Cuff's hands ran around the wall behind him. The cold from the wall seeped into his back, through his clothes. In front of him a deep inky black rolled furiously around Nathaniel, like curtains from a theatre. The man himself stood there, his eyes bleeding black magic. The sight of him set Cuff on edge, his stomach sank and he felt an empty sick feeling settle in his stomach. He tried to settle his breathing and look down on the floor.
And it almost began to work until Nathaniel began to speak.
"Cuff, you silly little thing," the words echoed around, and with every word spoken Cuff felt his gut tighten. He didn't sound like Nathaniel; the voice was so cruel, so beautifully cruel and horrifying.
"You, they trick you, they imprison you," Nathaniel stated, taking a step closer to Cuff.
"Me, I only want to make things clear, let you understand," he stood tall, smirking arrogantly. He waited, waited for a response that never came. Cuff half-stood, frozen against the cave wall.
"Well?" Nathaniel asked, his jaw clenching and visage tightening.
"Yes," was all that Cuff could stutter out.
Nathaniel heaved a breath through his nose, turning and rolling his eyes. The inky black parted as Nathaniel walked to the cave wall. He raised his hand ever so slowly, turning his head to Cuff as he did, smiling like he was looking at some hopeless cornered prey. His finger tapped the wall and black symbols ran across the room, shuddering and writhing like they had a pathetic life of their own.
"You, your contract was drawn up by the headmaster," Nathaniel smiled cruelly.
"The pathetic groundsman was imprisoned here by the headmaster too," Nathaniel waved his hand, revealing a person lounging on the ground. The old groundsman looked up, his dismal face drooping into a grimace. Just barely registering a nod. He grunts for good measure, and goes back to staring at the cave wall.
"You see, you see! The pathetic old man has been lying to you, over and over. He wanted you in the school, he wanted you under his thumb. He, he, he will cage you. He will use you. He will break you," Nathaniel rambled, walking backward and forward.
He turned from Cuff and walked to the other end of the cave a few meters away. For just a moment it felt as though time stopped, in the midst of Nathaniel's rambles. He could see it, the darkness surrounding Nathaniel swirl, wings unfurl, and a torturous face smile at him.
And for a moment Cuff felt like he was staring at Evil itself; terror incarnate.
And then everything continued, and Nathaniel was rambling about the headmaster, about the school, and Cuff was shaking, he could feel tears stream onto his cheeks. He'd never felt fear like this.
He desperately wanted to leave, to get as far away as possible.
"So, so, so, my little link. My missing link. Will you be my eyes, my ears? And in return I can give you your freedom, I can give you power, I can give you everything," Nathaniel stared at Cuff, waiting.
Cuff merely nodded his head dumbly, frozen with fear.
"Well, well no matter, it is not long before you join us," Nathaniel smiled, and lifted his arm.
Cuff stared, stared at the approaching arm. A single finger lifted, pointed at him. Black ran through Nathaniel's veins, a shroud of terrible magic around his hand as it paused, inches from his chest.
"My gift to you, little one," he said, the voice echoed around, and then he jabbed his finger forward.
A blast of green spread out through the cave and there was a moment of silence. And then Cuff's voice tore through the cave, bouncing off the walls. His haggard screams echoed and overlapped as he scrambled on the floor, a floor of green light swirling around him and through his veins.
And as suddenly as it began the green light disappeared, the screaming stopped and the echoes died down, and he lay on the floor panting. He struggled to his knees, and then to his feet, weak but not in pain; though he was very confused.
He took a struggling step forward, and walked straight through a gate Nathaniel conjured.
"Trust nobody, little one," the cruel voice echoed in his ears, and then he was in front of the library. And over his shoulder he saw the gate fade out into black dust and caught a last glimpse of the previous groundsman.
'The headmaster' rang out in his head as the gate drifted apart, almost like a whisper but it echoed and echoed and Cuff knew in his heart that it was the previous groundsman who'd said it.
He turned to face the library, and as he did one of the doors began to open, just a tad. A little green face popped through, a scowl on its face.
"You're late," Hector growled at him, and pushed the door open more.
"Get in, now" the little goblin said to him, and turned and began to walk away.
“Wait! I need-“
“You need to get in, now,” the goblin growled at him, and continued on again. Cuff sighed and hurried after him, the library door closing noisily after him of its own accord.
“Where is Fern?” Cuff asked, and sighed almost immediately as he spotted him at a table with someone else.
“There,” Hector pointed to Fern, knowing well Cuff had spotted him. Cuff ground his teeth and resisted the urge to sigh.
