The Culling Trials 3 (Shadowspell Academy #3)(38)

“Surl-ah-age!”

The word was garbled. I couldn’t see the accompanying flick. I had no idea what he was going for.

The beast roared, a surprised, pain-filled sound. Its feet stomped and shuffled. Whatever that spell was supposed to do had worked.

“Surlahage,” I shouted, aiming for an ankle, the easiest thing to hit, and flicking my wand in a clumsy fist. The movement was more a whip crack than a flick.

A jet of white flew, arcing through the air and pinging into the dinosaur’s knee area. It blistered the tough skin. The T-Rex roared, though it didn’t sound as pained this time, and bent its opened mouth toward the ground. Toward Ethan.

I swung the wand again, wanting to really explode that knee. “Surlage!”

The second try was wrong, I could feel it. Everything felt wrong, from the movement to the instrument to the word itself.

Gray-black light erupted from the wand this time, in a straight shot, flung with some vigor. It hit the beast’s ankle, as hoped, slashing a line of red.

“Yes, yes!” I shouted, giddy from my accomplishment.

The T-Rex roared, almost a howl of pain, before whipping its big head around to me. Its tiny yellow eye took me in. Oops.

“Oh no! Oh no!”

I turned and ran, unable to quell the instinct to flee something that big. The ground shook as the predator changed direction and charged.

“Throw another spell. Throw another spell!” I shouted over my shoulder, probably not heard over all the commotion. “Take out its feet!” I flicked the wand over my shoulder, following my words. “Surblage. No, surfledge. Surlahedge!”

Various streams of color zipped out. An explosion took me off my feet and flung me forward. I twisted in the air and landed on my side in time to see the last spell splat way up onto the dinosaur’s chest. The beast rocked back and forth, waving its little arms and roaring at the sky, teeth snapping together over and over.

Another stream of light came at it from the other side. “Gar-gant-rain-ium.”

“Gargant-rainium,” I said quickly, trying for the proper word flow and attempting an artful flick. It looked like something was stuck on the end of the wand and I was trying to flick it off. “Garg…antum. Dang it, I forgot the rain. Gargant-rain-ium!”

I wasn’t great at remembering the words, they were too damn weird.

The wand vibrated like a broken washing machine, and I nearly dropped it in discomfort. The beast roared as a spell hit it from behind. It turned, in time for my streams of brown and murky green to hit it broadside.

“Those colors aren’t right,” I said, hopping up as a splash of red washed across the T-Rex’s side.

It roared, worse than before, and shook its great head. Red gushed down its body, and I realized I’d opened that wound with one of those garbled spells.

“Which one?” I murmured through my teeth, not running back to Ethan. Hitting it from both sides was better, as long as each of us could keep it from chomping down on the other. “Gargant-ium!” I slapped the wand at the air and more horrible vibrations ran up my arm. “Rain! Damn it. Gargantrainium!”

Pus-yellow light flew out this time, hitting the creature’s hip. Blisters preceded smoke and then flame, curling up the T-Rex’s skin. A clear, vibrant green light flew toward it from the opposite side, exploding.

The beast’s little arms clawed at the air as it shook its head again, its mighty mouth open and its body sagging a little. I could just barely see Ethan behind the thick leg, advancing with swagger, wand held out confidently, slipping into striking range to deliver his killing shot.

“No, no, no!” I ran at him, all my senses firing. Fear driving my legs faster than they’d normally go. “Not so close—”

Ethan shot out, his wand flicking gracefully, his body broad and powerful. His instructor had obviously been a complete idiot. He was making himself a perfect target.

“Entitlement doesn’t work on a beast,” I yelled, readying my wand again. “Back away, Ethan! Get out of the striking range! It’s not ready to die!”

A beautiful deep crimson stream flew through the air, slicing into the creature as it bent toward its target, its mouth open wide.

“No! Surpledge!”—wand slash—“Geranium!”—wand slap—“Gargant-rain-um!” I was basically waving my wand like it was a whip now, something I actually knew how to do. It was helping...but not enough. The scene spilled out in front of me, a horror show I couldn’t escape.

The beast moved faster than ever before as it shot toward a wide-eyed Ethan. The T-Rex’s teeth snapped closed on his middle with a sickening crunch.

I sucked in a horrified breath as my murky, hideous spells slapped and slashed at the beast, one ripping a hunk of skin off its back, another peeling all the skin from its leg, and the third exploding against it. A tiny arm was flung off.

The beast staggered, opening its mouth to roar. Ethan fell out to the side, stiff from fear-driven paralysis or the first death in this challenge. I was hoping for the former.

I ran toward him, throwing up more spells haphazardly as I moved, dodging the clumsy feet of the agonized T-Rex. My spells hit home without the damage of the previous few.

My wand waving. I was too panicked for Ethan. I hadn’t waved it as forcefully the last few times.

“Help,” Ethan moaned as I got close. The T-Rex’s clawed foot slammed down, forty feet away, the creature howling in pain as it spun and clawed uselessly at itself.