It didn't take as long to get back to the clearing as Reagan thought it would. But she sensed the energy of the Alter as they approached it. Only this time something was different, there was something off in the air. She couldn't put her finger on it. Oliver seemed to sense it as well. She could see his posture change and stiffen as they got closer. Sophia glanced around aware of the new presence as well, looking for its source.

The alter itself seemed to be reverberating distress. Like a cornered animal, nervous and scared. Balancing between flight and fight mode, influencing the Coven surrounding it. Eyes shifted under hooded cloaks, suspiciously looking from one to the other.

Sophia stopped at the boundary line, tense, a soldier at the front lines looking for the enemy. Reagan suddenly saw a general shift in Sophia's body language, she was taking charge over the disruption. Being a leader suited her very well.

Everyone was on alert. Looking towards Sophia for their orders. No one had entered the Circle but it was clear and apparent someone was here who wasn't welcome. Reagan felt nature shift. The essence of this place shuttered, recoiling against some unknown intent.

There was an energy to the air, similar to the electric buzz that always proceeds a lightning strike nearby only this was stronger and yet mortal. This wasn't energy it was consciousness. There was an embodiment to the raw distress. Reagan had always known there was more to magic than tapping into abilities. Magic had a life of its own. A perceptive knowledge about itself. Choosing and appraising. Magic was decisive and calculating. And someone here had seriously pissed it off.

A barely visible shield forced itself into existence around the clearing so abruptly anyone standing too closely took an immediate step back, pushed roughly away from the alter. The stone effigies now columns of the forcefield.

Reagan understood exactly where they were. She had predicted they were no longer in the western hemisphere when they first blinked here but now she had an entirely deeper meaning. This place was substantially older than she guessed. It looked ancient because it was.

If this wasn't the original alter of Magic than it was a close second. She didn't think this place was the source of magic, she always knew that wasn't realistic. Magic was everything, it went beyond having a source. It wasn't a river that could be tapped into but this place may be the access point for magical beings to gain acceptance. She could imagine the first of their kind being gifted with abilities here on this hallowed ground. An ancient ancestor given the first gift of powers and abilities. 

She never knew this place existed. Or that it was even possible. Their world began and started here. Magic had entrusted her power onto others here, the birthplace of powers. Magic had reached out and endowed the earth's children with her gifts. Reagan was overcome with an ache, ardent and nearly unbearable. She dropped to her knees, eyes cast down unworthy of beholding this sacred place.   

She was the only one, everyone around the circle had stepped back from the alter when it defended itself but Reagan was the only one who had reacted. There was shock and awe but Reagan was the only individual who had the desire to drop to her knees. Oliver and Sophia had a wondrous appreciation and devotion to the site. A deep rapture for the location but neither felt the need to avert their eyes. Reagan rested her weight on her heels and closed her eyes as if in prayer.

She stayed like that. Sophia glanced down at Reagan in surprise but not judgement. She clearly misunderstood, assuming the same thing as Reagan, that it was because Reagan was unworthy. Oliver, however, had a bad feeling, ominous. There was something stirring in his memory. Something he had forgotten. An old story or detail that had been told in stories and passed down until it faded from history. He couldn't quite explain it but he knew he was missing something, something he should know.

Sophia turned back to her Coven, dismissing Reagan as if she was no longer useful. Their people had come so far and yet still managed not to change at all. It didn't look like Reagan was going to move, and Oliver didn't think he could make her. He wasn't given the time to make any delicious or action.

She looked up so quickly Oliver nearly jumped. "NO!" Reagan screamed. She wasn't looking at the Circle as she threw her hand out as if to stop someone. Glancing up in the direction she was reaching towards, Sophia and Oliver watched as a hooded figure on the other side of the alter stepped forward and placed their palm on the shield.

For a split second Oliver wondered how Reagan knew they were about to do something but the question was quickly driven from his mind as a violent ripple passed through the shield, its epicenter where the hand had touched the ward. It was as if a bomb had exploded.

The hooded figure was thrown back, tossed through the air backwards into the wood and out of sight. A few others were tossed as well, harder and more forceful than the majority. Sophia and Oliver staggered back as a few others stumbled and fell to the ground.  Out of the thirty or so individuals standing outside the alter, more than ten were thrown completely clear of the Circle, the rest forced back from the sheer energy the shield had blown outward.

It was then that Reagan moved. She didn't know why but she suddenly understood. Before Oliver could react she had placed herself next to him grabbing him by the elbow and pushed him into the shield where he slipped through the ward and into the Circle.

