Page 12 of Mystery of Magic

Daryn nodded. “Sphinx will need to be isolated until we can be sure she is safe. That you are safe.”

Caleb looked like he wanted to disagree, but he took a deep breath and laid his head back on his pillow. “Okay.”

I moved to comfort him, knowing how much he loved training with his cat when my legs went out from under me.

CHAPTER 6

An overwhelming sense of dread washed over me as I grabbed Caleb’s bedpost. The air grew heavy, and a shiver raced down my spine, making me clutch my chest. It was as if the essence of darkness had wrapped its icy fingers around my heart. My son sucked in a ragged breath as Sphinx began to hiss.

The dark magic surged around me like a whirlwind, threatening to consume everything in its path. I had been attuned to the supernatural since I was a girl and faced demonic forces to save my town and fellow hunters since my return. But this was different, darker, more malevolent than anything I’d ever felt.

Daryn’s arms slipped around me. “Shannon, what is happening?” His voice reassured me that whatever was happening was not generalized. It was targeted at me and Caleb, but my lips refused to obey my command and I couldn’t reply.

The room seemed to darken further as the sinister energy wrapped itself around Caleb, who continued to lie in his bed clutching his sheets. Desperation welled up within me, urging me to act quickly. With all the strength I could muster, I reached out,placing my hands on the wooden floor. The ground beneath me felt cold, as if it too, had succumbed to the oppressive darkness.

Closing my eyes, I drew upon every ounce of power within me, a power that had been building in the shadows, preparing to battle the supernatural. I chanted a protective incantation, a whispered promise to shield my son from the malevolent force that threatened him.

As I continued to channel my magic, a warm, radiant light began to emanate from my hands, pushing back against the encroaching darkness. The room seemed to sigh in relief as the oppressive energy retreated, like a defeated foe. My son’s fingers relaxed on the sheets and Sphinx ceased her growling.

“Shannon?” Daryn whispered in my ear.

Caleb pushed himself to a sitting position. “What the hell was that?”

I rubbed my throbbing temple. “I have no idea, but Daryn was unaffected. I think this is specific to the necromancers.”

“Dammit.” He touched the tattoo on his neck. “Seniors report in. Shannon and Caleb have just been affected by a surge of necro power. Were any other necromancers affected?”

Caleb and I stared at one another while we waited for the senior leaders to report in. There was another young necro at the base, but he lacked mine and Caleb’s level of power.

Caleb turned and reached for Sphinx before she growled, and her body began to distort. “No, Sphinx.”

My heart still raced from the surge of dark magic, but Sphinx unfurled from Caleb’s feet and arched her back before her hiss transformed into a growl of a much larger animal. My son’s pet shadow cat, a normally gentle and loving companion, was in the midst of its beastly transformation.

The graceful feline had grown larger, its sinewy form stretching into a beastly, muscular shape. Its fur, once a velvety ebony, now bristled with an unsettling intensity, as if every fiberof its being was charged with an electric fury. The luminescent, amber eyes, now burned a fiery red, like smoldering embers.

No matter how many times I saw it, the transformation was nothing short of astonishing, and it sent a shiver down my spine. Sphinx’s typically calm demeanor now exuded an aura of primal rage. The cat jumped down from Caleb’s bed, pacing around the room with its long fangs bared and its claws extended. It searched relentlessly for the source of the dark magic that had threatened my son.

I watched in awe and trepidation as the cat’s instincts took over. A deep-seated, ancient power had awakened within it, driving it to protect my son at all costs. The usually docile creature was now a fierce guardian, ready to pounce on any unseen threat. Unfortunately, that included Daryn and I.

When Sphinx hissed at Daryn, Caleb moved to intercept. He was off the bed in seconds, with his arms around Sphinx. “Stop it now. That is my family. Your family. You and I die before anything happens to them.”

Sphinx’s red eyes met my son’s. I was scared and proud. The cat bumped his face before nuzzling his cheek.

I realized then that the bond between my son and his shadow cat ran deeper than I had ever imagined. It was a bond forged not just in affection but in the very essence of their beings. In a moment of crisis, the cat had become a sentinel, Caleb’s personal warrior of the night, fueled by an unyielding desire to protect.

Daryn had remained still, which would have gone against everything he believed in. His first instinct was always to protect me, but he had trusted my son to get Sphinx under control and my son hadn’t let him down. “Is she alright?”

Caleb pet his shadow cat and she returned to domestic form while purring under his ministrations. “She is fine. I’m sorry, but she goes nuts when I am in pain. She doesn’t understand who was attacking us.”

I stood up before Daryn did. “It’s totally understandable. We were the only people in the room, she thought...”

Caleb shook his head. “She wasn’t attacking you. Something was trying to get to you, but it couldn’t grab hold. She was growling at something else. She senses things I can’t.”

Daryn’s eye flickered with power. “Dark magic? She can sense it even if you can’t?”

Caleb nodded. “It’s not you or the others she is trying to attack. But there isn’t an actual foe for her to fight. It’s pissing her off.”

Daryn grunted. “She isn’t the only one. In light of this new information, I don’t think Sphinx is a threat to the hunters, but you have to keep her beside you at all times. If she starts to beast out, then we all need to know.”

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