Amani cast her glamours over herself and Layla, then the other girls, before quickly evacuating them.
“Shit,” Layla thought, slamming the door shut. “I need to clear away the fiends before you step out there.”
“Understood,” Amani whispered, still remaining concealed with her illusions.
Campbell scowled, but didn’t have many options. The girls weren’t safe outside the office until Layla banished the fiends on the floor. That said, it limited Campbell’s combat maneuvers. She couldn’t go too wild with bystanders.
“So, are you going to just sit there on your ass, or do you plan on helping?” Campbell asked Cassidy, who continued lounging at the table with her tea.
“You know my license doesn’t cover combat,” she said with a chuckle. “The fees—so expensive. But I suppose if you’re willing to overlook it, I can lend a hand.”
Campbell rolled her eyes.
“Fine, fine.” Cassidy stood, straightening her bright yellow dress and adjusting the flourish of ruffles around her neckline. “You know, handsome, with a branch like that, I could make you a star.”
“The undercity bitch.” Bardot scoffed. “I was instructed to handle your lot after clearing out the guilds.”
“Oh, sweetie, you think you can destroy all the guilds?” Campbell smiled. “You won’t even make it out of my office.”
Based on the horde of fiends unleashed throughout the building and the chaos of whirling minds outside, I suspected other members of the Celestial Coven struck other top-tier guilds across Chicago.
“Let’s see how flawless those carats are.” Cassidy leapt forward and swung a fist dead center in Bardot’s chest.
Name: Cassidy Gardner
Branch: Alteration (Enhanced Strength)
Despite her slender frame and dainty demeanor, Cassidy held the same branch that many in her family possessed. Herstrength wasn’t quite at the level of Gladiatrix, but I recalled Cassidy leveling a few walls during her days at Gemini Academy when we were still teens.
“Oh, was that your best shot, little girl?” A single crack lined Bardot’s chest, which he quickly repaired by summoning a new jagged coat of diamonds over his armor plating.
Cassidy glowered. Disgust oozed off her in waves for Bardot’s condescending attitude and blatant revulsion for women. In fact, his hatred of women seemed to fuel his casting. I found it odd he’d align himself to take orders from someone like The True Witch, given how he loathed women in authority.
“Just getting started.” Cassidy punched Bardot again, and again, and again. Each strike went for the crack on his chest, hammering away until she’d broken a solid chunk of his diamond armor.
Once she’d managed that, Cassidy dug her hands into the small opening and attempted to pry apart his armor.
“Enough of this.” Bardot stabbed a diamond shard through Cassidy’s thigh.
She screamed in shock and pain, buckling under the weight of exhaustion. It didn’t take long for Bardot to exploit the opportunity. With a wave of his hand, he hurled Cassidy through the shattered window and sent her plummeting nearly twenty stories.
I remained locked here, worried for my students, for all the students in this building, but a part of my psychic energy trailed alongside Cassidy. Though I never cared for the woman, I hoped she had enough strength to channel her roots. She did. Barely. She’d nearly hit the pavement when she pivoted with her telekinesis and buffered her angled crash with enough levitationto prevent any additional severe injuries. But she wouldn’t be rejoining the fight in her condition.
“Screw this.” Campbell glared at the fuzzy portrait on her office wall, a clear sign of Amani’s illusions at work to blend herself and the other girls like a chameleon. A small smile crept onto Campbell’s face, the memory of Milo buying her that portrait as a gift for her position as the new official guild master. Milo had sworn the artist had special magical properties added to the artwork, ensuring it could never be replicated, copied, or stolen. Hence, why Amani’s near-perfect illusion turned out fuzzy when mimicking the portrait. “Recall Layla and move out. Fiends be damned.”
Campbell waved her arms round and round in front of herself, like stirring a massive cauldron. The spell work she created came in the form of her pink mist and powerful telekinesis.
The wave of telekinetic energy circled Bardot, carrying the pink mist until it surrounded the diamond-armored witch. Campbell used her telekinesis as a buffer to hold Bardot and her mist in place.
“Now, feel the true wrath of my branch.” Campbell channeled her potent rejuvenation branch, twisting the mist into a toxic, necrotic sludge.
The light pink soured and thickened like a stew. Droplets splashed and sizzled against Bardot’s diamond flesh. He ignored it, believing himself untouchable. As a diamond-wielding witch in the Celestial Coven, I understood why he believed such things. Still, Campbell had certainty in her thoughts as she twisted more pink mist into her telekinetic bubble containing Bardot.
A sharp pain pierced Bardot, shocking him so much that his thoughts became clear for a moment.
FEAR.
He’d never experienced someone truly breaking through his diamond armor. A few cracks here and there, but never something so potent. The pink mist clung to his armor, eating away the diamonds even as he summoned more to replenish the coating. It didn’t matter. The more protection Bardot added, the faster Campbell’s magic seemed to eat away at it. Disintegrating the diamonds until pink mist gnawed at Bardot’s flesh.
