Spellbound & Hellhounds, page 22
part #1 of Coven Chronicles Series
Chapter 27:
Dmitri and Isolde were thrown into the dungeons after being stripped of their title and ranks in front of the entire Coven. They were further disgraced with the tale of their betrayal being bellowed before the crowd that had collected in Tolvade’s town square immediately after the incident. Their trial would be held at a later date.
Along with the tale of the fight that had broken out in the Council room, another story was being whispered. They spoke of Vanessa and her ability to cast a spell – multiple ones – without any spell casting agents, relics, or weapons. In less than forty-eight hours, Vanessa had become one of the most well-known witches in the Coven, hex, on Raen. This time, it wasn’t because she muddled a spell or got into a trouble that she couldn’t get out of on her own, and it wasn’t even because she went against the laws or wishes of the Council. It was because she had done what no other in the Coven could: cast a spell with no outside reagents.
Vanessa heard beating wings near her head, and she waved lazily around her face with a groan. “Doctor, I believe the patient is waking,” the high-pitched voice of a pixie called out to the doctor in the infirmary on the main level of the Coven.
Vanessa’s eyes fluttered open. She was staring at a dream catcher lightly twisting from side to side overhead. Beneath it, an incense dish hung from a hook that jutted out from the wall over her medical cot. The witch blinked, watching the warm light of the mid-afternoon sun pour through the woven string in the center of the revolving dream-catcher, and followed the streams of perfumed smoke from the hanging incense bowl as it intertwined with the object.
“How are you feeling?” The voice came from the Coven infirmary doctor, Savanna Snow. Infamous for choosing the medical field of magic and for summoning not one, not two, not even three, but seven red imps when she summoned her demon pet. She was kind enough to name them all: Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Prudence, and Temperance.
The red imps were smaller and more prone to mischievous acts than their tan skinned cousins. Red imps were the shade of a ripened cherry and had patches of snowy fur on their forearms, back, and ankles (the females had patches of fur covering their chest instead of their back), and they had thin, night shaded horns curving up from their head with two black, large doe eyes peering out with a child-like curiosity. The creatures looked like tiny, lithe framed humanoids with all the proper amounts of fingers and toes and with the addition of fangs, horns, and a long, barbed tail.
Their master, Savanna, had bleach blonde hair that was a few shades shy of being white, and it fell in large, soft curls just past her shoulders. She had a set of upturned eyes that were a startling shade of marine blue. She was in her typical doctor garb: A pair of formfitting cloth pants, a sky-blue corset, and her long white doctor coat with a red Coven insignia over the breast. Her hair was in a lose side ponytail and she was looking over a few sheets of paper on her clipboard. “Vanessa Peterson,” she said the witch’s name, and her voice was like honey.
“Doctor Snow,” Vanessa said, while holding her head in a slight sleepy daze. “How long have I been out of it?”
The doctor seemed to ponder the question for a moment. Before she could reply, Vanessa felt something clawing its way up on the opposite side of the bed. “A year!” the creature bellowed. A quick handed Doctor Snow had already pointed a wand at the thing and blasted it with a tiny bolt of magic that sent the tiny beast flying off the edge of the bed and landing into a bedpan before Vanessa could even get a glimpse of it.
Strapping the wand back in place, Doctor Snow cleared her throat and said, “About two days.” After answering the witch’s question, she leaned over while pulling her fingers out of a dust pouch and snapping them together. The dust on them rubbing together to create a small light spell. Controlling the orb of light, she pinched her fingers to make the ball even smaller and leaned over Vanessa in the cot. Her cool to the touch hands pressed Vanessa’s eyes as she gently peeled them open. “I am just checking your pupillary light reflexes,” Doctor Snow said softly.
“Boo!” A face popped up between Vanessa and the doctor, causing Vanessa to instantly draw back and flatten herself onto the cot like she was trying to become part of it. Ebony doe eyes gazed into her own as the creature they belonged to cackled at her surprised expression.
