Cora (Of Earth or Erda)
Page 3
"It's easier to cast spells," his mousy voice whispered. I could only see the back of his head.
"Good. Give me more," ordered the woman. Age spots marred her wrinkled arms, and her white hair gave her an ancient appearance.
"Because we're friends!" shouted another boy just beyond my line of sight.
"Possibly. You're on the right track." Her head bobbed up and down.
"We're family," squealed a little girl from behind me.
"Not always. But you're still on the right track." She gave the girl an encouraging smile.
"We're different than everyone else,” I responded without raising my hand.
The elderly woman turned her frosty gaze on me, sending a painful zap of electricity though my body for calling out.
"Oh, I know!" Donald raised his hand. The elderly woman's frost thawed, turning into a warm smile before motioning for him to speak by waving her hand. "For protection!"
"Protection. Very good. Why do we need protection?"
Donald raised his hand again. "Because bad witches will steal our magic. And if that happens, we'll turn into humans!"
"A gold star for you, my boy." She handed him a sticker. "At this rate, you'll become the next High Priest."
Donald stood and retrieved his star. Shooting me a satisfied look, he took it and placed it on the Star Chart.
"Now class, you must always remember to stay true to our coven. Never leave the coven. If you do, other witches, good and bad, will steal your powers. Or worse, they'll make you their slave. Just look at Fitzroy. He was once a member of another coven and he foolishly left. Now he plunges our toilets and cleans our floors."
"Did we steal his magic?" I asked.
Another zap of electricity coursed through me, this time, a bit more painful.
"Sorry," I muttered.
"We confiscated his magic. Can't have a rogue witch or wizard roaming through our territory. For all we know, he could have tried to steal one, or all of you. Just think how awful that would have been, to become that man's bride or plaything." She gasped and shook her head in horror for added effect. It worked. All of the children, ranging from those just out of diapers to teens ready to learn to drive a vehicle, gagged and shuddered. "That's also why you're not allowed to leave the grounds until you're at least twenty-one. By that time, you should've come into your powers and be able to properly defend yourselves."
I personally thought she was a whack job, but I kept that to myself. What happens if you need protection from other people in your coven? Fitzroy was neutralized, but what about Donald's nasty great, great, great, great-times-a-billion-times-a zillion grandmother? I glared at Donald's new star and willed it to appear in my locked chest under my bed back in my room. Another zap caused me to groan. I really hated that old woman.
Large blurs of long, white lights came in and out of focus as muffled voices gradually clarified.
"Shouldn't we share with the others?" Candace asked.
"We're sharing with you, and that's enough," Putnam snorted from somewhere behind my head.
"As long as we're not going to get into trouble." Candace let out a slight moan.
"We won't," Swift’s voice rumbled from the same direction as Candace's voice. "Now be a good neophyte and get us the rest of the supplies." A slight smacking sound followed by the young woman's giggles drew my attention in that direction.
Sliding off the officer's lap, the girl trailed her finger down his arm before heading out the door.
"You really shouldn't play with the neophytes," Putnam dryly stated as if it were the millionth time he warned his friend.
The officer shrugged. "My genes are among the strongest in our coven. Her parents’ aren't. In fact, they're lucky their daughter has such a tight ass."
"That's what you said about Wendy, Lana, and Jean. Oh, and don't forget..."
"Enough. None of their parents complained, either. Now their grandchildren are more powerful than they could ever be. You should try a few out. Knock a few brooms around and you might get over that wench."
"That wench is third in line to our High Priestess."
"And she's too good for the both of us combined. At least, for now. How much power do you think this wench possesses?” He flipped a key into the air before catching it and stuffing it into his pants pocket with a grin.
"Hard to say without knowing anything about her. We could extract some or all of her power, but we only have one shot at it. If we take too much, she dies. We take too little, and we'll have to kill her.” He stepped into view. "Good, she's awake. Hold her arm."
Swift crossed the room. My brain was not doing business with my body at the moment, so I couldn't feel his hands on my skin, nor the needle when the doctor poked it into my arm. Blood spurted into a large vial before he stepped away.
"This should give us some answers," the doctor stated as he tossed the used needle into the trash.
"Good.” Swift pulled out a handheld device. "Her prints aren't back yet. Do you need help with the tests?"
"Sure. I want to get this done as quickly as possible. Every minute she spends in our territory, the odds of her coven realizing she's missing go higher."
"Then she should know better. The city and university belong to us," he acknowledged as he opened the door.
"You're right," the doctor agreed as he followed Swift out of the room. I was left alone.
Frozen in place, my body refused to move. At least, my mind was functional. More or less. I sighed. Thinking back to my dream made me cringe. A huge piece of my memory was missing, and I had the feeling it had nothing to do with hitting my head.
Well, this little witch has experienced enough drama to last her for a good long while.
Okay, so I might not have remembered much about myself, but I seemed to know about other things. What did I know about witches and wizards? Well, witches rhymes with bitches. Ha. Ha. Focus. Mental slap. I do not want to get my powers taken away from me. Especially the ability to teleport items. What other powers did I have?
