INVADERS! (Part II)

The courtyard was worse than the sorcerer had expected. Immediately rushing out, the boys were entrenched in combat. The Royal Guards were definitely having a hard time, but the upperclassman that had been recruited seemed to be making more of an impact. Spotting Sigmund in the field, one of the older students waved him down.

"The Jinn are trying to possess people!" They called out. Sigmund nodded.

"I know!"

"They already took down three guards! Watch your back!"

Turning back to his own fight, Sigmund watched as the student impressively conjured down a beam of light to stun the demon in front of him, then blasted him with just as much light to vaporize it.

"Did you see that?!" Sigmund gasped in awe, turning to face Kyle. The sorcerer jumped when he noticed Kyle backing away quickly, towards him. There was a demon right across from him and although he was equipped with his wand, it was almost as though he was frozen in thought and fear.

The demon, up close, was even bigger than it had looked from a distance. It easily towered over the boys. Acid drool looked to drip from his jaws and it's glowing red eyes were fixated on the young spell casters. When Sigmund noticed the Jinn raising its long, sharp talons to attack, he quickly pulled Kyle behind him, ran through a sequence of motions and managed to strike the demon with a beam. It worked to stun the monster, giving Sigmund enough time to hit it with another forceful attack. Kyle was at a loss for words when the demon vanished. Sigmund quickly turned around to check him over.

"Are you alright?!"

"I-I don't know..."

"Kahl, you have to be faster than that! You can't cower!"

"I'm sorry! It came out of nowhere!"

"HEY!" An upperclassman called out. "GUARD THE DOOR! DON'T LET THEM PASS YOU!"

Looking up from their conversation, Sigmund spotted another demon headed towards the common hall door in the courtyard. Kyle watched him take a stance, focus his energy and once again, stun the monster. There seemed to be a method to this, but he wasn't sure if his light magic technique would be enough for a battle like this. With another one down, Sigmund was starting to feel more confident.

"We got this!" The sorcerer grinned, giving the wizard a thumbs up. Kyle shook his head, making Sigmund's smile fade. "What?"

"I can't do it..." Kyle called back to him. "I..I don't think I can..."

"You're afraid?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. And I can't conjure light the way you do." Sigmund frowned, but he was glad Kyle was being honest. This wouldn't be the best place to try and figure out their abilities. This entire situation was extremely dangerous.

"It's okay. Go back inside." Sigmund nodded. "I'm sure they need help with the cauldron, so don't worry."

On the inside, Kyle felt bad about leaving Sigmund outside to fight. He was the youngest student there and even though he knew he was more than capable, he still didn't want to leave his roommate to handle something like this alone. On the other side of the coin, he also felt as if he was holding Sigmund back. Being distracted right now wasn't the best idea, no matter the intention. Sigmund gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I mean it!" He called, noticing Kyle seemed to be pondering. "Go! I'll be alright!"

The wizard nodded in response. Quickly, Kyle headed back towards the common hall, pushing his wand back into his cape pocket. Before going through the door, Kyle looked over his shoulder. He gasped towards what he saw.

Surrounding Sigmund, three monsters had just risen from the smog. The sorcerer looked to be cornered and his eyes jumped from one jinn to another. Though he kept a solid stance, his expression read his true emotions. He didn't look sure of himself the way he had just moments ago. As one of the demons lifted their talons to strike, Kyle felt his stomach drop.

"SIGMUND!" Kyle yelled.

He watched the sorcerer quickly lift his hands to conjure a dome barrier around himself, but the monsters didn't quit. Over and over again, they took turns, striking the magical barrier and Sigmund seemed to be struggling to hold it up. He did his best to hold his stance, but slowly, he was slipping.

"GAHHH!" Sigmund cried out, his eyes closing tightly. It was taking everything in him to hold the barrier. He was slowly finding himself squatting down, just to keep the building pressure off his spine. The amount of dark energy was becoming overwhelming. Kyle pulled his wand and let out a blast of light. Though it wasn't much, it managed to stop one of the three demons for just a moment. When the moment passed, the attack continued. Sigmund was still in great trouble. Looking up from his shelter under the dome, Sigmund flashed Kyle a desperate look.

