Hexes and Foes (Agents of SPELL #1)

Chapter 1- Luther

THIS ISN’T WHERE I want to be. Being in an unfamiliar cornfield in the middle of the night gives me the creeps.

Unfortunately, it’s part of the job. Traveling to random locations comes with the territory of being a lead agent in a worldwide coven of mages.

I breathe in the Kansas air, then shut the rental car door.

It’s quiet out here, and almost pitch black save for the brilliant twinkling stars.

Whatever we’re about to face is silent and subtle right now, a potentially deadly combination.

“This way,” I announce as I walk through the only path between rows of corn.

“The only farmhouse in miles,” Necia remarks. “This thing better still be here; I don’t want to have to, like, chase a creature roaming around the Kansas wilderness.”

I snicker as we continue walking. My hands are in my trench coat pockets, and I squeeze the magical rock in my palm. No matter how many of these missions I go on, fear courses through my veins at the prospect of facing the unknown. “The intel report said it’s occupying the barn at this address.”

“A barn, huh? Let’s hope the mortals are hiding in their basement as instructed,” Necia says as we march on the dirt path. “We don’t need anyone witnessing our work.”

“Or any magic at all,” I reply. “Hence why we need to capture this thing promptly.”

After a minute, Necia clears her throat. “I can’t believe whatever monster is here is this quiet.”

“I know, right? I’d almost rather it make noise.”

“But not too much noise. Don’t want the resident mortals to come out and take a peek at the action.”

“Intel called us in as animal control.” That should answer any questions for non-magical bystanders.

Necia laughs softly. “Even if they buy that, I’m praying they don’t freak out at two random Black people walking around their farm at night wearing trench coats.”

I grin. “I think we can take care of ourselves.” I hold up the palm-sized rock, my geo arcanum, then pocket it again. “Let’s get in there and bind this thing. You got the container?”

“Aye, aye, boss.” Necia holds up a small blue jar, and I shoot her an amused smile. I hate when she calls me that; we’re partner agents, but we’ve also been best friends for years. I’m no one’s boss.

Once we get to the house, I stop and hold up my left palm. Necia nods at me, and I move my fingers. If there’s a monster here, I should be able to tune into it. In moments, the familiar pulse of a creature not belonging to this realm thrums into my left hand.

“The barn,” I state. We get moving like we’ve done dozens of times before, ready to take this thing in. Once we enter the wooden farmhouse, Necia whips out her flashlight, shining it all over the enclosed space. Piles of hay are scattered about, but I don’t spot anything supernatural.

Fortunately, the stalls are unoccupied; the family moved out their horses as instructed once the Union discovered the threat. Now we have to prevent any further damage.

A distinct rustling sound fills the barn from a far corner. “This way,” I announce, striding forward.

Once we get to a far stall, Necia shines her light on the corner.

I bite back a gasp at the sight; there’s blood on the ground, likely from the poor horse that was preyed upon.

In the corner, hunched over, stands a five-foot, bipedal, gremlin-looking thing, staring at us with four wide green eyes.

We’re rarely prepared for exactly what we’ll see, so this monster renders me immobilized for a moment.

But I’m not an agent of SPELL for nothing.

I grasp my geo arcanum in my right hand and channel the magic from within it. With my left hand, I launch a simple energy blast. Three orange rings fly out from my palm and instantly bind the monster, and it falls over.

After it struggles for a few seconds, I don’t need to ask Necia to take out the binder’s jar. “Let me wrangle it in,” I say, cautiously stepping forward. I channel the orange rings of magic to drag the beast toward us. Steady now…

“Rarrggh!” The beast roars as he slips right through my rings. It leaps forward, and my pulse picks up. I’m frozen in fear as it jumps at me, fangs forward, ready to devour me.

In seconds, the beast bounces back. I notice an orange film in front of me―a protection spell. Turning to my right, Necia smirks at me with her left hand up. “You owe me one, Looth.”

I glance at the creature on the ground, shaking its head. Then, he leaps over us, bouncing on the magical bubble around us. It strides away, but I’m not about to lose my chance.

Necia lets the bubble down, and I raise my hands, ready to go on the offensive. “Add it to my tab. After we collect this sonuvabitch.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Head it off outside, and set up an immobilization charm,” I instruct.

“Copy,” Necia says.

My hands glow as the two of us dash apart. I reach the monster just as it stops romping toward a dead end of the barn. It turns and snarls at me. When it backs up, ready to launch, I channel more energy into my fingers. Not this time.

I focus on the earth beneath me. After waving my hands, the ground itself rises up in a square shape, like a dirt brownie floating in the air. The monster isn’t fast enough and hits the dirt with a satisfying thump. With it dazed on the ground again, I focus on the mud and rocks below.

Crouching, I touch the ground. Then, as commanded by my spellcasting, the earth rises up like a small tidal wave of dirt, pushing the creature back. The abomination whimpers as it lands on its back. In moments, it scrambles to get up, then runs off toward the light of the open barndoor.

I chase after it, hoping the plan works.

I make it outside in time to see the thing floating several feet in the air.

It struggles in vain to get free. Orange tendrils reaching up from the ground reveal themselves, and Necia steps forward.

She’s smiling as she opens up the binder’s jar.

In moments, the monster is pulled into the enchanted blue void, and I use my magic to seal it off.

“Great work,” I say, catching my breath.

“Why can’t missions always be this easy?” my best friend asks with a grin. She pockets the bottle, and I tap her shoulder.

“What the hell?!” We whip around to see a man holding a shotgun by his hip.

Oh great, it’s the head of the household.

Necia’s fears are about to be validated; if this old White man wants to shoot two random Black folk on his farm, we’re screwed.

Magical barriers aren’t strong enough to stop bullets.

Maybe I can move rocks to make a shield?

