The Cup, The Madigan Chronicles #4

THE CUP

THE MADIGAN CHRONICLES

BOOK FOUR

Marieke Lexmond

PROLOGUE

A FORGOTTEN TIME AGES AGO

Colel’s bronze skin shimmers in the sun. She’s in her early twenties, her short frame is stocky,

and her long dark hair hangs like a curtain down her back. A big sigh escapes her while she

absentmindedly pets her friend who brought her here. The big Griffon snuggles up to her to give

her comfort. They’re on top of one of the highest mountains on the planet. Even though it’s the

middle of the summer, being so high up gives her goose bumps. The cold wind is blowing and

her feet, planted in the snow, start to numb. The Griffon’s body heat gives her enough protection

but it looks like she won’t be staying long anyway. This was her last option. To reach this portal,

you must have wings, which had kept alive the tiniest sliver of hope that maybe this one was still

open. Because of its difficult location, this portal was mainly used by creatures. Since the Fates

had closed the ways between the worlds during the great divide to save the species from

themselves, Colel has been searching for her sister Eztli. For over a year, she has visited every

portal she could remember. As the witches of their village, it was part of their responsibility to

travel regularly to the different dimensions to learn and to gather supplies to help the village

survive the battles and fierce rivalry with the other settlements. When the Fates threatened to

intervene in the societies in order to maintain the integrity of the species and the uniqueness of

each world—nobody believed them. The dimensions and creatures were destroying each other.

Not that anybody could even remember how it all started… they lived in balance and harmony

for a very long time. Hours before the Fates in fact closed the portals between the dimensions,

they sent out a warning. Colel and Eztli had split up, hoping to save time as they tried to take

care of some urgent needs. Colel made it back in time, but Eztli never came home. Colel couldn’t

even reach her through their twin bond. They always had—and that means always—been able to

do that. Now it was an empty void. In her heart, Colel knows Eztli is stuck in Fairy.

Tears escape her as her last hope of finding a working portal is dashed. She takes one last look

over the land below. The mountain range with its snowy and granite peaks, the slopes are

disappearing into a thick forest for as far as the eye can see. The world has calmed down, and

parts of the forest are regenerating. Humans are recovering, and the few creatures that still live

among them will not be able to go home either. The Griffon licks the tears from her face.

“I know. We should go.” In one last desperate attempt to reach her sister, she throws out her

witch sense. It rushes down the hills and ripples through the forest like a stone thrown in a pond.

But her sister doesn’t answer.

CENTURIES LATER

Colel has reached extreme old age, and she now feels her time has come. She had outlived many

generations due to her mixed blood. Her parents were part-fairy, mermaid, and had a touch of

something demonic. With her last breaths, she moves deeper and deeper into the forest.

Readying herself to return to the earth. Every now and then, she stops to catch her breath and to

smell the musky scent of the moss and ferns. It is calling her home. Gosh, she can’t wait. All

those years, she never gave up trying to find a portal that still worked in the attempt to reach her

sister. Unable to have children, her existence had been incredibly lonely. Her many gifts had

always set her apart from the others, even though she kept them safe and healthy. The hole left

by her twin was never filled, and it had become a dark place.

Unable to go any further, she decides that this is the spot. Carefully, she lowers herself to the

ground and sits with her back against a giant tree. Opening her witch-self to her surroundings

and letting her life force seep into the ground. Her mind wanders, fading into the deep when she

senses something pulling her back. Something she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Colel wants to

pass over, but the pull is too strong; she struggles to open her eyes. A shock runs through her.

Only a foot away is her twin Eztli, who is not a day older than when they separated. It must be a

dream.

“Oh my Goddess, it is you!” Eztli’s melodious voice pulls her further back from the brink.

“Is that really you?” Colel rasps.

“What happened? I was not even gone one moon cycle!” It’s a rhetorical question as they both

know what happened. Something that had always been one of the dangers of going to Fairy.

Time could run differently there.

“How? I tried everything.” Colel’s voice is barely a whisper.

“We were able to repair one portal. I came as soon as I could.” Eztli’s eyes are brimming over.

This can’t be happening to them. Of course, she noticed immediately that earth had changed a lot

since she got stuck on the other side, but never ever had it occurred to her that centuries might

have passed.

Colel feels her life slipping away. There’s no time to waste. Her elven ring, given to her by her

father on his deathbed, taught her a lot. Family history is embedded in it. The ring separated from

her hand, a definite sign of her transition. Gently, she takes it off and reaches for her sister’s

hand. No longer able to speak, Colel uses her mind to connect to her twin. Now, Eztli is right

there; it is as if they have never been apart. Eztli looks at the wrinkled hands that are trying to put

the ring on her finger. Her father’s ring. Right, her parents must be long gone if Colel is this old.

