chapter 6

I sighed and proceeded walking towards the elegant sliding doors of the tall building. I felt  Louise's shaky hands clinging onto my arm as she followed suit. I raised my head as I tried to see the top of the tall modern building. I couldn't. I could only see clouds. How many floors does the council's domain have? 

After eating lunch yesterday, Master Zorylle announced that he has scheduled a brief meeting with a few council members—or those that's left from the past war. 

The building, like I said, was modern. Nearly futuristic. It was designed with tall floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding glass doors. If I was a human, I wouldn't think of this as the headquarters of  centuries-long reigning council of witches. 

I chuckled silently. How deceiving. 

Master Zorylle stepped in first and went through the sliding doors. My brows furrowed. I thought it was actually going to function like a sliding door. Instead, it reacted like it was smoke when Master Zorylle went through. Ugh, witchcraft. 

We followed and I was actually bewildered to see an interior design completely different form the exterior. Inside was what looked to be a mansion with dark oak walls with small pillars every hallway furnished with antique objects. In the middle of the wide receiving area, was an elegant fountain with sparkling fishes swimming around the circular base of the fountain. We were greeted by obviously busy people—or witches—wearing uniformed suits. I think they work for the council. 

The inside looked very alike to Master Zorylle's mansion but this one's wider and more extravagant.

"Oh, I didn't expect this," Doreen mumbled. 

"Me, too," Eve agreed while roaming her eyes around the place. 

We continued walking along the dark limestone floors. We followed Master Zorylle as he turned to countless hallways, until the people we were passing by got fewer and fewer until we stopped in front of a tall door of dark oak. In the middle of the doors were carvings of symbols, those of which looked foreign to me. Master Zorylle knocked silently, until we heard a small 'Come in' from inside. I was expecting the master to plainly twist the knob and push open the door but of course, in the world of witchcraft, nothing can be simple. 

He instead maneuvered his palms in a vertical circle manner. After a few moments, we were taken aback by the sudden gust of wind that almost blew us away from the door, at the exact time, the double door flew open—revealing a dimly lit office, where a table stood tall in the middle and behind it was a broad shouldered silhouette under a dark cloak. We regained our posture and followed Master Zorylle, the only one who was unaffected by the strong wind. Ugh, wizards. 

"Darn it, the wind ruined my hair," complained Macky from behind as he re-arranged his hair. 

We slowly inched inside the room, taking the most careful steps as we can possible—gotta be careful of anymore sudden gusts of wind. I should've learnt my lesson as soon as we passed through like ghosts from the main entrance earlier. 

Inside the office looked modern, but with a touch of renaissance. There were shelves upon shelves of ancient books on the walls, while torches were hung on either side of every shelf. Behind the desk and the cloaked figure was a floor-to-ceiling mirror, where a dazzling scene of the busy state can be seen. In front of it, were two long couches that were facing each other. 

Me and the girls sat on the left couch, while the boys sat on the opposite couch. As Master Zorylle cleared his throat, the cloaked figure raised his gaze towards us. 

What greeted us was a pair of dark abyss tainted orbs, what seemed like a blackhole once you see it. So entrancing. He removed his cloak's hood and what added to the mysteriousness of this man was the large claw mark stretching from his forehead to his mouth. He was a wrinkly, bearded man with dark, deep, abyss eyes. His soul bore into us. It was magnificent. 

"Councilor Winheinstead," addressed Master Zorylle. 

So he's a part of the Council? I wonder what the head councilor looks like. I bet he'll be more intimidating than Councilor Winheinstead who's just a council member. 

"Zorylle, what have you got for us this time?" His deep, baritone voice delivered chills in my spine, making the hairs on the back of my neck upright. But judging his question, does it mean Master Zorylle come here often? 

"My students have a coven of witches caught practicing demonic magic and invocating an ancient demonic wizard. They were asking for the prophesied one," he explained. 

"Which students?" 

Master Zorylle pointed to me and to Louise beside me. The councilor's eyes darted towards mine, as I blinked away the depth of his dark orbs. He's too intimidating, really. "These two."

The councilor slowly nodded, keeping his eyes keen on me and sparing a glance at Louise who was profusely shaking. "Very well, summon them here." 

The command made me widen my eyes. What? Summon them? Here? They're too powerful! They might destroy the whole place! Doesn't he know that releasing threatened covens loose is the worst thing one could ever do? 

"But they're almost sixteen in number, we can't possible hold them—" 

He cut me off, "Summon them." 

Biting my lip, I hesitantly rose from my seat and tightly clutched Louise hands. The others, in fear of being attacked by the raging cover of witches, also left the sofas to hide in the far corner of the room. Master Zorylle walked over to us and patted out shoulders, whispering, "Just do as he says, kids."

The councilor, who kept on a nonchalant expression althroughout, remained seated on his swivel chair. 

I tightly held hands with Louise, and closed my eyes. I channeled my mana and gathered energy from nature, once again intertwining our souls. I whispered my chant, as did Louise. Not long after, wind blew our hair as we felt power surging through our veins. My heart started pounding, aggressively, as I felt blood running down my nose. They know we're releasing them. 

"Argh," I grunted as I felt harder pounding on my chest, as if my heart was going to leap out of my ribcage. My chest felt so heavy, so constricted. My insides twisted, and pain shot through my muscles. 

I started hearing wicked giggles and fuming screams, as the portal of the glamour widened and widened. I heard footsteps emerging from the glamour, as I started breathing heavily. They're attacking our physical bodies as they can't attack our celestial ones. 

"Let me out!" A shrill, high-pitched voice shrieked from the glamour. She must be the high priestess. Heavy footsteps deafened the silent walls of the office, but as quickly as they emerged, a barely audible whisper was heard and the footsteps were instantly gone. I'm tempted to see what the councilor's doing and how he's handling them so fast, not giving them a chance to attack but my focus is solely for the portal of the glamour. 

I repeated my chant, until I felt the last of the ones trapped inside were released. I opened my eyes, as my eyes widened at the sight of a giant axe being thrown on my way. I couldn't think straight, like I saw death flash before my eyes. My reflexes acted quickly and waved my hand, muttering a spell. I felt like the blood drained on my rooted body once I saw the axe, mere millimeters from my face—floating, as if time stopped on it. 

D-Did I do that? Exhaling a large, heavy sigh of relief, I took a few steps backward from the levitating weapon. The assailant was luckily handled by the councilor, and all it left was this deadly giant axe in my face. 

"Good reflexes," mumbled Louise beside me. 

The councilor locked his gaze on me. "Close the glamour and fix that axe."