DragonSpell

by Natalie Lougher

  “Ooh, Madeline you must be burning your sage incense! It smells so soothing.” Ciara gushed, inhaling deeply and the housekeeper giggled and nodded.

  “Aye mistress, Miss Kailani was curious about it so we lit some.”

  “Perhaps next time you could burn that bergamot? That’s another of my favorites.” The two women smiled at each other fondly and then Ciara turned to me, her eyes wide. “Lani! Jamie wanted me to tell you that they’re all gathering in the field, waiting for you so they can start their soccer game!”

  “Oh! I completely forgot about that!” I exclaimed, clapping a hand over my mouth. I was feeling a little wiped out after all of the cleaning we had done and one of the last things I wanted to do was chase a soccer ball around but I didn’t have much choice since it had been my idea in the first place.

  “Mind if I join? I haven’t played football in a long time!” Edan laughed and I grinned.

  “Sure! The more the merrier.”

  “Come cheer me on, my love. I always play better when I’m showing off for you.” Edan took Ciara’s hand and pulled her back outside, her weak laugh of protest trailing behind her. The rest of us headed for the door too and as I walked outside, I discreetly cast a backward glance at the clock. I had an hour until dusk when the ritual was to be done, maybe Edan playing soccer would be enough to keep Ciara and everyone else outside long enough for me to do what I needed.

  When we reached the field where our game was to commence, I was surprised by the turnout. At least ten people stood there waiting for us and Jamie grinned widely when he saw us approach.

  “Now there’s some competition!” He laughed, seeing Edan come to a stop beside me.

  “Bring it on Lancaster. You don’t stand a chance.”

  “Okay then! Let’s team up and get this game started, shall we?” I called out and everyone fell in behind either Jamie or I. I had Stephanie on my team, Ian was on Jamie’s, Edan stood behind me, Will stepped up behind Jamie and so on until only Ciara, Alice and Hugh stood on the sidelines. Hugh had a whistle around his neck and when he blew it, we were off. I kicked the ball out from under Jamie’s feet and passed it to Edan and for the next half-hour we ran up and down the field. When Hugh called the game over, my team had won by one goal and Jamie immediately wanted a rematch.

  “I just have to do something really quick so you guys play without me and I’ll rejoin as soon as I can.” I stepped back away from the group and my gaze went from Jamie’s energetic grin to Edan’s and the Laird nodded at me ever so slightly. Turning away and jogging in the direction of my cottage, I slipped inside long enough to re-read the website that had the banishing spell, memorized what I was supposed to do, grabbed a few tea lights and then ran for the house.

  Taking a moment in the kitchen, I quickly mixed some salt water in a glass and took it into the parlor, the most central part of the house, and sprinkled the water in a wide circle around me to define the boundaries of my ritual circle. I placed my four tea lights at the north, south, east and west parts of my circle and lit them with a match, then I took a deep breath for courage and walked the outside of the circle three times saying,

  “Cast the circle thrice about, to keep the evil spirits out." Stepping into the circle, I faced the west candle, drew a pentagram in the air with my finger, and while pointing my finger through the center of my imaginary shape, I closed my eyes, focused all of my energy on pushing outward through the center of the pentagram where my finger was, and said,

  “Go, or be cast into the depths of the flood!” Then, turning to my left I faced the south candle, repeated the pentagram action and said, “Go, or be cast into the flames!” Turning again, I faced the east candle, drew my pentagram and said, “Go, or be rent by the grinding earthquakes!” And finally, I turned to the north candle, completing my circle and said, “Go, or be torn apart by the whirlwind!”

  With all four ‘points’ of my circle done, I turned myself back into the center, took another deep breath, clapped my hands as loud as I could and repeated the last line of the banishing ritual.

