Phantom Hunters | Saphir Casters Academy

49 | Realisation

    Kael shut the door and ran towards the blighter, not knowing what he was going to do.

    "Hey!" he shouted, trying to get their attention. "Over here, you gunk of waste!"

    The tentacles, which were waving mindlessly, now shot towards a target. The phantom laughed with glee. Kael ducked away and ran away from the den, trying to lead it to a place where students wouldn't get hurt. A tentacle shot forward and clamped around his shoe, making him stumble forward and fall to the ground.

    "Lookie, here! He wants to play!" the phantom sang. "Come on, little boy, let's see how much fun we can have. Run! Run!"

    Cursing, Kael rolled away before another attack hit him. He sprang up and continued until he saw a familiar warehouse. He shifted his run and headed towards it, hoping for some shelter against the blighter and its master.

    It chased him with the tenacity of a desperate predator, and Kael was glad he was the only student the phantom was focusing on. Hopefully, the boy would have gotten someone to come dispose of the blighter and the phantom before serious damage could be done.

    He practically ran into the door of the warehouse, but the thick wood only rattled against its hinges. Kael pulled and pushed, but the door refused to open. He looked down and saw the reason.

    Muttering a curse, he found a rock nearby and used all his strength to hit the rusty padlock. He could hear the oozing movement of the blighter behind him, coupled with terrible taunts coming from the phantom. It was lucky that blighters tended to move slowly as their living cells dissolved into a tenebrous dark aura of corruption. And it was lucky the phantom was content in letting his pet do all the work.

    Kael slammed the rock into the padlock several times. At one point, he crushed his finger between the rust and the rough edge of the rock. He hissed in pain and had to pause for respite before continuing to ram it into the old lock.

    He had just gotten it broken when he heard a tentacle whipping through the air. On instinct, he pushed himself to the side. His heart pounded and his mouth went dry when the dark mass slammed against the wood seconds after he moved, and he was glad he chose the right direction. If he had gone left, he was likely to have fallen headfirst into a shelf of tools.

    Somehow, the tentacles seemed confused, and Kael used the moment of hesitation to open the door and throw himself in. Sensing his movement, the tentacles followed, but Kael managed to slam the door closed just as the tip entered.

    He heard the blighter squeal in pain, and the tip of its tentacle fell to the ground like a squirming leech. Myriads of tentacles slammed against the shaky door. Kael did not like that flimsy wood was the only thing between him and certain death.

    "Come out, boy! There's no use in hiding." A blast of light seeped in through the cracks, much like how hunters used light sigils to scare their prey from hiding. "Come on out!"

    Kael blindly moved back, tripping over scattered tools and discarded weapons until his back hit the wall.

    He slid down, drawing his knees to his chest and embracing them. This was it. He was going to die here.

    "I'm sorry," he whispered, burying his head into his arm and trying to block out the terrifying pounds against the door. He hated how helpless he felt. He hated that he had no choice but to give up, and he hated that he was depending on someone else to kill the blighter. He didn't want to leave the academy. He wanted to stay with his friends and learn how to control his power, to get stronger, to be like his brother.

    "I gave up," he muttered. "I'm sorry I gave up. I let all of you down..."

    A splintering crack made him raise his head. A tentacle was struggling with a slight hole in the door and light barely slipped in from the slim cracks. He stood in shock and horror, feeling like a mouse trapped in a cage.