Michael's song in today's chapter is the Metal Revision of I Can't Wait by Celldweller. Go check it out over on YouTube if you like.

I also hope you like the new artwork of Louise and Michael standing outside Tristain Academy together! A friend drew it for me on commission.

...

Henrietta departs from Tristain Academy with a band of royal knights to aid Professor Colbert in recovering the Staff of Destruction.

Meanwhile, Michael, Tabitha and Kirche channel all the magic they can muster to fight against Fouquet's frightfully powerful golem.

As they do, Louise looks on helplessly.


Awakening

Princess Henrietta gazes toward the open gates of Tristain Academy. A dozen guards encircle her, ready for her final command to be given.

Standing beside the royal, Miranda wears a look of immense concern.

"Are you sure about this, My Lady?" asks the faithful attendant one final time.

Henrietta nods.

"I am, yes. I'll go with my guards and aid Professor Colbert however I can. His mission to retrieve the stolen staff from Fouquet is essential to Tristain's safety."

"And nothing we say will change your mind, Your Highness?" asks Osmond, who stands propped on his cane beside a pair of academy instructors. "With all due respect, Professor Colbert is a man of the utmost skill and professionalism. You needn't worry yourself with a task such as this."

Henrietta respects the elderly Headmaster's point. Really, she does!

However, she cannot rid herself of the gnawing sense of guilt she feels for the Staff of Destruction's theft.

"Respectfully, Headmaster, I feel obliged to do my part," Henrietta explains, lowering her head and closing her eyes for several deeply thoughtful moments. "Had my visit here not caused such an unfortunate incident, you and your instructors wouldn't be forced to take action like this in the first place."

"Regardless, Princess, your mother will be somewhat displeased when she hears that you placed yourself at risk by traveling on the open road like this," Miranda reminds the young lady, shaking her head a bit. "Please. Reconsider, if you can. I would much prefer you stay here until Colbert and his students safely return."

"No. I must do this, Miranda. I have to repay Tristain and the Academy," the young princess asserts.

Miranda sighs deeply, adjusting her glasses.

"Then so be it. Do as you must, my wilful charge. You understand that I must inform your mother of your decision, naturally," the older woman speaks, watching closely as Henrietta nods. "Alright."

Miranda looks to Osmond and nods her head.

"My mistress has made her decision, good Headmaster. Please, open the gates so she may continue onward," she requests, bowing slightly.

Osmond, seeing Henrietta nod her head slightly, sighs again before scratching at his long white beard.

"...very well," he then agrees. "But do be careful, Princess Henrietta."

Looking toward the gate guards on duty, the old scholar claps his hands twice.

Suddenly, at the sound of the first clap, the large pair of black iron castle doors swing swiftly upon their hinges.

"The way is open for you now, Your Highness. Again, I ask that you be cautious," implores the elderly gentleman, lifting his hand to offer a final goodbye as Henrietta heads through the gates.

Flanked by her honor guard of twelve royal knights in full heraldry, the young girl keeps her eyes trained ahead on the open road.

"Headmaster Osmond said Professor Colbert and his students are in the woods a short ways to the east of Lenore Township. We'll go there, find them, and hopefully aid in the Staff's recovery," the Princess instructs the guard Captain with her, who leads the knightly procession.

"As you command," agrees her Captain with a stern bow. "Men, keep those ranks tight. The safety of Our Royal Highness is paramount while she bravely undertakes this mission."

Orders given, the troops surrounding Henrietta tighten their protective circle.

Clutching a hand to her chest, the Princess exhales softly.

"I do hope all is well, Louise," she utters in a soft voice. "Worry not. I'll be there to help you soon."


Alright... Let's see if I can knock this golem back a little!

"Here goes nothing."

Steeling myself, I weave the fire along my right arm and focus the magic I feel coiling inside the palm of my hands. Then I aim for the rock golem's feet and let loose with a sharp snarl. The next thing I know, the whole of my right arm is on fire, and a hot, flaring sphere of blistering flame rockets out from my hand.