Chewing on my lip, I quickly realized the paralysis was starting to wear off. Did that mean that I was a fast healer? It would explain why my headache disappeared so fast from earlier in the day.
Powers... powers... powers within, rise to the top, fill my mind, and don’t stop.
A kaleidoscope of colors blinded my vision as a rolling wave of sound crashed into my ears. I felt my senses heighten to the point where everything was magnified. Tingles danced my skin, I could feel them freeing me of the potion that kept my nerves and bones locked in place. The fog that blocked more advanced cognitive thinking finally lifted, but my memories were still absent.
Raising my head, I found the rainbows bathing my skin. Coming to rest on my hands, I wiggled my fingers to allow them to disperse.
My power vibrated through my nervous system in sync with my heartbeat. It hummed in my ears, curing my injuries, and nourishing my weakened body back to full health.
Sitting up, I realized the fools thought their potion could keep me contained. That, and a flimsy set of handcuffs! I pictured the key the cop pocketed appearing in the palm of my hand. An icy change in the air temperature above my skin occurred before the key materialized. Awesome. Turning it inside the lock, the cuff instantly popped open. Nice.
Sliding off the examination table, I went straight for the chair that held my things. I threw the sweatshirt into the backpack and pulled out my leather coat.
"Dirt, dirt, dirt, you have no place, now disappear, into outer space."
The brown specks of dirt that stained my coat dissolved into nothingness. In my mind's eye, I pictured them reappearing just outside the Earth's orbit.
Not wanting to leave anything of mine behind, I threw the sweatshirt into the backpack, put my boots on my feet, and retrieved the used needle from the trash. Once I was outside the building, I would call my blood back inside me. I could do that, right? Right! Just chant. That must be one of my specialties—casting incantations.
A slight thumping noise came from right outside the door. The old hinges released a slight shriek at the same time Candace said, "Could one of you get the door for me?" Struggling with no assistance, she looked and sounded a bit melodramatic in her attempt to foster male compassion.
I threw the door open for her and said. "Stop, stop, stop right there, one that is so fair. Speak, speak, speak of me to no one, or you are done."
Candace came to a halt. Okay, my spell kind of sucked, but it was the only thing I could think of at the moment.
"Here, let me take this from you." I pulled the items she held out of her arms. Placing them down on the table, I went back over to her and said, "Sit, sit, sit down on that chair, and just breathe the air." Okay, another dumb spell, but the girl obeyed me. Apparently, she wasn't as smart as she thought she was. I only ordered her not to speak to me, so I guess she thought that meant not to say anything at all.
"I should lecture you about how unethical it is to steal another witch's powers. Poor choices like that lead you down the path toward becoming a warlock. And you know what we do to warlocks, don't you?"
The girl shook her head as tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"You don't know? Warlocks are witches and wizards who steal the powers and life forces of other people. Their magic is unclean, and if you choose to become one, then you are doomed to die. Not a nice, quick death either. No, it will be slow and painful, and hurt ten times worse than the way you made the witch or wizard feel when you ravaged them and pillaged their magic and their lives." Her face looked a bit green, so I decided to continue.
"I should also lecture you about your poor choice in men. Sure, Officer Hotty might seem like a good lay, but do your research first. Find out how many bastards he has running around your coven and decide if he's worth your time. Because, sweetheart, he'll leave you as soon as the next pretty thing catches his eye. At least, that's the impression I got from his conversation with Doctor Pouty Lips."
I pulled my backpack on and took two steps toward the door before looking back at her. Tears were actually sliding down her face. Now, I felt like crap. With a sigh, I cast one last spell. "Good, good, good goddess high above, send this girl your dove. Help her to forget what she has seen tonight, so that she may find her one true knight." In the palm of my hand, a tiny amount of white energy manifested into a small dove. It flew straight toward Candace. Landing on her head, the girl's eyes rolled back into her skull, causing her to pass out.
"Good enough," I muttered.
Leaving the room, I double-timed it down the empty hall. One thing I hate about hospitals is how hard they are to navigate! It was worse than Daedalus’s Labyrinth. A new wing here, one thrown on there, charge an arm and a leg for sitting over there. Ugh, the place made my stomach roil. Good thing witches and wizards don't normally have to deal with hospitals. At least, they are normally spared the pitfalls of Western medicine. I could only postulate that the local coven must’ve allowed their members to join the medical profession as a means of accumulating funds for locating wayward witches like myself.
Following the signs, I found an exit that led to an alleyway. Good enough. At least, it was clean.
I glanced both ways before focusing on recalling my blood to me. In my mind's eye, I saw half of the vial was still filled. That would be easy to return to my veins, since it was still contained in a sanitized vessel. The rest of it had already gotten mixed with potions, or been coated in various other items before being examined under the microscope as they sought my identity.
"Blood, blood, blood of mine, dissolve at this time." I saw it breaking down and evaporating, leaving the two warlocks agape. The last image I managed to glimpse was their backs as they rushed out the door.
Booking it out of there, I ran as far as I could. I spotted people lingering outside a corner bar. Not wanting to draw attention to myself, I crossed the street before continuing on.
