Witchling Wars

by Shawn Knightley

  ‘Well played, asshole. Well played.’

  “Wait a minute,” I interrupted them. “All this time that my magic has erupted from my hands and tried to launch at you, it wasn’t trying to mark you?”

  Lenora huffed and placed one hand on the slab next to me and one on her hip. “No, Miss Ashwood. This one here deceived you. Your blood knew Tobias from your previous lives. You always managed to meet in one way or another. Like magnets reaching out to touch then crashing with full force. Your magic knew Tobias would have memories that it could tap into. Our magic is like a separate soul living and breathing inside us. You can add things to it and take some away as it lives and breathes with you but too much or too little and it starves. Especially if you’re a kruxa with so little magic to nurture. Let me guess. Your magic started behaving strangely when the two of you first met.”

  I stared daggers at Tobias who looked quite irritated that his deception had been revealed.

  “Would you give us a moment alone, Lenora,” Tobias asked.

  She exhaled heavily as if she wasn’t too keen on leaving my side just yet, but she did as he requested anyway. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me. I’ve got a potion brewing that you’ll need to drink once a day for the next week, Miss Ashwood. Without it, the process of regaining your memories so quickly can be too overwhelming. Your magic will continue acting chaotic. That might be why you got sick so fast.”

  ‘Might? Meaning she doesn’t know for sure? Great. Just great.’

  The sleeping potion Daniel gave me never had that sort of effect when I used it before. It had to be something else. Maybe using my magic to control Annabel? Or maybe the vixra magic Edmund gave me? Could it have been too strong for me? No, that didn’t make sense. I had used it for weeks and it never did anything like this. And I always spaced out the times I used it long enough for it to leave my body.

  Whatever it was, I didn’t have much of an opportunity to think it over. Lenora left the room and I was alone with Tobias once more. And I was ready to tear his head off. If I had the speed and strength required. Which I didn’t. So I was left with my only option. Scowling at him and crossing my arms over my chest like a bratty teenager who hadn’t gotten her way.

  “You lied to me. All this time you’ve been lying to me,” I said.

  He didn’t immediately respond. He simply stood there trying to hide his obvious disappointment. Not in his actions. But disappointed with the fact that he got caught in a lie.

  “Harper,” he started speaking. His voice when he said my name was different somehow. Lighter. More vulnerable. But angry for being so. He didn’t like that I could see through him. At least for the moment. I could sense how exposed he felt. And he didn’t like it. “It was never my intention to lead you astray. You must know, surely you must know now more so than ever before that my intentions were pure.”

  “Why would I know that now?”

  “Because you called me by the name I’ve only repeated to a few souls in nearly a thousand years. The name I had when you looked at me with more affection than I ever felt worthy of receiving.”

  “Talorcan.” The name fell out of my mouth. I saw his face change when he heard it again. “Were we…” I hesitated, making sure that I wanted the answer even though I felt I already knew deep inside. “Were we married?”

  He stood up a little straighter as if the memory was running through his mind the second I said the words and he could remember every detail. Even after hundreds of years. “Yes,” he said.

  “How many times? Was it in multiple lives?”

  “No. Just one. Your first one in fact.”

  “Where were we?”

  “Caledonia,” he answered.

  “Huh?”

  “It’s the name the Romans gave to ancient Scotland. Where witchlings first came to the mortal realm. The Romans were invading our lands. They wanted to find a way to harness our magic. And they didn’t care how many local tribes had to die to acquire it. Once they realized they couldn’t possess it, they settled for taking our lives.”

  A flicker erupted behind my eyes making the room dark and giving me smaller images before my mind. As if someone had shoved a video camera in my face and was forcing me to watch things I had never seen before. I reached for my head, feeling dizzy and not sure I could even continue to sit up straight. I let one hand down on the slab beneath me and tried to focus. It proved nearly impossible. I was seeing things. I could witness my old life through my own eyes. I was running through the thick woods with a long stick in my hand. There were a few Romans who strayed too far from their legion. I chased after them, shooting magic through the stick. Only when my arms pumped away at my side as I gained on them did I see that it wasn’t just a long stick. It was a staff. One that looked as though it was carved with my bare hands. And granted the callouses on my palms, maybe I made it myself.

  I stopped once I got close enough and held the staff vertically in my hands. Then I pointed one end toward one of the soldiers running from me and fired my magic through its top. A soldier fell to the ground as my magic wrapped around him like a snake and smashed into his face. I didn’t need to get close to see that his head was nearly torn off his body just from the force of gold light erupting from my staff in a whirl of magical chaos.

  Hands came up to grab me from behind, latching around my waist and my throat. I tried summoning my magic to fight the man off, but it was too late. Another soldier beside him shoved a dagger in my thigh. I screamed in pain as I felt my flesh split open.

  ‘That’s how they caught me. I was chasing the soldiers that ran from the battle. I was too far away from everyone else.’

  I never even felt the sensation of falling before Tobias’s hands caught me and picked me up once more, stirring me from the memories taking over my senses. He carried me out of the damp and chilly stone room and into one that was much warmer. There was a cozy living room with a couch and a hand knit blanket set across the back. And hand stitched pillows for me to rest my head. Tobias gently placed me down.

