Now he was gaunt, with every bit of excess flesh stripped off him. His skin had acquired an ashen tone, and the shine was gone from his hair. The tattoo had suffered as well, its roots turning black and branches hanging limply.
“Heal the land. Heal me.” The words were a mere whisper, rasping as if torn from the lungs of a man about the die.
The leshy turned and hobbled back into the forest.
I sprinted to the lodge, to Michelle’s apartment, and knocked on the door. It swung out from under my hand between knocks.
“Elron? What’s going on?” Her eyes scanned the hallway behind me.
“Something has spread foulness through the forest. It is killing Leshy Apalchen.” Her eyes widened in horror. “I need you to help me mend the forest.”
“Leshy.” She breathed, her skin gone white. “If he dies…”
“A great many of the protections on this place fall,” I finished for her.
She shook herself. Her eyes met mine. “What kind of poison?”
“I cannot be sure, but I believe it is demon-tainted magic.” The words were bitter on my tongue. “The trees, all the plants, are unhappy.”
Michelle closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Five seconds ticked by, then ten. Finally she opened her eyes. “It’s too far away. All I can tell is that something repels my magic.”
She stepped into the hall, a backpack slung over her shoulder, and started to pull the door closed, then looked down at her sock-clad feet. She looked up at me sheepishly. “Shoes and jacket. Then I’ll be ready to go.”
I nodded.
Moments later she returned, and we hurried outside.
Michelle looked at me. “Which way?”
“Through the garden, then into the woods.”
We were walking into the woods when she broke the silence. “What did you find in the forest, and how do you know it’s killing Leshy Apalchen?”
“He visited me.” Anger laced my words.
She glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.
“The trees asked me to find something that was making them feel uneasy.” I quickly relayed everything I knew about the foul spots and how it connected to the leshy. “Then he told me, ‘Heal the land. Heal me.’ He had to be referring to the foulness.”
“I tend to agree.” She nodded slowly. “What bothers me is the dispersal pattern. That isn’t a normal way for magic, or any form of energy, to spread.”
I held a branch back so she could walk unimpeded. “Since the wards should have prevented anyone or anything from carrying it in, I do not know how it came to be in these woods. Unless… Unless it was dropped from above.”
Michelle frowned. “Wouldn’t the wards protect against that too?”
“Perhaps not. Particularly if the taint was not activated until the container impacted the ground.” I shook my head. “However, I did not find a container or an impact point.”
“Hmm.” Michelle tipped her head to the side as she thought. “Even so, that brings up some interesting possibilities. Wards, really any protective spell, can only prevent something that is an active violation. Whatever caused the current problem may have been brought in while it was inactive. That doesn’t solve the dispersal issue, but it’s a start.”
She was correct, at least when it came to more traditional wards, but the ones on these woods were different. “I do not know that I agree. The protections on this land go far past wards. They should block anyone with harmful intent from entering the land. As well as anyone or anything tainted by demons.”
“Something got through.” She shrugged.
As much as I wanted to defend the work the brownies and I had put into protecting this place, she was correct, though dwelling on that did not help the land. Exhaling, I closed my eyes and connected with the trees and land. The foul spots were close enough Michelle should be able to sense them more clearly. “I believe we are close enough for you to sense the disturbances.”
Michelle halted and closed her eyes. A moment later her forehead wrinkled. She slowly opened her eyes. “Those are peculiar. I’ll need to get closer. From this distance it’s still hard to figure out what they are.” She started walking again.
I quickly located the closest iteration of the phenomenon and began guiding us in that direction. “I had the same feeling when I discovered them.”
“They feel wrong, but more like little bits of several types of wrong than anything distinct.” She grimaced. “Hardly the confident assessment you were looking for.”
I shrugged. “I trust you will have more insight in a moment.”
It was hardly more than that before we were within a few feet of one of the foul spots. I stopped and set down the bag.
Michelle did the same before sitting down, one hand pressed against the earth. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.
As she did her examination, I too reassessed the problem. To my senses the foul spot was just what it had been before. Wrong, distressing to the environment around it, and giving me the sensation that the forest was being poisoned. When I expanded the area I was connected to, I could sense that across the entire affected area the feeling was magnified many times.
Michelle huffed. Distracted, I glanced at her. She was glaring at the spot, which as far as I could tell was a rather bare patch of earth. She stood up, dusted off the back of her rump, and started scrounging around in the bag next to her.
“Figures. Just figures,” she muttered. “I never get lucky.”
“May I be of assistance?” I kept my voice light. Sometimes my witch could be the prickly sort.
Jerking up, she looked at me. “I don’t know exactly what those things are, but they don’t belong and my magic doesn’t like touching them.” She held up a charm. “There’s enough negative energy to turn this black. My guess is the demon is responsible. Every spot needs to be purified.”
“Can you do that today?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice was terse, and her eyes were locked on the foul spot. “Hopefully I can cobble together a spell, work in some ingredients to boost it, and take some of the burden off myself.”
“This is my domain.” I held my hand out, and a branch lowered until it could tickle my palm. “I may be able to give you energy or have the forest add some additional power to your spell.”