"KAHL PLEASE! ACK—! I'M SLIPPING!"

"I'M DOING MY BEST!"

"FOCUS! J-JUST FOCUS!"

"SIGMUND—!"

"I-IT HURTS! GOTT, I'M GONNA DIE! RETTE MICH!"

Desperate for anything to work, Kyle shot out his wand with the intention of light. Down came a beam from the sky, which not only hit the monsters, but Sigmund as well. The light broke through his barrier, but thankfully stunned the monsters for long enough to counter attack. Collecting himself quickly, though injured, Sigmund managed to get through the gang of Jinn and instantly collapsed into the smog afterwards. Kyle rushed over to him, lifting him the best he could.

"I didn't mean to hit you too! I'm sorry! Sigmund, are you alright?!"

"Ja..." Sigmund breathed heavily, gripping the sleeve of Kyle's academy sweater. A light sweat had formed over his forehead and his face was pale from the fear. A few feet away from them, yet another demon rose from the smog, but Sigmund was too dazed to react straight away. Kyle, on the other hand, was fully aware.

"You've gotta get up!" Kyle gasped, looking down at the wilted sorcerer. "I can't do what I did again! I completely winged it!"

"My legs..." Sigmund winced, his hand brushing over his boots. "Holding that up...I hurt myself..."

"Oh God, Sigmund!"

"Help me up.."

Kyle stood first and quickly grabbed Sigmund's outreached hands, pulling him up the best he could. Back on his feet, Sigmund instantly toppled over into Kyle's arms and hissed in pain.

"Ah! My back..." The sorcerer moaned in pain. His voice was tinged with a faint whimper. "It's so sore.."

"Sigmund, we've gotta move!"

With the demon quickly approaching, Kyle did his best to send out a blast. Being completely unfocused proved to be a fault when the ray of magic did nothing to stop it. Sigmund felt Kyle tense up and took that as a bad sign. Taking a deep breath, the sorcerer exhaled and let go of the wizard, facing the jinn head on. Kyle marveled at the display. Sigmund moved as though nothing was hurting him. Even through the pain, his strikes were accurate and effective. In the moment, Kyle realized is what made Sigmund the Wizard of the Year.

When the demon had been vaporized, Sigmund seemed to stagger. Before he could call out to Kyle to catch him, he'd dropped down to his knees and fainted, falling over onto his side. Kyle gasped, rushing over to the sorcerer to kneel beside him. An upperclassman had spotted Sigmund finishing off the beast and rushed across the field to assist.

"SIGMUND!" Kyle panicked, shaking the blonde. "Oh no, come on! WAKE UP SIGMUND!" With the upperclassman approaching, the stronger student lifted Sigmund off the ground and into his arms. The sorcerer was limp and didn't respond to Kyle's cries. Out of the pocket of his jacket, his cell phone had fallen out. Kyle collected it quickly and pushed it into his own pocket.

"We've gotta get him off the field." The student spoke. "Let's go!" They rushed toward the courtyard door, passing slowly rising demons, and managed to get back into the common building. Professor Dionysus stood at the doorway and gasped in shock when he spotted the student holding Sigmund.

"My goodness!" The Professor shouted, quickly taking Sigmund from the student. Sigmund's arm dropped down, but the teacher collected it with the rest of him into his strong arms. "I've got him. Go back out and collect the light workers. We're ready to begin the ritual!"

"Yes, sir!" The student spoke, turning back and rushing out the door. Kyle followed behind the teacher as he rushed down the corridor. Back in the main hall, the room seemed to pause together in shock when the Professor bolted in with the young protege, unresponsive, in his arms.

"We need healers over here!" The teacher called out. "To the infirmary, quickly!" A flock of students and members of the board dashed over. Headmaster Merlin approached with an expression of great horror and looked to Kyle.

"What happened?" He asked, his tone somber. Kyle was just as much at a loss for words.

"T-there was three of them..." The wizard explained, his voice noticeably trembling. "He struggled with them. They didn't touch him, but I took too long to help and he got hurt anyway."

