Shadow Magic (23 page)
Authors: Cheyenne McCray
He steeled his expression as sweat broke out on his face and the room faded. His connection to Hannah felt as if it were being stretched so thin that it would be ripped from him. He sensed and felt her anger, fear, pain, anguish, and he was nearly blinded by it.
“My king?” Carden's voice jerked Garran back to the present even though Hannah's emotions roiled through him as if they were his own.
“I must go.” Garran pushed his chair back, and everyone stood with him.
“My lordâ” Sepan started.
Garran cut him short. “See to Carden's training at once. And find a suitable position for Vidar, one that will not humiliate him, if at all possible.”
Before anyone could respond, Garran turned his back on them, strode across the room and through the black granite door.
He slammed it behind him, stood on the transference stone, and focused on his tie to Hannah and her emotions to take him to her.
AFTER PAYING THE TAXI driver and watching him until the red of his taillights vanished, Hannah walked alongside the road in the darkness.
Small rocks shifted and crunched beneath her running shoes and she hefted her pack higher on her shoulder. She continued until she reached the hidden road that would take her to the sacred stretch of beach known only to the D'Anu witches.
City lights glittered behind her, and to the north stretched the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge as it carried its much lighter than normal traffic to and from Marin County. To the east of the bridge was Alcatraz, but right now she didn't want to think about the horrors that had manifested below it. Or the fact that the demons weren't all gone from the city yet. Somehow the rest of the demons had to be eliminated. If only she knew how the first bunch had been sent back to Underworld.
Right here, right now, breathing in the salt of the ocean, smelling the nearby cypress, feeling the clean air blowing in off the water across her face and lifting her hair, and hearing the slam of waves against the shore, all seemed so ordinary, solid, real. How could bizarre and horrible things be happening while such normalcy surrounded her?
But the pack over Hannah's shoulder felt alien now that her scrying tools had been destroyed. The pack weighed
her down enough that she felt as if she would tip over. And she knew that feeling wasn't from the extra contents now filling it.
her down enough that she felt as if she would tip over. And she knew that feeling wasn't from the extra contents now filling it.
She hadn't wanted to touch the pack, but she needed it to carry the other tools for the ceremony she had to perform. The vial and the broken, empty frame remained buried at the bottom of the bagâapparently put there by Cassia. Hannah hadn't been able to get herself to pull them out and throw them awayâto even touch them.
Dragons had always been with her, especially Fire Dragons. Why then had her mirror Dragons left her? Why had the mirror shattered?
Hannah spun a ball of green magic in her palm to help light the way as she took one step after another down the short twisting road. She missed Banshee, and would have sneaked him out with her if it wasn't for the fact that a taxi driver wasn't likely to be too happy with a falcon in his cab. It had been all she could do to take the necessary supplies from the kitchen and slip out of the warehouse without waking up any of the other witches.
The D'Danann who'd guarded the doors leading outsideâshe'd been shocked her glamour worked against them because a witch's glamour normally only worked with humans. But apparently Garran's magic infused with her own allowed her to pass by the warrior Fae undetected.
Hannah tried to force down the hard lump that had taken permanent residence in her throat as she came to the footpath veering away from the hidden road. Even with only the gentle light of her magic, she was sure-footed, walking without conscious thought. Instead, images of her scrying mirror shattering and the Dragons leaving battered her mind.
The time she had spent with Garran was the only thing that had soothed her. She had wanted to give to him, to protect him, but he wouldn't take without giving back. Had he lost any of his personal magical strength? She hoped to the goddess not.
Hannah had shared enough of her magic that she'd
weakened herself, which was one reason why she had come to this place of power. Not only did she need to convene with the goddess and the Elementals, she needed to rejuvenate.
weakened herself, which was one reason why she had come to this place of power. Not only did she need to convene with the goddess and the Elementals, she needed to rejuvenate.
Sand shifted beneath Hannah's running shoes and made soft sounds as she walked across the smooth beach that looked completely untouched. No other D'Anu had been here recently. Gentle waves rolled in from the ocean, licking the shore before curling back in on themselves and striking again. Kelp and seashells lay scattered on the shore just above the waterline.
Garran's dark magic stirred inside her as she approached the place where she would perform her ceremony. She didn't fully know how to use it, wasn't sure she should, but his magic was there, waiting.
