Chapter 17

  Meredith And The Enchantress

  A few weeks passed without incident as Meredith tended her Grandma’s apothecary shop. One morning—during a lull in business—Meredith was clad in a simple black robe and boots with her curly hair pulled into a bun. She stood behind the shop counter with Cici and Thomas atop it while the toad gave his daily lesson.

  “And that.” Thomas continued his lecture. “Is the twinning spell.”

  “How useful!” Meredith exclaimed. “I can get twice as much done and help twice as many people with this spell!”

  “I could get twice as many pets,” Cici chimed in. Meredith scratched him under the chin.

  “You must be very careful, Meredith,” Thomas continued. “If something were to happen to your clone, you would lose that part of you forever.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If your twin clone dies, you lose half of the power that you split from yourself. Any knowledge or experience gained during the clone’s life will be lost. The only way to retain the information and regain your power is to absorb the clone.”

  “Got it.” Meredith nodded. “That’s fine. I just won’t put my clones in dangerous situations.”

  “Additionally,” Thomas continued. “It is imperative to know yourself. A clone may refuse to rejoin the original person. Many a witch and wizard have conjured their doppelganger only to meet their demise.”

  The doorbell jingled as a small, elderly woman shuffled inside, her dress and shawl flitting just above the floor.

  “Welcome to Ethel’s Apothecary!” Meredith announced. “I’ll be with you in just a moment!” The young witch gathered her magic, drew her wand, traced the tip of it down from her eyebrows to her naval, and said, “Telys!”

  Meredith felt a strange pulling sensation as if she were made of puddy and was being stretched horizontally. Her vision began to distort and widen, and she felt a portion of her magical power fade away.

  Fwoomp!

  Another Meredith melted away from her in the exact same outfit.

  “Perfect!” The Merediths beamed and clasped their hands in excitement. The new clone turned to Thomas. “Now you can teach me while I work!”

  “Very well,” Thomas said. “But one more thing!”

  “Yes?” Meredith asked as the elderly woman slowly approached.

  “Notice the necklace on your clone. Sense it. Do you feel that there is no magic stored within the gem? Enchanted items and power gems cannot be replicated fully; they will lack the original enchantment.”

  “Okay!” Meredith said impatiently as the woman stood before the counter. She looked at her clone and tipped her head towards the door that led to the house. The clone nodded and went inside, while Thomas vanished in a purple wink and swirl of miasma.

  “And not a single pet for me,” Cici mumbled, disappointed as he curled himself on the counter.

  “How may I help you, ma’am?” Meredith turned her attention to the elderly woman as she stroked Cici’s back.

  “Hello,” the elderly woman said. “I’m Agatha. I’m here for my quarterly migraine potion.”

  “Ah!” Meredith exclaimed. “You’re one of my Grandma’s regulars she told me about. Let’s see…” The young witch fumbled around the potions behind the counter. “Here we are!” Meredith re-emerged with a small vial of thick green liquid.

  “Two silver pieces.” Meredith slid the vial across the counter. “It looks like you got the last one. There’s a note that says to take it under magician supervision, but Grandma didn’t leave me any instructions saying what exactly I should do. Is there anything in particular you need from me?”

  “Oh, I should be fine.” Agatha handed over the two silver coins. “This medicine shortens a migraine into a moment, but I feel the pain of a days-long migraine all at once. Ethel usually has me sit in the armchair while it works its magic, just in case something happens, which nothing ever has. It’s just a safety precaution.” Agatha waved Meredith’s concern away as she strode towards a partially hidden armchair in the corner of the shop amongst a plethora of magical items.

  The elder woman sat down, popped the vial open, and drank the green fluid in a single swig. Then, she stoppered it, leaned forward, and cradled her head in her hands. Meredith watched in silence. She didn’t know what to do or expect. Then, the woman began to wail in pain and desperately clutched and clawed at her head. Meredith flinched at the sudden onset. The woman thrashed in agony as much as her frail body would allow. The veins across her forehead bulged and pulsed. Meredith tried to remain calm, but the poor old woman’s wails tugged at her heart, yet there was nothing for her to do!

