Witch's Bell Book One

witch, or whoever else was the intended target for the transport, would then hurtle along the magical tube, at fantastical speeds, until she reached her destination.
    Witches, surprisingly, very rarely used this type of locomotion because, not surprisingly, it tended to mess up their hair.
    As Ebony spun further down through the earth, the strata of different colored dirt flipping past her like lines on a motorway, she tried not to scream.
    Oh no, oh no, oh no, she thought instead, what are they going to do to me?
    In a snap, she finally arrived at her destination. Ebony fell out of the top of some kind of underground cavern, and headed straight for the ground, with literally break-neck speed. But instead of crashing into the rock-hard ground, a magical circle on the floor sent out a wave of energy to slow her motion. It wasn't like falling onto a pillow, or candyfloss, or any other appreciably soft surface. It was more like having the acceleration literally sucked out of you. It was as if the magic was hard at work, flowing through Ebony, convincing every one of her constituent particles that they weren't in motion at all – they were as still and safe as an undisturbed tree.
    And it worked, of course it worked, it was magic, after all. In another second, Ebony drifted down towards the ground, finally touching it with the softest landing she could imagine.
    But not dying through terminal velocity was the least of Ebony's problems right now. As soon as she landed, she righted herself, completely ignoring the blood still profusely dripping from her arm, and stood to attention like a trained soldier.
    Even though her body still shook with the surprise of being sucked through the earth, and the residual adrenaline of her fight with the gaunt man, Ebony tried to remain as still, and apparently calm, as she could.
    The cavern was dark, and as the light from the landing circle ebbed away, it became only darker. But that didn't stop Ebony from seeing. A witch learns very early on in her career that there are certain things that can be seen in the dark, and be seen very clearly. Humans mistakenly believed that you needed light for the eyes to function, and thus see, but they forgot some of their very own sayings. Because wasn't it true that you could also see with your mind's eye? And couldn't you see into the future? Couldn't you also see that things weren't going to end well?
    Ebony took a painful gulp, her throat raw and ticklish from pain and fright. She could certainly see that things weren't going to end well here, but that wasn't the point. The point was, “seeing” involved more than the eyes, and it involved more than light. Seeing wasn't simply detecting the horizon, or sensing the shape of the present around you. It was apprehension of the way the immediate looked, and that didn't need light.
    And so Ebony saw, without there being a touch of light in the room, the contents of the enormous cavern. It helped, of course, that she'd been here before, and as such, had seen it all before.
    From Ebony's landing spot, she began to see nine dark figures walk towards her. They were dressed in nothing, but could hardly be referred to as naked. If being nude meant that you lacked something – be it clothes, dignity, or warmth – then you couldn't use that to describe these women. They lacked nothing at all. Each and every one of them brimmed with enough magic to consume a city. But it wasn't purposeless, directionless magic; it was completely refined, completely determined. And that's why they all seemed so complete, Ebony knew, because they were. With the refined magic brimming through their forms, minds and souls – these women had completed their Rites, and had written their full stories of life. Each one was their own novel, their own epic narrative, and each complete without another word to be written.
    They were power written into forms, contained in bodies. That was the best way to describe them.
    They were also the Coven.
    'You are before the Coven,' one said, her head tilting imperiously to one side, 'Ebony Elizabeth Bell.'
    Ebony dejectedly clutched a hand to her bleeding arm, feeling the wet slick course through her fingers quickly. She could also feel her heartbeat beneath, rattling through her skin with a strong but flighty shake.
    She didn't reply. She couldn't – she hadn't been asked a direct question.
    'You are here to answer to the Coven,' another witch said, her long silver hair dipping around her