Finding himself on the other side he watched, stunned as Reagan worked her way around the barrier, faster than he could have imagined. Next Sophia and then the other Coven members who weren't propelled away from the alter. She had almost everyone left inside the safe guard before those who were expelled realized what was going on.

A blond Witch closest to the alter had been tossed into a tree by the shield and crumbled to the ground had gotten to her feet in a daze. She stared at Reagan, her hood fallen away from her face when she stood up to look around and saw what Reagan was doing. Knew Reagan had passed her over and recognized the rejection, she cried out as if in pain.

Her grief was immediate. Her guilt obvious to everyone. Her face contorted as she realized her own actions had caused this. There was a collective understanding, Magic had denied those who would work to disrupt their world and had isolated them from the rest of the Coven. They would never be allowed on sacred ground again. Not just this Circle but anywhere that Magic resided. Banished.

The Witches who had already agreed or would agree with the Warlock responsible for this chaos were no longer accepted into the grace of Magic. Magic reached into their hearts, had outed them all and disavowed them in front of their sisters. It had chosen Reagan as a conduit and enforcer and she had acted in accordance with its will to protect the Witches and in this case one Warlock still loyal to the balance and spirit of their world.

Reagan was still placing people inside the protection when the blond made a break for the shield. She slammed into it with such desperation Reagan immediately felt pity for the woman knowing that it was too late. She rebounded off the force and slammed back into the ground some ten feet away. She stayed were she was, knowing she had lost her grace. Defeated, she began to wail in earnest guilt stricken and grieving.

Reagan had placed the last of the Witches in the protective dome. They stood there staring through the veil, watching Reagan walk around the outside. Mostly in shock and confusion. Magic had taken control of the situation and no one knew exactly what to do or even if they should do anything.

Reagan placed herself between the Alter and the remaining Witches unwelcome in the Circle. The hooded figure that had disturbed the circle stepped forward flanked by the rejected few, ignoring the blond weeping silently. She couldn't see his face but she knew this was the Warlock who had started all of this. Knew she faced the creator of this plot.

"Take this as a warning. Magic does not welcome your intent. Magic does not honor your objective." She saw something that chilled her to the bone. He wasn't fazed, there was no ounce of concern or guilt. She realized then that he was quite insane. He had gone completely mad and was devoid of any sense of sympathy or humanity. Not a single ounce of remorse. There was nothing there but greed and hate. She knew why the Circle had first felt scared because she was absolutely terrified. When they approached the sacred site and felt it's anxiety she couldn't figure out why but now she knew. This man had lost everything pure that magic would connect to.

Once given Magic couldn't be take it away. He possessed a power that only a few other individuals could even match and there was nothing left in him to restrain the evil intentions he manifested. Nothing left in him to contain it. He was an abomination. She couldn't see it but she felt him smile at her, he knew what she saw and he was amused.

She wanted to shiver, but Magic still had a claim on her. She could feel it weave its way through her system giving her strength and courage. Supporting her. It wasn't possession but a very powerful foundation. Not that she wouldn't react to this situation in the same way on her own, Magic increased her desire and will power to do so. Providing the energy to do what was necessary.

Reagan felt warm again. Like that morning when she woke up but different. When she woke up in the hospital room she felt the heat from a fever, this was the warmth she felt from bottled up energy. The way her temperature increased as if to build up the power needed to take on whatever he could throw at her. The way the warmth from a fire gets hotter the more the fire burns. She could feel her skin tingle as the adrenaline pumped through her, felt her heart rate increase and her muscles began to tighten in preparation.

She heard Oliver behind her, trying to talk her into walking into the Circle with them, to get out of harms way. She stepped into a fighting stance. Ready to defend and protect the alter. Magic was her guild, she didn't know what to expect but something was coming. Magic was preparing her. A guiding friend. She trusted it to aid her and show her where to go and what to do. She braced herself.

The other Witches in the Circle gaped at her, some clearly believing she was crazy, others in amazement, all too aware that no soul had ever witnessed Magic possess someone in this manner. She was radiant, a glowing light shifting colors, gold to reds and oranges danced over her skin but not quite touching her, the raw energy sent her hair drifting around her like a halo. Sophia and Oliver where the only two to step closer to the shield to try to communicate with Reagan. She could hear them but wasn't focused on what they were saying.

