Blood Prophecy (Witch Fairy) (9 page)

Kallen looks thoughtful.  “I would imagine that is the case.  Your magic is internal.  You command it from within as I do.”

I’m going to go ahead and trust him on that one.  “Okay, one down and six more to go.”  I turn to Grandma.  “You said that the tree magic will strip away Maeva’s Seduction?”

She nods.  “Yes, it will take away any illusions she is creating.”

“What about the scryer?  Why is he a danger to us?  They already know where we are.”

Mom answers this time.  “If the scryer is using his magic, he can see not only where we are but what we are doing, as well.  It’s not just locations that he sees.”

Oh, that sucks.  “So, we can’t ambush them because he’ll know what we’re doing to prepare and find us if we’re hiding?”

Mom nods.  “Right.  We won’t have the advantage of surprise on our side.”

Great, a living video recorder.  That should make things fun.  “What about the Summoner?”

Kallen speaks up.  “Fairies are also immune to Summoning spells meant for Witches.”

“What about Summoning spells for Fairies?”

His mouth forms a hard line.  “If the magic is still known, it would be effective.”

“The magic is still known,” Grandma says.  “We need to shield from both Beren and Davina.”

“How?”

“By creating an illusion.  One they can’t latch onto,” Mom says and there’s a gleam in her eyes.

I’m intrigued.  “What do you mean?”

“One of my affinities is to create illusions,” Mom says with a smug smile.

A smile also touches Grandma’s lips as she remembers.  “Yes, your mother could create an illusion where she was fast asleep in her bed while she was actually outside picking wild flowers or practicing her magic in the middle of the night.” 

Mom laughs at the memory.  “At least it was all innocent fun.”

Kallen leans forward.  “Are you strong enough as a spirit to create an illusion that big?”

Mom is all confidence now.  “Yes.”

“How long can you hold this illusion?”

“My longest was two days.  With my diminished power I could probably hold it at least twenty-four hours.”

Kallen nods appreciatively.  “What do you need from us?”

“I need an image of the five of us that I can hold in my mind.  I think this image would do just fine.”  Mom smiles.  “Seeing us sitting around the kitchen table enjoying ourselves, not caring what they are doing should throw them off their game a bit.”

“How will the illusion keep them from latching onto us?” I ask.

“Their magic is limited by having to have exact, what’s the word?  Coordinates.  The illusion will act as a curtain that they can’t get past,” Grandma explains.

Seems simple enough.  Right.  Because things like this go smoothly all the time.  Not that I’d really know that personally.  But it never goes smoothly on television.  Ugh.  My head’s starting to hurt.  “Do you think we could take this one at a time?  Maybe we could start with the tree magic or something and then work our way down the list.”

Kallen raises his brows at my impatience but doesn’t say anything.  Mom looks sympathetic to my being antsy but she turns to her mother for direction.  I don’t care how helpful Grandma’s being.  I really hate that this comes down to a woman that we still don’t know exactly why she’s here, or that she’s one hundred percent on our side.

Grandma rises to her feet.  “Alright, let’s make the mighty oaks become our shield.”

Chapter 7

Those of us with corporeal form put on some warm clothes to go out and play with trees.  Too bad Zac’s not here because he’d be in heaven.  He loves being outside in the snow.  I get another ping as I think about him.  I hope he and Aunt Barb get to come home soon. 

Grandma walks ahead of us as she circles the house and studies the trees.  I have no idea what she’s looking at or what basis she’s going to use to pick out which trees will be used.  What I do know, is that Kallen looks absolutely fascinated as he watches her with eagle eyes.    “Why are you so excited?” I ask him.

Slipping my hand in his, he tries to look nonchalant.  “I am always interested in learning about magic I am not familiar with.”

I narrow my eyes at him.  “Uh huh, why do I think you’re not telling me the whole story?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”

I’m about to say something else when Grandma stops short and we almost walk into her.  “The trees here are marvelous.  I would have loved to live among them.”  I don’t think she’s really talking to us.  She seems to be musing out loud to herself.

