“Well,” she murmured, sounding almost pleased.
She lifted one hand, and that was all it took.
“You’re my little homing beacon,” she whispered.
The shadows broke loose at once, diving toward us in a dark, rushing wave.
Ardetia reacted first. Her hands came up, and bright magic flared through the clearing.
Nova unleashed a bolt of green flame, and Bella leapt.
Twobble screamed and reinforced the barrier as Skonk swung the broom like a champion of chaos.
And through it all, the Priestess stood calmly in the mist, watching the fight like someone enjoying the opening act of a play.
Her eyes never left mine as the mark on my shoulder burned hotter.
And somewhere deep in the magic of Stonewick—
Something answered our call.
The shadows came down like a flock of black birds startled out of the trees.
Ardetia’s magic flashed first, a bright ribbon of pale light cutting through the clearing. Several shadows hit it and burst apart in smoky fragments, but more poured through the gaps behind them.
Nova stepped in beside her, green fire snapping from her hands. The flames streaked upward and caught two of the diving shapes midair. They shrieked and unraveled, dissolving before they could hit the ground.
Bella didn’t bother with spells. She launched herself forward and slammed into one of the shadows with the force of a thrown spear. It burst apart under her strike, scattering across the forest floor.
“Keep them back!” Nova shouted.
Twobble was already scrambling around the circle he’d drawn earlier, reinforcing the glowing boundary with frantic little bursts of gold magic.
“I’m doing my best!” he yelled. “But there are a lot of them!”
Skonk swung the broom again, connecting with a shadow that had slipped through the barrier. It hit the bristles and splattered against a tree trunk before slowly pulling itself back together.
“That is deeply troubling,” he announced.
Another wave dove.
I raised my wand and reached for the Hedge magic that had answered me so easily before.
The ground shivered.
Vines shot upward in a wild tangle, thorned branches twisting through the air as they snapped toward the nearest shadows. One creature hit the thorns and dissolved immediately, smoke curling up from the places where the magic touched it.
Another got caught halfway through the hedge and began tearing at the vines, writhing like something alive.
I pushed harder.
The vines thickened, climbing over one another until a wall of living bramble stood between us and the forest.
“Good,” Stella said, raising the skillet. “I like walls.”
But the shadows weren’t slowing.
They poured down from the branches in twisting streams, slipping through the air faster now, as if something beyond the trees was urging them forward.
