Chapter Text
Trouble was brewing, everyone knew it when Dewdrop showed up in the library with a smug look on his face.
“You look well Cressman.” He said cooly, nudging his friend who stood at his side.
Harlan didn’t reply, silent as he’d been all semester without fail. Dewdrop's words carried throughout the upper level of the library, however, catching the attention of friends nearby. All the while Harlan turned his attention back to the game of chess he’d been in the process of losing to Mountain for the third time today.
“Whatever you want Dew, leave him alone.” Aether's voice cut through, stern but not aggressive as he stood on the opposite side of the table, across from Dewdrop with Rain at his side.
“This isn’t for you to get involved in. He doesn’t need anyone to speak for him- oh wait. I forgot about your silent spell.” Dew said with a mock surprised expression as he leaned against the table, closer to Harlan’s face. “I suppose you can hear just fine though.”
Harlan moved his rook to A6.
“If you’re going to be that way… Harlan Cressman, I challenge you to a duel.”
“Dew, what the hell?” Mountain couldn’t have stood up faster, knocking over their game of chess. By this degree, it meant Harlan won because Mountain was the one to “flip” out. It finally broke his concentration to lean back in his seat and cock a brow at Dewdrop. “On what grounds?”
“He knows what he did.” Dewdrop hissed, leaning over Harlan. “Let’s see how good at magic you really are then, Cressman.”
“You aren’t duelling him if he doesn’t agree to it. There has to be a verbal agreement.” Mountain argued.
“Then I’ll take his silence as a yes.” Dewdrop ignored the interjections from his friends.
Harlan finally stood, now properly towering over Dewdrop as he glared at him. There was a beat before he closed his eyes and gave a slow nod, agreeing to the duel.
The shit eating grin on Dewdrops face only grew.
“Right. Pick your second, Cressman. Ifrit is mine.” He said, gesturing to the man who stood tall behind Dewdrop, stone faced.
“I’ll be his second-” Mountain interjected while stepping forward, he’d studied the rules of duelling meticulously, it would only make sense if he–
Harlan shook his hand at Mountain then pointed to Aether. He wanted him to be his second.
“Me?” Aether was taken aback.
Harlan nodded.
“Right…” Aether stepped forward and eyed Ifrit nervously before fixing his gaze on Dewdrop. “What are the terms of this fight?”
“Courtyard, midnight tonight. Magic duel of course, Harlan is welcome to use a wand if he’s figured out the art of non-verbal spells.” Dewdrop said with a cackle before leaving with Ifrit trailing behind him like a dark shadow.
“I don’t understand why he’s being such a jerk.” Mountain scoffed, kneeling to pick up the fallen chess pieces and the board. “Ever since fifth year started he’s just… been acting differently.” He grumbled.
Harlan only shrugged in response to Mountain's grievances about his cousin, but when he turned to Aether the other saw it in his eyes. The panic on his expression, subtle sure but it was there.
“Do you have a plan?” Aether asked quietly and Rayne piped up.
“Of course he has a plan… Dew drops all talk.”
But Harlan shook his head and grabbed his bag, taking off to head back to their dorms. Aether chased after him, following his friend and narrowly catching his nose when the door slammed shut in his face.
“Harlan- C’mon it’s okay!” He said quickly, opening the door before it could be locked. Inside Harlan threw his bag against the wall and had started pulling books out of his shelf. Aether had never seen so many books in someone's dorm. He read the ones that had hit the floor while narrowly dodging any objects thrown in his direction.
A history of magic
Non-verbal spells
Wandless spells
Aether stepped over the growing pile of floor books to look at Harlan’s desk that had a greater pile of letters and a notebook that had messy scribbles and diagrams inside of it. Next to them were smaller books, dark magic , finding a deity , first edition: what you need to know about deals, bonds, and pacts , and a pile of letters with the name Orion on top of them.
Oh no.
He picked up the one letter while Harlan ran past him and dove under his bed like he was still searching for something, and started reading it.
“Harlan, how the hell do you “Accidentally” make a pact with a demon? More so one willing to negotiate. You’re lucky the pact didn’t kill you immediately, not every living vessel can handle the power that comes with it. Dark entities tend to be parasites and drain the life from their host… syphoning your energy to fuel their own power.
