Issue 78: The Wizard Kamud

The Wizard Kamud is the seventy-eighth issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
Everyone at Alfea tries to go about their daily routine but they find themselves being faced with minor inconveniences occurring much more than they usually do. News of the war on Eraklyon seems to get worse with each passing day which causes Bloom and Stella to become more stressed over their boyfriends. That is until Stella receives an unexpected visit and the girls learn of another plot that the rebels have in store for them.

Plot
The story opens at Alfea, where Bloom comes running into the Winx's dorm, telling them all to save whatever they were doing and turn off all electrical appliances because the power is going to be cut off. Musa becomes disheartened because she will be missing her favorite TV show and Stella is trying to iron out her pants. Obviously, she was not doing well as she just patterned her white sweatpants in burn marks caused by the iron. Bloom wonders why Stella would need that specific pair of pants given how many other pairs that she already owns and Stella claims that they are her favorite pair. Musa jokingly points out how Stella had burned her pants all over but Stella claims that she created an "original design"; one that could kickstart a new fashion trend. Their silly banter is cut short, however, as Flora is still curious as to why the power is being cut off again. Bloom reveals that it is for electrical system maintenance and points out that there were electrical workers all over the campus. Stella immediately lights up at the chance of classes being canceled but Tecna quickly disposes of her friends hopes by telling her that they will save the classrooms for the end of the maintenance check. Musa then realizes that they have a big potions test tomorrow and Stella begins panicking as she has no notes prepared. Tecna scoffs at Stella's "irrational" methods as she believes that having all your notes saved onto a computer not only saves plenty of time, but will also give one a superior edge when it comes to studying. When Stella asks if Tecna is so sure, Tecna proudly proclaims that she has mathematical evidence to prove her words and asks if Stella would like to see it. Stella then throws a pillow at Tecna but misses and the Winx soon find themselves having a pillow fight! Later that day, as the Winx sit through their potions class, Wizgiz tasks each group with following a specific magical formula. Just as he is about to add in the most potent ingredient, the lights cut out! Caught off-guard, Wizgiz had accidentally added an extra drop and the potion begins to fill the class with vapors. He then warns everyone in the class to be wary of the vapors as it would cause terrible itching and soon the class erupts in cries for help and laughter.

A short while later, Wizgiz approaches Headmistress Faragonda insisting that the electrical workers need to hurry up as he cannot work properly like this. Faragonda agrees with Wizgiz but reminds him that even Alfea needs to deal with maintenance checks. She then asks one of the workers when they will be finished and he assures her that they will be all done within a couple days.

The Winx have returned back to their dorm discussing their recent class and, since they do not have anything to do, Musa asks what their plans will be. Just then, Flora had turned their TV on and alerts everyone of the serious story that had just come on. The girls promptly gather around the TV as the news reporter delivers the latest news on the state of the war against the rebel forces on Eraklyon. The King of Eraklyon had been injured in the most recent attack conducted by the rebels who still maintain their support with the neighboring kingdom of Karunda and, as such, the position of commander had been passed down to the king's son, Prince Sky. The reporter then switches out with the newsroom's on-scene correspondent who reports that, despite the prince's young age, Sky seems to have full control of the situation at hand. This is especially thanks to two generals named Guderian and Ranfel who remained loyal to his father throughout the war. Returning back to the newsroom, the reporter states that they are still unsure of whether or not the revolts that have been plaguing the realm can be contained at this point, however, the attempts at King Erendor's life is beginning to put everything into question.

Bloom quickly begins to cry at the news and, naturally, the Winx try to console her as best they can. Stella embraces Bloom in her arms, urging for her not to worry because if she cries, then Stella will start to cry too. All Bloom can say is that she is sick of the whole war and asks when it will all end. She then tearfully insists that she may as well give up and realize that Sky will never be able to return to her as it has been months since their farewell. Stella urges for Bloom not to say such things since Brandon also went back to Eraklyon and insists that both boys will return to Magix to the both of them. Flora then urges for Bloom to have more faith in Sky as the report had just showed them that he is important to many others on Eraklyon who refuse to turn against the royal family, however, Bloom is still hurt by the fact that Sky no longer wishes to contact her. Flora reminds Bloom that things are the way they are now only because Sky's letters could have been intercepted, which would out his location and put him and everyone alongside him in danger. Tecna urges for Bloom to think about his father but Bloom only becomes more upset at the thought of Sky never coming back if Erendor does not pull through. Stella tries her best to console Bloom once more as Aisha confronts Tecna for what she said. Confused, Tecna wonders why she should be upset since they had just heard what happened on the news, but she quickly realizes what she had said when Flora desperately tries to keep both Bloom and Stella from crying. Musa hands her two friends some tissues and, after a while, Flora asks if the two are alright now. Once Flora, Aisha and Musa assure Stella and Bloom that everything will be alright in the end, Tecna clasps Bloom's hands into hers, apologizes for making her upset and tells her that she loves her. Bloom assures Tecna that she knew she did not mean any harm and also tells Tecna that she loves her. All six fairies then put their hands together and promise to be together forever in the name of the Winx Club.

A few days pass but, one night, Stella struggles to stay asleep and gets her housecoat to go out on the balcony for some fresh air. After making sure everyone else is sound asleep, Stella steps out to the balcony and marvels at the crescent moon outside. However, her mood is quickly dampened when she starts thinking that it would be better if Brandon were with her. Suddenly, there is a scratchy noise coming from the below the balcony which naturally causes her to search for the source of the noise. A voice tells her not to make so much noise and, when Stella turns to the source of the voice, she finds that a man had already climbed up beside her!

