Alcingeria Chapter Twenty Three: Tabatha

The Scorpions and The Vipers all get to know Tabatha, the witch they saved from being burned at the stake. Tabatha explains her backstory and the concept of magic and how it works.

Chapter Twenty Three Tabatha:

Friday June 25^th 1690

“What’s your last name?” Robert asked.

“I’m Tabatha Crawforde.” She replied.

            “It’s nice to meet you, Tabatha. I’m Erin and this is Stella, Ceberus, William, Martha, Francella, Raymond, Redmond, Macalister, Robert and Don.” Erin said.

Tabatha looked at Don.

            “Don, you’re the one who saved me. I won’t forget that.” Tabatha said.

Don let out a small smile that was barely visible.

            “It’s nice to meet all of you, and I thank you all for chasing those men away.” Tabatha said sincerely.

            “We should get you back to the house, where can get a nice hot meal into you.” Martha said with concern.

            “And get you some new clothes.” Ceberus said.

            “Oh, don’t worry about my clothes. I’ll fix that right now.” Tabatha said.

She held her staff out while resting it on the ground vertically at arm’s distance, much like she did when she healed herself.

            “Seamstress!” Tabatha cried out.

The familiar bright green light bathed her and I watched as her clothing that had holes in it from the fire knitted itself back together. After a few seconds her outfit was in pristine condition.

We all looked at her in awe, unsure of what had just happened.

            “Can you repair my clothing as well?” Don asked, staring at her like she was a bomb about to explode.

Tabatha smiled.

            “Certainly.” She said.

She held her staff up to Don.

            “Seamstress!” She cried out.

The bright green light enveloped Don and within seconds his clothing was restored to pristine condition. Tabatha took a deep breath.

            “That’s amazing!” Stella cried.

            “Thank you, now may we go to your house now? I’m starved and would love to take you up on the offer for a hot meal.” Tabatha said while rubbing her stomach.

            “Of course, dear.” Martha said.

With that being said, we all began walking in the direction of the house. In a few minutes we were all gathered at the front door and filing in one by one.

            “I’ll go and prepare some food for Tabatha. Are you all hungry, too?” Martha asked.

Ceberus looked at us all. We all shook our heads when he shifted his gaze to us.

            “No, dear. The others aren’t hungry. Please prepare Tabatha some food.” Ceberus told his wife. Martha walked across the room and disappeared into a back room.

There was a moment of silence. After a solid minute, Ceberus spoke.

            “Everyone, please take a seat.” He said, ushering us over to the table that we had all eaten dinner at earlier that night.

Tabatha went first towards the table and sat down. Everyone hesitated for a moment. I’m willing to bet that they were all considering whether or not they wanted to sit next to a witch. Tabatha looked at us, wondering why we weren’t coming over. So as not to hurt her feelings, I went and sat beside her. I could almost hear a sigh of relief from someone. Stella sat on the other side of Tabatha. Everyone else took a seat around the table. Tabatha was looking across the table at Erin. I looked at Tabatha. Now that I had a better look at her than I did in the field, I could confirm that she certainly was beautiful. Her gaze snapped from Erin to me. A grin spread across her face.

            “You’re staring. Is something wrong?” She asked in a teasing tone.

I could feel my face heating up.

            “No, no. I didn’t mean to stare.” I apologized.

Tabatha’s grin widened. She made an ‘mm hmm.’ Sound and looked away from me.

            “So, Tabatha. Would you like to tell us about yourself?” Ceberus asked.

            “Well, you already know my name, and the fact that I’m a witch. I suppose I’ll start by telling you what kind of witch I am.” Tabatha said.

            “There are types of witches?” William asked.

Tabatha nodded.

            “Yes. I’m a healing witch. I do have spells that I can use for self-defence if I must, but most of the spells that I know are meant to repair what has been broken; flesh, clothing, muscle tissue, I can even repair bonds between people. For example if two people were once friends, I can restore that friendship. I can’t create bonds between people, so that means I can’t make people fall in love.” Tabatha explained.

            “Is that why you have an emerald on your staff? Does green signify healing, nature and goodness?” William asked.

            “That’s exactly why it’s an emerald in particular on my staff. Good eye, my friend.” Tabatha said.

            “Is there anything else you would like to know about me?” Tabatha asked.

Just then, Martha came in from the back room with a tray of meat and vegetables for Tabatha.

            “There you are, dear.” Martha said with a smile.

            “Thank you very much.” Tabatha said sweetly as she cut the meat using her knife and fork.

            “What about your past?” Raymond asked in answer to Tabatha’s recent question.

