Visions of Wolves

Witches in the woods

The next month was pretty much the same. I was more prepared for the heat though, I took two days off of work. Made the tea and then practically lived in the shower. When I had visited the village I also fell very much into the same routine as I had last time.

Except for one morning when I woke to voices and movement happening throughout the house. I sat up in bed and Alex stirred next to me. “A few more minutes,” he grumbled pulling the covers over his shoulders.

“What’s going on?” I asked frantically. The last time I heard commotion like this the rogues had broken through the border.

“It’s the Harvest Moon Festival,” he murmured into his pillow.

“The what?” I asked giving his shoulder a small shake to wake him.

He grumbled while sitting upright and stretching his arms forward and behind him in a jagged movement. “Didn’t I tell you about this?” He said through a yawn.

“No? What festival?” He hadn’t mentioned a festival. I shook his shoulders with both hands this time to wake him up faster.

“Ok ok, I’m up. I’m up,” he cried out. “It’s the full moon tonight, specifically what we call the harvest moon. It’s supposed to be the best time to harvest before winter.”

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before turning to me “plus, all us werewolves and monsters come out to play during the full moon,” he lifted up his hands into claws and then started tickling me. I shrieked, pushing his hands away.

“Is it significant? Like, does anything special happen to you because it’s a full moon?” I asked, unsure how naive I sounded.

Alex just chuckled. “That depends who you ask. We celebrate it regardless. We make big bonfires, create a harvest table full of food and everyone drinks and dances until the morning. Some believe it recharges our powers but I think everyone just feels a buzz after enjoying a good party.”

When we went downstairs to meet the others for breakfast Ally was in the hallway barking orders at various people walking through the house with trays of food, fire wood, drapes and decorations. Alex and I weaved through everyone until we made our way over to her. Most people stopped to nod to the Alph and continue working. Alex always gave them a small nod back.

“Good, you’re up. Do you think you could take these baskets over the Aoife?” She was asking but after shoving the basked of fruit, muffins and various other snacks into Alex’s arms it was clear this wasn’t an ask, it was a command. He had barely agreed and Ally was off pointing people in various directions again.

“Well then, I guess you’ll be meeting Aoife today, you’re going to like her,” he said with a suspicious smile. We ate breakfast, dodged the various people walking through the house and headed outside.

At the back of the pack house was a marquee, three tall stacks of wood piled into points and people carrying tables and chairs. Adam and Jay were hard at work putting up drapes in the marquee and clearly disagreeing over who was doing it right.

Alex and I laughed at their expense before he led the way to Aoife, which involved walking quite a distance away from the house. We didn’t take the main road that clearly led to the village centre itself, in fact we weaved through a section of trees along the perimeter that appeared untouched. The only sign that there might be people living here was the trail of broken branches that formed a path.

“Where are we going exactly?” I asked ducking under a branch Alex had held back for me. The trees and shrubbery were getting thicker the further in we walked.

“It’s sort of a small village within our village. Aoife and her people are …different. They like to have their own space but be close by so that we can protect them.” He said breaking some more branches along the path.

“Different how?”

He just smiled “they’re witches,” and with that I picked up the sounds of people nearby. The bustle of people hard at work.

“Witches?” I gasped. “You didn’t mention there were witches?”

Alex laughed, his smile reaching his eyes and making me smile back. Being around him, even here simply walking peacefully through dense woods made me happy, warm.

“Don’t call them that though, they’re very touchy about it. It’s just the easiest way to explain what they can do.”

“Do they, do they look different to us?” I asked a little embarrassed. I just wanted to be prepared for whatever lay on the other side of these woods.

“Take a look for yourself,” he stepped slightly off the path and I could just make out the movement of people through the trees.

I stepped into the clearing, taking in my new surroundings. It was a large piece of land with round homes that had thatch roofs. It felt almost like we had stepped back in time. I could see bonfires burning in several places with pots and pans hanging over them, cooking what smelled like stew.

It was mostly women. They were all going about daily chores carrying wood, washing clothes in big buckets, tending to the garden, etc.

