by Zed Amadeo
I was awoken the next morning while in the middle of a dream, looking at myself in the mirror. Only in my reflection, I saw Alejandra instead of myself.
When I went down to breakfast, I found Alejandra already seated in her ordinary spot. This time, the delicacies that I had come to expect were replaced by fruit, bread, and a pitcher of water. I hesitantly took my seat. Alejandra seemed to sense my surprise.
“The way to become a witch requires clarity of thought and purity of the body. Your diet for the remainder of your training will be very simple. The fewer distractions you have, especially anything physical, the better off your learning process will be.”
I pitifully looked over the options set in front of me before taking a piece of fruit and slice of bread, washed down with a glass of cool water, taking only a few minutes to finish my meager meal before beginning my first lesson in magic.
A “magic-free” society has never existed. Whether practiced in private or openly performed, magic has always existed in one form or another. Call us witches, warlocks, shamans, or sorcerers. Whatever you want to call us, there is no denying the place that we and our art have carved into every place throughout time.
The story of Siraj Ali and Zahrah, the founder of our kind, is present throughout the consciousness of our culture. The Adam and Eve of our magical folk transformed the desert around them into endless oases and created al-Alizab, a grand empire of magic, forging a center for all magical outcasts to flourish. The moment of their death marked the descent of their empire.
Most of their descendants had no vision for the empire. It was only in time that one of their successors, Tahani was able to gather enough followers to form a new society of magic, “al-Jafru.” She and her followers made repeated spiritual travels to bring magic to new heights.
Al-Jafru was not allowed to live in peace. Members of al-Alizab brutally attacked al-Jafru, igniting a conflict that would lead to the slaughter of too many of our kind. Following this bloodshed, our people scattered across the globe, immersing ourselves into whatever communities we could find. That is why witches and warlocks, in some form or another, can be found everywhere. Only the method of magic created by al-Alizab and al-Jafru is the purest form. All others are merely less powerful corruptions of this pure source…
Alejandra closed the book and ended her reading. I hadn’t understood half of the terms or the names, but I thought that I had at least caught the general idea. Still too nervous to speak, I waited for Alejandra to initiate the conversation.
“Is any of that true?” I asked.
“Maybe,” Alejandra said. “I have reason to believe so. Regardless of its accuracy, I think you’ll find great value in our mythology.” Unable to determine an acceptable response, I remained silent.
“Spells provide a way to channel the magic force running through our universe with your intent to create change in the world,” Alejandra explained to me on my first day of practice.
“When casting a spell, you must also use your hand as a rod to guide this energy,” she said. “Speak the spell’s name clearly and correctly. What is the most important is the image in your mind of your intentions. A spell is only a word without your intent behind it.”
Each day became a lesson in casting a new spell, learning them at dazzling speed. First, we began with summoning small samples of each element. At the end of each day, I stood amazed as I held a new element in the palm of my hand:
Hariyak, for fire.
Bahara, for water.
Riyah for a burst of wind.
Sokrah for rock.
We soon moved on the spells that would allow me to have more specific effects on an object – or with a great amount of effort and practice, Alejandra explained, a person:
Fawuk, to ascend
Ila, to descend
Bayiden, to push away from me.
Nahu, to pull toward me.
“It is quite easy to affect a small object with this kind of magic,” Alejandra explained. “Most mundane objects have nothing magical about them. No will to oppose your force.The situation gets a bit more complicated when you’re dealing with charmed objects, but that’s a lesson for a later date.”
Soon after, Alejandra taught me the delicate art of potion making.
“Many of the best potions are passed down in families,” she told me, displaying an ancient, ratted tome of recipes she kept in her dedicated workshop, a room that was packed with musty, tattered volumes and cabinets full of mysterious ingredients stored in glass jars.
“A colleague of mine gave me a copy of the recipe book that has been in his family for generations” Potion-making, as I learned, involved a lot more than gathering the right ingredients. Some of the components had to have been raised, killed, or obtained during a certain point of the year or moon cycle.
“To become a skillful potion maker,” Alejandra explained, “You must memorize charts of nature and know the uses of hundreds, if not thousands, of ingredients, taking into account the proper incantations or rituals that must be performed to give the potions their effectiveness. It requires so much effort that certain members of our society specialize in creating the proper ingredients for the rest of us.”
Alejandra began laying the foundation for what I considered to be the most difficult aspect of magic: rituals.
“Rituals are the surest way to invoke powerful magic,” Alejandra she explained. “Many of them require great energy and concentration, complex incantations, and sometimes multiple people.” I had been introduced to this particular kind of magic the night of the attack. For that reason alone, my education in this arena became the most important to me.
“But even the most complicated of rituals begins with the simplest of steps: the casting of a proper circle,” Alejandra said, demonstrating how to ground myself before drawing a circle around my body. I used ink in this instance, but as Alejandra explained to me, you could use just about any substance as long as your intent was there.
“You can then determine the specific purpose of the ritual by adapting the circle in various ways and drawing the proper symbols upon the body,” Alejandra said. Exactly what had been done to me.
