His Cleaning spell — which included a drying component — came quickly and easily as it was another spell he used frequently.

  He spoke the words, and a moment later, Astra was crispy clean and dry.

  “I hate fall,” she muttered as she shut the door behind her.

  Sara snickered again.

  Astra flopped down on the chair next to the low table in the living room, every bit the moody Dragonkin she could be.

  James smiled and shook his head at the familiar display.

  “How’d it go?” he asked Astra. “Did you get all the enchantments set up for the traps?”

  “Hm-hm,” she hummed, giving the pot roast a hungry glance. “I managed to cast a Nullify Magic enchantment on every trap. If the werebunny falls into any of those pits, it won’t be able to escape by magical means — at least not right away.”

  James nodded, “That’s great. Thanks, Astra.”

  “Let me get you something to eat, Astra,” Kesha said, shooting the Dragonkin a sincere smile. She hopped up from the couch, took a plate, and piled some of the delicious pot roast on it.

  That seemed to soften things for the Dragonkin. Despite the moody blaze in her eyes, she smiled and leaned back in the chair.

  “That’s very nice of you, Kesha,” she said. “Thank you.”

  Kesha gave her a shy smile as she heaped on the food, then handed the plate to Astra.

  “It’s Sara’s cooking,” James said.

  Astra shot Sara an appreciative look, and the cat girl returned a broad grin.

  James couldn’t help but smile at their interactions — Sara was almost like a mischievous sibling, always on the brink of teasing someone else, always considering if there wasn’t a prank she could pull.

  Astra, for her part, did her best to ignore the cat girl’s antics, even though they solicited a smile or a bout of laughter from the Dragonkin from time to time.

  Astra looked up at James with her purple eyes, breaking his train of thought. “I can teach you the Nullify spell after dinner if you would like?” she said.

  James grinned. “I’d like that very much. Thanks, Astra.”

  “So,” Sara began. “That means we are all set to capture the… werebunny?”

  Kesha’s cheeks colored red at the mention of the werebunny.

  She had been deathly afraid of the creature, back when it was still unclear that it was a harmless bunny Shifter. In fact, the creature had driven Kesha from her natural hunting grounds farther to the north.

  Of course, James wasn’t the least bit rueful about that — the werebunny had driven Kesha to his cabin, and he might not have ever met her if it hadn’t been for the creature.

  Still, Kesha was a little ashamed that she had let a creature like that drive her out of her home.

  But James wouldn’t make light of it. He, too, had spotted the werebunny in the forest long before they knew what the creature was. And he couldn’t deny that it had looked at them with hungry eyes.

  He, too, had supposed that the creature was some kind of werewolf or other Shifter that was after their blood.

  But no, it was just a werebunny.

  “Well,” Astra said. “We have the traps in place near the werebunny’s source of fresh water. We might set up other traps if these prove unsuccessful.” She looked at James for confirmation.

  James nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed. “But we still have lots of other things to do, so I don’t want us to spend our day setting traps for what is a relatively harmless creature. I will admit that I’m curious to find out what is up — why has it been stalking us? But I think we can all agree that the danger has abated a little.”

  Astra gave a hearty chuckle, and Kesha’s expression fell.

  Sara reached over to pat her on the knee, even though she couldn’t suppress a smile of her own.

  James grinned and draped an arm around the fox girl.

  “Don’t blame yourself, Kesha,” he said. “You did the smart thing by getting out of the way of that creature. You couldn’t know that it was just a werebunny.”

  Kesha smiled and nodded, a little heartened by James’s words.

  “And now enough about that,” James continued. “I have another concern to deal with besides werebunnies.”

  They all perked up at that, watching him intently.

  “I need to get some money,” he said with a playful grin.

  The magical Fae girls and the mystical Dragonkin frowned.

  “Money?” Astra hummed, as if unfamiliar with the concept.

  James laughed. “Look,” he said. “It might sound a little mundane to all of you, but if I want to finish this bathroom, I will need to get some stuff from the hardware store. Until my High Magic can make a perfect sink, bath, and toilet out of thin air, there will still be some things that I need other people for.”

  At that, Sara set up. “Money?” she asked. “You need money?”

  James raised a single eyebrow. “Uh-huh,” he hummed. “Why? You got an idea?”

  The cat girl grinned and nodded.

  “Yeah,” she said, her gaze drifting to the hatch that led down to the cellar underneath the cabin, covered by a rug.

  “I sure do…”

  Chapter 6

  James followed Sara, Astra, and Kesha down the narrow staircase that led to the cellar beneath the cabin.

  The cellar was vast and seemingly endless, with corridors and rooms branching off in all directions. As they descended, James looked around in wonder at the strange place. The air was damp and musty, and he heard the sound of dripping water echoing off the walls.

  Sara led the way through the cellar, her lantern casting a warm, flickering light on the stone walls. The cellar seemed to be a labyrinth, and James was once again overcome by the magic of the place.

  All of this right under my cabin, he thought.

  It was here that he had first met Sara, bound her to him as his familiar, and received his Grimoire from her.

