by Jack Bessie
“It’s tempting at times, frankly. But I try to not be so terrible. It’s hard enough hiding my wizardry, let alone not calling attention to myself by acting out over you!”
“I’m sorry!” Elisa insisted, sounding utterly sincere and chagrined. “So...how do you hide your abilities? My brother and sister have had a miserable time trying to do that! That’s why...” she hesitated to admit how untrained and powerless she was.
“Why you didn’t learn the arts? You’re a sitting duck...you know that?”
“I’m starting to figure that out! I just wanted to be a normal girl!” Elisa declared, bursting into tears. Tara reached out, and touched Elisa’s cheek gently.
“But you aren’t a normal girl! You’re a lot prettier than most, and a lot slower about your birthright than average too! Elisa! Something wicked will eventually happen to you, if you don’t get busy, and learn the arts! Your little sister can kick your butt!”
“You know Missy?” Elisa asked, shocked that a high school junior would know a junior high girl from outside her family or circle of friends.
“We try our skills against each other. She has much knowledge, not all of it on the approved list either. But then, so do I!”
“You’ve worked at the...the...”
“Dark arts? Yes indeed, and so has Missy, as you well know. She put a wicked charm on your butt, to keep you silent, didn’t she? And you have no way to evade it!” Tara giggled. This reminder of how lacking she was made her fume.
“Don’t get mad, put that energy into learning! No one can save you if you don’t!”
“So, do you know who’s trying to...do things to me?”
“Yes, I do,” Tara answered, but stopped, and said nothing more. Elisa noted the strained look on Tara’s face, and the reason dawned suddenly.
“Someone put a charm on you, so you can’t say who it is?”
“Wicked one too! I’d die if I tried hard enough to tell anyone!” Tara gasped.
“Oh, my. Is it someone in your family? Here?” Elisa wondered. Tara looked like she was about to be sick, and quickly thrust her ice cream at Elisa, before opening the door, and leaping out. The sound of some unpleasant retching made Elisa queasy. When Tara returned, she flopped into the driver’s seat, looking pale, and her face was sweaty.
“Don’t ask any more questions!” the distressed girl whispered. “Just get off your butt and learn the craft! You need skills, and lots of them...” she whispered. “And you need them now! I want to help you, but I can only do so much!” she took back the container of Ice cream from Elisa, and stared inside it.
“Did you eat my goodie?” she teased. In spite of Elisa’s quick head shake no, Tara quickly gestured, and half of her ice cream disappeared, to reappear in Tara’s container.
“That’s not fair!” Elisa grumbled. Tara looked thoughtful a moment, before setting hers down. She made short work of casting another spell, and this one caused Elisa’s mouth to drop open. She wanted to shriek, but was too shocked.
“Problem?” Tara asked slyly, taking back her treat.
“My panty just disappeared off my butt!” she gasped.
“This? Tara asked, reaching behind the seat, and retrieving Elisa’s still sweaty undies. “How cute!” she declared, as Elisa snatched them, tucking them under her thigh. Her panty was covered by hearts and teddy bears. She had turned a nice shade of pinkish red.
“Did you...” she began, thinking to accuse Tara of her night time panty disappearance. She was greeted by a swift denial.
“No...and the one who did wouldn’t be inclined to return them either...consider yourself warned,” Tara sighed, looking guilty, before beginning to cry.
Before Tara took Elisa to her home, she put another spell on her, to keep her quiet. That Elisa was helpless to resist seemed to reinforce the older girl’s cautions handily. Still, she felt utterly violated, a state that she found unacceptable. She arrived at the dinner table frustrated and angry, but resolved to not be a victim. When the conversation got to the subject of her day, she surprised everyone by sitting up straight, and taking a deep breath.
“I’ve determined that I need to begin a proper study of the wizardly arts. Pronto!” she managed to declare. She was greeted by complete silence, until Missy, who had been alternating between staring at Elisa, and off into space, spoke.
“She’s got another charm hung on her...a deep and strong one. Someone wishes to keep her quiet...don’t they, sister?” Missy prodded.
