Casting Flames

Chapter Twelve

It only takes Pierce a few hours to get the ingredients I need. When he hands them over in a small wooden box, eyeing me cautiously, I can't help but laugh at him.

"Did you forget what I am or something?"

"Didn't forget, just haven't even seen any witchcraft supplies up close. I didn't know it was so... normal looking."

"It's not witchcraft," I say, setting the wooden box on the desk on the far end of my room and inspecting the ingredients. "Haven't you ever heard the Caster tale?"

Ginger, bloodroot, lavender, lilac petals, nightshade flowers, one lemon, and two live crickets. I can hear them chirp behind the glass jar with holes in the lid.

"Not that I can remember, although I'm sure my mom told me when I was little. She was really into that stuff."

I roll my eyes. "That stuff," I grab a bowl and the stone from the closest forest, just as I requested, "isn't just about Casters. It's about all living things in the universe. The Casters stayed in the shadows for thousands of years because of what humans did to them, because of how they were treated, and how some humans would learn how to mix their potions and their remedies and use them to hurt other humans. Over time they were the source of so many mythical creatures. Witches, wizards, sorcerers, vampires, werewolves, even dragons. Their powers caused it all. And for hundreds of years, they were thought to be just fairytales or stories. Things made up by ancient people to explain what they couldn't understand. But they were always there, in secret. Some Casters didn't even know what they were. Over the years they began to lose their culture, their powers, and their knowledge. Until the disasters began to hit."

"This part I remember. The volcanoes erupting, snow in places that weren't supposed to ever have it, places that used to be rainforests turning into deserts."

"Yes, when the world became unbalanced and the natural elements were dying, the Casters with latent powers were triggered by the imbalance, and the few Casters that still had their culture and knew what they were, guided the new ones, helped them learn their ways and restore balance across the world."

"But then they went all psycho and took over the world."

I sigh. "Something like that."

Sometimes it's hard not to feel like the Caster's weren't justified in doing what they did. Humans poisoned the earth, the air, the water. Everything was dying. If the Caster's hadn't come forth, there might not even be any life left on this planet at all.

"So what about you?"

I sit down on the floor, the ingredients and measuring tools laid out in a circle around me.

"What about me?"

"What about your Caster family? I mean, I know you grew up with humans, but did your mom ever tell you about them? Do they even know you're alive?"

Now, that is a good question.

"I don't know," I lie. "It was a one night stand with a stranger visiting from out of town. Dad was gone before mom even knew she was pregnant and she had no way of contacting him, so... I guess they don't."

"Do you ever wish you could meet them?"

At least I don't have to lie to answer this one. "No."

He laughs. "Wow. Not even a little? Just to see what they're like?"

"No." I begin measuring out the first ingredients. "Peel that lemon and squeeze the juice into that cup. I need three spoonful's."

"You're letting me help?"