  Meredith grew worried. “Are you o—"

  Then Agatha sighed in relief and sank into the chair.

  “That’s better!” Agatha hummed before nimbly hopping to her feet. “That’s quite a way to wake up!”

  She beamed at Meredith and bounded towards the door.

  “Thank you very much, young witch! I’ll see you next time!” The woman called out as she left.

  “Well, that was something,” Cici stated as silence once again permeated throughout the customer-less shop. “Poor thing, migraines are the worst. Didn’t you say that was the last vial? You should restock.”

  “You’re right,” Meredith replied. “Grandma usually has notes left out detailing how and where she sources some of her materials. Meredith sank back under the counter. “Aha!” She stood up and flashed a scrap of parchment. “Let’s see…” she began to read the note. “The potion seems easy to make… and we have all the ingredients…except pineberries? I’ve never heard of those, but it says Grandma gets them from a wizard named Phineas on the other side of the valley, to the west.”

  “What does she trade for them?” Cici asked.

  “Doesn’t say.” Meredith put the note back. “You ready for a field trip?”

  “What about the shop?”

  “You’re right, we’re so incredibly busy,” Meredith answered sarcastically as she gestured towards the empty store. “Besides, my clone is here. It’ll be fine. Are you coming?”

  “You know what sounds like a better idea?” Cici hopped off the counter, sauntered across the shop, and hopped onto the windowsill. “Sitting in a warm, sunlit window.” He purred and curled into a ball.

  “Lazy buns,” Meredith chided. She slipped some coins into her bag to purchase the pineberries and made for the door. She poked Cici’s head as she passed him and left on her broom.

  It was overcast, and the air was humid and stagnant. The young witch didn’t take long to circumvent the adjacent forested mountain. As she looped around, she spied a small hut in a clearing at the base.

  No other settlements were around, so she presumed it was the right place. Meredith swooped down to land before the hut, leaving her broom hovering in the air as she slid off, knocked on the door, and patiently waited.

  Meredith heard a slight scuffle. Then the door creaked open to reveal a sliver of a pale woman, revealing only a single large eye with a bright, deep, purple iris. Meredith felt a slight twinge run up her spine as she met the woman’s gaze.

  The woman slowly leaned her head out from behind the door at an angle. Her straight, black hair streaked downwards and parted to reveal brilliantly large eyes with irises that were somehow both bright and deep purple. Meredith felt she could easily get lost in those beautiful orbs if she let herself.

  The door opened further to reveal more of the woman’s pale face. Her sharp, high cheekbones seemed to accentuate her magnificently enchanting eyes.

  Upon seeing the young witch, the woman opened the door further, revealing long, silky, smooth black hair that streaked down and parted before a beautiful, sharp face. Her slender, shapely frame was scarcely hidden beneath a black dress with thin straps that hung off her bare shoulders. Meredith couldn’t tear herself away from the woman’s eyes.

  “Hello!” The young witch said. “I’m Meredith. I’m looking for the wizard Phineas.”

  “Just a moment,” the woman replied calmly, angelically, as she called out over her shoulder. “Phineas!” Her voice was like satin. “Your date is here!”

  “Date?” Meredith exclaimed incredulously as she recoiled. Her brows furrowed in confusion. “I think there’s been a mistake. I need to get—"

  “Ah, Meredith!” A handsome youth with long, dirty blonde and sweeping hair stepped past the pale woman and embraced Meredith. She was shocked!

  “I’m so glad you came! Here, for you,” Phineas stepped back before Meredith could think. He flourished his wand and magically procured a thick bouquet of summer flowers tied together with a red ribbon, which he then gave to Meredith.

  “Oh! Um…Thank you.” Meredith stood on the doorstep, flabbergasted, as she graciously accepted the flowers. The bouquet was beautiful and smelled heavenly.

  “Now.” Phineas squared his shoulders. “We really should be off. Shall we take your broom?” The handsome young man gestured towards Meredith’s, hovering behind her. “Mine is still being waxed.”

