Witchling Wars

by Shawn Knightley

“Do you honestly believe it will stop here?” Tobias snarled at me.

  I turned around to face him. He stood before me in a suit that definitely wasn’t from modern day. He looked like he walked out of a costume shop with 18th-century attire. His dark hair was long and tied behind his head. His eyes were stern. Unyielding. Nothing new there. I guess some things don’t change regardless of the time period.

  “You have to keep moving,” he said.

  “But America?” I argued. My voice wasn’t entirely my own. There was a hint of a Scottish accent.

  He discovered me. Deep in the streets of Paris, Tobias found me living in a small room I managed to rent. It was smaller than the size of my bathroom in Dilton with nothing more than a bed and a small fireplace.

  I placed my hand over my chest to feel a large piece of jewelry there. A brooch. One of the only possessions I still had. And one of the only items I refused to leave behind. It held too many memories that I couldn’t afford to forget.

  Tobias took my chin into his hand. The same way he had with Ragna. He did the same with me when I struggled to meet his powerful eyes.

  “Do you want to remain free?” he asked me.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you want the wrath of the vixra around your neck?”

  “No.” I started trembling. The very thought of angering them more so than I already had by running from Scotland once they found me was more than I could bear. I had already lost so much. I was forced to leave everything I loved. Everything and everyone that I cherished. “Why are you helping me?” I asked.

  “Because once long ago, you did the same for me.”

  “I think I would remember that,” I said.

  He gave me a smile that I couldn’t decipher. There was no making sense of it. He was a vampire. I was a kruxa. Why would he help me live? To flee to America no less? And give me enough money to rebuild my life? The vampires had been hunting kruxa with cruelty and vigor for years. And yet, this one wanted me to live.

  “Perhaps one day you will. But not today,” he said. Then he took me by the arm and led me to a carriage. The driver opened the door for me and I stepped inside. I peered out the window as the horse’s hooves clicked on the mud-ridden cobblestones from the evening rain.

  He watched me until I could no longer see him in the distance. And I watched him, knowing in the pit of my stomach that I would somehow see him again. That he wasn’t like other vampires. He stood apart from them entirely.

  I woke up with a start. Lenora hovered over me with her hand on my head. Her skin was so hot. I was tempted to jerk away as it seemed to get hotter.

  “I know it’s uncomfortable, but try to stay still,” she urged me.

  “Your hand,” I protested.

  “Luxra run hotter than other witchlings.”

  “But why?”

  “So we can better handle the effects of what comes with being a luxra.”

  I didn’t bother asking her what she meant. I was too busy trying to get my head away from her hand. She held a vial in her other hand with bubbling pink liquid. Only this time it wasn’t a faint color pink. It was brighter than any shade I would be brave enough to wear out in public. Let alone drink.

  “What in the world?”

  “Drink it,” she said.

  She tilted the vial toward my lips and I let the potent scent overpower my senses. The throbbing in my head started to calm down. The awful churning inside my chest came to a screeching halt. I could finally breathe a sigh of relief that I was no longer in pain.

  “Better?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  Lenora made an odd face. Did she smell something foul? Maybe all the sweating from my brief illness made me a little ripe and she was unfortunate enough to get too close?

  Far from it.

  She peered up toward the ceiling and sensed what was going on before I did. Not surprising given the magic in her blood was stronger than mine.

  Above us was a shadow, twisting and turning, spiraling down from the ceiling. I had already seen this kind of shadow before. I knew exactly what it was. And so did Lenora.

  She backed away from me and removed a wand from inside her long skirt, pointed it upward, and muttered some words I definitely didn’t understand. A bright blue light from her magic flew out of the wand and struck the croxa hanging above me. I could hear the faint sound of it struggling against her control.

  ‘Is it Emily? Don’t hurt her!’

  “Don’t be alarmed, I’ve got it,” she reassured me.

