The Witches in Oz (Book 2 in The Witches Series)

Chapter 12 Then There Were Seven

"How can we be sure this will lead us to the talisman?" Iris inquired about the large nautilus shell Margot had stowed under her dress.

"I can tell." The Demon held out their hand.

Margot handed it to them, and they proceeded to toss it from hand to hand as if it were a tennis ball.

"Urgh." Margot shared a nervous look with us, worried that they would drop it and break it.

The Demon spun the shell on their finger like it were a basketball. "Yep, this should do it."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"I can feel the primal magic that was infused in it when it was first chosen by Marcelline to be the talisman for her people. Each Coven leader infused part of their magic into a talisman in time of desperate need, so like a rebellion, war or if anyone needed smiting."

I held out my hands and they handed it to me. It was rather heavy as I brushed my fingers across the ridges of the shell, a whistling sound emitting from it as a I did so.

"Where did you find it?" Iris asked Margot.

"In a safe behind the painting the Demon was talking about." She answered, looking back at the sea as we trekked across the sand. "Cracked the code first try." She boasted.

"That's great, if only I had a medal, I could give you." The Demon joked.

"What about a rabbit?" She asked.

"What?"

"You said you could pull a rabbit out of your arse, I wanna see it." She insisted. "I wanna rabbit."

"Yeah, I want one too." I joined in. "A grey one."

"I've always liked white rabbits." Aster put forward.

"I prefer black." Bianca added.

"Oh, I don't want one." Iris spoke up as we all looked at her next.

The Demon laughed nervously. "Well-"

"-Fuck!" A scream tore through the air further inland.

"Will!" Iris tore off across the sand.

"Shit." Margot cussed as the three of us raced to catch up.

We ran over a hill where sand met with grass to see Will sprinting toward us and then right past us.

"Will!" Iris shouted as he continued to run to the water.

"Hey girls!" Drake greeted us on his way past, clothes torn and scorched black.

"Nice time for a reunion!" Ren nodded my way as he ran past after him.

Maxime shouted something from in the distance from a thicket of trees and shrubs.

"What?" Margot called back.

He yelled again as he broke through the greenery, the trees shaking behind him as well as plumes of smoke rising from deep within.

"I think he said far out man." The Demon put forward.

"Get out of the way!" Maxime's voice could finally be heard as he ran toward us.

I looked to the Demon and they shrugged, giving me an innocent smile.

"Get out of the way!" He repeated before a giant wielding a flaming axe broke through the tree line.

"Are there beanstalks here or something?" Margot backed away as they approached.

"Surprisingly, no." The Demon answered.