“Why, I am called Mujaji.” she said. “I bring the rains to my people and make their enemies’ fields wither and die. And you are a guest in my domain.”
“Sorry for the attitude.” I said chastened. “Are you a Goddess?”
“The people call me such.” she replied. “But I don’t concern myself with matters of titles. I just make sure that the rain falls and that the crops grow.”
“That’s really cool.” I said with a slight smile. I meant it.
“I know you,” she continued, “because you are the Sorceress, and you draw from the very energies that give me life. I always feel it when a Sorceress comes into her power.”
She sat on a fallen log nearby, and I joined her.
“You wouldn’t happen to know who’s been moving giant hell-elephants through this area would you?” I asked her.
“They don’t use the magick of the earth, I know that.” she replied. “If they did, I would have noticed. Like when you arrived last night.”
“I’m still not sure how I got here, honestly.” I never got the chance to ask Gaia last night I thought.
Mujaji looked at me oddly. “You exited a doorway from a Fae land.” she told me. “It didn’t strike me as odd at the time.”
We used a Fae gate? I wondered furiously. I thought that the Twilight Fae’s doorways were too complicated to use like that!
“Curious.” was all I said.
“I sense your resonance with the earth.” she continued. “Your progress is exemplary.”
“Thank you.” I replied. “I’ve been worried about this whole ‘settling’ thing, you know… the potential for a Sorceress to go bad? I guess I was worried over nothing.”
“Oh, don’t speak so quickly.” she said, warning in her voice. “The corruption of a Sorceress isn’t often runaway power, but rather runaway intention.”
“Intention?” I said, puzzled. “What do you mean, intention?”
“Look through your history, child.” she replied. “The worst, most cruel things are often done with the best of intentions.”
“True.” I nodded.
“Besides, I didn’t come to warn you about your path,” she said, “I came to help you on it.”
“Really?” My heart jumped with excitement. Another Goddess adviser? Cool!
“Yes.” she said. “You can tap elemental energies within you, but what about without?”
“What do you mean?”
“Let me show you.”
* * *
I returned to base camp, smiling, a spring in my step.
Just wait until everyone sees what I can do now!
When I got there, they were sitting around the fire eating lunch. I had wondered what we were going to do for food, since we had brought none with us. I was surprised by the answer.
“Taco Bell?” I said, walking up to them. “How did you conjure that?!?”
“We're just miles away from South Africa's third-biggest city." Jack said, his mouth partially full with the chalupa he was munching on. "You don't think they have Taco Bell?"
“And did you walk to go get it?” I asked him, hand on my hip.
“Uh, no.” he said sheepishly. “Gaia popped through a gate and picked it up.
“I used to get really strange looks from my human-glamour in Africa.” Gaia said. “What with the green hair and all. But, thanks to the internet, I saw five young women with green hair as well!”
“Uh, yeah, about that." I said, looking at my green-skinned friend. "How do you 'pop' anywhere? How did you transport us last night? It took Lucinda a half-hour to lead us through the gate to the Twilight Fae realm… I thought it was too complex."
“Not if you’re old enough.” she said with a wink.
Now, what the hell does THAT mean? I thought. I didn’t get a chance to ask a follow-up question, however.
“My phone tells me that we're going to have rain tonight." Jack said, seemingly accepting Gaia's answer without question. He looked back at the shelter that Gaia had magicked into existence the night before. "Is that thing waterproof?"
“Absolutely.” Gaia answered, taking another bite of her taco.
“You sure?” he asked, doubting.
This was my opportunity! “Let’s try it out!” I said brightly.
Everyone else looked confused, but I just started working. They’ll see soon enough.
I closed my eyes and focused. I connected with the water in my body, and then to the water beneath the ground. I then reached skyward, careful to maintain concrete barriers as I did so.
Nothing happened for a moment, then a massive, dark cloud formed above us, seemingly out of nowhere. It rolled with thunder, and flashed with internal lightening.
