Horns and Lobsters

Andy sat quietly in the corner of the Dining Hall making sure to keep his head down and movements minimal. The last thing he needed was to attract another person's attention and get the snot beat out of him again. 
He rolled a tomato around in his salad on his plate, not feeling that hungry. Then again Elliot encouraged him to eat because he had to participate in his first Wide Game tonight and he would need his strength. 
The warlock listened to the chatter of others and their friends about them. It seemed that everyone here had at least one other friend–and then there was Andy.
He was the half demon. The red-skinned devil. He was literally hell spawn. That was reason enough everyone hated him and did their best to exclude him from everything. He got beat up at least a half-dozen times a day, and the bullies made sure to keep coming up with original ideas. The last ordeal they threw at him was endless swirlies in the bathroom.
He still smelled like toilet water. 
Andy flinched when he heard a chair move and someone sit down in it promptly. "Andy, isn't it?" A girl spoke and he looked up cautiously half expecting a knuckle sandwich. 
But what he found was far more startling. Alexandria Timberlen was sitting promptly with a friendly smile and kind eyes. "I have yet to properly introduce myself. I'm Alexandra, you know, the Terramancer everyone hates because I'm just too awesome for them." She leaned forward on her elbows and winked. 
Andy gawked, completely unsure what to do.
Alexandra was insane. She was only twelve, but she was by far the strongest and scariest Elementalists in Sanctum. Just this afternoon she dropped kicked a kid across the arena with an animated twelve-foot granite foot because he called her a brute. If Elliot wasn't around to catch the poor guy before he hit the ground he might have even died. She could flatten a forest just to regrow it with a little concentration. Andy half believed she might even be one of those terrifying Terramancers that could move entire mountains. 
Andy just opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water repeatedly while his yellow eyes darted about the Dining Hall. People were already starting to look over with questionable glances and whispering to their neighbors. "Uh..." He finally managed. "Yes?" He half hoped with an answer she would go away. 
"You're Elliot's protegee." She waggled a finger at him still smiling and Andy cringed on the inside at the fact she didn't show signs of leaving. "I've heard him say you're extremely gifted." 
Andy wouldn't say gifted was the right word. Maybe more like cursed, damned, doomed. "I wouldn't exactly say that..." He tried to draw back inside his trenchcoat like a turtle. He really didn't want any more attention than he already had. And to have Alexandra talking to him. "Why are you–"
"Elliot put us on the same team for Steal the Bacon. We are going to dominate." Her sweet smile turned to a dark smirk and she punched one of her hands into her palm and cracked her knuckles. 
Andy flinched. "We are on the same team?" He wasn't sure he heard her right. 
Her green eyes looked into his own. "Oh yes, we are." She purred darkly and Andy leaned back in his chair. What the heck is Elliot thinking?! I can't be paired with her! She's going to kill me! He blanched just thinking of the terrors. 
"So I was thinking. You should leave the real violent combat to me, but I could really use some flashy warlock magic whenever you think is a good time. I'm talking like curses and jinxes, the whole hundred yards." Now she was waving her hands about drawing more attention. "And I know you're not allowed to use black magic, but that doesn't mean we should not play dirty." 
Andy flinched hearing her talk. Yes, he could do spells and what not, but he didn't want to curse anyone. People hated him enough with him just existing. "I don't think that's a good idea–"
"And don't be afraid to hurt anyone. I could fix them up in a jiffy, well you know, after I destroy them." She smiled real sweet now like the innocent little girl she could have been if she wasn't Alexandra. "Anyway, I got to go back over there with Perseus. He's getting way to into those soft shell crabs..." She looked over to the left with a concerned expression. "And what's the deal with this hood?" She snatched at his black hood and pulled it down even when Andy flinched. "Don't wear that, it hides your coolness." 
And with that she rose and scampered over to her Aquaes friend. 
As soon as she left Andy pulled up his hood to conceal his head and face before another person glanced over with disgust. 
He hated the way he looked. He hated his crimson red skin, his messed up pointed ears, his yellow cat eyes and jet black hair. He hated his black nails and freaking tail. He hated what his mother's blood cursed him to be. 
