“Truth be told, we weren’t even sure it was you until we saw you heal so quickly and until we saw the spells you would conjure. The White Witch must be able to use all elements, which you have proven you can do. The White Witch can see spirits and then, just now—with the garden and then in the hospice with the injured—it’s undeniable,” Laura stated.
I could hear no more.
I ran out the door, not knowing if I was being pulled or chased, but I ran with all of my might. I scaled the hillside, lungs heaving, sweat beading between my breasts and on the small of my back. I felt my face brighten with colour. It felt good to test my endurance; I felt strong and healthy running from the outspoken truths and secrets of the ages.
I could hear Laura hollering at me.
I couldn’t stop.
But where was I going? I had to see that tree. I had to put my hands on its bark and feel the scorched side that had been marked with the burn from the sky so many years ago, with the sword of light that had taken the White Witch with it. I had to know. I had to make this tangible—something I could feel and see and smell. I was so drawn to it that I don’t think I could have turned back if I wanted to. I had to know for myself. Was I really a part of her lineage? Was this truly inside of me?
At the top of the hill, I slowed, chest rising and falling as I tried to catch my breath. I looked around at the view of the valley and the town below, the small cottage where I’d run from. It was such a peaceful view. No wonder the White Witch had wanted to be up here all of the time. I looked around. I could see the tree, so ancient, yet more beautiful in its age. I stepped toward it, and a slight wind kicked up and chased around me, whipping my skirts so that I had to press my hands on it.
There were definitely spirits here, old ghosts guarding a sanctuary of memories of events long past. I could hear the voices of our ancestors, tinkling laughter and the soft melodies of their voices. I knew I was safe here amid their presence. I felt compelled to be here now, to listen to what they had to say, to be enveloped in this space somehow.
The voices grew stronger as I stepped closer to the tree, my arm working of its own accord, stretched out, fingertips splayed. The winds grew stronger around me, almost pushing me forward. I was not of my own mind anymore. My limbs worked from some other directive than my own.
I could see the deep scars from where the lightning had touched the bark. How the tree was not completely destroyed, I had no idea. It was almost gouged and black in only one spot, silver streaks lining the edges that almost sparkled with some radiance, communicating its need to be touched.
My eyes closed as my fingers felt the rough markings. Then everything changed.
My body jerked as my mind went to the day of the battle between the White Witch and the demon.
I could see it all happening as if I were there two hundred years ago. Lou’s face was different then, as was his wardrobe and even his eye colour, but it was him, the evil persona radiating off him in waves. Pure evil was in his eyes, deep hatred as he bared his teeth. He began to transform. Scales protruded, along with claws and fangs.
This creature was from the depths of hell.
There was fire all around the hill. Lightning was coming down from the dark, stormy skies in jagged swords. Blood ran down the cliff face in rivers, being washed away by the excessive rains.
I could smell death and sulphur, and I could even feel the heat of the battle. I had to get closer, had to see what was transpiring here.
The White Witch was glowing with Fire, the earth at her feet rising and falling to throw Lou off his stance. She rolled her shoulders back and threw her arms forward with the wind as rain shot from the sky.
She was using everything she had.
The demon managed to lash her face with his claws. I could see the energy coming off of her in radiant waves as she fell to one knee. Blood, streamed down her face. She was visibly growing tired as she gathered herself. Lou noticed her weakening. He used this moment to strike again.
He morphed even further into a beast, all scales and horns and fangs. His beady eyes enlarged, his long, forked tail whipping past me as he threw himself onto her. I cried out.
The White Witch looked directly at me right before Lou’s weight bore down on her, her eyes sad as she could no longer hold this burden. It seemed all was lost.
The beast tore at her, digging for the elements to take for his own before he would take her life.
I heard thunder crack overhead. I looked up to see a small storm gathering above their entwined bodies. The beast looked up at the sound of the thunder, and at the same time, the White Witch grabbed a lightning bolt shooting down from the cloud and drove it into the chest of the beast.
He bent back and let a horrible sound escape his mouth. He rolled off of her.
He was dying.
The White Witch gathered whatever strength she had left and went over to him, blood streaming down her face. She flipped him onto his back with a flick of her wrist.
The winds began to rise around her as she rolled something glowing around in her hands. She then spread her palms apart, and I could see the flame so red and orange it grew white with its own heat and power.
He jumped and ran up the hill. She slowly turned, in no rush at all, and let the white fire soar from her hands and hit the writhing beast so hard it pinned him to the tree. The fire quickly ate its way through him as his screams died away.
Soon he was nothing but ash on that hill under that tree.
The White Witch watched until he was nothing more. Then she looked at me again.
I wasn’t sure what to say—or do, for that matter. I gawked at her, completely in awe at what I had just seen. This woman, what she could do! And to watch that demon die! I was exasperated.
You will need to sacrifice for all, or the demon will conquer all. That is the burden of our lineage.
I stepped closer to her. Was this all real? I could smell the storm in the sky. I could see her chest rise and fall with the exertion of the battle. I could see the wound at her temple. I reached out to touch it.
And then she was gone.
A single silver ball floated down the hillside to me, and it landed in my hands. That was the last thing I remembered.