“They work,” the red imp giggled as Doctor Snow palmed the demon’s face and pulled it toward her and off the side of the bed.
“Faith, how many times do I need to tell you not to get in the patients’ faces?” Doctor Snow griped to the tiny creature. The woman sighed and returned her attention to Vanessa. “Now, I’m just going to check one more time,” she told Vanessa, and this time expecting the procedure made Vanessa loosen up and not be so tense as she watched the ball of magical light weave from side to side. Meanwhile, the imp peered over the side of the cot, its large curious eyes visible as it watched its owner work.
Brushing her fingers off by rubbing them together, the spell faded as it fell away in a glittering cascade of dust, and Savanna stood at her full height once more. “You seem to be just fine, Vanessa.” She smiled sweetly to the witch as Vanessa started to sit up in the bed, expecting to feel pings of pain throughout her body but was pleasantly shocked to find that there wasn’t a sore spot or irritated limb on her. She blinked down the length of her body as she inspected her frame for anything out of place or visually wrong. Savanna seemed to pick up on the young lady’s concerns and laughed lightly as a quill and notebook floated next to the doctor’s shoulder, writing down a few notes.
“Oh, you are right to be double checking over yourself. That spell you performed, or the collection of them rather, almost put you down for the count. I’d love to run some more tests to see what could have sped up your healing process, but I’d have to say your fit as a fiddle and free to go.”
“I… wait. I almost died?” Vanessa asked, trying to let the information sink in.
“You look dead to me,” another red imp spoke as it leapt around Doctor Snow and hid under her jacket suddenly.
As if use to the nuisance, Savanna ignored the imp and transfixed her gaze upon Vanessa. Doctor Snow waved the quill and notebook over to her writing table after pointing to one of the pages in the floating notepad and then motioning for the pixie to follow it to her desk. The doctor grabbed a set of tongs from a hook on the wall and used them to pick up the incense from the hanging bowl to make sure it was still burning evenly before speaking to her patient. “Yes. To put it simply, you overused your magic.”
Vanessa flashed her gaze up to the doctor, and her perplexed features mirrored her tone. “Overused my magic?”
The doctor smiled again and nodded while saying, “Yes.” Vanessa still looked confused and so Savanna continued to explain. “Think of it like this: everyone that has magic, has a different amount. We can use items to amplify that natural ability in them. Talisman, amulets, dust, and other reagents. But it’s only amplifying what is already there. However, it can dry up…” Savanna looked at her concerned for a moment.
It hit Vanessa and she sat up, reaching for and promptly clinging to the female doctor. “Do I have Medusa’s Kiss?”
She shook her head no. “Not even a trace. But the reaction would have been very similar to the disease if you had used a drop more of your magic. You are very lucky to be alive.”
“Oh, by the goddess,” Vanessa whispered and flung herself back onto the thin pillows to try and stop her heart from hammering so crazily against her breast.
A tiny red face was hovering over hers as the imp craned its head from side to side. “Kiss?” It puckered up its lips and made kissing sounds as its wet lips slowly descended close to her own. Vanessa shielded the oncoming kiss as best she could, but her salvation came from a tiny whispered spell from Doctor Snow.
“Force push,” she flicked her wrist, and the small spell flashed across the bed and slammed into the side of the imp’s face, sending it flipping up into the air and then slapping against the floor with a grunt of pain. Sitting up from its landing spot, the imp shook its head and whirled for a moment before falling backwards and laying still on the ground.
Straightening her jacket and pushing her bangs out of her view, she spoke to Vanessa like the incident never took place. “I need you to be more careful over the next few days. Let yourself heal up and rejuvenate. You are powerful, no one can ever say that you’re not – at least, not under the Coven’s roof – but you have your limits too… keep that in mind in the future, okay?”
Vanessa swallowed hard, and it felt like it was a mouthful of hot sand painfully burning down her throat. All of a sudden it felt like her mouth had become dryer than humanly possible. “Yes, I will,” she managed to croak out right before her throat threatened to squeeze shut completely.
