"What else?" asked Daniel.

Amber shook her head. "That's all I'm willing to say."

Daniel gritted his teeth. He was about to say something when Bitty got off his lap and moved to sit beside him. She grabbed his hand, and they both looked down to see her tiny hand lying inside his palm.

He closed his hand gently around it.

"I can explain more, master," she said.

Daniel growled. "Daniel. Call me Daniel."

Bitty rolled her eyes. "Sorry, habit. Daniel. I can explain much more than that. Gnomes understand so much more about magic than most people give us credit for. Since the curse, we have researched so much."

Amber looked furious. She opened her mouth to say something, but Daniel cut her off.

"Don't say a word! If you won't share, I am willing to let Bitty here explain what you will not." Daniel looked at Bitty. "Go ahead."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Amy shake her head at Amber.

Bitty cleared her throat. “It's really quite simple. There are different kinds of ritual circles, but Amber is talking about a consecration circle. The consecration simply removes any contaminates from the ritual area. Drawing a physical circle really is much preferred. Either by drawing it with chalk or salt or digging a small ditch. Or dragging a stick through the dirt. And contrary to popular belief, the drawn circle doesn't have to be perfect or unbroken.

"When the circle of witches says their words, they are actually sealing the circle. A sphere is created that surrounds the witches.

It's almost a physical barrier, but it's only the unwanted elements that are blocked from entering. Or leaving, too. Whatever elements the witches bring into the circle are what they are then limited to use.

“Say you wanted to do something with water. You fill a bowl with water in the middle of the circle and then close off the circle.

From that point on, it could be a torrential downpour outside the circle, and nothing would enter the consecrated ground. But you would have access to the bowl of water in the circle. And you use that, pure and uncontaminated by other elements. Except air. You need air to breathe.

"Also, if you summon a demon or something equally stupid, you would be inside the circle with the demon. So, you better have a plan for that. Most people summon whatever it is they want into a specially prepared cage. The best cages are airtight. They have to be, really, if you want to contain it. Otherwise, they just fuck up the circle and escape. Many witches have died because of shitty preparation.

Like any science experiment, you need to plan for the worst. And witchcraft is really just science when you think about it. Now spirit is a real bitch. Very hard to contain. But where was I?

"Ah yes, the witches then perform the ritual. Rituals can be anything, really. The more common are weather, influence events or people, effect nature, divination, prognostication, delay death, locate people or animals, hex and curse which are bad ones, magic circle, um... oh, yes, blight, elemental bane, channel power, and umm... astral projection. Hedge witches can do some of these. But not well and not with much strength.

“But witches can do much more besides rituals. They, like spell casters, can cast some spells. Once trained, some witches can cast when needing things like communicate with animals, see in the dark, drive away beasts, read minds, cause harm, or heal, invisibility sort of, umm what else? Oh, cast flame but only small flames, douse flame, and dousing to find the elements like water, food, and minerals. Also, find person, lightning lure, chill touch, illusion, hexes, and curses-more bad stuff-witch bolt, which is weird, also cause fear, earth bind, enthral, dispel magic, magic circle, elemental bane, channel power, true seeing..." Bitty tapped her lower lip with a finger. “And that's all I can remember. Every gnome is taught as a child what witches can do. We vowed to never to let them fuck with us again.”

Daniel was impressed. He had watched Amber while Bitty was speaking.

Her mouth still hung open. He was sure that Bitty knew more than she did. He wasn't certain before, but now he was. Amber and the girls were novices. Girls playing at being witches, but with no actual knowledge of what they were or capable of.

Just Like me, he thought, sighing mentally.

Amy and Jasmine were sitting on the edge of the couch now, Listening intently to Bitty. Their eyes had grown larger as Bitty had rhymed off what a witch could do. Daniel knew the girls hadn't known all of that. He could see and feel their surprise and excitement.

Jasmine was the first to speak. "We could find gold!? Diamonds?"