Page 43 of The Tree of Spirits (Paragons #2)

MAGICAL CONSEQUENCES

T he new Spirit Tree was hidden deep inside the Park, just past what remained of a former picnic area that had since devolved into chaos. The roofs over the tables had developed more than a few rust holes, and over half of the benches were broken.

The overgrown paths were littered with broken branches and slowly-decaying leaves, the perfect recipe for attracting ants.

Thousands and thousands of ants. The tiny black insects covered the path like a moving, swirling carpet.

They didn’t even care about the rain. The tree canopy was blocking most of it anyway.

The dirt was doing a better job of absorbing the rainfall than the paved streets, so there wasn’t any flooding here in the woods. Yet. Muddy puddles were starting to accumulate between the trees. And between the puddles and the armies of ants, there weren’t all that many safe places to stand.

It was just past midnight. The night sky was shrouded in a thick cover of rain clouds that blotted out all the stars.

The only illumination came from the magic lights the Knights had strung through the Park’s trees during Operation: Free Gaia , and they didn’t provide that much light.

There were, however, a lot of shadows, perfect hiding spots for fiends.

Kato had called for backup, but the district was large and completely overgrown with trees.

It could be a while before the Knights arrived from the other end of the Park.

The Templars would likely be here before they were.

In fact, we expected them any minute now.

The Spirit Tree had matured enough to allow inter-realm travel.

It was just starting to glow. Soon it would shine brighter than the treetop lights.

Meanwhile, all the three of us could do was wait.

“Do you hear the Templars?” Kato asked Conner.

“Nothing but rain and ants. No voices, no footsteps.” Conner frowned in frustration.

“Not even the snapping of branches as they make their way through the forest, nor the soft echo of evil that precedes their approach. I can hear the Knights on the other side of the Park, but no Templars anywhere. They must have used magic to mute their movements.”

“You can hear the Knights on the other side of the Park?” I gawked at him.

“Conner has a spell that gives him annoyingly good hearing.” Kato’s face was carefully blank. “Usually, I’m pretty thankful that the spell wears off a few minutes after he casts it. And if he tries to cast it again right away, he goes deaf in one ear for about a day.”

Conner winced. “Yeah, I found that out the hard way.” He cupped a hand over his right ear, like he was reliving the memory.

Kato shot him a look that was almost sympathetic. “At least you didn’t turn your muscles into rubber.”

Conner snorted. “I’d forgotten all about that.” He looked at me. “Once, Kato cast too many strength-enhancement spells in a row, and then every muscle in his body turned all loose and rubbery. He spent the next two days in the Castle’s sick bay.”

Kato’s brows arched. “At least I didn’t fall victim to a sleeping sickness because I cast too many sleeping spells.”

“But you did get yourself stuck in a time loop after trying too many slow spells against your training opponents,” Conner said brightly.

I tallied up the meaning of their stories. “It sounds like spells can have some pretty unwanted consequences.”

“You should always read the fine print on any spell,” Kato said. “All magic comes with its fair share of consequences.”

“The key is balancing the consequences against the benefits,” added Conner.

“Plus, the stronger your magic gets, the more spells you can do without hurting your?—”

Conner gestured for him to be quiet. He pointed at the wall of trees, which was about twenty meters in front of us. Kato nodded in acknowledgement, then both boys put on their helmets.

Four people limped out of the forest. It was Kylie, Asher, and the other two Apprentices! Kato’s hand slammed down like a gate in front of me before I could take a step toward them.

“Wait,” he said. “I don’t see the Templars.”

“Neither do I.” Conner faded from sight—but only partially. He was only half-invisible. “They’re here. And invisible. They’re trying to surround us.”

Conner drew a constellation in the air. There was a bright flash of light, and then I could see them too: three Templars in black techno suits, closing in on us.

“This is going to get ugly. Stay out of danger,” Kato instructed me as he and Conner drew their WANDs, moving back-to-back to fight the Templars.

I quickly drew my teleportation symbol and teleported out of the line of fire. Literally. Just as I teleported away, a Templar threw a fireball at my head. If I’d been just half a second slower, my hair would be burning right now.

“That is so not ok!” I growled.

But the Templar didn’t hear me. I was on the other side of the picnic area now, and he was too busy crossing swords with Kato and Conner to look for me.

