Three's a Spell

[Elora] As I walk to work no one ever gives me a second glance. I easily blend into a crowd with my short stature and average features. My long wavy brown hair is always neatly brushed or maybe thrown back into a low ponytail but is rarely ever styled or braided. My clothes wouldn't even catch any wandering eyes; usually black, I often wear simple loose flowy dresses or soft fabric overalls and open-toed sandals. I think back to when I was a kid; my skin would crawl if my mother tried to dress me up or do my hair. When we went to my aunt's wedding, the thickness of makeup felt like plastic wrap covering my skin. No one understood me when I told them my nails were suffocating when they were painted. I always felt like there was something wrong with me until my coming-of-age. Over several months when I was 12 years old, my magic started coming in. At first I noticed differences in the way the air would smell or how the sound of the wind was like soft music humming in my ears. One day I was walking through my mother's garden and as my feet left the grass and landed in the freshly-turned dirt I was shocked to find the ground felt warm. My mother told me I was starting to feel the energies of the world around me. She told me that soon my affinity would become clear. I could finally start practicing magic and find where my place in the world would one day be. Every witch had a single natural affinity- a magical calling that would lead their way in life. Some elders could use the magic of 2 or 3 affinities, but this required a lot of training and the power of a large coven. One day, around my 13th birthday, the elders in my family's coven came to celebrate my affinity day. They began to set up the ritual space. My mother was a fire witch and my father was a night warlock. Their ritual space was a great round room of stone floors and charcoal walls lined with cast iron sconces and a large firepit in the center. It was cold and dark, and during the day it felt like a dungeon. The only thing appealing in this space to me was the vast opening in the ceiling that at night let in the light of the moon and the sight of the stars. The elders began placing items around the room: a bowl of spring water, potted dirt, a crystal ball, a bowl of ashes. By the time they finished there were nearly 30 items arranged aimlessly throughout the room. All of the elders held hands in a circle with my mother and father on either side of me. My parents did not hold my hands but placed their free hand on each of my shoulders. They all sung and chanted and the items in the room began to glow. One by one everyone left the room. As my mother left she looked back at me and said "remember, you don't have to choose, just close your eyes and listen; your magic will guide you." The moment the door closed I felt a pull to one side of the room. I slowly walked past a few items: a broken clock, a bowl of ice, a small marble statue, a bird skeleton. As I walked by the items, their glow faded. I approached an empty pedestal and felt drawn to this space. I felt warm, but there was nothing there. Behind the pedestal was a pot of dirt. I did not think twice as I shoved my hands into the soil and closed my eyes tight as the glow brightened. Heat radiated my whole body and as I breathed in I could smell sunlight and hear wind blowing. When I opened my eyes, clover had grown from the soil and flowers kissed my wrists. Earth. From that moment it all made sense; I was not a picky kid with sensory issues, I just wanted to feel natural. From then on my mother stopped her insistence of dresses with makeup and instead built me an outdoor shower to use before coming back inside from whatever mischief I was up to in the gardens. When I turned 18 I moved to Summerset to begin my own life. When I was young, the world knew of vampires, werewolves and witches, but much of the supernatural world decided to stay hidden. Vampires have an entire political structure that stretches the entire world and is run by the "council". Werewolves on the other hand have packs all around the world but stay separate from each other. Some packs are large enough to have entire cities under their reign. It was a large pack like this that made a pact with the master of the largest vampire territory that decided to "come out" to the human world. Their original territory is what became Summerset, the largest stomping ground for supernaturals that want to live open and in peace with the world. A few humans are sprinkled throughout the city, but they are far outnumbered by other species. Some old school werewolves still live in packs, but other than that, the social structures of the supernatural have blended well with the humans. On my way to work I pass Indrick, the centaur that delivers mail. I see him walking out of a hospitals HR office where most of the banshees in the city work. I pass the theater where many shape-shifters put on shows and the laboratories where many fae have been leading the research in reproductive differences in species. I hear they are using Minotaur samples for a new human Viagra and that they recently opened a clinic for interspecies couples that want babies that uses the unique physiology of werewolves to help them conceive. This has been a perfect place to build my business.