Loch Nessa

by Clare Kauter

  I shifted uncomfortably as a cool breeze hit me. My clothes were still wet under my robe, and my shoes squelched with every step, like squeezing dishwater from a sponge. Ordinarily I would have cast a warming spell to bring my core temperature up above freezing and dry out my clothes, but after diving in the ether, I was wiped out. I’d stayed down for a little too long, and even though my magic was getting strong, that was not something you really wanted to push yourself on. Thanks in part to the bump on my head and in part to the overexertion, I had a nice headache coming on. I suspected that maybe the Dora was contributing to how crappy I felt, also. Being dead can’t be good for you. I tried asking the Doomstone for help with bringing back my magic mojo, but to no avail. It just thought I was being a wuss.

  A shower or a bath would have been nice, but to do that I would have to head back into the castle and there was no way I was getting naked in there. Thanks to the dark cloud of magic that hung over the structure, I wouldn’t be able to sense anyone sneaking up on me to drain my blood or eat my heart or whatever creepy shit they were into. Nope. Not a chance. I pulled my robes tighter around myself and rubbed my arms, trying to keep my teeth from chattering. It was then I remembered that in my bag I had the small jar of fire I’d bought when Henry and I were on the quest to kill Santa in the North Pole (and in case you’re wondering, I’m still not entirely sure where the North Pole is).

  I dumped my bag on the ground and rifled through it until I found the glass jar. The flame inside was small and weak, and currently burning without any real heat. (It was designed to be portable so you could pack it in with other things and not set your bag alight or whatever.) As my cold fingers touched it, the flame began to grow and the jar became pleasantly warm. I sat it on the ground in front of me and slipped off my sloppy shoes. After peeling off my waterlogged socks and wringing them out, I draped them over the jar to dry off and held my feet near the jar to warm up. A patch of sun peeked through the clouds above and momentarily everything felt less miserable.

  By the time the others emerged from the castle I was not exactly dry, but I was certainly a lot warmer than I had been before. Being dead had really allowed the cold to seep through to my bones. There was definitely something to be said for being warm-blooded.

  After I put my socks and shoes back on and gathered up my things, I sat next to Hecate and Daisy on the carpet. (Henry tried to convince us to walk to the lake, but after our trek to the castle the other day no one trusted his judgment of what constituted ‘not too far.’) Grudgingly, Henry joined us on the carpet, transforming into a small black kitten and digging his tiny claws deep into the fibres of the mat. He really hated flying, and I guess he thought that if he fell off in cat form he’d still have eight lives left.

  Unlike Henry, I was thrilled to be flying. OK, so there was a little windchill up here, but I was clutching my little jar of warmth so I was alright. My jeans still felt kind of like they’d frozen solid against me, but at least we weren’t down in that horrible forest. Looking at it from above, I thought I saw some sort of wispy, swirling dark energy at the place where the trees gave way to open fields, but I decided my eyes must have been playing tricks on me because no one else could see what I meant when I pointed it out to them.

  It didn’t take us all that long to reach the other loch, but the sun was setting rapidly so we began to set up camp straight away. Henry and I weren’t thrilled about camping outdoors with the vamps on the prowl after our experience last night, so we decided to set up every ward known to man to keep the camp safe. Trouble was, my magic was still on the fritz from the ether/Dora combination. The other witches didn’t volunteer to help put up the wards either, since they were still experiencing some magical difficulties too.

  “Great. So the potion leaves you helpless and unable to use magic,” said Henry, glaring at Hecate. “What were you saying about it being perfectly harmless and definitely not dangerous at all?”

  “I’ll make us some tea,” said Daisy, taking her small collapsible cauldron and potion-making supplies from her bag. “Something to help restore our energy.”

  “Good idea,” said Henry. “I guess I’ll start putting up wards alone, then.”

  I didn’t want to tell him at the time because he seemed really angry (and for once I agreed with him), but the fact that he said all that while still in tiny kitten form sort of undercut his argument.