If it hasn’t told you what it expects as an offering in exchange for usage of its power, THEN DON’T USE THE POWER! Not until you find out what it will cost you. Worse comes to worse, you’ll be expected to make a blood sacrifice every full moon.
I’ve enclosed the few books I own… you know as well as I do the limited amount of information there is on Warlocks and pact bonds… even less when you don’t know what you made a deal with. (Idiot)
Notify the school immediately, they’ll be able to help… maybe. I don’t know, administration is pretty useless at the best of times. This is not the best of times.
As for that vow of silence, keep it up. Who knows, maybe you are bright enough to outsmart a demon. I’ll keep an eye out for anything else that might help you, keep me updated on what you can find and how you’re doing. Come visit for the holidays.
Regards,
Orion”
Aether let out an annoyed huff realising that Harlan had told his cousin this but not him… he knew they’d been friends for longer but it was still a tad upsetting. That wasn’t here, nor there though.
“Harlan, you’re a Warlock?” He asked cautiously, watching his friend flip through the pages of one of the spell books before he froze on the spot. “Why didn’t… you could have- when?” He stuttered over the words trying to make sense of it.
It didn’t change his perception of his friend, more now he was worried. Pacts and Bonds were illegal to be made under the age of 25, and there was a whole process legal and spiritual that had to be done to make sure the ritual could be safely done.
Depending on the strength of the deity or entity the bond was made with, the strength of the user and a matter of preexisting magic, it still ran the risk of killing or at the very least- horribly mutilating the user. Not all entities were benevolent, neither were warlocks that wanted to access their abilities.
Harlan slammed his book shut and threw it at Aether who quickly dodged it.
“Sorry- I’m sorry that was insensitive.” Aether said quickly with a huff. “I’m just worried now… challenged to a duel and you’re not allowed to use warlock magic? Are you alright with a wand?” He rambled on.
Harlan turned his back to Aether and grabbed his wand from his desk drawer, a light brown alderwood wand, about 13 inches, the handle had been delicately wrapped in a purple velvet ribbon. He pointed it at the wall and made a circle before flicking in the centre, and the end of his wand casted a near blinding light for all of 15 seconds before fading.
Aether blinked a few times, but the light had burned into his retinas much like the sun. “Lumos?” He asked, and Harlan shook his head. He reached for a pen and wrote on a piece of parchment.
-Helios-
“That’s a spell?” Aether asked, perplexed, but Harlan shook his head again and grabbed a different book. One that was magical runes, and symbols.
The symbol was that of the deity Helios, most Warlocks with this symbol or the deity as their patron saint had powers of the sun. Illumination, heat, fire, sometimes life, typically in plants. There were nonsensical notes on sticky notes and parchments all around about the attempts to convert this to wand magic, with scorch marks on the corners.
“That’s… incredible. How did you do that?” Aether said, flipping through Harlan’s other notes. “I guess it makes sense… all that time you spend in the Library. I mean, nobody spends that much time playing chess with Mountain and still loses.” He jested, nudging his friend as he handed him back the book.
“Are you sure you can handle this?”
Harlan nodded and smoothed out his hair before he settled on the floor surrounded by his books, and got to work compiling spells for the duel.
“I’ll be back at half after 11… I’ll meet you in here.” Aether said, flashing a gentle look over his shoulder before he left.
It was twenty five after and Harlan was staring in the mirror, fixing his braid while meticulously weaving dark locks in and out of each other. He’d heard whispers in the back of his mind growing increasingly louder as the clock ticked on, bringing him closer and closer to midnight. The midnight duel over… matters of the heart.
Maybe he’d let Dewdrop defeat and humiliate him so that he can feel as though he’d gotten even, and then they’d never speak to each other again.
maybe you should put him in his place
Harlan sucked in a sharp breath and tied off his braid, throwing it over his shoulder and then looking in the mirror and meeting the gaze of that… entity. It was a shadowy figure, never staying in one shape long before it morphed into something else, like ripples in the water.
Go for the throat
Harlan nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock on the door, and he ran over to the door where Aether stood, looking rather sleepy.
He forgot that he had a strict schedule for everything, including his sleep.