Sometimes you could invoke mystical beings when you performed the proper rituals. This, as I learned, was exactly what Alejandra had done during my initiation.
“The being that appeared to us is an entity from another realm,” Alejandra explained. “Witches may form a bond with such creatures to add power to their magic. This being is one that I have happened to know for a very long time.”
Our world is inhabited with creatures great and small, many unseen by the mundane eye, others created by our kind for particular purposes.
Rafik. Another name for our companions. Miniature beings from an otherworldly place to assist new witches or warlocks.
Saldan. Winged beasts created by our ancestors for warfare to infiltrate rival communities.
Kadma. Short-lived humanoids with little intellect. Forbidden from creation.
Strewn throughout my lessons in magic, Alejandra taught me about the culture of witches and warlocks. Our beliefs, our backgrounds, our holidays. The practices of my new people.
“We often gather in regular festivals to share or sell our wares,” Alejandra explained, “And to celebrate our culture. Knowledge is as valuable as gold among our people. We have no standard tome of magic, so it is up to us to decide what to do with that knowledge.” I could only hope that the next festival I attended would be less terrifying than my past experience.
My days of studying were broken up by moments of daily meditation. In between reading about mystical creatures and new spells, Alejandra would interrupt my studies to take me into another room in her palatial estate, plastered with colorful fabrics from one wall to the next, with a couple of pillows on the floor. I would sit cross-legged in front of her, resuming our position from our previous ritual, letting her take my hands into her own. During the first of our many obligatory daily meditations, I found it difficult
to sit still and empty my mind when I was still so confused about so many things, although it became easier day after day.
My nightly meal would often consist of a slightly more filling spread of breads and an assortment of jams while Alejandra quizzed me on whatever topic my lesson had been for that day. During one such occasion, the blue creature came back into the room, whispering something that I could not understand into Alejandra’s ear.
“At this hour?” Alejandra asked. “Very well. Invite him in.” The creature left the room. Alejandra turned toward me.
“Feel free to stay here or go back to your room,” she said before departing. I was already full and saw little reason to sit around for much longer, so I decided to go back up to my room, passing a closed door. I at first approached it only to grab my companion, but became drawn into the sound of conversation going on inside.
“And his name?” Alejandra asked her unknown guest.
“Greyson, I believe,” the visitor said. “He has been the worst pest. My customers are scared to approach me because they’re afraid they might be his next target. ”
“Yes, I’ve heard talk of him before,” Alejandra said. “You are not the only one having problems with this warlock.”
“The bodies just keep piling up, you know?” the visitor said. “How am I supposed to run my business with this nonsense?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Alejandra said. “I’ll have him taken care of at once. As long as you comply with the terms of our deal.”
“Yes, of course,” the man said. “I would never think to break our terms. You’re the only resource I have left. You’ll have my services whenever you need – as soon as I can get my business up and running again.”
“Excellent,” Alejandra said. “I’ll see to this soon.” I heard the rustle of movement. They must be getting up from their seats. I sprinted toward the staircase before Alejandra could notice me, or more importantly, my eavesdropping. I had almost made it back to my room without further incident when I bumped into Lisa in the hallway.
I was too startled to say anything. For one long, frozen moment, we stood motionless before each other. She cast her eyes down, and without a word, shoved past me and headed in the direction that I had just come from. I practically sprinted the rest of the distance to my room.
In my solitary silence, I allowed myself to doubt Alejandra for the first time. Yes, she had saved me and taught me a new and improved way to live, but did I really know who this woman was? The strange ambient sounds that came and went and the conversation that I had just overheard made me think otherwise. I considered leaving altogether, running through multiple possibilities of my next course of action. I opened the bedroom door to go to an unknown destination only to find Alejandra standing in my way.
“Dina!” she said, looking pleased to see me again. “I came up to check on you. How are you feeling?” Before I could answer, she took several steps into the room and closed the door behind her. When we made eye contact again, I knew that she knew everything.
“You heard my conversation, didn’t you?” she asked. I didn’t say anything.
“You must understand that I am one of the most powerful members of this community,” she explained. “I help the magical folk here, and in exchange, they help me. You should have seen this place before. Witches and warlocks were fighting everywhere. They were on the brink of revealing our world. I have helped a lot of people here. Just like how I want to help you.” I had no proof that she was lying, and I felt too guilty to continue doubting her after everything that she had done for me.
“Join me for dinner?” Alejandra asked. I nodded and followed her downstairs.
While we were being served our evening meal, the bizarre sounds drifted in and out of audible range, which Alejandra continued to ignore. Feeling too uncomfortable to point them out or ask about them, I went along with the charade. Alejandra deflected my attention elsewhere when she pointed out a statue in the corner of that room that had not been there a day ago, a feminine figure permanently locked into a ballerina pose.
“Where did this come from?” I asked.
“It was a gift from a colleague,” she said. Maybe from a colleague like the warlock who had been having that mysterious conversation about “Greyson.”
“I did him a favor,” Alejandra said. “And in return, he gave me that. When you do good for others of our kind, they will often return the favor.”
