Part 12 (2/2)

Yes, I know now. I thought back, recognizing my place once again. I walked in the circle in the shape of a moon, then drew its ident.i.ty in the air.

”The spell shall have no other purpose than that described here,” I went on.

”It shall affect no other being than those described here. It shall not exist or ignite ever again in perpetuity, except for the time described here. This spell is intended only for goodness, for safety, to right a wrong. My intent is pure. I work not in anger, nor hatred, nor judgment.”

On and on I went.The limitations of a spell are the most important part, especially for something like this.

This part took almost thirty minutes. I moved as quickly as I could and still be precise and exact, not skipping anything. Three more times I forgot what to do, and each time panic overwhelmed me until Morgan talked me through the next step. Her voice sounded strained but incredibly calm and rea.s.suring. I was no longer aware of where Hunter was or what he was doing. I felt a dim outline of Maghach in my head. Sometimes I felt cold wind, or a heavy weight pressing on me, or was aware of leaves whipping around me. I stayed within my circle and worked the spell.

At the end of the second part I wanted to lie down and cry. The air itself was starting to feel bad, to affect me as if I were breathing fumes of poison. I felt exhausted and nauseated, and my head pounded. The third part was the actual form of the spell itself. The fourth part would be fast: igniting it.

”Keep going, Alisa,” said Morgan, a thin line of ice underlying her calm voice. ”Keep going.You can do it.You're strong. You know it. Now state the actual spell.”

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and turned to the east. ”With this spell I create an opening, a bith dearc, between this world and the netherworld,” I began, my voice sounding shaky. ”I create an unnatural tear between life and death, between light and dark, between salvation and revenge.” And on it went, sometimes in English, sometimes in modern Gaelic, which I had done a decent job of memorizing, and some in ancient Gaelic, which Morgan and Maghach had to coach me through, practically word by word. I walked within my circle, creating patterns, layers of patterns, layers of intent. I drew sigils in the air and on the ground. I drew sigils on myself and around myself. Suddenly I froze, looking at the billowing, oily black cloud roaring our way. It looked sickening, tinged with green, and it was getting so close. I felt like the breath was knocked out of me. Oh my G.o.d, this was real, and it was here, and I was really going to die.We were all really going to die.

Morgan started talking to me, but I couldn't move. The closer it got, the sicker I felt, and the more Morgan's voice sounded strained and weak. I barely felt Maghach at all anymore.

It's over, I thought. I won't finish in time. I looked around wildly for Hunter and saw him hunched over next to a tombstone.When he looked up at me, he looked like he had aged thirty years.

I had so much more to go, and the black cloud of destruction was almost upon us. Morgan's voice in my head urged me on, and like a robot I started working through the last section of the third part, going as fast as I could. I was shaking all over: I thought I would throw up at any second, and basically I felt like I was standing there waiting to die.

The first blast of death, of darkness, was barely twenty yards away.

My hands trembling, I sketched an inverted pentagram in the air before me. I had finished the third part of the spell.

”Ignite it!” Hunter yelled, his voice sounding strangled.

”Ignite it!” Morgan screamed in my head.

Again I felt frozen with terror, shaky and stupid and ill. The dark wave was almost upon us, and I was mesmerized by it. In its boiling, choking clouds I could see faint outlines of faces, pinched and withered and hungry, eager. My body went cold. Each one of those people had once been someone like me-someone facing this terrible cloud. It was horrifying.The most horrible thing I had ever seen or even imagined.

”Ignite it! Alisa!” Morgan screamed.

Mindless with fear, I mechanically whispered the words that would set the spell into motion, that would let it spark into life, for good or for bad. Shaking so much I could hardly stand, I held out my arms and choked out, ”Nal nithrac, cair na rith la, cair nith la!”

