WORK IN PROGRESS: Three Witches #1: Magnus and Magnolia

Chapter 26 (Magnolia): With Or Without

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

Rosemary had warned me of this, of the day the anti-witch would confront me and I would feel a surge of power second only to the day I got my heart broken and came into my powers. I could feel my powers tingling, then sparking and then heating me from the inside out.

I could also hear Rosemary advising in my head. 

Use that beautiful power you've been given, Noli. Use it to bring her down or you will never have a moment as a witch where you're not looking over your shoulder for your anti-witch to reappear in your town.

I thought we couldn't harm people, Rosemary.

Who said anything about harm? I said to bring her down. You're a witch so get creative.

And now, Lamia was in my store, yet another customer who'd been drawn in for reasons unknown. She glanced around the store, her gaze bouncing off me as if I didn't signify or she truly didn't recognize me, but my stomach felt sour from the energy she brought into my beloved store.

This was my safe place and I wouldn't let her disrupt that energy.

 Her gaze darted around until she spied Magnus and stormed over to him. Maybe she hadn't been drawn to my store -- maybe she'd followed Magnus here.

"Magnus," she snapped.

From the look on his face when he turned and saw her, he was about to erupt, and I quickly cast a bubble around the three of us that hid anyone within the bubble while the area just outside the bubble was transparent to those on the outside of it. 

I didn't want anyone to see or hear what was about to happen. My powers were now crackling and burning within me, begging for release, and I cloaked myself from both Magnus and Lamia.

I could just hear Rosemary cheering me on: A double-cloak, Magnolia! That's some fancy, powerful magic right there!

"Get the fuck out of here," Magnus practically yelled at her.

"No! I'm here on behalf of your MC. They need you because they're falling apart without you. I need you, too," she said, her voice turning seductive.

"I don't have an MC, and I don't give a fuck if they need me. They should have thought of that before they backed you instead of me." He seemed to be hulking out right in front of me, growing larger and larger. "And I definitely don't give a shit if you need me. In fact, if you want to drop dead in front of me, I'd be good with that. I'll kick your body out of my way and walk on by."

Having heard more than enough of her voice, with a flick of my hand, I conjured an illusion of a five-foot rattlesnake leaping from the shelf nearby, sinking its deadly fangs into her face. Magnus crossed his arms over his chest and made no move to help her. Lamia screamed without stopping as she tried to dislodge the snake, but since it was an illusion, she couldn't grab it. With a slight flick of my wrist, the snake dropped to the floor and slithered away.

"Call an ambulance," she gasped, her panic off the charts as she was beginning to hyperventilate. "Call an ambulance! It bit me!"

"Pass," Magnus said. "But feel free to die."

Next up, an anaconda appeared on the floor and began wrapping itself around Lamia even as she tried pushing it off of her. The snake moved quickly, wrapping her in such a way that she couldn't move her arms. When she could barely draw a breath because it was so tight, tarantulas began climbing in her hair and over her face  and shoulders even as the anaconda squeezed her more and more tightly. When she opened her mouth to scream, one of the spiders crawled into her mouth, and I flicked my hand to make her think she swallowed it. She started jerking around, and the anaconda disappeared, just as her abdomen split open and tarantulas, intestines and blood appeared to come spilling out of her.

Panting and gasping, making inhumane noises, Lamia fell to the floor, swarmed by rats and mice and spiders of every sort. One of the rats bit into her nose and she couldn't even scream. After a few minutes of this, I flicked my hand and everything disappeared.

"What the hell just happened?" she demanded breathlessly. For some reason, she looked rough, as if she'd been rode hard and put away wet as my grandmother used to say. Shocker.

"Well, sadly, you didn't die," Magnus said.

Uncloaking myself, I stepped forward. "What the hell just happened? You learned that your so-called power is all an illusion and it ends today. Right now."

"What are you going to do to me?"

"Exactly what you deserve," I said, then began my incantation:

May you be seen by all as you are every day for the rest of your life.

May you be heard by all as you are every day for the rest of your life.

May you be given back all of the pain you spread every day for the rest of your life.

I had spoken it into existence.

Therefore, it was.

Conjuring a mirror, I held it up to Lamia, then I casually flicked my hand toward it. She screamed, and the sound that came out was harsh, guttural and discordant, like nails on a chalkboard. 

May you be heard by all...

Trying to scramble backward on the floor away from the mirror, Lamia still couldn't escape her hideous reflection. Her face had scales over it and her teeth were gnarled. You could barely see her beady eyes, and what hair she had was wispy and greasy. Her ears were shaped like pig ears, with coarse hair coming off of them in all directions, and in keeping with the pig theme, her nose was a flat snout.

May you be seen by all...

She threw her head back suddenly and then doubled over, grabbing her middle and writhing in agony as the nastiness she'd delivered throughout her life came rushing back into her body.

May you be given back all of the pain you spread...

With a flick of my hand, I conjured a sword, glowing blue with my magic, and I pressed the sharp tip against her chin, forcing her head up to meet my eyes.

"Go far away from here, anti-witch, because I have claimed this town as mine and if I see you again, I will end you."

Terrified, she ran out of the store. We were still encased in the bubble, so no one could see, but once she was out on the street, I removed the bubble and watched from the doorway as people recoiled from her as she ran sobbing down the street. Once she was out of sight, I sagged a bit, feeling depleted, and Magnus was there, his arm going around my waist to hold me up. 

I'd never pulled this much magic from myself all at once before, so I wasn't surprised I was weakened. I was, however, surprised that Magnus was right there beside me.

"Come on, witch," he said gently, "let's get you to your office and get some food and drink in you before you fall over."

That I didn't even argue spoke volumes as to how shaky I was feeling.

A few of my employees expressed concern, and Magnus reassured them. "No worries. Noli just didn't eat this morning and was feeling a bit light-headed. You want to bring some water and something from the bakery to her office so she can take a few minutes?"

Guiding me to my office, he took most of my weight and sat me in the small love seat I had in there.

"You look drained, Noli," he said after looking at my face. "I want you to lie down until the food gets here or until your cheeks pink up

He helped me to lie down, and when someone knocked on my door, he left my side and then brought back a blueberry muffin with big sugar crystals on top, a croissant, a glass of water and a mocha latte. Helping me to sit up, he fed me the muffin, gave me sips of the latte and then fed me some more until both the muffin and croissant were gone.

"I'm feeling better," I said, my strength returning.

"You look better," he agreed.

"I'll be out in a minute," I said, and a brief smile appeared on his face.

"You were magnificent today," he said as he got to his feet. "But you always were, with or without the magic, Magnolia."