I shivered at her words. “Why doesn’t the coward do it himself?”
“How dare you!” she yelled and backhanded me across the face. The cut on my lip split open and started bleeding again.
I stared right back and spat a mouthful of blood and saliva at her.
Ian grabbed me by the hair and yanked me to the side so my face lay in the sand. “Stop fighting the inevitable,” he scolded.
I didn’t say anything. His grip on my hair made me want to scream out in pain but I refused to give him the satisfaction.
“Alright then,” Ian said and released me. He stepped back and tended to Lila, wiping the blood from her chin and smoothing her hair.
“We should start the ritual. It’ll be sunset soon,” Lila Patridge ordered. She stood up and pushed Ian away from her. Ian nodded and walked around the pillar behind me.
“What ritual?” I asked, afraid that Robert was nowhere in sight and I’d have to face my fate alone.
“That's none of your concern,” Lila spat.
I felt the Magic start to rise in me but couldn’t do anything with it. I was helpless and going to die. I wanted to cry but my pride wouldn’t allow me to show them anymore weakness. I pulled and pushed against my restraints but still they wouldn’t budge. My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my temples, in my teeth and deep in my bones. My pulse beat with the ferocity of a caged lion. Each moment that passed, the magic inside me grew stronger and burned to be released. Fire coursed through my veins and like a volcanic eruption the Magic took over and exploded in a blistering fury.
Suddenly I was standing on the porch of the cabin. A car pulled up and skidded to a halt in the mud. Robert jumped out and ran up the porch to Annabel, who was still lying on the floor, but no longer convulsing.
Her checked her pulse and let out a sigh of relief. “Violet? Violet are you here, please tell me you’re here?” He ran from room to room searching for me.
“She’s gone, they took her,” Annabel croaked.
“Are you alright?” He said helping her to her feet.
“I’ll be fine,” she grimaced. “Just get Violet. I’ll orb home and get the others.”
“Alright, and contact Bethany, maybe she knows where they’re taking her.”
Annabel nodded, holding her side and vanished into thin air.
The rush of energy faded and I was back on the beach. Ian had just finished placing five stones around me. He recited some sort of spell and they all started glowing an eerie, soft green. I steeled myself and shook off both the fear and cold seeping into my soul. Help was on the way. I just had to stall them a little longer.
Lila approached me then with a small knife. She pressed my head against the pillar and began to carve something into my forehead. The wound stung as blood began to streak down my face and drip into the sand.
“Couldn’t you do this back in Yosemite?” I winced.
“No, the ritual draws power from the elements and the salt in the ocean acts as a binding agent. Once the spell is complete, all we have to do is wait for you to die." She looked over her shoulder at the water rolling in, "The tide should take care of that bit,” Lila said, relishing in her coming victory.
I looked down at the water. It had completely submerged my legs and now lapped at my waist.
“I’m ready for you, Ian,” she announced.
Ian bounded over to her and she handed him a green crude looking stone.
No, this can’t be happening. Where are they? I pleaded.
They cupped the stones in their hands and the green light shone upon their faces as they began to chant, “Ætniman hie sáwol.”
I kicked my legs and splashed water all over the three of us but they didn’t notice. The saltwater stung the cut on my face, but I could barely feel it. Adrenaline coursed through me in a desperate attempt to stop them.
“Áfeorsian hie æt gást léoht,” they continued.
Something stirred in me, something unnatural. I tried to squirm free from my bindings but the harder I fought the tighter they seemed to get.
“Insegel hie sáwol innan déaðbærlic. Llandcofa næfre æt géanhworfennes,” Ian and Lila chanted.
A guttural scream escaped my throat as they finished reciting the spell. My insides were in knots and I felt sick to my stomach. Whatever they were doing to me, it was working.
They repeated the spell and the light from the stones grew brighter. I turned away from Ian and Lila and saw the water rising around me, reaching up to my chest now. If Robert and the others didn’t get here soon it would be too late. I tried again to pull free from the pillar, twisting and kicking, but it was no use. Whatever spell they used to tie me to the wood was too strong for me to break with sheer force. I needed to use Magic to fight Magic, but I didn’t know how. I cursed myself for not getting on board with all of this sooner. Maybe Robert could have taught me how to defend myself if only I’d listened to him from the beginning.
A loud explosion pulled me from my reverie and I looked up to find Lila and Ian in the water ten feet away. I tried to look behind me but couldn’t see anyone. Maybe the spell had backfired?
“You’re too late,” Lila said, standing up in the surf. “You can’t save her.”
“Watch me.” I recognized the voice: it was Brett. She came into view on my left side along with Annabel, Jake and a few other people I didn’t recognize. I searched their faces again, but Robert wasn’t among them. The sick feeling in my stomach started spreading through me and made me dizzy.
Ian yelled something at the top of his lungs and five or six people appeared next to him out of thin air. No one moved at first, each side sizing up the other.
In the blink of an eye, all hell broke loose. I wasn’t sure who struck first, Lila or Brett, but everyone joined in the moment the first blow was cast.
Brett kept a shield around her as she raised her hands to the sky. Dark clouds formed above her and the wind and rain picked up. Lighting struck her and a deafening crack of thunder exploded around us. Brett’s entire form crackled with electricity as she lowered her hands toward the enemy. Hot white electricity shot across the beach toward Ian and his cohorts. At the very last second, Ian threw up a shield and the lightning deflected away from him in a shower of blue sparks. Angry red light shot across the beach toward Brett and Annabel. Jake leapt in front of them and threw up his shield just in time.
I was so caught up in what was going on around me that I had forgotten about the ocean closing in until it slapped me in the face and I inhaled saltwater.
Coughing and spitting, I heard Robert yell over the din, “Annabel get her out of here!” He came running down the beach and our eyes caught for a brief moment before he turned to face our adversaries.
Annabel ran toward me, disappearing and reappearing at intervals while dodging fireballs and explosions as the sandy shore turned into a vicious battlefield.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here,” Annabel said as she reappeared next to me. She placed her hand on my shoulder. While standing the water only reached her thighs but for me it was starting to get dangerous. I tried to push myself up with my legs but I was too weak. The spell was taking its toll on me and I didn’t have much time left. Annabel wrapped both arms around me and her whole body moved in and out of focus but I stayed tied to the pillar.