Chapter 23

Three days ago.

Mount Harmony, at seven thousand feet in elevation, was the tallest mountain in the Cold Mountain range, which stretched from the eastern side of Redberg Village to the border between Munster and Winterberg. It was about twenty miles inland, through mountainous terrain, from the main hamlet of Redberg, where the young witches had been assembled.

Its snow-capped summit towered above the surrounding wildernesses and hillocks, displaying great fortitude. During their annual gathering on this elegant mountain, the young witches performed the ritual of concocting potions, which was inspired by the ritual of their goddess Circe.

Circe, daughter of Helios, the sun god, appears in Homer's Odyssey as the first witch of any kind, as well as a sensuous minor deity who plied the loom like a proper female, according to the legend. Although she was immortal, like mortals, she had to follow the dictates of the more powerful gods. When she was hosting Odysseus's fa