Turning around to face us, she says, “There are enough oaks surrounding the house that we will be able to make a large circle of protection.  Xandra, I need you to take this,” she hands me a small bowl that she had mixed before we came outside.  It’s clay that she had brought with her in a glass jar and salt ground together until it turned into a paste.  And then she added my blood.  It was only a few drops, but maybe I should start taking some iron supplements if I’m going to have to add my blood to spells more often. 

I take the bowl from her with its murky, grayish brown paste.  It smells awful – whether from the blood or the clay, I’m not sure.  I scrunch up my nose in distaste.  “What am I supposed to do with it?”

“You will mark seven trees as you say the protection spell.  Seven is the number that represents the dominion of the soul and mind over body.  It will cast aside any attempts at altering our perception of reality and provide a sphere of protection for our bodies.”  Grandma walks to a particularly large oak and stops.  “With your right index finger, you need to draw a circle on the bark.”

With my nose still scrunched, I dip my index finger into the mix.  It feels even worse than it smells.  Trying hard not to inhale, I draw a large circle on the bark of the oak tree.

“Now, read the first part.”

Grandma had written down the protection spell I need to speak.  I read the part of the spell with a circle drawn next to it.  “From earth to heaven, I call to thee, Heavenly Divine, guardian of this tree.  Circle of magic, circle of life, protect us now from mischief and strife.  Forged images in malevolent aspect, our minds’ eye will forcibly reject.”  Who writes this stuff??

Grandma nods and starts walking to another oak about twenty feet away.  “Draw the next symbol.”  She’s all business now.  Bossy, bossy.  Has she been taking lessons from Kallen?

I look down at the page and copy the next image onto the tree.  This clay stuff doesn’t become less slimy and stinky with use.  After I draw a T shaped cross with a looped top, I read, “By thou who whispers gentle yet strong, thou for whom my soul doth long, I beckon thee with magic old, let your Divine light, darkness unfold.”

The next tree, I draw equilateral triangles.  At least, as equilateral as I can draw them on the bark of an oak tree.  Grandma said this should invoke wisdom.  I sure hope so. I could use some about now.  “By wood and wind, crimson and clay, your wisdom guides me this fateful day.  Come to me, I beckon thee, from beyond the gates of death and birth, the one who gives all life upon earth.  Guide me through this tangled path, of knowledge gained and wisdom’s wrath.”  Wisdom’s wrath?  I thought wisdom was supposed to be a good thing?

The next tree, I draw a chalice. Okay, my chalice looks a little bit like a sippy cup but, hey, I’m not an artist.  “The Divine chalice filled with love, water, salt and wing of dove, from your lips to mine, this elixir of life, hold me fast against nameless strife.  Fill my body, cleanse my soul, wash away thine enemy’s hold.”

I have to draw a candle on the next tree.  I sure hope I’m not graded on the quality of my symbols. “By wind and fire, this molten flow, brings light from dark in a hollow soul.  Bless me now with your love, light and power, become one with me this fateful hour.”

Next is the shield.  Or in my case, the almost circle with a couple of points on the top.  “Defender of sky, forest and field, breathe upon me your heavenly shield.  Humbled by your mighty presence, fill me with your holy essence.  With my life force held in hand, protect me as I make my stand.” 

“This last tree will bind the spell and close the circuit,” Grandma says as she moves to an elder tree. 

“Shouldn’t it be another oak tree?”  I ask. 

Grandma shakes her head.  “The elder tree is a magical entity that has enough power to bind the oaks.”

I look at the elder tree with more respect.  I guess the term ‘mighty oak’ isn’t as accurate as I thought.  Looking down at my paper, I groan inwardly.  I have to draw a pentacle and then place a drop of my blood on each point.  Yeah, I need to take those iron supplements.  Hope that won’t affect Kallen when he kisses me with his sensitivity to iron.

Drawing the pentacle with the last of the clay mixture, I then take Mom’s athame out of my pocket and jab the end of my finger.  Squeezing a drop onto each point, I read the final part of the spell.  Grandma called it the Act of Drawing Down the Moon.  Mom was familiar with it, but not that its origins were this old.  I read through it once in my mind before reading it out loud, making sure that I say it precisely.

                                             “Bewitching Goddess of the cross roads

                                             Whose secrets are kept in the night,

                                             You are half remembered, half forgotten

                                             And are found in the shadows of the night.

