Page 2 of Board Games and Broomsticks

‘Mother Goddess, in your name,

Bless our sacred circle with your eternal flame.

Old Ones, meet us where we stand,

Lend us your strength, guide our hand.

We offer salt to keep at bay

All negative energies sent our way.’

Nyssa tipped the small portion of salt she’d weighed out into the cauldron, where the crystals which made up the coven’s protective wards were already placed. Normally, the addition of the first ingredient would cause the crystals to emit a soft, barely perceptible glow. Yet tonight, they remained as lifeless and dull as Nyssa’s own reflection.

For a brief moment, Nyssa considered restarting. But there was no way of doing so without looking like an absolute fool in front of Edith and the rest of the coven, and besides, a lack of glow didn’t mean the ritual wouldn’t work. Sometimes it just took a little longer for the magic to start flowing, especially if the witch in charge was as exhausted as Nyssa felt. She just had to get through the rest of the ritual, had to give it time to work, and everything would be fine.

Hoping no one had noticed her slight pause, Nyssa dropped the next ingredient into the cauldron.

‘We offer rosemary, to purify evil in all parts.

We offer dried eggshells, to cleanse our hearts,

And finally, we offer cinnamon, for its ability

To grant us safety, strength and stability.’

Nyssa watched the crystals intensely with each ingredient added, the sense of dread in her stomach growing the longer they remained dim. But finally, as she and the rest of the coven came to the end of the chant, they started to emit a faint, flickering glow.

Nyssa let out a small breath of relief. The glow strengthened her conviction, and she held her head a little higher as the ritual finally came to a close.

‘Spirits, ancestors, guardians

For your aid we thank thee.’

It was only as the coven fell silent once more that Nyssa noticed a slight difference in the colour of the crystals’ glow. Instead of their usual golden hue, the crystals were shining with something more akin to the colour of rusted brass, and judging by the gasps of the coven, Nyssa wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

‘What in the name of—’

Edith was cut off by a blast of light and a gust of wind so fierce it blew each of the ritual candles out and sent the large chandelier hanging over them crashing into the ceiling with a deafening clang. The magic the coven had channelled into the crystals had been released with the blast, and it now hovered in the air around them like early-morning mist.

Nyssa had barely righted herself by the time the magic faded away, leaving the crystals as dull and lifeless as they had been moments before.

And then all hell broke loose.

Noah – sweet, lovely Noah – began choking, his dark eyes bulging as he reached up to grasp at his throat. All as one, the coven lunged towards him, the scent of their magic rising as they readied to fight off whatever unseen force was hurting one of their own.

‘Noah, what is it?’ Edith asked. ‘What’s—’

His gasps for air stopped suddenly, and Nyssa watched, horrified, as his mouth opened with a rasp. Almost in slow motion, the same dark liquid that she’d seen in the cauldron began to gush from his lips.

A wave of alarm ran through the other coven members as they watched Noah clutching at his throat. The chamber was momentarily transfixed until, instinctively, Nyssa moved forward, her magic drawn and ready to use. But Edith got there first, her voice rushing out in a cool, firm cadence as she began to chant.

‘Ancestors above and ancestors below,

reverse this magic, let it be so.’

Noah continued to claw at his throat for another few agonising seconds, and then finally, blessedly, he began to cough up the water, spewing it on to the stone floor until a large, inky-black puddle was left. He’d never looked so young as he sat there trembling, face pale, eyes bloodshot and filled with tears.

For a long moment, no one spoke. The coven members stared at Noah, mouths slightly agape, as if they couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened.