A Different Kind of Witch Read online

  A

  DIFFERENT

  KIND OF

  WITCH

  Drachenburg School for the Supernaturals Book 1

  A novel by Carol A. Robi

  All right reserved

  Copyright © 2015 by Carol A. Robi

  Meet the author

  To Inger, dear friend and mentor. I met you when I most needed you - life is funny like that. Thank you for the wonderful time spent in Nakkebølle!

  Summary

  Welcome to Drachenburg School for the Supernaturals, the only school in the world that caters for teenage Supernaturals.

  A fledging Faery and a vengeful Witch meet at school and become friends, but their friendship is potent, and must remain hidden. It’s happened before, and that nearly tore apart the Supernatural Realm.

  Sophie Leighton has just discovered that she is a Faery. Like all fledglings, she’s officially a member of the Supernatural Realm. Finding herself in a new world of mystery, magic and supernatural beings, Sophie has to navigate her way in her new identity at her new school- Drachenburg School for the Supernaturals.

  Boke Maiga is a powerful Witch from a lineage of one of the most powerful and revered sorcerers of all time. She has emerged from years of hiding- intent on avenging her mother’s death. Someone killed her mother, and the young Witch won’t stop until she knows who is responsible. And she intends to start by recruiting the help of the popular freshman Faery, Sophie.

  Sophie must now make a decision fast, on whether to let past secrets remain buried, or tread the dangerous waters with her new friend to unveil the secrets of the past - secrets that involve her parents, and even threaten their freedom.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 1

  She hadn’t slept for days. Excitement could do that to someone.

  Her mother was rather worried, often checking on her a dozen times during the nights. Sophie was uncertain on whether she herself slept. Siobhan Leighton had even resorted to serving her daughter with her signature relaxing tea, a few drops of juice extract from the stem of a plant in the backyard squeezed into Sophie’s night cup.

  But Sophie wasn’t so easily fooled. The suspect honeyed scent with slight traces of natural herbs contrasted with the pure lemon flavour of the tea Sophie loved to sip before bedtime.

  Her mother’s relaxing teas were quite famous among her friends. How often they’d sucked on the last drops on the bottom of a yet to be washed teapot after school! Her tea had some drugging effects, and Sophie’s friends were in that age of incessantly seeking new thrills.

  All ingredients in Mrs. Leighton’s teas came from the elaborate kitchen garden and greenhouse Sophie’s parents were so dedicated to. It was a wonder so much could fit in such a medium sized back yard! It felt like a botanical museum out there, if you asked her.

  They had all sorts of odd plants there, not the regulars people kept in their kitchen gardens or flower patches. Growing up, Sophie just assumed her parents were vegetation enthusiasts, they certainly acted hippie enough to fit the role. Plus, it was necessary in their line of profession, being that her parents owned an alternative medicine apothecary. They were quite good at it; and now she knew why.

  Just then, a soft knock sounded from her bedroom door as warning, and then it pushed open, and her mother walked in with a teacup in hand.

  “I thought you might want some tea,” she said softly, her green eyes warm under the mellow light.

  “Thank you, mom,” Sophie said, and then watched her mother leave and close the door behind her. Sophie still had it difficult reconciling the woman she’d called mother all her life, to the secret she now knew of her existence.

  Just thinking about it was overwhelming. She couldn’t stop puzzling over her parents and this immense secret they’d kept from her for so long! It was preposterous!

  For a moment there, she entertained the idea of drinking the suspect tea just so she could get some sleep tonight. But on second thought, she rose from her bed, took the teacup with her into the bathroom, where she poured it down the sink. She wanted to lie in bed free of any enchantments. And honestly, she did enjoy the wait- the anxiety of it all just adding to the thrill.

  Maybe it is time she was properly introduced.

  Her name is Sophie Leighton, fourteen years and two months old, and she is a Faery!

  She lives in Sydney, Australia with her parents. She’d lived there all her life, and had never been outside the country.

  Her parents were Faeries too. Apparently, originally from Ireland, but her parents moved here before she was born. They wanted her to grow up away from the rest of their people, Faery Folk, as they’d hoped to give her a normal childhood before she fledged.

  So until two months ago when Sophie turned fourteen, She was just a normal teenager with normal enough friends, going to a regular day high school in Sydney.

  But that all changed on her birthday. Right from the very moment she opened her eyes. Suddenly, she felt different. It was hard to explain it. Her skin burned, or seemed to, her ears buzzed uncomfortably, and the weak morning sunrays seemed to sting her eyes.

  The next tell that something was amiss was the fact that her parents were in her room staring at her awkwardly- like they'd been waiting for her to wake up.

  ¨Ummh.. Hi parents! Creepy much!¨ Was the first thing she said.

  ¨Hi, honey. Did you sleep well?¨ Her father began.

