The Light Magician

Felix staggered forward to where his silver sword lay in the dirt. His hand had just wrapped around the handle when the first wolf reached him.

Felix yanked his arm up and slashed the sword across the wolf’s chest. It tumbled to the ground, but its outstretched claws grazed his arm as it went down. He cried out. The sword slipped from his hands.

Another wolf pounced on him, slamming him onto his back. He poured what little strength he had left into summoning electricity. The wolf’s face twisted in pain as lightning raced across its fur. It only froze for a moment, though, before powering through and pushing a paw against Felix’s chest. He gasped as claws sank into his skin.

Mason reached Felix and swiped at the wolf’s side with his dagger. It yelped but kept its hold on Felix. Another wolf charged Mason, forcing him to jump out of the way.

Felix turned his head in time to see Arisa crash into the ground nearby. She rolled onto her side, her face away from him. “Arisa?” he called weakly. No answer.

The world tilted. The edges of Felix’s vision darkened. He didn’t have the strength to feel fear. All he wanted was to sink into the earth below and sleep.

“Felix!” Mason’s voice was far away, as if he were yelling underwater. “Arisa!”

A blinding light flooded the clearing.

The wolf’s weight disappeared. Felix forced his eyes open and lifted a hand to shield his face. The wolf stood next to him, head tipped back, snarling at something above them.

Sebastian hovered in the air over the clearing. The undersides of his boots shone with white light. His face was barely visible through the glow.

The wolf next to Felix jumped to a shocking height, jaws snapping at Sebastian’s boots. Sebastian lifted a few more feet, and the wolf missed. The other wolves backed toward the trees, apparently deciding that one more opponent was too much. Sebastian’s cold laughter echoed around the clearing.

“Too late,” he said. “You were dead the moment you attacked my students.”

A beam of light shot down from the sky and pierced the closest wolf’s body. It silently toppled over next to Felix.

As Felix pushed himself up, he looked to the others. Mason stood over a white wolf, lifting his dagger to strike. The blood staining the wolf’s fur indicated it had been struck by Sebastian’s light, too. Mason finished it off with one quick swipe.

Arisa looked to be in worse shape, but she was climbing up off the ground. More bloody wolves lay around her. One started to move, and another beam of light struck it in the chest.

The wolf next to Felix twitched. He picked his sword up and prepared to finish it off, but his hands trembled too hard to get a good grip on the weapon. Even as the wolf rose to its feet, he couldn’t bring himself to swing.

The wolf’s mouth opened wide.

A figure dropped to the ground between them. Sebastian brandished a dagger in his hand as he rose to his full height. A cold smile touched his lips, but his eyes glinted with rage.

Felix briefly wondered how much of the blood staining Sebastian’s clothes and skin was his. He had a slight limp as he moved forward, so he wasn’t completely unharmed.

The wolf’s jaw snapped shut. It turned and started to run, but a burst of light in the air in front of it blinded it. While it stumbled to the right, Sebastian drove his dagger into its back. His other hand reached into his jacket and drew out a second blade.

Felix turned around. Mason lay on the ground nearby with his eyes closed. Arisa knelt next to him.

Felix rushed over. “Is he okay?”

Mason’s eyes shot open. “Am I okay? What about you?” He asked incredulously as he sat up. “Your shirt’s soaked in blood.”

“It’s—” Felix glanced down. He was going to say it was mostly wolf blood, but there was no way that was true. It was hard to determine exactly which parts of him were injured, though. His entire body throbbed in pain. He lifted his gaze to Mason’s face. The gashes that had been spilling blood earlier were only scabs now. “You look surprisingly good.”

“Demonic healing,” Mason said. He winced as he stood up. “Still hurts like hell, though. I’m not healing anywhere close to the rate those wolves were.”

A growl came from somewhere near the group. Their heads all turned in unison as a gray wolf jumped at them. Sebastian collided with it mid-air and sent it crashing to the ground with a dagger in its side. Sebastian, meanwhile, twisted himself upright in time to land on his feet and slide across the dirt. He lifted an arm and wiped blood off his face.

The wolf climbed to its feet and limped forward, despite the silver dagger in its side.

“All right, everyone, listen up.” Sebastian clapped his hands together and took a step back. “Silver is the easiest way to kill werewolves, in most situations, but it’s not the only way.”

The wolf’s pace slowed, but it pressed forward, snarling, fangs bared.

