“I have better aim than you,” Ivan said angrily. “Let me shoot and you make the fog.”
“Ivan, I got this,” Clay said with confidence. Ivan was right, his aim was much better, but Clay insisted on aiming his fingers out at the crowd of witches approaching the topiary of the Museum garden, and blasting as many witches as he could with the bolts of lighting that sparked out from his fingertips. He knew that Ivan would be more successful hitting the witches with their lightning. Clay had watched Ivan get lost in the power and he feared the large number of casualties if Ivan was the one throwing lightning. Instead, Clay convinced him to create a fog that obscured the witches’ view and slowed them down.
“How’s it going, boys?” Wazad asked and she floated up above the topiary where the two teenage boys hovered and kept the witches at bay.
“It’s fine,” Ivan said. “How’s Gregory doing? He looks so cool with his emerald magic.”
“He finally managed to control his astral form and he’s been projected to the moon. We can only hope that he does what he needs to do there. Where is Zacchaeus?”
“He’s flyying to make sure no witches surprise us from the air,” Ivan said.
“Do you think Gregory can do it?” Clay asked as the lightning shot out of his hands. “I see the way you look at him. I know you get frustrated with us sometimes, but you look at him like you want to strangle the life out of him. You don’t think he can do it, do you?”
“Clay, you shouldn’t be an instigator,” Wazad said with a knowing smile.
“We’re just talking,” he said.
On the moon, Gregory defied the expectations of Wazad the Wonderful and managed to free the benevolent deities.
“Oh man,” Gregory said, nodding his head triumphantly and looking down at his hands that coursed with magic. It felt good to be reunited with this feeling and he appreciated it in a way that he never had before. The magic inside of him felt like home. Like going back to his mother’s home and smelling familiar foods wafting through the hallways and the anticipation of turning the corner into the kitchen where everyone you know and love, and everyone who knows and loves you, is there. Gregory smiled triumphantly.
“What are you doing?” the Morrigan asked. “Go back to Earth, we don’t need to worry about some cruel malevolent scattering your astral form. Go now, it is dangerous here. We will clean it up.
Gregory looked around as the benevolents began to fly out of the prison in the splendor of their magics and he wanted to follow them to watch the battles that were sure to rage in spectacular fashion, but he felt a hand on his shoulder and that startled him. He didn’t think he could be touched in his astral form.
“Go back to Earth!” the Morrigan shouted and Gregory tumbled down to his body and fell from his levitating position onto the ground.
Gregory stood and brushed himself off, then wandered to the topiary where Wazad hovered with the lightning boys.
“Thanks Gregory!” Clay shouted down to him.
“For what?”
“For doing what you needed to do. I won twenty dollars off Wazad.”
“You bet him that I would fail?” Gregory asked as he floated up to join them. The view over the topiary was grim; unconscious bodies strewn over the ground as a thick fog receded up to the sky.
“I’m glad I lost,” Wazad said.
“What happens to all these people?” Ivan asked. “Won’t they still be witches when they wake up?”
“They won’t be nearly as powerful without the Witch Moon,” Wazad explained. “Thanks to the benevolent deities of the moon, I think our witch problem is over.”
Zacchaeus landed in the garden and the group huddled up one more time.
“Thank you for your help,” Wazad said to Zacchaeus. “I will let the Master know that you were an invaluable help to us.”
“I don’t owe him nothing else,” Zacchaeus joked. “But y’all are good people. If you ever need me, I’m sure you know where to find me. We still have to get rid of them Razews.”
“Indeed we do,” Wazad said and she opened a portal for him. “I’m sure we will see one another soon enough.”
Zacchaeus nodded and disappeared into the portal.
“What about you, Mr. Young,” Wazad turned a careful eye on Paul. She remembered Isaac’s warning, and she trusted him that there was no immediate danger, but she couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was wrong with Paul.
“Are we still tracking Razew?” he asked. “I’m here for as long as I can be helpful.”
Wazad nodded at him, then turned her attention to Ivan and Clay.
“I think it’s time that we get you two back to your families. If you want to continue the hunt with us, it’s about time we got their permission.”
Ivan and Clay stared at one another with unease.
PRL Serials 