by Sarra Cannon
When we got to the beach, we both kicked off our shoes and walked along the wet sand close to the waves. I lifted up the skirt of my dress so it wouldn’t get ruined.
“I have so many questions, I’m not even sure where to start,” I said. I thought of the dying grass near Mordecai’s feet. “Can you tell me how your power works? I mean, I saw what was happening to the grass up there where they were casting spells.”
He hesitated, then looked around. His gaze landed on a small patch of weeds growing from the side of the cliff. He plucked a small flower from the rocks and lifted it up between us.
I watched, breathless.
Jackson rounded his lips and blew. The weed frosted over with a thin layer of ice that extended all the way down to the tips of his fingers. I watched in surprise as the other weeds along the side of the cliff around us slowly turned brown, then gray. Within a few seconds, everything along the wall was dried and brittle.
I shook my head, not understanding. “What’s going on?”
“Pure demon power is dangerous in this world,” he said. “When I cast a spell, it siphons power from something living.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I’m like a disease against life,” he said. “In order for my power to work in this dimension, I need batteries, in a way. And life is my battery. For simple magic, like a freezing spell, life will be drained from something small, like blades of grass or weeds. That night in the woods, I used a lot of power. It sucked life from the trees and every living thing around us.”
“That’s why you needed me to heal the trees,” I said, finally understanding.
“If anyone had come across that spot and seen the dead trees and grass, they would have known a demon had used their pure power,” he said. “I couldn’t risk anyone finding out about my powers.”
“What happens once all the trees and grass are dead? Would your power just not work anymore?”
He licked his lips nervously. “Then the power would come from other sources.”
I shivered. “Like human life?”
He put the frozen flower in his palm and it began to melt against the warmth of his skin. “If necessary.”
“So why don’t the witches of the Order die after the demons are trapped inside of them?”
“You know how you get tired when you use your power? Like it drains your energy?”
I nodded.
“That’s the demon magic pulling power from your body,” he said. “When you use the demon’s power, instead of pulling life from your surroundings, the demon’s magic pulls life from the witch.”
I thought about what he was saying and tried to make sense of it. “So if a witch used too much power without allowing her body to recharge?”
“She could die,” he said.
“Why couldn’t you tell me this before?” I searched his face, trying to make sense of this wall he kept up between us.
“I didn’t want you to be afraid of me,” he said.
I lifted my hand to his face. “The only thing that scares me is losing you forever.”
Hold Her Down
“How do you know Lea and the others?” I asked when we’d walked down the beach a ways. “Did you meet them here? Or do you know them from home?”
Jackson moved away from a larger wave, then came back to my side. “I’ve known them all my life,” he said. “Lea came to this world shortly after I did, then the others followed over the course of the next few years.”
“How did they get here?” I asked, thinking with dread of the way Jackson had gotten here.
“I know it’s not what you want to hear,” he said. “But they came through by force. When a powerful demon comes through in a normal initiation ritual, sometimes they are too powerful for the host to handle. Especially when the demon is coming through with a mission. The others weren’t bound like me. They didn’t stick around the ritual room trying to get vengeance. They killed only those they had to kill to go free.”
“Why did they come?” I asked.
“When I found out where Aerden had been taken to, I told them,” he said. “They were our closest friends in the shadow world. They came over expecting us to form an army together. They came to fight the Order.”
The air coming off the ocean was cold, and I shivered. I knew I should probably get my toes out of the wet sand before I ended up getting sick, but the cold made me feel better somehow. “But you couldn’t join their army,” I said. “Because you were bound to Peachville with no power.”
“My first priority was finding a way to free my brother. At first, Lea and the others helped me track down any whisper of a chance in freeing Aerden. Our thought was that if we could find a way to free Aerden, that also meant freeing all of our shadow demon brothers and sisters. Then, about ten years ago, the gang decided they had had enough of watching demons continue to be pulled through the gates. Their focus changed.”
A knowing chill spread through me. I thought of Aldeen, Kansas and all the witches who had died. If that was what these demons had resorted to, I didn’t want to hear about it. It was madness.
“They wanted me to join them,” he said. “Fight against the Order’s influence. But I had no power. I couldn’t do anything to help. Besides, I didn’t always approve of their methods, you know?”
I trembled. “I know.”
“Anyway, no matter what my friends did, nothing worked to stop the Order from enslaving our kind. The Order retaliated to every move by creating more demon gate towns,” he said. “They started initiating more and more witches every year.”
I understood why the demons wanted to stop the Order, but killing all of the witches wasn’t the answer. “Why didn’t they just try to sit down with High Council and explain how what they were doing was hurting the shadow world. Maybe the Order doesn’t understand what they’re doing.”
Jackson stopped. “You never really want to believe they’re evil, do you?” he asked. “Harper, the Order of Shadows presents themselves to their initiates as this helpful organization. A club where they use their power to build better communities. But there’s so much you don’t see.”
“Like what?”
“Like the way they manipulate the media and the government to get what they want,” he said. “The way they walk all over anyone who gets in their way.”