“I’ll get you some water and your release forms and then I believe that you have some very concerned friends wanting to see you,” Savanna stated softly as she patted the young witch’s shoulder before departing to do as she informed.
As she stepped away, Vanessa turned her attention to the other end of the room where two imps were attempting to make their way for the main door. One was riding on the other’s shoulders and yipping with glee as the other tried to stay upright and walk to the door. “Whoa. Whoa,” the one on the bottom called out as its stride strayed dramatically from one side to the next. The rider just giggled loudly as they almost toppled over quite a few times. Eventually, together, the imps managed to finally stagger their way to the door. The giggling rider clamped both hands down onto the doorknob and turned it as the other stumbled backwards to aid in pulling it open.
The first thing Vanessa saw on the other side of the door was Leon and how his eyes lit up when he saw her awake in the hospital bed. However, the poor Spellweaver was almost ran over as Bobo pushed past him in his haste to get over to Vanessa, carelessly shoving the door open the rest of the way and causing the two imps still struggling with opening it to be smooshed behind the large, wooden object.
“Give it to me straight, Doctor, is there anything wrong with her?” Bobo looked utterly afraid of anything the doctor would say.
Laughing and handing the cup of water to the imp at her side to give to Vanessa, she answered while tapping the bar that made up the foot of her patience bed. “She’s fine. Nothing different than before.”
“I knew it. She’s incurable. Vanessa, darling, she said you’re just fine. Just like you used to be,” he announced, yet sounded saddened by the news.
“That’s a good thing, Bobo,” Vanessa stated irately and took the cup of water from the imp.
“Clearly you’ve never had to deal with you on a daily basis. This is bad. You’ll never be cured of your stubbornness,” he threw his forearm over the front of his forehead and turned his face to the ceiling.
“You’ll live, big guy.” Leon pat the ogre’s back a few times as he passed by to stand closer to Vanessa at the side of her bed. “Don’t let that lug fool you. He was worried sick about you.”
“I was worried rent wouldn’t be paid if she were crippled by her own stupidity…” Bobo snipped back, dropping the dramatic act instantly.
“You were worried. Don’t even try to fake it,” Lyx’s seductive voice rolled through the room as she sashayed in and winked at Vanessa. “Looking pretty good for almost dying on us, darling.”
“Thanks,” Vanessa replied nervously and sipped at her water. The crisp, cool contents soothing her sore throat and unbearably dry mouth. “I don’t feel like it. But everyone says I almost did,” she admitted.
“We can fix that.” An imp leaped up to perch at the end of her bed but was instantly met with a clipboard to the face and fell off with a wail of dread before it was met with the glossy floors below.
Doctor Snow then held out the weapon … clipboard…to Vanessa. “Fill this out and you’re free to go. I will want a thorough check up with you in two weeks.”
The witch nodded, took the clipboard, and started to read over the paperwork as Doctor Snow spoke with Lyx, Leon, and Bobo. “She’s to take it easy. I am well aware of her troublesome behavior, so I’m letting you guys know to double down on her and make sure she gets plenty of rest.”
The trio nodded just as they heard pills fall and scatter all over the floor across the room. They turned to see an imp jumping up and down while yelling at two others over the mess. Before they knew it, the three imps started to slap each other repeatedly while a fourth imp snuck over to the pile. “Caaandyyy…” it said in a mesmerized sing-song tone as it started to pick up the pills and shove them into his mouth.
“I have to go. Remember. Rest,” Savanna ordered sternly, pointing firmly at Vanessa. She turned and rushed off to break up the fight between the imps and ran while yelling, “Charity, those are pills. Spit that out this instance! They are for patients, not you.”
“There for me!” An imp bellowed and slapped the back of Chastity’s head with a food tray it was carrying after serving another patient their afternoon meal.
“No, Temperance. They are for the patients!”
One of the imps leapt up into the air and yipped with joy, “Yay. It’s for meeeee!”
