Last Witch Standing (Mountain Witch Saga)

by Jonathan Grimm

  “The idea of a hiking trip was a good one. Their mother will come at the end of next week, when school lets out. That gives us one less civilian to worry about,” Candice said.

  “How did you talk Mr. Edwards into bringing his son? After all, Katie is dangerous,” Rachel asked.

  “I convinced him that the danger to his son was greater leaving him and that there ultimately was no possibility of the boy remaining on the sidelines.”

  “Was it difficult?”

  “To put it, mildly, yes. He came close to throwing me out of his office several times.”

  Rachel laughed. “I am sure you were very persuasive.”

  “When I need to be, I guess I can.”

  Rachel watched the jet contrails as they stood by the airport window looking out.

  “That is them.” Rachel pointed to a speck in the distance.

  “That is uncanny. This Power thing is something I will never get used to.”

  She will have to. Earth is lost to her. Unless Queen Annalisse has a special plan for restoring the detective to her identity.

  ****

  “It is great to be back here!” Eric moved his gaze back and forth between the ocean and the mountains. Eric looked at Rachel. His mouth opened slightly and he did not blink. “I thought you were dead.”

  “I was. I am. In the same way Katie is. After this affair is over I will need to return to my world – The Kingdom of the Mountain Witches.”

  “I was worried about you…. when I saw your picture on the news.”

  “Thank you. Our lives are entangled in some way.”

  “I would like to visit your world.”

  “That may not be possible. It takes a lot of power for one who is neither witch nor sorcerer to transit. Candice’s trip took the combined power of the Citadel and the Upper Mountain Witches to open the gate,” Rachel said.

  “It is possible he could piggyback on you, Rachel. If things go badly here tomorrow, we may have to make the attempt. I don’t think Katie is vindictive, but the shock could render her irrational,” Karen said.

  “I’d say she already is irrational,” Candice said.

  “In her own way, she is rational. From her perspective, her actions make sense,” Jakob said.

  ***

  “It certainly is beautiful here,” Candice said.

  “Any idea when my sister will be here?” Dan Edwards asked.

  “She’s here now.” Rachel stood up.

  “Now?” Candice bolted upright and reached for her cellphone.

  “No. On Earth, but not yet here. She is looking for me. If the queen wasn’t blocking her, Katie would find me.”

  “Then we don’t have much time. Annalisse can’t hold her that long. Katie is too powerful. Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “Just noticed it.” Rachel shuffled, avoiding looking directly at Candice. “Katie’s occupied with something. She’s discovered something that’s enchanted her. I feel the spike in her energy. It is similar to when she discovered a new element in the space around Pangea.”

  “What could it be?” Candice asked.

  “Anything. Literally anything. Another witch she could use, a book on physics that answers one of her questions – or provokes new, interesting, ones. It could even be something as simple as a new iPad.”

  “If she has a new girl, we must move quickly. I will not allow another child to die by her hands.”

  “She didn’t kill them,” Rachel said.

  Candice didn’t answer this but dialed her cellphone. Rachel left to meet Eric at the hotel pool.

  ***

  “Can you swim?” Eric asked, eyes wide.

  “Of course. I could swim to the bottom of the ocean, if I had to.” Rachel stripped off her shorts and flipped her sandals by the lawn chair.

  “Cool.”

  Eric dived into the turquoise water and swam out about fifteen feet. He turned to Rachel. She jumped in. Unconsciously, she began drawing heat energy from it. The Power was a narcotic.

  “It’s cold!” Eric shivered.

  “Yes.” Rachel stopped drawing. What was she thinking? The cold could kill these people if she accidentally took too much.

  “So, what did you do in the mountains, if you don’t mind my asking?” Eric looked at Rachel.

  “I studied. Mathematics, physics, the Power, etc. Didn’t get very far on my own.”

  “It’s crazy. We must have been less than a mile away from you the whole time.”

  “I think I was already gone by then,” Rachel said.

  Eric stopped his dogpaddling.

