Spellbound & Hellhounds, page 5
part #1 of Coven Chronicles Series
“Please,” Vanessa groaned. “I want to go home and get lost in a pint of ice cream after this,” she admitted.
The trio made way into the building. The dark entryway gave way into a most unexpectedly illuminated and massive open space. The main room of Coven HQ was walled off into the shape of a large circle. On either side there were halls stretching out to each side that led to multiple rooms, most of which that were for training, learning new spells, team debriefing, and storage. A few were selected for medical needs or cleansers. In the far back, past the spiraling staircase that led up to the other floors, there was a line of arched doorways that lead down a long stretch of stairs. Each arched door had runes marked overhead, a way to know which part of the colossal and extensive library you were about to delve deep into, that made up the basement level of the building.
The floors were sun touched gold and blazing white marble with the Coven phoenix emblem dead center of the room. There were three large, curved, red oak desks that were in the main room. One was straight ahead and two were off to the right and left. Leon, Vanessa, and Bobo headed for the main desk at the far end of the room.
A head popped up from behind the desk, and the bright yellow-blonde locks that was pulled back in a sloppy bun had stray curls poking out in different directions as if the woman had done her hair, stuck a fork in a light socket, and then drenched her tresses in hairspray afterwards. She had wild freckles kissing her cheeks and nose and a set of large, bright green eyes.
“Hey, Ell,” Vanessa said, waving to the kind girl.
“Hmmm?” Ell replied looking up from the desk, her hands rummaging about and moving piles of paper and looking under and through stacks of folders and peering under cups of pens and containers brimming with paperclips.
“Lose something again?” Bobo asked, though his expression wasn’t surprised when she nodded in reply to him.
“Whatcha lookin’ for?” Leon asked.
She inhaled deeply and let her shoulders sink in defeat as she sighed with a pouting lip. “My pen,” she said sadly.
Leon blinked at the girl and, after they were completely to the desk, reached over to the side of the frazzled woman’s head. Ell flinched and looked at Leon in a rather odd way right before he plucked the pen from its perch behind her ear.
“Oh,” Ell whispered with a bright flush racing over her soft pale skin. She reached out and retracted her hand slightly before regaining the confidence that she had briefly lost and retrieved the pen from Leon’s grasp. “Thank you,” she said meekly.
Suppressing a giggle at the poor thing, Vanessa cleared her throat and gained Ell’s attention before saying, “Do you have any blank standard report forms?”
She blinked rapidly as she stared Vanessa down. “You need to file another incident?” Ell asked.
Now, it was Vanessa’s turn to turn red. Sheepishly, she nodded and visibly looked as though she were shrinking in size like she was trying to slink away inside her own skin when Leon suddenly choked on his own laughter.
“Yes, please. If you wouldn’t mind, my dear, we need to seek audience with the Council once the matter is attended to here,” Bobo’s thick, gentleman-monster voice rolled out and caused Ell to peel her half-amazed stare at Vanessa and turn to the rather large ogre.
Nodding a few times, again, the girl went to shuffling about the desk. As she did so, she shoved stray golden hairs behind her ear, only for them to defy her a second later and branch out in hostile rebellion to being tucked away.
The sound of parchment paper rustling as scrolls rolled aimlessly about before leaping off the edge of the large desk and bouncing off the marbled floor below filled the library-like silence of the main room. Although it was the main entrance to the Coven, it was a rather quiet place. Each room spelled with silence barriers to keep noises both in and out, and the main room and spreading halls each held hushed tones, chatty whispers, and the clicks of boots or heels against the hard, polished floors below.
She huffed and bent down on the floor to send her fingers flying over the files tucked away in the cabinet below, and a few scrolls rolled under the ledge of the desk. Ell reached over and snagged them just as she found the form Vanessa and the others needed. “Ahha-oow!” Ell’s victorious cry swiftly turned into one of agony as she slammed her head on the bottom side of the desk. Rubbing her throbbing head in the area a knot promised to show up, she grimaced in pain and handed the form to Vanessa.
