CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
— bringer of death
TOM STARED AT RHEA, WONDERING IF SHE'D GONE MAD. Most wizards didn't believe it was possible to truly bring something back to life and Tom had never heard of any instances where it happened successfully. Tom imagined that only the strongest, most advanced wizards would have a chance at bringing something back to life and as much as they both boasted, he didn't believe he nor Rhea were strong enough to perform a spell that powerful. Rhea, on the other hand, kept a calm facade as though she hadn't suggested that they do the impossible. She stared at Tom, awaiting his response, but he continued to stare at her like she had grown two heads.
"Don't look at me like that. Listen," Rhea huffed, surprised Tom wasn't jumping at the chance to show off his skills and learn more about Dark Magic. "The spell works best during a full moon, so even though I might be cursed and you're completely inexperienced, this is our one shot this month and it will help me see what you're capable of."
"Do you even know what you're doing?" Tom asked, sounding irritated. Rhea rolled her eyes.
"Pluto and I used to try it when we were younger, but it never really worked. We thought it would because the spell requires a lot of power and twins, especially, have some sort of connection through their magic —"
"Rhea," Tom pinched the bridge of his nose before she could continue explaining herself to him. "You were supposed to be teaching me dark magic —"
"I am. I'll guide you through it. I really think it'll work if you help me —"
"No." Tom said firmly.
"No?" She asked incredulously, her brows raised high.
"I can think of a hundred ways this could go wrong —"
"Tom," Rhea let out a sigh. "How do you expect to conquer the world with dark magic — or whatever it is you intend to do — without performing dark magic? Just try the spell with me. I need your help."
Tom's jaw tensed as he stared at Rhea, half expecting her to grimace when she admitted that she needed his help. But, to his surprise, she didn't. She looked at him with a calm expression, awaiting his answer (Although Tom had a feeling she knew what he was going to say, given the way the corners of her mouth would twitch every so often)
"Fine."
A grin stretched across Rhea's face. She grabbed onto her robe and dipped her hand into the secret pocket she normally kept her wand in. She searched around until she latched onto something small and pulled out a tiny, velvet coin purse. Rhea opened it and shoved her arm deep inside while Tom watched her curiously until her fingers latched onto the spine of The Black Book and she set it on the ground beside them.
"What spell is that?" Tom asked, nodding his head towards the coin purse..
"Extension Charm — here," Rhea took out a clear vial from her coin purse and held it underneath her and Tom's wounds, allowing blood to fill the vial. Rhea pressed the vial under the knife wound on the thestral before she took out her wand and mumbled a healing charm to fix her and Tom's cuts.
Tom tried to imagine a younger version of Rhea performing this spell with Pluto. He imagined her dragging her brother out of the confines of their home and convincing him to bring animals back to life with her. Tom hated to admit it, but he felt a tad envious that while he was being raised in an orphanage he hated surrounded by people he loathed, Rhea was getting to practice and perform magic that he couldn't even imagine.
Rhea rose to her feet and opened the palm of her hand, watching as green Hel fire appeared in her hands. She cast it all around them, enclosing them in a circle of dark green fire that made droplets of sweat form on Rhea and Tom's foreheads from the proximity.
Rhea turned to Tom and outstretched her hand, holding it for him to take. Tom stared at her hand like it was a foreign object before he finally slid his hand into hers. Rhea's brow raised. His hands were ice cold while hers was scorching hot. Rhea pulled Tom to his feet and grabbed his other hand, fighting the urge to smirk when she saw him gulp.
"Don't let go." Rhea instructed, staring up at Tom as he looked down at her. She wondered what was going through his mind. "Make sure to repeat after me and whatever you do, don't open your eyes."
"Why can't I open my eyes?" Tom raised a brow.
