Daoine

Chapter 1   Chapter 2   Chapter 3   Chapter 4   Chapter 5  

Chapter 4

    It wasn’t usually Willow’s way to be deceptive but she had a plan laid out in her mind. Viburnum was in fact missing again and Willow wanted to use the opportunity to find out once and for all if Viburnum was keeping secrets. In summer’s evening light she stole back into her village, all the way to Viburnum’s front door. This wasn’t a huge feat considering everyone was indoors, but she was proud none the less. Unfortunately, Willow’s plan was foiled when she tried to open the door. It was locked. There weren’t many locks in her village so she hadn’t calculated the extra problem. She counted it as another strike against the house owner.
    “Try to open it using magic.”
    Willow jumped nearly a foot in the air, surprised by the sudden voiced comment. She whirled around to face the speaker.
    “Eric, how on earth did you get here?”
    “I followed you, ask me more questions later. Open the door by magic before somebody sees you.” he hissed.
    She silenced her retort that the lock was an inanimate object and would hardly be influenced by her underage magic. With a forceful will that she hadn’t had previous knowledge of she commanded the tumbles in the lock to click and with her excess power, the door knob turned. She remained immobile in front of the doorway, her jaw hanging down at in amazement at the feat she had accomplished.
    Eric grabbed her arm and jerked her inside before anyone noticed them.
    “Have you any idea of what I just did?” demanded Will.
    “Yes, magic.” was Eric’s reply.
    Willow left her argument at that. There was no sense attempting to convince Eric of a fact he obviously couldn’t comprehend.
    “Through which door do we go now?” Eric stared down the hallway lined with several doors.
    Willow was awed by the grandeur before her. Intricate carvings patterned the walls, a feature that hadn’t registered beforehand when her mind had been preoccupied with research. The carvings were depictions of either pictures or symbols, ones she didn’t recognize. It was apparent even to Eric that the house had been erected hundreds of years in the past. The wood remained perfectly preserved; Willow guessed this to be caused by magic.
    She led her human companion along the corridor to a door on the left she remembered as the one connected to the library. Sure enough, the bordering room was filled with bookshelf upon bookshelf. She ushered Eric to a seat while taking one herself.
    “How did you get here?” repeated Willow.
    “I followed you, I wanted to see what the dwelling of a witch looked like. I assume that this is no ordinary building though, judging by your reaction upon entering.”
    “There are spells set in a circle around the area that only witches can pass. Any human who tries to follow or enter in transported immediately to the opposite side. It leaves anyone disoriented and befuddled so they don’t come close again. The spells have worked time and time again. Why not on you?”
    “All I know is that I’m here and I didn’t feel any spells. The hardest part was trying to track you. You’re silent and you have camouflage, it’s tricky.”
    “We’ll have to figure that out later. I want to know, who is going to start looking for you if you don’t come home for diner?”
    “No one, this summer I’m camping beside the lake that we were close to earlier today. Originally, I was going with a friend, but he broke his leg skateboarding and he had to cancel. I decided to go anyways. I enjoy alone time. My parents agreed; I had expected them to. They don’t keep a very close eye on me and I’m only a forty-five minute walk away from home.”
    Willow who had no idea what skateboarding was accepted this story.
    “I see, does that mean that I will have an extra shadow this summer?”
    “Yes, that is an excellent idea. I’ve haven’t got anything else better to do.”
    “This is going to be so much fun.” said Willow sarcastically. She stood and went to stand in front of the bookcase where Forest Witch Ceremonies lay.
    “I’m starting here. Do you want to grab a book and help?”
    “Can I readthem? They’re not some ancient language?.”
    “It’s in plain text or, as you would call it, English. Come give me a hand. This was your idea, remember?”
    “Sure, shouldn’t we take a couple of books and leave in case Viburnum shows up?” said Eric uncomfortably. He now realized that he had broken into someone’s house and was about to steal.
    “No, Viburnum won’t be back for days. Last time she left she was gone for over a month. She left five days ago so we have plenty of time.”
    She stooped and pulled out a volume entitled Trees of the Forest. She sat, cracked it open and started to read while Eric grabbed one for himself. They whizzed through pages for a few hours until Willow decided it was time for sleep. She had managed to finish two books by skimming and skipping tedious pages. The only interesting fact that she found was a simple phrase stating that the Daoine’s tree was located NE of her house and even that was meaningless without more information.
    After deciding that Willow would meet him at the same clearing tomorrow at noon, Eric left discreetly carrying a thin leather-bound text. The constant shadow of night aided his departure.
    Back in the room she shared with her once upon a time friend Juniper, Willow lay on her cot with a surplus of thoughts crowding her head. Her personal recount of the day revealed that she had completely sold out the secret of the existence of witches that had been kept for who knows how long. Why was so trusting to someone she barely knew? There was also the issue of Viburnum. It was obvious that she was hiding something but what she had yet to find out.

    Three weeks work of reading between classes gave Willow an astounding amount of knowledge. She had a fairly good idea of who Viburnum was and the secrets she was hiding. Her main treasure trove was a pocketbook called Zelkova’s Handbook to the World of Witches. She had discovered it within the first week and it revealed a completely different world. There had once been four types of witches, each controlling their own branch of magic: forces, objects, life and aquatics. Many quarrels had developed over centuries, giving need to the position of a mediator. The book described that post and shed some like on Daonine’s tree. From there her comprehension had built up.
    Eric often came at in the evenings, when he couldn’t be seen. Willow wouldn’t let him risk meeting any other witch. His help was invaluable to her as each night he informed her of what he had read in a condensed version.
    The only thing that was left to do was confront Viburnum herself and wring some clear answers out of her. Willow planned to await her return by finding out if there were anymore useful ceremonies written in Forest Witch Ceremonies.
    During a pause of searching that thick book, Eric took the opportunity to question Willow further about her way of life.
    Unsure of how to phrase his question, Eric asked, “Are there any male witches?”
    “Male, no, there’s no such thing. Witches are produced by our sacred tree, the one I mentioned to you before. It has more functions than fueling our powers. It’s an odd ritual, we all have to trim our hair and put the clippings in a potion. The potion is poured on the roots of the tree and months later a young witch steps out of a split that opens in the tree. Witches are born at about the human age of five so they can start learning magic straight away. There aren’t many witches born each year. I’d approximate around three.”
    “That’s … different,” said Eric. After a moment’s pause he added, “That leaves you at only really being alive for eleven years!”
    The creaking of wood outside the library sparked panic in Willow, which she quelled and instantly replaced by anger. There was only one person that could possibly be in this house and that person had a lot to answer to. Eric did present a problem, Willow believed no other witch was prepared to communicate with a human. However, a few seconds wasn’t enough time in which to act. The door swung in to reveal the stony face of Viburnum.
    “I thought I heard voices,” she stated.