A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)(2)

“I’ve instructed my garrison to get everything ready. They’ll set sail first thing in the morning,” Rebel said, watching him curiously.

Draven placed the crystals along the circle line, matching north, south, east and west. He then straightened his back and looked at us, while the Druids stepped closer to squint at the crystals.

“This was in a forbidden scroll,” he explained briefly. “The spell isn’t that difficult to put together; it just requires a lot of live energy to jumpstart, after which it functions on its own. It looks small, but the space inside will be infinitely bigger. We’re going to create a miniature world, with some natural resources and a stream. We’ll use growth spells to produce food, and drink the water for sustenance.”

He then looked at Jovi.

“I left a trunk with spell supplies by the forbidden section in the archive hall. It’s black, with brass handles. Can you bring it over here, please? We’ll need the supplies for our practice inside the circle.”

Jovi nodded, and Field joined him as they rushed to the archive hall.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Consider it a time cheat,” he replied. “Anything that goes on within this circle is not subject to the passage of time as we know it... Everything is slowed down. A minute in normal Eritopian time will be a day within the circle, basically. If we go and learn our high-level spells in there, we’ll have months at our disposal, while only hours go by here. Once we go in, we cannot come back before we finish our training. If any of us leave before we’re done, the spell breaks, and time is a precious commodity for us right now.”

He looked at me intently, his steely eyes flickering black as a feeling of longing and anguish poured out of him. He was locking himself in that spell for several months, and he was pained by how much he was going to miss me. I could feel his thoughts poking at the back of my head in the form of deep emotions. It would only be hours for me.

“What do you mean by ‘live energy’?” Jovi asked as he and Field returned with the trunk and left it at Draven’s feet. Field stepped back and stared at the crystals, his brows drawn close and his mouth flattened into a thin line.

“Energy from living creatures, such as yourselves,” Draven replied, looking somewhat guilty.

“What will it do to us?” Field looked at him, holding his side. His wound from the Sluaghs’ attack was still healing. The young Druids had patched him up quite nicely, saying he just needed to rest and he’d be good as new by morning. It did nothing to soothe his pain at losing Aida to Azazel, though.

“All dark magic inherently draws energy from living beings. According to the notes I found on the back of the scroll, it will most likely cause fatigue and nothing more. You can regain your strength with food and sleep. The darker, more evil spells kill the creatures they feed on, but this one isn’t like that. From what I read in the Druids’ records, this spell was forbidden to prevent it from being used by lawless Druids trying to hide away from justice. We are a good-natured species by design, but even we have our rotten apples.”

A moment passed in silence as Jovi, Field, and I looked at each other, eventually nodding.

“Do it, then,” I told Draven.

“Are you sure?”

“We need you Druids to be at the top of your game when we face Azazel tomorrow.” I sighed. “We’re more than happy to help you get there.”

“Besides, you said I can sleep it off,” Jovi added. “I’m fine with that, just like I’m fine with eating for three.”

“You always eat for three,” Field mumbled, prompting the corner of Jovi’s mouth to move slightly. It warmed me to see them unwilling to let Azazel ruin their jovial nature. We couldn’t let him mess with our emotions. We couldn’t let him win.

“Good, then I’ll need you to hold one of these,” Draven replied, and handed each of us, including Rebel, a clear, round crystal. “Close your fist around it, and hold it against mine.”

He wrapped his fingers around a blue crystal and reached out. We all did as he said, gripping our crystals, then touching his hand with our knuckles. He muttered something under his breath, presumably the dark spell he needed to draw energy from us, because I instantly felt my limbs buzzing, and a wave of exhaustion came over me. The crystals in our hands lit up a peculiar shade of amber, our energy pulsating from within before it all vanished, while Draven’s blue crystal became an incandescent turquoise.

“Thank you,” he said, then turned around to face the circle.

He muttered something else, then tossed the glowing turquoise crystal into the middle. The crystal splattered into a bright bluish liquid that spread out over the floor until it covered the entire surface encompassed by the chalk circle, then swelled, until we found ourselves gaping at a large dome made of turquoise light, buzzing and flickering like a neon tube. I couldn’t see through it.

“Well, you weren’t kidding about the tired part.” Jovi yawned and rubbed his face with his palms. “Not that bad, though. I’ve still got some hours left in me!”

The spell had taken some energy out of me, but it hadn’t drained me completely either. Field stretched his arms out and stifled a yawn, but he, too, seemed pretty much okay. Rebel, on the other hand, looked quite tired.

The Druids stood around the light dome, waiting for Draven to say something. He came up to me and took me in his arms, pressing his lips against mine in a tender, knee-melting kiss. I felt his love trickle through me like warm sunshine.