AN: Sorry for taking so long with the next chapter, but Wilhelmina Vandom was busy and could not beta read this chapter until now.
But I thank her for her hard work and reviewing the last chapter. I also like the following reviewer as well: Philip Gipson, Darkness-Lightness, KnightofFaerun, The Crazy Talk Kid, Kitsune6, Torquemada Coteaz, GuyverZero, AyameKitsune, JCE1985, Sergio Dumbledore, Live.Laugh.Learn.Love.Lose. and fergnerd.
I thank you all for your support and hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D
PS: Have started a forum in the W.I.T.C.H. section for those have questions about my stories. If you ever worried about the slow updates at time, please drop by and leave a message, I'll get back to you ASAP.
000
Chapter 12: School, Duels & Rewards
The next day after Will's Golem encounter had been a quite one. Abele spent most of it with Will, so the girl was not alone while she mentally recovered from her near death experience.
During this time together, Abele found out why Will had been in that section of the library and had told Will it had been rather ironic the girl had been trying to look up that subject. When Will asked why, Abele merely replied, "You'll find out tomorrow."
Though Will did not get to find out the history of the Gifted, she did get to learn a new skill from Abele that was related to Will's warlock powers. Abele had taken Will into the armory and placed a sword in front of Will.
"Susan was probably going to teach you this when she was done at the ruins, but let's save her some time so she can teach you other abilities and skills. What I'm going to teach you is not an invocation, but an ability that comes naturally to all Warlocks called 'Detect Magic.' This ability works like the first grade spell of Wizards and Sorcerers, but since you can do it through your Warlock abilities it's even better." Abele explained.
"Why is it better because I can do it with my Warlock powers instead my sorcery?" Will asked in a curious tone, since it seemed that either way she was able to do it.
Abele shook her head and smiled at Will's forgetfulness as she replied, "You can run out of magic if you relied on your Sorcerer class for spells to do that kind of thing, but the supernatural magic your Warlock class gives you access to, is virtually limitless. You won't need to waste mystic energy by casting Detect Magic if you use the version you gain through your Warlock class."
Will blushed a bit at this oversight on her part, but Abele assured Will it was nothing to worry about and started the lesson. Abele told Will to focus her supernatural energy into her eyes than focus on the sword. If Will did the process correctly, she should see the sword start to glow.
After a few minutes of repeated attempts, Will finally saw the sword start to glow. "Very good Will. Now before we move onto learning further use of Detect Magic, practice just doing what you have done so far until you can do it five times in a row. That way we can be sure you have gotten the hang of it." Abele instructed and for nodded from Will, who continued practicing her new skill.
Once Will had managed to master perform Detect Magic, Abele told Will what to do next. "Now that you can tell if in an object is magical, its time to take it a step and find out how many different auras there are on an object. To do this, focus on the sword for a minute or two and you should be able to sense the number of different auras it has." Will heard the woman explain and did as she was told.
After a few minutes had past, Will said she sensed three different auras around the sword, which Abele confirmed as correct. "Now for the last part Will, telling what the basic type of each enchantment is. As you probably know, all magic is broken down into Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy or Transmutation. As you focus on each aura, you'll be able to tell which school each belongs to, but not the exact spell unfortunately. That's a more advanced ability that you won't be able to use for a long while yet. Try to see if you can find out which schools the three spells are related to." Abele instructed as she helped Will learn the last step of her new ability.
"Okay," Will answered and focused further on the sword. After a few more minutes of concentrating Will said, "Two are from the transmutation school and the other is from the evocation school." Abele smiled and nodded her head as said, "Very good Will. It looks you got the hang of it. Next time you and the other girls go an a trip, you might be able to put that skill to good use, depending on what the practice adventure involves."
Will blushed a little under Abele's praise and followed the woman out of the armory as they headed off to get something to eat, since it was almost lunch time. The rest of the day was uneventful after that. Will mostly spent it getting ready for the next day by getting help from Caleb on working on few practice assignments.
Of course, Abele was also the one to suggest to Caleb to help Will, much to said half-elf's dismay. Neither of them had yet to realize of the Sorceress' intentions, which was probably a good thing for her. Neither of them were strong enough to be a threat to her if they did something silly like attack her, but one was a practiced prankster that pulled few on even Susan and the other was pretty clever himself. They would probably get the woman in the end if they caught on to quickly, that was for sure.
000
The next day, Will was as ready as she could be for her first day at Sheffield Academy as a guest student. This of course meant it was rather unlikely she would get any homework since she was not actually apart of the student body, but she would be able to take part of the classes.
Sade had managed to arrange that all of Will's classes had either Elyon, Taranee, Cornelia or Caleb in them so there would always be someone there that Will knew and could help her if something happened. It was a sad truth, but chances were that Will was going need help at least a couple of times that day, but with Meridian's princess, two children of high ranking nobles and the school's brightest student watching out for her, Will was as safe as she possibly could be under the circumstances.
"Is this bag supposed to be this heavy or am I out of shape?" Will asked as she shifted the heavy book bag on her should a bit. She was surprised that Julian and Abele had gone out and got her a few books for her classes, saying that even after her time at Sheffield was over she might be able to make use of them a little for her own studies with Susan.
"It could be worse, you could be a wizard. Imagine how many books you would have to carry then!" Caleb joked, brining a smile to the redhead's face. The tutoring session they had together yesterday let Will better control herself when near Caleb, and it helped her perfect her math skill a little bit…When ever she could focus that is.
"You two better get going or you're going to be late." Julian said as opened the door for them to leave. Outside was a carriage to take the pair to the school, since with both the distance and the crowded streets; going by foot was a bad idea.
"We're going! We're going! Sheesh, if you and mom want to be alone you can just say so! I know about the birds and the bees after all so need to use send us to school as a excuse to get rid of us!" Caleb called out as he and Will headed out the door. Will was caught between wanting to burst out laughing and blushing a deep crimson at Caleb comment, while Julian and Abele were doing one or the other.
Julian was the one blushing from embarrassment at what his son had done while Abele was the one laughing at her husband's predicament. "Oh he defiantly takes after you dear!" Abele said through her laughter and was getting glares because of it. Julian then marched off, grumbling under his breath, "Note to self, schedule three hour father-son sparring match for when he gets home with an Anti-Magic Field in place so he can't use his magic to save himself."
This made Abele just roll her eyes with a smirk on her face, as she called out to him, "Are you forgetting who the one that casts the Anti-Magic Field spell for you!" This just made Julian look back and shout out, "I'll get a scroll and do it myself!"
