Nathan is in possession of an ancient treaty. Agatha is resurrected to explain the treaty to the coven members. Its meaning has serious ramifications for the witches and wizards.

Later, Devlin and Henrietta carry out a dastardly deed which may have consequences for the entire coven.

Here is a sample from the novella ‘A Tale Of Witchcraft: Treaty’.

4.TREATY

PART I

Nathan looked at the dried and brittle ancient parchment which he held in his hand. He held it carefully to avoid doing it any damage. It was a document, which as the leader of the coven, he had in his possession for many years. He knew how to read the document and had gone over the contents of it. He was not however, aware of the context of how it was made and the actual or imagined calamity which had forced those who had drawn it up to agree and put their affirmation towards it. From the feel of the parchment, its dryness and fragility, he could tell roughly when it had been made. What he required was someone from that time who could explain the document to him and what was taking place then. He placed the parchment on his old wooden desk before stepping out of his tent.

The members of the coven were busy with their daily lives and activities. Some witches were training diligently on their skills in an effort to hone them as much as possible, others were practicing spells. Nathan could see the children were being taught lessons by the senior witches and wizards. He looked round the training area and in the teaching areas but he could not see the witch that he needed at that particular time and for a specific purpose. Nathan walked up a row of tents until he came to the one he needed. He called out to see if anyone was there. Shortly after, a middle aged witch stuck her head out from the tent.

“Hello Nathan, how can I help you this morning,” said Rachel.

“Hi Rachel, as you know we all have a serious problem involving the prophecies from the crystal ball and the young girl who recently came into this coven. We need to find out more about the prophecies, but there is no one in this coven who can give us this information. I need you to use your resurrection powers to raise up someone who may have been alive at the time a certain ancient document which I have in my possession was created. I have been to the witch graveyard many times and know that we have buried many people there from that time,” said Nathan.

“What exactly would you like me to do Nathan?” asked Rachel.

“I would like you to fly to the witch graveyard as soon as possible and resurrect the witch called Agatha. As I remember there is only one Agatha and she has a head stone with her name on it. I will be convening a council of elders later this morning and I would like you to bring her to this special meeting. There is a valuable service that Agatha can do for us,” said Nathan.

“Very well I will do as you have instructed, I shall fetch my broom and fly to the witch graveyard straight away,” said Rachel.

 

There was a slight breeze which felt fresh on her cheeks when Rachel touched down on the grass with her broomstick. Rachel could smell the countryside and the smell of nearby flowers as she walked towards the old witch graveyard. It was unkempt with the stones at irregular intervals and of all shapes and sizes. The grass was high around all the stones as no one had tended the area recently. With her powers she could feel the presence of those underneath her who had departed from this earth. Some had been dead for hundreds of years and others more recently but this area, this sacred ground was where most of them were taken to be buried. It was a travesty when any witch or wizard died, but it was a greater blow if that person could not be buried in this important piece of land.

Most of the dead were in advanced states of decomposition, merely bones now, with some rotten flesh and the decayed clothes that they were buried in. Nevertheless, Rachel could still feel that they were there, six feet under her.

Nathan had told her the name of the witch that the coven now required. She made her way through the old rocks and stones to the one with the witch’s name engraved. Rachel knelt down on one knee and bowed her head in reverence to the place and the stone markers. Raising her head she knelt down with both knees making herself as comfortable as possible before she performed her crucial task for the coven.

She took three deep breaths and closed her eyes as she cleared her mind of any obtrusive and unnecessary thoughts. She opened her eyes and placed both hands on the deep grass in front of her, digging her fingers down so she could feel the earth. She was now in contact with the ground and those departed who were below it. The witch concentrated before saying the words “Wake and arise”. After saying those words her breathing became heavy as if she was preforming some arduous work or running. Her eyes began to illuminate ever so slightly as she focused on what was happening directly beneath her. She could see the departed witch in her decayed state unsettling the earth around her and making her way to the surface. She breathed heavier and her eyes began to shine and through her fingers she could feel the earth moving. There was a slight tremor beneath her indicating that her magic was bearing fruition. Rachel could feel the strain that the magic was having upon her body. With her mind she pushed away any thoughts of resting as she continued to summon the departed to live once more. The tremors were palpable now and Rachel could feel the soil below her rising slightly and being pushed up. She could now feel the warmth from her eyes as they glowed.