  He transformed back into his gorilla self to cast the wards and set about magicking up every barrier he could think of. (Seriously, every one – he even did a kitchen spell traditionally used to keep weevils out of your pantry. Couldn’t hurt, I guess.)

  Meanwhile, I helped Daisy brew a potion while Hecate pitched the tent. The others were out of earshot when Daisy said, “I wouldn’t have thought the Dora would knock you around so much, Nessa.”

  I chewed my lip, wondering how to reply. Giving a quick glance to the other two to make sure they weren’t paying attention, I said, “It wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t dipped into the ether.”

  Her eyes widened and she nodded. “You look a lot better than the first time I saw you do it. You must be getting stronger.”

  I nodded. “I’ve done it a couple of times since.”

  “When we were in Hell?” she guessed. I nodded. “I thought so. What else should we add to this potion?”

  Shrugging, I said, “No idea. You’re the best brewmaster in Australia if not the world, right?”

  She smiled and rolled her eyes. “In Hecate’s eyes, perhaps.”

  “So add whatever you think.”

  “Is there anything in particular that will help you get your strength up?” she asked. “As good at magic as Henry is, I’d feel much more confident in those wards if you’d give him a little boost.”

  The truth was that the Doomstone boosted my energy more than anything else, but I couldn’t exactly tell her that. Besides, it hadn’t kicked in when I’d been trying to dry my clothes earlier. It only seemed to work when I was in immediate danger.

  “Whatever will make us all strong again,” I replied. “Then you can boost the wards too.”

  She shook her head. “My magic isn’t… I don’t think the tea is going to make that much difference right now.”

  Furrowing my brow, I asked, “What do you mean? Why?”

  She took a deep breath and sighed before answering. “The Dora has left me – I’m not sure how to explain it. It’s like my magic is injured somehow. I felt it when we were performing the circle. “

  “Injured?” I repeated. She nodded.

  “That’s the best way I can explain it. I don’t know how else to say it. It’s still there; it’s just weak and hurting.”

  “You don’t think it’s permanent, do you?”

  She shook her head. “No, I’m sure it’ll heal over time. The tea should speed it up, but I won’t be in tip-top shape for a good while.”

  I nodded slowly, taking it all in. The Dora had definitely weakened my energy, but I’d been able to hold a circle – admittedly I’d crashed pretty early on, but my energy was still working. I just felt like I’d overextended myself. Like when you do exercise while you’re still sick. (At least, that’s what I imagine it would feel like – I’d never been in that situation personally.)

  “Would healing crystals help?” I asked. “I have a few in my bag. It’s nearly full moon, so we could charge them – if the moon decides to come out from behind the clouds.” I looked up at the grey sky. It was growing dark now, but the moon was nowhere in sight and the clouds were blocking every single star. It seemed unlikely that they would emerge any time soon, but we had to try something to help Daisy and Hecate out. They were no good to me in this state. If anything, they were liabilities.

  She shook her head. “Time is the only thing that will heal these wounds, honey. Our best shot is to get you back into fighting condition. You still had some strength when you left the lake, and we should be able to revive the energy you lost from visiting the ether.”
>
  I nodded. “OK. Um, I’m not sure what to brew up.” I thought for a moment. “We really ought to load up on garlic soon, though. It won’t be long before the vampires come out.”

  “If they’re not out already,” she said. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a head of garlic and broke a couple of cloves off. She handed one to me and then made her way over to give one each to Hecate and Henry as I peeled mine. I screwed up my face, put the clove in my mouth and bit down, trying not to breathe as I knew from experience this would set my lungs on fire. I chewed as much as I could stand before swallowing, feeling the substance burn all the way down my throat.

  When she returned, Daisy looked similarly displeased with the taste in her mouth.

  “OK,” she said. “Well, if you don’t know what’s going to heal you, I’ll just have to guess.” She bit her lip. “There are different substances that work better for light and dark magicals.”

