Blood Prophecy (Witch Fairy) Read online

  Grandma nods. “Yes, Louhi works Ekstasis magic. He has the ability when performing a binding of ‘lifting the Witch outside of him or herself.’”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He creates such inner excitement and ecstasy, that the Witch’s mind separates from the physical, such as in hypnosis. A person under hypnosis is easily controlled because the mind has been taken out of the equation.”

  “So he creates vegetables?” Okay, that’s extra scary.

  Kallen looks honestly confused. “What do vegetables have to do with the power of Ekstasis?” I keep forgetting he’s new around here.

  “It’s just a term we use when things happen like a car accident and the person’s body is still alive but their mind is gone.” He looks slightly less confused, but not much.

  “That sounds like an apt description,” Grandma says.

  “Can the Witch get his or her mind back?”

  “If Louhi allows it, yes.”

  That’s really scary now. “So he holds the Witch’s mind hostage?”

  Grandma nods. “In a way. He can sever the ties between the conscious mind and the body, and when he does so, only he can reverse the effects. This, of course, is limited to only those who have committed major offenses and are too dangerous to have out in the world.”

  “So, you give them a lobotomy.” Dad says from his corner. That’s sure what it sounds like to me, too.

  Grandma’s lips purse, but says, “It is similar, yes.”

  “And if this guy ever gets hit by a bus, all the Witches whose conscious minds he’s holding hostage are just screwed, then.”

  Grandma sighs heavily. “Yes, that is correct.”

  Okay, I’m done hearing about this guy. “Who’s next?”

  “Midar is another binder. He has the ability to plant emotions in one’s mind.”

  “I take it he doesn’t plant good emotions.” It sounds like he’s starting a garden. I’ll have a row of jealousy over there and here I think I’ll plant some heartache.

  Grandma’s lips form a flat line for a moment. “He can. If he chooses.”

  “I’m guessing he doesn’t choose to do that very often.”

  “No, not in his role with the Witan. But in his private life, I suspect he may abuse that power.”

  “Huh? What do you mean?” And then it dawns on me. “Oh, do you mean to get women to like him or something like that?”

  “Along those general lines, yes. But I have never had enough proof to bring before the other Witan members.”

  Grandma really doesn’t seem to like these people. I’m starting to believe that the last eighteen years have been painful for her. “Okay, so stay away from Midar unless you want to feel suicidal or something equally as bad. Got it.”

  “The last binder is Annika. She is a practitioner of Sympathetic magic. She works with likenesses.”

  “Huh?” Okay, I keep repeating that but I’m not going to get this stuff through osmosis. It needs to be spelled out for me. I’m pretty sure I just heard Kallen chuckle but when I look at him, his face is a blank page.

  “She creates a likeness of the person she wants to control.” Grandma thinks for a minute. “You may recognize it as a voodoo doll.”

  “Voodoo dolls are real?” Scary. I could be a pin cushion in someone’s hands right now.

  “Only when a powerful Witch capable of working Sympathetic magic has created the ‘doll.’”

  “Do I even want to know what the last three can do?”

  Grandma gives me a tired smile. “One must always know their enemy.”

  “Fine, lay it out for me. I’m guessing they can walk on water and control the elements.”

  She laughs softly. “Even the Witan are not that powerful.”

  “That’s good to hear. So, what do they specialize in?”

  “Two are the ones sent out after an errant Witch – Davina and Beren. Beren’s affinity is scrying. He is capable of locating a Witch within a thousand miles simply by looking into a reflective surface.”

  “So, he’s like a bloodhound? He can sniff out a Witch?”

  Grandma’s lips turn up at my description. “He could be compared to one, yes.”

  Must be another one on the Witan Grandma doesn’t like. But then again, I don’t get the impression that she likes any of them. And then another thought hits. “If he’s so good at this, why couldn’t he find Mom?”

  It’s Mom’s turn to smile. “Because a very powerful Witch taught me how to shield myself.”

  She and Grandma exchange a look. “Something that Witch deeply regretted when you couldn’t be found.” Too bad, Mom still looks proud of herself.

  Wanting to get off that awkward topic, I ask, “What does the other do?”