  She forced the shadow to move in tandem with her wand and settled it just before the window with thick curtains that descended all the way down to the floor. Then she muttered more words and the croxa started to take shape. A physical body like I always saw when Emily haunted me.

  ‘Yep. It’s definitely Emily.’

  I sat up from the couch and felt the potion inside my stomach move with me. My body was still absorbing it. Still healing. And yet, I couldn’t miss what I was seeing. A luxra in action. Not something most kruxa get to witness these days.

  “You didn’t tell me you had a dark passenger,” said Lenora.

  “How did you know?”

  “Her spirit calls to you.”

  The croxa started screeching and I had to cover my ears to stop the sound from feeling as if it might bust an eardrum.

  “We’ll have none of that,” Lenora shouted at the croxa. “Do as I say.”

  Emily was obedient and didn’t try raising her voice again. But I could see in her haunted eyes that she certainly didn’t like being told what to do. Or being controlled in any way. She had enough of that in life when she was actually living.

  Lenora made Emily freeze in place. Her transparent essence didn’t move a single muscle or even twitch like I had seen so many times before. She stared back at Lenora who examined her with curiosity.

  Her arms started shaking. I could see her struggling as she tried to maintain control.

  Emily wasn’t having it. She started writhing around and fell to the floor. Only there was no crash when she landed. Only the sight of her crawling on all fours as she tried to scream and no sound came out.

  The magic piercing through Lenora’s wand got brighter. Stronger. She was using as much of her magic as she could.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “This is no normal croxa,” she said, struggling to hold up her wand against forces fighting back that I couldn’t see or hear.

  “I know. We were friends when she was alive. She even saved my life after she died. Then she…well-”

  “Changed.”

  “Yes.

  Lenora gave Emily a command that I couldn’t hear and let out a large burst of her magic that hit Emily like a bullet to the heart. If it had been beating anyway. Emily’s ghostly form started to dissipate right before us. Turning back into that strange cloud of black spiraling smoke then leaving us all together.

  Lenora turned back to me and took a step closer. “I could sense the restlessness inside her,” she said.

  ‘Um, really? Even I can sense that.’

  “She didn’t go where she was supposed to go,” Lenora continued. “She stayed behind. She was forced to. It doesn’t happen that way. The transformation into a croxa happens fast. Almost immediately after death. Someone did this to her. Someone turned her into a croxa and set her sights on you. Maybe to make you unstable or susceptible.”

  My eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean,” she said, crossing her arms in quiet frustration, “this girl, Emily, shouldn’t have become a croxa. A luxra made her into one. It’s illegal among luxra to do such a thing. The vixra see it as an extremely punishable offense.”

  “Why would someone do that?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “Your guess is as good as mine. But if her spirit refuses to rest, it’s not simply because she’s trapped in the afterlife. Someone is controlling her.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “I don’t kno
w. But whoever is doing it is a luxra. A powerful luxra who has a good amount of experience working with the dead. It takes a person with an empty soul to turn an innocent into a croxa. It’s interfering in all that’s natural. Croxa are horrible enough without innocent spirits being turned into one. I’m guessing whoever did it has a personal vendetta to settle. Or they want your magic as weak as possible.”

  “But that doesn’t make sense. Why would someone have a grudge against me? I never wanted any part in this to begin with.”

  “It might have nothing to do with you directly. You were just in the way of what a luxra wanted. Or you weren’t doing what they wanted. Did Emily say anything to you after she died?”

  I had to think back on all the times she invaded my body. When she made me relive my death again and again. “She said I failed her when she took over my dreams. I took it to mean that I hadn’t found her killer yet. But I did. I found the two vampires that killed her.”

  “Emily appeared in your dreams?” she asked, as though that was a strange detail to give.

  “What?”

  She hesitated before speaking, searching for the right words. “Most croxa don’t haunt dreams. They simply haunt a person while they’re awake. If Emily was trying to reach you in your dreams, it means she was trying to get through to you in a manner that the luxra controlling her wouldn’t suspect. Or a way that the luxra wouldn’t be able to trace.”