The trio looked at the freckle faced, messy haired lass and smiled warmly, though they looked completely sympathetic to her discomfort.
“Get some ice on that, dear,” Bobo advised with a worried look.
She nodded and quickly retrieved an icepack from the mini fridge’s freezer space and held it up to wave it from side to side with a nervous laugh. “I will,” she exclaimed as they walked off. Only to make a high-pitched sound as she realized her skirt had become caught in the door of the mini icebox, and she tumbled back to the floor with a thud followed by the hollow sounds of scrolls pit pattering on the floor around her. Neighboring workers gathered to make sure she was all right, only to have an icepack raise high in the air, and her tiny voice reassuring everyone with, “I’m fine.”
Chapter 8:
They filled out the paperwork, and Leon went to file it with Ell while Vanessa and Bobo waited at the foot of the spiraling staircase. Bobo looked up the circling railing of the staircase and into the deep blackness that took up the space between floors.
“Suddenly afraid of heights?” Vanessa teased.
“No more than you,” he shot back, but it lacked the usual bite. It felt bland and after a pause he added, “I’m suddenly afraid of that third floor, though.”
Vanessa now, too, was staring up into the void and seemed to become drained of color for a moment. There were two more floors to the Coven building, and the last was the least desired to be traveled to.
Leon came back and brushed past them. “Come on, then. The blue cloaks know that we are here and wish to have us put all other matters on hold until we’ve seen them.”
“Great,” Vanessa groaned as she watched any hopes of procrastination fly out the window.
“Move it, Vanessa,” Leon called after her, and she made a whining groan.
Bobo motioned for her to go first. “Ladies first,” he said with a grin.
She narrowed her eyes, “You’re an evil pet.”
“I know, dear, I know. Born in Hell and all that. Enough with the lip and get to climbing those steps,” Bobo snipped back with a quick slap to her backside. She yipped and turned to face the stairs. With a solemn expression she followed Leon up.
As they scaled onwards, they passed by the wide-open mouth of the second floor that greeted them between the first and third floors. White washed rooms so crisp in color and floors so thickly lacquered that they looked like the Coven members that shuffled about upon them were walking on a massive mirror. The wide entrance gave way to a giant crystal ball that hovered in the farthest reaches of the room and stood a good fifteen feet in height. Twenty-two members of the Coven stood around the orb, tiny pictures in view in various points around the globe that thrummed with power. The Coven members would tap on the images, use their hands to spread out or zoom in to a particular area and make note of the incident that had caused the black magic detection warning to go off. After quick inspection, the picture was balled up with the Coven members fist and swiped off the crystal ball to the right or left room as a floating sphere of dim yellow light that would weave and bob until it reached an open crystal ball in the room that it was directed to.
Behind the bleached walls were two separate rooms. Both completely identical in setup, with rows and rows of desks with medium sized orbs placed on the top of a small desk that a rank four Coven member sat at. One room was dispatch for Spellweavers, like Leon, and the other was the dispatch room for Hunters, like Vanessa.
Despite the pure-white appearance of the room, that floor always disturbed Vanessa. Perhaps it was the constant hum of power that rolled out of the ginormous orb, or the fact that the room was so white that it felt empty and lacking life, but it bothered her nonetheless.
As she took a moment to realize where she was, she hissed under her breath as she reached the top of the winding stairs, “Double-dip a candlestick.”
“Try not to say that in front of the High Priest Council, Vanessa,” Leon warned in a pleading fashion.
She cut him a look but said nothing in retort as she didn’t exactly want to speak on this floor. The halls were a mesh of gold, black, and white. The ebony paint on the side walls made the wide hall leading to the ominous double doors at the far end seem smaller, and the gold sponged on paint that dusted over the onyx color made it feel regal. Regal and deadly. The white base boards were almost blinding in comparison to the dark coal color above. The only light came from oil lamps that lined the walls from end to end.
Vanessa’s eyes hurt in the dim, orange glow that the oil lamps provided. As they walked, she looked down the left and right skinny halls that seemed to have a plethora of doors covering the gloomy and abysmal stretch of space.
