The Wings of Storm

17.3- Hatching a Witchy Plan

Ahio huffed. 'Didn't know anyone is a witch here.'

'No, I'm serious.' Daisuke said, glaring at the other boy. 'Tahro and I have been studying witches and their spells for a while. I remember one about raising the ground. It had the runes for link, earth, and flight. Do you remember, Tahro?' He looked at me.

Did I? A vague memory of reading about such a spell flashed before me. It was to...escape from something. Pits made by earth elementalists during the war to trap witches? I must've read it only a few weeks ago, but with everything going on, it felt like years. What were the symbols, the array in which we should draw them? Not to mention, how on earth were we supposed to perform a spell without a witch?

'I think I read about it, but I'm sorry, I don't remember how to do it,' I said. 'How...um...how are we supposed to do it though? Without a witch, I mean?'

Before Daisuke got a word out, Maya chirped in. 'Tsubasa.' She wrung her hands at our stares.

'H-huh?' Tsubasa backed away, hitting the wall of the pit. He pushed up his glasses with a trembling hand. 'Wh-what do you m-mean?'

Just then, I put two and two together.

'A witch can let their inner spirit out of their bodies and into the runes they draw. That's why they can perform spells while we can't,' I said, glancing between Maya and Daisuke to see if I was on the same page. They nodded. 'But if there was a way for us to release our inner spirit, then theoretically, we could perform them.' Tsubasa gulped. 'Like when you tried to track us in the maze...you could make our inner spirit come out.'

I'm not volunteering this time though. My skin crawled at the thought of a nature whisperer taking control of my inner spirit again. What if Tsubasa figures out that something is weird too? But what was I doing, worrying about such a petty problem in the middle of a situation like this?

Hands still shaking, Tsubasa clutched his face. 'I c-can't! T-that day, it was j-just for a moment, a-and even t-that was so h-hard. D-do you know h-how d-diffic-cult it was to r-release your inner sp-spirit without h-hurting you?'

'But you didn't hurt him.' Dr Chiasa placed a hand over his shoulder. 'You can do it, Tsubasa. Nature whisperers are told to be much more powerful than we think.'

'N-no, I really c-can't.' He took a few deep breaths and lowered his hands, gazing up at her with bloodshot eyes. 'If M-Mr Cesar was here, he c-could d-do it. I'm not that g-good.'

Dr Chiasa tightened the grip around his shoulder and frowned. 'When the swordsmen come back and we fight them, I don't know if we will all make it out alive, or even win. No, I know I will fight to the death to get my child back.' She sighed. 'So please, Tsubasa. You can do this. You must.'

'N-no.' He glared at her.

'Do it only on me. I've had a lot of training in controlling my inner spirit. I'll make sure you don't accidentally push out too much.' Her voice, usually commanding and calm like her daughter's, had a pleading tone.

I let out a relieved breath at her words, then bit my lip in disgust with myself. Not the right time to be thinking about who was going to volunteer!

'I...' Tsubasa scrunched his eyes shut and curled his hands into fists. 'I might k-kill you.'

'No, you won't.' She sighed, gazing at the top edges of the pit. 'But when they come back, they might. And it could be for vain, the rest of you might not even be able to escape.'

For a few moments, no one said a word. Was this really the best plan we've got? There must be another way, a perfect way where no one got hurt. Something we were overlooking. But as much as I dug through my brain for an idea, any idea, I came up with none.