In the ghostly predawn light, June slipped across Stonebridge’s town square, her limbs sluggish from a restless night studying. She checked her watch—6:59 a.m. She wasn’t due at Lydia’s for a while yet.
The sun had just begun to rise, casting a pale orange glow over the town. As she walked, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease that clung to every corner, and the taste of iron and decay in the air was unnerving, as if the town itself was bleeding its past into the present.
She shook her head, trying to loosen the weird feeling that’d only seemed to grow since the night before. Wondering if it was her sensitivity to dark magic, or an unknown effect of getting too close to the Shadow’s Embrace, she continued walking. If it was the latter, then Lydia would’ve felt it too, but last night she’d seemed normal enough.
Who would’ve thought herbalism would be so dangerous? she mused, thinking about the ayahuasca.
The research she’d done last night was clear. Ayahuasca’s psychoactive compounds could induce altered states of consciousness, heightening her sensory perception and deepening her spiritual awareness. If she attempted spirit walking, it was the exact thing she needed to help her control her presence on the other side.
She pondered the possibilities—enhanced perception that could allow her to see, hear, and communicate with spirits more clearly, perhaps even reaching out to her parents. The healing properties could help her confront the trauma of their loss, and the visionary states might provide insights about the Shadow’s Embrace and the mysterious witch.
It also came with an element of protection that would help keep negative energy from leading her astray, and considering that dark magic seemed to be attracted to her, that was an attractive side effect.
But the warnings echoed in her mind—losing herself in a spiritual limbo, to never return to her body. The danger was real. Would the benefits outweigh the risks? Could this be her key to unlocking the secrets of the Shadow’s Embrace and understanding the dark forces at play? June’s heart pounded as she debated whether to take the plunge or give up on what seemed like her most reckless defiance of the coven’s code to date.
She sighed, her fingers tracing the hem of her jumper. The town’s silence seemed to press in on her, forcing her to decide for better or worse. It was a frightening path she was considering, but then again, she’d never been one to shy away from danger.
As she passed by the bakery, she was startled to see it shuttered and silent. A woman stood outside, eyes hollow, muttering angrily to a sky that was growing darker with the promise of a storm.
June glanced at the woman, her eyes widening before she hurried on, almost stumbling over a cat with fur like shadows that darted across her path. Cursing, she lingered on the street corner.
Her head was full of facts about psychedelic herbs and tribal rituals, and a wad of cotton wool that’d gathered in the dark corners of her mind as she’d tossed and turned all night. But the unease she’d felt on her walk home from Lydia’s the night before hadn’t let up.
“Something’s brewing,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around her body as if to ward off the chill of more than just the weather.
Shadows loomed out of the corner of her eye, and the whispering wind seemed to carry strange shapes that vanished as soon as she turned to look at them.
June shivered, her blonde hair lifting in the crisp breeze that cut through her thin jumper. She spun on her heel, heading for the edge of town where the houses petered out and the wild gardens took over.
The witch in the woods had to be somewhere. They wouldn’t just disappear when the Shadow’s Embrace was still in play. She mulled over some theories, but none seemed to bring her any closer to understanding what they could do about the Shadow’s Embrace, or what had stirred the earth the night before.
As June crossed the stone bridge that spanned the rocky stream that flowed from the elemental’s lake, she felt a strong sense of passing into the unknown. She’d faced plenty of mysterious happenings in the last few months, but this felt different, almost like she’d pushed through an invisible curtain.
“Who are you?” she whispered into the void of her thoughts.
No one answered, of course, but the stream gurgled behind her as its waters rushed across slick rocks and threaded into the distance.
Sighing, she kept walking, her footsteps echoing with a hollow sound as she ventured further into the forest. The canopy above seemed to close in, the light of the brightening sun dimming.
Before she understood where her feet were taking her, she realised that the clearing where her parents had met their end was just ahead. It was a natural circle formed by towering trees and tangled undergrowth, and a spell so dark no one but her parents could’ve fathomed it.
The air here was thick with silence, the usual chatter of wildlife conspicuously absent, but the forest remembered the magic that was unleashed and recoiled from it.
June paused at the edge, scanning the space where she once felt an energy so potent it sent her running. Was she still afraid? A little, which was probably smart, all things considering.
Her heart jumped at the thought of spirit walking in such a place, communing with whatever remnants of her parents lingered…if they were even still here.
A flash of memory struck her—the echo of a warning, chilling and clear. Be afraid. It reverberated through her bones, causing her to falter. She stepped back involuntarily, the instinctual part of her screaming to run. Yet, it was the echo of the same force that took everything from her, and she knew deep down that to turn away would forever leave her haunted.