"After what happened last time?" Abele said as she started laughing again, which got even louder when Julian yelled out, "It's worth the risk! Besides my hair grew back eventually!"
000
An hour later, Caleb and Will arrived out side Sheffield, where Elyon, Cornelia and Taranee were waiting. "Will, over here!" Elyon called out and waved so to signal the redhead to come over. Will seeing this, rushed towards them and was embraced by her friends in a group hug.
"We heard about what happened during the hunting trip. That must have been scary to face that many skeleton warriors. It's a good thing everyone came out alright in the end." Taranee said in a concerned, yet relieved tone. All the girls had the same expression on their faces, which Will found strangely comforting to know there were so many concerned for her well-being.
"It was a little scary but when we could finally stop and fight it was not so bad. Of course Caleb and Julian did most of the fighting, the rest of us just stayed out of the way." Will said to the group, who looked at her skeptically.
"From what I heard when Julian reported what happened to my mother, you took a few down yourself. There is no way to say for sure but I think you may have at least kept anyone from getting seriously hurt. Sir Julian maybe strong, but there was no way he would have walked away with out a scratch if you had not helped thin their numbers a bit." Elyon said to Will, hoping to point out she contributed by taking down twelve to fifteen skeletons before Julian and Caleb finished off the rest.
Before Will could respond in anyway to what Elyon said, the bell rang and the kids still out side moved for the main entrance. "Well, time to go. You got the same schedule as Taranee and me so just stick with us. The only time we separate is when you go for weapons practice, but Matt and Caleb will be with you in that." Elyon explained as she and Taranee grabbed Will and pulled her towards the school, so they were not late for class.
000
The first class was to be the bane of Will's existence, Math! How she hated the subject ever since Susan started teaching her the basics of it. If it weren't for Cornelia, Taranee or Elyon poking Will every time her eyes started to drift shut, she would have passed out. Taranee did it because she believed Will could use the knowledge, while Cornelia and Elyon did because if they had to suffer, then so did Will.
By the end of the math class, Will looked ready to unleash a flurry of eldritch blasts upon her friends if they poked her one more time. "I swear if you guys do that tomorrow, I'm using you for target practice!" Will quietly hissed at her friends as they left for their next class, which was history.
"You maybe a Gifted with three classes Will, but even you can't take all three of us. Not when we are all on the same skill level as you and one of us being a Gifted as well." Cornelia said with a smirk, as they kept walking towards the history classroom.
"Then I'll wait until you're gone and then I'll take down said Gifted and the wizard. After that, I'll hunt you down!" Will countered as they reached the door to the classroom. As they entered room and sat down at their desks, Will noticed that on the blackboard were the words "Gifted History Month" written on it.
'Was that…What Abele meant by it was ironic that I was trying to find out about that subject a couple of days ago?' Will thought as she waited for the class to start. The teacher walked in just before the bell rang, but unlike the last teacher this one noticed Will actually being in the classroom.
The teacher seemed to have a look of mild disgust, making it clear he did not like Will being present. Will personally classified this as a minor worry at most, since most people who looked at her like that, tended to keep it strictly to just mild glares at worst. Will could only hope that it was because of both her race and Warlock class, if it was only because of one then she might be in trouble.
"I see we have a guest. I take it she is with you, your highness, Princess Elyon?" The teacher asked, though the second he made eye contact with Elyon, he seemed to look intimidated all of a sudden. Will quickly glanced at Elyon, Taranee and Cornelia and saw them lock their sights on the man. Even Will was feeling a bit unnerved and she was not even the target of the triple glare attack.
"Yes she is, I hope that won't be problem sir, since she will be here for the rest of the week." Elyon replied politely, a drastic contrast to her facial expression. The teacher quickly shook his no as he replied, "No, of course not your highness! Um…Please Ms, stand up and introduce yourself and state your classes before we begin our lesson for the day."
Will was bit reluctant to stand and speak, but an encouraging nudge from Elyon made the redhead act. "My name is Will and I'm a Gifted Sorcerer, Warlock…" Will started to say but before she could say her final class, a voice yelled, "Oh no a triple freak! She's a demon lover, a half-breed and thinks she's a boy!"
The majority of the class either laughed or booed at Will, some even started making paper balls and chucked them at Will while calling out, "Get lost freak!" or other such insults. Will was looking close to breaking down on the spot, when her friends stepped in.
"ENOUGH!" Elyon screamed in a furry, making everyone go silent. No one dared to act against the heir to the throne, especially not when she was backed up by Cornelia whose fist was now engulfed in a Produce Flame spell and Taranee who looked like she was getting ready to start slinging spells at the next person who spoke.
Elyon then looked at the teacher and asked in a deadly tone of voice, "Are you going to just stand there or are you going to do something about this!" The teacher instantly nodded his head frantically and started handing detentions and saying he would be contacting the students' parents about this attack on a guest of the princess.
Some of the braver students shot hateful glares at the four girls, but they managed to shrug them off. Of course Will had a harder time doing this than her friends, but she managed to draw strength from the fact that her friends were near and would be able to help her through any other problems.
Despite what happened in the class, Will managed learn a little about Gifted history. Today the teacher was just giving them a general summary of how the Gifted were first discovered and how they were treated at first and basic step by step of what led them to be treated how they were today.
The teacher said they would go into greater detail about each stage during the month, but Will at learned the three basic stages the Gifted went through until it got to present time.
The first stage was, of course, the discovery and initial treatment of the Gifted, which Will found out was much like how she was treated today. Gifted were feared for their incredible power and if somebody was discovered to be one, were shunned at best and hunted down at worst.
The second stage was when a time called 'The Gifted Wars' began. It was back when kings ruled Meridian and the king who had ruled at the time, died without having a male heir. This caused all the noble houses to take arms and fight one another for the right to claim the throne for them selves.
The reason the war was called 'The Gifted Wars' was because the nobles realized the power the Gifted possessed and with training, could make them powerful weapons to use against the other noble houses. This started a chain reaction, making the Gifted suddenly become sought out and recruited (by force if necessary) to join one the feuding families.
It was not until ten years after the war began, the last King's granddaughter Weira appeared amidst the chaos and tried to set things right. She was the one who started the line that Sade and Elyon descended from, and also like them, was a Gifted of the Sorcerer and Cleric classes.
Weira had grown tired of seeing the people suffer and her fellow Gifted being used to fuel a pointless and bloody war, so she slowly made contact with all the Gifted of the noble houses and then gathered an army comprised of mostly commoners and moved to set things right.
