LAYLA: PROPHECY OF THE HERMITS

SHADOW

Layla opened her eyes slowly. Still slightly disoriented, she scanned the room she was in. It wasn't her room, but it's general outlook seemed familiar. It was a physician's office.

Layla hadn't been aware of its existence, the school guide hadn't mentioned it, and even if it had, she doubted if she would have the time to visit.

She noticed the bandage on her hand, and realized it was a burn. How did that happen. It didn't seem like a serious burn, so she promptly ignored it and began perusing the room. Even if it wasn't the office she was accustomed to,she was still excited to see what was there.After she was satisfied with what she had discovered, she went about the office. She recognized a few faces - if there was something Layla prided herself in, it was the fact that she was good at remembering faces. She greeted them with a simple hello.

"What are you doing?!"

She turned to look at the owner of the voice. It was a man - well he was around Layla's age. He was one of the students she had practiced with. He was her physician and was obviously displeased with the fact that she was roaming around around the office.

He did some customary checks to confirm if she was fine and forced her to go back to sleep. Layla felt a little angry about it, but if she was being honest, she was still tired.

Possessions required the mind to be in a weakened state. If the mind wasn't weakened naturally, it would be induced. It meant the spell would be weaker, but that was probably enough for her attackers.

They had used a horrible memory from Layla's childhood and possessed her, even if it was only for a short time. But why possess her just to stare at her?

And the figure she had seen in the hallucination was the same as the one described by the man they had captured. It would probably mean the figure that had taken her hair and the man they had captured were related. But a spell had been used to confirm if he was lying.

But why didn't the amulet work?

Layla groaned and rolled on the bed as she racked her brain. It was even making her head hurt more. Maybe that physician guy was right. She mentally resolved to sleep first and think later.

Just as she had that thought, she heard a knock on her door. She reluctantly answered the door and saw Harry and Ellen, the spell studies teacher at the door. She was being summoned to Sheila's office.

It didn't look like she was going to get that sleep.

***
Layla was hit with a wave of different emotions as she was given a summary of everything that had happened. First it was shock, fear, and guilt.

Shock to see the entire training area burnt and blackened, a few students injured, and the realization that she had been asleep for a week!

Fear to see how much damage she had caused within a span of seconds - the entire incident had occurred in a few seconds. It had felt like an eternity to her that she wondered if the possession didn't last for the entire week. It was impossible with the amount of her hair they had, according to Sheila. Her instinctive defenses had kicked in and spread the bonfire and burnt everything.

Guilt to see that she had probably ruined the night for everyone. Nova and the others hadn't been able to perform their show.

She sighed heavily as the carriage pulled up in front Sheila's office.

"How are you feeling, Layla?"

"Fine, I guess."

"You must be wondering why the amulet failed."

Layla nodded in reply.

"First, tell me what happened in your hallucination. "

"Nothing much, I just saw a figure, the same figure the captured man described. "

"I see... Was the figure in your hallucination the same as the one who cut your hair? "

"I don't know about that. I didn't get to see the figure at the mansion properly. For all we know, it could be any one in a cloak. The only thing that might be different is the fact that we can't see their face. And it might be multiple people pretending to be one person."

"I highly doubt that. We've checked all our records of spells, but we haven't found one like you and the captured man described. The figure might be using an unearthed spell. It could still be possible for it to be multiple people, but very unlikely. "

Layla nodded in agreement. Unearthed spells were spells that usually only one person knew of. When hermits wrote spell books, they hid some of them. After they were found, they were termed unearthed spells. Most mages kept these spells only to themselves, some made them family secrets and techniques.

"Some things don't add up. Especially about the man we captured."

Layla nodded again. The figure was the same from her hallucinations and responsible for her losing her, yet he had claimed to have had nothing to do with it.

"He doesn't seem to be lying as far as we know. We've already confirmed with a spell. He explained was only a hired mercenary. An estranged mage that assassinates people as a job."

Estranged mages were mages that were no longer part of the Academy. They usually became assassins, mercenaries, or even formed revolt groups. They were usually killed and Layla doubted it would be different from the captured man.

Not that it concerned her. He was just unlucky to have targeted her. He probably didn't know who she really was.

"What happened to the amulet?" She asked the question that had been on her mind for a while.

"An estranged mage used an unearthed spell, one that cancels the effect of an amulet. And we're going to pay her a visit."

Sheila's voice had gone cold, and the atmosphere around her tensed. Layla shuddered slightly.