For a moment she could almost sympathize with Rhiannon, who had fought so long, so hard, against the Drow magic she'd been born with. The dark Elvin power inside Hannah was frightening yet exciting all at once as it stirred like a living thing, churning in her soul and infusing her with its warmth.
When she reached the middle of the beach, Hannah sucked in her breath and dropped her pack. It felt good to be here, to stand beneath the night sky with the new moon hiding behind the fog. The power of the place hummed through her heart and soul.
Hannah set her ball of light on a boulder so that it illuminated the mostly dark beach and she kept a little of her magical focus on it to keep it glowing. She crouched and dug inside her pack for the tools of her craft, making sure not to reach too low and brush her hand over her former scrying mirror. She'd thrown an extra robe on top of both it and the vial of salt crystals, just so she wouldn't have to touch them.
First thing that came to her hand was her small ceremonial sword. She set it on the sand and drew out six candles. Four to set at the cardinal points of the circle and two to perform the ceremony.
She followed that by filling a chalice with water from the ocean, offering a prayer for the Water Dragon's permission.
She then filled a vial with sand, asking the Earth Dragon's permission.
She then filled a vial with sand, asking the Earth Dragon's permission.
She asked the Fire Dragon to light her myrrh incense and for a moment nothing happened, causing an instant of panic to rise within Hannah. Then the cone of incense began to burn in its Dragon holder, the scent of myrrh rising up to meet her, and she blew out her breath in relief.
Lastly, Hannah coated her body with the frankincense oil and asked the Air Dragon to bless it. A wind whipped up like a small zephyr, flowing over her body in response.
When she was finished, Hannah felt a little relief as she drew out one of the two robes she had brought with her. Her heart clenched again and she held the robe crunched in her fists as she stared out at the ocean. Her heart pounded so hard she felt it throughout her body. Even her eyes ached.
What if the Dragons didn't come? Even though they had graced her by fulfilling her requests in preparing for the ritual, that didn't mean they would actually come.
What if they were to forsake her, too?
Fear had never been a feeling Hannah had allowed. She'd worked too hard to become who she was. Strong. Confident. Controlled.
Right now she felt anything but. At this moment it was like she was that same scared young girl with fear pounding in her veins as she waited for her mother to turn her over to her birth father.
But that had ended up being the best thing that had happened to that point in her life. She had been introduced to her D'Anu heritage and had been embraced like family.
Hannah took off her socks and shoes, careful to avoid getting too much sand in them. She did the same as she stripped out of her clothing, folding everything neatly, until she was naked. She shivered in the cold wind off the ocean, but being a D'Anu witch took away some of the chill, and Garran's magic reduced it even further.
She reached for her red robe and wrapped it around herself, the material soft and smooth against her skin. The
moon and crescent armband felt cool against her upper arm, the band the only other thing she was wearing.
moon and crescent armband felt cool against her upper arm, the band the only other thing she was wearing.
When she had all of her tools set up, including her altar, candles at the cardinal points, and had the other items prepared, she stood and stared out at the ocean. She glanced down and slipped her robe off her shoulders and dropped it so that it was a red streak against the gray sand beneath her feet.
Sand slid between her toes and her nipples tightened in the burst of icy air that sluiced over her bare skin. She shivered and picked up her ceremonial sword, unsheathed it, and set the sheath aside. It was small enough that she could carry it in her pack when needed, and not too heavy to use while performing her Dragon ceremonies.
Even so, her arm shook as she raised it and pointed the sword to the east and began to cast her circle with a simple circle-casting chant, starting with asking the Air Elementals for aid. The blue candle for air flamed to life at the east point of the circle. The power of her magic was strong enough that the flame didn't flicker in the wind but burned straight and true.
She moved her sword so that she faced south and her stomach twisted as she called upon the Fire Elementals to light the candle. Relief lessened the knot in her belly when the flame sprouted and didn't waver in the wind.
Hannah continued, pointing her sword to the west. The Water Elementals answered her call, followed by the Earth Elementals when she directed her sword north.
When she finished casting the circle, her heart beat faster. Time to call the Dragons. She paused to thank the goddess Anu and tipped her head back to draw in what power the goddess would lend her.