It spirals around with me running at top speed and latches onto the golem's feet.

Heat burns deep in the palm of my glove. A tingling sensation dances through the fibers of my fingers, while the magic coursing through the mark embedded in my left hand becomes blinding.

Eventually, I can no longer control it and a dull pain grips my chest.

I grimace to the point that my teeth grind together and my lips sink back over them.

Yet I can't stop what's happening.

Pinned by the blast, the giant's stony feet wobble and it stumbles sideways.

The pain in my chest sharpens into a knife-like stabbing, and fatigue sets in.

My pace slows.

Our line of sight meets.

A wave of darkness momentarily engulfs my eyes. I manage to steady myself just long enough to hurl a second sphere of fire from my burning right hand.

Eventually, the ache in my ribs fades and all at once the flames retract and vanish from existence.

"Michael!" calls Tabitha from a short way across the clearing. She uses the hilt of her staff to strike the golem with a windy spiral, snapping its reddish gaze toward her. "Quickly, come here. The three of us must strike in unison if we hope to defeat it."

I push out a shallow breath and nod.

Girl's right. We're hitting this golem with all we have individually and nothing is so much as scratching the damned thing.

Worse, this rocky bastard's drained me already...

But I'm not beaten. Not just yet.

I still have enough energy to keep fighting. Overcoming pain's what life's all about. Both physical and emotional.

...Even if my limits are dangerously close.

Ignoring the fatigue hammering deep inside my chest, I grit my teeth, steel myself and suck in a deep breath.

Just as I'm about to move, though, a wave of immense tiredness tied with the faintest hints of desperate adrenaline from mine and Tabitha's accidental connection sends me stumbling forward.

Swallowing hard, I gasp for air and press myself for another dash.

The more I thrust my weary feet forward, the heavier they grow. As that happens, the throbbing in my chest grows stronger and it becomes that bit harder to breathe.

Gotta keep going. I have to-

Mine and Tabitha's bond floods with fear. Outright terror, even.

Panicked by the sensation, I snap my eyes her way.

A sudden heaviness slams into my stomach, and I realise the huge monster looms right over her.

The thing raises its fist...

Gotta help Tabitha. If I don't... she's dead.

And if she dies while we're linked like this...

A bolt of anxious adrenalin surges through me, enabling me to race across the clearing. Leaping for the blue-haired girl, I tackle her into her, and the two of us are sent rolling over into the dirt. I groan through the hard landing, just narrowly avoiding a large hole formed by the stone golem's fist.

Tabitha, in turn, stares at me wide-eyed. An expression born of shock, perhaps fear, is written all over her delicate features.

"Michael," she gasps through the dirt and dust whirling around us. "Wh-Why-? Why would you protect me like that?"

Grinning, I push myself off of her in a hurry, dragging her to her feet.

"Don't ask stupid questions," I reply, shooting her a small smile and grabbing her hand. "Whatever you might think, Tabitha, you matter. I wasn't just going to let you die after last night."

Quivering beneath the touch, Tabitha averts her gaze for a moment and then nods.

"Thank you," she responds, looking at me with affectionate gratitude.

Closing my eyes, I force a slow, measured breath and tighten my grip on Tabitha's hand.

"Hey, it's all good," I say, easing a smile before gesturing to her staff. "We need to stop this damned thing, though. Any suggestions?"

Tabitha presses her lips together, taps her staff on the ground, and returns my gaze.

"We should start by-"

"A little help would be lovely, you two!" shouts Kirche from close by, while desperately defending herself from an overhead swing by leaping narrowly clear. She strikes the ground immediately after, causing a tower of fire to erupt from the ground.

Together, Tabitha and I fall in at Kirche's right-hand side.

"Think a more powerful firestorm might stop it, Tabitha?" the Germanian asks, wiping the sweat from her forehead and huffing out a weighty breath.

Tabitha hums and silently nods.

