Chapter 19

  Meredith And The Fire

  Several inconsequential days later, Meredith rang up her final customer of the day. The cloaked patron exited the shop and vanished in a faint white mist.

  “I should really buckle down and learn how to teleport properly.” Meredith stroked Cici’s fur as he paced around the counter. His loose fur clung to her black robe.

  “I should too,” Cici purred. “Then I wouldn’t need to walk to my favorite sitting spots.”

  “Lazy buns. I like flying so much, though; being so high up is a thrill I’ll never tire of. I don’t want to learn how to teleport and stop flying altogether. Besides, there are so many different ways to teleport! Remember the miniature minotaur who disappeared with a thunderclap?”

  “I hated that; he was clearly compensating. I think I’d like to teleport with black flames. I imagine it’d be quite cozy.”

  “Do all teleportation spells have to have a ‘thing?’ Can’t anyone just quietly blip away?” Meredith pondered. “Does it always have to be flashy and extravagant? Or is it a part of them and their magic, like that Mer-Witch that came in the other day with the bubbly and splashy teleportation? Do you think a fire mage could use some sort of water teleportation spell, like the Mer-Witch?”

  Cici flopped onto his side and stretched.

  “These are questions for Thomas,” he groaned.

  Meredith could see the sky turning purple through the wide shop windows. She waited for any last-minute stragglers. Then, with Cici at her heels, she went to the front door and flipped the sign to ‘closed.’

  Tack-tack-tack-tack!

  She glanced down the winding dirt path leading to Greenwood, where she saw a gangly youth round the bend, sprinting toward her. It was Paul, the boy whose leg had been hexed by the bog hag.

  “Fire!” He cried out, panting. “Fire! We need your help!”

  Above the tree line, in the direction of Greenwood, was a bright red glow that permeated the purple sky.

  Adrenaline and excitement ripped through Meredith. She snatched up her broom by the door and straddled it.

  “Wait for me!” Cici bounded toward her just as she was about to take off.

  “No!” Meredith declared. “You’re too furry; you’ll light up like a candle!”

  Cici howled as the witch pushed off the ground and soared upwards.

  “I’ll see you soon!” Meredith called to him as Cici shrank to a small black dot on the ground. She angled above the trees and towards the town, Paul following behind on foot.

  Meredith hovered over the town, assessing the situation. A roaring, crackling blaze engulfed a small section of the village's eastern side. She could feel the flame’s overwhelming heat.

  “Whoa,” Meredith muttered.

  Men, women, and children lined up from the river, passing sloshing buckets of water and dumping them on the fire while runners returned them to the opposite end of the line.

  Meredith dove down to the cobblestone street and landed near the riverbank. She ordered her broom back home; she didn’t want it to catch stray cinders.

  Meredith trotted to the river, waved her wand, and drew a thick, warbly mass of water from it. She raised it upwards with a tilt of her wand and ran towards the inferno, excited to utilize the magic she’d improved under Thomas’ tutelage. The water gloppily followed behind her as she wordlessly manipulated it. As she neared, Meredith whipped her wand forward and sent the river water splashing over the nearest house.

  FWOOM!

  The raging fire sputtered where the water landed, but it wasn’t enough. Meredith ran back to the river and repeated the process. Again and again, Meredith poured water over the houses as the villagers splashed their buckets. The fires slowly dwindled as the blaze was replaced with mud and smoky cinders.

  Meredith was breathless, and her lungs ached. Running up and down the riverbank and across the cobblestone street while concentrating on her magic was strenuous, but she didn’t give up. She continued the trek until she heard someone yell, “Look! There’s a fire over there!”

  Everyone turned toward the familiar radiant glow over the tops of the houses on the other side of the river. Cries of anguish rang out over the water.

  The fires she fought weren’t fully extinguished, and Meredith refused to abandon the villagers she was helping. She brought her wand to her forehead, drew downwards, and said, “Telys!”

  Meredith felt the strange feeling of being stretched apart. Her entire essence split as an exact copy sloughed off her. The clone immediately took off towards the bridge leading to the town's other side while Meredith continued to fight the first fire. She could feel the noticeable difference in her magical ability; she couldn’t bring as much water from the river, and her fatigue grew.

