The Dawnvel Druids

By William Collins

For fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and the Dresden Files. 

As a druid, seventeen-year-old Simone Singh lives by three rules: gargoyles must be destroyed, her identity remains secret, and she can never attempt dark sorcery. Only now the number of gargoyles are growing, her identity has been uncovered and her best friend has been murdered by dark magic. 

Simone and the damaged oddballs she calls friends pretend to be normal students at Dawnvel Academy, but are secretly gargoyle slaying, wand-wielding druids, who occasionally time travel.

On the same day her clan leader is killed, the new boy at Dawnvel, Bobby, sees her slay a gargoyle. Simone soon learns the hapless Bobby is a druid too, he just doesn't know it. She decides to train Bobby whilst she leads the clan, which includes the tormented ex-boyfriend she might still be in love with and the pansexual party girl who has always loathed her. Worse, the dark druid is trying to knock them off one by one. 

As she hunts down the killer hiding amongst them, Simone and Bobby's friendship begins turning into something more, before Bobby displays signs of dark magic himself. She can't believe anyone she cares for could be the dark druid, but the killer can only be someone she knows and trusts. Her own life and everyone she cares about is at risk.

Told from the dual viewpoints of Simone and Bobby. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: William Collins
• Release date: Sep 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393236788

Book preview

Chapter One- Human Problems

Simone Singh threw herself off the bridge and onto the train tracks below, cursing the goblins verbally whilst preparing to do it literally.

The squat little beasts hurried ahead of her in the dark, but she swept her wand high, roaring the spell, "Unertan!"

Green light flashed from her wand, shooting over the goblin’s heads in a stream before forming a solid wall which both goblins crashed into. The enchanted wall melted away as the goblins slid to the ground, dazed.

Simone sprinted toward them before they could recover, seizing the cloth sacks they’d been carrying, finding piles of jewellery inside them both.

You’ve been breaking into houses to steal all this haven’t you? Simone said.

One of the goblins sneered at her as he pulled himself into a sitting position. Duh. If a nun craps in the woods, does it make a sound?

What th...that isn’t even remotely the saying.

Her suspicion had been right. She’d spotted the goblins leaving a manor house minutes ago, wearing amulets enchanted with a glamour charm to hide their true appearance from the humans. But Simone could see through their illusion and the hairless, lime-skinned creatures they really were.

Scando, you idiot, the other goblin snarled, his yellow bug-eyes bulging further. You aren’t supposed to admit it. No, missus, that treasure belongs to us, honest.

Your friend just told me you stole it, dumbass.

Scando giggled at his companion. She’s got you there, Yibli.

Whatever, you’ve been caught, and you’ll both be charged by the Guild. Simone flourished her wand, preparing to stun them before they could run again.

Oh please most beautiful miss, Yibli cried. Let us off with a warning, yeah? We promise we won’t do it again. We’ll go straight back to the sewers where we belong. How about you keep the treasure for yourself as a-

Simone whirled a second too late. Whilst Yibli distracted her, Scando had gotten to his feet. She’d taken his eyes off him for one second, but that was enough for him to lunge and bat the wand from her hand.

Both goblins hooted with glee as they moved to attack, ripping curved black daggers from their belts.

Simone careened back as they both tried to disembowel her, before dropping into a fighting stance as they flanked either side.

C’mon Scando, let’s hack her pretty little head off.

Yibli charged her, but she ran to meet him, driving her boot into his stomach before slamming her elbow into his long, pointed nose with a nauseating crunch. Even as Yibli reeled, grey gore spraying from his face, Simone was already hitting a spinning back kick to Scando’s knee, forcing him to all fours.

She ran to scoop up her wand but as she turned back, she froze. The tracks beneath her feet were vibrating.

"Tilin," she roared, swiftly stunning both goblins into unconsciousness, something she should’ve done right from the start. Damn it, still acting like a rookie, Lana would never let her live it down if she found out.

The oncoming train let out an ear-splitting screech and the tracks trembled violently beneath her now. A light bloomed in the dark beyond. In moments, all three of them would be nothing but smears.

She hurried to the goblins and hauled their stunned bodies off the tracks, flinging herself against the far wall a second before the train hurtled by. The metal leviathan smashed past in a blur, only inches from her face as its scream caused her whole body to vibrate.

The train’s screech faded to leave an eerie quiet, her heavy rasps the only sound. Simone sagged against the wall, trying to catch her breath as it spiralled around her in the cold night air.

Once she’d regained some of her composure, Simone used another spell to tie the goblin’s together, back to back. She kept them leaning against the wall and off the train tracks, safe from a splattering. 

Finally, she lifted her wand and cast a beacon spell into the sky. One of the London clans could deal with the goblins now. It was time for her to finish what she’d come here for in the first place.

*

Most seventeen-year-olds would be with their friends on a Friday night, or hanging out with their boyfriends or girlfriends, but Simone was stuck scoring drugs for her magically cursed father. Plus, she had no boyfriend to speak of anymore, although she still had feelings for the idiot.

She loitered in one of London’s dark alleyways, feeling like the low-rent criminal she technically was right now. She’d been on her way here when she’d spotted the two goblins.

The city’s pollution hung thick in the air, mingling with the damp from the recent rain, and the sounds of traffic were a constant drone. She pulled her jacket tighter around her, thinking about leaving. Her contact was late.

Simone tried not to think about normal teenagers, no matter how much she wanted it, that kind of life would never be hers. She probably wouldn’t even make it to her twenties, the odds weren’t good when you regularly battled beings from Otherworld.

