“You’ve been glued to that scrying portal for too long,” the Catastrophe Witch says to the Grief Witch. They are on the Disc of Deads and Wraiths in the haven of the Death Witch Coven known as the Witch Camp. All members of the Coven who had not traveled to the Une-verse to support Fâ, and the Decay Witch who assisted Sakpata in the Smiting Chamber, were in the Witch Camp preparing for the worst and waiting for any signal that their assistance was required.
“I can’t help myself,” Grief says. “Their means of transportation exploded in enemy territory! I know that Quietus and the others are the strongest of us, but they are at such a disadvantage. I just want to know that they will be ok, but Quietus is not looking for others since she reunited with Detritus and Ruin. They are working on a plan of their own and they are so close to the enemy. Phe, they are tiptoeing around the enemy hoping not to wake it! It is so nerve-wracking.”
“Then stop watching,” Catastrophe says. They sit in grass with a sky of Essence blue mist above them.
“I know that I should but I don’t think it would help, I would still be very worried imagining what is happening to them. It is best for me to watch, I think, nothing is worse than the imagination of a Death Witch.”
“That is true,” Catastrophe says with a smirk. “Quietus and Detritus together are an unstoppable team, and Ruin will only add to that. Trust me, you’ve nothing to worry about.”
Just as she says this, Havoc lands in front of them, panting as though she had either been flying for a long time or very quickly, either of which would have taxed her like his. Despite her exhaustion, she speaks excitedly.
“Phe! You will not believe what I discovered on the Shifting Planes. You must come and see it.”
“Is something wrong?” Catastrophe asks, already on edge because of the presence of the enemy in the aether with Aido Hwedo.
“I don’t think anything about this is wrong, except that Owuo seems to be trying to keep it from us. Come, quickly. It was unguarded when I left, and hopefully it still is. Let’s go!”
“But you were exhausted when you landed,” Catastrophe says as she stands. Grief stands as well, taking her eyes from the scrying portal for the first time in a long time.
“Yeah,” Havoc says and she stumbles to the ground. She holds up a hand and says, “I guess I need a moment, unless you’ll carry me. It will be worth it, Phe, the Ajogun have returned!”
With the mention of the Ajogun, both Catastrophe and Grief stare at Havoc with intense interest.
“How is that possible?” Catastrophe asks. “They were slaughtered by the coward Vodun.”
“The Vodun cannot deny the will of the Mother-Father,” Havoc says with a smile.
“I will carry you,” Grief says, obviously eager to see the returned Ajogun, specifically Arun who had been her teacher long ago, when she was still Tinyalari.
“The more the better,” Havoc says. “We will have to break a seal of Owuo which likely means a confrontation with him. Our heaviest hitters are preoccupied realms away, but at least the three of us should be able to handle Owuo. Though if there are others, I wouldn’t turn away a helping hand.”
“Let’s just hurry,” Catastrophe says and she levitates in a wild flurry of violet magic that encircles both the Havoc and Grief witches and they disappear in a stream of magic in the direction of the Shifting Planes of the Disc of Lêgba.
The Shifting Planes have become more populated in recent history with the refugees of the Talj Rip, but the platform where the Ajogun were located was in the southern region of the Disc, tucked far below other Discs that filled space around it, as though Owuo had chosen the spot carefully. When they arrive to it, the three witches float in a line at one edge of the cube that is visible, but see-through with glowing black and purple symbols moving along the surface, and the eight Purple Mysticisms glow brightly inside in a vase sitting in the middle of the platform.
“They have been reduced to pretty flowers,” Catastrophe says, gazing at the flowers with a look of disbelief on her face.
Grief punches the wall of the cube and when she connects, she shrieks loudly and holds her damaged hand in her other hand. She smiles despite the pain, her blow had sent visible cracks across the cube.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, witches of Death?” the Vodun Lêgba calls to them from a distance and they all turn to see him floating the space of the Shifting Planes with the mmoatia Lorv at his side.
“That is a question for us to ask you, seeing as we were already here,” Catastrophe calls back. She and Havoc turn away from the cube and approach the Vodun while Grief strikes the cube with her working hand, just as the other is healing. The walls of the cube are weakening.
“I came to collect those Mysticisms,” Lêgba says, still friendly and hopeful that this interaction won’t be as violent as the Grief Witch hurting herself to shatter the cube portends. “These are hostile times, and we Fonlanders have come together to face the threat to our very existence. There is no need for confrontation among us. I intend to use the power of those Mysticisms to face our common enemy. Would any of you object to that?”
“I do!” Grief screams as she continues hitting at the cube.
“The Ajogun are trapped inside of those Mysticisms,” Havoc says. “If we free them, they will be a formidable opponent against our enemy. I see that their magic has evolved to Death, even, so they do not even have the vulnerability of Black magic as you do. Is that why you want to take their power, because of your weaknesses.” She and Catastrophe laugh as Grief finally shatters the cube, but Lorv whizzes past the other witches so fast that she is able to tackle Grief away from the cube and they tussle across other platforms of the Shifting Planes as they hurl fists and magical attacks at one another. Lorv employs her Death Flame that is green with purple edges and only burns what Lorv focuses her rage on. It can burn hot enough to melt stone, and Lorv employs it expertly against Grief, who is nimble, but gets caught in the flames that issue from Lorv’s fingertips. Soon, Grief is down, unconscious on a platform that Lorv seals with her Death Flame and she returns to Lêgba’s side.
“You see that you are out matched here,” Lêgba says. “We do not need to fight. We can all sit with the Mysticisms and determine the best course forward. I will admit that I do not want to see the Ajogun return, but if that is the best way to attack this enemy, so be it. I need convincing, though. I do think there is a way for me to wield the power without harming the Ajogun and that will allow us to decide their fate after this conflict. I am not here to destroy them.”
Havoc and Catastrophe look to one another and then to Lêgba. “Fine,” Catastrophe says. “We are all in this together afterall.”
PRL Serials 