“Thanks to the sketches (and thanks to Clay and Faye for coming up with this idea) we got some information from a senior pack member of the Black Claw pack about 4 states over. Turns out this one old man knew a good bit about the Yukonia’s actually. In fact, he said he even dated one for a time when he was a young man.”
“So what did you find out Ben?” Lynda asked almost instantly before Ben even had a chance to complete his statement.
“Well, just going on this old man’s word,” Ben went on, “and from everyone I talked to he is a good man and wouldn’t lie to us, here’s what he said basically. I’ll paraphrase as best as I can. He said that about 20 or so years ago, maybe more, when he was dating the Yukonia woman near his village, that he had heard a story of the Yukonia’s leaders son accidentally killing a girl in a nearby village.”
“A male Yukonia? Are you sure Ben? As far as I know, that is only an old wives tale.” Lynda said to Ben.
Ben went on, “Well, if we accept this guy as telling us the truth then now you have confirmation that there were a few. Anyway, he went on to say that this man, a Yukonia prince, had accidentally killed this girl. He didn’t know the details of how it happened just that he remembers his old girlfriend telling him about it in passing one day. But it turns out that the girl that was killed was the daughter of a great witch in a neighboring town. That witch vowed to kill all the Yukonia clan and she started by making them all sterile.”
“I have never heard this before.” Sonya said, amazed at the details.
“So what happened to the Prince and the other royalty, hell, I didn’t even know we had royalty?,” Lynda asked, confused at this new information.
“Well,” Ben went on, “according to the old man, the members of the royal family of the Yukonia clan died within 6 months and the rest of the members just quit having children. And the young children that were already here, well, most of them died soon thereafter too. So the witches intention was to kill the entire clan of the man who killed her child. So that’s probably why you never really heard anything mentioned about the main Yukonia family. In fact, your parents may not have even been aware of that ever happening themselves.”
“And she’s almost done it,” Sonya said under her breath.
“So, is there a way to break the curse?” Lynda asked Ben.
“I asked the old man that too. He really didn’t remember his old girlfriend ever mentioning that piece of information, however, his current wife is a shaman or a healer of some sort and she said in most cases that if you broke the wand that created the curse that would end it. Or, if you killed the witch who created the curse, that it would end it.”
“So let’s just kill the old hag,” Clay said.
“Well, that’s easier said than done. First we have to find her.” Ben offered.
“If we could just break her wand and end the curse, that would be fine by me. I don’t like the idea of anyone else dying,” said Lynda to Ben.
“Me too,” said Sonya. “If we can just break the wand and end it, let’s do that.”
“Well, we hope that will work, but for now we just don’t know. These ideas are all just speculation right now. I don’t like the thought of killing another person either unless they threaten my family or pack – then that is something completely different.” Ben added.
“So we have to find her first to try out these ideas,” Clay said. “Did the old man have any ideas there?”
“Actually the old mans wife told me that too.” Ben added, “She was a funny character to say the least. She said that normally a witches house is impossible to find unless the witch wants you to find it. But on the night of any blue moon the witches magic is weakest and her home is visible to anyone of a paranormal nature. Regular people still can’t see her home, but you all and I, yes, we should all be able to see it just fine.”
“But even if we find her, what happens if we break her wand and that doesn’t work? How do we find her again? Blue moons only happen every 2 or 3 years!”, Lynda said stating the obvious.
Ben went on, “Well, the old couple did tell me another important fact too – that if we wanted to ever find her again, assuming this all works in the first place, is that we need to make sure that we keep something personal of hers whenever we do find her house. You know, like a hairbrush, or a piece of clothing or something like that. As long as we have a personal possession of hers in our property then we can find her any time that we want.”
“That is fantastic – assuming it’s correct.” Sonya said.
“Well, at this point what have we got to lose? That is certainly more information than we knew a few hours ago. At least now we have something to try,” Clay spurted out, clearly excited to have something new to do.
“I agree, Clay, and with the scent from that piece of fabric we already have, we will know instantly if we have found the right witch or not,” Ben concluded.
“Assuming this really works,” Lynda uttered.
“Yes, assuming this really works.” Ben agreed. “But at this point it’s a start. And it is the best thing we have. So, now all we need to do is find out when the next blue moon is. Clay, will you summon Mistress Harlayne? I’m sure she can help us figure that out right away.”
“On my way – be back with her in just a few minutes.” And with that statement, Clay was out the door – long gone before the door hand even finished closing.
“So, what do you girls think? What do you both think we need to do – are we missing anything? Is there anything else you think that we need to be doing?” Ben asked them both.
“Well, we never got anyone on the phone – no real surprise there.” Sonya stated. “So the information you guys have found is all we have to go on right now. I think we should definitely see where it leads us.”
“Yes,” Lynda agreed, “but there are still a few people we haven’t tried yet in mom’s old address book. I think we should make sure we try them all at least once – and maybe even twice just to make sure we don’t miss speaking to someone that we might have missed otherwise. Just as a backup plan you know.”