He hated the fact he was a warlock. She was the reason he was a cursed monster. 
But what he really hated was the way other people looked at him. Andy knew what they saw when they looked at him. They saw the demon, the devil, the monster. 
And every time he looked in the mirror that was what he saw too–a damnation. 

*****

Andy's fingers tightened on the shaft of his training staff, his temporary and current magical weapon, as he chewed his lip in worry. 
Standing next to him was Alexandra dressed ready for battle. Mixed with her jean shorts and green tee was an assortment of dragonhide leather pieces like the arm guards for her bow. A pair of terrifying hunting daggers were strapped to her tights and she was already gripping her enchanted Silverwood bow and picking at the fledglings of her arrows. With her grin and excited eyes, she looked simply ready to shoot something. 
Andy didn't go so hard. He was still wearing his black trench coat, with his hood drawn and clasps clasped in an effort to conceal as much of himself as possible. He had tried to wear black leather gloves, but Alexandra was quick to snatch those away so his red hands were exposed on his staff. 
"I thought I told you not to wear that hood–" She made a grab for Andy's hood, but he jerked away. 
"It's bad enough I look like this, people don't need to see it." He snapped back and the Terramancer hesitated. 
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Look like what? Red? You think that's a bad thing?" She smiled again. 
"Of course it's a bad thing! I'm a bloody devil!" He hissed back trying to keep his voice down to attract less attention. 
"A devil? Devils don't exist, Andy. Plus, devils always have horns and a pitchfork, both of which, you lack." She winked in response. 
But I have a tail... Andy almost mumbled under his breath as he rolled his eyes and looked away. And if you knew who my mother was you'd think different. Everyone would... He thought to himself. 
Andy's mother was none other than Lithe, the only female amongst the higher demons and probably the nastiest of them all (well, maybe Lucifer himself surpassed her because, Lucifer). She was never an angel like the other high demons, but she was still just as powerful. She was the Queen of Demons and Hell itself.
Lithe was also cursed to be unable to have children with souls, so what did that make of Andy?
Elliot had told Andy never to tell anyone who his demonic parent was, for Elliot never told anyone unless completely necessary. Such information was precious and extremely valuable. Such knowledge could reveal secret weaknesses and possible advantages to enemies. 
"Hey, the game is about to start." Alexandra nudged him back into focus. He had been lost in his thoughts about his mother and demons and himself. "Remember the rules and all that?" Andy nodded, he knew them. "And hey, this is about having fun." She elbowed him a little, actually looking a little concerned. "So try to have some fun, alright?"
Andy looked at her a long moment and let his shoulders relax a small degree. "I will." He managed a small smile. 
Steal the Bacon was pretty straight forward, two teams, one plate of bacon in the middle, whichever side managed to take it and get it to their end zone without being tagged by someone of the opposite team won. Yet if you had the bacon and were tagged, the other team tried to steal away the bacon, and so on and so forth until someone actually won.
Master Malfius was standing in front of the crowd of his fellow Sanctum members who were separated onto two sides for Steal the Bacon. The old sorcerer was hunched over in his navy blue velvet robes and his white beard reached all the way to his toes only holding himself upright by his magical staff. The old wizard had to be three hundred years old at this point. The other elders–including Elliot–stood behind him in case they were needed during the game. 
Elliot was another son of Lithe but a million times stronger than little Andy. That, and he was ancient. Andy couldn't even get his half-brother to tell him how old he was, which probably meant he was old. 
Warlocks were biologically immortal, like lobsters. Except unlike lobsters, as they grew older they grew stronger and stronger and harder and harder to kill. Actually, maybe that was true for lobsters. Andy recalled some random lobster fact Perseus shared with him that the older a lobster became the stronger it became. So warlocks were basically lobsters–
"Earth to Andy. We are about to start!" Alexandra's hand waving by his face brought him back to reality. Andy blinked the lobster thoughts away and spotted Master Malfius holding up the plate of bacon like it was some blessed object over his head–the sign the game was about to begin.
Andy stiffened, getting ready to sprint for cover. Alexandra only grinned more as her knuckles went white on her bow and she scanned the other team darkly.
