“Willow,” I answered without preamble.
“Sky,” she replied. “Let’s get this over with, shall we? Meet me at the old abandoned Taunton State Hospital.”
I gave Braxton a confused look. “That was torn down and turned into an apartment complex years ago.”
She started laughing. “Oh, really now? Do you think such a powerful dark-magic place would be taken down so easily? Come on now, Sky. Be better than this, please.” She scoffed at me.
“How do we know where to go? I know where the apartments are now but what you’re talking about …” I trailed off.
“Please, use those super-duper weather witch powers of yours. Between you and Brax, I’m sure you can figure it out.”
“You really are a …” Braxton started to speak.
“Ah, ah, ah, Braxton. Be polite. Mustn’t anger the demon. I might just kill dear old Nick here, then go on a killing spree just for the fun of it.” She giggled like a little girl might.
“Fine,” I growled.
“You have thirty minutes.” She hung up again.
“What is she going on about? She gave us a twenty-four-hour deadline and we still have like what? An hour and a half left,” Braxton said as he started the car back up.
“She’s crazy and I’d say dear ole’ Emerson is starting to get impatient.” I shrugged. “Let’s go.”
“We still going to Hockomock?” Braxton asked, pulling into traffic.
“Oh yeah, the map is still showing that is where Nick is.”
“Let’s call the others and tell them what she just said.” I could only nod at him and tap the buttons, letting him speak. I barely heard him talking because I was so overwhelmed. This was all going to be over soon, and it didn’t matter that I might need more time to get ready for what was to come. But could I or would I ever be prepared? I spun the ring on my finger.
Into the dark we go. To what we don’t know. May the light shine bright and forevermore be on our side to defeat the darkness that encroaches.
We parked in the visitor parking of Hockomock Swamp. It was a huge piece of land, close to two hundred square miles. If we hadn’t had the tracer spell to guide us, this might have seemed like an impossible task. We also knew they were going to be hiding behind illusions. We cast opposing spells to counter the illusions, not to break them. We didn’t want them to know we were coming, only to let us see through them.
I stood before Braxton, our hands clasped. I lifted my head to look at him. He gave me that gorgeous smile of his and I couldn’t help but grin back.
“We got this, Sky. I know we do,” he said.
“How can you be so sure? How do you know we won’t muck this up?”
“Because the Great Divine doesn’t make mistakes. She picked us. We got this.” He let go of my hands and cupped my face in those big, warm hands of his, tilting my head and leaning down to kiss me. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Thank you. Let’s do this.”
Into the fray, we go.
It didn’t take us long to find them. They hadn’t moved too far into the swamp. Maybe they still wanted to be close to amenities, who knew? Nick was tied and bound to a tree. He looked beat up otherwise, but he was breathing and seemed to be okay. The tall rock next to him was set up like a table and the great book of the coven sat on it. Willow and Emerson, still in human guises, were having a rather heated discussion a few feet away.
“Are we interrupting something?” I stepped out of the cover of the trees.
They both spun toward us in surprise.
“How did—” Willow sputtered.
“Such a smart little weather witch. My daughter kept underestimating you.” Emerson spoke for the first time, taking a step closer.
Nick seemed to rouse at the noise and opened his eyes, which widened in fright when they landed on me. If I hadn’t glanced at him, I wouldn’t have seen the look of remorse and sadness there.
“I told you not to come,” he said in a hoarse voice. Willow growled and strode toward him, fist raised to strike him.
“Don’t hit him again, Willow,” I said in a darker voice. No nice girl here anymore.
“Or what?” She scoffed.
I kept an eye on Emerson as he prowled, and he stopped moving closer when he saw I noticed him. Then he smirked. Braxton was tight with tension and ready to spring.
“Or you won’t get your sacrifice voluntarily. I’m assuming since you made such a big deal about it that you need me to give them up of my own free will or it won’t work.” She growled and gnashed her teeth at me as I spoke. “So, step away from him, Willow. I’m here, and he gets to go free.”
Emerson started to chuckle again. “Oh, how I wish you were my daughter and not this disappointment before me.”
Willow’s humanity slowly falling away and she screeched towards him. “I am your daughter though! And I will get this power and be stronger than you ever could be,” she yelled at him.
“Let us have what we came for and you two can get back to your family squabble without our interference,” Braxton said in a friendly manner. “Whaddya say?”
“How did you find us?” Emerson asked, inching closer. Ignoring the rage his daughter was throwing his way, his head tilted in question, trying to look as innocent as possible I supposed.
I gave a nonchalant shrug. “Leylines.”
He nodded his approval. “Well done indeed. You are powerful enough.”
“Powerful enough for what? You had your chance for power as a weather witch couple,” I said.
Willow gasped. “What?” She shrieked “What does she mean?”
Emerson’s eyes flashed with fire, his fists clenching and unclenching but changing into their demonic claws as they did.
“How did …” he faltered. “The history books, gah. Can’t get rid of them all. I suppose they wrote about me.”
“Quite the sensation. Power-hungry witch gives up his soul to demons, all the while giving up his chance of ever being the most powerful witch and reigning elemental royal,” Braxton taunted him.
