West Coast Witch by Justen Hunter Page B

time. It stores energy, waits for a witch or other to tap it.
     When harnessed and directed, it is explosive. Not only is it powerful, but it is fast,
     and it ignores the resistances Arcanes can have to physical damage.”
    “So, magic affects all things equally?”
    “I would not say that. But it does level the playing field. Fire, especially.”
    I nodded. “Fire. What’s so special about fire?”
    “All things are equal in fire, Eric.” She said. “Everything burns.”
    I nodded. “So, can we try again with the spell?” I asked. “I’ll try again, won’t try
     forcing anything.”
    “Give it a few minutes.” Amy said. “Then we will try again.”
    I went to the sink and put my burned fingers under some cold water. “So, what’s with
     the fact that you didn’t come into the circle?” I asked.
    She shook her head as she replied.. “Salt is a barrier to things that are not totally
     corporeal.”
    “Beg pardon? How’s that work?” I asked.
    “Salt has properties that blocks things that are not corporeal, or at least, not completely
     so. Ghosts, Fae, they cannot cross barriers of salt.”
    “And you can’t?”
    “It is one of my rules. I cannot cross a salt barrier.”
    I reminded myself to keep that in mind in the future. “So, when you say I have to
     let the power flow like a stream into the compass, what do you mean?”
    “Do not push it, do not direct it. Instead, imagine that you are pouring it, like
     you are watering a plant.”
    I thought about that, and how I would visualize it in my head. It made sense, on some
     level. Some vague memories of physics classes came back to me, told me that it made
     sense.
    After a few minutes, my burned finger was wrapped up, and Amy said it was time to
     try again. I knelt down in the circle, and closed my eyes. This time, I was able to
     find the strand much more quickly.
    I grasped it, bound it to me, and felt the power once again fill me. This time, however,
     I cupped my hands, and imagined the power filing my hands like water. I moved my hands
     over the compass. I poured the energy down.
    A new sensation flew through me. My fingers grew colder, the heat leaving them, pouring
     out onto the compass. The energy leaving me took on a yellow color, like pouring molten
     gold into the compass. It covered it, and slowly, golden strands started to wrap around
     my fingers, connecting me to the compass.
    “The energy’s there, Amy.” I whispered. “What now?”
    “You need a word, a word to focus on. To focus your energy on that compass, to tell
     it you want to find her. It is best if it is not English. You have to focus on the
     word.”
    I searched through my memory of what I knew of French back from high school. I selected
     a word, and whispered as I focused on the compass.
    “Trouver.” The magic lit even brighter, shining through the compass. The very air
     crackled around me with power. It flowed from my fingers until the power flowed straight
     from my hands into the compass.
    “And stop.” Amy whispered.
    I stopped pouring the magic, and I removed the strand of magic from my fingers. This
     time, however, it didn’t singe me. It was cool to the touch. I brought myself from
     the magic, and brought myself back to the real world.
    It was exhilarating. I had done magic. I’d casted a spell. I grinned, manically. “I’m
     a freaking witch.” I found myself giggling.
    “Indeed.” Amy was standing at the edge of the circle, smiling down at me. “Pick up
     the compass.”
    I scooped it up, and opened up the cover. The needle inside was spinning, like the
     entire magnetics of the earth were thrown off, or something. It took several seconds
     for it to settle. When it did, however, I had a simple observation to make.
    “That isn’t north.”
    “No, it is pointing towards whatever we are looking for. In this case, this is where
     Samantha Coolidge is located.”
    “Okay, but it’s just pointing. And this is San Francisco. I mean,