130 Chapter 129: The voices

"You're sure about this right?" Elize asked nervously. 

"Yes, Elize. Now let me memorize this spell if you want to stay alive." The witch said, putting a hand to her head. 

Elize bit her lips nervously. She watched as the groups of girls did their practice spells one by one. Irina was teaching a simple nightmare spell today. It was a seemingly simple spell to stall or even derail the opponent's attack. Although it looked quite simple, the red-haired witch had warned her students to not take it lightly. If not performed with the right intensity of magic and focus, the spell could easily go wrong, trapping the opponent in a moment of intense horror. The spell hence had a long history of inflicting cardiac arrests of untrained students. And that was why she was quite nervous today, especially since she had no magic to defend herself with. 

"Remember students, you have to be utterly calm when you're doing this." Irina's voice rose above the chatter of the girls in the class. "It doesn't matter on the battlefield, but today, you will be casting the spell on your classmates. So please, remember to calm your minds before casting the spell."

Elize looked back to her friend nervously. Agatha seemed to be a bit tensed, and her face didn't at all reflect calmness by a mile. She leaned close to her friend, who had her head deep in her grimoire. 

"Do you want to talk about Legolas and relieve some stress before you perform the spell?" She asked, poking her friend's cheek. 

Agatha turned to her with narrowed eyes. "No, I don't. Now, will you please stop talking about him non-stop and let me concentrate?" She asked, through clenched jaws.

Elize gulped her saliva nervously. With an awkward laugh, she turned to her own grimoire. 

"Ready girls?" Irina asked, coming to stand in front of them.

"I think so," Agatha said with a nod. 

"Okay then, let's get this started." The red-haired witch said, with a bright smile. Turning to Elize, she said, "I will put up a small layer of magic around you to protect you. Stay inside that and don't come out okay?" 

"Is there something wrong with the defensive wall?" She asked, looking worried.

Irina chuckled. "Don't panic Elize. It's a nightmare spell. Only a waterfall defensive wall can resist it. You're safe inside. Don't try to come out." She said, pushing her hand right back into the spell's boundary. 

"Oh..okay," Elize replied, clutching her hand to her chest. 

She looked towards the rest of the class who were busy doing their own spells. Thankfully, even if she shifted, Irina could quickly put up a wall of invisibility around them. So there was nothing to worry about, she told herself. Elize's gaze finally landed on Agatha as she readied herself to cast the spell.

"You may begin," Irina said, stepping back. 

The blond witch took a deep breath as she raised her right hand in the air gracefully. Elize closed her eyes, not wanting to watch what was going to happen next.

"Somnum exterreri." She heard Agatha whisper.

For a short while, no sound came from around her other than the chatter of the other students. Elize slowly opened her eyes, raising her head carefully, hoping that she won't see anything gory in front of her. She sighed in relief, as she was unable to see anything else than the smiling face of her friends standing in front of her. It seemed like the spell was done successfully and that the barrier around her had done its work. 

"Is it over?" She asked hopefully. 

"Yes, and Agatha performed well. She had put just the right amount of magic into it. Or else it could have penetrated the wall." Irina said with a wink.

"What?!" Elize exclaimed in shock.

Did her friends trick her into being the bait?! She narrowed her eyes, shaking her finger at the witches. The girls started laughing. 

"We were joking with you. The magic wouldn't have gone through the barrier." Agatha said in between laughing.

Elize pouted her lips in protest. Suddenly, a sharp pain rose from the pit of her stomach, travelling at lighting speed to grip her heart. She fell on the floor in pain, clutching her chest. 

"Irina quick!" She heard Agatha shout. 

She felt the buzz of the barrier melt off as another replaced it. She could feel the cold hands of Agatha gripping her hand. But the pain was too much to bear that she wasn't able to concentrate on what the witches were saying. She could only hear muddled voices from above. Suddenly she could hear dozens of voices screaming in her head. It was a familiar set of voices- one that she had heard well before at Aileen's house.

"Find usssssss! Faaaaaiinnddd usss!!!!" The voices screamed. 

The pain suddenly shot up, to an unbearable level before vanishing just as quick. Elize gasped for air, as she came back to her senses. Tears were fell from her eyes as she looked up at the concerned faces of her friends. 

"Elize?! Are you okay?! Can you hear me?" Agatha asked, sobbing.

"Mhhmm." She replied weakly.