“That doesn’t make everyone in the Order evil,” I said. “Misguided maybe. Or power-hungry. But not evil. That’s a strong word.”
“What do you call people who willingly enslave another race for personal gain?” he said. His voice grew louder and louder, and I could tell he was getting angry. “You don’t think the shadow demons here on earth have tried to explaining to the Order what they’re doing? I’ve spoken to the High Priestess and the High Council several times, pleading with them to stop bringing more of my kind over to this world. They don’t care, Harper. They can’t imagine letting go of their precious power.”
“Okay, so the Council is corrupt,” I said. “But what about the initiates? When they’re first brought onto the cheerleading squad, they don’t understand that demons are being used as slaves. They’re treated with respect and taught to use their magic. They’re taught to trust the Order. Then, on their eighteenth birthday, they’re brought into that initiation ritual without a freaking clue what’s happening.”
Jackson went silent. He turned out toward the vast ocean, the moonlight illuminating each crest as the tide continued to come in.
“I was there when Brooke was initiated,” I said. “She fought so hard against it as soon as she realized what was going on. It was like they tricked her. That doesn’t make her evil.”
“No, but do you think she’ll stand up and protest the next time a girl is brought into the Order?” he asked. “Or do you think she’ll be there, helping them hold her down?”
His words sliced through me like a knife. He was right. The girls on the squad might not have much choice in the matter once they’re brought to the
initiation, but what about afterward? Why didn’t anyone stand up and speak out against what was happening? If it was something they didn’t want for themselves, why did they willingly allow it to happen to the next girl?
“Power changes people,” Jackson said. “They may not like the idea of what’s happening to them at the time, but once they get a taste of that power, they feel like it was worth it, no matter what the cost.”
I stood at the edge of the surf, letting the rising waves rush over my bare feet. Jackson was right. Power did change people. And no matter how they tried to package what they were doing as a good thing for their communities and for their world, they were taking away our right to choose. They were stealing demons from their homeland and forcing them into a lifetime of slavery.
The act of initiation made those witches victims, but the act of sitting back and watching it happen - no, helping while it happened - to someone else? Well, that was unforgivable. I could never be a part of that.
“So what do we do from here?” I asked. “Now that lines have been drawn.”
Jackson put his arms around me and held me close.
“The only thing we can do,” he said. “We fight back.”
Black Smoke
The morning came early. I yawned and stretched. Sleeping in a tent wasn’t exactly the life of luxury I’d gotten used to at Shadowford with my big canopy bed. The beach looked so different here compared to the few times I’d visited the Atlantic ocean or the Gulf Coast. Here, morning mists rolled off the cliffs, shrouding the beach in a haze.
Jackson put a blanket around my shoulders.
“Get any sleep last night?”
“Barely,” I said. “I just listened to the waves all night, thinking about how fast everything is changing.” I didn’t say anything, but I’d also been scared to go to sleep. I knew Jackson was right outside keeping watch, but after what Lea had said about ending the Peachville coven, I couldn’t trust her. I was grateful to the demons for coming to our rescue, but if they were responsible for killing all those witches, I didn’t want to stay here.
“You’re going to need your rest in the coming weeks,” he said. “Life is going to get crazy for a while.”
“Jackson, what’s going to happen to my friends?” I asked. “Like Lark and Zara? I can’t help feeling like everyone is going to get hurt if we fight back. But some people are innocent in all this, you know?”
Lea came to stand by us, and I tensed. I hadn’t realized she was standing near us, but I guess when someone can change into black shadow at any moment, they could be anywhere. I would have to be careful what I said from now on.
“You really think anyone is innocent in the Order of Shadows?” she asked. “You’re so naive, little girl.”
“Stop calling me that,” I said. “I may not be as old as you and your friends, but that doesn’t make me some ignorant child.”
Lea laughed. “Well, at least there’s a little bit of fight in you,” she said. “I was beginning to wonder.”
I turned away, staring out at the peaceful scene.
Cristo called for Jackson to help him with something. “I’ll be right back,” he said, leaving me alone with Lea for the first time.
“Why do you hate me so much?” I said.
Lea shifted her weight from one foot to another. “I don’t hate you,” she said. “I just don’t like you very much.”
“Were you the ones who closed the demon gate in Aldeen?” I asked, nervous to hear her answer. “Because I know this is your fight, but I need to know what you’re capable of before I go too deep-“
“You think we did that?” she asked.
“Look, I understand why you hate the Order of-“
“Holy shit, are you serious?” she said, shaking her head. She took a few steps toward me, her face uncomfortably close to mine. “You really have no clue, do you? I mean, you’re so quick to blame the demons for mass-murder, but you swear that your little friends in the Order are so innocent. You want to see reality, little girl?”
Before I even knew what was happening, Lea gripped her hands around my shoulders and recited some strange language. I called out for Jackson and saw him running toward us, but before he could get to us, we turned to black smoke.
Someone You Recognize?
