Gerd Makes a Comeback!!!

Chapter 30 Gerd Returns

 

The witches needed time to plan Alice’s retrieval trip. They were limited on the interval in which they could get Gerd and have her there and ready to go before Fenrir ripped through time and space and landed on their doorsteps. He would destroy them all within the first second of arriving. He had no use of witches. He had all the power he needed to be handed down to him by the God’s. They only proved a nuisance to him before because they try to save humanity, which Fenrir felt needed to be dispensed with. Alice was calm. She sat at the counter as they discussed her as if she was not present. She ate some gingerbread cookies sitting on Melanie’s counter and took deep breaths. Even if this was her end, she knew it was her purpose. Perhaps one day another venture like this would be Lucious destiny too. Another howl shattered the room, but this one sounded close. Fenrir was trying to come through right now! “Alice, Alice,” they all said. She just got up and walked into the center of the room. She became a beacon of light and they all chanted a spell. It would transport her to Gerd. They were not so sure about getting Alice back to them, but they had to do it NOW! Quickly they gasped for air, they raced through the spells, their voices had to come together, but they were all in different parts of the verse. Melanie’s mom yelled “Enough!!” and with that, the voices lifted together. Within a moment Alice was gone. They could only wait and pray. No one had any idea how long this would take. No one ever went to that realm to retrieve any evil, but this was necessary. They tried to talk about normal daily things, but the room just fell silent. Their hands fidgeting in their laps, their legs jumpy, their hearts racing because fear was all around them hugging them tightly, trying to grasp at their believing in themselves, for they needed guidance, but it was only them. 

Four hours later and still nothing and the howling was so close they could see a dark vapor escaping the birdcage. Damn that birdcage. Melanie knew she never liked it, and then in a sudden rush of bitterness and despair, Alice appeared. She fell to the ground in a heap and a second later Gerd the cold evil enchantress stood tall before them. Gerd stood and spit at the witches. She was vile and happy to see Alice on the floor. They send this pitiful fool for her. They knew better, but now she was free and did not care who did it. She could roam the earth again and torment souls. Melanie seemed to sense what she was thinking and asked if she agreed to help. Gerd nodded, but her eyes disagreed and they seemed to want to dissolve every one of the witches into dust. She stood all-powerful before them. They would all need to work together. Gerd said she needed to go out into the world and see the shadows. They worried she would try to use them as her new minions, but they had to trust her. Gerd said she would return and floated through a wall of Melanie’s home and was gone. They all shuddered to think what they just released on the world. They did not know if Gerd would really aid them or not, but in all honesty, they had no choice but to bring her back. They knew they would have hell to vanquish her again. Now was not the time to consider and worry about that detail. It was the time for them to concentrate on using all of their power collectively to stop the Fenrir before he finally broke into their realm. Something seemed to still be holding him in his own realm. Whatever or whoever it was they were thankful. It gave them time. They picked up poor Alice and let her lay on the couch. She was an abomination to look at, but she would recover. When it came time to deal with the Fenrir they knew Alice would be no good to them. Her magic was drained to a dangerously depleted amount and they did not want to kill her by having her aid them in this battle. They each took turns mothering her and she slept for a long, long time.

Two weeks had gone by and the shadows had multiplied. The shadows had been witnessed invading humanities bodies. Witches had seen them going into people and not coming back out. Sometimes they floated through, but now, well now they were staying in. People were committing all sorts of atrocities in plain daylight. They were physically hurting each other. No one had been killed yet, but darkness was looming over town that if it wanted to it could swallow the whole town up. Gerd had not been heard from and no one felt her presences. There was no coldness to the entire city. The witches knew they were now on their own and they would have to worry about Gerd later. They captured her once they could try again. Right now they needed to stop the shadows before the Fenrir got through to their realm and destroyed everything and everyone. 