With the Gifted turned to her side and backed by the people of Meridian, Weira ended the war. The nobles were forced to surrender unconditionally and Weira started the age of where Queens could rule over the kingdom as well. This also made way for the third stage of Gifted history, where they were finally treated as equals without fear of being hunted down to be killed or used as tools of war.
Will could not wait to learn more, finding it very exciting to hear about. The Gifted went from outcasts like she was, to accepted members of society. It gave Will a little hope that she might one day be accepted as well. 'It probably won't happen, not in my lifetime anyway. But maybe one day it might,' Will thought, as the bell rang again and she went with her friends to the next class.
As they left, Elyon broke away from the group when she saw someone she really needed to talk to. "Principal Knickerbocker, do you have a moment? There is something I really need to talk to you about that happened in my last class." Elyon said to the headmistress of the school, who had a serious expression on her face.
"If it's about certain actions taken towards your guest, your highness, then I am already aware of them. One of the other teachers was passing by when the incident happened and alerted me right away. I assure you, I will personally deal with this matter." Knickerbocker assured Elyon before turning to Will.
"My apologies young lady, I had assured Lord and Lady Russell that such events would not happen. I hope you can at least finish the day, but I would not blame you if you wished to not come again after that…That…There is no word that can describe that appalling scene." Knickerbocker said a sincere and kind tone; making Will believe the woman was being truly sorry for what had happened.
"I…I think I can mange the rest of the day. Besides it was only one class and its not like the whole school knows." Will replied, feeling a bit better that at least one person in the school did not hate her for what she was.
Knickerbocker gave Will a sad smile as she says, "My dear, I would not count on that being true for long. News like yours does not keep quite very long in any school I'm afraid. Now that a classroom worth of students know, the whole school will by lunchtime. If things get worse, feel free to come see me and I'll gladly arrange for you to be sent back to the Russell estate."
This news scared Will, not liking the idea that the whole school was going to find out about her in a matter of hours. Will was considering whether or not to just pack in now and head back, when Cornelia put her hand on Will's shoulder and said, "Don't let them win without a fight, Will. You faced far worse things then a few students with an attitude problem." These words seemed to help Will regain some of her inner strength and nodded her head as a way to signal she was ready to keep going.
"Well you all better get going. You don't want to be late for your next class." Knickerbocker informed the girls, who agreed and left.
000
The next class for the day was one that Cornelia was not apart of, since this was when Class related lessons started in the schedule. This class was called Arcane Arts, which was ideal for those who were either Wizard or Sorcerer, which eliminated Cornelia because she was a Druid and used Divine magic.
The old woman who taught in this class had a much gentler aura about her and was much kinder than the last one. Will could tell this by the gentle smile the woman gave her, though the redhead assumed the old woman did not know of Will's powers yet.
As the bell rang to signal that classes had begun the teacher said, "Alright class, as you know we are doing mystic item identification today, so please divide up into groups of three. You have to choose which of your group will be the one casting Detect Magic for the assignment and once you have, then that is the only one permitted to do so. So make sure you choose the one with the highest magic reserves of your team."
This made the class confused and one called out, "But one group would only be made up of two people if we tried to divide into groups of three." This caused the old woman to smile and shake her head as she replied, "If we had our usual number of students that would be true, but today we have a guest of the princess present today. So please everyone choose your groups and I'll hand out each group's first item."
With that, Will, Elyon and Taranee got together and started on deciding which would be the one who would be the one to cast the Detect Magic spell. "Since Elyon has pretty large magic reserves, she should be the one to cast it." Taranee suggested, since Taranee thought Will did not know the spell anyway. Technically Taranee was correct in this belief, since Will did not know the spell; she had it as a natural ability.
"Um…Actually I can use it more often than Elyon can because of my…Special abilities." Will said a bit quietly, hoping to make sure no one overheard her. Will did not see anyone from the history class here, so that meant the only ones who knew of Will's Warlock abilities were Taranee and Elyon.
"You mean you can…That's a handy trick if you ever become a full time adventurer. Detect Magic is a pretty useful spell for that sort of thing. At least until you can use the Arcane Sight or Greater Arcane Sight spells." Taranee commented with a hint of shock in her voice, while Elyon giggled at the dark skinned girl's surprise.
"And here I thought you knew everything." Elyon teased, which made Will giggle as well, but get an annoyed glare from Taranee. It was well known that the young wizard studies extensively both academic and mystic lore, so to be taken by surprise about something and then teased about it, got under her skin a bit very easily.
"Watch it your highness or I'll turn you into a toad." Taranee mumbles as she takes out the books needed for the project, since the other half of the project was to identify the items by the enchantments on them and the appearance of said items.
"Your not strong enough to cast a fifth level spell." Elyon commented with a grin on her face, while Will was bit confused at the spells that were listed so far. She had no idea what any of them were, but they sounded useful or at least the two versions of Arcane Sight did anyway. She did not like the idea of using a spell that turned people into toads, though it would be funny to see Sade's reaction to finding her daughter was changed into one.
"Did I say I would do it right away?" Taranee countered as they got their first item and the work sheet for the assignment. From what they could tell, all they needed to do was solve five items and the actual project would be done, anymore past that and it was considered extra credit.
This made Elyon groan and Taranee let out a very quite evil cackle. Karma seemed to be striking out at the princess, who knew the Wizard was going to make full use of Will's infinite use of the Detect Magic ability, to get every last item and make Elyon suffer through all the research that would need to be done.
Ten minutes before class ended, they had managed to get through all thirty of the items the teacher had brought for the lesson. The 'items' were not the real versions, just wood carved replicas with a few spells cast to create the illusion of the real items' enchantments.
If it weren't for Will's special talent, Taranee's incredibly fast researching abilities and excellent long-term memory and Elyon helping where she could, this accomplishment would not have been possible. But unfortunately though, this was going to lead to a rather ugly situation for the trio.
"Hey! You guys have been cheating! There is no way anyone of you could have had enough magic reserves to cast the spell for all thirty items!" A student who had looked over Taranee's shoulder shouted out.
This had the teacher shaking her head with an amused smile as she headed towards table the three girls were at. "I prepared for this little possibility, since Taranee has a habit memorizing relevant information in advance. I rigged several items to have one less or one more enchantment then they should have, so no one could just look up an item with a matching description and skip it for an easy mark. Since I know that Elyon should be only capable of casting the spell seventeen times at most at her current skill level, I'll give you credit for that many, then a half a mark for the others since you put the extra effort in."
As the teacher turned to leave Will spoke up, despite her friends signaling her to stop. "Actually Ms… I was the one casting the spell, since I can do as many times as I want."