“No, Patience! For the sick people, not you!” Doctor Snow corrected exasperated. “They are pills, not candy. No one is to eat them.”
“Aw man…” All the imps hung their heads and pouted after hearing their master’s final word on the matter.
After finishing up the paperwork, Vanessa got dressed into her old outfit and met Bobo and the others outside the Coven hospital doors. They walked through the main halls on their way to the front desk in the main entrance of Coven headquarters. Leon had to pick up a case number and check on their filed reports. Ell had also asked if she could see Vanessa when she got out. Two birds, one stone, as Leon explained.
They poured into the main room from the dark hall. Any chatter or noise coming from within the lobby died down. Conversations dropped in tone, laughter swiftly ebbed, mummers slowly came to a halt until there was silence and every set of eyes seemed to watch Vanessa as they passed. Unusually so. “Uh… Leon?” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Why is everyone looking at me like I’m the hottest item on Merlin’s menu?”
He stopped and turned to face her fully as he whispered back, “Because you just did something no witch has done that we know of, Vanessa. You performed, not one, but three big time area spells as well as a tremendous amount of healing to multiple targets and brought back comrades that were on death’s doorstep in a short amount of time with NO magical enhancers.” He leaned in toward her even more for theatrical purposes and whispered to her even lower than before, “You’re kind of a big deal.”
That made her blush as she watched people gawk at her and start to murmur amongst themselves once more. This time, the whispers? She didn’t mind them so much.
“That’s her. That’s the witch.”
“She has to be super powerful.”
“I heard she saved four of the High Priests all on her own.”
“She’s so lucky to be partnered with Leon. They are, like, the best team in the Coven now.”
With a new perk in her step, they made it over to the service desk in record time, and Ell waved at her frantically as she saw them approach. “Vanessa! I’m… oh my goddess… I’m so glad you are all right.” The enthusiastic girl lunged over the counterspace and hugged Vanessa around the waist.
Giggling, Vanessa patted Ell’s head a few times and tried not to turn red as a cherry. “I’m fine. Doctor just wants me to take it easy.”
Ell squeaked and released Vanessa thinking she might have hurt the Hunter with her quick embrace. She slid back down onto her feet. Hearing that Vanessa was fine made her smile. “It’s just… so… so…”
“Amazing,” Riker finished for Ell as he and a handful of Summoners approached. “You’ll have to teach us how you did that one of these days, Hunter Peterson.”
Vanessa turned her amazed expression to the scarred man and nodded, not sure how to respond right away. Casually, she leaned on the service desk as she melted into a cool and collected pose and pointed at Riker with her index finger. “You got it, buddy.”
Riker grinned and chuckled. “I hear you need to rest up for now. Perhaps you can teach us another time. Take it easy, Vanessa.” He nodded over his shoulder to his men and he and the others marched on toward the third floor saying something about the Dark Market buckling down on security and needing to check in on leads for new portal keepers once they were done checking up on the hellhounds in the containment area.
Bobo leaned on the desk next to Vanessa, cleared his throat into his massive balled up fist, and turned to Vanessa to mumble, “You have no idea how you performed that magic, do you?”
She spoke through a fixed smile and grinded her teeth at having to admit her lack of knowledge to the one creature that would never let her live it down, “Not. A. Clue.”
Leon and Lyx overheard them and burst out into laughter while Ell rummaged through the paperwork Leon had requested. “So, they retrieved the hellhounds already?” Vanessa asked.
“Oh, darling, yes,” Lyx started. “They have them locked away in Zaraltrac for now, and a team of researchers trying to figure out how to de-summon a demon.”
“Good luck with that. No one’s known how to do that since the last pack of hellhounds were de-summoned two hundred years ago,” Leon scoffed.
Lyx inspected her nails and hummed, “Mhmmm. Not to mention tons of spells and information that was lost in the fires.”
Bobo started to lift his finger, stopped in deep thought, and then raised the digit fully as he spoke to the group, “I found something mentioning a possible lead on that, actually…” Everyone turned to him and got ready to listen to his idea.
