The Breaker (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #2)(78)

Natalie appeared in the doorway, her eyes wide with concern as she took in the newly forged battlefield.

“I left Jari to watch over Aamir,” she explained quickly.

Alex nodded. “We need you out there.”

There wasn’t time for much more in the way of conversation as Natalie slid into the ranks and shaped magic beneath her hands, firing spells and hexes in the Head’s direction. For a moment, Alex thought he saw a thin stream of blue-tinged magic leave her fingertips, but wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light.

A moment later, a spear with a pinkish hue at its center rippled from Natalie’s palms, and she threw it with great force. A bellowing roar rose up from the Head as the point hit him square in the shoulder, and Alex knew Natalie had moved away from the basic, everyday magic everyone else was using. He didn’t like it, but he knew it wasn’t the time to stop her. Whatever she was doing, it was working.

Lintz passed Alex bombs and traps from a bag clipped to the side of his leg, watching with gleeful pride as Alex proved himself to be a superb shot.

Barrage after barrage of magic artillery thundered across the front lawn, making the very ground tremble as the energy battered against the Head’s skeletal form. It kept him at bay, but it was nowhere near enough to defeat him. Alex wasn’t sure if the Head was just biding his time, but he knew the ancient wizard had more in his tank than he was currently revealing; he was luring them into a false sense of security. The Head fought back, of course, glistening streams of energy pouring fluidly from his clawed hands, knocking students back and snatching away their projectiles—but he did not seem interested in attacking them with all the strength he had within him. He seemed more intent on defending himself and letting the gathered students tire. Alex frowned, unsure why the Head was holding back.

The small force held him off successfully for a while, but they were starting to wear out. The explosions grew quieter as the dripping sweat on the forehead of every soldier glistened slickly in the glow of their magical fallout. The barrages were fewer and farther between, wizards staggering their spells to try to cover those who could not conjure any more. Each blast and bang was a whimper of its former self. The students were not as quick with their energy, wrists and fingers moving more slowly as aches began to set in. The only ones who seemed as fresh as ever were Natalie, Gaze, and the Head himself.

“Gaze, take the students and regroup! Use the hallways!” ordered Lintz, shouting to his colleague above the rumble of exploding bombs. He seemed to have an endless stash stored about his person, and as he turned back to the fight, he spun his satchel around to the front of his body and flipped open the leather flap. Inside, to Alex’s awe, the satchel was full to the brim with mechanical, magical bombs and traps. Clockwork animals, too—a tiny mechanical army within the battered leather bag.

Lintz delved into the depths of the satchel and pulled out the owl Alex had seen him working on what seemed like years ago. The professor launched the winged creature into the air. It flapped vigorously as it weaved around flying spells and hurled projectiles, stopping above the Head’s hood, where it circled and dived, dropping tiny explosions of magic onto the target below.

“I shall stay with you,” said Natalie, standing beside Lintz.

“Me too,” agreed Alex.

“Students, with me!” roared Gaze with startling volume. She beckoned for the students to follow her as she sent a rippling barrier of fierce, white-hot energy in the Head’s direction. It seemed to pour from the very core of her body, her arms raised outward to the sky as it surged in a violent blast that seemed to skip the students, destined only for its one victim. With a crackle, it wrapped around the Head, incapacitating him for the briefest of moments as Gaze rallied her students to her.

She nodded at Alex, Natalie, and Lintz, tipping the frayed rim of her hat to them before darting off into the darkness of the manor, the rest of the students running behind. Gaze was a powerful wizard; they were in the best hands they could be, Alex knew.

He hoped fervently they wouldn’t run into Renmark and Esmerelda on their journey back through the manor. They hadn’t followed Lintz and Gaze, but Alex knew the blast they had sent at the other two professors wouldn’t have kept them knocked out for long. He pictured them like beetles scuttling through the hallways, sending their brand of nasty, lashing magic at the backs of any students unfortunate enough to encounter them.

Gaze can handle them, if it comes to it, thought Alex quietly, praying he was right.

As the sheet of white magic wore off, Lintz hurled his bombs, each one crackling and exploding in a different, more elaborately destructive way, and Natalie forged the intense spells of her ill-learned dark arts, her golden light tinged pink and dark blue in succession. Alex knew it was time for him to use what he had learned, to keep the Head at bay.

“I’ve been waiting decades to do this!” bellowed Lintz with a broad grin on his face, his moustache twitching with excitement as he launched bomb after bomb, his arm never seeming to grow tired. It was like watching a machine—one hand reaching for a bomb as the other threw it with impressive speed.

Conjuring the familiar black and silver beneath his hands, Alex sent a shivering stream of anti-magic at the Head. It swirled, snaking between the galactic mist of the magical remnants that still glimmered in dust-like particles in the atmosphere. The whole front of the manor was drenched in a fine golden fog, and the anti-magic cut through it easily.