  Grandma clears her throat. I think she might have a tear or two in her eyes. “The other is a Summoner. Once Davina has a location, she can work a summoning spell that will compel the prey to come to her.”

  “Does she have a thousand mile range, too?”

  Grandma shakes her head. “No. Once Beren has located their prey, they must travel within a hundred mile range for Davina’s summoning spell to work. She then compels him or her to follow her to where the Witan reside.”

  “She’s a modern day Pied Piper.”

  “I am not familiar with that reference,” Kallen says.

  I love it when he doesn’t know something. “It’s a children’s story about what happens if you don’t keep your word. Basically, a town hired the Pied Piper to get rid of rats that were running rampant. When he did by compelling them to drown themselves, the town refused to pay him. To get even, he compelled all the children except one to follow him away from the town and they were never heard from again.”

  “What happened to the one left behind?”

  “He was pretty lonely after that.”

  Kallen’s brow scrunches as if he’s trying to figure out if I’m joking or not. I think I’m going to leave him hanging on that. “What does the last one do?”

  Grandma is suddenly squirming in her chair as she gives furtive looks towards Mom. Mom’s mouth is set in a firm line. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, I ask again, “What does the last one do?”

  Mom speaks first. “Tell her, Mother.”

  Grandma sighs a sigh of anguish and sorrow but still doesn’t say anything. This waiting is killing me. I’m very much an instant gratification kind of person and this tense silence is driving me nuts. I look at Kallen for an answer but he shrugs his shoulders letting me know he’s just as ignorant as I am. “Will one of you please tell me?”

  Mom answers. “Fatin is a master of Evocation and Exorcism.”

  “Exorcism. Like getting rid of ghosts?”

  Grandma nods but still doesn’t speak. Mom answers again. “Yes, Xandra, Evocation is the ability to call forth spirits in preparation for exorcism.” She sighs. “Not all spirits who linger in this plane are good. Sometimes, a Witch will hold on because he or she wants to take revenge on an enemy or someone who they believed committed some wrong against them. Some will even try to take control of another Witch’s body.”

  “But you don’t do any of those things so he’ll leave you alone, right?” I sound naïve even to my own ears.

  Kallen is looking at me with sympathy and he lays his hand on mine. “A threat to the ones you love may cause you to do things you shouldn’t.” He looks pointedly at me now. When we were fighting the other Fairies, they used my little brother to get me to do what they wanted. It just didn’t work out as they planned.

  “You think they’ll threaten to exorcise Mom and Dad?”

  With a meaningful look in the corner where Dad is, he says, “I think they will threaten at least one of your parents, yes.”

  “And I’m the only non-magical one here. I would be the easiest target.” Dad says this matter-of-factly, but his eyes belie his stoicism.

  I’m mad now. They better not try to do anything to my parents. If they do, I won’t care what
imbalances I create. They’ll pay ten times greater for any pain they cause my family.

  Grandma must see the murderous look in my eyes. With steel in her own, she says, “There are protection spells that may be used against all of the Witan’s infinities. As well as spells that can render their spells null and void. We’ll protect your family – whatever it takes.”

  This is this first time all day I believe Grandma. Dad is no longer the only one in the room turning into a sociopath. Grandma looks like she’s going to bring eighteen years’ worth of pain to each and every one of the Witan. Go Grandma. Maybe she and I will get to the cookie making, after all.

  Dad speaks up from the corner again. “How long do you think we have before they arrive?”

  “I would be surprised if they’re not here by tomorrow morning.”

  “Do you really think they can prepare in that short of time?” Mom asks. I think she was hoping Grandma would say next week, or even next year. Nope, they’ll be here tomorrow.

  “What do we do first?” I ask. I’m all wound up and I need to do something or I’m going to freak out.

  Instead of answering me, Grandma focuses on Kallen. “Are you powerful enough to defend against any of these types of magic?”

  Kallen is cool and confident as always. “Ekstasis will not work on a Fairy. The Fae are too in tune with their mind and body for them to be separated from each other. It is the difference between how we draw magic – filling ourselves with it as opposed to using it externally as Witches do.”

  I can’t decide if he’s slamming Witches or just speaking the facts. Guess it doesn’t matter if he can provide some defense against the Witan. “Do you think I have that ability?”

  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??

  Gra
ndma 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?