The Battle of Perfecto

The storm was getting worse. Trees were already bending low, several windows from other buildings have shattered. The fountain was overflowing, spilling green water over its sides. Leaves and pine needles were everywhere. The wind was howling like a chorus of demons, the rain like icy arrows from the sky.

Don’s magnified voice broke through the torrent:

“Hidalgo has amassed a number of Ravena—winged men—within his army. Fellows, bolster our aerial defense. I want men watching the skies, get your brooms from Pryce. Hidalgo is coming now.”

Dave, protected from the rain by the Impervius Charm, was hovering above the Centennial Fountain overseeing everything, when Don’s latest announcement shook the compound. He had his own wand out and was also casting protective spells towards the skies. After hearing the disembodied voice, he wondered how he and his fellow wizards could strengthen the defense any more than they already have.

He looked up at the skies. There was nothing there but the rain to disturb the translucent bubble of protective spells they had set up. He estimated that it now covered Perfecto entirely, along with Silang and even spreading as far as Hahn, the Engineering Building and Vath, the Library.

As his gaze fell upon the stairs leading up to the library, he had a sudden stroke of inspiration. He flew down from the fountain and landed at the foot of the stairs.

Before him, mounted against the wall by the steps were the gigantic statues of two men, one held a book while the other held a torch. On a small rectangle beneath the sculpture was carved the words:

“Through knowledge, man has conquered the sea and space.”

Dave smirked. “And through knowledge, man has become drunk with power. And insanity,” he added drily.

He raised his wand and enunciated as loud as he could:

“Piertotum Locomotor.”

For a moment nothing happened. Dave was suddenly worried that the torrent of the rain had overpowered his voice.

Then he heard the almighty sound of rocks grinding against each other. Smiling with success, he barely remembered to run out of the way.

The two statues pulled their weight away from their mounted places and stumbled onto the ground, where Dave had been standing moments ago. When their feet touched down, the ground shook violently, puddles exploded into mist, and cracks appeared. The witches and wizards on the grounds, knocked off their feet by the quake, gingerly stood up and applauded.

With his wand, Dave directed the stone giants towards the buildings of Perfecto and Silang.

“Watch the skies. Swat any intruders like flies,” he ordered them.

*

The ground shook with terrific intensity. Inside Perfecto, witches and wizards were starting to panic. They looked around warily, waiting for the walls to collapse and crush all of them to death. The shakes came with a steady rhythm; it felt like giants were walking the earth.

Don, thinking wildly that Hidalgo had managed to recruit the otherwise docile Kapre residing in Camp John Hay, rushed to one of the classrooms and peered out the window. Then he saw the statues flanking the building, their arms spread wide as though protecting a territory. He also saw Dave, back to hovering above the Centennial Fountain, waving his wand and reinforcing the stone giants with Charms.

He laughed with relief then. Saluting at Dave, he muttered, “Genius!”

*

“What’s wrong?” Junix asked when he found Don Rage staring at a classroom door as though it was about to catch fire.

Before Don could answer, the sound of raptor cries filled the air. Junix and Don Rage stared at the window. It looked like night had decided to come early today, and it was only noontime.

“They’re here,” Don said in an undertone. He pointed his wand to his throat.

“TO ARMS, MY FELLOWS!” he said in a magically magnified voice. Although he was quite sure they were already positioning themselves for a fight. He then pointed his wand to the pillar in the middle of the fourth floor lobby and enunciated, “Dissendium!”

A doorway, much like an elevator’s, opened from the pillar. Just then, a wizard was making his way to the window by the lobby, wand aloft. He wore rings around his fingers, which glinted with electricity.

“Jolo!” Don called. “You and Junix, come with me.” And he led them into the pillar-turned-elevator. After all, Apparating and Disapparating could no longer be done within Perfecto and the ground surrounding it now that the protective spells have been set up.

Though from the outside, the pillar’s dimensions were not wide enough to match three men’s width, Jolo, Junix and Don Rage fit inside it quite comfortably. In fact, there was ample space for the entire basketball team to fit.

The door opened and they found themselves in the middle of the first floor lobby. Since it was still technically midday, the lights were turned off, and the first floor was completely dark. It made the floor seem like a dungeon more than anything. Jolo and Junix quickly turned the lights on, and magically moved the metal grates to seal off the exit leading to the small park and covered court.

“I have very bad news…” Don began, but stopped when the freshly opened lights died. The three opted to light their wands instead. Apparently, the concentration of magic now present in the building was disrupting electrical flow.

The ground shook. Something like lightning flashed from outside.

“That will be Hidalgo breaking the barriers…” Don said. He pointed his wand at the door of the SLU Band’s storage, unlocking it. “We’ll have to move the amulet before he comes through…”

There was another blinding flash from outside. Jolo and Junix looked at each other and then looked at Don, questioning looks in their eyes. “Why?” they asked.

“Hidalgo has managed to possess Jinn earlier,” Don explained opening the door. The interior did not look like the room where the SLU Band kept their instruments. In fact, there were no instruments in there at all, only a small vault. It did not have a doorknob.

“She knows the exact location of the amulet, and how to extract it,” Don continued, stepping into the small space. “I don’t doubt that Hidalgo has already scoured her mind for that bit of information. If he breaks through the barriers and defeats our fellows defending the grounds, he’ll come here directly. We’ll have to move it in case our comrades fail us…”

He tapped his wand at the vault’s door, and began muttering under his breath at breakneck speed. He then turned towards the two wizards waiting behind him apprehensively. They could see that two small holes had appeared in the middle of the door.

“I will need either of your wands, please,” he said, holding his hand out.

Junix eyed him suspiciously, holding onto his wand tightly. Jolo, however, handed his own wand with only a moment’s hesitation (the third flash from outside made him decide quickly). Don thanked him with a nod and went back to the door.

Like keys, he inserted the wands into the holes and turned them. There was an almighty click from behind the door, like the turning of a giant latch. It swung open. Don reached in with both hands and moments later, pulled out a dirty blue pillow. He carried it as a ring-bearer would carry a pillow with wedding-rings. Instead of rings however, on top of the dusty, sapphire-blue pillow was a small triangle.

It was a plain trinket, made of metal, without any designs on its smooth, silvery surface. The jagged edges on one of its sides suggested that it was only the left half of a bigger triangle. It gave off a nasty aura. Jolo unconsciously placed his hand over his heart, as though afraid something might rip it off his chest.

“Hard to believe that something so small, so plain could cause this much commotion…” Don spoke reverently, as though speaking in the presence of a sleeping king. “So small, yet with such power…”

“The power to give its wearer the ability to perform magic without a wand,” Junix nodded, swallowing a bit.

Still clutching his chest, Jolo added in a whisper, “Careful not to touch it, Don. Its corruptive properties are greater than its other half. They say one does not need to wear it for you to feel its evil course through your veins.”

Don nodded. “Jolo, retrieve my wand, thank you. Back to the elevator. We have to move it, now. ”