Witchcraft Rising [ONC 2020]

Kioran

   "It's time, Blessed One."

   I was instantly awake upon hearing Tenebris' voice. I got up from the bed, peering around the room. Knoxx was sprawled in a chair at my desk. E'ria and Analla were curled together on the floor on top of a few of my spare blankets.

   "Guys. Wake up."

   E'ria was instantly alert, jolting up and nudging Analla. She grumbled before groggily reaching for her own scouting bag.

   I walked over to Knoxx, smiling down at his sleeping form. His legs were extended in front of him, his head tipped over the top of the chair. I gently shook his shoulder, watching his silver eyes find my own. "Time to go."

   "Okay."

   I turned back around to face Tenebris, hearing Knoxx rise and stretch. "We're good. Can you scout ahead?"

   "I can do one better, child." She drifted out the window, slipping between the crack and heading downward. We all rushed over and peered down, but something truly bizarre happened.

   My friend's cried out when I suddenly rocked backward, nearly falling over. Their arms reached out to catch me, and then—

   And then I was seeing through Tenebris' eyes. I saw the ground rush up, only to be suddenly thrown up, looking at the purple wards of the school limits. "This is incredible."

   "Why thank you—is that him?"

   She drifted closer towards the school gates leading towards town. On the right of it at the base of the archway was a tall, lean young boy with the same colouring as Analla. His hair looked dark red from a distance, but as Tenebris drew closer it was actually a purple-black. His bronze eyes vigilantly scanned the grounds and skies, seeking out threats, a hand casually resting atop his sword pommel.

   Tenebris veered hard to the right when his gaze swept our way, eyes alight with magic.

   "Analla, describe your brother."

   I heard her voice as if from a distance. "He has the same skin as me. He should be wearing the sentinel uniform of blue and gold, but it would look new. Bronze eyes, arched brows, a narrow face with high cheekbones."

   "Purple-black, curled hair?"

   "That's him."

   "What kind of magic does he have?"

   "He has heightened senses, he's a tracker warlock. He can also relive memories when the user's magical signature is present. That's the main reason he was recommended as a sentinel."

   "Alright. Tenebris, come back."

   My vision blurred for a moment before it cleared and revealed my friends all staring at me. "If you're surprised, so am I."

   Tenebris drifted through the window in delicate, swirling shadows, not bothering to take on a humanoid appearance. "Can you teleport us through to him? Or through the wards? I saw you do it in our initial battle against you."

   "I can't go through the wards. Don't fret, of course I can get you to the boy. Hold on."

   We held each other's hands as Tenebris enveloped us in a dome of darkness, shadows pulsing around us as the presence of demonic magic filled the space around us. We breathed in—and were gone from my rooms within a heartbeat.

   The shadows surrounding us pulled back around our figures as we stepped forward, reforming into Tenebris' mass of swirling shadows as dark as an umbra. She sunk back under my skin to rest in my core, wholly alert. The rising light cast shadows on our features as Analla took the lead towards her brother standing straight-backed. His royal-blue, knee length tunic and pants, and medallion sash around his waist looked satin in the morning light.