NIGHTS OF HALLOW

A few minutes of silence ensued between Perdita and Sthena, the former trying to comprehend what she heard.

She tilted her head to clarify what Sthena had said, ”I am going to revive it?” Her voice came off in uncertainty of how she was to do that.

”You heard me,” Sthena remarked, causally slipping his hands into his coat pockets as though they were talking about the weather.

A frown was quick to crease Perdita’s forehead she pinched feeling perplexed. She voiced out in panic, ”I couldn’t even do what you asked me to do correctly, it’s now to revive a burning tree? Do you want me to cause more fire?”

”Who said that you cannot do it?” Sthena turned a questioning gaze on Perdita, his brows scrunched in disapproval. ”Do not talk down on yourself when you haven’t even tried it out yet. That is the first way to kill yourself. Thinking and already scared you cannot do it makes you more dumb even though you could do it.”

”I—” Perdita began and closed her mouth just as she opened it not knowing what to say. It was no lie she was scared. She didn’t want to cause more damage. It was the time of winter and the trees had shredded their leaves making them more prone to catch fire as there were no fresh leaves on them.

”Tsk,” Sthena clicked his tongue, shaking his head at the slumped shoulders of the Lady beside him. ”I am trying to motivate you to work hard rather than taking what I said the opposite way. We all learn every day, nobody is above learning and you are doing just fine. So raise your chin, green eyes.”

An encouraging smile from Sthena directed at Perdita was enough to boost her morale as she stood straight, paying rapt attention to Sthena’s words.

Sthena bent down, taking the residue of snowflakes from last night’s fall that hadn’t melted away under the heat of the day’s sun in his hand. He resumed speaking, ”If you can recall what I told you about manipulating things around you to your advantage, it is now you are going to put it into practice.”

”The powers of the witches come from nature. Harnessing the energy within and around you to your advantage. Like what you did earlier with the fire, you used the energy in you and the energy around you to bring that fire out.”

”The energy within you is what you think. What you believe you want to happen. While the energy around you are the things you feel, see, touch, and hear. Once you can connect with nature, you have the most advantage compared to anybody. Note—” Sthena paused to make sure Perdita was paying attention before he continued,

”—Not everyone has the ability to connect to nature. That is why different creatures have different abilities. While on the other hand, there are those without abilities at all.”

”Connecting with nature requires a lot of practice and focus. Most times, some fail to do it. But in your case, I didn’t start with that lesson because your witch’s side had already connected you with nature.”

”Do you understand what I am saying, Perdita?” Sthena questioned, coming to stand in front of her as he let the snowflakes slip from in between his fingers.

”Yes, I do.” She replied, a thoughtful look on her face. She asked, ”Witch’s being able to connect with nature, harness the energy within and around them to their advantage, does it cancel out what was said in the prophecy book?”

”What did the prophecy book say?”

”In the prophecy book, it was said that the powers of the witches to perform magic by using nature were taken away from them and that they could only use markings and potions to perform any magic. How am I able to do what I did without the use of any marking?”

”You have a very good question. It shows you have been paying good attention to everything happening and things you have read also.” Sthena uttered, his voice filled with pride. He then answered her question,

”The answer to your question is because you are different from the other witches. You and your brother, Marco. The reason is that you have the abilities of two creatures in you. And mostly because of the lineage of the witch’s family you come from.”

”The green-eyed witch family,” Perdita replied to Sthena’s words.

”That is correct,” He replied. ”It is this reason of being from a powerful witch lineage that Serena and the men were able to create such a portal using the powers the green eye witch family possesses. It is also the reason why it was said that the vampire-witch siblings will come from them.”

”Okay, that explains it,” Perdita nodded understandingly. She could recall the witch from the forest who helped them trace the location of Marco used markings and potion to perform the ritual, indicating her powers weren’t strong like that of the green-eyed family. She was a grey-eyed witch.

”Back to the topic,” Sthena cleared his throat. He turned in the direction of Emily and said, ”I believe she will be the best to teach you how to harness your witch’s powers as she is your guardian witch.”

”Emily?” Perdita turned to look at the girl who gingerly stepped forward being called upon and put on the spotlight.

”Your Majesty, My Lady,” Emily bowed as she stood in front of the duo with hands clasped in her front.

