The Spirits' Guide

Chapter 29

"State your name," Iris ordered the elderly witch. He looked up at her with clear distaste.

"Edward Artic," he spat. Iris didn't bother to look at him as she scribbled his name on a piece of paper.

"Occupation?" She further questioned.

"I am one of the thirty wizards for the king," he said, lowering his head.

Iris narrowed her eyes as she wrote his words down. He seemed almost ashamed of his actions. Almost.

"Let's get to the point. This all began thirty-two years ago when one of the thirty-thousand runes protecting the city was damaged. You are one of those wizards who protect the runes. You somehow got hold of the princess and her runed bracelet and damaged it. Am I correct so far?" Iris recounted the events of thirty years before.

"Yes," he answered her, head still lowered. His words were barely detectable.

"Why did you damage the rune?"

"I was contacted by a demon. He told me that if I somehow let his hordes in, he would help my son." Iris raised a brow at this.

"Your son?"

"He's a Spell-witch."

Iris scowled at the paper she wrote on.

"How did you damage the rune?" She asked, continuing the interrogation.

"It was one of my runes, I drew it onto the bracelet. I could reverse the rune's power easily."

"Hmph," Iris harrumphed, "so the princess is taken by the demon. Who's the demon and why did he take the infant?"

Edward began to stutter and gurgle. Iris glanced up from her paper to see that he was purple. Dropping what she had, she crossed the room to him.

Touching his chest, she sent healing magic through it. Immediately, her body was consumed by an immense pain. She forced the magic further into his body.

She groaned. It took experience to be able to safely heal another being. Experience she lacked.

Iris gaped as Edward's head began to expand. Whatever he had ingested, it was not something she knew or had ever seen. She ducked under the table as it exploded. Brain matter and a strange orange goop covered the room.

Iris crawled out from under the table, being sure to not touch the orange goop. Looking at the headless corpse, she understood that there was something far, far worse than just a simple demonic kidnapping.

She walked out the room, letting the young witches know of the mess.

"What happened?" Josephine asked when she noticed Iris outside the room and witches running into it.

Iris sighed as she said, "Wish I knew. I doubt it was Belial who took Marie, he already knows we know. It was demonic, I'm sure of that. Head explosions are not exactly common in the Living-Realm."

Josephine raised a hand to her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.

A wave of exhaustion hit Iris in that second.

She awoke but four hours before from a slumber that was caused by the consumption of her magic and now she had consumed what little magic she had once more.

"What are we going to do?" Josephine breathed. Iris glanced at her quizzically.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Demons are stealing the heir of Stila, Arke is still alive and in Hell, giants from the Forest need our help, the gods are angered. Lucifer is breathing down my neck, wanting to burn the school. Hell! Dante is in Aneria somewhere in need of aid, but I'm stuck here on my ass taking care of bastards. What are we going to do, Iris? What?"

To say Iris was surprised would be an understatement. Josephine Borinda was overloaded with work, knew about Dante's son in Aneria, and was asking Iris for help. However, it was the mention of Lucifer's name that captured Iris's attention completely.

"Leave him to me. Leave Lucifer to me. I'll watch the devil burn and rot on his throne of bones." Iris grounded out.

Josephine looked down at Iris, remembering that she was there.

"Arke may remain in Hell. Luka will be sent off with the king. Nothing we can do about Lucifer at the moment."

Josephine looked anywhere but Iris's eyes until she said, "I want you to deal with the giants first, then get ready to go back to Aneria. Come back here before you do."

Iris felt as though she had missed something, possibly a few things, in Josephine's order. Iris nodded her head silently as she listened to the words, trying to understand what she had missed.

"Right. I'll go see what those giants want." Iris muttered as she walked around Josephine.

"First, you need to get to the infirmary. That limp does not look good." Josephine barked at Iris.

Iris groaned. She was exhausted on top of all the broken bones.

"Whatever," Iris grunted as she made her way to the infirmary's left-wing.

As she made her way there, students moved out of her path. A hush fell upon the areas Iris passed through as though she sucked all of their words from their mouths.

"I need to be examined," Iris grunted at one of the nurses. She looked up with a bored expression.

"Name, class, and abilities." She stated monotonously. Iris took a deep breath in, calming herself before she growled, "I am no student. Fix me up."

"You need to be a student." Was her reply.

"You need to find a new job because you're done." Iris spat back at her.

Before the nurse could reply, someone behind Iris said, "Get lost, Graine. You're fired."

Iris turned to find Julia standing behind her. The girl glared at Iris before she took hold of her arm.

Dragging her to the nearest room, Julia growled, "Tell anyone and you're dead."

Iris did not understand what she was talking about until she felt the pain in her chest begin to fade.

Glancing at Julia's hands, she saw them glowing a brilliant red.

Noticing her gaze, Julia said, "I am the ancestor of Pomona Caesar. She bore the fruit of life for all of us."

"Then why are you and your people War-witches?" Iris asked.

"With life comes war. Many believe that there will come a day where there is no war between witches and humans, demons and angels. They're wrong. I give life, but with that given life, many more are taken." Julia murmured.

"You could have just told me that to live you must kill." Iris grunted.

"Yes, little pig." Iris scowled at the words. She waited quietly as Julia continued to heal.

The silence only promoted the warmth and comfort that the magic created. Iris closed her eyes as the red magic rushed through her body. Suddenly, it was gone.

"Stop sleeping, idiot," Julia hissed at Iris as she got up. Iris grumbled as she followed her.

"Luka is behind the first curtain. It might be best to leave him be. He just lost the mother he just got." Julia murmured, placing a hand on Iris's shoulder.

"I wasn't going in for him. I had a broken rib." Iris growled, feeling a twinge of guilt.

Julia eyed her as she began to walk out the room. Barely moving her lips, she said, "I'm sure."

Iris scowled as she walked out the room and away from the infirmary.