  “I know,” I said, wondering what she was getting at.

  “But you’re neither,” she said. “So I have no idea what works for you.”

  “Oh.” That had me stumped. “You’ve brewed a potion for me before.”

  “But we had a full cabinet of herbs then. Plus you told me what to put in it. I’m afraid I don’t really remember what we used.”

  Neither did I. “Just trust your instincts. Make whatever works for you and we’ll see how I feel afterwards.”

  She nodded. “OK.”

  I left her working while I walked over to see how Henry was going with the wards.

  “It was dangerous of you to host that circle when your magic wasn’t working properly,” he said.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine.”

  He turned to me, tipped his head forward and gave me a look over the top of his glasses. “Really.”

  “OK, not fine, but I’m not dying. Besides, I didn’t actually realise my magic was running low until we’d already started the circle.”

  He didn’t reply.

  “Daisy is brewing up a potion to help now, though.”

  “What’s she putting in it?”

  I shrugged. “Neither of us are really sure what will help get my energy up.” I wasn’t sure if I should tell him what Daisy had told me about the fact that her energy (and Hecate’s) wouldn’t work properly until she’d had some time to heal. He looked a little cranky so I decided to save that factoid for another time.

  “Surely you have something on you that might give you a little energy boost?” Henry said pointedly.

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think it would be a great idea to whip it out now, do you? Besides, it only works in emergencies.”

  “Well, let’s hope there aren’t any of those tonight.”

  Our camp was near the bank of the loch Nessie had told us about, away from the trees so any intruders would have a harder time sneaking up on us. I agreed with Henry – I could do with a night of not being attacked. I needed to catch up on some sleep.

  Henry continued to cast wards and I borrowed some more garlic from Daisy which I sat at the perimeter of the camp, just to make extra sure to repel any wandering vamps.

  When the sun fell completely, an icy wind blew across the water towards us and we all hurried over to the fire where Daisy was brewing up the potion. Now that the tent and wards were in place, we sat around the cauldron and each took a cup of tea. Even Henry, who hadn’t taken any Dora, accepted a mug of tea, warming his monkey fingers on the cup. The moment I took a sip, I felt warmth radiate through me. It wasn’t just the warmth from the tea itself – whatever Daisy had put in it was working its magic.

  “This is amazing,” I said, gulping it down so fast that it scalded me all the way to my stomach but I didn’t care – I could feel my strength growing each second. It didn’t taste amazing, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. “What did you put in this?”

  Daisy opened and shut her mouth, looking confused at my reaction. “Is it working for you?”

  “Amazingly well,” I said. “What’s in it?”

  “Mushrooms, herbs… The usual,” she said. I caught her eye and she gave me a look that I took to mean she wanted me to be quiet. “I’ll give you the recipe.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “I’d love that.”

  “It’s not doing a hell of a lot for me,” said Hecate. “It tastes of foot sweat and dirty bandages.”

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  Daisy cringed and took another sip, shuddering as she swallowed. “It’s pretty gross.”

  “There are definite notes of compost in there, too,” said Henry. “Heavy on the manure.”

  I frowned. “Are you guys serious?”

  They all gave me funny looks. “You can’t actually be enjoying the taste of this,” said Henry. “I admit, it’s warming me up a little, but –”

  “A little?” I repeated. By now the warmth had made it to my fingertips and my stomach was gurgling happily. It felt as though my bones were fizzing with magic. (In a good way, not in a dissolving kind of way.) It was like drinking a liquid Doomstone. It was so warm I could feel my skin drying my clothes. “I barely feel like I drank the Dora at all.”

  The others were not nearly as enthusiastic about the potion. I wondered what Daisy had put in it. Obviously not something that worked well for light-dwellers. Daisy and Hecate shuffled off to bed not long after finishing their tea while Henry and I stayed up to keep watch. I told Henry he was welcome to go to bed, but he shook his head.

