"Winter, what happened?" Scarlet was speaking to me. Except the sound seemed to be coming from very far away.

I could barely breath. I was walking quite fast, but I could barely breath. I didn't really understand how I could keep that up. I made it halfway across the school before one of my legs staggered and I reached my arm out to hold the wall. My arm which was usually reliable, now felt weightless and unable to provide the support I needed. I slumped against the wall with my back, trying to take deeper breaths.

"We're going." I said.

"Where are we going? What happened in there?" There was something strange in her voice. Possibly it was genuine worry.

"We're going, we're not waiting another second. As soon as we step off the grounds Professor Willow will be coming after us, I need to know whether my plan will work?"

"Like I said before, I don't know if I can. It's never been done before. But, I may have a different solution for that this morning in my Transmutation class."

"We can only get away if this works." I must have looked grim because her gaze averted from mine.

"First things first, we need supplies."

"I have a pack at my father's Grove, I made it up last night. In case—" I stood up. "In case he told me I could go with him."

"Mine is in my dormitory room." Scarlet replied.

I looked at her, my face wide-eyed. I must have opened my mouth a little because she quickly continued.

"I didn't pack just for you, don't be so daft. I always have it prepared in case," she faltered abruptly.

"In case of what?"

"I have to leave." It was said so matter of factly that I dropped the subject and moved on.

"We're going to have to hope he doesn't realise we're headed to The Grove first. After that, I can handle it."

~

Scarlet had changed out of her dark, heavy cloak and traded it for an evergreen hood. It covered her shoulders and draped down her back, almost halfway down her high leather boots. The hood was raised to cover her face, or to keep her umber hair from moving while we ran. Although we were in a rush, I managed to notice the strapped leather vest and arm guards which covered her midnight-black garments. The garments themselves were thin and loose fitted, no doubt trying to accomodate for the heat of the sun.

"We're going to have to be very quick," she said.

I nodded and kept running. Like yesterday, we were going north out of the school and onto the cobblestone city paths. I made the mistake of looking behind us to see a few students point in our direction as we crossed the boundary of the college.

"So, I might not be able to carry us both through a shadow weapon, but I can definitely give us some cover in this shade. Give me your hand." Scarlet reached over and I obliged.

"intrare umbrae," The wind carried her words away.

A strange feeling surged from her hand and begin to spread over my skin. I looked down and nearly faltered. Our skin, our clothes, and even our packs were translucent, nearer to transparent. I could see through my fingers to the path we ran under. There was only a faint blur at the edge of our outlines.

"This spell also works for the noise."

As I began to listen, I noticed to distinct lack of her boots hitting the floor. Each time her foot came down, a slight ripple of colour travelled up. There was an invisible barrier between our bodies and the external world. I imagined it was like a skin-tight bubble. For the first time that afternoon I smiled.

"How long can you hold this?" I asked from behind her.

"I don't know, never tried to use it for an extended time while running full pace. I might have to rest at The Grove."

I could tell we were coming close because the ground began to slope on an incline. There were moments when I could glimpse the clearing of banyan trees between buildings.

We came around the last bend and slowed to a walk, as the path turned from dry cobble to fresh wet grass. Failing to run over the slippery grass in dress shoes would only slow me down.

The spell faded as we came to the door and I smiled at Scarlet, "Thank you, however I don't think Professor Willow will be far behind."

"You're welcome, though I think you're right. I'll wait here and rest a second," she sat down on the steps.

Within a few minutes, I had a large leather pack slung over my back. I had haphazardly changed into the druid garments my father had stored for me. When I'd come to stay with him, he would urge me to try them on. However much I wanted to follow his lead as a druid, I couldn't bring myself to love the wild as he did. All I knew were governors, knights, teachers, wizards, the people I had grown up around. The ideas and teachings of druidry felt alien to me so I'd barely ever worn them. My father knew this was the truth, and never tried to suggest I stop my studies at the college.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

When I stood in the mirror, this time, I felt something else, something like connection. For the first time, there was the resemblance the older men of the city talked about. My shoulders were growing wider like his, and my face was growing stubble in the same places his beard grew.

The olive-green pauldrons, two pieces of leather shoulder armour, attached on either side of the gorget, the centre piece protecting my throat. The set fit perfectly, sitting on top two other layers consisting of a thin, light-green garment and complimenting deep, forest green robe. At the bottom of the gorget was the symbol of this Grove, the banyan tree, stamped into the leather. I also tightened a belt sash over the outer robe, allowing for more mobility to move around. This also caused the robe to better cover the pant garment which was dyed black and thoughtfully made with a variety of functional pockets in different places.

"I'm ready," I said to Scarlet once I made my way back to the front door.

Her body rose and fell with each deep breath she took. Her piercing eyes snapped open, wide and keen. "To the river?"

"To the river," I agreed.

From The Grove, I could see the river meander around and bend away, the general direction of it going north.

