It was a submarine but unlike any human creation Lila had ever seen. The subaquatic vessel was an elaborate torpedo-like construction held together my metal and magic that could rearrange itself on command. A central core of pure energy was the key to such an amazing transformative power. As the submarine rose from the darkness of the Atlantic, it was already changing to create a landing platform for the two witches. Lila and Sarah descended onto it and watched as the metal plates created an impenetrable dome around them. A staircase appeared at their feet and they continued downward, straight into the belly of the magical beast. Engines purred, its vibration reverberating across the hull and the submarine disappeared from view once more.

“Well, this is ingenious!” Lila exclaimed as she examined the countless magical filaments that allowed the device to exist.

“Very,” Sarah said, her right hand over the railing of the metal stairs. “And it’s covered in wards too to avoid detection by prying eyes. There must be thousands of them or more.”

“Do you think it’s one of the Council’s secret toys?”

“If it is, it was created long after I left. We didn’t have anything like this in my time.”

Lila and Sarah reached the bottom of the stairs and watched them dematerialize before their eyes. They were now inside a large square room with no furniture or decorations of any kind. No magical protections could be seen but they were, stronger than ever.

“This is not the welcoming committee I was expecting,” Lila said.

“That’s because we’ve been lowered straight into a cage to be probed.”

“Probed for what?”

“We need to make sure you still are who you claim to be,” a mellifluous voice replied. It was coming from everywhere around them, including the gray floor and the invisible ceiling above their heads. “Please stand still. This won’t take long.”

The two witches complied and the room flashed red. A tingling sensation ran down their bodies all the way to their feet before rising again and stopping at the base of their skulls. Lila clenched her teeth as the tingle became a burn, like a laser being shot at her nervous central system. The discomfort lasted for about thirty seconds and then dissolved into nothingness.

“You’re clean,” the unknown voice said. “Please forgive the intrusion but we can’t be too careful nowadays, The enemy has eyes and ears everywhere. I’ll join you in a moment.”

“Okay,” Lila scratched the back of her head. There was nothing there, no bruise or burn, only the leftovers of the probe that at least hadn’t been as annoying as an Inquisitor’s technique. The layout of the room changed one last time to reveal luxurious quarters where gold and red dominated and power flowed through every object present. The captain’s quarters were also an old witch’s sanctum, with charms hanging from the ceiling depicting fantastic creatures and covenants of ages long past. Sarah recognized a few but not all of them. The sacred history in the spacious division couldn’t be ignored, though.

Besides the vast collection of protective amulets, the room had a semi-circular desk, three chairs, some floating lamps, two bookshelves and a safe tucked between them, as well as a vertical coat hanger resembling ornate deer antlers and two trunks stacked together by the main door. Another door could be seen to the right. It led to the bedroom and the private bathroom, where there was no lack of the finest marbles and hundreds of beauty products to make the richest Hollywood stars envious. The opulence on display was uncharacteristic for a clandestine group but Lila kept her observations to herself.

She was staring into a spiraling amulet with a radiant star in its center when the main door opened and two figures decked in white and navy blue walked in. One was a dark blue-eyed and short stature woman with puffy cheeks that appeared to be in her late-forties thanks to the three layers of glamor applied over her skin, and the other was a tall man with a snake tattoo wrapped around his long neck and an exotic blue beard trimmed to perfection, a warlock. Lila didn’t recognize any of them and neither did her mother, which was surprising. The woman was the first to speak, introducing herself as

“Fiadh Callahan, and this is my husband, Derek Vandermeyer. Lila and Sarah, welcome to our little haven under the sea.”

“Thank you for having us,” Sarah took the lead. “Quite the impressive setup you’ve got going on here.”

“Yes, I suppose it is. Sadly, it’s also the only vessel we possess. We were surprised to be contacted through the Orvium but we’re glad you’ve come. How is Alondra doing these days?”

“As peculiar as always,” Sarah replied.

“And no doubt you find us peculiar as well. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sarah. I was always a fan of your work while you served in the Council.”

