapter 8: No Way Home

The sound of buzzing grated her ears as her staff pulsed with magic once again. The girl darted around, dodging the numerous magic blasts spat out from the unceasing waves of glowing insects. She panted heavily and hit her staff against the ground, conjuring dozens of mirages to lure her enemies' attention away from herself. She knelt down momentarily for a brief respite, refocusing her magic.

Ice shards burst out from her weapon again as she tried desperately to freeze her arcane adversaries as quickly as possible, but the insects were multiplying much faster than she could cast her spells. There was no way she could do this. Not with magic like this.

Screw it.

The brass staff struck the ground with a definite sounding clang. A shockwave emitted from the crystal on top of it, disintegrating every single one of the Cleric's familiars instantly.

"Kleopatra! That's not what I told you to do!"

"It got the job done, didn't it?" Kleopatra huffed at the middle aged lady stomping up to her.

"Your job was to crowd control, to slow down your enemies." Cleric Elpis Nerva folded her arms. "You can't keep relying on Eldritch Blast to get out of situations. What if you hurt an innocent victim?"

"If there actually were one, I'd ask someone else to cast the appropriate spell instead," Kleopatra retorted. "Why do you insist on making me do magic that I'm not used to?"

"The reason is simple, Kleo. It's because you need it to pass the Guardian Council tests. It is up to you to make the situation adapt to you, not the other way round. You won't always have a full team backing you up."

"Whatever." Kleopatra rolled her eyes, throwing up her hands in exasperation. "I'm out of energy, so I can't continue the training anymore today. Goodbye."

"I cannot let you proceed with the Council tests like that. You haven't even found your patron yet, young lady. You'll fail without a doubt," Elpis called out to the young lady walking briskly out of the training facility.

Kleopatra ignored her instructor, her battle robes rippling behind her elegantly as she headed towards the door. A figure met her already annoyed gaze, blocking her path.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?" she spat at the schoolboy leaning against the doorframe. It was very obvious that he was trying to look cool. Except for the fact that his body leaned diagonally across the doorway, and the 'smirk' he was giving her made him look more like he was holding in some wicked bowel movement.

"Kleopatra Vulcan, I presume. My name is Gaius Deusdedit." The boy got out of his obviously uncomfortable position, flipping his hair in a mock suave manner. "Ahem, Sorcerer Gaius Deusdedit. I have to say, you are one stunning lady. I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me."

"M-me?" Kleopatra stuttered, and her cheeks flushed red. A victorious grin crept along the boy's face, and promptly slipped away at the realisation that she was flushing in anger instead of shyness.

"A girl you've never met before, and you proposition her immediately." Kleopatra's voice dripped with enough venom to knock out an entire classroom. "How typical is that? Get out of my way, before I make you."

Her staff materialised in her hand as Gaius flinched in apprehension.

A pink glow wrapped around their bodies and separated them before Kleopatra could carry out her threat. Felix passed by them, having appeared from seemingly nowhere as he floated silently between the two schoolmates like a ghost.

"Hey, that was awfully rude of you," Kleopatra said.

"You could've just said 'Excuse me'," Gaius muttered.