Strained

Chapter Thirty-Six

The morning of the thirty-first was unlike any other morning. I woke up early and rushed to get ready. All of the Witches were trying to ride together, which meant Erik was driving. He was picking the others up before me since I lived the closest to Gallows Hill. I waited at the edge of my driveway, hopefully out of view from my mom. Erik picked me up and drove to The Gallows. I hadn't eaten -- too nervous. 

Thanks to Erik's driving, the ride there didn't take very long. We filed out of the car and marched up the hill to the clearing. Kate's arms were full and I carried a backpack full of supplies. We had the potion and the spell, but there was an arsenal full of defensive potions in case Naomi's army breached our defense line. It was going to be quite difficult to multi-task between saying the spell, keeping my shield up, and making sure Naomi's army didn't get to the clearing. 

Daniel and his team were already safely hidden in the woods, as well as the Lycans. Mir hadn't said a word, but I knew she was a mess of nerves. There was no way she wouldn't be. The father of her child was out there, shifted into wolf form ready to go into battle. Not to mention, she was probably scared for her own life. Even Ivelyn, who wore bravery like a badge of honor, was extremely quiet. Kate was the only one talking and boy, was she talking. I didn't think she was nervous until we got to the clearing.

She missed her footing and slipped. I reached to catch her but missed her arm. She fell flat on her butt and looked up at me with round, child-like eyes.

"You okay?" My question brought tears to her eyes, which she quickly dismissed. She dusted herself off and stood up straight.

"Of course, we have a job to do," she was dangerously calm. I didn't question her, just nodded and followed her lead. Erik was carrying the fold-out table we needed. We set it up in the center of the clearing. 

"We'll need Daniel to come up here for his part in the spell," I told the others. We had gone through this multiple times. I knew we were ready. We would be able to handle this. Erik and Ivelyn walked towards the Eastside, where the woods were, where the Lycans were camped out. They were going to send the message down the line to the frontlines where Daniel was. 

Kate looked up at me, signaling the start of the spell.

"Are you ready?" She asked in a small voice. 

"Gonna have to be," there wasn't an option to back out now. I hadn't seen Clay yet, but maybe that was for the best. He wasn't going to listen to me anyway. I couldn't think about him now, it hurt too much.

"The potion is brewed, I'm going to pour it into this bowl," she pointed at a gold bowl at the center of the table. Mir and I both nodded. Behind us, we heard footsteps. It was Ivelyn, Erik, and Daniel trudging over to us. "I'll start the spell, then Corn it's your turn. I think by the time you say your part, the Cursed Ones will start attacking. It's important you finish your part before Daniel says his. We can't switch the part and we need to finish all three parts by the time the Solar Eclipse is fully transitioned." She looked up at the sky. The sun was at the center and the moon was slowly moving towards it. We needed to hurry up, it wouldn't take long for the moon to pass the sun. 

"Okay," I bobbed my head up and down.

"We'll have seven minutes total," Kate pursed her lips. My heart rate spiked. I knew we weren't going to have a lot of time, but seven minutes? That seemed impossible.

"Shit, seven minutes? Our best run took at least fifteen minutes!" Ivelyn observed. Kate's expression didn't change.

"I know," she told her as they locked gazes. 

"Cool, so you guys talk fast, right?" Erik joked. He was trying to ease the tension. 

"So, I need to say the spell in Draguni?" Daniel asked.