Spirited Magic: Druid Enforcer Academy, #2

By C. S. Churton

A deadly druid on the loose…
…Means no-one is safe.
Especially not the people who helped cage him.

Lyssa has problems closer to home.

With pressure piling on from all the instructors for the trainees to prove their worth, they're in for their toughest year yet. Between impending exams, a magical combat league, and an instructor out to make her life a misery, a druid with a lethal grudge may just be the least of Lyssa's concerns.

Even if he is her father.

And when her friend's familiar goes missing, no-one wants to believe something sinister may be the cause. But Lyssa knows their bond was airtight, and nothing but dark magic could separate them.

But what kind of trainee has that sort of power?

As tensions at Krakenvale reach new heights, the trainees find themselves pitted against each other—and not just in the academy's fight club. If the familiar isn't found, it could spell the end of not just their careers, but the academy itself.

Can Lyssa and her friends track down the missing spirit and stop the culprit before all their fates are sealed…permanently?

You'll love this Academy fantasy, because of the twists, turns, and magical surprises.

Get it now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: C. S. Churton
• Release date: Sep 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223255482

Book preview

Chapter One

I clung to the cold scaly hide as the wind rushed past me, tearing at my clothes and threatening to throw me from my precarious—and moving—perch.

The dragon flapped his leathery wings, propelling us faster through the sky in a bobbing motion that left me feeling vaguely seasick. Or maybe it was just looking past his wing to the ground blurring beneath us that did that.

I sucked in one last deep breath, let it out, and jumped.

The wind ripped what air was left from my lungs as I free fell through the sky for one long agonising second, and another... and then I thudded onto something solid. The hippogryff I’d landed on clacked his beak, and then beat his wings, carrying us smoothly from the dragon’s shadow.

Good boy, Stormclaw, I gasped in a voice that shook with pure adrenaline, patting his feathered shoulder as I settled into position on his back. Above us, I heard Ava whoop with excitement, and the sound was echoed from the ground below, where a dozen or so spectators were gathered—though I suspected mostly because they wanted to see if I’d plummet to my death attempting the latest manoeuvre me and Ava had dreamed up.

Come on, boy, I said, crouching low over the gryff’s neck. Let’s go!

He kicked it up a notch, sending us soaring towards the spectators—mostly enforcers here on refresher training. I laughed and pushed him on, and he swept down, flaring his wings and tucking his talons under him as we passed so closely over the heads of the gathered crowd I could have stretched down and touched them. They ducked and a startled gasp rose up, then I touched the big gryff to the ground behind them.

I turned him round to face them, then vaulted easily to the ground, with absolutely no shaking in my legs—which, frankly, was a miracle.

A chuckle came from one of the watching druids, and I scanned the crowd until I picked out the enforcer it had come from.

Cody! I said, my mouth splitting in a grin. I took a step towards him, the big gryff following in my wake, and then my smile faltered. Last time I’d seen Cody... well, let’s just say it had been under less than ideal circumstances. I wasn’t sure we were still friends. I wasn’t sure we had been to start with.

He pushed his way out of the ground and hurried towards me, and before I could work out if he was going to punch me or not—I deserved it—he crushed me in a brotherly hug.

Good to see you again, you crazy, suicidal, flying monkey.

Thanks, I said, my grin returning, and I held one hand up to warn Stormclaw back, because it’d be a shame if he ruined the moment by removing one of Cody’s ears.

Seriously, he said in a low voice, not intended for the gathered crowd, I’m glad you’re okay.

I cleared my throat and did what I always did when I wasn’t sure what to say. I teased him.

I see they haven’t taken your trim yet.

Not this time. He shot me a wink. Another year, another assessment, and I’m still the baddest enforcer this side of the Dragonic Canyon.

I think the word you’re looking for is ‘worst’, I told him.

Funny, he said, reaching out a hand to muss my hair. I ducked under his arm with a grin, but he was spared my retaliation by a sudden downdraft. I twisted round and looked up in time to see a massive black dragon touch down to the ground. He dropped into a crouch, and a grinning blonde-haired woman leapt from his back. She stretched one hand up to caress the scales on Dardyr’s neck, and he let out a crooning noise.