If she chose to spirit walk, would the ayahuasca protect her from what lay beyond, or would she come face-to-face with whatever darkness manipulated her parents? What would she do then?
“Courage, June. You keep coming back here for a reason,” she whispered. “Everything has to be connected. I just need to figure out the link.”
The recent occurrences—the shadows, the strange feeling hanging over Stonebridge, the disturbances in the elements—even the escape of the shadow entity from Fortune’s Books, and the elemental in the lake, all seemed to have happened when she’d returned.
June froze, her heart hammering. She was the link, though she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was merely a conduit to what happened here, to her family. To the force that’d changed the course of her life.
There was a reason she kept coming back here.
June stepped forward, crossing the invisible threshold into the clearing. With each step, she felt the energies around her shift and swirl, the earth remembering the violence that’d occurred there.
She could almost hear Lydia’s voice in her head, warning her of the dangers of delving too deep, of meddling with forces beyond her understanding. But what choice did she have?
“Show yourself!” June called out, balling her fists at her sides. “If it’s me you want, then here I am!”
There was no reply, only heavy silence pressing in on her. Yet, the air seemed charged, expectant, as if waiting for her next move.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Typical.” Her magic never worked when she needed it most. Kind of like when she was drowning in the lake.
Turning away from the clearing, she made her way back toward Stonebridge at a much calmer pace than the last time.
As she approached Lydia’s cottage, she saw the back door was open, so she called out. “Lydia?” Her voice wavered a little despite pushing away the inner turmoil that’d been festering since the night before.
Lydia emerged from the shadows of her kitchen, wiping her hands on a stained tea towel. Her brow furrowed when she saw June in the garden. “What is it?”
She lingered by the marigolds. “What is what?”
“You’ve got an…aura about you.”
June hesitated for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Lydia wasn’t just her friend, but her teacher—she should be able to talk to her about what worried her, especially if it might have something to do with the Shadow’s Embrace.
“I’ve been seeing shadows,” she confessed, her gaze meeting Lydia’s. “Since the tremor last night.”
“What kind of shadows?” Lydia hesitated before she spoke, making June wonder if she’d seen them, too.
“The kind that remind me of the entity from Fortune’s Books. Though they’ve been lingering in the corner of my eye and disappearing before I can focus on them.” She swallowed hard before continuing. “Can spirit walking reveal where they’re coming from?”
Lydia’s mousy hair swayed as she shook her head, frustration etched into the lines of her face. “We’ve talked about this, June,” she said sharply. “Spirit walking is not a game, nor a tool to satisfy idle curiosity.”
“But—”
“Listen to me,” Lydia cut her off, her voice rising with a rare severity. “It’s extremely dangerous. I’ve seen what lies beyond, and it’s not just human spirits that linger there.” She stepped closer, her gaze locking onto June’s with a power that rooted the younger witch to the spot. “You could lose your way, become a wandering spirit yourself, trapped between worlds. And that’s if you’re lucky—something else might claim you first.”
June’s heart pounded against her ribs, dread washing over her. But it was the grim concern in Lydia’s eyes that truly unsettled her.
“But I can’t just stand by,” she countered. “Something is happening in Stonebridge. Can’t you feel it?” Even as she said it, June wondered if the same thing was happening again, just as it had with the elemental—a strange presence that only she had the sensitivity to detect.
“June, please.” Lydia’s voice softened. “I understand you want answers, but this path is reckless. Not even the most learned witches attempt it.”
June nodded slowly, her gaze falling away from the intensity in Lydia’s green eyes. She could sense the genuine worry radiating from her friend, and it would’ve been easy to give up and drop the matter entirely. But the shadows whispered a different story.
“Okay,” June finally murmured.
Lydia watched her for a moment longer before nodding, apparently satisfied. “Good. Come inside then, we still have a lesson to get through.”
“So, no more progress on the Shadow’s Embrace?”
“No,” she said as they went inside. “I’ve reached out to a friend who might know something. I’m just waiting for them to get back to me.”
“A friend? Is it wise to tell others about the plant?”
“I didn’t give details. Now…” The witch fussed with the books and papers on the table. “I have a more complex potion for you to brew today. It requires the proper handling of the Moon Petal Lily and the inclusion of Thorn Root. One wrong move with these, and you might accidentally concoct a deadly toxin that sucks all the air out of the room instead of the salve we aim to create.”
As soon as Lydia turned her back, busying herself with the meticulous organisation of her potion ingredients, June’s mind raced. The scent of damp earth and ancient timber filled her nostrils as she contemplated her next move. She couldn’t let go of the spirit walking—it was her only chance to reach her parents. Her witch’s intuition couldn’t be wrong.
