The Second Covenant

Drustan returned at full dark, with a woman dressed in a dark brown cloak that concealed her face. “This is Melinda, I have told her of your mark and she wishes to see it for herself.” I nodded and stood up from my chair by the fire. Melinda pulled back her hood and it shocked the hell out of her, and Dax, to see that she resembled Molly. Her hair was less curly, her skin darker and her face shape different, but it was weird to see. I showed her my wrist and she came to me. “May I?” She asked, holding her hand out towards me. I nodded and she lay her hand over the mark.

Heat pulsed and spread like a true lick of fire across my skin, but it didn’t hurt. It felt wonderful. And Melinda smiled. “You are of our people. Be welcome by our fire.” Dax and my boys all rose up to go too but Melinda shook her head. “Only she may come, you I do not know.” Dax started to object rather strongly, but Drustan stopped him with a gentle but firm voice. “I will stand as her guardian tonight.” Dax frowned and looked at me for guidance. “It’s fine. I’ll be back before sunrise.”
“You’d better be, otherwise we’re stuck here.” Peyton told me jokingly and I gave him a flat look. “No you wont.”

Sara offered me her own cloak and I took it with a smile. “Thanks.” She smiled at me went back to stand beside her husband. I watched him draw her under his arm, his other hand settling on her stomach, giving it a gentle rub. It made me smile as I slipped on the borrowed cloak. The next generation.

The three of us walked in silence through the forest, the only sounds the betray us were the rustling of the leaves under their shoes. The Phoenix coven made their home in Ipswich, thankfully so it was only a few hours of walking. It was a cave that Melinda took us to, the opening was barely big enough for me to slide through and Drustan had to shift to get through because his shoulders and his body was to big and broad. He was white in his wolf form, just like Druex, and I became increasingly confused. As soon as he was through, he shifted back, and was wearing all his clothes. I blinked at him. “You’re THE alpha.” I said and he inclined his head. “Yes.”

Melinda took me to a larger chamber that was deep inside the cave, where eleven other women stood, waiting, defensive looking and nervous. “Show them your mark.” Drustan said from the side of his mouth and I blinked. “Oh, right.” I pulled my sleeve up and the women all visibly relaxed. “Drustan tells us you have an issue you would like to raise with us.” One woman said and I turned to the sound of her voice. She thankfully didn’t look like anyone I knew. “I do. Mason Shaw.”

The hostility went right back up until the cave was vibrating with power. Wow, they really did have some mojo. “What about Mason Shaw?” Another woman hissed and I faced her in turn. “You have cursed, or are planning to curse him to live a life without love, children or happiness. And while I say he deserves every bit of hell you want to give him, there is something I need to say.”
“Then say it.”

I resisted the urge to grind my teeth at the imperious command. “I am not from this time. I came back, because what ever you bound to the earth when he died, lived on and fed on the pain and suffering of those who died in the trials. And it survived long enough to kill my mate. So I need to know why you bound the spirit instead of just outright killing it, and if I don’t like the answer, I’m going to do it instead.” Brows shot up and I heard Drustan give a groan. “And just who do you think you are?”

I wagered on a fifty fifty reaction and smoked from my place at the mouth of the cave, to right in front of the woman who asked me that last question. “The new bitch in town.” Instead of being wide eyed with fear, she was wide eyed with surprise and curiosity. “How did you do that?” I tossed my hair back off my shoulder and lifted my chin. “Honestly I have no idea, I just think about being in one place one minute and another the next. Mason Shaw, I know he’s a witch, and he is evil, and he’s an asshole. But that aside, what did you do?”

Melinda came and touched my shoulder with a frown. “We have done nothing yet. But we have been planning. The twelve of us are not strong enough to vanquish a demon like Shaw.” I pursed my lips and looked around, using my own powers to get a sense for the gathered witches. All together, they were about as powerful as I was. Linked, they could accomplished great things. “You, on the other hand, are stronger than all of us put together.” The women sort of circled around me curiously and I felt a few of them trying to get a feel for me. “Actually, put together, YOU, are just as strong as me. Will you tell me what you have planned?”

By the time I returned to the colony house, my head was just spinning with how simple the spell was that the women were working. How simple and how incredibly effective.
Let cruelty, pain and evil ways
Follow this demon through all his days
Reverse the torment he creates
To turn on him to crumble his fate
The words rang in my head and I kept repeating it to myself, trying to figure out what had managed to keep Mason Shaw’s spirit going. But we had agreed that it wasn’t powerful enough to completely obliterate him. So tomorrow night, I would return and we would come up with something different.

I discussed the different options with my coven, the ones from 2014, and came up with not a lot of feed back. It looked like I was on my own for this. I went another day without sleep and spent most of it down in the hidden chamber, looking through the books for help. Drustan brought me down a tray of food and I picked at it while I read. “Thank you for that.” I said and drank deep of the perfectly cool, clear water. “Of course. Have you found anything?” I shook my head and flipped a page. “Yes and no. You grew up here, you know how our magic works, it normally just takes a thought, but what I’m trying to do is more…complex I guess.”

