The Coven Awakens (Hollow Hill Academy #1)

12. Ewan

Chapter 12

Ewan

P aiste had been bothering me all morning. Since I was still trying to win him over, I took him outside as soon as my botany class finished. Aside from my shapeshifting class, lately I spent most of my time in my room with the others, trying to come up with a way to make things up to Audrey. We hadn’t gotten very far yet, with both Caius and I continuing to look at Soren expectantly. What was the point of being friends with someone who could see the future, if he couldn’t tell you what sort of gift would make someone forgive you? But he’d been as tight-lipped as ever, only saying things didn’t work that way, and we needed to be the ones to make the decision.

Coming outside would be good for both Paiste and me, my skin itched if I spent too long inside. I wasn’t allergic to dust or anything, more that my comfort place was outdoors. It soothed the Scion part of my soul. Given the chance, I would be out here all the time. The woods weren’t safe to sleep in, though, even for someone like me. I had tried it once. I hadn’t even made it to midnight before I’d run for the safety of my room.

Paiste took to the air as soon as we were outside. His wings flapped hard until he was above the rooftops before he opened them to soar. It didn’t matter how cold it got, there were always good thermals coming off the buildings. I wasn’t sure if magic generated heat, but I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I just trusted it had all its teeth because it could still eat.

My hands were in my pockets as I walked beneath Paiste. I wasn’t headed anywhere in particular, more so enjoying the small amount of fall sun. It would be winter soon, and the grounds would be blanketed in snow. The flowers which had sprouted during Audrey’s Showing were still growing strong, and I was interested to see what would happen to them during the winter. Some students had taken to picking them, whether for potion ingredients or for aesthetics, but there were still more there each day.

Paiste was making the most of his time in the air, flying upwards in tight spirals, then diving. I was glad he was getting the chance to stretch his wings, and hopefully it would put him in a better mood for the afternoon. The boys and I had a brainstorming session planned after class to work out the gift for Audrey.

It was a good thing I was watching him, or I would have missed the pulse of light which went across the sky. It wasn’t uncommon to see magic in the air; we were so far from civilization it was safe to do almost anything outside. All the shifters could fly without being worried about anyone seeing them. But the pulse of light looked a lot like a white wave, and it was coming from the woods. A white wave of light I had seen before.

Paiste saw it too and shifted his flight path, no longer playing in the air. He flew straight toward the woods; he had a better view and was now flying with urgency. There was no way I could keep up with his speed on two feet, so I shifted, landing on four paws. I preferred my stag form when I was in the woods, but if Audrey was in there and something had happened, I would need the senses my wolf gave me to help find her.

The fog which filled the woods felt more claustrophobic today. It was denser, swirling around like it was trying to push me back. It stuck to my fur, chilling me even through my thick coat. None of this was a good sign, and I pushed myself further as I raced through the trees.

It was harder to see Paiste through the canopy, but I could catch glimpses of his wings above the trees. He wasn’t flying deeper into the woods, but he was flying away from the buildings. Another wave of white light washed over me, lighting up the fog and temporarily blinding me. I had to rely on my sense of smell, slowing my sprint until I could make out the shadows of the trees again. I didn’t want to barrel headfirst into a tree trunk.

There was a crash ahead of me, and I could see the outline of my familiar as he landed on the ground. The mists finally parted as I reached him, and what I saw brought me to a standstill. I was back in my human form within seconds, as I kneeled over Audrey, where she was slumped on the ground beside a tree.

“Paiste, go get help. Caius—have him meet us at the tree line. You know he doesn’t enjoy coming in here.” With no complaint, my familiar took off into the air again. It wasn’t as easy trying to get airborne in among the trees, and he struggled, flapping hard before he broke above the canopy. I trusted him to do as he was told and turned my attention back to Audrey.

Black ichor dripped from her mouth and puncture marks lined her jaw. It slicked her throat and her shirt. I tried to wipe it away to make sure her throat wasn’t injured, but touching it was like plunging my hands into a bucket of ice. Wincing, I pulled them back and made sure I hadn’t injured my fingers. I didn’t know any healing magic. Caius and I were Autumn courtiers, and it wasn’t innate to either of us. Caius would have some potions which would help her, though. I shook her gently, but her body was limp, lifeless. It was only because her chest moved and I could hear reedy, struggling breaths I knew she was still alive. Another pulse of light came from her chest, this one weaker, and I frowned. It did nothing to heal the injuries she’d sustained. Audrey was already pale, but her skin now looked more like Caius’s, her veins dark and visible underneath. I thought I knew all the creatures found in these woods, but I had no idea what could have done this to her.