Elisa managed to shrug, but otherwise looked in pain and put upon. Her father glanced around the table.
“Interesting...we need to get serious and help her, don’t we?” he asked. Missy, who had silently gotten up, and come to put her hands on either side of Elisa’s head, stood silent several moments, with her own eyes closed. She began mumbling something, but when she uttered a long and convoluted term, that made everyone else at the table frown in incomprehension, she suddenly shrieked, and was flung backwards, landing on her back, moaning. Caitlyn got to her first, and helped her sit up, as she shook her head and rubbed her eyes. Her father, who had kneeled beside her, looked sternly at her a moment.
“Someone lied about the dark arts, didn’t she?” he demanded, suspecting that Missy had used such a tool to try and bypass the spell on Elisa.
“Just a bit...but don’t try to paddle me...there’s a ninth level ward set to protect my butt!” she sighed, and grinned.
“Raising teen wizards will be the death of me!” he complained.
“It’s not making me all that happy either, if you’d care to know!” Elisa grumbled, looking miserable.
4
Elisa devoted herself to wizardry with the zeal of someone newly converted to religion. She was eager to master it, and thus be better able to at least defend herself from other, less well mannered wizards. She was soon frustrated, finding her progress slow and difficult, the learning of arcane and convoluted spells being harder than she had imagined. Much harder.
She discovered that being the least sloppy was definitely not wise either, accidentally turning the dog into an armadillo by accident one afternoon. She turned the cat into an alligator, a floor lamp into a tomato plant, and all of her mother’s kitchen knives into stones, and dull ones at that! Worse, trying to turn things back into their proper form required help, usually from a snickering sibling. Rue and Caitlyn seemed the most inclined to tease Elisa, while Missy, aware of more secrets and things she had no desire to reveal, was much more supportive. Still, she occasionally slipped, and said something tacky. She was after all a wizard, even if she was also a bit of a sorcerer.
It didn’t help that Missy could rattle off horridly complex spells as if she were reciting nursery rhymes, and her young sibling’s smug manner did nothing to ease Elisa’s struggle.
“There’s a reason we start young!” Missy succinctly declared at the dinner table, after Elisa had a teary fit over the difficulty she was encountering.
“Well, duh! Brilliant, Captain Obvious!” Elisa snipped harshly.
“Girls!” Grace insisted, tired of the nasty sniping.
“Yeeessss, mother...” both Missy and Elisa sighed in unison, before both giggled at the silliness of their response.
Arthur had been quietly considering Elisa’s difficulty, and suddenly spoke.
“I wonder if someone’s put a spell on her...to make learning wizardry harder?” Elisa was shocked, but all the others merely looked thoughtful.
“Wouldn’t that be wicked!” Rue declared. “Is there any way to tell?”
Everyone looked at Arthur. “It won’t be easy...compulsions are subtle and deep...” he sighed.
Missy, who was playing with her mashed potatoes, raised her hand.
“I know how to find them, but...it takes something a bit...dubious? To get rid of it...” she sighed.
“Missy! Just how much have you piddled with the forbidden arts?!” her mother demanded. Missy shrugged, nibbling on her lip.
“Enough
to be a third degree madge? Mom! A little sorcery isn’t evil! Well, unless you set out to use it for evil!” she hastily declared, seeing the shocked look on everyone’s face, except Elisa’s. Before anyone could begin to lecture her, she added, “Besides...We’re going to need a lot of sorcery to save Elisa’s butt...she’s got a sorcerer interested in her...not a wizard!”
“How do you know that!” Caitlyn demanded.
“I know many things....” Missy declared imperiously, before giggling.
“A third degree madge? That’s amazing!” Rue declared admiringly, before he frowned. “What is that?’ he belatedly wondered. Everyone looked at Missy, who sighed, again regretting her own tendency to run off at the mouth about things best left unsaid.
“It’s like...sort of a junior apprentice rank...like a yellow belt in judo...not exactly a beginner...but not too skilled...more or less...” she sighed, her fingers crossed under the table, hoping no one might detect her lie.
