Winter's Awakening (Light Coven Chronicles Book 1)

by Alessandra Jay

  Finally, the last obstacle, the ogre, and he looks bored and tired. I feel bad that I'm having a grand time going through the obstacles, and this poor ogre has to stand here waiting to get challenged by a caster. I want to make him happy, so I close my eyes and think of what ogre’s love. Mud! I will my power to cast a big puddle of mud next to the ogre’s feet, and when I clap my hands, I seal the cast. He instantly drops the rope and cannonballs right into the mud. I pull the rope and the flag falls to my side. The song finishes at the perfect time, and I almost jump out of my skin when the loud blast sounds in the air. I flick my wrist, and the ear buds disappear. Evan jogs up to me with wide and proud eyes. For a moment, I forgot about the silent crowd. Then, I look around at their matching silent and surprised faces and find my family to be the same. I turn back around. “Evan? What’s going on?” I ask shyly.

  He blinks his eyes a few times and clears his throat. “No one has ever finished these relays that fast before. And…” he hesitates. “And what?” I ask eagerly. “Maybe it was the nerves, but you let everyone here feel your power. And it’s addicting, love. Even though I’ve felt it already, it still leaves me breathless,” he says. “I did what? Oh, no. Ava is going to be so upset. I didn't mean to.” I start blabbing. “Breathe. Trust me, she’s not upset. No one here is. You did amazing, Scarlet. What you casted out there was… it was brilliant and done so fast. I'm so proud,” he says, making me feel better. “Thanks. It was so quiet that I casted music to listen to,” I admit, as he takes my hand, leading me to the others, who are all staring at me white-faced and big-eyed.

  Great. What did I get myself into? “I figured you did something. I tried calling out to you, and you didn't answer.” That must have been when I felt the tingles. “I think I'm going to go up and talk to Ava for a minute.” Evan kisses me on the forehead, and I close my eyes, transporting myself to the Elders. Hunter runs up to me and pulls me into a hug. “You were unbelievable! Wow. That was insane!” She shouts. Jade runs up and joins in Hunter’s praising. “Seriously! The best I’ve ever seen! Ever!” Then I look at Ava, and she looks proud. She stands and walks over to me, taking my hands in hers. “You did phenomenal, Scarlet. We are more than lucky to have you as a Sister. I know you didn't mean to show your power and that’s okay. You're safe here. Try to relax. Like Hunter said, have fun and enjoy the events. Don't let your nerves get the best of you,” she advises.

  “You're right. After I remembered to relax, I felt better. The silence of the crowd just stunned me, I guess.” I tell her. Ava laughs at my innocence. “It’s going to be like that for a while. You should have seen Nova when she first became an Elder.” The other Sisters join in giggling as Nova grunts. “Just give them time. They'll come around. Now let’s go. They're waiting for us to start the next game.” She holds out her folded elbow to me and I gratefully take it. We both appear in front of the still stunned contestants with the second competition set ahead of us. Ava nods her head at me to join the others, as she claps her hands to get everyone’s undivided attention. “All right. I know Scarlet is very special. But let’s not forget, she’s not competing. You are. And if you win, you will join her in her quest. For those that prove themselves today and tomorrow and make it to be in her coven, it won’t be the last time you feel such power.” And with that, everyone’s backs straighten. Even Lucas and Derek look caught off guard. Evan takes my hand and holds it, as we listen for the second competition to begin.

  Game 2 is the Scavenger Hunt. Ahead in a huge open space are five cubicles made of thick roots and vines. Three woven boxes are placed on the ground in the center of each cubicle, a single list is pinned to one each. “You have 15 minutes to find everything on that list. We are throwing in a twist here. Those same ingredients are going to be the exact ingredients that you need for Game 4, Matching Potions. So if you miss anything or fail to complete the list in the allotted time, you will miss it in that game, also. Focus and be efficient.” She nods her head and disappears back to her seat with the others. The blast sounds, and the first in each line runs up to their list. A few of them disappear immediately, and some take longer. The rest of us waiting get comfortable in the grass. Lucas and Derek finally snap out of their funk from feeling my power and are treating me like the friends we’ve become in Syracuse. Maybe Ava's right. Everyone just needs some time to get used to the power inside of me, even me.

