My heart rate spikes as I realize I’m outside. I really don’t want to be out here alone and within talon range of mythical bird sentries that want to rip me to shreds.
What the hell was I thinking?
I sit up and something dark flashes in my peripheral vision. Before I can react, a force slams into me from the side, knocking me tumbling in the grass as the breath rushes from my lungs.
I scramble to my hands and feet, but the invisible force shoves me down and I crash to the ground face first. The air around me thickens, pressing in from all sides, then comes a bone-deep, paralyzing chill that makes my teeth chatter.
“Who’s there?” I push up to my feet, spinning to find the academy building to retreat. Only… there is no building.
How is that possible?
I turn a full circle, and there’s nothing around me but inky darkness. “What’s happening? Where am I?”
There’s no answer, but shadows gather around me, twisting into grotesque shapes that lunge and retreat like predatorstoying with their prey. One brushes against my arm, and I cry out as a searing burn sizzles across my skin.
It feels like an electrical hot wire has been wrapped around my forearm.
Another shadow passing catches my cheek, sharp as a paper cut but colder than ice. I try to bat it away, but my hands pass through it uselessly, meeting nothing but frigid air that numbs my fingertips.
The shadows morph before my eyes, transforming into crawling insects with too many legs and glistening carapaces. They skitter across my skin in waves, up my ankles, around my wrists, across my collarbone.
These aren’t ghosts.
I know they’re not real—they can’t possibly be real—but my fear is overwhelming, primal and unstoppable. My heart hammers against my ribs so hard I worry it might crack bone, each beat pounding in my ears as I frantically swipe at my arms, my legs, my face, gasping for breath that won’t come.
The sensation of tiny feet marching across my skin makes me want to tear it off completely.
“Stop!” I shout, but my plea does nothing.
The ground beneath me ripples like water. I stumble, falling to my knees as wave after wave of terror washes over me. This isn’t just fear—it’s magic designed to amplify fear, turning it into something monstrous.
I try to remember the calming sigil, but panic scrambles my thoughts. The shadows converge, pressing closer, scratching and biting. These phantom attackers might not be real, but them slicing my skin and drawing blood is real.
Too real.
“Enough!” The feminine command cuts through the chaos as a flash of purple light erupts all around me. The shadows scatter like startled birds, and the oppressive weight lifts instantly.
A figure rushes toward me—a girl with glossy black hair streaked with red. She kneels beside me, her gray eyes scanning my face.
“Are you okay?” she asks, helping me to my feet.
I’m shaking so hard I can barely stand. “W-what was that?”
“That was aShadow Hex.” She examines the scratches on my arms with a frown. “A nasty one, too. Any idea who might have it out for you?”
I blink back at her, my mind spinning. “That’s a very long list, I’m afraid.”
She offers a steadying arm as my knees threaten to buckle. “I’m Rowan. And I take it you’re the Hallowind witch that got added to our dorm?”
“Poppy, yeah.” I wince as the adrenaline ebbs, leaving the scratches covering most of my exposed skin stinging and burning. “Thanks for... whatever you did.”
“A kickass counterspell if I do say so. Now, let’s get you inside.”
She turns, guiding my steps, and I stare up at the magical city of Arcana lighting up the night sky and the academy building glowing under the light of the moon not three-hundred feet away.
“It wasn’t there. I looked. I tried to go inside, but there was nothing but darkness.”
Rowan ignores my ramblings and continues guiding me toward the building. “Likely a spell. Lucky for you, shadow work is kind of my thing.”