“Where did you get that much instruction? Was it from another sorcerer?”
“Sorta...she’s a nice girl...Elisa knows her, but...”
“Elisa...who is she talking about?” her mother demanded.
“T...Tara...she’s a...junior at school. I just found out she’s a.. a...wizard!” Elisa managed to say, but barely.
“No wizard...tenth level madge...she’s a sorcerer, and a really good one...she...”
“How did you meet a junior at Elisa’s school?” Grace wondered suddenly, this seeming quite odd and suspicious.
“You met her in the Erisarian, didn’t you?!” Arthur declared, things suddenly starting to make more sense. That going into the wizard’s and sorcerer’s magic realm alone was forbidden, by both her mother and father, make Missy’s problems a lot more wicked. A full confession and plea for mercy suddenly seemed appropriate. She began with a long, mournful sigh.
“Do you remember two years ago when Sammy ran away and got lost?” she began, mentioning the family’s beloved dog, which Missy had managed to find. Everyone nodded. “You all had given up hope, so I decided to try using the Erisarian to seek him out. It worked too, after I sorta bumped into Tara, and she helped me...I had no idea what I was doing, but she did! I thought she seemed nice, so when she offered to teach me things, I said yes! I’ve learned a lot!”
“More than a piddly third lever madge?” Caitlyn slyly asked, putting Missy handily on the spot. The young girl tried to stay calm, but her face took on a strong blush. Seeing that she was well cornered, she finally slumped and sighed mournfully.
“I’m within a hair of being an eighth level sorcerer,” she declared, glancing around, she shook her head reflexively. “That may not even start to be adequate to save Elisa’s behind!” she pointed out.
“Why? Who’s behind all her problems?” Rue wondered.
“A...a level fifteen madge...and no, I don’t know who or what he is...I don’t honestly want too, either! Tara knows, but can’t tell...she’s under as wicked of a compulsion as the one she hung on Elisa!”
“If she wants to help Elisa, why would she put such a charm on her?” Arthur wondered, puzzled.
“To protect her...in sorcery, it makes sense. I can’t explain it to you since all you know is wizardry...” Missy insisted.
“So you trust this girl?” Grace asked, unsure.
“Yes, and so does Elisa!”
“I do?!” Elisa gasped, amazed by this declaration.
“Oh course you do. She had you utterly helpless, completely enchanted, and didn’t do any thing wicked to you!” Seeing Elisa about to explode, she continued. “Other than making your panty disappear off your butt! At least she gave it back! You’d pee yourself if one of us had you that helpless, and you know it! She may be well onto being a powerful sorcerer, but she’s not evil...at least no more than I am!”
“My, isn’t that reassuring!” Caitlyn declared snidely. She soon screamed, “Stop!” when she had her water glass suddenly rise up and dump on her head. She leaped up, intent on getting her hands on Missy, but hesitated when she noticed Missy’s fingers moving through a strange series of gestures. Caitlyn soon found herself standing completely bare, top, bra, jeans, panty and socks and tennis shoes vanishing with no warning.
“I’ll get even with you!” she shrieked over her shoulder, as she hastily ran towards the stairs, to seek something to wear. In spite of wishing not too, even her parents were snickering in amusement.
“She’s not likely to,” Missy sighed.
“That was awesome...could you do that to my girlfriend?” Rue wondered.
“I could, but I’d be more inclined to do it to you...she’d find that pretty funny, I’m sure! Maybe we should all be nudists?” Missy wondered, toying with her glass.
“Maybe you should forget about such foolishness...the ninth level ward protecting your butt won’t stand up to all of us, in case you’ve forgotten that,” her father sighed.
Elisa had volunteered to help clean the kitchen, mainly wanting a break from practicing her wizardry. Seeing her deep in thought, Grace resisted the urge to question her, until they were mostly finished, whereupon she gave her a strong hug.
“We love you! Just be patient, and work hard. Things will work out!” she said quietly.
