Of Dragons & Vampires

Chapter Twenty Five

Evander gripped Abel's hand so hard his knuckles had turned white. They had gathered in the field not far from the townhall, himself, his brother and sister, Brae, Jack and Charvi, the leaders of each supernatural species and Jamie and Reagan. Wyatt and Savannah stood in the middle of a circle they had created, joined by two other witches: Pia and Bulon.

"How does one summon a seer exactly?" Reagan muttered, her hands clasped over Jamie's that rested on her waist. Jamie sighed, rubbing his chin through her blonde hair as he planted a kiss on top of her head.

"Apparently like that," Evander arched an eyebrow towards the witches.

They sat within the circle, hands joined and forming a square. In the centre lay crystals, mint Amazonite, blue Apatite, clear Fluorite, glimmering opal and red Aventurine. All circled around a larger crystal: yellow Apatite. They had burned herbs and plants, the root of ginger, dandelion, dried star anise and yarrow. The smell was potent and suffocating.

"What are they saying?" Evander looked up, studying Abel.

"Fuck knows, Wyatt said the language of witches, Draoidi, is basically dead. No one but witches know it, and they don't like sharing their customs with others, not even Amber knows what Wyatt is saying."

Evander strained his ears, the only words he could catch were 'fiosai', 'gairm', and ' achadh'. He had no idea what they meant.

He felt Abel's arms tighten around him as the smoke from the burning plants thickened, manifesting into thick branches of fog. The grey, smoky arms curled around the crystals as the wind picked up, the chanting of Wyatt, Savannah, Bulon and Pia drowned out as wind whipped around their faces, billowing the grass like waves in the sea and making Evander take an automatic step closer to Abel who clutched him closer until he thought his ribs would crack.

Damien shouted as Savannah was hit backwards, an invisible force sending the four witches flying in different directions. He caught her, both of them toppling to the ground. Amber flexed her wings, beating them hard and rising high enough in time to catch Wyatt before he hit the ground as he was blasted into the air. Pia tumbled backwards, hitting a tree with a thunk while Bulon was flung across the grass, his hip cracking as he rolled away. Evander started forwards, hearing him groan, but felt Abel grip his arms and yank him back.

The fog around the crystals had begun to spiral into a thick tornado, the crystals were masked from view, only the yellow Apatite was glowing in the centre of the smoke, pulsating with a yellow hue.

Colette had unfurled her wings, as had the other dragons, so Abel did the same. The wolves, Jamie's father included, had shifted into their wolf forms, tall and muscular, fur coarse and snouts large and fangs barred. Jamie shifted too, his head meeting the same height as Reagan as she cocked her crossbow with an iron arrow, her father and the other hunter leaders doing the same.

"This seems like a lot of trouble for a seer!" Evander shouted over the howling wind, feeling Abel's leathery wing shield him.

"I don't think it's a seer that's coming through!" Abel yelled. Just as he did, the smoke curled high into the air before surging to the ground, an explosion of dirt and grass spraying upwards as the smoke hit the floor and dispersed. The yellow crystal exploded, shards spraying outwards. The small, glowing fragments of yellow crystal froze in the air before spinning wildly, multiplying and piecing together.

Evander leant into Abel's wings as the Apatite pieced together, two arms stretched from the crystals, then two legs as a human shape formed. Before anyone could stare any longer, a jet of cold, sharp wind blew the circle back, scattering everyone, everyone apart from Evander and Reagan, who found themselves dragged closer to the form and splattered out at the feet of...a woman.