Through a yawn, Aether stepped into the room and gave Harlan a once over. “You look like a proper magic user.” He remarked, taking in Harlan’s clean, smoothed out uniform that was covered by his cloak.
Harlan’s focus wasn’t directed at Aether, his eyes falling upon the mirror once again where the shadowy figure watched him back with piercing violet eyes. It was the only thing he could certainly make out of the figure that continued to shift until Aether called his attention once again.
“Are you ready?”
Harlan looked at him, then back at the mirror. The shadowed figure had now disappeared, and he looked himself over once more, brushing back loose strands of hair again while nodding.
Aether and Harlan walked side by side down the ancient hallways, adorned with paintings, cloaked in darkness they shuffled as one. The floorboards did not creak under their weight, as though both boys were made of feathers while they traveled to the courtyard. It was overgrown and forgotten by the faculty as well as time itself it seemed, cast in the moonlight of a third quarter.
Marble statues of guards or some kind of defender stood along the courtyards boundaries, cracked and damaged, being pulled down by vines and vicious flora.
In the shadows across the way, Harlan could see Dewdrop stalking the grounds with Ifrit following him close behind, his large form casting a large shadow over Dewdrop as they walked.
Aether couldn’t hide his sneer at the sight, staring at them as they moved about. He bit his tongue to prevent himself from speaking a bad word, he couldn’t wrap his mind around what had provoked Dewdrop to become so bitter towards his now former friends. He had a feeling it had to do with Ifrit.
They descended the staircase that was cracked and missing chunks in the stone, stopping at the door. In the shadows, they waited.
“Harlan, why didn’t you want Mountain to be your second?” Aether asked in a whisper, pulling his pocket watch out to check the time. “Why me?”
15 minutes till midnight
He didn’t know much besides the basics, and it was beyond him why Harlan would have chosen him, Mountain was the expert. Mountain was an expert on a lot of things, a pillar of regurgitated knowledge.
Harlan waved his hand dismissively.
Later
Even if he’d written a note on parchment it would be near impossible to see in this lighting, hidden behind a perfectly carved support beam as the minutes ticked down.
And then the door swung open.
Startled, both Aether and Harlan had pulled out their wands and held them out as a threat only to see the tall figure bend over to get through. It was Mountain, and he smiled sheepishly at the two.
“I may not be your second, but I do want to watch if you don’t mind…” tucked under his arm were a couple notebooks and a pencil case. He came to study them. “I’m quite interested in seeing how you fare against Dew without… you know- speaking.” He said with a nervous chuckle.
Harlan let out a sigh and gave a relenting nod, gesturing for the two to follow him to the courtyard, five minutes left.
Dewdrop and Ifrit had the same idea, emerging from the shadows.
Dewdrops milk-white skin and blond hair nearly reflected the light from the moon. He bore that cock-sure smirk as he approached the centre, and Harlan met him half-way. Ice blue eyes fixing on the shorter boy as they sized each other up. Somewhere in the distance, a clock tower could be heard striking midnight, and ringing 12 times.
The duel was to start.
Dewdrop removed his cloak with a flourish and tossed it for Ifrit to catch and readied his wand. For once he looked… disheveled in a sense, no longer the clean, tidy look of a rich boy who waltzed along the marble floors of his home and floated like he was above it all. No… he looked like a wild animal that had something to lose. A snow fox maybe… protecting its kits, but instead it was Dew shielding his pride.
He wondered if Dew was starting to regret calling upon Ifrit as his second
Harlan removed his own cloak and tossed it to Mountain who caught it and settled at a reasonable distance that would limit the likelihood that he’d catch a stray spell while observing the fight. Harlan then tilted his head left and right, waiting for that oh so satisfying pop in his neck before he turned his back to Dew and took a deep breath.
“Duellers. Take Ten paces.” Aether instructed, counting each of Dew drops steps while Ifrit focused on Harlan’s. Once they were at an agreeable distance, Aether raised his hand, glancing nervously between the two. “Three… two… one!”
Dewdrop turned around faster than the speed of light and gave a whirlwind twirl of the wand before shouting. “Ignis inspiratione!” The end of his wand sparked and emitted a burst of flame.