"No, do not blame yourself." The headmaster responded quickly, setting a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "You volunteered to help and we're thankful for that. I'm sure Sigmund is thankful that you were there, even after he protested against it. Help is help, no matter the timing."

"I'm no help. I'm never any help. If I was a better wizard, I could've stopped it..."

"Right now, you could've been up in your classroom, locked away with your peers, watching and waiting." The headmaster kneeled down to speak to the young student at eye level. "Kyle, you're doing the best you can and that's more than a lot of wizards can say. You should be so incredibly proud of yourself and your performance today. I, for one, am exceptionally proud of you."

Kyle's eyes teared up and his face flushed. He never thought he'd hear the headmaster of Milkweed Academy give him praise. Ever. It was a great honor to hear those words from a spell caster as highly respected and revered as Merlin the Magician.

"Thank you, Headmaster."

Merlin smiled down at the wizard, patting his shoulder lovingly before slowly straightening up again. One of the board members approached the Headmaster and pointed down the hall.

"Sigmund's awake, but I don't think he'll be able to help with the ritual." The member spoke. Merlin frowned.

"That's a great loss.." The headmaster responded. "But the ritual must go on. We don't have much time left. The hour has almost arrived."

"How can I help?" Kyle asked, eagerly. Merlin gave Kyle another smile.

"Help to bring more fire to the cauldron." He instructed the conjurer. "We need as much help as we can to keep the brew at the right temperature. Everything has to be executed perfectly for this to work."

Giving a nod, Kyle rushed over to the cauldron in the great hall and stood beside other upperclassman. He knew how to conjure fire, thanks to Sigmund, and could even do it without his wand. Together, the students worked to keep the cauldron regulated while board members filled the bubbling pot with ingredients. As more students filled the great hall from the courtyard, the door was boarded up the best they could and salt was sprayed to keep the demons back before the witching hour. Quickly, white candles were lit and a salt pentagram was also spread around the ritual site.

Professor Dionysus had returned from the infirmary with the scroll for the ritual, just as the clock started to count down the final minutes.

"Are we prepared?" The Professor asked the headmaster. Merlin nodded.

"As prepared as we can be." He answered. "Have the board members at Halfmoon been contacted? Are they ready to begin?"

"Yes! Everyone is prepared and ready to start!"

"Alright then. Form the circle and we'll begin the chant on the hour."

Together, the light workers joined hands around the cauldron and closed their eyes to focus. Some rocked on their heels, others hummed to clear their heads. While the light workers focused, the students helping kept the fire high. Kyle watched as the soft glow of a white aura began to rise from the center of the circle. On the witching hour, the clock in the main hall began to chime and Merlin the Magician raised his magic staff.

"Altogether now!" He announced as the crystal at the end of his staff began to glow. "Everyone, raise your voices and stand strong! Evil to ashes!"

"Evil to ashes!"

"The Good win tonight!"

"The Good win tonight!"

"End the darkness!"

"End the darkness!"

"Bring us light!"

"Bring us light!"

"Light!"

"LIGHT!"

Over and over again, the chant of light was repeated and the glow of the cauldron only glowed brighter and brighter. The smog that once seemed to fill the room with cold and dread seemed to finally subside and warmth quickly surrounded everyone. As the chant went on, the voices only grew louder and stronger. Kyle could faintly hear the echo of the students in the academy hall chanting from their classrooms. The air was changing.

The doors that were once boarded up were quickly opened to let the light flood outside. Any demons that attempted to enter were immediately vaporized. Looking out into the courtyard, a trail of a strong aura was quickly approaching from the opposite end of the enchanted forest. Halfmoon Hallows was obviously doing their end of the spell. When both auras came together, a portal above the realm slowly began to open.

It was a beautiful sight for everyone. Rainbow prisms that made the realm sparkle, a warm, gentle breeze that seemed to touch the skin of everyone and soothing beams of sunshine that cleared the entire forest of the Dark Jinn. The ones that weren't vaporized had rushed back into the dark portal that had originally been opened for them to escape. With light quickly reaching the University of the Underworld, it's students took cover while the neighboring schools worked to finally seal off the evil portal.

