Olivia smiled and the other head witches followed suit as she held up both pieces of the key. It had been child's play to find it once the elf had told them. All it took was a simple working to find and pull the ket free from the shallow depths it had lain in. It had been underneath a rock. A great hiding place, but that alpha had made the mistake of telling someone. If he had kept it to himself, they wouldn't have found it so easily or at all.
“Sisters, the time has come.”
They were currently in one of the city's least popular national parks, right next to their most frequent meeting place. They had claimed it a few years back and defended it from the Concordia coven. She despised those witches, and soon would see them fall.
In a large clearing, there was a large ritual circle drawn with the ashes of a potent mix of magical and non-magical ingredients, which had been turned to ash with their own ritual and then blessed and blessed again by faith. That had been the hardest part as those not of the conqueror could rarely muster up that sort of power. But twenty-eight witches had been enough, and they were all there, standing around it in a large circle, save for her daughter. In a circle within the outer circle stood her, and the other head witches. Six in total. Form Meneva, the youngest to Altra to most dangerous in her opinion, but each had set aside any issue with another for this grand day. This victory which was to be there's.
She moved forward until she was at the center of the circle, and all began to chant. It was not in English or any speech of the Prime, but she understood.
“From flowers taken, and blood boiled. From bones and passions broiled. From the rich and high, to low and poor. To ashes, they all go and make for Alariea’s ore. We call you, forgotten mother, back from your tomb, betrayed by fate, and brought in anew.”
Olivia held up the keys and put the two pieces together, focusing her will on it, just as the other five would do. The chanting grew louder and louder, reaching a crescendo, and she felt it, a spark of power from the key. She rose into the air and knew the others had to. She floated back into position with the five others, letting the key remain in the center.
Black and white lightning sparked around the circular disk, and it begin to glow. She continued to press on, commanding it to open as the chanting witches repeated the same phrase over and over. “Mother we wait, mother come back. Mother we wait, mother come back.” Each was focused on a single entity. Their mother. The forgotten mother of witches. The queen of forgotten fire.” The key began to shake, and the streaks of lightning began to strike one another, leaving the key, and colliding, wrapping around one another until a circle of living lighting was visible around the key.
****
“Do you hear that?” I asked, straining my ears.
Jay frowned, then nodded. “Sounds like chanting?”
As we grew closer and closer, it became clear that it was chanting, and it was rising in volume. “I don't think we have to worry about the alarms. They seem busy.”
We came up behind a large tree, and I could feel the shock from the others as we stared at the sight in front of us. Six witches floated at the center of a circle of more witches. In the middle of the six was a ball of black and white lighting.
“What are they doing?” Rell asked, her eyes wide
“Can’t you sense it?” I asked
She shook her head. “No, at least not like the others. I sense something, but not normal magical energy.”
“Whatever they’re doing,” Jay said, “I think we should use this opportunity to grab Zara and go.”
“Aww, but I've got my spell ready,” Gary said.
“And keep it ready just in case,” Jay said, turning to me. “Which direction?”
“Past them. That building behind them.” I was still staring at the lighting and the object that seemed to be at its center. Some sort of small disk that was glowing. “Are doing a ritual.”
“Maybe,” Rell muttered. “I know witches often get together for coven meetups where they perform magic and rituals, but this seems…” She shook her head. “I can’t find a word.”
“Can we get past them to the building,” Jay asked Rell.
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “They might turn on us the moment we try, and I’m not eager to see how much magic an entire coven can conjure.”
Jay frowned and look at the witches before turning to Gary. “Let it loose then.”
The half-orc grinned and I watched as a ball of lighting sprouted from his palms and shot into the air before coming down in an arc, straight towards the center of the circle, and the six floating women.
****
“Yes, this is it, sisters,” Olivia said, pressing down harder on the key with her will. “Come mother, and lead us.”
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She felt exhilaration and anticipation, but then she heard a strange noise. A whistling sound and she was so focused on the key, that it wasn't until seconds later she sensed the mana. Her eyes widened and she looked up as a ball of shimmering blue lightning fell from the sky. It was like it happened in slow motion. She tried to reach out, but she was sapped of energy. All she could do was watch as the ball of lightning hit the lightning around the ring, and exploded.
****
I blinked, and it went from darkness to pure white. My ears rang, and I could feel blades of grass tickling my face. I was on my back, and I could smell ozone and smoke. I blinked several times in rapid succession, but the light didn't fade any faster, so I formed a pattern. A simple spell. the light began to fade as it set in. My vision slowly cleared, and I got to my feet. My ears still rang, but I didn't have a specific spell for that so I just used a healing spell and directed it to my ears. It wasn't as good as a spell meant for it, but it worked, and soon the ringing dulled, and I could hear coughing, and Jay's voice.