Tabatha turned her eyes downward, and I could see her lips thin to a straight line. She leaned her staff against the chair beside her and placed her hands on the table palms down, answering with a tone bearing sadness, hatred, and anger.

            “My past is something that I don’t share openly, however I feel as though I owe you all this much. I used to be a criminal. I didn’t kill anyone. That’s where I drew the line. I worked with a man named Dimitri and I pulled off heists with him quite often. I was a little distrustful of him at first, but he gained my trust over time. One day we decided to pull off the ultimate heist. We were in Relin at the time and were planning to rob Felix Reynolds, a rich nobleman. We were going to steal five hundred thousand dollars from him. The heist went off without a hitch, until we actually got our hands on the money. Dimitri was first to the money. He held the box that contained the money in his hands, then looked up at me and told me that King Lucias had ordered him to kill me because I was a witch. I was too shocked to react at first, for Dimitri was my good friend. He would never kill me! Or so I thought. He grabbed a nearby candle and threw it onto the floor, igniting the carpet. I jumped backwards, trying to avoid the fire, but it just raged and raged within the house until almost everything was consumed by it. It happened so quickly. Dimitri turned to go, and I looked desperately at him. I couldn’t jump through the flames, or else I would be burned alive. Just before he took off with the money, he turned back to me and I could see his red eyes and his fangs. In the past I wondered why he never spoke and always had a hood over his eyes. I used my magic to extinguish the fire and heal my burns. That was before I knew of vampires. I now know that they exist and I have been trying to find Dimitri and exact my revenge ever since he betrayed me at the Reynolds Estate.” Tabatha explained.

Everyone gaped at her. Tabatha’s eyes clouded over in silent rage, but her eyes soon brightened again and she looked more relaxed than before.

            “There, now you know my past.” Tabatha said in a relaxed tone.

She reached her fork down onto her plate and stabbed a few vegetables, popping them into her mouth.

            “Well, we’re a criminal group called The Vipers, but we’ll do all that we can to help a fellow criminal escape the law.” Ceberus said.

            “Thank you very much for that. I’ll help you out all that I can. It’s the least I can do.” Tabatha said.

            “Tabatha, I have a question.” Don said.

Tabatha inclined her head toward him.

            “Yes?” She asked with a smile.

            “Are all witches as beautiful as you?” Don asked with a flirtatious grin.

Tabatha quickly grabbed her staff in one hand and held it over the table, pointed at Don.

            “Levitate!” Tabatha said.

She angled her staff upwards and Don began floating out of his chair. He looked at the ground and his expression became a look of surprised horror. Tabatha brought her staff closer to herself and Don floated through the air until he was nose to nose with Tabatha.

            “Just because you saved my life, doesn’t mean that I have any romantic feelings for you.” Tabatha said with a little grin.

Don just stared horrified into Tabatha’s rich brown eyes.

            “That’s what you think this is going on, no?” Tabatha asked with a slight smirk.

            “No! No, it’s not like that at all!” Don said quickly.

            “Well then, I’m glad that we understand each other.” Tabatha said with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

She angled her staff to point at Don’s chair and she lowered it as soon as Don was over it, effectively placing him back in his seat. I saw Erin and Stella covering their mouths. They were giggling. Tabatha pointed her staff to the remainder of the meat on her plate and used her levitation spell to put it into her mouth without touching it. She chewed the meat slowly and swallowed.

            “I’m going to bed.” Don said.

His face was beginning to go red from embarrassment. I felt sorry for him.

            “Go to bed on the correct side of the room this time!” Stella teased.

            “And don’t fall on your face!” Erin added teasingly.

Erin and Stella began laughing together.

            “’And don’t fall on your face’? Did I miss something?” Tabatha asked, confused.

Stella nodded while laughing.

            “Yes, you should have seen it! Earlier, Don went to sleep on the girls’ side of the room. Then when we told him to move to the boys’ side, he scrambled out of bed and fell on his face.” Stella explained.

Tabatha giggled.

            “Oh, I get it.” She said.

            “So, Tabatha. Will you be spending the night?” Ceberus asked.

Tabatha nodded eagerly.

            “Oh, yes please! I have nowhere else to go, and with Queen Yuka and who knows whoever else hunting me, I can’t feel safe anywhere.” Tabatha said.

            “Well, you’re safe here, and you’re welcome to the beds here. Stella and Erin will tell you where to sleep.” Martha said.

            “Certainly! Follow us, Tabatha. We’ll show you where your bed is.” Stella said eagerly.

