Chapter 12

Sara, Sean, and I had been sitting in the cottage worried about how Annie was doing with her exam. We all felt it when she used the spell the 'Book of Dreams' had taught us, and when she activated her rings to suspend the Panel in the air. We were therefore prepared when she called us and already had our swords in our hands. We instantly spoke the spell to join her.

On arriving and drawing our swords, I noticed that the blades were no longer silver in color. Instead they ran with golden light that pulsed along the blade. It was obvious that the examiners were shocked by our appearance and our swords.

There were questions that we answered before Sara told them that the demonstration wouldn't be done here in the Otherworld, and we started the transportation spell that would take all of us to the quarry in Colorado.

"Where are we?" Brian asked in amazement when the shock of being transported had worn off some, and he and the others had a chance to look around.

"We're in Colorado. It's in the western part of the United States," Sean told them with pride.

"But ... but that's ... that's... ??" Master One started.

"About 4450 miles more or less from Ireland," Dad said with a smile.

"But how??" Master Two asked near shock again.

"Just a simple spell!" Sara said with a huge grin on her face. "Well, okay, maybe not quite so simple." All of the members on the Examination Panel just stared at her with a look of disbelief on their faces.

"With ... without a portal??" Master Four asked in an incredulous tone.

"Yes," Annie answered with a smile. "We are very familiar with the destination having been here several times." We then directed the Panel of Masters to stand out of the way of our demonstration before we joined hands again. We had already sent our swords back to their place at our house.

"This first part will be a demonstration of the sheer destructive power of our rings," I told them. We had already begun to glow again as the Magic Forces built around us.

Once again we raised our arms and pointed at one of the large slabs of rock on the floor of the quarry. We activated our rings and thought 'Destroy'. The beams of Magic Power leapt from us and converged on the slab of rock that was ten feet tall, ten feet wide and six feet thick. There was a tremendous 'CRACK' and an even louder 'BOOM' as the slab exploded into thousands of pieces of shrapnel that flew in all directions. Our flames had appeared to protect all of us as the slab exploded. When the pieces stopped falling out of the air, the Masters on the Panel stared at the spot where the slab had been. It was empty except for a number of pieces of fallen debris.

"Good gods!!" several members of the Panel exclaimed.

"The next part of the demonstration will be less destructive," I informed them, as we turned to the lower work face of the quarry. We then proceeded to cut the face for the removal of blocks of stone, as we and our family had done previously. This time, however, we cut the bottom of the block straight across at the base before moving to the side to cut it free of the wall, and then actually lifted the first slab out of the way so Sean and Sara could cut their slab free and lift it to place it next to ours on the floor of the quarry.

"Those slabs, gentlemen, are ten feet high, eight feet wide and six feet deep. They are solid granite, and if my memory serves me correctly that would mean that they weight something over forty tons each," Dad told them in the silence that followed our demonstration.

"Forty tons?" Brian asked, aghast.

"Yes," was all that Dad said in reply.

"There are other less destructive things that can be done with the forces involved with the rings," I told them next as Sean brought out the bowling balls and some large tenpins. We played a little lawn pool and did some bowling to demonstrate the less destructive applications of directed Magic. The Panel of Examiners was even more surprised at this, and the fine control that we had of the forces involved.

When we had finished our demonstration, we moved them all back together and used the spell to return all of us to the glen in the Otherworld. Our Mothers were there waiting for us, and they were greatly distressed.

"Thank heavens you're back!!" Mother Margie said on seeing us materialize.

"There is a problem that requires you're immediate attention," Mother Katie said in a serious voice. "There is a Leprechaun trapped against the wall of your cottage. He's been screaming for some time now. Several others appeared while we were there, but they could do nothing to help him."

"He's caught in the wards," Sean said with a smile.

"You need to free him. He's making a terrible racket, and a crowd has gathered to see what is happening," Mother Margie told us.

"This will be interesting," Sara said with a smirk.

We all headed for our cottage, even the Masters on the Panel went with us. We could hear the Leprechaun well before we reached the cottage and those gathered around it. The crowd made way for us as we approached. Brian had moved up next to Sean and me by the time we arrived at the cottage.

"QUIET!" he ordered the Leprechaun, as we neared him. The crowd had also gone quiet at this command. "So you have been caught in the act, Finley!" he finished.

"I was merely walking by when the wall grabbed me," the Leprechaun, Finley, answered in excuse.

"Bullshit!!" Sean snorted in reply. "Those wards don't function like that. You had to be trying to get into the cottage to be trapped like this."

"Can you release him from the wall?" Brian asked.

"Certainly," Sean replied and used the word that relaxed the wards for a short time. The Leprechaun quickly jumped away from the wall and would have disappeared except Annie and Sara were already reciting a spell to hold him there.

"Finley, I'm greatly disappointed in you!" Brian said tiredly. "You WILL appear before me tomorrow morning to hear your punishment. Leave us now," Brian finished. The O'Neill sisters canceled the spell, and the Leprechaun instantly disappeared.

"I'm sorry that this happened while you are here," Brian said apologetically, still with the same tired voice.

"Don't feel badly, Master Brian. It's what we created the wards for after we arrived here," Annie told him.

"Wait!" Brian asked. "You created the wards after you arrived? You didn't bring a ward stone with you?" He seemed quite puzzled.