I felt a huge surge of energy inside me-it seemed to start in the ground, then it shot through me and out from my fingers and the top of my head. It was warmth and light and energy and happiness all at once: my magickal power. Then the faces were here, and the air and the earth ripped open in front of me, as if the whole world as I knew it, reality, were just a painting that someone had slashed. The gold pocket watch I had placed on the ground exploded, and the blast knocked me off my feet. I flew backward and my head cracked against a marble tombstone. Sparks exploded in my throbbing head, and I cried out. Ten feet away, I saw the dark wave suddenly rus.h.i.+ng down into the rip, the bith dearc I had made. The ghost faces in it looked surprised, then horrified, then enraged. But they had no power over the spell I had cast. The whole wave disappeared into the rip while I stared. Then my vision went fuzzy, and everything became blessedly quiet and safe, black and still.

”Oh, G.o.d,” I moaned, trying to feel the back of my head. ”Oh, G.o.d, this hurts.”

”Stay still for a moment,” said Morgan's voice.

I blinked up at her. She was sitting next to me, and she seemed to be smas.h.i.+ng some greenish moss together in her hands. ”My head hurts,” I said, like a little kid, and then I remembered everything. ”Oh, G.o.d!” I cried, trying to sit up, only to be struck down by pain. ”Morgan, what happened? What happened?”

When her eyes met mine, I realized that she was no longer inside my mind, but separate and herself. In her eyes I saw so much more than I had ever seen before. It was like a wise, learned woman was inside Morgan's body, and that woman's eyes were telling me things I could only barely begin to understand.

”Morgan?”

”Hold on,” she said, then gently lifted my head and pressed her gunk against where it hurt.

”Ow!”

”You'll feel better soon,” she said.

A shadow fell across me, and I looked up to see Hunter. He crouched down next to me, and Morgan nodded as if to tell him I would be all right.

”You did it,” Hunter said, his voice sounding raspy. ”Alisa, you did it.You performed the spell. It worked.You saved us.”

Unexpectedly this made me start crying, which made my head hurt more. Morgan, whom I'd always thought of as a little cold, took my hand and patted it, her own eyes s.h.i.+ning with tears.

”Morgan did it,” I said, trying to stop crying. ” I almost forgot everything. She told me what to do.”

”Hunter's father told me what to say to you,” she said. ”It was him. I was just a messenger.” She looked wrung out and tired, and there were bits of dried gra.s.s and leaves in her hair.

Very slowly I sat up and found that the horrible throbbing in my head had lessened. ”Where is Mr. Niall?” I asked. ”I don't feel him anymore.”

”Right there.” Hunter pointed. About fifteen feet away, Hunter's father was kneeling on the ground. ”He's closing the bith dearc forever,” Hunter explained. ”Only this one, of course. There will always be more, and other dark waves, too. But as far as we know, this is the first and only time anyone's ever defeated one. Now we can teach others how to do it. By this time next year maybe we'll have put a stop to Amyranth for good.”

Morgan fished in her coat and found a purple scarf, which she tied over my head. ”When you get home, leave that stuff on for another two hours. Then wash your hair,” she instructed me. ”Then take some Tylenol and pa.s.s out. You've earned it.”

I looked around. ”I can't believe it,” I said. ”It worked. We're still alive. Everyone's still alive.” More tears coursed down my cheeks, and I rubbed them away with my sleeve.

Morgan leaned against Hunter, and he put his arm around her.

”I used my powers,” I said in wonder.

”You sure did.” A hint of a smile crossed Morgan's face.

We looked at each other for a long moment, and I realized that Morgan and I understood each other. We had bonded.We were witches.

15.

Morgan.

*”The Nal Nithrac spell is lengthy and difficult, but not impossible for one witch to perform. While the basic spell can be utilized against any dark wave, care must be taken to make it accurate as to the place, time, and people involved. As was shown in Widow's Vale, it is of great value to have some item that carries the vibrations of the wave creator, but it is not always necessary.”

-Daniel Niall of Turloch-eigh*

”I can't believe it's over,” said Hunter.

I nodded, smiling weakly. ”I just want life to get back to normal-whatever normal is,” I said. I stretched my feet toward the fire in Hunter's living room. It had taken us a while to make it back to our cars and figure out if we could drive or not, but now we were resting and drinking hot mulled cider.

”All of you performed magnificently,” said Hunter's father.

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