Endless Magic (Stella Mayweather Series Book 6) by Camilla Chafer Page A
Authors: Camilla Chafer
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all."
"What happened to her?"
"The dementia addled her mind, but she died naturally in her sleep."
"I'm so sorry," I said.
"Thank you. It was very sad. She barely knew me at all by the time she passed. Her mind was all over the place. Sometimes she was a child, or twenty years old. We couldn't be sure if she were having visions, or memories, or if her mind was just playing tricks on her."
"And she never mentioned anything about a superwitch?" asked Astra.
"Now that I think about it, she did mention something a couple of times when she was well. She was always too preoccupied to talk about it, but I think she was trying to work out who it could be. She said..." Ariadne frowned, her eyes glazing as she delved into her past. "That's it! She said the parents would have to know because they would need to guide the child into his or her true power when the time came for the becoming, that is, the awakening of the superwitch. However, she never found out who it was."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. It's coming back to me now. My mother was sure the superwitch hadn't been born yet... when was it?" Ariadne reached for the notepads, rifling through them. A few minutes later, she looked up, quite pleased. "I recall this spell because she cast it around my birthday. I remember her talking about the superwitch that summer. That was thirty years ago."
"How are we supposed to find anyone who remembers Athene thirty years ago?" asked Astra, reaching for the notepad to take a look at the handwritten entry.
"It will be hard," I said as she passed the notebook to me. The spell was a birthday wish spell, something to add to a cake to endow happiness on all the celebrants who ate it. It was charming and I made a mental note to ask Seren about those kinds of spells at another time. Both she and her husband, David, excelled at that sort of thing. "We can look at it another way though."
"What's that?"
"The witch has to be under thirty years old. We can rule out anyone over that age and focus our search exclusively on those under that age." I instantly perked up, thinking I could scour our databases and produce a list of names to start. But that didn't mean the superwitch would be anyone known to us. I swiftly deflated as my idea soon became fraught with issues.
"That's still too many," pointed out Astra.
Ariadne nodded, adding what I already thought, "Plus, this witch might not even know he or she is a witch. You're assuming they're somebody within our community. Many live on the fringes; or some throwback gene could manifest in a non-magic family."
I closed the notebook, placing it on the table as the success of my idea ebbed away. "This search could be impossible."
"Perhaps we should just call them to us?" Astra said. "We could perform a spell to attract the superwitch."
"Hardly any point in that, when we don't even know what to do when we find him or her. We need to refocus on what the superwitch can do," I said, thinking out loud.
"That might attract the superwitch anyway," pointed out Ariadne. "That much innate power will surely be attracted to the objects that make up their arsenal. Look at this line here about the talismans. They'll be drawn like magnets to their true owner. The force could pull them together."
Astra and I exchanged hopeful glances. I wondered if her heart was beginning to race like mine. "It's worth a shot," said Astra.
"What does the superwitch need?" asked Ariadne. "Did my mother make any notes of what the artifacts are?"
"I read something about that. It's in one of these notebooks," said Astra, spinning in her chair so she could slide her legs under the desk. She picked up several books, searching until she found the right one. "Here it is. Right here, Athene wrote the superwitch would need to wield talismans from all clans. The witches received a book of some kind. It foretells things. A..."
"A horologican," I interjected, excited at the new lead. "The demons were looking for one."
"Did they find it?"
"What happened to her?"
"The dementia addled her mind, but she died naturally in her sleep."
"I'm so sorry," I said.
"Thank you. It was very sad. She barely knew me at all by the time she passed. Her mind was all over the place. Sometimes she was a child, or twenty years old. We couldn't be sure if she were having visions, or memories, or if her mind was just playing tricks on her."
"And she never mentioned anything about a superwitch?" asked Astra.
"Now that I think about it, she did mention something a couple of times when she was well. She was always too preoccupied to talk about it, but I think she was trying to work out who it could be. She said..." Ariadne frowned, her eyes glazing as she delved into her past. "That's it! She said the parents would have to know because they would need to guide the child into his or her true power when the time came for the becoming, that is, the awakening of the superwitch. However, she never found out who it was."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. It's coming back to me now. My mother was sure the superwitch hadn't been born yet... when was it?" Ariadne reached for the notepads, rifling through them. A few minutes later, she looked up, quite pleased. "I recall this spell because she cast it around my birthday. I remember her talking about the superwitch that summer. That was thirty years ago."
"How are we supposed to find anyone who remembers Athene thirty years ago?" asked Astra, reaching for the notepad to take a look at the handwritten entry.
"It will be hard," I said as she passed the notebook to me. The spell was a birthday wish spell, something to add to a cake to endow happiness on all the celebrants who ate it. It was charming and I made a mental note to ask Seren about those kinds of spells at another time. Both she and her husband, David, excelled at that sort of thing. "We can look at it another way though."
"What's that?"
"The witch has to be under thirty years old. We can rule out anyone over that age and focus our search exclusively on those under that age." I instantly perked up, thinking I could scour our databases and produce a list of names to start. But that didn't mean the superwitch would be anyone known to us. I swiftly deflated as my idea soon became fraught with issues.
"That's still too many," pointed out Astra.
Ariadne nodded, adding what I already thought, "Plus, this witch might not even know he or she is a witch. You're assuming they're somebody within our community. Many live on the fringes; or some throwback gene could manifest in a non-magic family."
I closed the notebook, placing it on the table as the success of my idea ebbed away. "This search could be impossible."
"Perhaps we should just call them to us?" Astra said. "We could perform a spell to attract the superwitch."
"Hardly any point in that, when we don't even know what to do when we find him or her. We need to refocus on what the superwitch can do," I said, thinking out loud.
"That might attract the superwitch anyway," pointed out Ariadne. "That much innate power will surely be attracted to the objects that make up their arsenal. Look at this line here about the talismans. They'll be drawn like magnets to their true owner. The force could pull them together."
Astra and I exchanged hopeful glances. I wondered if her heart was beginning to race like mine. "It's worth a shot," said Astra.
"What does the superwitch need?" asked Ariadne. "Did my mother make any notes of what the artifacts are?"
"I read something about that. It's in one of these notebooks," said Astra, spinning in her chair so she could slide her legs under the desk. She picked up several books, searching until she found the right one. "Here it is. Right here, Athene wrote the superwitch would need to wield talismans from all clans. The witches received a book of some kind. It foretells things. A..."
"A horologican," I interjected, excited at the new lead. "The demons were looking for one."
"Did they find it?"
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