Soul Fire by Nazri Noor

Author:Nazri Noor [Noor, Nazri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Nazri Noor
Published: 2019-09-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

“Okay,” I said. “Coven of One. Go.”

Romira took another pull from her beer. Her second one. She’d quickly downed the first we’d offered her, after we tracked her to the Boneyard break room slash living area, where she immediately began sifting through the cupboards for hard liquor. We’re not huge drinkers at the Boneyard, but duh, everyone keeps the good stuff in their own bedroom. So a nice, frosty beer right out of the fridge it was. Well, two of them. Everyone had assembled there, in fact, even Sterling and a recently placated Mason, like confused D-list superheroes with nowhere to go.

“Right,” she said, finally catching her breath. “Right. Historically, I didn’t think it could be done. You know how magic gets amplified when more people are involved, right? When multiple minds and hearts aim their energies towards the same purpose. Pour enough magic into one, singular objective, and you can move mountains.”

“It’s why cults exist,” I said. “It’s the whole premise behind ceremonial magic.”

In the back of my head, the distant memory of Thea’s voice broke the surface. “It’s how you get an apocalypse going.” My gaze locked with Carver’s for a bare second. He was listening intently, suspiciously quiet.

“It’s why magic users and spell casters of the same vein tend to gather together. Cults, as you said, or druids, and covens as well. As in witches.”

“Of which Grandmother is one of the most powerful,” Bastion muttered.

Romira nodded. “Right. And to get everything truly magically aligned, you’d want everyone to be on the same page. For best results, basically, like how a corporation ideally works. Same vision, same mission. And if someone, or several someones in your coven have different ideas about how to do things, that can dilute the power of the magic you’re trying to make. But what if everyone was of the same mind? With your intentions streamlined. No blocks in the arteries. Just blood pumping straight through the system, because everyone works in concert.”

My gaze went distant as I imagined the possibilities. “One mind,” I said.

“Exactly,” Carver said, finally adding his voice to the conversation. “Everything unified under one mind, perfectly orchestrating the same goal. The Coven of One is a bizarre, terrible ritual, one that allows a witch powerful and brazen enough to perform it to split her mind across multiple bodies. Thirteen of them, to be precise, as you all saw in the cauldron.”

Which, I should have mentioned, burst into flames, cracking the cauldron in the process. It took Carver and Romira’s combined efforts to get the fire settling at all, but by the time it had died out, nothing was left in the cauldron, no water, no shattered pieces of brooch. I must have been right, in a sense. Agatha detected us, and she didn’t like being watched.

“Far be it from me to cast judgment,” Carver said. “I am hardly blameless. I have also regretted the things I have done to extend my life beyond its natural bounds. There are different variations on the rite of becoming thirteen, but many of them require multiple sacrifices.

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