Witching Games: The Fire Witch Chronicles 1, R.A. Lindo [top 100 books of all time checklist .txt] 📗

known as Ulux. Just trying to keep track of the names makes you realise how rich and complex this world of wonders is: a world I’ve got no intention of ever leaving.

With the evening light fading, I sit on the windowsill on the top floor of The Weary Winzer, situated in Society Square. The shops are closing as the light fades, signalling the beginning of our night duties. Evenings are usually full of entertainment, the two Night Rangers we roam with — Noah Khan and Lucy Flint — always looking for the most interesting way to pass the time.

As Society Square hums to a settled rhythm, I turn to Conrad who puts on his grey coat. We made the most of our ‘alone time’ tucked away on the top floor of The Weary Winzer: a Society shop that sells perfumes, scents and pick-me-ups. The shop’s popular with above-ground shoppers, hoping to find the scent of something to get them through the day.

It’s surprising how tired non-magical people look, shuffling into shops like The Weary Winzer, snapping out of their glazed state at the sight of all the bottles lining the shelves … bottles of different coloured liquids that give off a hypnotic scent.

Like all shops in the S.P.M.A., everything on sale is laced with magic — our way of giving back, you could say. I look down over Society Square from my high vantage point, watching a family of four step into The Weary Winzer, the bedraggled mum struggling with fatigue with her youngest child in full tantrum mode.

Parents arrive in certain shops in droves, the magical sweets in Wimples for example, keeping the children entertained for hours. There’s something for everyone in the two main shopping sections accessible to the above-ground world — Society Square and Founders’ Quad — shops that offer a little touch of magic to make boring lives more bearable.

Conrad appears beside me, rubbing my lower back as he follows my gaze onto the streets below. It’s strange to think we were once part of the crowds, knowing nothing about the secret Society operating in plain sight. You would never guess and that’s the beauty of it, I suppose, a seamless integration into normal life to avoid suspicion.

That’s why Society members dress in normal clothes above ground, running all of our shops, making sure a link is maintained between the two worlds. After all, it would only take a few mistakes to create suspicion. This point is driven home by eccentric wizards like Joseph Flint who acts like he’s from a different planet, let alone a secret Society hidden behind magical doors.

It wouldn’t take many Joseph Flints for the uninitiated to start asking questions so dual living is encouraged, offering the ability to move between worlds.

“Where do you think Noah and Lucy will want to go tonight?” Conrad asks, checking to see that we’ve left no trace of our time on the top floor of The Weary Winzer.

It’s one of the many places we use to get away from it all, rarely used by the shop owners who smile each time a Williynx feather floats past the shop window: a signal that privacy is required.

“Noah will want to go to The Singing Quarter,” I reply, adjusting my black leather trousers.

“If only he could sing.”

“I think it’s more to do with pining than singing.”

“Still chasing Zoe Tallis,” Conrad comments.

“Yep,” I say with a smile.

“So, he’s going to sing for her again?”

“He isn’t that bad.”

“He clears rooms, Guppy. It’s really bad. I think someone should tell him.”

“He’s your best friend; you tell him … or we could sing along with him. You know, show him how it’s done. In fact, I can feel a song coming on now,” I say, offering a few operatic notes, causing Conrad to head for the closest door. “Maybe a bit of karaoke if everything’s quiet tonight…?” I tease.

“No karaoke,” comes the reply as he waits for me by the door, ready to transport us to our meeting point.

10

Night Rangers

We meet Noah and Lucy in the Society section of Pat’s Caff, situated in Founders’ Quad. I like coming back here because it reminds me of my first adventures above-ground, sneaking into Tallis & Crake to upgrade boring artefacts for cooler ones before heading to Merrymopes for a Belly Blitz: the best milkshake in existence.

Merrymopes also has the benefit of The Revolving Room, the spinning structure that Jacob’s students will need at some point, allowing them to move safely to allocated parts of Society Square.

We walk through the emptying streets of Founders’ Quad, past Helping Hand — the shop for those down on their luck. A massive, ornamental hand moves up and down outside the shop. Once inside, you take your slip of paper and step into your allocated cubicle where your items are presented to you via a spinning mirror.

Like most Society buildings, Helping Hand has a dual purpose, the private Society cubicles providing access to Sad Souls: the land of the Ulux, better known as ageing giants. Some Ulux have integrated into the S.P.M.A. while others choose to stay in Sad Souls, not quite ready to cross the threshold into mainstream magical living.

Pat’s Caff sits in darkness, the ‘Closed’ sign shimmering on the shop door — a little touch of magic to illuminate the darkness. The side entrance is where we’re headed, accessible to the initiated. I buzz in the code on the brass plate, feeling my silver penchant bracelet vibrate as the red door opens, leading into a narrow hallway found in similar buildings.

Once the door closes, the rug in the hallway rises inches off the floor … hovering vertically in the air … the pattern beginning to fade as we step closer.

“Entrinias,” I say, uttering the charm to access certain secure areas.

The pattern on the rug fades completely, replaced by clearer visions of what lies beyond, only the outline of the rug remaining. Steel seating pods fill the space we step into, and