Needing to carry her out of here, I slid my arms under her shoulders and knees. “Sorry about this, a chara. I need to move you. Please stay asleep.” I knew she wasn’t sleeping, but I also wasn’t sure if there were any other injuries under her clothes. The last thing either of us needed was for her to regain consciousness with me taking her clothes off. That could wait until we got her to the medical wing. Once I’d hoisted her into my arms, I got to my feet. Now I had to find my way out of here. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and focused on my senses. I didn’t need to shift all the way to use them. Scents filled my nose, and my entire body flinched as I was flooded with a sharp, acrid smell. It was familiar, but I couldn’t recall exactly where I had smelled it before. Pushing it to the side, I tried to smell out the distinct scent of the school. A myriad of people, the stone of the buildings, the whole place smelled deeply of magic.

Once I had a direction, I set off at a loping run. The pulses of light were occurring further apart now, getting weaker. I was doing my best to keep Audrey as steady as I could in my arms, pulled tight into my chest. It surprised me how quickly I reached the tree line. She hadn’t been deep in the woods, and very few of the creatures who lived there came this close to the school unless something drove them here. It was something to think about later. Once I knew she was all right, and we had worked out what happened.

I was rounding the necromancy hall when a call from the sky caught my attention. Paiste swooped back down toward me as Caius ran past the corner of the building. I normally would have been surprised to see him running, his woolen coat flapping as he did. Caius rarely moved anywhere quickly; things happened at the speed he demanded.

“What happened?” He sounded out of breath. After this was over, I needed to suggest he come running with me. He wouldn’t take me up on it, but I could still make the offer. I didn’t really want to set Audrey down only to have to move her again, but our room was too far away. But I didn’t want anyone to bother us either, and people were gossiping about Audrey enough. Motioning with my head for him to follow me, I ducked back around the building, out of sight of anyone leaving the necromancy hall.

“I was taking Paiste out to stretch his wings when I saw one of her waves of light roll across the sky. We followed it and found her like this.” To emphasize my point, a pulse of light came weakly from her chest, this one was only enough to cover her body. “The light should heal her, but it doesn’t, and I don’t know what’s wrong.”

Caius dropped to his knees once we were out of sight, sitting his bag down beside him. Kneeling across from him, I lay Audrey down as carefully as I could between us. Paiste gave another cry from the edge of the roof, and I looked up at him.

“Get Henri. Wait until his class is over and then bring him back here. I will let you know if we’ve moved.” The little beast nodded and took off again. It wasn’t the first time I was grateful I had him. He would make sure Henri understood the urgency of what had happened, just like with Caius. I wasn’t sure if he’d insisted Caius bring his bag, but I was glad he had.

While I set Paiste to his next task, Caius looked over Audrey. His gloves were off and his black hands ran along her jaw, shadows wriggled out from his skin to brush against hers. Whatever they told him brought a frown to his face.

“Tell me more about what happened.” His tone was snappish, but I didn’t take it personally. He was focused on Audrey, on helping her, and he needed me to be succinct. While I took a second to gather my thoughts and to remember all the details I had seen, he pushed up the sleeves of his coat. It wasn’t often I saw Caius’s arms, and the black which coated his hands had risen higher than the last time I’d seen them. When I had first met him, it had only been an inch past his fingertips, like he had dipped them into ink. By the end of our first year, it had crept up to his wrists. Now it was halfway up his forearms, the tendrils reaching toward his elbows. The more he used his lineage abilities, the higher the black marks climbed, but it never stopped him.

“She was in the woods, leaning up against a tree. Not too far in. I don’t know any creatures who come so close, or who would mark her like this. Those don’t look like bite marks.” He said nothing in response, just made a sound of agreement as he studied the wounds along her jaw, as he turned her face left and right. After a moment, he laid his hand over the lower half of her face like he was grabbing it. Both of us frowned as he moved his fingers to fit where the wounds were placed.

