Marva Dasef - The Compleat and True History of the Witches of Galdorheim

Present DayGaldorheim Island, somewhere in the Barents Sea

Kat ran up the steps of the schoolhouse as a flash of red light pulsed from the space beneath the front door. A screech of girlish laughter followed by shouts of yes! and whoa! got louder when she pulled the door open. Her heart sank. Dang it. Late again .

A muffled bang accompanied by puffs of red and violet smoke billowing out from the back of the room gave her cover to rush to the last available seat. When the smoke cleared, Kat rolled her eyes, barely controlling a snort. Her brother Runes used-to-be vampire bat now clung to his finger chirping angrily while his best friends was-a-rat now stared with hungry eyes at it in the temporary form of a scruffy gray cat.

Unfazed, Miss Mariah cleared her throat and glared at the boys. Would you please wait for everyone else? Rune and Dalton grinned at each other and transformed their respective familiars back to their original forms.

Grow up, bro. Really! Kat thought, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She was proud of Runes mad skills, since she couldnt spell herself out of a beanbag chair. She knew she had the power; everybody knew it. What she lacked was control. Every spell she tried to cast went wrong in the most disastrous way.

Runes bat flapped to the rafters and hung upside down, glaring down at his owner. Rune dodged a drop of guano, picked up his wand, and tapped it on the desktop. With a high-pitched squeak, the bat dropped to the desk and folded its wings, but it didnt look happy.

Miss Mariah muttered, Fiksu aasi noita .* She watched Kat as she hunched over and dropped her book bag on the floor. Nice of you to join us, Katrina. See me after class about your tardiness.

She faced the class. Now then, please take out your chalk and wands for todays lesson, which is, she shot a semi-annoyed look at Rune and Dalton, transformation. The Wiccan students rustled bags and whispered to each other while they did as told.

When the witches and warlocks in training looked up, she continued. Although some students can transform without benefit of pentagram and wand, those of you who are beginners, or less motivated she paused and gave Kat a hard look, must practice first with the proper equipment.

Kats face warmed, and she sank lower into her chair. Heaving a sigh, she set her brown bunny, Teddy, on her desktop and fumbled in her bag for her spell book, yew wood wand, and chalk.

Merry, the curly-haired blonde witch sitting next to Kat, waved her arm in the air.

What is it, Merry? Miss Mariah asked.

Can you make Katrina sit somewhere else? Whenever shes near me, my spells dont work right. Shes a jinx.

The class snickered. Kat grimaced at Merry. If I got my hands on heraw, whats the use?

No, everybody stays right where they are, Miss Mariah snapped. She pasted on a fake smile and continued in a treacle-sweet voice. Now, class, draw the pentagram on your desktop and place your familiar in its center.

The younger students practicing their first transformations looked to the board where, under Miss Mariahs control, the chalk drew a practice pentagram stopping short of completing the last of the five points. She tapped the board. An unattended pentagram can cause all sorts of problems, the least being a tusser or tomte taking advantage of an open gateway. Theyre harmless for the most part but like to play tricks. So be prepared with your spell before completing the pentagram. More than one kid smudged an opening in their already drawn star.

Children, you must focus. Dont let yourselves get distracted. Miss Mariah adjusted a childs grip on his wand as she walked by.

Merry curled her lip and hissed, Youd better not screw me up. If I cant work this spell right, itll be your fault.

Tough luck, Merry, Kat snarled. If youre such a great witch, my being here shouldnt make any difference.