“But if you have enough magic to completely obliterate them, they won’t be able to heal themselves.” Sebastian raised his right hand and turned the palm toward the wolf. “You might want to shield your eyes, though.”

The wolf stopped. Its eyes widened, but if it wanted to run, it was too late.

The massive pillar of light that dropped from the sky completely swallowed the wolf. An eerie, high-pitched tone pierced the air.

When the light faded, a crater the size of a small car was left in the ground. Silence fell over the clearing. There was no sign of the wolf.

It took Felix a moment to realize his mouth was hanging open.

“Holy shit,” Mason said.

Sebastian turned in a slow circle. “Don’t be impressed yet,” he said.

“Why not?” Arisa exclaimed.

“Because not all of these wolves are dead.” Sebastian reached into his jacket. “And I’ve used a lot of magic already.”

“How are they not dead?” Mason asked, stunned. “We cut them up with silver!”

“I think most of them would die from those wounds if we left them here, but I’m not taking any chances.” Sebastian lifted his hand. Moonlight glinted off the gun in his hand. “Bullet to the head will guarantee they don’t come back.”

Sebastian walked around the clearing and fired off shots in rapid succession. The echo of the final shot hung in the air as he stared at the body of the last wolf. After a long moment, he looked up and walked to where Felix and the others waited.

“Silver bullets?” Felix guessed.

“Yep.” Sebastian returned the weapon to his side. “I brought it for someone else, but they decided not to show.” His gaze slid past Felix to the tree Ezra had raised. “Did you make that tree, Felix?”

It took Felix a moment to answer. “Uh, yeah, I did,” he lied. Not wanting Sebastian to figure out Ezra had possessed him, he quickly changed the subject. “Why don’t all Guardians carry around guns instead of knives?”

“Some do take silver bullets to fight wolves, or iron bullets if they’re dealing with fae,” Sebastian replied. “But sigils work against all monsters, and you can’t fit many on a single bullet.”

Mason surveyed the bodies. “I haven’t fought many werewolves,” he said. “But the ones I have encountered were nothing like this.”

“Yeah, I got ambushed and figured out the truth halfway through my own battle with them.” Sebastian tipped his head back and looked at the sky. At the moon staring down at them. “They’re Supermoon Wolves.”

“Impossible,” Arisa said. “The Silver Paladin killed them all!”

“What’s a Supermoon Wolf?” Mason asked.

“An extremely powerful pack of werewolves that attacked the Brightlands decades ago,” Sebastian explained. “I thought they were all killed, too. But it seems a few survived, and we were lucky enough to meet them and their children.”

He lowered his gaze and studied the three with surprising intensity. “I came back for you as soon as I realized what we’d walked into, but you were impossible to find for a few minutes. That same energy masking spell was used to hide you from me.”

“It was Ernest Abernathy!” Mason’s fists clenched. “He was here. And he had the wand!”

“Of course, he’d leave before I showed up,” Sebastian muttered. “Coward.” His brow furrowed. “Was that before the wolves attacked you?”

“Ernest was the one who told the wolves to kill us,” Mason said. “They were obeying him.”

“Unbelievable,” Sebastian said. “Not that I don’t believe you. I just can’t imagine why this particular pack of wolves would agree to obey a Bright Guardian.”

“Could it have been a spell?” Arisa asked.

“No way,” Mason replied, shaking his head. “Mind controlling spells exist, but they require way more than just a wand. And they’re a challenge even for witches who have trained their entire lives.” He turned to stare off into the trees where Ernest disappeared. “It’s terrible that he has the wand, but he’ll only be able to perform basic spells. For now.”

“If Ernest is the one casting the masking spells, maybe he did it in exchange for the werewolves’ allegiance,” Sebastian suggested. “In return for helping him, they get to lure in Guardians who are expecting an easy mission.”

“Then we have to do something, now,” Mason said. “Tell the council. We have proof!”

“You don’t have proof. You have a story.”

“Why wouldn’t they believe us?” Felix asked.

“Because you’re going up against Ernest Abernathy,” Sebastian answered plainly.

“But you could vouch for us.” Arisa folded her arms. “That would help, wouldn’t it?”

Sebastian shook his head. “My word won’t mean much to the council. In this case, it could make things worse for you.”

“But you convinced them to let you train us,” Mason protested.

