by M. J. Caan
“Whoa there, missy. Where do you think you’re going?” demanded Jasmin.
Torie narrowed her eyes. “I’m going with you to follow up on this.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Jasmin. “You’re staying right here with me and Opal. Or did you forget why we were coming over?”
Torie broke eye contact, crossing one arm across her body and chewing lightly on her lower lip. “Why don’t we do that after we get back?”
Opal and Jasmin exchanged looks before Jasmin moved to the sofa and sat down. She patted a seat next to her.
“Come here, honey,” she said softly. Reluctantly, Torie sat down beside her. “Are you afraid to work with us on this? It might be a chance to get your magic back.”
Torie sighed, blinking back tears.
“That’s just it,” she said. “Those two words, ‘might’ and ‘chance’…they don’t sound very definitive. I’m just not sure I want to get my hopes up and then I end up right back where I am now.”
Opal smiled and reached for Torie’s hand. “There are no definites, Torie. But what I can say is that I will definitely try my best to help you. When we are done, I can say with confidence that everything possible was done to help you. But you have to be a willing participant in this. It has to be a two way street.”
Torie looked at her and nodded. “Okay. Fine, I’ll do whatever it takes. But we can’t just sit on this lead. I mean, that hunter mentioned that humans were doing things in the community that we weren’t aware of. What if this is related?”
Jasmin nodded. “I agree. That’s why I’m going to ask Fionna and Glen to go into town and find Elric and Max.” She turned to the shifter and her wife to address them directly. “I want the four of you to split up. Two go and see if you can track down this Myra Simms and see what you can get out of her. The other two, come back here. I have a feeling we are going to need some help with what Opal has planned.” She glanced at her sister in a way that told Torie the two of them had been conspiring on something that neither was ready to discuss.
“We can do that,” said Fionna. “We’ll be careful, I promise.” She leaned down and gave Torie a quick kiss on her cheek. “Good luck, Torie.”
As they left the house, Torie felt a measure of relief wash over her. She didn’t like the thought of Max and Elric out looking for that hunter. At least this way they wouldn’t be alone.
When they were alone, the three witches sat in silence for a moment before Torie cleared her throat and spoke up.
“So, Opal, have you run into this type of thing before?”
“Not at all. I’ve never heard of a witch losing their powers. I didn’t think it was possible; even if they hexed their own powers away.”
“Then how are you going to help me?” Torie inquired.
“Well, when it comes to witches and injuries, I examine their aura and their spirit first. That’s typically where the damage shows up. Then, I work on developing a healing ritual to fix what’s broken.”
“How do witches injure themselves?” Torie asked.
“Oh, there are all kinds of ways. Usually it’s the result of another witch; one hexes the other, or they are injured in a duel sometimes.”
“I didn’t know that,” said Jasmin. “Witches fighting witches?”
“Battle magic is a real thing,” said Opal. “Duels usually happen when one witch has something the other wants. Typically, it’s all for show. Witches don’t like to go up against one another…you never know when one will pay the ultimate price for such foolishness; so they like to show off, creating larger and larger spectacles of magical display until one backs down. But every now and then you see ones who took it a little too far and end up seriously hurting one another.”
“And that’s when they call the witch doctor,” said Jasmin playfully.
Opal frowned. “I don’t really care for that term in the way you mean it. I’m a witch, same as you. I just focus more on the healing arts and the spiritual side of magic.”
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to hit a nerve,” said Jasmin. “You always were sensitive.”
“And why is that a bad thing?” asked Opal.
“Didn’t say it was,” Jasmin replied, chancing a look and a wink at Torie.
Watching the banter back and forth between the two sisters, Torie found herself becoming more relaxed. She even broke a smile at some of the barbs they were throwing at one another.
“You two sound like you haven’t been apart for a day,” Torie said, “much less a couple of decades.”
They both looked at her and then one another. Silence fell over the room again as Opal excused herself. She left the house and returned shortly thereafter with a large duffel bag. She unzipped it and sat it on the coffee table.
“Tools of the trade,” she said, rummaging around in the bag. She pointed to the couch. “I need you to lay there and not move.”
She took out a large, jagged, opaque crystal. Then she removed a bunch of leafy, green plants that were bound in a thin, silver wire.
“Is that sage?” asked Jasmin. “It smells like sage, but something else I’m not familiar with as well.”
“It’s a strain of sage crossed with hemlock.”
“Isn’t that poison?” said Torie.
Opal shrugged. “In the wrong hands, probably. But don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. Plus, spirits can’t resist this stuff.”
“Wait, I thought you were going to look at her spirit,” said Jasmin. “Not summon others.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that. But better to be prepared. Now, I need one more thing. Something personal to you that has not been exposed to the spirit of anyone else.”
Torie thought hard. “Does it have to be associated with positivity?”
“Not really. As long as it was yours and not polluted by another.”
Torie excused herself and left the room. She went to the bedroom before returning with her fist closed around something. Holding out her hand, she opened it to reveal a gold wedding band with an emerald cut diamond.