Malfius chanted a charm and the plate of bacon glowed and vanished and all hell broke lose. All at once both sides ran in opposite directions to their sides and take their posts on offensive and defensive positions on their side of the sanctuary.  
Alexandra immediately grabbed Andy by the arm and was dragging him forward while she sprinted towards enemy territory. "Okay here's the plan. If anyone gets in our way we wreck them." She explained while she ran and Andy was too out of breath to complain how terrible of an idea that was. 
A group of sorcerers noticed their invasion and one tried to fire a spell at them. Alexandra was simply too quick. She let go of Andy and threw up one of her hands and a wall of rock and dirt rose before them like a massive shield to take the spell. It fell away right after it served its purpose and Alexandra was running again as if the magical exertion was nothing. 
The sorcerers fell back, howling for some Elemental help, back to their side. 
Alexandra just kept running and Andy was wheezing behind her trying to keep up. 
Andy heard someone yelled a spell from his left and spun to counter it. The charm spat from his mouth subconsciously, like the counterspell was a reflex. His staff tingled with magical energy as a massive glowing shield shimmered to life around him and absorbed the blast of the mere sorcerer's spell who was left stunned by Andy's trick. 
Andy was equally stunned he knew how to summon something as impressive as the shield. He held the sorcerer's gaze for awhile while he gasped for breath. "Andy! Come on!" Alexandra called from a ways away.
Andy dropped his shield with a bat of an eyelash before sprinting after the Terramancer. His trench coat flapped around him as he ran, the clasps slowing undoing and more and more of his red skin being revealed. Andy wore skin tight, black dragonhide under his trench coat as a form of habit. The coat was large and heavy so wearing less underneath was better. But now thinking about the fact he was wearing a skin tight leathery muscle tee and super skinny leggings was making his blush even more red. 
His hood blew off while he ran, exposing his red face, night-black hair and yellow eyes to the world but for a moment Andy forgot about his hood and he forgot about his appearance. He was still thinking about his shield and how amazed he was that he had summoned it all by himself. 
"Okay, Perseus and his partner are going to make a grab for the bacon. We just have to watch their backs and not let anyone get to them." Alexandra explained quickly when Andy reached her. She didn't say anything about his unfastened coat or missing hood, well, almost. "Why don't you take off that coat, it looks heavy and hard to run in." She suggested and Andy stiffened. 
"But–"
"You could run a lot faster and move a lot more." She added. Andy was rather hot and the coat was really heavy. Considering this, he started to shrug off the coat and tossed it aside while making a mental note to get it back later. Alexandra blinked at his dragonhide get up but then grinned. "Suns out guns out." She laughed and prodded him in his rather small bicep. 
"Oh hush up." He almost brought his arms to his chest in an effort to conceal them, but Alexandra started to run again and he had to follow. 
Alexandra was right, he could run a lot faster and easier without his trenchcoat. His legs had room to lengthen his stride and his tail even felt a certain level of freeness Andy never let the thing have. The red-skinned appendage swished back and forth helping him stay balanced and for once it didn't try to trip him. 
Andy grinned and ran after the Terramancer with staff in hand. 
Suddenly Perseus darted out from the woods swearing madly in what sounded like dolphin with a satyr-girl close beside him holding a plate of bacon to his chest while sprinting. His trident was on his back which sort of made it useless, and Andy couldn't help question why Perseus–the guy who sucked at running–was picked to steal the bacon. 
Erupting from the trees was a small army of the other team, including its share of Elementalists. Among the ranks was Moria the Necromancer, Adam the Thermamancer, both of which were huge problems.
"Moria." Alexandra sneered with hatred and knocked an arrow and raised her bow with an arrow with a rubber tip. She sent to arrow flying, which hit Moria square in the forehead and knocked her off her feet.
Perseus ran by, "Please don't let her kill me!" Andy heard him yell before he went back to screaming dolphin swears and running like his life depended on it.  
Moria was already getting back on her feet and she was glowering. Adam hesitated seeing Alexandra with her bow, but he too was advancing and ready to attack. 
