A Witch's Rite (Witch's Path Series: Book 5)

by N. E. Conneely

  Witches, like me, could use the power to augment our own. Rather than tell the magic what to do and losing some in the process, I could simply pull the magic out of the shells and use it. Though that wouldn’t be a smart idea. It would put me at risk for addiction and physical damage.

  I pulled my magic away from the shell pieces and slowly started to come out of my trance. From a tactical point of view, I should start sucking power out of any shard I could find. I was running low on available energy, and this could help. I would need every bit of energy I could muster to prevent Ned from spelling us again. The problem was that I didn’t want to use this magic. Aside from the obvious side-effect issues, creatures had died to make this magic. To me that made it a tainted power, and I didn’t want any part of that.

  When I finally opened my eyes, I found all the men looking at me.

  Elron was the only one who didn’t look concerned, but he knew me better than the rest.

  Wells’s brow was furrowed, and he was frowning. “Westmoreland said you were doing some type of magic?”

  I took a sip from my canteen as I debated the best way to answer the question. Part of me didn’t want to tell him anything, but Wells deserved better than that. He’d stood with Elron and me when we faced down a demon. He could handle this. And should someone try to use this type of magic in the future, he’d know about it and would be able to stop them. As for Patrick, he was a cop, and Burly had every reason to live a quiet life after this.

  “I had some theories I needed to verify.” I took a deep breath, knowing there was no easy way to say it. “Ned has found out how to get magic from the snails’ shells. I don’t know how the magic is getting into the snails in the first place, or what type of snails they are, but he takes the shells, grinds them up, treats them with something to make the magic more available, and then he has a very powerful weapon. This magic can be used by anyone. Which means no matter what else happens, we have to take down Ned and get all the snails.”

  Burly just looked disgusted. I think being half creature, which some people thought made him less intelligent and less valuable to society, gave him more sympathy for the snails. Elron… Well, I knew my elf, and behind that carefully controlled façade was burning anger and a desire for justice. Wells and Patrick both looked fairly appalled, probably because they were imagining how much damage this could do if everyone had access to magic.

  Wells grimaced. “Assuming we can capture Ned and rescue Gudger, what are we going to do about all the powder Ned spread all over this mountain?”

  “Once we’ve done all the cleanup we can, including removing the snails, I think I can take care of the remaining powder. I might need Elron’s help, but it shouldn’t be an issue.” That’s what I hoped anyway. I wouldn’t know for sure until I tried.

  Elron gave the entire group a once-over. “I know you are fatigued and injured, but we must attack soon. All we are doing right now is giving Ned time to marshal his defense, and we are not prepared to fight the type of battle he could put together with time. There is also the possibility that he would choose to flee, and I have great doubts that we would be able to track him.”

  Burly nodded. “I am ready to fight.”

  “Me too.” Patrick’s voice wobbled, but I didn’t doubt his sincerity.

  “We have a plan.” Wells’s voice was grim. “Let’s do it.”

  The men all looked ready to charge off into battle, but there was one problem. “Can you fill me in on the plan? I think I missed something when I was in the trance.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  As it turned out, I had missed a few things. Elron and I trailed along behind the rest of the group. Burly was leading us to Ned’s hideout. Since the primary goals were apparent, Elron had filled me in on the fuzzy details. He went through the plan with me twice just to make sure I had it. All the discussion had amounted to something rather simple.

  Simple bothered me. I’d had a few teachers who were strong believers in keeping it simple. After all, what could go wrong with a nice, bare-bones approach?

  That last question was the one that worried me. There was always something that could go wrong.

  It wasn’t long before Burly turned to look back at us. “We’re getting close.”

  I summoned my wand and hoped I had enough magic to get through this. Since I didn’t have any energy-boosting teas, I had to be careful. No matter what spells I did, I had to be able to walk down this mountain when we were done. That was going to be five miles of mostly down but some uphill, likely with a prisoner and an injured officer. Pushing the thought out of my mind, I focused on the here and now. I needed to be ready because Burly and I were the only ones who had a chance to separate Ned from his magic.

  “Stop,” Elron hissed.

  We all froze.

  “There is something here.”

  I really wished he’d be a little more generous with his descriptions. “Can you be more specific?”

  “It is not human, and it is moving in our direction.”

  Wells sighed. “What do we do?”

  “Drop the packs.” Elron shed his, leaving it at the base of a tree. “It would be unwise to carry them into a fight, especially one that may be on multiple fronts.”

  Patrick and I followed his lead while Wells and Burly kept an eye out for whatever creature was headed in our direction. I did a quick magical sweep of the area, but whatever Elron was sensing wasn’t something I could detect. Though that was hardly a surprise.

  “What now?” Patrick whispered

  Elron shrugged. “Keep moving and be prepared for an attack.”

  That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear, but good news had been hard to come by since arriving on this mountain. I fell back into line, more alert than ever. There was still a chance Elron could give us a warning when the creature was within attack range, but I wasn’t going to bet on everything working out that neatly.

  We hadn’t gone much farther before Burly stopped. This area didn’t look much different than everything we’d been walking through. We were behind a thicket of rhododendrons, a plant I dearly hoped to never see again, with trees all around us. Between Burly and the plants, I couldn’t see what was ahead of us, but I could feel a great many spells.