To her relief, Anu sent some of her strength to Hannah, infusing her body with magic that sent tingles skittering over her skin. When the goddess's power touched what magic Garran had given her, Hannah sensed hesitation, as if the goddess disapproved. But then Hannah's body was encased with strength, strength she would need to call the Dragons.
She thanked Anu and began her chant to bring forth the Dragons.
Standing in the center of the circle, she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, still holding the sword in one hand, so that she looked like the statue of Isis. She chanted:
Dragons of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Sea,
As your servant I beg you to answer my plea
All-knowing and everlasting, around, within, and
above,
lend me your strength as I offer you my loyalty and
love.
As your servant I beg you to answer my plea
All-knowing and everlasting, around, within, and
above,
lend me your strength as I offer you my loyalty and
love.
Hannah shook not from the cold but from the burning fear in her gut that the Dragons would not answer. She opened her eyes and pointed her sword east. “To me, the purifying power of air, from the Dragon of the East so fair.”
She held her breath until golden light glittered before her eyes, then let it ease from her as the wavering form of a glorious golden Dragon appeared. Wind buffeted her body as it swirled from the powerful Elemental and Hannah lowered her sword.
“What seek you, Hannah of the D'Anu?” Instead of a roar, the Dragon's voice was a song on the wind.
She bowed from her shoulders and straightened. “Your guidance. The Dragons that have always been present to assist me when I scry have vanished. My scrying mirror shattered.” She hated the tremble in her voice and the loss of confidence. “I don't know what to do.”
The Dragon's golden eyes studied her for a long moment. “You must seek the answers inside you, Hannah of the D'Anu. To your own heart you must be true.”
She opened her mouth to ask what the great being meant when he vanished into but a few golden sparkles, and then was gone. “Thank you for your words of wisdom.” Hannah bowed in the direction the Air Dragon had appeared even
though she wasn't so sure about the words or the wisdom. What did the Elemental mean?
though she wasn't so sure about the words or the wisdom. What did the Elemental mean?
Fire Dragons had always been her strength, and her hand shook as she pointed the sword south. “To me, the splendid magical fire power, from the Dragon of the South at this critical hour.”
Almost at once flames sprouted from the sand, swirling up until a great red Dragon rose and let out a roar that made Hannah tremble inside and out.
The Dragon spewed flame at Hannah, and a scream rose up in her throat. Only the circle protected her from the fire. Terror scored her like a knife.
Her hand holding the sword lowered to her side as she stared at the Dragon. “Why are you upset with me? How have I displeased you?”
She almost dropped her sword when the Dragon blew flame at her again, this time far more powerfully. And then without a word, the Dragon vanished.
Hannah held in a cry and stumbled back. Sweat rolled down her chilled skin and her entire body shook. She didn't know what to say. Normally she would thank the Dragon for his presence, but she'd never had anything like this happen before when she called on the Dragons for guidance.
Still shaken, she prepared herself for the worst as she turned to the westâafraid that the Water Dragon would ignore her or treat her as the Fire Dragon had. If she had the ability to cry, her face would have been coated with tears.
Wanting to scream, but holding it all inside in a tight ball in her belly, Hannah raised her sword. “To me, the joyous power of water, from the Dragon of the West asks your D'Anu daughter.”
From the ocean a great Dragon rolled in with the next wave, raising its head and growing with power as it towered over her. “You have much to fear, Hannah of the D'Anu,” came the Dragon's great gurgling voice. “Those of us who would choose to cannot protect you.”
“Would you lend me your protection?” Hannah's arm shook as she pointed the sword to the sand.
“Alas, I cannot.” The Dragon swiveled its head to where the Fire Dragon had been. “We have been summoned by another far more powerful being who rules both fire and water.”
“Butâ”
The great Dragon shook its head. “Fare thee well, Hannah of the D'Anu.”
Other books
Always the Vampire by Nancy Haddock
Politically Incorrect Guide To The Constitution (Politically Incorrect Guides) by Kevin R. C. Gutzman
The Ghost of Hannah Mendes by Naomi Ragen
Primal Fear by Boucher, Brad
Addicted to Love by Lori Wilde
The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Orczy, Emmuska
The Billionaire's Secret: A BWWM Romance Mystery by Mia Caldwell
The Mystery of the Emeralds by Kenny, Kathryn
Masters of the Veil by Daniel A. Cohen
Get Real by Donald E. Westlake