And then came a blinding light. Or was it a void? It was so bright, like staring at the sun, and yet it was the darkest black she’d ever known. The warmth of it enveloped her, making her shiver. For a second, she was terrified. She felt utterly exposed and at the mercy of the unknown. Her life could be forfeit before she could even gasp and she would be nothing but humus underground.
But then she felt it enter her—and all at once, she felt unutterably safe and peaceful. She heard a voice that made no sound speak to her, and she couldn’t quite make out what it was saying, but she Knew it in her bones.
Here was her purpose. Here was her path.
***
She woke up lying on the ground, the chalice she’d dropped rolling gently away from her outstretched hand. She slowly sat up, gradually getting her bearings, and there was Heran, smiling warmly down at her.
“Rise, daughter of Gaia, and join your Coven.”
She took Heran’s outstretched hand and stood, feeling off-kilter from the venom and, honestly, the wine too.
How long had she been out? It had felt like a while, but the sky was still the same tinged dark blue as when she had drunk from the chalice. The wind whipped the flames in the bonfire next to her, and though she should feel relieved to have awoken feeling relatively normal, she was still trying to grasp what had happened, the memories of what she’d seen and done slipping away like a dream.
Heran looked behind her to where Greya approached them, holding a wide wooden bowl filled with water from the Sacred Pool between them. The bowl was worn smooth with age, but clearly had been oiled and well maintained.
“Place your hands in the bowl, Ena, and we will see what Gaia has Gifted you,” Heran instructed.
Cautiously, Ena placed her fingertips into the cool water. It felt refreshing on her warm skin. Heran did the same, placing her fingers in the bowl on the other side, and closed her eyes.
“Reach down into your Knowing, Ena, and we will see what arises,” Heran said.
Ena did as she was told, closing her eyes and reaching down into her innate sense of Knowing, that sense which was Gifted to all witches upon their birth. It was her Knowing which allowed her to read the signs of the life around her and gave her a witch’s intuition. Only now, quieting her mind and reaching down into it, she felt something new. Something that hadn’t been there before. She reached for it like she would her Knowing, and it began to grow like a vine, spreading through her like wildfire, filling her from her fingertips to the soles of her feet. And she Knew.
It was her Gift.
It multiplied inside her, making her feel strong, powerful, and it pushed her to do…something. She wasn’t quite sure. But thepull of the power was alarming. She quickly felt lost to it and struggled to reign it back. She didn’t know what letting it grow would do.
Just as she felt a bolt of terror at her own lack of control, Heran gasped and withdrew her fingers from the water. The sudden change broke Ena’s concentration, and her Gift melted back down to where it had come from.
“Visanis,” Heran whispered.
Small gasps echoed around the circle, breaking the eerie silence that had governed her Coven up until now.
“W-what?” Ena asked, her eyes flying open to find Heran staring at her, her brow wrinkled with concern. “What’s that?”
“That’s your Gift. It is not…common among witches.” Heran was staring at her intently now, a cautious look on her face. “How did it feel, child?”
“It felt…overwhelming.” Ena struggled to put into words what she had felt when she touched her Gift. “It took over, like I was being swept away by the river’s current.”
“I’m not surprised to hear that.Visanisis a powerful Gift, and it can be dangerous. You will need to control it.”
“But what is it? What can it do?”
“It is a Power of the mind. It can…enforce your will, your desires upon another.”
“A Power of the mind? But I thought witches did not have those. Powers of the mind are given by…Iblis,” Ena said the last word quietly, almost a whisper. She was now acutely aware of the other members of the Coven fidgeting and looking around at one another cautiously.
“They are. Clearly, this is an exception. I will need to look into the Coven histories and commune with Gaia to understand this more,” Heran said, her brow wrinkling in thought. “But for now, I encourage you to not draw on your Gift until we figure out why Gaia has given this to you. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Heran,” Ena said obediently. If her Gift had Heran this concerned, maybe that was for the best.
“Good. Then the Summoning is complete. Blessed be, Ena.”
“Blessed be, Ena, daughter of Gaia,” the witches around her chanted.
The circle slowly dissolved around her as the witches pulled back their hoods and came forward to congratulate her. The faces of those she’d known since her birth, lived with her whole life, for the first time were filled with a trepidation she had never seen before as they cautiously patted her arm or hugged her. Some offered tentative smiles and encouragement, while others avoided her completely. Summonings did not usually end on such a confusing note.
