Page 16 of Tricky Magic
She didn’t trust her trickster powers fully, and she trusted them even less when she planned on doing something that required so much magic and focus. Seers were meant to guide others, and looking into your own future tended to have catastrophic consequences. Regardless of what you saw, you couldn’t change it, and trying would upset the balance. Some seers went crazy, stuck on an endless loop of trying to change things and looking into their future again only to see it was worse.
I will keep you grounded, and the house will be here to put out any fires or chaos if needed,Billy said confidently.
“Let’s get this over with.” She let out a long breath as she stepped into the circle. She sat on the floor with her legs crossed, and Billy settled her head in her lap, her touch grounding.
Placing her hands palm side up on either knee, Ellea attempted to clear her mind. She took a breath in, inhaling the familiar scent of her home—sage, coffee, and books—and let the breath out. A weightless feeling settled over her before a thought tugged her forward.
Show me what is to come.
The smells of burning trees and death came first. Then the soft ringing in her ears faded to the sounds of crackling fire and cries of the dying as she was surrounded by the vision that always haunted her.
Ellea was standing at the top of a hill with destruction laid before her. The smell of burning and death seemed so much stronger than before. Jadis, Felix, and Billy were dead before her. Her limp hair hung heavy on top of her thin dress, and blood and mud coated her arms and legs. There wasn’t a living soul in sight except for her parents to her left. The sound of their excited heartbeats crept into her ears, and then a new sound fluttered in. It came from her right. A weight settled on her right shoulder. Her breath quickened as she turned her head to see the large hand of a man. She looked up to take in this new person, but she couldn’t. He was so tall, and as her eyes raked up his enormous chest, she was pulled back to the present before she could take in his face.
“What happened, why did it stop?”
I don’t know, you kept mumbling, ‘Who are you?’, then you came back.
“How long was I out for?” It had felt like seconds.
Twenty minutes,Billy said, looking worried.
Ellea’s eyes shot to the pools of wax around the salt circle and the floor.
What happened, what did you see?Billy’s weight pressed into her more.
Ellea took a breath and pulled the vision back into her mind, picturing the male standing with her.
“Fears evolve and grow, welcoming another...” It came out in a whisper. She cleared her throat and continued, “there was a guy there. I don’t know who he was, and I didn’t see his face. But...but I felt calm with his hand on my shoulder. I don’t know what it meant, if he helped me destroy everything or…. I felt so calm, so right.”
What do you mean?
“How can I feel calm with that amount of death and destruction?” she said, barely hearing her own words. “How could I feel so calm when you were all dead and my parents were beside me?”
And there was no way to recognize him?Billy asked.
“Maybe he was the guy from my dream before? He was so tall, but I only made it to his chest before I was snapped back. It felt like I knew him, though. But I can’t place him.” She could feel her heart race just thinking about him. “This was dumb, I have no answers.”
Billy stood to be eye level with Ellea, still sitting on the floor.Take a breath. I can feel your powers humming. It could mean anything, Bug. You know how visions can be seen one way and interpreted another.
Panic crept up her chest as a new fear found her. What if there was a guy out there who would help her destroy all that she loved? The candles, still lit, began floating as the salt vibrated off the floor. A crackling energy floated around her open hands, and the flames of the candles grew tall and aggressive in an instant. Thunder and lightning cracked right outside the house. Her breath came in quick pants, and the room began to blur at the edges of her sight. Who was he? Another crack of thunder and lightning came too quickly to be a storm brought on by nature.
Breathe, Bug, through your nose and out your mouth. Do it now!Breathe, Billy roared in her head.
The house opened the doors suddenly, bringing in a gust of wind and rain. It blew out the candles, and Billy growled, a beastly growl that snuffed Ellea’s panic quickly. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight of the familiar in front of her. Her haunches had risen a few inches, and her lengthened claws had dug into the floor. Her canines lengthened right in front of Ellea’s face, and her liquid gold eyes glowed like neon lights.
Ellea took a deep breath in her nose; it shook as she exhaled, trying to find thoughts that would calm her down.
The dream.
The one of the man she didn’t know, the man who had listened to her and promised her things she never knew she wanted.
Again,Billy said with a scary, otherworldly voice.
So she did, again and again. Breathing and remembering his hot body, the room came into clearer view, and Billy shrunk back to her normal form.
* * *
Ellea stared blanklyat the crown molding in her bedroom. Billy’s big head was heavy on her shins. Questions swam in her head; they had been since she’d finally calmed down and crawled into bed. Nothing could quell the anxiety that crushed her chest. She felt lost, like she was floating between what was real and what was to come.
