Aconite and Accusations

by Silver Nord

  It wasn’t much hope, but it was something.

  “What about the barrier becoming fixed?” Ally said, biting her nails.

  “Let us worry about that,” Minerva said, backed up by Linda and my father. “We all know things look bleak,” she told them, her words strangely incongruent with the late evening sunshine that had appeared just in time for the festival. “But if we stick together and stick to the plan, we’ll do as much as we can for our town, its people, and everyone who is visiting it.”

  “Bravo!” Heather agreed nodding and smiling at me. “For what it’s worth, Hazel, you’re the best high priestess this coven has ever had. And that includes my stint as leader. I know it’s heady being able to turn the group towards whatever your heart desires and have the magic to achieve it, but you have never shown any sign of being hungry for power. It’s a rare thing, and you should be proud of yourself.” She looked over at my father. “You should be proud of her, too.”

  “I am. She’s everything a father could want his daughter to become. I just wish I hadn’t missed so much of it.”

  Heather made a ‘Ptchah!’ noise. “Don’t lament what you lost, experience what you have now. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that time is always running out. That seems even more apt tonight. Enjoy every moment, and don’t hold on to your past regrets.”

  “You’re darn right,” my father said emphatically. “That’s why I’ve made the decision that we will take my invention to the festival. It’s about time I stopped hiding from it and used it for something that might do some good.”

  I turned to look at him with suspicion lining my face for a moment, before I relaxed. This man was definitely my father. Someone like Aleister Root would never have sounded so selfless and so devoid of a plan beyond ‘using the weapon for good’. My father was a blind optimist, but that was something we must have had in common until the world had beaten me down recently.

  “There’s just one thing… I’m not going to wield it. I’m a pacifist these days and even for this, I won’t change my ways. I’m sorry, Hazel. Unfortunately, being able to shoot the weapon - which is rather like a gun - requires skill and precision. Otherwise, it could do more harm than good.”

  “I’d like to volunteer myself as mystical weapon shooter,” Jesse said, stepping forwards and preening, his amber eyes glowing with excitement.

  I groaned. “Were you not listening to the conversation we just had? No power-hungry wannabe-dictators!”

  “That’s discrimination!” Hemlock called from somewhere in the room.

  “I’m not bad with a gun,” Sean said quietly. “The high number of animal attacks in Witchwood mean that at night it’s mandatory you carry one and that you have the training for it.”

  Everyone present knew that by ‘animal attacks’ he meant shapeshifters.

  “I vote for Sean,” Linda said, and there was a chorus of agreement.

  “But I can’t see magic,” he protested.

  “Then it’s a good thing it’s technology enhanced by magic. I don’t have a drop of ability either. I just managed to make some inroads into the science of magic and applied it to the technology I knew best,” my father said, nodding respectfully at Sean. “You’re the right choice for this. I can see that. Minerva, if you would…”

  Shooting a slightly guilty look at me, my aunt bent down and lifted up a floorboard right in the middle of the shop floor. She prised a few more up and then reached into the void beneath. The weapon she pulled out looked like something from Star Wars. As soon as she touched it lights came on, and the gun-shaped thing glowed with an ominous blue power that reminded me of something alien. There was a swish metal logo embedded in the side that read ‘Tsunami 2000’ which I guessed was its name.

  By my side, my father sighed. “There hasn’t been a day when I haven’t regretted coming up with the idea to make that thing.”

  “Then let today be the first free from regret,” I told him as Minerva handed it over to Sean. I knew that this space-age gun couldn’t save us from the mayor and his monsters, but it was something that might help - another arrow to shoot into the abyss.

  He smiled at me. “Let’s go and see what this mayor is made of.”

  “Let’s go and fight for our town,” I said to our motley crew of witches and other things.

  “To war!” Hemlock shouted, whistling for Erebus and jumping on his back. I heard a smaller meow and saw Artemis barely clinging on. Normally, I’d have vetoed the idea of a kitten coming to battle with us, but it wouldn’t be any safer for him here.

