Fiction and Fantasy
Shadow Hunter
A Tale of Magic and Courage
Shadow Hunter
“Sparkle from Darkness
Ominous shadows I fight
Banish with glowing starkness
Give me ethereal light.”
Electricity crackled through, Moxie’s titian hair. She gripped her bedspread as the energy tensed her muscles. The fairy lights decorating her room flickered and then the static was gone, leaving her gasping for air.
“What — on — Earth, was that?” she breathed.
This was just a children’s book, wasn’t it? Surely the crystal ball was just a trinket from the tarot shop. Moxie sipped some water as she exhaled the shock. Soon it was replaced with the desire to know. She crossed her legs, and this time focused on the glass orb.
“Sparkle from Darkness
Ominous shadows I fight
Banish with glowing starkness
Give me ethereal light.”
The static returned, stronger this time. It sat her bolt upright. She pointed a finger at the crystal ball and willed the energy to flow. A pulse of energy spasmed her whole body, flexing her fingers as it plunged the fairy lights into darkness. The air shimmered as the light returned and this time the orb glowed bright blue.
“I — did -it!” Moxie felt herself grinning as she studied her fingers.
Although exhausted that was exhilarating. She reached for the crystal ball and watched the hairs on her arms pull toward the glass surface. Like a plasma ball, it had a strong energy field.
“I’m no clairvoyant but can you show my fortune?” she wondered aloud while gazing into the fog within the blue light.
A shadow figure formed within. Small, insignificant at first.
“I see you. Who are you? What is your purpose?”
The shadow grew inside the ball, becoming less human. Its eyes were the color of fire as it swirled over the surface.
“What are you?”
It lunged.
“No!”
Moxie heard her bedroom door crash against the wall. The sound barely registered before her window exploded in a storm of flying glass and splintering UPVC plastic. A dark being draped in a ragged cassock landed on the bed. It seized the crystal ball with a withered hand. Its fiery gaze on the shadows within.
“Moxie, run!” said her mother Allegra on the threshold.
She couldn’t, the being’s gaze seemed to burrow into her soul, paralyzing her.
“Spirits of air heed my call
Whirlwinds of dust
Darkness must fall
I evoke a mighty gust!”
Moxie watched the air ripple from her mother’s hands. A rush of air swirled about the room, whipping up every grain of dust and debris. It blasted the being from the bed. It emitted a demonic screech as it slammed into the dressing table. Lipstick and hairbrushes flew as the mirror shattered and the legs collapsed in a heap around the being.
Moxie saw the crystal ball spinning through the air, she leapt from the bed and caught it as she landed, rolled and regained her feet. “What’s going on?”
“That’s a Shadow Hunter. They stalk the shadow dimensions, searching for witches so they can consume their power. Unless we evoke magic, they cannot find us. That’s why we guard the book and crystal ball and never use them.”
The hunter hurled Moxie’s chair out of the window. With another screech, it seized a table leg and turned it to ash. The ash became a scythe as the being leapt over the bed.
Moxie was too slow, the weapon slammed into her chest, barreling into her wardrobe. She hit her head on the door and tumbled into her teddy bear collection. In a daze she watched Allegra summon a glittering sword and deflect a storm of violent blows.
“Moxie you need to get out of here!” she yelled under the onslaught. “You have to -”
The hunter smashed her sword to the floor, seized and hurled her across the room. Allegra hit the chest of drawers smashing photo frames and the dolphin ornaments on top. She crashed down amid the fairy lights and fell still. Moxie grabbed the magic book and thumbed through the pages.
The hunter threw the bed askance and seized Allegra by the throat. It looked her dead in the eyes and uttered something in a forgotten language. Purple light began pouring from her and entering the Shadow Hunter.
Moxie rose with her heart hammering a hole in her chest.
“I call upon the mighty storm
Charge me for a vicious jolt
Feel the electricity swarm
As I unleash Zeus’s lightning bolt!”
The book fell from her grasp as she united her hands and opened her palms to the hunter. A thunderclap shook the house as lightning blasted from her fingers.
The hunter dropped Allegra and shrieked. Moxie screamed as the force launched her backwards. It hit and blasted him straight through the remains of the window, catching the curtains ablaze. She slammed into the wardrobe and darkness swallowed her.
“Moxie! Moxie wake up!” yelled Allegra.
Hands shook her shoulders as the fug of unconsciousness waned. “Mum, what the hell happened?”
Allegra smiled, “You killed the Shadow Hunter. That’s what happened.”
“How is that even possible?” Moxie sat up and massaged a lump on her head, “Ow!”
“You okay?”
“I think so.” Standing she looked at the destruction around her. Not one piece of furniture or ornament was intact. There was glass and shards of wood from the bed and dressing table everywhere. “Don’t tell me — I’m grounded for eternity!”
Allegra chuckled. “After surviving the lightning bolt you just unleashed, I think ‘Earthed’ is a better word!”
Moxie giggled, “Whatever, can I spend the eternity in your room? Mine’s wrecked!”
Allegra nodded having picked up a smoldering teddy bear. She proceeded to pat it until the threat of fire was extinguished. “No, this is not your fault. It’s mine, I kept putting off telling you and well this is the result. No blaming yourself okay?”
“Thanks, Mum. So, that thing came because I turned on the crystal ball?” Moxie asked.
“Yes, they hide in the shadow dimension waiting for the moment they sense the magic being used. Then—”
“Smash through your bedroom window.” Moxie finished.
“Exactly,” Allegra gathered the crystal ball and magic book. “They need our magic to recharge themselves and stay alive. These have been passed down the generations since they were created by the pagans of Stonehenge. Our family line has been sworn to protect magic for centuries.”
Moxie searched for a reply, but her stunned mind refused to cooperate. “Wow!”
“No, here’s the wow. That lightning spell you cast has always been forbidden. Not one witch who evoked it lived to tell the tale.”
“But I …” Moxie looked at her fingers. They were not singed, and she was fine aside from the headache.
“The name Moxie means a person of great strength and courage. I guess you embody that.”
“Whatever, I’m still not cleaning my room!” Moxie laughed as she followed her mum out to the landing.
“We’ll let Dad do that. We need to call your grandmother and tell her what happened. We must see what else you can do.”
“Can we call her using the crystal ball?”
Allegra scowled, “We’ll stick to the regular telephone!”
The End
Thanks for reading my friends.
Have a great day!
Originally published at http://masonsmenagerie.wordpress.com on May 27, 2024.
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