“How much is the corn bread?” Willana asked.

“4 barrato  copper coins, young lady.”the shop keeper exclaimed.

She shook her head: 

“Damn,  even bread is expensive these days.”

The young shopkeeper shrugged. “Can’t give  it to you  for any less”.boss would kick my ass.

“I’ll take it.” she answered.

She grumbled as she  took the bread:

“What a robbery. Now I won’t have enough for carob cakes.”

Street cleaners littered the street  as she walked  outside. Most of them were elves, with their sharp teeth and long, downturned ears. Let’s just say I could never be an elf bride.

She regretfully walked past  the carob stand  at the marketplace.

“Fresh apples!

Carob cakes, carob cakes!”

MUST

NOT

BUY

I’m on a budget. She ruminated.

Soon after, she was home.

“Mom, I’m back!”

She took off her green  coat and tossed it aside.

She put the bread on the table.The table was packed with unwashed dishes. At the end of the room, opposite of the entrance door, stood a shrine, consisting of a small table, a candle, pink gem, commonly known as a soul gem, and a badly drawn picture of  her mother.

“You know what day it is?It’s the day  of the magical academy entrance exams.”

 She tucked her  wavy brown hair behind her ears as she came closer  to the shrine. She grabbed the gem and cleared  her thoughts.

She slowed and deepened  her breath while closing her eyes. This was the easiest way to do it.

“Sweetheart, I don’t wanna break your heart, but you know  this will go as well as it did for me.”her mom’s words echoed in Willana’s mind.

“No, mom, times have changed. I’m sure I can do it.”

Mom’s voice echoed in her head again.”Unlikely, but I’ll be there for regardless of  what happens. You know that, right?”

“Thanks, mom! It’s time for me to go.”she grabbed the gem and put it in her pocket.

No time for lunch this time. She thought.

She was already  at the door when she remembred. She left her mirror at the shrine table. “Of course, I forgot…” She clicked her tongue as  she went back for the mirror. The mirror reflected her   freckled, yellow-eyed face for a moment. She put the gem and the mirror into her leather bag and stormed out.

Walking at a fast pace, she passed by the blood  shop, where  people ould buy blood stones. A few streets beyond that, the testing field  of the magic academy  was hosting entrance exams. It was a huge grassy field. There, she stood in line. Most of the participants  had at least one blood  stone  on their arm , stomach, or forehead, but mostly on the arms. Some had them  as a part of their clothes, or weapons, usually a staff or a wand. Some time passed and it was her turn. The  instructors sat at a table  with  2 vases and a candle. One with water, and one with dirt.

Most of the initiating  students could only control a  drop of water  or a tiny speck of dirt.

“Where are your blood stones?”the instructors asked in unison. 

“I don’t have them, I don’t need them.” she stood proudly.

The whole area roared with laughter.

“This is not that kind of establishment.”said the instructors.

“What’s next, are you  gonna pull out tarot cards?” someone in the crowd mocked her.

Her eyes teared up a little.Her face was tomato red.

“Let her try it at least.” A guy  with  a bloodstone in his sword said.

The instructors groaned. “As if we should listen  to a  man who has already  failed two times.” the bald one  answered.

“Sure. One chance. That is all you get.” said the long haired instructor in a robe.

Baldie gave him a dirty look.

Willana grabbed the opportunity by the throat and pulled out  her mirror and gem. She held the gem  in her left hand and mirror in the right.

She shouted with her eyes closed.

Spirits of the dead, hear me!

Bovuu na heer, reaper of souls

Kazaana, the one who  watches over the dead, 

And Belina, you who  hold the barrier between death and life, 

help me bind my mother to me. Let her out!

Slowly, her mother started  coming out of the mirror while the gem turned dark purple.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been out.”her mother said.

“Is that it?” the bald instructor asked.

The candle was blown out  as Willana’s mother  came closer to the table. She grabbed  the vase with water and  drenched the bald instructor with it.

“ It’s been a while, can’t believe you haven’t croaked yet. I see you’re still a closed minded asshole. Also, no one makes my daughter cry!”she shouted.

The  bald instructor looked pissed.

“Assaulting an instructor certainly won’t help you.And I’m afraid that even if we  let you in, the higher ups would not.” the instructor wearing a robe explained.

Willina  realized where that  was going. Quick to be disappointed,  she made a gesture with her hand in the air that looked like a v and a circle and muttered some words. She turned around to leave as  her mom was pulled back into the soul gem, turning it pink again.

Exactly once she left the area, the guy with the sword  stopped her.

“You were really cool back there.” he praosed her.

She smiled.” Thanks, but that’s not gonna enroll me into the academy.”

“ Well, I’ll probably fail again, if that makes you feel any better. A goofy expression sat on his face, his dark brown eyes closed and thin lips contorted into a grin.