Elisa ran upstairs, intending to do homework, but froze when she was passing Missy’s closed door, startled to hear another odd spell emanating from within. Curious, and suspecting she was hearing sorcery, instead of wizardry, she slipped close, intending to open the door silently, if it wasn’t locked. Touching the knob, she discovered the lock set, making the knob un-turn able, but a gentle push showed the latch hadn’t caught; she was soon peering in, as her mouth dropped open.
The sight that she beheld seemed surreal and sinister, there being a darkness about the room. Missy appeared to be wearing a long black dress, and was swaying to a long and odd incantation. More astounding, another woman, similarly dressed, was facing her, matching Missy’s movements. That the other one soon was revealed to be Tara, astounded Elisa, and she gasped, in spite of her intention to remain silent.
Elisa quickly regretted her snooping, as Tara noted her intrusion. Pointing swiftly at her, index finger like a dagger, she spoke an incomprehensible spell, and as she curled her finger towards herself, Elisa felt herself irresistibly drawn into the room. The door closed behind her without being touched. When Missy stopped her odd chanting, Tara dropped her arm, and Elisa dropped like a stone to the carpet, paralyzed and with a splitting headache. She soon found her head being cradled by Tara, who mumbled a short charm, touching Elisa’s face; her headache vanished instantly.
“How nice of you to drop in!” Tara declared, a smug look of her face.
“Wha...what are you doing here?” Elisa moaned, feeling stupid and clueless.
“I dropped in to give Missy another lesson, but apparently you need some work too?”
“I don’t know! I’m a complete mess!” Elisa confessed, miserable.
“We think she may have a spell working to make learning the arts hard...we can find out, can’t we?” Missy asked. Tara considered this.
“We’ll have to take her into the Erisarian...she’s never been there, has she?” Tara wondered. Missy shook her head.
“You aren’t allowed to go...none of us are!” Elisa reminded her sister. Missy patted her cheek.
“Poor sister dear...we’re forbidden to go to lots of places, and I’ve now been to most of them. You’d pee your panties if you saw some of what’s out there!”
“But...why do I have to go?”
“Because...if you are cursed with a sorcerer’s spell, we can’t break it out here. Only by us getting you where we can draw power from the...”
“Darkness?” Elisa ventured, terrified.
“No, dummy! God, you don’t know anything!” Missy moaned.
“Missy! Don’t be so snotty! Look, Elisa...the universe is much different than most people believe. It isn’t all dark versus light...good versus evil. The
re are fundamental, underlying sources of power, which can be used for either good or evil. There are good wizards and wicked ones, good sorcerers and evil ones. Sorcerers tap into this power, much more than wizards do. Most wizards are pretty terrified of it, frankly, and try to avoid it as much as possible.”
“And you don’t?”
“A wizard’s spell won’t move your body across town and back...especially when that body is chubby like mine!” she insisted, and laughed. “Now I’m going home...I’ll be back later, after everyone’s in bed. You’re going on an adventure. Just be sure to pee good before we leave...unless you’re not bothered by wet panties!” she teased.
Jack’s Books
Novels:
Makeshift Justice Crime/detective
Disobedient Tribesman Mayan saga, first of three
Failure of Judgment Romance/chick lit
Kaniya’s Vision Native/spiritual/chick lit
The Shaman’s Calling Teen adventure
The Angel’s Punishment Romance/spiritual
Secret Nature Shape changer romance
The Saving of Jake Harper Post apocalypse romance
The Jealous One Romance/chick lit/spiritual
A Stately Affair 18th century Romance
A Private Crusade 13th century Romance
A Touch of Faerie New Adult/historic
Humor:
A Just God Would Punish That! Jack’s humorous look at teens
For a description of each book, see Jack’s book pages at his website, http//www.jackbessie.com
Jack’s books are available at all fine booksellers and as eBooks in many formats.
About the Author
Jack Bessie is a child of the corn belt, who grew up shy and rather isolated, chasing critters and working on the neighbor’s farm. An avid reader from an early age, he was obsessed with learning, especially science. He hated English, which is a superb irony, considering how many millions of words of prose he has written in his later life; it would appear that God does indeed have a fine sense of humor or at least a fondness for satire and irony!