  “Look! There’s more!” a voice called out from the bustling townsfolk. A blaze had erupted amongst houses and shops on both banks, further upriver.

  “What the hell is going on?” Meredith sighed as she split herself twice more. She felt significantly weaker and less like herself as the pair of clones plopped away from her and headed toward the other two fires.

  Meredith stumbled, woozy, but quickly recovered. She felt foggy, and her muddled mind let loose a torrent of barely coherent thoughts. She couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation. Was there an arsonist afoot? Did stray cinders land on thatch roofs? Meredith wasn’t sure and didn’t have the brain power to focus on it. She returned to the riverbank and summoned another clump of water but struggled to pull out a mere bucket full.

  “Ugh!” Meredith lost her concentration and let the water drop. She fell to her hands and knees and caught her breath. She wished she had heeded Thomas’ warnings; pulling that measly amount of water felt like lifting a boulder.

  Meredith gasped as she struggled to think of a way to help. The villagers busied themselves with their bucket brigade while Meredith recovered, hands on knees. Her power gem! Meredith had completely forgot about it!

  The exhausted witch clasped her sapphire necklace and focused on the concentrated power stored within. She drew from it, supplementing her own magic. A warmth spread across Meredith’s chest and into her weary limbs, like a full-body caress.

  She let go of her necklace and cut herself off from the gem; she didn’t want to use the entirety of its stockpile if she could help it.

  The warmth slowly receded, and Meredith breathed a sigh of relief. She felt invigorated, though not quite at full strength. The witch was impressed with herself, though. Just as with her race against Salinda, Meredith became more aware of the limits of her abilities.

  Meredith returned her focus to the fire. She stood up and lifted another blob of water out of the river. It was much larger and easier to control than her previous attempt. She ran up the bank and launched it at the burning buildings.

  Meredith’s first clone—with half of Meredith’s original power—arrived at the second fire. Two adjacent shops were engulfed in a raging inferno. Villagers were scrambling to extinguish the flames. Meredith was about to weave water from the river when she heard a wail.

  “Help! Help me, I’m trapped!” A warbly man’s voice called out.

  “Somebody is inside!” An elderly woman cried.

  With a flourish of her wand, Meredith ripped a large clump of water out of the river and encircled herself with it. She rushed up the bank toward the nearest building where the cries for help were loudest.

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  “Help me, please!”

  “I’m coming!” Meredith bellowed.

  She sprinted toward a gap in the structure and burst into the burning building. A wave of heat washed over Meredith and threatened to overwhelm her. She immediately began to sweat and grimaced as her eyes and nostrils burned. Steam wafted from her encircling liquid shield as crackling flames licked around it. Meredith glanced about. The entire building and everything in it was ablaze.

  “Where are you?” Meredith called as she steadily continued deeper into the building.

  Her boots clumped against the flaming boards underneath. Everything was engulfed in flickering flames, and black smoke piled across the ceiling above.

  “I’m here!” The voice hollered over the crackling fire.

  Meredith ran toward it. A slight figure, bundled in a cloak, was huddled in the far corner of the building. She stood before the hunched person. Her water shield was quickly evaporating.

  With a wave of her wand, the water exploded outwards and doused the nearby flames, replacing them with smoke. Meredith ducked under the billowing smog and crouched beside the man.

  “Come on.” Meredith coughed. She placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “We’ll go through the wall!” She aimed her wand at the wall and prepared to blast it away.

  A chill ripped up her spine. A dark hunger washed over Meredith as a pale, long-nailed hand reached out from the cloak and yanked her hand down, unbalancing her. Alarm tore through her chest. She steadied herself with her hand pressed firmly into the smoldering floor.

  “AAAAAH!” Searing pain erupted up her arm as she reared back. Another pale hand smashed against Meredith’s head.

  “What are you—?"

  Meredith fell backward, the cloaked person atop her. Fear gripped her heart as her back seared against the burning floor. Between the pale fingers, Meredith glimpsed a glint of pearly white within the darkened hood.

  The assailant lunged at her. She felt a sharp pain in her neck, then nothing. The young witch’s head weakly bobbed as the cloaked figure rose to his feet. Her vision grew blurry as the surrounding fire, smoke, and her assailant merged into a blend of black and orange. Everything slowly faded to black, and she succumbed to unconsciousness.