“Rick, Lena, Rell?” I watched as he pulled a vial out and downed the contents. He gagged but a moment later his eyes cleared and he looked at me. He sighed. “You good?”
I nodded and turned to see what had happened. I froze in place. The impact had blasted the area around us, sending trees flying, and I could see witches scattered about, a few in positions that clearly showed they were very dead, while others twitched, and one looked to be little better than bloody mush, having been spalted against a particularly large tree which had stood against the blast.
“Zara!”
“Wait.” I felt Jay grab my hand and I tried to pull free, but he held tight and pointed to the sky.
“What?”
I looked and saw what I could only describe as a jagged tear of nothing. It was darkness so deep, that it was like someone had torn a horn in reality. A feeling of nausea and wrongness begin in my stomach and I began to grow dizzy as I stared up at it. Up at the hole to nothing.
No, no, no, no. Can't be.
Memories of what Bob had told me surfaced, but if this was a HTN, then we’d already be dead as it devoured energy, but if not that, then what was this? The dizziness grew to be too much and I looked away and found the others getting to their feet. “Shit, Rell.” Jay rushed over to the orc who seemed to have had the worst of it. I took the chance to rush across the clearing and to the building.
I used magic to pull away pieces of wood, and after minutes of searching, I saw an arm. I ran over, kicking away pieces of debris, and pulled out a familiar face, but not Zara. “Ashely?” I tossed her onto a bed of soft force as I continued to look for Zara. I found the elf under a large piece of what must have been a bed and winced when I saw the large piece of wood sticking out of her upper left arm.
“Fuck.” I used force to pull her free, and placed her on another bed of soft force. I pressed a hand to her neck and sighed in relief when I felt a pulse. The healing I used was simple, but I pushed as much mana as I could into it.
Zara gasped, and her eyes widened, but I had put up a pain block so she wasn't feeling the piece of wood. I held her shoulders as her eyes spun about. They finally landed on me, and she stared in shock before my arms were soon full of elf.
“Rick? You came. I knew you would.”
I smiled. “Of course I did. Now hold still.”
“What.” I pulled the piece of wood out and Zara's eyes widened as she quickly put a hand to the bleeding wound. I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave her another shot of healing.
“The collar,” she said, her hands reaching up to her neck. “Take it off. It’s blocking my magic.”
I moved a hand to her neck and sure enough, there was a metal collar there with runes engraved into it. I moved a hand across it and focused. I felt a connection form, and I thought about releasing her. Instead of a click, the collar seemed to melt into liquid and solidify into a metal ball with a single large rune. I pocketed it.
Zara sighed, and I felt her mana begin to work as she wove a healing spell. She knew more ways of mana manipulation than I did, and it was interesting to watch this method of spellcraft. It was far more delicate than my own. Sort of like smooth curves as opposed to angular lines. I shook my head. I had to get her out of here.
“Come on,” I said. “Let's go.”
“Wait, bring her.” She pointed to Ashley.
“Why?” If she’d been with Zara and hadn't taken the collar off, it meant she was part of the witches who had kidnapped her.
“For answers.” Her eyes moved to the witches nearby. “I don't think the others will be talking much.”
“Fine.” I pulled the bed of force with us and made my way back to Jay who was carrying Rell over a shoulder. Gary was in Lena’s arms and I didn’t need to ask to know he had passed. He was limp. “How?” I frowned in confusion. “He was behind Jay.”
Lena shrugged, her eyes cold. “No clue, but I don't think it was the force.”
“We need to go, now,” Jay said, his eyes skyward. “Somethings happening.”
Zara gasped as she finally noticed, and it was then that I heard it. Screaming, a whole lot of screaming. “What is it?”
“I think I know what,” Zara said softly and we all followed her gaze to see something approaching from some trees on the opposite side of the clearing. It looked like a moving heat wave, but its form was humanoid. Its limbs were elongated and there was a glow around it. My eyes began to dry rapidly as I stared at it, and I quickly glanced away.
“We should go, now!” Jay said, and it was command this time.
No one argued. It was walking, but none of us wanted to see what it could do when it reached us. We sprinted back to the exit, and I created another force construct to carry both Gary and Rell. The screaming grew louder as we neared the exit.
“I think the whole cities going under,” One of the other orcs, Darrin muttered, and if not for our closeness, his words would have been completely drowned out by the screaming, and other noises. Sirens, shouting, and sizzling.
What have we done?