“Good luck with that, you’ll need it.” she said.

“ I’ll see you around!” he shouted. 

“Belina’s street!”she shouted back.

I’m running out of money.She thought. Maybe I should sell my blood  to  the blood gem factory. Let’s go to the blood bank and draw some blood.

The blood bank was near the academy so she  was there by foot in   5 minutes.

Everything  was white  except the floor.The place was quite sterile looking.

White walls, a few windows and a wooden-tiled floor.

The person drawing the blood had a blank expression. He drew her blood with  the needle using the utmost precision. After he was done, she was given 1 silver coin.

She then proceeded to drop off her stuff at home and went  to see granny Bella in her street-Belina’s street.

“Granny, I’m here!” She exclaimed cheerfully.

The room was oozing with a  heavy presence. The walls were painted red and  behind granny  there were  shelves  full of  bottles filled with stuff and lots of books on the lowest shelf. The granny sat at a table with a smoking  pipe  in her hand.She was dressed in a red robe. Her hair  was gray and curly, and her face had splotches of dark spots. She had a sigil tatooed on her hand. In front of her stood a chair.

“Ohhh, my sweet little pie! How was the exam?” granny Bella asked.

Willana’s face turned sour.

“It was baaad. Pretty bad. I failed.

"I guess mom was right. Maybe I should just go ahead and buy a  blood stone. They are super expensive though.”

“I can give you some money if you need it. But  I’d rather give it to you for food or something like that. You don’t need a blood stone, or as I’d like to  call it, a cheap imitation of magic, sweetie. And if they can’t see that, that’s their loss. Come, sit , in front of me.” 

“Alright.” Willana put her coat on the chair and sat on the chair.

Granny Bella  took a whiff from her pipe and 

Breathed out the smoke in willana’s face.

“Did you see that?”

“No?” Willana  sat there with  her eyebrows raised.

“Did you know that your mom and I used to be in the same coven?” she said as she took another whiff from her pipe. The pipe had a sigil on it  as well.

“No, you never told me. Neither did mom.”

“Weird, I remember I told you that already.

Perhaps it was a dream… All the women who were in the coven are now dead, except me.Not much of a coven with one person in it.”Granny replied,  breathing  out the smoke slowly.

“You have a lot of potential, just like your mom, don’t let it go to waste. Now, then, let’s  see, where did I put the book?” granny said,  scanning the shelves.

“This one will do you well. It’s more beginner friendly. You should start with lesser  ancient fae spirits, and then go for the higher ones.Of course, your spirit magic is good, however… You can’t rely on your mother forever sweetie. You need to let her go at some point. Besides, there are animal and other human spirits you can  make use of.” she put the book on the table and  started tapping on it with her red nails.

“That’s lovely but I don’t have the money…”Willana  declared.

“On the house, darling. Can’t have my little adopted niece paying for some beginner book. In fact, I should go get one more.”

She searched the place  for  another book.

“This one’s  about spirits of the deceased.”

Willana was now staring  at two books on the table. One- red  with golden letters, and the other-purple, with shabbier, silver letters.

“You’re gonna have to train your third eye to see the spirits of the deceased. But don’t worry, it’s all explained in the book. You can’t rely on your mother’s magic forever. It’s time to make your own.” granny  advised.

Willana wiggled in her chair“What about covens? Wouldn’t I be stronger in one? Where do you find the people for that?”

“Hmm, let’s see.There’s one girl on the block who is an  aspiring  coven maker, but she doesn’t have any candidates but her.

And there is a coven  right out of barrato who’s looking for a fourth, but I’d say you should go make friends with the girl   first and then consider the coven later. She’s quite cheerful and nice, it would be a perfect beginning to your journey.”

“Alright granny, I trust you with my life!” she beamed as she stuffed both of the books  into the leather bag.

Granny Bella chuckled. “Off you go young lady!”

The door opened. It was a familiar face.

Willana stood up  with her leather bag on her shoulder. “Sword guy! It’s you!”

“Sword guy? I have a name you know…” 

He grinned.” It’s Oswald.”

What are you, a grandpa?Who has a name like that these days?” Willana teased while putting on her green coat.

“It may be old fashioned , but I like to think it makes the ladies swoon.” he tipped his black hat that sat on his pitch black hair.

“Right… Well, see you later… Around. Sword guy!” she brushed past him to reach the door.

"Wait, I didn't tell you who the girl is!" granny said. "Her name is Tanya and she lives two houses away from here."

"Alright granny, thanks. See you later." She opened the door and stormed out.

“Let’s see, two houses away huh…” Willana knocked on the door.

A woman in her thirties opened the door.

“Yes?”

