Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
Elijah
I was new to magic, but that had seemed intense. Kainda had her bottom lip gripped between her teeth much of the ritual I’d seen from beneath my lashes, while Reselda and Althea had looked steady. Silver flames leaping out of the bowl in my hands had nearly given me a heart attack. The sweat running down my back made my skin itch.
“Blessed are you, mighty Water! Praise you, powerful Asclepius and Epione!” All three women said the words with strength and meaning ringing through their voices.
Kainda looked like she could finally relax now. Reselda took the bowl from my hands, giving me a motherly reassuring smile. My head throbbed like a sore tooth and as Reselda started speaking, her words turned to a buzzing sound. Shivers assaulted me hard enough my teeth chattered. I felt feverish, blazing hot one moment and frozen solid the next. The room began to drift like a feather coming down to Earth on a soft breeze. It all went dark, and I felt the hardwood floor rush up to meet me, not that I had far to fall.
I came to some time later, with Kainda stroking my face with a wet towel. She smiled at me when my eyes met hers. “Nice of you to finally wake, E.”
We were no longer in the place of the ritual. This room had bunks like a camp cabin. Kainda still wore her dress from earlier as she sat next to me on the bottom of a bunk. I felt tired to my bones, but I felt better than I had since before Uttu captured me.
“I fainted, but besides that, what happened?” I sat up next to Kainda still in the thin pants from earlier. Only now dampened with sweat and were no longer comfortable as a result.
“Well, you came through the first ritual great until you dropped like a log. Althea made sure you were still breathing, while Reselda went ahead and treated you for the demon spider venom. We were hoping the removal of the venom would bring you around, but it didn’t. Reselda had Althea perform a healing and rejuvenating ritual on you. It worked, but you were still out cold.”
“If I was still unconscious, how do you know the last ritual worked?”
Kainda laughed and waved her hand at my body. “Take a look at yourself, mirrors on the far wall. It’s pretty obvious it worked.”
She moved away, taking her warmth with her. The room did a good job imitating a refrigerator. Did I really want to look in the mirror? The thought of seeing my scars burned like acid in the pit of my stomach. I knew how hideous they looked, I didn’t need to ever see them again. Their image had burnt itself into my mind. But hope sparked bright for the first time in longer than I could remember. What if the ritual had worked, and I no longer looked like a broken vase poorly glued back together. I had to know.
My body as stiff as a board, and my joints creaked like old stairs as I moved. It maded getting out of the uncomfortable bunk difficult. As soon as my face came into view of the mirrored glass, Kainda was right. All the air left my lungs in a rush. Was I dreaming? Please, God, don’t let this be a dream!
My skin no longer the color of death, the dark circles under my eyes gone, and weirdest of all, it looked like I’d regained the weight and muscle I’d lost. The best part of it all, the change to my scars. Their lines now faint, almost not there anymore. The deep scars where she’d ripped out strips of my skin remained the most visible, but even they weren’t as noticeable.
“I almost look normal.” Then I noticed even my voice sounded more like it had before the attack.
Kainda came up behind me, standing next to my shoulder. “It worked better than anyone could’ve predicted. Reselda has never seen anything like it, and she’s been healing people for fifty years. The strangest part, every minute the effects continue to improve. When we carried you here, the missing meat wounds still looked unchanged, but then they slowly started to fill back in. It’s like your body has started to regenerate muscles and tendons; it shouldn’t be possible, E. I saw it during the spell that something’s unique about you, something other, but I can’t put my finger on what. But whatever that something other is, it’s healing you in ways no earthly magic ever could.”
“What do you mean by something other?” My mind snagged on that phrase and demanded explanation.
She moved so that she faced me. “The supernatural community uses the word ‘other’ to refer to things that are magic or things that are outside what humans believe is possible. Are you sure both your parents are fully human?”
I shrugged, “I haven’t a clue who or what my birth parents are, I’m adopted.”
“Oh, well, um, Althea invited us to join them for their Mabon sabbat gathering. Do you feel up to walking down to their ceremony area?” She changed the subject with only minimal awkwardness.
“Don’t we need to go after Uttu?” Not that I was in any hurry to face my captor and torturer. But I needed closure, and defeating her lead to my closure.
She shook her head. “You’ve been out of it for hours. Those rituals did a lot to heal your body, but it took a lot out of you. The demon energy that kept the venom from killing you faster than it should’ve. It gave you strength and without it, you’re going to feel like crap. You’re no good to me if you pass out on your face again.”
“Will there be food? I’m starving for the first time since the attack.” I’d almost forgotten what hunger had felt like. My stomach growled loud in the quiet room.
She smiled at me and pointed to a shirt hanging from the bunk I’d woken up on. “There is always food at a witch party. Put a shirt on and let’s go.”
Moving felt easier now, and the pain had eased to a barely noticeable level. The shirt, the same thin material as the pants, would do nothing to combat the chilly night air. Neither would her dress, and looking around the room, there didn’t appear to be any shoes in sight. The demon might not have killed me, but the pneumonia I’d catch going outside might.