She was beginning to regret going elsewhere to get the Orachun powder. She thought dealing with regular people would be the safer option. Surely anything was better than making deals with orcish gangs again, but at least she knew how to deal with those brutes.

She’d teleported to London early, so she could check for signs of a trap, but chasing down the goblins had cost her time.

No one else knew she was here.

Simone froze as the unmistakeable click of a trigger sounded behind her. Someone chuckled as the gun grazed the back of her head.

Oh, for Camelot’s sake. Tonight was supposed to have been a quiet ordeal, not a series of mishaps that could’ve seen her gutted by goblins, mowed down under a train and now getting a bullet in her skull.

Blood roared in her ears and a wave of nausea hit her. In her line of work, she encountered swords, fangs and claws, not the human weapon of choice.

Don’t move! The stranger’s voice was abrasive, but curiously calm. I don’t want to blow your pretty head off for a few hundred quid. Hand it over, and I’ll let you go.

Her legs trembled as she struggled to stand still. The urge to run was overpowering. What if he panicked and shot her?

Simone was stronger, faster and more durable than any regular human, plus there was the whole magic thing, but not even that could save her from being shot in the head.

Stupid, silly girl.

The money wasn’t the problem. Her dad needed the Orachun to cope. Simone didn’t know what he’d do without it. She couldn’t risk losing him, not after Mum.

But if this dealer was robbing her, did he even have it? What did he say his name was in the texts? Jason, that was it.

Listen, Jason, she said frantically. I really need that Orachun. Don’t do this.

Jason laughed once more. I’m the one in charge here. I hadn’t heard of this new gear till recently, but from what I gather it’s right rare. I think I’ll keep hold of it until a richer buyer comes along.

Whilst he talked, Simone slowly delved two fingers up her sleeve, seizing her wand handle.

Now, Jason snarled, give me the money and I’ll only knock you out. Keep on talking and I’ll blow your brains out.

She ripped the wand free from her pocket and flung it up even as she threw herself to the ground and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Arvundyn."

Blue light pulsed from her wand, blinding Jason. He fired the gun in a panic, but she’d already dropped to the floor. The gun exploded above her, the sound piercing her ears and the bullet bouncing off the walls.

Simone leaped to her feet, lashing out with a kick to Jason’s chest. The thug fell back, throwing a punch which she blocked easily before lunging forward to deliver a sickening headbutt. She felt his nose crunch as her skull smacked into him and he crumpled to the ground.

"Caringa," Simone hissed, waving her wand once again, causing a cloud of blue vapour to seep out. The vapour swept over Jason’s face and once it took hold he would be enchanted to do whatever she commanded. The vapour evaporated however, another spell blocking it. Jason was already under a hex. Someone else had forced him to kill her? She noted his glazed over eyes, a sure sign that he’d been enchanted.

Simone looked up sharply, scanning the end of the alley and the buildings above in case the enchanter had come to watch her die. The spell could only have been performed by another druid. But who would want me dead?

She pressed her hand flat on the ground, drawing on the earth for extra strength as she removed the enchantment. If she didn’t Jason would keep trying to kill her, until Simone killed the moron first.

"Erumt." She cast the truth spell before demanding, Who hexed you? What did they command you to do?

I don’t know who they were. They wore a hoodie and a hat. Jason rasped robotically. They just told me one thing...kill you.

Simone had to stop herself from kicking the wall in anger. Instead she enchanted him once more. Jason looked up at her with a vacant, dreamy expression as soon as the blue vapour melted into his skin.

Forget any of this happened, she ordered. Now, go to the nearest police station and tell them you’re a drug dealer who also carries a gun.

She picked up the gun and placed it back into his hand. As Jason got to his feet, she frantically rifled through his pockets.

Thank Boudica, she gasped, pulling out the packet and checking the purple powder was inside. There was enough there for Dad to mix in his drinks for a month. She had no idea how Jason had come to possess the supernatural narcotic, and she didn’t care. All that mattered was that Dad would be okay.

The remnants of her spell faded and Jason got to his feet, ignoring the blood streaming from his nose. He walked away mechanically, on route to hand himself in. 

He’d only been a few years older than her. Such a waste. Although, she wasn’t one to talk when it came to breaking the law. The elders would excommunicate her and Dad if they knew about his problem. Simone just hoped none of her clan had noticed her sneak out.

She stuffed the packet in her jacket, before retrieving the rune stone from another pocket and preparing to teleport back to Dawnvel, where hopefully she could find out who was trying to kill her.

Chapter Two- The Perfects

There was something terribly wrong with Dawnvel. Bobby only arrived at the academy yesterday, yet he’d already heard a dozen horror stories from the other students.

He stood tentatively by his bedroom window, gazing at the sky as the sun died slowly. He hadn’t been able to relax since he arrived.

The dormitory block was at the far left of campus, so he had a great view of the whole college. Dawnvel’s grand castle stood on the biggest hill he’d ever seen, leering over the town beyond. It was a brooding brown fortress, the rock weathered and crawling with ivy. The castle looked older than Dawnvel’s medieval town itself, like it should’ve crumbled into dust long ago and was chock-full of vengeful ghosts. Bobby didn’t know if it was ghosts bumping off the students, but he wasn’t writing anything off, not after what he’d seen on his train journey here.

He pulled out his old, battered phone the orphanage janitor had been kind enough to give him a year ago and reread the article for the umpteenth time. He’d looked up Dawnvel academy as soon as he’d been offered a place. It was the only bad review of Dawnvel he could find, but he suspected the others had been deleted, some sort of government conspiracy perhaps.

He'd kept telling himself the article simply couldn’t be