  ¨I thought so, right up to the moment I woke up to find you two watching me sleep!¨

  ¨Sorry. We just needed to tell you something the moment you woke up.¨

  ¨Happy birthday?¨ She scoffed.

  ¨Yes, honey. Happy birthday! And..¨

  ¨Thanks!¨ She said, still too distracted with the constant buzzing in her ear and her tingling skin, to notice that he was not done with the statement.

  ¨We also wanted to tell you..¨ Her mother tried in his stead.

  ¨I think I’m ill!¨ Sophie exclaimed just then, blinking her stinging eyes a few times, and then deciding against facing the window and instead turning her eyes away, so that she was now staring at her pin-up board on the opposite wall. In it she could clearly make out the faces on the cut-out pictures pinned on it. Most of them were of she and her two best friends, Gina and Natalie. Her eyes stung less now.

  ¨What?¨ Her father asked confused.

  ¨I said, I think I’m ill. My skin feels funny, and my eyes- well, they feel funny too.¨

  ¨That is what we want to talk to you about.¨

  Now they had her full attention, and she quickly turned her head in their direction.

  ¨Hon
ey, congratulations..!¨ Her mother proceeded a little too quickly.

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, happy birthday. I got it..!”

  ¨..You are a Faery!¨ She finished instead.

  Now that was unexpected!

  Sophie stared back at her in shock.

  ¨You are a Faery,¨ her father echoed her mother’s words, as though Sophie hadn’t heard them the first time.

  What herbal concoction were her parents on today?

  “We’re sorry we didn’t tell you earlier..” Her mother was rambling on.

  They are serious! Sophie was baffled.

  They then proceeded to explain to her that she descended from a family of Faeries, Supernatural Beings that could use the earth element to create enchantments and potions.

  ¨Like a Witch?¨

  ¨Yes, and no. A Witch can use all elements, but we can only use the earth element for our power, and are subsequently weaker than Witches.¨

  “Do I get wings?” She asked half bewildered, half something else.

  “Yes.” It was her father that spoke.

  Her mother then proceeded to turn around, take off her top, and right before Sophie’s eyes her perfectly normal back transformed. Two long dark slits appeared, forming a near V-shape, almost converging on her lower back.

  A gasp then escaped Sophie as thin powdery wings pushed out of the slits, fluttered a little, before fanning into their full size. Emerald-green tipped wings were now spread out before her eyes, the most beautiful thing she ever saw in her life.

  “Oh!” She mouthed, looking back to her father, her eyes wide with disbelief. But in answer, her father proceeded to shrug off his T-shirt and turn, and then out flapped dark green wings.

  Sophie was stunned beyond words, looking at the two pairs of wings that she never before thought, or even in her wildest dreams imagined, that her parents possessed. Her boring parents- that never even got parking tickets, who loved to wear knitted sweaters, her mother and her long flowing skirts, earth coloured jewellery and scarves- her parents were Faeries!

  They pulled their wings back in, and soon the two long slits tearing across their backs were gone. Their backs looked normal again.

  Sophie could swear she’d imagined it all, if the succeeding conversation hadn’t taken place.

  “Do I have wings?” The thought that she might and never knew she had frightened her immensely.

  Her mother shook her head.

  “Not at the moment. Not until they sprout, which will happen sometime later this year. And then you’ll be trained on how to control them, and keep them hidden when you must.”

  ¨Will I fly?¨

  ¨Yes. honey. Eventually, when you sprout your wings. But not for long distances.¨

  ¨I'll be able to fly?¨ Her parents laughed.

  ¨And never get sick!¨ Mrs Leighton proceeded to say.

  “And magic?” Sophie whispered, still not believing that this conversation was actually taking place.

  “Yes,” her father now said. “You’re a magical being.”

  So her fourteenth birthday wasn’t quite what she’d expected it would be. Of course she had a party, and invited all her friends. But though everything that day happened as she, Natalie and Gina had planned it, Sophie was certain her life would never be the same again, and that the morning revelation was only just the beginning.

  “You have a secret!” Gina accused, narrowing her eyes. Sophie panicked for a second or two, but managed to compose herself on time.

  “Doesn’t everyone have a secret, Gina?” Sophie tried to laugh out her friend’s perceptive catch.

  “I don’t keep anything from you,” was her answer, and that was true too. They never kept anything from each other, but this Sophie would have to keep to herself. She couldn’t tell her, not when her parents had warned that any slip up or revelation of their world to humans was unforgivable, and would result in the human’s definite death, on top of whatever sentence was deemed necessary for her. That was enough to keep her mouth shut forever about her true nature.

  “Neither do I, G,” Sophie said, and then rushed out to meet with the rest of her friends, before Gina could prod further.

  That night, before she left for bed, her parents gave her a letter.

  “What is it?” She asked, weighing the simple envelope in her hand. Who still sent slow mail anyway? She wondered to herself.

