A Witch's Path (12 page)

Everyone looked at me. Behind the determination and tears, I saw hope. They thought I could fix this problem. I swallowed, feeling nauseous. "I need every witch and hedge-practitioner you can find. I'll start reading the dinosaur and I need a driver to help me follow it as it moves and someone to watch out for me when I trance."

"Cooper, Trent, and Middleton volunteered to help you." Hal answered.
 

"I'll get to work." The three of them had volunteered for the most dangerous task, protecting the one woman army that was going to face down a reptile that could squish me like a bug. I turned to the guys, "I need to go into a light trance and get a good reading on Rexie. I'd like to be by the truck in case we need to get away quickly."

"Rexie?" Middleton asked.
 

"We can't keep calling it T-Rex, that's its species. Every opponent needs a name, so I'm calling him Rexie."

The guys smiled. "What if it's a girl?" Trent asked.
 

"Then I'll call it Roxanne – Roxie for short." I shrugged. The guys positioned me behind an open truck door, ready to hurl me in and take off if Rexie headed our way.
 

I fell into a light trance. At first, I tried to get a feel for the spells, but there were so many spells crisscrossing this beast, that it was impossible to feel all of them. I pushed my power to Rexie. This was the most dangerous part. Some of those spells could be used to detect magic, and if I triggered them there was a good chance the dinosaur would come after us. When my magic brushed Rexie and he continued to destroy the gas station, I relaxed into a deeper trance.
 

Spells clamored for my attention, forcing me to try and focus my attention on a single spell, rather than getting a sense of the whole. I started with the oldest spells. The first spell I examined was a life spell. It felt like magic elves or brownies would use to keep crops growing and animals free of injury. The next spell was similar to the stay-awake charm I made to help me stay awake when I was tired. This was a more powerful version, but it was designed to keep something awake, regardless of how rundown or tired they felt. I found three illusion spells of different types, as well as a containment spell and a spell designed to find pieces of a whole. There were a few more life and health spells, all slightly different. There was one or two spells binding all the spells together, and layered on top of all of these were invulnerability and shield spells.
 

I pulled my power away from Rexie. Suddenly, the spells moved, expanding, changing, and the backlash of power hit me before I should shield. I had just enough time to curse before I blacked out.

With the new flexibility at my job, I could spend more time in the woods. Today, I was following that desire. When I asked the forest around the lodge to help protect Michelle, it had tugged at me, wanting to show me something. It wouldn't leave me be until I assured it I would be back. The Call nearly flattened me when I turned to leave. It wanted me to be in those woods as much as the woods wanted to keep me.
 

This morning, I communicated with the forest outside the Lodge. It pushed me to the car, tugging me down this road, and across that river. Following its desire, I drove until the pull from the woods was too strong to ignore. My own Call was pushing at me too. When I put my feet on the ground, it welcomed me. Leaving the car behind, I let my feet and the earth pull me into the woods.
 

The trees swayed around me, creaking in welcome. My hands brushed them as I walked past and I could feel their joy. The forest wanted me here. The pressure of the Call lessened while pushing me forward. I was needed in this time, in this place. Although, the Call wasn't obliging enough to tell me why my presence was required.
 

From one step to the next, the forest changed. It was now merely tolerant of my presence. Taking two steps back, I was even with a holly tree and the forest was welcoming again.
 

I settled to the ground, trying to determine why one step would make such a difference. Running my hand along the group, I focused on the feeling the forest had in that spot. It was as if a line was drawn; on one side the forest was happy to have me here, and on the other it only tolerated my presence.
 

Try I did, but the forest was coy and vague. I could go into the less welcoming area, but it preferred to have me here. The forest urged me to explore. With my hands touching the ground, I extended my senses and looked with more than my eyes.
 

Beyond the change in attitude, there was no difference between the two areas. As my eyes explored, they came to rest on a large tree twenty paces away. It was off. It looked like a maple, but it didn't feel like a maple, and it did funny things to my eyes when I tried to focus on it.
 