Those doors led to the small offices of the Summoners and, eventually, it led to the few offices of the Second Chosen. Summoners were a rank above Leon and Second Chosen were promising members appointed to replace members of the Council. Spellweavers were the third rank, Hunters were the fourth, and at the same ranking – but with alternate titles – were various other Coven members with jobs less exciting than that of Vanessa’s, in her opinion. The first tier, however, was the Council and as that thought boomed in her mind so did that massive knock that Leon lay upon the double doors.
“Enter,” a very deep and threatening voice called out from the other side of the wooden barrier.
“Breathe, Nessy,” Bobo whispered to his owner.
“I will end you in front of the Council if you call me that again, Bobo,” she seethed.
“That’s my girl,” he chuckled huskily and then fell silent as the spell Leon weaved opened the doors and let a blinding light spill out into the dusky hall and wash over them all in a way that made Vanessa feel like she was on some terrible ride and unable to get off.
She hadn’t realized that she had shielded her eyes from the light until she noticed the dark shadow that lay over her face, protecting her eyes from the torment of the sudden light that poured out from the High Priest Council’s room.
Thirteen high-backed, throne-like chairs were spread out over a half circle rise at the far end of the large room. A set of three steep, but stubby, steps rose up to the placement of chairs that lined the room before Leon, Vanessa, and Bobo. The doors slammed shut behind them, and Vanessa jumped and looked back to her only escape in horror. Slowly, her gaze returned to the front, and the cold eyes that peered down at her from behind blue cloaks. There was a cherry wood podium nestled dead center of the stage and all the seats.
Blue cloaks wore just that, blue cloaks, with golden emblems of the Coven’s insignia over the breast of the garment. The cloaks were not so much a status symbol as much as they were spelled relics to keep the magic that the High Priest Council possessed from emitting out of them in choking waves.
She couldn’t even begin to fathom what it would be like to be in their presence if one of them was de-cloaked, much less all thirteen. And the Celestial? She might as well lie down and die on the spot.
The one known as the Celestial had no name and her cloak had rays of white dashing out from behind the veil, glimpses of golden spun hair and mother-of-pearl colored eyes were the only features that could be distinguished.
“Spellweaver Zvěrokruh,” the blue cloak on the far right spoke; it was male, and the High Priest known as Ronan.
That’s a mouthful, Vanessa thought as Leon bowed to the Council. “Greetings, High Council,” he said in a loud and formal fashion.
Ronan’s surprisingly soft gray eyes glided over the room and rested on Vanessa’s form. “And this is Hunter Peterson?” Instantly, Leon masked a laugh with a cough and hid his monstrously large grin behind his hand that he skillfully brought up to his face before the Council could take notice of his ear-splitting smile. For a quick moment, she stole a look to Leon with daggers darting in his direction before she too bowed before the Council saying, “Yes. Greetings, High Council.”
“Do you know why you are faced before us?” This time the voice belonged to a woman, Mia.
As Vanessa rose to her full height, she shook her head at Mia and the other Council members. “I do not,” Vanessa replied, unsure of whether or not they desired her to speak. Not being met with backlash toward her reply made her ease up just a smidgen.
“We have heard word of your encounter at the academy. Could you tell us what you saw?” Mia asked with a gentle smile.
Blessed be the goddess that looked down upon Vanessa in that moment, for Leon had been right in his assumption for why the Council had wished to speak with them. This caused the stiffness in her body to melt away before she spoke clearly to the Council of the happenings back at the academy.
“Yes, ma’am,” Vanessa confirmed and drew in a slow calming breath before weaving the tale to the Council. As she explained her and Bobo’s findings, the members leaned into one another, and folded forward to whisper to other blue cloaks a few seats away from their own placement.
Once she was finished with her story, the next one that spoke was another male, Dmitri. “And that is when Spellweaver Zvěrokruh came to your rescue?” he asked with a single brow raised over one of his dark blue eyes that almost seemed black.