  He gently took Meredith’s arm and guided her from the door. Meredith grew warm from the touch as she clumsily shuffled alongside Phineas. A flustering new sensation eclipsed her earlier confusion. Her stomach felt like it was full of flittering butterflies. The inkling that everything was perfectly fine wafted over her, and she wondered why she had been confused at all.

  The young witch stashed her bouquet in her purse. Then, the pair sat astride her broom with Phineas behind Meredith, gently holding her midsection. Her heart skipped a beat, and her belly tickled beneath his touch. What was she doing? She couldn’t remember. Where were they even going? Meredith didn’t care. Peaceful bliss washed over her. She pushed off the ground and soared into the sky, which had turned a dull orange and cloudless. Was it late afternoon already? Meredith couldn’t recall what time she had left the shop.

  “Where to?” Meredith hollered over the rush of wind.

  “Did you forget?” Phineas chuckled. “We’re going to the waterfall where we first met!”

  “Oh! Right!” Meredith wondered how she could forget something like that. She wasn’t feeling quite like herself, but the recollection of their time at the waterfall jarred her from her mental fog.

  The pair soared for a short while before arriving at their destination, a large waterfall deep in the mountainous forest that cascaded off a steep cliff. They descended before the midpoint of the waterfall and maneuvered to sit side by side on the broom. Phineas draped his arm around Meredith as water faintly flicked at their feet. The pair hovered for a while, chatting about nothing and everything while the waterfall roared past.

  “It feels like I first saw you playing your flute here only yesterday,” Phineas crooned. “I was enchanted by your music, but now I’m enchanted by you. I can’t believe we’ve been together for two years.”

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  Meredith couldn’t believe it either. Time really did fly by. She missed playing the flute; it felt like she hadn’t played in forever. Did she even remember how?

  “You know,” Phineas continued as he nudged closer to Meredith and clasped her hand. “Ever since I first met you, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Warmness and comfort washed over Meredith.

  “I’ve felt the same way.” Meredith blushed as she interlaced her fingers with his. She truly did. Love grew within her chest and threatened to burst.

  “I love you, Meredith. I always have, and I always will.” Phineas retracted his hand, produced a small velvet box from his pocket, and flicked it open. A gorgeous ring lay inside. “Will you marry me?” He asked her softly yet earnestly.

  Meredith gasped at the sight. Happiness swelled inside her chest, and she flung her arms around him.

  “Yes, Phineas! Yes!”

  They embraced, then Phineas slid the ring onto Meredith’s finger.

  “It’s beautiful,” Meredith declared with her hand splayed before her, eyeing the new jeweled ring.

  “You’re beautiful,” Phineas replied.

  “Oh, but what of our families?” Meredith exclaimed, worry tainting her happiness. “You know they won’t approve of us marrying so young!”

  “Then let’s run away together!” Phineas answered. “If they won’t accept our marriage, we’ll prove to them we can make it. We’ve been saving for two years; we can do this! We’ll fly until we find a little hamlet like we always talked about, where we can live peacefully and help the community!”

  Meredith accepted without a second thought, and the pair flew off in search of their new home. They happened upon a small, faraway village just as night descended upon them. The engaged couple found an inn to stay at, and the next morning, they combined their meager savings and purchased a tiny hut. It took days of work and enchantments, but as time slipped by, the hut became more like home. The pair magically enhanced it to be bigger on the inside than the outside, as magicians are wont.

  Weeks turned into months, and the engaged couple found their purpose in the little town as purveyors of magical treatments. As time passed, the engaged couple filled their home with baubles and trinkets, like all magicians tended to. Meredith and Phineas fell in love with the village, and the villagers loved them.

  Soon after their arrival, the couple were wed, surrounded by the townsfolk who had become their extended family. The newlywed’s blood relatives were absent from the celebrations, as they had planned. They knew their families wouldn’t understand or approve of their marriage.

  A year later, Meredith and Phineas expanded their family with a baby boy. Two twin girls followed soon after. Meredith was incredibly full of love. She was happy and satisfied with the fulfilling life she had made for herself and her family.