Willow looked surprised. “He’s lying.”
“Lying is for demons. We have no reason to lie. Your father here is angry because he lost his chance and wants it back. He killed his weather witch and couldn’t be the powerful magical couple of the covens,” Braxton sneered.
“But, but …” Willow looked to her father and back to Braxton. “You want the power you gave away. That’s why we came here. You killed that seer to find out where the next weather witch would be and we came here. You said it was like coming home, coming full circle. I hadn’t understood then, but now …”
Emerson stopped his advance toward us and looked back at his daughter. “Indeed. I am at home. Or close enough to it.” He shrugged. “Salem would have been the logical place to have the next weather witch, but we can’t be choosy, now can we?”
Willow gaped at her father. “You were at the trials?”
“Can we stop with this chatter? I want what is owed to me! I won’t be denied any longer,” Emerson roared. His demon side broke free, his humanity shedding like tissue. The black-as-night demon stood tall, towering over us. Six-seven at the very least, oily glistening black scales swathed him, even the rounded horns at the sides of his head were covered in scales. There was nothing left of what had once been the witch Emerson Crey.
I gulped, my heart racing faster. Braxton reached back and held my hand, squeezing it tight.
We got this Sky. The Great Divine believes in us and so do I, I heard Braxton’s voice inside my head. A benefit bonus of the rings, I guessed, was telepathy.
Let’s end this, I answered him.
With a twist of the rings, they changed into scythes.
“You found the charms I see. It won’t matter.” Emerson advanced toward Braxton.
“Let’s dance, little girl.” Willow sneered, letting her humanity fall away.
“Love to,” I answered her, striding toward her.
The fight b
egan, and we traded blows of weapons, claws, and magic. What was merely minutes but felt like hours passed and both parties grew tired.
I swung my scythe up as Willow was about to throw another ball of hellfire at me. It clipped her at the wrist and took it off. The green ball of flame fizzled and died as her hand went flying through the air.
She cried out, clutching her injured arm to her chest. She looked around wildly, almost as if she finally began to realize she wasn’t going to win this fight. She ran behind the tree that was holding Nick, reaching around it to bring her uninjured arm around, claws at his throat.
“Stop now or I kill him,” she hissed.
“Move away from him. Let’s finish this.” I stepped closer.
She pushed her claws tighter against his skin. He stood on tiptoes trying to get away, hissing in pain.
“I don’t think so. You’re going to get onto that table there,” she nodded to where the book was. “And you’re going to give up your powers and we will be done. Then he can go. If he really wants to. Do you want to go lover?” she cooed at him.
“Kill her, Sky. I don’t matter. The lives of the coven mean more.” Nick spoke through gritted teeth.
Willow screamed again in frustration and pressed her claws deeper into his throat. He started to choke, blood dripping from the holes she was leaving. His eyes were wide in shock. He was going to die. Willow stepped back to watch, licking the blood from her clawed fingers with a wicked grin on her face.
“No!” I yelled, racing forward.
She didn’t see it coming. In a rush of speed I didn’t know I had, I swung the scythe. It was if she was split at the seams as she fell to the ground, shock clear in her red demon eyes.
“Willow!” Emerson thundered, turning toward me.
Braxton took that moment to do as I had. He raced in quick, swinging his scythe. I swung my own at the same time. Our scythes swept through the demon at the same time. Emerson barely had the chance to register the fact that he was done for before the magics within the scythes turned him to cinders before us. With his death, it shattered any spell they had held over the swamp.
When the spell fell, the others came racing into the area, their own spells ready.
I stood there breathing heavily while staring at Braxton. Both of us were covered in cuts and bruises, but we had won. We had defeated demons. The scythes turned back into rings on our hands.
“Nick!” Jordan raced toward him, skidding across on his knees to where his brother was.
I ran over, my hand going to the puncture points that Willow had made. “He’s still alive. Barely but … alive,” I said to Jordan. Tears were streaming down his face. His hands shaky as he tried to cut through the bindings that were holding his brother.
“Let me.” Baxter stepped up, taking the knife from Jordan after he slashed himself for the second time because he was shaking so much, and cut Nick down. Bess had produced a silk scarf from somewhere to tie around the wounds to help with the bleeding.
“Can you save him?” Jordan turned his grief-stricken face toward me.
“I can try,” I said softly, falling to my knees before them both.
I didn’t even get a chance to lay my hands on him when I felt a warm wind pass over us.
“He will live. He is forgiven of his sins. Another has given his life in balance for it,” the voice of the Divine spoke to us all.
We were all in shock. Jordan shook as he pulled the scarf back and we all watched the marks on Nick’s neck close to pink scars.
“A reminder of all that has been lost.” The voice spoke again. “You have done well my weather witch couple. You need to cleanse this swamp of the demon stench. Make it clean again. Then you will learn and train to be the next great Elemental Royals.” Then the pressing magic of the Divine was gone.
“What did she mean by another has given his life in balance?” Jordan asked as he cradled his brother in his lap.
