Most people who come here like you did get totally flabbergasted,” Aubrey added. “No, the weird thing is that you’re not,” Marissa said. “So, uh, hi! Do you know where you are?” Marissa asked. Not to mention, she had a cat’s ears and tail. Her cutting green eyes peered at me in earnest. She had her blonde hair tied in a braid on one side and cut straight on the other, her bangs swept to the right rather neatly. I turned to get a better look at Aubrey, who was staring right back. “Here’s why you’re in honors spellcasting three and I ain’t,” Aubrey said. Her short brown hair was pulled back and left to hang in two long bangs, tucked behind her long ears. The source was the hand of a girl just a bit younger than me- she had a look of anxiety on her face. “You’re not doing it right,” Marissa said bluntly.Ī blue light shone from beside me. I scooted away to avoid them on their fall. Suddenly, a couple of sparks flared up from beside me. “Ack! Sorry, gets hard ta tell what y’all can’t see.” “Hey, I can’t really get a good look at her injuries. “And she speaks English! Ya know how rare that is?! Last time, kid was talkin’ straight Korean!”

I could barely see the silhouettes of the two I heard talking, but the one leaning over me jumped back. I groaned and funneled my energy into sitting upright. “Damn well ya didn’t! So why then?! We coulda turned off the shield and-” It was a lot higher than the other girl’s. Her voice was softer and more Midwestern. “I didn’t know what was gonna happen! Don’t blame me!” Her voice was raspy and southern, which made her words sting a little more.Īnother voice chimed in from my left, most likely the Marissa who’d been referred to. “Don’t tell me she’s friggin’ dead, Marissa! The one time ya try it on somethin’ alive, it had ta be her!” I would have thought it all a dream, but I’d never heard this voice before, and the bed under me felt more like a sleeping bag than a mattress. “You’ve been out for, like, five minutes!” I felt the comfort of something soft underneath me. It was dim outside, so I could barely see the shadow looming above. For a moment, everything hurt, then the lights in the distance began to fade.Ī faint ringing still echoed in my ears.

What happened to him? Was he right? Were the humans our enemies? I glanced left and right, trying to find a way to run.Ī piercing whine emanated through my whole body. “They’re not trying to kill us, you- Kori?” Where was he? I looked around quickly, but he was nowhere to be found. “Shiera, they’re gonna kill us! We’re gonna die! We–” Floating runes circled around them, like a magic shield of some sort. I turned around to find a squad of humans making their way towards us. I was beginning to feel safe behind our makeshift barricade. Like I hoped, the humans weren’t firing at us.Įach step we took on the muddled stones below brought us closer to the human army.

We started trudging across the battlefield. “They’re shooting with bows and arrows! Why the hell would they have land mines?” It took a bit of courage to begin the first step back onto the battlefield. It took us a moment, but we eventually turned the slab around to face the phantoms. As it stood now, we were facing the humans. I bumped Kori with my hip to get him to turn. “The humans won’t shoot at us if they know what’s good for them!” With one big heave, we hoisted it up as a shield. Kori helped me grab it and hold it out in front of the two of us. “Do you really want to kill yourself that badly?” I found a slab of concrete broken off from the bunker and heaved it upright. “This is the fifth time you’ve said that this week!” “Which is something you should consider!” “Looking for a shield, or something! I’m not stupid! Going out there with nothing is like suicide!” I glanced around for anything I could use as protection against the crossfire. “Shiera, can you make sense for once in your life?!” “What are you waiting for, then?!” Kori yapped. I was tempted to smack him across the face. I swatted Kori’s hand off my collar, and he slapped my hand back. “Fine! You can just go out there and get yourself killed!” “Are you a dumbass?! Someone’s shooting at us!” For a moment, I couldn’t breathe- I stumbled beside him until I was stable. Kori grabbed me by my collar and yanked me back into the safety of the bunker. I blinked and realized what was happening. Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by, only a few centimeters in front of my face. His voice was dazed, like he had just woken from a dream. I let my gaze drift back to the horizon before I heard Kori. Rather than just an arrow, the whole inside was glowing. I clutched the dented charm in my hand and tore my eyes off of the holy lights to look at it. Words weren’t necessary- the world around us was tangible, real.

I stood on the roof of the bunker for a while, letting the wind blow on my clothes and through my hair.

Phantasmic meaning