"And how could you do…Oh!" The teacher started say, then looked like she just realized something and went a little pale. After few minutes the teacher spoke again, "I forgot the note I got before class that said your Caretaker cast the Permanency spell on you, so you could use Detect Magic for some of your jobs. Seeing how this was an over sight on my part, you get full marks on this assignment." With that the bell rang and signaled it was now time for lunch, but as Will, Elyon and Taranee were leaving the teacher waved them over.
They stood in front of the teacher's desk and after all the students left, the teacher said, "I apologize Will, I almost let your little secret out because of my carelessness. After what happened in that last class you were in, I thought desecration would be a good idea. I know by the end of lunch, the whole school is going to know of your Warlock status. But I thought the least I could do was give you one more class of peace and quite before the harassment started."
The other girls were shocked at finding out the teacher had known all along about Will's third class and had tried to keep it hidden the whole time. "Why…Would you…Do that?" Will stuttered in a shocked tone of voice. She could not understand why someone would want to help make her life easier, even if only for a few hours longer.
"This is why, my dear." The old woman said raised her hand. After few seconds, it started become engulfed in silver colored energy that was much like when Will called on an eldritch blast.
"You're a Warlock to?!" Will exclaimed, while Taranee and Elyon just stared in shock. No one knew of this little fact, but it was not hard to figure out why. A lot of students and teachers would have caused the old woman a lot of trouble if they ever found out.
"An Eldritch Theurge actually. I trained my Warlock powers and combined them with Wizard training to gain that rank and completely combine the two forms of casting into a single one." The old woman explained, confusing Will at the difference between an Eldritch Theurge and a multi classing Warlock/Wizard.
"It is a Prestige Class Will. Think of it as a way for us non-Gifted to keep up with the likes of you or Elyon. A Prestige Class is gained by learning skills from one or more basic classes, then using those skills to enter one of these more advanced ones and gain newer and more powerful abilities we would not have access to other wise." Taranee explained when she noticed the look of confusion on Will's face.
Will just stared at Taranee as if silently asking, 'Do you spend all your free time looking up random information or something?' This made Elyon giggle at the sight while the teacher suggested they go get lunch before it was too late.
000
In the school cafeteria, the trio met up with Cornelia, along with Caleb and Matt and the group got into the line up. As they got their food and were heading for table, a boy with bright orange hair that stood straight up, along with two large looking boys on either side of him, blocked the group and knocked Will's tray from her hands.
"Oops! Clumsy me! Hope you weren't hungry freak show!" The orange haired boy loudly exclaimed, attracting the attention of the whole room to the scene. Elyon, Cornelia and Taranee stood closer to Will, while Caleb and Matt stood between the girls the three trouble makers.
"You and your goons are treading on dangerous ground Uriah. Insulting a friend of the princess of Meridian and guest of my family is a VERY bad idea." Caleb said in a deadly tone, but the boy now known as Uriah did not seem to care.
"She shouldn't even be here Russell, she should tending to her master's every whim or is that thing around her head just for show?" Uriah replied in mocking tone and pointed at the circlet around Will's head, the one that marked her as someone under a Forced Serves sentence.
"Will's caretaker believes that she could use all the knowledge she can get, so to better fulfill her duties. Now why don't you back off before I make you?!" Caleb growled at Uriah, and was about to reach and grab the other boy, But Will stopped him.
"Please Caleb, just…Let it go and don't risk getting in trouble because of me." Will begged as she clutched Caleb's arm. The pleading look in Will's eyes seemed to put out the fire that was Caleb's anger as he nodded his head in compliance.
But as the group started to walk away to sit down at another table Uriah called out, 'That's right you half-breed warlock lover! Just walk away like the weak, pathetic, coward you and your family are!" What happened after those words had everyone partially shocked. Everyone had been expecting Caleb to be the one to turn around and charge Uriah, but instead it was Will of all people!
Apparently insulting her was one thing, but insulting one of her friends (especially her secret crush) was another. She spun around and ran at Uriah, letting out a feral scream before her fist slammed right into his face and knocked the orangeheaded boy onto his back.
Uriah's two goons/friends tried to grab Will after their tiny brains registered what happened, but Will was too quick for them and gave one boy an uppercut and kicked the other in the gut with a spin kick. Both were knocked on their backs like their 'boss' had been, making those who knew Will wonder if the redhead was really a Barbarian instead of a Fighter, because that was one powerful temper she possessed.
Before Will could do anything else, a loud voice roared out, "What is going on here!" Everyone turned away from the fight to see Principal Knickerbocker storming into the cafeteria. When she saw the three boys who were just getting to their knees and a panting and a still somewhat feral Will standing near them, it did not take the principal long to put two and two together.
"You four to my office, NOW!" The headmistress yelled, which helped bring Will back to senses, but also now made the redhead very scared of what was going to happen next.
000
No less then an hour later, Will was sitting in Knickerbocker's office with Uriah and his two goons that Will now knew were called Kurt and Clubber. The parents for the three boys were now present, as were Julian and Abele. At first, the two Russell's looked very displeased to be here, but after hearing what happened they seemed to be a bit more sympathetic to the redhead's dilemma.
Unfortunately, the parents of the three boys did not so understand, especially Uriah's parents, who were low ranking nobles. "The little beast is just making up stories to make her attack on my son and his friends more noble in cause! I demand she be punished severally!" Uriah's mother screeched out, making Will cover her sensitive half-elf ears because of the volume of the statement.
"An inside voice if you please." Abele stated coldly to the woman, who backed down quickly under the Mage's steely gaze. Abele then placed her hand on Will's shoulder, so to signal it was all right to remove her hands from her ears now. As Will did so, Knickerbocker spoke up. "From what I heard from the teachers I sent to talk to talk to some of the students in the cafeteria, along with what Princess Elyon and her friends' story, all evidence point to the boys starting the whole incident. But I can't ignore the fact that Will did hit the boys, so all four shall be equally punished."
Everyone waited to hear Knickerbocker's decision and most were not very happy with it. "The boys will be suspended for two weeks and Ms. Will is not permitted to come here for equally as long." Julian and Abele knew that despite Will being 'punished' the redhead had actually come out on top. Since Will had been only a guest at the school, being kicked out for two weeks was nothing, while for the boys' it would put them behind their classmates (not that they were keeping up to begin with.)
"This is an outrage! The half-breed gets off easy while these boys, including my own son's studies suffer!" Uriah's father bellowed. Abele once again moved to intimidate the man, but he proved to be a little more strong willed and stubborn then his wife, thus was less affected by Abele's attempt.
