Witches of Mellgrah

After Keith left, Maya pretended to be on the phone to listen to Leo's report of the outside situation. As other council members trickled back in, they began briefing Vito and Nerea on the situation.

Leo had managed to get to the bottom of the rumours and found the source that was pushing them was a group of delusional students with Lucas at their front. How they managed to be correct in their wild conjectures was still a mystery, but it was alarming that the key person behind accusing students of turning into monsters was one of those at risk of it as well.

"Has he gone completely mad?!" Maya uttered out loud. "If he succeeded in directing the mob, the next person they would come for is him."

Life for those two will inevitably change after today. Maya's gaze drifted toward Vito and Nerea's direction, and she was suddenly surprised at the figure standing with them.

"Sarah?"

Her presence was unexpected, but the shocking thing to Maya was that she was standing in an unappealing, thick-hooded dark olive raincoat. Seeing Sarah in such drab attire felt like looking at a sin. That's why Maya initially failed to recognize her.

Sarah was a queen of beauty. You couldn't catch her without a hair out of place. Maya always thought Sarah would rather be caught dead than wear something as horrendous as this.

Though they had once been in the same circle of friends, Sarah continued to disregard Maya. It was a bit disheartening, but their relationship had never been close.

"Maya, will you help us?" Vito asked, a similar raincoat draped over his forearm.

"The priestess candidate has come to take Nerea to safety at the temples, but if we leave like this, this mess will only move to a new location," Vito stated. "We need a diversion."

The plan they proposed was simple. Given the similarities in height and build between Maya and Nerea, Maya would pose as Nerea and accompany Vito to a different location, drawing all attention away. Meanwhile, Sarah and Nerea would slip away to the temples. It seemed to be their most viable option.

Maya agreed and put on the extra raincoat, while Sarah gave hers to Nerea.

Vito and Nerea had a touching goodbye. It was easy to tell they were uncomfortable separating, even if it was only temporarily. Throughout this whole ordeal, Vito never left his girlfriend's side.

Adjusting the thick hood, which limited her vision but also concealed her identity, with Vito right beside her, Maya was taken aback by his stature. She wasn't tall herself, yet Vito was slightly shorter. It was clear why he often joked at the expense of his height.

As Maya and Vito prepared to depart, he cast one last heavy look at Nerea. Maya couldn't help but wonder if he, too, harboured fears that his girlfriend might never be the same.

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'The academy was insane today,' Tanya thought to herself as she retied her voluminous afro.

Since none of her Fire pupils showed up today, she needed to blow off some steam and climbed up to work out at the temple's training ground.

Although not fond of the gods that reside there, she found it as the only place she could have some peace. Even the frigid winter air was not a problem when her flames heated up the environment.

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Tanya wiped off her sweat as she glanced through the bare canopies at the grand temple of the Lord of Light rising above other temples. It made her wonder about her future.

Although Tanya had the qualifications to become a priestess, she preferred becoming a supervisor at the academy. However, lately, her frustration was growing stronger as there was no mention of accepting her at that position yet.

It may be seen as too early, as she was still a graduate student at the academy, but in reality, they would want to secure a talent before she started looking elsewhere.

'Will I have to become a priestess after all…'

As she pondered about her future, two figures in the distance walking down from the temples caught her attention. Tanya quickly recognized one as her pupil and concluded they were two freshmen priestess candidates.

Picking up her pace to intercept them, Tanya wanted to check on Lisa about her absence from practice today. At her inquiries, Lisa seemed a little odd in the way she was responding. In fact, both of them were somewhat dazed.

Tanya's instincts screamed that something was wrong. Though she had no real reason to detain them both, she couldn't ignore the nagging sense of unease. She insisted that Lisa stay behind for a conversation about her missed classes, using it as a pretext to buy herself time to figure out what was happening.

Tanya nagged Lisa for a while at the training grounds, laying out her concerns. However, usually assertive Lisa seemed too pliant. In addition, she seemed to repeatedly mutter about having to leave and go get Nerea.

"Nerea?" Tanya would stop her as she began tottering toward the academy. "Why Nerea?"

"Need to help Sarah get Nerea…" she continued mumbling.

"Are you on something?"

"Sarah… get Nerea…"

Seeing that she wouldn't be able to have a coherent conversation with her, Tanya reluctantly released Lisa. However, she wasn't going to just forget about it and quietly followed her.

Lisa began making her way toward the academy, but suddenly stopped and looked at the moon in the sky. Staring at it dazed for a couple of seconds, Lisa changed her direction and began walking toward a different part of the temple grounds.

Not long after, they caught up to Sarah as she was leading Nerea toward a shed for keeping gardening equipment for the temple gardens. At this moment, Tanya was sure something was very wrong and sensed the danger.

Leaving Lisa, Tanya ran toward the two girls by the shed. Sarah directed the girl into the shed and closed the door, beginning to lock it.

"Hey! Stop what you're doing!" Tanya yelled out, but Sarah gave no reaction, and after successfully locking the old wooden door with a padlock, she backed away.

Tanya darted past her like a storm, feeling that Sarah should not be her main concern now. With a powerful kick augmented by her air element, Tanya broke through the flimsy door, seeing the girl standing in the middle of an array drawn on the floor.

It gave off a strange, faint glow—the spell it contained was already activated.

Then the flames burst.

Tanya acted instantly. Her hand thrust forward, dispersing the conjured fire that erupted around the student.

But it wasn't enough. The spell proved much stronger—a vicious, hungry force that answered her intervention with a surge of even greater heat. It was more powerful than she'd anticipated.

Gritting her teeth against the searing pain, Tanya pushed through the inferno. She wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her free, shielding her body as best she could while the flames clawed at them both.

Behind them, the array blazed on, relentless. The wooden shed groaned and cracked as fire consumed it from the inside out, timbers collapsing in a shower of embers. Within minutes, nothing remained but a roaring pyre.

The girl was shocked and frightened, but she was fine.

However, the effort left Tanya dizzy and gasping, blood trickling from her nose. Yet adrenaline overrode exhaustion. She lunged at Sarah, seizing her by the shoulders and shaking her violently, her voice hoarse with fury as she demanded answers.

Under the assault, something seemed to shatter in Sarah's eyes—the vacant stare dissolved, replaced by raw terror and bewilderment twisting across her face.

Without missing a beat, an entire cavalry suddenly arrived at the scene. A nightmare awaited Sarah as she was apprehended for an attempted murder.