Page 4 of Shadowed Summer Sun

Maggie stepped back, pulling her daughter into her arms and holding her tight as the Coven continued to provide me with my tasks.

Sandra, our Sister of Records, came before me and presented an unbroken star anise and a thistle flower. She wrapped them in fabric cut from our ancestors’ cloth.

“Thirdly, mingle your blood with the essence of Death and sprinkle it across the ritual site,” Sandra spoke and then returned to the ring the Coven had made around the table.

Ravena, Sister of Song, who led our dances, came before me. She spread oil across my chest, shoulders, and legs, noting the dragon’s blood and leaving the lines I’d created unbroken. The oil smelled heady and intoxicating, a blend of vanilla, vetiver, and walnut.

“Pass over 100 Steps, beseeching passage to the Guarded Wood from The Undertaker. On the shores of Cottlewick Lake, form your circle.” Ravena handed me a pot of growing St. John’s Wort, “Center this. When it breaks, when the plant gives its life to you, the power you seek will be yours.”

Tipping my chin up to meet her eyes, Ravena stared into me. My heart pounded in my ears.

“Wild, young one,” her eyes glassed over with white as she whispered words meant only for me, “Unite. The King of Summer’s End waits. In the Darkness, you will find strength. You will find yourself.”

Ravena’s eyes returned to their lovely shade of deep blue, and she smiled, unaware of the message that had just flowed from her lips. I smiled back.

So that was what had been over my shoulder for as long as I could remember, keeping watch over me since I was a child. The King of Summer’s End, an ancient Elder God of Shadow and Death and Rebirth. A hunter and a force as old as time. And tonight, I would come face to face with him.

The weight of the beads in my hair and the warmth that seeped into me from my bag of supplies stilled my frantic heart. The Coven chanted, ‘Let it be so’ in unison, and I rose from the table. I hugged each of them, each for a few moments longer than necessary, and then left through the front door.

I swallowed hard, the warm breeze wafting over my skin and smelling of leaves and spice.

Ready yourself, mighty King. I seek power to protect and to do battle, and you’re going to give it to me.

Badb landed on my shoulder as I stepped off the wooden steps of our Coven’s house. I scratched under her beak, passing under our giant willow tree and knocking on the bark.

“To The Simple Bridge.”

She squawked at me.

“I know. But it’s now. My dream…” My words trailed off. Badb saw into my soul, finding the truth I wasn’t ready to speak.

As I set off toward the abandoned bridge near the forest’s western edge, a sharp pain stopped me in my tracks. Invisible claws dug into my scalp, forcing me down to my knees. I knew it all too well, visited by them throughout my years, and the force ofhispresence had grown stronger.

I knew him now, the King of Summer’s End, and named him in my mind.

The claws freed from my hair, dragging down the back of my neck to encircle it and squeeze. My vision tunneled as I struggled for breath, and another set of sharp nails slowly raked up my side, moving across my chest where the oil had been painted.

The massive spread of fingers reached from the hollow of my neck to under the curves of my breasts. Ragged breaths of a beast tickled the back of my neck, sending goosebumps skittering across my flesh.

‘Soon.’

The monstrous voice that echoed in my head knifed into me; a predator’s grave growl joined with a lover’s hushed tones.

I scratched at the force around my neck, desperate for air.

Just as quickly as it occurred, it was gone. My lungs heaved, and I coughed, eyes watering and dripping onto the Earth below me. When my vision cleared, I saw that I knelt between the posts of the Coven house’s gate, not wholly past it nor within the perimeter. I was in between the two.

Standing and stepping onto the road, I closed the gate firmly behind me, locking it. I sent a ward into the wood and metal, sealing it shut.

He’d reached me unbidden through the space between. I would remember that and repeated the familiar warning in my mind.

The in-between are doorways, be wary of what you open & close.

Chapter Two

Do Not Look Back On The Simple Bridge. Hold Your Breath & Cross.

TheSimpleBridgelayat the edge of the forest to the west, just past the flimsy county line separating ours from our neighbors. It was in horrendous disrepair, and no one dared fix it. Or tear it down, for that matter. And each witch in the Coven knew to avoid it.

---