Page 42 of Phoenix Academy: Madness

"Sorry," I mutter. "This is pretty new to me."

The chaos is getting even worse, and what's more, I'm pretty sure I sense Jared Fisk in the midst of it in bull shifter form. His spirit feels the same as the man I met in my Group Combat class, and just like in human form, he's relentlessly plowing through humans.

Only this time he's using his horns and hooves instead of just his commanding voice.

Two new figures appear in the chaos, ignoring all the other shifters around them in favor of running straight towards me and David: Xavier and Reggie. Their sleek black panther coats blend into the darkness, giving them the ultimate camouflage. With speed and dexterity they manage to avoid all the mad shifters around them, dodging and twisting and leaping until they come to a stop in front of us.

I blink down at them, and a moment later they've shifted back. Unlike David they do it quickly and without pain or the crunching of bones, and also unlike David they manage to keep their clothes on—something that only disappoints me a little.

Well, maybemorethan a little.

"Powers out of control again?" Reggie asks, raising a brow in my direction. He's wearing his pajamas, just like the rest of us, only somehow he manages to make his look less frumpy and ridiculous, using his attitude alone. "You need to figure that out stat, Ari. For now, how can we help you?"

"Well." Thinking quickly, I go through all the bits of lore I know about familiars, as well as my knowledge of shifters, and what little I've learned since becoming a Blue Phoenix. "I think maybe, since my magic doesn't affect the three of you the way it affects all the other shifters, I can... channel it into you somehow and drain the madness and rage away."

"Sounds great." Reggie claps his hands together. "Let's do this then. And fast, before it gets worse."

David's frown turns into a scowl, one distinctly aimed in my general direction. "I don't like this."

"Do you have a better idea?" Xavier asks, his voice challenging and a little irritated—the first time I've heard him sound anything less than completely calm. "If you've got a way out of this situation, I'm all ears."

As much as I enjoy listening to this bickering, I spot something behind the guys that makes me grab Xavier sleeve and tug on it insistently.

"Move!"

The rhino shifter has turned and, seeing us, is getting ready to charge in our direction. Its blue eyes glow as it tosses its head, magic glimmering around its body. I stumble back as it presses toes against the ground. With a roar, it prepares its charge, single horn like a scythe in the air.

This is it. I'm going to die—again. Who knows if I'll come back this time.

Before the rhino can charge, though, a bellow rips through the air, and a very familiar bull shifter aims its horns at the rhino's side. With more power than you'd think possible, given their difference in size, Fisk takes the rhino down long enough to interrupt its charge.

But the other mad shifters are looking in our direction now too. While the feral magic has mostly compelled them to fight each other, they're starting to notice that they're not alone in this impromptu outdoor arena. I can feel their glowing blue eyes on me, and know that any second now the attacks will start.

David growls low in his throat, and Reggie steps in front of me protectively. I appreciate the gestures, but there's no way the three of them can fix this all on their own. The only way out is for me to fix it. That means using the shifters to channel my magic out of the air and back into my body.

Still, I look to David for permission.

"Do whatever you gotta do," he says.

That's all it takes. Centering my mind and calming my breathing, I reach out instinctively with my naturalistic senses. The first thing I feel is the strong, steady pulses of the three shifters around me, each in different states of alarm, ready to fight if it comes to it. Their spirits are already becoming a familiar, cooling balm against mine, like old friends in a strange place.

Next I feel the dozens of shifters dragged out of sleep and turned into their animal forms. Each of their spirits burns with a mad, out-of-control rage. They're like bright spots of energy and anger that burn to my second sight.

Breathing in, I reach out simultaneously to the feral magic and the three shifters I've somehow turned into my familiars. This time, instead of yanking the magic directly tome,which only tapped into the familiar bond, I channel it to the trio first.

I can feel it move through the air, draining from the angry spirits of the shifters and transforming into something entirely different. Each of the trio's eyes change colors as my magic is pulled into them. The glowing, unnatural blue reflects off Xavier's glasses, darkens David's gaze, and sets off Reggie's raised brows.

"It's working." I watch in awe as a few of the shifters I'm pulling magic from stumble away from the fight, the blue draining from their eyes, shaking off the madness. "Somehow it's working!"

"Great," David says through gritted teeth. "But I don't think we can hold all this magic on our own."

Glancing over at him, I realize with alarm that the wild magic is overflowing inside his body and spilling out of his palms. His eyes are nowtooblue, and his face, as well as the twins', is starting to shift over into madness as well.

Grabbing his hand, I channel the magic from him and into me until he starts to look normal again. I repeat the same action with Reggie and Xavier too, until they look normal.

Around and around it goes. I channel the magic from the shifters at large to the trio, then to myself, until more and more of them cease fighting and turn back into their human form. There are injuries, and more than a bit of confusion around campus, but thankfully no one got too badly hurt—and everybody survived, unlike the man I made eat his own "dick" what feels like ages ago.

There's one person among the formerly mad who I don't look forward to talking to, though.

---