Am I fast enough? I really don’t want to teleport us right now; the clean-up―i.e.

, scrubbing mortals of the memory of magic―required after teleporting mid-mission is freaking annoying.

So, I raise my hands up and think fast. “You called about the animal control, right?”

The old man stares at us warily. “That…that you?”

“Yes. I’m with animal control. We’re sorry we couldn’t get to the coyote before it ate one of your horses. But we disposed of it, and we’ll take our leave.”

The man doesn’t seem to believe us. “It didn’t look like no coyote when I saw it earlier.”

I gulp. “It was.”

“If you got rid of that wild thing, then where’s the body? Or do I have to clean up that, too?”

I turn to Necia, her hands up as well. Then, I step closer to the old farmer. “Let me show you where it is.” I slowly bring my right hand into my pocket and touch my geo arcanum. Then, with my left, I wave my hand right before his eyes.

The farmer shuts his eyes, and when he opens them again, they’re pink for a moment before going back to normal. Enchantment unlocked.

“You can see we’re holding the body of a dead coyote in a white bag,” I state.

“Y…yes.”

“And we’re federal animal control.”

“You’re…federal animal control,” he says slowly.

“And you don’t remember what we look like, or the coyote that attacked your farm. But you’ll be safe now.”

I smile as Necia walks by him, grinning.

“I don’t…remember…”

“In five minutes, you’ll go about your night.” With one last command, I leave him be, following Necia along the path among the corn. Mission complete.

Hours later, the rental car is dropped off, and the two of us walk through the magical archway in Kansas.

In moments, we’re in the Union of Mages building in Scotland.

Wizard guards nod at us as we make our way to the exit.

I take in the other archways, magical portals to different parts of the world.

The Union has always reminded me of a mini airport lobby, with the morning sunlight streaming through the skylights.

Much like an airport, wizards from all over the world walk in all different directions, ready to start their day.

This is the easiest part of our mission, so Necia and I casually make our way outside. “I’m exhausted,” she says through a yawn.

“You slept the whole way back to return the rental car,” I retort.

“Yeah, barely. And we’re always globe-hopping.”

I snicker and breathe in the Scottish air. I don’t need to tell Necia that I can’t wait to go back to Virginia and crash in my own bed. “You love world travel.”

“Yeah, when I get to relax, have fun, and see the sights.”

“We can have fun when you unload the binder’s jar in your pocket.”

She takes out the blue mason jar and grins. “Fine. But we should go out later. Hong Kong? Paris? Anywhere to let off some steam.”

We approach the two guards standing vigilantly at the edge of the grassy cliff. They gaze up, facing the blue skies and shore below. “We’re unloading,” I announce.

The two men turn and nod. “Agents.” They step back, and Necia and I get closer to the cliff.

I wave my hands and peel back the invisible barriers.

In seconds, the sky above us reveals a large break in reality; it’s best described as broken glass, peering into the monstrous dimension known as the Other Side.

Beings float through, momentarily gazing at me with almost a dozen eyes each, causing a chill to go up my spine.

“Send it,” I say with my hands up. I don’t dare let go of the invisible barriers.

“Sending it now,” Necia replies. She magically levitates the jar and then launches it into the crack in reality. The moment it’s gone, I seal up the barriers. Now our mission is actually complete; we’ve banished the monster back to where it came from.

After bidding goodbye to the guards, Necia and I make our way back to the main Union building. We only walk for a minute before we get stopped in the walkway by our friend.

“Gear! How are you?” Necia asks with a smile.

Girish, a bookish, dark-skinned dude, gives a shy smile. “Agents Westbrook and Anderson. Good day.”

“Are you ever gonna just call me Luther?” I ask.

“We’re at work,” he says with a shrug.

“What’s up, man? Wanna grab breakfast with us?” Necia asks.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t a social call.”

“What’s wrong? Is it another threat from the Other Side?” I ask.

“No, nothing like that.” He waves his hands. “We…you…have SPELL school.”

“Aw, shit,” Necia mutters.

I rub my forehead. “I completely forgot. I’m dead tired.”

“I’m aware that you had a mission in Kansas all night,” Girish says. “But you’re on the schedule. I could cancel…”

“No, no, I made a promise,” I say. “Even though I smell awful and probably look ratchet.”

Necia laughs softly and fixes the collar on my trench coat. “Time to face the music, Professor Westbrook,” she says.

I groan, and my two companions laugh. After smoothing out my shirt, the three of us walk back into the Union building.

As we approach the central hub, more folks are quickly strolling in and out of portals, paying us no mind.

Necia and Girish are engrossed in conversation about the latest cafeteria offerings, so I hang back.

I pat down my hair despite my shorter style—force of habit when trying to appear presentable.

I need to look the part since I have to teach youngsters in a matter of minutes.

Right before we reach the staircase, I wipe my mouth with my sleeve just as one face in the moving crowd catches my eye.

Even from yards away, I catch his almost golden hair, gleaming in the sunlight, now with a set of longer bangs than I recall.

He’s talking to a guard, and time slows down as I take him in.

The dude’s jaw is more defined than I remember, along with a muscular neck, and his easy smile makes my breath hitch.

His black suit is tailored to fit his trim body.

He’s clearly grown into an in-shape dude, no longer the gangly teenager I once knew.

And now he’s looking at me. I don’t stop walking, and his image fades from view as I enter the staircase and other folks wander in front of him. But I have no doubt his piercing blue eyes saw me, a look filled with recognition.

My schooltime rival, my academic foe, has somehow returned to the Union of Mages. I shouldn’t be annoyed or intrigued by that thought. I mean, it’s been over a decade. He shouldn’t have any effect on me.

But tell that to my racing pulse, hammering like I’m a disgruntled teenager all over again.