The Witch of the Midnight Moon

Spellcrafter The Witch of the Midnight Moon (also referred to as the Halloween special) is the first novella in the Spellcrafter series written by Christopher Kirkland. The book was first published on October 25th, 2019 on Amazon.com, and was later deemed to be apart of a new series called 'Spellcrafter Seasonal'. This was done in an effort to simplify the collections, and allow those who want to read a specific set to find them easier.

Dedication
"It is that time of year where the carved-up pumpkins come out, the cauldrons are boiling, and the ghosts roam. However, this year, Chris, Penny, Megan, and Ian face a new enemy. So, eat your candy, enjoy your Halloween, but remember to sleep with one eye open as the Witch of the Full Moon still lurks in shadows with her minions every Hallows Eve.”

Book description
The Headmaster has a treat for his favorite squad of Wizards. He begins the tale of the Forsaken Woods, the old days of Terminus, the town’s lingering shadow, The Witch of the Midnight Moon. A fierce group of strangers will be the only thing that stands in her way of her reign of terror. Will they be able to save the town and themselves? Or will they be overpowered by the monsters and once friends that lurk in the woods? Filled with excitement and frights, his tale is sure to cause some sleepless nights--as it has with those who learned of their plight. The Spellcrafter Halloween special is an optional side story that does not contain spoilers for the main book series.

Summary:
This Halloween special is supposedly based on a true story, told by Headmaster Jacob Brood, about a witch named Roze who uses recently discovered dark magic to both kill and control the spirits of those who oppose her. The story revolves around Mahogany, who is related to Roze, along with three other characters: Ganoid, Freya, and Rell. Mahogany has been trying to track down her sister for a long time to stop her and discovers the three of them also attempting the same thing for both the bounty and for the good of Terminus. For better or worse, Mahogany tags along in an attempt to protect them. All of the main characters mentioned are supposedly alternate versions of Chris, Penny, Megan, and Ian. This story isn’t integral to the main series, but is an excellent side horror/thriller adventure for the Halloween night.

Chapter 1: The Midnight Moon
The story begins very ominously with a description of the rising blood moon and all the citizens of Terminus closing up shop and staying indoors for the night. We are then introduced to a woman in black clad who just so happens to be passing through alone as a kindly citizen is about to be attacked by a creature of darkness. She secretly places a barrier spell over him with a familiar flower that hints at who she is, but with little success as the creature is about to pounce. Just then we are immediately introduced to two characters Freya and Ganoid who came just in the nick of time to save this man and stop the beast. Meanwhile, the woman stands bewildered and watches as they both blind and best this creature together. They seemed to know each other well. Once the man has been saved, he hops on his horse and leaves, but it doesn’t take long for Freya (Penny) and Ganoid (Ian) to sense the woman who watched it all unfold. They ask who she is and without revealing her name, he realizes she needs to go and simply screams “A beast!” in an attempt to cover up who she is and possibly seem like she is just another citizen instead of a witch.

Chapter 2: Foolhardy
We learn of “the legend” of the Witch of the Midnight Moon and how all the townspeople fear her magic and abilities to supposedly turn men into creatures of darkness under her control or how anyone that tries to go after the witch doesn’t come back alive. We also learn that the woman we first met is named Mahogany, and that the witch everyone fears is her sister who she has been looking for for a long time. She has traveled from the east and seen several wanted posters of images that don’t look much different from herself, so she tries to keep her identity and relation to her sister hidden, hence why she ran away from Freya and Ganoid in the previous chapter. Since then she has continued forward alone and is met by another kind gentleman riding a horse-drawn carriage with several essential supplies. He tells her it isn’t safe to be alone at this hour - something that a lot of people tell her - and offers to take her where she needs to go. She reluctantly agrees and requests to go to the Charioteer Tavern where she could possibly find the adventurer and swordsman she saw earlier. The man agrees to take her despite his warnings of the witch and the town not looking kindly to outsiders and he even introduces himself as Bertram. Mahogany introduces herself as well but mentions nothing about who she is, only her name. They finally arrive at the tavern and Bertram heads to his home alone. This worries Mahogany but she tries to let it go as she enters. The bartender urges her to lock and barricade the door behind her, and once she does she is served a drink and looks around the tavern. She then notices Ganoid behind her playing a drinking game with a man named Andrew and winning. He comes across as cocky and arrogant but full of spirit. Not long afterwards, Freya and her partner Rell enter the tavern together to meet up with Ganoid. Freya mentions that Ganoid is taking on a bounty to slay the Witch, a bounty that was placed by the “Headmaster”. Ganoid confidently confirms this and claims that he can take her on himself and that he is invincible. Freya promptly calls him out on this and Rell is unsure but thinks it’s possible. We learn that Rell isn’t that strong of a fighter compared to the other two and that he hasn’t fought anything supernatural yet. The chapter ends with Mahogany debating whether or not he should help him secretly or tell him he is being stupid and offer to go with him without sounding too suspicious.