"Because performing this spell means opening the veil between the living and the dead. Staying in this circle protects us, but the spirits will show you all sorts of things to get you to stay with them. The longer we hold the door open between our worlds, then the likelier it becomes that they'll be able to get us to stay." Rhea explained. Tom shut his eyes, though Rhea could feel his grip on her hands tighten as she took a deep breath. There was a change in the air and Rhea blinked, the green in her eyes changing to pitch black as she spoke, "Apertus alterum . . . mortalitas nex . . ."
"Apertus alterum . . . mortalitas nex . . ."
Tom's voice faded to the background as the sky darkened around them. Goosebumps raised on Rhea's skin when Tom began to speak as their magic reacted to one another. It didn't feel like it had when she performed spells with Pluto, this was a different experience altogether and the feeling was indescribable.
There was a low hum in the air while the green flames around them rose even higher.
"Orcus . . ." A chill blew past Rhea's back and made the strands of her hair beat against the side of her face. Her knuckles were turning white from how tightly she latched onto Tom's hand as the shadows between the trees seemed to dance before her, taunting her. The hum grew louder and she could hear the faint sound of familiar whispers behind her.
Rhea repeated the spell again with Tom chanting alongside her. The wind blew harder and Rhea could feel her energy draining much faster than she wanted it to, even with Tom's aid. She grinded her teeth together, refusing to give up as she stared over Tom's shoulder at the smirking ghost of her mother.
"Apertus alterum . . . mortalitas rex . . . orcus —" Rhea let out an audible wince that made Tom tense immediately. He resisted the urge to open his eyes as Rhea jerked, a stabbing pain shooting through her head from the spell.
"Look at you. You're weak." Caliope taunted.
Rhea ignored her mother and took a deep breath before saying the spell with Tom again through gritted teeth. She continued to push through, refusing to give up even though she could feel something warm trickling from her nose — blood. Rhea shook her head, bleeding was never a good sign but she couldn't bring herself to stop.
Rhea's gaze dropped to the ground where the thestral laid. Rhea continued to say the spell even more forcefully than she had been before, waiting for the thestral to show any sign of life. The longer she and Tom stood in the Forest with the veil open, the weaker Rhea could feel herself becoming.
Tom's brows pulled together. He could feel Rhea's magic weakening and begging for her to stop performing the spell. He repeated the spell loudly, trying to help Rhea with his magic but he knew it wouldn't be any use. He couldn't perform the spell without her.
"Rhea," Tom said when he felt her grip slacken. Rhea paused at his interruption and broke her gaze from the ghosts of the dead as they spoke to her, beckoning her to them. Her chin trembled as she became overwhelmed from the noise and the pain of the spell. It had never felt like this before and she knew it was because of whatever curse had been affecting her. "Stop."
"It's almost working. Keep going." Rhea demanded, but Tom could hear the strain in her words. He was surprised he found himself caring that performing this spell was hurting her, but he couldn't let her continue.
"No." Tom said before he ripped his hands from Rhea's grip. Rhea let out a noise of irritation as the fire died instantly and their connection to the other side was severed. She glared at Tom, quickly wiping the blood from her face while he took in her bloody and pale appearance with an angry look on his face. "What were you thinking?"
"We could've kept going." Rhea said angrily, staring at the dead thestral on the ground, thinking about how it's death had turned out to be meaningless. She huffed, glaring at Tom. "If you're going to practice Dark Magic, you can't just give up so easily —"
Tom scoffed and turned on his heel, walking away from Rhea. She quickly collecting her belongings and dropped her mother's book back inside her coinpurse before rushing to catch up with Tom. He glanced at her from over his shoulder.
It's because you're cursed, isn't it? It's affecting your magic." Tom said.
"My magic works fine in class. I think it must only be suppressing my use of dark magic." Rhea frowned, wondering why a student at Hogwarts would want to keep her from practicing dark magic. "But no one apart from your Knights and my brother know I practice."
