“Robbie, go back to the rock pile please,” I said. He turned my way, paused for a moment, and then turned, lumbering back toward the woods.
Ten minutes later, we were all inside, sitting around our table.
“Okay, what do ye want to know?” Aunt Ash said, looking at Darci but glancing at Levi.
“I don’t know where to even start,” Darci sputtered. She never sputtered.
“Was that a golem?” Levi asked.
“I don’t believe so. I’m not an expert on Hebrew magic systems, but I think both the giant and the dragon are something much different.”
“You don’t know what they are?” Darci objected. “Your nephew made them and you don’t know what they are?”
“In truth I do not,” Ashling said. “I have some suspicions, but it will take some time to test them out.”
Darci just gaped at her. Levi was frowning.
“So here it be, then,” Ashling said, visibly bracing herself. “We’re not your ordinary witches.”
“No shit,” Levi said. “This is stuff straight out of legend.”
Darci just nodded, seemingly unable to speak.
“My sister, Maeve and meself, were the cream of the Irish crop, so to speak. Witches breed for power, ye know. We were the result of five centuries of the careful blending of lines of witches. And as ye know, we were betrayed by our circle leader, Macha. Auctioned off to the highest bidders, traded to an old and powerful Croatian circle. But our future husbands could not control their selves. We were… assaulted.”
“Raped, Aunt Ash. The word is rape,” I said.
“Quiet, you,” she said, one finger pointing in my face. I shut up.
“We fled here. Declan was the only positive thing to come out of the whole mess,” she said. “Despite his wise mouth.”
“Warlocks are supposed to be weak,” Levi said.
“First, don’t be calling him a warlock. ‘Tis a nasty name for a nasty witch. Second, Declan is, frankly, brilliant. Too brilliant fer his own good. And he’s not weak.”
“What is he then?” Darci asked.
“A gift from the goddess. His mother was the most powerful Earth and Fire witch to come out of Ireland… until now. He crafts instinctively, creating spells that have no business working, yet somehow do. Those two creations of his are unique. As far as I know, the witching world has never seen their like.”
“Are they dangerous?” Darci asked.
“Of course they be dangerous. All Craft is dangerous, and those are a level beyond even the circles of my homeland. But so is a car, a gun, a chainsaw.”
“Why was that thing charging us?”
“He wasn’t charging,” I said. Darci gave me a clear look of disbelief. “I think Robbie felt me get upset and he was coming to help.”
“You were upset?” Darci demanded, making it clear who she thought had cause.
“You were… you are… about to hurt my aunt.”
“So you think. And that’s reason to sic your attack… monster on me,” Darci said.
“I didn’t sic anything on you. I got mad. Every time someone finds out about us, they run.”
“Run? Do I look like a runner to you?” Darci demanded. She’s compact and muscular, not really runner material. “Did I run when you fried that pervert?”
“No.”
“No is right. So why would I run now?”
“Because it’s worse than you think. I’m worse than you think.”
She folded her arms over her chest and settled her feet shoulder’s width apart. “Really? Show me.”
I glanced at my aunt. She held my gaze for a moment while the wheels spun, then nodded.
“Take it outside to the barn, lad. That medium isn’t far enough away yet,” she said.
“Would distance make any difference if her spirit guides are the ones who alerted her?” Levi asked.
“The guides are banjaxed by our wards and that lovely old tree,” my aunt said, “but she’s sensitive enough to pick up on real power.”
They all followed me outside and then into the barn.
I let myself into the warded circle around my Wytchwar space, then realized I didn’t really know where to start. Aunt Ash came to my rescue.
“Show them the bloody dragon first,” she suggested.
“We’ve seen it,” Darci said, unimpressed.
“No dear, ye thought ye’d seen it. That was Declan moving it about like an electric robot.”
I shook my head at her description but held my tongue. Instead, I called up to the rafters.
“Draco, come here please,” I said. Above us came the rustle of his wings, then suddenly he was swooping down in a graceful arc to land on my arm. Awake and alert, he stretched his head out to butt me with his nose on my cheek. Had he used the top of his head, I’d have been cut by the very horns I had crafted on. Thankfully he’d learned quickly not to do that.
“It’s like he’s alive,” Levi said. “How are you doing that?” he directed that question at me.
“I’m not doing anything. This is how Draco normally is. He runs himself. Now watch. Draco, hide.”
He unfurled his wings and leapt from my arm, like a hawk or falcon might. As he swirled up into the darkness overhead, I immediately pushed myself into one of my dirt dudes, then after a moment’s thought, activated a second avatar and slaved it to the first. Then I started them running out across the game course.
“Turn it all on, lad,” Ash said.
Still running the dudes, I knelt down and touched the ground. Instantly it started moving, the mini mountain range shifting its peaks and valleys, the dry riverbed suddenly flowing with water that came down from the hills and into the lakebed. Above, a tiny set of clouds began to form ten feet over the course.
“How’s it doing that?” Levi asked. “What’s powering it?”
“He is,” my aunt said in a soft voice. “Now watch.”
Suddenly a dark form burst through the fledgling cloud bank, arrowing straight at the two dirt dudes who were just summiting one of the newly reformed peaks.
I directed the lead dude to dive into the valley below, the second one copying