Lea and I landed in a field in the middle of the night. I fell to the ground, my breath knocked from my body.
“Where are we?” I asked. “Where did you take me?”
“The past,” she said with a slight smile. “We’re in Aldeen, Kansas a week ago. You said you wanted to know what happened.”
I coughed and placed my hands on the ground for support. Traveling back in time had been much more violent than normal shadow demon traveling. I couldn’t take a breath or see anything the entire time we were porting from one place to another.
“Telling me might have been enough,” I said. “I’m not sure I needed to actually see-“
“Oh look,” she said. “The guests of honor.”
Torches lit up the area just south of us. The scene looked eerily familiar, and I looked around, realizing we were in a barren, treeless circular field just like the one in the woods of Shadowford. We were close to Aldeen’s ritual room.
Witches in purple robes walked past us, their faces solemn and pale with worry. I started to back up, to hide in the woods so they wouldn’t see us, but Lea laughed.
“They can’t see or hear you,” she said. “We’re only here in spirit, so to speak. We can’t alter their fate now.”
The horror of what was to come hit me like a ton of bricks. “I don’t want to be here to see what happens to them,” I said. “Please, this isn’t right.”
“Oh, I think it’s only fair. You accused me of something horrible,” she said. “I think you need to see the truth.”
I stayed on the ground as the line of witches disappeared down the stone stairs. My muscles were tense. I didn’t want to watch these people die. Lea was mad for bringing me here. For forcing me to watch this.
“We’ll need to go downstairs to see the real show,” she said. “But first, we need to wait for the rest of the Order to show up.”
I stared at her, unable to even form the words for the things I wanted to say to her. Had I completely misread everything they said last night? Had someone else been responsible for all this death?
Something flew near my face, and I squinted to see what it was in the darkness. A yellow butterfly landed in the grass beside my hand. A butterfly?
“Someone you recognize?” Lea said, watching me closely.
The butterfly shifted into a woman with shockingly white-blonde hair, and I gasped. Zara’s mother. A priestess on the High Council. What was she doing here the night this demon gate closed?
Several witches in black robes joined her and she led them down into the ritual room below.
“Go on,” Lea said. “I think you’ll want to see this.”
A heavy feeling settled in my stomach. I didn’t want to follow. I didn’t want to know. But now that I was here, I had to see the truth.
I stood and with shaky legs, followed Zara’s mother down the stone steps. This ritual room was almost an exact replica of the Peachville room. The main difference was the stone in the floor where the demon gate opened wasn’t a sapphire. Instead, it was an amethyst. A beautiful purple stone with dark, rich tones.
Aldeen’s Prima bowed down to Zara’s mother. “Welcome Priestess,” she said. “As you can see, we’ve gathered here tonight as you asked. It’s our hope that we can work through this, and I think your presence here is the first step.”
Zara’s mother smiled, but her eyes were flat and cold. “Yes, the High Council is also hoping we can resolve this issue tonight,” she said. “It is our understanding that your local council has voted against any new initiations. Can you explain this to me?”
Tension rippled through the room. Several witches shifted uncomfortably, sharing looks of concern. Several of the witches lifted their head
s defiantly, ready to make a stand against the High Council. Rebellion was in the air.
“In times of old, shadow demons and humans lived in peace together,” the Prima said. “Instead of forcing our recruits and the demons into a life they might not be ready for, we would like to introduce some new ideas.”
“Such as?” the priestess asked, her voice bitter.
“We already outlined those requests before the High Council six months ago, Priestess Winter.”
“I would like to hear them again.”
The Prima took a breath and straightened her neck to stand tall and confident. “Such as teaching our recruits exactly what it means to be joined with a demon,” she said. “Allowing them to make the choice about whether joining the Order is right for them.”
When the priestess didn’t say a word, the Prima went on.
“Also, we’d like to communicate with the demons in the shadow world,” she said. She cleared her throat. “To make sure that being joined with a human here in our world is something they want and will agree to. If we can just build relationships with the demons, I think we can get back to our roots and-“
“Blasphemy,” Zara’s mother said. She threw her hands out to her side and I saw the glimmer of something silver.
The witches in the room gasped. Someone screamed in terror. My heart raced. What was happening?
“Priestess, please, we beg of you.” A small woman with long red hair stepped in front of the Prima, her eyes gleaming with fresh tears. “We don’t mean any disrespect-“
“Silence.” Priestess Winter waved her hand in front of the woman’s face and her lips fused together.
I recoiled, not believing Zara’s mother could be so cruel.
“According to Law 4 of the binding code of the Order of Shadows, no demon gate or its Prima may speak out against the Order’s practices or seek to change them,” she said. She lifted her hands up to her chest, but from this angle, I still couldn’t see what she was carrying. “Those changes are to be made solely by the High Council. The changes you speak of are outrageous and not worth the Council’s time. Demons are no more than mere animals. We have figured out a way to enslave them and they are not strong enough to fight back. That makes them lesser beings, and the Order will continue to use them as we see fit.
