A Gift of Magic

Chapter 1

Leigh straightened her clothes, checked her tight braid, and readjusted the straps on her bag. She let out a shaky breath as she reached shaky fingers out to a large tree.

            Before she could lay her fingers on the tree a deep soft voice stopped her. “May I borrow a moment of your time before you leave?”

            Leigh turned to the direction of his voice and was struck with awe of the male before her. He was tall with broad muscular shoulders, brown hair that shifted to all the different shades of brown depending on the light he was in cascading to his shoulders, and eyes of pure hazel shining with bright intensity. The most shocking though was this male looked to be glowing. Was this one of Danu’s siblings? If it were then he must be the god Cernunnos, the god of beasts and wild places. But why would he be visiting her and requesting her time. She dropped to one knee and bowed her head; she would not insult a god.

            “Rise daughter of Danu, I must speak with you before you begin your journey.” Cernunnos smiled as Leigh slowly rose to her feet. “I want to begin by thanking you. Through your love and care of the animals and wild places with such a love and deference you have inadvertently given me power.

            A puzzled expression crossed Leigh’s face, “I’m sorry Lord Cernunnos I do not understand.”

            He shrugged, “Our mother Eire created the boar, wolf, tiger, lion, and bear shifters for me. Through their existence I gain and maintain power. Centuries ago, most shifter clans stopped praying to or believing in me and therefore I lost a great deal of power. Your entire existence, even before your powers manifested you have always taken care of the animals and the wild places. Your love and care of the animals and the wild places has been giving me the power of the faithful. It is because of this gift you have given me that I wish to give you a gift as well to aide you on your quest for my dear sister Danu.”

            Leigh sputtered, “Lord Cernunnos, a gift is not necessary. It has been my joy to care for the animals and wild places. I am happy to give you the gift of the faithful without anything in return.”

            Cernunnos nodded, “this is precisely why you are the best Druid for the quest and the only one in history I will bestow this gift upon.” He reached out and placed a glowing hand upon her head, “Druid Leigh, beloved daughter of the goddess Danu, protector of the innocent, I bestow upon you the gift of speech. From this moment to the end of your days you will be able to speak with any wild creature that comes along you path. With this gift the wild places will never keep secretes from you and will always show you the safest paths.”

            A warmth infused Leigh’s body starting with her head and slowly reaching her toes. As the god’s words sunk in, she was astonished at the gift he bestowed upon her. When the glow receded from her body she responded, “I am honored by your gift lord Cernunnos, and will use it wisely.”

            Cernunnos let out a laugh, “use it as you will, there is no way to abuse my gift. Just remember that the animals cannot communicate beyond their means. For example, you are not likely to have deep conversations with squirrels. Be warned that this gift will not work on any were that has shifted for they can already understand you and have the ability to communicate back if they want. The safest of journeys to you.” With those words Cernunnos disappeared leaving Leigh stunned.

            Leigh closed her eyes and listened to the jungle sounds around her. She realized that she could hear monkeys chattering about bananas and mangoes. She smiled and shook her head. Turning back to the tree she had originally chosen as her transport she closed her eyes again and envisioned the place that goddess Danu had placed in her head. “I can do this,” she whispered and touched the trunk. Shocked her hand sunk into the tree trunk and she pushed the rest of her body along with her outstretched hand. After what felt like only a few steps she stepped out into a forest next to an abandoned weather-stripped cottage and knew she was somewhere close to Salem. She walked about ten paces from the tree and sat down on the ground in a cross-legged position and placed her hands on the ground. Closing her eyes, she sent out searching powers to see what the land could tell her. Immediately she could feel that the land was sad and not well cared for, she could feel a sadness clustered in a small close clearing and surmised that the Druid family of long ago was buried there. The land also told here that the animals were hungry, a greedy people lived upon this land and took without giving back.

Logan was trotting though the trees when he felt a disturbance in the magic. He was an enforcer for the were-council and traveled throughout the world investigating were communities to ensure they were following the laws. He had been in Jason’s territory now for a month and his reports to the council had been getting grimmer and grimmer. Jason still had not done anything to directly oppose council law and therefore by council law could not legally be removed by them. The land run by Jason had felt weak and drained the entire time he had been here, but suddenly he could feel the land calling to someone. The animals surrounding him began rushing away in the location of the old witch’s cabin. Curious Logan began loping that way. He was in his wolf form which should keep him concealed from any human eyes. When he came to the cabin clearing, he was stuck dumb by what he saw. A short curvy woman was sitting cross legged on the ground with her eyes closed. She had beautiful wavy black hair with unexpected green highlights and one unusual brown section on one side. As she sat there two things happened; first her green highlights began to glow and second the animals of the forest began encircling her patiently waiting for her to finish.

            Long ago witches were believed to be evil in human communities and were killed. He knew that only a few families of witches were left in the world. As a result, the were-council had expressed to all clans that witches were to be considered safe and untouchable. He knew that there hadn’t been a witch in this region of the world in over 300 years. What was she doing here now?

            She opened her eyes and Logan’s heart stopped. Her eyes were a striking bright green, the color of new growth. Smelling the air, he could catch her scent, she smelled of rich fertile soil with undertones of dried sweet grass and wild orchids. Her scent alone calmed him like nothing else had in many years. He decided to lay down and watch her to see what she would do.