Everyone else looked on with wonder. The fact that the cloud had formed in an otherwise clear blue sky was most likely a big part of that.
I focused again, and rain started to fall, The thing was that it was only falling on the shelter… everywhere else, including where we were standing, it was still dry as could be.
I walked under the shelter, where it was also dry. “Looks like it’s solid.” I said, smiling.
“Now that I haven’t seen before!” Gaia said, smiling.
* * *
Jack smoked a lot of the local cannabis during our stay in the sub-tropical forest. He wasn’t climbing trees or anything, thank goodness… that was Gaia’s and Katsu’s job. Katsu, of course, did all such physical activity naked.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting… bugs in uncomfortable places?” I had asked her as she started up another tree trunk.
“Nah.” she had said. “The same thing that’s let me live for five thousand years also makes me unappetizing to insects and parasites of all types. Besides, do you know how many people get bitten by something that got trapped in their clothes every year?”
“No, how many?” I had asked.
“No idea.” she called as she climbed higher. “But I can guarantee that it’s higher than zero!”
To tell the truth, her near-constant nudity made me get used to it a lot quicker than I would have otherwise.
Gaia, on the other hand, I thought, she seems to have an infinite supply of slinky barely-covering clothes that show her nipples getting hard every time the wind blows. I was finding myself being more easily distracted by her fully clothed… though her definition of ‘fully’ was vastly different than most… than I was by Katsu being totally nude.
I sat beneath a tree on the side of a clearing, looking up at Gaia finishing installing another camera up near the top of it. I was reminded, once again, that Fae weren’t big on underwear.
At least I don’t have to wonder what SHE looks like naked.
Of course, another thing that separated the two women was the fact that Katsu hadn't expressed even a momentary desire to jump my bones. Gaia, on the other hand, rarely let me forget that the offer was always open.
I have no idea what that green-skinned angel’s deal is! I thought. She is, without a doubt, the sweetest, most dedicated person I’ve met in forever. And her interest in me feels… like more than just horny-ness.
But why? That was the question. Her dedication to me seemed to be at eleven from day one, but Fae don’t do ‘life bond at first sight’-type of thing.
Typical! I thought bitterly. I come halfway around the world to get away from one set of woman troubles only to wind up obsessing about another woman!
I honestly never thought that becoming a legendary magickal practitioner would resemble a soap opera so much.
A slight tremor beneath my feet interrupted my train of thought. What the hell? It was still very slight… so much so that nobody else seemed to notice it, not even Jack, who was currently sitting on the ground under the tree that the ladies were working in… but it was growing stronger.
“Uh, guys?” I called up to Gaia and Katsu. “I think you’d better come down.”
They were down in an instant, Katsu helping Jack to his feet when she arrived.
“What’s up?” Gaia asked, but then I saw it on her face.
“Feel that?” I asked her.
“What the human hell?” she said.
“Whatever it is,” Katsu said, “it’s getting closer.”
Suddenly, a figure came crashing out of the forest. I got ready to defend my friends when I recognized just who it was.
“Evelyn?” I said, surprised.
“Hi love!” she said brightly, breathing heavily. “Got some bad news for you… “
Her brother Trevor came running out of the trees next.
“Hi gang!” he said, barely slowing down. “Run!”
We soon saw why. Behind him, several giant, hairy elephants came crashing out of the underbrush, flames shooting out of their mammoth tusks.
So hellephants are real. Great.
We took off running, Katsu enchanting her stoned boyfriend so that he would float along with us. We stayed close together as we ran through the dense jungle, occasionally glancing behind us as the massive hell beasts torched whatever they didn’t trample.
“Doing something about the fire would be nice.” Gaia called out to me.
“I need to focus,” I said, not breaking stride, “and I can’t do that at full speed!”
“I’ll distract them.” she called back. “You douse the inferno!”