I simply swallow hard and squeeze Tabitha's hand a second time, hoping the gesture comforts her in some way.

Kirche notices this and smirks lightly. Not that I care.

"...Would you mind adding your magic to ours, Michael?" she asks, her smirk widening despite the circumstances.

I remove my hand from Tabitha's and nod shortly.

"...Got a little more left in me I think, yeah," I confirm, shooting Tabitha and Kirche both a firm look. "You two keep it distracted, I'll get heated up."

"Very well then," Tabitha says, aiming her staff skywards toward the incoming golem. "Please try to be fast. I-I'm awfully tired..."

We fall silent.

Their focus totally fixed on the golem closing the gap between us, the air around Kirche and Tabitha begins to boil as hot as fire. Kirche touching her wand to Tabitha's staff, waits for a few seconds before unleashing a stream of roaring blue fire upon the advancing titan.

My whole body visibly shakes as the hot air roasting around us builds up. My nose wrinkles and my teeth grind together.

Closing my eyes, I focus.

The noise and heat dull and fade as I lose myself.

In doing so, the searing fire lingering inside me becomes ever brighter. As it grows, my body becomes awash with a surge of magical energy. My instincts take hold, and it's as though every nerve in my body screams out in perfect harmony.

Music's dull tones echo in the back of my mind as my energy swells.

I focus on the beat in my head. On the melody made real in my heart and soul.

On Tabitha. And her warmth.

Two hearts beating as one.

I feel her fear.

Her worry. Her strength. Her will.

Overwhelming her.

I can't let her, or anyone else down.

Especially not Louise.

Opening my eyes, I extend my left arm and prepare to snap the fingers of my ungloved left hand.

Even over the cracking and booming of the golem, a shredding metal beat plays out in my mind, boosting me with one final powerful kick of raw magical energy.

A concert I attended with friends before being spirited away to Tristain flashes through my thoughts as hazy fragments.

A night of booze-fuelled euphoria.

A strong connection to Kent. To England. To home.

"This flame is coalescing
This fire's burning bright
I know I'll get burned but it's alright."

When I snap my fingers, fire rolls out in every direction, forming what can only be described as a wall of flame around the golem.

My ears ring. Everything within the magic field pulses. Each beat shakes me to my very core.

The flames change direction and rush in the direction of the creature's center. The fire sucks into itself, folding in at each corner and becoming a tight spiral, before flowing into the golem itself, covering it entirely.

Kirche and Tabitha's combined attack feeds into mine and amplifies it.

And then, as the momentum stabilizes, the flames rush up from the spot in one monumental surge and explode across the sky.

"It's too late to change direction
I'm fixed on her in my mind
Trade sense for sensation this time."

Pushing out a gasp, I stagger and lose my balance.

The effort of channeling and sustaining such a huge amount of energy, with how tired I am already, freaking hurts!

With my vision fading, I blink repeatedly until it sharpens. After which, I rub my tired, strained eyes with the edge of my silk shirt.

From one moment to the next, a rush of power tingles my skin, then vanishes, leaving me drained, and I slump back against a tree stump.

Despite this though, I can't bring myself to take my tired gaze from the path of red scorched earth traced in the sky by my flame tornado.

At the base of said trail stands the golem... scorched and missing an arm, but very much still alive.

It stands still and motionless, at least for the moment.

"Come the Hell on!" I wheeze, doubling forward and coughing sharply, painfully. "Just fucking die already!"

"Talk about persistence," groans Kirche from a few paces to my right.

Both she and Tabitha look about ready to drop too. Sweat beads down their exhausted faces, and the light shining from their eyes has gone dull and void.

"...Our magic didn't stop it," Tabitha utters in a breathy, ragged voice, her face paler than usual. "All of us combining our magic... and it still didn't defeat that monster."

The Germanian heiress shudders, squeezing her eyes shut.

My heart clenches painfully tight in my chest, panic filling me from head to toe.