Harlan, rather than turning around upon the end of the count, dropped to his knees and leaned back like he was in a game of limbo. The flame narrowly missed his face.
Anyone else would have cast Clypeus, but Harlan was keen on playing a dangerous game of dodge. He’d discovered too late that standard shielding spells don’t work without a verbal incantation, so he’d had to improvise.
As the heat ghosted his face and almost signed his nose, he had a moment to think.
The spell had power for sure, but it lacked endurance, burning out as fast as a match was struck. Dewdrop's whole style was over the top, flamboyant spells. It wasn’t consistent however…
He rolled onto his stomach and gave his own whirlwind gesture with his wand, directing it at his feet, a purple smoke-like snake wrapped around his ankles and he yanked his wand back, pulling Dewdrop to the ground.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mountain scribbling furiously in his notebook.
Dewdrop casted a counter charm, scrambling to get to his feet and Harlan waited.
That must have infuriated him, because he reeled his wand back, sparks emitting from the tip like a broken electrical pole before he casted it again. “nervus torpor!” It sent a vibrant, blue electric zap in Harlan’s direction. He promptly dodged, again and again, ducking and rolling out of their immediate direction.
His heart pounded in his chest, he could hear the blood rushing in his ears like a raging river passing through his mind, and he suckled in adrenaline fueled breaths as he tried to stabilize himself, catching a glimpse of the frazzled Dewdrop.
Dew has impeccable aim.
He’d have to change that.
Standing up straight he spun and waved his wand around the air before pointing to the ground, and immediately the courtyard was filled with a thick plume of lavender fog.
Ifrit and Aether backed up to get out of the way of the fog before they got lost or caught in the crossfire.
Through the dense fog, there were bursts of light seen, and wayward spells escaping upwards and towards the old marble statues, knocking loose pieces off and sending them flying. Suddenly, without warning, Dew shouted. “PULSATE RETRO!” and Harlan was sent flying out of the fog, his back hitting a stone guard, its weapon tore through his uniform and he made a strangled noise of pain.
Aether nearly ran to help but he was yanked back by the collar of his cloak by Mountain who shook his head. “Don’t–”
“But–”
“Let him get up.” Mountain clung to the back of Aethers cloak still to ensure he didn’t try to run off again as they watched anxiously for Harlan to get up while Dewdrop busied himself trying to rid the courtyard of the fog.
Harlan slowly forced himself to his knees, red seeping into the white fibres of his uniform as he groaned and looked up, his vision blurring as the fog itself cleared. He dug his fingers into the soil under him as he huffed and sucked in a pained breath. He was quick to grab his wand, and did a haphazard version of the spell he’d used earlier. Helios . A blinding flash of light emitted from the end of his wand, which stunned all present in the courtyard.
A light so bright, it put the moon to shame in her incandescent effort to light the way for the nightowls and other nocturnals that roamed the land.
Harlan took the opportunity to wave his wand in criss cross action as he got closer and closer to Dewdrop, his own concoction of a knockback spell. Criss, cross
Criss, Cross
All the way until he’d backed Dewdrop into the brick wall that surrounded the courtyard. In one swift motion he’d picked him up by the front of his uniform with a foreign amount of strength and pinned him a foot off the ground, up against the wall.
The look of fear in the cocky little imps eyes was the first sign of genuinity he’d seen on the brats face since the semester started. Dew’s wand fell to the ground from trembling hands, and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Harlan’s icy gaze
Harlan holstered his wand and raised his hand above his head, slowly curling his fingers into his palm one by one as a count down.
5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
His knuckles cracked as he balled his hand into a fist and he wound back, swinging at him.
“I yield!” Dewdrop finally shouted.
Harlan’s fist stopped centimetres from his face, an impressive feat of restraint. After a few moments he dropped Dewdrop back to the ground and took a few steps back at his shaking form, and shifty gaze.
A pathetic display.
Harlan tsked and flashed a look to Ifrit before he turns and rejoins his group, taking his cloak back from Mountain and fastening it over his shoulders to cover the wound that continued to bleed as the three of them left, leaving Dewdrop and Ifrit alone in the courtyard
The duel was resolved, Harlan was the winner.