---Katherine---
"No!" We ran after the Evil, trying to get it away from our friends. Ashley had her sword out, practically shaking with fear. She swung it in an arc as the monster approached, but the Evil knocked it out of her hand. It clattered to the floor meters away. The Evil moved in for the killing blow. I saw Ashley's lips move, forming words.
"No one harms my best friend!" I slid in between the Evil and Ashley. From the pocket of my jeans I pulled out a small dagger. The Evil raised its claws; it was so close I could feel its monster breath on me. I closed my eyes and stabbed the dagger forward. I heard Ashley saying unintelligible words, like an incantation. In my hand, the dagger suddenly felt unnaturally warm, as if it was generating its own heat. Just as Ashley said the final syllable, the dagger pierced the Evil's chest like it was made of butter.
The Evil let out a monstrous roar that shook the buildings. There was a gold flash of light so bright I could see it even with my eyes shut tight. I could feel the wind whipping around me and the dust that flung themselves at me. I tried to stab the Evil harder, deeper into its twisted heart. And then I let go.
Suddenly it was all over. I opened my eyes to see the Evil disintegrate into a pile of glittering black dust that swirled slowly onto the floor. My dagger hovered for a second in empty air and then dropped onto the blacktop.
"Katherine! Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Ashley tackled me in a hug. "Oh my gosh thank you so much for saving me back there. I was so sure that monster was going to kill me. Thank you."
"Well, that's what friends are for," I replied. "I wouldn't let anyone—or anything—hurt you."
"Kath! You okay?" Aaron ran up to me, along with Lucian, Rachel, and Indigo. His brown eyes scanned me up and down to make sure I still had all my arms and legs. "I was so scared, Kath. You gave us all such a scare."
"I'm alright, I'm alright," I reassured him, even though my heart was pounding and and my breathing was ragged. It was scary. It was frightening. It was down right terrifying.
"What did you do? How did you kill it?" Indigo asked. They all looked at me expectantly.
"Well….I sort of just whipped out my dagger and stabbed it," I confessed. "Nothing big, really."
"That's not possible," said Rachel. "Based on what I know, an Evil's skin is really hard to penetrate, especially with just a dagger. Even our swords have a difficult time killing Evils. But your dagger…it's hard to believe something so small turned a seven-foot-tall killer into that." She pointed at the remains of the Evil.
"Well…" I thought back. "Right before I stabbed it in its chest the dagger felt warm—unnaturally warm. It wasn't my body heat. It was like the dagger was radiating its own warmth."
Lucian picked up my dagger from the floor. He turned it around and around in the palm of his hand. "Is this made out of rosewood?"
"Um, yeah," I said. "It's supposed to be a charm to protect against bad things."
"That may be one reason to why it easily pierced the Evil's skin," said Indigo. "But the warmth? The flash of light? That was magic. How did that happen?"
"Ashley," I said suddenly. "right before I killed the Evil I heard you muttering something like a spell. What was it?"
All eyes went to Ashley. She fidgeted nervously. "Well…you know how we all got a book from a teacher to study?" We all nodded. "Mine was on spells, ancient ones that aren't used anymore or forgotten. So when the Evil went for me, I remembered this one spell from the book that was supposed to protect you from Evils. It was called the Rosewood Spell."
"Rosewood, again! Could they be connected?" mused Lucian.
"I have no idea. I was frightened and panicked at the time, so I just muttered the spell, hoping that it might serve some protection. I didn't expect it to work, obviously, but the situation was, you know, pretty hopeless."
"Ashley, why don't you say the spell again? Katherine, you hold your dagger. See if anything happens," suggested Jason, who propped himself up on his elbows. It was worth a try. I held my dagger in my hand, trying to sense if it had any changes, as Ashley murmured the spell under her breath.
At first, nothing happened. Then the wind picked up some monster dust and swirled it near the two of us. Suddenly the dagger reacted; it turned warm in my hand and we could all see that it was starting to glow. I waved it in the midst of the black dust. A gold flash of light appeared, and the dust dissipated.
"Woah…" said Jason in awe. "That was so cool."
"The Rosewood Spell works with rosewood weapons," said Indigo excitedly. "And it will only work if an Evil or part of an Evil is near! It can successfully destroy them!" A ray of hope shone down on us. There was a way to kill these things.
Before we could discuss this further, shouts reached our ears. "Is anyone hurt?! Why aren't you kids with the others in the classrooms?! Why did you all directly disobey a teacher's directions?!" Five teachers skidded to a halt in front of us. We looked up in alarm. We recognized them, of course, but barely: each were fully armed and had a different aura to them. Their faces showed anger, but beneath that, fear.
"Jason is wounded; he was harmed by an Evil," said Lucian. The temperature dropped like ten degrees.
"Did you say…Evils?" whispered Ms. Teagan fearfully. "They were here?"
"How many? What did they do to you kids? Where are they now?" Mr. Loren, one of our history teachers, looked around, alert for any movements.
"Um, we only saw one…" began Rachel, but Mr. Watts cut her off.
"Let's get you kids inside to safety first. We can talk later."
We followed the teachers back into the Academy, unsure of what was going to happen.