Most of them wore long skirts or dresses in neutral colours, their hair left loose or tied in simple braids. There were a couple men here and there putting up fences or chatting around the fire.

It was a bizarre combination of a simpler way of life and modern living. Despite the way they dressed I saw a few people on cellphones. There were also lamp poles scattered throughout the village that must illuminate main paths at night.

“Happy Harvest Alex!” came the sweet voice of a woman stirring a pot hanging over a nearby fire. She wiped her hands on her skirt and came over to us. She was around our age, young, earthy, beautiful. She put her hands on Alex’s shoulders and kissed each cheek. He mirrored her action before holding his hand out to me. “Aoife this is Teal.”

She came over and gave me the very same greeting, placing both hands on my shoulders and a kiss on each cheek. “Teal, how lovely to meet you.”

She smelt of fresh rain and something about her presence just felt calming and natural. Alex handed her the basket of treats he had, “happy harvest to you too. Ally sends her regards but she’s party planning at the moment so she might only come by later.”

“This is very sweet, thank you,” Aoife graciously took the basket. “Come sit, have some tea. Knowing Ally you are lucky you escaped,” she said winking at me.

We followed her over to a bonfire and sat on the stumps surrounding it. I sat between her and Alex. She waved her hands at the fire and I saw the flames rise up. I was just about to ask how she did that when I heard a shriek followed by a commotion erupt next to me. 

I turned round to see Alex being climbed on by three small children. Two little boys and a young girl, all around five years old. “Uncle Alex! Come play!” The little girl shrieked while the two boys tried to tackle him to the ground. Aoife and I laughed as we watched their little limbs flailing about as he effortlessly tackled each of them to the ground and tickled them until their faces went pink. One little boy escaped and shouted back “you’ll never catch me!”

Alex titled his head. Glared at the little boy and then at the little girl who was still giggling under his clutches. Then he whispered, “you two better run.” He let them go and they ran off squealing, watching over their shoulders, making sure he was going to give chase.

“I’ll be right back,” he said standing up. He gave me a small kiss on the forehead and gave Aoife a small nod before hunching over, giving a playful growl and then running after the kids. 

Aoife used a ladle to scoop up the small amber liquid from the pot over the fire, poured it into a mug and handed it to me. I took a small sip. It tasted of green tea, honey and lemon.

“Mmm, delicious, thank you.”

“You’re welcome” she said while pouring herself a cup. “So tell me a little about yourself Teal, I take it you’re not a shifter?”

“No, umm, I sort of fell into all of this. It’s all very new to me.” I said smiling at her. “I met Ally and Adam at a hotel nearby. We got on really well and all had the weekend free so they agreed to show me this waterfall nearby. Long story short we were attacked by rogues. Ally was quite badly hurt and I had no idea what was happening so I drove us here to the village. Which is where I met Alex.” She didn’t need to know the rest. 

I didn’t know if she was even allowed to know the rest. It was pretty clear that Alex and I were close and he would never have been affectionate in front of her if he didn’t want her to know. Unlike the way he was when Julz was around. Just the thought of her made my blood boil.

“You poor thing! How terrifying! At least you were with Ally and Alex. I can’t imagine what would have happened had they not been there.” She gave a small shudder at the thought.

“It was scary, but at the same time it all happened so quickly I barely had the chance to register what was happening.” She nodded.

We both turned to see Alex now with the two boys over his shoulders running after the little girl. But the little girl spun on the spot, causing a small tornado of sand to form and head straight for Alex. He lowered the boys and quickly covered his face with his hands to prevent the sand from reaching his eyes.

“How did she do that?” I said to Aoife, completely shocked at how effortless this little girl manipulated the sand around her and how casually everyone went back to what they were doing.

“Oh, sorry. Did Alex not explain?” She said putting her mug down and putting a caring hand on my knee.

“No, he just said that you were different and liked to keep to yourselves.”

“Is that it?” She asked rolling her eyes.

“Yes well, that and saying that I’m not to call you witches…”

Aoife laughed. “He’s right, that term makes us sound like these dark magic creatures that pray on the innocent. I personally prefer the term Mage. But you can say witch when we’re not around.” This time I laughed. She was so down to earth, so ethereal it felt like we had been friends for years.