The witches gathered in dismay. They were sullen and somber. Reality hit them hard. They could do magic to aid broken hearts, not broken arms. They were all pouring through old spell books, malady books, and herbal remedy books. Nothing! Not one spell or suggestion on how to stop shadows. It apparently was extremely difficult to put an end to something you cannot touch. They changed seats, they changed the light they sat in, they hummed, strummed, and one even played the guitar. They chanted for answers, they prayed, they gathered hands, but nothing helped. They needed any idea. Alice said she had seen shadows diminish in the light. They needed more light in the town. They needed to spread something into the dark corners, the seedy spots, the dark places in people’s hearts. They needed lots and lots of light. Now how do they collectively light a city? They each turned one by one to look at Melanie. Melanie felt their eyes fall on her before she saw them looking at her and she had no idea why everyone was looking at her. Their eyes fell from Melanie to Lucious. Alice was just regaining her strength and said she would be able to bring light into the town, but everyone knew Alice was still too weak. Lucious had no idea why everyone was looking at him and he felt uncomfortable and ran to his mom. He climbed up and put his arms around her neck and they nuzzled into each other. 

Melanie talked in hushed tones to Lucious. She reassured him that everyone here needed his help. She spoke of darkness needing light and kept it to a 4-year-old level. Everyone needed him to shine his light in the dark corners of people’s souls and the city’s seedy places. Lucious was shaking like a leaf on a tree branch about to fall and Melanie looked at everyone. All they needed to do was cast protection spells on him and no one and nothing could touch him. Well, they had hoped that last part was true. Each witch took a turn to talk to Lucious while he still remained on his mom's lap. They wanted this poor boy to understand how important this was and how loved he was too. They all talked and placed protection spells on him. Lucious gained strength in everyone who spoke to him, everyone who loved him and cared for him. He was their light always, but now the folks of the town needed him as well. Lucious began to comprehend what was needed of him and began agreeing. He was feeling like the confident little boy they all knew and loved. 

They needed a plan before spreading Lucious and that light around like a beacon. It could also draw the darkness right to them and they all were in the same place. They needed sacred ground to do this from. Melanie spoke of an old cabin and her mom concurred. It was where Melanie’s mom had been raised till she was eight. It was hidden and it was made on sacred ground handed down from witch to witch among the Kellyn women. They all agreed to meet out there in a week. They would bring all they had to place a protection spell on it. Ironically that they needed to go into the darkness of the woods to bring lightness to the town, but it was the only way they could pull it off. The darkness would not lead the shadows to them but conceal them from evil. They all parted ways for the night feeling content with their plan. Gerd was in the wind and they were on their own. They had only hoped in one weeks’ time that damned Fenrir would not burst through the birdcage. Someone would have to be left to watch it. Alice volunteered. She would be of no use to them in the woods. She could at least stay and guard the vile birdcage. She wondered how it went from a wishing birdcage to a vile disgusting birdcage that wanted to let a monster like a Fenrir through its gates. Yes, it was a portal but it had a gentle spirit. Alice would wreck her brain trying to figure it out while she just sat in Melanie’s apartment and watched it sit there doing nothing. 

The next week all gathered in the woods. They looked like a bunch of ladies gathering for a PTO meeting, not a bunch of ladies set out to destroy darkness. Again, how do you end something you cannot touch? They all were thinking it. Someone finally voiced it out loud. Stephanie, who was a friend of Penelope’s, said it first “How do you banish something you cannot really see or touch. All the witches looked at her judgmentally, but they knew they all wanted to know the same thing. They still had absolutely no idea how to end darkness. People had free will and they knew they could not and would not even try to mess with that, but darkness needed a new kind of attack for them to end it and aid humanity in continuing. 

Alice had sparked something when she said: “darkness diminishes with light.” Sylvia, another one of Penelope’s friends, had caught what Alice was hinting at. In the darkness of the woods, they all looked for the light. People went where the light lies. If they could get Lucious in the middle like Alice, they could possibly get his light into the world with such positive force that it would end the shadows, but what about the Fenrir struggling to come out of the darkness. Would their forcing light in every corner stop him? If they also put something into the light they believed it would be enough to knock him back to where he was trying to escape from. They needed some magically bound red ribbon. They would loosely wrap it around Lucious and when they encircled him they would include a force coming from him so strong that the Fenrir would be thrown from their realm and placed entirely into his own realm again. The shadows would vanish with the light, the ribbon would bind the Fenrir back to the Gods, and humanity would be saved. Each witch looked for a spell. They needed something strong in magic, but also full of light and thrust. Evelyn, another one of the witches came up with an immensely resilient confinement spell. It had sparks of light on a full moon night, branches wound so tight they gathered to be unbreakable, and prayers to the Gods to take the Fenrir back to their realm. It would require enough branches to intertwine around them all in a circle. The full moon was only two nights away. How would they get sparks off the moon? Melanie told them not to worry she had a plan. The witches chanting, the sparks, the prayers, and light from her son all had to be done at the same time. For the confinement to hold tight this all had to be timed perfectly. Everyone went into the woods to gather the branches to work on making their circle. 

