Witch out of Water

by Aiden James

  Unreal might be a better word... with an added aspect of fragility. Like something could happen at any moment to change it all to no longer real.

  Yeah, I know... borrowing trouble like that can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. But considering how things had gone lately, would anyone blame me for doubting this wonderful new reality to at least some degree?

  While awaiting her return to my bedroom from the restorative bath, I nervously glanced at the digital clock on my dresser while keeping an eagle-eye upon the bedroom door. It made her half-hour absence feel much longer. Especially, when I heard her use my hairdryer and worried someone in my household might decide to check on me.

  Would it be because they noticed that sound, or the water running in the tub from downstairs since I’m exclusively a ‘showering’ kind of guy? Or, maybe the sound of me soaking up the rainwater on my bedroom floor, a short while ago with a towel, would rouse suspicion?

  After all, these were noises I had initiated on my own, independent of Daciana’s help or Wizard Gabon’s protection. I doubted there’d be any leniency offered for my following The Code’s edicts about forgoing the use of magic spells to relieve my beloved’s distress and weariness, as well as keep things unnoticeable.

  In addition, the criminal matter of the crazy broomstick in my bedroom would be tough to explain. At present, Viviane still hovered near the door like a protective canine, ready to pounce on an intruder into my personal space.

  Boy, wouldn’t that be fun if Myrddin’s broomstick suddenly opened up a can whoop-ass on an unsuspecting member of my family! How much extra time in prison would I be given for not only possessing stolen property, but using it against them or someone like the Albrights or Wizard von Stroheim?

  “You are really funny!” said Daciana, as she emerged from the bathroom, radiant with her hair dried and dressed in the clothes I had provided. “And, just adorable in how you think, since you do a good job of keeping your worries hidden well.”

  “Adorable?” I frowned, mostly playful.

  She laughed and came over to where I sat, on the edge of the bed. Despite wearing my humble masculine attire, she truly looked amazing.

  “Well, maybe a better word is ‘admirable’. And, thanks for the kind compliment about how I look in your clothes. But I will try to avoid ‘pilfering’ your thoughts,” she said, after sitting next to me. “That’s how you think of it, right?”

  True. I smiled weakly and nodded. “It’s okay if you do it,” I said. “Honestly, the aspect that annoys me most is when my family goes on and on about what’s playing in my head. If they’d only make brief comments more often, like you have, and leave it at that, I might not care about the lack of privacy... maybe, anyway.”

  I laughed and she joined in, studying my face with the same loving look from earlier. Like maybe she sees me the same way I see her... as in too good to be true!

  When the chuckles died, she paused to look toward the door for a moment, before returning her attention to me.

  “No one’s coming... at least not for a while,” she advised. “So, now we can talk.”

  I nodded. “Sounds good, Daciana.”

  “You can call me ‘Daci’, if you’d like. ‘Daciana’ is fine, too... just like you’re okay with Sebastian, but prefer—”

  “‘Bas’, I know,” I interrupted, smiling sheepishly when I realized I had cut her off. “Sorry... and really I’m okay with either name.”

  “Me too,” she agreed, adding a loving smile. “No need to apologize. I sometimes get excited and interrupt, too.”

  I nodded as well, while wanting to take her in my arms and kiss her again... and let it lead to something far more carnally passionate! Yet, something told me it wouldn’t be wise, that there were ‘concerns’ that needed to be taken care of, or events which needed to happen first.

  “So... what does Wizard Gabon have in store for us?” I grimaced upon realizing my question came out of my mouth sounding somewhat cynical—not at all my intent.

  “Sorin is returning for us tomorrow at midnight,” she said. “He’s finishing preparations in regard to a secret haven for us. It’s not a permanent new home, but a place that will protect us from the EEC and other factions throughout the world that are determined to prevent our relationship from being a lasting thing.”

  She paused, obviously waiting for my response.

  “It sounds like it’s a lot worse than just our families opposed to us being together. I thought it was just the Radus and Mateis.” My frown deepened.