As we began to walk down the grass, a chill went down my spine. The wind died and the birds of the banyan trees ceased their songs. Something was wrong, Professor Willow was coming. Scarlet must have sensed this too, maybe even before I did. We looked at each other and started running due north to make it to the river. We were near to the riverbank when I heard a voice boom behind us.

"Winter! It will not be so easy to get away from me!" Each of his words sounded closer, which would only be possible if he was travelling very, very fast.

We tore down away from the path and came close to the water, running parallel to it.

"Do it now!" I yelled. We began to run in single file, weaving between the trees.

Scarlet pulled something from her waist, handing it to me. Then she began to focus on concentrating her magic. Only one minute. That was our time limit, after that there would be no going back.

I turned and faced Professor Willow. I was right where i wanted to be, by the water's edge. His body seemed fluid as it moved towards us, as if it were a vapour on our trail. Once he was upon me, I could see that was exactly what he was! His body was made of a thick mist, which separated between the trees and reconnected on either side. In this form, his path was direct, there would be no need to sidestep the trees if he could just go through them.

There wasn't a lot of time, Professor Willow needed to see me putting up a fight. I brought my hands together and began to concentrate.

"iactus fulminis," I raised both of my hands and felt the energy surge from deep in my gut.

Blue bolts shot out at light speed from my palms. The recoil made me lurch back, taking another step closer to the riverbank. The lightning arced towards Professor Willow, creating a moment of blinding light in the forest. The bolts struck with deadly aim, but the Professor was no longer travelling a straight trajectory. They sank into the ground causing yellowing ground currents.

There wasn't enough time to cast another spell. I glanced up and realised it was over. Professor Willow came down, descending from the trees in a flurry of vapour.

"placidus!" The tone commanded me to be still.

The sensation washed over me and I could no longer react. My muscles were numb, my own skin felt lucid. There was a feeling of running liquid under my skin, that I soon realised was my own blood. My vision began to blur, the trees moving fluidly and doubling as my eyes relaxed. I knew any second now, I would have to be alert. Our time was nearly up. I glanced behind me to see Professor Willow pursuing Scarlet between the trees. As fast as his form was, it was no match for her teleporting. He was lagging far behind, which was right where we wanted him.

She threw her dagger across the river and reappeared to catch it on the other side. This was about the time his spell started to falter. Even the Professor had limits he could not ignore. I was about to close my eyes when it happened.

It was important that we could still see each other. I could barely keep my eyes open but I knew this would be the moment. I pulled out the dagger Scarlet had handed me earlier. It turns out she kept two of them on her, which made sense considering her skill set.

Before I could think, I was pulled from time and space. It was as if a hook was pulling me at light-speed, causing my skin to stretch as I flew through the air. The entire world seemed to bend, only to straighten out once the spell was finished. There we were, Scarlet and I, still on opposite sides of the river. However, now we were in swapped positions. The best way she could describe it to me later was that the two daggers were entangled, and she had simply swapped their relative positions. With some extra energy, the spell was able to encompass our bodies in the switch as well.

"You still can't catch me, can you Professor!" I taunted as I turned to run up along the river once more.

I didn't have to go very far before looking back to see my taunt worked. I heard the first word of the spell he was casting and began to cast one of my own.

"velox—" Professor Willow began as he reached down to touch the river.

I made a swift roll and thrust my own hand into the water as he finished saying the spell. "fulminis tactus!"

"—amnis," the Professor realised too late. His form was already melting into the water.

I knew he could have easily overtaken me with this spell, in fact I was counting on it. To show me a spell was one thing, but he always wanted to teach his students a lesson about how to use it.

This time, I had a lesson for him. There was a sizzle as blue currents of electricity flowed from my submerged hand. The water bubbled and spat out the Professor out onto the riverbank. His figure was stuck in spell form, barely recognisable. He shuddered as lightning continued to reverberate through him. By the time he was fully human again, he was out cold. He was alive and breathing, but it would take a few days for him to recover.

Scarlet reappeared from behind a tree on my side of the river. I offered her dagger back, turning my back on the Professor.

She took the dagger back but I could tell she was worn out. Her breath was heavy, her body looked hot to the touch, burning out from the intensity of the spell. From her pack she brought out a leather flask of water and downed it.

"We'll be able to rest outside of the city, will you be okay?"

"I'll be alright. Turns out your plans do work sometimes." She staggered, leaning into me for support.

"Thank you," I knew she was trying to compliment me. "You didn't do so bad either with the timing."

"What can I say, you had the word of Letalis. I had to pull through, or else you'd be entitled to my entrails."

We both laughed, and I saw a twinkle in those hazel eyes of hers. She quickly drew back, able to stand on her own feet again.

Within the hour we were out of the city and into Wilderness. I was glad for Scarlet's company, especially since she could also track in the wild. She picked up a trail of two horses continuing north, carving a path through the forest. We followed in pursuit as I wondered if I'd ever see the city of Brius-Beth again.