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TS28: Revoker Revelation

Vorax. The word hung in the air, and for a moment, Mark just looked at Julius. The stoat sighed, and his gaze shifted to South. “I don’t suppose you’d believe Jove made him say that?”

South stepped in front of Julius and a curved red scimitar appeared in his hand. Jove still could not hear South’s words. Perhaps it was because he was not a threat?

Mark pulled a few small blades of grass out of his pocket. “Fatal Briar,” he said, throwing them to the ground. The gym erupted in a web of twisted vines and thorns, tiny spikes dripping with a thick black ooze.

“No,” Jove said. One of the vines snapped and faded, only to regrow a moment later. The vines were not the spell, they were an effect. The real spell was drowned in the mass of magic and wards that filled the area.

Mark laughed and sang, “Flesh parts, bones fly. Wasps sting, you die.” Jove winced, he could see the spell building in Mark, but there was nowhere to go, the thorns were in every direction. Mark held out his hand, “Bone wasps.” His hand exploded into a red mist, shards of bone propelled forward towards the fox.

Jove’s senses felt the spell approach. He was surrounded, deadly magic in all directions. Except one. Desperate, Jove ducked towards that magic empty place. The bone shards faded into smoke as did everything in the gym. Only the sense of where the magic was remained to remind Jove that the rest of the world existed. Jove took a step towards the danger, and it seemed to shoot forward the ten or twenty feet in one stride. He turned and went towards the magic.

Mark snarled, turning as Jove stepped back into the gym. “Bone sword!” A white blade sprouted from the stump that was left of his right hand.

It was then Jove noticed the tears. Mark was in physical agony, but his body did not react to it. Jove reacted on instinct, letting the sword impale him as he reached around and grabbed something at the back of Mark’s neck. Jove whispered, “It’s okay Mark.”

Jove squeezed and heard a hiss. He pulled the spell away from Mark’s neck. A centipede-like insect several feet in length started to become visible. As Jove pulled it back, a hundred legs withdrew from around Mark’s spine.

Mark screamed as his voice became his own again. The sword pulled out of Jove and the stoat collapsed on the ground, clutching his hand.

The centipede tried to bite Jove, but it was held too tightly. Jove felt the wound in his chest close as he looked at the spell. “You’re the spell.” He grabbed the centipede’s head with his other hand. With a snap, the spell went limp and faded, followed by the vines that rapidly shriveled to dust.

There was still too much magic, and whispering. “He abyss jumped.” “What if he comes over here?” “Did he just snap a spells’ neck?” Jove couldn’t place the words with students anymore. He just knew they were readying spells.

“Jove?” South’s voice came through. Perhaps it was because South was pointing his sword at Jove, perhaps it was because he had so many defensive spells up he glowed like a Christmas tree. “You’ve had an outburst. You need to calm down.”

“Too much magic.” With Jove’s words every ward in the gym flared and vanished. He looked around, senses screaming danger from every spell that remained. He tried to focus on Mark, to make sure the stoat was clean.

South took a step closer, and Jove turned towards the bear. South slowly put down his sword, but kept his spells active. The bear said, “You need to regain control of your magic. You are in charge, it has to listen to you.”

Jove reached out, and pulled on the bear’s spells. “Too loud.” Most of the spells collapsed at the simple touch, but some were being actively maintained. He stuck the ground, knocking out the spell that kept the ground soft. “I can’t hear.”

South slowly circled around the fox to where Mark had collapsed. Mark was going into shock, bleeding onto the ground. The change in Mark’s body made it even harder to tell if any magic was left. South made the mistake of casting a spell to heal Mark.

Jove took a deep breath and screeched an unearthly sound. Most nearby spells quieted down, but the students tried to recast them. South crouched protectively over Mark. Jove looked at the bear and stoat, still too many spells to get a feel.

Jove took a step forward.

South called his sword to his hand. “Jove, are you in there?”

Jove recognized the words, but the meaning escaped him. He took another step closer. Had he been less on edge, he would have recognized South’s reaction as fear, but his senses just screamed that the bear was dangerous. The bear still had active spells.

Christian stepped between them, his back to Jove. The wolf shouted, “He’s reacting to magic. You have to dismiss your spells.”

There was no danger from this wolf. Jove took another step, and Chris turned around. Chris called to the others, “Everyone, dismiss every spell you have. All of them or this won’t work. Please.”

One by one the noise of the magic became quiet. Jove was now face to face with the wolf. His senses scanned the room, finding nothing. Except, some small, insignificant echoes of magics long past.

“Come on Jove,” Chris said. “Come back to us.”

Jove smiled. Things were safe for now. “To you,” he whispered. The magic that was keeping him standing was no longer needed. As it faded, he collapsed into Christian’s arms and in that feeling of safety, blackness quickly followed.

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