The sparks in a dragon

Chapter 8: Battle of the witches

***Bloom's POV***

A week later I was back at school; everything was as close to normal as it could get- with the exception of overly- worried teachers and the threatening glares of Mitzy and her crew. Oddly, every now and then Sky would wave hello at me as I passed by.

This, of course, didn't pass Mitzy by. She would only keep up with her harassment, especially at lunch time.

Now, I was waiting impatiently in my seat, staring at the clock as its hands moved painfully slowly. I wasn't even paying attention to the teacher during the lesson; I was too busy staring at the clock.

Only one more minute until the bell rings, Bloom. You can do this, I thought as I chewed on the back of my eraser. As soon as the bell rang, I snapped my notebook shut and shoved it inside my backpack, barely closing it before it was thrown in my shoulder and I was out of the classroom. I ran between the crowds of teenagers and into the library. I headed straight to the secret vault, my boots making a loud thumping noise on the carpeted floor. I dumped my backpack on the floor and took off my hoodie, leaving it on top of the bag.

Rapidly, I took the book out of its habitual place in the bookshelf and placed my hand on the flaming handprint. I jumped in place and looked around as the ribbon of fire wrapped itself around me, transporting me to the lake. As soon as I got there, I ran to the shore, where Daphne waited for me. "Bloom," she said warmly, opening her arms and floating over to me. She wrapped her arms around me and I hugged her back as tight as I could.

"I heard about the assault. Are you okay?" she asked, holding me at an arm's length. I nodded in response. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm still a little bit sore on the ribs but I'm fine," I responded.

"Well I'm glad. Today you're practicing with the flame, so I do hope you're in a good state," she said, wiggling her fingers and transporting us to the middle of nowhere. It was all black for the exceptions of a few stars and I was floating in the middle. I looked down and gasped. "Daphne, are we in the middle of space?" I asked.

"Not really Bloom. This is just a drill. The purpose is to use your powers to survive. Good luck Bloom," she said, disappearing until I was left alone. Her voice sounded again. "You need to fight off the army of witches; they are vile and evil and they have a pure hate for fairies most of the time. Be careful. Sometimes they have a resemblance to us and you could be fooled," she warned. "Begin."

I closed my eyes and called for the dragon's flame, ignoring the dull ache pushing at my chest. Fire began to run throughout my veins and I opened my eyes. Around ten witches were floating towards me and I brought my hands forward, putting one behind another before I pushed them forward, shooting pure fire at the witches and making them burn to ashes.

My eyes widened and I brought my hands near, observing them closely. "Holy sh-"

I didn't have time to finish when ice was being thrown at me and I jerked my hands forward. The fire was battling against the ice, almost cancelling it out. I pushed forward even more and ended up burning the witch, making the rest run away.

"Good job Bloom. Though you have got to concentrate more. The witch almost got you. Time for the second round. Remember Bloom, fight fire with fire," Daphne's voice said.

"Wait! Daphne, what do you mean?" I asked.

"Exactly what I said," she responded.

Witches started to appear from all around me. Ten in the front, five to the sides and seven to the back. I started shooting at them, struggling as more and more appeared from each side. It became harder to keep shooting. A witch shot at my leg and I screamed out in pain. "STOP!"

All of the witches froze and Daphne appeared in front of me. "What's wrong Bloom?" She asked. I put my hand on my heart and panted as I tried to get back my breath. "It's too much, how am I supposed to fend off a whole army of witches by myself?" I asked.

"So you didn't figure it out?" she asked me.

"No, I don't get what you mean Daphne," I responded.

She sighed. "If an enemy is too strong for you to handle, use their own powers against them; fight fire with fire," she explained.

"But how Daphne? How? How am I supposed to use their own power against them? That's what I don't understand," I said, groaning in frustration while rubbing my face with my hands.

"Do you remember your lesson in the volcano?" She asked.

"How could I forget...?" I muttered under my breath.

"Well, don't you remember what I said? Channel in the energy, feel it and it will come to you." She said. My eyes immediately widened. "Are you expecting me to suck in their energy!" I exclaimed.

"That's exactly what it is. Channel their energy and you will use their own attacks against them," She responded, giving me a smile before disappearing again.

All of the witches unfroze and I smirked at them. "Come at me witches," I said, taunting them. Immediately all of the witches growled, looking as if they were ready to kill me. I closed my eyes and concentrated, spreading my hands to the side, trying to feel their energy. I winced as I felt ice course through my veins. I opened my eyes and all of the witches threw their attacks at me.

My eyes widened when all of it was going inside my hands. I bit my lip and clenched my fists at the pain, cursing mentally until the witches finished throwing the attacks at me. Their eyes widened and their mouths hung open; when they saw what I had done they tried to escape but it had been too late.

I exclaimed as I twirled in place, shooting back at them all of what I had received. I felt a whole course of energy pass through my hands and destroy them until they disappeared. All that was left was dust floating in the air. Daphne appeared in front of me and gave me a warm smile "What did you learn?" she asked, floating over me and patting me in the back.

"Fight fire with fire. If an enemy is too strong for me, I should shoot back with its own energy," I responded.

She smiled back at me. "Exactly. Remember that for the future. And do know that it's not only for magic..." she said, smirking at me before disappearing. Before I could ask any further, I was back at the library. I bent down to pick up the book on the floor and put it in the bookshelf, suddenly feeling very weak. Wincing, I looked down on my leg; a nasty burn showed.