  I hated the fact that what seemed so perfect to me was universally opposed by the rest of the world’s witches, warlocks, and all but one wizard. Would we ever find other allies? It seemed hopeless.

  “The opposition runs deep... but is mostly fed by the will of a few who hold sway over most of our sisters and brothers in ‘the craft’,” she said.

  “‘The craft’?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  She chuckled. “That’s Sorin’s term, and is a viewpoint shared by other immortals, known as Supremes. These are the oldest and most powerful among us. In their view, to be considered a member of ‘the craft’, a practitioner of magic must have attained a lifespan far beyond what is considered ‘normal’ for human beings.”

  “Oh, I see. Those like us, right? I’ve gotta admit to picturing an immortal version of Diana Ross and her partners running the show.” Hey, at least my frown lifted.

  She laughed and patted my knee affectionately.

  “Yeah, I see what you mean,” she said. “But it isn’t just a threesome like the musical group you mentioned. Sorin Gabon is almost two hundred years older than Gregorious Ninnius, and having an age that is at least a millennium seems to be a prerequisite to being a Supremes member. According to Sorin, there are two dozen members from among the Earth’s wizards, wizardesses, sorcerers, and sorceresses. And, as it turns out, a very small portion of this group accounts for the actual opposition to our union. Basically, it’s just a handful of individuals. But, unfortunately, since the rest of the group isn’t prejudiced in their views towards us, one way or another, this small group of four or five Supremes have been allowed to hold sway over the majority of witches and warlocks scattered throughout the world, as they’ve done for centuries.”

  “And, they don’t want to see us together,” I surmised, based on what she shared so far. “But why?”

  “According to Sorin, it’s all about power.”

  “Power?” I asked, incredulously. “As in we—you and me together—would have some sort of special influence over everyone else?”

  “Yes... and I get how weird and confusing this is, Bas. There’s much, much more to it than a simple explanation,” she advised. “I suppose some of this can wait until morning.”

  She offered another loving smile while taking my left hand and cradling it within both of hers.

  “No, go ahead and share it now,” I encouraged, consciously pushing my skepticism aside. “I really do want to hear it.” I offered a smile that I hoped was as big and loving as her own.

  “Okay... but if it gets to be too much, just tell me to stop. Keep in mind, Sorin has been steadily sharing bits and pieces of this story about our ‘preordained’ destiny over the span of several years,” she said. “And, now I’m attempting to bring you up to speed in one night.”

  True. And maybe it would’ve been better to go over the details in the span of several days... but our rendezvous with Wizard Sorin would happen in roughly twenty-seven hours. We simply didn’t have the luxury to wait for me to grasp it all cleanly.

  “I’m ready for more,” I said, nodding for her to continue.

  “Well, for starters, Adrian is not the only member of our families who has attained a wizard rank,” she resumed. “There are several more from both families in Europe—including one sorceress who has attained the same level of immortality as Sorin and Gregorius Ninnius. Her name is Serena Matei. She is not part of the handful I mentioned, but unfortunately, she is staunchl
y opposed to our union. Even so—and this is an important point to mention—Sorin believes she and most of the other Supremes can be convinced that our eventual marriage is not only appropriate, but one which would benefit everyone. Besides, it’s long been ordained to happen... according to ancient manuscripts under the EEC’s lock and key.”

  I couldn’t be sure, but I seemed to recall hearing something mentioned along these lines previously. And, yet, I couldn’t place where it was for the life of me. Maybe it happened while my grandparents conversed softly, and I happened to eavesdrop. But, if so, I doubted any pre-ordained union discussed would involve me. It would’ve been about a distant relative, I’m sure. So, did I hear such a revelation about me personally being involved in such a union from a dream, perhaps? The kind of nighttime disclosure known to disappear from one’s awareness upon awakening?

  She chuckled, shaking her head subtly—obviously in response to my latest internal debate.

