The Coven Awakens (Hollow Hill Academy #1)

4. Ewan

Chapter 4

Ewan

C aius was in fine form this morning. Muttering quietly to himself about women and what a nuisance they were. Anyone listening would mistake him for a misogynist, but the truth was, Caius didn’t like anyone. He was singularly focused on his studies and graduating. Anything which risked that goal earned his ire.

It made me feel bad for the poor girl who had been saddled with us. Honestly, she seemed just as unhappy to be here as Caius was to have her in our space. Tati hadn’t told us much about her—we hadn’t even known her name, or that she was a woman—all we’d been told was they’re a newly discovered Scion. I couldn’t imagine what it was like. Did she know anything about what she was? Newly discovered could range from the school only just having learned of her existence, to her being one of the lost. My lineage kept a close eye on all its descendants, but I knew not all lineages were the same. Especially after the bloodline wars, where a lot of history and information had been lost. Not to mention not everyone kept track of their children or what they did when they were let loose in the world.

We followed Tati and Audrey out into the quad. The Showing always took place outside as some students had abilities which were dangerous if unleashed inside. I could still remember the heat against my skin when one girl in our starting class—a Scion of some sort of dragon—had unleashed a fire that swept around the crowd. It had threatened to consume us all.

We weren’t the only ones entering the quad. With all the talk about a new arrival, it wasn’t a surprise to see everyone was curious about her. Showings were always interesting and seeing what someone was truly capable of gave you a better insight into them. And some interesting things had happened over the years too. Ghosts being summoned, elements out of control, visions of the future sweeping over the crowd, even illusions which had felt more realistic than reality.

A low murmur passed through the gathering crowd as Audrey was led up to the basin, which stood in the center of the quad. Most of the time, it looked like a simple bird bath, full of murky water. Birds never drank from it, though, and the water had been drained out, likely by one of the faculty to prepare for this morning’s ritual.

Among the murmurs, I could hear people placing bets. The strong contender was her powers leaned toward divination magic. Oracles were the most easily lost of the Scions, the things they saw were dismissed as dreams, and easily written off. People speculated about her lineage as well, but the Showing rarely exposed lineage, as it was designed to reveal a person’s magical aptitude. For some people, like me, those two went hand in hand. But for others, like Caius, they were unique paths and his affinity for making potions had nothing to do with being a Scion of Erebus.

I heard Soren place a bet she had an elemental affinity, and I raised my eyebrows. Maybe he knew something I missed. Paiste was perched on my shoulders, fussing at being in the crowd, but he would take off if he got too uncomfortable. Caius still muttered, but strode through the crowd until we were at the front with a clear view of the new girl and the ritual she was about to undertake.

Tati murmured to her; no doubt she wove some sort of enchantment designed to keep her calm. Audrey glanced around, like she was looking for some way to escape, or maybe she didn’t like crowds. I couldn’t blame her, I’d usually be down in the woods by this time in the morning, well away from most of the other students.

The faculty was the last to join us, having taken their sweet time and likely giving the students a chance to gather. A few of them looked bored. Henri looked at us long enough to nod, before he turned his attention to Tati and Audrey as they were joined by the Head Witch, Seraphina. The head of the school rarely came out of her office, except for Showings. She likely had a lot on her plate, and so left the day-to-day tedium of dealing with students to her staff. Despite her frail appearance, the old woman stood straight-backed and gazed at us all with sharp yellow eyes. Her voice carried over the crowd, as unwavering and crisp as the first bite into a fresh apple.

“Magic is the gift of creation, of destruction. The world was woven together with magic, and it will end with magic. That strength and that power lives in each of you. In the core of who you are. Today, Audrey will show all of us who she is. Just as you have all shown who you are.” It was a speech I had heard many times before, but there was something about the ancient witch’s voice which still gave me chills.

Tati pulled a small dagger from her sleeve.