"Delphine does." Tom interjected. "And her mother was just cursed —"
"The person cursing me has to be against my use of dark magic and Delphine isn't. I just wish I knew who it was." Rhea's expression darkened as she thought about all the people who could be cursing her. Her main suspects were the Knights, but she wouldn't underestimate anyone, especially not Pluto after the mess he made over the summer.
Rhea and Tom parted ways and she snuck into her dorm, only to find Davina sitting up in her bed with a book in her hands and a triumphant smirk on her face.
"Well, where have you been?" Davina asked, a pleased look on her face at the fact that she finally caught Rhea doing something suspicious. Rhea pretended to jump and placed her hand over her chest, feigning fear.
"Davina, you scared me." Rhea laughed as she made her way over to her chest to pull out her nightgown. "What are you doing up?"
"Don't ignore my question." Davina laughed, rising from her bed. "I knew it."
"Knew what?" Rhea asked, innocently, turning to face Davina with a confused frown on her face that made Davina scoff.
"You may be able to fool everyone else, Rhea, but you don't fool me." Davina said. Rhea raised a brow. "You tell everyone that you're with Atlas when you've really been sneaking around with Tom this whole time."
Rhea tilted her head to the side.
"What makes you think I'm sneaking around with Riddle?"
"I knew you were out of your bed. I heard you sneaking off, so I waited by the stairs until I saw you come in with Riddle at your side." Davina smirked. Rhea sat on the edge of her bed, mulling over Davina's words while the girl rattled on. "Truth be told I never thought you had it in you. I mean, I know your family wouldn't take it too well if they heard you were in a relationship with a half-blood, but I didn't think you'd even be capable of being so scandalous."
"Please don't tell anyone." Rhea said quietly, casting her eyes to the floor. "Tom doesn't want anyone to know."
Davina let out a sad sigh.
"I won't tell, but take my advice and don't be with someone who doesn't want to be seen with you."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
Davina returned to her bed and Rhea let out a breath, glad to have diverted Davina's suspicions for the time being. She crawled into her bed and drifted to sleep, only to wake up in the morning feeling even more dreadful than she had the day before. Rhea sat up in the bed, her head pounding, and looked over at Seraphina as she ran a brush through her tangled hair and spoke to Walburga.
"Rhea, you look horrible." Walburga commented from the other side of the room. Rhea inwardly rolled her eyes at the girl's comment, but brought her hand up to her face. Her skin was scorching hot to the touch.
"Thanks." She grumbled. Seraphina frowned curiously when Rhea turned to her after Walburga ran off to the bathroom. "I need you to do some investigating on the other Knights. Find out if one of them has experience with curses or doesn't like Dark Magic."
Seraphina readily agreed.
"Of course." Seraphina said before Walburga came back and the three of them got ready for breakfast.
The Great Hall was filled with students when the girls entered. Rhea's gaze swept through the hall and narrowed when she saw Astrea giving her a rather pointed look. Astrea jerked her head towards the staff table where Professor Dumbledore was sitting between Headmaster Dippet and Professor Merrythought. Rhea let out a small sigh that didn't go unnoticed by Seraphina.
"What's the matter?" Seraphina asked.
"Nothing," Rhea looked to the Slytherin table where Tom was speaking quietly to Lupe. Every so often, Tom's eyes would dart towards the entrance where Rhea was standing before he would turn back to Lupe. She turned back to Seraphina. "Don't forget what you need to do."
"Don't worry, Rhea. You can count on me." Seraphina promised before hurrying off to the empty spot beside Druella.
Rhea took a deep breath and forced her signature bright look on her face before she made her way over to Tom.
Nott didn't seem pleased when he noticed Rhea making her way towards them, but Tom immediately ceased conversation, careful to not let her know what they were saying.
"Talking about me?" Rhea asked amusedly, sliding into the empty spot on the bench across from them.
"What do you want?" Tom asked in an impatient tone that matched the expression on his face which told Rhea he had even less patience for her than he normally did. She frowned, noting the tenseness of his shoulders and the way that Lupe was staring at her, as though he was trying to figure something out she couldn't quite understand. For a moment, she wondered if she could risk slipping into their minds to figure out what was bothering them but Lupe started glaring at her the moment the thought crossed her mind, as though he could hear what she was thinking.
