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Scholomance 9 Chapter 5
🕑 Added 2021-04-02 16:00:07 +0000 UTCPenelope and I returned to the campsite with the ingredients safely tucked inside her pocket, and Vanessa and the others were patiently waiting for us. When they heard us approaching, they quickly turned around, and the first one to run toward us was a smiling Beatrix.
“Master, Penelope,” she breathed as she studied the two of us from head to toe. “Did you find everything we need?”
“We did,” I replied.
When the three of us returned to the others, there was a heavy cauldron already hovering over burning wood, and sizzling water was steaming into the early morning air.
“Alright, now, everyone, take a step back,” the orange-haired witch requested before she kneeled down, pulled out each ingredient, and then studied them with her focused brown eyes. “Now, let’s see… the first thing I need to do is add the thyme.”
We did as Penelope asked and watched as she carefully placed a small portion of herbs inside of the hot cauldron. After she wiped her hands against her skirt, she took a long deep breath before she looked at each ingredient laid out before her. She spread them around her as she chewed on her bottom lip, and I could tell she was doing her best to recall which one was supposed to go next, but even so, I didn’t harbor any doubt.
“Do you need a hand--?” Nyx began, but then Vanessa whipped her head in the blue witch’s direction.
“Be quiet,” she said, but in a surprisingly low and patient voice. “Just let her work.”
“Sorry,” the horned witch muttered before she shifted her feet and folded her hands in front of her.
“It’s fine, Nyx…” Penelope said without looking up. “I… I just needed a minute to think, but I’m positive I need to add the lemon seeds next, but only three of them. Then the fairy powder and finally the moth heart.”
We watched quietly as the bright-haired Wicca carefully pulled out her bonded blade and proceeded to cut into the ripe lemon before she gently pulled out three seeds and tossed them into the cauldron. Then she muttered to herself, grabbed the dead fairies, and began to wring their little bodies like soaked clothes, but instead of blood and guts spilling from the small, broken corpses, a glittering powder tumbled into the bubbling concoction.
After Penelope tossed the fairies aside, she cautiously carved into the moth and then retrieved a pea-sized, black organ. She dropped it into the steaming black pot, and suddenly, a bright, purple flame burst to life. It nearly knocked Penelope backward, but she maintained her stance and remained steady on her knees. Then she stared hard at the cauldron before she cleared her throat and placed her hand over the boiling brew.
“Satanae permitted orum dare velit consequat,” she whispered in a stern voice as she closed her eyes and kept her hand hovering over the smoke. The steam was clearly causing her pain by the way she was shaking and biting down on her lip, but still, she continued with the spell. “Loquere ad extremum etiam ipsi per leporem sit nobis cunctis diebus vitae tuae erit!”
A strong gust of wind suddenly blew over the forest, and the sound was so shrill, it reminded me of a group of witches burning at the stake and screaming into the air as their flesh melted from their bones. As the violent wind blew over us, deep but welcoming darkness seeped into my bones and filled my heart with pure evil, and it consumed my entire soul. A smile spread across my face as I felt Satan’s presence around us, and that’s when I knew Penelope had successfully concocted the potion.
When the purple smoke finally stopped seeping into the air, Penelope quickly pulled her hand away and moaned before she looked down at her skin. We rushed to her side and examined her palm, and there were red marks and boils already forming on her flesh.
“Penelope, are you alright--?” Morgana began, but the bright-haired witch shook her head and chuckled.
“I’m fine,” she said in a relieved tone. “Don’t worry about me. Besides, the pact will heal me soon, and all that matters is the potion is perfectly devised.”
“Wait, how do you know that for certain?” Marina asked as she tilted her head to the side and frowned. “We haven’t even drunk it yet.”
“Oh, if it hadn’t worked, it would have killed us instantly with an explosion,” Penelope said in a casual tone, and the rest of the women just stared blankly at one another until the bright-haired witch simply shrugged. “Err, it didn’t, though, so let’s all drink it while it’s still hot and freshly made.”
