2. Loop 0, Part 2

The summoning circles burned black, and Kalin slammed both palms into the floor. Shadows like cracks formed in the stone where his magic hit, and from the fissures rose four shapes of condensed shadow. Each one was low to the ground and vaguely wolf-shaped, but with too many legs and empty, sunken sockets where eyes should have been.

Fuck fuck fuck.

[Shadow Manifestation]s. Kalin was a fucking shadow mage. If he wasn’t careful, something worse than expulsion could happen here today.

The shadow creatures all stood still for a terrible second that stretched on like a never-ending nap. Then, they roared, but instead of sound, a vacuum sucked warmth from the air and turned the hall a sickly shade of blue. Light dimmed, and their power grew and grew.

The hall exploded into sheer unadulterated hysteria. Students scrambled in every direction as if someone had shouted there was a Frollart in the kitchen. But not everyone was panicking. The girl that Finn had been staring at cast a ward that unfortunately did nothing to stop an advancing shadow wolf. Another student, a boy with platinum blonde hair clearly on dungeon track with bulging biceps and a gym weight for a catalyst, threw a lightning punch. Despite being so close to light element, it also passed through the lead wolf’s body before punching a hole in the wall.

One of the teachers sent out a [containment] manifestation, which is a spell that throws out a net of magic that usually dispels ongoing magical effects. And for a brief, glorious moment, the shadow was frozen, and things seemed like they might calm down. But then the shadow simply sank through the floor beneath the net and appeared a foot in front of the net unscathed.

Davos, having finally untangled his laces, attempted to prove his intelligence. He rolled sideways and launched a cone of fire that engulfed the lead creature. It shrieked as the spell worked! For all of five seconds. The dying wolf dissipated, but its smoky body simply flowed into another one of the wolves, making it stronger and larger than either had been before.

I stared in shock at the uselessness of all of their attempts to corral the situation.

Was everyone an idiot? They were fucking shadow manifestations.

But I shook my head and returned to my food. None of this was my problem. Davos had provoked it. Kalin had summoned it. Why did I need to care? Faculty were coming, and someone else could handle this. Besides, I still had to not finish my tea.

Next to me, Finn pushed back from the table.

“Come on, Finn, don’t,” I said.

“Someone is going to get seriously injured.”

“Someone’s always going to get seriously injured. It’s not your job to worry about how, just clean up after. Sit down. Please?”

But once again, Finn didn’t listen to me. He stood and planted his feet, raised his wand, and fired a bolt of healing light. It flew at the flank of the nearest shadow, as if healing magic could do something.

Sure, there was a little logic to it. Healing magic was, in a way, an opposite to shadow manifestation—light element versus dark element, but it wasn’t going to work. Shadow elements had a specific weakness, and it was like everyone had forgotten what we’d learned in the Basics of Elements last year. The bolt hit and the shadow actually flinched. Its form rippled like a stone thrown into a pond, but it didn’t dissolve. Instead, it turned toward Finn, and the empty sockets where its eyes should have been locked onto him. Then, it screamed.

Finn had time to say “Oh” before the shadow lunged for his jugular. He got up a barrier, gold and light with soul magic, just in time. It was the same stubborn defense work that had won him multiple tournament matches, but it wasn’t enough. The shadow hit his barrier with the weight of something that didn’t obey physics, and the impact sent Finn skidding into the table, hitting his head.

Finn didn’t get up. I sighed. Finn, who had no business being in this fight. Finn, who had stood up because someone was going to get seriously injured, and he was the only person in the school who would have done the same thing for me.

Why did I have to do work? Why couldn’t this have been a normal day? I set my tea down. Every rational part of my brain told me this was a terrible idea. The faculty—well, the rest of the faculty, the competent ones—were probably a minute or two away. Someone else could step in and solve the problem. I mean, I had figured it out, like, five minutes ago, so why was everybody else struggling?

But a couple of minutes was a long time, especially when shadow wolves were involved. Finn was hurt on the ground. If anyone else got injured because I sat here running a cost-benefit analysis on basic decency, well, the resulting chaos would likely consume the rest of my Monday. My entire Monday! I had a nap scheduled! God damn it!

I stood up. Standing alone was an astounding event. I hadn’t planned on standing for at least another fifteen minutes, and my body knew it, but I was already committed to the worst possible version of this morning.

I raised my wand and targeted the big shadow first. It was circling toward the entrance and was now roughly the size of a horse after absorbing its pack’s meat. “[Light].”

[Light – Manifestation]

Cost: 3 mana.

Creates a colored ball of light at the target location.

A bright amber light shot forth from my wand and streaked across the hall. It looked small! Almost pathetic, like a tiny firefly challenging a thunderstorm.

Of course, it missed. The shadow folded sideways through its own shape and let the light sail past, where it splashed harmlessly across the far wall, leaving a warm glow on the brick. The student near the entrance flinched away from the light, like I had thrown something dangerous.

“You need to work on your aim,” Finn said. He had finally recovered from his injury enough to stand, though he likely had a concussion.

“My aim is flawless,” I said. “The target was uncooperative, not me.”

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The shadow turned toward me now. Whatever dim intelligence controlled these things had registered me as a threat, which of course I was. Just because I’m lazy doesn’t mean I’m not good. The shadow shook itself and lunged at me. I sidestepped with barely an effort. The thing passed close enough that I felt the cold of its shadows, sending a bone-deep chill down my spine.

I needed a different approach. [Light] was going to work, but the spell orbs were a little tiny. Hitting the shadows wasn’t going to be a problem, because the light just being near hurt them. The problem was hitting them hard enough. I cast the spell again. This time, a purple sphere this time hit the stone and burst into a pool of warm light. The shadow reared back, unwilling to cross the illuminated ground.

Great! It was working. Light on the floor was harder to dodge than light flying through the air, but the damage didn’t hold. Already, the glow was fading. The shadow pressing against its edges, testing the fading light. I needed to make the light bigger, stronger. “[Enlarge].”

[Enlarge – Alteration]

Cost: 4 mana (variable).

Enlarges target object or magical effect at variable scale.

The pool of purple light on the floor tripled in size. What had once been a circle, the width of my breakfast plate, became a blazing disc that covered the aisle between tables. The shadow screamed, this time creating a sound that was worse than nails on a chalkboard, and its legs dissolved beneath it.