  The second clone arrived at one of the other fires. A row of four houses on the edge of town was engulfed in flames. Few villagers were around to help; most were already putting out other fires. The small group ran back and forth between the river and the houses with pales of water.

  Meredith tried to summon water from the river but to no avail. Her magic had been split too much. First, her magic was halved, then halved again as she made her clones. The clone had a mere quarter of her original strength. Nevertheless, Meredith tried everything she could think of. She stood as close to the burning buildings as she could withstand and attempted to wick the flames away, but nothing happened. Then she tried to conjure a dust cloud to smother the flames, but it was a pitiful scuff of dirt that only made her and the rest of the villagers dirtier.

  Meredith ran back to the riverbank while the villagers dumped their buckets onto the fire, to little success. She attempted to summon a haze but failed. Her magic simply wasn’t strong enough to conjure the spells she was used to.

  Frustrated, the young witch stamped at the muddy bank. A couple of villagers trotted past her to refill their buckets, then made for the fire.

  ‘Think small scale.’ Meredith racked her brain. Maybe she could clone herself enough times to make a bucket brigade and pass water to the fire. Meredith raised her wand to her forehead and began to draw it down.

  “Meredith,” a familiar, silky voice called from behind her. She turned mid-spell.

  A thin silhouette stood alone atop the riverbank, the blaze hiding their features in shadow. A pair of enchanting purple eyes emerged from the darkness. Meredith grew dizzy as her vision faded to black.

  The original Meredith gasped with her hands on her knees. She hadn’t realized how much power she didn’t have until she had split herself so much. Meredith glanced at her dangling necklace; the inlaid power gem had lost its magnificent glow and retained the dull blue of a regular sapphire. It was empty.

  ‘I need another,’ Meredith thought.

  The fire was out, and the ground was muddy. Meredith glanced around and saw a few villagers milling about as others inspected the smoldering buildings. Past them, the orange glow of fire emanated above the roofs across town.

  “Oi!” Meredith panted. The villagers turned to her. “Go to that one!” Meredith pointed at the next closest fire where she had sent her last clone. She knew that if she was having trouble, her clones were too. “I’ll meet you there soon!” She called after the villagers as they took their buckets and ran towards the blaze.

  Meredith needed her spare power gem, but it was lying on her desk back home. It was the only way she could fight the fires since her clones were too far away to rejoin with. She deeply regretted splitting herself.

  “Broom!” Meredith called out with an outstretched hand, except she couldn’t extend her flow of magic outwards. “I’m tapped out,” she sighed, dropping her arm and slumping to her knees.

  The only other option was to hoof it. At least her muscles still worked, barely. Meredith’s stiff legs and back ached as she righted herself, regretting having bent over in the first place. She shuffled one foot in front of the other as she leaned forward in an exhausted effort to run.

  ‘I should’ve listened to Thomas,’ Meredith thought. ‘And I need to exercise more.’

  Before long, she left the village’s cobblestone roads behind her and trotted down the dirt path that led to the shop. As Meredith emerged around a bend of trees, she saw a dark yet familiar figure.

  “Hey!” Meredith gasped as she ran. “What are you doing here?” The figure didn’t respond but continued walking towards the shop. Meredith neared and stopped in front of them.

  “What are you doing?” Meredith stared at her clone. The clone continued to walk forward, slack-faced and oblivious to her. She took her clone by the shoulders and was met with slight resistance as the clone tried to push forward.

  “What are you doing?” Meredith repeated. “The village is on fire! You shouldn’t be here!”

  She looked into the clone’s blank face and noticed a faint purple glow within her eyes.

  “What the—" Meredith mumbled. She thought for a moment as she continued to block her clone’s progress, then raised her wand and cast “Revan Telys!” The clone lurched forward and sloughed into Meredith as the pair recombined.

  Meredith shook her head. She felt slightly more energized but also groggy, like she had just woken up. Her clone’s memories became hers. She remembered the fire, then turning to see purple eyes, then nothing. She instantly remembered the silhouette.