  One afternoon, Meredith sat in the sitting room’s rocking chair. She held all three of her sleeping babies in her arms as she gently rocked them back and forth atop the creaky wooden floor. Orange afternoon sunlight angled through the windows. Meredith looked down at her children and was awash with emotion. She was so blessed; it almost didn’t seem fair to everyone else.

  Beside the sitting room, approaching footsteps sounded beyond the front door. Meredith waited patiently for her husband to enter. The door slowly creaked open to reveal the darkened figure of her grandmother. Her wrinkled brow was furrowed in anger, and her lips were pursed tightly together.

  “Grandma!” Meredith exclaimed in stunned disbelief. Meredith’s body went rigid with shock. How did she find her? The babies stirred in Meredith’s arms.

  “So, this is where you’ve been,” Grandma sneered disapprovingly as she stepped inside and glanced around the house. Her voice was low but barely controlled. “I asked you to watch my shop for a few months, and you go and run off with some boy!”

  “No, Grandma,” Meredith whispered to not wake her children. “It’s not like that—"

  “Cici was worried sick about you!” Grandma interrupted furiously. “You abandoned him! He ran off searching for you, and I found him starving and mangy! He waited for you to return for years!” Grandma’s voice grew fiercer. “And you abandoned me! And the villagers! A plague ripped through the village, and you weren’t there to help! I’ve been fixing your mistakes for years now! On top of that, I never stopped searching for my missing granddaughter!”

  The babies shuffled and began to fuss.

  “Grandma, I’m sorry I—" The flustered young mother struggled to contain her wriggling and upset children. She felt pinned down.

  “You’re sorry?” Grandma bellowed. “Your parents thought you were dead! They blamed me! But I never gave up, and neither did Cici until the day he died.”

  “Cici!” Meredith gasped as she coddled her babes.

  “But now I’ve found you.” Grandma’s voice grew cold and menacing. “And I’m taking you home with me where you belong!”

  Grandma stepped closer to her granddaughter, and her body began to morph. Hairy, spider-like legs ripped out of her sides and hoisted Grandma toward the ceiling. Her body went limp and dangled at the center of the abomination; her eyes lolled back into her head as she shook and rattled as the legs grew in width, completing her transformation into a massive, humanoid spider.

  Meredith and her children screamed as she shot out of the rocking chair and retreated into the corner of the room. She pulled her children to her chest to shield them from the gruesome sight as Grandma inched closer to them. Meredith’s wand was somewhere in the house, but she couldn’t remember where she had placed it.

  “No, Grandma!” Meredith cried out. “I can’t go with you!”

  “You can and you will!” Grandma gargled as her slack face stared down at them.

  Meredith couldn’t protect herself and her babies without her wand. There was only one way.

  As Grandma’s spider legs descended upon Meredith, she curled around her children, eyes squeezed shut.

  “Fyra Lunai Velra!” She bellowed.

  Meredith was immediately engulfed in warm, white flames but felt…different. She was somehow standing. When the young witch opened her eyes, she found she was no longer huddled in a corner of her hut in a faraway village nor holding her babies. Meredith whipped her head, searching in a panicked frenzy for her children. Her concentration wavered, and the lunar flames wisped out of existence. Meredith’s chest heaved. What was going on?

  Meredith stood before a familiar hut in a small clearing at the base of a forested mountain. Splayed on the ground before her was a gaunt-faced, sickly-looking, and pale woman. It was Phineas’ mother! But she was far from the supple, sensual woman she had first encountered. A dirty black dress draped over her bony body, and her skin looked as if it was stretched across her frame.

  Fear flitted across her dark, sunken eyes as she sat up, caressing her singed hand against her chest.

  Meredith felt dizzy. She staggered and lurched to the side, but caught herself as the world slowly stopped spinning around her. She took a breath and gathered her wits. Clarity slowly dawned on her, and she felt firmly rooted in reality. There was no husband, no children, no years of love and happiness—only a frightened enchantress on the ground before Meredith and her bag slightly open.

  “What is going on out there?” An elderly man’s voice wavered from inside the hut.