  “You know in your heart what I know in mine—that we are supposed to be together, Bas,” she said, gripping my left hand with her left and lightly placing her right hand upon my chest. “We both know this truth in every fiber of our beings. But the point of contention is whether or not we are the destined ‘royal’ union to heal the chasm that has existed between our families for so many centuries.”

  “The long prophesied ‘king and queen’ might actually be us?”

  As something I’ve long been familiar with, I had first heard this legendary prediction delivered as a poem when I was a young kid. Ever since, I’ve thought of it as nothing more than a fictional nursery rhyme that Mom and Grandma liked to recite.

  “Yes.”

  “Wow.” Yeah, her seriousness took me aback. I bet many of us wonder what it would be like to be president of the United States, or the leader of some other country, and what we’d do in such a lofty position—knowing full well it will never, ever frigging happen.

  “Your reaction matches mine, when Sorin shared the idea with me for the first time several years ago,” she said. “Please don’t think I’m some kind of nut-case, since I know this all sounds pretty weird. Back when he first mentioned it, he never revealed you were involved, Bas. I had never met you, obviously, and my parents were loath to discuss anyone in your family. Whenever they did, I had to tune it out, since it was always terribly negative....”

  “Sorry you had to go through that,” I said, when her voice trailed off. I squeezed her hand, and smiled, nodding again for her to continue.

  “Well, good thing Sorin was persistent, and always able to elude my family’s suspicious natures by blocking their awareness,” she said, meeting my smile with her own once more. “He waited to tell me about you until after your family’s move to Tennessee. If not for my family’s inability to let sleeping dogs lie, since they quickly sold our house in Chicago with the intention of settling our families’ feud ‘once and for all’ down here in Denmark, who knows if we would’ve met at this juncture? Maybe we wouldn’t have crossed paths until at some point many years down the road. But as you know... once we were here, the hand of fate was immediately set in motion.”

  True. I shuddered at the thought we might not have met for decades. If that had been the case, where would we both be right now? I wondered—just for an instant—what my life would be like. I suddenly felt more chilled, realizing how close I came to never experiencing such a life-changing love—the overwhelming devotion I felt for this wonderful creature sitting beside me.

  “I’m glad fate brought us together, and I don’t think for a minute that you’re a nut-case, Daci,” I assured her. “It’s pretty wild to consider where we’re at right now in all of this. As far as anything being absurdly weird? The crazy scene going on outside at this very moment has our situation totally beat in spades. I mean, how nutty is it to have dozens of witches and warlocks circling my house on broomstick—blatantly defying The Code and ready for all-out war?”

  “Yeah, true. I noticed the crowd when I arrived in Denmark and had to exit Sorin’s wormhole near the school,” she said. “Hundreds more will be on the way here by tomorrow.”

  “Oh, shit.”

  “I know.”

  Her countenance dimmed, and I reached up with my free hand to grasp her fingers lingering on my chest.

  “We will make it through this,” I said confidently. “And, I’m hopeful that Sorin can help us find a way to eventually heal the hatred.”

  “I hope so too,” she said, with a forlorn edge in her voice. “Our families make up more than a third of all immortals in the world, and are by far the most influential group. A new king and queen for our joined clans, when the last ones died at the hands of the Byzantine Empire in the ninth century, isn’t something welcomed by those in power at present—including Serena Matei, as I mentioned. She, and other ranking members of both the Mateis and Radus, have long preferred the deadly feud between our extended families. Sorin says they believe in better prosperity amid the chaos—which is crazy to me. A new monarchy is viewed as a threat to that instability, since it would bring the very thing most Mateis and Radus secretly crave: lasting peace.”

  “Encouragement for the prevailing chaos and hate to fester makes no sense to me either,” I agreed, finding it hard to suppress my anger toward the Radu and Matei factions wanting a perpetual war—the very thing our immediate families sought to escape two centuries ago when they moved to America. “I would think most of our relatives would prefer a break from the bullshit. It’s almost like they fear something imagined, and picture whatever it is to be far worse than this dangerous tension between our clans.”