“That would be nice.” Michelle smiled up at me. “But first I need to mix some herbs.”
“Very well.” I watched as she unpacked small stoppered bottles and squat jars. Little by little a tidy line of ingredients containers started making its way across the ground. A small bowl joined the ingredients. Michelle surveyed her choices, nodded, and grabbed a bottle. After mixing little bits of this and that for more than ten minutes, she started repacking the bags.
The trees around me were beginning to hope. Power was pooling in their roots as they readied to aid Michelle. I sent out soothing thoughts, reminding them to wait until Michelle asked for help. Their excitement was undiminished, but the gathering power leveled out.
“Are we ready to begin?”
“In a moment.” She opened a bottle of water and dribbled some into the bowl of herbs. She mixed it with her fingers, turning it into a thick paste before shoving the bowl at me. “Can you hold this?”
“Of course.” The metal was warm in my hands.
Michelle summoned her wand, scooped up a glob of the mixture with her fingers, and started smearing it over the wand and her right hand. She must have seen the puzzled look on my face. “I know it looks strange, but it should help with purification so I don’t have to do a full ritual on this entire area. I’m trying to save energy for when we deal with Hayato.”
“As long as it works and does not harm you, it is fine with me.” I studied her. The smudges under her eyes had been there for days. Sadly, I doubted they would be leaving anytime soon. Not for the first time, I wished I could take some of the burden from her.
“You can set that down.” She pointed at the bowl. “I’m goin
g to start the spell. See if you can get this area to feed energy to the spells that are touching the earth. Sending energy directly to me would work too, but I’d rather that was our second choice.”
“I will pass along your requests.” I knelt down, one hand against a majestic white pine, the other against the earth.
Beside me, Michelle braced her feet and started sketching runes in the air. I could not see the first runes, but slowly the magic grew. There were bits of light caught, suspended in the air. Then they became bright ribbons of magic that moved and flowed.
Turning my attention to the earth, I offered an explanation it would understand. “Feed the good magic.” Along with the words, I sent a picture of it pouring energy into a spell that originated from Michelle. The earth sent a surge of heat against my hand. I quickly repeated the instructions to the tree. The bark twitched, tickling my palm.
All around me I could feel trees focusing energy, preparing to join the assault against the foul spots. The earth pooled energy under the entire area. It rippled and flowed, as if ready to surge into her spells.
The line of runes in the air continued to grow. Michelle’s eyes were locked on them, her wand flicking through the air with measured strokes. A bead of sweat trickled down her face. She was eighteen runes in and showed no sign of stopping.
Reaching out to the earth, I encouraged it to gently send energy into Michelle. The next wave that passed through the area lapped over her feet. A moment later the earth repeated the action, this time giving her energy for several seconds.
At thirty-six runes, she paused. Took a deep breath and thrust energy into the spell. It vanished from my sight, but I could feel the earth and trees push energy out of themselves.
Michelle’s eyes had a glazed-over look, which I knew meant she was watching all the magic in the area. While I could only feel what the earth and trees were doing, she could see them feeding power into her spells. Her wand twitched, and she quickly wrote three more runes in the air.
The flashes of energy from the earth and trees were fading. Now that I could feel the area again, I searched for the foul spot. It was gone, though the area still felt somewhat different from the rest of the earth. Perhaps it was my memory rather than the earth that carried the faintly repellant feeling.
Michelle plopped down, resting her head in her hands. “I think that did it. Though I’m not closer to understanding how they came to be here in the first place.”
After thanking the earth and woods, I knelt next to Michelle and patted her shoulder. “You cleaned the area. It no longer gives the flora a sense of unease. That is a victory, one you should be proud of.”
She shook her head. “I don’t like this. It’s too odd, with too much that’s unexplained.”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back until she was leaning against me. “You did your best and helped these woods. Think of the size of the problem. A great many witches would have refused to even make an attempt, yet you found a way.”
“That would be great if I was sure I’d dealt with the source, but I’m not,” she grumbled.
“I will watch this place and have you tend to it if the foul spots return.” Around us, the earth and woods felt pleased. There was a sense of relief emanating from the plants that had been closest to the foulness. Whatever the cause, the forest seemed to be back to normal.
However, I worried about the cause. How had something with that type of magic found its way past the wards? What was its purpose? Why did it select this spot? Mostly I wondered if this was connected to the demon. Of all the ways the foul spots could have gotten here, that was my least favorite.
Closing my eyes, I prayed words that were becoming all too familiar. Earth, Moon, Sun, Stars. Protect Michelle. Let her come though this without any great wounds. Let her finally be able to live the quiet life she has dreamed of for so long. Let me be there to enjoy it with her.
Chapter Twenty
Michelle
Only hours ago I’d been cleansing the forest, but day was slowly giving way to night, and now I was preparing not only myself but others to face the demon and his allies. Tonight would decide my future, and a single misstep could be the difference between success and failure.
“And then I’ll start the main part of the spell. We think that will take between ten and fifteen minutes to cast, locate the demons, kill them, and report back. Julius will be the final judge of Hayato’s death. If the spell works on Hayato, it should’ve worked on all the demons. Any questions?” My gaze settled across the room.
