Coven Of Catastrophe: Book 3 in the Lorna Maximoff Series

Down the road / The first trial

It was hard to tell exactly how long we had been walking for, but we did so mostly in silence.
I trailed just a little behind Agatha, or as I saw it, a safe distance. But questions were gnawing away at me.
The forest along the road was nothing like I'd ever seen. Parts of it glowed, while others were pitch black.
"You know what this is, this is kidnapping!" Ms Hart exclaimed, "I think it is high time we call the local authorities."
"Good luck with that." I muttered to myself.
"Are we just gonna ignore the fact that somehting just chased us down here?" Asked Jen.
"Chased Agatha." Alice corrected.
"Okay there's no cell service!" Sharon called out.
"It doesn't matter now who that thing was chasing, we're a coven, so it's all of our problem." I said.
"Is that because covens share blessings and burdens alike?" Asked Teens.
"Okay someone really needs to call this kids parents." Said Jen.
Teen laughed, "Oh I'm 100% positive they're asleep. Unless, is this like perpetual night. As a vibe."
Agatha was oddly quiet, even as Ms Hart blabbered on and the others argued.
"Do we even know what we're up against?" Jennifer asked.
I glanced at Agatha.
"Our worst nightmares." Lilia answers.
"But in what form?"
"Trials." I answered, wasn't it obvious, "I mean we all heard the song. What are they like?" I asked Agatha.
Her eyes darted around, "The road will test us...and our knowledge of the craft. One trial for each skill."
"Right...and how do we pass them without any power?" Asked Jen.
Agatha smirked, "No power, please you should see this one, she's like a magical battery." I realized Agatha was talking about me.
"Oh me, no, I mean yes but....I can't always control it so well, especially under high pressure situations."
Agatha rolled her eyes.
"Well at least there's still analog magic." Said Teen, and he explained that it was a base form of witchcraft that was more hands on.
"Again who are you?" Jenifer asked.
I sighed, Teen tried to speak his name and like every time before there was nothing.
"Well I'll be. Someone's put a sigil on that boy." Lilia said.
So that's what it was.
"Don't look at me?" Agatha said when we all turned to her.
"Sigils are beneath me." She added.
"Course they are." I muttered with an eye roll.
"Why would someone do that?" Asked teen.
Agatha was already bored, so she pushed him aside and told each one of us why we needed to forget about the sigil and continue on with the road. She paused when we realized Sharon was missing.
"Where did she go?" I asked.
"Ugh, I mean you take your eyes off of her for two seconds..." Agatha muttered, just then we heard a scream.
"This way!" I called, and we ran towards the sound.
When I found Ms Hart she was seconds away from being sucked into the ground.
I pulled her out with a flash of bright light.
"You can't just walk of the road like that!" Alice exclaimed, while Ms Hart was still catching her breath.
"This is just a really, really, really horrible party!" She cried out.
I laughed bitterly, "Tell me about it."
"Well, I thought that this was pretty obvious," Said Agatha "But for the uninitiated, rule number one: do not step off the road."
"Well how was I supposed to know that?" Sharon exclaimed.
"It is in the song." Teen added, "Stray not from the path."
"Exactly, thank you Teen. So if we just follow the ballad, we'll be safe as kittens. Okay?"
Agatha looked around the group hoping to see some agreement.
"Well I don't know how you expect me to walk and walk and walk when there's nowhere to walk to." Said Sharon.
Just then, I feel a warmth in my face, followed by light.
"Look," Jenifer alerted the others, and it was amazing, what looked like a beautiful beach house, and a glorious sunset, waited just before us.
"Was that there before?" Asked Alice.
"I think we should stop asking that question." Agatha told the group.

The door to the house was unlocked, but Ms Hart rang the doorbell anyways. We stepped inside and everything, even our clothes had changed.
I looked down, I was wearing a cream colour dress with a navy floral patter.
To be fair my outfit wasn't nearly as bad as Teens, who practically looked like he'd been dressed by a wine mom.
"Why are we so...beige?" I asked.
"The road changes for the coven." Agatha answered.
I looked out upon the wide windows at the far end of the room, we were looking of into the sun, on a beach.
"Not to shabby." I muttered.
The others went to walk around but I stayed near Agatha, she'd been acting strange ever since we'd gotten onto the path.
I saw she was looking for a door handle, but it was gone, we were locked in.
"This is normal right?" I asked.
Agatha grimaced, "None of this is going to normal." She replied.