  “Sorry. I do thank you and your father for finding me and trying to help me.”

  “This is just too strange. I find out that a girl I met at Walmart is dead, but alive, and has been kidnapped by my four and a half-year old aunt who died forty years ago.”

  “I know. Imagine how I felt when I first discovered I had The Gift? What it was like to have a two feet, seven inches tall woman show up at my window?”

  “Crazy. Yet, I believe it. That’s the strangest thing of all. I believe it.”

  Rachel dove under the water and grabbed his legs, toppling him.

  “What did you do that for?” Eric sputtered, water drops falling from his face and hair, a grin on his face.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t played in years. Katie is so intellectual and my adoptive parents in Melville weren’t much fun. She does like llamas, though.”

  “Llamas?” Eric circled around her.

  He’s distracting me for a toss himself. That was the thing about the Power. Humans could rarely take her by surprise. Well, she would pretend –

  Eric dove and Rachel felt his hands on her legs in a tackle. Visions of him in junior high school wrestling class, years before, came unbidden into her mind. How can you have a relationship with somebody whose mind you can read? Relationship? She stopped herself. She was dead, he was alive.

  The two continued their swim, ending up in the spa. Here, Rachel risked pulling a few more degrees of heat from the water. This was becoming an addiction. On the other hand, this wasn’t her world – or even her universe – any longer. Even keeping her body together probably took extra energy. Hadn’t Karen implied as much?

  From their perspective on the spa benches, they could see a banner ad for the local symphony. A visiting virtuoso would perform Bach that evening.

  “I wonder if we could get tickets,” Eric said. I played the viola in junior high school. Never got anywhere with it, but I do like classical music.”

  “Me too. So does Katie. In fact, she loves Bach.” Rachel wondered what Power enhanced playing would be like. When this was over, there would be plenty of time for her to learn – and master – the violin.

  ***

  “You have some great connections, Rachel. They were sold out weeks ago.” Eric walked her towards their seat in the concert hall. He was dressed in a rented suit.

  “It comes with being a witch.” She elbowed him. In a black tie outfit, neatly combed dirty blond hair, he looked beautiful.

  “Don’t clap between movements,” Eric reminded her.

  Rachel elbowed him again.

  Several rows behind them, Karen and Jakob sat together. Annalisse was elsewhere, with Candice, preparing the ground for Katie’s arrival. Rachel felt for the thread, the strands of power, emotion and feeling that her witch nature enabled her to grasp. Katie’s thread was stronger now. Closer than even an hour ago.

  This may be our last night of peace.

  Rachel ceased channeling and looked at Eric who was examining the program.

  The curtain opened and the crowd grew silent.

  The violinist, a young woman, Helen Kahn, walked to the center of the stage wearing a blue velour dress, hair tied into a ponytail to prevent its obstructing her playing. She bowed to the audience, said a few words about the piece, then raised her violin, adjusted its position on her shoulder and began. The first movement started dramatically, and Rachel was reminded of those
sports cars that can go from zero to sixty in seconds. The violinist attacked the strings, like a baker cutting bread.

  The sound of her music filled the auditorium. Helen Kahn bobbed back and forth like a bumblebee, bow moving so rapidly that Rachel half expected to see sparks fly from the strings.

  When this is over, I definitely will take up the violin. Perhaps Jakob will teach me.

  Rachel relaxed further back in her seat as she let the music pass over her, calming her, inspiring her.

  Tonight is mine. Tomorrow is Katie’s.

  Chapter 25

  The Present

  Earth

  Many in the audience lingered after the performance. There was a reception in the lobby with pitchers of punch arrayed on tables spread with white tablecloths. In the corner, a bar served champagne and wine to those over 21.

  Rachel froze. She is here. In Hawaii. Somehow, Katie had penetrated Annalisse’s shield.

  She grabbed Eric’s arm. “We have to go.”

  “Something wrong?” He turned to her but did not move.

  “Yes. Katie is here. I sense her.”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know. Somewhere near.” On a hunch, Rachel felt for the emerald Annalisse had used to track her to Pangea. It was warm.