  “I banish you! I banish you! I banish you! BEGONE!” Something deep inside me came awake as I chanted the words and I dropped to my knees and put both hands flat on the floor as I reached the end of the ritual and said ‘BEGONE’ and I felt a surge of power flow through my palms into the floor, and the same glow I exhibited while hovering my hand over window sills or doorways, shot outward, over the floor and up the walls in a quick flash. Bowing my head in a sudden wave of fatigue, I closed my eyes and thanked the Gods for hearing my words and protecting this house and the family that lived within. A moment later, I lifted my chin, sat back on my heels and looked around myself. My tealights had blown out and were emitting their faint trail of smoke but otherwise the house looked and felt no different than it had when I’d come in. Standing up, I bent down to collect my candles and then took one final look around before leaving the parlour.

  “Let’s see what happens now, shall we?” I murmured to myself with a certain level of smugness, tossing my used and cooled candles in the garbage as I went through the kitchen and back out to the soccer game that was still in progress.

  Chapter 9

  After everyone had finished dinner and retired to their own quarters for the night, I went down to the coastline like I did almost every night and inhaled the salty sea air as deeply as I could. My legs were satisfyingly tired after running around with everyone; we had played a total of four games of soccer because neither Edan nor Jamie would accept defeat, until everyone had basically collapsed on the grass in exhaustion. The air had been full of laughter, whooping and hollering and cheering and it had been so much fun that I was already mentally planning a game of volleyball next.

  A storm was brewing out over the sea, I could see the faint flashes of lightning shimmer and dance along the dark horizon and the electricity made the hair on my arms stand up. The wind was just starting to really pick up some speed, I had maybe two hours before the rain hit, I guessed. I didn’t mind rain, sometimes at home I would stand out on the beach and let it soak me, pretending that it was washing all of my tensions away, and as a dragon, I was sure the rain would bother me even less. Not too sure how the presence of lightning will make me feel, but there was no point in worrying about that right now.

  I wasn’t sure what time this crow had started making its appearances but I was going to be ready for it. Taking a flashlight out of my back pocket, I flipped it on and pointed it at the ground as I started walking around the various cottages and barn. I could hear the animals settling in for the night and I smiled faintly. I had never lived on a farm, nor had I ever wanted to, but there was something comforting about seeing the horses in their paddock, and having the occasional chicken cut across your path when it managed to escape the coop and take a stroll through the courtyard.

  All was quiet around the cottages and I waved at one or two people who came to their windows as the glow of my flashlight started to pass. Hugh stepped out of his cottage as I walked by and he eyed me curiously.

  “What are ye up to, lass?” he asked, scratching his beard as he approached me and I quickly shone my flashlight around, making sure I wasn’t missing anything.

  “Hoping to scare off the crow that’s been terrorizing Ciara over the last few nights.” I told him honestly and he sighed.

  “Think it’s the same one that came for a visit while Edan was away?”

  “I’m inclined to think so. Too much of a coincidence that two different birds would visit her out of the blue like this. Do you disagree?” I watched his face in the muted light from my flashlight and he quickly shook his head.

  “Not at all. I fear that if this damn bird doesn’t leave her alone soon, she’ll go into labor sooner, rather than later. She’s only a few weeks from her due date.”

  “It’s that close?” I asked, slightly alarmed and he nodded solemnly.

  “Aye. Three or four weeks I believe.”

  “Guess I better get to wo
rk then, huh?” I smirked and squeezed his arm in farewell as I continued my rounds. When I got close to the main house I caught the first sounds of a bird cawing and doused my flashlight so I didn’t give myself away immediately. I wanted to know what effect, if any, my ritual had on the bird and as I came into view of the house and where the master bedroom window was, I was not disappointed. A large blackbird was flapping its wings and trying desperately to get close to the house but it was kept about two feet away from the windows and that seemed to infuriate the bird. It went up, it went down, it went sideways and no matter what direction it went, it came up against what might as well have been a glass wall. This thing wasn’t getting any closer.

