Witchcraft Rising [ONC 2020]

Inner Demons

   Knoxx and E'ria were waiting for me at the end of the hall when I walked out of The Elemental's office. The grand, stained glass mosaic window high above them cast hues of purples, blues, greens, and golds in the calm afternoon upon them. Ironically, the depiction of the Goddess and her Seven Virtues gazed down on any who walked by. Which was everyone. Even here, the Prophecy loomed menacingly above me.

Knoxx's face looked especially worried as I neared them. "Are you alright?" He asked once I stood in front of them.

"I'm fine."

"What did the demon do to you?" E'ria asked in her usual tone with a frown, but I sensed a real concern for me in the way she stood.

The Elemental never said I couldn't tell them. "It messed with my magic," I said in summary.

"Goddess, and did The Elemental find anything strange?"

"No. That or he didn't deign to tell me."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter," E'ria grumbled. "I don't trust him."

Knoxx gave her a look. "You never have."

"Well as one of the most powerful warlocks in the world, you would think he had more pressing matters at hand rather than running a school."

"Yes, well, if it weren't for him, Anveya here wouldn't have met us."

I put a foot forward and crossed my arms. "I'm still debating whether that was a good thing or not. You tripped me into a bush the first day we met." This was said to E'ria.

She raised a black brow at that. Knoxx gave me a faux wounded look.

The tower bells decided to ring then, signalling the start of next class in five minutes. I sighed and gave my friends a small smile. "I'll see you both tonight I suppose?"

E'ria hummed. "Not me, I'm afraid. I need to write an exam after class hours since I missed it due to the incident in scouting training today."

"I'm sorry."

E'ria gave me a slightly surprised look, her eyes widening. "You have nothing to apologize for, Anveya. Nothing."

Knoxx cleared his throat. "Well, I'm available tonight."

"Then I'll see you in my rooms later."

Knoxx grinned at me as two passing witch students stared at me at that. It took a few moments for me to process what they were thinking and I hit Knoxx on the arm.

"Not like that."

He sniffed delicately. "So violent. You're lucky, The Elemental never gives anyone else the day off."

"That's because I'm his ward and I was attacked. There are certain perks to that, ones I am never ashamed to utilize."

E'ria smiled wickedly. "Utterly shameless. And as much as you claim to be alright, you should rest. You were attacked by a demon."

I waved her off, refusing to give away how much that demon had rattled me. "Yes yes, plenty of resting."

E'ria and Knoxx both gave me brief hugs before they turned left and headed down the hall side by side towards their next class. I smiled at their retreating backs until they entered one of the classrooms and headed right towards the stairway that led to the student rooms above.

I had just placed my foot on the first step when a jarring, high-pitched shriek abruptly ripped through the air. I covered my head with my hands instinctively and hunched over as glass from the nearby low-hanging windows shattered and rained down on me. The dark, midnight-blue cloak I always wore broke most of the debris upon impact since it was inlaid with protective wards set by Karinossa at The Elemental's orders when he gave it to me as a gift. Despite this, a lucky shard still managed to slice a rip in the sleeve of my blue and brown school uniform.