I drank more water and went on, using his available person to bounce sound off of. “Binding the spirit to the earth only gave it time to grow stronger. I don’t know if Mason Shaw is possessed, or if he’s a demon, or something else. So I’ve got to cover my bases.” I had to lift my skirt out of the way when I got up and almost tripped over it. “Stupid dress.” I growled and waved my hand at myself to change into my jeans and a sweatshirt that had been Druex’s. I rubbed my face against it and breathed deep of the lingering scent of him on the cloth. “You must have loved him very much.” Drustan said and I turned, furious, almost lashing at him with my power. “I DO love him. Once I figure this out and get rid of Shaw, I can go back, and he won’t be dead, because Shaw wasn’t ever there to kill him.”

His expression softened and he nodded. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” I swallowed and wrapped my arms around myself, pulling the scent of Druex around me and closed my eyes, pretending that it really was him holding me. “I didn’t mean to snap. I’m sorry, I’m just…very on edge.”
“I felt the same way when my mother was killed. Would you like me to go?”

I shook my head and opened my eyes, pushing my hair back from my face. “No, please. This is more your place than mine.” I reached for another book when I felt that sickly lash of seeking power. My head snapped up and I reacted purely out of instinct. I used my powers to call the boys to me, they appeared with a soft thud, waving their hands in front of their faces to dispel the smoke of their transition. “Cherish, what the hell?” Riley coughed and I shushed him. “It’s coming.” I hissed, going to the door and using more magic to conceal the trap door. “What is?” Dax said when I came back, “Shaw. Whatever is inside Shaw. It’s coming. After I ascended, when I boosted the wards I felt the same thread of power.”

Peyton and Riley drew me between them when we heard the footsteps above us in the hardwood floors. They paced back and forth, more than one pair, for what seemed like hours and we all held our breath. Daire even came over to put his very much bigger body in front of me. I gave a faint smile and let my cheek turn against his shoulder. Touching him made me feel less shaky. “It’s alright.” He whispered. Not long after that the house shook with the slamming of the front door, and after a tense few minutes Lucas smoked into our midst. He let a huge breath of relief whoosh out of him. “Shaw?” I asked and he nodded. “Aye. He wanted to search the house, lucky you pulled your kin away when you did.”

I breathed past the need to go outside and slit Shaw’s throat right then, but then the evil thing inside him would be set free. “Why was he searching the house?” Lucas shrugged and raked his hand through his hair. “He said he was looking for a witch that had escaped from prison. They are searching all the homesteads, apparently.” I rolled my eyes and went back to my books, “Is your search going any better child?” He asked and I waffled my hand. “Some.” I sighed and looked around the room, then frowned at the pedestal where the magic fire speared from. It was the center of the circle of stone seats. It blazed to life whenever our covenant sat in them.
“You’ve got your thinking face on Cherish. What’s up?”

I stood up and walked around the pedestal. “Will you sit with me for a second? I want to try something.” My witchy brothers sat and I took the spot where Lucas sat, with his nod, and felt the power flood the four of us, watched the circle leap to life. “It always does that Cherish.” Tristan told me softly and I nodded. “Yeah, but why?” He shrugged and looked around at the others. “Because we’re linked up and our power is focused through the circle.”
“Uh hu. That’s not what I wanted to try.” I took a deep breath and focused on the flames. “My Power is strong, my Spirit is weak. It is an answer that I seek, the question burns within the fire, so I may hear my hearts desire.” I murmured and the flames shot up higher. “Whoa.” Riley said, sitting back with wide eyes, but I was focused on the shape that formed in the fire. It was a wolf, the shape actually burned white as it prowled around the ring of stone, but when it came around to me, it sat and threw it’s head back in a silent howl.

I instantly thought of the white statue I’d bought for Druex in Salem when I’d come to visit Peyton. I reached out like I was going to touch it and a hand came down around my wrist, holding firmly. I looked up at Drustan and he shook his head. “You’ll burn yourself.” he said with a frown and I shook my head. “I wasn’t going to touch it, please let go.” After a second, he did let go. I looked back to the flames and the wolf was still there, like it was looking at me, waiting. I focused and it got up, leaping from the fire with a trail of flame, stalking across the ground, growing in size until it was as big as Druex was in his furry form.

It walked to the bookshelves and prowled until it found what it wanted. A slender black book. It looked back at me and I got up, but once the power of the circle was severed, the wolf vanished and was sucked back into the fire. “That was awesome.” Riley said, and while I agreed, I was interested in the book the wolf had chosen. I pulled it from the shelf and found that it was actually a book on exorcism. Not the church kind, the witch kind. “What’s the book?” Peyton asked and I turned, holding it up with a wiggle. “Apparently we need an old priest and a young priest.” Riley made an excited Oo sound, almost a squeal. “An exorcism? Cool!” I nodded and flipped through the book, the spell to excise a demon from a host, a Wiccan host, required sixteen witches and suggested that familiars be present to help boost the power of the circle. “I have the plan.” I said, feeling the frustration break and my heart soar.

So when night fell, I took my group and asked Drustan to take us back to the cave. He agreed but mad me promise to ask before I brought my people inside to the secret cavern of the Phoenix. The Lords of Salem, had left at noon to travel with a group of extremely pious church goers to Salem proper. Giving themselves an alibi, they were unhappy to be not involved in the fight, but I had assured them if aid was needed, I would find a way to get to them.