Ben agreed. “I think that is a good idea. We might just luck up and find someone – who knows. I know you two are tired, so if you don’t mind I can get some other members of the pack to cover that job and the two of you can help me in figuring out what the next move is. I value your input and I want you to both there in the decision making process.”
The conversation the three of them were having was instantly interrupted as Clay re-entered the house with Mistress Harlayne in tow. Sonya and Lynda had both seen her before around camp but had never really had a conversation with her. As it was, she tended to keep to herself for the most part. Some of the pack members were even a bit scared of her. Funny when you think about it – a big, bad werewolf afraid of a little, middle aged woman.
She had brownish hair that was well on it’s way to gray. A large white streak ran from the temple on both sides of her face all the way down to the ends of her hair which went almost down to her waist. And she always wore it tied back, just below her shoulders, kind of like one big, loose pony tail, tied with a piece of leather string that had several crystals hanging from it. She wore an old gray gown covered in embroidery and she smelled of incense. Clay directed her over to the group and she bowed as soon as she stood in front of Ben. She waited to let Ben speak first.
“Mistress Harlayne, thank you for coming,” Ben greeted the woman and shook her hand. He walked her over to a group of chairs and encouraged her to sit. Once they were all seated he went on, “I am sure you’ve heard a bit about what has happened. We can fill you in later on all those details but for now I need to find out from you if a story I have heard is true or not concerning witches. Is it true that you can find a witches house on a blue moon? And also, once you do find her house, if you take a personal possession of hers, can you find her again whenever you want to?”
“Yes, both those facts are true,” Mistress Harlayne agreed with the Alpha. T
hen she added, “But you must be careful that the objects you take from her home are ones that have come directly in touch with her flesh otherwise you will not be able to find her until the next blue moon which will be years in the future.”
“Thank you for confirming that for us.” Ben said, smiling from ear to ear. “And also for specifying exactly what we need to take from her home. I appreciate, I mean we all appreciate, that tip. So my next question to you would be, first, when is the next blue moon, and second, how do you find a particular witches home in the first place?”
“Ah,” Mistress Harlayne sat back in her chair and looked from face to face before she went on. “Interesting questions that you have, Alpha. And you are in luck for one of them. For certain, the next blue moon will appear in just under 2 weeks – on a Thursday night. But the second question, that is a much more difficult one to answer.”
Lynda reached out to Mistress Harlayne upon hearing the date of the next blue moon, she was so excited. “That is wonderful news,” she said. “But what do we do to find a witch? Can you help us?”
Mistress Harlayne began, “I can tell you how to do it but it won’t be an easy task unless you have something of hers in your possession – a hair, fingernail, tooth…..”
“A piece of her clothing?” Sonya yelled – she just couldn’t hold her excitement back.
Mistress Harlayne looked at Sonya, who was clearly beside herself hoping for an agreement to her previous statement, smiled and said, “Well, yes, that could work… as long as it has touched the witches skin at some point in time.”
“It has her scent all over it!” Sonya exclaimed, grabbing Lynda’s hands at the same time.
“So then, yes, I believe that would work.” Mistress Harlayne agreed, smiling at them all.
Ben could not contain his excitement, he grabbed up Mistress Harlayne and swung her about the room like you would a small child. Immediately afterward he put her back down and shook her hand again. “Thank you so much, Mistress Harlayne! You don’t know how much that helps us.”
Obviously caught off guard, she did seem to enjoy the ride, “I am always glad to help, Alpha.” She was trying hard not to smile, but was not doing a very good job at it.
The two girls took turns hugging her and Clay kissed her on the cheek. Mistress Harlayne had not gotten this much affection in years. “So let me share with you then, exactly how to find a witch……..”
And with that all 5 of them sat back down and discussed exactly what needed to be done. Lynda took notes, Sonya made snacks and Clay and Ben listened intently to everything that the woman had to say. Occasionally one of them would ask a question and Mistress Harlayne always answered. Everyone at this little meeting wanted to make sure that they were 100% positive on what to do, how to do it and when and where to do it. They did not want to leave any room for mistakes.
After about 2 to 3 hours they felt good enough to accompany Mistress Harlayne back to her home. She had been a great help to them all and had trained them in exactly how to find the witch. They all felt very confidant about the entire situation. Before they left, each one of them gave her a hug or shook her hand and thanked her for all her help. It was obvious that after tonight Mistress Harlayne would never be an outsider in the Strongheart clan again. And she now had 5 new lifelong friends who would always be at her side for anything.
Animal Secrets: A Paranormal Romance (Chapter 10)
It was Thursday. Finally! The Thursday of the blue moon. And it would be getting dark in just a few hours. Ben, Lynda, Sonya and Clay were making last minute preparations before they did the summoning ritual to find the witch. They had gathered all their items and had gone over their notes so many times that they could all recite them word for word. Mistress Harlayne had given them the exact ritual and a list of all the ingredients over a week ago and they felt they were more than ready. But time was running out and they were starting to get a bit nervous.