“Quiet and listen,” Colel orders her.

“I can give you energy,” Eztli starts an incantation.

PART 1

TWO OF WANDS “DOORWAY”

“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of

perception.”

—Aldous Huxley

GREENLAND, THE NORTHERN TIP CAPE MORRIS JESUP

A whistling wind races over the white landscape. The snow pushed forward by the wind forms a

thin layer racing over the ice sheet, which covers some of the oldest rocks on the face of the

earth. This far North, temperatures are already way below freezing in late September, and there’s

only a limited amount of daylight. The fall equinox has passed, and soon enough, this place will

enter the four months of darkness. It’s hard to imagine that anything can live here.

An arctic stoat sticks his head out of a little hole. With his white coat, he blends in with his

surroundings. He quickly scans the surface and takes stock of potential food and predators. After

a second glance, he jumps out and turns some somersaults, his black-tipped tail whipping back

and forth. His tiny frame is agile, as his weight is slightly over a pound. Salik is overjoyed to be

back in Greenland. He had missed it a lot, the ability to shapeshift into his other self as often as

he wants to. To go hunting, running, the feel of the snow and ice between his paws. This is his

home; it’s where he belongs. His family had settled here several generations ago, witches from

America who had fled with a powerful elemental object ‘The Cup of Plenty’ in the hope of

keeping it safe. They eventually found their way to this remote island, Greenland, which, in

those days was very hard to reach. Eager to fit in and make a life for themselves, they

immediately began trading with the local people. In time, his great-great-great-grandmother fell

in love and married an Inuit shaman. It’s always surprising what can happen if you mix magical

talents. Their family developed shapeshifting. Many generations later, it had become as natural

to them as walking—the ability to change at will, as often as they wanted. As always, being

different makes you stand out, and so, to keep the Cup and themselves safe, they moved further

and further up North until they reached the most Northern tip of Greenland, where people rarely

venture.

Salik is sent out to sniff the air; the family has been buzzing with unrest. Something is going on

with the other elements, putting his mother Snowflake, and Granny Laakki on high alert.

He doesn’t see any reason to worry. This place is far away from everything! Extremely hard to

get to, let alone find, and the Cup is in the safest place imaginable. Their magical safety net is

strong with a mix of witch wards and modern technology. Nothing gets past that! They should

relax.

Salik is in the middle of another somersault when a loud crack draws his attention. He lands on

all fours and tries to determine where the noise came from. Quickly, he puts his ear to the

ground—the ice beneath it is rumbling. Something is making its way straight toward him. The

air is charged with electricity, and his fur stands straight up. Shit!

Another loud crackling noise, closer this time. Is the ice breaking? That’s not possible; they’re

not on an ice shelf. Something hits their magical barrier right then, and the perimeter lights up

with a flash. Discharging some of that built-up energy into the air.

For a split second, Salik can’t think. He’s in full panic mode; all he wants to do is run. Then his

years of magical training burst through his mind-numbing fear. It takes only a second to

transform into his human self, and now he is standing upright, fully naked, with his dark hair

flapping wildly behind him. He thrusts his hands forward and pulls up an additional shield while

simultaneously sending out a probe to the danger ahead. He needs to know what he’s dealing

with. The cold doesn’t seem to bother him, and he runs toward the edge of their parameter.

Something is chipping away at their shield. It won’t be long before it creates a magical hole to

come through. He can’t let it reach their home. With one hand touching the ice and the other

reaching for the sky, he starts an incantation in the hope of capturing the spell sent here. The

wind begins to form a feeding funnel while the cold adds power from the ice cap below. Just as

the spell finds a way in, he drops his shield. The spell is attracted to the magic in front of it.

“SALIK, NO!” he vaguely hears when the spell hits him with such force that he gets thrown tens

of feet back, the spell and his protection shattering in a million pieces of ice glass, which

pummels his face and body. His hair turns from solid black to pure white from the sheer force.

His mother, Snowflake, reaches him first, followed by the rest of the family. They are alarmed

by the parameter wards. Salik is lying unconscious on his back, blood dripping into the snow

from many tiny wounds, the red in stark contrast with the white. The ice is cracked in the form of

a lightning bolt as far as they can see. However, Salik did manage to negate the spell.

LONDON

A loud laugh escapes Lucy Lockwood, a prim-looking elderly woman in her seventies, while she

admires the result of her spell. Finally, a breakthrough! Too much had gone wrong lately in her

pursuit of the elemental power objects.

There are four magical objects in the world that rule the elements. Several centuries ago, four

sisters had separated the Cup of Plenty, which governs the power of Water. The Wand of

Wisdom—Fire, the Dagger of Consciousness—Air, and the Pentacle of Growth—Earth. The

temptation and combination of powers had grown too strong for the group of witches guarding it.

