Chapter six

“…Something’s stirring up in here …”

Honami couldn’t believe her eyes when the freakishly tall man/monster tried to engulf the boy with pairs of tentacles. She was even more scared when the boy erupted into blue flames.

Standing aside was clearly not what a mage would do.

She took a few steps away from the door, whipped out her slender oak wood wand and pointed it toward the floor. Even if this was a moving train, there’s earth beneath all the metal, she thought. Honami took a deep breath. Tonight was supposed to be a half-moon. That’s enough.

With a clear blue blast of light pointed to the floor, she said, “Hail!”

In a few seconds, large wooden roots sprouted from a huge gaping rip on the train’s metal floor. Directing the roots’ movement with her wand, she pointed it to the door. The powerful roots shot straight through and blew the door away from its hinges. Lucky for her, the explosion caught the man/monster off guard.

With that, the boy had enough time to draw a peculiar sword. Honami noticed it. This person was no ordinary teen; the flames had confirmed that a while ago. The boy, still on flames, looked like he was scared to death as he slashed the sword in a very wobbly manner at the man/monster. The blade didn’t hit the man/monster at all, but the flames that spew out of the sword did.

Honami raised both her hands to stop the roots from erupting any further out of the rip on the floor. The man/monster was recuperating from the burns he got from the flames already. She speedily took a Welsh stone from her pocket and threw it at a good distance, right in between the man/monster and the boy that were both in front of her. The Welsh stone, moving on its own accord, formed a semi circle, leaving blue lines of light on the floor. The man/monster unleashed more of its tentacles for the boy, but to Honami’s relief, her barrier worked.

As the barrier was up, the blue flames that were engulfing the boy died out. “WOAAAAAAH! Th-th-that was awesomeeeeeee!” The boy exclaimed even though his voice was wavering and his knees were shaking. He gave Honami a shakey thumbs up and a really idiotic grin.

Honami caught sight of a bleed on his side and she reacted right away, pulling him by the hem of the white zip up jacket he wore, away from the scene. “You’re injured! Come with me. I can heal you up.”

“But,” he said, pointing weakly to the man/monster that just stood behind the barrier.

Honami took a second look at it. Her mind went through a possible spell wave contamination. Then, that would mean a spell caster was on this train. Was it the boy himself? Did he unleash the monster without knowing it? She crossed the idea out quickly, for the reason that this boy reminded her a bit of Itsuki. Don’t be such a bias, Honami, she told herself.

“It’s alright, he won’t be bothering us for a while but first, we need to tend to your…wound.” Not caring what the boy might think, she grasped her wand tightly in her hand and raised the hem of his shirt.

Honami’s heart skipped a beat. No wound. That’s impossible. The blood stains from the supposed wounds were on the shirt… but there was no wound underneath. It can’t be.

She looked squarely at the boy and asked directly, “What are you?”

The boy’s face looked confused “I’m a student.”

Honami shook her head and asked again, “What are you?”

“I’m just really sturdy,” he said, grinning like a little accomplished brat.

“That kind of regeneration,” Honami said. “That’s not normal. The only ones capable of that are mages and those that are not human.”

“Yeah, so what if I’m not?” he said, making it sound like a challenge to Honami.

“So what you’re saying is that you’re not human?”

“SHUSH SHUSH SHUSH!” he said, rapidly putting a menacing finger in front of Honami. He smiled again, “You saved me so I guess I owe you one. I’m part human.”

Honami tried to return the smile. “Believe it or not, I’m used to these kinds of weird. It’s my line of work.”

“Really? Well, yeah. You’re obviously a magician. My name’s Okumura Rin. You?”

“Honami Takase Ambler. Now, tell me Rin. What’s the other half?”

Rin’s cheery face turned serious. “Demon.”

“I see… but you know, that’s kind of common,” Honami replied.

Rin laughed. “I’ve been told.”

Standing up tall and dignified, Honami looked at him firmly. “Rin, I think everyone on this train is on danger. That monster can go for the other passengers too.”

Rin nodded, having a face that was a mixture of confusion and enthusiasm on.

Honami continued, “And I have a bad feeling with the atmosphere. Something’s stirring up in here.”

“You too?!” Rin exclaimed. “I also had a weird feeling about the train.”

The Celtic witch nodded, “But I can’t tell what it is since I’m in a place where there’s not much nature. I’m almost useless inside here but Rin, can you help me warn the other passengers?”

Rin looked like he cracked a wise idea. “How about we tell Shura?”

“Who’s that?”

“She’s kind of my teacher, I dunno.”

“Teacher,” Honami said, flatly.

“Yeah! In Exorcist Cram School!”

“You’re training to be an exorcist?” she spat out.

“Yep,” Rin nodded. “I’m doing it for my dad.”

Honami wanted to laugh. A demon? Training to be an exorcist? She had no right to laugh at his honest intentions. A few years ago, everyone doubted her when she wanted to study an old forgotten magic. Rin was no different. Instead, she smiled softly.

“We have to hurry before something else happens,” she said.

“Alright!”