Bewiched

Chapter 26: Haunted by Memory

“Okay.” Asha said as they packed the last of the things in their bags a few days later. “Now we're off to Devon to see Vex Lorn.”

“Ooh.” Daphne shivered. “My least favorite planet.”

“Scared?” Aris teased.

“No!”

“Come on then.”

“Guys!” Asha said and they prepared to depart. Asha fingered the crystal. “Vex Lorn, Devon.” She said, and they disappeared.

“OW!” Daphne yelled as Aris fell on top of her.

“Sorry.” Aris said and got up.

Creepy, Sylvia shivered. Asha looked around. They were in a small clearing in a wood, and a dark path led out of it to what seemed to be a village. The light coming from it was purple, and that gave Asha the creeps. The wood was made up of leafless trees, and there wasn't a living thing in sight. It really was creepy.

Suddenly Asha heard screaming. It started to feel as if her head was splitting open, like someone was forcibly going into her head, clawing at her skull. She leaned against a tree.

"Asha?" Daphne said with worry, but Asha couldn't hear her. Her vision swam, and she blacked out.

Asha dreamed she was in a room with two women. One had bright green eyes and was wearing all black, the other had shining brown hair with green eyes like hers. Asha knew from her Dad's memories that that was her mom. They were talking seriously, but Asha couldn't make out their words. Suddenly, the one with bright green eyes pointed her finger at the one with brown hair and purple light shot out of it. The other woman screamed and fell to the ground. Asha could tell she was dead, and she felt tears well up in her eyes.

“Asha, Asha, wake up!” Daphne was shaking her. Asha opened her eyes. She was leaning against a tree. She lifted her head to look at her watch. She had only been out for one hour. Daphne and Aris were looking at her.

“What?”

“You suddenly blacked out.” Aris said. “Maybe we should rest for a while before going any farther.”

“No.” Asha said and slowly stood up. She felt shaky, like she had just been in a big fight and was still recovering from the injuries.

“W-wait for us!” Daphne went after her and Aris followed, with Sylvia riding on her shoulder.

On the walk to the village, Asha thought about the dream. It had seemed very real, and Asha thought it was probably a memory of hers when she was a baby. That explained why she couldn't make out their voices. That also meant that she had watched her mother die. Her eyes welled up with tears again, but she impatiently wiped them away. The old woman on Cloven had been right about her being tormented by the past. She wished she wasn't tormented by it though. First the screaming, and now she was blacking out for no reason.

They reached the village at three o' clock in the afternoon, but there still wasn't any sun. When they got there, there seemed to be a festival going on. Everyone was wearing shimmering black clothing, and there were several booths along the streets, selling anything you could imagine. The children laughed and played along them. In the main square, everyone was dancing around a large purple energy ball, which was as big as a large boulder and cast purple light in every direction. Many people shook hands with them and said:

“Rejoice! For today is the darkest day of the year, where the sun doesn't show at all!” They walked around town for several hours until someone pulled them quickly into his house.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!” He exclaimed, as they looked at his ragged black clothes and black hair. He looked to be about 18. “Don't you know how dangerous it is to walk around here if you're you?!?!”

“Why's it dangerous?” Asha asked. “Nothing's happened.”

“Not yet, but that's because they're so dumb that they haven't realized who you are yet!”

“Who are you?” Asha looked into his dark purple eyes.

“I'm Vex Lorn,” He said and they stared. “But that's not important! You've got to get out of here!”

“You're Vex Lorn?” Aris blinked in disbelief. “I thought you'd be older.”

“Wait a minute, you-” Vex stuttered.

“I was supposed to find you.” Asha told him. “Aris thought you would be older than this, seeing as how you're supposed to be Headmaster Ambrose's friend.” Vex blinked.

“JUST BECAUSE I SUPPORT HIM DOESN'T MEAN I'M THAT OLD!!! I'M EIGHTEEN!!!” Vex yelled at them. “And what's this about you having to find me?” he asked, then mumbled to himself, “Suppose he sent them to try and get me to teach at Ravenwood again, stupid guy, does he ever give up? I told him no.”

“Professor Ambrose asked you to go teach at Ravenwood?” Asha asked him curiously.

“Hey, answer my question first,” he snapped. “What do you want?”

“Well, um, Professor Ambrose said, well, that you might be able to teach me death magic,” Asha showed him the letter and Sylvia licked her lips.

“Great,” Vex said. “Of course he sends you with an official letter so I can't refuse.”

“So you will teach me?” Asha said.

“Don't got a choice, do I?” he said.

Asha, Daphne, and Aris followed Vex deeper into the wood. Asha grumbled to herself. They had been traveling for hours, and were miles away from the village. The only light they had was the purple light from Vex's magic. Apparently there could be only purple light on Devon- any other light would sputter out somehow. This made Aris very irritable, as her power could not be used, leaving her totally helpless. She couldn't wait to leave. But they were here in the forest, since Vex had insisted on leaving the village. He had said:

“The villagers will soon realize who you are. Most support the Black Dove, though some I know support the other side in secret. They do a good job of hiding it, though. It is hard to tell friend from foe. The rest of them, as soon as they figure it out, will come for you, and kill you before you become much of a pest to the Black Dove.”

Asha snorted. What he had said back then had made sense, but they hadn't even stopped to rest once since they started. Finally, they stopped in a small clearing where they set up their tents for the night.

“Asha,” Vex called Asha outside her tent.

“What?” she asked as she came out.

“I think now is a good time for your first lesson.” he said, sitting down beside the purple fire.

“Okay.” Asha said.

“Now, the first people who settled here were ones who were without magic. They struggled, because of the cold climate and there wasn't any sun. After a time, their eyes adjusted to the dark and they developed dark fire to warm themselves with. In turn, this fire could burn cold too. Other people from different planets came to Devon, and they fought to gain control of the planet, during which time the Death users realized how powerful they were. They defeated their enemies and remained peaceful for a time. Then The Black Dove came and the planet has been thrown into war again.” Asha remained silent. “The first thing you will learn is how to make purple fire. Watch- Grovëlrr.” Purple fire sprouted from his hand.

“Grovëlrr.” Asha repeated, and purple fire appeared in her hand, flickered, and went out.

“Try again.” Vex said.

And so Asha tried again and again until the fire stayed in her hand until she told it to go out or detach itself from her hand and fly at Vex like a cannonball. By the time she was able to do that, it was past ten o' clock.

“That's enough for today,” Vex said, as Asha let the fire go out, sweat pouring down her face from all the work. Vex went inside his tent, leaving Asha alone in the dark.