Chapter 28

Pandemonium reigned on the small plateau. Dashiell had been waiting for this, and had pulled out a second vial of holy water. He took a shot and threw the vial as hard as he could in the direction where he had seen the crone. “The power of Christ compels you!” He shouted after it. He heard it break, followed by an agonized scream, whether because the witch was Christian or had just watched the Wizard of Oz too many times, he couldn’t be sure. But he was fairly sure that she was out of the fight, at least for now.

He felt an impact on his side as his coat absorbed a spell that had been hurled at him. It shook him a bit, but had no other effects. His gun was still in one hand, but he was afraid to fire blindly, knowing Regina was somewhere on the other side of the circle.

He heard a strange voice speaking in low tones, off in the direction where he had last seen Hecate. Whether it was her, or one of the two witches still in the game, he couldn’t be sure. His coat probably couldn’t withstand the attack of the demi-goddess, at least, not at full force. But he and Regina had disrupted the spell.

Hecate was still here, at least in some form. And that meant that she could exercise her powers. He had to get rid of her. He knew he didn’t have the power to banish her, but she also wasn’t fully manifested on this plane. That meant she was unlikely to be here by her own force. Instead, she was tied to this place by the spell. So he had to break the tie.

He had been moving the entire time he was thinking, making sure not to be in the place where the last spell had hit him. He had lost track of where everyone was, and an eerie silence descended on the scene. It was broken only by the sound of the still bubbling cauldron.

And that was the key. He turned and charged the center of the circle, bending low and putting his shoulder into the side, just under the lip, lifting and heaving at the same time. The heat of the cast iron burned, but the coat was protected against elements as well as spells, so it kept him from being scalded.

The huge pot raised off of two of its pegged feet and paused in the air as Dashiell’s initial burst of power halted. The cauldron was huge and full to the brim of the ingredients the witches had utilized in their spell. Some of the liquid slopped over the edge. Dashiell braced himself and pushed harder, until he crossed the invisible line where the weight of the brew caused it to capsize, spilling out over the ground, creating a slippery, chunky mess on the granite.

His eyes had adjusted to the starlit darkness as he was doing this and he saw three feminine figures outlined against the horizon, all within a few feet of him. One of them was holding a gun, and he knew that to be Regina.

He raised his gun to take aim at the remaining two figures. As the vile mixture of plant, animal and human remains washed over their feet, one of them wavered and became translucent, before vanishing entirely. So much for Hecate.

He turned his weapon toward the final figure. She was weaving her hands and Dashiell thought he could make out a look of hatred on that middle-aged face. Then, her face turned toward Regina and Dashiell was moving as her hand shot out. He threw himself into the air between the two women and again felt the force of a spell being absorbed.

“Dash!” Regina cried out as he hit the ground, rolling to look for the witch. She was nowhere to be seen.

Regina ran up and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Dash! Are you okay?”

He sat up, rubbing his side where it had hit the ground. “I’m okay Regina. My coat took most of the blast. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Dash.” She turned her gun towards the two figures laying prone on the ground. “Looks like we caught two of them. Don’t know what happened to the others.”

Dashiell was just turning to look at their captives when he heard a new sound, coming from the East. It was an odd, shuffling sound. It sent a chill through him.

He quickly got to his feet, and checked his weapon, to make sure it was ready to fire. “Regina, we have company,” he said quietly.

“And remember….aim for the head.”

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