The Necromancer raised her hands and the earth trembled before skeletal limbs broke free and undead minions started to rise from the earth at her command. 
Alexandra leaped into action with her own magic. Massive thorny vines grew from the earth and started through the Necromancer's ranks, ripping skeletons to pieces. 
Adam set his gaze on Andy before swallowing the lump of fear in his throat. "So, the Terramancer and the Warlock are the first line of defense." He grinned stalking forward while ignoring the vines and skeletons. He glanced at Alexandra and Moria. Alexandra yelled and a massive hand of earth rose up mirroring her own hand and curled into a fist before crashing down at Moria who just managed to jump out of the way. "I guess I should deal with you so I can go put that overgrown flower child in her place." He cracked his knuckles which glistened with frost. 
Andy raised his staff a little but couldn't help notice his hands were shaking. Facing an Elementalist was not exactly the best idea, but if one was going to attack him he really had no choice. 
Adam didn't give him the first move. The Thermamancer threw his palm up to the sky and the air fell in temperature immediately so much so frost covered the grass. A wickedly sharp and long icicle shaped in Adam's hand that looked an awful lot like a spear. "I'll try to go easy on you." The Thermamancer gave him a dark look and threw his ice spear. 
The shielding spell spoke from Andy's lips and the same defensive wall rose, but this time the impact of the icicle sent spider cracks across its surface. The magic used by Elementalists was Elemental magic, much more primordial and powerful than the magic used by spellcasters, so Andy was already at a disadvantage. 
Adam created a second spear from ice and threw it and this time the impact shattered Andy's shield. 
He was about to summon another when he heard Alexandra yelling at him. "Don't be afraid to be aggressive! Show him who he is dealing with!" She howled now trying to beat Moria up in hand to hand combat. The Necromancer was clearly losing but still fighting. 
Andy tried, he really did, but as Adam continued to advance on him with his icy spears the warlock found himself walking backward and throwing up shield after shield. "If you keep hiding behind you little enchantments this will be even easier than I thought." The Thermamancer gleamed. 
Andy saw the opening when Adam paused to think over just how to crush the warlock where he stood. Feeling only moderately confident, Andy took a chance and howled a charm while flinging his staff outward.
An explosion of magical energy whooshed from the end of the staff at Adam who leaped aside as a blue fireball flew right where he had been standing a second ago and then exploded. Andy didn't even know what charm he had spoken, but it was violent and some part of him liked that feeling. 
Adam looked shocked for a moment, but the expression was quickly replaced with a new determination to stab the warlock in the face with an icicle spear. The Thermamancer sprang forward summoning two spears and Andy raised his staff. 
This time he wasn't going to hide behind a shield. 
Adam threw his spears and Andy bellowed the first random spells that came to mind. One fired off a purple lighting bolt, another a supersonic wave, and another was just a flash of light that actually hit Adam. 
Sadly it did not look like the last and only successful spell had much of an effect. Adam stilled for a moment, looking a little shocked, and then hiccupped a couple of large bubbles. 
Andy couldn't hold in the snicker. The charm was a curse, a bubble burping curse. The warlock covered his grin with a hand and the pale Thermamancer turned rather red belching another half dozen bubbles. 
Alexandra had forced Moria onto the defensive and was currently trying to crush her with various large boulders half-heartedly.
The Necromancer was forced to dive for safety when a massive piece of earth pulled out from under her feet, as if some giant pulled the grass from under her like a carpet, before the earth came crashing back down on her. Yet as good as the fight was going Alexandra was starting to tire from the massive amounts of magical energy she was using. 
Adam snarled something and flung out a hand. Even if he burped an occasional bubble, the magic energy that rolled from the Thermamancer was no laughing manner–it was insane how strong an Elementalist could be when they got angry.
A blast of arctic air hit Andy in the face–that was the warning. Andy barely had time to yell out a protective charm before the Thermamancer summoned a mini blizzard–sending snow and subzero winds howling at the warlock–with nothing more than clenching his outstretched hand into a fist. 
If it wasn't for the charm Andy would have been frozen where he stood. But the charm protected him just enough to survive the worst of the blizzard but not enough to survive all of the Thermamancer's rage. 