With her injured hand, Penelope reached into her pocket and retrieved a small and empty vial. Then she dipped the bottle into the brew and gave everyone their share of the bubbling potion. When it was my turn, she flashed me a small smile before I tipped my head back and drank the bitter brew. I shuddered as it seeped down my throat, and it felt like it was burning my insides as it traveled down my body.
“Fuck, that’s absolutely disgusting,” Akira grunted as she shook her head. “Satan, it tastes like gremlin piss.”
“I know,” Penelope sighed before she tilted her head back and swallowed her ration, “but if it feels like it’s burning your insides, that means it’s working. Okay, now for the familiars.”
We watched as Penelope carefully took the last dose of the potion and made sure each familiar had drunk their share before she returned to join us in the spread-out circle.
That’s fucking gross, Alexander spat in my head.
“Too bad,” I muttered. “You’ll need a disguise as well.”
“Now that we’ve gotten that over with,” Vanessa sighed before she stared at Beatrix with her stern blue eyes. “Miss Beatrix, would you please perform the charm now, while the potion is still sizzling in our bodies?”
“Yes, of course, Professor,” Beatrix said with a small nod, and she was pale as snow. “Everyone, you need to come a little closer and join hands, please. Then I want you all to close your eyes. Also, make sure your familiars are right behind you and touching you in some way.”
“Alex, you heard the woman,” I said. “Stand behind me and touch me with your wing.”
Okay, Cole, Alex replied with a long, drawn-out sigh.
We did as the light-haired brunette asked, and when our familiars were connected to us, I held hands with Circe and Morgana. I could feel them trembling as they grasped tightly onto me, and their breathing was raspy and shallow. I closed my eyes, and when I did so, I could feel each woman’s energy coursing through my body as we connected like one evil entity. Darkness took over our bodies, and I knew the lord of hell was by our side even before Beatrix began to utter her charm.
“Satanas rogamus, audi nos,” she whispered, but it was loud enough for us to hear. “Dissimulandum nobis transitum maris regna mundi sol nocte!”
Another shrill wind swept through the forest and nearly knocked us off our feet, but it also sent a powerful and pleasant shiver up my spine. Yet, despite the intense and gratifying darkness, a painful sensation overcame my senses, and suddenly, it felt like my bones were going to snap in half and my muscles were going to melt off my body. I could feel my skin shifting, and small bits of fleshy flaps were growing all over me. Even though I was in searing pain, I kept my hands tightly wrapped around Circe and Morgana’s, and I knew they were both in the same amount of agony as they stifled their screams.
“Whatever you do,” Beatrix grunted. “Keep your eyes closed!”
I gritted my teeth in pain as my body morphed into something else entirely, and I could even feel the hair on my arms falling off as my insides and outsides changed into whatever Beatrix had incanted. Finally, the torture stopped, and I slowly peeled my eyes open. Then my jaw nearly dropped in surprise when I looked at the other women.
Each witch possessed brightly-hued eyes and multicolored, scaled-covered flesh. No matter how short some of their hair was before, it was now down to their waists and pulled back into fishtail braids, and they wore simple peasant dresses with dark hoods and black leather boots. Their features were the same, but the shape of their eyes was a little more narrow, and their noses were slightly more pointed. Their hands were webbed, and when they turned to look at one another, I could see gills flapping behind their ears.
I looked down at my hands and found they were covered entirely in pale scales that glittered dimly under the sun, and when I touched my face, I could feel the rough, fishlike texture all over my cheeks, nose, and forehead.
Ugh, wow, master… Alexander began in my head. You look… remarkably different and also a bit taller from where I’m standing.
I turned around to look down at him, and my face broke into a smile as I suppressed a laugh. He was now a small, harmless seagull, and so were the other familiars, and when they realized they all had wings, they flew into the air and perched themselves on our shoulders.