“I don’t know. But I’m sure we’ll find out. Let’s get Nick out of here. I could sleep for a week,” I said.
It didn’t end up being a week of rest like I wanted. Braxton and I were making our way back to the coven house the next morning. How was it that barely forty-eight hours had passed since my birthday and so much had happened? It seemed inconceivable to me.
“Welcome home my victorious Elemental Royals,” Bridges chimed, the door opening without even having to touch it.
The only one not with us this time was Jordan. He was holding vigil over Nick, waiting for him to wake up. He was healing and would be okay, but the trauma of being under a demon spell had him sleeping everything off. I rather envied him the sleep.
Braxton and I touched the magic doors to the grand room and they swept open with a bang. Everyone turned toward us, cheers and crying rendering the air. Caroline came rushing forward.
Bess held her mother back, not allowing the hug that Caroline so clearly wanted to give her.
“No way mom. Not yet,” Bess’s voice was hollow as she spoke to her mother.
Caroline started crying. “I only wanted to keep you safe, baby.”
“Not the way to go about it. You’re going to be staying in an empty house. Dad is looking for an apartment and I’m moving in with Baxter for now. I can’t be in the same house with you,” she told her mother.
Caroline looked like she was about to break. “But … but … I did it all for you. I was only—”
“Save it. I just came to make sure you were alright.” Bess gave a decisive nod. “Let’s go Baxter.”
She took his hand and they left. Caroline was on her knees sobbing as she watched her daughter walk away from her. Broken from a choice she had made. I wasn’t sure how there would be any coming back from this.
“Where is Victor?” my father asked, looking toward the lounge that we had all seen him on last.
Mason stepped forward, gulping and wringing his hands. He gave me a regal nod before answering my father.
“One minute he was still out of it and then the next he sat up and spoke ‘of course, my life for his,’ and then he smiled and vanished,” Mason explained.
“OMG, that was what the Divine meant,” I breathed.
“Victor gave up his life for Nick’s,” Braxton spoke. I nodded.
“A noble sacrifice after everything he’s done,” my father said, bowing his head in acknowledgment.
“What happens now?” Mason looked to us all and back at the others who were looking rather meek behind him.
“We train the new weather witch and her consort and rebuild this coven.” Becca’s voice rang through the room.
“Consort. Really?” Braxton said in disgust, shaking his head.
I giggled.
Now to learn about life as a weather witch and elemental royal and all that it entailed. Yet another adventure for Braxton and I, but I wouldn’t give it up for the world.
Deviating From The Spell - Tales of Ryely Drakcon
Beyond her control, magic and mayhem reign. Sometimes being different is just out of this world.
Being different than most, Ryely sits on the edge of it all. In a world where magic and the supernatural are common, her entire world is still torn apart.
About the Author
International bestselling author, A. R. Johnston is just a small-town girl from Nova Scotia, Canada, looking to share her tales with others. She is known to write mostly urban fantasy, though she goes where the muses lead her and you never know where that may be. She is a lover of coffee, good TV shows, horror flicks, and a reader of good books. She pretends to be a writer when real life doesn’t get in the way. Pesky full-time job and adulting! Sign up for her newsletter at:
arjohnstonauthor.wordpress.com.
You can find her on FB at www.facebook.com/arjohnstonauthor
The Great Return
Alesha Escobar
Magic can come with a price. Corabelle Lansing, a shaman who desperately wants to become a priestess, knows this all too well. She veered f
rom her path when she fell under the spell of a dark god, but now she wants to redeem herself and prove to her community she is worthy to wield an ancient weapon. This story is about the return of forgotten magic—powerful magic that can change the world.
Alesha Escobar
Everyone knows you need to study in order to pass a test. Unfortunately, Corabelle Lansing learned magic from a fallen god and accidentally freed a demon. Her friends have no clue. Her fellow shamans can’t sense the taint on her. And her mentor has just cleared her for her final trial. It’s up to her to right her wrongs and get back on the right path—before she loses everything, including her soul.
The Great Return
Einar and the acolyte Ladovin led the solemn procession into the sanctuary. Ladovin carried the banner displaying the symbol of the Four Pillars, the ancient emblem representing Life, Death, Justice, and Divine Will. The standard matched his white robe, embroidered with silver along his sleeve cuffs and the hem of the robe. Einar wore his simple novice robe under his elaborate over-robe, which was marked with various symbols going down his back in the same silver embroidery as the acolyte’s robe. The novice carried the sacred text that would be read and used during the ritual that would begin Corabelle’s trial for shaman priestess.
Hermit was next in line, bearing a long white staff. The staff’s head was adorned with a single large jade stone in the center, flanked by a pair of silver-gold wings. The novices and acolytes, who were in their seats, stood and bowed when Hermit passed with the staff; the old man took it toward the altar, where Einar and Ladovin stood on either side, and he faced the assembly.
Maia proceeded down the aisle after him with her hands folded and expression sober. She wore a circlet with a dazzling white diamond in its center, a flowing white dress, and a long white cloak. The same symbol that was on the banner was emblazoned on the back of her cloak.
Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4) Page 205