Over the course of the next several hours, Amara patrolled the skies over both the campus and the surrounding town, looking for hints of where Tessa’s Coven had set up.

At first, she’d limited her search to the campus, hoping to find Imani or a Coven Head and track their movements, but she abandoned that idea almost immediately. After all the time she’d spent with Chloé and Ruby, Palesa had seemingly finished her work on the quad and was nowhere to be found. Instead, Amara redirected her efforts to attempt to find other signs of Coven activity.

Thinking back to her earlier volunteer efforts, she remembered that she’d felt a strange tingle when Palesa first engaged her magic. That train of thought also brought back memories of Tessa getting herself trapped in vines under the cafeteria and Evelyn teleporting into her apartment. In both cases, Amara had felt the magical shifts before they fully manifested. With all the energy coursing through her veins, she wondered if she could amplify that particular skill set.

Knowing what to look for, however, was a challenge in and of itself. She began small, adjusting her focus to the myriad electrical signals that raced through the air, training herself to adjust to inhuman sensations.

Unfortunately for Amara, those signals contained a near infinite amount of variety, and she had to force herself not to fall down the rabbit hole of deciphering what all the signals meant. Instead, she tried to generalize all the signals and mentally shove them aside. If she could see magic, maybe it would appear as something else?

I can’t believe I’ve never asked Tessa how she perceives the world, I’ll bet that would be helpful information right about now.

Her efforts eventually paid off when she found a large manor that seemed strangely obscured compared to all the nearby buildings. The haze surrounding it was quite distinct from the countless electrical signals she’d been ignoring.

The manor itself sat at the edge of a large forest preserve, one with countless paths, fields, and community amenities such as playgrounds and gazebos. Her interest piqued, Amara began circling lower and lower, all while continually enhancing her vision to look for other hints. She examined the roof, the siding, the foundation underneath the house, hoping for more tangible proof that this building was magically protected. Thankfully, after nearly half an hour of careful observation, she heard the front door open. Angling towards the front of the building, she managed to catch a glimpse of someone walking inside. Though it was brief, Amara immediately recognized that thick, voluminous hair.

Imani.

That was all the proof she needed.

Satisfied that she’d found the Coven’s base of operations, Amara began surveying the nearby forest preserve for an adequate hiding spot. She eventually found a dense collection of trees and shrubs, quite far away from all nearby paths, and descended from the sky. Attempting to make as little noise as possible, Amara opted not to land directly on the ground, instead clinging to the trunk of a large tree. Once she’d secured her grip, she dismissed her wings and slowly crawled towards the ground, at which point she adjusted her flight mirage to something more befitting the area.

At this point, night had already fallen. Artificial lights were few and far between in this forest preserve, which meant Amara also had a blanket of thick darkness to mask her presence here. Looking around, she saw that her landing had startled a small deer several hundred feet away, but otherwise she was completely alone.

Leaning up against the nearby tree, Amara settled in and closed her eyes. Breathing deep, she envisioned a world made of swirling gray mist, peppered with the occasional streak of color as the various dreams of humankind manifested themselves. She thought of herself, suspended in that swirling chaos, confidently swimming from dream to dream like a shark on the prowl. The Dreamscape was hers; a place beyond the reaches of humanity, a place where she had complete control over anything and everything.

When she opened her eyes, she’d arrived.

Her entire body floating listlessly in an idle current of thin, gray swirls. Without any sense of direction, her hair and clothes floated off her as if she were suspended in zero gravity.

Just like Chloé.

Thoughts of her friend, miraculously still alive, cemented her resolve. This was the only way to keep everyone safe, the only way to ensure that what nearly happened to Chloé would never happen again.

Looking around, Amara began inspecting the various dreams surrounding her. After her previous expedition in the Dreamscape, she’d grown much more proficient at telling the dreams apart, knowing which were closer or farther away, and which were more vibrant. Thankfully, her suspicion that the Dreamscape was loosely connected to the real world proved correct; she quickly found the exact dream she was looking for.

An incredibly large spiral of deep, green streaks that folded in and out of itself. Both its size and its density spoke to the complexity of this dream, one that verged on the edge of lucidity. The last time she’d entered this dream, she’d nearly been discovered, but now she knew what to expect.

As Amara flew closer, she flexed the invisible muscles that contained her hellfire. Around her, the veil of the Dreamscape rippled and bent to her will, and she knew she was ready.

