"I came," Lulu entered the mentor's room.
Sophie was sitting at her desk reading a book. She couldn't help but notice the depressed state of the newly minted assistant.
"You're five minutes late," Sophie muttered.
Lulu wanted to object, but then she came to her senses and, biting her tongue, only said dejectedly:
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"Listen, if something doesn't suit you, then you can safely break our agreement," Sophie bent her line and slowly got up from the table.
"No, everything suits me. Here, I even took a bag," Lulu showed her bag made of rough leather with a shoulder strap.
Its worn surface with a lot of roughness and scratches indicated a difficult fate that had to be borne to please her young mistress. And Lulu also cast a spell that increases the capacity, so the interior space was almost bottomless.
"Why did you bring this bag?" Sophie started to figure out what she was going to do with Lulu. "Oh, right! We are going... We're going to pick mushrooms!"
"My lady, are you sure?" It's better to stay at home at such a late hour," her familiar did not approve of this idea.
"I think it's a great night for this," Sophie stamped her foot and, throwing a street cloak over herself, went to the exit. "It's decided, we're going to pick mushrooms!"
Like a personal shadow, Lulu followed her. After overcoming a maze of endless corridors decorated with all kinds of statues of creatures of darkness, they came to the exit of the academy. It was located on the ground floor in an endless hall and was a four-meter wrought-iron gate, which was almost always closed. On either side of them, two enchanted guards stood outside and inside. Immortal spirits, dressed in armor and armed with two-handed swords, were on guard and did not let anyone through or let anyone out without permission.
Sophie took a seal from the inside pocket of her robe and showed it to one of the guards. A spell was triggered that caused the guardian to awaken. One of his hands left the huge sword alone and began to open the gate. There was a rumble, a grinding of metal, and a nasty, bone-chilling sound of creaking - the heavy gates slowly opened. Sophie, along with Lulu, went through the gap that had formed, and they finally got out onto the street.
Lulu immediately felt the long-forgotten smell of freedom, so elusive and beckoning her with new adventures. There were no courtyards in the Witch Academy, only rooms and endless passages. The windows were not opened due to student safety concerns. And the educational institution could be left only with the permission of Mrs. Krivda or during the holidays.
The Academy was surrounded by a dense forest, consisting mainly of mighty oaks, so it was simply called: Oakwood. And now, with the stars and the crescent moon shining in the sky, it seemed a very inhospitable and frightening place. Here and there on the branches sat owls, who closely watched all those who dared to enter their hunting grounds. If it was a mouse or a hare, then they silently jumped down from the branches and smoothly flew down, putting their tenacious claws forward. In a moment, an unsuspecting victim could be a guest at a meal of night birds. But the girls going deep into the forest were too big for owls, so the feathered hunters only watched them from a safe distance, turned their heads in all four directions, and closely watched the travelers with their saucer eyes.
Lulu, absorbed in exploring new, previously unseen territories, did not feel the cold wind that tormented her body. Her mantle could not withstand the icy air, and it was not created for night walks. Suddenly, a hare ran next to her, all so white and fluffy. He stopped for a moment and cast a sidelong glance at Lulu. One of his ears turned towards the nearest oak tree as if something was coming from there. A moment or two, and the hare ran away, only his paws sparkled. Before Lulu could see him off, several gray wolves jumped out of the darkness. They were all thin, hungry, and angry. Apparently, they were chasing a hare, and here the girls were on their way. The wolves began to examine them and at first, did not dare to attack them. But soon they assessed their chances of victory and, thinking about what two unarmed people in rags could do to them, decided to attack. Baring their teeth, the animals rushed at the witches. Lulu involuntarily hid behind Sophie's back, as she was afraid of these creatures. And Sophie, on the contrary, took a step towards danger.
Holding her hands out in front of her, she cast a spell, and a fireball appeared from her palms, which immediately flew towards the beasts. The fire singed their fur but did not kill them. Whimpering, the wolves scattered and disappeared, leaving the girls alone.
"How well you dealt with them!" Lulu couldn't help but exclaim.
"Nothing special," Sophie muttered, as if fighting was a common thing for her. "They're just a bunch of uncouth wolves."
"I wish I could do the same," Lulu was delighted with her mentor's fire spell.
At that moment, Sophie saw a glint in Lulu's eyes, about which the old Krivda had told her.
"Mistress Sophie, are you all right?"
"Yes, I was just thinking for a moment. Have you changed your mind about coming with me yet?"
"No," Lulu shook her head. "I like our walk so far. It's so interesting here!"
