Page 43 of Haunted Eclipse

“I think we’re okay. But I’m not sure, after how the evening ended.” I told her what happened. “And at the very end, the Wandering Eye vanished. It has to be important, for her to appear and give me that cryptic message. At least, I think so.”

“First,” Astra said, “don’t panic. The creature brings messages, yes. But they don’t all mean gloom and doom. I admit, this one doesn’t sound incredibly positive, but we’ll get to the heart of it. I promise you that.” She stood, pacing. “The Gateway will open again. Chaos is dancing, and once it finds you, there’s no escape.That was it, correct?”

I nodded. “Yes, in fact I wrote it down as soon as I came out of the shock. I gather the Fae call them speretas. So I learned my first Fae word today, as well. Do you know Bealissa?”

“Vaguely,” Astra said. “I’ve met her before, but it was with a group of witches from the Dark Moon Society. It was several years ago, when she first was appointed to the town Council. There was an uproar, and a few stray idiots protesting. But she’s been a good thing for our town, and I think it helps Fae/human relations.”

“Good, because I like her.”

“I wonder why Skula visitedyou. I’d expect her to show up at Nightshade’s, or the mayor’s. But this is definitely a message. We need to figure it out though, because I’m pretty sure she was talking about the Covenant of Chaos.”

“I wondered about that, although I seem like an unlikely recipient. Can you check my cords and wards? I do really like to make sure that I’m not being drained or followed or whatever they can do energetically.”

Astra motioned for me follow her into the kitchen, and then she retrieved her supplies from the ritual room: war water, protection powder, her dagger, and a white pillar candle that smelled like lemongrass and lavender. She set them on the counter, then retrieved a chair from the dining room, sitting it so that she could traverse around it. She motioned for me to take my seat, and then she began to cast a circle.

“Maiden cast the circle strong, keep is free from those at odds.

Mother cast the circle bright, protect us now, the ancient gods.

Old Crone cast the circle wise, calling on the frozen stars.”

She paused as the energy settled around us. Then, once again she held up her dagger she stood facing the north.“Spirits of earth, spirits of might, anchor now this magic rite.”

Turning to the east, she said,“Spirits of air, spirits of flight, cleanse now this magic rite.”

Next, she turned to the south.“Spirits of flame, spirits of fire, infuse the spell so it might spire.”

And lastly, she turned to the west.“Spirits of water, ocean’s daughter, seal the spell with waves and water.”

The energy tumbled around us in waves, first the circle of pure energy, infused by the gods. And then each element added its own power, spiraling around us, creating a sphere so that we were protected. Astra set down her dagger, and turned to me. She held out a small orange-sized crystal ball, flickering with energy from within. She walked around me, and I could feel her probing my aura, examining it to make sure that there was nothing there that shouldn’t be.

“It looks like you’re secure. I can see Skula’s energy around you, but it hasn’t latched on. She’s so strong that I’m not surprised to read an imprint. I don’t see anything like a curse or anything else, for that matter. I suspect she gave you this message for reason, but you’re not under a spell or curse. I’m going to leave the circle up, and press the energy out to surround the house tonight. We don’t need anything else happening, especially while we sleep.”

Feeling reassured, I stood up and helped her roll the waves of energy out toward the parameters of the yard. It wasn’t all that hard.

Astra and Sara had taught me well when I was young.

You placed your hands on the bubble of energy and imagined it expanding, essentially growing it out to the size that you wanted it to be. As we encompassed the entire lot, I suddenly felt calm, my worry draining away.

Magic was like that, it could take away worry, even if for a little while.

After we finished, I decided to raid the refrigerator. I hadn’t gotten a chance to eat at the mixer, and I realized I was hungry.

“So, what do you think this all means?” I asked.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Astra said. Maybe it’s a message that you’re supposed to deliver. Remember, we were talking about you joining the Dark Moon Society? Maybe it’s a message for Nightshade and the Order of the Moon? I think I’ll call her tomorrow and see if she can come visit.”

“That’s fine with me, except I have lunch plans. Brenda is coming over around noon. So it needs to be later than two.” I sighed. “I went to the mixer tonight hoping to find a match for Brenda. I sure didn’t expect to end up like this.”

“Sometimes, life throws us into the deep end and we just have to learn to swim.” Astra joined me in raiding the fridge. We pulled out left over fried chicken and pie from the other night, and settled ourselves in the kitchen booth.

“Crystal seems to think that if my house hadn’t burned down, something else would have happened to drive me back home,” I said.

“Remember, shadow towns call those whom they want. And they get rid of the people that they don’t want. Oh, not necessarily through any ominous means, although Whisper Hollow’s really good about making people disappear.”

I snorted. “Whisper Hollow’s like… The shadow town of shadow towns. That’s one of the most dangerous places around.”

“Correct. However, all shadow towns are selective. Midnight Point, Moonshadow Bay, Terameth Lake,andCrescent Falls… All of them call their people to them.”

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