Andy brought his hands to his face trying to keep the winter force from freezing his face. He took a breath and felt the insides of his throat and lungs burn from the cold and he was immediately freezing. 
At this rate, he wasn't going to last much longer before he became a very realistic ice sculpture. 
Andy grit his teeth and steadied his stance and managed to hold his staff outward in the howling wind. Amazingly the winds cut away from the staff like he was cutting through the very air. Now without the arctic wind freezing his mind, Andy managed to actually think. 
Spells whispered in his ears in all different magical languages, of which he only knew a small handful. He didn't know which one to say or what they would do or if he even could pull some of them off. 
Freezing, confused, and frustrated Andy let his own magic well up inside of him and in one swift movement he brought his staff down to the earth and yelled, just yelled. He spoke no charms or spells, but magic exploded when his staff hit the snow-covered ground in front of him. 
The force threw Andy to his butt and a sonic boom sounded that blew the blizzard apart. 
Andy sat up with his ears ringing and his head pounding. The ground was cleared of snow and the grass lay flattened around him in a wide circle. Not far off was his staff, no, the remains of his staff. The training staff was in splinters and smoking slightly.
Andy spotted Adam crumpled in a heap moaning and burping bubbles still by a tree quite a ways away. Further away was Alexandra gawking at him with her hand raised. A massive animated hand made out of dirt, rocks, and grass held Moria who had stopped in her kicking and swearing fit to also look at the warlock and Adam. 
Andy moaned and held a hand to his pounding forehead but touched something that was not supposed to be on his forehead. Right about his temple he felt something curving and hard.
It was a horn.
Sure enough above the other temple was another horn, curved and hard as bone. 
Now both hands went to his forehead and cupped around the horns. He knew by the feel they curved back slightly and the tips were quite sharp. 
But he had horns! 
Alexandra's earth hand fell apart and dropped Moria in a pile of dirt and grass and she came running over immediately. 
Adam managed to pull himself up into a sitting position and he squinted at Andy. "Are those horns–"
A wall of dirt rose up behind Alexandra as she ran over blocking the view of the Thermamancer before he could really get his eyes to focus. 
"What the heck– Why do I have horns!" Andy pulled at the things sticking out of his forehead and pulled his head while pulling at the horns. "I thought– I don't want–"
"Hush." The Terramancer got onto her knees and pulled Andy's hands away from the horns. "How interesting." She observed and ran a pair of fingers on one of Andy's horns. "I think you strained yourself by releasing too much of your demonic energy at once, I mean, did you see that explosion? Anyway, I think that resulted in these." She tapped at one of his horns. 
"Are they permanent?!" Andy was on the brink of hysteria. "I can't have horns! I'm already red and I already have the tail–" Andy's attention was drawn to the remains of the training staff which quivered and started to pull together again and change. What was once his staff now shaped itself into a wicked and powerful thing, it was a black iron pitchfork with rubies encrusted along the terrifying looking tri-prongs. "Is that a freaking pitchfork?!" He tried to look over her shoulder, but Alexandra did her best to get in the way. 
"Okay, just stay calm." She tried to avoid the fact a hellish pitchfork was lying in the flattened grass close by. 
"Calm?! I can't be calm! There are bloody horns sticking out of my forehead–"
"What the heck is the meaning of–" The air rippled and in a flash of blue light appeared Elliot. The warlock wore a pressed suit with glittery hues that complimented his blue skin and yellow cat eyes quite well. When he first appeared he looked enraged, but upon seeing Andy his expression went blank.
"Elliot–" Andy's voice wavered and threatened to break.
"Oh Andy, my dear boy, what did you do to yourself." Elliot managed a smile and came next to Alexandra on his knees. "Let me look at you."  
The Terramancer moved aside and the elder warlock looked at Andy with his watering eyes. He could not have devil horns, he already had the skin and the tail and now apparently the pitchfork. It was almost like he was the devil–
Elliot chuckled to himself holding Andy's chin while admiring the horns. "They do look very fabulous, but they are not permanent." He smiled and let go of Andy's chin.
