Bran Cornick hates witches. Not only are witches and werewolves often enemies, but witches always seem to target him and his family. So what does it mean when a witch saves Bran's son, despite knowing who and what they are? How does she have so much...
The drive was spent in relative silence, only broken up by the occasional directions from Amari. When they pulled up to the house, the witch had to hold back her laughter at Bran's expression. The Victorian-styled mansion was huge, surrounded beautiful meadows of wildflowers as far as the eye can see. "Coming?" she asked, climbing out of the car. Wordlessly, Bran followed her inside. They entered a library filled with books of all different sizes, colors, and ages. Some looked relatively modern, while others were so old Bran worried they might turn to dust. Amari strolled down the aisle, running her finger over the spines of the books as she went, occasionally stopping to pull a book off the shelves and flip through it. Noticing Bran's curious expression, she explained, "Spellbooks that I've collected over the years. Some are from covens that I defeated. Others were given to me as gifts or payment for my help. I have all of them memorized, of course, but it never hurts to keep physical copies just in case." This surprised Bran. Looking around, he thought that there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of books. How could one person memorize them all? Then he remembered that Amari was no ordinary person. She was the most powerful witch in existence, and was stronger alone than an entire coven. He tried to ignore the pride his wolf felt. Finally, Amari found the book she was looking for. Pulling it off the shelf, she flipped through it until she got to the right page. After scanning it quickly, she put it back, then led the way out of the library and into another room, this one full of herbs, crystals, and other things. "So, what are we looking for?" Bran asked. Amari smiled at him. "I'll need some lavender and astragalus, along with the African Devil's Claw Root. They should be on that shelf, right next to the hibiscus and Irish moss," she said, pointing to a shelf of labeled vials across the room. After they gathered all the ingredients she needed, they headed back outside. "All we need now is some Mandrake root, which I keep in my greenhouse. Once we have that, healing your son will be a piece of cake," Amari stated. The screech of a hunting bird drew their attention to the sky. A hawk was circling overhead. Bran growled, warning the hawk to stay back. "Oh, it's okay. That's my familiar, Hyacinthus," the witch reassured, holding up her arm. The hawk immediately dove, extending its talons to land on Amari's arm. Bran wondered at the necklace that the hawk wore. It was a silver chain, with a dragon's breath opal.
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As they continued their walk towards the greenhouse, Hyacinthus grew more and more agitated, screeching and flapping its wings. Amari stopped again. "What is it, Hyacinthus?" she asked. They didn't have to wait for an answer. The greenhouse suddenly exploded.
