176 Black magic 2

When leaving the boarding house Remi feels a chill as they walk past the cellar entrance. She walks closer to Yona trying to feel warm. Yona pulls her closer to his side reassuring her. Aisling is looking around the town she has always loved it here. Seeing the houses as they truly were . Hearing the bustle of the town not of tourist but of people living. She looks at the group and excitedly asks. 

"Can we go to the Rock instead. I want to show you the view it's amazing. I want explore the town . To see it as a working town instead of a museum. To see building that in our time are just foundations . To see the munitions factory . I have always wanted to see exactly how it was not just to imagine it. " her eyes are shinning ,she is talking fast trying to get all the thoughts out at once. she looks like she could jump out of her skin from excitement, Almost like a kid in an amusement park. They go left towards the top of the mountain. Aisling is chatting about everything that is different from our time. When they make it to the top there is a large stone that is balanced on some smaller ones. Getting closer Yona notices that it's on a cliff that over looks the river. You can see for miles around. Aisling begins to tell them about the town 

"When Thomas Jefferson visited He said 

" perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in nature." When he climbed here from the tavern there." Pointing at the tavern they just passed. The four of them sit to talk about what they are to do . Astila begins. 

"If she brought the corpse here . Then how Remi could have woken the spirit at a different location. It doesn't make sense. "  Remi is still very jittery and playing with her necklace. From behind a crop of trees Uktena and Morrigan appear. They come to sit with them. 

" Remi child you will be ok do not fret. You called for us so we are here. " Morrigan is holding Remi's hand comfortingly. 

"Uktena looks at the group and asks. 

"What have you found out?" Yona begins his report. 

"There is a black witch. She used forbidden blood magic to bring the dead back. He is in this town . We are staying at the witches boarding house. What we don't understand is how Remi could have woken a spirit that was here not there. " he points towards the mountain where the home is. Uktena looks across the mountain and sees a puddle beside the rock. Waving his hand they see the events of the night before. Morrigan looks angry at the scene. She begins to pace . Aisling has never seen her agitated before she has always been compassionate and kind  around them. 

Astila noticing her agitation asks her.

"You know this witch?" Morrigan nods looking at them she explains

Aisling begins to describe the house. 

"The layout of the house is not like normal houses it has rooms at odd angles and symbols at the corners of every doorway. They are a part of the design so most would not notice. There are sprigs of lavender or sage in each corner of the rooms. I didn't see any Crystals but she has a lot of stonework throughout the house. If Onacona had not warned us ahead of time we would have been found out as soon as we entered the house. That's why we are appearing as ourselves. " Uktena nods and shifts into an eagle. He flys over the house as Morrigan goes into a trance. She can see what he sees. She begins to describe the house layout in detail.

" The house is built above a cavern, the cavern is large it takes up several of the houses around hers. The layout of the house is that of a pentagram . You would not notice from the ground but from above it is noticeable. She has a barrier around the house so no elemental magic can be used. To defeat her inside the house would be impossible. ." Uktena lands and shifts back. He asks who was the corpse she brought back. Yona tells them what they know

"It is her son supposedly her father is the governor and her husband is the mayor. Her son was lynched and burned for kidnapping,rapping and the selling of girls. He must be in the cavern below the house. "

Morrigan shakes her head no.

"I doubt he sold the girls. If she is using blood magic most likely they were sacrificed. Take me to the place that she raised him." With a wave of her hand a portal is opened and they walk through. They are at the charred area of the lynching. kneeling she places her hands on the ground next to the Burnt area. The spell circle reappears. Morrigan looks at Uktena. 

"She must have stolen the book of life when she was banished. That must be why she is able to cast spells. We must retrieve it and defeat her. " they begin to walk towards the house that her son lived in. Uktena waves the debris away showing what is left. Only the floor of the house is untouched by the fire. Finding the entrance to the cellar they go inside. 

there are clear crystals nestled in the walls of the cellar. Morrigan touches one its sends a wave of terror through her body. She dropped it quickly. 

"these Crystals hold the souls of the girls. Their terror and pain are trapped inside. This is very close to the pool where Remi was injured while Dream walking. When her blood was drawn it must have woken the spirit. His remains in your time must be close by. Most likely these Crystals are still here just buried by brush and years of nature taking back what is hers. In order to weaken him we need to kill the mother. She is where he gets his power. I will go to see Maureen and Moll they can look for the remains and these poor souls in your time. You stay here and keep a watch on Macha. See if you can get something that she has personally touched or has her hair on. See if you can find exactly where she lives . We will meet at the rock again tomorrow at sunset." She opens a portal for them to go back to the rock while they go to see Moll and Maureen. When they get back to the rock the sun is setting . They start walking back towards the boarding house when Aisling and Remi decide to stop at the church. The bell is ringing for mass . Going inside the four of them sit in the back. Looking around Aisling nudges Remi. They see a few people they recognize from photos. There sitting in the very first pew is Aisling's German grandmother. Astila looks in the direction and notices that she looks like Norma . There is a little girl sitting next to her staring at them. Remi nudged Yona he sees who they are looking at. There on the pew are six little girls sitting beside their mother. The mother is the spitting image of a very young Norma. Feeling the girl's excitement over seeing another ancestor they think of a way for them to meet. 

Morrigan and Uktena go to visit the others they see Inola and Onacona working on their house. The men stop when they see the two. Bowing in greeting they Inola asks. 

"Has something happened to the others?Is there trouble? " the worry is written on both men's faces. Morrigan reassures them . 

"They are fine they just need your help in this time to accomplish what is needed in that time. May we go to the house ?" The two men nod and the four of them walk towards the house. Maureen sees them coming and signals to Salali to take the children and Winona out. She nods and calls for Winona. 

"Winona can you and Brayden come with me to Audis's house? Auntie Jin needs some help before coming home. " the two children come running down the stairs and slam out the door Winona calling after them not to run. The four of them are pulling out of the driveway to meet up with HeJin . As the guest are about to  exiting the tree line . Morrigan looks at Inola "I like your niece Salali you know she is one of us . She need not always run away when we come. " with that she turns her back and walks towards the house.