"Taking care of your Dumbledore problem. He needs to see us talking." Rhea glanced between Tom and Lupe. "What's got you two so tense?"
"None of your business." Lupe said dryly. The corner of Tom's mouth twitched as he watched Rhea glare at the boy while he took a bite from his roll. Rhea smiled sarcastically at Lupe before she opened her mouth to retort only to be swiftly interrupted when someone slid into the seat beside her. Rhea rolled when she turned her head to find Cassius Avery sitting next to her with a book in his hands.
"I had a first year search the library; there are no useful books on becoming immortal." Cassius said. Rhea raised a brow when Avery didn't spare a glance in her direction, as though he couldn't be bothered to acknowledge her. "Have you and Abraxas had any luck with —"
Tom cleared his throat and sent Avery an annoyed look, his eyes darting to Rhea. Rhea rolled her eyes. She'd more than proven herself to Tom yet he and the rest of his Knights were treating her like some sort of outsider.
Rhea looked down the table where Davina, Persephone, and Walburga were sitting to find Davina's gaze on her. Rhea inwardly groaned as the smirk widened on Davina's face as her eyes darted between Tom and Rhea. Rhea abruptly stood up and dismissed herself from the boys, not that they seemed to mind when she waltzed off to join her friends for breakfast. Tom watched as she walked away, leaving him left alone with Cassius and Lupe. He could feel Lupe's stare boring into the side of his head and could imagine the unimpressed expression on the Nott boy's face after the short encounter with Rhea.
"She's hiding something." Lupe said. Tom chuckled dryly.
"Rhea's always hiding something." He said. He thought back to how lethargic she seemed the entire time they spoke, even though she pretended as though nothing was bothering her. The curse — whatever it was — was draining her bit by bit.
"Avery," Tom turned to Cassius as he shoved a piece of toast into his mouth when an idea came to him. Lupe eyed Tom warily, like he knew what Tom was going to do, but he didn't say anything when Tom said, "Bring me Mulciber."
Tom stood in the Room of Requirements after lunch with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his trousers, watching as the fire in the fireplace burned brightly when the door creaked open and Orpheus strolled into the room a few hours later, looking entirely too pleased with himself and holding an object in his hand that he tossed onto the long table.
"I found this." Orpheus said and Tom stared at the object that looked all too familiar to him. To others, it might have seemed like nothing more than a bundle of twigs and leaves tied together by a thin piece of rope, but Tom knew it was more than that — it was a cursed object, the one that had been affecting Rhea for weeks. Tom carefully plucked it from the table, inspecting it closely. "I searched Rhea's room and found it hidden under her bed. Whoever did this didn't want her to find it."
Tom chuckled dryly at Orpheus's words.
"Don't you recognize this, Orpheus?" Tom asked, holding the cursed object so that Oprheus could see. The boy squinted, confused. "After Jasper joined our ranks, he begged me to allow Druella to join, remember?"
"Yes, but you wouldn't let her until she had proven herself." Realization dawned on Orpheus's face as he remembered. "And, in an effort to prove herself . . . Druella created a cursed object and placed it under Juniper Prewett's bed."
Tom could see Orpheus's jaw tighten, though a deep frown formed on Tom's face as he thought about what Rhea would do once she found out about Druella. Even if Druella cursed Rhea, the other Knights, especially Jasper, wouldn't stand it if anything happened to Druella. He needed to do more digging and he knew who the person to investigate was.
Tom dismissed Orpheus before he traveled to Ravenclaw Tower where he knew Astrea could be found. She sat in an armchair, scribbling furiously on a piece of parchment while humming a tune under her breath.
