Chapter 5: Interception On The Other Side
Max made his way out of his Camaro, grimoires and supplies in hand, as he made his way up the steps and to the door of the Witch Burial Ground cottage.
The reason Max was here was because he did not want to use his own reserves for the spell. Sure, he had the juice to perform both spells like two or three times over, especially thanks to the assimilation of old witchy spirits. It would still be draining though, and Max had school tomorrow; his recovery time was something he wasn't letting ruin things for him, at least in that regard.
Drawing the formation, prepping the candles and other materials, Max was eventually ready to begin the incantation.
"Alright, spirits, here goes nothing," Max muttered to himself, mentally preparing himself and psyching himself up. "Let's do this, Maximus.
"Gniward morf eht stiriqs ybren, lartsA tcejorp em ot loK nosleakim s'niffoc gnisu eht rehtO ediS sa a muideM!"
As Max finished his chanting, he felt his soul leave his body, quite literally. His environment rushed past him like the view out the window of a fast-driving car. The process was disorientating as it always had been, but when things slowed to a stop, Max did find himself in an entirely new spot than he was before.
The area he found himself in was a spacious room, with concrete flooring, industrial walkways and an echo in the air—likely a warehouse of sorts, and an empty one at that. Well, empty except for the 5 coffins stashed in the middle of the warehouse.
Max sensed life force energy coming from three of them, with some more of an antithesis coming from the fourth one; the last one was completely empty.
Walking over to one of three he sensed a faint hum of life within, Max opened one of the three, seeing a beautiful woman with blond hair and a black veiny, desiccated face that did little to hide her beauty.
"Rebekah…" Max murmured, closing the coffin, and walking to the 2nd of the 3 coffins he sensed life force within.
This man was quite tall, with dark brown hair and athletic, well-built. He was handsome in a severe if melancholy kind of way. He, too, was desiccating, black veins etched deep in his skin.
"Finn…" Max muttered, closing the coffin and moving to the final of the three. "Which means, this one is… Kol."
Kol was breathtaking even desiccated. Tall, athletic, though wiry and lanky, he had a clever face and, even desiccated, a mischievous, youthful aura.
Max was about to touch his face when something unexpected occurred.
His environment shifted a second time, only it was not his doing. A pulling feeling appeared in the pit of his stomach and he was no longer within the warehouse. Someone had hijacked his spell and had taken him somewhere not of his intent.
Max found himself in a beautiful temple-like.building, with vines lining columns of pearl white, beautifully aged molding. The floor beneath was sleek and a sweet smell in the air.
But none of this interested him. No, what did—who did—stood before Max, peering over an ancient book, as if she did not just hijack Max's carefully created spell and kidnap his soul to bring… wherever they are.
The woman was beautiful—undoubtedly so. She had long, dark, curly hair and seemed to be of Mediterranean descent, seeming to be in her late 20s, early 30s in terms of age. She wore a dark brown dress and no shoes, bare-footed. She carried a graceful air to herself, almost regal, as if a royal.
"Qetsiyah," Max murmured, garnering said witch's imploring gaze.
"When you assimilated those witches' souls, I was quite curious of which of my descendants would dare commit such a feat. Then you created a curse that ate at one's sanity until they killed themselves, and I became a little more than just curious. Both times, you utilized that strange new form of magic of yours," the original Bennett witch, eyes fixed on Max. "This new magic… what do you call it?"
"Are you talking about Logomancy?" Max questioned.
"Ah, Logomancy… what a peculiar but fitting name to magic with the basis of backwarding chants.to a spell with pre-determined effects," the witch smirked. "Created by a descendant of mine, no less."
"Lady Qetsiyah… what do you want?" Max narrowed his gaze. "I doubt you pulled my soul all the way here, wherever I am, for a talk of interests from your descendants. What do you want?"
"Oh, so direct. I am curious, though. What does a 15-year-old warlock want with an Original vampire?" she shot back. "And why, pray tell, do you possess such strong lifeforce to begin with?"
Max chose not to answer.
Qetsiyah merely let out a light tsk in response, eyebrow raised. "It does not matter your motives. All that matters is that you have the power necessary. Necessary for my plans."
"Plans?"
"I want to bring back Silas … to kill him," a dangerous glint of insanity flashed briefly in her eyes as she said this. "And you're going to help me."
"I will help you…" Max began, "under one condition."
"Name it," the witch said.
"I want to fight Silas one time, both of us going all out," Max said, garnering Qetsiyah's silent curiosity. "There aren't many witches as powerful as I am, so there aren't many who can push me, Silas can do that. I'll offer my help to kill him only after we have fought."
Qetsiyah fixed Max with a gaze unreadable, before laughing in amusement.
"Very well," Qetsiyah spoke. "I'll take that. You can have your fight with Silas, but afterwards, we kill him. Deal?"
"Deal."
"Good," Qetsiyah spoke, eyes back on her book. "If you're planning to awaken an Original, I'd do it during the night of a full moon; otherwise, the curse placed on them will affect you, too.
Also, you will be spending the next few months with me. Your training will be underway. It will not be easy."
Max, realizing the situation, just nodded along. After all, it's not every day one gets to train with an immortal witch. And school can wait.
And so, for the next few months, Max learned under Qetsiyah. He learned about the Other Side, Immortality Magic, Spirit Magic, and Nature Magic. Max even learned of Advanced Curse Magic.
By March 17th, Max returned to his body, a whole new and more powerful warlock.