SpellShocked (SpellShocked Saga: Book 1)

Chapter 28 - The Tower

"I wish you didn't have to go back," mom said as she hugged me goodbye.

"I wish I didn't have to either," I mumbled into her shoulder. The past few days had been so amazing that it was hard to let go. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't dreading going back as much as I had been before, but I still missed them so much. It was hard to say goodbye again.

"I can come back next weekend?" I asked, turning to Mr Beck for confirmation.

"Of course," he nodded, "Students are allowed to come home on weekends if they choose to, and now that we're sure Umbra has gone – and now that we have the house protected – you can come back any weekend you like."

"Maybe next weekend you could bring some of your new friends," mom said, "We'd love to meet them!" I deliberately ignored the smug smirk on Zac's face at the word 'friends'.

I hugged my dad and then Zac before going to join Mr Beck in front of the portal he had conjured.

"I'll see you all in a week." They said their goodbyes and I stepped through the portal. On the other side I watched them and waved before the portal closed. As their faces disappeared, I felt a sadness decent over me. Two days had not been nearly enough time to spend with them all. And yet, at the same time...a part of me was really looking forward to seeing Hunter again. This feeling, of being caught between two worlds...it was a strange sensation.

Mr Beck teleported us through the Circle and back to the grounds of MerPrep.

"So," Mr Beck said as we stepped off of the Circle, "I saw that you signed up for The Clash?"

"Um...yeah," I hesitated. I didn't want to lie to him, but I also didn't want to explain how I had been essentially bribed into competing; that was one sure fire way to stay on Theos' shit list for life.

"Well that's...brave," he said, unable to keep the uncertainty from his voice. "Are you sure you're...up for the challenge?" I couldn't blame him for not having much faith in me, but the doubt in his voice still stung.

"I-I th-think so," I lied. He nodded, his face a mask of worry.

"Well if you want any help preparing for it, I always have a little spare time."

"Thanks, Mr Beck. I...I'll bear that in mind." I walked away with a wave of my hand, trying to hide the anxious look on my face from him.

As I was wandering back to the dorms, I put my hands into my pockets and felt the small key Merlin had given me. I stopped walking and pulled it out, looking at it. I didn't totally want to be around other people just yet and it was getting already quite dark, not to mention I was curious as hell, so I decided to divert course and headed south towards the river's edge.

The walk only took about ten minutes, but I kept glancing over my shoulder, paranoid someone might be following me; I couldn't shake the feeling I was being followed, but I put that down to the fact I was sneaking about trying not to be seen.

In the darkness, I was worried I wouldn't see the edge of the island and would end up falling off. I knew there were wards to stop that from happening, but I didn't really like the idea of that sickening falling feeling, followed by being thrown back up over the edge again.

Thinking about light triggered a memory of Mr Beck creating small balls of light in class that first day and I decided it was worth a try to attempt to replicate the effect. Surely it couldn't be much different to creating a fireball? It was the same idea, just with a different element.

I focused on channelling my magic like I had that day at the training field and was surprised that a small glowing orb of light began to form in my palm without much effort. I looked down at the light, shocked, and was amused to see that it stuck in position over my palm as I moved my hand around. I had effectively made a flashlight. A sense of pride began to grow in my chest. I think this was the first time I had cast a spell perfectly and I was genuinely pleased with myself.