“Unholy shit,” Akira chuckled, and even her voice sounded different, like it was five octaves higher. “Wait, what the hell is wrong with my voice?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Beatrix answered in a piercing tone. “Sea-like creatures simply tend to have higher-pitched voices.”
“Well, the point is that it worked,” I said, and I too was shocked by the sound of my own voice.
“Exactly,” Vanessa whispered, and then she blushed like she was embarrassed by how different she sounded. “Now, let’s get a move on, shall we?”
“What about the elk?” Revna asked with wide, glowing ice-blue orbs. “We obviously can’t bring them with us.”
“Let them wander through the woodland,” Vanessa suggested. “If we need their aid, we can summon them whenever we please.”
So, we willed our bonded elks to wander through the forest, and as I watched them leave, I quickly prayed to Satan to keep them safe. Then, when they were out of sight, the newly winged familiars followed closely behind us as we treaded past the threshold of the colorful woodland and began our journey toward the sea-creature dwelling kingdom. My feet were uncomfortable in my leather boots, and each step was painful with my new scales, but I didn’t utter a word of complaint, and neither did the others.
We trekked closer and closer toward the borders of the citadel, and I glanced up at the sky and looked at the familiars disguised as a flock of seagulls. They were flying not too high above us, but they also kept enough distance to not seem suspicious.
I hate this, Alexander said in my head, and I couldn’t help but laugh under my breath. I feel like an idiot.
“I know,” I muttered. “I’m not exactly having a fun day in hell either.”
“Is Alexander also bitching about his new appearance?” Akira chuckled, and when I looked at her, it was so strange to see her with her black, glowing eyes and scaled white and pink skin. “Because Damien won’t shut up about it.”
“Yeah, he’s constantly complaining,” I snickered.
No, I’m not, Alex argued back.
I laughed, and it still felt strange to hear my own voice sounding like a high-pitched cackle.
Finally, we ended up at the giant gates of the sea-stone kingdom, and I looked up to see if I could spot any guards on watch, but I saw nothing except for a dangling white rope coming from a towering pillar.
“What’s that for?” Marina asked as she squinted and looked up.
“It’s a bell to alert the guards that we want passage,” Vanessa sharply responded before she tugged on it.
A giant ringing sound echoed through the sky, and the gates slowly parted open as soon as the sound reverberated through the air. A cluster of soldiers slowly emerged from the large, parting gates, and they carried spears in their hands and garbed themselves in silver and scaled armor. They wore heavy helmets on their heads with a seashell placed right in the center, but I could still see their glowing eyes and fishlike skin beneath their visors.
“Are you returning from a journey?” one soldier asked as he took a step away from the others and approached me, and then he looked at the other women. “Are these your wives, sir?”
“Yes,” I replied without hesitation. “We traveled to the red sands in search for…”
Sea-glass, the woman from my mind echoed suddenly. The kingdom is in short supply of it.
“Well?” the soldier asked in a high-pitched but impatient tone.
“Sea-glass,” I said with a long, dramatic sigh, “but I’m afraid we didn’t come across any. We will perhaps try again in the morning.”
“Well, at least you tried,” he replied before he turned to the other sea-like guards and nodded in their direction. “Let them pass. They’ve been to the red sands, and I’m sure they’re weary from also crossing the woodland.”
“Very much, so,” Vesta purred in a sweet voice, and when she spoke to the men, they couldn’t take their eyes off her. “Thank God for your kindness, sirs.”
“Of course, radiant madame,” the head guard replied, and all the men bowed at once.
I knew if this were any other situation, Akira would start bursting into laughter, and when I looked at her, it was apparent she was using all her willpower to keep a straight face.
“Come along now, my faithful and holy wives,” I said with a forced smile. “Let us not waste any more of the guard’s time.”