I took a big breath, trying to stay upright as much as my weak body could allow. I tried to bend down and pick up my backpack but my knees decided it was too much to bear. They buckled and I fell to my knees on the floor, groaning in pain. I stuffed the hoodie inside my backpack and closed it completely. Then, I tried to use the bookshelf as a support to get up from the floor.

I groaned as I limped my way out of the library; all of my limbs ached in protest. My hands ached as if they just made contact with fire and I wondered if maybe I overused myself in the battle. My legs hurt in the same way but the worst feeling was when my knees felt like they would pop at any moment. The dull ache from the fire didn't escape my chest and all of the commotion brought a gigantic headache to my head.

I was truly destroyed.

After limping out of the empty hallway, I pushed the double doors that lead to the fields. I frowned slightly when I saw that it was already night, but I was even more surprised when I saw the lights on the soccer field on. There were few people on the bleachers and the players were still playing on the field.

I lifted my wrist and my wristwatch read 6:48pm. Sighing, I limped my way towards the field, looking forward to getting my bike and leading it home. I wasn't in the condition of riding it.

Most people didn't notice me as I walked in front of the bleachers and those who did just glanced slightly in my way before turning towards the game. I did notice though, three pairs of eyes hunt me down, glaring towards my way. I gulped and ignored their stares, hoping that somehow they would leave me alone. The try was to no avail. They got up from the bleachers and walked down, planting themselves in front of me.

"Well well well. If it isn't the little red looser hood," Mitzy said with disgust. "What are you doing here at this time? Aren't you supposed to be in a hospital bed by now?" she said in a sickly sweet voice.

"At least not in the mental hospital..." I muttered under my breath, lowering my head. Suddenly, my head was being snapped back up. "You haven't told absolutely anybody right?" Mitzy questioned, her voice low and dangerous.

"No Mitzy. Why do you think you're not in jail?" I replied bitterly.

"Don't sass me, I could do so much worse than that," she replied, narrowing her eyes at me and putting her hand on her hip.

"Whatever Mitzy! I don't care, just get off my back. I haven't told anybody," I groaned, slowly letting rage take over me. A disgusted gasp came from her and then, her opened hand made contact with my cheek. The nasty slapping sound resonated in my ears.

That was it for my legs. The hard slap had come with such force, my weak legs gave out on me and I tumbled onto the floor. The place fell into an eerie silence as everyone gaped at what had just happened.

For a split second, she stared in awe. "You're so weak, I didn't even hit you that hard!" she announced loudly. She snapped her fingers before turning around and leaving, leaving me thrown on the floor with a bright red mark on my face.

I breathed deeply as I waited for the sting to pass. I looked to the side to find the soccer team staring at me. One of them, particularly, was jogging towards me. Sky approached me with an awed look in his face. "Bloom! Are you ok?" he said with worry, grabbing my hand and hauling me to my feet.

The sudden movement made me dizzy, making my close my eye and grab my head. "I saw what she did to you..." he whispered.

"Yeah. It's Mitzy being Mitzy..." I muttered with fake enthusiasm as soon as my head stopped spinning. Slowly, he inched his hands towards my face, softly grabbing me by the chin and moving it around as if he was examining me.

I felt my knees grow weak again and before I tumbled again to the floor, Sky reacted and grabbed me by the waist, hauling me to my feet once again. "You need to get home Bloom, you look weak," he said. I pushed myself away from his grasp and brushed the dirt out of my clothes "I know. I'm going to right now," I said with a curt nod before side stepping him.

"Wait, you're not walking home are you?" he said, making me stop and turn to him. With an eyebrow raised, I nodded. "Yes, how else am I going to get home?" I said.

"I'll take you home then. It's too late to be walking home in your condition and-" He inched closer, "we don't want you lying on the streets again," He whispered. I closed my eyes and sighed. What were the chances that I might actually fall unconscious on the floor again?

I opened my eyes and nodded. "Fine, I'll come tomorrow and get my bike," I said.

"Okay. I'll go to the lockers and get my stuff. Meet me in the parking lot with your bike," he said, making me raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Why?" I asked.

"My car is broken so I'm using my dad's truck in the meanwhile. We can put your bike in the trunk," he explained.

"Ooh. I get it. Okay. I'll meet you there," I said, giving him a little awkward wave before turning towards where the bike stand was. I unlocked my bike from the bike stand and pushed it towards the center of the parking lot, looking around for Sky. A few moments later, the doors to the locker rooms opened and a small swarm of people started to walk into the parking lot. Sky noticed me quickly and motioned me to follow him with a wave. I slowly started to walk behind him, jogging a little as I tried to catch up to him. He took his car keys out of his pocket and he pressed a button, causing the lights of a slick black truck to turn on.

"Okay, give me the bike," he said, stepping around me as we arrived at the truck. He bent down and grabbed the bike by the wheels. With a grunt, he lifted the bike and he placed it on the back of the truck, also taking advantage and swinging inside his soccer bag.

He placed the bike sideways, closed the back of the truck and lowered the lid to cover what was inside. After dusting off his hands, he walked over to the driver's seat as I walked to the passenger seat, where I awkwardly climbed onto the big truck.

"I need to know where you live," Sky said, putting the keys in ignition and roaring the engine to life. He put his forearm in the back of my headrest and he twisted backwards as he reversed out of the parking space.