  “The enchantress!” Meredith exclaimed. Questions flooded her mind and threatened to overwhelm her. What was she doing here? Did she start the fires? Is she seeking revenge? If so, to what end? Why was my clone sent home? Try as she might, she could not recall the illusion set upon her clone. Frustrated but determined, Meredith took a calming breath and focused on putting out the fires. She would worry about the enchantress later.

  With renewed vigor, Meredith ran to the apothecary and rushed inside. Cici incessantly meowed a dozen questions and followed Meredith as she scrambled through the shop, then the house, and into her room.

  “Aha!” Meredith produced the topaz from her desk. She felt warm as she absorbed its stockpiled magic. She slipped it into her pocket and continued feeding on it as she hurried back outside.

  “Why won’t you answer me?” Cici howled. “What’s going on out there?”

  “The village might be under attack,” Meredith exclaimed halfway through the shop door. “I’ll be back soon!”

  “Meredith, wait!” Cici cried out, but Meredith had already slammed the door shut behind her.

  The young witch felt rejuvenated as she fed on the constant supply of energy. She stepped just before the entryway.

  “Broom!” She exclaimed. Meredith felt her magic flow to her outstretched fingertips. But the broom didn’t come.

  Meredith heard a slight rustling behind her. There, posted next to the shop door, was Meredith’s broom, where it always parked itself. However, a thick vine grew up beneath it, ensnaring it. Her broom shook violently as it tried to fly to Meredith. Confusion rankled the young witch as the warning ring on her finger vibrated gently.

  “What the—" Meredith started towards her broom but stopped as she heard the scuffle of footsteps. She turned to see another of her clones making their way down the dirt path towards the shop. The clone meant to pass Meredith, but she stopped her. Meredith noticed the same expressionless face, but instead of purple eyes, the clone bore two bleeding wounds on the side of her neck.

  “Oh no!” Meredith mumbled as realization dawned on her. She repeated the spell to re-absorb her clone.

  The pair recombined, and their memories became one as more energy flowed into Meredith. Her neck, face, hand, and back ached terribly!

  She recalled entering the fire and being attacked by a vampire, but then nothing. Just like the other clone, Meredith couldn’t remember why she was sent home. Could it have been the same vampire that had attacked her before?

  An unfamiliar feeling in her mouth startled Meredith. Holding her hand to her mouth, she tongued her teeth to discover that her canines had become slightly longer and sharper.

  “What the hell?” Meredith shouted. She hadn’t thought it through!

  Fear raced up her spine as more questions erupted within her mind. Was she a vampire now? Why was a vampire and the enchantress in Greenwood? Why was her broom ensnared? Both her confusion and power continued to grow. She ignored her teeth and returned to her task, ignoring her incessantly buzzing warning ring. Why the hell was it going off?

  Meredith turned and whipped out her wand to free her broom of the mysterious vine when a foul stench reached her nose.

  “Ugh!” Meredith recoiled from the odor and nearly retched. A yellow-green mist swirled from the surrounding woods and lazily crept around her. She coughed as the foul stench reached down into her lungs. Panic began to set in. She couldn’t remember where she had smelled the disgusting odor before. The buzzing of her ring intensified. She was in immediate danger. She scanned the area but couldn’t see past the fog.

  Meredith became dizzy and lightheaded as her alarm turned to lethargy. She didn’t know what was happening, but she knew she needed to get out of the cloud of gas. She weakly raised her wand to free her broom as her vision narrowed, but she couldn’t think of the spell. Her mind was muddled, but she grasped at the single thought, ‘Survive!’

  Meredith attempted to summon wind to blow the fumes away, but her magic refused to flow as her vision tunneled. Her periphery grew black, and all feeling faded away. Meredith no longer felt the ring violently shaking on her finger. She glanced towards the shop. If she could just make it inside, she would be safe. Meredith sluggishly trudged forward. Her eyes lazily drooped toward the shop’s side window, where she saw Cici jumping, pawing, and howling from the windowsill. Meredith felt some semblance of weightlessness.

  Thud!

  Meredith was faintly aware of landing on her side and then flopping onto her back. As she lay on the ground, staring up at the star-studded sky marred by the green-yellow haze and the dim light of the fires, she finally recalled the scent of the toxic fumes as everything faded to black.