I watched as Gaia spun around and threw up a magickal shield between us and the hellephants. The beasts rammed into it, bouncing back and crashing to the forest floor. They were stunned, but I knew that the shield wouldn’t last long.
I closed my eyes and tried to focus. It wasn’t easy as I heard the barrier shatter and then the sounds of furious battle. I glanced, and saw that Jack had been deposited by Katsu high in a tree, out of range of the rampaging monsters. She then joined Gaia in the fight.
Jack’s safe for now. Now let’s do my thing.
I closed my eyes again and instantly tapped into the water in both my body and in the earth. I reached upwards…
The peal of thunder I heard was music to my ears. The skies opened up, and the smoldering path of destruction was soon soaked by the rain.
Good! Now for the…
I heard a roar, and the three hellephants reared up. Their flaming tusks were dark, with the only thing coming out of them being…
Steam. Shit!
Gaia narrowly avoided a jet of super-heated steam as Katsu levitated Jack again for us to beat a hasty retreat.
Evelyn, who I had temporarily forgotten about, poked her head back out of the jungle. “This way!” she yelled, and we followed her into the forest.
We moved fast, but the hellephants moved just as quickly. Just when it sounded like they were gaining, a patch of the ground ahead of us popped up revealing a trapdoor. Trevor was there, hurriedly waving us in.
“In here!” he yelled.
We rushed past him through the door and into the passage behind it. He pulled the trapdoor closed just as the bests caught up with us.
Wham! The impact of the charging animals shook the walls of the passageway and knocked Trevor several feet away, landing on his bottom indignantly.
“Don’t worry, the door will hold.” Evelyn said, breathing hard.
We were all out of breath, even Gaia and Katsu. As I caught mine, I looked down the passageway leading away from the door we just entered through. A single row of sparse light bulbs created pools of light every twenty feet or so, reaching back too far to see the end.
“Where are we?” I gasped.
“A friend of mine’s place.” Trevor said, standing up.
“Calling Jexo a ‘friend’ is stretching it a bit, don’t you think?” Evelyn asked, her eyebrow cocked.
“Well with what I know about HIM, he doesn’t want me as an enemy, that’s for fucking sure!” he retorted acidly.
“Oh, because taking refuge in the idea of ‘mutually assured destruction’ rocked so many people to sleep in the late twentieth century!” Jack said, rolling his eyes.
“Yeah, well,” Trevor said, “Jexo’s a sentient, semi-reasonable human. You have at least a snowball’s chance in hell of talking sense into him.”
“Trevor’s got a point.” Evelyn said, shrugging. “After all, Jexo may be a violent bugger with more bodies to his name than you lot have had hot meals, but there’s a surprisingly… sensitive side to the old geezer.”
“You know, you could also be describing a serial killer who’s also a furry.” Jack said.
Trevor leaned into me. "He's not far off." he whispered.
Lovely.
Trevor and Evelyn started down the path. “Okay, children,” Trevor said as he walked, “try to keep up. We have a bit of a walk ahead of us.”
He wasn't kidding. After the first half-hour of the endless concrete tunnel, I started noticing my mind wandering. Only instead of daydreaming, I started to stretch out my consciousness to the world around, and above, me.
I could sense life all around me… root systems of plants and trees above me, and all manner of burrowing insects and earthworms all around.
I soon also felt the life force of fish and other water creatures above me. We must be going under… yes, a lake! I stretched my perception further… It's a medium-sized lake, and it looks like it's by… a mountain.
I was both excited and bothered… excited at using my abilities better and better, but bothered by what they told me.
A mountain fortress? How super-villain.
We soon came upon a heavily fortified steel door, and we gathered around as Trevor hit a small red button on the wall.
“Who is this? What do you want?” an angry voice spat out from a hidden speaker. The hiss of the open line echoed on the concrete walls around us.
“Trevor Hawkins and company,” Trevor said calmly, “seeking aid and shelter from your boss.”
“Hold on.” the voice barked, and the speaker went silent.
