by Robbie Cox
Selina nodded, speaking for the first time. “I had heard something happened over in the Bottoms, but I never knew what it was. Why would a man want that neighborhood? It’s pretty rundown.
Kayla gave a weak smile. “Well, the part you didn’t hear is that Bertram Leary was more than just a man. He had powers of his own, although I never discovered what he actually was. He was, however, working with some pretty evil creatures: dark elves, gargoyles, even his sister was something other than human, a merrow, who ate humans. They wanted to open a Gateway into their own world, a place called the Nether, and to do that, they needed a sacrifice. The people of Feather Lakes were to be that sacrifice. Our coven, along with some others, stopped him. I went into the battle because everyone expected it of me, but I didn’t really believe I could do anything. I mean, I had performed minor spells up until then, but this was something totally beyond all of that.” She smiled, remembering that night. “Alex was with me, and when the fighting started, I did what he did, and magic power burst from the palms of my hands. I was shocked, to say the least, but we kept fighting. Eventually, we won, but several who fought that night died, including one of our own, Rose Tillery.”
“Holy shit,” Selina whispered as she glanced over at Cherise. “I’ve definitely not been in a battle like that.”
Cherise cocked an eyebrow at Kayla. “So, you have met the faerie realm? That is…rare.”
Kayla gave a weak smile. “It kind of shoved itself onto us. Some of it is fun. Other parts, not so much.”
“And what does your friend, Alex, think of you leaving his coven?” Cherise asked.
Pain gripped Kayla’s heart, squeezing it. “Alex died,” she said simply. “In a different battle.” But she knew Alex would hate the fact she was leaving Tansy and the others. He always saw them as family, and family stuck together no matter what.
“Oh dear,” Cherise said. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She took another sip of her tea, licking her lips when she finished. “Tell me about this other battle.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tansy sat, cross-legged, in the middle of the floor of the back room of The Murky Cauldron. The others—Wanda, Jayden, and Regina—joined her in a circle, legs also crossed, hands on their knees as they watched her. They were a small group, but still strong. These women, at least two of them, had stood by her no matter what and were ready to continue the journey. The third, Regina, wanted to walk that journey with them, as well. Tansy had hoped after seeing Laci on Monday, the young witch would join them again, allow them to help her with her new powers as a necromancer. Maybe in time.
Jayden seemed surprised when she saw Regina in the shop at closing, but welcomed the new girl with a hug before everyone made their way to the back room.
“As Regina is new to magic, I thought teaching her how to cast a circle would be a good place to start,” Tansy said, rubbing her palms against her thighs.
Regina cocked an eyebrow at her. “A circle?” She sighed, a look of disappointment covering her face.
Tansy wanted to shake her head, but refrained. The young woman seemed in too much of a rush to practice magic, which worried Tansy. “Circles are important. They’re barriers of energy that help us protect something within the circle or keep other things out. It functions like a shield, a ward against negative energy and spells.” She smiled at Regina. “Trust me, not everyone who uses magic practices it for good. You need to learn how to do this before casting spells, just like the centering exercise I taught you Sunday.”
Wanda nodded. “It’s all about foundations. You must have a strong base upon which to build. You cannot run until you’ve learned how to walk.”
Jayden laughed softly, shaking her head. “You should just go with it. They won’t teach you anything else until you learn the basics.”
Regina sighed again. “Fine. How do I make a circle?”
Tansy tried to give her an encouraging smile. “It’s actually pretty easy. I’ll even let you do it. So,” she took a deep breath, “first you have to center yourself, like I showed you.”
Tansy could see the hesitation on Regina’s face, perhaps not believing her, or still impatient to get to the fun stuff. Problem was, with the fun stuff came some dangerous stuff, as well. “Perhaps we should all do it,” Tansy said. “It’s always good practice.”