But she needed the ayahuasca. Her gaze moved to the shelf where she’d seen it, and to her relief it was still there.
“June, I’m going to step out and gather some fresh nettles,” Lydia called over her shoulder, as she moved toward the door. “These are a bit wilted. Keep an eye on the potion. If it changes colour, turn off the hob.”
She looked at the pot, watching the potion bubble. “Sure.”
As the door creaked shut behind Lydia, June felt a wave of unease wash over her. She hesitated for a heartbeat, but the pull of her intuition was stronger.
Walking to the shelf, she glanced toward the door once, then twice, but there was no sign of Lydia’s return.
Her trembling fingers wrapped around the jar of ayahuasca and she held it for a moment, knowing what she was doing was wrong on so many levels. But this was the way, she was sure of it.
June unscrewed the lid, her gaze darting to the window. The glass pane was smeared with condensation from the bubbling pot on the hob, obscuring any view of the garden.
She took a deep breath, and grabbed a small empty vial from the bottom shelf and poured a careful measure of the dried leaves, enough for what she intended but not so much that Lydia would notice its absence—at least not immediately. As soon as the vial was filled, she stoppered it, slipping it into her pocket.
The click of the latch on the back door startled June, and she spun on her heel, the jar of ayahuasca now safely hidden returned to its spot on the shelf. Lydia pushed through the door, her arms laden with various greens, but her usual calmness was nowhere to be seen.
For a moment, June thought she’d been caught. “Everything all right?” she asked, feigning ignorance as she watched Lydia carefully lay out the herbs.
Lydia shook her head. “It’s my garden. Something’s not right. The plants are wilting, and I can sense anxiety in the soil…”
June’s guilt gnawed in the pit of her stomach. “Wilting?” She stood and examined the greenery on the table.
“Like they’ve been drained of life.” Lydia pinched a leaf between her fingers, the once vibrant green turning sickly under her touch. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The colour drained from June’s face as she looked up at Lydia. “The Shadow’s Embrace,” she murmured. “Do you think we did something? Did we get too close?”
“The concealment should’ve done more than just hide it from view,” Lydia said with a shake of her head.
June chewed at her lower lip, her gaze falling to the sorry collection of wilted greens on the table. “It’s blooming for the first time in a decade. Could it affect the balance or…?” Her words were hesitant, filled with a dreadful apprehension.
“Or what?”
She grimaced, her hand almost going to her pocket where the vial of stolen ayahuasca lay hidden. Ten years ago, her parents had died. Had the Shadow’s Embrace bloomed then, too?
“Or could it be a sign?” she finished. “An omen of some kind?”
Lydia rubbed her temples and muttered something under her breath—a spell, maybe? “Or it could be syphoning the earth’s vitality.”
June swallowed. “Syphoning? But that would mean… If its influence can reach Stonebridge…”
“Then it’s more dangerous than we first thought.” Lydia sighed. “And it was already quite threatening to begin with.”
“But the wards the coven placed at Christmas should protect from this kind of stuff,” June went on. “I get how the elemental could get through, because it was right before the annual rituals, but how could anything get by now?”
Lydia’s face paled. “It shouldn’t. It can’t.”
The vial seemed to burn in June’s pocket, but she still hesitated. Lydia would never allow her to attempt spirit walking, even if it could help. “But what if it’s an attack?” she murmured. “Not by the Shadow’s Embrace, but by the witch we sensed in the forest? If they were strong enough, they could do magic in town. That’s how the wards work, right? Only Stonebridge witches can do magic within them.”
Lydia stood abruptly, her expression dark. “Then we need to act,” she declared. “If the plant is syphoning the earth’s vitality, even though the wards should stop it, we can’t afford to ignore the signs. And if someone is messing with my garden…” she scoffed, her anger clear. “Either way, we have to destroy it.” She looked out the window and checked the time on her phone that lay amongst the chaos on the table. “Do you have time? We’re going to have to run some tests in the garden.”
“Yeah, of course. Whatever we need to do to figure it out.” It was her duty as a member of the coven.
With a swift and sure nod, Lydia turned her attention back to the table, her hand darting out to grasp a number of items—a glass vial filled with a swirling, luminescent potion, a small pouch bulging with dried herbs, and an old leather-bound grimoire, its pages filled with meticulous notes. “C’mon.” She tuned off the hob, their potion lesson forgotten. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
As June followed her out into the garden, she could feel the hum of energy, the pulse of magic reverberating through her veins…and the vial of ayahuasca in her pocket.
If they couldn’t figure it out, then she’d have to go it alone. What would she see on the other side? Her parents, or the source of the poison that was behind all of this mess?
Either way, it looked like a fight was brewing.