“Wow,” said Jasmin appreciatively.
“Looks like someone liked it and decided to put a ring on it,” said Opal, nodding her head at the ring. “That’s gotta be a couple of carats.”
Torie didn’t say anything, just handed it over to the witch.
“Will it do?” she asked.
Opal nodded. “Good or bad, I’m sure there is a lot of attachment to this. So yes, it will work. Now, lay down on the couch.”
Torie did as she was asked, staring up at the ceiling as she tried to calm her nerves.
“Have you ever done any guided breathing?” asked Opal.
“No, I haven’t. I mean, I’ve done some focused yoga breathing but that’s about it. Is that the same thing?”
“Kind of. As we get older, more and more crap weighs on our minds. Things we would have brushed off in our youth now occupy land in the old gray matter. It can get heavy up there, and that can translate to spiritual and physical heaviness.”
“Oh, and here I thought it was all the scones at Jim’s Bakery,” said Jasmin.
Opal shushed her sister. “That heaviness creates a sluggishness in one’s aura. That can, over time, create a blockage in a witch’s ability to perceive and manipulate the energies around them.”
“Do you think that’s what’s happened to me?” asked Torie.
“We will find out. It’s a good place to start at least. But in order for me to get the best look possible at your aura I need you to calm your thoughts. That will calm your body. I want you to close your eyes and do some box breathing. Take in a slow, deep breath for a count of six, hold that breath for a count of six, breathe out for a count of six and then rest for a six count before repeating. Got it?”
Torie nodded and closed her eyes. She started the breathing, focusing on the six count in her mind. She felt a heaviness rest on her stomach and realized Opal had rested the white crystal on her belly button. It should have been uncomfortable, but
instead it helped to center her; giving her something else to focus her mind on. She could hear Opal tell her to relax and concentrate on her breathing; feel the breath come in through her nose, travel down her body and fill her lungs.
It was relaxing on a level Torie had never experienced before. She knew the warmth she felt spreading across her body was not just from her breathing.
She sensed the touch of magic. But was it all from Opal or did she dare hope that some of it might be hers?
“Uh-uh,” said Opal, “keep your mind on your breathing. That’s all you need to think about right now.”
Torie swallowed and did as she was asked, trying her best to banish thoughts of magic from her mind. She heard Opal start to whisper a chant. It was in a language she had heard Jasmin speak on occasion. What had she once called it? The language of hexes…that was it. She needed to learn it, she realized. Maybe it was another form of magic she could…
“Open your eyes,” said Opal.
Torie felt like she had been drifting far away, and the sound of the witch’s voice snapped her back into her body.
“What happened?” she asked. She felt confused and foggy, like she had been deep in sleep. “That was fast.”
“Fast?” said, Jasmin. “You’ve been snoring for almost three hours.”
Torie sat bolt upright, her eyes wide. She looked at her watch and then around the room, her face a mask of bewilderment and shock.
“Three hours? That’s not possible. I barely closed my eyes.”
“You also barely snored,” said Jasmin, half to herself.
“What was that?” said Torie.
“I said you must have been tired out of this world,” Jasmin said, a large smile breaking across her features.
Torie frowned and cast her eyes at Opal. “So? What did you find out?”
“Well, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you as far as your aura is concerned.” She went about placing the crystal back in her bag in a nonchalant, methodical way.
“Wait, so that’s it? No problem with my aura to explain what’s going on?”
“Well fat lot of good you were,” said Jasmin. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at her sister. “I’m pretty sure you just sat there waving your hands over her and mumbling for a few hours. I could have done that.”
“Perhaps,” said Opal. “But could you have divined that not only is her aura not disturbed, but that there is no residual magic remaining within her at all? She has no spark of the hex present…even in a dormant form. That’s something I can work with.”
Torie and Jasmin exchanged questioning looks.
“How is it a good thing if she has no trace of magic at all within her?” questioned Jasmin.
Torie looked at them, her eyes welling with tears. She had managed to remain slightly hopeful, but now, she didn’t even attempt to hide the waves of despair that were threatening to crash down on her.
Opal held up a hand to her, imploring her to hold on just a bit longer. “Don’t give up just yet. Like I said, I can work with empty. Had I found that you still had bits of magic still locked within you, and your aura was in perfect shape, that would have been disastrous. Very hard to put you back together after something like that. But you…you’re empty. You purged all the magic from your being at a level I would not have thought possible.”
“That would explain why you couldn’t use the gems I gave you,” said Jasmin.
Opal nodded. “Magic is a form of energy. And like all forms of energy, it can’t be created or destroyed. You sent your magic away, Torie. That means we have two options to get it back.”
She paused and went about rummaging in her bag yet again.
Jasmin was tapping her foot in annoyance. “Well, are you going to tell us those options?”
“The first is that we can ask the Elders to return your magic to you,” said Opal.
“Elders? What Elders?” asked Jasmin.