"Astrea," Tom said, catching her attention. Astrea dragged her eyes away from the page and looked at Tom expectantly. Tom could see the hidden adoration in her eyes everytime she looked at him and it was something he had gotten used to after six years of knowing her. "I need you to do something for me."
Tom quickly relayed his findings to Astrea in a hushed tone and from the tightness of her face the entire time he spoke, Tom could tell Astrea would rather not have to help Rhea.
"You want me to interrogate Druella and find out why she cursed Rhea?" Astrea asked once Tom finished speaking. Tom nodded and Astrea chuckled. "I can tell you why Druella cursed her. Merlin, I don't blame her —"
"Astrea," Tom said sharply. Astrea clamped her mouth shut, surprised by Tom's tone. "Rhea is a Knight, she's one of us. Act like it."
Astrea had to hide the shock that nearly appeared on her face. Tom had spent the majority of fifth year plotting different ways to murder Rhea, but here he was now trying to get Astrea to help her. Tom wasn't a magnanimous person and Astrea didn't think his eagerness to help Rhea had anything to do with the fact that she was a Knight.
"Tom —" Astrea started, ready to pepper him with an assault of questions about his feelings and Tom could tell it was coming from a mile away.
"Just do it, Astrea." Tom said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Astrea grinded her teeth together before agreeing, though she didn't feel too good about this. Druella was her friend and Rhea was a thorn in her side, but Tom was her leader and she had to listen to him.
Astrea waited until she found Druella sitting in the courtyard during one of their free times between classes. The Ravenclaw girl forced a smile on her face as she approached the blonde, causing Druella to look up from the book she was reading and grin at the sight of Astrea.
"Ravenswood, what are you doing out here? I thought you spent all your breaks holed up in the library." Druella asked amusedly, setting her book to the side.
"I decided I needed a chance of scenery." Astrea sat down beside Druella and the girl chuckled, nodding her head in agreement.
"Believe me, I know what you mean. Davina normally makes all the girls study with her or do homework during break, but I managed to slip away." Druella said. Astrea shook her head.
"I don't understand how you put up with Davina, or any of them really." Astrea said, offhandedly. Druella shrugged, her gaze dropping to the ground.
"They're not all bad." Druella said. Astrea scoffed, feeling slightly guilty that she was having to use Druella.
"I'm not too sure about that. All Rhea's done ever since she joined us is cause trouble." Astrea said. Druella's face slightly paled at the mention of Rhea and her eyes darted around like she half-expected Rhea to come from around one of the corners.
"Tom seems to think she's a good fit with us." Druella said. She turned to Astrea sadly. "And, as much as I hate to admit it, I think her and Tom are a good fit too."
"What?" Astrea asked, her chest tightening. Druella flashed her a sympathetic look.
"I know how much you care about him, Astrea, and how you believe that there's good somewhere inside him, but . . . I've been around people like that my whole life. Tom's no good, none of us are, but Tom and Rhea are the worst of the worst. Especially her."
Astrea frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Tom never cared about dark magic or becoming immortal until Rhea came into his life. She tricked everyone for years into thinking that she was this sweet girl when she's the devil in disguise. It's no wonder she has no real friends or anyone at her side."
"What about Seraphina? And Persephone? I see her talking to them a lot."
Druella scoffed.
"Seraphina would blindly follow anyone if they were nice to her and if Persephone found out the kind of person Rhea truly was, she wouldn't stand for it." Druella said. "Rhea has no one. Her mum's dead, her and her brother aren't speaking for some reason, and her father abandoned them. I'd almost feel sorry for her if I didn't hate her so much."
Astrea remained quiet. She did feel sorry for Rhea, which was something she had never expected to feel before. She imagined that going through life without a support system would be hard and it was no wonder Rhea came out the way she did if she had no one in her corner.
But through speaking to Druella, Astrea realized one thing: Druella was afraid of Rhea. She was so scared of her that she barely felt safe enough to mention her name in public, let alone curse her.