“That’s different. And even that was hard to swing. If anyone else was interested in dealing with you, they would’ve been put in charge instead.” Sebastian held up a hand to stop further arguments. “Let’s pick this up later. You three are about to collapse. Now, I believe I gave someone a light blue bag.”

“I have it,” Arisa said. She reached into her backpack.

“There are rolls of bandages with healing sigils in there,” Sebastian said. “They won’t perform miracles, but you can patch up the worst of your injuries so that you can make it back to the motel. We’ll rest here until you’ve healed enough to start walking.”

Felix sank to the ground, grateful he didn’t have to stand on his shaking legs any longer. While he, Arisa and Mason helped each other bandage up their deeper wounds, Sebastian circled the clearing. Felix wasn’t sure if he was double-checking that the wolves were dead or thinking about something else entirely.

Sebastian finally returned to where the three sat. “I have a lot to consider before we make any moves regarding Ernest,” he said. “There was a lot at play tonight.”

Mason grunted and nodded. Maybe he was okay with continuing to wait, or maybe he was just too tired to press the matter.

“Are we going back to the motel now?” Felix asked wearily. He wasn’t sure he could walk all the way to the car.

“No, take some more time to rest. I’ll keep watch. We’ll leave when the sun comes back up.” Sebastian’s brow furrowed. “This wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near this dangerous. If it were, the king never would have let me bring you. Hell, I wouldn’t have wanted to bring you.”

Felix laid back and stared up at the night sky. Mason joined him on the left, and Arisa on the right. Sebastian stood nearby, occasionally walking a few feet to a new position. Other than that, he was completely silent.

The pain that had settled into Felix’s body gradually lessened. It didn’t fade entirely, but he was able to relax enough to drift into a light sleep. When his eyes opened again, the first rays of dawn had found their way into the forest.

He sat up and yawned. Mason and Arisa were already standing, their attention on something at the other side of the clearing. Felix followed their gaze.

As sunlight spilled over them, the dead werewolves remained in their wolf form, save for one. Her fur melted away, and she transformed into a woman wearing torn jeans and a tank top. As she lifted her head, she reached up to grab at the knife in her shoulder but didn’t have the strength to pull it out.

“Damn it.” Sebastian took a few steps to a nearby wolf’s body and yanked a dagger from its back. He approached the woman. “Any last words?”

She laughed. Blood spilled from her mouth. “Mira says hello.”

Sebastian’s expression didn’t change, but his hand tightened around the dagger’s handle. “Funny. Based on how our last interrogation went, I have a feeling she didn’t want me knowing you’re associated with her.”

“We were supposed to beat you and drag you back to her.”

“Yeah, I imagine so.”

The woman shook her head. “You’re stronger than she expected. But she’ll learn from this. Next time, you won’t be so lucky.”

“I don’t think she’d want me knowing this.”

“Maybe.” The woman spat more blood on the ground. “I just figured if I’m going to die anyway, it would be worth a shot to see if I could get to you. You have an interesting reputation.”

“Well, you’re going to have to do better than that,” Sebastian told her. All expression had left his face.

“Fine.” Her eyes shifted to Felix, and she grinned at him with teeth stained red. “He’s going to die a very painful death for what he did to Gideon.”

Sebastian’s fingers twitched. “Anything else?”

“Oh, you want me to keep going?” the woman asked. “Anyone who sides with your king will die. Mira will save you for last, I’m sure. One by one, you can watch your friends either betray you or suffer a painful death. The harder you work to train these kids, the bigger the waste—”

Arisa lunged forward and plunged her dagger into the woman’s chest. The woman slumped to the ground as Arisa stepped back. Breathing hard, she looked back at Sebastian. “What were you waiting for?”

“I thought we might get more information from her.” Sebastian lowered his own weapon. “But there was no point. She was just trying to rile me up. Good job.”

“She won’t come back from that, right?” Mason asked.

“No. The blade’s in her heart.”

“Who’s Mira?” Felix asked as he climbed to his feet.

Sebastian returned his dagger to his jacket. “The leader of the Moonlit Army.”

“So, that’s who Gideon worked for?” Did Felix finally have a name for the person who’d sent Gideon to kill his family?

“Yep,” Sebastian said. “And, apparently, Ernest Abernathy.”

Arisa’s eyes narrowed. “So, not everyone who stayed after the Uprising is really on the king’s side.”

“Nope.” Sebastian slid his hands into his pockets. “Looks like we’ve got some spies in our midst.”