                                             From the misty hidden caverns

                                             In ancient magic days,

                                             Comes the truth once forbidden

                                             Of thy heavenly veiled ways.

                                             Cloaked in velvet darkness

                                             A dancer in the flames

                                             You who are called Diana, Hecate,

                                             And many other names.

                                             I call upon your wisdom

                                             And beseech thee from this time,

                                             To enter my expectant soul

                                             That our essence shall combine.

                                             I beckon thee O Ancient One

                                             From far and distant shore,

                                             Come, come be with me now

                                             This I ask, and nothing more.”

A gentle wind begins to blow through the trees and it takes me a moment to realize that it’s following the circuit of the trees I marked.  It picks up speed and soon loose snow is spiraling around us, marking the walls of the protection spell as it circles around the house.  I’m assuming this means that I did it right.  If the proud smile on Grandma’s face means anything, then I’m assuming correctly.

“Remarkable,” Kallen whispers.  Why is he so awestruck with this?

Narrowing my eyes, I say quietly enough so Grandma can’t hear above the now whistling wind, “What, are you her number one fan, now?”  Okay, that may have been a little testy of me.  But it was just a few hours ago that he was just as leery of her as me.  If he’s not going to tell me what changed his mind, then I guess he has to put up with me being grouchy about it.

Kallen says something but I don’t hear him.  The wind is whipping around the protections circle now and there’s a loud piercing sound underneath it that makes me put my hands over my ears. I fall to my knees; the sound is raging in my head, deadening all my other senses.  I wonder if this is how dogs feel when one of those high pitched dog whistles are blown.  Kallen is kneeling in front of me.  He’s saying something but I can’t hear him.  He looks worried and he doesn’t look like he’s bothered by the sound like I am.  I wonder if he can even hear it.  Maybe it’s the Witch part of me that’s being affected?

Grandma’s in front of me now.  She’s kneeling in the snow in her skirt again.  I wonder why she hasn’t changed her clothes.  She’s pulling on my arms, trying to get me to uncover my ears.  She’s saying something but I can’t hear her any better than I could hear Kallen.  She turns to him and says something, and the next thing I know, Kallen is pulling my arms down.  Why are they doing this to me?  The sound is so painful now, it feels like it’s piercing my brain, fileting it, and then shredding it to pieces.  Kallen gets my hands away from my ears.  He shrinks back slightly, I’m assuming from the death glare I know I’m giving him, but he holds my arms firm.

“Xandra!” Grandma shouts.  “Accept it!  Stop trying to block it.  Let the magic take hold!”  Let the magic take hold?  Is she crazy?  It’s trying to kill me.

“Xandra, listen to her,” Kallen shouts.  I shake my head adamantly.  I don’t want to die like this.  He puts his hands on my cheeks.  “Trust me!”  And then his lips are on mine.

And I thought I was mad at him a second ago.  Now I’m really angry.  How dare he kiss me, thinking that’s going to make everything better?  I’m not Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.  In this world, a kiss doesn’t solve everything.  I put my hands on his chest to push him away so I can tell him exactly what I think of his egotistical, chauvinistic, Dark Ages, macho crap, when I realize something.  The sound isn’t as deafening as it was a minute ago.  It’s quieting in my head.  As my body begins to relax, Kallen’s kiss becomes gentler and I feel myself responding.  My kiss becomes hungry as the last bit of pain dies away.  Now, all I feel is passion – and power.  My body feels as if it’s glowing from the inside out.  This is different than using my Fairy magic.  This is power that radiates from my pores, makes my skin tingle as my internal light shines through.  I wind my arms around Kallen, pulling him closer.  He hesitates for a heartbeat but then is swept away with my passion.  He is mine.  I have become the Seductress, the Huntress, Guardian of Mind and Body, Talisman of Peace and Safety, Defender of Light.  The Wisdom that has filled me will lead us down the path of Justice. 

I feel the light become brighter within me as our lips dance in passion and love.  With eyes closed, I see it stream forth, filling the circle created by the trees, shining its protection on everyone and everything inside of it.  As the light swells to a climax, I am filled with a sense of divine peace that settles in my very core.  That’s the last thing I remember before my body collapses in Kallen’s arms.