Andy sighed in relief. "Wait, but how long will they be there?"  
Elliot pursued his lips. "Hard to say. You released a startling amount of energy at once and this was the consequence. You are lucky it wasn't anything harmful." Elliot narrowed his eyes. "They might be there for a few days, maybe a week. It honestly depends when your magic levels out once more within you." He shrugged. 
"A few days?!" Andy whined. "I can't have horns for a few days! Do something to make them go away." He hissed fearing Adam or Moria might be lurking nearby. He really didn't need word spreading he sprouted a pair of devil horns. 
"I'm afraid I can't do that. The magic that grew these, uh, it outranks the magic of a warlock. It is demonic magic, and it is a magic that is purely your mother's." Elliot spoke careful, aware Alexandra was keenly listening. 
"And, that?" Andy pointed at the pitch fork. 
"Also the work of your mother. Sometimes a demonic parent will find it entertaining to mess with a warlock's personal life. I believe it is a gift, a new staff that would respond nicely to your magic. However, you need not accept such an offering." Elliot chewed on one of his lips mentioning this. 
"I don't want a pitchfork." His voice wavered looking at the weapon lying in the grass. "I don't want horns– I don't want to be red– I don't want to be a warlock." Now he was starting to sob. 
Elliot pulled the smaller warlock into an embraced and tried his best to comfort him. "Oh Andy, no one ever gets to ask who they will be. We just are who we are." Saying this, he looked to Alexandra silently who looked at him with the same understanding expression.  
"But– It's so unfair!" He sneered suddenly feeling angry. "Why do I have to be a half-demon when other people are freaking Elemental gods!" He regretted it as soon as he blurted it out seeing Alexandra's expression change. The girl rose and kept her gaze away and ran off, her dirt wall collapsing without her presence to hold it up. 
Elliot stiffened and bought Andy's gaze to his own. "Not even Elementalists always want to be Elementalists Andy." He whispered it so only they could hear. 
Andy knew he was right, the Elementalists had it tough. There was Alexandra with her tragic past, Perseus with his, among the other millions of stories of parental deaths and years of confusion and orphanage. Even if the Elementalists were strong, Fate had its ways to keep the universe in balance–terrible ways. 
"I know. I'm sorry." Andy felt terrible for his out burst. "I'm just upset." His lip started to tremble at the thought of the horns. 
"Now Andy, maybe you're looking at this all wrong. I've been in this situation hundreds of times myself and you just have to make the best of it. Now, here's what you should do..." 

*****

Alexandra slouched by a tree to herself. Yeah, her team had emerged victorious from the Wide Game but she was worried about Andy. 
Yeah, she knew he was probably frustrated, but that didn't mean he should just lash out and call the Elementalists gods. Such an assumption was beyond rude. 
"What's wrong?" Perseus settled leaned against the tree next to her, munching on strips of bacon. "I thought we won."
"Yes, we won, it's just..."
"Where's Andy?" Perseus seemed to notice his absence and searched for the warlock. 
"He had a complication," Alexandra muttered and played ran her hands along her braid. 
"You mean he's hurt?" Perseus's eyes grew wide. 
"Not exactly." Alexandra's eyes narrowed suddenly feeling an odd and foreboding magic presence surface.
Other's seemed to notice the force as well, for the lively chatter of everyone suddenly took a cautious and withdrawn turn. 
Alexandra rose off of the tree along with Perseus when she noticed the crowd was parting around a figure in dark clothing who used a staff as they walked. 
"Who is that?"
"Wait, that's the demon kid!"
"Some nerve he has." People muttered about in the crowd. 
"Oh good, I thought you said he was hurt." Perseus sighed in relief next to her. 
"I said he wasn't exactly hurt." She muttered in reply still watching Andy make his way through the crowd. 
The warlock had gathered up his trenchcoat again and had his hood drawn and his face down. He moved slowly and silently, not meeting eyes with anyone. 
That's when Alexandra noticed the staff he was holding was actually the black iron pitchfork. Each time he took a step and placed the staff on the earth again little red sparks flew about around the pitchfork. As he drew closer Alexandra noticed how his lips parted in a smirk and the pitchfork started to glow a sinister red in color. 