  “Hemlock, keep Artemis safe. Artemis, keep Hemlock safe,” I added after brief consideration.

  Erebus whined a little.

  “I already know you’ll be looking out for them,” I told him with a smile.

  Hedge and Hecate trotted into the shop, and Hedge miaowed at Jesse.

  “He says something’s happening in the town square,” Jesse translated for us. “It looks like it’s go time.”

  We dutifully filed out of the shop and onto the High Street, joining the throngs of people walking towards the town square. I saw Sean slip the gun beneath the dark trench coat he was wearing, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Erebus and the cats stayed close, eager to avoid being trodden on. I found myself at the back of the parade and couldn’t resist turning back and looking at the Salem Apothecary when I reached the corner of the street. I wondered if I was seeing it for the last time.

  All things must end, a little voice whispered inside me, but it filled my heart with hope, not dread. All things must end… even unstoppable evil.

  “There’s something I have to tell the both of you,” my father said to me and Sean once the rest of the coven and my aunts had scattered strategically amongst the crowd in the square. The stage was set, but the mayor had yet to make his speech and unleash his monsters. Now we were playing the waiting game.

  “I’ve had many years to think about this theory, but I believe there’s a possibility that my invention’s function could be reversed. I designed it to obliterate particles, but there’s also a chance it could put them back together - perhaps repairing what might have been there before. It might be useless, but I thought I’d mention it. Just flip the switch there to reverse it.”

  “You put a switch in to reverse the gun, but you never tested it to see what would happen?” Sean said disbelievingly.

  My father shrugged. “What? I’m a mad scientist! Sometimes I do things because I have a vague idea that they may come in useful in the future, and sometimes I just think it looks cool.”

  I slapped a hand on my forehead. So… this was what it was like having a dad.

  He grinned, looking carefree and happy for a brief moment. “I’d better go and find my place. There’s not much I can do, but I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve. Good luck, and Hazel… I hope we can have more days like the one we had today. I’ll keep this safe,” he added, lifting up the rubber duck keyring. I suddenly noticed that the duck had dark eyebrows that seemed to make the yellow squeaky toy glare menacingly at anyone who looked at it. By my legs, Erebus whined hopefully when he saw the squeaky toy. Unless I was imagining it, the duck’s eyebrows rearranged themselves into a far more alarmed expression.

  “I hope we have more days like it, too,” I said, reaching out and resting a hand on my father’s shoulder for a moment, feeling the first few bonds of family settle into place.

  “Erebus, Hemlock, Artemis… see what you can find,” I said, sending them off into the crowd to scout. We had no way of knowing what was coming and how it would begin. Every bit of information gleaned was important.

  Also… I wanted some time alone with the detective.

  When we were finally alone in the crowd of people, I turned to him with words already forming on my lips. “Sean…” I began at the same time that he said my name.

  We both smiled a little awkwardly and shuffled our feet.

  “I know now isn’t exactly the best time in the world, b
ut I just wanted to say that I…” He stumbled, looking into my amber eyes whilst I looked back into his grey pair. “Hazel, I just want to say, before any of this happens…”

  “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!” Mayor Starbright’s voice boomed out over the loudspeaker system as he took to the stage, beaming his white smile around at the crowd. “It’s so nice to see so many smiling faces down here tonight. I’d like to see them all a little bit closer…”

  We were suddenly buffeted by the movement of people who shuffled forwards towards the stage, eager for the festival to begin.

  “Hazel!” Sean called, reaching out for me as we were pulled apart. I thrust my hand out and grabbed his, holding on tightly as we were drawn back together.

  “I’m not one for big speeches, so all I’ll say is that tonight is going to be a night to remember. Believe me when I say it will go down in Wormwood’s history as the party to end all parties.” The mayor’s smile turned a little nasty when he said it. “And it’s all thanks to me and the help I’ve had from some very good friends. This is going to be tremendous, folks. Without further ado, I declare this festival OPEN!”