Then she felt it as it pushed through the surface of the grassed earth. A skeletal finger touched her own spread out fingers. Rachel looked down to see another finger coming through and the soil and the grass being pushed aside to make way for the rest of the hand. She noticed it was mainly bone with no flesh attached to it at all. Rachel continued to focus on her task and soon the entire hand had broken the surface.

The witch rose, lifted one knee off the ground before grasping the cold skeletal hand in front of her. To aid the newly awoken witch she raised herself from the ground ever so slowly. The bones of the forearm appeared before she could then see the upper arm. Again there was no flesh attached and only some decayed rags hanging off the bones. As Rachel stood up further the skull made its way through the surface with some hair attached. Apart from the bones it had completely decomposed. As it rose higher the skull looked up and Rachel locked her own eyes with the empty sockets and smiled at the effect her magic was having. Slowly the rest of the skeleton appeared, the neck, the rib cage, the other arm, the pelvis and then the legs and feet. Rachel rose as more of the skeleton appeared until she was standing up fully with the skeleton in front of her with only some old rotten rags hanging off it.

The effort had taken a lot out of the witch but she knew that her work was not yet complete. With her eyes still shining she embraced the skeleton and willed it to be as it was before it was laid to rest. She held the skeleton as close to her as possible with her hands placed at the back of the rib cage. This allowed a greater transfer of her magical energy to it. Soon the magic took hold and muscles, organs, flesh and skin began to regenerate on the bones of the skeleton. The rags also turned into the clothes she was wearing as she rested.

Rachel embraced the witch for some moments as she could feel the frame filling out. It had been some time since she had actually done this and she was glad that the touch still remained with her. The action placed a great toll on her and she could feel herself weakening. She felt that instead of keeping the resurrected witch up, it was now keeping her standing. Then she felt some breath on her cheeks indicating that the resurrection was almost complete. She held the embrace for a few more minutes before she stepped back and smiled at the fully clothed, rejuvenated and resurrected witch in front of her.

“Hello Agatha,” said Rachel. “How are you today?”

The witch in front of her took a deep breath before looking round and smiling. “I feel good today, it is a beautiful feeling to be alive again.”

“Now then, it is time for you to do some work for us,” said Rachel as she led the way with Agatha following.

 

Agatha stepped inside and looked upon the well-appointed tent. She could see those objects which she remembered while she was living. Similar to her coven, there was a crystal ball in the main tent and this tent contained many candles which were used in the evening. She marvelled at the large wooden table and the well-dressed witches and wizards who surrounded it.  There was not a sound in the tent and all eyes were on Agatha as she told her story. The elders were about to discover why the treaty was so necessary.

“I was about fifteen years old at the time and life for me was good. I felt safe in the coven which was fairly much like this one except maybe larger. The set up seemed to be the same with the sacrificial area, the training area and the area for the living tents. I remember the smells of the coven and the bright colours and all those characters who were part of the community that I grew up in. There were well over 200 witches and wizards in the coven and part of our community. My mother and father loved me, looked after me and made sure that I was safe. They weren’t the only ones doing that as everyone chipped in and we were all well protected,” said Agatha talking about a safer time. “We had witches and wizards who had extraordinary abilities that could make you stop and stare. They could levitate, fly on brooms, transform at will into beasts of the earth and of the air of all sizes, make potions, cast spells, and throw fire balls, everything that you can do yourselves. They were fast and powerful and because of that I felt safe amongst them although my powers were nowhere near as strong and advanced as they were. I felt safe from the villagers and townspeople and any other witch or wizard from another coven who would wish our community harm. I should say I felt safe until that day when she came.”

“You felt safe until who came? Are you talking about the all-powerful witch?” asked Henrietta….

 

This novella is available as an eBook on Amazon.

Kind Regards.

Alan

alanrove@hotmail.com