  “I wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

  I nodded. “Too cold?”

  “No. I can smell wolf in the air.”

  “Werewolves?”

  He nodded. Shifters and werewolves didn’t tend to get on, and although a lot of people thought they were much the same thing, in my experience wolves tended to be a lot dumber than shifters. That could just be because I’d only ever met the inbred packs that hung around Hell and hunted in the forest near my house. It was no wonder Henry was on edge. There was a noise in the distance that sounded like a howl and I hoped to hell it was just the wind playing tricks.

  Now that the tea had worn off a little, even sitting by the campfire I was getting cold. I clutched my little jar of fire, trying to warm my hands again. Henry shuffled closer to me and we huddled together for warmth.

  “Earlier on the bank,” said Henry, “when we were in the circle…”

  “Yes?”

  “You went into the ether, didn’t you?”

  There didn’t seem to be much point in lying. I nodded.

  “Even after the Dora sapped your energy?”

  “I didn’t mean to dip into the ether,” I said. “I was trying to find Alora and my concentration slipped.”

  He shook his head in disbelief.

  “What?”

  “Some people train for years to try and enter the ether and still can’t manage it. Even if they do, they die or go insane because they can’t get back out. And then you just bellyflop into it while recovering from dying because your concentration slips.” He sighed. “What’s it like?”

  I thought for a moment before answering. “I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s like being nowhere, but at the same time it’s like you’re suspended in liquid magic. You hear this voice and you can talk to it. It knows everything. It’s crazy.”

  “How long have you been able to do it?”

  “I learned after I met you,” I said. “Before that I used to call out into the ether to summon ghosts and do spells and whatever, but I’d never actually seen the ether.”

  He nodded, fascinated. “What do you talk to the ether about?”

  “What I am, mostly.”

  “So you do know?”

  I shook my head. “Not exactly. I know I’m the king, but I don’t know of what, or why I’m king and not queen or anything.”

  “Haven’t you tried to find out?”

  “Of course I’ve tried to find out,” I snapped. “Do you know how many magical kings there are? I don�
��t have a clue where to start. I’ve looked into the Doomstone plenty as well, but I still can’t find out who I am. Even in Satan’s library I didn’t have any luck.”

  “I guess I thought Satan or Death would have told you.”

  I shook my head. “The secrecy spell still applies to them, I’m pretty sure.”

  “Right. Well, I’m sure you’ll find out eventually.”

  “You know, don’t you? Just like everyone else?”

  He nodded. “I know. I wouldn’t say that everyone else does, though. They think you can’t be him.”

  “Because I’m a girl?”

  “Partly that. Partly because you’re not menacing enough.”

  “If only they knew.”

  Henry smiled a little.

  “Why didn’t you turn me in?” I asked.

  He grimaced. “I don’t like to imagine what might have happened to me if I’d done that.”

  “I wouldn’t hurt you.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  I frowned. I was just about to ask what he was talking about when Henry put his hand up, indicating that I should stay quiet. I frowned and tried to see what he was looking at across the campsite. Then I heard it.

  The snap of a twig.

  Soft footsteps.

  Snuffling.

  Out of the shadows and into the flickering light of our campfire stepped a wolf.

  CHAPTER 19

  THE WOLF STALKED around the perimeter of the campsite, sniffing the ground as he went. Henry had put a cloaking spell over the tent and surrounding area, but I wasn’t sure how effective it would be against the wolf. Although he wouldn’t be able to see the fire, it was still casting light over him. Would he notice or would the cloaking take care of that? What had drawn him here?

  He continued to sniff around the boundary and I cringed with the realisation that he could smell the garlic. I’d been so obsessed with repelling vampires that I’d completely forgotten that not only would wolves be able to smell the garlic through any ward we threw up, they’d also know instantly that they’d stumbled across a cloaked site. Sure, they couldn’t see us, but they could certainly sniff us out. In trying to protect us, I’d given us away.