  The panic-stricken and frail-looking woman glanced back as the sound of shuffling footsteps edged closer. A grizzled old man clad in a blue, starry robe emerged from the open doorway, his long white beard trailing behind him. He glanced about, assessed the situation, then glared at the woman in the dirt.

  “You!” He bellowed and began withdrawing his knobby wand.

  The haggard woman scampered to her feet and ran towards the forest's edge.

  “Begone enchantress!” The elderly wizard shook his fist in the air. “And never again darken my doorstep!”

  The gaunt woman vanished in a haze of black mist. At the enchantress’ departure, a wave of emotion and hunger racked Meredith. Her innards growled as she doubled over, clutching her stomach.

  The man’s fist fell to his side as he sighed in frustration. Then he turned to Meredith.

  “Who’re you?” He asked abruptly.

  “I’m Meredith.” She grimaced. “But I’m mostly confused and hungry.” She straightened up, retrieved a handful of crackers from her bag, and devoured them. The pain in her gut subsided somewhat, but her emotional anguish bubbled just below the surface.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure of your voracious acquaintance?”

  “I’m Ethel’s granddaughter,” Meredith said between bites. She sighed as she struggled to keep her emotions in check. “I’m running her shop and came here to get pineberries for a migraine potion.”

  “Well met, Meredith.” He straightened up. “I am Phineas, an acquaintance of your grandmother. Please, do come in.”

  The elderly wizard led Meredith inside his darkened hut. Much like Grandma’s home, and Meredith’s illusionary one, it was enchanted to be bigger on the inside than the outside and held myriad contraptions and baubles scattered about on shelves lined with scrolls and books. Unlike Grandma’s home, his was in complete disarray.

  “Oh dear,” Phineas muttered. “Please excuse the mess. It appears my abode was ransacked while I was under that vile enchantress’ illusion. Pray tell, Meredith, what day is it?” He eyed a calendar that dangled haphazardly on the nearby wall.

  “It’s the nineteenth,” Meredith replied behind him.

  “That wretch!” Phineas yelled. “My house wasn’t robbed! It was squatted!” Phineas turned to Meredith. “I was under her spell for two weeks! If you hadn’t shown up, who knows how long I would’ve been entranced!”

  The wizard smacked his forehead and paced back and forth, mumbling, “How could I not have figured it out? I knew it was too good to be true. By the gods, I’m hungry! I feel so weak!”

  Phineas paced for a moment while Meredith stood there awkwardly. Eventually, he shook his head and sighed.

  “It’s in the past!” Phineas declared. “And you have better things to do than watch an old man lament. The pineberries!” With a flourish of his wand, the wizard procured from somewhere within the surrounding mess a jar of dried, white pineberries. “Here you are, young heroine, free of charge!” Phineas plucked the floating jar from the air and handed it to Meredith.

  “Thank you,” she replied, slipping the jar into her bag.

  “I have something else for you.” Phineas rummaged through a desk against a wall. “It’s an extra reward for disillusioning me.”

  “Oh no, I can’t,” Meredith replied. “I didn’t mean to do anything; I was under her spell too. I just happened to interrupt it accidentally.”

  “No matter!” Phineas produced a small gold ring and held it out for Meredith. A pang of lonely longing struck her heart. The ring conjured the memory of her illusionary husband—the other Phineas—their false life together, their children, and her happiness. Meredith swallowed the lump that grew in her throat as she graciously accepted the ring.

  “The ring is enchanted to vibrate when it senses danger to the wearer,” Phineas continued. “It’s clearly wasted on me. Also, it’s enchanted to fit any finger.”

  “Thank you.” Meredith forced down the feelings welling up in her chest and slid the ring onto her middle finger, next to where the illusionary Phineas had placed her wedding band. Her eyes ached to cry.

  “Oh dear,” Phineas said with a worrisome tone. “Have I upset you somehow?”

  “No.” Meredith sniffed and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I’m fine. Thank you for everything.”

  The pair exchanged goodbyes. Phineas began to magically whisk his home into order as Meredith stepped out the door and walked to where her broom hovered. She hopped on and made for nowhere; she just wanted to fly. Meredith stared into the distance and processed the ordeal as the overcast sky rumbled.

