bits and pieces • sebastian sallow

three

wonder

The statues' inched closer and closer to me as they circled my figure, once big gaps of space between them have now grown smaller. Their large, stone swords rose high above their heads, their footsteps releasing shockwaves of energy. I quickly looked over at Sebastian, who was now cowering behind a wall where one of the statues used to stand in. I gathered my thoughts before launching a disarming charm at one of the statues, blasting a small forcefield sending the rest of them stumbling.

At the corner of my eye, a statue's sword came flying down as I looked up at it and shouted, "Protego!"

By then, the book I held so closely to my torso had flown across the room as I batted, four gigantic stone statues against once. The statues' paid no attention to the other presence in the room, obeying the orders the mysterious voice had whispered just before the battle started. Flashes of red and yellow sparks flew from the tip of my wand and dove into many directions, bouncing off the statues and into the walls of the room that surrounded me.

"Expelliarmus!" "Accio!" "EXPELLIARMUS... bloody hell! For large statues you do move quite fast!" I spoke out, the statues disregarded my comment as they continued to attack me relentlessly.

I repeated the words like a chant, while the statues weapon flew in all directions across the room, one of them nearly heading towards Sebastian's head before he ducked, the stone sword flying directly into the wall behind him. He then charged into the heat of the battle, before being blasted backwards and onto the floor. An invisible barrier had formed between me and Sebastian and I immediately looked over to him before speaking.

"Please, don't approach me! They only want to focus on me, Sebastian! Keep out of sight, I can handle this!" I begged, not wanting him to sustain any injuries during this challenge. As the minutes passed, there were only two statues left, the other two had finally crumbled onto the ground as another statue had charged at me with such a violent force that the room around us shook with each footstep it made. I quickly dodged its attack and rolled to the opposite direction before my wand and suddenly released a bolt of a powerful, white, and blinding lightning bolt as I watched the third statue crumble to the ground.

I gasped loudly and took a glance at my ring; the stone's color shifting from a bright cerulean blue to a dark hint of sapphire. "The magic.." I muttered to myself.

Before I could regain my composure, I heard the final statue charge itself directly at my frozen figure, my eyes meeting with the glowing white orbs that made up the statue's pupils as its towering stone sword and rose high into the air.

"PROTEGO!"

The barrier that appeared after Sebastian had charged into the battle disappeared as he had placed himself in front of me, casting a purple shield around the two of us before pushing us aside as the statue ran into the wall behind us. I stood up quickly and helped Sebastian back onto his feet and glanced at him with worry.

"T-Thank you, Sebastian. But please, stay back. I don't want you to get injured." I begged, to which he nodded and ran towards the book that laid on the floor. He took hold of the book before finding another wall to hide behind, keeping his gaze fixed on me as I battled the final statue head on.

The next few minutes were filled with strained yells and quick reflexes as I finally took down the final stone knight. Its body crumbled to the ground as the rocks that made up the statue faded into wisps of white light, and flew directly into the center stone of my ring.

A rush of pain flowed from the tip of my index finger and shot throughout the rest of my body as I winced from the sensation. I grabbed my arm and rubbed it as a way to soothe the pain. Sebastian had approached me once more, rushing over to my side and provided support as to prevent me from hitting the ground.