The Guest & The Change - By M. D. Bowden Page 0,60

attached by a string around its neck. He raised his eyebrows inquisitively, wondering if it was needed for the spell.

He rose from his position. He had been sitting cross legged on the tatty rug, adopting the traditional meditation pose - in case that would aid in his success.

Heather had pulled out a chair and sat at the table, so he joined her. He sat waiting for her to speak.

After a long pause, in which she looked like she was thinking hard about what to say, she spoke.

‘This urn,’ she gesticulated at the metal jar, ‘will be the necessary vessel for Sebastian’s spirit. You must put some of Sebastian’s ashes in the urn for the spell to work. You will need to cast magic to weaken him and to make his spirit take residence in the urn. Next you will need to insert the cork and cast the binding spell. This will make sure his spirit is trapped inside. It will stay there unless someone casts a more powerful spell than yours to release him. Once bound you must bury the urn deep in the ground to ensure it will not be found.’

Daniel nodded. That was easy enough to understand. He suspected conducting the spell itself may be a bit more tricky.

‘To weaken Sebastian you will need to fire energy at him. This will use up your power, but you will have enough left to do the binding spell.’

‘How do I ‘fire energy’ at him?’ Daniel asked uncertainly. He wasn’t sure if she might have over-estimated his magical ability.

‘That’s not a problem. Do you remember when I taught you to light fires with your mind?’

‘Yes, I can still do that,’ Daniel said.

He blew out the white candle in the center of the table. To demonstrate his ability, and to show off just a little, he concentrated hard on the candle, feeding tendrils of power into the wick and sparking it with a focused blast from his mind.

Heather laughed and clapped, ‘I’m glad you remembered that! Firing energy is similar in principle. Relax your mind and I will show you.’

Daniel was expecting this - it was how she had taught him before. He closed his eyes and focused within. He heard movement as Heather came closer and felt warm fingers touch his temples. Immediately he sensed the presence of her mind at the edge of his.

A vision appeared at the forefront of his thoughts. It explained far more than words alone could.

He saw himself focusing on his power within and channeling it down through his arms, out of his fingers. As his power would leave his fingers he had to use his mind to focus on it burning bright and hitting its target.

The fingers left his temples and he rubbed his eyes before looking up. Learning magic like that made his head ache.

‘There’s no need to practice that now, I don’t want anything in here damaged! Anyway, you will have no problems with that one.’

Again Daniel nodded. He indeed did feel confident with that, the concept already seemed deeply embedded in his psyche.

‘What if Sebastian has already found a human host?’ Daniel asked.

‘Then you will have to sacrifice him, or her, as they are dead already. No-one can survive being possessed by a spirit that old.’ She looked sad, and Daniel wondered if she had lost someone this way in the past.

He didn’t ask though. He knew he was being selfish, but he didn’t want to delay.

‘When his spirit starts to fade you must have the urn to hand and visualize this symbol in your head -’ She leant in and touched his temples again. Daniel closed his eyes and a symbol appeared in his mind. He focused on it hard, making sure he remembered every loop and angle accurately. He did not want to make a mistake.

‘Hold the urn steady and visualize the mark in your head - then send it out at Sebastian. Visualize it wrapping around his spirit and it will. Then visualize the mark on the urn. The two marks will link and Sebastian will be propelled inside. As soon as his spirit is inside the urn - push in the cork.’

Daniel repeated what she had said in his mind, making sure he had got it. He nodded again.

‘Next is the hardest part - the binding spell. There is another symbol that you need to remember.’ Again she leant in and showed him the mark with her mind. ‘Although this one is simpler, it needs to be reinforced