Stella and Erin took Tabatha by the hand and led her into the bunk room. I stood up from my seat.

            “I suppose that I should be getting to bed.” I said.

Macalister and Robert stood up as well.

            “Me, too.” Macalister said.

            “And I.” Robert said.

            “Sleep well.” Martha told us.

Robert, Macalister and I went to the bunk room. Before we went inside, Robert pulled the two of us aside.

            “Listen, I don’t trust this new girl, Tabatha. Something just… Doesn’t feel right about her.” He said.

I nodded taking in his opinion.

            “I understand your suspicion, I mean, she’s a witch that we just saved from being burned at the stake, even so, see what she did to Don? Even if she was just teasing him, she has the power to use magic. Who knows what she could do in the future?” I asked.

            “I know that she seems suspicious, but I like her. She is funny and hasn’t yet shown any signs of real hostility. I don’t think that she’s a threat.” Macalister added.

            “Anyway, I just wanted to let you two know where I stand with this girl. I’m going to bed. Good night.” Robert said, walking into the bunk room.

Macalister and I followed him. As we got closer, we could hear Stella, Erin and Tabatha talking.

            “This is where you’ll sleep. Any bed on this wall except for mine and Stella’s is free for you to sleep in.” Erin said, gesturing to the girls’ side of the room.

I walked to the bunk that I was sleeping in before the witch hunt and I crawled beneath the blankets. Macalister and Robert returned to their bunks as well.

            “I’m so happy to have another girl in the group!” Stella said as she embraced Tabatha.

            “Thank you. I would like to get some sleep now, so if you don’t mind…” Tabatha said, trailing off as she attempted to pry Stella off of her.

Stella let go of Tabatha and crawled beneath the blankets of her own bed. Erin did the same. I let my eyelids droop. Before I drifted off, I laughed quietly to myself as I remembered the embarrassment Don went through in the last few hours. He was definitely not as smooth as he usually was, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, Don’s flirting skills were not working, not on these girls.

 

***

 

Friday June 25^th 1690

I awoke to the sound of chatter in the kitchen. The sun was up high in the sky and I could feel it warming my face. I remembered Martha saying ‘I’ll be seeing you bright and early’ last night. I wonder what happened to that. Maybe since we rescued Tabatha, Martha is letting us sleep in? Whatever the reason, I didn’t question it. I didn’t feel tired at all, which was nice. I got out of bed, stood up and stretched. I looked at everyone else’s beds and found them to be empty. Everyone else must have already been awake. I walked out to the kitchen where I heard the chatter coming from. I smelled vegetables being cooked, I also smelled them raw. I looked to the table to see that everyone with the exception of Martha was sitting down. Tabatha looked over to me.

            “Good morning, Redmond!” Tabatha greeted me with a warm smile.

I smiled back.

            “Good morning, Tabatha.” I said while walking over to the table and pulling up an empty chair next to Erin and Don.

I noticed that Don was sitting directly across from Tabatha, as far away as he can be while remaining seated at the table. I wondered if this was coincidental or intentional.

            “What, no ugly jokes this morning?” I cockily asked Don.

Don shook his head.

            “Not this time, Redmond. Maybe tomorrow morning.” Don said with a laugh.

            “Is something wrong, Don?” I asked in a low voice.

Don leaned in close to my ear and spoke in a low voice.

            “I’m just feeling off my game, that’s all.” He said.

I knew what he met. The theory that I had before going to sleep last night was true. I heard a door open. I looked behind me to where the sound came from and I saw Martha carrying a plate of raw vegetables.

            “I have some steamed vegetables in the back room if anyone would like them.” Martha offered.

Martha sat down with us. I reached out and grabbed a leaf of cabbage and a few carrots. I bit down on the cabbage leaf and put some carrots in my mouth as well. I chewed them all up and swallowed.

            “What those men said last night, how they said that Queen Yuka would have all of your heads for rescuing me. I’m worried that they were serious.” Tabatha said worriedly.

            “Don’t worry, Tabatha. If Queen Yuka’s guards show up here, we’ll give them a run for their money!” Don said enthusiastically.

            “No offense Don, but we can’t do much with one musket, four flintlocks, farming tools and a healing witch.” Tabatha said.

            “Oh, I forgot that you’re only a healing witch.” Don teased in a tone that made it sound like he was disappointed in Tabatha.

Tabatha leaned over the table, leaning in close to Don to intimidate him. It worked and Don sunk into his seat slightly.

            “I’m a healing witch, but I do have some offensive spells. That means that I can knock a few heads if I have to.” Tabatha said with a grin.