Two nights they gathered and two nights they assembled their circle. It turned out to be more of an oblong but everyone thought that was close enough. They all looked at Melanie; she placed Lucious in the middle and told him that it was important he just shine his light as best as he could. She was going to take her broom for a spin. He whined he wanted to go, but she said not this time. He had a very very important job to do. He sulked a little, but he knew she would not lie to him. He slumped his shoulders and she bent down to kiss him. If this worked he would be drained like Alice if not dead. He was only four and Alice was a full grown witch. Perhaps he would be ok because he was not going into another realm like Alice. Only time would tell. Melanie left him in her mother’s care and she hopped her broom and spun off into the air like an acrobat. She was going to have to actually do something other than fly by the moon. She would have to do something truly magical to let some sparks fly and she only had a few second window to get it done. She could see below her and saw everyone in the oblong circle shape. She would normally laugh that they could not wind branches into a circle, but she was worried about her son, she was worried about the Fenrir. She was worried about so many things. Up up she rose and she was almost to the moon. When she looked down she saw the witches joined in hands chanting, she suddenly saw a light as bright as the sun come out of the circle, Lucious!! She aimed her mystical magnifying glass at the moon. Lucious light hit it and sparks flew off the moon. They rained down on the circle of witches. The chanting stopped, the light dimmed, and Melanie zoomed back to the ground to find her boy. Jostling this way and that to avoid treetops she glided to a sudden stop and leaped off her trusty broom.

Upon landing, Melanie saw everyone looking into the circle. Lucious lay not breathing. He was white as the bright light he emitted out into the night sky. Melanie rushed to his side and shook him, crying out “Lucious Lucious!” but nothing. Melanie knew the spell worked all the witches did. They felt the earth shift off its axis for a split second.  Only they would notice it, to all humanity, it was a moment of did something happens and they would move on. Humanity, they thought would now be saved, but Lucious was dead.  With a sudden burst of a swirl of smoke that stunk like sulfur Gerd appeared. No one knew where she had been or what she had done. She said she was vanquishing shadows from souls. She was the only one who could take evil from humans, but in doing so she gained strength. She had more powers now and the witches froze in her presence. She looked at them all like she was deciding who to eat and then she noticed Lucious. She pushed Melanie from him and picked him up. Melanie screamed NOOOOOOOOOOO! Gerd was going to take her baby for her own son. Melanie pleaded, she begged, she whined and asked to be taken instead. Gerd flashed a black light and blinded them all for a moment as she spun in her evil and vileness. It was a great blur of blackness. And then Gerd was gone and Melanie fell into instant despair until one of the witches cried out “Lucious is alive!” Melanie jerked upwards to her feet and fell at his. Lucious said “Mommy, Mommy What happened? Did I do good, mommy?” Melanie held him so tight he could barely breathe. Apparently, his body had absorbed darkness while sending out his light. The dark vile shadows had to go somewhere. They never thought they would pick where the light was coming from. Melanie fell to her knees thanking the Gods for her boy. Then she realized it was Gerd. She saved her son. Gerd took the blackness and evil from Lucious so he could live. Why? Gerd was gone and no one could ask her. She was not in their realm, but they were all sure for now she was gone but would return another day. No one knew if she would come back as a good or bad creature, but they were thankful that Lucious, their precious light, had been returned. They all were exhausted. They went into the cabin to sleep. The light was back in the world. The ribbon on Lucious was missing as well and they hoped their chants lead it right to the birdcage and the Fenrir. No one was sure that part worked. Melanie would have to wait till she got home and would check her birdcage. Everyone fell into a restful sleep. Lucious and his mom and grandmom all shared a bed that night. Melanie and her mom took turns through the night checking on Lucious and if he was still breathing. Neither one of them slept much, but they were elated Gerd saved their light and then they finally both passed out content once again at four AM. 

Gerd is such a menace. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We have a few more to go. 

Happy Reading,

your storyteller/poet

Debbie