He lengthened his stride, his heart beat rising as he tried to organise his thoughts to explain what had happened. But he simply couldn’t get his thoughts together. As he reached the table they both looked up and Fern flinched. The other one stared straight at Cuff and pointed at the ground.
“Sit,” she said sternly to Cuff, who stopped and stood with his jaw open. He turned to Fern only to find Fern was looking at the woman, frantically motioning toward her.
“Sit” she said again, and Cuff found himself sinking to the ground against his will.
“Wait, what the hell?” Cuff questioned aloud, “I need to see the headmaster,” he turned to Fern and the woman, trying to push off the ground and stand up.
“No, you need to learn to control your magic,” the woman said, sweeping her blonde hair aside, “the sooner the better,” she continued, as she took a step toward Cuff, who was still straining against the ground.
“No, no, I really need to speak to-”
“Silence,” she cut him off, and heard Fern sighing to the side.
Cuff continued speaking, and then turned to shouting, but no sound came out.
“Hello, my name is Daisy, and I will be your magic instructor from here out - courtesy of the headmaster,” she smiled sarcastically, her blonde hair drifting over her bright blue eyes. Eyes so bright blue they looked inhuman. She looked at Cuff blankly, while he strained against the ground and shouted nothingness, his eyes overflowing with green magic. She stared into those eyes and almost flinched a second time. The headmaster’s demand this time was simply ridiculous, you can’t force something to be human. She shook her head and organised her thoughts, taking a deep breath and then raising her hands. The air shimmered in a dome shape around Cuff, ever so faintly one could see a persistent barrier there.
“By the time you leave the library today you will be able to control your unformed magic, adequately,” she said sternly, “you can start practicing now, as you did before. Focus on your magic in you and work on communicating movement to the blue magic, ignore anything else,” she said and then began tapping at the shimmering air, her fingertip a glaring blue brightness as she tapped and drew on the barrier.
“Hey idiot, help,” she glanced at Fern.
“I told you not to call me idiot,” he grumbled at her, but still trod over and began to wave his finger over the barrier.
Meanwhile Cuff, sat inside, had finally stopped trying to stand up. His shouting hadn’t stopped, but no sound came out still.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
By the time half the shield was inscribed with symbols Daisy stopped and stared at Cuff, raising an eyebrow.
“We do this the easy way or the hard way,” she said and raised a finger.
“The easy way is you settle down and start practicing,” she said and raised a second finger, “and the second way would be me forcing you to settle and practice,” she continued and paused.
Cuff stopped trying to shout and sat there for a few moments. The only sound was the wispy drag of Fern’s magic on the air as he continued inscribing symbols.
Daisy stared at him, and slowly dropped her arm, and as she did Cuff started to stare at the floor, his eyebrows furrowed. After a moment he closed his eyes and Daisy grunted and smirked. She raised her hand as magic began swirling around it, when Cuff’s eyes snapped open and he began shouting again.
“Be still. Another idiot,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re going to focus on gaining control over your unformed magic, you may leave when you’re done,” she said as magic swirled around her, swirling more and more aggressively.
“Focus,” she said, and there was a blast of air as the magic flashed.
Cuff sat inside the shield and as the blast of magic flashed outside the shield he felt his neck snap forward and his brain, his brain felt nothing like it ever had before. The moment his thoughts started wandering he found them focusing back on magic. The more he tried to think about his situation, the headmaster, and everything that was going on the harder his mind forced itself back on track to magic. His head slowly grew painful, and he could feel himself grimace.
“Fight it enough and you’ll end up with the headache of a lifetime, choice is yours,” the woman shrugged from outside and continued drawing out symbols on the barrier.
Cuff tried to roar in frustration but couldn’t. His mind snapped itself back in onto magic, thinking about it. He delved into his body, to wherever his magic lay and he pulled at it all and tried to throw it out at the hateful woman. He opened his eyes as he pushed his magic outward from him, and found her staring back.
She snorted and he felt all the magic around and building up inside him fizzle away. His body burned, but he couldn’t even gasp in pain.
“Try that again and I won’t help you, and you’ll probably die,” she smirked at him.
“Only help I’ll give you, aim for whatever blue magic you have inside you and pull at it, ignore the rest of your magic because it’ll turn blue over time anyway,” she said and then continued drawing on the barrier, her and Fern had almost linked up their symbols now.