"Interesting? This is an ordinary forest! It's cold, the wind is constantly blowing and hungry animals are running around," Sophie shook her head.
"I've been able to observe the world for a whole year only through the window of my room, and the view there, frankly, is not very good," Lulu said. "Can you teach me a fire spell?"
She made a pitiful look, like a kitten that was hard to resist. But these tricks did not work on Sophie:
"It's still early. I can only show his weak version."
She told me what had to be done for this:
"Imagine that a small ball of flame is igniting in your palms. When it gets really hot and you feel warm, then mentally send it to the enemy. At the same time, you also need to say the word -Elum-."
Lulu immediately started practicing, but the spell in her performance did not want to be activated at all. After the fourth attempt, Sophie took pity on her wayward student:
"This requires an initiator."
"The initiator?"
"A magic wand, ring, or another artifact that allows you to materialize your desire."
"I see," Lulu realized her worthlessness. "Ha-ha, very funny."
"Let's make a bet," Sophie smiled wickedly. "If you can create an -Elum- by the end of our journey, then I will give you a magic ring."
The mentor showed a small ring with a red ruby, which was worn on the ring finger of her left hand.
"What, really?!" Lulu was naively delighted.
"But if you fail, then I will take the ring and you will have to cancel our contract," there was always a catch in any offer.
Lulu wanted to get the ring and try out the spell in practice. Believing in her strength and justice in the whole world, she immediately agreed without hesitation. And Sophie was counting on it. Handing over the ring, she smiled cunningly, knowing full well that nothing would work out for the young fool. After all, to master the fire spell, it took not hours, but whole weeks and months of hard training.
Lulu didn't know about it and, having received a gift from her teacher, naively examined it from all sides and thought:
"I can't believe it! This is Sophie's real ring! How lovely it is!"
She decided to put it on the ring finger of her right hand, and it magically expanded and adjusted its size to her finger. The red ruby began to sparkle with a dim light, pulsating, which meant that the initiator recognized the new owner.
"Well, do you feel a surge of strength?" Sophie asked.
"Yes! I'm about to release -Elum-!" Lulu spoke enthusiastically, but only sparks flew out of her hands.
She tried again, and again she failed, and Sophie smiled and mentally rejoiced: "Hurrah! Victory!"
Sophie's triumph was broken by Bonbon's voice:
"Why did you give her your sister's ring?"
"It's okay, she has already lost this bet and will return it soon."
"You're a venomous snake."
"You're no better! How many people have you tempted in your long life?"
"A lot, but you're not a demoness! And you behave like the last…"
"That's enough! Let's leave this idle chatter for later," she interrupted him. "Soon Lulu will break the contract, and we will be able to proceed with our plan."
"As you wish, my lady," the familiar ended the conversation.
Sophie and Lulu continued their journey deeper into the forest. Soon they found the entrance to the cave where special mushrooms for potions were supposed to grow. Sophie summoned a magic torch that lit up the road. Pointed stalactites hung over their heads. It seemed that they were about to come off and pierce their heads, but Sophie fearlessly went forward. Several times she and Lulu almost fell into the abyss, but in the end, they still got to the place where the mushrooms grew. In the dark, they shimmered enchantingly with green and blue light.
"Careful, don't touch the blue ones, they're very poisonous," Sophie warned.
"I know," Lulu nodded and, raising her hands, recited the fire spell again.
A small ball of flame flew out, which went out after a couple of seconds.
"It looks like you're doing a little magic," Sophie pretended to be happy, hiding the growing anxiety inside.
She didn't want Lulu to win this bet and remain her assistant. Moreover, the ring was very dear to her. Taking out a folding sickle, Sophie began to cut green mushrooms and put them in a bag.
"Why don't we need blue ones?" Lulu asked.
"They can't be used because they are banned under the new rules and are being persecuted by the Inquisition," Sophie explained.
"But you know how to cook them, right?"
"Of course!" Sophie nodded. "It's sorcerers and wizards who don't know how to do anything, but a witch can cook poison and make a medicinal infusion."
As soon as they decided to go back, they heard a strange noise from the depths of the cave. Someone big and heavy was moving towards them. Lulu chose to hide behind her mentor's back so as not to interfere with her during the battle. Sophie pointed the magic torch in the direction of the noise to get a better look at the creature that dared to disturb their mushroom picking.
It was a shaggy creature with black fur, two meters tall. Mushroom-like growths protruded from the creature's body in different directions. The muzzle looked a little like a human. Two black eyes with thick eyebrows, a mushroom-shaped nose, and a mouth full of crooked teeth. The creature moved like a monkey, leaning on its front paws. There was no tail to be seen, and even without it, this big man was terrified and could put any vaunted knight on a white horse to flight.