  “Lenora,” he hollered. “We’re going to need that potion of yours sooner rather than later.”

  “Patience is a virtue, my friend,” she shouted back from the kitchen.

  My eyes opened and darted back and forth. The room was lit in a strange orange glow. One that was warm and lovely. Like how gran’s living room had always been. Decorated with drawings Madison and I had made for her and small projects from the one arts and crafts lesson that mom allowed us to take at a local art shop until we were old enough to control our magic. Mostly me. I was the one with issues with my uncontrollable magic most of the time. Even so, it wasn’t what I expected from a luxra’s home. It was too… cozy. Like a country cottage. I don’t know what I expected from the tier of witchlings who were practically the nobility of my kind. But this wasn’t it.

  ‘Maybe kruxa aren’t the only ones living in exile.’

  “Patience might be a virtue but it certainly isn’t one of mine,” Tobias shouted back at Lenora. “Get it done quick, Lenora.”

  “What’s happening?” I asked.

  “You tell me,” he said. “What did you see?”

  I was quiet. Unsure if I should tell him. Unsure if he triggered the memory to come back after what he said. “You lost me,” I whispered.

  “What?”

  “In the battle. You lost me. They captured me away from everyone. Then they burned me and forced you to watch.”

  I had seen Tobias angry. I had seen him intentionally try to scare the living daylights out of me. I had seen him admire me. Even look at me with longing eyes that most women would envy. And to my disbelief, I even saw him become a bit vulnerable. But at that moment I saw something else in his eyes. In his expression. Throughout his whole demeanor. Something profound shifted in the span of a few seconds.

  There was pain. Well concealed pain that Tobias didn’t want to be reminded of. But it still existed inside of him. He didn’t want to relive the memory. And loo
king at me sometimes pained him. It made him recall a time when he had me by his side. When we meant something to one another. In a way that I experienced with Caleb and no one else.

  “You’re threatened by Nathaniel because you think he’s taking away your chance at finding that same peace you felt with me long ago,” I whispered so Lenora or any others in the house couldn’t hear. “But being mortal won’t give you peace of mind. And neither will I. I can’t be the thing that saves you. I can barely save myself. As you’ve clearly seen in recent months.”

  He shook his head. “You’re wrong. We can find it again. If we had it once we can rebuild it.”

  “Too much has changed.”

  “I’ve met you in all your other lives, Harper. I know you better than anyone.”

  “But I never marked you. Lenora said you always found me. And yet, you’re still a vampire.”

  He took a knee next to the couch and let his hand wander to my hair, feeling the soft strands and struggling to make eye contact with me. “You didn’t scar me because I sent you away. I helped you to run. When I was mortal I never feared death. As a vampire, I’ve done everything I can to avoid it. I don’t want that anymore. I’ve lived too long. I’ve seen too many things. I’ve watched witchlings and humans alike make the same mistakes over and over again. If a war is coming, I don’t want to live to see it. I’ve gone out of my way to make sure I wouldn’t have to by helping you run and not letting the prophecy become fulfilled. But I can’t anymore.”

  “It’s not like vampires can’t die,” I said sarcastically.

  “Is it wrong of me to want to experience the best qualities of living with the only woman I’ve ever truly loved before I submit to death’s grip after centuries of running from it?”

  “I’m not that woman, Tobias.”

  “Yes, you are. You think your ignorance of the witchling world makes you naive. And maybe sometimes it does. But it also makes you untainted. Unspoiled. You’ve never known bloodshed. You’ve never known having to fight for the right to merely exist. You have absolutely no idea how special that makes you.”

  I studied him for a moment, searching my mind for something to say. I couldn’t come up with a single argument. There might not have been anything wrong with his desire for us to rekindle whatever we had so many centuries ago. But there was something wrong in the deceit. The way he tried going about it. He lied to me and made me believe my blood was trying to mark him.

  As soon as the thought entered my mind I saw a golden light seep through my palms and my chest. My magic was stirring again. Reaching out to touch him and trying to gain more memories. To find the missing link in a chain that had been broken centuries ago. Like a cord that had been viciously snapped without our consent.

  This time, I didn’t try to fight it. I let my magic find him. Touch him. Braid around his body and then connect back with my hands. And when I did, I felt more memories overtaking my vision once more.

  Tobias and I were standing before a beautiful coastline, watching the waves crash against the crag beneath our feet as the Scottish seagulls cawed in the distance.

  Talorcan held me from behind as I gazed at the sunset. He enfolded me. And I held his arms wrapped over my body and felt the furs lining his clothing to keep him warm. He rested his chin on top of my head, holding me close. It was the evening before we left for battle. The eve before the carnage began. And I knew then that we might not see each other again. One of us might fall. Or both of us.

  Humans and witchlings were never meant to get along. It was impossible. Humanity would never leave us alone once they knew the power our magic held.

  I could feel his warm breath touch my skin. I breathed him in and tried to calm the unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  “Lenora, get in here!” Tobias hollered. His voice echoed through the memories blending into my thoughts.

