premonitions of the light

Waking from a horrific and vivid nightmare Gwen jumped for her dream book and pen, it was just after the rising of the sun, just enough light as she wrote down the most important details from it.

Dreamt of danger and destruction; of the dark sorceress and the amulet. It is strange I feel there is something more to the amulet; it sticks to memory more than anything. I had better take it up with Maggie right away.

She then took a piece of paper and wrote down a note for Trinity who was still fast asleep in the bed. She tip-toed out of the bedroom and then through the rest of the house. Gwen proceeded down the steep hill and as always took a short cut through the village. It was still very early in the morning some of the shops weren't even open yet but she knew Maggie would be up, the woman got up with the sun or before it. She loved walking through the forest early in the morning, listening to the birds wake the world , seeing the plant and animal life in its natural setting. You could just feel the glow of energy there. It was relaxing and pleasant, almost magical. It made the nice long walk even that more enjoyable.

The day seemed to just shine for her and make the trip to the old woman's cottage go quickly. Before she knew it she could see the cottage in the distance. She jogged to get there a few seconds faster. Maggie would know what to do. She always did. Maggie could fix anything, no matter what. That was what she loved about her instructor; there was never a problem too big for her to help.

It hadn't taken long before she made it to the cottage and lightly tapped on the old familiar wooden front door. She waited a moment before knocking again, this time with a little more force. Then she heard movement from inside the small cottage. She heard the familiar sound of the old floor board creaking under Maggie's footsteps. The door swung open, and Maggie greeted her long time student with a grin.

"Gwen, it's good to see you. What's going on?" She asked with a look of bewilderment.

"I just really need to talk."

"Come in dear, we'll have a cup of witches' brew you look as though you need it." Offered the old crone with true sincerity.

The young witch nodded and followed her inside. Once the two were settled with their drink Maggie just stared at Gwen for a long moment.

"Are you going to tell me why you're here, or shall I take a guess?"

After a slight giggling fit, she responded.

"Sorry, yes I needed to show you my dream book entry from last night. I wanted to know what you think."

"I would be happy to help."

She fished the book out of her knapsack and set it on the table. Flipping through it she found the last entry and slid the book to her mentor. Brining the book closer for Maggie to examine, she slid next to the old woman. Waiting for her to say something, anything Gwen took a long sip of the witches brew, feeling the warm liquid slide down her throat. Setting it down her couldn't take the silence any longer.

"What do you think?"

"I think it was not a dream, more of a premonition."

"Why do I keep dreaming of her?"

"I can't tell you that, I don't know."

"The amulet she wears, is there something to it? I keep seeing it."

"It's very possible." Maggie replied then getting up from the table she slowly walked over to her shelf of books, grabbed one and sat down.

"What is that?"

"A book." Responded the old crone, giving a slight chuckle.

Gwen just shook her head as she finished off her first cup of witches' brew. She poured another cup for them.

"Thank you dear, now this is a book of dark magic. I thought we'd look and see if the history of the amulet may be in here somewhere."

"Do you really think we can find it?"

"We can give it a try." Maggie flipped through to the section on dark talismans and amulets, slowly turning the pages so that her young friend could see them.

Gwen was amazed at the different talismans used for dark magic, they were fascinating. After flipping through it for most of an hour, Gwen's eyes lit up when she saw it.

"There it is that one, that's her amulet."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, that's it. I'm sure of it."

Maggie had a look of grave concern across her face, knowing this wasn't good she took a deep gulp of the witches' brew before letting her student know what was going on.

"This is really not good young one."

Her eyes widened in curiosity and fear, hanging on every word that escaped the crone's lips. Gwen had never seen that look before; it was a look of fear and worry.

"That amulet is a very powerful tool of darkness. It will in time destroy the soul of the one who wears it."

"Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" She asked, staring her down with a look of severity.

"No, I suppose not." The young apprentice answered in a shy voice, like that of a child in trouble.

"Do you have any idea how long the girl has been wearing it?"

"I don't know, Trinity noticed it the last time we ran into her."

She nodded, taking another sip of the hot liquid. "It needs to be destroyed by a witch of light; it can't be eradicated by one of the darkness."

"How do I destroy it?"

"With magic of course, we will find a good banishing spell for you to use."

"Do you really think that will work?" She asked the old woman with a look of apprehension.

"It has to work dear." Maggie replied as she began to grab another book of magic "The defending works of the witches of light." She flipped through it carefully going over each and every spell on defensive magic.

Gwen sat there sipping cup of the strong brew as she began to fidget with her blonde locks, twirling strands around her index finger, her fear of failure shining through her soul.

"Did you find it yet?"

"Not quite, we need to make sure it is the right one, you don't want dire consequences to arise from it."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that."

"That's okay dear one; it's why you are still an apprentice witch." Spoke the old woman as she poured more brew, leafing through the book.

Gwen sipped the mug's contents until it had been cleared dead empty, hoping that her mentor would find the incantation she was searching for. She started to honestly believe the old crone was starting to lose it until she saw the playful smile of hers spreading with that hint of magic and joy in her fading eyes.

"Here we are, open your spell book young one, and copy this one down word for word."

She nodded, doing as she had been instructed. The old woman sat there patient as could be, watching her young student copy down the banishment spell. Maggie smiled remembering when she too had first added the spell to that very book well over four generations ago.

Banishment SpellObject of darkness, of evil intentI now banish you; your reign here is spent.I cast you away with love and lightYour darkness has come and went; we shall find you in this realm neveragain.

Gwen sat there with Maggie watching her as she copied the words of the incantation down into her spell book. Once she was finished, she stayed for one more cup of the best witches brew in all the land. When it was time for her to go she hugged Maggie for a long moment, unsure if she would return from this quest. Gwen left the comfort of the old woman's cottage and settled for a soft patch of grass in the southern part of the huge forest. She wanted to study the incantation for a long time, until it was committed to memory. She sat there through the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon studying the spell until she could not possibly forget it.

Taking several deep breaths she headed the other direction of the forest, the journey she was dreading to go try and explain all of it to Veronica before banishing the amulet. She would fight the dark sorceress over it, if she had to so be it. That didn't mean she had to look forward to it. Slowly walking the path into the dark forest, searching for the courage she feared would not be there by the time the castle would be in sight. She wandered through the gorgeous yet creepy landscape wondering what fate had in for her this time was she walking into her own doom. That thought lingered in the air more than any other as she walked onward to the castle, hoping to make it there before the darkness fell for the night.

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