Mindee Arnett: The Nightmare Dilemma

Will Guard, like Will-Workers. Well, at least I could dismiss my original fear that these guys were Marrow supporters come to take over the school. The gold insignia on the left breast of the man’s tunic bore the Magi Senate crest of the tree, wand, and flame, symbolizing the three sects of magickind: naturekind, witchkind, and darkkind.

“What’s the—” Eli began.

The man tapped his staff against the floor, and Eli made a choking sound, reaching for his throat. Some kind of powerful magic crackled in the air around us. I grabbed Eli’s arm, trying to steady him.

“What did you do?” I took a step toward the man, outrage belying my better judgment to stay quiet.

In answer, the man tapped the staff again. An invisible hand seemed to grip the back of my throat and tongue. I tried to shriek, but no sound came out. It was some kind of gagging spell. I remembered my mom using the same spell on me whenever I started to make a scene in public when I was little. I knew from experience it was best not to fight it. I forced my body to relax, and at once the pressure in the back of my throat eased enough that I no longer felt like I was going to hurl.

With a self-satisfied glint in his eyes, the man turned away from me. Resentment made my skin burn. This guy had no right to come in and start casting spells at students. And after all the stuff with Marrow, I wasn’t about to just cower down to him because he might be here on Magi business. I reached out with my mind-magic and tried to grab the staff from his hands. Without access to their magical instrument, a witch or wizard couldn’t perform most magic.

Some unseen force blocked my way. The man jerked his head in my direction then smirked before turning back. He motioned toward the overturned bench with his staff and it righted itself. He stepped onto the bench and then on top of the table. He turned in a circle, surveying the room.

The cafeteria was absolutely silent, all eyes turned on this stranger. In a loud, gruff voice, he said, “My name is Captain Gargrave. I am head of the Will Guard. We have been sent to Arkwell by the Magi Senate to perform the duties of The Will. This means that all the combative magic violations you students have been perpetuating these last few chaotic months have officially come to an end.”

Another murmur went through the crowd, this one tinged with something like defiance. It wasn’t that we couldn’t do magic before The Will. It was just that people didn’t dare try most spells for fear they would be restricted. I didn’t think this Will Guard was likely to have much luck reinstating that kind of fear, not now that everybody had gotten used to the freedom.

Captain Gargrave must’ve sensed that rebellious spirit as well for he said even louder, “If you dare to challenge my authority or the authority of any of my men, you will reap the consequences.” He made an upward slash with the staff.

Nick let out a yell as he was hoisted into the air again. This time Captain Gargrave spun him around in several fast, nauseating circles. Eli and I both backed up instinctively, in case Nick tossed his cookies.

Just when I thought Nick was going to lose it, Captain Gargrave let go and Nick dropped to the floor again. He landed hard, but still on his feet. Gargrave stepped down from the table without another word. As he passed me, I felt the gag in my throat lift. The captain joined the others, and they started patrolling the cafeteria.

Eli and I exchanged a look. I could tell he was anxious to talk about what just happened, but we both knew it was better to let things settle down so we weren’t overheard.

His stomach grumbled. “I’ll be back in a minute,” Eli said, before stalking off to the breakfast line.

I sat down again as the silence in the cafeteria slowly began to dissipate. But the conversations remained subdued and nobody was doing any magic, legal or otherwise. I glanced at Gargrave who was eyeing the crowd like a hawk on the hunt. Way to make a nasty first impression, dude .

I had a feeling the nasty was only getting started.

While I waited for Eli, I contemplated my eggs and bacon for a couple of minutes, and then got up and threw the contents of my breakfast tray into the garbage. Something inside the trash can growled, and I realized too late that I’d forgotten to sort out my silverware. A moment later the fork came hurtling out of the can like a missile and whacked me in the forehead.

“Hey,” I said as I rubbed my stinging skin. Good thing I hadn’t used a knife this morning.

A head covered in scraggly brown hair emerged over the top of the can. The trash troll fixed a glare at me with its huge black eyes. It looked like a really ugly, twisted version of a Mr. Potato Head with a head and torso twice as long as its stubby legs and arms. It bared its teeth at me, mumbling incoherent words.

It dawned on me that I was being scolded. By a trash troll. Glaring, I shooed at it. “Go on, get back in there. It was just an accident.”

The troll muttered something more then stuck its tongue out at me before disappearing. I backed away from the trash can, on the lookout for more projectiles. It seemed even the trash trolls had developed their own spirit of rebellion, same as us students.

Eli arrived back at the table at the same time I did, his tray laden with food. I sat down across from him and watched with mild interest as he began shoveling. “Looks like the senate finally decided to do something about all the fighting,” Eli said between mouthfuls.

“It’s something all right.” I flashed a scathing glance at Gargrave. “But I’m not sure it’s the right something.”

“What is it?” Eli’s gaze locked on my face.

“Someone attacked Britney Shell last night.”

He stopped mid-shovel, a bit of egg falling off the tip of his fork. “What? How? What happened?”

I spent the next few minutes telling him about my adventures last night. He was thrilled at my success on getting such good details out of the sheriff, but when I got to the part about the almost-Paul, Eli dropped his fork onto his plate with a loud clang. “ He was in the dream?”

I flinched at the vehemence in his tone. It was deserved—Paul had betrayed both of us to Marrow—but I was the one he’d pretended to date for several weeks leading up to it. I should be the angry one, but mostly I wanted to forget it.

“Yeah,” I said, “but I don’t think it was actually him. He looked different. And Lady Elaine said it didn’t mean anything since Britney’s not a dream-seer and her dreams are just dreams.” Good thing, too, I thought. Or you would be a suspect in the attack by now .

The bell rang before Eli could ask any more questions. I waited while he dumped his tray with considerably less trouble from the trash troll, and then we walked together to homeroom. For reasons unbeknownst to us, Eli and I had the exact same schedule. I didn’t mind. Any excuse to be with him. And walking was the best part, the way he leaned into me, our bodies touching more often than not. Every time his hand brushed against my fingers, my heartbeat lost its rhythm as I hoped that this would be the time he would finally take hold of my hand.

The morning announcements lasted three times longer than usual. The principal started off reminding us for at least the hundredth time about volunteer opportunities still available for the Beltane Festival on May first. They’d been hyping the festival for months now. Normally, Arkwell held its own celebration on campus, including a dance, the magickind equivalent to prom. But this year marked a centennial for the foundation of Lyonshold, the capital city of magickind in the United States, and the Magi Senate decided that the students should join the huge celebration. Volunteers would get to do stuff like light the bonfires and dance in some of the rituals.