Chapter 3: Only the Brave and Foolish
We start with a glimpse of the Forsaken Woods and the eerie lack of noise in the night besides the chirping of crickets. Ganoid, Freya, and Rell are traveling through the woods together with Mahogany following behind, making sure they didn’t notice her. Rell is the first to complain and is clearly fearful of what could be lurking in these woods and all the dangers they are putting themselves in just so Ganoid can make a quick buck and feed his reputation. Freya and Ganoid tell Rell that he can go home if he wishes but they are going to keep going. Rell hesitantly lags behind, clearly the coward of the group. Mahogany noticed it too, and saw it as an opportunity to get answers, thinking that maybe they knew where her sister is (who we learn later is named Roze). Mahogany grabs onto Rell from behind and places her Jian sword against his neck, ordering Ganoid to tell her where her sister is and threatens to attack in an attempt to get answers. She notices that Freya is nowhere to be found until she ends up right behind Mahogany with a sword to her neck. She sensed they were being followed and ordered Mahogany to let Rell go and explain herself. At first, when Mahogany tries explaining that she is looking for her sister, the Witch, Freya assumes that she is a witch too. Mahogany explains however that she is looking for her because she is trying to stop her, and the group lets her help so long as she doesn’t hurt them or try to hurt Rell again. Ganoid almost immediately starts flirting with Mahogany because..well he’s Ganoid, and she starts realizing that these people she is working with are very strange but clearly close. She knows that she needs to protect them.

Chapter 4: Last Rites
As the group continued on in the Forsaken Woods, they kept hearing the voices of spirits whispering all around them as if warning them to turn back now. Freya made note of this and Mahogany explained that these voices were spirits of the past that were all once killed by her sister Roze. She emitted magic light to show them what these spirits look like and while her and Freya seem unfazed, Ganoid and especially Rell were unsettled to say the least. Each of these spirits either were completely white, signifying that they had no magic type before they died or they had different colors showing their magic type. These spirits could not be killed and could both disappear and reappear by touch. They slowly started to surround the group and their whispers turned into hushed screams. When they had enough, Mahogany made them vanish with her magic. She then asked if they knew a person named Maya Elliot and Rell mentioned that he knew her and that she went after the witch with his sister Emina. Mahogany tells him that whoever Maya was back then isn’t the same Maya now. Not long after that, a manifestation of the very girl she spoke of started to attack along with a behemoth of a man who was certainly alive unlike Maya but was being controlled to stop them in their tracks. Mahogany tells Ganoid and Freya to make a run for it, and Freya doesn’t want to leave Rell with her since she doesn’t trust her yet; however, she knew she didn’t have a choice and that whoever she was she had a lot of magic capabilities she didn’t and that she could protect him if need be. So she and Ganoid escaped. Meanwhile, Mahogany and Rell were stopped by Maya’s manifestation who, everytime they think they have killed her, comes back with her dead body from the previous kill still on the ground. This resulted in many dead carcasses of Maya on the ground as she still stood above them and asked Rell to “join her and Emina”. It was apparent that Rell was once close with Maya since he didn’t want to have to kill her but understood that she wasn’t the same Maya he knew. Maya managed to slice Rell’s neck but Mahogany quickly used her magic to heal him and seal the wound as he was bleeding out. They then managed to escape to a nearby graveyard where Mahogany would tell him to relax while she finished her off herself. Rell refuses and feels that the best way to free her is to work together. She then learns that Rell is an Ice wizard but only knows the basic spells so he rarely uses it. She senses that he isn’t very mentally strong but determined all the same and that he is more skilled than he let on. When Maya appears again, this time while Rell distracts her, Mahogany’s plan is to use her magic to free her soul, which she does. Maya is no more and her spirit is gone. Mahogany asks Rell why he is out here in the forest, and he explains that he didn’t want to leave Freya behind and shows her a black and gold sapphire ring, suggesting that he has plans to propose to her. Rell knows that Freya isn’t going to back down from this, so if she was going, he was going too.

