Page 76 of Elmwood Inclusive Magic Academy
There’s a knocking sound from the middle coffin. Relief spreads across my chest.
“Hallie? Hallie Johnson?” I shout.
Three quick, urgent knocks from the coffin to the other side.
Rory and I race to the middle coffin, but a shadow falls across their face. There’s a large, heavy lock on its side. There’s a matching one on Hallie’s coffin.
“I gave Maggie the keys!” I groan.
Rory shakes their head. “It’s not on that key chain. The other vampire locked the coffins, I saw her put the keys in her pocket.”
I bite my lip, my heart racing.What do we do?
“Principal Vyas, can you use your magic to undo the lock?” I ask.
A muffled voice from inside the coffin responds. “These coffins are lined with protective magic, my powers won’t work!”
I take the torch from Rory.
“Principal Vyas,” I say, crouching down to the edge of the coffin so she can hear me better. “Can you explain how to do a spell to unlock it?”
“It shouldn’t be too hard,” she says. “My familiar can help amplify your magic. You have tofeelinto the lock with your mind. Explore its workings as though it’s an extension of yourself.”
I nod to Rory. “You can do this, pup.”
“Me?” they say, eyebrows raising. “I can’t do a spell like that, I’m just a wolf shifter!”
“Yes, you can! You’re the best in our pack at magic. I’ve watched you in the charms class. You hung onto every word that Professor Hall said. You can light candles, you’ve been levitating objects, remember how you opened and closed that box?”
“That’s a little different thanthis,” they say, eying the lock anxiously.
“You can do it!” says the muffled voice from inside the coffin. “When I was a student, nobody thought I could do magic either. It doesn’t matter if you’re a shifter, you just need to try!”
“You can do it, Rory!” says Hallie’s chipper voice from the other coffin.
The barn owl hoots in confirmation.
Rory swallows, and crouches down beside me.
“Reach toward the lock in your mind,” says Professor Vyas’s voice. “As though the lock is one of your limbs. Bend its inner workings like you would bend your finger.”
Rory closes their eyes to concentrate, their eyebrows knitted together. Professor Vyas guides them through the task patiently. A bead of sweat drips down Rory’s cheek.
My heart pounds in my chest and I try to steady my breathing. How long before Finley returns to the dungeon? And how long can Lydia hold him and the others off by herself? She’s a powerful witch, but my uncle and Tudor Thornblade are goodfighters, and they have the other vampires and wolves backing them up. If they find us breaking out Hallie and Amrita Vyas, they’ll throw us all in the dungeon again and it could be weeks before anyone comes to rescue us.
A satisfyingclickechoes through the chilly crypt, and the lock opens. Rory’s face lights up. The coffin lid swings open and Amrita Vyas sits up. Her hair and dark purple robe are slightly ruffled, but otherwise she appears unhurt. She looks at us with warm, large eyes.
“Thank you, Rae and Rory Arundel,” she says. “That was incredible magic for such a young student, you should be very proud!”
Rory flushes with nervous pride. Amrita waves her hand, and the lock falls from Hallie’s coffin and the barn owl’s birdcage.
Hallie’s face looks a little drawn, her eyes a bit haunted and her glasses missing. But she beams with her typical optimism as she scrambles out of her wooden coffin. “I knew you would come save us, Rae!”
The four of us and the barn owl hurry out of the room and down the dungeon hallway. I fill them both in on our plan as we meet up with Maggie, June, and the mermaids, who are all wearing their gems, thankfully. There are three witch students who had stayed behind for the break. They look pale and fearful, but glad to see Principal Vyas.
“I did an unlocking spell!” Rory tells them proudly.
“That’s wonderful,” Maggie smiles.
