Wishes and Stardust

She had brewed the potion so carefully, taking each step as slowly as she dared, meticulous in her planning and measuring. It had taken her months to prepare the potion and spell. She couldn’t afford to mess this up. She had only enough ingredients for one shot at this spell, and if she didn’t get it right, she didn’t know what she would do. Be doomed to live forever alone, never able to truly die, and never able to truly live, either, she supposed. With a quickly indrawn breath and a prayer to her gods and the moon goddess Selene, the witch gathered up her potion and the final ingredient and stepped outside into the moonlight. She was nude, or skyclad, as she usually was when she practiced her craft, and her long, raven’s-wing black hair flowed in soft, spiraling clouds down her back, covering her like the most luxurious robe down to her calves. “Blessed Moon Mother,” she prayed fervently, “I ask that you watch over your daughter this night. Keep your eye shining brightly upon me, and protect me with your light.” She felt a warmth spread through her as the moon mother’s light intensified for a moment around her. Sabine breathed deeply and allowed her shoulders to relax, dropping them away from her ears and rolling them backwards to help release some of the tension she’d been carrying these past few months. The spell would work. She had the moon mother’s blessing and protection now, which was all the reassurance she needed. Feeling far more confident now, Sabine strode into the clearing next to her cottage, nodding at the large mama grizzly who lounged in the shadows created by the forest canopy on the far side of the clearing, keeping a close and careful eye on her cubs, who were scampering and playing in the moonlight. “Hello, Serena,” she greeted the massive bear through their mind link. Waving to her long-time friend, Sabine was greeted with a nod from the bear. Serena wasn’t as chatty as some of her predecessors had been, but she spoke when the situation warranted. Serena’s children, however, did not share the same silent trait as their mother, and as soon as they spotted Sabine, there were twin cries of happiness echoing in her mind, followed by her name being rhythmically chanted as the two youngsters galloped toward her. Knowing what was about to happen, she quickly but carefully set down the basket she was carrying that contained her potion and the other ingredients she needed for her spell, then moved a step away and braced herself. A moment later, she found herself laying on her back in the grass, the two bear cubs playing and rolling on top of her. “What you do, Beanie?” one of the cubs wanted to know. “We help?” The nickname made Sabine smile, and she ruffled the fur of the cub that had spoken. “I’m preparing a spell, Cinnamon. I’m afraid there’s nothing for you to help with, though. It’s all finished.” The bear cubs laughed together and rolled over her legs, making Sabine grin and reach out for them playfully. They shrieked and ran off, only to come galloping back toward her the moment she turned her back on them. She, of course, heard them coming, and was prepared for the solid weight that came flying at her. Whipping around at the last moment, she darted out of the way, causing the cubs to scramble as they landed with laughter and tried to turn quickly to chase her. They were all surprised by Serena, who ambled up to them and swatted one of the cubs gently on the flank, which made them both shriek with laughter and run back toward the safety of the treeline. Settling herself down comfortably, the mama grizzly turned her attention to her friend. “You spell ready?” she asked, nudging Sabine’s knees with her nose. Settling herself beside the massive bear, the witch leaned over and rested her head against the soft fur of Serena’s shoulder. “I think so, my friend. The Moon Mother has cast her blessing upon me, which I take as a good sign.” “You sure you want do this, Beanie? You said spell dangerous. Could go very wrong.” Sabine wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged her tightly. “The Moon Mother wouldn’t have granted me her blessing and protection if she didn’t think I was doing the right thing.” But Serena just grunted. “Moon Mother better be right.” “She is never wrong, my friend.” Glancing up at the sky to gauge what time it was, Sabine decided she had dawdled enough. “It’s time,” she said simply. Serena grumbled, but lumbered to her feet once again. “Me just got comfy. Why you not say so before, Witch Girl?” Laughing, knowing that the bear wasn’t truly upset but teasing her, Sabine bumped her shoulder against Serena’s side and teased back, “Where would the fun have been in that?” “You lucky I not have taste for witch girls, Witch Girl.” “I know, my friend. I am very lucky that you don’t have a taste for human flesh.” Despite the banter and good natured teasing, Serena turned to face Sabine, concern and worry clear in her chocolate brown eyes when she looked up at her friend. “Me worried,” she said. “Witch Girl, you promise you come back safe. Yes?” Sabine took her friend’s large face in her hands and bent down to press their foreheads together, both of their eyes closing at the familiar and comforting gesture. “I have the Moon Mother’s blessing, Serena. She will protect me and keep me safe.” Serena pulled away just far enough to squint her eyes in disbelief. “Moon Mother best be right,” she insisted again. “Me not be happy if me lose best friend.” “You will never lose me.”  