Once the portal of light over the realm seemed to close, the students and staff of Milkweed Academy released their hold on one another and immediately broke out in celebratory cheers. The ritual was a great success! Kyle shook out the fire from his hands quickly and grinned brightly as students rushed out from their classrooms to cheer and applaud the board members and upperclassman. Other healers worked together to gather royal guard members from the courtyard and bring them into the infirmary for treatment.

Professor Flan was surprised to see Kyle standing near Headmaster Merlin. The wizard smiled sheepishly towards the headmaster.

"This was the first time I've ever felt so comfortable with conjuring fire like this." He told Merlin. "And continuously at that! I have you to thank. Thank you for the encouraging words." Merlin laughed a lighthearted, ancient feel of a laugh.

"Mr. Bloodworth-Thomason, you're more gifted than you realize." He replied. "Keep applying yourself. Keep trying. You managed to get through an urgent situation untouched! You'll be a fine wizard!"

With another brace-face, heartfelt smile, Kyle excused himself and quickly rushed down to the infirmary. Once inside, his eyes scanned the beds in search of his roommate. An upperclassman pointed out the bed near a window to Kyle.

"If you're looking for Sigmund, he's over there!"

"Thank you!" Kyle waved, walking over quickly. He passed by beds filled with patrol members and royal guards being treated. Armor was scattered around the infirmary. They all looked a lot better than when he'd seen them last, seizing in the forest. Many of them looked dazed, but they seemed to be coming back into consciousness. Finally coming across Sigmund's bed, Kyle smiled to himself when he'd pulled the curtain back. Sigmund had been sleeping, the sun shining down on his face through the window. Hearing the curtain shift though, his eyes fluttered open and when he realized who it was, he returned the smile.

"Ah, hallo!"

"Hey! How are you feeling?"

"Sore, but I'm alright. Just really tired." He did his best to sit up in bed and adjusted the pillow behind him. Kyle sat on the wooden stool beside the bed. "Looks like everything went well!"

"It was really amazing how it all happened." Kyle nodded. "I've never seen a mass ritual like that before. Seeing the ancient board members orchestrating it was really a sight to see!"

"And I missed it all.." Sigmund pouted. "I'm sorry. I was supposed to help out." Kyle frowned with him.

"Are you joking?!" He asked. "Sigmund, you helped out more than enough! You saved both of us out there!"

"But I was supposed to help with the ritual. I shouldn't have pushed myself so much. I used too much energy."

"Yeah, to save us! We both would've been ZOMBIES right now if you hadn't done what you did! You did more than enough, so cut it out!" Sigmund smiled faintly. Kyle jumped suddenly, which made Sigmund jump too.

"What?!" The sorcerer gasped. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, Kyle pulled Sigmund's phone. It was ringing, so the wizard handed it over. Quickly, Sigmund took the phone from him, looked down at the caller ID and grinned, answering it.

"Sigmund! We did it!" Erin spoke on her end. "Wasn't that just amazing?" Sigmund seemed to frown and Kyle noticed his expression change. He stood up from his seat and waved toward the sorcerer, excusing himself and closing the curtain behind him to give him some privacy. Sigmund sighed.

"Ja...I mean...I wasn't really around to see."

"What do you mean?"

"I got hurt.." Sigmund finally told her. "I was out in the field, defending the academy with the guards."

"WHAT?! YOU WERE FIGHTING?! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"

"Hahaha! Relax, mein schatz, I'm alright. I'm in the infirmary right now, but I should be out soon."

"The infirmary?! I'm coming over."

"What? No, you don't have to. It would take you too long to fly over and it's not necessa—."

Sigmund's phone nearly flew out of his hand when Erin had suddenly appeared in a hail of sparkles beside his bed. Teleporting from such a great distance, the enchantress dropped her phone, grabbed her head and toppled over. Thankfully, she landed on the stool Kyle had been sat on before. Sigmund was shocked.

"Erin! Are you alright?!"

