Shadow Magic

Chapter Seven

My friends were true to their word and they all pitched in to help me learn magic. After every session with an Elder, one of them would volunteer to assist with my magical homework. Over the next few weeks, I had learned a bunch of smaller spells and had spent many afternoons at Violet's house.

"There are ten types of elemental magic that may reveal themselves during your trial. There is air, water, earth, fire, ice, nature, metal, lightning, shadow, and light," Violet said. We were in her bedroom and she was teaching me what to expect during the trial.

"Wait, light magic?" I asked, I hadn't heard of that one yet.

"Yes, another rare magic. There's only one person in the Coven who wields it," she explained.

"Who?" I asked, my interest peaked.

"The Coven Leader," she replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh, alright," I replied, dismissing the thought. It didn't make sense for that to be my element. It did explain the burst of light I saw from the manor on Hallow's Eve though.

"Every trial is different and depending on which Elder puts on your trial it can change your objective," Violet continued.

"What was your trial like?" I asked her.

"Mine was special, because my mom was the first Nature Witch in the Coven and I'm her oldest, they created a new kind of trial for me. I was sent into the woods towards this waterfall and I was tasked with retrieving a key hidden somewhere in the area," she started, her eyes seemed far away as she recalled her memory.

"I had to swim into the water and try to connect to my elemental magic to search for the key. It's a weird feeling connecting to your magic that way for the first time. I went under the water and let it surround me, before feeling the key tied to a string just under the waterfall. I swam over to get it and was surprised to find a creature guarding it," she said, her eyebrows furrowed.

"What did you do?" I whispered, prompting her on.

"I didn't want to hurt it, but when I got closer I saw it wasn't an animal, but a water hag. They are very dangerous and I was only 13 years old. I had to fight it," she said. Her voice broke and I saw tears in her eyes.

"Violet, it's okay," I said, moving to bring her into a hug.

"Sorry, it was really scary, I hadn't relived it since," she said, trying to hold her emotions in.

"How did you connect to your elemental magic during the trial?" I asked, hoping to learn how it worked and redirect the conversation.

"My mom taught me how to reach for it and I guess something just clicked. I was suddenly able to manipulate nature, like intuition," she explained. "It wasn't easy at first, but over the years I've learned larger nature spells that have been cool."

I nodded and thought about my own family. I didn't have anyone to teach me how to connect to the elemental part of my magic. We both looked down suddenly at the sound of our phones pinging from a text in our group chat.

"Looks like we have a dinner invite," I said after reading the text.

"Thank goodness, I'm starving," Violet said, hopping up. I joined her and grabbed my bag. We went out front to my car, well Gwen's car, and I drove us to join our friends at dinner.

Astrid got there right before us and greeted us outside. Devin went and picked up Maura and Easton so we waited for them in the car.

"How was training today?" Astrid asked me.

"Pretty good, Violet's a really good teacher," I replied with a smile. Violet laughed and brushed me off, trying to change the subject.

Once the others got there we sat in a booth in the back together and it wasn't long before the conversation turned back to my upcoming trial. We spoke in hushed whispers trying to keep away from listening ears.