When I woke, I was lying on my back, the night sky looking down on me, someone calling to me to wake up. I sat up slowly, reconciling everything I had seen and learned. Then I felt it.
The grasses around me bent toward me, protecting me in a shroud. I looked around as I kept hearing a low voice. Then I realized it was the tree! I crawled over to it and wrapped my hands on its trunk. I felt the vibrations of life. I heard its voice. Lightning bugs floated all around me as I stood. They came and danced around my hands. Above, the clouds parted, and the stars came out, shining and glorious. What a beautiful night to be alive.
Agnes and my trio of mentors finally made it to where I stood, watching all of this with awe.
“Grandmama, it’s true!” Anna Belle said, clasping her hands in front of her smile.
“So it seems,” Laura spoke quietly, her hand resting on the side of her face.
Agnes stepped forward. She took a piece of my hair in her hand; some strands were now the colours silver and white.
“This one here has been passed the gift of the sky. She is the new Lightning Witch.”
It was true. I had changed. I could feel everything now. I felt the clouds pressing into each other miles above in the sky. I felt the rivers underneath the bedrock of the earth flowing through the crevices. I could hear the leaves dying from the tree in preparation for winter. I could see that everything in this world was connected by a beautiful bow of light that ran from every person to every blade of grass to every living thing. I had accepted the gift and the burden of the Lightning. I had joined my sisters from history and now would become a part of their story in the destruction of an age-old enemy of the witch. And I knew with that, I would have the power now to destroy Lou.
But I myself would pro
bably not survive.
This was all so heavy, but now I could feel I had the shoulders to carry it. My family, these women, the future of our people depended on the fact that I would not fail—could not fail.
“There is only one thing left she needs to do. She needs to see Lupa.” Agnes lowered her chin and glared at Laura from above her glasses. Laura’s face was stone as her eyes stared at me, looking almost haunted.
I was about to ask Laura what was the matter when Anna Belle jumped on top of me, her mouth slowly turning upward in a mischievous grin. She winked at me.
“This is gonna be fun!”
Chapter Twenty-One
It was cold—bone-chilling, blood-freezing cold. My eyelashes froze to my face because my eyes kept watering. My nose was red, and I was losing feeling in my legs. It was the type of weather that made you wonder how the wild animals ever survived in the outdoors through the long, harsh season every year. No person should stay out in this kind of cold for long, but I knew that tonight, I did not have a choice.
The four of us had trudged through the deep snow for hours to reach this place deep in the woods. We finally came to a small clearing that opened up to a brilliant winter sky littered with constellations. I could see there were rocks already laid in a circle to carve out a fire pit that had definitely been here a long time. There were also some benches, made out of the woods around us, I was sure. It was such an unassuming place; people would never know it was here unless they found it accidentally or were guided, like myself.
Katerina got busy brushing the snow off of the rock bed and digging around its circumference. I looked up to the vast black sky dotted with tiny stars. The northern lights waved hello at the edges of night as they rose slowly, waiting for a whistle, their call to dance. I then knelt down next to Katerina and helped her clear the area.
Anna Belle began her own dance around the pit where we worked now at laying kindling and wood to make a fire. Her bum bumped Katerina, who turned and gave her a glare that told her to dance over there, not over here. Anna Belle was not fazed at all and continued on, her skirts billowing out in the wind as she left a legion of footprints in the snow. The ground itself looked as if it were covered in tiny crystals from reflecting the moon and stars on its snow-covered plains.
Anna Belle whistled high and shrill, calling the northern lights to her. They leapt in excitement and swam across the skies, showing off their brilliant hues of greens, purples, and whites. They linked their tails to the pleats of her skirt, and they trailed behind her, joining in her magnificent dance. With an absent flick of her finger, Anna Belle lit the fire, as Katerina and I moved back. I watched Anna Belle again. It was the purest vision of magic and nature combining and becoming true. Her dancing and the messages the flames induced were beautiful. I hoped I would always remember this night.
The trees stood stoic and watchful, unmoving in the cold night. In the dark distance of the forest, wolves howled softly back and forth to each other.
Katerina leaned back and began singing in a different language I did not recognize. Laura, watching from her seat, the winds peppering her hair with snowflakes, moved her mouth in time with Katerina but emitted no sound as she rocked herself. She nodded toward Anna Belle, who now was making strange moves as she danced around the fire. Her gestures sent sparks and a quick smoke surging up into the air. I thought about Jasper then.
I missed him so much. I closed my eyes tightly and tried to remember the little things I missed the most: his cool cheeks that I kissed when he came in from a cold night. The faces he made as he shaved. The way he leaned into me, exposing his back when he needed a scratch. His lighthearted laugh and that smile that got me every time. I wondered what he was doing right now, at this moment. I pictured him sitting next to a fire at our home with Hunter and Betty close by, and I smiled.
