magic in the middle of the night.”
Mom laughs at the memory. “At least it was all innocent fun.”
Kallen leans forward. “Are you strong enough as a spirit to create an illusion that big?”
Mom is all confidence now. “Yes.”
“How long can you hold this illusion?”
“My longest was two days. With my diminished power I could probably hold it at least twenty-four hours.”
Kallen nods appreciatively. “What do you need from us?”
“I need an image of the five of us that I can hold in my mind. I think this image would do just fine.” Mom smiles. “Seeing us sitting around the kitchen table enjoying ourselves, not caring what they are doing should throw them off their game a bit.”
“How will the illusion keep them from latching onto us?” I ask.
“Their magic is limited by having to have exact, what’s the word? Coordinates. The illusion will act as a curtain that they can’t get past,” Grandma explains.
Seems simple enough. Right. Because things like this go smoothly all the time. Not that I’d really know that personally. But it never goes smoothly on television. Ugh. My head’s starting to hurt. “Do you think we could take this one at a time? Maybe we could start with the tree magic or something and then work our way down the list.”
Kallen raises his brows at my impatience but doesn’t say anything. Mom looks sympathetic to my being antsy but she turns to her mother for direction. I don’t care how helpful Grandma’s being. I really hate that this comes down to a woman that we still don’t know exactly why she’s here, or that she’s one hundred percent on our side.
Grandma rises to her feet. “Alright, let’s make the mighty oaks become our shield.”
Chapter 7
Those of us with corporeal form put on some warm clothes to go out and play with trees. Too bad Zac’s not here because he’d be in heaven. He loves being outside in the snow. I get another ping as I think about him. I hope he and Aunt Barb get to come home soon.
Grandma walks ahead of us as she circles the house and studies the trees. I have no idea what she’s looking at or what basis she’s going to use to pick out which trees will be used. What I do know, is that Kallen looks absolutely fascinated as he watches her with eagle eyes. “Why are you so excited?” I ask him.
Slipping my hand in his, he tries to look nonchalant. “I am always interested in learning about magic I am not familiar with.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Uh huh, why do I think you’re not telling me the whole story?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
I’m about to say something else when Grandma stops short and we almost walk into her. “The trees here are marvelous. I would have loved to live among them.” I don’t think she’s really talking to us. She seems to be musing out loud to herself.
Turning around to face us, she says, “There are enough oaks surrounding the house that we will be able to make a large circle of protection. Xandra, I need you to take this,” she hands me a small bowl that she had mixed before we came outside. It’s clay that she had brought with her in a glass jar and salt ground together until it turned into a paste. And then she added my blood. It was only a few drops, but maybe I should start taking some iron supplements if I’m going to have to add my blood to spells more often.
I take the bowl from her with its murky, grayish brown paste. It smells awful – whether from the blood or the clay, I’m not sure. I scrunch up my nose in distaste. “What am I supposed to do with it?”
“You will mark seven trees as you say the protection spell. Seven is the number that represents the dominion of the soul and mind over body. It will cast aside any attempts at altering our
Mom laughs at the memory. “At least it was all innocent fun.”
Kallen leans forward. “Are you strong enough as a spirit to create an illusion that big?”
Mom is all confidence now. “Yes.”
“How long can you hold this illusion?”
“My longest was two days. With my diminished power I could probably hold it at least twenty-four hours.”
Kallen nods appreciatively. “What do you need from us?”
“I need an image of the five of us that I can hold in my mind. I think this image would do just fine.” Mom smiles. “Seeing us sitting around the kitchen table enjoying ourselves, not caring what they are doing should throw them off their game a bit.”
“How will the illusion keep them from latching onto us?” I ask.
“Their magic is limited by having to have exact, what’s the word? Coordinates. The illusion will act as a curtain that they can’t get past,” Grandma explains.
Seems simple enough. Right. Because things like this go smoothly all the time. Not that I’d really know that personally. But it never goes smoothly on television. Ugh. My head’s starting to hurt. “Do you think we could take this one at a time? Maybe we could start with the tree magic or something and then work our way down the list.”
Kallen raises his brows at my impatience but doesn’t say anything. Mom looks sympathetic to my being antsy but she turns to her mother for direction. I don’t care how helpful Grandma’s being. I really hate that this comes down to a woman that we still don’t know exactly why she’s here, or that she’s one hundred percent on our side.
Grandma rises to her feet. “Alright, let’s make the mighty oaks become our shield.”
Chapter 7
Those of us with corporeal form put on some warm clothes to go out and play with trees. Too bad Zac’s not here because he’d be in heaven. He loves being outside in the snow. I get another ping as I think about him. I hope he and Aunt Barb get to come home soon.
Grandma walks ahead of us as she circles the house and studies the trees. I have no idea what she’s looking at or what basis she’s going to use to pick out which trees will be used. What I do know, is that Kallen looks absolutely fascinated as he watches her with eagle eyes. “Why are you so excited?” I ask him.
Slipping my hand in his, he tries to look nonchalant. “I am always interested in learning about magic I am not familiar with.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Uh huh, why do I think you’re not telling me the whole story?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
I’m about to say something else when Grandma stops short and we almost walk into her. “The trees here are marvelous. I would have loved to live among them.” I don’t think she’s really talking to us. She seems to be musing out loud to herself.
Turning around to face us, she says, “There are enough oaks surrounding the house that we will be able to make a large circle of protection. Xandra, I need you to take this,” she hands me a small bowl that she had mixed before we came outside. It’s clay that she had brought with her in a glass jar and salt ground together until it turned into a paste. And then she added my blood. It was only a few drops, but maybe I should start taking some iron supplements if I’m going to have to add my blood to spells more often.
I take the bowl from her with its murky, grayish brown paste. It smells awful – whether from the blood or the clay, I’m not sure. I scrunch up my nose in distaste. “What am I supposed to do with it?”
“You will mark seven trees as you say the protection spell. Seven is the number that represents the dominion of the soul and mind over body. It will cast aside any attempts at altering our
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