Ava, over here! I called, waving an arm. She muttered something I didn’t catch to the dragon, and he spread his wings then launched himself upwards. Several of the gathered druid enforcers, many who’d never been up close with a dragon before (on account of their tendency to eat people) let out sounds of admiration and stepped aside so Ava could pass through their mass. Honestly. Dragon riders got all the glory.

I wrapped her in a hug, and she grinned ear to ear.

I can’t believe that worked, she gushed in her American accent. You were incredible.

Right back at you. Hey, Cody, have you met my sister, Ava?

Well, half-sister, because, unlike me, she had a dragon rider instead of a murderous druid for a father. Some people got all the good genes.

Great to meet you, Cody said, running his eye over her in a way that was a little too familiar. I drove an elbow in his ribs.

"I mentioned she’s my sister, right? My little sister."

Has she always been this quick to resort to violence? Cody asked.

Sisters before misters, Ava said with an unrepentant shrug.

Cody looked from me to her and back again.

Well, you two make one hell of the team. This bunch of knuckleheads are going to be talking about that little trick of yours for weeks. His gaze flickered to Stormclaw. I’ve never seen a gryff that comfortable around a dragon before. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I heard how you improvised a flying cavalry when Raphael attacked Dragondale.

He was one of the few people who didn’t hesitate when saying my father’s name to my face. I liked that about him. Especially after everything I’d done last year.

Hey, Cody, a voice boomed from behind us, and a short, heavily built guy with a few days’ stubble strode over to us. How come you’re keeping all the pretty ladies to yourself?

He made to drape an arm over my shoulder, but hastily pulled it back when Stormclaw snapped his beak at him. Cody rolled his eyes and gave his buddy a shove in the chest.

Ignore Mickey, he’s got all the tact of a warthog. And the sex appeal.

Mickey waggled his eyebrows and I smothered a chuckle.

Lyssa Eldridge?

I whirled around to another newcomer: a guy in his fifties, with short grey hair, a sharp jawline, and steely eyes. His yellow cloak with generous black trim marked him as a qualified enforcer of the circle, but unlike Cody and Mickey, there was no levity to his voice.

That’s me, I said.

That was quite the little display. If I might borrow you a moment? He glanced at Stormclaw, who was prancing restlessly on hoof and claw, and Ava stepped forward with a smile, reaching for his reins.

Why don’t I take Stormclaw for a drink?

Uh, yeah... thanks.

She led the hippogryff away before he could take a swipe at anyone else, and I gave Cody and his friend—who’d both abruptly adopted stoic expressions—a smile, then moved a few steps away with the older druid.

It’s good to finally meet you, he said. I believe you know my son.

I do?

Xavier Thornton. My name is Silas.

Silas Thornton. As in, one of the three High Enforcers of the Druidic Circle? Shit. Was I supposed to salute? Curtsey? In the end, I did neither.

Uh, yes, I do. Uh, sir.

Shit. Could I sound any more dense? I cleared my throat and tried again.

I mean, yes, I know Xavier.

On account of the fact he’d made it his mission to make my life a living hell for the whole of my first year here at Krakenvale Academy. Not to mention putting me in the med wing thanks to one of his cheap stunts to steal my place on the Itealta team. I still owed him for that one.

Silas rumbled a low chuckle.

He gets the same look on his face when your name comes up.

I wasn’t really sure how to react to that, but I was spared from groping for a suitable answer by the high enforcer’s love of the sound of his own voice.

Every young man should have a rival. It’s character building.

Oh. Well, I’m so glad I could serve some purpose in being here.

Oh shit, did I really just say that to one of the three most powerful enforcers in the country? I had to keep my tongue on a tighter leash before it got me in some serious trouble.

Silas just chuckled again.

You’re fiery. I like that. Elias was right about you—you’ll make a good addition to the enforcers.

He said that?

Elias was the head instructor here at Krakenvale, and there were few people whose approval I cared about more.

He did. That’s why I was willing to overlook your little... indiscretion last year.

I flinched. Of course Silas would know all about my monumental cock up at the end of last semester. Was there anyone here who didn’t?

Thank you, sir, I said, trying to regain my composure. I appreciate your trust in me.