  Burly motioned for us to move forward, and we gathered around. “Ned’s home is on the other side of this bush. Elron, where is the creature?”

  “Close.” He shook his head. “I cannot get more information. It feels rather strange.”

  I patted Elron on the shoulder. He always got so frustrated when his elven senses let him down.

  Wells tapped his fingers on his thigh. “We can’t wait. Odds are Gudger needs medical attention, and if we stay here we’re giving the creature time to close the distance and Ned a chance to escape.”

  Glancing at Burly, I picked up where Wells left off. “Then we’re ready. Patrick and I will work on the magic on the door while Burly tries to break it down. We all know what to do from there.”

  “What if the creature attacks?” Patrick asked.

  Elron didn’t hesitate. “We kill it.”

  Patrick paled and nodded.

  Wells filled the silence. “Any other questions?”

  I shook my head, as did the men. With all of us in agreement, I exchanged a look with Patrick. I took his hand, and we linked up. I felt for the spells, finding a mass of them on the door. There were too many for me to pull apart quickly. I started tearing apart one spell while Patrick fed me energy.

  The magic fought me. There was power in those spells, and they were very happy being exactly what they were. Even with Patrick feeding me energy and helping me pull the spells apart, it was slow going. Too slow.

  Opening my eyes, I focused on Burly. “We need you.”

  The words had hardly left my mouth when Burly sprinted around the rhododendron bush. Hopefully the door itself wasn’t very sturdy and Burly would be able to break it down, destroying the spells in the process. Since magic didn’t work
well on minotaurs, he shouldn’t have too much trouble.

  Patrick fed me a little more power and broke the link. I sprinted after Burly. If I got closer, I might have better luck removing the spells. It was always more difficult to do complex work from a distance. Ahead of us, I could see a small building with a positively average-looking door. Hopefully it was as flimsy as it looked, but I had a feeling this was a case where looks could be deceiving.

  Burly reached the door and planted a mighty kick. The door shuddered but didn’t break. I slid to a stop behind him and started looking for a faster way to get around the spells. If I could change how they functioned, I should be able to get us into the building without going through the effort of removing the magic.

  The ground trembled, and I lost my connection to the spells as my feet slipped. I went down hard on one knee, landing on a rock. That was going to bruise. My gaze darted around, trying to find a reason for the ground to be moving. What was that large reddish-brown thing? It seemed to be moving.

  Oh no. It was doing more than moving, it was running right at us. Each time it took a step, the earth shuddered. That wasn’t just any creature—it was a golem. That was going to be a problem. Golems were creatures of the earth, made from the earth. And by their very nature they were highly resistant to magic and elven energy, for that matter. I was a little fuzzy on how one would kill or control them because they were really uncommon. Not quite as uncommon as demons but close.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Elron charge out of the trees. Wells and Patrick were right behind him.

  “What is that thing?” Patrick shouted.

  “A golem.” Elron’s yell echoed my own.

  I risked a quick probe, just enough to touch the golem and get a feel for what was holding him together. There was magic there all right, but not magic in the way I was familiar with it. It reminded me of something Varro, an old fey mentor of mine, had talked about. Long ago, magic was channeled and controlled differently than it was today. This felt more like that, a primal force shoved into a physical form.

  Burly kicked frantically at the door, drawing my attention away from the rapidly approaching danger. If we could get inside, there was a chance the golem wouldn’t be able to follow. What I needed was time. Time to figure out the spell on the door without a golem trying to kill us. I was a witch. I could buy us that time.

  “Algiz!” Ropes sprang into being, quickly pulling the golem’s arms and legs together. The golem rocked from side to side before toppling to the ground. For a split second I thought the spell would work, but then the golem started oozing out from between the ropes, reforming body parts as soon as they were unencumbered. At the rate it was moving, this was only a few seconds’ delay.

  “How do we kill it?” Wells’s voice cut through the air.

  Elron’s voice was grim. “Carve a mark of death between the creature’s eyes or unmake the magic.”

  That sounded simple, but I had fuzzy memories of learning about golems in school. It was never as easy as it sounded to kill an old magical creature. “How hard is it to make the mark of death stick?”

  “I doubt it will be easy. As you have seen, it can remake itself.”

  The pile of empty ropes was growing, and the golem was looking more like himself when Patrick grabbed my hand and forced a link between us. I formed a freezing spell, and as soon as it settled on the golem, I handed control off to Patrick. While the spell was still pulling energy from me, Patrick would be able to monitor it and control how much power it used. The freezing spell wasn’t totally effective. The golem was still moving, just much more slowly.

  Trusting Patrick to do his part, I focused on the small area between its eyes. Using my wand, I sketched the rune for death. I was starting on the last line when I realized that my previous marks were fading. I finished it but not quickly enough.

  Shaking my head, I worked on a different way to get the rune on it. Patrick’s face was red, and I could feel how much power was going into the freezing spell. Whatever I did, I needed to be quick about it.