  “Exactly. Even Sorin’s scanned ‘readings’ of the hearts and minds of our brothers and sisters confirm that most of them do want peace,” she agreed. “However, the poisoned rhetoric and mental impressions fed continuously by these few Supreme members, and then further perpetuated by Serena and others, has long kept the majority in bondage. As is the case for my grandfather, father, uncles, and brother, most Mateis cling to a ‘list of sins’ to justify a continued war.”

  “Same for my family, unfortunately,” I said, thinking of my uncles in particular, and even my grandmother’s disdain that stood out most. “How can it ever work?”

  “That’s what Sorin will teach us in this new world he’s taking us to tomorrow night!” The mere mention of what loomed in our immediate future lifted her spirit, and restored the luster to her emerald gaze. “Let’s move on to what’s immediately important.”

  She rose from the bed and moved over to her knapsack that remained quite damp. I had laid it next to my dresser on the floor, beneath a dry towel. Once opened, she removed a pair of unusual wands, with spiraled tips.

  I had never seen anything quite like them before, and as she returned to where I sat on the bed’s edge, I noticed they were adorned with medieval designs.

  “Let me guess... these come from Sorin via Myrrdin’s cave, too?” I grinned impishly.

  She chuckled, raising an eyebrow as she sat next to me again.

  “Not bad,” she said. “In fact, you might be ahead of the EEC in realizing these were taken by Sorin when he rescued Viviane.”

  “So, these are wands belonging to the great Wizard Myrrdin?”

  My mouth dropped open, since I was sort of kidding a moment ago.

  “Yep. At least as far as anyone can verify, since Myrrdin wasn’t the first wizard to utilize the cave, nor the last. Regardless, these wands should serve us well as gifts from Sorin... one is yours and the other is mine,” Daciana explained, handing the longer of the two wands to me. “This is Elford, and you’ll notice his tip matches your eyes.”

  A slight sapphire glow emanated from the tip, as if the wand were aware of Daciana’s and my conversation. By now, everyone should remember the sentient qualities of wands and broomsticks. That said, usually broomsticks carry a stronger personality. However, the very moment ‘Elford’ touched my fingers, I could sense a personality that could easily rival my broomstic
k, Lucian, in how ‘he’ is in tune with my heart, mind, and soul.

  “These wands should help us ward off the attacks we’ll likely encounter tomorrow night,” she advised, before motioning to the slightly shorter wand she held. “This is Threston, and like Elford, this wand is ‘male’ in orientation. But I trust Sorin’s judgement, since he chose them for us. Besides, it’s not like we can access our personal wands that were taken from us, after what happened in the woods behind the art school.”

  She glanced toward the window facing the backyard, where the school and wooded area in question sat across the street from the northern edge of our property. Meanwhile, I studied the wand in her grasp, noting a slight green tint at its point.

  “It looks like Threston’s tip will match your eye color, too.”

  “It does,” she confirmed, adding a slight shrug. “I’m not sure if the color is critical or not.”

  “I guess we’ll find out how effective these guys are, and soon,” I said, adding a smirk. “I’d imagine when it’s time to leave, we’re going to have to cut through a host of cavalry and phalanxes to come, eh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Really?”

  Yeah, I was sort of joking again. Guess our getaway from here will be a bit more dangerous than I anticipated.

  “We’ll have to trust Sorin’s guidance, Bas,” she said, brushing her free hand against my cheek. “He’s worthy of it—if for no other reason than the fact he is our only benefactor. Don’t forget his guidance is why I made it through the seemingly endless assaults and traps I dealt with today to reach you.”

  “Okay... so we’ve got our wands. Can I take my broomstick?” I asked.

  “Sorry, my love... Lucian will have to stay here.”

  As if in response, I heard a slight rustle come from the closet. Sorry, dear friend—I’ll make it up to you somehow... someday.

  “Lucian will be safer in the closet, Bas. You and I will ride Viviane instead. She’s battle-tested, and able to physically support us both as we ride her like our adversaries are riding their broomsticks tonight.”