Make no mistake, trainee, he said, his tone darkening, it’s not my trust you’ve earned. And if I ever hear about anything even close to the events at Daoradh repeating themselves, I will personally ensure you’re its next occupant. Is that clear?

I swallowed but kept my voice calm, determined not to give him the satisfaction of knowing the effect his words had on me.

Perfectly, sir.

Good. Do your best this year, Lyssa. I’ll be watching.

He gave me a curt nod and strode away. Ava hurried over to me in his wake.

What did Thornton want?

Nothing good, I said. Wait, how did you know who he was?

She side-eyed me.

That’s High Enforcer Thornton, she said. "A better question is, how does a trainee enforcer not know who he is?"

Uh... I take the fifth.

Oh, nice American culture reference, I’m impressed.

Just trying to make you feel at home.

She opened her mouth to reply, then cut off, staring at something over my shoulder. I spun round and saw a portal in the middle of the field that hadn’t been there a minute ago. As I watched, a cloaked figure stepped through, scanned the gathered faces, and hurried over to us, his eyes locked onto Ava.

Dragon Guardian Ava Franklin? he asked.

Yes. A slight frown creased her forehead. I guess she hadn’t been expecting company. Particularly company looking as flustered as this.

The grand council requests your presence. Immediately.

She turned to me and rolled her eyes.

No rest for the wicked. Best not keep the council waiting. Take care, Lyssa.

I watched her leave, whistling for Dardyr as she went.

Lyssa! a voice called, as she vanished from sight. I spun round to see Ryder, captain of the academy’s Itealta team, striding towards me.

No rest for the wicked, indeed.

Chapter Two

"Good morning everyone, and welcome back to Krakenvale Academy, Elias said from behind a podium at the front of the hall. The noise in the room died at once, and Kyle, who was sitting next to me, cut off mid-way through his sentence. I’d say I missed you all, but that would be a lie."

A couple of chuckles rose up from the gathered trainees—around two hundred of us—and Elias allowed himself a small smile. He was a short man, with a pair of scars that stretched from his chin to beyond his collarbone, continuing on beneath his slightly crumpled shirt that he looked no more comfortable in than he had the whole of last year.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m Instructor Marston, head instructor of this academy, but you can call me Elias. For the rest of you, I hope you’ve had a productive break, and are ready to get back to work. You all know the drill: you have nine months of classes to bring you up to scratch before you sit your end-of-year assessments. Attendance is not compulsory, but the instructors don’t teach these lessons for their own amusement. If you want to qualify, I highly recommend you take advantage of the wealth of training available to you here. Fewer than one quarter of trainees go the whole way to graduation. If you want to be one of them, the onus is on you.

I glanced at Kyle and Zara. Fewer than a quarter? That was news to me. But from their faces, I could see it wasn’t news to them. I groaned inwardly. Just when I thought I’d caught up with everything I needed to know, Elias sprung another surprise on me—and made me wonder all over again how I was still here.

That’s enough talk, he said, running an eye over the seated crowd. If you have any problems, bring them to me or one of your instructors. Keep an eye on the new trainees, keep your familiars under control, and have a good year. Classes start tomorrow. Thank you, everyone.

He stepped down from the podium, and I lingered in my seat for a moment. I knew from last year that getting up right now was just likely to get me crushed in the testosterone rich crowd. There were only a handful of women in the room—druidic law enforcement being a heavily male-dominated career path—but I’d proved to the guys last year that I was as tough as any of them, and this time, none of them gave me or Zara a hard time. Of course, with her jet black hair cut in a jagged bob on one side, and shaved on the other, she looked tough, despite being five foot nothing. The combat boots helped remind anyone who didn’t get the memo. I, on the other hand, had a face that was designed to blend into a crowd, and a haircut to match. Not that I’d had much luck blending in with any crowds ever since word had got out that I was the Lyssa Eldridge, but I was working on that.

Are you planning to sit there all day, or shall we get moving? Zara was looking down at me with a raised brow, and I glanced around, noticing the hall was practically deserted.

Er... right, I said, flushing pink and clambering to my feet.

Please tell me you weren’t fantasising about that second-rate Itealta player from the Hornets, she said.

Hey! Logan’s not second-rate.

Funny how you knew who I was talking about, she grinned. And that you didn’t deny fantasising about him.