  “Let’s go. Now.” Rachel tossed the gem into the bushes and pulled Eric along.

  Karen came beside her. “Jakob is getting the van.”

  “You felt her too?”

  “No. I felt you. Your anxiety.”

  “Katie has turned Annalisse’s magic against us and tracked me here with Annalisse’s emerald. That must have been why Katie let me keep it – she knew she could reverse it and use it for her own means.”

  “Where is it, the emerald?” Karen asked as the trio moved towards the street.

  “I tossed it into the bushes.”

  Karen looked back. “Okay, we can come back for it later. We may be able to use it.”

  “No. Katie will know I discovered it. I don’t know how, maybe because it left my presence, but I am certain. She will know.”

  Jakob cut in front of a BMW sports model and pulled into the small open place by the curb. The three ran to him. The BMW driver honked and cursed Jakob as it passed.

  “Katie is here,” Karen said without preamble. Queen Annalisse was in the corner seat; next to her sat an Upper Mountain Witch scout.

  “We can’t go to the hotel,” Candice said.

  “No.” Jakob followed the traffic closely with his eyes.

  “We’ll have to push this up. To tomorrow morning,” Karen said.

  All turned to Rachel. Even Jakob took his eyes off the road to look at her.

  “I am ready. Is Mr. Edwards?”

  “Yes. We’ll have to move you all. You can return for your luggage after this is over.”

  Candice called Dan on his cell and apprised him of their change in plans. He met them at the curb of the hotel and they sped off. Jakob didn’t even wait for the stop sign, but looked and, seeing it was clear, ran it.

  They followed Kuhio Highway towards Kilauea.

  “I don’t understand. If she’s here, why not just do it now?” Eric asked.

  “Because Queen Annalisse has set up the site. Her witches are in place. We could not guarantee your father’s safety otherwise,” Candice said.

  ***

  “We have to lose her!” Karen yelled from the back of the van.

  Overhead, in the distance, Rachel watched a speck hover in the air. It had been following their van for the past fifteen minutes as they sped down Kuhio Highway. Katie is toying with them. With us. To her, this is just a game of cat-and-mouse.

  “Pull over, Jakob,” Karen said.

  The vehicle fish-tailed at the abrupt application of the brakes.

  Trudy climbed in through an open side window. Rachel had not seen her on the roof. Queen Annalisse joined hands with her sisters and a mist enveloped the van. Outside turned dark. “This will only hold her for a few moments,” the queen said.

  “Everybody out. Quickly,” Jakob said.

  Rachel jumped through the van door the instant Karen opened it. Dan pushed his son through, then followed.

  “What about the queen?” Rachel yelled to Karen as they ran.

  “She will catch up with us,” Jakob answered for her. He was taking up the rear.

  Rachel slowed to let him overtake her. If Katie caught up to them, Rachel wanted to be the first one the sorceress saw. Perhaps if she went with the sorceress, this would end. Somehow, she didn’t think so, though. Not this time. Queen Annalisse had thrown up a challenge and Katie, like a bulldog, would rise to it.

  A golf ball sized, gemlike object in Karen’s hands glowed blue-green in the mist. A magical device of some sort – from the Citadel. The Citadel witch slowed until all caught up to her. “Join hands.”

  Dan seized his son with one hand, Rachel’s arm with the other. Though accustomed to magical power, Rachel still found his grip strong, viselike. He is frightened for his son.

  When all hands were joined, Karen channeled into the gem, now hanging from a necklace around her neck, jostling her blouse as it vibrated with the Power.

  The Power was like a knife cutting through Rachel. The mist disappeared to be replaced by absolute blackness. Were they not bound together, they would surely lose their way. After agonizing seconds, the darkness broke and they arrived at the base of Mount Kilauea. Deep orange fire-light peeked out from skylights, openings in the rock where the glow of molten lava from beneath the ground was visible.

