The Elder Witches

by R.E. Packer

Chapter 13

  I got the feeling that Maleos wasn’t from Eros’s planet, so he had probably gone back to whatever world he came from. But I didn’t say anything, not wanting to aggravate Eros even more. He was still in a panic and nothing I said would calm him down. Not that I could blame him, he had just escaped from a spell that was meant to slowly kill him. An hour ago he thought he had a death sentence.

  It was time to get out of here. Drinking more potion, I felt Eros’s hand on my shoulder again. Somehow I knew that would make him come with me when I jumped.

  Thinking about the house where I’d left Gwen and Maeve, I formed a picture in my mind, and concentrated on jumping there. We entered the familiar otherworld jump space— I had to ask Eros what his was called— we watched as glimpses of worlds passed quietly by. We could stop at any of the worlds, I knew this without trying. When we got to Earth, the vision I saw In my head of the patio where Maeve and I had take Rutger for a walk earlier in the day suddenly became real.

  We stepped out of the otherworld space with an audible pop. A cool breeze brought the smell of flowers and herbs from nearby gardens. Inside, soft murmuring could be heard by unknown voices. Glass crunched under our feet as we walked through the house. A table rested in the wall about three feet from the floor, sooty scorch marks covered the table. The front bay window had been broken out and the curtains billowed softly in the breeze. James was sweeping up debris by the window, he must have come when he heard the commotion.

  I saw Gwen and Maeve standing by the fireplace, talking. Most of the coven of witches still here, seated on what furniture was left or huddle on the floor where they could find a seat. I didn’t see beady eyes anywhere.

  “What happened here?” I asked to the room in general.

  Gwen spun around at the sound of my voice and grabbed me in what I could only describe as a bear hug. Such slender arms shouldn’t be able to crush the wind out of me.

  “We were afraid you wouldn’t be able to open another doorway.”

  She became tense and lost her smile as Eros made his way into the room, ducking his head to fit through the archway.

  “You’re gone a few hours and come back with a friend?” Maeve said looking Eros up and down. Mostly up as she was a foot shorter than me.

  Eros stepped forward, “I am Wizard Eros from Arkata,” he said, bowing deeply from the waist, which had the effect of putting him at eye level with Maeve. “Wizard Gordon helped save me from certain death, and I am now honor bound to him.”

  “You don’t say,” Maeve said arching her eyebrows.

  “Eros couldn’t stay on his world, I figured he could stay with us for awhile,” I said.

  “Wow, dude, you traveled to another world?” said a young woman sitting on the floor near me. Her round unblinking eyes stared and her mouth never quite closed as she gaped at me in awe.

  The rest of the witches in the room had looks ranging from amazement to skepticism. Maybe they thought this had all been an act for their benefit. The thought made me chuckle.

  Eros was studying the witches sitting around the room. “So many with magic, but just.”

  “What do you mean?” Gwen replied.

  “Their magic is… limited. It is shrunken, crushed.”

  “You can see how much magic they have?” Gwen was focused intently on Eros.

  “I’m sure you could too. Your magic vessel is far greater than any of theirs, except for her,” he said point at Maeve, “And Gordon’s of course, whose is much larger than both of yours.”

  The stunned look on Gwen and Maeve’s face were a perfect match. That observation left both women with a look of… something, I couldn’t quite tell what. I guess they didn’t expect me to be the awesome magical specimen that they had created. In all honesty, it took me by surprise also. I was still coming to terms with having magic at all.

  “Don’t get cocky Gordon, it’s how you use it,” Maeve said.

  “Yeah yeah, you’re just jealous because mine is bigger,” I shot back.

  “Please allow me to show you,” Eros said taking Gwen’s hand. “Look for the container that holds their magic. It’s not always in the same place. It changes for everyone with the gift.” He took my hand as well. Immediately I saw the container of magic as Eros saw it.

  “Now you have both seen how it looks to me, yes?” Eros said, letting go of our hands. “Look for yourselves. The way you see it might vary slightly from how I view it, but you should be able to locate it by feel now.”

  Looking at the young woman who had spoken earlier I could see that what held her magic looked like an almost deflated balloon.