"Druella, can I ask you something?" Astrea asked. "And can you promise to answer truthfully?"
"Of course, Astrea. What is it?" Druella asked. Astrea sighed.
"Did you curse Rhea?" Astrea asked. Druella fell silent and Astrea could see water lining her eyes.
"Please don't say anything to Tom." Druella whispered.
Astrea ran back to Tom and burst into the Room of Requirements where Lupe and Abraxas stood over a bubbling cauldron while Tom flipped through the pages of a Potions book. He snapped the book shut when Astrea entered the room.
"Druella didn't curse Rhea." Astrea said, panting slightly as the boys turned to her. "She hates her and she thinks Rhea's evil, but she's terrified of her. She could barely speak about her in the courtyard."
"Then who did it? Who else could have access to the room and knows how to create this?" Tom asked, holding the cursed object in his hand.
"I asked Druella if she did it. I told her to be honest with me and all she said was please don't tell Tom." Astrea said. "Druella didn't do it, but we know who did. There's only one person she would take the fall for."
Rhea lounged in the dungeons that evening, feeling too exhausted to make her way upstairs. She tried to create a ball of Hel fire in her hands, but she could only create a small spark that extinguished after a few seconds. She felt weak without her powers, as though some piece of her was missing.
Rhea heard the sound of footsteps behind her, but she didn't bother to turn around as the Giant Squid passed by the window and she sulked. It wasn't until someone was thrown at her feet that Rhea glanced up, surprised to find Tom looming over Jasper, who was looking worse for wear with several gashes on his face.
"Wha —"
"It was Jasper." Tom cut Rhea off and she turned back to Jasper as he groaned on the ground. "He's the one who cursed you."
Rhea gaped at Tom, wondering how he had even found out that Jasper did it. Even Seraphina had come to her without much luck on finding anything out after speaking to some of the Knights, but Tom had managed to catch the culprit.
"Rhea, please, listen —" Jasper was cut off when Rhea directed a swift kick to his chest, knocking the wind out of him.
"Don't speak until you're spoken to." She said before turning back to Tom with a questioning look on her face. Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out a small phial of dark red liquid.
"Here's the antidote. You should feel better as soon as you drink it." Rhea carefully took the antidote from Tom, still too shocked to say much of anything. She would never have expected Tom to do anything for her without her asking or making a deal with him, but he did this of his own volition. It made her wonder why he had done it.
Rhea took the top off the bottle and downed the warm liquid quickly, desperate to get her powers back. She could feel herself and her magic returning to its proper state. She set the bottle down, her eyes darkening from delight as she stared at her hands.
She glanced back down at Jasper who writhed on the floor.
"Why did you do it?" Rhea asked. Jasper turned to her, looking ashamed. He clenched his jaw before speaking.
"You used to be different. You used to be good and then you met him." Tom merely raised a brow when Jasper glared at him. "I just . . . I just wanted you to be that girl again."
"Oh, Merlin," Rhea rolled her eyes. "I'm not a naïve damsel who's being led astray by a boy and you are not my knight in shining armour. I was never that girl, Jasper."
Rhea grabbed Jasper by the collar, lifting him from the ground. He stared at her, frightened, and Rhea relished in the fear on his face. She stared at him for a few moments, her face void of any emotion except for the ice cold rage that was waiting to be released and allowed him, for a few moments, to experience what true fear felt like.
"When I come for you — and I will come for you — I want you to remember what this feels like. I want you to hold on to this fear and think about it while you wonder when I'm finally going to come. But, I won't. I'll get my revenge when you least expect it, when you finally think you're free of me, and then, and only then, will I show you exactly the kind of girl I really am."
Jasper trembled under Rhea's gaze before she finally let him go and he dashed up the stairs away from them. Rhea turned to Tom, unsure of what she should say. She wanted to ask him why he helped her, but she doubted she'd get an answer close to the truth.
