Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates

Shadows exploded from my palms, crashing into the shield Seth was casting around the three Heirs, but the force of the blow sent them tumbling to the ground. Clara gave me my voice back just in time to let me scream.

The three of them were on their feet again in seconds, turning towards me and backing up as they took in the sight of my raised hands and the shadows which were swirling ominously between my fingers.

“I can’t stop it,” I gasped, my heart drumming to a powerful beat. “Get away from me.”

“Fuck,” Seth spat, securing his shield around them.

“Come out and face us yourself, you coward!” Caleb roared into the trees just as another wave of power exploded from me.

The three of them were knocked apart, crashing into the undergrowth and my body turned sharply towards Max, striding forward as my palms raised. Shadows blasted from my hands and terror bound me as I begged him to move. His body dissolved to nothing and I realised it was an illusion he’d left there, making my heart squeeze with relief as I spotted him darting between the trees ahead of me.

Clara pressed her will into me once more and suddenly I was running towards Seth, blasting the shadows at him so he was forced to stand his ground and shield with all his might. Tendrils of darkness wrapped around his bubble of safety, squeezing and squeezing like a python around a jar. He roared as he threw all of his effort into maintaining it and I feared what would happen if I got past his defences.

“Stop it!” I screamed at Clara as her laughter rang out from somewhere in the canopy above us.

Caleb moved in a blur, climbing the tree at speed as he hunted her down and disappeared amongst the branches.

“Can’t catch me!” Clara sang, her voice carrying away from us, but her grip on me never faltered.

The shadows wrapped tighter and tighter around Seth’s shield and I felt it beginning to buckle, the magic barely holding under the intensity of the Fifth Element.

A weight collided with me and I hit the ground beneath the full weight of Max as he grabbed my wrists and bound my hands in ice, locking them above my head.

“It’s alright, I won’t let her have you,” he growled, his eyes shining with that promise and giving me an inch of hope to hold onto.

“Tie her down,” Seth demanded as he ran to my side.

“Hurry,” I begged as shadows built in my palms, bubbling against the ice as they struggled to break through.

“Shit.” Max shifted back onto his knees, holding out his hands and casting my hands in more and more ice.

A blur behind him made my heart jolt in terror. “Watch out!”

Clara slashed a knife across Max’s back and he roared as he fell off of me, blood oozing through his white shirt. Seth cast a net of vines to try and catch her, but she was gone in a flash with Caleb racing after her. She was throwing everything she could into his way, blasting the forest apart and making the trees around us groan as their trunks nearly snapped under the force of her power.

Seth dove forward to heal Max and the ice started splintering and cracking around my fingers.

“Seth,” I begged, my heart hammering. “Get away from here.”

The ice exploded from my palms and I was forced to launch myself at them, latching two ropes of shadow around their throats and making them choke.

Seth threw out a palm and wind blasted into me, sending me flying away before he caught me on a cushion of air, saving me from the impact of the hard earth. The air continued to press me down, but he was half focused on healing Max and as another wave of shadows coiled from my body, his magic gave way.

I was forced to my feet, racing toward them and Clara sped by again, placing an ice cold dagger in my hand. Horror consumed me as her voice called back to me. “Let’s carve up some Heirs, Darcy!” she laughed again like we were having fun in some game.

I gritted my teeth as she made my grip tighten around the blade and I strode towards Max and Seth as they hurriedly got up, raising their hands to fight me off.

“Don’t hold back,” I begged, my heart pounding to a terrifying beat as tension lined their features. “You have to stop me.”