“There is energy all around us. Call it magic if that makes it easier to understand. Anyone can harness it with the the right amount of time and patience. Some people just naturally pick it up and some people have special talents that seem to just be their energy focusing-in on a particular element.”

She held her arm out and turned her hand. The movement caused the tea left in my mug to spin. “Earth, fire, wind and water are the easiest elements to manipulate. We feel the energy around us and then channel it into those elements, willing them to do what we ask. Think about when you’re in water. When you push your hands in a certain direction quickly, it causes a ripple, a serge of power that can move other objects out the way or cause waves. That’s what we’ve learnt to do with most elements.

“This is amazing!” I watched as the liquid in my mug stopped spinning and she moved her arm over to the fire beneath the pot. This time she made small flicking motions at the fire and I watched as small embers floated into the air and then burst into mini fireworks. It was beautiful.

“I can try teach you some basics, if you’re going to be around much? Of course same rules apply as the shifters. No one can ever know about us.”

“You can teach me? You mean anyone can do this?” I turned to read her face, to check if she was joking.

She laughed, “yeah, anyone can. Look it’s not easy, and it takes years of practise but little tricks here and there you can learn. Shifters can’t for some reason. I think they already have too much power in their veins.”

“Wow I’d love to, thank you!” I continued watching as she played with the fire. I barely noticed Alex come back and join us.

“So why live here, do you need to be in nature for the power to work?” I asked gulping down the remainder of my tea.

“You mean to live off the land like this?” She looked around at her home. “We spend so much of our time focusing on the energy and refining our abilities that there’s really not that much need for anything else. We like living simply. Some of the younger kids will choose to go to schools in the nearby towns, some move into cities permanently. It’s their choice. But their lives become so busy that they start to lose a lot of their abilities. That’s the trade off you see. To live as we do you have to practise day after day. It’s like a muscle, you have to keep working at it otherwise it weakens.”

I tilted my mug back, drinking the final sip of tea and suddenly felt faint. My blood pressure dropped again. It hadn’t happened since I was last here. In the back of my mind I saw the a fire burning. Not any fire, the one a few meters away. I saw the pot on it, the herbs lying on the ground nearby. The children running by, the little girl stops and stomps her foot at the fire, the pot explodes, bullets of metal shoot into in all directions.

I gasped and choked on the last sip of tea. Alex quickly patted my back and Aoife took the mug from me.

“Goodness are you alright?” She asked her hand now on my shoulder.

“Sorry, sorry. Just too big a gulp.” I managed to cough out. Alex examined my face carefully but I gave him pat on the leg to say I’m fine.

I sat up and caught my breath. We carried on chatting for a little while before Aoife picked up my now empty mug, baring a few tea leaves swirling around the bottom.

“Oh look at that,” she said holding the mug to show me inside. “We can channel energy but energy can also channel us, send us stories and messages. We don’t quite know how it works but tarot cards and tea leaves, when done right, can share messages. You see this spiral?”

I looked further into the mug where the leaves had formed a spiral shape.

“Oh yes, there, I see it.”

“That’s a good sign,” she smiled up at me. “A spiral is about intuition and creativity. The energy is telling you to trust your intuition. To listen to them.” I smiled at her, feeling an odd sense of comfort wash over me as she spoke.

Suddenly we were interrupted by the children running past us and over to the fire a few metres away. I felt a chill run down my spine, I’d seen this before. I knew in that moment what happens next, the little girl stopped, crossed her arms and lifted her leg to stomp. 

“Get down!” I shouted. I threw my arms out pushing both Alex and Aoife off their stumps and onto their backs on the ground. I use the momentum I gathered from pushing against them to propel myself forward. As the little girl’s foot hit the ground I grabbed her and dived forward. Rolling myself on top of her.

I heard the pot explode with a loud bag and screams from all over as bits of metal shot out in all directions. The little girl screamed in my arms but I only held on tighter. Eventually I felt Alex rolling me onto my back. As I rolled I opened my arms and the little girl shot out, crying as she ran into the arms of another woman who looked just as shaken.