  My eyes fluttered open. My limbs were trembling. It was too much. Too fast. My head was on fire. My hands reached up to my forehead and I let out a scream. It was pounding again and again. A drumming sound pulsated in my ears. I could feel my eardrums sting from the pounding.

  “Make it stop!” I cried. “Please!”

  Lenora came rushing into the living room with a vial of light pink bubbling liquid in her hands. “It’s not nearly potent enough yet.”

  “I don’t care!” I screamed.

  She came directly over to me on the couch and knelt down as Tobias got out of the way. She tipped the vial toward my mouth and I drank it eagerly. The liquid was warm. Tangy with a hint of something that tasted almost like a pear. I must have tried drinking too much too fast because I nearly choked on it. I coughed and hacked as I tried guzzling just a bit more down. The hot liquid trailed down my body and hit my stomach like a lead weight. To say it was a relief would be an understatement. My body absorbed it so fast that I knew I’d never go back to using regular mortal medicines ever again. My limbs relaxed and were no longer freezing. A bit cool, but not to the point where I shook like a leaf. The pounding in my head turned into nothing more than a light throbbing. I breathed in a heavy sigh of relief as some of the pain fled my aching body.

  “Better?” she asked.

  “Much.”

  “I’m going to let the rest brew another hour. You should have plenty to last you a whole week. Take a small vial worth once a day and maybe a sip extra if you feel like you need it. You should be fine. But I can’t stop your magic from trying to regain your memories. So you,” she said, directing her attention to Tobias behind her. “Try to give her some space. At least for a little while until we know what caused this.”

  I glanced over at Tobias. He wasn’t happy at being ordered around by a luxra. And especially when those orders were to keep his distance from me.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” she said. “You wanna cause her further pain?”

  He sat in the recliner to the corner and set his hands in his lap, watching me as I slowly regained my breath and my heartbeat went back to a normal pace.

  I rested there as Tobias watched me drift off a few times then jolt back. I tried to relax my thoughts until I heard his cell phone go off.

  “Yes?” he answered it with a frustrated hiss. He tried his best not to keep his face straight as he listened. That was when I knew something was wrong. “How did you let that happen?” he asked.

  Nathaniel was on the other end of the line. I could hear the faint sound of his voice all the way from the couch. He was stressed. Stressed enough to be yelling into the phone.

  “What happened?” I asked.

  Tobias ignored me and continued listening. “Bring him back to my house. I’ll call Daniel.” He ended the call.

  “Bring who back? What’s going on?”

  “You stay here until Lorena has finished brewing the potion,” he said. “I’ll pick you up this evening after you’ve had a chance to rest.”

  He walked out of the living room before I had a chance to argue with him. Before I had the chance to even get up. Which wasn’t exactly easy. My limbs still felt a bit heavy. I sat up only to slide back down to the pillow. I wasn’t going anywhere until Lorena was done with that potion.

  “Where are you going?” I heard Lorena ask.

  “Take care of her until I get back,” he said, ignoring her question the same as he did mine.

  The next thing I heard was a door slam shut and his car leaving the gravel driveway as Christophe sped him away.

  Lorena walked back into the living room to watch over me, taking the recliner in the corner where Tobias sat only seconds ago. I was alone with a luxra. I was burning with questions for her. Only my head was still aching with a light throb that trailed down my neck.

  “He’s a tough one, isn’t he?” she said. “Course around the edges. Quick to anger. An ego bigger than any man I’ve ever met. I guess I would have one that big too if women fell at my feet the way they do his. I was no exception. But that was ages ago. Long before my wrinkles had wrinkles.”
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  I scoffed. She still had her good looks. And she knew it.

  “I haven’t fallen at his feet,” I said.

  She gave me a curious smile and cupped her chin in her hand on the armchair. I could sense that she didn’t buy it.

  “You seriously thought your blood was marking him, did you?” she asked randomly. Almost as if she was being playful.

  Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. “It’s not like I know what it looks like. I’ve never seen it before.”

  “Tobias said you were from a small town down south. Amazing how you two always manage to find one another. In each and every life you live.”

  “How do you know about those things?” I asked her. “How do you know about me at all?”

  “Tobias and I were… close over the years. Especially when I was younger. He would give me snippets of his life from time to time. Let’s just say you came up more than once. That was when I knew I’d never gain any long-term affection from him. And what girl would want to be second choice for a man like that. Once you have a piece of him you can’t settle for anything less than the whole pie.”

  “Many of them might if women fall at his feet as you claim.”

  “Why the hostility toward him?” she asked. “He’s a devious bastard but he has certain… desirable qualities. Qualities long lost over the years. From another time I guess you could say.”

  ‘You sound like Georgeanna.’

  “Because he tried to force my hand,” I answered. “Then he made me believe that I didn’t have a choice in the matter. Like it was inevitable. I don’t like being told how to live my life.”

  “If your blood does end up choosing him you won’t have a choice.”

  “As everyone feels the need to remind me.”

  She sat back in the chair as I slowly drifted off, hoping whatever potion she brewed would be done by the time I woke up. And hoping whatever was wrong with Nathaniel wasn’t somehow my fault because I wasn’t there to help him hunt.

  Chapter 6