Without knowing where to go, I ducked down a side street to perform another spell. The previous few had almost caught up with me. I could actually feel my energy level starting to diminish. The fatigue could also have been owing to exhaustion. I had no clue of the last time I actually ate anything, or felt properly rested.
Taking a deep breath, I chanted, "Lost, lost, lost I am, good moon goddesses above, please help me to return to those I love."
Turning in a full circle, I frowned. Was my chant so terrible that the goddesses decided to ignore my plea? That just didn't feel right.
Something grew warm against my navel. Lifting my shirt, I saw my belly button was pierced. A circle of stones branched out from a silver center, making it look like a multicolored flower. Each stone was different. Innately, I knew each one held a different power. Tattoos representing various runes of power spanned the circumference of my frame, while more images branched off to cover several of my body parts.
I ran my fingers over the stones until I felt one that was warm. It popped out of place and hovered just above the skin of my palm.
A locator stone. Thank the gods and goddesses. "Take me home," I whispered.
My vision dimmed as the stone's power seeped into my skin. Only the correct path was clear; everything else was slightly out of focus.
This was risky at best. Following a locator stone left me vulnerable to enemy attack on my flanks. It was common knowledge that witches and wizards who used this spell often traveled in groups in order to protect themselves.
But I was alone. And apparently, in hostile territory. I only hoped the police officer and doctor were more worried about their coven discovering how they were stealing powers from an unknown witch, while keeping their cohorts in the dark. At least, for now.
Returning to the street, I relied on my ears to keep me from walking into people. Each time I heard a siren, or saw a car moving a little too fast, I ducked down an alley.
After a patrol car passed my location for the fourth time, I decided to try something else. Could I keep up a locator spell while casting another spell? I wasn't sure. It seemed doubtful. But right now, I had no choice.
Closing my palm, I pushed the locator spell to the side. Envisioning a partition between my body and the locator spell, I quickly chanted. "Look, look, look change my look, don't let me look like a crook. Turn my hair into something fair. My eyes should no longer look gray, but as bright as the blue sky during the day."
Whoosh! My energy levels drooped. The air around my body turned frigid for several seconds before dispersing. Glancing down, I found the dark denim looked much lighter now, and it clung to me like a second skin. My boots became sparkly heels, while my leather coat was a loose, rose-colored knit. A flowery, low-cut top displayed more cleavage than I remembered having. Gold ringlets of hair curled around my waist, leaving me the perfect picture of a coed ready to hit the clubs. Even my backpack transformed into a large purse.
Perfect! Well, almost. The need for sleep tugged the far corners of my brain. Not to mention the sudden gnawing in my core from the lack of any calories to burn.
Whatever feelings of discomfort I currently experienced did not matter. The only thing that mattered was finding my way home.
The new moon sat directly above my head by the time the stone led me back to the train platform. A new, warm sensation pinched my backside. Sliding my hand into my back pocket, I found a train ticket. Wow, I felt dumb. I should have checked my back pockets earlier in the day.
Cooling in my hand, the stone bled out the last of its warmth. I took that as a sign I had reached my destination. Or else I was out of magic. But that didn't feel right. As I stepped onto the southern bound train, I checked my ticket. Yeah, this was the right train. Thank the gods and goddesses. Now, all I had to do was get off at the right stop and be that much closer to home.
After I took a seat, I covertly slid the stone back into its place.
Behind me, a man grumbled about the train leaving late. Without the schedule, I had no idea when it was supposed to leave, but after waiting another five minutes, I began to worry about the masking spell wearing off.
"What's the hold-up?" the man behind me yelled as the conductor appeared near the door.
Using one finger to indicate he was previously engaged, the conductor spoke to someone just out of view. Pushing past the chubby man, Officer Swift appeared. Or at least, I thought it was Swift at first glance. This man was a bit slimmer and a little taller. But definitely a relative of the Officer Swift who wanted to steal my powers. That meant he was a wizard and I was royally screwed.
Chapter Four
With my internal well of magic nearly depleted, my innate magical talents were hard to mask. Not that anyone could physically see them, but if they looked deep enough, so deep their vision shifted to another plane of existence, they could recognize exactly what I was and what I could do. So why didn't Swift, Putnam, and Candace shift their vision to that Arcane Plane? Huh...
I made a mental note to think more about that in the future.
"Sorry, about the delay, folks. There is an ecological terrorist loose in the city." His dark gaze looked at each person in turn. He held up a lousy picture of me wearing that dumb sweatshirt, standing in front of the nurse's station at the hospital. He kept it at chest level for each person to get a good look at. "If any of you have seen this woman, please let me know immediately. She is armed and very dangerous."
At least, it was too grainy to make out my face.
When he stopped next to me, I held my breath. Could he sense I was a witch? Peering up at him through my lashes, I found him more focused on inspecting my cleavage than my face. Sticking my chest out a bit more for insurance, I gave him a wink when he finally shifted his eyes toward mine.
Clearing his throat, he took another step forward before hastening on his way. Taking less time with the other passengers of the car, he exited through a sliding door to repeat the same process with the next car.