“I wish I could say the same, and yet I know nothing of the person I’m talking to. Fiadh is an Irish name, correct? Are you related to the old clans of the region, then?”

“Only by name. It means ‘untamed’ which is how my mother used to describe me. It would be an honor to share my blood with those proud women from the Isles, but my true heritage lies elsewhere.”

“Where, if you don’t mind me asking?” Sarah clenched her teeth.

“Mother, is this line of questioning necessary?” Lila intervened.

“It’s okay, Lila,” Fiadh replied. “She’s only being careful like we were with you. If you must know, Sarah, I hail from North Rhine-Westphalia region as well, and the same goes for my husband. Tabitha has always been a thorn in our lives but we never knew how dangerous she could be. Now, we do.”

“Are you related to her?” Lila asked, feeling uneasy with the way the conversation was going.

“Related? Oh no, girl! That wench has no connections and if she did, she wouldn’t hesitate in weaponizing them for her benefit. We’ve known about her for ages but it was only when she made her move that we realized we needed to do the same. She wields magic in the most destructive way imaginable and won’t stop until her perversions take over our way of life. We are trying to make a stand here but we miscalculated her true power. Her corruption already runs deep in the systems we’ve come to believe and rely on.”

“She has enthralled a friend of mine, an innocent human who asked for none of this.”

“We all know what’s that like, Lila. Maybe with your help we can make a difference.”

“And I’m counting on yours for that, too. I’ll do whatever it takes to save Penelope from her filthy claws.”

“Good. We need that fire, but we also require some intel from you. Few people face Tabitha head-on and live to tell the tale. What’s your secret, girl?”

“I... I’m not sure I have one other than being stubborn and never backing down from a fight.”

“What my wife is trying to say,” the warlock made his voice heard. “Is that there may be more to you and your skills that you’re not aware of. We know of your prowess, of course, Sarah, but has your daughter ever manifested any talent besides the ones in your bloodline?”

“I don’t think so, but what talents are you referring to?”

“Tabitha’s wielding of the dark arts for so long has corrupted her spirit. She uses the sign of evil to enslave others to do her bidding but, in a way, she’s enslaved, too. The malice feeds off her, making her madder and more power-hungry every day and yet, here you remain, untainted. We would like to understand why that is.”

“So, you want to test me, too? Poke around my mind and body to look for abnormalities? Do you think I’m some sort of magical freak?”

“Right now, the only thing we want is to talk to you, and learn straight from you how you’ve come to be embroiled in this, but perhaps you’d like to do that over a tour of the vessel?”

“Only if you tell me how to reverse the effects of the sign of evil. That’s the only thing that matters.”

“We will share everything we know in exchange for your cooperation,” Fiadh said. “Does that seem like a fair arrangement to you?”

“Yes,” Lila nodded, eager to get things started. The longer they waited the more Penelope suffered, adding to her internal guilt.

“Then, if you don’t mind...” Derek said, stepping out of the way. Lila exited the Captain’s quarters, walked along a silver passageway and had to close her eyes when the bright lights ahead illuminated the rest of the submarine.

The majestic vessel was teeming with life. Instead of cramped corridors and an oppressive atmosphere like she was used seeing in movies and TV shoes, this submarine was wide and colorful, with the magic tiles holding it together producing its own light and reflecting it back and forth. Fiadh and Derek led Lila and her mother across multiple sections from the engine room to the dining hall, passing through the crew’s quarters and the communication center. The young witch was in awe of it all but nothing impressed her more than one section by the rudder with an observation deck and a giant glass hatch where she could look outside, deep into the ocean depths. Under normal circumstances, the water pressure wouldn’t allow such a section to exist, but that’s what magic was for.

“How deep are we?” she asked, trying to adjust her eyes to the blackness on the exterior.

“About eight thousand feet,” Derek replied, smiling at her enthusiasm. “But we can go deeper than any of mankind’s creations. You know of the Mariana Trench, don’t you? We’ve been there and back once back in the day when this vessel was used for recreational purposes only.”

“So, this was an underwater pleasure cruise?” Sarah asked.