Chapter 5: Indomitable Brute
We turn our attention back to Ganoid and Freya who were last seen running from the giant man who is known as The Brute. They found themselves in an old abandoned village and Freya led Ganoid into the nearby jail cell where they could hide and barricade the door. All was quiet for a while and they figured they were safe until the Brute slammed his giant fist through the wall and grabbed a hold of Freya and inevitably Ganoid as well. However, Ganoid not only managed to free himself but freed Freya from his clutches and spent a lot of the time taunting the guy and trying to act tough and kick his ass. After a seemingly long battle between the two, it ends with the Brute grabbing hold of Ganoid once again and attempting to crush him until his very bones break. Luckily, Mahogany comes to his aid and uses the same life magic from before that freed Maya to attempt to free the Brute as well once she had him contained. Ganoid tries to act like he wasn’t struggling and that he was simply trying to drag out the fight and keep him busy, which of course was bs, but surprisingly this amused Mahogany a little. It was clear Ganoid was trying to be flirty towards her on purpose and while Rell, who followed behind was tending to Freya, Mahogany tended to Ganoid’s wounds as she was freeing the beast of a man from Roze. He asks for a kiss which only makes her blush and she responds with a simple “We’ll see”. But just then, we are finally introduced to Roze herself and the conflict between these two sisters arises. Roze asks Mahogany to let her “servant” go and Ganoid retaliates on her behalf, once again, trying to act tough for her. With Mahogany distracted, Roze commands the Brute to bring her to her side and so he grabs Mahogany tight and carries her over his giant shoulders. Ganoid then warns Roze to put her down and threatens to kill her. To Roze’s amusement, she lets him try. The others know this is foolish and he’s gonna get himself killed, but Ganoid still stands his ground.

Chapter 6: Lament
This chapter - being the shortest in the book - explains how Roze came to be this witch of darkness that everyone knew her for. After women were given the right to vote, they were also given the right to learn and practice magic. This was at first met with skepticism but so many great women had discovered so much about magic; for instance, one woman discovered that magic was biological. However, there was one woman named Roze who discovered dark magic and all the potential and power it holds. She urged her sister Mahogany and others to join her, but when they refused and saw the dark path she was taking, she used that magic against them. The wizard counsel saw this was a problem and once again prevented women from using magic, to which Roze responded by killing all the members. The term “Witch” was now seen in a negative light, and Roze’s mother banished her from the Witch’s settlement and she stayed in the Forsaken Woods. Mahogany wanted to find her sister and try to reason with her, so she snuck out with her mother’s sword and set out to find her on her own, leading up to the events now.

Chapter 7: What Magic Can Do
The battle between Mahogany and her sister Roze continued while Ganoid, Rell, and Freya continued to fight the Brute who was relentless at this point. The majority of this chapter consisted of these two fights, and in the heat of battle, Mahogany wanted this to end. She placed a magic barrier above her and her sister and asked what she wanted, even though a part of her already knew the answer. Roze wanted her to join her. She wanted her help in discovering all of magic’s potential because she believed that magic shouldn’t be limited and anyone who thinks differently is a fool. Mahogany refuses and understands that there was no use in trying to talk her out of it. We also learn that not only did she kill the witches who opposed her in the counsel, but also their own mother. Roze decides not to kill Mahogany, but she knows she will not let her or anyone stop her. The fight only continues from there and it isn’t long before Ganoid joins in to help her, leaving Rell and Freya to take care of the Brute themselves. He charges toward Roze only to find himself in the clutches of giant hands made from her magic. Mahogany at this point starts losing herself, fearful of losing Ganoid especially after she was beginning to take a liking to him. There was very little Mahogany could do but place another barrier to prevent the others from getting killed as well. Rell tells her to let the barrier down so he can help and after a moment, knowing that there was little else she could do, she let it down. Soon enough, Rell charged forward and used the dagger that Maya used which happened to be enchanted against Roze. This is when she finally snaps, lifts Ganoid in the air as a red aura of magic surrounds him, and sends him flying thousands of miles away, crashing through several buildings and hearing a final crash in the woods. Ganoid is presumed to be dead, and Mahogany uses her life magic to get Rell and Freya away and escape.