Everyone closed their eyes and took a deep breath. Tansy stared at Regina as the girl performed the centering ritual, drawing the earth’s power into her core. What was it about Regina that drove her to want to perform magic so badly? Something motivated her, and Tansy needed to discover what it was and soon.
Once they finished with the Centering Ritual, Tansy told Regina to stand up. “Now, I want you to close your eyes and take three deep breaths. Once again, reach down into the earth, drawing its energy into yourself.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Sherri hid in the back corner of her mind, watching and listening as the witch—Tansy—instructed the usurper in magic. Sherri realized now what Regina wanted—Sherri’s body.
“Imagine that power flowing down your arm,” Tansy instructed. “Allow it to flow out of your fingers as you point to the ground.”
Sherri stood in the dark corner, out of Regina’s attention. The usurper was so focused on doing what Tansy said that she didn’t notice Sherri doing the same thing. She would not go down without a fight, and if these witches could somehow show her how to protect herself, then Sherri planned on paying close attention.
“Now, walk in a slow circle around the rest of us,” Tansy continued, “picturing your energy flowing out of your fingers to the ground, ribbons of power forming a circle until you picture the two ends meeting.”
Sherri did exactly that in the darkness of her mind, creating the barrier inside as Regina created it outside. Sherri was not sure if she performed the ritual right or not, or even if she could, since she wasn’t exactly sure she could practice magic inside her head. Still, she would try anything to keep Regina from taking hold of her body permanently.
Tansy continued her instructions. “Once the two ends have met, you need to picture that energy flowing upward to form walls around us, over the top of us, and even under us. Encase us in your shield, and nothing will make it through. No negative energy. No magic. Not even a person can cross that shield. And nothing can escape. If we were to perform a spell inside this shield and it went wrong, nothing would escape to cause harm in the world. This is your safe place.”
Sherri closed her eyes, doing exactly as Tansy instructed Sherri, spinning in her own small circle until she had the ends meet. She then did the next step, envisioning walls of energy growing from the floor of her mind, stretching up and over, until a small bubble of protection settled around her. She was safe. Regina could not get in to harm her again.
But then, she realized, she would not be able to get out to recapture her body, either.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tansy watched as the younger woman stood in the middle of the back room, her arms extended, ribbons of power flowing from her fingertips to create the bubble around them. Light danced around the room from where Regina still didn’t have complete control of the little bit of power she had learned so far. Still, she managed it, and that surprised Tansy. Pleasantly, but still, it surprised her.
As Regina finished the shield, the bell over the front door jingled, turning everyone’s attention in that direction. Apparently, whoever was the last one inside forgot to lock the door which is why Tansy added the bell in the first place.
“Hello,” Tansy called out as she started to rise, forgetting about the Circle Spell they just did. “I’m sorry, we’re closed for the night.”
A couple of seconds later, everyone’s eyes went wide as Laci walked through the doorway to the back room. “Should I come back tomorrow then?” Laci asked, grinning.
Everyone shoved themselves to their feet in a rush, and Tansy had Regina dissolve the magic circle quickly, so they could embrace their lost coven member.
Jay
den, of course, was the first to reach Laci’s side, throwing her arms around her sister and embracing her tightly. “I thought you weren’t coming back?”
“Oh, dearie, it’s so good to see you again,” Wanda said as she placed her hand on Laci’s back, rubbing it up and down. “Twice in two days; I could get used to this.” She smiled at Laci. “We have definitely missed you here.”
Tansy stood to the side a moment, allowing the others a chance to say their hellos without smothering Laci. The young witch was finally able to pull herself away from her sister and gave Wanda a hug, then reached out to Tansy and drew her in for an embrace, as well.
“Recent events have made me realize I can’t just walk away from who I am, no matter how hard I try.” Laci stood, hands slipped into her back pockets. She gave a sheepish shrug. “That is, if you’ll have me back.”
Tansy smiled, placing her hand on Laci’s upper arm. “Sweetie, we’re family. You’ll always have a place here. Always.”