"Yes, it didn't take all that long as the building is small, and each of us took a different warding spell," Annie assured him.

"Four wards? Could we touch the walls to see what is there?" Master One asked as the four other Masters had moved forward by now to join our conversation.

"Yes, that won't harm anything or anyone," I told them. All five Masters moved over to the walls of the cottage and laid their hands on the walls. Shortly their faces reflected puzzlement, then consternation, and finally shock.

"How long did it take you to set these wards?" Master Five demanded after a time.

"Only a few minutes each," Annie answered.

"Brian, we need to have a conference to discuss what we have seen and experienced today with these people," Master One said after examining the wall for a time.

"Yes, I think you're correct ... Master One," Brian agreed. "Let's adjourn to my cottage for a meal and our discussions of what we have seen and learned." He then turned to us and our parents who were nearby.

"I'll come to see all of you tomorrow about our decision on how to proceed after I have dealt with Finley," Brian told us before the five Senior Master Sorcerers left for Brian's cottage. The crowd had also dispersed.

It wasn't until we were all inside and had settled down some that we realized how much time had passed and what time it was. It was already late afternoon here, and we had all had breakfast early this morning. Annie and Sara prepared some food for all of us after we cleaned up some.

"Did I do all right?" Annie asked nervously, as we washed our hands, arms and faces.

"Yes, you were fantastic!"I told her, and kissed her still wet face. Annie flowed into me, and returned my kiss with passion.

"I was worried that it wouldn't work," she said, as we came up for air, and she shivered some.

"It's all right, Sweetie," I assured her. "We just have to see what they decide."

After we finished eating, there wasn't much to do. We didn't feel like studying as we waited, or going out to do anything.

"What do you think they'll decide?" Sara asked after we had been sitting in the main room for some time.

"It might be interesting to be a fly on their wall to listen to their discussions," Sean said in reply.

"I wouldn't try that, Sean," I said. "They might detect the spell on the fly."

"I know, but I hate waiting around," Sean said in frustration and got up to pace, leaving Sara seated.

"Does it really matter what they decide?" Annie asked after a minute. "I mean, we already know what we need to do, and whatever they decide won't change that."

"No, it won't change that," Sean agreed. "But it would be nice to be able to say that we are Master Level Sorcerers."

"But it won't make any real difference," Sara said joining in. "We ARE the most powerful Sorcerers in the world.

"Yes, but are we the most knowledgeable?" I asked. "There are many things that Master's Level Sorcerers must know. I don't believe we received all of that knowledge in the five weeks the 'Book of Dreams' was teaching us. It taught us what we needed to know to take care of the situations that we are expected to face, but not everything that a Master needs to and should know," I told them.

"Yes," Annie agreed, "we will all need to continue studying to improve our knowledge of Magic and the more advanced spells that a Master can do." There was a knock on the door. It came just as Annie finished speaking, and I went to see who it was.

"Good evening, Dad," I said on opening the door, and seeing our Dad standing there.

"I need to speak with you Gus - alone - without the others," Dad told me. "Can you step outside for a few minutes?"

"Sure, Dad. Just let me tell the others," I told him and turned to let the others know that I would be outside for a bit. "Dad needs to talk to me for a minute. I'll be back in a bit." We moved away from the cottage before Dad began speaking.

"It's about your Anna," he said.

"What about her?" I asked worried.

"I was impressed with her maturity and the way she handled the examination today," Dad stated. "When you first met her, she was very quiet and not ... self-asserting. Today she was very positive and competent in what she did and the way she handled things and herself. She seemed to have a much more positive attitude about herself."

"Yes, Annie has grown much more confident in both herself and what she can do as her knowledge of Magic has increased," I acknowledged. "But she is still the same sweet girl under all of that."

"Yes, even Sara, who is much bolder in most things, is a very sweet girl at heart," Dad said before changing the subject.

"No matter what happens tomorrow, I want all of you to know that I believe that you did very well today with how you handled things. The Leprechaun getting caught in your wards didn't hurt either," Dad said with a big smile.

"Don't forget to set the privacy spell tonight, and we'll see you in the morning," Dad finished before leaving.

"What was that all about?" Sean asked when I returned to the cottage.

"Dad was congratulating me on the fine job that Annie did today," I told them. "Also on the job that the rest of us did also."

"Really!?" Annie asked in surprise.

"Yes, really, Sweetie," I answered and took her in my arms for a long kiss. By the time we came up for air, the door to Sean and Sara's room was closing.

"Don't forget to set the privacy spell!" I warned him.

"Yes!" Sara answered and giggled as the door closed tight.

"They are going to wear each other out," Amie told me.

"Should we do the same thing?" I asked, already hard.

"Yes!" Annie said with a mischievous giggle, "but with a little more restraint than those two have."

We retired to our bedroom, and I remembered using the privacy spell, but that was the last thing that I was sure of that night. We hugged, kisses, cuddled, and had sex for some time after that. I'm just not sure of what order they happened in, or how many times we did what. I do have a memory of rolling off of Annie just before we fell into blissful sleep for the rest of the night.

In the morning, we were both in need of a little medical Magic; me for the scratches on my back, and Annie so she could walk without a limp. We had awakened early with a need for a long dip in the heated pool on the other side of the village. Annie and I emerged from our room to a still dark cottage. Annie went to wake the others while I lit a candle with a spell.