Chapter 8 #2
“Aye, this weapon you keep mentioning?” I gave Sophie an exasperated look. “Weapons and challenges and all that sound pretty intense.”
“A symbolic choice, really. It’s your weapon of choice. It should matter to you.”
“My scalpel,” I said, automatically. Not only was it a lethal weapon if wielded as such, but it was a symbol of my skill as a surgeon for helping animals.
“Perfect. So you take your scalpel in the ritual and once you pass a challenge, something will show up. For some it has been jewels, others gold bands in the handle …” Sophie trailed off and gave Lachlan an exasperated look.
“I’m bungling this, aren’t I? You’d think after having to explain this several times over, I’d be better at it. ”
“Several times over? How many are there?” I asked, not having considered the others in this ritual.
“There’s myself. Lia. She’s a kitchen witch and owns Grasshopper. Shona. She’s a garden witch.”
“Shona?” I asked, surprised. Now it made sense why she wanted to speak with me after I came to see Sophie. I was going to be a part of her club now. Shona. So easy to like with her mild-mannered personality, garden witch knowledge, and definitely someone I’d like to be closer friends with.
Friends. Even the idea of growing close with people was a touch off-putting, but I could almost hear Eriska screaming in my ear to be brave.
“Yup, Shona. Whom you’ve met, of course. Then there’s Orla, Kaia, and Willow.”
“Seven. Including me, that is.”
“Correct. We need nine.” Sophie gave me a pleading look.
“You’re certain you’ll join? We lucked out by you coming here and didn’t have to search down the next in line.
But the Kelpies are escalating. It’s why the last vet ran, I believe.
We had quite a showdown right on your doorstep. In broad daylight.”
“With the Kelpies?” My mouth dropped open. So that was why Dr. MacAllister had turned tail and ran. It wasn’t because he was covering up some scandal of sorts, it was because a mythological water beast had come knocking on his door.
It all made much more sense now.
All his nervous looks out to the loch.
His insistence on me staying inside at night.
His absolute refusal to show me around town.
Feeling calm for the first time since I’d moved here, now that someone had finally let me in on the secret, I let out a small sigh of relief.
Magick I could handle.
Even in the form of massive water horses.
They were just another type of animal, weren’t they?
“Yup, with the Kelpies. They’ve been quiet since. Kaia got the bridle off one, and we think it freaked them out, though I suspect they’ll only lie dormant for so long. The sooner we close our Order, the better.”
The sooner the better. Well, that part made sense now.
But getting a bridle off a mythical creature?
The fact they wear bridles was surprising in itself.
A horse can weigh anything from 300 to 1000 pounds, so a mythical version could be even more.
How did Kaia manage to get the bridle off the beast?
It was all so fascinating, and I wanted to be a part of this, especially if it placed charming Loren Brae back on the map.
“I’m in. Let’s do this. What’s the ritual involve? Do you need my blood?” Blood didn’t make me squeamish and I smiled when Sophie made a gagging sound.
“Gross, no. We can do it when you’re ready. You’ll need your weapon.”
“I’ll just pop home and get it.”
Hilda walked back in, Sir Buster and Lady Lola at her heels, and smiled when she heard my words.
“You’re joining us?”
“Aye.”
“Welcome, Faelan. We’re lucky to have you.” The way Hilda beamed at me warmed my soul, almost as if she could be a stand-in for the motherly energy I missed in my life. Nobody could replace my mum, but it was nice to feel the approval from a woman that the people in this room looked up to.
“Thank you. I’ll just be right back.”
I needed a moment. Whether it was the emotions of being welcomed instead of chased away, or the realization that maybe I had finally found my home, but either way a quick walk in the brisk night air would help me to breathe more easily. As long as Clyde doesn’t scare me again playing boo.
Gloam joined me the instant I was passing the gardens, slipping out from the bushes to prowl along at my side.
“Why didn’t you tell me that there were Kelpies here?”
“Didn’t want to scare you off.”
I mulled that over. Though the lack of communication annoyed me, it also warmed my heart to know that Gloam had wanted me to stay.
“I’m stronger than I look. And the women? There’s magick here.”
“You knew that. It’s what called you here in the first place.” Gloam paused, his tail going straight, his nose lifted to the wind. “Something follows us.”
“Is it Clyde again?” I asked, unbothered this time now that I knew the castle grounds were haunted by a ghost coo.
“I can’t say.”
“You can’t say or won’t say? Or you don’t know?”
Gloam didn’t answer me, and I scanned the dark hills, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement.
When nothing happened, I continued to my flat.
There wasn’t much I could do about something following me.
So long as it didn’t pose a threat to me or Gloam, I had to assume it was just something curious about the newcomers in town. At least I hope that is what it was.
I liked to think that if I was in danger I would feel it.
But maybe that could be survivor bias speaking.
Either way, I made it to my flat without a surprise ghost coo attack or a Kelpie screaming across the water toward me, so I considered that a win.
