Page 46 of Sorcia's Heart
Sorcia stepped forward, her voice calm but determined.“I think I can fix this.”
“How?”Marcus asked, his brows furrowing as he glanced at her.
She didn’t answer immediately, instead letting her gaze sweep across the clearing.The moonlight painted everything in shades of silver and black, obscuring the finer details.Closing her eyes, she stilled her thoughts, tuning into the energy of the forest and the tainted earth beneath her feet.
After several moments of focused silence, she lifted her hands, her fingers curling slightly as if beckoning to the very soil.Her movements were deliberate, almost ritualistic, as if she were pleading with the earth to respond.
The ground began to tremble beneath them, a low rumble that sent loose leaves and debris skittering.But moments later, Sorcia stopped and opened her eyes, her face pale but resolute.“This problem is bigger than I thought,” she admitted, her voice tinged with both awe and frustration.
Marcus stepped closer, his hand steadying her shoulder.“You can’t do this alone.If you’re trying what I think you’re trying, you’ll need every bit of help you can get.”
She glanced down at the widening cracks in the dirt, already feeling the strain from the magic she’d expended.He was right—this wasn’t something she could fix by herself.Nodding, she pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Zelda.
“Zelda, I need your help,” she said without preamble.“And the help of every witch on your team.”After a brief explanation, she ended the call and immediately dialed Jane, repeating her request.“Everyone,” she said to Marcus and Jace, her voice steady despite the enormity of the task.“I’m going to need the entire coven.”
Jace frowned, glancing up at the moonlit sky.“What the hell are you planning?”he asked, his confusion plain.
Marcus, always practical, snapped his fingers, and a pair of pants appeared in his hand.“You might want to put these on,” he suggested dryly.“A bunch of witches are about to show up, and some of them might find your, uh… lack of clothing distracting.”
Jace lifted a hand to silence Marcus, taking the pants with a sigh.“I get it,” he muttered, slipping them on just as the first pair of witches arrived.
The clearing began to fill quickly.The witches, flying low to avoid detection, landed gracefully in pairs, their robes and cloaks fluttering in the gentle night breeze.The darkness cloaked their arrival, but their combined energy was palpable, crackling in the air like static electricity.
Jane landed next, her expression grim.“More are on their way,” she announced, her voice steady but laced with urgency.
Within minutes, over two hundred witches stood in the clearing, their faces lit by a shared determination.Thesphaerashimmered faintly above them, a testament to their unified presence and power.
“We’re ready,” Zelda said, her voice firm as she stepped forward, her gaze locking with Sorcia’s.
Sorcia took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the moment settle over her.“Let’s begin.”
Marcus’s voice cut through the tension, steady but commanding.“I think we have enough support for now.Let’s send out a message for the others to stand by.”
Sorcia nodded, her determination unwavering.She raised her hand high, a burst of radiant light shooting from her fingers and rippling through thesphaera.A tremor vibrated in the magical sphere, and every witch in the area turned to face their High Priestess, their expressions solemn and focused, awaiting her command.
“You’ve all done an excellent job of searching,” Sorcia began, her voice firm and resonating with authority.“But Bethany is still missing.We know an elf is involved, though we don’t know how or why.What we do know is that strange, unnatural things have happened in this area.”She gestured toward Marcus, who stood tall and resolute beside her.“We’ve had the soil analyzed.There are heavy metals in the ground that are hindering the wolves from tracking Bethany’s scent.Everything stops here.”
The witches leaned in, their attention riveted as Sorcia’s green eyes swept over them.“We need to lift the heavy metals from this area so Jace and his pack can resume their search.I tried doing it on my own, but this requires all of us.Spread out into a circle.I’ll initiate the spell, and each of you will channel your powers to continue drawing the toxins out of the soil.Do you understand?”
A collective murmur of agreement rippled through the coven as they moved into position, forming a wide circle around Sorcia.
At her signal, Sorcia lifted her arms, her fingers trembling slightly with the effort as she began the incantation.Her voice was clear, the ancient words resonating with power.One by one, the witches took up the spell, their voices weaving into a harmonious chant.The ground beneath them rumbled ominously, the trees swaying as if caught in an unnatural wind.
Bits of debris began floating into the air, swirling chaotically like a macabre snowstorm.Sorcia’s chest tightened as she pushed harder, her powers reaching deep into the earth.She could feel the toxic presence below, massive and resistant, entangled in roots and layers of dirt.
“Sorcia!”Marcus called out, his voice rising above the cacophony of the quaking ground and chanting witches.“Be careful!”
She heard him but didn’t respond, her focus narrowing to the dark force beneath her.Her muscles strained, her breath coming in gasps as she dug deeper, her magic clawing at the entrenched barrels of waste.Sweat beaded on her brow as her fingers curled tighter, her power surging.
Finally, the earth split open with a thunderous crack, and thirty rusting barrels erupted from the ground, hovering in the air as debris and toxic fumes spilled from their corroded surfaces.
“We need a dump truck!”Marcus shouted, his voice cutting through the chaos.He stepped forward, his hands glowing as he added his power to hers, steadying the barrels as they trembled under the weight of the remaining debris.
One witch broke from the circle to call for reinforcements.The disruption nearly knocked Sorcia off her feet, but Marcus was there, his power stabilizing her as she continued the spell.Her arms shook violently, her entire body trembling with the strain of holding the barrels aloft.
The distant rumble of engines signaled the arrival of the first dump truck.Relief coursed through Sorcia, but she didn’t dare let up.The sound of the truck revving was deafening as it pulled into position.Together, with the combined strength of her coven, they began transferring the barrels into the truck bed.
One truck filled up, then another, and another.The process was grueling, the witches working in seamless harmony despite their visible exhaustion.By the time the last barrel was secured and ten trucks were loaded, Sorcia was barely standing.
