AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My dragon rumbles and heat washes over me. I take a step closer to Astrid and reach up with my other hand to cup her cheek. The magic rushing between us intensifies, swirling faster and faster…
At that moment, the coven enters the cavern. The moment between us breaks, and we turn to face them.
“Althea will preside over the challenge,” Astrid’s mother calls, gesturing toward a tall, stern woman with long black hair.
“Her best friend,” Astrid mutters to me under her breath. “Figures she’d stack the odds in her favor.”
Althea wastes no time in kicking things off. She strides purposefully to one side of the cavern and signals for Astrid and Mona to join her. I follow, noticing another woman who seems to be the other moon maiden. Another friend of Astrid’s mother, no doubt. Not that it matters, as long as they abide by the rules.
“Let us mark in our official coven records,” says Althea, her voice resonant, carrying across the cavern easily, “That we are here today because Astrid Olsen, a lone witch with no coven, has challenged Mona Olsen, the current High Priestess, in accordance with the Right of Ius Provocatio. Per the ancient laws, the winner of this challenge will assume the role of High Priestess of Norway.”
“The first part of the challenge is a test of knowledge,” she continues. “I will ask each witch a series of three questions. If, after the first round, both contestants have answered the questions correctly, I will ask additional questions until someone fails to answer correctly.”
Althea looks at Astrid and Mona in turn, her brown eyes sharp. “Are you ready, witches?”
Both of the women nod.
Althea turns to Astrid first. “Astrid, recite the spell performed in the Battle of Moon Mountain which turned the tide of the War of the Wolf. Name the witch who performed it, as well as the date of the battle.”
I blink. How in the hell could anyone remember all of those details? Maybe the historical facts, but the spell as well?
But Astrid doesn’t look phased. “During the Battle of Moon Mountain, on the 13th day of Heyannir, 1011, the Völva named Hrist won the battle, and thus the war, by invoking a spell of reclaiming, which caused the earth to swallow their enemies. The words of the spell are as follows:
Jörd, call back what is yours
Take my enemy
Into your sweet darkness
To sleep eternal
“That is correct,” Althea says after a long moment, her face expressionless. She turns to Astrid’s mother and asks another question, which seems wildly simpler than the one just asked of Astrid. “Recite the ingredients in a moon phase potion.”
I stand behind Astrid in the flickering light of the cave as the questions continue. They surpass three questions in no time, and Althea continues. She continues to ask Astrid questions that are clearly more challenging. I feel a flash of anger in my core. This isn’t fair in the slightest.
Despite my frustration, I’m extremely impressed with Astrid’s knowledge of historical facts and spell memorization. She’s like a walking thesaurus, and it’s actually a huge turn-on. But when Althea reaches the twelfth question, I think I might lose my mind. Astrid answers hers easily, but when Althea turns to Astrid’s mother and asks what seems like a fairly simple historical question compared to the ones Astrid’s been handling, Mona falters. Her face goes still for a moment, and then she provides an answer.
Althea is silent for several long moments. “That answer is incorrect,” she finally says. “Astrid wins the first round.”
There are no cheers in the crowd, only stony silence, and Mona’s face has gone so dark it looks like she might explode. I cast my gaze around as far as I can see without turning my head, and it seems I can see a few smiles in the crowd. But no one is brave enough to support Astrid openly.
“The next round of our challenge is a test of magic, both an individual feat, as well as a joint spell with another witch.”
Here Althea shoots me a pointed look. I just cross my arms over my chest and stare back at her, unblinking.
“For the individual spell, each witch must create a magical box that is impenetrable, both from the naked eye, and from anyone trying to enter the box. The witches have sixty seconds to create this box, after which any member of the coven may come up and attempt to break into it. The coven has five minutes to attempt this.”
Althea meets the gazes of both Astrid and Mona. “Your sixty seconds begins now.”
Both witches immediately call their magic. I keep my eyes trained on Astrid. In no time she’s created a perfectly square black box. It carries a slight sheen, as if made from obsidian. Next to her, her mother creates a similar object, but hers is a deep red in color. Althea raises a hand when the minute is up, and both witches step back away from their creations.
“Testers—come now,” Althea calls to the rest of the coven.
Astrid steps toward me, her shoulder brushing up against mine. Our eyes meet for a moment, and I can see the anxiety simmering below their surface. Several witches approach the two boxes, and begin performing varying spells of opening to try to break in. There are two focusing on Mona’s box, and five on Astrid’s. I stare at Althea—she’s the one overseeing this thing, and should be ensuring fairness—but she just gazes back impassively.
The more the witches attack Astrid’s box, however, the stronger it seems to become. The surface grows even glossier, the edges sharper. “I used a spell of absorption,” Astrid whispers. “Any magic they throw at it gets sucked in and used to reinforce the box.”
“That seems quite…fancy,” I say.
She throws me the barest ghost of a smile.
After the five minutes has elapsed, both boxes remain unopened. “We shall proceed to the joint spell,” Althea calls. “For this phase of the challenge, the High Priestess and her challenger must join with their mood maiden, creating a bond between the two. Through this bond, all thoughts and feelings are shared freely. And most importantly, all magic is shared freely. To prove that the bond is complete, each witch must demonstrate that she can wield the magic of her companion.”
Astrid looks over at me, a panicked look on her face, as we realize in the same moment what this means.
I’m going to have to turn control of my dragon over to Astrid.