“Someone grabbed her! You think a student did this? Or is there someone else on the grounds?” The questions flew from my mouth, even though I knew he wouldn’t have the answers. He knew as much as I did about what had happened to her. Light pulsed from her chest again, but it barely extended beyond her rib cage.

“She’s getting weaker. Whatever was done to her is pushing her powers down, or it’s stronger. And I don’t want to think of what could be stronger than what you described after your little chase.” He opened his bag as he spoke, one hand still cradling her jaw in place.

The first thing he pulled out was an empty vial with a swab in it. I took it from him so he could concentrate on helping her.

“From around the wound, please.” His instruction made sense. We needed to know more about what or who had done this, but there was not time for detailed analysis right now. Taking the swab from the vial, I ran it gently over the wound and collected some of the black ichor seeping from her. Once it was in the vial, I stoppered the glass and leaned over her body to put it back into Caius’s bag.

While I worked, he pulled out other bottles. A red liquid dripped from one of them, and it hissed as it met her skin. He immediately righted the bottle, but confusion furrowed his brow. His reaction was nothing compared to hers, though. Her body convulsed, her jaw clenching, her arms and legs shook as she spasmed on the ground.

“Hold her steady!” Caius searched through his bag frantically, not looking at Audrey. My heart felt like it pounded in my throat as I pressed my hands down on her shoulders. As much as I wanted to be gentle with her, I needed to put most of my body weight into holding her down against the ground.

“Whatever you’re going to do, Cai, hurry.” He ignored me as I snapped at him. Audrey’s head shook back and forth, but I had no free hand to steady her. Making a snap decision, I shifted into my horned serpent form—it had been a tossup between that and my wolf—this would work better. Taking care not to catch her with my ram’s horns, I wrapped her body as quickly as I could, squeezing just enough to hold her still, but not suffocate her. I could feel her body as it struggled against my scales, and I carefully slid under her head to keep her from bashing it against the ground.

“Good thinking. Hold her steady.” Caius had a jar in his hand this time, and his gloves were back on. He spread a salve along her jaw and the convulsions eased slowly. As they did, I relaxed my hold until I could uncoil from her completely, setting her back down on the grass and returning to my human form. I now crouched over her again, brushing her hair back from her face, and her skin felt clammy beneath my fingers.

I didn’t need to ask Caius what it was he used. He already muttered to himself in a mix of Greek and English and I caught bits and pieces of it. He was talking about the reactions of compounds with each other. Audrey's breathing had evened out somewhat, her chest rising and falling more steadily than when I found her. Though I was still just as worried.

“It’s some kind of poison, I think. But I don’t want to risk doing any more damage. I need to study the sample we took and run some tests. Bring her up to our room. Henri can have Healer Torin join us there. If it was a student who attacked her, I don’t want her in the medical wing.”

Carefully keeping the surprise from my expression at the care he was showing toward Audrey, I picked her up again. She felt limper in my hold, as though she had grown worse. And I squeezed her closer to my chest, hoping some of my body heat would help to warm her.

Class was still in session, but there wasn’t much time until lunch. Caius had his bag in his hands within seconds. How he had packed it up so quickly when I knew he was a stickler for everything being in its place was a question not worth asking. We made our way across the grounds as fast as we could without running, as neither of us wanted to draw any attention.

Once we were in our apartment, I turned to take her into her room, but Caius stepped in my way.

“Put her in my room. She won’t want everyone in her space again, and it will be easier to run the tests I need if she is near my equipment.” Caius was full of surprises today. He didn’t like to let people into his space. Partly because he was a control freak, but I wondered if it was also because he knew the effect his room could have—it was uncomfortable being so close to the void.

Regardless, he opened the door and turned on the light. It did little to illuminate the space. It felt like the darkness which lived on the roof was trying to smother me as I set Audrey down on the silk sheets on his bed. With a wave of his hand, the shadows and darkness retreated. They weren’t gone entirely, but compared to normal, it felt as though the room was flooded with light.

“Pull up a chair. This is going to take a while.” He set his case down on his desk and turned his attention to the array of potion-making apparatus that took up most of the space.

I didn’t want to be far from Audrey. I was worried about her. Those convulsions had terrified me, and I didn’t want to see her go through them again. Rather than pulling up a chair, I toed off my shoes and rounded the bed before climbing to sit next to her.

Henri would be here soon, and he would know what to do.