The GEC gig 5

[singindemonhq]

I was in hurry to get out of there. The Haunted House gig was over, we’d probably saved a bunch of people, (including the one I cared about. I was pretty sure I caught her vibes when we turned them loose and now I needed to get back to town and make sure she was OK - not stand around in shattered props, backstage in a Haunted House.

That was when the bumping and scratching reminded the Watcher that we’d got a roomful of GECs. By then, I guess there were 30 or 40 so of them. I’d tried to get the lot. Giles runs a Magic shop in the town, and it turned out that he was carrying charms that he wanted to test.

One of them looked ideal for the GEC job. If it worked Erynne. might still be able to get a healthy snack, but we’d all have less trouble. If it didn’t we’d be no worse off – and there’s always packing them off by portal.

The spell was the Thrall of Hagrid – I’d never heard of it, but it was maybe a veterinary-Wicca thing. It would make your pets or familiars into pretty much what you wanted them to be. The charm was a kind of glass bauble. Read the spell, break the bauble and, in theory, you’d have changed the creature’s nature.

There were a whole bunch of GECs, but the Hagrid-charm had been kept with an enhancer, so it was worth a try. The spell to be recited didn’t seem to have much clout, so I hyped it up, gestured at the witches for backup and sang it in the new version. I also kept my talk with Demetria well in mind as I worded it. (From the surprised expressions the humans hadn’t been expecting that, but I was in a hurry to get back to town.)

Creature tame or creature found
Hear the spell and now be bound,
Pet, familiar, chattel, fish,
Hark to me and heed my wish,

(This was where I started rewording)

Though your hunger rage unslaked.
Hunt no creature human shaped,
Eat you grass and graze or browse,
Passively as sheep or cows.
Though you may not give offence,
You may fight in self-defence.
You may keep your teeth and claws,
For fighting to defend what’s yours.

(That had me hesitating for a moment – carnivore fangs and a grass diet wasn’t doing them any favours, But if the pack was taking out new, uncontrolled werewolves it might be as well if that … just …went on. There were also a couple of loose ends…)

Magic always has a cost,
So the GECs must pay the fee,
And the piper’s coin be tossed –
Take the GECs’ fertility –
Breeding less than other beasts,
Two young yearly, one at least.

The GECs had stopped clawing at the door and I could feel that their vibes had changed. I stopped for breath. One of the humans tossed the bauble at the door, setting the magic. I still had the original spell and, as I crumpled the paper, I saw more words on the back.

(I should know better than to make a mistake like that. Always read the small print. You’d be amazed how many warlocks have lawyers. This said – please keep your wishes and expectations clearly in mind while casting Hagrid’s Thrall. It is this, rather than the wording, that reshapes the creature as required. )

I’d thought cats when I was singing about them defending themselves, but apart from that I couldn’t really remember what I’d been thinking, except that I was in hurry to go home. From what I could feel of the GECs vibes they weren’t dangerous at the moment, and if it hadn’t worked – well, I could just send the pack through a portal the way I’d sent them to the Haunted House.