Cuff stared at her for a moment but found his attention snapping back to his magic, to unformed magic. He felt himself being dragged into his body, his magic flowing around him. It ran green everywhere, through him. He had to search, but he found it; the smallest blue seed of magic. Where everything was blue before it was green now. Why, why he wanted to wonder, but his mind wouldn’t let him. His mind burned, and his veins did too. The back of his eyes felt like they were in so much pain they’d melt in their sockets. He grabbed at the blue seed before his mind could burn more, and pulled it up. His attention snapped back into reality, and he opened his hand to find it glowing the dimmest bit blue, amidst a sea of green. He focused on the blue, focused on passing it to his other hand. He couldn’t force it into the air though. So he pushed it through his body, labouring under the mental strain, yet any time his mind wandered he found it snapping back onto the blue seed.
And so slowly, ever slowly, the blue seed of magic passed through his veins, growing slightly as it did. A tail gradually dragging behind it as it moved, until it was in the palm of his left hand, glowing a gentle blue. And so like that Cuff forced the blue magic through his body, over and over, he was pretty sure he had seen mention of this in his “Controlling Magic” book.
Over time it became easier and easier, and flowed faster and faster. His magic was less a seed and now a boulder, crashing through the green magic and pulling it with it. Growing and growing, as was his control. He could feel it. And then suddenly, the idea popped into his head to split the magic, and so he did immediately. One ball of blue in his right hand, one in his left. He stared at them, and shook his right hand, letting the magic wink out as he did.
He stared at the magic in his left hand and willed it to push into the air. Slowly, he could feel the magic building in his palm, pushing against something. It grew in intensity, and grew until finally he felt it break through and his magic flood into the air, crashing against the barrier that rippled gently, blue shattering across its rigid form.
And then pain took over Cuff, as his head exploded with pain like he’d never felt before. If someone could feel what a bullet to the brain was like before they died from it, it would feel like this he wagered.
Slowly as he came to his senses and the pain started to ebb, pulsating in the back of his skull, he heard clapping. He glanced up and found Daisy clapping down at him, beaming sarcastically.
“Honestly though, well done! I mean I did most of your work for you but still,” she smiled.
Cuff roared and sprinted towards her, straight into the shield and fell onto the ground, groaning with his head in his hands.
“Idiot,” she said, and tapped the top of the barrier, the symbols across it losing their lustre as she did.
“You should be thanking me, not acting like a child,” she said standing tall above him.
“Why, dear god why, would I ever thank you,” he groaned, slowly getting up.
“Because you were becoming unhinged,” she flicked her wrist, a snap of blue.
“What, are you calling me a door or something?” he shouted angrily, standing up fully, wincing at his head and body.
Daisy almost keeled over laughing, even slapping her knee for exaggeration.
“An unhinged is what we call someone who has lost control over their magic. Unhinged are well known to have green magic, it coincides just a little too strongly with yourself lately, no?” She smiled to him, clapping her hands.
“You called, lady,” Hector appeared from seemingly nowhere.
“Yes Hector, show our guest out, I believe he said something about seeing the headmaster” she said and turned from them both to Fern, who was reading something at the table next to them.
“Come,” Hector grunted at Cuff and dragged him to the door. The door opened as they approached, Cuff occasionally glanced over his shoulder at the two librarians, visibly angry.
“You know the way from here,” the little goblin said, pushing him out the door.
“Wait, who the hell is she, what’s going on,” Cuff yelled at the goblin.
“That is Daisy, your new magic teacher,” the goblin sighed, “you may find yourself confused for a short while, a side effect of the training,” it coughed at the end and then nodded and closed the door.
Cuff took a few steps back and slumped against the hallway, looking at the library door and the hall to the headmaster's study. He glanced up at the tapestry that lined the hall and shuddered, because on it lay the face of a horrific demon, attacking many mages shooting spells at it. Cuff started walking quickly towards the headmaster after glancing around. The whole damn tapestry ran from his quarters to the library and the one spot he had to see had to remind him of that horrific moment. He found his skin crawling as he thought back to the moment Nathaniel was walking from him and time felt like it froze. That horrifying image, like every nightmarish monster that’d ever entered his head combined together. He felt his eyes water and the skin at the back of his neck crawl as he thought back to it, and started quickening his pace.
His feet began pounding the carpeted stone as he started running, pushing his sore body quicker and quicker, as he tried to outrun the nightmarish visions in his head.
And so when Cuff suddenly arrived at the headmaster’s door he wasn’t sure what to do. He found himself second guessing if he should go in, but it was so hard to think through the agonising pain in his head from magic lesson. On the one hand the headmaster seemed a lot more reliable than Nathaniel the younger. But then he also locked away the old groundsman and imprisoned Cuff here for some reason.
And it was as he thought about the old groundsman he remembered his final words before, to see the headmaster and made his decision. Taking a deep breath he placed his hands on the door and pushed.