"We can try the spell again." Rhea decided. Tom narrowed his eyes at her. Even though Rhea was no longer cursed, a part of him wondered if it was possible that she just wasn't powerful enough to raise an animal from the dead and he didn't want her to put her life at risk for a spell that might not even work.
"The last time we tried the spell you nearly died —"
"Because I was cursed but I'm not now. We can go out there and try again and —"
"No." Tom said sharply. Rhea frowned, not understanding why he was so against it. "You can't do the spell. You're too weak."
Rhea's lips formed into a thin line when the words left Tom's mouth. Her anger flared and she couldn't help but feel a bit wounded when he called her weak. She wasn't weak and she thought he was finally realizing that, but he was just like Jasper, and everyone else who underestimated her.
"Fine." Rhea scoffed, brushing past Tom and storming out of the common room. His words rattled around her brain as she walked around the empty corridors as the last of the students out of bed returned to their houses. Rhea was so tired of everyone thinking she was weak or helpless or not strong enough.
Rhea chewed on the inside of cheek as she walked through the corridors while she silently mulled over her options. The logical part of her was telling her to go back to the common room and give Tom a piece of her mind before she managed to rope him back in. But another part of her wanted to show Tom that he was wrong about her by performing the spell herself. She had never even attempted to perform the Necromancy spell by herself before and she wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to do it without someone to help her, but . . . what was the harm in trying?
Within the hour, Rhea was standing in the middle of the Dark Forest chanting the spell she knew like the back of her hand with another dead Thestral at her feet and feeling the way that the earth seemed to respond to her magic. Her eyes were as dark as coals as the veil between the living and the dead dropped. There was no turning back this time.
She searched through all the noise of the dead, trying to find the Thestral's soul and guide it back to its body through her magic but it was no use and her magic, though stronger than before, was wearing thin and she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold the veil open for. But, Rhea wasn't ready to give up. Necromancy was one of the trickiest forms of magic and if she could bring a thestral back to life by herself, she'd be considered one of, if not the, most powerful witch of her age.
Rhea looked through the darkness, trying to find the thestral before she had to close the veil. It wasn't until blood started to leak from Rhea's eyes, that she finally caught sight of the dark, winged creature standing behind two unfamiliar ghosts, it's eyes darting around curiously.
"Venium capio." Rhea said, using the spell to guide the thestral to her. It turned its head and looked directly at her, stepping forward.
Rhea continued to urge the thestral to her as her knees gave in and she fell to the ground. Her mother's ghost laughed, relieved to know her daughter would fail, but Rhea continued to push even though everything in her was begging for her to stop. For a moment, she wondered if she should've listened when Tom told her to stop, but then the thestral stood just outside of her protection circle. She glanced at its dead body at her feet, waiting for it to move.
"Please . . . please . . ." Rhea whispered. She continued to stare, patiently waiting until she saw something twitch out the corner of her eye. She turned again to see that the thestrals wing was twitching as though they were getting ready to spread. Rhea pushed herself, waiting for the thestral to come back, and she let out a strained nose as her eyes drooped low.
The thestrals' chest began to slowly rise and fall as Rhea continued to keep the door open, but she could feel herself losing control and knew it was time to close the door. She started to pull out of the spell when she felt something latch onto her wrist. Rhea's eyes widened when one of the dead reached into the protection circle and grabbed her. Rhea began to work double time as the other ghosts began to move forward when they realized she could be touched in an effort to drag her to the other side. A dozen hands latched onto her arms and ankles, pulling at her. Rhea dug her hands into the ground, desperate not to go as she searched through her mind for a spell.
"Fulmenia!" Rhea cried out. Thunder rolled from the sky overhead and Rhea glanced up just in time to see a blinding white flash of light strike the ground a few feet away from her, causing her to be blasted into the air as the veil snapped shut and the spirits left her.
Rhea laid on her back, staring up at the dark sky and moaning in pain from being thrown around. She raised herself to her elbows, wincing before her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the living Thestral that was on its feet in front of her.