  “Gotcha.” I muttered in satisfaction. It ramped up its cawing, determined to make as much racket as it could, not realizing that the master bedroom was empty and the spare room on the other side of the house had its windows closed. I stood and watched the bird get more and more frustrated and eventually I felt sorry for it. A wee bit. Whistling softly, I got its attention and the bird swung to face me.

  “You aren’t getting anywhere near that house or the people in it so you might as well move on and go pester someone else with your doom, gloom and horrible noise.” I told it and the bird in front of me slowed the flap of its wings enough that it started to sink closer to the ground and to me. “Yes, we’ve met before and I still don’t like you and will do everything I can to make you go away. Do you understand that?” I had no idea why I was talking to the bird like it could understand me, maybe it was something in the eyes and the mannerisms that made me question it’s real biology. The crow turned its head slightly so it could regard me with one beady eye as it sank down and landed on the grass and I waited to see what its next move was. I had its undivided attention now, that was for sure.

  The bird continued to stare at me and then it lazily lifted up off the grass and started to circle around me, high enough above my head that I couldn’t reach it, as though it was examining me. I had no idea what was about to happen, but I realized it might not hurt to back up away from the house a bit and give us some room so I started inching back towards the lane-way, trees and coastline. The bird followed me, continuing to circle around and then suddenly, it dive-bombed me. I let out a little shriek of surprise, covered my head with my arms as it swooped low and I felt the down-draught from its wings on the back of my neck as it careened over me, lifted up and then came right back down at me.

  “You wanna play do you? Dive-bomb this.” I lowered my arms after it finished its latest swoop, closed my eyes and focused as hard as I could. I hadn’t changed forms under pressure before but my instincts told me to go with it and I did. When I reopened my eyes I had the wings I needed and I lifted off the ground after this damn bird. It let out a startled squawk and quickly reversed its course, gaining a bit of altitude above me. When it became clear that I was coming after it, the bird took off for the trees, hoping to lose me in the branches because I was too big to go in after it and for a moment I lost sight of it in the dark foliage.

  “You are not getting away from me that easily. Come out, come out, wherever you are.” I thought to myself, rising up in the air and circling around the band of trees so that the wind off the water blew at my back. A thought came to me and I realized I could use the wind to help me! I straightened my body upward so that if my paws had been on the ground I would have been standing on my hind legs, opened my wings as wide as I could and started flapping them, slowly but powerfully so that the trees quivered under the strength of the wind that both myself and the incoming storm blew at them. A flock of other night birds took flight out of the trees, not appreciating all of the shaking and rustling and eventually my friend the crow finally flew out of the trees. It saw me and I could almost read the determination in its eyes as it turned and tried to dive-bomb me again but one whack of my much larger wing and it went flying backwards. It came at me again and tried to get underneath me to attack my much more vulnerable belly but I rolled at the last second and it smacked into one of my hind claws.

  “Not very bright, are you? I’m new to this body and I can fly better than you.” I chuckled in my head and as if he heard me, he came at me one more time. “I want to go to bed, which means you have to leave now. And when I say leave, you aren’t coming back. Got it?” I turned to face the attacking bird head-on and just as he got in range, talons extended and ready to gouge whatever part of me he could, I opened my muzzle and breathed a shot of fire at him. The tip of his one wing caught fire and he changed course immediately, squawking in panic and flapping his wings frantically. I opened my muzzle a second time, ready to roast him for good but before I could, he disappeared. Into thin air.

  Not believing that he was gone, I looked around, my reptilian eyes much sharper than my human eyes in the dark, but the bird was nowhere to be seen. I decided to do an aerial sweep since I was already airborne and quietly flew over all of the cottages, high enough up to hopefully not stress the animals out that were in the barn. Nothing moved below me, everything remained dark and quiet and I circled over the main house for a moment or two, relishing in the peace. I had done it. My banishing ritual had obviously worked, better than in my wildest dreams! The bird couldn’t get near enough to the house to find a perch and annoy anyone and I had hopefully scared him off enough that he wouldn’t be back. I knew I hadn’t killed him, the breath of fire had just been enough to singe his feathers and give him a scare, but I had been fully prepared to kill him if he hadn’t taken the hint. But how did he just disappear like that?