"I can only do so much to a guest student, Lord Dunn. But if I wanted I could do much worse to the boys if you desire." Principal Knickerbocker said in a flat, cold tone of voice, making it clear the lord should not push his luck.
With those words everyone was permitted to leave, but once out side the office, Uriah showed how far he was willing to go to save face and his pride in the face of the student body at Sheffield. "You may have got me with a sucker punch half-breed, but I would love to see how you fair against me when it came to skill and not luck!" Uriah said to Will in an attempt to goad Will into his trap.
"It was not luck and if I could I would gladly prove it!" Will stated before Julian or Abele could warn the redhead of Uriah's intentions. Before they could protest, the sole heir to the Dunn family name moved in for the kill. "Then I challenge you to a Spell Duel. Do you accept or are you going to run away." Uriah taunted, while his parents silently celebrated their son's achievement. Will had embarrassed not only their son, but their family name by humiliating Uriah in front the whole school with her surprise attack, so by beating Will in a Spell Duel would negate that humiliation.
"Hold it right there! Will is not of the nobility or a spell caster of any kind of merit! What could you possibly hope to…" Julian tried to say in hopes keeping Will out of harms way, but Uriah's father stopped him.
"What's the matter Lord Russell? From what I heard, the girl if a Gifted in the Warlock and Sorcerer Class, it's not like my son is challenging her to a duel using a weapon of some kind. Surly she can she can handle a contest of skill on the mystic arts." Lord Dunn proclaimed, making Julian go silent. Of course Lord Dunn thought the Royal Knight's silence was because he had backed off, but it was really because Julian was confused.
'The way Lord Dunn phrased it, its like he thinks the only classes Will is gifted are her spell casting classes. Is he…Ignorant of Will's third class?' Julian wondered while Will was looking back and fourth between two noble families, trying figure out what was going on.
"Okay, can someone please explain what a Spell Duel is please?!" Will exclaimed, wanting to know what the big deal was. She had never been so angry with anyone like this in her whole life and wanted to beat Uriah to pulp. This contest, whatever it was, seemed like the best way to do just that, but she wanted know what was going on first before saying yes to this duel.
"A Spell Duel is a match between two spell casters, Will. When two spell casters have a dispute, they agree to a formal duel to settle it, instead of risking it becoming a destructive brawl." Abele explained, hoping Will would say no, but somehow she doubted the redhead would. She was way too much like her mentor to back down from a challenge.
'It's almost like Will and Susan are related, because they are both so stubborn.' Abele thought as she watched Will turn back to Uriah and say those the dreadful words, "When and where."
Before Uriah could say anything, Julian spoke up. "Will, since he challenged you, you get the right to name the time and place. Since I get the feeling nothing I say will get you to back down, let me suggest at noon, in five days from now at the Warmages' Arena. It was made for these sorts of things, so might as well use it."
Will, trusting Julian's judgment, nodded her head and turned back to Uriah and said, "You have any problem with that?" Uriah just smirked evilly, as shook his head no and turned to leave with his family. Will was a bit worried at Uriah's confidence, but her desire to make the carrot head pay for his words about Caleb and his family kept the worry in check.
"Well, looks like I'll need to add a new spell and invocation to your arsenal Will. With them, you should be able to hold your own against Uriah. Despite his appearance, Uriah is a Warmage with Fighter training, like Caleb. So he won't be an easy opponent to beat, but it is possible." Abele said as she placed her hand on Will's shoulder, the powerful sorceress knew she was going need to help Will train hard for the next five days to prepare the girl for this difficult battle. (AN: Uriah Level 1 Fighter, Level 3 Warmage)
"Your…Your going to help me?" Will asked in shock, she had been expecting Abele and Julian to start yelling at her accepting the challenge, not offer help in getting her ready.
"Of course I'm am going to help! You were willing to turn your back when Uriah insulted you, but not when he insulted Caleb and our family. Your methods could have been better chosen, but your heart was in the right place." Abele said with a kind smile on her face, as the powerful woman started thinking of possible strategies to offer Will for her duel.
"But before we do anything Will, I need to ask you something. Why would anyone think you were only gifted in two classes? Lord Dunster seemed to think your only Classes were Warlock and Sorcerer." Julian said, drawing the attention of both females.
"I…Don't know…Wait! Back in the history class, when the teacher had me tell everyone my name and Classes, I only managed to say those two before the class started throwing things at me and I never got a chance to finish." Will answered. Wondering why it was a big deal if anyone knew about her Fighter Class or not.
"Then that can work to your advantage. Though a Spell Duel is mostly meant for casting spells, hand to hand and melee combat is still fully permitted. If you can exhaust Uriah's reserves of magic, he will switch to swordplay and will think he'll have the advantage. But since he is multi classing in Fighter and Warmage while you are a Gifted, your skills will be a little bit better then his when that happens." Julian explained, making the two females understand the reason for his question.
"And here I thought I was the sneaky one in the family." Abele said to her husband with a smile. Julian just ginned as he replied, "What can I say? You bring out the conniver in me."
000
Over the next five days, Will trained hard so she could be ready for her match with Uriah. Also during this time, she learned the finer points of a Spell Duel. The first was that Will needed to do, was choose Seconds, who would act as her support and insure there was no fowl play during the duel.
Will was unsure whom to choose, but under the advice of Abele, Julian and (when she found out) Sade; Will picked Caleb and Elyon to be her Seconds. Caleb was an obvious choice because he was already partially involved, but Elyon was chosen for intimidation purposes. After all, having the heir to the throne as your Second was hardly something to take lightly.
The next things Will learned about a Spell Duel were the three steps that happened at the start of the duel. The first step was, cast a spell on your self, mainly a defensive spell that would help later in the duel. The second step was when both casters prepared to counter spell the other's next move, which would be difficult for Will since counter spelling was a tricky move for Sorcerers, Bards, Warmages and Warlocks; while for Wizards, they usually had an easy time doing this.
There were three ways to counter another magic user's spell. One was to use the same spell to cancel the other out, like use a Burning Hand spell to block another Burning Hand.
The second method was to use a spell that did the opposite of the other spell. The main example of this was if some one casts a Haste spell the other might cast a Slow spell to counter (or vise versa.)
The final method was when another spell caster tried to use their magic, the other would cast either a Dispel Magic or the stronger version, Greater Dispel Magic to try and suppress the other magic user's spell.
The reason why this was tricky for all other casters but Wizards was because other classes learned spells more slowly then Wizards. Since Wizards studied a lot, then they also learned lots of spells as well. This made counter spelling a lot easier for them then others.