It wasn’t anything to look at, with no decoration on its hilt, and no runes carved into the blade. It wasn’t particularly well made or balanced. It was an athame, not a weapon. A symbol, a conduit to power. A tool Audrey did not look like she wanted to wield. More words were murmured, inaudible to the crowd, but Audrey wasn’t the first student Tati had coached through this process. It was the benefit of having an enchantress as the guidance counselor, she could convince anyone to do anything she wished.

With a roll of her eyes which would have made Caius proud, if he wasn’t so busy glaring at her, she pressed the blade to her hand as she held it over the basin. The crowd had been quiet since the Head Witch spoke, but now complete silence had fallen over the quad as we collectively held our breaths and waited.

But nothing happened.

It didn’t take long for the murmurs to start again. Was she really one of us or had a mistake been made? I’d never heard of someone having nothing happen during their Showing. Even those with a more subtle power, like warding and concealment, created some sort of display. The basin was supposed to show us the heights of what we were capable of, and to have nothing happen, it suggested Audrey wasn’t capable of anything.

Caius looked smug, undoubtedly already celebrating his victory, but I wasn’t sure yet. The murmur became a buzz, as students shifted and pushed forward like a wave, all trying to get a look at the girl like she was a sideshow exhibit. The faculty looked at each other, some expressed caution while a couple seemed fearful. Henri looked over at us again and gave us a little shake of his head. What he meant I did not know, as it wasn’t like we were rushing forward to involve ourselves.

Seraphina raised her gnarled hands into the air, and silence fell over the crowd again like a heavy blanket of snow. “All your nattering does nothing. It is a suppression spell, nothing more. And it is easily lifted.” Turning from the crowd, she moved to lay a hand on Audrey’s back. The poor new girl looked like she was ready to bolt, but there was soon a ring of faculty surrounding her—Henri amongst them—keeping her in place, but also hiding her from view.

Tilting my head, I looked at my coven-mates. Soren watched as if none of this surprised him, with his hands in his pockets and his body relaxed. When he caught my eye, he gave me a wink, which made me wonder if he had read further about this ritual. Divination was a type of magic I was not inclined toward. I was happy to leave portents and omens to him.

Caius’s eyes narrowed as he looked between Soren and me. Suspicion was clear in his gaze, like we’d planned this somehow, to get her to stay. I honestly wasn’t sure what his issue with her was. Our coven had space, even with Henri back at the school. It wasn’t like he could practice magic with us in classes or compete in the games. But once Caius got something into his head, changing it was like trying to pull out your teeth with your fingers—pointless and painful.

The faculty that surrounded Audrey muttered and chanted, as each attempted to unweave the spell. It was hard to tell if they were each trying something different or working together. Unweaving magic was notoriously difficult as most spells with a trigger also had a built-in failsafe. It was part of the balance the universe required in all things. A beginning and an ending. Unfortunately, if you didn’t know what the end was, sometimes all you could do was try a thousand different things, it was like trying to open a combination lock.

With the students now growing agitated, or perhaps bored, rustles of movement sounded. Although all the conversation was kept to a whisper, as no one wanted to dare draw the Head Witch’s attention away from her task. Poor Audrey was still standing there with her hand over the bowl, as her blood dripped slowly against the stone. Her eyes were clenched shut, and her entire body was tensed.

Paiste was growing bored as well, and I could feel his claws digging into my shoulder as he shuffled. I kept a leather guard strapped there to protect my skin, but the razor-sharp points still prickled. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a small length of sausage, about to hand it to him when the world went white, and it was blown out of my hand.

Screams rang from different points in the crowd, and the mass of students surged and stumbled. It took a moment for everything to come back into focus, and the white slowly faded, although bright spots still danced across my vision. Paiste had taken off from his perch, but I wasn’t sure where my familiar had gotten to. And right now, it wasn’t the most important thing competing for my attention.

The faculty had all been blown back from where they surrounded Audrey. I saw Henri and Tati as they helped Seraphina up from where she had knocked over a small group of students. But even that was a secondary point of concern. Like everyone else, I was staring at the young woman floating in the air, about ten feet off the ground.

