Mr. Potts sprang to action as the fiery creature from the orchard neared their position. Standing at the center of his students, he summoned a gust of wind to gather them all around him. His motions were graceful, seemingly careless as he directed the students towards the school’s south entrance with a tailwind to keep them moving.
“Everyone back inside!” Mr. Potts commanded them as he secured his white gloves. “I’ve got a temper tantrum to handle.” The green-haired professor marched toward the growing fires.
Staying at the rear of the group, Emery’s attention bounced all around at the rampant chaos. At a glance she spotted Ed holding his ground near the arbor armory.
“Ed!” Emery called out. She ran over to pull him to safety and hopefully to his senses. “We have to go!”
“Tell that to him!” Ed yelled, gesturing behind the tree.
Looking down behind the tree, Dane was frozen in place as the screeching noise pierced the air. Emery moved close to Dane as he held his knees to his chest beneath the tree. Before she could get within a few feet of him, his tattoos glowed and rebuffed her advance. He was catatonic and wouldn’t be moved.
Thomas ran up to the group in a panic. “What are you guys doing?” Looking down, Thomas noticed the glowing tattoos right away. “Crap, he’s not moving anytime soon.”
“Hence why I’m not leaving.” Ed insisted. A volley of flames flew at them. “Incoming!” Ed ripped a scrap of bark off the tree, using it as a shield against the ball of fire. He took the hit and held strong, quickly discarding the burning wood in his hand.
Halfway between flight and freezing, Emery decided to follow Ed’s example. “Neither am I.” Emery faced the direction of the flames scattered along the grass. She summoned a twister to travel along the ground and vacuum the oxygen from the fires.
“Keep it up while I keep him safe!” Thomas told them. Thomas took a knee besides Dane as he ripped a stream of water from the tree and froze it into a dome of ice around his petrified roommate.
“More fire! I got it!” Ed called out as he ripped out and flung away scraps of bark into the air. As they took off, the wood shaped itself into boomerangs. Each boomerang managed to catch the rampant fires launched in their direction and shatter before being able to return to their original position.
In the distance, Emery was grateful to see Mr. Potts and the pink-haired Lady Amber hold off the majority of the bird’s fire that rained down around the field. One professor stamped out large fires with huge sections of earth folded over onto itself while the other used her sword to send shockwaves of magic into the air at the flying menace. The fight was a harsh stalemate until more teachers began to appear from the direction of the school. Outnumbered, the bird flew east towards the arbor armory.
“Here goes nothing!” Emery said, doubtful her efforts would do more than annoy the creature.
Emery brought a gale of wind to meet the bird before it could reach them. The winds ripped grass and rocks off the ground as the creature slowed it’s speed. After a few seconds, it was practically suspended in air, a mere meter away from their position. The effort strained Emery as the bird screeched in her face. She felt a force stronger than gravity pull at her insides, threatening to tear something out from within.
Breaking to the side, Emery released her grip on the wind. The bird broke free and barreled through the tree at a breakneck speed. The arbor armory cracked like lightning. The bark groaned as it fell over, leaving only a stump as its burning trunk slammed into the ground.
“We’re out of cover!” Ed called out. Pointing up at the sky, he continued saying, “It’s coming back around!”
Thomas melted the protective dome around Dane in a panic. The boy was passed out. “Alright, new plan!”
A green-blue aura formed around his body as he reached for the terrified teen. Thomas struggled as he broke through the defensive aura around Dane. The strain was clear even as he leaned the other boy on his shoulder and led him to safety.
“We’ve got you covered!” Ed cast out a yellow wisp from his body that entered the ground. Not a moment later, the earth cracked open with some type of stag tearing up from its maw.
Emery braced herself as the bird dove at them once more. “I’m good for round two!”
Before either of the teenagers could even muster up their next movement, the bird caught a fireball in its beak from the side. The bird floundered to the ground, even more agitated than ever as it screeched into the air once again.
Glancing to the side, the group saw Alice run towards the bird with both hands on fire and fury in her eyes. She caught up to the creature quickly, launching into another attack as her fist cocked back. But with a reckless flap of its wings, the fiery fiend bashed its assailant away. Alice flipped head over end, landing beside Emery.
The phoenix thrashed back and forth in the air, it’s noise loud enough to bleed color away from the world. As it’s screech reached a deafening apex, a small dove appeared and encircled it quickly. The dove whistled a soft tune as it moved whimsically. The phoenix relaxed somewhat, quieting its a rage as it took notice of the other feathery creature around it. The two birds perched on what remained on the arbor armory’s stump and tilted heads at each other.
The Archmage walked behind the stump, watching the two birds with care. She pulled at her sleeve and weaved together delicate lines of light. The lines formed a mirror large enough for both birds to fit through. The dove urged the other bird through by whistling an encouraging tune. Despite its nervousness, the phoenix followed the dove through the mirror.
Releasing a deep sigh as she closed the mirror, the Archmage looked over the students in front of her. “That was a bit too exciting for a first day. Wouldn’t you say?”
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