“Well, here goes nothing.” Katsu said, holding Jack’s trembling hand.
“You don’t know the half of it.” Evelyn said, her voice low.
Trevor was about to say something back when the hidden speaker crackled to life again. “Wait there.” it commanded before going silent again.
We heard the sound of several bolts sliding into place, and then the door in front of us opened.
We were greeted by the sight of twenty heavily armed and armored people, automatic weapons cocked and aimed right at us. We froze in place, eyes wide.
All except Trevor. “Jex, what’s this shit?” he said, annoyed.
A male voice piped up from the back. “Trevor Hawkins, you son of a bitch.” he said with a thick New Zealand accent. “You’re not setting foot in here until any non-human or non… non-traditional humans identify themselves and their threat level!”
“This shit? Again? Now?” Gaia said softly, disgusted.
“What’s ‘this shit’?” I asked.
“Old protocols.” Evelyn answered. “Vampire hunters and general occult punters like Jexo tend to see non and extra-human folks as categories rather than people. Early interactions between mundane human and paranormal worlds used to be governed by these kinds of declarations, and throwbacks like Jexo still put stock in them.”
“It’s degrading.” Gaia said. “It’s why I don’t do missions in the distant past anymore.”
“Maybe we should all declare.” Jack said.
We all nodded.
“We will all declare!” Evelyn announced, loud enough for all to hear. “We stand with our extra and non-human friends!”
“Very well.” Jexo replied.
“I am Evelyn Hawkins,” she said first, “human, and sister to this lot!”. She jerked her head Trevor.
“My condolences.” Jexo called back.
“You’ve faced me.” she continued. “You know my code.”
“That I do, indeed.” For the first time, something approaching respect crept into Jexo’s voice.
Katsu stood straight. “I am Katsu, five thousand year ol
d Japanese Witch.” she said. “Not dangerous unless my party or myself come under attack.”
“And I am Jack Stillwagner,” Jack said next, “human, boyfriend to the Witch, and a computer geek who’s badly in need of a bathroom.”
“So, mostly harmless.” Evelyn added.
“Gaia, Twilight Fae.” Gaia said, standing straight. “You know our code as well. Or you should.”
“That I do.” Jexo replied.
Evelyn elbowed Trevor in the side.
“What?” he whispered, annoyed.
“Go on, your turn!” she said back.
“What? He knows who I bloody well am!”
“It’s for solidarity!”
Trevor rolled his eyes. “Trevor Hawkins, human.” he said out loud, not even trying to hide his disdain. “You fucking know me.”
“Hence the guns.” Evelyn said with a grin.
“I’m Annabelle.” I said simply. They’re not getting my last name… it’s the same as my Mom’s! “I’m the Sorceress.”
There was a pause. “No bullshit?” Jexo said tentatively.
“None in the slightest.” Trevor replied, grinning.
“Weapons down!” Jexo commanded, and the assembled troops lowered and un-cocked their guns. I watched as a grizzled, muscle-bound man stepped out from behind the armed throng and walked towards us.
“I take it that’s Jexo?” I asked Evelyn softly.
“That’s him.” she replied.
He looked like something right out of a Hollywood action film. Camo pants that did squat to hide just how buff he was, an olive drab wife beater that didn't even try, and a scruffy gray beard that melded seamlessly with his close-cropped gray hair. The smoldering stub of an oversized cigar was clamped in his teeth, and a wickedly big-looking sidearm was strapped to his waist.
“Jexo, so good to see… “ Trevor started, but Jexo brushed him off.
“Piss off.” he said curtly. He instead walked up to me.
Well, isn’t THIS special? I thought warily.
I needn't have worried. He tossed the cigar stub hurriedly at the ground, wiped off his hands, and kneeled.
“My lady,” he said, “I do welcome the Sorceress to my place of business, and my home.”
Lacking anything else to say, I just nodded and said “Thank you.”
The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga Page 25