  I winced when he said the last word.

  It was more than just a word.

  He’d added power to it and made it into something that felt like a push… no… a call.

  It was a call to everything that dwelled on the other side of the thin wall that currently separated Wormwood from the dark dimension.

  Even as I gritted my teeth, I heard the muttering start as people in the crowd also sensed the strangeness of the mayor’s final word.

  Then, I felt something break.

  19

  The Rising Tide

  Gasps spread out through the crowd as a golden light shone from the thin air just next to where the mayor stood on the stage. Wild applause broke out as people imagined it was some special effect designed to open the festival with a bang. Whilst the masses clapped their own approaching doom, I watched in horror as a glowing golden gateway appeared. It would be gold, I thought darkly, as if I’d needed a reminder that my own magic bore some sort of relation to this.

  “It’s going to be quite a party,” the mayor repeated into his microphone, before a squeal of feedback cut through the applause. The gate suddenly opened wide, revealing a glimpse of a desolate wasteland beyond. A great wind whipped through the crowd, so strong it pushed several of the people in the front row off their feet.

  “What’s happening?” I heard someone shout as the wind got stronger, turning into a vacuum that pulled and sucked the crowd towards the gate.

  He’s trying to feed it, I realised, understanding that the gate itself needed a lot of power to maintain it in order for the monsters to come through. They were able to come into this world through the tears in the fabric of reality, but it was only now that I realised staying here was an entirely different matter. I was watching magical physics at work. The little voice inside me whispered that I’d never have a better opportunity than this.

  I turned to Sean, knowing that time had finally run out. “I love you,” I told him, feeling the smile brighten my face, like sunshine peeping out from behind a cloud. Ever since the day I’d met Sean, I’d felt something for him. Sometimes that something had been sheer annoyance and frustration, echoed straight back to me by him, but more recently, it had sparked and simmered until it had transformed into something else. I loved Sean Admiral, and there was absolutely nothing to gain by keeping it to myself.

  “Hazel!” he called after me even as I was fighting my way against the tide of people fleeing the vacuum that had already flung handfuls of those in the front row into the dark dimension beyond.

  “You’ll know what to do when the time is right. Trust yourself!” I shouted as I battled to get to the mayor.

  I heard his laugh across the chaos, rich and full against the disappearing landscape. There was a great cracking sound as the town hall behind the stage ruptured and crumbled, big hunks of rubble were pulled into the golden gateway, disappearing along with the innocent lives claimed by the mayor’s madness.

  And then it came.

  I’d known what was waiting behind the curtains, but it still struck terror in my heart to see the first monster. It was an alien-looking creature, black as night and almost formless in the way it moved, as if it were made of billowing clouds of soot. When it opened its mouth and screamed, dark teeth that oozed like oil gnashed as it searched for its first taste of flesh.

  “No you don’t!” I yelled, feeling my heart race in my chest when it swooped down towards a group of camera-holding tourists, who still seemed to be under the impression that they were watching a big-budget stage show. The golden magic exited me in a rush as I drew out the devilish ability that had been woven into my life since before my birth.

  The creature stumbled and roared, turning its attention away from its prey. No eyes were evident on this billowing creature, but I knew it saw me.

  I jumped up onto the stage, facing it down… waiting for it to make its move.

  “I was hoping we would have some extra entertainment,” the mayor said from his place behind the podium. “I’m really rooting for you, Hazel. If you can take this one down, you should feel really good about yourself. You’ll have tried your best, and that’s the kind of spirit Wormwood needs! That’s what makes this town so great!”

  I tried to ignore the mayor’s insanity, but it was eating away into my mind. Even though I knew it was pointless, I deliberated having one more swing at the man whose fault this all was.

