The Wicked Ones: Destiny of a Vampire

Training

Arius tossed his father's book to me, and I caught it with an unnatural speed. Dust billowed from the pages and spread into my face, causing me to squint and narrow my eyes.

"Choose something before we begin," he said. "I want you to cast some spells today. Cassius will help you warm up."

I flipped through the pages of the book, each one more mysterious than the last, until something caught my eye. The text was in an unfamiliar script-one I had never seen before. But as I studied it, I realized I could understand the language. The sensation was unsettling. How was I able to read it? I had never learned this before.

Paralyze Incantation: A magical spell that immobilizes targets with mystical restraints, rendering them incapable of movement or action. It is most effective when combined with an execution spell to defeat the enemy.

The next sentence was written in strange symbols, but to my surprise, I could also understand it. It was as though the words were etched into my mind, a language I had never learned but somehow knew.

"Well, blondie. Wanna get busted?" Cassius taunted, stepping closer.

"Try me," I shot back, setting the book down and twisting my neck, ready for the challenge.

In an instant, Cassius moved around the hall with incredible speed, too fast for my eyes to track. A faint whoosh of displaced air was all I had to rely on as his shadow darted past in the dim light. Suddenly, he struck me with tremendous force, and in the next heartbeat, I was on the ground. My body burned with rage, and I could feel the urge to catch him, to make him pay for the hit.

"Uhhhh," I hissed through clenched teeth, forcing myself to stand. I narrowed my eyes, focusing all my energy to slow him down in my mind.

Finally, I could see him moving, his movements now slowed as if he were an annoying fly buzzing around. I focused on him, tracking his every move, until I was close enough to catch him. I grabbed his wrist, twisted his body around, and hurled him across the hall with all my strength. He soared through the air but managed to land on his feet, skidding to a stop.

This is so much fun," Cassius laughed, pulling his curls away from his face.

He launched another attack, but this time, something changed. He used his superpower. A terrible, piercing sound exploded through the air, assaulting my ears. The pain was unbearable, as if my head was about to split open. I squeezed my eyes shut, clutching my head as blood began to trickle from my nose. The sound was maddening, and I could barely stand against it. But through sheer willpower, I pushed myself to my feet and extended my palm toward him.

"Tenebris duratus et in inferno maneat," I uttered with an unwavering confidence, as if I had spoken those words countless times before.

Cassius froze in place, his expression one of shock.

"What?! Unfair!" he snapped.

A golden light began to glow from my palm, and a strange, overpowering desire to hurt Cassius washed over me. Even knowing I could cause him pain didn't deter me. I whispered another spell under my breath, words that came from nowhere, as if I had always known them.

"Lux daemones," I muttered.

The same white light surged from my palm, heading directly toward Cassius.

"Tuenda corpora lumine." Arius appeared before me, his presence creating a strange, blurry field that absorbed my magic before it could reach its target.

Arius blocked my attack with a protective shield, and I shook my head in confusion. I couldn't understand why I had wanted to hurt Cassius so badly, or why I had cast those spells.