I groaned. This had been a favourite topic of hers last year, ever since she learned I had a bit of a thing for my former team captain, and apparently, she didn’t plan on letting it drop any time soon.

Let’s just get going, I said. She opened her mouth, and I quickly added, "And no, I was not thinking about him. Until now."

Girl, you should just ask him on a date, or a gryff ride, or whatever Itealta players do for fun in their spare time.

I haven’t spoken to him in two years, I protested as we crossed the hall to the exit. I turned to Kyle for support. Could you please distract her from my non-relationship with Logan?

Uh, sure, he said, apparently as keen to get off the topic as I was. We have to apply for our specialisations by the end of this year. Do you both still want to train as enforcers?

Firstly, yes, I said, as Zara bobbed her head emphatically. And secondly, what do you mean, ‘apply for’? I thought we just had to like... I don’t know, put our names down or something?

Kyle gave me a long-suffering look that I pretended not to notice.

Would it kill you to actually research the career you want to train in?

I shrugged. Probably not, but I don’t think I should take the chance. Everything else round here has already tried to kill me, it’d be pretty embarrassing if a book finished me off.

Hey, Lyssa, a voice called from down the corridor, sparing me from whatever lecture Kyle had been about to give me. Loathe as I was to admit it, he was right—I needed to pay more attention if I wanted to keep my place at Krakenvale. Especially with the whole ‘fewer than one quarter’ revelation.

The guy approaching us was tall and lean, and a broad smile split his face as he caught up with us. There was a stray feather sitting on his shoulder, and another in his hair. I grinned.

Hey, Ryder. Been down to see the gryffs already?

Huh? He spotted the feather on his shoulder and brushed it off with a grin. Sure have. Ironheart is looking in great shape, you did a good job with him over the summer.

Thanks. It was a pleasure.

It really had been. Most of the team didn’t have anywhere for their gryffs to stay outside of term time—me included—so I’d visited a couple of times a day and taken care of them, in between training with Ava.

Try-outs this afternoon. Are you in?

My stomach churned. Last year, after news got out that Raphael was my– well, that we were related, the team hadn’t been all that keen on having me ride with them, and Xavier had pounced on the chance to steal my spot from under me. But a new year meant a new chance to show them I belonged on that team. And a new chance to prove I was better than Xavier, and whatever fancy gryff his father had bought for him this time.

I squared my jaw and nodded.

Count on it.

Excellent. See you in about two hours?

He hurried away, no doubt to find the rest of the academy’s riders and let them know about the try-outs. Was it entirely uncharitable of me to hope he didn’t manage to find Xavier?

*

A little under two hours later, I scrambled up onto Stormclaw’s back, patted his shoulder with one gloved hand, and guided him down to the far field where we usually exercised the gryffs. As we got closer, I saw some of the riders were already gathered and doing some warm up exercises with their gryffs.

Josh raised his hand in greeting and I waved in reply. He was in his final year here at Krakenvale, and back at Dragondale, we’d ridden on the same team for two years. He was one of the few people who hadn’t shunned me when word got out about Raphael being my biological father—either here, or at Dragondale. He wheeled his gryff away as we drew closer, and I hid a smile. It wasn’t me he was avoiding. Stormclaw had tried to take lumps out of him more than once. Succeeded more than once, too. I didn’t recognise the gryff he was riding, but no surprise: I’d never heard of Alden loaning out the Dragondale gryffs before she sent Stormclaw here. The gryff he was riding must have been his own. It looked like a decent animal, and I ran an appraising eye over it and the other gryffs as I came in for a landing.

Ryder nodded my way as I touched Stormclaw to the ground and circled him round. He’d managed to get a decent number of riders to come to the try-outs. I counted nineteen in all, and there were only eight spots on the team. A team that hadn’t wanted me last year. Not because of how well I rode, but because of who I was related to.

But that was behind me now, I reminded myself. And it wasn’t like I could hold a grudge against people who’d been wary of me because I shared DNA with the most dangerous dark druid in living memory. I took a breath and let go of any lingering resentment. I’d just have to prove that they couldn’t get by without me on the team. It was fine. I’d been the underdog before—more often than not, actually—and I usually came out on top. And the fact that they had barely scraped into the top half of the league