She was jokingly threatening him.

            “Then how come you couldn’t defend yourself against those men last night?” Don asked with a teasing tone and a raised eyebrow.

            “There were thirty of them! Plus they came up behind me. They took me by surprise and I had no time to react.” Tabatha said defensively.

Her tone told me that she didn’t like having her magical abilities doubted. As Tabatha ate her breakfast, Robert leaned over to me.

            “I don’t like the way that she’s threatening Don.” He said in a low voice.

            “I know, she is only joking, though.” I said.

            “Still, I don’t like it. I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something shady about that girl.” Robert said.

            “What? Other than the fact that she’s a witch?” I asked sarcastically.

I heard Tabatha tap the table with her finger. She cleared her throat to get our attention.

            “Are you two done?” She asked.

I looked to Robert, he looked to me with a nervous expression.

            “What is it, Robert? Are you suspicious of little old me?” Tabatha asked innocently.

Robert’s eyes widened.

            “Well… Um… Yes.” Robert stammered.

Tabatha laughed.

            “There’s no need. I may be a witch, but I’m not evil as the stereotype suggests.” Tabatha said.

Robert nodded, although I could tell that he didn’t truly believe her.

            “You’ll warm up to the idea.” Tabatha assured him.

William cleared his throat.

            “So, Tabatha. Since you’re a witch, do you have a… broomstick or something?” He asked in an attempt to ease the tension.

Tabatha looked slightly annoyed.

            “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that…” She trailed off.

I laughed, so did Francella. No one else did and Tabatha gave us both stern looks which promptly shut us up.

            “Tabatha, you said that you’re a healing witch. You also said that there are different types of witches. Do you know all of the types?” William asked.

Tabatha nodded, seeming happy that the topic was off of stereotypical witches.

            “Yes. There are different types of witches as I said. There are male witches, but they’re known as warlocks. There are pure witches and there are impure witches. The same goes for warlocks. A pure witch or warlock is more powerful in their magic abilities than impure ones. Even if you’re not one hundred percent pure, the closer you are to being pure, the more powerful you are in your magical abilities. This means that since most of my family is comprised of healing witches or warlocks, I’m most powerful in my healing abilities. When witches or warlocks are only one type and only one type of magic runs throughout their family, they’re pure. This means that both of the witch’s or the warlock’s parents must be the same type as each other, as well as the same type as their parents. For example, if my mother was a healing witch and my father was a healing warlock, and my grandmother was a healing witch and my grandfather was a healing warlock, and so on and so forth it would mean that I would be a pure witch. Alas I’m not.” Tabatha explained.

            “I understand.” Macalister said.

            “What about the different magic types? You’re a healing witch, but surely healing isn’t the only magic out there?” William asked.

Tabatha shook her head.

            “Oh, certainly not. Allow me to explain that. There are different disciplines of magic, healing being one of them, and the magic that a witch can use is determined by the type of magic that its parents can use. For example, my mother was a healing witch and my father was a manipulation warlock, but my grandfather on my father’s side was a healing warlock, and my grandmother on my father’s side was a manipulation witch. This means that I can use healing magic as well as manipulation magic, but my healing magic is stronger because most of my family are healing witches or warlocks. A few of my distant relatives can use manipulation magic. That’s why I can use it.” Tabatha explained.

            “What other magic types are there? How do they work?” William asked.

Tabatha giggled.

            “You’re a curious one, aren’t you?” She asked.

She continued speaking after a moment of silence.

            “There are a few magic disciplines. There is healing magic, which deals with the repair of things as I already told you. A few healing spells are Seamstress, Healing Gaze, Friendship and Drain. There is manipulation magic, which allows you to manipulate the things around you. I have already used manipulation magic on Don before. Levitation is an example of manipulation magic. You remember that, do you not?” Tabatha asked a small smile and a gaze directed at Don.

Don averted his eyes from Tabatha. He looked angry. After a laugh from Tabatha, she continued.

            “There is illusion magic, which deals with tricking someone’s mind. I had a friend who could use illusion magic. It was hilarious to watch her play tricks on people. She used to make people hallucinate and scare the living daylights out of them. A few illusion spells would be Hellish Nightmare, Paranoia and Fog. Sadly, I can’t use illusion magic. Otherwise I would have a lot more fun.” Tabatha said with a quick sly look to everyone in the room.

            “That’s… An unnerving thought.” Stella said slowly.

Tabatha laughed.