            Leigh opened her eyes surprised to see all of animals surrounding her. This lightly chittered around her. Logan watches as she noticed several neglected fruit trees. There were a few varieties of apple trees and a pear tree. The trees were surrounding the old cottage. Leigh sat in the center of the clearing cross legged, closed her eyes and placed her hands palm down on the ground. Her highlights began glowing a bright shade of green and her hands did as well. Suddenly the clearing which had to be just over an acre started growing. The trees were suddenly in full fruit and the yard had wild herbs growing throughout the grasses. Logan lay there in astonishment. He had heard stories of the powers of a witch but had never witnessed it.

            Having taken care of the animals Leigh set upon her next task. The land had a specific place of sadness that must be where the previous Druids had been laid to rest. The size of the area had her realizing that the family must have been carelessly thrown into a hasty mass grave. The land should not feel such sorrow if the family had been placed to rest properly. This let Leigh know that there had never been a funeral rite done for the family. She walked purposefully to a small area covered in shade. Getting down on her hands and knees with a stick she found o her way she felt the land and felt the lines of the burial plot marking it with the stick in sharp lines. Carefully she coaxed the grass from the rectangular area placing it in neat piles around the marked area. She stood satisfied seeing that the area was not bare soil.

            She turned with the intention to walk back to an apple tree and was surprised to find a fat raccoon standing a few strides behind her with an apple in its hands. The apple had been carelessly picked and still had a twig attached to the apple stem. The raccoon looked at the apple and then at Leigh then placed the apple on the ground and pushed it towards her. It seems that the raccoon understood the solemn task Leigh was doing and quietly she bent to pick up the apple whispering a soft, “thank you” as she stood back up. The raccoon looked at her puzzled and then scampered off to go get another apple.

            Leigh plucked the twig from the apple and held it in her hands. She had never performed the funeral rites before but had seen it done as they laid family members to rest when it was their turn to feed the land with their bodies. It was well past time to lay this family to rest. She stood tall at the foot of the burial and spoke softly.

            “Family of power so cruelly murdered and discarded, left to this small resting place, names and faces lost to time. It is finally time to rest easy as your bodies complete the transformation of rebirth through feeding the land.”

            She held up the apple twig and began to lightly push power into the small piece. As she spoke the twig grew longer to create a circle, “Within the circle there is no beginning and ending. Each daughter blessed by a god or goddess. Daughter of the goddess Brigit blessed with the magic of prophecy you are remembered, and your spirit released.” The twig started growing again from the upper left section over to the upper right section of the circle as Leigh spoke next. “Daughter of the goddess Danu, Druid of the North, blessed with the magic of earth you are remembered, and your spirit released.” The twig attached itself to the upper right section of the circle and started growing to the lower left section of the circle as she spoke her next words. “Daughter of the god Nuada, Druid of the East, blessed with the magic of air you are remembered, and your spirit released.” The twig attached itself to the lower left section of the circle and started growing to the top center of the circle as Leigh spoke again. “Daughter of the god Manann, Druid of the West, blessed with the magic of water you are remembered, and your spirit released.” Again, the section of twig attached itself to the center of the top of the circle and started growing to the bottom left section of the circle as Leigh spoke her next words. “Daughter of the god Canta, Druid of the Northeast, gifted with the magic of healing  you are remembered, and your spirit released.” The twig again attached itself  to the bottom right section of the circle and grew back to the top left section where its path had started as she spoke her next words. “Daughter of the goddess Brighid, Druid of the South, blessed with the magic of fire you are remembered, and your spirit released.” In Leigh’s hand she held a perfect pentagram smooth and unblemished, she continued the funeral rite as the end of the twig continued to grow curling in a spiral around the circle. “Daughters of the seventh, both mother and daughter, gifted with the power of all the gods and goddesses you are both remembered, and your spirits released.” The twig stopped growing seamlessly ending in the beginning of the spiral it started at the top left of the circle.

            Leigh then placed the beautiful pentagram in the center of the cleared earth. She moved back to the bottom of the burial and then placed her hand on the bare earth she had cleared. “Here will there be a marker of your family in remembrance of your sacrifice, a barrier between your resting place and the living world. May you all find the peace in death that you did not find in life.” As Leigh finished, she pushed power into the first foot of the soil and created a solid piece that had the apple-wood pentagram embedded in its solid finish.

            Logan watched in amazement. He was pretty sure no one outside of the witches had ever witnessed a funeral. He could feel the power that she called and released during the rites. As he watched her, she stood and swayed a bit. She said something softly to the animals that had been slowly gathering and a doe and her young fawn stepped out of the woods. The fawn came up to the grass that she had pulled up to clear the burial plot and nibbled. She murmured something to him, and he bleated. She giggled and stroked her hands down his soft body. Once the doe and fawn finished the grass, they led her to a small thicket just beyond the clearing and he saw her go in followed by a pudgy raccoon. Then nothing. He sent out his sense of hearing and could barely make out sleeping sounds. He smiled and settled down again to keep watch. He wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to observe a witch.

            Before Logan could get more comfortable the winds shifted and he could smell the enforcers of the local pack approaching the witch. He could kick himself for not thinking that as he felt her powers they must have too. He desperately wanted a reason to get rid of Jason so he just watched for now, though it went against his every instinct. He restrained himself vowing to only step in if the witch was being harmed. A group of six closed in around the briar patch she was sleeping, the doe and fawn ran out bleating, but the witch didn’t move. Soon they were pulling her limp body out of the briars by her ankle. One of the enforcers picked her up into a fireman’s carry and they ran off towards the pack grounds. I send a quick text message to the council, “Local pack abducted an unconscious witch, requesting backup.” The response was immediate, “Coming your way.” Finally, I had what I needed to take this bastard down, now just to keep the witch safe in the meantime.