Running out of options, the sisters pledged to keep it safe and hidden, and each of them went

their own way. While their families grew, they passed on the duty to their eldest daughters.

Lucy’s family guarded the Wand of Wisdom, representing the power of Fire. When her mother

decided that the responsibility of the Wand should go to Tara, Lucy’s twin, Lucy tried to grab the

power for herself. She was young and foolish and got banned from the Madigan family.

It had taken her till recently to locate one of the other families and to steal the Dagger of

Consciousness, the power of Air. But her do-gooder sister and her brood got involved! Lucy can

still sense the loss of the Dagger. The crater of absent power it left behind when Maeve, one of

Tara’s granddaughters, managed to sever her link to the Dagger and attune herself to it.

Even her son Set abandoned her and threw her out of his home; she traveled to London. It has

always been one of her favorite places. With the witch history here, it’s undoubtedly the place to

find some answers.

Luckily, one of her friends is out of town and has offered her the use of his home. A dark witch

with a sound library and an inspirational workspace down in the basement. A witch circle is

embedded in the century-old stone floor; candles illuminate the dungeon, and Lucy’s eyes are

still adjusting after the flash of light from negating the spell. She created a spell that targeted the

elemental power of Water in the hope it will point her in the direction of the Cup, and it had hit

home. Not necessarily THE place where the Cup is but an area with an exceptional amount of

Water energy. A perfect starting point. Slowly, a form etched into the floor comes into focus. A

lightning bolt points roughly to the northern part of what looks to be an island. She can’t wait to

discover which island it is as it doesn’t look familiar to her.

Stiffly, she gets up and walks the circle backward to release the protection before she can grab

her phone and take a picture of the form on the floor. No doubt Mara has no trouble finding out

where this is. She’s so savvy on a computer. Lucy stops; how could she have forgotten! Mara

and Cal, her grandchildren, are still in Fairy. Most likely captives of Mab, the Queen of Fairy. In

all these years, she had been a master at compartmentalizing. That she abandoned her

grandchildren to save herself is something she had resolutely stuffed away. Not that she cared

much about her grandson Cal, but Mara was a talented young witch and had been great company

the last couple of years. Not willing to admit that she missed her and might even feel bad about

it, she moves on to the problem at hand. Hmmm, should she ask Set? That idea is dismissed as

quickly as it came up. With a big sigh and a flick of the wrist, she extinguishes the flames as she

exits the room. She must figure this out herself; it can’t be that hard! The island looks pretty big.

NEW ORLEANS

Tara Madigan, the family’s matriarch, a much relaxer-looking version of Lucy but unmistakably

her twin, sits behind her desk in her bedroom, staring into the garden. Her happy place. After

Seamus disappeared again out of his magical portrait, she couldn’t bear to face it all the time and

decided to rearrange her room. The picture gave her much comfort since his passing. Defying the

Fates, refusing to pass through to the afterlife, he had inhabited one of his magical paintings and

kept her company. Not able to talk, but at least they could see each other; to see his smile every

day, his compassionate eyes…. Seamus had disappeared for a long time when Cal, Lucy’s

grandson, used Seamus’ card from the Magical Tarot Deck. The young man must have used it

again since the portrait remains empty. When these magical cards are used, you get pulled from

your current life, which for Seamus is his painting.

Currently, the garden manages to distract her from the loss of the power of the Wand. Just a little

bit, though. It never occurred to her that passing on the Wand of Wisdom to her granddaughter

Bridget would have such an impact on her. The empty feeling is almost unbearable. Her mother

died very soon after she had transferred the power to Tara. Will this happen to her now? The

emptiness sucking the life out of her?

Too many gloomy thoughts for this early in the morning. Maybe she should see what this day

brings. She shuffles her favorite tarot deck with practiced hands and pulls a new card of the day.

The Two of Wands, two wolves are carrying a stick toward a smoldering fire in the foreground.

Working together, a doorway. A good card, wands are cards of action and movement.

She can see this card working in Bridget and Maeve, her granddaughters and fraternal twins. It

was a surprise to find out that Maeve is a Siren. That she could keep that hidden for such a long

time is unbelievable. The real shock came when the girls tried to move the Dagger of

Consciousness to keep it safe from her own twin Lucy, and it had transferred its powers to

Maeve. After eight generations, two of the elemental objects are back in one house, and the

energy is palpable for everyone. Their twin bond amplifies the powers even more, and they have

become scarily powerful. Bridget and Maeve are working with the ancestors for a month now,

gaining more control. But Tara finally understands why so many moons ago, the four sisters, on

that fateful night, had decided to separate the elemental objects and sworn never to bring the four

elements together again.