Alexandra's eyes narrowed when she realized he had advanced to the group of the three bullies who had tried to drown him in a toilet bowl this morning with swirlies. The bullies stood straight with their chests puffed out and arms crossed over their chests. One was a Terramancer, Bruce, Alexandra thought the name was. He was sixteen and ripped and specialized in lifting boulders with magic. The other two were sorcerers Alexandra was unfamiliar with. 
Yet she did now this trio was notoriously known for bullying the oddballs and newcomers in the Sanctum. They enjoyed picking on those weaker than them to make themselves feel stronger. They had used to pick on Perseus, well until Alexandra put a stop to that mess. 
Many people looked uncomfortable watching Andy striding up to them, knowing he might be asking for a beating. 
Andy stopped in front of the group and stood still and met their eyes. Everyone else backed away making a sort of circle about the four, Alexandra felt a fight on the horizon. 
Bruce's cool expression hesitated when he noticed the glowing pitchfork, but he quickly recovered. "Oh, if it isn't the Sanctum's little devil? I thought you learned by now you are not nearly on my level, demon, or maybe you need some more pummeling to set you straight." Bruce grinned cruelly and cracked his knuckles. 
Alexandra felt her muscles tensed, she was not going to let that brute touch another hair on Andy's head. But Andy simply cocked his head to the left and started to laugh. "No, you're right. I'm not on your level, I am way above that pathetic degree in the food chain." He rolled his yellow eyes skyward while he talked.
A muscle on Bruce's forehead started to bulge and he clenched his jaw. "What did you just say?"
"I don't feel like you are worth me repeating myself," Andy replied.  
Bruce growled in his throat and his two companions took a step forward and made a reach for their wands. 
Andy merely grinned wider and lifted his pitchfork a little, that was enough to make the three hesitate.
What he did next was enough to send them running back to their mommies.
Red flames started to curl over his trenchcoat and hood, burning away the material. But the flames did not harm Andy, they simply rolled over his exterior clothes and revealed what lay beneath.
When the flames curled away into black wisps of smoke Andy was standing right under Bruce's noise in his skin tight dragonhide outfit, red skin exposed, tail flicking back and forth, golden eyes locked on Bruce's auburn, and his horns gleamed. He actually looked like a spirited devil. "Now, flower boy, if you ever even think about sticking my head in a toilet again, I personally, will haunt your nightmares." Andy's voice came quiet but threatening and he held the tips of his pitchfork at Bruce's chin. "Forever." He whispered the last word right in Bruce's ear. 
Bruce stumbled a few steps back and Andy kept his pitchfork focused right at his neck. "However, for the present time, I do have some payback in order." He smirked and red flames started curling over the tip of his pitchfork. "Now let me see..." 
Bruce flung a hand out to the side, lifting a rock out of the earth, that went flying at Andy. Alexandra almost leaped forward, but the warlock reacted just as fast. He yelled out a foreign charm and the rock disintegrated into ash and blew harmlessly by in the wind. "My, my, that was rude. Ah! I have the perfect punishment for that!" Andy gleamed and Bruce took a step back. "Flower boy." He chuckled and his pitchfork glowed a little brighter. 
"No– No please. I'm sorry–"
Yet Andy wasn't feeling too merciful. 
He merely flicked his pitchfork up a little and Bruce's body started to glow and change. His skin turned mossy and his hair into grass. His clothes turned into leaves and flowers, and his legs to roots. He grew taller and his arms reached above his head and started to turn into branches. The transformation continued until a large, mossy, flower-covered tree stood in his place. 
The only sign the tree was a Terramancer was the fact Bruce's mark was branded in the middle of the trunk. 
Andy pulled back his pitchfork and blew off the wisps of smoke that curled over the prongs. "And for you two–" He turned to the sorcerers who immediately turned and fled into the forest. "Oh, fine, I'll find you guys later." He shrugged and lowered his pitchfork. 
Many people stood gawking at Andy and the tree in front of him. Andy sheepishly blushed under all the attention and made the reflective move to grab at his hood that was not there. 
