When brunch was over, Faylin waved her hand, so that the dishes levitated to the sink and washed themselves. “Come with me,” she said. “So far, we’ve been teaching you all defensive Unseelie magic. But that is not our kind’s original purpose. We were bred to hunt and fight. And teach you to kill, we shall.”
Her foreboding words hovered over us as she led us downstairs, to the basement of the house. When she opened the door, we stepped into a large stone space that was the length of the Field itself, and nearly as tall. It was an illusion, called to create more space within the small townhouse, but it held well.
“I created this illusion to give us space to practice,” Vocheck said as he stepped forward. “We’ll need it.”
“What are we learning?” Emma placed her hands on her hips, eager to start.
“Offensive Unseelie magic is powerful, but draining,” Faylin began. “You must have something strong to pull from, if you’re to use it in battle.”
“I read about this in my grimoire,” Emma said as she waved it in the air. She shuffled through the pages and read her translation notes aloud. “For battle, it is best for an Unseelie to draw from objects that have innate magical energy, like fresh snow that has fallen under a full moon, the hair of sorceresses, or remnants of shifters, such as teeth, scales, feathers, or horns.”
“Precisely,” Vocheck said. “We’ve gathered a few of these, for you to use in practice.”
He waved his hand, and a table appeared in front of us. It was covered in things like the pelts of monsters, calcified monster eggs, and nests that monsters had created. Wolven teeth, dragon scales, griffin feathers and alicorn horns laid beside them.
I didn’t know where they’d procured such objects from, but I thought it best not to ask questions. I reached out and pocketed a wolven teeth before Emma picked up a griffin feather and asked, “What do we do with them?”
“First, draw the energy into yourself,” Faylin instructed. “It will be difficult. These items have a lot of power, and therefore, it’s difficult to contain the magic without letting it loose. You must do the spell quickly, so you can shape the dark energy to your will without setting it free.”
“What are we creating?” Arthur asked.
“You will be conjuring a dark creature called a spriggan,” Vocheck said. “Each Unseelie has one of their own, that they can call from the realms of Edinmyre to their aid. Spriggans are one of the few faekin that can cross the divide from Edinmyre to Earth without much trouble. They are useful, but dangerous.”
“A creature that can fight for us? That sounds convenient,” Emma said.
“A spriggan isn’t something to toy with,” Vocheck said sternly. “They are harshly malevolent faekin, and often uncontrollable. We do not call on them unless we are in dire need.”
Faylin wiggled her fingers. Dummies filled with straw appeared around the room. “You are to summon your spriggan, and order it to destroy the dummies ahead. If it gets out of control, Vocheck and I have the means to kill it, but if you wish to be a real Unseelie, you must gain power over what you conjure. Now take your object in hand, and draw from its power.”
I held on to the wolven tooth. I began to draw power from it, and as its magic filtered into my body, pressure began building in my arms and chest. It felt like holding back an iron door. I struggled to keep it within me, instead of setting it loose. If I did that, I was certain an explosion was bound to happen. Beside me, Emma and Arthur’s arms shook with the effort of keeping the dark magic inside.
“Now that you have your magic, use it to call upon your spriggan,” Faylin said. “Send it out to Edinmyre as an offering, feeding the faekin, and if it is accepted, the creature will arrive to do your bidding.”
The moment I did so, I wish I hadn’t. I felt the dark energy leave my body, and as it did, a smoky, spectral form accumulated in front of me. It was a creature that looked composed of dark black clouds. It had no eyes, nor a face— just a jagged, fanged mouth that hinged open, and hands that ended in too-long claws. The spriggan hovered in front of me, giving a creepy, spine-tingling noise that made the hairs on my arms stand up.
Spriggans also appeared before Emma and Arthur. They looked identical, the same toothsome grins and vapid forms. Emma nodded toward the first dummy, and her spriggan tore at it with a screech.
My mouth went dry in horror as I watched the spriggan tear apart the dummy with its claws, sending fabric scraps and straw everywhere. Arthur and I ordered our spriggans to copy Emma’s, and the room was turned into a mess of straw and fabric. The spriggans made quick work, ruining the dummies in seconds and giving screeches of gut-wrenching noises all the while. In moments, they’d ripped the dummies to shreds. I could only imagine what they’d do to a body.
“Once its work is done, banish it back to Edinmyre,” Faylin said. “Do not allow spriggans to linger for any reason.”
I told my spriggan to leave, and Emma and Arthur did the same. The creatures dissipated, just like smoke. Even when their presence was gone from us, I still felt the cool chill of the spriggan infecting the entire room. It nearly made me feel ill, to see such a thing and have it at my command.
“Be aware that using a spriggan is a last resort,” Faylin said. “In the worst of circumstances, they can turn on you. You will be able to destroy them by sending them away before they harm you, but only if you catch them in time. A death by a spriggan is an awful end.”
I had no need or want to ever use these vile creatures against someone else, yet the knowledge was good to have all the same.
“Is there any offensive Unseelie magic we can use that doesn’t have the potential to kill us?” Emma asked.
“No,” Faylin said bluntly. “With Unseelie magic, there is always a risk. However, there are Unseelie spells you can use that are far safer than conjuring a spriggan.”
Faylin wove her hands again, conjuring a collection of targets around the room before she picked up an alicorn horn. “I can transfer the power from the horn, and change it into an offensive spell. Watch.”
She opened her palm, and a jet of black magic burst from her fingertips. She shot it at the target, which immediately erupted into black flames once her magic hit it. Arthur and Emma applauded in approval.
I took another wolven tooth from the table, and attempted to fire. I stumbled backward when Unseelie magic burst from my fingers, but it fizzled out when I lost concentration. I tried again, and the magic took, becoming a ball of black fire that soared into the nearest target and knocked it over. Emma and Arthur attempted the spell, and within moments, the room was full of balls of black flame whizzing from this way to that.
I found my Unseelie magic was weaker than Emma and Arthur’s was. When my magic hit the target, it left a hole, but didn’t burst into flames as theirs had. I still had a lot to learn about Unseelie magic.