  “It was delivered for you this morning,” her father informed her.

  “Has it go to do with..?” She drew off here. “Is this because I’m a Faery?” She attempted again.

  “Open it and see,” her mother said. And so she opened it.

  Sophie Leighton

  ℅ Lachlan Leighton

  21a Radisson Street

  NSW 2060

  Australia

  Happy fourteenth birthday, Sophie Leighton!

  This is an official welcome to the Supernatural Realm, with your new status as a Faery.

  Attached is your admission letter and travel itinerary to attend Drachenburg School for the Supernaturals starting this autumn semester.

  Upon receiving this admission letter, you have inadvertently entered into a contract with the Supernatural Realm and are therefore expected to attend the school. Failure to do so will be deemed as a breach of contract, and you will be subjected to a trial to determine your case.

  You are expected to contact the school by whatever convenient means and confirm your arrival date, time and location. Preferably somewhere in North Germany on August the 25th. A staff member will be there to pick you up at your confirmed arrival location and time.

  We look forward to meeting you, fledgling.

  Count Jan Sanguine

  The principal

  Drachenburg School for the Supernaturals

  And so thus began the series of sleepless nights, more so when her parents began telling her about the other three types of Supernatural Beings that she was to expect at her new school.

  Chapter 2

  She looked out into the distance, standing on the topmost boulder over hundreds or so massive rocks piled on top of each other, towering majestically over the vast savanna plainlands. This was the Mong’ena Cairn, a timeless massive formation of rocks, as old as the Maiga name itself. As long as there has been a Maiga, the Mong’ena Cairn has existed.

  Standing up there, her profile dwarfed by the cairn phenomenon around her, her face embodied the sheer image of will. She would do this.

  Petite and young she might be, but within her was the ability to will the energies in the air with near unbridled authority. The vast plainlands rolling for hundreds of kilometres around her as they had for thousands of years before her time, could easily be rearranged into mountain ranges by a single flick of her wrist. But that wasn’t the kind of magic she prided herself in practicing. Plus, she rather enjoyed the landscape just as it lay.

  She smiled a little to herself in amusement, upon noticing the three-legged dog tripping on its tail again, as it attempted to reach up for the rubber ball in her hand.

  “You want to play some more, Mtani?” She questioned aloud, before throwing the ball beyond the rocks to land right under an acacia tree, where a goat continued grazing unperturbed.

  She watched piteously as Mtani hobbled on his ill-fitting limbs over the treacherous boulders, his tongue sticking out in glee.

  Mtani had always been a cheerful dog, despite his unfortunate affliction. He’d also been a faithful friend over the years, a near sibling, and was the single closest being to her.

  Boke leaped off the boulders, expertly manipulating the wind element to guide her safely to the ground below, landing right beside her rude goat and the ecstatic dog with the ball captured between his teeth.

  “Good boy,” she praised him, lovingly picking him up into her arms. “I have to go now, I told you about it.”

  He whined a little when she said this, almost as though he understood her.

  “Don’t be sad,” she proceeded to say, st
roking behind his ears softly.

  “I’ll only be gone for a short while, I promise,” she attempted to reassure her dog.

  “I’ll exert my revenge, and then get back home even before Maringo pregnants another cow again. You’ll see, dear friend.”

  The dog licked her face adoringly in answer.

  “Remember to hunt for your dinner now,” she added, nuzzling the dog’s ears. “You too, Nyuki,” she turned to the old lioness that was slowly walking their way. “But only to keep your old bones exercised. I doubt you could catch even the slowest wildebeest, old friend.”

  The girl now folded her knees and crouched lower, so as to pet the old lioness’ head. She purred in answer.

  “I’ve taken care that you won’t starve in my absence.” And she had. A pride of lions in the area would bring her their kill every three days at least. A spell she’d casted last night would ensure it. That should keep her well fed until Boke came back, though it’d certainly wound her pride.

  “You’ll all be safe here.” She had a feeling that saying those words out aloud was more to her benefit. It was she that needed to hear them.

  Then for fear that she might change her mind again, she began calling to the wind.

  The skinny dog still trapped in her embrace shuddered a little at the thickening air brushing against them, and the lioness growled impatiently. Animals were very perceptive creatures. They could sense magic, and its unnaturalness unnerved them. Her pets trusted her however, and refrained from attacking her at the sting of magic in the air.

  Stay! The voice came from the sudden wind, commanding angrily around her. Stay and live child!

  “No, I must go!” She spoke out firmly. “It is my duty to right this wrong..”

  The spirit filled air slapped at her from all directions.

  Pestilent.

  Silly!

  Childish.

  The Maiga ancestral spirits were angry, but they forgot that she was angry too.

  Of course she was angry, for nearly half her life, she’d had spirits and animals as her only family and companions, and the people to blame lived happy lives out there. She’d make them pay, all those who’d been involved would pay, and gravely.