"Damn." Calvin, a satyr boy who was training in the Infirmary to be a healer, spoke out standing in awe. "Andy, that was awesome!" 
"You totally just taught Bruce Elmont a lesson!" Another young nymph girl grinned. "And to think the amount of times he's stolen strawberries from my patch–" 
"He's terrible, and to think you just turned him into a tree!" A very young Thermamancer boy exclaimed, Nathan, Andy believed was his name. "Holy pixies you turned him into a tree!" Now he looked concerned. 
"It's not permanent, it will only last a few hours." Andy laughed nervously to himself. He really did hope Elliot was serious about that not permanent part. 
"How– How the heck did you know how to do magic like that?!" Alexandra found it in her to speak and surge forward. "Do you know how helpful this would have been during the freaking game?!" She found herself yelling. 
Andy put up his hands and retreated a little. "I didn't know how! Elliot just taught me how to do this, well and my training staff could never withstand the necessary power." He trailed off and ran a hand through his hair and looked at his pitchfork a little. 
Alexandra stood for a moment, thinking it over, and it did make sense. "Okay, whatever, but next time we are partnered, you are totally using that charm again." She pointed at the tree with a deadly serious expression. "Dude, do you think I can control him 'cuz he's a tree?!" She turned to the Bruce-tree with a huge smile. 
Andy cringed a little in concern. "Uh, I wouldn't try anything funny–"
"Andy man, you've got to teach me how to do that!" A sorcerer called out along with his other Spellcaster friends. 
"Well, uh–"
"No, you idiots, only he can do it because he's a warlock." A dryad rolled her eyes and the Spellcasters looked to her in surprise. "Like, that makes him way more powerful than you." She added and looked to Andy with a dreamy expression. 
"I wish I was a warlock." One of them groaned in disappointment. 
"I know right? They're so awesome." Another spoke as the crowd started to disperse. 
"I totally hope he's on my team for the next Wide Game," Some Elementalist spoke along with their friends who all agreed. 
"Do you think he could turn Alexandra into a tree?!" Someone called out, probably a little louder than they meant to. 
"Hey!" Alexandra snarled at that comment. "Who said that?" She hissed and searched the crowd for the guilty expression. 
"Oh, shit– Dude she's going to kill you." A sorcerer muttered to his friend who had gone deathly pale.
"Gods damn it, Ethan, I knew that was your voice!" The Terramancer snarled.
"Run!" A group of sorcerers started sprinting and Alexandra growled in her throat. 
"Come back here you noobs!" She howled and started running after them. 
Pretty soon everyone had wandered off in their groups of friends until it was just Andy and Bruce-tree. He turned and looked at what his magic could do, no, what he could do. 
He found himself smiling a little. 
"And you said you didn't want to be a warlock." Someone spoke and made Andy jump a little.
He turned to find Elliot leaned up against a tree with a casual expression. 
"I still don't–" He stuttered. 
"Not even a little bit?" Elliot's lips curled into a smile. 
Andy sighed and smiled a little too. "Fine, maybe a little bit." He made a small centimeter of space between his thumb and forefinger to demonstrate. 
"Mmmhmmm. Come on, let's get out of the woods before it gets dark." Elliot rose from his tree and stretched. 
"But what about..." Andy looked to Bruce-tree. 
"He will be fine, I don't think he will honestly turn back before morning." The elder warlock snickered to himself. 
"Morning? But you said–"
"I know, I know, you should start to learn I am terribly bad with what 'a couple of hours' is, after all, an hour is like a second to a warlock." 
"Because we are biologically immortal." Andy started, trying to make small talk as the two started to walk out of the forest. 
"Exactly, just like lobsters." Elliot winked and Andy gawked at him in surprise. "Oh, you've still got a lot to learn little one." He reached over and ruffled Andy's hair. 
Andy smiled a little thinking to himself. Yeah, so what if his mother was a demon and he looked like a devil, did it really matter that much? No, he was fine with it. It was almost... Cool. He thought about what Alexandra said about him being cool because of how he looked. 
And for the first time he agreed with her.
Maybe this wasn't a curse, but a blessing.