“Well, of course, she would,” Wanda said with a tsk-tsk tone. “Why would you even think you wouldn’t? Someone has to keep your sister in line, after all.”
“Hey…” Jayden huffed, but still kept the smile on her face.
Laci looked past them to where Regina stood, arms limp at her sides. “Seems you have a new member,” she said as she studied the unfamiliar girl.
Tansy turned after noticing the pinched brows on Laci’s face, wondering what she saw in the other woman. “Laci, meet Regina Hawthorn, our newest initiate. She joined us just a couple of days ago, looking to explore the healing powers of magic.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Laci stretched her arm out to shake the other woman’s hand. “Pleased to meet you,” she said. “You won’t find a better group than these ladies right here.” She ran her gaze over the other woman, trying to figure out what she was seeing. Regina’s aura wasn’t a solid definition, but rather almost like there were two auras encircling the woman, one a bright orange, and the other more of a murky gray, like muddy water. Laci had never seen an aura like that before and made a mental note to ask Tansy about it later. Right now, Laci was just happy to be home. “So, what have I missed so far?”
“Oh, you know us,” Wanda said, waving the question aside. “Always boring as ever around here.”
Laci nodded. She wished her life was boring.
Twenty
“It still doesn’t make sense,” Laci said with a burst of breath. “I can’t just do what I did before when I don’t even know what I did.”
Nazareth leaned back against the wall, his arms over his chest, one hand holding his flask loosely. “But you told me what you did, remember? You said, you glanced back, saw the lines, made a bridge, and took a walk.” He shrugged. “So, do it again.”
Laci blew out a frustrated breath. “There are no lines for me to see. How do you expect me to build a bridge?” This was getting them nowhere. Nazareth had came over first thing that morning to help her reach the Dream Realm, something Laci did not even know existed before he showed up. If she was to help him defeat Tharon, then she would need to step into that realm in order to do so, something Nazareth kept saying over and over, but for which he had yet to give her any instruction on how to do it. He just stood there, sipping his whiskey, and telling her to try again. She was ready to shove that flask up his…
“You don’t need to see a line,” he said, with a tone that told her it should have been obvious. “Just picture where you want to go and then go there.”
“And how do I picture a place I’ve never seen?”
He cocked his head at her. “You’ve never seen your dreams? Not once?”
She sighed. “Well, of course, I’ve seen my dreams, but…” She paused, hands on her hips. “Are you saying my dreams allow me access to the Dream Realm? But how?”
“Didn’t you tell me Tharon already met you in your dreams once? What did you see?” He waved the hand with the flask as if discounting part of what he just said. “I mean, outside of the dream itself. What was different about it?”
She stood still a moment, staring at the wall as she tried to recall the dream she had the other night about her father. It was more a memory, really, but she had drifted off to sleep while remembering, so it turned into a dream, she supposed. “Everything seemed normal at first, but then I heard Tharon. He was there, talking to me, and I could talk back to him. I remember glancing back at the table, and the dream was still happening; my younger self sitting at the table, my dad helping me with homework neither one of us understood. It was like I was there, but in two distinct ways, my younger self and me as I am now.” She cocked her head a little as she glanced over at Nazareth. “How is that possible? It didn’t work that way before. When I went to the Summerlands, my whole body went. This was more like an image of me or something.”
He grinned at her, shrugging again. “That was you using your power, stepping out of your dream and into the Dream Realm. Something like astral projection. Your true essence left your body. You just didn’t know you did it. It was just like when you created that first bridge to the Summerlands. It came naturally.” He pushed himself off the wall with a bump of his ass, screwing the cap back on to his flask, and slipping it into his coat pocket. He walked over to a chair around the kitchen table, and spun it around to Laci, nodding for her to take her seat. “Here, sit. Let’s try daydreaming again, shall we?” He smiled at her as he waited.