  Happy that everything was as it should be, I let myself sink back down to the ground by the cliffs and changed back into my human form just as the rain started to pelt me mercilessly. Ducking my head against the onslaught of rain, I ran for my cottage and hastily let myself inside where it was dry.

  ⧫⧫⧫

  Later that night I woke up with a start, sitting straight up in bed. Granddad had always said his only regret about leaving Scotland as fast as they did was he hadn’t had time to get his journals. Whenever I had asked him how he could have forgotten them, he said he had hidden them in a safe place because there were things written in them that the average person wouldn’t have understood.

  Which meant, if this was the cottage Nana and Granddad had lived in, chances were his journals were still in here somewhere. Throwing my blankets back, I turned the small lamp on beside the bed and got up.

  “Where would you hide a journal if you were Granddad?” I muttered, fisting my hands on my hips as I looked around. The walls were stucco and the floor was cement so where would he have hidden a bunch of books? Under the mattress? No, don’t be silly! That’s the first place everyone looks when they’re searching for something. Under the kitchen sink? No, too high-risk under there with the potential for water leaks.

  Wandering around the small cottage, I drifted into the bathroom and saw the vanity attached to the wall, and the more I looked at it, the more it looked out of place. Why? Running my fingers along the side, I realized it was deeper than most vanities, but the interior of the medicine cabinet behind the mirror was the usual size that you would expect it to be. Which meant….

  I carefully grasped the mirror in both hands and lifted it up, unsure if this thing was actually going to budge. To my utter surprise, the portion in my hands slid straight up with no resistance, and behind it was a safe, painted white to match the wall and mirror.

  “Bingo! Now, what’s your combination?” I murmured. Nana had always been Granddad’s everything so my first guess was her birthday. When that failed, I tried Dad’s birthday. No, Dad hadn’t been born yet and Granddad, while he had been many things to many people, had never been able to tell the future. My third guess was his birthday, slightly obvious in my mind but you had to know the man to know the date, and I was rewarded with the satisfying sound of the lock unlatching. Opening the door of the safe, I found stacks of journals, some so old they looked like they would fall apart if I touched them, and
as my mouth fell open in a silent ‘O’ of surprise, I delicately ran a finger down the stack of spines.

  “Jackpot.” Pulling the newest one off the top of the pile, I closed the door of the safe and went to sit in the living room on the couch, sleep long forgotten. Opening the book to the middle pages, I picked one at random and started to read;

  “It’s time to go. I can feel it in my bones. They’re coming. Maybe if I’m gone they won’t bother the Camerons. I can hope. I know they aren’t just after me, they want the land too but the acquisition won’t seem so sweet perhaps if their last dragon is gone. But how do I convince Edith? How do I convince Angus that he needs to let us go?”

  Well, that was certainly an interesting page to start on. Who was coming? What land did they want? They wanted Granddad because he was the last dragon?! Angus, I presumed, was Hugh’s father. As I sat there, I thought about the two men dressed in black with swirling eyes hidden behind sunglasses and my almost-overpowering need to kneel before them. I thought about the crow that I had dealt with tonight that had had far more intellect than your average bird.

  “What else can you tell me, Granddad?” I murmured, flipping through the pages of the journal I held in my hand. Before I got too far into it though, I stopped. I had a lot of questions and I now had access to countless journals, presumably full of answers.

  “Start at the beginning woman, it’s the only thing that will make sense to you.” I got up, went back into the bathroom and put the journal I had back on the top of the pile. Then, ever so carefully, I pulled the bottom book out, the pages of it so old and brittle that little flakes of parchment broke off as I lifted it out.