The only way Will could possibly counter spell Uriah, was if she learned one of the versions of Dispel Magic, but her skills were not evolved enough to cast even the weaker of the two so it was not an option.
To make up for this, Abele advised Will to cast a second defensive spell instead. The three beginning steps were more of a formality and a tradition, and since Will was only strengthening her defenses a bit more, she was not stepping too far away from those traditions.
The final step was simple, let the spells fly! This was when Will's focus on defense during the first two steps would come in handy, because Uriah would not see it coming until after Will probably got a few shots in.
The last thing Will learned about Spell Duel, was that most times (like this one) it was non-lethal so there was no trying to kill your opponent, which Will liked since she only wanted to beat Uriah, not kill him. Of course this meant Will needed to learn how to 'pull' her spells so they did not deal lethal damage. If a spell did deal damage that could be lethal and it looked intentional, the other caster was fully permitted to do the same, so Will made sure to practice 'pulling' her spells extensively until she mastered the method.
On the day of the duel, Will arrived at the Warmages' Arena near the center of the city, to find a large crowd had gathered in the stands. "Figures Uriah and his family would make a spectacle of this. They probably want to make themselves look good in the eyes of the other nobles and commoners who dislike your race and class, Will." Caleb said angrily as they headed for the waiting room they were assigned, so they could make last minute preparations before the duel began.
"Can't do anything about it now though, at least my mother and several others who support Warlock and half-elf rights will be here as well. That should keep the other nobles in line." Elyon said to Caleb they entered the room and sat down.
While they waited, Caleb handed Will a long sword he had brought along when they left the Russell estate. "My parents want you to use this if and when it comes time to settle the match with a sword. It has an enchantment called Merciful on it. It will make sure you won't have to worry about pulling your melee attacks." Caleb explained as Will took the sword.
"T-Thank you. I'll try not to let your families' hard work to help me get ready go to waste." Will said with a stutter, she was surprised the Russell's were going to such lengths to help in this match, even though there was no guarantee she would win.
"You won't Will. As long as you make sure Uriah gets a few bruises, it does not matter if you win or not. Everyone is going to be expecting him to fly though this match with out a scratch on him, so as long as you make him work for it, it won't matter if he wins in the end." Caleb assured Will, just before there was a knock at the door.
"Enter" Elyon said for the group and in came a woman with light brown skin, shoulder length black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a full suite of white armor (marking her as a Paladin) and had a great sword strapped to her back.
"Mrs. Cook, what are you doing here?" Elyon asked as the Paladin approached them. Will shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of whom she assumed was Taranee's mother, since this woman had the same last name and Susan had said the woman was a Paladin.
"I'm here to check the duelist over before the match begins, just to be sure there has been no casting of enhancing spells before the match had begun. After that I'll escort you out side and will referee the match from there." Mrs. Cook said in a tone of authority, but looked at Will like she was expecting the redhead to have cheated in everyway possible.
Elyon and Caleb did not like the way Mrs. Cook was acting. She was treating Will just like she treated Nigel, judging Will for her Class and not her actions. 'I swear, if she is the reason why Will looses or gets hurt, Taranee's family is going to be a family member short by the time I'm done.' Caleb thought angrily, as he wondered how Theresa Cook got chosen to referee this match to begin with.
Once Theresa was finished with her inspection and confirmed the only magic aura Will had was coming from the sword she was carrying, led the group into the arena.
000
In the arena, Will went into the main part of the large battle area, while Caleb and Elyon stayed next to the entrance that they had come though, so they stayed out of the way for when the duel began. Ten feet away from Will was Uriah, whose Seconds were Kurt and Clubber, did the same as Caleb and Elyon.
As Theresa signaled the duel to begin, Will cast her first defensive spell. The spell was a first level spell called Shield, which created an invisible energy disk that would float around her and would try and shield Will from attacks.
Shield was also good for protecting Will from another spell called Magic Missile. Magic Missile was also a first level spell that fired anywhere from one to five energy projectiles at a target and never missed. With Shield though, it made the Magic Missile spell useless, since the invisible defense would intercept all the small energy projectiles.
As Will cast the spell, she saw Uriah do the same using a ring on his finger. Caleb told Will that would happen, since Warmages did not have access to any spell that were defensive in nature. All spells a Warmage was taught were meant for offense. So during Spell Duels, Warmages used items that could cast the spells for them.
When the time for the second step was to be done, Uriah took an almost defensive stance, while Will used the new invocation Abele had taught her, using the very same book that had almost got Will killed several days back, during the Golem incident.
The invocation was called Entropic Warding, which caused pinkish red energy to start swirling around Will in a protective manner. This swirling force would help protect Will from some of Uriah's magic attacks.
"What ever that is won't help you Warlock! Eat this!" Uriah called out as he fired a spell called Scorching Ray at Will, which was like the name said, a flaming ray of heat that would burn Will if it hit.
But to Uriah's shock, the swirling energy that surrounded Will deflected the ray harmlessly off to the side. Will just smirked as she said, "My turn." With those words, Will fired an eldritch blast at Uriah and hit him in the chest.
"Owe! You're going to pay for that! Lets see that thing stop this!" Uriah growled out as a small ball of electricity formed in his hand and threw it at Will. This spell was called Lesser Orb of Electricity and like the Scorching Ray, bounced off Will's defense harmlessly.
"What?!" Uriah yelled in anger and frustration, while Will fired another eldritch blast at him. Once again, the blow scored a hit on Uriah's chest and making him cry out in pain. Will was about let loose another attack, when she saw Uriah cast one of the few spells that he could cast at his current level that could get past her Entropic Warding defense, the Burning Hands spell.
The cone shaped wave of fire washed over Will, for once making the half-elf take damage in the battle as the flame made her cry out in pain. 'That…Hurt…A lot. If that is what a pulled version of the spell feels like, I don't want to be hit by the real thing,' Will thought as she tried to recover from the attack while Uriah laughed.
"So that little trick of yours does nothing against Burning Hands huh? Let's see how you handle one at point black range!" Uriah called out as charged forward to deliver the next attack. As Uriah got close, he thrusts his hand towards Will's chest. But out of reflex, Will deflects Uriah's hand and the blast of flame that was meant to hit her was sent harmless in another direction.
Will then countered by slamming the palm of her hand into to Uriah's gut and used a Shock Grasp at the same time to zap him as well. "Aaaahhh!" Uriah yelled as the electrical attack coursed through his body. Just as the shocking from Will's spell stopped, she tried to gather her eldritch energy into her fist so she could punch Uriah. But before she could, Uriah unleashed an attack of his own.