Laci stared at the chair a moment, not sure she really wanted to attempt what he asked of her. After a moment, she let out a sigh and walked over to the chair, turning and sitting down. “And what do I daydream about?”
“Maybe think of your father again,” Nazareth said. “It seemed to make it easier last time. This time, however, just before you slip into a deep sleep, try to step into your dream, separate yourself away from your dream self and look about.”
“All right,” Laci said. “Say this idea of yours works; how do I leave my dream to enter someone else’s? How do I get into this Dream Realm you keep talking about?”
“Walk away from your dream.” He stood in front of her, arms over his chest as he stared down at her. “The further away from your dream you go, the more things about you will change. You’ll see something like a blurry blackness surround you. Inside you’ll hear the voices from other people’s dreams.” He shrugged. She hated when he shrugged. It seemed so damn condescending. “Follow the voice you want to visit, and it will lead you to their dream. From there, you become an observer, unless you speak to them. The moment they hear your voice, you become a part of their dream. Let’s try not to make ourselves known, eh?”
Making herself known to people was the last thing Laci wanted. She pressed her legs together, resting her hands palms down on her thighs. She nodded, taking a deep breath. “All right. Daydream. I can do that.” She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Picture Dad. Nazareth said to picture my dad and step into the daydream. She brought up the last image of her father she remembered. It was the day before she ran away. Her father was out in the garden, weeding the area around the crotons that lined the front of their house. He always took such pride in his gardens, loving to work with his hands in the soil. It could have very well been where Laci developed her witchcraft from, since many witches worship nature. Laci went outside to attempt to convince him to allow her to attend a party Jerome told her about, nervous, because she already expected her father to refuse. He didn’t care for Jerome.
In her daydream, Laci paused a moment, watching her father, his sturdy hands turning up the soil, pulling weeds and digging up buried stones. He seemed so happy, his dark brown eyes revealing the peace and joy he received when working with his hands. He even whistled an old Nat King Cole tune as he worked, kneeling on the ground, his powerful back arched as he worked, content with his life. It was a memory Laci held close to her heart during the next eight years of the nightmare she endured.
Laci felt the urge to move toward her father, but remembered
what Nazareth told her to do. She felt herself take the first step, and then stopped, forcing herself to remain still. Yet, in front of her, she saw herself moving toward her father, watched as the younger Laci knelt beside him and pretended to enjoy working in the ground with him. She never fooled her father, however, and probably already knew she had an ulterior motive.
Laci stared for another moment before forcing herself to look away, turning and looking down her street. Nazareth told her to walk away from her dream, so that’s what she did, even though it hurt to turn her back on her father, even if it was just a dream.
The further she walked away from the image of her father weeding his garden, the more the walls of her dream faded away, replaced by an inky blur. Even the ground upon which she walked disappeared. She hesitated at first, worried of falling into nothingness. With a deep breath, she continued forward, listening to the voices Nazareth told her to listen for in order to choose a path to follow. She strained, trying hard to hear…. And then they reached her ears from all directions. Men, women, children, even dreams of the faerie world who dwelt in the Land Above. She stood there, listening for a moment before choosing the voice of a young woman who seemed off to her right. Here goes nothing. With another deep breath, Laci started toward the voice, trying to pick out snippets of what was being said the closer she got.
“…it’s too high, Jason,” the female whined. “This isn’t a good idea. What if something goes wrong?”
Laughter. Male. “It’s perfectly safe, Em. I checked everything this morning. The cords are taut, the buckles in perfect shape. All you have to do is take a running leap off the cliff, giving yourself a slight push, and the wind will take care of the rest. It’ll be the ride of your life.”
Laci stepped closer, and the inky blur around her shifted, the darkness fading into a bright blue day on a cliff high on some mountain. She saw the couple—Jason and Em—standing on the edge, gliders attached to their backs. Laci could understand Em’s hesitancy. Who jumped off a perfectly good cliff? That was like jumping out of a plane. Stupid.