Since the original curse had to do primarily with Sonya and Lynda, they would be the ones actually carrying out the ritual activities. Alternatively, Ben and Clay were the ones who would be actually dealing with the witch once they found out where she lived. Assuming the ritual worked in the first place, their plan was simple – to go to the witches home, grab a personal belonging of hers and break her wand too – all without being seen! Mistress Harlayne agreed to be with the girls just in case, due to all her valuable magical knowledge. She was not a witch herself, but being a shaman she had a lot of insightful information and knew a lot of things most witches would have rather kept to themselves. Her keen perception was incredible and she was a valuable ally.
The girls premixed all the ingredients according to Mistress Harlayne’s instructions, gathered all the needed maps, candles, pendulums, and went over the ritual several more times – minus the ingredients of course. Finally, it was just past dark and time to start. Ben and Clay met with their mates one last time before the ritual, kissed them both goodbye then let the girls go about their duties as they waited for details outside. Mistress Harlayne was inside with them just in case.
The candles flickered all about the room. On the kitchen table, there were a circle of candles laid out right on top of a map of the Strongheart’s territory. Inside that circle of candles, and on top of the map the sisters started to spread out their herb mixture that Mistress Harlayne had helped them put together earlier in the day. It had to completely cover the entire map, but only those lands that belonged to the Strongheart’s – so they were extra careful in spreading the mixture.
When they were done all 3 ladies looked it over once more to be sure that they had not made a mistake. Finally they all agreed it was correct and Mistress Harlayne went and sat down near a wall on the east side of their living room. Nervous, but excited too, the girls gathered the rest of their gear, got ready to start, then headed back to the kitchen table slowly so as not to disturb the herbal mixture on the map.
Lynda walked over to the map, closed her eyes, held her hands in the air, holding a small crystal in each and started the incantation. As soon as Lynda was done Sonya lit the map on fire. Fire engulfed the map, and only the map, in just an instant. As soon as it was done, which was one or two seconds, the magical fire had burned all the map, not the table underneath, the candles on top, or anything else in the home. The magical fire was intense, short lived and also very specific. The only part of the map left untouched by the fire, a small piece about the size of a dime, contained the exact location of the witches home. Amazing! The girls cheered at their success!
Ben and Clay ran in as soon as they heard the cheering. “What happened?” they both asked in unison.
Sonya reached over and carefully picked up the tiny piece of map and held it out to the men. “Here she is!” is all she had the time to say before they all started congratulating each other. The men kissed the girls once more, thanked Mistress Harlayne and then were gone in an instant to join their small hunting party which waited just a mile or so outside of their camp. They knew time was of the essence and it would take a while to reach her home – they also knew that they needed to be as stealthy as possible so their journey would be a mixture of excitement and leery expectations since they had no idea what would happen next.
They ran as fast as they could for the better part of an hour. It was still fairly early time wise but they knew that their mission was one that required stealth, cunning and silence. So they did their best to not think too far in the future and just to keep their minds on finishing the task they had been planning all week. All they could think about now was the small parties mission and the roles that were required by each member.
There were 7 of them in total – all Ben’s best men. Thankfully the past week or so had given them plenty of time to plan. As soon as they got about 3 miles or so within the range of the witches house they all split up – each going to an area, pre-planned days ago, in direct correlation to the houses location. Some went north, some east, some south and a few on the w
est side. Ben and Clays mission was to go directly to her home.
At the same time, back at the house, Lynda, Sonya and Mistress Harlayne were working too. They lit incense, more candles, and did several incantations for the team as they headed toward their destination. Among the most important incantations performed by the ladies were ones for changing the weather, removal of a persons scent, one for invisibility for the team members and, maybe most importantly, producing an enchanted sleep for the witch. The ladies had no way of knowing exactly what was going on with the team – but they relied on their planning and best guesstimate of how long it would take the men to reach their ultimate location and that guided them as they performed their spells.
Finally! The team came in view of a small clearing in the forest. And within the clearing stood a little old house surrounded by strange smelling plants and covered with ivy, a wishing well of some kind and sitting right next to a small pond. All were in various stages of disrepair. The pond stank and the green water was overrun with some kind of plant the men had never seen before. The small cottage was quiet even though smoke flowed from the chimney in a wispy fashion. Shingles on the roof were missing or twisted in more than one direction. Bricks were missing in the chimney. The wishing well looked as though it could fall over any second.
Were it not for the smoke rising from the chimney anyone who might have passed through these parts would have thought the home to be abandoned long ago. Overall, the site looked to be hundreds of years old – but who could be sure? But the scent – yes the scent was the same as the one of the swatch they found previously after the witches visit. The old woman’s scent was so noticeable – in fact it was everywhere – they immediately knew they were in the right place. There was no doubt in any of their minds.
The Animal Sagas: A Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance Page 11