"Dizzy..." She mumbled, pulling off her witch hat to hold her head in her hands. Sigmund covered his mouth to hold in a laugh, but it came out anyways. Erin faintly laughed with him. "Oh, so this is funny to you?!"

Hearing laughter behind the curtain, Kyle raised a brow and quickly looked behind it, jumping when his eyes fell on the witch.

"What the—?!" He gasped. "How did you get here?!"

"Oh, hi!" Erin smiled, looking up at the wizard. "I just climbed through the window." Sigmund laughed harder when Kyle's attention moved to the window. Erin shook her head. "I'm pulling your cape, silly! I teleported."

"From Halfmoon?!"

"Sigmund told me he was in the infirmary. I had to make sure he was alright..." Looking toward the blonde again, Erin frowned. "You're okay, right?" Sigmund nodded.

"I'm even better now." He smiled. Kyle rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out.

"Ugh!" He groaned. "How absolutely sickening!" Sigmund reached behind him and tossed his pillow at Kyle, who blocked it by closing the curtain behind him. Erin had a good laugh at the whole display, but she quickly turned her attention back to the sorcerer and stood up, sitting at the edge of the bed instead.

"Seriously, are you really okay?" She asked him again. Sigmund pulled himself out from under his blanket and sat beside her, but Erin couldn't help but notice how slow he'd done it. "You're hurt..."

"I'm just really sore, is all." Sigmund told her. "No pain, don't worry."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Erin leaned her head on his shoulder and Sigmund bought his arm around her. Peering out the window in front of them, it was literally like night and day. It looked as if nothing had ever happened and the realm was back to its peaceful tune. Of course, the infirmary was a different story, but Sigmund was happy to see Kyle and have Erin with him. The witch looked up at the sorcerer, who looked down at her. They exchanged smiles of relief.

"Some last day, huh?" Erin sighed. "As if we haven't had enough this term."

"It'll only make the summer holiday feel even better." Sigmund replied. "I can't wait to have you over!"

"I can't wait to visit! Speaking of, can I come visit sooner?"

"Sooner? Impatient, are we?"

"I just wanna be sure you're feeling okay, because I know you're lying to me."

"Erin! I'm not lying!"

"So stand up!" Erin spat, lifting her head from his shoulder and crossing her arms. Sigmund hesitated, but eventually, he pulled himself up from the infirmary bed. When he staggered, Erin quickly stood up and latched onto him for support. He unknowingly found himself hugging her back. Looking down at her, Sigmund gave her a sheepish grin.

"Okay, so, I'm a little weak..." Sigmund admitted, his cheeks quickly flushing in embarrassment. "But I swear, I'm not in pain!"

"Sigmund..." Erin pouted, clearly not pleased. The sorcerer sighed, carefully pushing a strand of the witch's hair away from her forehead and behind her ear. Lovingly, he set a kiss to her forehead and looked down at her again. A cheesy grin seemed to replace her pout.

"Smiling! That's better!" Sigmund smiled back. He bent down to pick up her hat, which he gently set on her head, then grabbed her fallen phone and handed it to her. "Come on, let's get out of here. I hate nursing offices..."

Erin pushed her phone into her purse, picked up the sorcerer's discarded jacket, held Sigmund's hand tightly and slowly led him out from behind the curtain. Kyle looked up when the couple suddenly appeared. He was surprised to see Sigmund up already.

"A nurse told me Professor Flan was just asking about us." Kyle told his roommate. Sigmund flinched. He was sure he was going to be in trouble after running out of the classroom earlier in the day. "We have to go to the Headmaster's office."

"Is everything alright?" Erin asked, looking up at Sigmund. He shrugged.

"We'll have to find out..." Erin's attention turned to Kyle, who smiled weakly when her eyes were on him.

"Do you mind helping me with this one?" Erin asked, motioning to Sigmund, who raised a brow in confusion. "He claims he's totally okay, but he's leaning on me more than he realizes and he's a lot heavier than he looks."

