The forest was dense, thick branches hid the way ahead forcing the four women to push through gaps that weren't really there as the foliage scraped and scratched them, making life very uncomfortable. "This can't be the way, there's something wrong" said Minerva from behind the leader, Carandar.
"This is the way the stone's pointing, so why don't you shut up and just keep moving" replied Carandar, making no attempt to hide the dislike for the other woman.
Undeterred, Minerva carried on. "Are you sure you're using it properly? Maybe someone else should try. Perhaps your magic is too strong and is stopping it from working properly" she replied, laying the sarcasm on thickly.
Carandar stopped abruptly and turned on Minerva. "You really do have a problem with me, don't you" she snarled, her anger barely in check. "You don't like me being leader, do you? You can't handle the fact. Well get used to it, because I'm not going anywhere and I was chosen to lead the group, and you weren't. Get over it."
"You see, it's that temper of yours that I find so distressing" countered Minerva. "I'm sure that if the council could see you as you are now, they would never have given you the leadership, they would see that you can't really handle it. You're just so angry all the time". She was purposely keeping her voice calm, like a condescending adult to a child.
"You, it's you, you make me like this!" shouted Carandar. "It's almost as if you've put a spell on me...oh no...wait, you haven't, you couldn't. Have you?"
"Moi? As if I would" Minerva replied, smiling slyly
"If you have, I'll find out...you'll be in big trouble, you're life won't be worth living...I'll..." Carandar was absolutely beside herself with rage and it took one of the other girls to step in.
"Will you two just stop. I'm tired, fed up and I ache all over, and I don't need you pair making it worse by having one of your little power struggles. Let's just keep going, we must be nearly there, wherever "there" is. Just stay off each other's backs, so we can find out what this is all about."
The speaker was Joncola, a tall, striking black lady. In fact, the one thing all four women had in common was their fantastic beauty. Minerva was a pale-skinned redhead, with deep green eyes that seemed to glow even in broad daylight. Although hidden by a large cloak today, as worn by all the women, underneath she wore her usual long, light dress that left any viewer imagining a firm body that would be a joy to behold, and she had never needed to use magic to draw men under her spell!
Carandar was more open with her assets, and what assets they were! She had shoulder-length black hair that framed a beautiful face, accentuated by thick, pouting lips that had men dreaming about what she could do with them, and dark eyes that looked almost black, that mesmerised anyone who was lucky enough to look at her face for any length of time. Her large, full breasts pushed out against the material of blouse and waistcoat, giving the impression that they couldn't wait to be released. She wore short skirts to show off her lovely muscular thighs, which she wrapped in stockings that stopped just below the hemline of the skirt to leave just a flash of firm skin.
Joncola tended to wear skin tight short dresses to show her long legs, and the lack of any visible lines underneath the material suggested that the dress was all she wore!
The final member of the quartet was Jenna, the quiet one. The youngest of the group, she had long, blonde hair that fell halfway down her back. Beautiful blue eyes were the focus on a goddess-like face and her lithe body showed her sporting lifestyle when she wasn't practising her witchcraft, which explained why she would normally be found wearing figure-hugging sportswear of some description, indeed today she was wearing her netball kit consisting of a short pleated skirt and a small halter top that framed her perfect, pert breasts and showed her gorgeous, lightly muscled stomach, that she'd still been wearing after practise when she'd arrived at the Coven meet.
The Coven meets were supposed to happen regularly, but due to the bad feeling amongst some of the members they were few and far between. It had become like a chore to the four witches and this further added to the resentment in the group when they did meet, meaning that the atmosphere was almost unbearable and everyone was uncomfortable in each other's company. The odd thing was though, that when they had a task to perform together as ordered by the Witches Council, the body that administrated witchcraft, they worked well together and the results of the spells that they cast were powerful and lasting, a fact not unnoticed by the council. This would explain why they didn't break up the Coven for there was no doubt that they would be aware of the surrounding issues amongst the group.
Whilst meeting on this day, however, they had been half-heartedly gathering the various information and ingredients needed for the impending enchantment that was to be released onto a corrupt local politician, when suddenly a window was smashed by a rock that landed at the feet of Carandar. She picked it up as the others walked to the window to see who had thrown it, and as she did, it warmed in her hand. She then noticed some markings on the stone and looking closer saw an arrow etched into it with the word "Follow" underneath. Having seen nothing from the window, the others walked over to her.
"What is it?" asked Joncola.
"I don't know" replied Carandar "but it's got some markings on it, look." She held it so that they could all see, and as she did so, the wording changed to a picture of a car.