The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 6

slow, too ineffective.
“I still can’t move!” Alex called out.
Elias’s teeth glinted in a grin. “Brace yourself!”
The shadow-man’s vaporous arm caught Alex square in the back, sending him hurtling in the direction of the exit. It was just the encouragement his body needed, the icy stiffness inside him shattering upon the impact of the shadow-man’s shove, the strange frost splintering, giving him his movement back.
He didn’t waste another moment. Racing toward the door, Alex yanked it fully open and ushered the other two ahead of him, slamming the thick door shut behind them, just in time to hear a great tidal wave of mist crash against it, the vibrations shuddering through his hands, though he pulled them away sharply.
Even then, Alex didn’t dare take a moment to pause. He wasn’t naïve enough to think that the door would hold back the silver mist for long. It would figure out a way through the cracks and crevices. It would find every single mage and suck the life out of them until they were empty shells.
“We have to get to the others,” gasped Alex, the pain all but gone from his bones. “Can you carry Virgil?” he asked, glancing between the shadowy form of Elias and a panting Aamir.
Aamir nodded. “We’ve got him.”
“We have to get out of here before that mist escapes,” said Alex, though he knew he was stating the obvious. The severity of the situation was clear to everyone present, but it wasn’t an easy thing to process. Though there was no time to dwell on what had happened, Alex couldn’t help but feel foolish—he had been too confident, too sure of himself, and it had ended in disaster. Why he had thought the spell would be easy, he no longer knew. After retrieving the book and passing all the tests required of him, he supposed he had thought his “worthiness” would see him through to victory, but it had needed more. The spell had needed something he hadn’t given it, and now it was up to him to figure out what that missing piece was, while hoping he didn’t make another catastrophic error.
“Well, are we going or not?” Elias asked, his silky voice tinged with a note of uncharacteristic fear.
Without another word, they hurried through the rock-hewn hallway and up the staircase, emerging breathlessly into the private library, which already held so many nightmares for Alex. He tried not to look at the spot where he’d found Ellabell after Elias’s scaremongering, and pressed on past it, out into the wide hallway of the Head’s quarters. They ran through the main body of the school, sprinting over the broken ends of the golden line that had once kept the hallways safe from prying eyes.
Alex skidded to a halt as a pained grunt echoed in the corridor behind him. Snapping his head back to find the root of the sound, he saw Aamir crumple to the ground, Elias sagging as his hold on Virgil was knocked off balance. Aamir’s face twisted in a mask of agony, his arms gripping his stomach. It was a position Alex had seen his friend in before, but this didn’t seem like a curse. No, this was something else entirely.
“What’s the matter?” Alex asked, rushing to Aamir’s side.
“Something… burning… inside me,” he panted, beads of sweat appearing across his forehead.
“Do you feel cold?”
Aamir shook his head. “No… very hot… like I’m… on fire,” he gasped.
Alex turned to Elias for help, half expecting a sassy remark or a shrug of his vaporous shoulders. Instead, the shadow-man dropped Virgil on the ground and swept over to Aamir’s hunched form, allowing his wispy hands to pass through the older boy’s skin. Alex frowned, unsure of what Elias was trying to do. It looked to him like the shadow-man was rummaging around inside Aamir’s body, but it was hard to tell whether the movements were intended to heal or hurt. Alex hesitated, debating whether or not to step in and stop him. He decided to hold himself back and let the shadow-man continue. It soon became apparent that whatever his rummaging technique was intended for, it seemed to be working. A moment or two later, Aamir visibly relaxed, the pain fading from his face.
“What did you do?” Aamir asked, catching his breath.
Elias gave the shrug that Alex had been waiting for. “A bit of this, a bit of that. I wouldn’t want to give away state secrets,” he purred, though it was evident he felt pleased with himself.
“What was wrong with him?” Alex demanded, not in the mood for any of Elias’s games.
Elias sighed. “Some of the mist got into his system—his magic is all jangled up inside him, spreading through his squishy bits like oil on water. He’ll be fine once it all finds its way back to where it ought to be.” He turned to Aamir, who was looking up at him with a pained expression. “Though, I wouldn’t go using your magic for a while, old boy—not unless you want to end up putting on a rather remarkable fireworks display, with yourself as the main event.”
A smile curved his wispy mouth, but his heart didn’t seem to be in it. Though he knew Elias would never admit it, Alex was sure the truth was that the shadow-man was just as spooked by the whole incident as the rest of them.
“How long should I avoid using it?” Aamir asked, his brow furrowed with concern. Alex didn’t blame him; it wasn’t every day a person got told they might explode if they did something that came naturally to them.
Elias shrugged. “Until you feel normal again… Maybe start small, see what happens,” he teased.
“The mist is probably spreading already. We’ve got to go,” said Alex, cutting Elias’s amusement short. “Aamir, I’ll help Elias with Virgil. You go on ahead,” he insisted, nodding toward the darkened hallways of the school.
“You make it sound like I’m a virgin,” Elias purred.
Alex flashed him a bemused look. “What?”
“You make it sound like I’ve never