  As she flew, Meredith mindlessly thumbed the spot where her wedding ring had been, like how she would twirl it on her finger when she was bored during the multiple years she had spent in her false life.

  But there had never been a wedding or a husband who adored her and granted her a family and purpose. The excruciating labor to deliver her children was a sordid lie; the love she had felt for them had seemed so real. But they had never existed. Everything had been an illusion conjured within her mind.

  It had been her fear that broke the illusion. Meredith wondered how much of it was the enchantress’ doing, and what she had made up in her own mind. She was deathly afraid of losing Cici and pondered just how afraid she was of disappointing Grandma. Meredith had never given it any thought since she never planned on doing anything to threaten her relationship with her loved ones. Did she really long for love to the point that she would abandon her family? The flurry of sad, anxious thoughts was too much for her to bear. She knew she would have to understand the enchantress’ magic to draw any meaningful conclusions, but the implications she thought up shook her to her core.

  “That damned wretch!” Meredith gasped as tears began to flow down her face. She hated the enchantress with her entire being. “Why did she do that to me? Why do I keep running into such awful people?”

  For a long while, she wailed unabashed as she drifted through the gray sky, dropping twinkling tears into the forest below.

  Eventually, Meredith returned to Greenwood feeling empty and dull just as the pregnant clouds above slowly began to release their bellies. She hadn’t made a conscious effort to return; her body seemed to operate on instinct alone. The young witch felt like a hollow husk of a person as she hovered over the village. The scattered raindrops turned into a drizzle, yet Meredith still sat upon her broom, drained of all emotion and care in the world.

  ‘Why do these things keep happening to me?’ Meredith pondered. ‘What did I do to deserve this? What possible reason could these awful people have for attacking me? Why is this world so damn dangerous?’

  Meredith couldn’t come up with an answer. First, it was the vampire, then the hag, then the enchantress. What was next for her? An ogre? A cyclops, perhaps?

  ‘Only if I’m lucky,’ Meredith thought ruefully.

  Life back home had never been so hazardous. She never had to face death or danger before. But it was so boring. And Meredith had spent many nights lying awake wishing for an exciting life. She got what she hoped for, that was for sure. Thomas always had a lesson after these types of events. Meredith struggled to recall what he had said after the vampire attack.

  “Always be prepared,” he had said. After the hag incident, it had been, “Strike first. But what would he say about the enchantress? What great wisdom would the immortal Thomas share with her this time? Probably something like: things are not always as they seem. Meredith huffed. She didn’t want to think about it.

  Meredith shook her head. She didn’t know why she was upset with Thomas; she was just angry. She knew she should talk about the ordeal eventually; she knew it would help, but by the gods, was it hard!

  A shiver ran up her spine. She was cold and drenched. Meredith needed to go home. She sighed and descended toward the shop. She parked her broom beside the door and entered. Cici hopped off the windowsill and wrapped himself around Meredith’s leg.

  “That didn’t take long,” he purred. “How’d it go?”

  Meredith didn’t want to get into it immediately but knew she couldn’t hide her feelings from her familiar. For that, she was glad despite the raw absence of most of her emotions. She was thankful she had someone she could talk to.

  Meredith silently scooped Cici up and hugged him. She carried her cat through the shop, tossed the pineberries on the counter, and clomped into the house, where they passed by Thomas quizzing Meredith’s clone in the sitting room.

  Meredith ignored them and went straight to her room. She kicked off her boots, flicked her wand, and dried herself. Then, she thrust herself onto her bed, stuffed herself under her blanket, and curled into a ball with Cici in the center. Meredith squeezed him tightly.

  “Are you okay?” He wheezed.

  A sob escaped Meredith’s lips, and new tears trailed down her face once again as fresh emotion welled up inside her chest.

  “Meredith?” Cici meowed. She brought Cici’s forehead to her own, an invitation.

  Cici pressed his forehead to hers and peered into the witch’s mind. It was easier for Meredith that way. After Cici witnessed the enchantress’ transgressions, he curled up against Meredith as she cried herself to sleep.