            “Indeed. There is also influential magic, which allows you to influence someone’s mind. That means that you can control their decisions as well as their actions. Basically you can turn someone into your puppet. Some spells are Influence, Puppet and Relinquish.” Tabatha said.

            “That’s a scary idea.” I said.

            “Next, there is protection magic. The spells in protection magic are designed to shield the user or anyone the user casts the spell on from whatever the spell shields from. For example, a protection witch can cast a spell on one of her friends that shields them from an illusion magic spell. The duration of the shield spell is determined by how pure the witch’s protection magic is. A pure protection witch could easily shield someone from a spell and the shield could be attacked by the spell it’s protecting someone from five times before breaking. Possibly more. However an impure protection witch couldn’t sustain a shield spell on someone for very long. The shield would probably only last for two attacks. After a shield spell is broken, the shield becomes useless and the spell must be cast again for it to regain full effect. Some protection spells include Illusion Ward, Influential Shield and Destruction Dispel. Some magic types such as healing and manipulation can’t be blocked by protection magic.” Tabatha said.

            “Are there any other disciplines of magic?” William asked.

Tabatha nodded.

            “Yes. There is enchantment magic, which is the magic used to imbue an object with magical properties. For example, my staff is enchanted to increase my magical power. I can still use magic without my staff, but it wouldn’t be as powerful. Some enchantment spells would be Strengthen, Harden and Magical Affinity.” Tabatha said.

            “That’s amazing!” Macalister remarked.

            “Well, things get even more interesting. Listen to this. There is curse magic, which is the magic used to place a curse on someone or something. Curse magic is a very simple magic discipline, or so I have heard at least. Some spells are Enchant Block, Death Hex and Bad Luck.” Tabatha said.

            “Curses? Hexes? Spells? The world’s gone mad.” Robert said with a laugh.

            “Magic sounds interesting.” Macalister remarked.

            “Destruction magic also exists. It’s the opposite of healing magic. It deals with destructive forces such as fire and explosions. Users of destruction magic are capable of blowing up buildings or causing fires. Destruction magic is meant for combat. Some destruction spells include Combustion, Fireball and Windstorm.” Tabatha explained.

            “There is also summon magic, which deals with the summoning of various entities to help a witch or warlock in combat. Some summon spells are Summon Fairy, Vampiric Minion and Summon Lost Soul. The creatures summoned can’t be people like witches or warlocks, but they can be other creatures that are not of this world like fairies, vampires and lost souls.” Tabatha said.

            “Anything else?” William asked.

Tabatha’s gaze darted to the left. Her eyes acquired a strained look. There was something that she wasn’t telling us.

            “What is it, Tabatha?” William asked.

            “I-it’s nothing. I just… The next magic type is the scariest of all.” Tabatha said ominously.

Tabatha closed her eyes and composed herself a little and then spoke.

            “The last magic type is dark magic. Impure dark magic users have the power to render other magic types useless for a short period of time, but it’s rumored that pure dark magic users have the ability to take away someone’s magic forever. Dark magic is a very rare magic type, so there are almost no dark magic witches or warlocks. However there are those who can use it. I have seen it before. Very little is known about dark magic, but I know of a few spells only because I watched as someone was killed by dark magic. The spells that I know of are Death’s Choice, Penitence and Retribution.” Tabatha said.

            “That does sound fearful.” Erin said in feared awe.

            “Who was killed by dark magic that you knew?” William asked.

Tabatha’s eyes sank to the floor and her eyebrows dropped in depression.

            “My best friend Mary-Anne was killed in an accident involving dark magic several years ago. I prefer not to speak of it.” Tabatha said.

            “I understand. Sorry.” William said.

            “No, it’s alright. You didn’t know.” Tabatha told him.

We all remained silent for a few minutes. Depression hung on the air and I could almost feel Tabatha’s sadness.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[KeithKVH]

Well, Tabatha is definitely not as innocent or naive as my first impression was hinting, but she seems a genuine and strong willed person nonetheless. Don's not catching a break, poor guy. xD

The magic types you're doing here look good, and it's definitely a less traveled, more unique approach. Listing off the names of the spells is good in the sense that it shows her expertise, you could take it out if you feel it needs pruning though as you are dropping a large sum of info here. I'm starting to think the format you use is good for some things, but when you have a large amount of undivided dialogue it looks out of place. Not saying you need to change it, just my own thoughts.

I have some suggestions to bring up on your contraction revamp, I'll mail you the points I have so as not to clutter.

[Ryan Henderson]

Okay, thanks for the review! I do agree that the big, undivided dialogues do need a bit of pruning so when the book is done I'll just prune them all at once.