By the time I made it back to the castle, scalpel sheathed in my pocket, inky night had drawn close, and warm light flickered from the torches that Archie and Lachlan held.
The group was standing outside the castle doors, waiting for me, and had I not known better, I could have been convinced we were villagers off to kill the beast.
“We’ll start with the east,” Archie directed, pointing toward Loch Mirren, and I fell in line as he led us to a narrow footpath that wound around the stables and over gently sloping hills.
Sophie chattered about Scotland as we picked our way along the dark path, choosing our steps carefully in the light of the torches.
“Here we are.” Archie crouched and brushed wild grasses away over an old stone plaque with a Celtic insignia on it.
“A Kelpie?” I asked, leaning closer.
“Here you go, lass.” Hilda held out a bundle of dried thistle wrapped in twine, and I took it.
“What’s this for?”
“It’s just an added layer of protection. Keeps the bad stuff out.” Hilda winked at me. It made sense. My mum always “saged” every new place we moved into.
I lit the bundle, thinking briefly about the handful of flowers on my doorstep earlier that day.
More flowers. Maybe there were signs everywhere and I’d just been ignoring them.
A thin curl of smoke emanated from the bundle of dried flowers, and I held it over the stone, watching as the smoke curled into the night sky.
“I, Faelan Fletcher,” Archie said, “a Charm Witch in the Order of Caledonia, announce my arrival.”
I paused and looked up at Archie, the reflection of the flames dancing in his eyes.
“Charm Witch?”
“For the animals. You have a charmed spirit as a healer of animals,” Archie explained.
The title warmed me, and my shoulders straightened unintentionally, as though I was gaining a new confidence with this rite. My mum had always told me I was charmed, even though I’d brushed off her words.
I repeated his words, waving the bundle of smoking flowers over the stone.
“I accept the responsibility of protecting the Clach na Fìrinn and promise to restore the Order to its fullness. In doing so, I show myself worthy of the magick of Clach na Fìrinn.”
I mirrored Archie’s words, feeling my magick ripple through me, excited at a new challenge.
“It is with these words I establish the Order of Caledonia as the first line of protection for the Clach na Fìrinn and alert the Kelpies to my arrival. I accept the power bestowed upon me.”
When nothing happened, I glanced at Archie.
“Well done. On to the south.” Archie nodded once, and we all turned as a group and plodded toward the next marker stone. The breeze kicked up, and the smoke from the bundle of flowers I carried mixed with that of the torches, adding an even more mystical touch to the evening.
What would Luch think of this?
Him, a doctor, rooted so staunchly in science.
And why did Luch Carmichael just pop into my head now?
Was it because of the thought of flowers?
His clear suspicion of how I’d healed Oban?
Yet he’d lived in Loren Brae for over a year now.
If what Sophie said was true about the Kelpies screaming in the night, surely he would have had to suspend some disbelief over the presence of magick in the world?
I pulled my thoughts away from Luch as we finished the ritual, Sophie beaming at me like I was her new best friend.
And maybe I was. Well, a friend, at least. The idea of having friends again excited me, instead of inciting the usual anxiety and worry, and my thoughts were confirmed when she gave me a huge hug.
“Welcome, Faelan. I’m so glad you’re a part of the Order.”
“Thanks, I think I am too.” I laughed when Sophie scrunched up her nose. “I mean, it’s still very new to me. But I’m sure I’ll be glad to be a part of it. Though I’m not really certain how I’m supposed to wield this.” I held my scalpel up in the air.
A band of diamonds glittered in the handle, and I almost dropped it on my foot.
“How have you already passed a challenge?” Sophie gasped, grabbing my wrist and dragging my hand forward. The others gathered, the light from the torches glinting off the diamonds in the handle of the scalpel.
“Have you healed anything unusual, lass?” Archie asked, scratching his chin.
“Just a …” I paused. Could I really say I healed a unicorn out loud? I knew we were all about magick here, but even that might be too farfetched for everyone.
“Just a what?” Hilda leaned closer, lowering her voice.
“A unicorn.” I pressed my lips together, straightening my shoulders, ready to be laughed at.
“Ohhhhh, you saw her?” Sophie squeezed my arm, excitement on her face. “Were you with anyone?”
“No, I was alone.”
“That’s interesting.” Sophie exchanged an unreadable look with Lachlan.
“And she was hurt? Such a shame.” Hilda shook her head.
“I fixed her up though, as she’d had a nail in her hoof. She was pretty incredible. It was like trying to hold a star in your hands.”
“It’s a rare treat it is, to be seeing the likes of her. That’s a blessing for you, lass.” Archie nodded his head briskly in my direction.
“See? You really are charmed.” Sophie beamed at me, and I smiled back, feeling the warmth of acceptance flow through me.
For the first time in ages, I finally felt like I’d found a place I could call home—and even more than that? A place that would finally welcome me.
I hoped, wherever she was, Eriska would be at peace knowing I’d finally found my place in the world.