The Lost Witch

Chapter four

"I looked for you."

Paige glanced up from the workbench. Kendall stood in front of her, her arms already filled with her cauldron.

"After what happened in History," she continued in a rushed breath when Paige remained silent. "You looked freaked. Mr. Withers wanted to speak to everyone that was in class, but you were gone."

Paige rolled her head to the side, seeking a place for her gaze to rest on. "I just needed to calm down."

She never returned to class after what happened, she didn't think anyone did, but when she passed the room on the way to Maths, Mr. Mendes was there, speaking in hushed tones with Mr. Withers and another teacher she didn't recognise. It was easy to see why the unknown teacher was there. He had a lot of magic. Paige could sense what he was even without trying. He must be a powerful witch.

The room had already been fixed, the glass swept away, and someone must have used magic to fix the lights and windows so quickly. She didn't think anyone had found the broken mirror in the restroom yet, but she didn't plan on sticking around long enough for that to happen.

Kendall followed Paige to the lockers. Both girls unlocked a locker and began to gather vials and bags into their arms. "Does it hurt?"

Paige's hand went to her forehead, tenderly touching a cut across her temple. After washing off the weeping blood in the bathroom, the bleeding finally stopped enough for Paige to find she had half a dozen small cuts across her arms and face. None of it happened in the classroom, it was solely due to the mirror in the bathroom.

"A little," she answered honestly.

Kendall frowned at her. With their supplies in their arms, they made their way back to the bench. "Maybe you should go see the nurse?" she suggested, arranging a new red candle in front of her, and like yesterday, it seemed to defy gravity and stand straight without any kind of aid. "She'll be able to ease the pain away."

Paige shook her head and followed Kendall's lead with her own red candle. She wasn't crazy about using magic at the best of times, but having it used on her wasn't an option. She shuddered at the thought. She grabbed A Guide to the Elements from her backpack. "Er – what page is the spell?"

"87," Kendall answered without glancing at her own spell book.

The entire chapter of the book was dedicated to fire or heat spells. There were spells to create a huge blaze of fire, a pilar of fire, protective heat shields, even spells for creating an emotional spark, like love or affection. There were also simpler spells that created a heat patch or a small single flame, which is what they were working on today.

It didn't seem that difficult and after a few minutes of reading through the steps, Paige discarded the vine of the white bryony and had the flowers soaking in a mixture of frankincense oil, honeysuckle oil, lotus oil and water. As a final step, she added some thinly sliced sunflower petals into the mixture and watched as the bright petals sank into the dark depths of the cauldron.

Paige glanced at the spell book again. Let it soak for seven minutes.

She turned to Kendall. "What happens if we don't soak the flowers long enough?"

Kendall was finished with her cauldron and had moved onto several jars of powder. As she was scouping crushed vanilla pods into a mixing bowl, she answered. "The spell won't work as well as it could. It'll be like a half-ass spell." She added some Kashmiri chili powder and cumin seeds into the bowl and mixed it all together.

Paige followed Kendall's lead and by the time the bell rang, she had managed to produce slight heat but not much more than that. Kendall seemed pleased with her spell and moved out of the classroom swiftly.