She’d entered this dream carelessly last time. Now, she floated at the edge and slowly peeled apart the thick exterior creating a small, porous region that she left exposed just long enough to slip inside. Passing through the thick smears of color, she came to rest amidst a dense jungle. After a brief moment to inspect herself, ensuring that she caused as little friction with the dream as possible, she began moving forward. The trees, bushes, vines, and flowers around her clearly wanted to bend to her presence, but she held strong to the tethers of the dream and kept herself invisible. After traveling a few dozen feet, she found her destination: a large clearing filled with thousands of impossible flowers, all different shapes and colors, the only light coming from a series of large, bioluminescent plants that hung from the canopy like regal chandeliers.

In the center, lazily appreciating a large flower that hung from a nearby vine, stood Palesa Tsopnang. Even better, she was completely alone.

Flexing her demonic abilities once more, Amara changed her appearance. Her regular clothes shifted into a series of loose, flowing garments that highlighted the intricate tattoos all over her body. Her hair, already thick and flowing, grew thinner and straighter, and she let half of her face hide behind that elegant curtain. Her skin lightened, her eyes changed color, and when she stepped out into the clearing, she did so with effortless grace and elegance. She even made sure to rustle the leaves around her as she appeared.

Palesa turned around quickly. “Liz?”

Soft, demure, loving.

“I hope I’m not intruding,” Amara said quietly, her voice patient and kind.

Without hesitation, Palesa ran forward and threw her arms around Amara, kissing her as if they were reuniting after years apart. “How I’ve missed you, Liz! Why are you here? I thought we needed to play it safe for a while?”

Amara reached up and gently caressed the side of Palesa’s face. “I couldn’t help myself.”

Palesa laughed, a soft, vulnerable chuckle as she closed her eyes to nuzzle her cheek against Amara’s hand. “Always the hopeless romantic. I’m surprised I didn’t hear you enter.”

“Just trying to be careful,” Amara whispered. “What with… well, you know.”

“Ugh, Davenport,” Palesa muttered under her breath. “I don’t even want to think of her right now… can’t we talk about something else? We so rarely get to meet like this.”

Amara leaned closer, running her hands down Palesa’s arms before lacing their fingers together. She quickly kissed Palesa’s forehead before speaking. “Tell me about your day, love.”

Palesa glanced up, a look of playful mischief on her face. “What, a status report? Here?”

With a quiet laugh, Amara walked past Palesa before grabbing a seat on the edge of the hammock. “You know what I mean!” She patted the thick net of vines underneath her, and smiled as Palesa eagerly accepted the offer. For more chapters visit novel-fire.ɴet

“I mean, work was work. Cleaning up their quad took longer than I would have liked, but I’m happy we managed to get most of the students out. I don’t often get to show off my abilities to crowds of that capacity, I can only hope it inspires them to come together, to see that this world isn’t all monsters and hellfire.”

They leaned against each other. “And you say I’m the hopeless romantic?” Amara asked in jest.

“Oh, hush!” Palesa planted her hands on Amara’s shoulder and playfully pushed her over. Amara fell onto her back in the hammock, her long brown hair cascading down her body, and she manipulated the fabric of her clothes to fall in a way that flattered her lithe, slightly exposed body. She caught a brief hint of Palesa’s arousal, though not nearly enough to take advantage of yet.

After a few moments of laughter, Amara reached out a hand. “Come lay with me, Palesa.”

A brief look of confusion crossed Palesa’s face, but it passed just as quickly as it arrived. She took Amara’s hand, then leaned forward until her head rested on Amara’s chest. “What about you, Liz? Any updates on that situation with Tessa?”

Situation? What is she talking about?

Amara shook her head. “Nothing yet, sadly.”

“Do you think she will?” Palesa asked.

After a long sigh, during which she debated how best to answer, Amara said, “I can only hope, but it’s out of my hands now.”

Palesa’s body stiffened, and she pushed away from Amara before casting a suspicious gaze down. “You hope? Why would you hope for that?”

“I-I… what I meant was—”

The witch’s hand rose to her own cheek, and her eyes darted back and forth as thoughts raced through her head. Before long, she gasped. “Liz always calls me Sweet Pea. Who are you, really?”

Fuck. Time for Plan B.