“You can say that,” Fiadh replied. “My husband and I have always appreciated the finer things in life and since we had the means for it, we created this submarine to entertain us. I don’t know about you, but teleporting around the world isn’t fun when you can have the pleasure of exploration at your fingertips.”

“It’s so dark. Is there anyway I can take a better look outside?” Lila asked.

“Of course.” Derek gave the order to turn on the outside lights around the hatch and across the submarine’s outer shell and the darkness gave way to a bioluminescent paradise, filled with elaborate coral formations, fantastic fishes and other sea creatures straight out of a Jules Verne book, and even an old shipwreck that was at least two hundred years old. The subaquatic environment was the power of Nature at its finest, a gentle reminder that there were things in the universe bigger than witches and warlocks.

“It’s beautiful,” Lila said.

“Yes, it is,” Sarah agreed.

“Lila, while we’re here, do you mind answering some of our questions now?” Fiadh queried.

“What do you want to know?”

“How did you come to learn of Tabitha’s existence, for starters?”

“Well...”

Lila told them everything from the beginning, from the strange remark made by her mother to her ill-fated experiences in the graveyard and the Council’s headquarters. Neither of her hosts interrupted her while she shared her tale, but were quick to point out something bizarre when she finished talking.

“The sign of evil being out in the open disguised as a common tattoo?” Derek scratched his blue beard. “That’s... surprising.”

“It means she’s getting bolder by the second, challenging us to do something to stop her,” Fiadh said.

“Either that or it was bait to see who would come investigate, a way to claim more thralls for her nefarious cause. We should run a social media search.”

“To what end?” Sarah asked.

“To see how many more brands are being shared. We have an estimate of how many of ours have joined with her already, but the human tally is incomplete. We need more data and this could be a way to get it.”

“That’s a good idea,” Fiadh said. “Will you coordinate that while I continue to talk to our guests?”

“Of course,” Derek kissed his wife’s lips and headed to the communication center to begin his research. The three women were left alone, their faces bathed by the warm lights of the observation hatch and Fiadh wasted no time asking the questions no one had dared to ask yet.

“Lila, have you ever had any contact with dark magic before this encounter?”

“Only through defensive arts and the teachings of my mother.”

“But if you’re asking whether she was raised as a practitioner of it, the answer is no,” Sarah concluded.

“Why is that relevant?” Lila asked.

“The more you use dark magic the more resilient you become to its effects. That could explain why you resisted Tabitha’s attacks the way you did.”

“I only resisted because she didn’t use her full power against me. She wants to see me suffer for digging into her affairs and daring to resist. I doubt there’s anything more than that. Besides, didn’t you probe me already for that?”

“We tested you to determine whether you’d been touched by her evil charms or not. We didn’t run the entire gamut of the magic spectrum.”

“And do you want me to consent to that now?”

“I believe it would be an important tool to use to our advantage. We have a magical resonance chamber by the machinery room. If you say yes, I can get the preparations going right away.”

“What do you say, mother?” Lila asked.

“I ask if that’s really necessary. It’s a long and painful process to analyze her like that when you’re not even sure if you’re going to find anything of note.”

“We have ways to minimize her discomfort. The magical mapping techniques have changed a lot in the last decade, Sarah. If we do this now, it can also be beneficial to her future training.”

“Unless you can prove me the benefits will far outweigh the risks, I wouldn’t advise it. She’s been through a lot already.”

“It’s her call, of course. I’m just saying the option exists and we should be open to all possibilities.”

“How will scanning me help with my future training?”

“If we discover something unusual in the flow of magic that courses through you, we can harness the anomaly and use it against Tabitha and her minions.I say we’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain by conducting the exam as soon as possible.”

“Like she said, it’s your call, Lila,” Sarah said.

The young witch sighed. Being a guinea pig was not a part of her plans but if there was even the smallest chance to find something useful via testing, who was she to no say no? Penelope needed her at her best and with complete knowledge of her capabilities. As disheartening as the situation was, the solution was obvious.

“Tell your men to get the chamber ready, and let’s do this,” she declared.

((to be continued))