Isabel shifted from foot to foot, squeezing bunches of the inner material of her pant pockets in a tight grip. Ash and burnt sticks crunched beneath her feet as she tried and failed to remain still.

Her nerves were completely shot, and she wasn’t the only one. The rest of Noah’s class gathered around her, along with just about everyone else they knew.

Todd stood at Isabel’s side; Emily and James several feet behind him. Alexandra and Yulin joined them, and they were flanked by Silvertide, Bird, Jalen, and Brayden. Every one of them was trying and failing to conceal their worry.

Even Jalen was uncharacteristically silent. He stared at the space before Isabel, arms crossed and hands tucked under his armpits.

It had been a day since the end of the exam.

They’d won, and Isabel barely even remembered it. Isabel had taken first place, while Emily had taken second. Fiona, supposedly the best student in the Advanced Track, had ended up in third, much to her immense displeasure and disbelief.

None of them had attended the award ceremony — nor had they had anything to say about the mysterious disappearance of Jakob, Verrud, and Marley. Nobody had questioned them much. Perhaps that would come later, or perhaps not. There was something far more important on all of their minds.

Noah, Moxie, and Lee’s return.

And so now they stood in the Scorched Acres, waiting like lost children. Noah had promised that he would return. He wouldn’t lie to them.

“He’s going to show up any second,” Todd said. There was a note of strain in his voice that stood out like a sore thumb. “He always does.”

“Stop saying it like he’s dead,” Isabel said firmly. “We saw him. A day ago. He said he’ll be back. He’ll be back.”

“It’s been twenty three hours and ten minutes since he said that,” Yulin supplied. “There are still fifty minutes left for him to keep the promise. But… is he really breaking out of the Damned Plains? Is that possible?”

“He did it once,” Emily said stiffly. “But what about Moxie? Can she come too? What if she’s stuck there?”

“Professor Vermil said they’d all be back,” James said through a yawn as he paced back and forth behind Emily, dry sticks crunching beneath his feet. “Just relax. He’ll be here any moment.”

“If you’re relaxed, why aren’t you just sitting like you always do?” Emily asked, prodding him irritably. “Stop pacing already! You’re driving me up a wall.”

“It’s fine, everyone.” Alexandra’s hands tightened at her sides. “Professor Vermil wouldn’t break a promise to us. Just wait.”

“Are you really sure he was there yesterday?” Jalen asked. “We didn’t hallucinate it, did we? That’s what missing games of darts does to a man, you know. It’s a cruel torture. Do you know how long I’ve had to wait to have a good opponent, only for him to up and vanish? Cruel indeed.”

“It was your magic that showed him to us,” Silvertide said, glaring at Jalen. “Would you stop being insufferable for one minute?”

“No,” Jalen said.

A prickle of energy rolled across Isabel’s back. She stiffened, and everyone else did too. They’d all felt it.

Something was happening. Her eyes darted around as the sensation grew stronger, and a dull buzzing sensation built in the back of her mind.

“What is that?” Isabel took a step back. The hair on her arms and neck stood on end, and Todd lowered into a fighting stance beside her. Isabel mirrored him.

Escaping the Damned Plains couldn’t be easy. Who knew what kind of monsters would be lurking to interfere with their professors’ return. She didn’t know how much she’d be able to do, but Isabel was ready to do whatever it took.

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The instructors readied themselves as well. Even Bird hooked a finger around her top, preparing to utilize her now-honed technique inspired from Noah’s fighting style.

“Look!” Emily exclaimed, pointing into the air.

Todd drew in a sharp breath and Isabel craned her neck back. Her eyes widened.

A red mote of light appeared in the air before them. It intensified until it was as light as a lantern, lowering to float about six feet above the ground. The mote traced a circle through the air, growing brighter with every moment, and leaving a trail of red energy in its wake.

The buzzing in the back of Isabel’s mind grew stronger. Slow-moving arcs of electric magic curled off the portal and extended through the air like fingers, ripping into space itself. Undulating waves of power pressed into everyone.

