Scholomance 9 by Logan Jacobs (inspirational books to read txt) 📗

“Yes, yes, yes,” Vanessa sighed as we stood on the outskirts of the rainbow-hued forest. “Now, enough of that. As I said, let’s walk silently. We have no idea what awaits us in this sacred forest.”

“Should we call upon the alces to carry us to the end of the woodland?” Revna suggested with a small smile. “I think they would help us cross the land faster, and as we’ve witnessed, Cole has the power to summon them to his side.”

“Hmmm,” Vanessa pondered for a moment. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea, Miss Revna.”

“Allow me,” I said before I closed my eyes and willed the darkness to take over my mind and body. As evil overcame me, I pictured our loyal animals who were now bonded with us forever, and I prayed for them to appear before I uttered the incantation. “Ego in vtero producite!”

Suddenly, a cloudy mist of vibrant smoke materialized out of thin air, and once it disappeared, our pack of elk-like alces stood tall and proud before us. The others gasped in awe and wonder before they climbed on top of their animal, and their familiars followed suit.

“Well done, Cole,” Vanessa muttered in a stoic tone.

“Thank you, Professor,” I replied as I studied her perfect profile and then turned to gaze upon the woods. “Alright, let’s go.”

We carefully and quietly entered the mysterious woodland, and we couldn’t help but stare with open mouths and wide eyes at all the strange and marvelous creatures around us. I spotted birds with multiple eyes, deer with various-colored spots, rabbits with ears as long as peacock feathers, delicate moths with black wings and white spots, and other mysterious and intriguing beings. The trees were as tall as palace towers, and pale sunlight shone through the brightly-hued leaves and lit up the forest like it was a trunk of multicolored jewels.

As I marched onward with my women, I let the pale sunlight warm my skin and seep into my cold bones. I kept a close eye on the compass as it continued to point northeast, and the deeper we ventured into the heart of the rainbow forest, the louder the woodland critters chirped and squawked.

“Do you reckon we’re getting closer?” Revna asked after a couple of hours.

“The needle is still pointing in the same direction,” I said as we wove through the trees. “Alexander, why don’t you fly up to see how much farther we have to go?”

Yes, Cole, my loyal familiar replied in my head before he soared upward and past the towering trees. It looks like you still have a few more hours ahead of you, but don’t lose hope. You’ll make it soon… at least before sunset.

“Alexander says we still have a couple of hours ahead of us,” I said, and the others simply nodded in agreement as we trudged further into the holy woods.

We continued onward in silence, but then the woodland creatures soon began to quiet down, and everything became still and silent. It was an unnerving kind of quiet, and it sent an unpleasant shiver up my spine.

“What do you think the final artifact will be?” Akira wondered aloud after the silence became deafening. “I wonder if it will be as cool as the dagger.”

“Who knows?” Vanessa sighed as we carried onward. “Samara may be a bitch, but she’s a clever one at that. It could literally be anything.”

“And anywhere,” Nyx pointed out.

“Well, I, for one, can’t wait to see her fucking face when we--” Akira began, but then Faye came to a sudden halt and raised her freckled hand into the air.

“Wait,” the redhead commanded, and we all stopped dead in our tracks.

“What is it, Faye?” I asked, and the redhead turned to look at me with wide, green eyes.

“My elk… she senses something watching us… creatures of the woodland,” she whispered. “They can smell us… and she can smell them. They reek of holy power.”

We instantly pulled our wands out and waved them around as we tried to figure out what was hiding in the wash of rainbow hues. Strange, eerie chuckling filled the void as we looked around, and when I turned to stare at Faye, her bright eyes narrowed as she gazed into the trees. I could see her knuckles whitening as she tightened her grip on her wand, and her breasts heaved up and down as her alert eyes danced around the forest.

“What do you think it could be?” Akira hissed as her Komodo dragon perched himself on her shoulder, and a low growl resonated in his chest.

“I-I think it might be a herd of equos,” the redhead replied, and her eyes were wide with panic. “I’m not sure, but that’s what I’m sensing.”

“What the hell are equos?” Marina asked in a low voice.

“They’re cousins of centaurs,” Morgana responded as she looked around with her wand aimed at the ready, “but these creatures have bare, horse-like bones for legs and a scaled and flesh-covered torso.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad,” Akira muttered, and then the laughing grew more menacing. “Inbred horse fuckers, I bet we can take them!”

“Is that so?” a harsh voice called out through the woodland. “She seems so confident, doesn’t she?”

“Perhaps we should teach her differently,” another snapped. “I’d love to wrap my hands around that small neck of hers.”

“Akira, you always have to say something, don’t you?” Vanessa hissed as she stared hard at the black-eyed witch.

“They would have attacked us anyway,” I said as I turned to study the pissed off professor. Then I averted my eyes and looked carefully around the trees to see if I could spot where our spies were lurking. “You might as well show yourselves! Let’s get this shit over with, shall we?”

“How boldly he speaks,” a deep, cruel voice chuckled, “but I believe