  Pieces of terrain rose around them, revealing themselves to be a score of camouflaged Upper Mountain Witches. Several Citadel Witches ran towards the party. One, in a black robe, red hair, peppered with grey streaks, carried a staff.

  “Eudora,” Karen addressed the witch.

  “The plan is still in place. Only the schedule has been turned up. Right now, our sister, Annalisse, and her forces, are fighting a running battle with the sorceress. The child-witch’s channeling must lead the creature here. Quickly.” Eudora gestured to Rachel with her staff.

  “I am ready,” Rachel said.

  “Now. You must get to Iki and we must return to our places; hidden in the terrain. It will not be long. Annalisse’s fight with the creature is not going well. Two of her sisters have already been injured,” Eudora said.

  Rachel, Eric, Dan, and Candice raced towards Iki. Jakob ran ahead of the party, and Karen behind. Karen held the gem in her palm, but Rachel did not sense channeling from it.

  Two Upper Mountain Witches wounded by Katie! A disaster. There could be no bloodshed on either side. Which of Annalisse’s sisters were hurt? Was gentle Trudy one of them?

  Karen’s words brought Rachel back. “You need to take your position, Rachel. Annalisse is in a desperate fight in the hillside, and she cannot hold out for much longer.”

  “We need you to channel, now,” Jakob panted between words. “Eric, you need to come with me. We have prepared a safe hideout for you.”

  “I’m not leaving my dad,” Eric said.

  “Go!” Dan Edwards barked. “It is safer there.” He added, softly, “Safer for both of us. Katie is going to be disoriented by seeing me. She may lash out and if there is a fight, these people,” he gestured to where the Upper Mountain Witches and Citadel Witches were positioned, “…these people, they need to have a free hand. You cannot be caught in the crossfire.”

  Jakob took Eric’s shoulder and the young man, after a final glance at his father, then at Rachel, followed. The pair disappeared into the rock.

  They have been busy here. Tunnels and hideaways have been dug throughout this terrain. That is what Karen meant about Queen Annalisse setting up the ground beforehand. The queen is a chess master, you must remember that. She will prevail.

  “May I go now?” Rachel asked the moment Eric was safely out of the way. “Annalisse and her people could be killed at any second. I know Katie’s power. Not even the queen can face her
in open battle like this.”

  “We are ready,” Karen said.

  Rachel knelt and placed her palms to the ground. She didn’t want to overdraw energy and become too sick to be of any use in the coming events, yet she wanted no mistakes. Katie would be distracted by the fight; it would probably take a large amount of Rachel’s channeling to draw the sorceress’s attention.

  Rachel placed an image in her mind of her sisters, Gertrude and Eustice and the other Lower Mountain Witches; the Edwards, father and son; Candice, Jakob and Karen; Queen Annalisse and her Upper Mountain Witches. This strengthened her. Rachel felt for the threads of heat beneath her and, finding a large one, drew.

  The energy seized her, paralyzing her body, as if a large current of electricity were entering her, shocking her senses.

  The lesson of the candle!

  Rachel breathed deeply, calming her mind, and remembering the images of her new family. She could not fail. All depended upon her.

  The ground cooled as she removed the energy within. In only a few moments, she had drawn more than she had ever done at once. More, probably, than she had drawn in total over the past year.

  A strand of the Power reached out to her. Katie. Rachel collapsed onto the rock ground.

  Chapter 26

  Wisdom is nothing more than healed pain.

  Robert E. Lee

  The Present

  Earth

  Stars twinkled overhead; the full moon illuminated the terrain. Rachel stared upwards, breathing slowly. Around her, a battle raged.

  Green flame spouted from Eudora’s staff, the color accenting her red hair and black robe. Several times, Rachel made out the sound of Annalisse’s musket firing. Streaks of blue plasma passed over the ground, their flight ending in a crash and burst of flame.

  Rachel attempted to rise. Dizziness stopped her. If she could stop this battle by agreeing to go with the sorceress, she would. But hadn’t Candice and Karen told her that Katie was destroying worlds with her “explorations”? This was beyond Rachel’s control to halt.