Mage Academy

Don't Get Too Confident

I am so in control right now, it's crazy.

I am the BEST Tree Dodger in the magical universe.

Look at me-- whizzing through the air, past all these other flyers. EAT MY DUST, I inwardly scream. EAT. MY. DUST.

I smoothly whip around the first tree that comes my way, stabilise myself and turn swiftly right around the second tree. The wind tears at me, blowing out my hair, running across my skin. The forest is getting thicker and thicker with trees; I have to concentrate more, turn more. But I don't slow down.

I wonder where everyone else is? I turn my head, and Gibby screams. I look back just in time; we almost smashed right into a tree trunk. "Sorry!" I say to Gibby, who I think has now made actual holes in my flesh.

Someone shoots past me. Out of the corner of my eye I see a blur of long blond hair. Lauren. We fly into a thick patch of trees, but I am determined not to slow down. I haul my Stick fiercely around the trees, my body pumping with adrenaline.

Lauren comes into focus again, and this time she swoops perilously close to me, obviously trying to freak me out and knock me off balance. I cling to my Stick and try to show her that I'm not scared-- I swoop right back at her, even closer, keeping my eyes ahead of me. It must have made her swerve slightly, but she stays on her Air Stick with ease and flies close to me. What is she doing?! She starts forcing me to the left, changing my course.

Then I see why. We are approaching an incredibly thick mass of trees, so close together I don't even think it is possible to fly through them. They are so packed together they have blocked out almost all of the sunlight, and approaching it I feel like we are heading into a dark maze. I try to swerve away, back to the clearer path, but Lauren isn't letting me.

"What are you DOING?!" I yell at her.

"Teaching you a lesson!" She replies darkly.

We are fast approaching the block of trees. I try to force my way past her, but she is a way better flyer than me and keeps me to the side. When we are barely two metres away from the trees, Lauren heaves her stick to the right and jets off, her hair whipping in my face. She's gone.

I have no choice now; I am going too fast to stop without crashing into something. I enter the massive pool of darkness, where there is just enough light to see the trees in front of me.

I am going way too fast.

It takes all of my strength and focus to get around the trees, all the while continuing to let my Air magic seep into my Stick. I shriek as we come a split-second close to hitting a tree trunk. Gibby is howling. I grind my teeth, my chest heaving.

It's so dark.

Trees come into vision just in time for me to whip around them. Out of nowhere a branch comes in my path, almost knocking me off completely, hitting me in the face. Gibby ducks just in time as bark from the branch explodes all around us.

My chest is throbbing, my fingers are stinging with cuts and I can feel blood running down my face, but I am doing it; I am just about doing it--

A blinding light. A blast of heat.

That's all I remember before I pass out.

***

I open my eyes, and everything's a blur.

My head hurts.

Everything hurts.

My vision clears. Darkness. Weak rays of sun trying to force their way through the cluster of leaves.

I am lying on the forest floor. My Air Stick is beside me, cracked in half.

"Gibby?!" I yell, looking around, my heart racing. "GIBBY!"

"I'm alright..." I hear from somewhere behind me. Gibby sits up slowly, rubbing his head. "I'm fine. You look a state though."

I am about to reply when I see something. A movement. Out of the corner of my eye.

I whip around, squinting into the shadows. There it is again. Something is right in front of me, hidden behind the trees.

Twigs crunch. Something is definitely there.

I get to my feet, swaying slightly, immediately feeling light headed. "Hello?" I say loudly. The twigs crunch again. I clench my fists, my heart beating so violently I feel as if it's about to break out of my chest. I try again.

"HELLO?"

A silhouette appears from behind a tree. Half a silhouette. A body, staring at me.

It's eyes.

I stagger back into a tree.

It's eyes.

I lift my hands and blast Fire. It illuminates the forest, but only for a moment.

All I see is a dark mass of skeletal body.

Red eyes.

And it's gone.