One of the Templars had moved away from the others, using her celestial globe to activate the Spirit Tree for travel. There was a blinding flash of light from the tree, like someone had just turned on a whole row of floodlights. Suddenly, the picnic area was as bright as day.

I rushed over to the Apprentices. “I need to get you guys out of here, while the Templars are distracted,” I told them. “I can take two at a time.”

“Take Jack and Victoria first. They’re wounded,” Kylie said, indicating two frazzled-looking Apprentices.

Jack was leaning against Asher for support. It looked like his leg was broken. Victoria had a blood-stained strip of fabric wrapped around her forehead.

I couldn’t help but wonder if their injuries were my fault.

“Ok, let’s get you guys out of here,” I said, trying to sound confident as I took their hands and set them on my shoulders. “Hold on tight.”

Then I focused on my destination, drew the teleportation constellation in the air, and whisked them away.

I experienced the familiar sinking sensation, but it took a lot longer before I felt the snap .

And when I did, that snap was more of a snap!

!!!! Extra powerful, with lots of exclamation points.

And when we hit the hard invisible wall of our destination, I nearly toppled over the wounded Apprentices I was supposed to be helping.

“Are you ok?” Jack asked, his bony hand squeezing down on my shoulder.

“Yeah.” I blinked a few times to clear my blurry vision. When I saw we were at the gates to the Park, I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d never teleported this far before. “See that guardhouse at the gate? Go there, and the Watchers will look after your wounds. I have to get back to help the others.”

“Are you sure?” Victoria asked as I swayed to the side. “You don’t look so great.”

“I’m sure,” I said and teleported away.

This time when I reached my destination, I did fall over. I curled up on the soggy ground, clutching my head. I felt like a ball of aluminum foil being slowly crushed by a very large fist.

“Winters? Are you all right?” Asher’s voice echoed from somewhere beyond my curtain of dizziness.

“Don’t worry about me.” I planted my hands on the ground and pushed, forcing myself to stand. “Let’s get the two of you to safety.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Kylie said, catching me as I stumbled. She and Asher helped me over to the nearest picnic bench. “At least not until you can stand without falling over.”

“But you need my help. I have to save you! I can’t let you down again.” I planted my elbow on the picnic table and used my hand to prop up my heavy head.

“It’s not your fault the Templars took us,” Kylie said, sitting down next to me. “We told you to leave us.”

“Besides, Winters, I am definitely not letting you teleport me as long as you look like you’re going to puke all over me.” Asher hit me with a crooked smirk.

He was right. I couldn’t teleport like this. I’d probably just mess up and get us all killed. The boys had warned me about pushing my magic too far. I should have listened.

“What’s happening with the Templars?” I asked, trying to focus on the battle at the other end of the picnic area. But all I saw were big, bright blurs. Having no magical endurance was so annoying.

“What’s happening is your boyfriends are still fighting them,” Kylie tried to tease me, but she sounded way too tired.

“They’ve moved on from swords to magic,” Asher added.

I managed to focus well enough to find Kato. He sang a deep note that made the earth split open under one of the Templars. The fiend fell into the pit, then the ground sealed shut over him.

Conner wasn’t far from Kato. He stood over one of the Templars, who was flapping on the ground like a fish out of water. Conner must have enchanted the Templar to think he was in pain; he’d used that same spell on the Cursed Ones the first time I’d met him.

The boys drew together to face down the third Templar.

“You need to get away, while the Templars are distracted,” I told Kylie and Asher. “I can’t teleport you right now, but can you run?”

“We’ll do the best we can,” Asher said.

“But what about you?” Kylie asked me.

“I can’t leave the Knights. I have to stay and help them fight.”

Asher’s brows swept his hairline. “No offense, Winters, but you don’t look like you can stand right now, let alone fight.”

I peeled open the extra energy bar Kato had given me hours ago. “I just need to recharge. And you guys need to run . Go to the district gates. That’s where I brought the others.”

Kylie gave my hand one final squeeze, then she and Asher took off hobble-running down the path.

They didn’t make it far.

The ground burst open, and the Templar jumped out of the pit that had been holding him. He summoned wild vines down from the trees. They slithered across the ground, snapping around the Apprentices’ ankles, dragging them toward the Spirit Tree.