Chapter ?: Interruption
This is more of an intermission chapter where we see Ian, Chris, Penny, Megan, Autumn, and the Headmaster together in their Halloween costumes. This is when we realize that this whole book is a scary story told by the Headmaster that may or may not be true. Ian is basically complaining about Ganoid’s death, hinting that Ganoid is representative of him. Chris of course likes the story, Penny thinks it’s a little childish but still good, and Megan thinks the story is getting interesting. This is meant to give the reader a chance to breathe after all that occurred and also show us the real characters from the series.

Chapter 8: Dissention
The story starts its second act rather solemnly as Mahogany uses her life magic to take her, Rell, and Freya far out into the grasslands. Once they land safely, it’s hard to know what to say. Rell is the first to speak and asks what they should do now. Freya says that they must go back and go after Roze to avenge Ganoid’s death and stop her, but Mahogany is quick to tell them both to go back home and let her deal with Roze herself. At this point, Freya and Mahogany get into a heated fight. Rell tries to keep the peace but to no avail. Freya blames Mahogany for getting Ganoid killed and Mahogany argues that she tried to warn them about Roze and how dangerous she was and they didn’t want to listen to her. She even called Freya selfish for being so willing to risk her and Rell’s life just to avenge Ganoid, especially since Rell wants to have a future with her. Freya retorts back saying that their relationship is none of her business, and Mahogany insults her back by saying she can’t see why he would want to settle down with someone as selfish as her. Not surprisingly, Freya punches her in the face and leaves with Rell to go back to Roze. Mahogany then is left on the ground to reflect on everything she’d been through, and when she finally calms down, she knows that she has to follow them and protect them. So she does.

Chapter 9: Mahogany's Sonata
Mahogany ventured back into the Forsaken Woods where the whispers of spirits returned telling her once again to turn back as they always did. She tried looking for any sign of Rell and Freya only to hear the large stomping sounds of the Brute coming through. She quickly hid in the nearby bushes, noticed him carrying Andrew - Ganoid’s friend from the tavern who lost the drinking game - and was debating on whether or not she should save him. At first, she figured it would be pointless and she needed to focus on the task at hand, but just then she heard a very familiar voice in her head (the voice of Ganoid) telling her to go after him, knowing she’ll hate herself for it later. So she listens, chases after the Brute, uses her magic to trap him and free his spirit just like she did for Maya, and buries him deep in the ground to finish him off. She then turns to Andrew and asks if he saw Rell and Freya and he mentioned they cut through the abandoned town and were going after Roze. Andrew then ran back to town while Mahogany headed to a giant blue and white mansion.

Chapter 10: Roze's Mansion
Mahogany approached the ominous looking mansion that looked like it had been abandoned, assuming that this is likely where Roze was hiding out and no doubt Rell and Freya would be somewhere around here as well. She looked around the mansion, noticing the sounds of the spirits whispering for her to turn back, and entering a new room only for it to resemble the previous one. There were also moments where the spirits showcased events from the past. The first event shown was of Rell and Freya having an argument. We learn that Rell is trying to settle down with Freya and have a future with her but she is getting too caught up in going on adventures and getting paid that he rarely gets to see her. The other two events shown are about Maya and Emina taking on Roze with the first one being about Emina trying to kill Maya after her corruption only to get stabbed in the back herself, and the second one being about Emina revealing her guide through the Forsaken Woods to be the witch herself and preparing to fight. Mahogany doesn’t let these events distract her however, because she knows that her main priority is to find Rell and Freya before Roze does. Mahogany then hears Rell and Freya talking right outside the mansion and that’s where the chapter ends.