There was a buzzing in her ear. This is what Oliver must have been talking about when he spoke of his first experience with magic. The all-consuming power. She wasn't sure why they made it sound so difficult. Magic was guiding her, not overpowering her. This was amazing. Beautiful and wonderful. She could feel how addictive it was. How hard it would be to let it go.

            Her only warning was the anticipation she felt suddenly intensified tenfold. She barely had enough time to prepare herself against the impact. The Warlock moved so quickly, using both arms to force a spell at her. He used his entire body to shove the curse her way.  Arms spread out wide, palms stretched outward pushing against the energy and hurling it towards Reagan. She could see the muscles under his robes flex against the weight of it. She saw the air ripple like a wave as his arms pushed forward and then together. His palms slammed into each other with a sonic boom that echoed through the trees and off the distant mountains.

She saw the invisible force rush towards her, the air shifting and flexing. All of this happening in the time it took her to brace her weight evenly on her feet to take the hit and throw her hands out to shield herself. The force field around the alter flexed and wrapped itself around her. It didn't touch her, just surrounded her, still keeping her separate from the inner Circle but protecting her from the curse. Had magic not embraced her the sheer force of the curse would have knocked her back if not killed her instantly.

It hit her with the speed and weight of a meteor. She held the curse back, her heels digging into the soft earth, it drove her back only about a foot, but she dug in her toes to keep herself standing up right. Knees bent, using every muscle in her body tensed to hold back the curse from reaching the Circle. Her toes curled and she pressed her ankles into the ground, creating a deep drag mark in the moss as she was forced backwards.

            Using the shield to keep it from progressing any further, she kept her position, hands up, pushing back against its momentum until she felt a balance of power. The two energy's pressed evenly against each other, evening out and with an instinctually motion Reagan drew in a deep breath, felt her muscle recoil and pushed back, changing the direction of the curse and using the vail to turn it back on its conjurer. With a strength Reagan had never possessed before she flung the curse back at the Warlock.

            He stood there shocked. Stood there for almost too long. He was gone. The curse sped its way back through the forest. Taking down all the Witches who had stood beside him and he had abandoned to fall prey to the very curse he had summoned. It swept passed and through them.

They didn't stand a chance. All of them fell without hope of defending themselves. Magic had deemed them unfit and their leader had only thought of himself. They had made their choice and had suffered the consequence. His own curse was turned against him and he had deserted his followers and they took the curse instead.

            When the last Witch had stopped moving, Reagan felt a sudden emptiness. It was like a light had been turned off. The warmth she felt drained from her and with it all the energy she had left to stand. Her knees gave out and she slumped to the ground. Oliver was suddenly there supporting her weight. Magic released its will upon her and the shield was gone.

The remaining Coven stared around them as if waking from a dream. Sophia was doing her best to make sense of what had happened. Most of them however where staring at Reagan. If she wasn't so tired she might have cared. Oliver was holding her, letting her catch her breath. She leaned into him, feeling his warmth made her realize how cold she was.

            Her skin was clammy and she could feel the goosebumps rise as she started to shiver. Oliver rubbed his palms up and down her arm to try to help her. Worried she may get hypothermia. He had never experienced anything like this before and had never known Magic could inflict people in that way. He didn't know what to expect or how she was going to react. He was worried about the aftermath and possible damage. He projected warmth, not knowing what else to do.

            "This is the longest day in the history of Ever!" She moaned. Oliver just laughed desperately into her hair.

            He pressed his forehead to the side of her head cradling her in his arms. "Just think the first time you woke up today was in that comfortable bed at the cabin in Italy. Then New York and now we're in Ethiopia."

            "We're in Africa?"

            "Yes," She could feel him smile, "We've got a few more hours to rest up before I'm supposed to meet with the others at the Alter."

            Sophia had stepped up without either of them noticing, or caring for that matter. "It would be ill advised to travel at this time. I suggest you allow us to rejuvenate you before you leave. It's a long process but you are going to need it, and we are going to need you before this is all over. "

            Reagan glanced up at Sophia, registering that she didn't look pleased or upset about it. She was glaring at Reagan, trying to figure out what Magic had seen in her and why it had chosen her out of all the Witches here to choose, least of all Sophia. She was insulted, and didn't know why it hadn't chosen her for the honor. There was a slight hostility in her expression. A jealous anger that had Reagan on edge. It wasn't as if I asked for this to happen.

Reagan shared a knowing look with Oliver as Sophia walked away.

            "Are you coming." the Witch said without turning back to them.