  Finally, Evan finishes his turn, and I'm left standing alone again. The other casters have gone to the other side of the race to wait for the next game. I hear the blast indicating my turn, and I quickly run up to the list

  snake fangs* spider venom* baby tears* pig bone powder*

  red raspberry leaf* ginger root* willow bark* grave soil*

  mandrake* dragon fire* wormwood*

  I'm still new to all of these potion ingredients, but Ava thinks potions will be my skill. I have heard of all of these ingredients growing up with dad and Dimitri, so I know where all of them would be. But I'm also new at transporting. Why can’t I just make them appear here? I have enough power to try. I think. I sit Indian style in the middle of the leafy cubicle, and I spread out the woven boxes in front of me, placing the list on the ground and closing my eyes, I hover my left hand above the it, with my right hand palm up, resting on my knee.

  I concentrate as hard as I can on the ingredients. I can picture them all in my mind. I can smell the differences. I see them all in their jars and bottles. And I picture them in my possession. Gathering my power and casting it out with all my might, I open my eyes. And I see pulsing sparks coming out of my right hand. The boxes begin shaking on the ground. And as I snap my fingers to complete the cast, a loud clink sounded in each basket. The shaking stops, and I peek into the baskets to find each ingredient inside. I stand up and walk to stand by Evan’s side. And again, there is nothing but silence. I don't like it, not at all.

  I look up at the Elders and my family and, again, they all seem to be in shock. Insecurely, I link my mind to Evan’s, “This is getting creepy. I'm really not a fan of the silence.” I look down at the ground, and he pushes my chin up with his finger. “Scarlet, no one in the history of these Matches was ever smart enough or powerful enough to try that cast. That was the coolest thing I have ever seen.” He picks me up and twirls me around, making me a little dizzy. Thankfully, everyone got over the initial shock of my cast and turned their intense stares away. I look over to find my family again, and I can’t help the smile from forming on my lips. “You're doing great, sis. You're shocking the crap out of us, but we couldn't be more proud of you.” Demi says soothingly in my mind, completely making me forget about the crowd. My family is here, my new Sisters are here, and my Anima Partem is here. I'm not going to let the crowd get to me.

  Ava appears in front of us, waiting in front of the third event. Elements Arise. I'm really excited to see what the casters do with their power in this one. “Elements Arise is a personal favorite of mine. All I can say is be creative and be quick. You want to have all the elements completed before your time is up.” And she’s gone. The blast sounds, and the first round of casters run up to their assigned areas. There are four buckets in a semi-circle for each of them. They put their handprint on the floating glass in front of them, and the glass scans their hand. A blue sparkling hologram begins to take shape in front of them. The caster I'm watching gets a Phoenix. The caster next to her gets a willow tree. I'm so intrigued that I stand to walk closer to the front of the line. A caster from Quisqueya who received a butterfly begins with the earth element. She bends down and sticks her hand inside of the first bucket, picking up a handful of dirt, closing her hands over it and chanting. She completes her cast and opens her hands.

  A butterfly made out of soil flutters it’s wings out of her hands. It flies in its place in a hypnotizing rhythm. Satisfied with knowing what this event is now about, I turn around and walk back to Evan. “Pretty cool, huh?” He takes my hand and kisses it. “Definitely. I can’t wait to try.” Now that I see how hard
air can be, I spend the whole time thinking of what I can do with it. When Evan’s turn comes up, I'm even more excited to see how he plays this one out. I sit in the grass, leaning back on my hands as the blast sounds. Evan gets his hand scanned, and the hologram starts to appear, starting from the bottom. When it reaches the middle, I know what it is and it’s perfect for him.

  A sword appears, and I can see him smile. And that causes me to smile, too. He rushes over to the first box and sticks his hand in, grabbing a handful of dirt. Slowly he lifts it out of the basket, pouring a few out as he continues to raise his hands in the air. He stops when it reaches the height he wants. It looks like a rectangle of dirt floating in the air in front of him. He claps his hands, and it trembles as it carves itself into the sword that was chosen for him. He points to the sword and it floats to stand on its tip, above the dirt basket.

