Circled by seawater drying on the ground I throw the incense into the fire. The spicy scent drives me forward whispering, "I want, I need..." I can't even finish the thought, the feeling that is untouchable, undeniable. Soon it just becomes a chant, "I want, I need." Loosing myself to the beat of the words, the dance of the flames, I see them change forming a mountain. No, a piece of my mind goes, a volcano with a glowing top. Out pours a great blackness and then suddenly the flames have wings. Such brightness makes my eyes water so that I must close them, but the endless chant goes on. There is a large gust that blows the fire towards me and I yelp in surprise, the heat blazing by my body.
My eyes flash open, the fire is as it should be, the stones still keeping it in. Looking at it wondering how it could flow towards me in this cave with the entrance far behind me. "You called me witch," I nearly jumped out of my skin at the deep voice at my back. I turned and saw a man near the edge of the circle. His skin was as black as obsidian where the white linen wasn't covering it, with almost as much shine. Though it was his eyes that enthralled me, I had never seen eyes that were so golden, like a lost treasure suddenly found.
He turned his eyes to glance around the cave, only then did I notice he had enough muscles to bring a flash of fear with the heat that consumed my cheeks. Foolishly I said, "I'm no witch! And I am an adult not so little."
Glancing back with a raised eyebrow "Is that not why you called me to a small cave trapping me in your circle, and in this form. You called with your incense, your chant, your spell."
Shaking my head I looked back to the fire recalling the shop I've never noticed before today, stuck between two tight buildings. I entered on a whim not knowing what I might find but with no trepidations. A woman, old enough to be called a crone if unkind, was at the counter. Beckoning she called me over, "I can see you have a need little maiden, and I can help you with your wants." Uncertain I didn't know what to say but reading my face she continued. "I know it's hard to see clearly, but I can give you help to set you on your path." Taking my hand she moves around the shop, I follow unthinkingly. Pulling down a few jars, she looks them over and back at me before replacing them and moving on. I hear her murmuring under her breath, "This one?... no not needed... not right either."
Finally in a corner behind several boxes she pulls out a small clay jar. Taking the cover off she hands it to me, the scent is spicy, cloying yet... erotic. She brightens at my reaction, "First you will take this to a private spot, not to be disturbed: the caves might be a suitable place. Take seawater with you and use it to draw a circle large as you can in the space. Start a fire in the middle and when it is hot and high throw this incense in it and say your need. You will understand the need and receive it."
Nodding while repeating the instructions so I could repeat them later, I hardly noticed her leading me out. Only when I was halfway home did I realize how strange it all seemed. Even though, I found myself compelled to follow the instructions bringing myself back to the present. "See you called, I answered." He was just behind me now, so close I could feel the heat of him at my back as strongly as the fire before me. "'I want, I need.' You have me now."
"The lady she told me I would know, but I had no idea that it would call you. How did it call you?" I could feel a different heat filling my body starting low in my center. He was so close that his breath was stirring on my neck, toying with my blond hair. "Who are you?"
He chuckled, "A young witch then, one that wants, I am me and you are you. There is a need you have so here I am to serve you." He glides from behind me back into view.
The firelight licks against his dark skin, the light linen pants almost see through with the fineness of the weave. As he moves it is with such grace as though he just wills his body from spot to spot. But it's he eyes that pierce that seem to look past my shell into my soul. "What do I need help with, she said I would know?"
He gives a hardy laugh and I tense at the unexpected noise, "You already know little witch," his nostrils flared, "I can smell your need."