Uttering a heart-rending scream, the creature opened its mouth, from which acrid mucus began to flow out, and its wide nostrils greedily inhaled the air, trying to catch foreign odors. The creature now knew exactly who it was dealing with, as it caught the sweet scent of the girls' perfume.
— What kind of creature is this?! Lulu backed away.
—A mushroom troll,— Sophie replied dryly.
"Does he happen to have an innate resistance to magic?" — Lulu remembered the article about them.
"Good girl, I can immediately see that you read a lot, and now... run!" Sophie whirled around and began pushing Lulu with her hands to make her move.
As they ran, the troll's heavy breathing could be heard behind them. He chased them and, in anticipation of dinner, made a characteristic sound of snapping teeth. The girls were able to get out of the cave to the surface, but the creature did not stop and decided to continue the chase in the open air. At the same time, the troll assumed an upright body position, straightened his shoulders, and started running, thereby accelerating. He was rushing after the fugitives on his own two feet, uttering terrifying screams.
Sophie realized that they could not escape from their pursuer, and ordered Lulu to run to the academy for help:
"Call the guards for help!"
"What about you?!" she did not want to leave her mentor alone with a dangerous creature.
"This is an order!" Sophie tried to kick her, but it was too late.
There was already a creature behind her, who, without waiting for an invitation to a heart-to-heart conversation, threw Sophie aside with her furry paw. Falling to the ground, she gritted her teeth in pain, but she was still able to fight. Rising, the witch put her hands forward and tried to hit the troll with a lightning bolt. A white spark struck his furry chest but did not cause him much harm. Mushroom trolls had an innate defense to magic, and cold metal did not particularly take their dense skin.
Sophie continued to attack with all the spells available to her, but it was all in vain. Under the onslaught of magical attacks, the troll still managed to get to his abuser and grab her by the throat. He easily lifted the girl and showed his jaws full of sharp teeth. A little more, and Sophie would have felt the death kiss of a troll, but…
"The creature! Let Sophie go immediately, or I'm not responsible for myself!" Lulu shouted.
She was standing a few meters away from them. There was not a drop of fear on her face, and she was ready to cast an attacking spell. The troll decided to accept her challenge.
When Sophie took a greedy gulp of air and was able to turn her head in the direction of her stupid student, she saw something unimaginable. A dazzling light began to emanate from Lulu's hands, indicating that she was ready to create not just an "Elum", but its final form.
"Don't do it!" Sophie tried to stop her.
Lulu released an all-consuming magical fire. Strengthened by her senses, the fire began to consume everything it could reach. And when the flames calmed down and finally went out, there was nothing left but ashes in the place where the student and the troll once stood. Sophie would probably have burned to the ground if Bonbon hadn't protected her. He, like a guardian angel, appeared at the very last moment and covered the lady from the deadly spell with protective charms.
"No, it can't be!" Sophie couldn't believe her eyes.
"How stupid it was to start training with fire magic," the familiar's voice was calm. "You know how this element loves feelings and emotions."
"Stop it!" she was mad at him. "Shut up!"
"And yet people are so stupid. Self-sacrifice? For what? For whom?!" he gloated. "Your sister will be pleased."
Without listening to him, Sophie began to search for the remains of her student. And very soon she found something similar to her. The clothes were scorched by the flames, and the skin was covered with crusts, but the hope of salvation was not dead yet.
"What are you going to do?" familiar asked.
"I'm to blame for Lulu's suffering, so I'll have to fix it," Sophie carefully peeled off the crusts of her assistant's neck and pressed her mouth to it.
The mentor's tongue explored the girl's hot skin. Having found a comfortable place, she lightly bit it with her fangs and licked off the droplets of blood that appeared. It had been so long since she had drunk human blood. She felt a boundless thirst that wanted to make her drink every drop of blood, but Sophie resisted these primitive desires.
"This is a rather rash act," commented Bonbon, who preferred to hang in the air and watch the drama from above. "You can infect her with your curse."
"I know that the probability is high, but I hope for the favor of fate."
"Favor? Yes, you met a mushroom troll! A troll! This is the most unfortunate day of all that we have had to go through."
"Could you cheer me up just once?" Sophie knew she was doing the wrong thing, but there was no turning back.
"I'm a demon and I say what I have to say. And I don't like what you're doing to Lulu," Bonbon snorted. "This innocent flower will burn through your fault!"
