“Child’s play,” Katherine said with a nasally huff as she snapped her fingers, forcing the next door open.
What the fuck was she doing here? And why was my student breaking into the Global Guild facility?
Katherineentered deeper into the Global Guild facility. I didn’t understand why. Had she been sent here by Guild Master Campbell? Another manifestation of myself was at the guild; I usually kept an extension of my magic there, but I could only imagine how the guild was reacting to the Celestial Coven’s arrival. Were they even aware yet? I hated being so disconnected from myself and extensions. I had no real clue what was happening around the city.
Name: Katherine Harris
Branch: Enchantment (Spell Craft)
“What are you doing, Katherine?” I linked my mind to hers, attempting to pry out an answer.
Sigils similar to those guarding the Celestial Coven formed around her surface thoughts, cloaking her mind.
“What the…”
“You managed to break off a piece of your psychic energy before The True Witch could detain you,” Katherine said, waving a hand in my direction. “A pity.”
The wave of magic meant to eat away my presence, shattering my manifested form, but I’d experienced this once before when Amara caught me spying. I dodged the strike, albeit barely, but decided to quietly follow Katherine for answers.
With that, she strode to the end of the room and deciphered the locking mechanism of enchantment securities within seconds. After bypassing the door protections, she was greeted by a dozen guards posted inside the facility.
“What are you doing in here?”
“No time for this,” Katherine said, humming a strange tune, which conjured weird yellow musical notes. They were foul and nauseating, creating an eerie melody.
The guards used telekinesis to wave away the notes. Wards lining the walls glowed, prepared to unleash defensive measures. Then, everything went silent, except for the thrum of the vibrating notes. They exploded and cleared the room of any threats.
While these weren’t ranked members within the Global Guild, each of the guards held high standing as guild enchanters before they were recruited by the Global Guild. To see them all collapse without putting up any resistance was baffling.
I hovered close to Katherine, attempting to gain some discreet insight into her thoughts, but they were guarded heavily by sigils similar to the ones every member of the Celestial Coven had within their minds.
Impossible.
If she’d had those sigils protecting her thoughts before, I’d have noticed them. Katherine’s mind had always been open to others.
Was this Katherine? Was this some body double? No. It was her magical frequency, but this wasn’t the Katherine I knew.Did she have some wicked doppler of her own making? Could Katherine’s enchantment magic even create something such as that? Even if she were like me, mine was a psychic projection. This was Katherine in the flesh, full body, but her mind and personality seemed so cold from the girl I’d taught for years.
“Katherine?” Caleb’s voice pulled my focus.
He stood in the next secured chamber of the Global Guild facility with Enchanter Reed and Russo. Katherine ignored Caleb’s curious tone and confused face, walking past him and toward a locked, vault-like door.
Hayden Russo blocked her path and waved.
“Sorry,” he said with a grin. “That’s a bit above your clearance.”
“It’s a bit above our clearance,” Ellie added with an extra emphasis. “What are you doing here, hun?”
“Yeah, Katherine, is everything okay?” Caleb approached, trying to look Katherine in the eyes.
Katherine surveyed the room, tilting her head and locking her eyes on Ellie. “Why is your charge not with you?”
“My charge?”
“Your pupil.”
“My intern?” Ellie responded with a giggle. “Um, Tara’s fine, just running late. You’d think she was studying under Hayden.”
“Hey,” he protested. “I’m almost punctual half the time now.”
