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The question created another round of commotion, this time even louder than the first. While Rowan still appeared calm, he turned to Juniper with a look in his eyes that said he had not thought about this possibility.
Juniper thought about it for a moment and decided. She nodded at Rowan and he gave her a questioning look.Are you sure?
Juniper nodded again and Rowan turned back to the crowd.
“Your attention please.” Rowan’s booming voice silenced half the crowd in an instant, while the rest followed suit within seconds.
“I agree with Buchanan. There’s reason to be concerned about whether we can be safe in our own homes. I think Juniper has a solution to that problem.”
To Juniper’s surprise, there were no murmurs this time. Every eye turned from Rowan to her immediately and she felt the weight of the collective gaze. She took a deep breath, then looked right at Buchanan as she replied.
“I intend to cast a warding spell on the entire town. This will keep anything seeking to harm us away from the town. It’s a really powerful spell, and as long as you are within the borders of this town, you won’t come to harm.” She turned to Rowan. “May I proceed?”
The people murmured to each other, glaring at her. She could sense their lack of faith in her.
Rowan looked unsure, but what choices did he have? He nodded and Juniper let out a deep breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
Juniper turned back to face the crowd. She took a deep breath, then brought out a few rocks from a space pocket. She saw Rowan’s eyes go wide out of the corner of her eye and she glanced at him.
He looked like he wanted to ask questions, but he pursed his lips and remained silent. At this point, the entire town was silent. The only sounds Juniper could hear were the soft whistling of the wind and the hum of power cables overhead.
“I will need to go around the borders of the town, please,” Juniper said to Rowan, more a command than a request.
“Sure. I can take you myself.”
Rowan cleared a path to his car and Juniper followed close behind. The silent crowd parted for the pair, all eyes glued to Juniper. When they got to his truck, Rowan took the keys from his driver and zoomed off alone with Juniper.
The town was eerily quiet. More quiet than Juniper had ever heard it before. Rowan kept his eyes on the road, and led her to the closest border to the east.
Juniper spoke into a ward, then buried it deep in the ground. She did the same thing three other times around the town before Rowan took her back to the town square.
She was surprised to see that almost all the people had remained in the town square, as silent as she and Rowan had left them. She walked through the crowd behind Rowan to the fountain in the center of the square.
Without much ado, Juniper began casting her warding spell. As she chanted, a slight wind whipped around her, blowing her straight hair backwards. There were a few startled cries in the crowd as she levitated off the ground, floating weightlessly in the air.
Her eyes glowed a bright purple, shining through her eyelids. Her voice got louder and the chants sounded terrifying. A purple light appeared suddenly in her fists, pulsating in rhythm with her chants.
Mothers held their children close, saying silent prayers. The people in the front of the crowd pushed backward, terrified of the display, while those at the back struggled to move forward and have a closer look.
The purple light in her hand threatened to explode and those closest shielded their eyes with their arms. It was a powerful, beautiful, terrifying display of the arts, and Juniper had complete control.
She opened her eyes as a beam of purple light shot upward. She spread her arms wide, then opened her hands as well. The powerful light she had been containing poured outward, rushing out of her in both directions.
There was a collective gasp of wonder from the crowd. The purple light shaped into a dome that surrounded the entire town. The light poured relentlessly out of Juniper until she was certain that every crack had been sealed, and then she shut her eyes.
The purple dome shimmered overhead, and the crowd murmured triumphantly. Juniper floated down slowly until her feet touched the concrete again.
She looked up at her work and smiled in satisfaction. She let out a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut against the nausea that slammed into her. She felt like she had been run over by a speeding train, her body reduced into a million unrecognizable bits.
She looked around the crowd and loved the admiration she saw in their eyes.
Rowan walked up to her with reverence in his eyes. “Wow...that’s the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. That was amazing. You’ve really come into your powers as a witch.”
“Yes, I have.”
Juniper lacked the ability to say more than that, given the way she was feeling. She struggled to stay on her feet, refusing to collapse in front of the whole town. Rowan looked offended by her curt response but she couldn’t care at the moment.
She watched patiently as the crowd dispersed, standing her ground with all her will. Rowan waited with her, glancing up at the disappearing purple dome.