  Realizing I could draw the rune and then force it into the golem’s forehead fully formed, I started over. This time I sketched the rune in the air before sending it toward the golem’s head. The rune was right on course to settle between the golem’s eyes when the creature’s head simply melted away. The rune flew through the air where the golem’s head had been and headed right for an old oak tree.

  I blasted the rune to pieces before it could kill the poor tree.

  “Hurry.” Patrick looked at me, face red with strain. “Can’t hold this much power.”

  Swearing, I cut off the link. Patrick’s eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell to the ground. Damn it, he’d held on too long.

  “Michelle, the door,” Wells screamed. He slung Patrick over his shoulder, carrying him away from the fight. Patrick had done his best, but it would be a little bit before he was awake. He’d moved as much energy as he could and had bought us time.

  I ignored Wells and jabbed my wand at the clay monster. “Sowil.” The containment spell popped up around the golem.

  “You can’t fight that! I have to figure out something.” Even as I said it, I knew he had a point. If we didn’t get through the door, there was no hope of us succeeding.

  “I can manage the golem.” Elron’s voice was steely. “You are a witch. You can get us through the door.”

  Grabbing his arm, I forced him to look at me. “Are you sure?”

  He didn’t blink. “I am.”

  That wasn’t what I’d wanted to hear, but I knew he was right. We had to play to our strengths. He was of the earth and I was of energy.

  With a curt nod, I agreed. He pulled away from me, jogging out to meet the golem. I turned to the door, unable to watch. If he said he could handle this, I had to believe him… even when I didn’t.

  Focusing on the door, I reexamined the spells. My efforts against the golem had used a lot of energy, leaving me weaker than I would’ve liked. So far Burly’s best efforts had put a foot-wide hole in the door but hadn’t actually broken it down.

  Luckily, the damage to the door had fractured some of the spells. I found a hunk of magic attached to the door and pulled. Some of the spells came off, and two new ones activated. Those new spells were very specific. As I looked at how the remaining magics worked together, I noticed a flaw.

  There. That was the weakness. The spells didn’t extend beyond the points where the door attached to the frame. The doorframe itself was venerable. “Kick the doorframe.”

  I backed out of Burly’s way and hoped it worked. My energy reserves were low, and we still had to capture Ned. There was one way I could regain energy, but I didn’t want to do it unless I had to. I gave the door one last look, hoping Burly’s hoof was the solution so I didn’t have to dirty my soul.

  Burly nodded, backed up, and sent his dinner-plate-sized hoof flying at the frame. It buckled in but didn’t break. I waved him off. I was going to have to do something about those spells after all. Gritting my teeth, I reached out, grabbed all the spells, and started pouring energy into them. One by one they overloaded, exploded in a shower of sparks, and died.

  Tipping my head toward the door, I signaled Burly to try again. This time when his hoof hit the door, it broke. We were in, but I was almost out of magic.

  “Go, Michelle,” Elron screamed. “Save Gudger.”

  I turned back to Elron, but Wells grabbed my arm and shoved me inside. I didn’t even get to see how Elron was holding up against the golem.

  I wanted to go back outside, but Wells kept a bruising grip on my arm. “This is your job. Let Elron do his part.”

  “That’s my boyfriend. And he needs my help.”

  “Listen to me,” Wells snarled. “Westmoreland did his part. Now Elron is doing his part, and you have to do yours. Ned is too dangerous to be allowed to escape.”

  I desperately wanted to argue, but I couldn’t because I knew he was right. I sent a prayer to t
he earth to help Elron and hoped he would make it. Then, even though it broke my heart, I turned around and started doing my job.

  Inside Ned’s home was one of the creepiest things I’d seen. One wall had floor-to-ceiling shelves covered in tanks of snails. The snails closest to the door were small, and there were several of them in each tank, but down the wall, the snails grew larger and the populations of the tanks decreased.

  The other wall had long tables, one of them holding a very large tank with four big snails. Papers were tacked to the wall, some showing the anatomy of a snail, and others were feeding schedules and maps of the mountain. There was an area that was set up like a desk, with papers and a bowl of water. Ned had been scrying someone.

  On the far side of the desk was a small table in the corner. A cut-open snail was pinned to a tray. Its shell was lying in pieces beside its body, and there was a mortar and pestle filled with powder. The small spray bottle to the side contained some type of liquid, but I couldn’t tell if it was a cleaning agent or what Ned was using to treat the shells.

  If he had this many snails still alive, there was every chance that there were more dead ones. He could have pounds of this powder. And here I was, almost without magic.

  I heard a huff of air and pivoted just in time to see powder flying into Burly’s face. He stumbled back, inhaling sharply, and that powder went right into his system. He wasn’t going to be immune to Ned’s power, not with it inside him when it started to work.

  I summoned a puff of wind, pushing the remaining powder away from us, but there was nothing I could do to help Burly.

  Ned’s voice was soft, but that didn’t stop me from hearing the words. “Enrage. Attack.”

  I swore. Without magic, I wasn’t going to be able to stop Burly, and Wells wouldn’t have a chance. I reached out for the source of magic I’d never wanted to use: the snail powder. It didn’t matter if it drained me or if I ended up addicted. I had to stop Burly and capture Ned.