Blinking, I tried again. The tree rippled, and shimmered.
 

Rising from my spot on the earth, I approached the tree. Though it continued to play tricks on my eyes, there was no feeling of malice or danger. Upon stepping under its branches, the feeling changed from indifferent to curious and welcoming. Taking the last few steps, I laid my hand on the trunk.
 

To my eyes, the surface of the tree rippled, though my hand felt nothing. The tree twitched, as if shaking off dust, and transformed.

My lips lifted into a smile, it was a hidden tulip tree, the magical cousin of the more mundane tulip tree. These trees were known for hiding in plain sight, being masters of illusion. Most races would be unable to detect them, though elves were more difficult to fool.
 

The tulip tree was happy to see me. It didn't get many visitors, and it enjoyed having company. When its chatter died down, I asked if it would like to move to the university. The tree was quick to inform me that it was here for a reason, but it would be nice if I came to visit.
 

"Why are you here?" I asked.

To hide things was the answer it offered.
 

"What things?"

The base of the tree shimmered and three orchids were unveiled. Leaning down to get a closer look, I could see a dark flower with long petals drooping past the rest of the blossom.
 

A shimmer at the edge of my vision caught my attention and the bases of dozens of trees flickered, momentarily showing orchids hidden by the tulip tree and forest.
 

"These are lovely. Why do you hide them?"

The tree wouldn't answer, seeming to think it had said enough.
 

"Could you save a seed for me in the spring? I would like to have one of your kind at the garden for people to admire." The tree was taken with the idea of being admired. It urged me to turn around. A few feet away was a young tree, not yet as tall as my hips.
 

"Do you think it would want to move?" The large tulip seemed to think so. It asked me to return sometime and I agreed before saying my farewell. Tulip trees were lovely, and their magical relatives were known for flamboyant spring displays.
 

Kneeling next to the small tree, I introduced myself. It was very excited. I was the second person it had met. After getting to know one another, I gently asked if it would like to be around more people, in a different town. The tree agreed, and hurried to pull its roots from the ground.
 

"Slow down. There's no rush," I laughed.

I woke to three pairs of eyes looking at me, and blinked a few times to bring them into focus. I shifted, and felt myself slipping.
 

Sgt Cooper's mouth moved as he and Trent steadied me. I was lying on the back seat of the car and couldn't hear a word Cooper said. His mouth moved again. When I stared at him, he pointed at me, then at his ears, and finally at himself. I figured he was asking if I could hear him. I shook my head. The only thing I could hear was a dull ringing. My head swam when I sat up and Cooper tried to push me back down. I shoved at him, patting the pockets on the outside of my primary bag until I felt a small round charm.
 

Without hesitating, I pulled the straight pin off the back and jabbed my finger. I put the pin back in the charm and squeezed a drop of blood on to the charm. Then, I laid back down and set the charm on my chest. I still couldn't hear, but I mumbled, "Healing charm." I wasn't sure if Sgt Cooper could hear me, but he relaxed and addressed someone behind me. I couldn't summon the energy to care who he was talking to. The less I did, and more I relaxed, the faster the charm would work.
 

To pass the time, I counted seconds. Thirty seconds later my hearing had returned, though everything sounded far away. A full minute after I'd activated the charm, my ears felt like I hadn't cleared them in an airplane. Fifteen seconds after that, I could hear normally. I tucked the charm in my pocket, since it would continue to repair my body until the magic was exhausted.
 

"What happened?" I asked.
 

"Are you feeling better?" Cooper looked at me skeptically.
 

"Yup, I'm healed. The charm did its job. What happened?" Sitting up, I realized the light was flickering. "How long was I out?"

"About ten minutes. The blast hit you harder than the rest of us."

"Blast?"