  But he had spent little time in the cellar since.

  He planned on changing that in the future, though; the cellar functioned as a kind of nexus between different planes of existence. James was very keen to start exploring the magical places that his cabin offered access to.

  Who knew what things he might learn there?

  He shook off the daydreams and focused on the graceful, feline figure of Sara as she led him, Astra, and Kesha down the passages.

  “Stay close,” Sara said, her voice echoing off the walls. “This place can be a bit disorienting. We don’t want to get lost down here.”

  “It’s magical,” Astra said, her voice filled with wonder. “I can sense the power in the air. It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted before.”

  Kesha nodded in agreement, “It’s like a whole other world down here. I can’t believe we are living right on top of it.”

  Sara smiled, “It’s been here for a long time. It’s a strange place, and it’s full of powerful magic. But there is no need to worry. The creatures that dwell here and the magic that lingers here cannot make its way up to the cabin itself. We are safe — as long as the enchantments hold.”

  As they walked, James realized he felt the ancient magic that lingered in the air. He sensed the power coursing through his veins, and he understood he was in the presence of something truly special.

  He hadn’t felt that way the first time around or any of the other times he had been down here.

  “I can sense it,” James said, his voice reverent. “The power seems to pulse in the air here.”

  Sara looked over her shoulder, casting him an admiring, yellow-eyed look.

  “That means you are getting stronger, James,” she said. “Only High Mages with a great aptitude can sense the presence of other enchantments.”

  He nodded, letting the powerful presence of the magic wash over him as they continued.

  The corridors twisted and turned, and James began to feel disoriented as he looked around. He could rely on Sara’s guidance to find his way out, but he hoped to soon find a way to navigate this place by himself.

  Self-sufficiency was a theme in James’s life; he loved being able to do things on his own.

  “This place is amazing,” he said at last, looking around in awe. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Sara smiled, “It’s a very special place. It’s been here for as long as I can remember, but we all know my memories are a bit… well, hazy. Still, it’s a place of power, and it’s important that we take care of it.”

  James nodded, following closely behind her. He saw Astra and Kesha following him, their eyes scanning the darkness.

  Finally, Sara led them to a small chamber at the end of a large corridor.

  The chamber looked dilapidated, half collapsed, and the ground was covered with thick earth as moisture trickled down from cracks in the ceiling.

  But what caught James’s eye the most were the mushrooms…

  The mushrooms grew in the corners of the damp and ruined room.

  They were small with white stems and yellow hoods. Each of the mushrooms shone with the light of its own, spreading a gentle yellow glow around them.

  Tiny motes — like spores — drifted in the radius of the light that the mystical mushrooms emanated.

  As James looked at the mushrooms, he could taste the magic radiating from them for a moment. It was less powerful than the magic permeating the hallways they had just braved, but it was there, nonetheless.

  Those mushrooms were unlike anything he had ever seen before, with a soft, luminescent glow that seemed to radiate from within. Still, they seemed delicate and fragile, and James knew he would have to be careful when handling them.

  Sara noticed his interest.

  “This is what we came here looking for,” she said. “These mushrooms should solve any short-term money problems you might have. The Wellingtons in town — in Tour — will pay well for them.”

  James perked an eyebrow as he recalled what he knew about the Wellingtons.

  He remembered his encounter with them at the barbecue. The sisters Sandra and Mary and their cousin Therese had struck James as slightly strange. The three women seemed in perfect sync with one another – almost to the point of finishing each other’s sentences as they spoke.

  And what was more, it turned out Therese had been the buyer of all the lumber James had chopped for Lucy during his first days in the village of Tour. The elder Therese had admitted that she needed the lumber for a certain kind of concoction, and the way she said it, James was sure that she wasn’t talking about some kind of homemade bunion salve or anything like that.

  All in all, those three women had left him with more questions.

  “Do you know the Wellingtons of the village of Tour?” he asked Sara.

  Sara nodded, “Yes, I know them. They are…” The cat girl considered her next words for a moment, bringing a slender finger to her bottom lip as her gaze drifted. “It’s hard to explain, but the Wellingtons are — in their own way — practitioners of High Magic.”

  “I thought you told me I was the only High Mage in Tour?” James asked.

  “Yeah,” Sara said, her left ear giving its twitch. “They aren’t technically mages, and they don’t necessarily know or understand much about High Magic.”

  “So, what are they?” James asked.

  “They are alchemists,” Sara said. “They brew potions, medicine, pills, and salves with various effects. The thing is, they don’t really know that what they are doing is related to High Magic.”

  James blinked. “So… but their potions work?”

  “Hm-hm,” Sara hummed. “Luckily, they don’t know how to make too many, or else they might achieve some kind of commercial success with them and expose High Magic to the world. Honestly, the Wellingtons have been one of the largest dangers to the secrecy of the art of High Magic.”

  James nodded. “Well, wouldn’t it be wise to just tell them the truth and ask them to keep things secret?”