“My purpose here is to build a community,” Alejandra said. “People come to me for help, and I assist them as best as I can. You too should have a purpose in your studies to guide you. I encourage you to think of one, but you should let the purpose come to you.”
I thought about my purpose for days afterward, crowding out the numbing thoughts that had permanently latched themselves onto my brain and meditated on it whenever I got the chance. My answer finally arrived midway through training in spell casting, which left me feeling increasingly exhausted at the end of each day. After a time, the fatigue, the studying, and the meditation swirled together to provide me with a new state of mind. I experienced a clarity that helped me to weed out my destructive thought patterns.
On the edge of sleep, I saw myself being beaten and violated all over again. And then I saw myself taking a backseat to everything else in my life, giving up on what few goals I used to have. All I had wanted to do was to lie in bed and retreat to a world where my daily pain did not exist. But why? Why had I become a bystander in my own life?
I could place the blame on those two men: Joe and Nameless. The damage they had done to me was irreparable. Almost everything that I had done since had been in response to the fear that they had forced into me. But why should I let them have the final say with what I did with my life? Shouldn’t they be the ones suffering for that night? I would no longer be the helpless one. It would be they who would cower in fear. I knew that I had found my purpose. My eyes opened from pre-sleep.
I was studying magic to become less helpless. The first step in that would be carrying out my own justice to those two men.
Putting my purpose into a concrete statement made it possible for me to go through my training with a new sense of comfort. I had a specific goal that I wanted to work toward. Every action I performed and piece of knowledge I gained were stepping-stones to help me get there. The food felt less lacking, the meditation easier, and the studying more efficient when I put everything into this perspective. I was not only growing into a witch. I was becoming a stronger person.
I did not have to tell Alejandra my purpose. I showed it to her, during one of our daily meditations. My purpose flowed effortlessly into my mind. I suddenly saw myself roaming through the world, casting whatever spell I pleased, finally the one in power as I imagined in so many of daydreams while in training. I had become a weapon of magic. A saldan, as they had been described, creatures with mottled yellow skin, long claws on every digit, wings to carry them from one destination to the next, and the darkest eyes that would strike fear into anyone they encountered. A saldan could take on the skin of other humans, use them as a disguise against their hideous exterior. As one of these creatures, nothing and no one could hold me back as I sought my violent revenge. My vision concluded with finally finding Joe and Nameless, and twisting their existence into worlds of pain. Alejandra suddenly breathed in sharply, destroying the calm we had created together and sending my vision floating into the ether.
“Dina,” she said, after looking into my eyes for an extended, quiet moment, “You are even more determined than I thought.”
From then on, my training from Alejandra became more defensive than instructive:
Sarifa, to deflect a spell. It doesn’t always work on every spell, Alejandra explained, but it’s usually worth a try.
Kafada, to slice into flesh.
Alama, to cause a brief burst of pain.
If I ever became too drained to continue that day, Alejandra reminded me to think of my vision. That always gave
me enough energy to continue on with full force. We continued meditating together for longer periods of time. The more we meditated, the closer the messages between us grew, until the images she passed into me became as clear as a movie.
During one of my final days of training, Alejandra began our meditation with a disclaimer.
“Dina, I’ve decided that I want to show you something special today,” she said. “Something that I have not shown to anyone else. I want to show you because I want you to be a part of this. You have more raw power than any witch-in-training that I have met. I want you to think of this as the introduction for what is to come.” I closed my eyes and concentrated on my breathing until it matched the pace of Alejandra’s. Her vision became my own, although I could still feel the vision’s foreign quality at the edges of mind.
Alejandra and I stood together, wearing magnificently colored robes. A feeling of accomplishment radiated out from my body. The two of us walked from one city to the next with impossible speed. No matter where we went, I was overwhelmed with an intense peace and calm as all of my previous fears melted away into insignificance. In each city, we were surrounded by our own kind. As we walked through the streets, other magical folk joined us, becoming our followers. I felt blissful. Tranquil. At home. I had finally found my place. The vision became a dream from which I never wanted to wake.
“We didn’t have to hide ourselves,” I said, after the vision had ended and I looked into Alejandra’s comforting eyes.
“Precisely,” she said. “Our kind has existed in a stalemate with the ordinary world for too long. We have this tradition of keeping ourselves hidden, but why should our kind shrink away from this ordinary, inferior world? I have found a way to raise our kind to a new level of existence. With this new freedom, we shall shape the world as we see fit. We will have the power at last. With your strength and the support of my network within this community, I know that we’ll be able to make this vision into reality. I know that you have your own reasons for undergoing your training to become a witch, and I fully support you in fulfilling your purpose. I only ask that after you’re finished training, and after you’ve sought your well-deserved revenge, that you never forget the greater goal that I have created for us. As soon as you return, we will be able to begin.”
I couldn’t have said no to her even if I had wanted to. All I could do was nod and try to fight back the inexplicable tears the vision had created. I had never seen my life as part of anything grander than the ordinary.
“This is amazing,” I said to Alejandra, an understatement of my true emotion. But that felt like a barely adequate response, so I followed up with something more.
“I promise,” I told her. “To never lose sight of the great goal.”