“Yes, husband,” the women, including Vanessa, responded, and I knew it probably killed her inside to say it, but she knew she had no other choice.
We passed by the guards, and I could feel their glowing eyes on us as we swiftly entered the mysterious kingdom with our seagull familiars flying over our heads. When we stepped past the gates and into the citadel, it was clear this was a bustling and overly crowded holy kingdom. Dozens of villagers gathered in the cobblestone streets and open marketplaces as we headed deeper through the heart of this ocean-creature dwelling realm, and the smell of spiced meat, fish-smelling skin, and other mysterious odors filled the air as we tried to seamlessly blend in.
“Unholy fuck,” Akira hissed under her breath. “There are so many people.”
“Make sure you look like you’re a part of the market crowd,” Vanessa instructed as people shouted, laughed, and called each other over. “Appear as if you’re interested but not intrigued enough to purchase anything. Also, keep your hoods up. We are far more beautiful than any of these women here, and we cannot draw too much attention to ourselves. Cole, can you carefully check the compass and make sure we’re going the right way?”
“Yeah,” I whispered as I discreetly took a peek at the relic around my neck, and the needle was pointing steadily north, down a long road filled with more and more market booths, pubs, brothels, and warehouses. “Follow me and stay close.”
I tucked my compass underneath my shirt and discreetly studied everything around me. Akira was right. This place was absolutely packed with all kinds of strange fish-like people, and none of them were attractive, even for them. I continued to look around, and I spotted children with teal-toned skin and glowing eyes dressed in white peasant dresses or overalls. They were playing in the streets, and they wore heavy wooden crosses on their necks. As their mothers tried to chase after them, I looked closely at the different market booths, and sheer canopies drooped over the tables to protect the vendors from the sun. I realized there was the same, strange purple meat for sale on every stall, but they all came in different forms. Some were shredded, while others were cut into neat cubes, and some were dried or cooked on skewers.
“That stuff you’re looking at is called bubalus,” Morgana whispered into my ear as we discreetly trekked down the marketplace and pretended to be interested in different items. “It’s the only meat they eat since they don’t hunt for anything that comes from the ocean.”
“So, they draw the line at cannibalism, but selling Wicca organs is acceptable?” Akira growled as we passed by a shop advertising various witch body parts, such as hearts, eyes, and kidneys.
“You should be used to this by now, Miss Akira,” Vanessa said as she walked steadily next to the disguised black-haired witch. “We’ve seen this kind of thing countless times before.”
“I know, Professor,” Akira muttered, “but it still gets on my nerves. I want to kill them all for it.”
“Me, too,” Vanessa sighed after a long moment. “Trust me, I want them all to burn just like our ancestors did.”
The others muttered their agreements, and by the time we reached the end of the long road, I could feel the compass around my neck vibrating. I carefully reached into my cloak to see if anything had changed, and I quickly realized the needle was now pointing slightly northwest. After I craned my neck to gaze over the crowd and look in that direction, I saw the palace towers looming in the far distance, and that’s when I knew we’d have to pass through the royal castle to get out of this holy fucking kingdom.
I wasn’t about to go in blind, though, so I decided to use the periculum incantation to see what dangers laid ahead.
“Hey, let’s stop for a second,” I said, and my coven immediately halted in their tracks.
“What’s wrong, master?” Morgana asked as her blue eyes darted around.
“Nothing, yet,” I replied as we moved to the side of the road we were on, out of the flow of traffic. “But I want to see what we’re walking into. Keep your eyes peeled for me.”
“Yes, master,” my coven said in unison before they turned to face the street.
I trusted them with my life, so I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and uttered the incantation in my head.
Periculum.
My mind went dark as it zoomed ahead of us toward the castle, and I saw a ruler seated on a throne and surrounded by guards. My consciousness moved past him too fast to see his features, but an arrogant, spoiled aura emanated from him, and I had half a moment to wonder if I could use that to my advantage. Then I was flying deeper into the castle, down grand halls, until I came to one particular door that was silver and gold in color. I slipped past the two-toned door and entered an opulent chamber with plum-colored velvet walls, gold trimming, and a white marble floor. A gold column rose up in the center of the room, and it was crested with a black marble orb.
