The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga by Taliesin Govannon (top 10 novels of all time .txt) 📗

Time seemed to stand still… the only things being important being the fire and the rhythm. Hands sped up on the drums, causing the bodies to quicken their pace in the circle before both slowing down again. Some people came and went, but the fire and beat continued on.

                Soon I saw Katsu, naked as usual, dancing around the circle.  She saw me and left the line of dancers to stand next to me.

                “This is great!” she said, still swaying with the drums. “Reminds me of a ritual we went to in Indonesia around two thousand years ago.”

                “I can’t tear myself away.” I replied. “Where’s Jack?”

                “Ah, pothead ate some brownies and passed out in his chair.” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I’m gonna have to get him down here tomorrow night!”

                I looked over to Vincent, again stripped down to his waist, keeping beat on a big wooden djembe drum. Something in his beat called me forward, but still, I resisted.

                Katsu eventually rejoined the ring of dancers, and I was still swaying to the rhythm. I could have stayed there all night, but soon a flicker of movement caught my eye.

                I looked closer, and saw it again. It was just beyond the firelight, in the bushes and tall weeds that laid between the ring of people and the treeline. It was a man-sized shadow, and it stepped into the light.

                Herne! I thought excitedly. It was indeed the Horned God that I had met at the Samhain rite all of those months ago. He was as naked as some of the other dancers, his stag horns casting wild shadows on the surrounding trees. He moved with a supernatural fluidity, sliding in between people and shadows, a smile painting his face.

                He beckoned to me to join him, and I couldn’t resist. I finally became a part of the ring of dancers, and I could feel the beat running through me like an electrical current.

                I danced around the fire for what felt like forever, losing myself in the beat. Sometimes I danced by myself, sometimes with Herne, and yet other times I found myself dancing sensually with other dancers, men and women alike.

                Eventually, I shed my top. Then my skirt felt like a burden.

                The fire was hot, and a thin sheen of sweat glistened on my skin in the flickering light. I felt the rhythm of the drums reverberate in the cells of my body, and the dance kicked up to the next level.

                I felt lighter than air. I opened my eyes, and saw bolts of energy sparking, like lightning, between everyone in the drum circle. Drummers, dancers, people around the edge… all were connected by a purple-white energy that pulsed and grew stronger with every beat.

                I looked down, and realized that the entire circle of people was floating almost three feet off of the ground! And yet, nobody seemed to notice… the beat was just too strong.

                I smiled as we danced into the night.

                                                                                                *                *                *

                I slept until noon the next day, glad that my bed was in a glamour that included air conditioning as the temperature was already in the nineties when I walked out of my tent. It was cooler than the fire the night before, though, so I found a shady spot with a few camp chairs in it to settle into.

                Tiffany was the next to step out into the site, only she walked out of the mead hall tent with two cups of steaming coffee. She handed me one as she sat next to me.

                “Oh, you doll!” I said, taking a cup from her.

                “I had Gaia set the mead hall up with electricity, so we have a microwave and coffee maker inside.” Tiffany said.

                “Roughing it, Fae style.” I grinned.

                “So, I heard you lost your new skirt and top last night.” she said brightly, sipping her coffee.

                I felt a slight blush on my cheeks. “It’s true, I got into things last night.”

                “I saw you.” she said. “And it makes me want to ask you a serious question.”

                It was early, but I was curious. “Go right ahead.”

                “Are you completely straight, or have you ever been attracted to a woman?” she asked. “Because I’m pretty good at reading body language, and every gay, bi, pan, or otherwise sexually fluid woman around the fire last night was insanely turned on by you. Hell, if your Sorceress aspect wasn’t the source of a lifetime of childhood adoration for me, I’d still be turned on by last night!”

                “Now that’s something I just don’t get.” I said quickly. “I mean, okay… I’m not some shrinking violet who thinks I’m hideous like some bad Disney channel movie, and that all I need is to ditch my glasses and put on some makeup to make the captain of the football team like me. I know I’m not ugly.”

                “That’s good,” Tiffany said, grinning, “because I’d have to slap you if you thought that you were.”

                “But I’m nothing special, either.” I continued. “I Googled it. Almost every aspect of me… my height, my weight, by bust size, my waist… everything about me is average. I know that average people can look glamorous with the right makeup and clothes, but that’s not me either! I could maybe pull off the ‘sexy librarian’ look, but that would depend on me learning how to walk in stiletto heels, and that ain’t happening anytime soon… “

                Tiffany held up a hand to stop my rant. “Believe me, as a veteran ‘lady who loves ladies’, there’s nothing sexier than a woman who is mentally strong and confident in what she’s doing.” she said. “Last night, you finally let yourself go and lived the magick that’s a part of your very soul now. That would be sexy in and of itself. But there’s another thing.”

                “Yes?” I asked, listening intently.

                “You are the