  I turned back to the monster and the howling wind. This wasn’t about him anymore. It was about saving as many people as we could.

  “Hazel, it’s taking more people out of Wormwood!” Jesse called from somewhere within the boiling mass of the crowd. It was taking the hordes of people a long time to flee, due to the barricades the mayor had set up on the premise of safety, so that only a finite number of revellers could be allowed in the square. In truth, it had been to keep the sheep in the pen. As I looked on helplessly, more tourists were pulled screaming into the gate, disappearing from view.

  “It’s taking them away from Wormwood!” Jesse repeated before disappearing into shadows and reappearing by a barricade, pulling it down so that people could stop being crushed against it.

  As the monster lifted a shapeless paw and slammed it down in an attempt to crush me, I finally realised what he was trying to say. It was the semantics of the deal. The mayor lost a little bit of power every time someone was pulled into the gate. It meant they were no longer in Wormwood. Of course, it didn’t make a huge difference as the power of the monster about to crush me surely dwarfed whatever magic those being pulled into the gate may or may not have possessed. But that wasn’t what Jesse was trying to tell me without actually saying it out loud…

  He had given me an idea.

  I threw myself sideways at the last minute, avoiding the smoking paw. The stage shook under the tremor. I heard the mayor laugh and clap.

  Wormwood was the mayor’s source of power. The second deal he’d made had been to rule over other magic users, but it was the first deal that really mattered. Mayor Starbright had explained that Jesse had said his power would grow, or wane, as Wormwood’s own power did the same. Bringing tourists here had been the start of his rise to power, but monsters were an even bigger injection - one that the mayor intended to keep corralled in the town whilst he went forth and conquered the world.

  It was all about his connection to the town… but what if you took the mayor away from Wormwood and took his source of power away at the same time?

  I gritted my teeth and pulled a weapon, feeling the reforged scythe jump into my hands as I’d known it would. The smoke monster was more careful now, sensing that I was not the weakling it had believed it was dealing with.

  My head was awash with worry that I was wrong. Even if I could do what I wanted to do, what was to stop the all-powerful mayor from coming right back through the gate agai
n?

  Then it hit me… the prophecy.

  A day will come when two worlds become one and darkness shall rise. Golden light will fight against, but a rising tide will banish it hence. Into the abyss the light-bringer will flee. Only by death will she be freed. The world will shake beneath its ruler of night, that no god nor human hand can smite

  It was coming true before my very eyes. Two worlds had become one, united by the gate. The darkness had already risen in the form of this monster, and I’d already unleashed my golden light in defence of the innocent tourists. I’d never got close to working out what the next part of the bleak prophecy might mean, but now I saw it laid out before me, and with it a glimmer of hope that had been woven in all along.

  Into the abyss.

  The prophecy didn’t say that I was alone. Nor did it say which world would shake beneath its ruler of night.

  “It’s the weapon,” I muttered, swinging my scythe almost as an afterthought and sending the creature recoiling backwards. “A rising tide will banish it hence.” I turned around as I drew my magic - my golden light - to me.

  I knew what had to be done.

  “Sean! Reverse the weapon. Reverse the Tsunami!” I shouted, suddenly understanding the prophecy’s reference to a rising tide.

  “What weapon? What are you talking about?” the mayor said, coming over to me and looking mildly concerned. “Just give up, Hazel. You know how this ends. The prophecy…”

  “It ends this way,” I interrupted, using my magic to lash us together. “I may not be able to hurt you, but I can tie you to me long enough to do this!” I said, unleashing a burst of power that threw me through the air with the mayor tied to me with a magical rope that he hadn’t noticed I’d been wrapping around his ankle.

  “What the…?” he said bemused.

  We collided with the formless monster with such force that we went straight through it. Choking black strands of slime and oil blinded me for a moment, but I felt the definite sensation of passing between worlds. “Now, Sean! Do it now!” I shouted as I fell through thin air with the mayor still attached to me.