“Are you hurt? You’re bleeding!” I could feel Alex faffing over me as I surveyed the area. Bits of the pot lay every where and the stew that was cooking now lay as a bubbling pile on the fire.

Alex helped me to my feet and led me elbow first over to Aoife who was already tinkering with various herbs and leaves.

I hissed as she placed a cloth with hot water against my arm.

“Ouch!” I tried pulling my arm away but Aoife held firm.

Aoife hissed in solidarity, when she dabbed the cloth against my wound.

I looked down finally noticing the large gash in my arm. “What happened?” I asked, watching as Aoife delicately placed a mush of herbs into the wound, covered it with leaves and then wrapped it in place with a bandage.

“Like I said, energy is a muscle, it takes time to master and little Bean over there…” she said nodding her head towards the little girl who was now getting a scolding from who I presume was her mother. “She has a tendency to let her emotions get the better of her and the energy. Looks like she focused a little too much on the fire.”

She tied a knot around the bandage and turned around to start packing up. Alex had watched every move closely and was now examining the bandage, no doubt making sure it was done right.

“The real question,” she said tucking her bag of medicine under her arm and turning to face me. “The real question here is how did you know that would happen?” She titled her head and smiled at me.

I looked at her dumbfounded. I started playing back the situation in my head, even Alex looked confused.

“I um, I saw it? I know that sounds crazy. I don’t really know what I’m saying. But I saw it, just before it happened.” I felt the blood drain from my face. I felt silly, embarrassed by my confession.

Aoife stepped forwarded, dusting the sand off the sleeve of the arm I had landed on. “Sounds like you’re a seer.”

“Do you really think?” Alex had been so quiet up until this point I was almost jumped when I heard his voice.

“Come take a seat inside, tell me more. We’ll sort all this out later.” She said nodding over to the fire and bits of metal all over the floor.

We followed her into a pretty little house. All the furniture was dark wood and all the open spaces were filled with jars of herbs of various sizes. She had plants at every window and two small couches with knitted throws placed around a small, round coffee table. Alex sat down first and then pulled me down into his arms, making sure not to touch the bandage but still holding me tight.

Aoife flopped down onto the couch in-front of us, kicked off her shoes and then tucked her feet underneath her. Leaning on her elbow on the side of the couch she asked “tell me everything, what you saw, how you felt, has anything like this happened before?”

Alex gave me a little squeeze and looked up at him. He gave me a reassuring wink. I explained how I took that last sip and felt my blood pressure drop, it’s just something that happens sometimes. As it did I pictured the whole scene at the back of my mind. But when I saw Bean about to stomp it was all too real, I was barely aware of what I was doing until Alex brought me upright again.

“And has this happened before?” She asked leaning back into her couch, completely unfazed by my ridiculous confession.

“Kind of, I guess. I’ve had these fainting spells over the years where images pop into my head. But It’s never been like this. It’s never really happened. I always thought it was my imagination.”

Aoife laughed, “it’s not, and your doctor knows nothing. You my friend are a seer and we are definitely going to help you unpack that more.”

I looked over at Alex and he smiled down at me, pride gleaming from his eyes.

“A seer?” I said turning back to Aoife.

“Like I said. We all have access to energy. We can channel it and sometimes it can channel us. It seems like you’ve been picked as a seer. Someone who gets visions of possible futures. Look it’s not always correct. I’ve known a few seers, it’s rare but they’re around. It’s almost as though the energy uses you to protect those who protect it. It will send you messages, guide you to where you need to be.” Alex squeezed my arm again and I knew exactly what he was trying to say. The energy had brought us together. In a weird and wonderful way we had found each other.

We spent the next two hours chatting more with Aoife. She told me to start keeping a journal and record what I saw during my spells. She said that as those spells happened I needed to write down exactly what I saw, maybe even visualise it again and then work out what I thought the energy was telling me.

When it was time to go she suggested that when we were tired of the big party at the main house we should head back to them to see how they celebrate the Harvest Festival.

Alex and I started our walk back, walking in silence mostly. But he looked over from time to time to check on my arm and see how I was feeling.

Despite the stinging pain in my arm I felt great. Amazing actually.