Stab. Stab. Stab. It's like a damned knife's tearing... Can't think- Hurts too much.

A shrill yelp from Tabitha sounds out through my pain-distorted sense of hearing.

Wide-eyed, she meets my gaze. It feels like she's gazing straight through me. Like she's looking into my soul.

Every vein bulges in her forehead as she struggles for air.

And, overwhelmed by the sensation, my sight blackens around its edges.

My entire body, overwhelmed by a surge of negative emotion from the bond, quivers wildly and buckles beneath my weight.

Lungs gasping, chest tight, and my heart beat fast, I clutch Tabitha's hand tight in mine and shut my weary, watery eyes.

This is it... I'm- I'm-


Louise screams in horror as Michael and Tabitha crumple into each other's arms and collapse.

To her right, Fouquet and Professor Colbert remain locked in a vicious battle of spellcraft, exchanging bolts of energy between flinging fists and kicks at one another.

Seemingly feeding energy into herself from the Staff of Destruction's four shining gemstones, the thief's body glows with a wicked reddish-green aura.

Struggling to keep up, it looks as though Colbert is on the defensive. Rips score his clothing and deep cut tarnishes his right cheek.

But, that's not the worst of it...

No.

The golem, halted by the overwhelming joint attack Louise's fellow students and Michael somehow produced, reawakens with a low groan. Its glowing red eyes flash!

Sweat rolls freely down the side of the pinkette's face. The world shakes and the ground trembles.

Stuck there, motionless, she panics.

...As the golem closes in on her defenseless friends.

On Tabitha.

On Kirche... who really isn't too bad, deep down.

On Michael.

Her Michael. Her idiot. Her familiar.

The man that, at her core, she both desperately loves and greatly admires.

And just look at him... worn from the fight. Exhausted from using too much magic.

Out cold on the dusty ground. About to die.

"No," mutters Louise, taking one trembling step after the other toward the advancing creature. "I won't let you hurt my friends."

Somewhere inside, something changes. A knot forms, seizing control of her chest and binding her aching heart tight. All tension and fear give way to heat.

To something the failure of a mage never knew was there... until now.

Loud cracks emerge as her knuckles grip hard into tight fists. Her teeth grind, and pain lances through her trembling mouth.

And in the next instant, her breathing ceases.

She doesn't take a breath.

Michael cannot die.

Neither can Tabitha.

Or even Kirche.

Louise will make sure of it. As a mage. And as a Vallière.

A hot tear beads in each eye. The world falls away, swallowed in blackness. She is alone but for the thudding of her heart and an all-consuming nothingness.

Everything hurts.

A raw scream bubbles up from somewhere deep inside Louise and breaks loose, bursting from her like lava, swelling beyond her control.

And suddenly, it happens.

The darkness surrounding her explodes outward in a sea of purely negative emotional energy. From there, further, weaker pulses follow in tandem with the slow and measured beats of her heart.

And when these waves touch the golem...

It finally crumples and collapses to the ground. Its limbs are twisted, its body crumbled, and it crumples to the ground with a dying roar.

"What?!" exclaims Fouquet, after which the nearby Colbert's jaw drops in shock, too.

Stunned silence and dust fill the air as the effects of Louise's wave settle in.

This is all the time Kirche requires to dive for her staff.

With a confident, assertive look, Kirche quickly aims for the distracted Fouquet and strikes her with a bolt of fire, knocking the Staff of Destruction from her hands and sending it tumbling to the ground beside Professor Colbert.

Kirche grunts, dropping to the ground and smirking to herself.

"...I got you."

Enraged by the assault, Fouquet shakes herself from her stupor and glances over at Kirche.

"Damn you, tart!" she shouts, stomping her foot on the ground.

Vision fogging and her sense of self returning, Louise watches as Professor Colbert lands a searing fist on Fouquet's face, sending her tumbling to the ground.

Laying in the dirt beside her destroyed golem, Fouquet whines, defeated.