”Teach her what she has to know, do not forget you are still under my watch of you proving to be her guardian witch.” Sthena declared, stepping back to give the women space to practice while he watched.

”Yes, Your Majesty,” Emily bowed again. Turning to Perdita, she spoke, this time in a relaxed gentle voice, ”Please, follow my lead, My Lady.”

”Okay,” Perdita took the outstretched hand of Emily. She watched as Emily changed the color of her eyes which was light brown to the same shade of green as her eyes. ”You still haven’t told me how you are able to change the color of your eyes,” Perdita said to see Emily smile. Her case was different because she was turned into a vampire, but Emily could do it even when she wasn’t turned into a vampire.

”I will, My Lady when the time is right,” Emily responded, taking a stance in front of Perdita as she instructed, ”The first thing My Lady as His Majesty mentioned is your emotion. Focus on it, know how you feel and what you want.”

”Okay,”

”Good,” Emily acknowledged and went on, ”Now, listen to the things around you, the whistle of the breeze, the sounds of the chirping birds, and then feel them. Feel the heat of the rising sun on you, feel the cool brush of air on your skin, and pay attention to what it says to your heart.”

”Are we good, My Lady?” Emily quizzed midway explaining while staring into Perdita’s green orbs that now swirled with its green flecks in them, confirming the energy budding inside of her waiting to be unleashed. To her question, Perdita nodded in affirmation.

”Lastly, My Lady, to heal comes from a place of love, your heart. Before you can heal, you need to have a clear conscience and mind to focus on what exactly you want to heal.”

”A word of caution, please do not always use this ability because it not only drains your strength, it drains your energy as well. Healing is a lot of sacrifice, it is sacred. Which means that it is not given to everyone unless your soul is kind and pure.” Emily’s voice different from the timid one she used earlier sounded confident as she guided Perdita on what to do.

She continued to instruct, ”Now step forward, My Lady, use all that I have said to practice on the tree. Please, be prepared too, disappointments happen. It could mean that you were not gifted with that ability. But then, all the best, My Lady, you can do it.”

”Thank you, Emily.” Perdita’s hand shook a little as she spoke. Her hands were tightly clasped by her sides. She heard Sthena’s words reach her ears, ”Don’t worry, darling, even if you were not given the ability to heal, at least you can destroy the world with me.” This made Perdita smile as she turned to look at Sthena, a mischievous smile plastered on his face.

Reaching the tree that was still burning though the flames had reduced, Perdita followed all that was said to her by Sthena and Emily, trying her best to do it right.

Reviving the tree meant she was to put out the fire before bringing life back to it. At this thought, everything felt overwhelming to do in her head.

She deeply exhaled, telling herself to relax. With determination building inside of her, Perdita touched the burning tree, the hotness of the fire burning her palm as she hissed, her face contoured in pain.

For the first few seconds of placing her hand on the tree, nothing happened. And as more seconds ticked away, the anxiety of not getting it right slowly enveloped her. Her hand on the tree shook seeing that nothing still happened.

”My Lady?” Emily called out, coming to stand behind Perdita. ”It’s alright, My Lady, first trials can be like this sometimes, you can always try again.”

”She’s right, Perdita,” Sthena agreed also coming to take Perdita’s hand away from the tree that had already burned her hand though it were mere patches of red as she was a vampire and a witch, the fire didn’t affect her much.

”You don’t have to be disappointed, you did great more than an average witch would do and I am proud of you,” Sthena said, speaking gently as he caressed her head while holding her hot palm. He could already feel the dejection from her.

More than her burnt palm, Perdita could only feel disappointed that she didn’t get anything right. Perhaps, the gift wasn’t meant for her anyway. She consoled herself internally.

Flashing a bright smile at Sthena and Emily, she spoke, ”I am fine the both of you, it is not like I don’t have other abilities. This one was just not meant for me. Come on, let’s go.”

”Hmm,” Sthena didn’t speak further and followed behind Perdita. It was enough lesson for the day.

The trio walked away from the tree, their feet a silent mush against the remaining snow on the ground when they suddenly heard a cracking sound. They all simultaneously paused in their steps when more cracking sounds came after the first one.

”Don’t tell me a tree is about to fall,” Perdita joked as they all turned to see what was causing the sound.

There before their eyes stood something they wouldn’t have imagined seeing, making each one of them gasp with eyes widened like saucers.