  He takes a step towards the next basket and pours the water out of his hands up high, just like he did before. He stands and claps and the sword of water glistens and shines as it stands on its tip directly on top of the water bucket. He repeats the same steps as before, until his sword of fire is standing on its tip. The last bucket is what I'm most curious about. I lean forward and watch him closely. He reaches into the air basket and pulls out nothing. But he raises his hands in the air and brings his hand to his mouth, and he blows. He folds his hands and twists and turns them. Then he claps, completing his cast, and a sword made out of a silver balloon appears, clever, very clever indeed.

  The blast finally sounds, and I stand up more than ready for my turn. I walk up to the same area that Evan was just in, raising my hand to the scanner. It tickles the palm of my hand. Then the blue sparks begin to appear, and I instantly know what it is. And I'm shocked. It seems to be a cliché of the situation. First, I see the feathers. They're glowing blue, and they form two figures. They're huge, way bigger than anyone else's. The sparks finish, and enormous wings appear in front of me. I hear the crowd gasp, and I flick my wrist. The ear buds I created from the first match appear in my ears again. The beautiful melody of Apology Tango sounds in my head. I smile as I hear the familiar classical song.

  Quickly going to the basket of earth, I reach my hand all the way in until I can feel a stick and find one directly in the middle. Holding it tightly and thinking of thorny wild vines, I lead my power to my fingers and cast it out into the stick. As it grows in my hand, I gently throw it into the air. And it levitates as it rapidly continues to grow. The vine tangles itself into a beautiful mess of more vines, until it’s bent into my desired shape. For a special touch, I snap my fingers, and a few red roses blossom throughout the thorny wings.

  Satisfied, I turn to the basket of water. Excited, I find my power and reach into the basket, throwing the water in front of me but holding my hand still. The water stills in the air, awaiting my order. I think of the same beautiful wings and focus on ice as I blow cold air out of my mouth towards the water. Starting from the bottom, the water starts to freeze itself into gorgeous majestic wings. Slowly raising my hand up, they levitate next to the wings of vines. I rapidly move over to the fire basket and raise my hands above my head, casting two fireballs in the air. As they stay in place, I snap my fingers thinking of lava.

  Wiggling my fingers downward, the lava follows my direction. Melting down into two gorgeous burning wings. I feel the heat coming off of them, so I take a step back and step over to the next basket. Air, I smirk to myself as I reach in to grab at the air. My other hand comes up to my mouth, again, and I blow into the air. I blow and blow until I can’t blow anymore. Clapping my hands to seal the cast, two big bubbles appear. I maneuver my hands on their surface to shape them into wings then harden the bubbly substance. Done in record time, I proudly walk towards Evan. Flicking my wrist, the ear buds disappear. And of course, the arena is completely silent. I reach Evan and don't even try to look up at him.

  “Love, don't ever for a second let anyone make you feel like you've done something wrong. You are everything right, everything light, and everything pure. I couldn't be prouder to be your Anima Partem.” And with that, he bends down and gives me a sweet kiss. “That was my favorite event yet,” I say shyly. I can see him turn his head to look back at the wings. “I could tell. They're all so beautiful,” he says, in awe. I hear Ava's voice and slightly jump from being startled. “Scarlet, that was just incredible. Well done.” She compliments me, turning my cheeks red. Evan chuckles beside me, as we all await the next event to begin.

  Chapter 34

  Caster Matches Part III

  “Game 4 is Matching Potions. In Game 2 you had to retrieve items from the Scavenger Hunt. If you recovered the entire list, I congratulate you because those items are what you will be required to use in this event. Each potion must be mixed and poured into its assigned bottle. When the potion is complete, cast a drop of it onto one of the five seeds that are on the table. If the seed glows blue, you passed. If it glows red, points will be taken away. You must try to complete each potion before the ending blast sounds.” And with a nod, she disappears.