  “What happens if we fix that so it doesn’t look all crinkled up?” Maeve asked.

  He stroked his beard absently as he looked at the tiny witch, apparently not missing that he hadn’t explicitly showed her how to see it.

  “Once you’ve corrected it, it will hold more magic,” he said with a shrug. Then looking around the room at the destruction as if for the first time he said, “But perhaps you have a reason to not do that. Not everybody is cut out to be a wizard.”

  “Gordon, can I have a word with you?” Gwen said, grabbing my hand in a steely grip, and pulling me toward the fireplace. I did my best not to show how bad her grip hurt. She waved her hand and the fire crackling in the fireplace was all but muted, as was the rest of the room. She turned giving me a sharp look, her mouth a thin line, her hands balled into fists.

  “How did you meet Eros? Tell me everything, even the smallest detail,” she said.

  I explained everything. When I finished she was naturally curious about the gremlin but seemed equally curious about Emilee’s interest in me.

  “And you saw her watching and listening to you from over a mile away?”

  I said I had.

  She thought about that for a minute, then changing the subject said, “I’ve never heard of a gremlin being killed. The Indian witch doctors called them spirit demons. The Tuatha De’ Danann could control gremlins. They are known to be both mischievous and devious in nature so it takes a very skilled person to control one. Most stories are of gremlins being set loose to wreak havoc.” Without warning, I felt the field around us darken. Gwen took hold of my neck in her hand. Surprised I tried to pull away but couldn’t budge. Ice had already formed encasing my entire neck like a vice. I tried to grab hold of the ice and pull, but the ice covered my hands in seconds and before I realized it I was trapped. My vision started to swim, black spots floated in my vision.

  “Try to escape,” Gwen said showing no emotion, except a pained look in her eyes, which had turned nearly solid blue.

  I croaked out a word that didn’t sound like anything, and tried to absorb the magic like I had before but nothing happened.

  I saw Eros in the corner of my vision looking alarmed, bringing his staff up before Maeve took hold of it kicking him in the back of the leg and subduing the big man with a nimble display of leverage.

  As the last of the air in my burning lungs wheezed out, the ice vanished in a puff of mist.

  Gwen let out a long breath. “I cannot control a gremlin. I’ve never met a mortal that can. You just saved a man from a wizard or more likely a demigod who had smote him.”

  I understood now what Gwen was trying to show me with the choke hold. On impulse I had helped out a man with very powerful enemies

  She sighed and dropped the shield. Maeve stood up, letting Eros stand.

  “Eros, I’m Gwendolyn, descendant of the Tuatha De’ Danann.”

  There were a few gasps in the room from the witches. I’d almost forgotten they were there.

  “As I told Gordon, I’ve never heard of anyone other than the Tuatha De’ Denaan who was able to control a gremlin. But I’ve also never heard of anybody being able to kill one—”

  “That could be because nobody was dumb enough to try,” Maeve said.

  Gwen snorted and nodded. “Gordon, you were able to see it as magic because they are a purely magical crea
ture of the Fae world.”

  “I thought it was just a spell that was on Eros. Not an actual living being… ”

  Maeve pointed to the bottle I still held. “Is that from the gremlin?” Not waiting for an answer she took a step closer, “You used that to travel here through the multiverse? The space between worlds runs close enough to the Fae that anyone paying attention would have seen you.”

  “Fae is a guarded world. They can see whatever comes near them but it’s protected magically against who can enter,” Gwen said.

  “So, you traveled near Fae using the power of one of the creatures of Fae. The Fae are not known for their compassion. If they see you killing them off and using them for batteries you— we— might have a problem,” Maeve said, crossing her arms, her foot tapping as she waited for me to say something.

  Gwen softened a bit. “We are both extremely pleased that you figured out a way to make it back home, and to help… Eros.” She gave Eros a look that said she was anything but grateful for his company.

  “The point we are trying to make is that someone found a way to capture and control that Fae. I don’t think anyone will miss a gremlin. If that had been an Elf, none of us in this house would live to see the morning,” Gwen said.