Isabel was forced a step back. She raised her hand before her face and squinted past her fingers as the light grew brighter and the power more intense. Her heartbeat sped up in fear and anticipation alike.

A portal had twisted to life in the center of the Scorched Acres.

“So much power,” Yulin breathed, her voice barely audible over the roar of growing magic. “What kind of people are your professors?”

Isabel didn’t get a chance to reply. There was a loud whump, and a wave of wind exploded out from the portal. It buffeted her and bit at her eyes. Her ears popped as the pressure in the clearing abruptly shifted — and the disk of red light shimmered.

Noah stepped out from within it.

His foot hit the ground with a thump. Dry ashen sticks crunched beneath it as he emerged into the clearing, his grimoire slung over his back, a familiar small grin pulling at the corners of his lips.

“Well, hello there,” Noah said as the portal shimmered once more. Moxie and Lee stepped out from the red disk. “Did you miss us?”

Isabel almost dropped to the ground in relief. They were all safe.

Then she realized that there were horns jutting out from Lee’s forehead. Isabel’s stomach sank like a rock.

Oh no. What happened to Lee? She looks fine… but is she losing her fight and becoming more demonic?

She opened her mouth.

The portal rippled again.

“Watch out!” Todd yelled, striking his bracers against each other to summon a coil of fire. “There’s something else coming!”

Isabel drew on her Master Rune. Emily’s ice bow snapped into her hands with a crackle, and everyone else readied their magic as well. Even Jalen’s eyes sharpened. A wave of pressure rolled out from him, pressing against Isabel’s back — restrained, but only barely.

“It’s fine,” Moxie called, raising a hand to forestall everyone. “It’s not an enemy.”

“We made some friends!” Lee exclaimed cheerfully, waving to them. “Hi everyone! Did you bring me any snacks?”

And then a demon boy stepped out from within the portal. Two wicked horns curled along the sides of his head. His head turned on a swivel as he took in the Scorched Acres, lips parted in childlike awe — but there was something about his eyes that set Isabel on end. They were like two black, endless pools of hunger and intelligence.

He’s dangerous.

But he wasn’t the only one. After the demon came a girl, her body stocky but lithe. She scanned over the group with a critical eye, her hands clenched at her sides and shifting from foot to foot as if ready to burst into motion at a moment’s notice. She positioned herself beside the boy as he looked around the forest, glaring at everyone as if challenging them to attack.

Another young demon woman followed after them, this one covered with sleek black fur. Her movements were difficult to track, as if the shadows clung to her very body. She slunk behind the others, wary eyes scanning over the gathered crowd as she sheparded two small demons along with her. They couldn’t have been more than fourteen or fifteen years old.

The two groups stared at each other for a long few seconds.

“What the fuck?” Bird muttered, rather aptly. Her arms fell limp at her sides.

“What?” Noah asked, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. “We might have made a few friends while we were down in hell. It happens, you know?”

The portal rippled again, and another small demon emerged from it. She didn’t look much older than the last two, probably somewhere around fourteen. Her eyes were firmly affixed on the ground as if scared to meet anyone’s gaze. A key clutched in her hands pulsated with a dim red light that matched the portal behind her.

Isabel couldn’t tell if she wanted to laugh or cry.

What in the Damned Plains — literally — is going on? Did Noah bring every single demon back up with him? Surely this is…

The portal rippled once more. A final demon emerged from within it, long silver hair trailing long the ground behind her. The demon’s face was covered by a white mask with a blue design depicting a single eye upon its front.

“We’re all here!” Lee said happily. “Good job, Sticky!”

“Thank you,” the demon holding the key said shyly. She shuffled her feet on the ground, and the portal finally snapped shut.

The two groups stared at each other. For several long seconds, neither of them said anything. Even if Isabel could have mustered the words to speak, she wasn’t sure what she would have said.

Finally, Silvertide let out a mixture between a choked laugh and a cough.

“What happened down there? Where is Wizen? And how did you get the key?”

Noah cleared his throat.

“It’s a long story… but I think I should probably start with some introductions, huh?”