  This sounds intense, but I'm highly intrigued. “Did you get all of the ingredients from the Scavenger Hunt?” I turn to Evan and ask him. He looks at me slightly hurt that I asked. “Of course I did.” Playfully rolling my eyes, I turn to his cousins, “What about you guys?” I ask them. “We’re both only missing one. But we got everything else.” Lucas shrugs his shoulders, not really caring. The first blast sounds, and the first set of casters run to their vine-made desk. They each pick up the directions, attempting to memorize it. Then, suddenly, the papers disappear out of their hands. One of the casters bangs his hands on the desk and frustratingly begins mixing. This event is definitely up my alley.

  Curious to see the Elders after my elements challenge, I turn to Evan, “I’ll be right back. I'm going to check in with the Sisters.” Getting more used to the transporting, I appear directly in front of Belle. And she yelps, then giggles. “You'll get the hang of it,” she advises. I take a step back, slightly ashamed, and walk over to my chair next to Hunter. She immediately grabs my hands. “Scar, what you did with the elements game was INSANE. Those were the most magnificent wings I have EVER seen! I mean, your casting is just beyond belief,” she gushes. We all get so caught up talking about the last Match that we end up speaking the entire time I was there. Lucas finishes his turn, and I see Evan getting ready. “I'm sorry. We missed watching this Match,” I say to them, disappointed. “No need for an apology, Scarlet. We’re most eager to see what you're going to do, anyway,” Jade says, returning to her seat.

  Nova nods her head, agreeing with her. “Evan, too. His casts are pretty awesome to watch.” she says, as she points towards him. “I agree. I think I'm going to watch from down there. I’ll be back soon.” They all nod, and I transport down to the arena. Better this time, but still not where I wanted to be. The blast sounds, and Evan picks up the paper. He reads it once or twice and sets it down before it could disappear. He mixes the ingredients and casts a drop over a seed. Then Evan pours the remaining potion into the bottle and moves to the next one. He lifts the paper and gets to work immediately, flying through the third and fourth potions as the seeds glow a bright blue. The last potion he gets to stumps him just a little, and he hesitates a second then gets to mixing. He finishes and casts his mixture over the seed, finishing first again. I clap and shout for him as he elaborately bows to me. Moments later I can finally take my turn.

  The blast sounds, and I lift the paper, reading the five ingredients listed. I focus on what they look and smell like, and I wave my hand over the desk. The ingredients appear, and I get to mixing them, taking me mere seconds. I cast a drop to pour over a seed, and the rest goes inside of the bottle. I move to the next mixture and read the list, repeating the same steps. Moving a lot faster than I thought I could, I get through the rest of the potions in record time. I didn't even realize how silent the crowd was, until I stepped away from the event. Ava appears in front of the compet
ing casters, shining her beautiful smile at me. “You broke a record, Scarlet. That was the fastest time this Match was ever completed in. Well done.” Connecting with my mind, Ava gives me the news. My cheeks turn red as I join the others waiting to begin.

  Evan

  “We have reached Game 5, Blaze Maze, Sister Jade’s favorite event. So let’s make it really interesting for her,” Ava says playfully. “Get through the maze while avoiding all things on fire. The faster you get out, the higher your points will be. The more you cast to deflect the fire, the higher your points will be. If you don’t cast at all, points will be removed. Good luck.” Ava nods her head and disappears back to her seat with the other Elders. The first blast sounds, and I watch the first caster walk through the entrance of the maze. He makes a turn and disappears as a red glow shines on the leafy wall, signifying the first fireball being thrown at him. “Isn't that dangerous?” Scarlet asks nervously. “No. The Sisters enchant the fire so it won’t harm us, and so it won’t set the maze on fire,” I reply, as I look down into her eyes. I don't think I’ll ever get used to her being so small and yet carry so much power inside of her. She’s absolutely extraordinary.

  “How did I get so lucky?” I didn't mean to say it out loud. But by the way she’s smiling, I'm glad I did. She leans her cheek on my arm and looks ahead at the empty maze entrance. “Would it be cheating if I went and watched with the Sisters?” She asks innocently as I shake my head. “No, love. Each caster gets their own individual maze to go through. The maze changes itself after each caster gets through. A foolproof way to keep cheating out.” She nods her head, agreeing with the method and gets on her tip toes to kiss my cheek. “I’ll see you on the other side,” she jokes, just before disappearing. Walking up to Luke and Derek, I sit and join them on the ground.