Vanessa looked to Leon and then Bobo before facing the Council once more and nodding slowly. The Council members again fell silent as Dmitri turned his attention to Leon. “And you saw the hellhounds?”
“Yes, High Priest Dmitri, there is no denying it,” Leon boldly spoke to the blue cloaks.
Hushed whispers ensued as Dmitri held up a hand for silence, his bottomless, glacier gaze burrowing deep into the three that stood before the Council. “How would you explain your relationship with Hunter Peterson?” he asked without a shred of guilt.
Leon stuttered for a moment before announcing proudly to the Council, “Annoying … sir…”
Dmitri and Isolde (a female blue cloak) cracked a grin at the comment, and it was Isolde that leaned over and whispered to Mia, who nodded, and after a few traded words between the Council members, Mia announced, “Due to the severity of the situation and Hunter Peterson’s uncanny habit of getting into trouble, we decree that you shall be partners until further notice and reside within her home for the next two weeks to help keep her in line.”
Vanessa’s stomach hit the floor at the same time that her mouth became unhinged, and her eyes bulged to the point that her sockets pinged with pain.
“Wait, what?” Leon gasped.
“This is effective immediately!” Mia proclaimed in a booming voice.
“This. Isn’t. Happening,” Vanessa stated quietly, feeling like she was going to be sick.
The Celestial stood and clapped her hands in front of her chest, and it was like thunder had exploded around them. “And so, it shall be!”
“Wait…” Vanessa and Leon tried to reason with them as they all removed their hoods and the power became overwhelming. The Celestial was the last to remove her hood, and nothing but hot light pierced their vision. Vanessa could feel the bonding of the spell that would tie her and Leon together for the next two weeks. No, please! But her mental plea was ignored.
Her chest felt like stones were resting atop it as she was stuck at the bottom of a river. Sound was consumed by the power that flowed out of the High Priest Council and made Vanessa feel as though she was drifting out of her body for a moment before it was all sucked back in and the hoods were replaced over the Council’s heads.
Sweet air!
Gasping to draw in as much oxygen as she could, Vanessa doubled over and held her head as she tried to catch her breath. Bobo was groaning as he knelt low to the ground, and Leon seemed to be in a similar pose as she while he, too, tried to regain consciousness. However, Bobo seemed in a bit more pain, and his arm shook as he struggled visibly to keep himself from falling face down on the ground right there in the Council room. Vanessa hated seeing him like that but was rendered motionless by the immense power that had recently flooded the room.
The Celestial looked like she was hugging herself, and then the ivory beams of light radiated from her blazingly as she opened her arms and reached far out in front of her. “May the light be with you,” the voice was almost song-like, and at the stretch of the Celestial’s arms, Leon, Bobo, and Vanessa were all sliding back out of the room and past the open doors. They watched as the Celestial replaced her hood and sat down just before the double doors slammed shut in the trio’s faces.
Chapter 9:
There was a long, silent, and unbelieving moment that Leon and Vanessa shared while staring at the deep brown, wooden door that was between them and the Council members. Bobo was straightening his soot covered tie and smoothing out the wrinkles in the once well-pressed suit. Vanessa rubbed her temples and groaned, “What have I done wrong to deserve this?”
“Shhh…” Leon hissed as he stared hard at the sealed entrance.
She turned and blinked at him. “What?”
“This is all a bad dream. I had a horrible vision just now. I’m waiting for them to open the doors,” he said in a rather convinced tone.
Bobo walked up and clapped a massive paw over Leon’s shoulder, and it made the Spellweaver jerk, not expecting the touch from the massive beast. “Give it up, you’re looking less collected than her,” Bobo said, thumbing over to Vanessa.
Leon grumbled under his breath and let his forehead fall onto the door in front of him. “I’m in hell,” he whined.
“Probably,” Bobo agreed. Slowly turning to face the ogre, but keeping his head connected with the door, Leon stared at the creature. Dramatically, Bobo leaned in with a grin, “And that is saying a lot coming from me,” he said.
