A Magical Scheme

Chapter 7: A Bad Town Hall

Lukas

The walk back to the tavern was more like a run, as I rushed back through the thickets of the forest to reach the town just as the first ray of sunlight began to pierce through the windows. I stopped by the bakery and picked up some pastries before stopping at our room in the tavern, where Eddard was seated on his bed waiting for me. "Morning. I didn't know you were such an early riser." I gave him a nod and a quick smile, "I guess so, I just heard the birds chirping, calling me awake." Eddard threw me a scowl before rising, "We have a busy day. Those other hunters are trying to get ahead of us." I nodded, hopefully, they wouldn't get in the way of Morgan's investigation- the incident at Catalina's was too close for comfort. Eddard stood and made his way out of the room with haste. I quickly followed behind him as we entered the main hall of the tavern, and soon were out the door. As we walked down the street, I gathered up the courage to speak, "Where are we headed?" Eddard gave me a strange glance and said, "Town meeting." I grimaced. The sheriff must've been calling a meeting to discuss the lack of progress that's been made regarding these murders. I gulped, it was not going to be pleasant.

The town meeting was in a small church hall in the very center of town, as we approached there was a line of folk trying to get in, with a few of the sheriff's deputies waiting outside as guards. I shuddered as Eddard pushed past people and led us inside. There a few rows of pews, though many were full we managed to find some spots in the last row. The sheriff made his way to the front of the church and stood to address the meeting. "Ladies, gentlemen, I have called you all here today to talk about the magical menace that has plagued this town for too long. I have it within my knowledge that the witches are planning more attacks on our town. These children were just the beginning. We need to take action- we need to finally eliminate what's been in front of us this whole time." I took a deep breath. They were going to kill the witches. Suddenly I noticed a few figures make their way up to the stand, easily recognizable as Charlie, Wendall, and the Starkheart twins. "Men." spoke Johnathan, "it is time to rise up. To show how truly brave you are. We'll wipe out the witches that plague our lands, starting with those just outside our borders." I could've screamed on the spot. Before I knew it, I fled the church, not even caring when Eddard turned around and asked where I was going. A quiet, "I'm not feeling well," seemed to do the trick. I ran into the street and into the familiar forest path at full speed.

Morgan

After Lukas left, I immediately went upstairs and drank a whole green vial. Only two left. My time was running out. I sighed and looked down at the creature slithering between my legs. "Hey kitty" I whispered as I stroked its soft fur. The cat gave a soft purr before I raised back up and calmly walked downstairs again. The incident in Catalina's house was no accident, my dizzy spells had been reoccurring more often than usual. As I reached my living room I found myself sitting down and opening Catalina's grimoire, peeling through every well-worn page, as every spell telling a story of her life. As I flipped through the pages, the spells grew stronger and stronger, only a powerful centuries-old witch could have ever completed spells of this amount. "So what was the last spell that couldn't protect you?" I asked myself. I hastened my flipping through the pages and almost burst out laughing as I read the final spell. Anamaius felinus. She turned herself into a cat. I stared down at the cat sitting at my feet, perfectly content licking itself. My eyes went back to the spell page, then the cat, then the page. "Cat-alina. You're kidding me." I spoke aloud. I stared down at the cat, "We have to turn you back." I put the grimoire down and stood up, stretching out. It had been a long night, I wasn't used to such little sleep- especially with the sickness, but tonight there was a coven meeting, hopefully, I could speak to Circe and see if she would know the reverse spell. I walked upstairs to the library to check any of my mom's transformation grimoires, however as I searched through them, I found that none of them included reverse spells. I sighed, before a thought came to me, what if I just reversed the spell in general? I decided it was worth a shot and raced downstairs to get Catalina's grimoire, before stopping dead in my tracks to witness a pair of hunters standing in my doorway.

Lukas

The forest floor echoed with every sprinting step I took. My breaths became heavy and intense, but I didn't care, I kept going until I reached the bright green clearing. I raced up towards the steps of Morgan's cottage and saw the front door was wide open. Shit. I pulled the crossbow off my back and walked inside carefully. The living room was destroyed- the wooden coffee table was broken in two and the couches were ripped to shreds, however, I didn't fail to notice the body of a most likely unconscious Wendall Smith. How did they get here so fast? "You shouldn't have come here." I heard a voice- Morgan's voice, say. I ran into the kitchen, where Morgan was standing on her dining table, facing a very angry Julia Starkheart. "Julia," I spoke, gaining her attention as she turned her body to me. Her blue eyes were full of rage, and her hands were holding crossbows loaded with deadly metal spikes. "You're Ed's boy. No wonder you're here, come to join your master in the afterlife?" She asked, a heinous laugh in her words. Afterlife? I should've never left the church. Tears spiked my eyes as I ripped the knife from my back pocket and launched it at her right thigh. Julia screamed in pain and fell to the floor as I swung the crossbow onto my back and walked over to pull the knife out, only to stab it into the other thigh. I saw Morgan grimace before she retreated into a normal stance and stepped down from the table. I looked at her and said, "We need to go. Get your things, you're not safe here anymore." She nodded, before sparing one final glance to Julia and running to another room. I crouched beside Julia's head and spoke, "Who else knows you're here?" Julia shook her head in defiance as I grabbed the knife in her thigh and started to slowly twist. Julia screamed and clutched her leg. "Okay, okay. Jonathan told us to come here, he said she would be here and that we had to kill her." How did Jonathan know Morgan would be here? How does he even know where her cottage is? I shrugged the curiosity off and let go of the knife. Julia let out a sigh of relief as I stood up and called out, "Morgan! We have to hurry." I heard Morgan's quick footsteps above me, rummaging around her room for her necessities. I heard a small giggle escape Julia's lips, "You care about her, you care about a witch. Silly boy." I gave her a pointed look before saying, "At least I'm not in love with my brother." Julia was about to yell in protest as I kicked her in the stomach, a hard enough blow to knock her out.

I heard Morgan rush down the stairs, a short black cloak wrapped around her and her familiar satchel swung across her shoulders. The same cat from before was in her arms, looking as calm as ever among the chaos that had ensued. "Ready?" I asked. She nodded, before looking down at Julia and stating, "We have to get the hunters out of the house." Confused, I just nodded before dragging Julia out the front steps by her shoulders, with Wendall being lowered to the ground ever so gracefully by Morgan. I caught Morgan's eyes and followed her attention to the house. I saw Morgan shed a single tear as she whispered an incantation of a sort into her palm, and she threw her wrist out to produce a small flame. The small flame quickly caught on the cottage, and soon enough the cottage was burning, consumed by the flames and heat. Morgan turned to me, "Are you ready?" Ready to abandon the life I had? Without Ed, I have nothing to go back to. "As I'll ever be." I replied, before stepping forward and linking hands with Morgan. She closed her eyes as she picked our next destination, giving me the opportunity to step a little closer and plant a small kiss on her lips, nothing extravagant, just a promise to stick together, no matter what's to come. Before she could open her eyes to react, we were whisked through the wind and light toward the next part of our adventure.