Page 17 of Witch's Exile
Ash's aura began glowing with activity, surrounding his whole body in a dark halo with crackles of red electricity. His glorious black wings unfolded and stretched out to the sides of his body.
I rooted myself into the earth, pulling up the shadow side of my own magic. Instead of life, growth, and healing, I curled my fingers and brought forward their polar opposites-- death, decay, and ruination.
"What are we making this place look like?" I asked.
"How about a burned out husk? That'll keep them scratching their heads for a while." Ash began drawing crackling red sigils in the air, which flew out in all directions every time he finished one. They hit trees and rocks and faded until they were invisible. I realized he was creating anchors for our spell around the perimeter, which would hold our magic in place long after we were gone.
"So I get to play with fire then?" I asked with a grin.
He smiled back. "Feel free to get creative, love."
Oh, I intended to.
Ash got to work on creating the glamour image for the hunters to find, an empty house with broken windows and only the frame still standing. Then I stepped in and filled in all the details.
The trees and plants closest to the house became a blackened shell of what they once were. Furniture, walls, and books became nothing but piles of ashes everywhere. Charred, fallen support beams hung at precarious angles from the second floor. The stairs had been burned away as well. My minds eye traveled up to my bedroom where Ash and I enjoyed each other just minutes ago.
Smiling inwardly, I waved my hands in front of my face to cast the illusion of barely identifiable burned corpses in what remained of the bed. Let's see if hunters could hold in their stomach contents after seeing that.
But something was still missing-- the final key to send this illusion over the top into reality. I needed smells and smoke.
Pulling my focus away from the glamour spell, I traveled inward through my own shadows and quickly arrived at the wall where Ash and I had been yesterday. I carefully peered into one of the dark crevices of the wall, still seeing nothing. Like last time I reached and tried to feel without sight, but the secret remained tightly wedged in its little nook.
Don't try to catch air with your hands. Capture it with your lungs.That was what Seth told me in the dream.
My focus wavered just slightly as I debated on his words, but I quickly regained it. It didn't hurt to try, right?
I lowered myself to the crevice in the wall until I was eye-level with it, then pursed my lips together and blew a gentle stream of air directly into it. Nothing seemed to happen at first but just before I pulled my face away, a tiny spark caught my eye.
I tried to look closer but it faded. I blew another breath, slowly and steadily, and saw it again. I felt like I was starting a fire from scratch, gently blowing on this spark over and over until it wouldn't fade.
When it remained stable without my breath, I still wasn't hit with that knowledge of its power like I was with the other elements. Once I found the spark of Fire and Water, their abilities filled my consciousness just as naturally as Earth. But Ash warned me that Air was volatile, and nowhere near as easy.
As the spark began to fade once again, I did the only thing I could think of. I pursed my lips together again and sucked in a deep inhale breath.
The spark of magic began moving toward me. My heart jumped into my throat but I kept breathing in, watching the magic travel its way through my mouth and nostrils until it settled itself into my lungs. The power that filled me in the next moment, quite literally took my breath away.
I jerked violently away from the shadows of my subconscious and found myself lying on the forest floor, Ash and Sal both standing over me with concerned expressions.
"I did it," I wheezed. "I found Air."
The guys both leaned down to help me up but I waved them off, summoning a gust of wind to push me to my feet.
"Holy fuck." Ash stared at me wide-eyed as Sal brushed dead leaves and pine needles out of my hair, before grabbing my face and kissing me aggressively. "You're so fucking amazing, my love."
Sal murmured his agreement as he lifted my hair and kissed the back of my neck, awakening my spine with a delicious tingle. I knew a threesome between Sal and Ash would never happen but I couldn't stop the thought from entering my mind.
"I couldn't have done it without either of you." I leaned back against Sal's chest while losing myself in Ash's icy blue eyes. "Now step back, boys. Let me finish my work."
They gave me space as I called on Air to really solidify the illusion in front of me. Ash was right about one thing, this magic was much more difficult to wield than any of the other elements. And yet I saw how Air flowed through and enhanced everything. My Earth, Fire, and Water brimmed with new power. I would need to practice and take care now that I had all the pieces together.
I swirled fiery ashes into the air, creating the illusion of a burning smell. I stoked the glamoured flames into making smoke rise from the ruined structure, not enough to lead them directly here but just enough to give them the idea the fire had been recent.
And I made sure to draw on my Earth and Fire to send charred particles of flesh into the air. Their best guess would be that a damn dragon torched this place and everyone in it.
After completing my work, I released my magic and relaxed my hands.
"Let's go," I said softly.
Above us, a raven flapped its wings and cawed. I felt an aura reach out to touch mine and gasped at how tightly my heart squeezed. I could practically feel Raum's stubble against my skin, his throaty chuckle from deep in his chest, and that naughty twinkle in his dark eyes. I missed him so much my heart physically ached.
But I pushed his aura away and kept walking with Ash and Sal. After giving me the cold shoulder for this long, he wouldn't get access to my emotions that easily. If he wanted to talk, he could do it face to face.
Ash, Sal, and I walked a few hundred yards away from the fake smoldering ruin of our house. Standing between them, I took their hands in each of mine and waited for the world around me to get sucked away.
And just like that, we left like exiles from the second place I ever called home.