Wells and Rodriguez gave me curt nods. They both had kill orders in their pockets. As did Emma, Kelsey, and Ann. They were here to help with the spell as well as help the government feel better about this little execution. Beside them Dad was standing tall, his jaw clenched. Mom looked pale. Ethel was standing next to me, her normal brilliant colors having been traded for a charcoal tracksuit. The rest of her team had opted for black.
Landa and Mander were standing on a table in the back of the room. Three other lodge residents, Paxton, a vampire; Baden, a weretiger; and Priscele, a wood nymph, were standing next to the brownies. Even Burly had come out with Becca at his side, so I was guessing they’d gotten along. The better part of a werewolf pack and their alpha, Liam, was here too.
It surprised me to see how many people had turned out. I wasn’t expecting much of a fight, but they were, and they were as prepared as they could be. When I’d asked if they were sure, I’d gotten hard stares.
Liam had been the only one to answer. “Lass,” he’d said. “It’s our home and our family too.” That had settled that.
“What if it doesn’t work?” I couldn’t see who asked the question. Perhaps one of the werewolves.
“Then we kill Hayato any way we can and call it a victory, though a smaller one. Any other questions?”
A pulse of magic crashed through the room. It knocked me sideways, into Elron. He caught me before I could hit the ground. Opening my mind, felt for the origin of the magic. It came from outside, very near where the demon was being held. I stabbed a probe at Hayato and the containment shield. The spell was weakening.
“We’re out of time,” I yelled. “The fight starts now.” I turned and sprinted out the door. Elron was right behind me. We ran down the hall, heading for the back of the lodge where Hayato should be enjoying the confines of his temporary prison.
“I love you.” I squeezed the words out between breaths.
“I love you too.”
The lodge opened the exterior door for us, and we ran through. I was already starting a new spell. It would be best if I could keep my energy use to a minimum, so I didn’t put too much demon’s bane into spells that didn’t need it.
Through the trees, I could see several people beside the shield. Having part of Hayato inside the ward and the rest of him outside must’ve created a path through the protections that others could follow. Hayato’s allies had used that gap, and the earth only knew what had gotten through.
Movement caught my eye. A small pack of gremlins charged out from under a holly bush. They were only eighteen inches tall and vaguely human-looking, though bulbous and squished faces made them decidedly unattractive.
Elron summoned his sword, stepped in front of me, and slashed clean through the first gremlin. I summoned my staff. A gremlin ran at me. I caught him with a heavy whack from the base of my staff and he was flying through the air. The next one I hit with a sweeping blow, knocking it to the side.
Hayato was still in the containment shield, but he had a body. There were three people standing outside the spell, a woman and two men, standing near him. One of the men outside the containment shield was identical to Hayato down to the flames in his eyes. I skidded to a stop. Which was the demon?
The Hayato outside the shield chuckled. “And here you thought you knew about us.”
I dismissed the staff and summoned my wand. I had to get both of them in undamaged containment shields. That was the only way I’
d be able to be sure I killed the demon.
Another blast of energy hit me, lifting me up and flinging me into a tree. “Orzu!” The breath whooshed out of me, but thanks to the soft cushion of air around me, I wasn’t badly injured.
A gremlin leapt at me. With a twist of my wrist, I vanished the wand, not willing to break it or waste power. There wasn’t enough time to summon the staff and get it in position, so I protected my face with my arm.
There was a thud, but nothing hit me. Opening my eyes, I saw a gremlin flying through the air. Elron must’ve swatted it away from me.
With that danger gone, I looked for Hayato. The containment spell was weak, but one of the Hayatos was still there. The other one was gone. The man and woman were gone too. Deciding it didn’t matter where the clone, twin, or regrown part of the demon was, I took a deep breath and cast a new containment spell inside the damaged one. “Obala o sowil en kannu, alkaz a esaz.”
Hayato laughed. “It won’t be enough. I will win.”
I called my staff and swung at another gremlin, sending it far into the trees. “Maybe, but the night is young.”
A twig snapped behind me. I spun around. A wolf, not one of Liam’s werewolves but an actual wolf, was leaping at me. I got the staff up between us, but that didn’t stop it from knocking me to the ground. This time the breath just left my chest. I hoped nothing was broken. I didn’t need any distractions while trying to cast a complex spell.
The wolf snapped at me, jaws closing on the staff that I’d managed to keep between the two of us. It started twisting its head and tugging back. I kicked at it. The first one missed and the next two were grazing blows. The wolf lowered itself closer to the ground, gave a low, menacing growl, and yanked at the staff again.
I could feel my fingers starting to slip. The wolf yanked again and my hand crept open. A few more yanks and it would have the staff.
The wolf with its jaws on my staff looked at me with yellow eyes, curled its lip, and growled. I started searching for a low-energy spell I could use to get myself out of this. Maybe a protective dome in front of me? By only covering half my body, I could save on magic.
A Witch’s Demons (Witch's Path Series: Book 6) Page 18