“Our ancestors, dear sister. And by our, I mean all witches. When we cross over, part of our essence joins with the great collective…the spirits that guide and give us our birthright magic. Ah, this is what I was looking for.” She took a long, slender thread of silver from her purse. It sparkled with power, lighting up the living room. She unwound the shiny cord, revealing it was roughly six feet in length. On either end was a small ring.
“What is that for,” asked Torie, eying the mystical rope with caution.
“We’ll need it to stay together where we’re going,” replied Opal.
“And just where is that?” said Jasmin.
Opal flashed her sister a large smile. “Through the veil, into the astral plane. It’s the only way to get to the Elders and ask them to restore Torie’s powers.”
Jasmin’s eyes widened. “You mean…are you saying, we’re going to visit the spirit world of the dead?”
Opal’s smile widened. “Buckle up, buttercup. It’s about to get bumpy up in here.”
11
“Wait a minute,” said Torie. “Hold up. We’re going to do a…what…reverse seance?”
“Yes! Exactly,” said Opal. “For something this big we need to go to the spirits. Not bring them to us. We have to ask them to give your powers back to you again. There’s no way we would have the power to bring them to this plane, so we have to venture to them.”
Jasmin was frowning and chewing at her lower lip. “Have you done this before, Opal?”
Her sister shrugged. “In theory.”
Torie’s eyes grew to the size of small saucers. “In theory? The hell does that mean?”
“It means that while the nature of my magic allows me to commune with the spirits, I’ve never actually walked among them; at least not on their turf.”
Jasmin folded her arms. “So you pick now to try?”
Opal sighed. “What choice do we have?”
“You said there were two options,” said Torie. “What’s the other.”
Opal frowned. She appeared to be on the verge of saying something but then decided not to.
“You’re going to have to trust me. Let’s try this. I really think it is our best option.” She leveled her sister with a look. “You called me here because you knew, deep down, that I was her best shot at getting her powers back. Well, you were right. But you’re going to have to trust me to do this my way. Okay?”
The silence in the room was heavy, weighing oppressively on the three of them. Finally, Torie nodded.
“Alright, I’m in. It’s not like I have anything else to lose at this point.”
Opal clapped her hands in glee. “Goody. Now, we just need one last thing before casting the spell. Can one of you text a couple of your friends and ask them to come back? Preferably the one with the big gun.”
“Why?” asked Torie.
“Because while we journey into the astral plane, our physical bodies will be vulnerable in this world. And I rather like the idea of a big-ass gun watching over us than a couple of hot-headed wolves. Besides, your feelings for the one werewolf are too strong. His presence would be a distraction to your astral self.”
Torie wasn’t exactly sure what she meant, but she nodded, taking out her phone and calling Fionna’s number.
Thirty minutes later, Fionna and Glen were standing next to them in the living room.
“Did you find the Simms?” asked Torie.
“We didn’t get a chance to,” said Glen. “Max was acting very weird. He kept having little freakouts about things. He kept saying he smelled very bad magic…so bad that he kept shifting in and out of his wolf form, which was creeping me out. He tracked the smell of magic to this area just outside of town. He stepped in some mud and completely lost it for some reason. Like he’d never seen mud before.”
This got Opal’s attention. “Mud? What color was it?”
“Not sure. The lighting down there wasn’t the best,” said Glen. “But I think it was gray.”
Opal didn’t say anything, focusing on the silver cord she was holding instead.
“What is it?” said Jasmin. “Does that mean something to you?”
“Maybe. But first things first. We need to focus on the journey we are about to undertake.”
She motioned for Jasmin to sit on one end of the couch and for Torie to sit next to her. Then, she took a seat on the opposite side of Torie so that the two sisters were like bookends to her. She slipped one ring at the end of the cord over her wrist, then passed the other ring to her sister. She instructed Torie to wrap the middle portion of the cord around both of her own wrists. Once they were all entangled in the binding silver, Opal closed her eyes and whispered to the braid, causing it to flare briefly before settling back down to its normal warm, white light.
“Okay. I have enchanted this silver thread. It will bind us together in the astral plane. Just don’t pull free from it,” Opal said, looking at Torie.
“Why would I do that?” Torie responded.
“No idea. I’m just saying, stay with us. No matter what you think you see, don’t engage anything once we are across the veil. Things aren’t what they seem. Jasmin, focus your magic on keeping us protected from anything that might want to try and hitch a ride. I’ll do all the talking once we reach the elders. No matter what, don’t speak to them unless they speak to you first; and if they do, answer their questions directly without trying to espouse on anything. Got it?”
They both nodded in response.
“Okay. Sit back, close your eyes, and don’t focus on anything in this physical realm.”
“Um, what do we do?” asked Fionna. “Anything in particular we should know about?”
“No. I just don’t want our bodies left unguarded with a hunter in the area,” said Opal.
“What if she shows up?” said Glen, her voice nervous and unsteady.
“Shoot first, worry about asking questions later,” said Opal, fixing her with a hard stare.
Glen nodded, looking anxiously at her wife.
Then, the three witches settled back into the couch and closed their eyes. Opal raised her hands, lifting the silver thread into the air as she began to chant.