After getting a glimpse of the face underneath the man's cloak, Stella becomes overwhelmed with emotion and rushes up to the man upon recognizing him to be none other than Brandon! Stella leaps into his arms and embraces him tightly, gradually getting happier and happier knowing that this is not a dream. As Brandon expresses his own disbelief, the couple share a long-awaited kiss underneath the full moon. After their short kiss, Stella naturally begins to bombard Brandon with questions like why he is here and where Sky is. Brandon quiets her down and reveals that he is not actually supposed to be at Alfea right now. In fact, he is supposed to meet with Faragonda in secret tomorrow, however, after being away from his beloved for so long, Brandon admits to being unable of not seeing her now that he had his chance. Stella, while happy that he came to see her, tells Brandon that she is going to have to tell Bloom about this and goes on to ask if Sky came with him. Unfortunately, Sky was unable to come with but he did entrust Brandon with a letter to Bloom, and so Stella goes back inside to wake Bloom up.

Making sure to stay quiet, Stella rushes into Bloom and Flora's room and wakes Bloom up under the promise of having a wonderful surprise for her despite it being two in the morning. Bloom eventually gets out of bed and puts on her housecoat as Stella pulls her in the direction of the balcony while advising her not to wake up Flora.

When Bloom makes it outside, Stella has to quiet her down as she expresses her shock over seeing Brandon standing before her. She quickly asks where Sky is and Brandon lets her know that, while he was unable to come with, he did send his greetings as well as a letter addressed to her. Bloom excitedly begins to open the envelope containing the letter but is stopped by Brandon, who advises her to read it tomorrow, and goes on to warn the two girls that they are in grave danger. He goes on to explain that Sky's father, King Erendor, had been wounded in the latest attack and though his injuries were not severe, he still needs to stay out of the fight, which leaves Sky to act as king in his stead. Knowing this, the rebels will now seek to hurt Sky and anyone he cares about, including Bloom as, if anything were to happen to her, it could very likely distract and stress Sky out even more.

Thanks to their secret service, Sky caught wind of an attack that the rebels have planned and even hired a powerful mercenary wizard for. If the rebels plan on attacking Alfea like they suspect, then they could very well kidnap Bloom in the midst of the attack and hold her hostage to blackmail Sky. Stella is shocked over such a plan but quickly becomes doubtful that the rebels would ever pull such a thing as such an attack on Alfea of all places would cause a large diplomatic incident. Bloom, on the other hand, starts getting nervous and wonders if such an incident would even matter to the rebels. She then approaches Brandon to ask if all this was the reason why Sky refused to write her back. Brandon confirms this to be true and explains, in detail, that Sky had been fearing that his enemies would bring harm to Bloom to get to him. To prevent that, Sky cut off all contact with her and went on to pretend that she did not matter anymore to keep her safe. He goes on to assure Bloom that this is not truly the case in terms of his feelings for her, as it has costed him so much to stay away from her.

Brandon then approaches and embraces Stella as he admits that it had been the same for him too. Unfortunately, he has to cut their reunion short as he really should not have come when he did, but he promises to see Stella again tomorrow in Faragonda's office so long as she acts like she never saw him until then. Stella promises to do just that as she and Bloom watch him descend the balcony and run out of sight.

Soon enough, Stella expresses her excitement over having Brandon back and is convinced that this means that Sky will be returning to Magix sooner than they had expected. Bloom still cannot get over how she finally got a letter from him and, as the two of them make their way back to bed, she reminds Stella of how they need to pretend that they know nothing so Faragonda does not get suspicious. Stella confidently proclaims herself to be a natural-born actress and tells Bloom to just leave everything to her.

Spells Used

 * "Demonikus evokatus nibbia fatalis cavernosus... Monstrum creandum strisciantis Alfea omnia infestasis!" - Used by Kamud to conjure up an infestation of bugs towards Alfea.
 * "...Lure the dark influence; Alfea is free from terror. The undisputed good is back; there is no longer any fear!" - Used by the Alfea Faculty Members to counteract Kamud's nightmare spell.
 * Sound Wave - Used by Musa to blow away Kamud's Troll Slaves.
 * Power of Light - Used by Stella to keep an army of Kamud's Troll Slaves at bay.
 * Flame of the Dragon - Used by Bloom to attack the hoard of Kamud's Troll Slaves.

Mistakes

 * On page 12, Stella's headband is blue instead of lavender in the lower-left panel.

Debuts

 * Kamud
 * Miky
 * Kamud's Troll Slaves

Characters

 * The Winx
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Flora
 * Aisha
 * Musa
 * Tecna
 * Roxy
 * Alfea Staff
 * Wizgiz
 * Faragonda
 * Knut
 * Barbatea
 * Palladium
 * DuFour
 * Other Alfea Students
 * Marzia
 * Miky
 * The Specialists
 * Sky
 * Brandon
 * Royalty
 * King Erendor (mentioned)
 * Eraklyon Generals
 * Guderian
 * Ranfel
 * Enemies
 * Kamud
 * Rebel Forces
 * Kamud's Troll Slaves
 * Animals
 * Kiko
 * Fairy Pets
 * Belle
 * Ginger
 * Coco
 * Milly
 * Pepe
 * Chicko

Trivia

 * The girl who was harassed by the Trix in the episode "Miss Magix" can be seen on the Winx's TV in one of the panels on the first page.