He's Too Powerful!

---Aaron---

Part of me wanted to run away. Old Henry was seriously creeping me out. He went from a scary-looking old guy to someone who knew who we are and knew spells. I thought the Elders told us that barely anyone knew them anymore. I thought that we were the special ones, the ones with ancient magic coursing through our veins. Well, the Elders were wrong, because this weird old dude sure knows his spells.

Katherine stood up, one hand on the hilt of her sword. "Wait," she said to Lucian, who looked like he was about to charge at Old Henry. "Mr. Henry, sir, you must be mistaken. What is this about masterminds and spell masters? And the evil lord? What do you mean he's on our trail? We're only just visiting this village."

Old Henry stroked his beard and grinned at Katherine. "Ah, my child, trying to dissuade me, eh? Nice try, Lewis, but it ain't going to work on me." A weird expression flashed over Katherine's face.

"How did you know I was a Lewis?" she demanded.

"I can see it in you, child," said Old Henry. "The same stormy grey eyes, the same fierce expression, even the same way you move and the way you carry yourself. Just like you parents."

"You know my parents?"

"Know? Ha, I was practically their mentor," Old Henry snorted. "A pair of bright, adventurous kids they were. Sometimes took neck-breaking risks that nearly drove me mad with worry, but they were good kids. And now their child is here again."

"Stop. You're distracting us. What exactly do you know?" Rachel cut in.

"I know that you are the Rosewood Seven. I know that you barely managed to escape out of the Academy. I know that you are trying to find the evil lord's stronghold before he finds you. But frankly, you're already failing at that," Old Henry said. "I'm here to aid you by helping you unlock your true potentials."

"Thank you, but I think we can reach our true potentials by ourselves," said Lucian, immediately after Ashley reversed the silencing spell on him. Old Henry trained his eyes on Lucian, who took a step back.

"You asked what the Cookie of Remembrance is. Well, it is exactly what it sounds like—it helps you remember." Old Henry folded his hands and looked at each of us. "Power is derived from your inner self. You are shaped by what you have experienced and felt. The most powerful ingredient anyone can use is memory. I gave you each a Cookie of Remembrance to recover your deepest memories, the ones that you have forgotten—either by choice, or by nature. You will be able to enhance and channel your power from these memories of who you truly are."

I looked at Old Henry doubtfully. I don't know if we could trust him, especially since he knew who we were and had these cookies on hand before we even arrived. The Elders told us to trust no one except each other. Was Old Henry trying to help us by giving us something to enhance our powers, or something to weaken us?

"Who are you exactly? You're not just the old man at the mill," said Katherine, pulling out her sword. "Stop distracting us with idle words. Either spit out the truth or let us go."

"I told you, I'm here to help you kids unlock your true potentials." Old Henry repeated his words. "I don't know about all of you at the same time, but definitely at least one of you seven will leave here a lot more powerful than when you entered."

Before any of us could respond, Old Henry's hand suddenly flew open in Indigo's direction. Something silver streaked through the air. I pushed Indigo to the ground just as a small dart whizzed past and embedded itself in the wood wall behind her. Shiiiing! Lucian, Jason, and Rachel unsheathed their swords, the metallic sound ringing through the building.

"How is fighting us helping us to unlock our true potential?" Rachel demanded.

"There's seven of us and one of you," Jason growled. "Do you really want to see what we're capable of?"

"Oh, how amusing," laughed Old Henry. "But I can take care of all of you with just one spell." Before they could react, Old Henry had stood up and flung a circle of silver darts at us. Clang! Clang! Jason shielded Ashley with his body as Lucian knocked several to the floor and Katherine sent most of them flying back towards the old man. Indigo and I leapt up from the floor where we were crouched and drew our weapons. The seven of us fanned out with our weapons drawn.

Surprisingly agile for his age, Old Henry bent backwards and let the darts glide over himself, harmless. Straightening again, he raised an amused eyebrow at the seven swords pointed towards him and the battle stances.

"Stupefacio!" He shouted as Ashley yelled at the exact same time, "Topplio!" Old Henry had shot a stun spell at us as Ashley tried to make him topple over. The two spells met in midair and exploded in a shower of sparks. Both of them had their index finger pointed at the other. Old Henry stumbled back as Ashley staggered a little. Jason's arm shot out to steady her.

"Impressive," Old Henry said as he regained his balance. "But can you match this?!" His arms were waving complicated runes in the sky as he shouted out incantations. Ashley tried her best to protect us against the spells the old man was weaving, throwing out shield spell after shield spell, but she could only protect us so much. During a lull in the spells, Old Henry attacked. One moment he was there drawing ancient shapes in the air, and the next he was twirling double swords and coming at us full speed.

I was there to block his attacks, along with Jason and Lucian. Together, the three of us tried to push him back. But Old Henry only went faster, whipping out moves I'd never seen before and at a rate I thought impossible. One second a sword would be slashing through the air towards you, the next his other sword would be trying to stab you in the gut. He was unpredictable. We couldn't beat him even with three of us.

I summoned a gust of wind secretly and tried to blow him away. To my surprise, Old Henry spun in a circle and drew an infinity symbol in the air with his two swords. I was thrown back and crashed into the wall near the door. Gosh, that was painful! I lurched to my feet and headed back. I was not going to be beaten by an old man.

Flames appeared in Lucian's free hand. With a flick of his wrist, a column of fire shot out from his palm. Jason sent a burst of ice. The two elements met and a giant wave of water went for Old Henry. It should have drowned him for sure. But again, Old Henry bested us. With another symbol, the tide turned—literally—and sent Lucian and Jason slamming into the wall, carried by the wave. Rachel and Ashley were trying to get the door open with spells and various ideas. Indigo—wait where was Indigo? And Katherine?

A figure jumped down from the top of the stairs, swooping towards Old Henry. A shower of wheat grains poured out from the sack that Indigo was carrying as she swung by a rope around and around Old Henry. The grains battered him, and he was momentarily blinded. Angry, he waved his sword around blindly and one of them sliced the rope that Indigo was holding on to. With a cry, Indigo fell from two stories up, her arms flailing in vain.