“Everyone must repeat carefully after me,” the dark-haired professor commanded as she looked around the circle. “Do not mispronounce one single word, or we’ll all die. It doesn’t matter if you’re part of the unholy pact because if Cole perishes, so will you. Oh, and be sure to keep your eyes tightly shut as you picture your familiars in your head. Understood?”
We all nodded our heads in agreement before closing our eyes, and as my world became black, I quickly pictured Alexander in my head with his bright red eyes and bladed wings. I thought of the sound of his voice and his hefty body, and then I could see him in my mind as clear as day. I felt his bond and his devotion to me, and I thought of how I trained and adapted him to grow as powerful as I willed him to be, and at that moment, I knew in my heart he would be safe.
Then the castle trembled more violently, and Vanessa began to utter the incantation, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the palace shook even harder, and an icy wind blew through the room.
And that’s when I knew we only had mere seconds to leave this place.
“Obsecro, Audi nos Satanas causa dirae,” Vanessa began in a loud and commanding voice, and I could feel Revna tightening her hold on my hand while Vesta did the same. “Ut nos terra rubrum Oceano terrarumque arena! Nos tua Sancta, et bellatorem est ad Principes tribuum et illi soli services!”
When she was finished, we repeated each word simultaneously, and soon, the room was spinning, and I could feel our bodies disappearing from this diminishing icy palace. This didn’t feel like usual shadow porting, though, because the roaming sensation was much more powerful and painful. I could feel my blood growing icy as we spun through voids of coldness and darkness, and a painful pounding was swelling in my head, right as I lost physical contact with Revna and Vesta. I felt a loss of connection with the rest of the women, and it made my heart hammer with terror.
I suddenly couldn’t feel my bond with any of the witches, and it sent an even deeper panic through my entire body. For a second, I wondered if we had uttered the incorrect incantation, but then everything grew calmer, and the pain in my body slowly dissolved away. Suddenly, a variety of colors softly appeared, and I could feel my feet planted on something that felt like soft sand.
Everything was hazy when I first opened my eyes, but then a completely different world, devoid of ice and snow, came into view.
I now found myself gazing upon a land of red sand against a deep blue ocean with a burning horizon. The sky was a hue of soft lavender, and the clouds were as crimson as the beach. The air was brisk but not freezing as it had been before, and I shivered as the wind tickled over the nape of my neck.
As beautiful as this realm was, fear flooded my body when I couldn’t see the other women or the familiars, but then they all slowly appeared one by one like ghosts arising from nowhere.
“Broom fucker,” Akira grunted as she rubbed at her temples. “That was both nauseating and painful, Professor.”
“Don’t you think I know that already?” Vanessa growled as she clutched onto her stomach, and her face scrunched up in pain. “I think we need to take a moment to compose ourselves.”
Thank fuck, I’m not dead! Alexander said with a delightful squeal in my head. No offense, Cole, but I had my doubts for a moment back there.
“None taken,” I chuckled as he perched his heavy body on my shoulder.
“Oh, thank Satan, you’re here, Ursula,” Vesta purred as her silver snake slithered up her slim lavender body. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t made it.”
“No kidding,” Nyx sighed with relief as her crimson falcon perched himself on her sapphire arm. “You can be a little shit sometimes, Trixie, but I’m glad you’re here.”
“Where is here, exactly, Professor?” Penelope asked with an arched orange eyebrow, and she rubbed the back of her brightly-colored panda, Naomi.
“It’s the realm of oceans and clouds,” Morgana said before Vanessa could even open her mouth. “I read about it in--”
“One of your books,” we all said in unison, and everyone chuckled, including the professor.
“She’s correct as usual,” Vanessa said as the color slowly returned to her face. “This is another holy realm, one that is even closer to the Elder Heavens. I have no idea if Samara knows we’re here, but I have a feeling we shouldn’t reside here any longer than we have to.”
“Did Theodora mention anything else besides the spell and this realm?” I asked as I slowly looked around, and all I could see for miles was red sand, towering black rocks, and calm waters.
“She said we needed to find a clue, one that would lead us to our final destination,” the professor said before she too looked around aimlessly, “but our conversation was cut short when I felt the palace trembling.”
“Maybe it’s buried in the sand,” Beatrix suggested with bright eyes.
“No, I don’t think so,” I said as I looked down at the blood-red grains. “I’m not sensing anything beneath my feet.”
“Nor am I,” Vanessa sighed with impatience, and then she began to fan herself with her hands.
“Perhaps we should get rid of these furs?” Revna suggested as she looked around the group. “I don’t think they’re necessary anymore.”
“Good idea,” Faye said as she shrugged off her fur hide and let it fall into the sand.
“Let’s burn them all,” the professor ordered. “We can’t leave anything behind, it’s too risky.”
We all nodded in agreement before we tossed our hides into one pile,