Uriah unleashed a Fire Burst spell, which caused flames to burst out from Uriah's body in all directions. The wave of fire made Will stagger back in both surprise and pain and gave Uriah a chance to recover. The carrot headed boy was furious that a half-elf warlock managed to give him so much trouble and cause him so much pain, but he planned on finishing this duel right here and now.
'Let's see how she likes getting shocked! I'll grab her and cast Shocking Grasp until either she's out cold or I run out magic, which ever comes first.' Uriah thought as he made his way to his flatfooted opponent. Uriah tackled Will and held her down as he began sending energy to electrocute the redhead. It would seem the Entropic Warding did not have the strength to repel a human body or harm it in anyway, so it would not be able to help Will against Uriah's attack.
As Will let out screams of pain, Uriah deciding to have some fun at his opponent's expense by letting her know a few of his father's plans for after the match. "I thought I would let you know that once I win this match, my dad is going to find out who your owner is and buy you off him or her. Then we are going make sure you're a slave for life! That should make sure you finally realize your place in the world!"
As the shocking from Uriah's attack ended, Will panted heavily while saying in a weak voice, "She would...Never...Do...Aaaahhhh!" Before Will could finish her sentence, Uriah had begun his second attack and started mocking Will again. "You would need to have a saint as your owner to refuse my father's offer. When are you going to learn that no one really likes you? Everyone who is your so-called friend, are just those who feel sorry for you! Eventually they will just get tired of you and you'll be all alone again!"
Uriah's words struck a cord in Will's mind. A part of her feared the very things Uriah was saying, but until now they had not been very strong, but Uriah saying them aloud seemed to give those fears real power over the redhead somehow. 'Is he telling the truth? Would Susan and the others really just abandon me someday?' Will thought deep in her mind as the painful shocking continued.
Between both the physical and verbal abuse, a powerful anger built up inside of Will. It was so strong it made Will's instincts take over. After Uriah's second Shock Grasp ended, Will used a Shocking Grasp of her own and took Uriah by surprise. As Uriah yelled out in pain, Will pushed the orange haired boy off her and tried to get back on her feet.
Uriah did the same as well though and casts a Fist of Stone spell, with every intention of knocking Will's head right off her shoulder. But as the cruel boy swings his magically enhanced first, Will ducks the blow and uses the Hideous Blow invocation to channel eldritch energy into her own fist and gave Uriah an upper cut.
Uriah staggers back from the strength of the blow and unable to defend himself from Will's next attack. With her other hand, Will slams her palm into Uriah's face and delivers yet another Shocking Grasp to her opponent. The electrical attack made Uriah let out a scream of pain as the spell damaged his face and in reflex, slammed his stone fist into Will's gut and knocked the wind out of her.
While Will tried recover from the sudden attack on her midsection, Uriah was furious that Will had damaged his face. "I'll make you pay for that half-breed!" Uriah roared and unleashed another Burning Hands spell at Will. The redhead was just able to notice that attack in time to roll mostly out of the way. But some of the flames still managed to hit Will, though it was mostly her back that got a little singed so it was not too bad.
'How much more magic can he use? That ray of heat he fired in the beginning of the match was a second level spell and so was that blast of heat he sent out from his body earlier. The other six attacks were first level spells, so he has been using a lot of magic, but still looks like he can keep casting. If he does not run out soon, I might not be able to win.' Will thought in her mind, as she tried to figure out Uriah's mystic stamina.
Meanwhile, Uriah was figuring out the same thing. He had not planned on having to use so much magic to win the match. Of course he was also not expecting his opponent to have such high level of physical ability either.
'Why does she have so much speed, strength and stamina? She's gifted in two magic classes, so why would she waste training time on physical conditioning? No matter, I should have enough magic for another three first level spells and four second level spells. I should be able to wrap this up before running out of ammo and even if I did, I still have my sword training to fall back on.' Uriah thought, as he tried to come up with a way to win fast and not look weak in front of the whole city. It was unacceptable he was taking this long to beat this girl.
Uriah decided it was time to bring out the heavy artillery and started to cast a spell called Flaming Sphere. It was a second level spell that creates a rolling ball of fire that moves in any direction the caster wishes. Uriah pretty much decided it was time to mow down the competition and this spell was ideal for just that.
The ball of fire was five feet tall and five feet wide, which made Will a little scared of it, since she was unsure of how to deal with such an attack. As it started rolling towards her, Will made sure to start running, because getting hit by that thing could very well finish her off!
Uriah laughed evilly as Will started running, try to zigzag in random patterns to escape his Flaming Sphere. "You're only delaying the inevitable! This is the end half-breed, you'll never win now!" Uriah taunted, hoping to distract Will enough to stumble and get run over by his spell. Fortunately, Will was able to zone Uriah out and focus on escaping the flaming ball of death that was trying to roast her rear end at the moment!
'There has got to be a way to stop this thing!' Will thought as she made a sharp turn, hoping to at least get a little more distance from the Flaming Sphere, but Uriah was making sure the ball of fire stayed on Will, no matter what she did.
'Wait, that's it!' Will realized and came up with a plan to at least slow her flaming pursuer down. On Will's next sharp turn, she fired an eldritch blast at an un-expecting Uriah and scored a direct hit. The orange haired boy was so surprised, he fell over and stopped concentrating on his Flaming Sphere and was rendered motionless.
'Glad that worked, now to finish Uriah off before he gets that thing chasing me again!' Will thought as she drew her sword and charged towards Uriah. Though the sword she was using had a Merciful enchantment on it, Will planed on using the flat side of her sword to just knock Uriah out and end this match before the boy tried any other tricks. To bad for Will, Uriah made use of one before she even got fifteen feet away from the Flaming Sphere.
"Choke on this you freak!" Uriah said as recovered just enough to cast another spell, a Pyrotechnics spell to be exact. Unlike what Taranee did in the ruins though, Uriah went for the 20ft cloud of smoke and fire source for the spell was non-other then his own Flaming Sphere!
The cloud of black smoke quickly engulfed Will and started choking and cough as she tried to keep moving forward to escape it, but at a much slower speed because she was having such trouble breathing. Just as Will stumbles out of the cloud, Uriah casts another spell called Whirling Blade.
Whirling Blade was another second level spell that once cast, the caster takes a weapon like the sword Uriah had now drawn and throws it. The spell then takes control and travels in a 60ft line, attacking anything in its path and then return to its owner's hand.
Will looks up just in time to see Uriah throw his sword and see the weapon come spinning towards her! Will was just barely able to bring her sword up in time to deflect the weapon and watched it fly back over to Uriah, who looked very annoyed his attack failed.