Serena didn’t look convinced, and she huffed once again in irritation before turning away to round up her cubs and usher them back to the treeline. Sabine watched them go, smiling at Cinnamon and Sugar’s antics as they raced and chased each other on the far side of the clearing, watched over carefully by Serena. Once they were far enough away, but still close enough that the mama grizzly could keep an eye on her friend while she cast her spell, the witch bent down to the basket she’d brought out and withdrew five white beeswax candles. Drawing a circle in the grass with her bare toes, she placed the five candles at strategic points – north, south, east, west, and center – before drawing a deep breath to center herself. She needed to be calm and clear-headed as she cast her circle of protection, so she didn’t begin until she felt relaxed and her breath had evened out. Beginning at the Eastern tip of the circle and the candle she had placed there, Sabine picked it up and held the candle carefully between her hands. “Air, I call to you and ask you to come to this circle, to guide and protect it, and to keep the work that is done within it safe.” As she breathed out gently onto the wick and a small flame flickered to life, Sabine felt a rush of air around her feet, twisting and swirling around her, making her hair dance in the light breeze, before dispersing and settling. “Thank you air,” she murmured, before setting the candle down and moving deosil – or clockwise – around the circle to the southern candle she had placed there. She reat4ed the same process as before, saying, “Fire, I call to you and ask you to come to this circle, to guide and protect it, and to keep the work that is done within it safe.” Once again, Sabine blew gently on the wick, but this time, the flame that jumped to life was high and bright, and warmth filled her pleasantly, as though she was sitting at the hearth of a crackling fire. She repeated the process twice more, once for water at the western point, and again for earth at the northern point. Finally, she moved to the center of the circle and picked up the last candle. “Spirit, I call to you and ask you to come to this circle, to guide and protect it, and to keep the work that is done within it safe.” As she blew on the wick and a flame jumped to life, Sabine felt an intense sense of happiness and peace flow through her and she grinned fiercely for a moment.  Spirit had always been her favorite element throughout her many lives, and the easiest for her to call and connect with. As the circle was completed, Sabine could see the white flow of what she assumed was Spirit connecting each of the outer four candles together, creating the protective circle she had asked for. Satisfied that she was as safe as she could be, Sabine knelt at the center of her circle and gathered everything she needed from her basket before sitting back on her heels and beginning the spell she had worked so hard to create. As she worked, her concentration and focus were completely centered on the ingredients in front of her, the words to the spell she needed circling in her thoughts. Holding two poppets that had been made from twigs, leaves, and twine, Sabine dipped her finger into the jar of fresh honey at her feet and smeared a large dollop of the sticky sweet stuff onto the head and chest of the first poppet, before dipping her finger again and repeating the process on the second poppet. Licking her finger clean, she then pressed the two poppets to the Spirit candle and wrapped string around the three items twice, binding them all together. As she wrapped the string painfully slowly around the trip of objects for the third time, she recited the first verse of her spell. “Heart calls to heart, Mind calls to mind, And with this string, So I shall bind.” With the second verse, she wrapped the string around the poppets and Spirit candle another three times. “Two souls shall become one, Never again to be undone. The spell is set, the die is cast, And this true love shall forever last.” The last verse was the longest, so she took even more time in winding the string about the poppets and the Spirit candle as she recited the last part of her spell. “This plea is sent from me to thee, Across time and space and land and sea. I call on thee in perfect trust, Ready to do whatever needs must. As I will it, three by three by three, Bringing harm to none, so mote it be.” As she finished the spell and completed wrapping the string around the poppets and candle, the flame on the Spirit candle shot into a blaze for a moment, and when it died down, the two dolls had been fused together with the candle, the string having completely disappeared. Satisfied that her spell was working precisely as it was supposed to, Sabine picked up the vial of potion and took out the cork, ready to be transported to her love, the one that could not be taken from her by death or time. Lifting the vial to her lips, the liquid had just touched them when she was startled by an explosion of sound in the previously quiet clearing. First and foremost, she heard Sugar’s scream of pain, both with her ears and in her mind, followed by Serena’s furious roar. Whipping around to see what had happened, she saw Sugar lying on the ground, an arrow protruding from her side. Cinnamon stood over her protectively, snarling and growling at two men who slowly approached the cubs. Serena was standing on her two hind legs, desperately trying to get to her cubs while fighting off two more hunters with long stick-like weapons. Wanting to help, Sabine flung out her empty hand to throw out a protective spell around her friends. As her concentration broke from her spellwork, the barrier of her protective circle got weaker, just enough that a fifth witch hunter was able to come up behind her and shoot another arrow into the meat of her shoulder. Sabine cried out in pain, but didn’t drop her hand from its outstretched position. “Witch Girl, no!” Serena cried. “But Sugar…!” “Cub okay. Look, Beanie! Cub okay.” Relucantly, Sabine did as her friend commanded and glanced again at Sugar, who was on her feet and making her way slowly toward the treeline and away from the four hunters whose focus was now all on the furious mama grizzly they faced. “Finish spell. Go!” “Serena…” “Go, Beanie! Go now!” Serena punctuated her command with a loud roar that threatened to topple the trees around them and made the five men pause in their tracks. Casting a final glance toward the bear cubs, she was relieved to see that Cinnamon had helped Sugar get to the trees,  and they were both making their way toward Serena. Deciding to heed the grizzly’s advice, Sabine tipped the vial of potion up to her mouth and swallowed the contents. The world went impossibly bright for a moment, and she thought she heard someone screaming. Then everything went dark, and she fell into a deep sleep.