Blood Prophecy (Witch Fairy) (8 page)

I purse my lips as I think about how this would work.  “How do you define which trees you want the spell to travel to?”

Grandma smiles as if I’ve just gotten an A on a test.  “That can be tricky.  Each tree must be precisely marked.  If the circuit is not kept intact, the magic will escape its boundaries.  That mustn’t happen.”

Ominous.  “What happens then?”

“There are guardians of tree magic and we do not want to anger them.  Nor harm their trees with magic.”

Double ominous. “So, because our situation isn’t dire enough, you want to teach the person who sets
air
on fire, a magic that involves trees.”  I’m not Smoky the Bear, but even I can figure out that fire and trees are not a good combination.

Grandma smiles again, but this time it’s a sad smile.  “You have it within you to perform this magic.  I am confident.”

“Glad you are,” I mutter which makes Grandma’s smile a little less sad.  “What do I have to do?”

“Perhaps we should learn of the other Witan members before we begin to prepare,” Kallen says.  He’s right, I’m being too impatient.

“There are six other members of the Witan.  Three of them are the binders – Annika, Louhi and Midar.”

“Do any of you have normal names?  How am I supposed to remember all this?”

Kallen cocks his head to the side.  “I did not know that Xandra was such a common name amongst this realm.”  Point taken.  I give him a slightly nasty look and gesture for Grandma to continue.

“Witches take great pride in their names, my dear.  And I’m afraid that it has become a way to stand apart from the Cow…Humans.”

I shake my head.  Name pomposity, how inane.  Wanting to move this conversation along again, I ask, “Do the binders have different affinities?”

Grandma nods.  “Yes, Louhi works Ekstasis magic.  He has the ability when performing a binding of ‘lifting the Witch outside of him or herself.’”

“What do you mean?”

“He creates such inner excitement and ecstasy, that the Witch’s mind separates from the physical, such as in hypnosis.  A person under hypnosis is easily controlled because the mind has been taken out of the equation.”

“So he creates vegetables?”  Okay, that’s extra scary.

Kallen looks honestly confused.  “What do vegetables have to do with the power of Ekstasis?”  I keep forgetting he’s new around here.

“It’s just a term we use when things happen like a car accident and the person’s body is still alive but their mind is gone.”  He looks slightly less confused, but not much.

“That sounds like an apt description,” Grandma says.

“Can the Witch get his or her mind back?” 

“If Louhi allows it, yes.”

That’s really scary now.  “So he holds the Witch’s mind hostage?”

Grandma nods.  “In a way.  He can sever the ties between the conscious mind and the body, and when he does so, only he can reverse the effects.  This, of course, is limited to only those who have committed major offenses and are too dangerous to have out in the world.”

“So, you give them a lobotomy.”  Dad says from his corner.  That’s sure what it sounds like to me, too.  

Grandma’s lips purse, but says, “It is similar, yes.” 

“And if this guy ever gets hit by a bus, all the Witches whose conscious minds he’s holding hostage are just screwed, then.”

Grandma sighs heavily.  “Yes, that is correct.”

Okay, I’m done hearing about this guy.  “Who’s next?”

“Midar is another binder.  He has the ability to plant emotions in one’s mind.”

“I take it he doesn’t plant good emotions.”  It sounds like he’s starting a garden.  I’ll have a row of jealousy over there and here I think I’ll plant some heartache. 

Grandma’s lips form a flat line for a moment.  “He can.  If he chooses.”

“I’m guessing he doesn’t choose to do that very often.”

“No, not in his role with the Witan.  But in his private life, I suspect he may abuse that power.”

“Huh?  What do you mean?”  And then it dawns on me.  “Oh, do you mean to get women to like him or something like that?”

“Along those general lines, yes.  But I have never had enough proof to bring before the other Witan members.”

Grandma really doesn’t seem to like these people.  I’m starting to believe that the last eighteen years have been painful for her.  “Okay, so stay away from Midar unless you want to feel suicidal or something equally as bad.  Got it.”

“The last binder is Annika.  She is a practitioner of Sympathetic magic.  She works with likenesses.”

“Huh?”  Okay, I keep repeating that but I’m not going to get this stuff through osmosis.  It needs to be spelled out for me.  I’m pretty sure I just heard Kallen chuckle but when I look at him, his face is a blank page.

“She creates a likeness of the person she wants to control.”  Grandma thinks for a minute.  “You may recognize it as a voodoo doll.”

“Voodoo dolls are real?”  Scary.  I could be a pin cushion in someone’s hands right now.

“Only when a powerful Witch capable of working Sympathetic magic has created the ‘doll.’”

“Do I even want to know what the last three can do?”

Grandma gives me a tired smile.  “One must always know their enemy.”

“Fine, lay it out for me.  I’m guessing they can walk on water and control the elements.”

She laughs softly.  “Even the Witan are not that powerful.”

“That’s good to hear.  So, what do they specialize in?”

“Two are the ones sent out after an errant Witch – Davina and Beren.  Beren’s affinity is scrying.  He is capable of locating a Witch within a thousand miles simply by looking into a reflective surface.”