  Sara smiled and shook her head. “Sandra, Mary, and Therese descend from the first Wellington in Tour. He was a vain and greedy mage of little skill, and he was cursed when he tried to use High Magic to achieve lofty goals of power. The curse was that he and his descendants could no longer directly cast spells, and that, outside of Tour, their capabilities would always be seen as quackery.”

  “Wow,” James muttered.

  Sara gave a soft smile. “I’m not saying I agree with the punishment, especially when it concerns the descendants of the Wellington line. I don’t believe that it is right to punish offspring for the deeds of an ancestor. But what was done was done. It was a different time, I suppose.” She ended with a shrug.

  Kesha stepped forward. “So, you’re saying these Wellingtons are doomed to live in the village and brew potions, but everyone will always see them as quacks?”

  Sara nodded. “Outside of Tour, yes.”

  “And the villagers themselves?” James asked.

  “Well,” Sara said. “Some of them come to the Wellingtons for their ointments and medicine. However, the Wellingtons are wealthier than such limited custom would imply…”

  James nodded softly at the implication behind those words. Obviously, there was something more going on with the Wellingtons, which proved to him that his initial hunch about those three women had been correct. There was more than met the eye.

  But for now, that was no concern of his.

  Sara turned to James and said, “Let’s start picking those mushrooms. Kesha and I will help you, and Astra can stand guard. I don’t think there is anything dangerous nearby, but it never hurts to be careful.”

  “I agree with that,” Astra said. “Besides, I’m not much good at picking mushrooms.”

  With a chuckle, the Dragonkin took position at the entrance to the half-collapsed chamber as the others got to work.

  James began to carefully pick the mushrooms from the ground. He used both hands, gently plucking them from their spots and placing them in a basket Sara had brought with her.

  Kesha and Sara helped him, their hands deftly plucking the mushrooms from the walls with ease. All the while, Astra stood guard, her eyes scanning the corridor for any sign of danger.

  As they picked the mushrooms, James admired the strange funguses with wide eyes. He had never seen anything like these mushrooms before, and their beauty and their magical properties fascinated him.

  He was eager to bring them to the Wellingtons and see how much they would pay for them.

  Of course, he was also curious to find out what they did with them, but that might be a secret that the Wellingtons were not quick to give up…

  Chapter 7

  As James, Sara, Astra, and Kesha emerged from the dark, damp cellar, James carried the heavy basket filled with the glowing mushrooms they had harvested.

  They would bring in a good amount of money from the Wellingtons in the village of Tour — at least, according to Sara.

  “You shouldn’t wait too long to sell those,” Sara said as she came up the stairs behind James.

  “Why?” he asked. “Do they go bad?”

  “Hm-hm,” Sara hummed. “I don’t know how long it takes exactly, but why take chances, right?”

  He grinned and nodded.

  “I’ll be heading to the village of Tour tomorrow to sell these mushrooms. I’ll also pay a visit to Lucy. Who knows, she might want to come over as well.”

  At the mention of Lucy, Kesha’s expression changed. She looked down, her tails drooping.

  Lucy was her mother, and they were not on speaking terms right now, even though both seemed ready to make up.

  But perhaps now is the time, James thought.

  “Are you okay, Kesha?” he asked. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Kesha shook her head, “It’s okay,” she said, then offered a smile. “I’d like it if she came over.”

  James nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on hers — green and blue and bright. “Yeah,” he said. “Maybe you guys can talk?”

  She grinned and nodded. “Yeah,” she agreed, taking a few steps closer to him as the other girls busied themselves with the dishes.

  She draped her arms around his neck and smiled.

  “You know,” she said. “I think it’s very sweet of you that you’re trying to help me and Lucy make things right.”

  James returned her smile and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I just want you all to be happy,” he said. “Even if I have to grab you by your tails and drag you into bliss myself.”

  At that, Kesha burst out laughing — a beautiful sound that never failed to liven up James’s heart.

  She then threw him a slightly naughty look. “You know I don’t mind it when you grab me by my tails and drag me around,” she purred, her voice seductive.

  The next moment, a pillow hit the back of James’s head. He winced and looked over her shoulder to meet Astra’s purple-eyed glare, slightly fake and perhaps slightly serious as well.

  “How about you two help clean up the dishes?” she said. “You can get touchy-feely after that, if you like.”

  Behind her, Sara snickered behind her hand.

  “All right, all right,” James said, laughing. “You hear that, Kesha?” He gave the fox girl a pat on her bum. “Time to get to work!”

  When all the dishes had been moved into the kitchen, James shooed Sara out of the way.

  The cat girl chuckled because she knew exactly what was coming.

  “All right,” James said, rubbing his hands together. “Everyone step back while I do the dishes.”

  Astra perked an eyebrow. “You would do them all by yourself?”

  “Hm-hm,” James said. “On condition that you girls clean up once I’m done.”

  Kesha narrowed her eyes as if suspecting something, but in the end, she gave an enthusiastic nod.

  “That sounds like a good deal to me,” she said, wariness still edging her voice.

  James grinned and nodded.

  “Very well, Mage,” Astra said, no less suspicious than Kesha.

 

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