Chapter 11: Judgement
Mahogany saw dark magic storm clouds were headed right above Rell and Freya. She knew she needed to warn them, but unless she wanted to get lost in that maze of a mansion on the way down there, she needed a backup plan. So using her sword to break the glass window, she made her way down to the fight which appeared to be with Roze’s final servant: Emina. Rell tried to reason with her since she was his sister, but Mahogany reminded him that there was no reasoning with her while she was under Roze’s control. Emina is also known as “The Judgement” because she describes each of their individual struggles and where they went wrong as if stating each of their crimes. We learn from her judgement of Freya that she is pregnant with Rell’s child and that she would not only be putting Rell in danger but her son or daughter as well. Rell tries using her judgement as a way to get through to her, but to no avail because the fight only continues. Rell tries again and ends up hugging her only to get stabbed by her as well. Mahogany finishes her off by freeing her soul as she did with the rest, but this time it’s Freya that makes the final blow. Both Mahogany and Freya immediately tend to Rell and even reconcile. Mahogany begs her to listen and take both Rell and their future child home and insists that she can handle Roze herself. This time, Freya listens and Mahogany continues on her way to find Roze and end her reign of terror for good.

Chapter 12: Sisterhood
After everything she’d been through, Mahogany had one final objective left: to kill her sister. She ended up back in the town of Terminus where she started only to see some buildings burned to the ground and a lot of townspeople dead. She then made her way up to the Headmaster’s “castle” where she figured Roze had taken over. She knew she needed to kill her but she wondered if she could really bring herself to. Once she approached Roze, she wasn’t going to give her any chances or hope of redemption. Roze warned her to walk away, but Mahogany kept walking forward. It didn’t take long before they began their final battle, their magic clashing. We see that Roze uses fire, death and ice magic throughout the battle while Mahogany uses life. During the battle, they both get knocked down and after a while were starting to get worn out. However, it was Roze that recovered faster and was about to finish off her sister when all of a sudden Ganoid appeared for real, including Rell, Freya, and everyone she once possessed. We find out that Roze couldn’t actually kill them and Mahogany called for them to help. They all show her no mercy and Mahogany makes the final blow, thus ending Roze’s life. The story ends.

Chapter 13: Some Truth
With that, Headmaster Brood closed the book and the story was over. However, everyone felt the ending to be confusing and rushed. Ian was especially not buying that the story was real since the main characters resembled them pretty closely. Brood then challenged his accusation and told him to go into the Forsaken Woods himself and prove that it was all fake. Ian, of course trying to act tough, said he’d go as long as Chris, Penny, and Megan went with him because “I need more than two eyes to prove what I see is true”. With that, the group hesitantly agreed and they all headed out to the Forsaken Woods. Along the way, they noticed all the lively citizens trick or treating and the many elaborate Halloween decorations. The chapter ends comically with Ian getting shot down by Megan after he asks her out to a Halloween party.

Chapter 14: The Advent of the Witch
The squad continued on through the same Forsaken Woods mentioned in the story and Chris was getting as nervous as Rell. There were faint sounds of movement as if they were being followed, but Ian continued to be oblivious and mess around, still believing they were being messed with. They found the old rundown town from the story with the same hole in the jail cell that the Brute busted through and even Ganoid’s old sword that looked like it had been there a long time. Penny was starting to believe that the story was true based on all the evidence they found, but Ian was determined to prove them all wrong. He didn’t want to admit that he was wrong. Just then, a ghostly figure of Mahogany appeared, warning Megan, her look-alike not to come here during Halloween and more importantly warning her not to make the same mistakes she made. With that said and done, she disappeared, and it was up to the group to decide whether or not to heed her warning.

Chapter 15: Escape!
The four of them ran back through the Forsaken Woods, trying to process all that had happened, and scared out of their minds. The only one that was unfazed was Penny who simply ran alongside them. Just then up above, they saw a witch stop them in their tracks, and it looked similar to Roze from the story. Turns out, it was Autumn and Penny knew this. The whole thing was a giant prank set by Brood, Autumn and even Penny was in on it a little. However when Penny asked Autumn about how she managed to pull off Mahogany, Autumn freaked out and assured her she didn’t do that part. The book ends with the same ghost of Mahogany smiling and grasping Ganoid’s sword, suggesting that she was real and the story was real the whole time.