“So, he’s like a bloodhound?  He can sniff out a Witch?” 

Grandma’s lips turn up at my description.  “He could be compared to one, yes.” 

Must be another one on the Witan Grandma doesn’t like.  But then again, I don’t get the impression that she likes any of them.  And then another thought hits.  “If he’s so good at this, why couldn’t he find Mom?”

It’s Mom’s turn to smile.  “Because a very powerful Witch taught me how to shield myself.”

She and Grandma exchange a look.  “Something that Witch deeply regretted when you couldn’t be found.”  Too bad, Mom still looks proud of herself.

Wanting to get off that awkward topic, I ask, “What does the other do?”

Grandma clears her throat.  I think she might have a tear or two in her eyes.  “The other is a Summoner.  Once Davina has a location, she can work a summoning spell that will compel the prey to come to her.”

“Does she have a thousand mile range, too?”

Grandma shakes her head.  “No.  Once Beren has located their prey, they must travel within a hundred mile range for Davina’s summoning spell to work.  She then compels him or her to follow her to where the Witan reside.”

“She’s a modern day Pied Piper.”

“I am not familiar with that reference,” Kallen says. 

I love it when he doesn’t know something.  “It’s a children’s story about what happens if you don’t keep your word.  Basically, a town hired the Pied Piper to get rid of rats that were running rampant.  When he did by compelling them to drown themselves, the town refused to pay him.  To get even, he compelled all the children except one to follow him away from the town and they were never heard from again.”

“What happened to the one left behind?”

“He was pretty lonely after that.” 

Kallen’s brow scrunches as if he’s trying to figure out if I’m joking or not.  I think I’m going to leave him hanging on that.  “What does the last one do?”

Grandma is suddenly squirming in her chair as she gives furtive looks towards Mom.  Mom’s mouth is set in a firm line.  After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, I ask again, “What does the last one do?”

Mom speaks first.  “Tell her, Mother.”

Grandma sighs a sigh of anguish and sorrow but still doesn’t say anything.  This waiting is killing me.  I’m very much an instant gratification kind of person and this tense silence is driving me nuts.  I look at Kallen for an answer but he shrugs his shoulders letting me know he’s just as ignorant as I am.  “Will one of you please tell me?”

Mom answers.  “Fatin is a master of Evocation and Exorcism.”

“Exorcism.  Like getting rid of ghosts?”

Grandma nods but still doesn’t speak.  Mom answers again.  “Yes, Xandra, Evocation is the ability to call forth spirits in preparation for exorcism.”  She sighs.  “Not all spirits who linger in this plane are good.  Sometimes, a Witch will hold on because he or she wants to take revenge on an enemy or someone who they believed committed some wrong against them.  Some will even try to take control of another Witch’s body.”

“But you don’t do any of those things so he’ll leave you alone, right?”  I sound naïve even to my own ears. 

Kallen is looking at me with sympathy and he lays his hand on mine.  “A threat to the ones you love may cause you to do things you shouldn’t.”  He looks pointedly at me now.  When we were fighting the other Fairies, they used my little brother to get me to do what they wanted.  It just didn’t work out as they planned.

“You think they’ll threaten to exorcise Mom and Dad?”

With a meaningful look in the corner where Dad is, he says, “I think they will threaten at least one of your parents, yes.”

“And I’m the only non-magical one here.  I would be the easiest target.” Dad says this matter-of-factly, but his eyes belie his stoicism.

I’m mad now. They better not try to do anything to my parents.  If they do, I won’t care what imbalances I create.  They’ll pay ten times greater for any pain they cause my family.

Grandma must see the murderous look in my eyes.  With steel in her own, she says, “There are protection spells that may be used against all of the Witan’s infinities.  As well as spells that can render their spells null and void.  We’ll protect your family – whatever it takes.” 

This is this first time all day I believe Grandma.  Dad is no longer the only one in the room turning into a sociopath.  Grandma looks like she’s going to bring eighteen years’ worth of pain to each and every one of the Witan.  Go Grandma.  Maybe she and I will get to the cookie making, after all.

Dad speaks up from the corner again.  “How long do you think we have before they arrive?”

“I would be surprised if they’re not here by tomorrow morning.”

“Do you really think they can prepare in that short of time?” Mom asks.  I think she was hoping Grandma would say next week, or even next year.  Nope, they’ll be here tomorrow.

“What do we do first?” I ask.  I’m all wound up and I need to do something or I’m going to freak out. 

Instead of answering me, Grandma focuses on Kallen.  “Are you powerful enough to defend against any of these types of magic?”

Kallen is cool and confident as always.  “Ekstasis will not work on a Fairy.  The Fae are too in tune with their mind and body for them to be separated from each other.  It is the difference between how we draw magic – filling ourselves with it as opposed to using it externally as Witches do.”

I can’t decide if he’s slamming Witches or just speaking the facts.  Guess it doesn’t matter if he can provide some defense against the Witan.  “Do you think I have that ability?”