Then, exhausted, Louise collapses forward onto her hands and knees.

"This-" utters the thief. "This... This is... ridiculous!"

A pair of royal guards, who Louise can only assume were drawn here by the series of colossal explosions, rush from the charred trees with Princess Henrietta at their backs. Presented a firm nod from their Queen-in-waiting, the two subdue Fouquet, and one of them ties her arms in ropes.

"We came when we saw a massive pillar of fire burst into the air," the Princess explains to Colbert, who adjusts his cracked glasses and bows his head for the future ruler. "It tore into the sky like a snake, and I felt a terrible sense of worry upon seeing it."

With an uneasy look on her face, the girl turns on her heels and rushes over to Louise.

Arriving at her side moments later, the princess places a hand on each shoulder and bends forward to make eye contact with her dear friend.

Louise flinches and smiles shyly.

"You're alright now, aren't you, Louise?" asks the Princess.

Trying her hardest to persevere, the pinkette gives a strained nod and gazes with wobbling vision at her own two open palms. "I-I think so, Your Highness..."

W-What was the power she mustered just now?

Where did it come from?

And, more importantly...

"Michael!" Louise yelps, casting her eyes toward the spot where both he and Tabitha lay sprawled.

Now surrounded by several palace guards, the two stay utterly still and motionless.

Almost lifeless, Louise fears.

Approaching the area with shaky breaths, Colbert looks at the pair with a hard expression and heavy eyes.

Then, kneeling, the instructor proceeds to press his fingers to Tabitha's wrist. Then Michael's.

The first few long silent seconds pierce Louise's heart.

A hand coming down on her shoulder, the pinkette lifts her eyes and meets gazes with a kindly looking, teary-eyed Kirche.

To her left, Princess Henrietta squeezes her shoulders reassuringly.

The world stalls for Louise, however. Her eyes remain fixed on Michael and Tabitha.

"A-Are they..." the dainty mage gasps, a hot, wet tear running down her cheek. "Are they alive...?"

Louise sniffs and brings a hand to her mouth, wiping away the flow of tears swelling in her eyes.

"They are," responds Colbert, rising to his feet. "Though both are extremely weak."

Blinking through watery, slightly blurry vision, the pinkette freezes, her bottom lip quivering.

Cautiously, she takes a deep, cleansing breath.

"Which means we must get them to the safety of the Academy before their conditions worsen," Henrietta declares with a wave of the hand. "Guards, I would have you carry the two to the rest of your detachment that waits at the foot of the forest path. From there, return them as quickly to Tristain Academy as you can."

"As you command, Your Highness!"

And with that, they rush to obey.

One picks up Tabitha and the second Michael, whom his comrade wraps tightly in a thick green cloak so he's comfortable and well covered from the cold.

The duo then march off through the charred trees.

Seeing them cart Michael off, Louise staggers, overtaken by a wave of light-headedness.

Kirche steps forward to ease her aide while Colbert bows and turns to retrieve Fouquet.

"Will you be alright, Louise?" wonders Kirche, sounding genuinely concerned.

After a short pause, the pinkette gulps and forces a smile. "Yes," she replies in a feeble voice. "I just... I'm going to go with the guards and..."

"Nonsense, you can barely stand. Please, let me help you," requests the Germanian noble, linking an arm through Louise's to support the girl's weight.

Despite being genuinely grateful, Louise gives a small and uncertain frown.

"Why are you being nice to me, von Zerbst...?"

Gazing back at her for a moment, Kirche shakes her head and smiles gently.

"Despite what you might think, Louise, none of our bickering held any genuine maliciousness on my part," she admits. "Well, mostly. Your stubborn pride is genuinely annoying, I'll admit."

Graciousness flutters in Louise's chest.

She doesn't smile, though.

Kirche is still her rival, after all.

But at least Louise knows now that the two are at least halfway to being friends.

And halfway is the best von Zerbst will get from her.

...At least for now.

To be continued...


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