Every fiber in me wanted to touch that orb, and I pictured my hand atop its ebony surface. The moment I did, my mind was whisked away, and I felt like I was shadow porting. Then an image of Samara flashed in front of me.
So, if I reached the orb, it would take me to the third artifact. Or it would at least get me out of this kingdom and onto the next step.
You’re correct as usual, Cole, the woman from my dreams sighed in my head. The room you saw is called the room of realms. You have become very astute with your premonition powers. I’m proud of you.
Her words made a warmth settle in my chest, and I opened my eyes as determination flared through my veins.
“Alright, everyone, follow me,” I ordered in a rushed voice, and even over the ear-splitting chitter-chatter of the marketplace, I knew the women heard me. “Be as quick as you can. We need to reach the castle before the sun sets and ask about the room of realms.”
“The room of realms?” Marina questioned as walked onward.
“I’ve heard tales of it before,” Morgana breathed. “I never knew it really existed. It’s a holy room, but it does possess the power to transport anyone to any destination that they desire.”
“Enough talk,” Vanessa snapped. “Let’s move quickly and quietly, and keep your hoods up until we reach the castle.”
“Yes, Professor,” the women answered in unison.
We did our best to weave quickly and effortlessly through the crowded citadel, but it wasn’t an easy endeavor. Everyone was bumping into each other, shouting and running, or calling out of their windows. It was pure madness everywhere, and I knew making our way across such a grand kingdom would take at least several hours.
“Be wary of pickpockets,” Vanessa said into my ear. “If they try to steal your wand or dagger, we’re done for. Even a thief would rather risk imprisonment than let a witch roam free on these streets.”
“Understood, Professor,” I said, and I kept my cloak wrapped tighter around my body as we moved onward.
The sun was high in the sky, and I guessed it was around noon by the time we were halfway across the kingdom. By now, the streets had grown a little calmer, but then I suddenly felt like someone or something had been following us.
I spun around, and the other women all gasped and stopped in their tracks. There was nothing unusual behind them, only a few merchants passing by and mothers dragging their stubborn children through the streets.
“What’s wrong, master?” Penelope asked, and her glowing brown eyes darted up and down the road.
“I… I thought I could feel a presence,” I said as my eyes scanned the cobblestone streets, but all I could see were more meat shops, a run-down silk store, and a nearly empty pub. “Perhaps it was nothing… maybe just my nerves getting the better of me.”
“Then let’s keep going,” Vanessa hissed. “We’re running out of time.”
We walked onward as the sun grew paler, and the air became cooler as we grew closer and closer to the magnificent but holy palace walls. I could already feel its light energy wafting through the air like thick smoke, and it left a sour taste in my mouth and an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. As the sunset grew nearer, I still couldn’t help but feel like we were being followed, and the idea tugged viciously at my every nerve.
When I could no longer take the warning sensation any longer, I whipped around, and this time, I thought I saw a group of shadowy cloaked men dive into an alleyway.
“Shit,” I muttered before I reached for my blade. “I knew it. We are being followed.”
“Fuck,” Vanessa said before she also reached for her weapon. “Whatever we do, we need to be as discreet as possible. No magic if we can help it.”
“Understood,” I said before I headed toward the alleyway. “Everyone, keep your eyes open and your senses on high alert.”
“Yes, master,” my women responded.
When I neared the mysterious back road where the shadows had dipped into, I pressed my back against the edge of the pale stone wall and waited a moment before I pulled out my blade. Then I swiftly turned the corner, but something deathly cold wrapped itself around my neck like an icy skeletal hand, and the last thing I heard before I was pulled into the darkness was the sound of my name.