Sigmund's blushed furiously as Kyle joined him on his opposite side and let him rest an arm over his shoulder. Together, they walked out of the infirmary and carefully made their way down the hall to the Headmaster's office. When they reached the tall doors, Erin knocked gently. Professor Flan answered the door and paused, seeing the witch. Recognizing her and the emblem on her caplet, his brows immediately furrowed in her direction and quickly, he raised his voice to question her.

"Aren't you—?!"

"We're here at your request." Sigmund interrupted. "I could really use a seat. I'm still not entirely steady."

"O-oh...I see.." The Professor scoffed. He watched as Kyle and Erin helped Sigmund inside and carefully lowered him into a seat in front of Merlin's oak wood desk. Other members of the board were stood around the desk, something that worried the roommates. The wizard and the witch opted to stand beside Sigmund in the chair and after closing the door, Professor Flan joined the rest of the faculty members around the desk.

"We've called you both here today to speak with you." Headmaster Merlin started. "I understand the term is over today and you'd much rather be packing up for the holiday, but I can assure you, this won't take much time at all."

"Are we in trouble?" Sigmund asked, a tone of obvious worry in his voice. The Headmaster had a great laugh.

"Of course not!" He responded. "Quite the opposite. I'll allow your Professor to explain." When the attention turned to Professor Flan, he cleared his throat.

"Yes, of course." He nodded, straightening out his bow tie. "I misjudged you both. I assumed you were rushing off to cause trouble earlier. I was rightfully made aware that the two of you took it upon yourselves to assist with defending our academy this afternoon."

"Yes, sir." Kyle nodded.

"Headmaster Merlin told me how much you both risked for the sake of our academy and I'm thoroughly impressed. I'd like to nominate you both for an academic achievement for your levels."

The trio gasped, all exchanging glances of surprise and excitement. None of them were expecting to hear something like this. Merlin let out yet another heartwarming laugh.

"I'm bypassing the nominations and awarding you both with Milkweed Academy's Excellence medallion." Merlin told them, lifting two purple boxes out to them. "With your picture day tomorrow, please be sure to bring it along with you. You'll both be added to the realm's yearbook."

"The yearbook?!" Kyle breathed. He'd always dreamt of being part of the realm's yearbook, but never thought it would happen for him unless he was top three or became wizard of the year. To be recognized as a hero in the yearbook was beyond him. He could hardly breathe.

Approaching Merlin's desk, Kyle shook his hand and received his award, stepping aside to allow Sigmund to do the same. Kyle could hardly believe he was holding a Milkweed issued award. Erin smiled, clasping her hands in pride as the boys opened their boxes and flashed their awards to one another. Headmaster Merlin turned his attention to the witch.

"Erin Saint'valentine, correct?" The great magician inquired. Erin jumped, her eyes going wide when she was suddenly questioned. Sigmund and Kyle immediately turned their attention to the conversation as well.

"Y-yes, sir!" Erin stammered. "I'm sorry sir! I know I'm not allowed to be here."

"It's my fault!" Sigmund quickly defended, standing closely beside her. "So please don't have her punished."

"Please, children! No one is being punished today!" Merlin chuckled towards the youths. "In fact, I only wanted to include Erin in receiving an award."

"Me?" Erin gasped.

"Of course! Your Headmaster said you were of great help this afternoon at Halfmoon Hallows. You helped to evacuate your class, directly assisted in the ritual and kept our academy informed in various ways." Erin and Sigmund seemed to blush towards that last statement. Kyle couldn't help but snicker.

"I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay..." Erin spoke shyly.

"You went above and beyond for your academy. You instructed your peers on healing methods for aiding members of the Royal Guard, provided ingredients for the ritual and now you're here for our students showing them support as well. You should feel incredibly proud. All of you!"

As the members of the school board applauded, Erin finally smiled again and the boys smiled with her. Merlin stood up to applaud the trio and the other upperclassman in the office that had also received awards for their levels.

"Your award will be waiting for you at Halfmoon Hallows. For the yearbook, please wear it tomorrow with your academy robes." Turning his attention to the students in the room, Merlin the Magician gave them all a bow. "We cannot thank you all enough for risking your lives for our realm. Rest well and be ready for your photos tomorrow!"