'That annoying freak seems to have all the luck in the world! I only have three spells left, so I better save them for now and fight the little witch head on. If she lowers her guard, I can take her by surprise and hit her when she least expects it.' Uriah plotted in his mind and charged towards Will, his sword ready to strike. Like Will's his sword had the Merciful enchantment on it, but it was just so he did not need to waste time being careful with his strikes. He did not care if Will got hurt or killed, all he cared about was winning the duel, but with the heir to the throne as a friend to the redhead, his parents suggested to avoid such an outcome just so they avoided the princess and her mother's wrath.
Will was able to recover her footing and breath just as Uriah got close enough to strike and blocked his downward slash. "What's wrong carrot top? No more spells to throw at me?" Will said as she locked blades with Uriah, hoping provoke him into making a rash choice in anger and leave an opening for her to take advantage of.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out!" Uriah shot back as broke away and tried a thrust at Will's chest, but the light-footed girl side step the attack and swung her blade in an upward arc at Uriah. The orange haired boy was struck dead on and felt the slash across his torso. He stopped fighting long to look down, expecting to see blood but saw nothing. 'She's using a merciful blade to. Lucky me or I could have very well been killed by that blow!' Uriah thought as he looked back towards his opponent.
"How can you fight so well for a Warlock Sorcerer?! I should be able to completely outclass you in fighting ability!" Uriah demanded, feeling very scared of this girl's abilities. It was as if she was as good at melee combat as she was at using spells, but that should be impossible without training in a warrior based class!
Will just looked at her opponent with a cold expression on her face. This was abnormal for the redheaded girl, but this boy had done too much to her for Will to forgive him for. First he insulted Caleb, then he both physically and verbally attacked her, which led her to realize the truth. Uriah was right, one day she would probably be all alone again or would have people who supposedly cared because they felt sorry for her. If not for this boy, she might have been able to stay ignorant a little longer and been happy thinking people truly cared for her.
"The reason I can fight so well, while being gifted in the Warlock and Sorcerer classes is because…I'm also gifted in the Fighter class!" Will stated in as cold a tone as her expression, then swung her sword at Uriah's and knocked it from his grasp. Uriah backed away in fear and fired a Scorching Ray, but in his haste forgot Will's Entropic Warding would just deflect it.
Uriah then tripped on his own feet and stumbled to ground while Will towered over him, her sword raised to strike and being infused with her Hideous Blow invocation. As Will prepared swing downward, Uriah in desperation and fear, dug deep down and by burning up every last bit of magic in his body, he unleashed a Fire Burst. But Uriah did not try to pull the spell and hit Will with its full force, making the redheaded girl scream out in pain.
When the fire died down, Will collapsed to the ground. It was impossible to tell if she was alive or dead, but Uriah did not care. 'I stopped the freak, that's all that matters. Go burn in the abyss you witch!' Uriah thought as he tried to get back to his feet, but got a nasty surprise when he did.
"You bastard!" Uriah heard Caleb's voice roar out and turned around to a First of Stone enhanced punch to the face. The biggest risk of breaking away from the non-lethal part of a non-lethal duel, was that if person was badly hurt or killed by a non pulled spell meant the Seconds would seek retribution. And boy was Caleb seeking retribution.
Kurt and Clubber were quickly moving across the arena to help Uriah, but were cut off from a barrage of spells from the stands, complements of Taranee and Cornelia. Both girls (along with Snowflake) jumped down to the arena floor and continued firing on the two boys, which made them run for cover while Snowflake chased after them.
But before anyone could continue his or her attacks, Theresa yelled out in commanding tone, "You will all stop right this instant!" They all turned to face the overseer of the match, who first looked over to her daughter and said, "First of all, you're grounded for interfering. I don't care that you think that thing is your friend, you're not a Second and thus have no place getting involved." Before Taranee could protest, Theresa looked towards Caleb, who had a strong grip on Uriah and looked ready to start punching him again.
"The competitor was defending himself from a possibly deadly attack and will not be penalized. Release him at once." The Paladin ordered, but Caleb ignored her and went back to beating Uriah.
Furious that she had been ignored, Theresa reached for her great sword and moved towards Caleb with intentions of making him stop. But before she got close, Sade and Abele teleported in front her and did not look very happy with the so-called judge.
Sade did not say anything and went over to check Will, like her daughter had done in the confusion of the battle. While both Cleric/Sorcerers checked to make sure Will was alive, Abele had a few words with Theresa. "You call your self a judge? I could tell from the stands Will was pulling her invocation and she was using a merciful weapon. There was no way that blow would have been deadly!" The Mage stated, clearly ready to fight any argument the Paladin had.
"A Merciful enchantment can be suppressed by its wielder's will, so the Warlock could use the pulled invocation to hide that possible fact. Her attitude near the end of the match makes her intentions questionable." Theresa stated coldly and seemed to not look like she was going to back down.
"It is also questionable if you're doing your assigned task properly, Lady Cook." Sade said as she stood up and went over to Caleb. She griped the boy's wrist before he could punch Uriah again and said, "You can deal with him later. Right now you should get Will back to your family's estate. She is alive and we have mostly healed her, but I let some injures remain so she will be forced to rest and calm down from what ever Uriah said that angered Will so much."
Caleb reluctantly agreed and let Uriah go and went over to Will's side. He gently picked the unconscious girl up and carried her over to his mother. When his father got down to the arena floor, Caleb and his parents' teleported back home, leaving Sade and Will's friends to tie up the loose ends.
000
Back at the Russell estate, Will was quickly changed into some pajamas and put under the covers of her bed. All three members of the family hoped the rest would help Will mentally recover from what ever Uriah said. Not even Caleb heard what the other boy said when he was shocking the redhead, but he knew it had to have been bad to anger Will so badly.
'Susan, I hope you get back soon. I think Will needs you now more than ever.' Caleb thought as he closed the door to Will's room, leaving her to rest. A few minutes later the figure from the ruins literally stepped out of the shadows using an invocation called Path of Shadows.
The figure took a scroll out that he had hidden in his robes and hid it under Will's pillow. "Impressive battle my daughter, perhaps you're not as worthless as I once thought. But that scroll will be your true test. Succeed and I show you what true power is. Fail and I'll just have to tell his highness it was to much for you, because we can't have a weak weapon after all." The robed figure said before disappearing into the shadows once again.
Will slept through all of this of course, but the seed had been planted. What was on that scroll would change Will's life forever and it would lead to many shocking secrets to be revealed.
000
AN: And there you guys go. I'll try to have the next chapter out soon. Until then, please let me know what you thought of this newest chapter.