  “But Tobias said croxa love to come out after dark. Doesn’t it make sense that she would haunt my dreams?”

  Lenora shook her head, still a little irritated.

  “Damn Tobias,” she cursed. “It was right in front of him and he didn’t see it.” She pulled out her phone and looked for a number then promptly placed it up to her ear.

  I heard Tobias answer on the other end but I couldn’t make out his words.

  “I don’t care if you have your hands full,” Lenora snarled at him. “Who is this other luxra you’re working with?”

  ‘Is she talking about Daniel?’

  “Yes, actually, you do owe me an explanation,” she spat. “The croxa that’s haunting Harper has been invading her dreams. You didn’t think that was an important detail to include?” Her mouth opened wide. “Son of a bitch! He hung up on me!”

  “What was going on?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure, but he sounded a bit distressed. Not at all like he usually is.”

  I slowly stood up from the couch, holding onto the coffee table before me to make sure I was steady enough to stand on my own. To my surprise, I was.

  “Can you bottle up that potion for me?” I asked. “I think I should get going.”

  “Tobias said you need to stay here and rest. He’ll come by to get you.”

  “I don’t answer to Tobias.”

  She smirked. “I’ve never had a kruxa so eager to leave the comforts of my house.”

  I wondered for a moment if I was being rude. Had I broken some sort of witchling decorum? Not that I would really know any better. But I guessed that being inside her house was a bit of an honor. Especially if she had her own small coven.

  “I’m grateful for how your help, but if what I suspect is true then I need to warn Tobias right away,” I said. “If he won’t listen over the phone then I need to see him in person.”

  She tilted her head as if to say she understood and headed for the kitchen. I followed her to see a fully equipped kitchen for making potions. She had glass vials, various herbs picked fresh from a garden, proper heating tools, bugs crawling around in jars, and even bursts of her blue magic spiraling in a bottle to the corner should she need it. It was any witchling’s dream kitchen. And not just for cooking up food. It was a potion master’s room. Practically an apothecary for the witchling world. At the center of the large island in the middle of the kitchen was a grimoire. One with writings in it that looked a lot older than any my gran had.

  She caught me staring at the various glass jars. “Should you ever need a little something here or there don’t hesitate to ask. Tobias doesn’t always choose the most honorable of allies. He prefers people who can do what he asks without question. A workable engine, he calls it. But I think he sees you a bit differently.” She corked the final vial and placed them into a small airtight box that would fit in my pocket.

  I took the small box into my hands.

  She showed me to the door. “If you’re going to disobey Tobias’s orders at least don’t do it under my roof. That way he can’t blame me. Is there anyone you can call?”

  “I have Tobias’s driver’s number in my phone.” I stepped outside on her patio. “Thank you for all your help. I won’t forget it.”

  “Please don’t,” she said. “Until we meet again, Harper.”

  She shut the door and retreated inside.

  I walked down the steps of the patio and ventured into the woods, making sure I was out of sight and Lenora wouldn’t see me using vixra magic when I placed a small sheet of Edmund’s blood on my tongue.

  I reached a wide enough area after about a hundred or so steps.

  Lifting my palm into the air, I summoned my magic and carved an opening directly into a vixra tunnel, thinking hard on where I wanted to go the entire time. I wasn’t sure at first, but for a brief moment, I thought I could feel Lenora’s eyes watching me from her window in the distance as I took a step inside and disappeared.

  All I could hear was shouting when I stepped onto Tobias’s long driveway winding in through the woods. His large mansion stood before me. It was dark. And it should have been quiet. Then came the sound of a man screaming.

  I ran for the front door only to see that it was ajar. I pushed it open and bolted inside. The noise was coming from the living room. When I hurried in I wasn’t prepared for what I was going to find.

