The seer Chronicles

Chapter Fourteen Andriel

Destiny glanced up from one of Selina's books about familiars. She was sitting on the bed, with her legs outstretched, resting her head against her pillow. Opal was comfortably sitting crossed legged on her carpet, surrounded by a pile of her magical tomes. Each tome had an elemental design featuring air, including one with a griffin on the cover.
"There cool, wish, I could get a collection like that," Destiny remarked.
Opal smirked sadly. "One of the few gifts Amanda organised for my sixteenth birthday,
"So, no big party?" Destiny asked.
"No, in the witch's culture, they are more focused on their studies, then having a life outside of magic,"
"Amanda isn't my actual mother. She adopted me as a baby. I have no clue who my proper parents are."
Destiny shared a symmetrised smile. "I've never met my mother. Selina was my stepmother. I cared about her, but she tampered with my memories for years. I don't know how to feel about her anymore." She plucked a loose thread from a blanket while Taylor slept soundly behind her.

"What you're feeling is completely normal, Destiny!" Opal reassured; her voice tinged with a hint of excitement. "I've discovered the way to banish the familiar. But I need your help. Are you brave enough to enter the basement?"

Nervously biting her lip, Destiny replied, "I think so." They both stood, leaving Taylor to recover from his latest episode. Opal's expression grew grim as she remarked, "Taylor's episodes are getting worse..

With Opal's help, Destiny turned the valve, slowly opening the heavy iron door. As the door creaked open, a wave of darkness washed over them, daring them to step inside. Hissing and growling noises echoed from the depths below. The air, thick with the scent of belladonna, seeped into their nostrils, causing a dull headache. The dampness and mustiness of the basement surrounded them.

Suddenly, they heard it—the familiar. Inhaling and exhaling, it snored, its hot, sticky breath permeating the air with the foul stench of raw meat. Bones littered the carpeted floor, a macabre scene. Whispered, Destiny asked, "Do you think it drinks blood?

Opal couldn't help but giggle, her excitement undeterred. "Maybe," she replied.

"Try to avoid waking the creature while I get the teleportation spell ready," Opal instructed, her voice filled with determination.

Opal searched the messy desk, papers with spells written on them, candles that were misshapen. Or melted, the belladonna candles burned, the wax dripping to the floor, the pungent scent making the young witch sick. She extinguished them using a glass jar, starving the candles of oxygen. Sharp tools landed neatly beside some white spell candles used for purification. Opal started lying them out around the pentagram, glancing at the roof to make sure the bat still slept.

She sighed in relief.
While Destiny slowly stepped over the animal's ribcages, she tried to ignore them. Skin still hanging off the bones, she noticed a bowl of crystals; she wasn't sure what Selina used them for; she tripped over. A glass case leg. She hadn't seen with what little light the basement window provided. She lost her balance, stumbling into the bookcase. Detailed tomes of magical creatures adorned the covers and fell to the wooden dusty ground with a loud, echoing thud. Destiny and Opal both waited with bated breath. The batt shifted, but otherwise remained asleep.
Destiny stood before the dark chocolate shelves. with careful balance, she reached for a book adorned in a royal blue cover. Its detailed Celtic knot, traced with intricate golden leaves, caught her eye.. A burning phoenix, with wings outstretched, danced across the cover, leaving a trail of flames in its wake. The title, "The History of the Morgan Family," captivated her. Determined to unlock its secrets, she searched the dusty tones of spell books, running her fingers over their aged spines. Disappointingly, she found no key to the locked tome.

She heard a small click, and the bookcase opened. Into a well-lit room hidden behind Selina's library. She crept into the hidden room, seeing an altar with dried blood on a gleaming sliver of dagger.