She was not the first witch to show an affinity for flying. It was something all witches and warlocks mastered eventually, though most needed to use shapeshifting or a tool, like a broom or a mortar. But it wasn’t the only thing happening. Light pulsed out of her in waves and each time it washed over me, it was like breathing in sunlight. It felt like life, like energy. The grass we stood on had grown to our knees in a matter of seconds, and each wave drove it higher. Flowers sprouted all around us until we were standing in a sea of blooms.

Audrey hovered like there was a string tied around her chest that was pulling her upward. I wasn’t sure if she was conscious, as her eyes were wide and unseeing. Her body was limp, and her arms hung down toward the ground, her legs dangled. Each wave of light made her body jolt, the energy coming from deep inside.

“Look at her ears.” Caius’s voice was a hiss, soft enough to not draw attention from any of the students around us. I ignored all of them, as it wasn’t like we could do anything. Showings couldn’t be interrupted. You had to let them play out, or so we had always been told.

Caius was right, though, her ears had changed. They now came to long, delicate points, and it wasn’t the only physical change she displayed. Her short, chopped black hair grew with each wave of light until it was long enough to brush the small of her back.

“Is that a crown?” I wasn’t sure how else to describe the circlet of metal resting in her hair. It looked like it was woven with flowers and starlight, though it was hard to get a good look without moving closer, and my every instinct rooted me to the spot. In fact, I was having trouble staying on my feet at all, as some part of my brain kept telling me to kneel.

The faculty gathered together again, and were standing directly under Audrey, looking up at her. Tati had turned to look at the crowd, and was trying to reassure the students, but her words were largely falling on deaf ears.

“What do you think it is? Plants?” There were plenty of witches and warlocks at the school who could talk to or control plants, but none of them had ever given off pulses of light. Caius and Soren ignored my question. Soren’s hand on my back urged me forward as the surrounding crowd continued to move, some students tried to get away from the light while others pushed forward.

Suddenly, there was a terrifying crack which reverberated through the air. It was like reality itself broke. I’d heard bones break before, but never with such violence. Audrey’s body jerked in the air, and gray feathers sprouted along her arms as she lifted them high. Her body twisted and bones cracked and broke, before there was a loud screech. Then a great gray owl took off into the air, shooting upwards with powerful strokes of its impressive wingspan.

I didn’t need Soren to shove me forward, or Caius’s curses to tell me what to do. I thrust my bag back at Soren, then took two running steps forward before bursting into my flight form. My barn owl form was tiny compared to the great owl, but I knew this form better than most people knew their own bodies, and I wasn’t alone. I didn’t know if Paiste had known this was going to happen, but he was in the air ahead of me. We’d hunted together many times, and knew every inch of the school grounds and the air above it. I was never more grateful for the deep bond my familiar and I shared than at times like this.

Audrey flew like she was panicking; with large flaps of her wings, as if trying to gain as much distance away from the source of her fear as she could. I wasn’t sure if this was her first time in a different form, or how long she could hold it. The important thing was to keep her from getting lost in the woods. Flying over them was fine, but they stretched for miles in every direction, and the magic woven into them made them seem endless.

Paiste flew higher than us both and used this to his advantage. He dove at the owl, causing Audrey to bank right, directing her back toward the school buildings. Neither one of us wanted her hurt, and he wasn’t trying to knock her out of the air. We just needed to know where she was going. If any of the faculty followed us, they lagged too far behind to be of any use.

Weaving through the buildings wasn’t easy for the great owl. Its wingspan was perfect for distance flying, but Audrey either lacked the instinct, or she didn’t know how to let the bird control the finer points of angling its wings. I winced internally when Paiste breathed a stream of fire at her, and in response, Audrey clipped her wing on the spire of the combat hall.

My wince was quickly replaced with panic when she tucked the wing in, only to have it turn into an arm. The rest of her body quickly followed the change back to her human form. While she didn’t have far to fall, she landed awkwardly on the sloped roof of the building, then slid to the ground with a crunch.

Tucking myself into a dive, I could only hope she was breathing when I got to the ground.