“I’m looking for  Tanya. Is she here?”Willana said.

“Sweetheart! Some girl  wants to meet you!” she shouted.

The girl who ran to meet Willana had long, black, curly hair and a pink bow on her hair.

She wore a blue shirt and yellow jeans.

“Hi, I’m Tanya. Are you here to be a  part of my coven??” she cheered.

“Sort of. The name’s Willana.Granny Bella told me about you.”

“Yay, yay, wohooo! Oh my gosh I’m so excited!” she cheered.

“Okay girl, chill a little, haha.” Willana said, startled.

“Just 2 more to go. But first, let’s  get to know each other, eh?”

“Alright.” Willana confirmed.

Tanya took her by the hand and went upstairs to her room.

The walls were white but she had ancient fae spirits painted over them so they were quite lively.  Her clothes  were all neatly  stuffed into the cupboard in the corner that was right beside her bed. and in the middle of the room stood  an oval table  painted green. There was a single white candle on the table and 4 chairs around it.

“Welcome to my  magnum opus: the best spirit calling room of all time!”she yelled.

“It is indeed impressive.”Willana encouraged.

“What method do you use?”she asked.

“I meditate and then I  burn the sigil of the spirit I wanna contact.”

“You don’t  do any  gestures with your hand in the air?Like a v or an upside down v? Mom taught me that.”

Tanya layed on her bed 

“No. But I don’t see why we couldn’t do both.”

Willana held her chin.

“You’re right. In fact, I have some books here that we could use.” she pulled out two books from her leather bag.

“I got these for free.” she smirked.

“Wow, I’m jealous.” Tanya pouted.

“Which one do you want to read first?” asked Willana.

“Ohhhh, let’s read the one about ghost spirits first.” she pointed  with her finger.

Willana sat down on a chair and  started reading out loud.

Chapter one:grounding

In order for the practitioner  to stay sane, one must  ground themselves  regularly.

Grounding ritual of the earth

Imagine yourself as a tree. Now imagine  that negative red energy is flowing through  your body and through the roots into the ground.

Make time to truly FEEL the ground you are sitting or standing on.

Tanya kicked her legs back and forth.

“Wow, I’ve never heard of this.” 

Grounding ritual of water

Submerge yourself completely in water. Imagine you are a drop of water.

Then, imagine  negative energy as red.

Imagine that the negative energy is getting diluted in the sea until there’s no visible  negative energy anymore. You are one with the sea. You dilute negative energy.

Chapter two: training your third eye to see spirits of the deceased.

Often, spirits linger in between the living world and the one of the dead. Here’s how to train to see them. The third eye is not a literal  eye, but a layer of vision that most people don’t have naturally. But don’t worry, it can be trained.

Starting out: simple exercise

First, get comfortable. Then, stare  at an imaginary  dot on the ceiling. Do so for twenty minutes. Then, close your eyes and imagine that dot  on the ceiling without opening your eyes. Once you are done with that, imagine you have a third eye. Now imagine that only that eye can  see  the dot and the other 2 eyes are just staring at nothing.Meditate after that. Repeat this  at least 3 times.

Use a ghost stone  in between the sessions if you have one, or contact Belina  to help you in between the sessions if you can. Blood stones also make the process easier, but they are not necessary. And voila, with some practice, you will now be able to see  spirits of the dead.

“I have a ghost stone actually! But we should probably  do the grounding practices first.” Tanya warned.

“Good idea.”Willana agreed..

Tanya got off her bed and sat on the floor.

Willana sat on a chair, her legs touching the floor.

20 minutes later they decided to stop.

“Well that was interesting. Let’s try the third eye training.”Tanya said.

Another 20 minutes passed.

“Let’s try the ghost stone now!” Tanya cheered.

Tanya looked around the room with the  stone. The stone was green , had a sigil on it, and   had an oval hole in the middle that was filled with glass.

“Nothing here.” she said disappointingly.

“Try the window above your bed.”Willana instructed.

“Hmmmmm, oh. I see something! It looks like a deer.”Tanya was glued to the window.

Willana  walked up to her. 

“Let me see.”

“Wow.” They said in unison.

“Is this your first time using it?” Willana asked.

Tanya nodded her head.

“It’s late. I should get going… This was fun, let’s do again  it another time.”

Tanya hugged  Willana. 

“Tomorrow evening, don’t forget.”

Willana was feeling  very sleepy.  She rushed to her house and went to bed.

She was woken up by someone  knocking on her door in the morning.

“Ugh, who is it” she opened the door in her pajamas.

“Hey, it’s me, Oswald.” he stood in front of her.

“What do you want, sword guy? Or better yet who told you where I live?”

“First question-I want to join your coven.

Second-granny Bella.”

“Sure, I guess.”she yawned.