His mistress took out the ritual dagger anyway and, clenching her teeth, cut her hand with it. Scarlet blood sprinkled the neck of Lulu lying on the ground. Droplets of blood began to move towards the bite and slowly mixed with the blood flowing from there. After a few minutes, Lulu began to come to life before my eyes. The burnt skin peeled off her, and a new, pink one appeared under her. But despite all the visible improvements, she continued to lie unconscious.
"It seems to be working," Sophie calmed down.
"I recommend you go to your private quarters," the familiar suggested. "Soon there will be a crowd of onlookers from the academy. And what will you say to old hag?"
"I won't tell her anything," Sophie said with a sly smile. — There was no one here.
It wasn't difficult for her to cast transfer spells and find herself in her room with Lulu. Taking off her charred clothes, Sophie rubbed her skin with medicinal tinctures and summed up:
"Looks like new."
"What can't be said about our mushrooms," the bear was sitting peacefully on the bedside table.
"I have a small supply of ingredients, so it's okay."
Sophie looked at her newly minted assistant. Her wheat-colored hair, restored by magic, lay on the pillow, and whispered: "Touch us, stroke us." Sophie couldn't resist and decided to feel them with her fingertips. They were soft and pleasant to the touch. And a straight nose and plump lips look cute. It seemed to her that a fairy tale princess was lying in front of her, who for some reason got lost and got into a gloomy Witch Academy.
Lulu woke up an hour later. Her head was spinning, and her memory of what had happened was partially lost. She felt in her heart that she had forgotten something important, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember. Because of this, her heart was heavy.
"Are you awake?" Sophie was delighted. "How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?"
"No, it's all right. I feel very good!" she showed her big smile. "Only… Why am I not wearing any clothes?"
"The troll tore it up when you bravely defended me," Sophie thought up as she walked.
"Really? However, I don't remember anything," Lulu scratched the top of her head. "Oh, well. We are safe and alive. And everything else is unimportant."
"I like your optimism!" Bonbon joined the conversation. "How do you like a walk in the woods?"
"It was great! I'm ready to go for mushrooms again sometime."
"No. We'll never go into the woods together again," Sophie shook her head. "There are dangerous creatures there."
"Oh, yes," Lulu remembered.
"Here," she took the ring from her finger and returned it to the teacher. "It looks like I'm not good for anything. Tomorrow I will break our contract, and I hope you will have a more capable assistant."
Sophie was ready to take the ring because it belonged to her sister. The only reminder of her. But Lulu coped with her task, so the mentor had to admit defeat:
"In fact, at the last moment, you got the spell -Elum-."
Lulu thought she'd misheard:
"Was it not a dream? Did I succeed?"
"Yes. You're just great. And what's more, I can fulfill one of your wishes," Sophie squeezed out. "For one small favor."
"A whole wish! What do I need to do?!"
"You must promise to remain silent about our travels outside the academy. And Bonbon is also good, so you don't have to hand him and me over to the Inquisition."
"But," Lulu tried to say.
"Shhh!" Sophie put a finger to her lips. "If you break your promise, something terrible can happen to you."
"I promise!" Lulu nodded happily. "What can I wish for?"
" Whatever you want, only within the limits of permissible and reasonable, of course."
"Then..." thought Lulu. "I want a kiss! Real and to the lips!"
Sophie blushed at what she heard:
"What kind of desire is this?"
"You said: any wish. Or is it impossible?"
"Well, this is so unexpected."
"I've never done it, so I want to try," Lulu told the truth, and then added: "You probably have a lot of experience in such matters. Please show me how it's done!"
"Oh-ho-ho!" Bonbon laughed. "My mistress knows a lot, but in matters of love she is a complete fool."
"Shut up!" Sophie exclaimed. "I am a teacher at the academy. So I have to be able to do everything."
She climbed onto the bed and, pressing Lulu with her hands to the bed, pressed her lips to hers. Lulu felt something new, something unimaginable for herself. Lulu was so glad that she finally got her first kiss, which she had heard a lot about from undergraduates there. Hot waves of tender, intoxicating feelings began to disperse through her body. And this fleeting kiss filled her with incredible happiness. It was like a fairy tale or a dream. Lulu wanted this kiss to last forever, but Sophie thought a little differently.
"Are you happy now?!" Sophie said defiantly.
The blush on her pale face said that she, too, had received a drop of pleasure.
"Very much! It was simply incomparable!"
"Good for you. Now go to sleep and remember that we didn't go anywhere, but only brewed potions."
Sophie extinguished the magic lamp, and the room plunged into darkness. Lulu quickly fell asleep, as she was very tired that day, but Sophie had to resort to the Bonbon spell. After all, the creatures of darkness never slept at night.