Kainda took my hand and pulled me outside. The air had a bite to it now that the sun had gone down. Fall had arrived, and Mother Nature wanted everyone to know it. Smoke hung in the air, growing thicker as we walked down a well-worn path through a stand of trees. From the sounds coming from beyond the trees, a decent sized crowd had gathered. Kids laughed and squealed while adults talked in groups.
We rounded the trees into a large clearing that curved into a slope at the back. Seats had been carved into the hillside to create an amphitheater. A large fire pit on the ground level in the very center, contained a large fire. Tall evenly spaced torches ringed the edge of the area burned merrily too. Raised flat rocks faced the theater-style seating three of them in total. The center rock supported an altar. Offerings sat in baskets and leather bags on the left stone. On the right side stone, a weather-beaten podium waited. A table had been set up on the other side of the clearing, weighed down with food.
The coven members ranged in age from infants to senior citizens. All of them dressed similar to Kainda and me. The men shirtless and in pants of varying natural fabrics. Everyone walked around barefooted. The women wore dresses or skirts with cropped tops. Three women wore hooded cloaks in differing colors trimmed in silver designs. Hoods up, bottom hems skimmed the ground as they moved. Two men in the crowd had wreaths on their heads and furs draped over their shoulders.
It was like something out of time, or like we’d gone back in time. Nothing in the clearing looked to belong in the modern era. No one had a cell phone in their hands, and the children played outdoor games. A little girl ran past us carrying a corn husk dolly, of all things.
A group of teens sat at the bottom of the theater and played peaceful and hauntingly beautiful music. A blonde girl no older than eighteen played a harp, while the boy to her right played a guitar. The redheaded girl shook a tambourine as she danced in front of the group. Her long loose hair swinging with her movements. Another boy sat cross-legged on the ground playing a flute. A handful of very young children had gathered to listen and dance to the music. They watched the girl with the red hair and tried to mimic her movements.
“It’s a little overwhelming the first time you experience a full coven in celebration mode. Sabbats are a big deal. The first one my mom took me to, I was about six, and I practically hid behind her legs the entire time.” Kainda said, tucking some loose hair behind her ear.
The shy move didn’t fit with the image I had of her as a warrior. Here, surrounded by witches, made her uncomfortable because not all of them would accept her half blood heritage. She’d never admit it if I asked, but she wanted to fit in with the witch community. This had to be uncomfortable for her, but she was here for me. She’d come to witches to save me, knowing she’d face ridicule.
“There are toddlers and infants here. Why were you six the first time you went to a coven gathering?” My curiosity to know more about this enigma of a woman asked even though I knew the answer would upset her.
She looked sad for a moment before glancing around the gathering, the smile returning to her face. “My mother’s coven are pacifists. When Mom married my father, not only was he a human but a demon hunter. He had two black marks against him from the get-go. I’m only half witch, and Mom’s coven wasn’t a fan of me for more than just being half human. They hated my father. Mom didn’t take me to many coven functions with her to protect me. Normally, I stayed with my father or one of my father’s friends when the coven amassed. The only reason I went to the one when I was six was because my mother was being honored. I didn’t go to very many in the years that followed before my father and I left.”
“We don’t have to stay, Kainda. If you want to head out, we can. I can rest just as well somewhere else.”
Those lovely hazel eyes sparked as they narrowed on my face. I’d been caught. “E, if I wanted to get out of here, I’d say so. And right now I don’t have anywhere else for us to go. Uttu’s minions found my safe house, so that leaves us sleeping in my car until I can figure something else out. I’m hoping we can catch her before we need another place to stay. We’re lucky Reselda and Althea vouched for us, so the coven is letting us stay for a few days. It should give us enough time to track her down.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Besides, I’ve missed having sabbat rituals with other people. It gets lonely being a solitary practitioner sometimes.”
A woman passing by stopped and looked at Kainda. “You still practice the faith? Not just the magic?”
“Yes. My mother raised me to love and appreciate the faith. I wasn’t brought up within a coven structure because my family’s coven didn’t approve of my mother’s transgressions. Their judgment has to do with their biased beliefs, not the religion’s ideals.” Kainda’s voice, strong and sure, told anyone who heard it how deeply she regarded her faith.
“In that case, welcome Kainda! Merry meet!” The woman gave us a soft smile as she nodded her head before she walked off.
“Merry meet!” Kainda’s shoulders seemed to sag with relief as some of her tension left with the woman’s kind words. In that dress, hair braided, barefoot, seemingly at peace, she looked the furthest thing from a warrior.
“How is it that they all know our names?” It unnerved me.
She took my hand, leading me away from the path as she explained. “They don’t all know our names. Most witches have a tendency to pick up each other's names psychically when having a conversation. It’s not something we try to do, it just happens, unless we are specifically shielding our identities. They know your name because you’re a projector. You have a tendency to psychically project. Now, let’s get you something to eat and get a seat on the edge of their space, so we don’t disturb them.”