"The gas station exploded. I guess Rexie damaged the gas pumps while he was shredding that part of the structure, and when he moved on to the building something set off a spark. Gas fumes in the air exploded and the gas on the ground went up in flames."

"Was Rexie hurt?" My eyes were glued on the gas station. There were flames all over the building, but there was still a dinosaur tearing into the fiery remains.
 

"As far as we can tell he's fine. The blast knocked him back a few steps, but when the fireball cleared he shook himself like a big dog and got back to work on the remains of the gas station. He isn't even burned. I'll be honest, I thought it had done him in for a minute."

I tore my eyes away from Rexie. "Is everyone still here? I should explain this to everyone."
 

I followed Sgt Cooper out of the car. We had moved back a few feet, but the cars were still parked in a group, ready to race off in different directions. On the far side of the cars was the group of guys.
 

Cooper whistled. "Guys, Ms. Oaks has something to tell you."
 

I nodded at Hal. "Rexie has some crazy healing and life spells on him, as well as two spells to make him invulnerable. That's why the explosion didn't hurt him. I was knocked out by the spells reacting to the damage he would've incurred because my magic was very close to the spells."

"Can you break the spells?" An older, uniformed man asked. "We have our witches on the way here to help you."

"Lt Col Robins, Army Rangers," Sgt Cooper whispered in my ear.

"With their help, I can weaken the spells enough that a strong physical blow should destroy the T-Rex. If that doesn't work, the witches will be knocked out by the back-lash, and you should drop a big bomb on it. The spell could be overloaded by purely physical means, but a bomb large enough to do that might leave Lumpkin County with a crater where their town used to be. I'm sure the people would like to keep Dahlonega, so I'm willing to risk magical backlash if you'll get the artillery."

"Give me a minute." Lt Col Robins pulled out a phone and walked a few feet away from the group.
 

"Do you need my help to kill the beast?" asked Hal.

"Absolutely. You're going to be our ground; the emergency valve that guides excess energy away from us and into the earth." He nodded, his jaw clenched and eyes narrowed. "Because, there will be a backlash. Even if this goes perfectly, energy is going to snap back on us like a charging bull."
 

Hal paled. I glared at the rest of the guys. "Let me be clear, it's worth the risk because Plan B is even more dangerous for everyone involved." The men around me nodded, realizing the alternative wiped their town off the map.
 

Lt Col Robins walked back. "We're in luck. They were running a readiness drill. Dobbins Air Force Base will have a Warthog in the air in ten minutes. It has a 30mm cannon, and has missiles on board as well. Will that work?"

"What's a 30mm cannon?"

"It kills tanks."

"That sounds good. How long before it gets here?"
 

"About twenty minutes," he answered.

I nodded. Now, I had to figure out how to keep a dinosaur in one place for twenty minutes. There wasn't much of the gas station left, and I suspected it would move on to more interesting things when it finished. I sprinted back to the truck.

"Where are you going?" Someone yelled.

"Need supplies. Gotta keep it here. It can't do much more damage to this area." I dove into the truck, rummaging through my bags for different supplies. I set a square of purified cloth, three oils, and an empty dropper bottle on the seat.
 

"Does anyone have a bow?" I yelled.
 

"I do, and a couple dozen arrows," someone shouted back.
 

"Grab them." I quickly measured out portions of the oils into the empty dropper bottle before replacing the lid. After placing the oils back in my kit, I hopped out of the truck. There was a human waiting for me, a quiver across his back and a crossbow in his hands.
 

"Grady," he introduced himself. "What do you need the bow for?"

"I need you and the bow; I'm not an archer. Can I see the arrows?" He handed me the quiver. I squeezed oil onto the cloth, quickly rubbing it across the arrows. "I need you to shoot these in a circle around Rexie. It doesn't have to be a complete circle, but the closer to complete, and the more arrows in the circle, the better. Do it fast. Fast is important."

"Michelle," Hal called. "The wizards are here!"