Above all, I prayed he was safe. I had not been able to receive any word now, since we had returned to the cabin in the middle of nowhere. Laura had made it clear when we arrived that I was not to have any contact with the outside world on the off chance Lou would get wind of my whereabouts and catch us off guard now that my true nature was known. I was coming into my own now, realizing powers I never knew I had. At the same time, I was realizing the value I had as a witch, which made me feel like I was a part of something great but also an even bigger target for Lou. Katerina kept thanking God out loud that Lou had been unable to take my elements and kill me before any of us had realized what powers I had inside of me. If Lou had known and been successful in that, it would have meant the end for our kind, and perhaps even for the rest of the world.
And I knew Laura was absolutely right on the account of staying silent to the world, but I still missed my family. Laura also had no time for the distractions of the modern world, nor for the advancements of technology on global interaction. She didn’t trust Wi-Fi or e-mails. She did, however, allow me to contact Jasper via our heartstring briefly after we left Agnes. That was only to let him know I was safe and would be out of touch for a while.
Laura also didn’t seem to have time for me since we’d left Agnes and the village. She would make excuses when I just wanted to sit with her, and I would catch her staring at me, but she would quickly look away when I caught her. What was up with that, I didn’t know, but Laura never truly had warmed up to me that much.
I knew Lou was still furious with me. I could feel it in my gut. When I woke in the mornings, I had that sick feeling, as if I’d done something stupid the night before and was still waiting on the repercussions.
He would never let this go. I just prayed he had the patience to wait for my return before he struck.
I was almost ready.
The fire was roaring high now, and we stared into its depth, looking for hidden secrets, but mostly to make ourselves warm. The fire spit out sparks that flew up and disappeared into the night. I moved closer to it and hugged myself. My thoughts began to drift away as I stared into the frolicking flames that seemed to dance in tune with Anna Belle’s dance and Katerina’s song, the flames rising higher as Anna Belle flung herself this way and that. She began to drop items of clothing as she moved, her body heat rising with the exercise. She teased the fire as she bent down and let the tips of her brown hair brush their hungry tongues, just out of reach of their height.
Katerina held out her arms and leaned her head back as she sang out, louder now, to the night. I longed to the know the words to follow along.
Just then, I could see golden words forming on the wood inside the fire. They made sense to me, even though I had never seen their written cursive before. I matched them to Katerina’s words! I began to sing along with her, and their meaning became apparent to me. We sang of nature and the permission of winter and her beasts to spend time here among us. We sang of protection, wisdom, and strength to ward off evil. It was a beautiful song that filled my heart with joy.
All of a sudden, wolves slowly crept out into the clearing from behind the trees and took scattered positions at the perimeter of the circle Laura had created earlier for our ritual. I stopped singing and stood. There were at least a dozen of them, heads low, sniffing the ground, others standing tall and looking around the area.
Now what?
Chapter Twenty-Two
They were massive and breathtaking. I was shocked and frightened, but Laura put a hand on my arm and drew a circle with her finger in the air in front of me.
She was telling me to read their auras. I stopped and did what I was told. I closed my eyes and opened them again. All I could see now was calm energy emanating from them, colours that seemed akin to the northern lights. A few pairs of eyes glanced at me, but I felt no danger here. These beasts would bring us no harm.
Laura looked at one wolf approaching slowly to our left. She nodded, and the wolf took that as an invitation to enter our circle. She was large and white with grey markings along her back and face. My mouth dropped in awe, as she was most surely the most beautiful creature I had ever seen
. Untouched by the modern world, with purple eyes that shone in the firelight, eyes that had seen much of the raw wilderness. The wolf acknowledged Laura and then looked right at me. She considered me for what seemed an eternity. We finally broke eye contact at the same time as Anna Belle stole our attention when she stopped twirling and fell to her knees. The flames had reached a substantial girth before us. It was warm and bright, as if there were nothing to fear anywhere around us. Katerina had stopped singing when the wolves had made their presence known. I now realized that she had been singing in effort to call the pack to our camp. I was astonished at all of this. Katerina had never mentioned she had this gift to speak to the animals that lived in the remote places of the world. Super cool.
Anna Belle had retrieved her dropped clothing and wrapped her shawl around her arms. She held out one hand and clutched the cloth at her chest with the other. The she-wolf wandered over to her and let Anna Belle pet her softly. The wolf licked her cheek in appreciation.
This was surreal. I couldn’t believe what was happening.
“This is Lupa, the alpha Canadian shield wolf of the north,” Katerina explained. She turned to the wolf to introduce me. “Lupa, this is Nicole. We are trying to help her remove a Daoi who has attached himself to her.”
I recalled a story my father had once told me about one of his excursions to lands such as these. Their party had tried forever to make contact with the Canadian shield wolves but were never able to catch even a glimpse. The legends of their kind went back as far as some of the earliest writings. The indigenous people believed them to be associated with courage and strength, but they also believed they had the powers to heal and bless the hunt as well. Some tribes believed these wolves were their ancestors, who had shape-shifted into shield wolves after their deaths if they’d died in battle or in rescue of another. In this form, they were considered to be guardians on this planet, helping maintain a balance between the forces of good and evil. Nowadays, with industrialization and glory-seeking hunters, these creatures had needed to retreat deep into the mountains to have a chance at keeping their lineage going. Only witches could hope to call them out of their hiding places now. And it better be for a damn good reason.
The Lightning Witch (Elements Book 2) Page 10