  Both Tobias and Nathaniel were down on their knees with Carlton in their arms, shouting at one another about what to do. The screaming I heard came from Carlton. He was on the floor, coughing up blood and clearly in agony. His hands tore at his chest as if he wanted to rip it open.

  Nathaniel heard me come in and gave me a scowl that could kill. “Where were you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She was with me,” Tobias answered. “You don’t need to know more than that.”

  “I needed her with me! We have a routine for hunting that keeps us safe and we have to hunt the vampires who can withstand the sun during the day!”

  “Then you shouldn’t have hunted without her there. You should have known better.”

  “You told us to get on without her. But in the end, you stopped me from doing what the vixra commanded,” Nathaniel hollered.

  “Don’t pretend that this is because of your hunt. I know better.”

  Blood came spewing out of Carlton’s mouth and onto the floor beside him.

  “What’s happening to him?” I asked, rushing to Nathaniel’s side.

  “We don’t know,” Tobias answered.

  They were both gripping Carlton’s hands. Soon they were forced to pin them down beside his head. From the scratches all over his chest, I gathered he nearly succeeded in tearing it open.

  Tobias lifted his wrist up to his mouth and ripped a hole in the skin. Blood oozed out and he placed it over Carlton’s mouth.

  “How’s that going to help?” Nathaniel asked.

  “I’m not sure it will. But since you were incapable it’s the only option we have.”

  Carlton spurt out Tobias’s blood. It was as clear to me as it was to Nathaniel that feeding him more vampire blood wasn’t going to help him. I wasn’t even sure why Tobias did it. Some last ditch effort?

  Then without warning, Tobias pulled his arm away and let go of Carlton’s hand. He placed it on Carlton’s chin and turned his head to face him. I wasn’t sure if Carlton could see him let alone hear him. He was in too much pain and his eyes were slowly going blank.

  “Find Emily,” Tobias told him. “Find Emily on the other side and help her cross over. Sto
p her from haunting Harper again.”

  “What are you talking about?” I shouted. “He can’t possibly-,”

  I watched as Tobias stood up and backed away from Carlton. From all three of us. He watched in silence as Carlton stopped coughing up blood. Carlton stopped moving completely. Then he was gone.

  I stared down at Carlton’s dead body, not even remotely certain if what I just saw was entirely real. Was it another vision? No. This was real. Far too real.

  Nathaniel told me that tearing a vampire’s head off was the only way to properly end it. Or set them on fire with vixra magic like I had with my grandfather’s wand. I knew now that wasn’t entirely true. Because Congressman Carlton Larsen died right before us sprawled out on Tobias’s bloodstained living room floor.

  I got up and backed away from the body. My footprints were tracking Carlton’s blood with each step.

  Nathaniel let go of Carlton’s hand. It dropped to the floor. Then he got up and let his eyes drift over to Tobias.

  I had seen Tobias when he was angry. Or at least I thought I had. But I never saw him quite like this. He looked as if he could strike Nathaniel dead with a single glare. And if Nathaniel moved even one muscle in a way he didn’t like, he just might do it.

  “That’s two assassins you’ve lost me now,” Tobias scolded him.

  “The first was beyond my control,” Nathaniel responded. “I don’t know how this happened.”

  “Strange. Because I do.”

  Tobias lunged at Nathaniel and slammed him directly into the wall behind them. Paintings went crashing to the floor. I could hear the glass from the frames breaking as the shards scattered across the expensive tiles. Tobias had Nathaniel pinned to the wall. He raised his arm and held him up against it by the throat. Nathaniel latched his hands around Tobias’s, trying to break free. Then he drew one under the other and brought them both to the right, thrusting them downward and breaking Tobias’s arm.

  Nathaniel must have had some vixra blood in his system to make him stronger because I could have sworn that I saw some red light plunging down over Tobias as Nathaniel started to strike back.

  It didn’t matter. Tobias was older. He would eventually overpower him. And there was no way I was going to let that happen.