by Riley Storm
He shrugged. “I know that the rest of the humans out there don’t like you. So this is far away from them?”
“Also true,” she said, resuming their walk. “But there are plenty of more remote locations where we wouldn’t have to use spells to hide our presence from the rest of the world. No, there’s a reason we’re where we are.”
“And that is?” he pushed after a moment of silence. “Nobody has told me that yet.”
“The boundaries between earth and the Abyss are weak here. Some of the weakest in the world, to be honest. When they fluctuate, creatures come through. It’s our job to find them, to track them, and send them back to the Abyss.”
Rane nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard about this Abyss. That other…things, exist there.”
“Anything formed by mass human imagination lives there,” she said darkly.
Was she trying to scare him? After the enemy that had infected and destroyed his home, his family, his friends, little out there scared him anymore. Her tall tales wouldn’t work. Not on someone who had seen what he had. Rane almost told her that, but decided at the last moment that he didn’t need to rain on her parade.
“So the school is placed here because it’s in the center of this weak boundary zone,” he surmised, nodding. “Got it. But what does that have to do with the walls?”
“Many of the things that come through do so accidentally, without realizing what they’ve done. They are more desire and emotion than intelligence. They can sense the power of this place, and they come seeking some of it for themselves.” She pointed at the other witches in front of and behind them. “The novice’s job is to turn them back. To cast them back to the Abyss.”
“But you said it was boring,” he pointed out.
“The creatures that attack us are mindless beasts. The intelligent ones, the ones that come here on purpose, that are worthy of a fight, they avoid us. They strike population centers, where they can feed and grow stronger on normal humans. Those are much tougher to kill.”
“Ah, I understand now. You want to fight something that won’t just run straight into your spells and die.”
“Yes! Exactly! I want a foe that stands a chance.”
Rane shook his head. “You should be grateful that most of them are unorganized. Bad things happen when they grow intelligence. Trust me.”
Natasha was silent for a moment. He hated when that happened, when her mood was soured, when the reminder of what happened to Dracia killed their conversation. Rane liked talking to the young witch. She was smart, driven, and best of all, when he talked to her, he had an excuse to look at her.
He’d never seen a woman with hair the color of fire before, and it was as mesmerizing as it was beautiful. Big, curly, and frizzy, it gave her a wild appearance that absolutely enthralled him.
It was a shame that she wasn’t a big fan of his people. Oh, she did her best to cover it up, but he could sense her irritation at having been assigned to him. Though that didn’t explain why she was constantly stealing looks at him either. Rane was confused by that. What did it mean?
“Perhaps,” she said at last. “But it’s rare that a strong, organized group emerges from the Abyss. That takes a lot of energy, and we usually get a warning of someone trying, and stop it before it happens.”
“How do you do that?”
Natasha looked at him like a teacher did a student who just asked a question already answered. “Why, we go in to the Abyss and attack them before they can come out.”
“Right. Of course. I…didn’t know you could do that.” He rubbed his jaw, thinking over the repercussions of that knowledge.
“We can. It’s not overly hard. In fact, the rifts we use to travel actually, technically, send us through the Abyss. Space doesn’t always work the same there. We sort of bend it to our will. Think of it like a piece of paper. Lay it horizontal. Above is Earth. Below is the Abyss. To open a rift, we fold the paper downward in half, then take a knife and slice a hole through both sides of the paper and step through.” She shrugged. “That’s a horrifically simplified way to describe it at least.”
“I…get it and yet am totally confused all at once,” Rane said, shaking his head. “But thank you for trying.”
He jerked in surprise as her hand patted the side of his arm. “It’s okay. You’re doing your best. Don’t stress your little mind over it,” she teased.
In response, he called out to the storm and sent a stream of cold snowflakes right at her face. Natasha yelped and ducked away, throwing up an arm to block them. “Not fair!” she sputtered. “Not fair. I give!”
The flurries ceased their attack. He flicked his fingers and a dome of clear space appeared around both of them, while beyond the storm raged on.
“Yeah, okay, I get it,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You can do things I don’t understand as well.”
Rane grinned, happy she understood.
“But that’s another difference between us, yet a similarity too.”
“What are you talking about?” he wanted to know.
“Well from what I understand, you dragons can only control one element. Fire, water, weather, etc. Right?” she asked, glancing up at him for confirmation.
Rane nodded. “You’re correct.”
“Well, those who reach the status of master, they also choose to specialize in one discipline.”
“They do?” Rane was learning a lot about the witches.
“Yes. We have several schools of magic, and the more a witch progresses in them, the more specialized they tend to become.”
Rane hadn’t known this. “What school are you in?”
“Combat,” she said proudly. “But there are many aspects to it. Offensive spells. Defensive spells. Scouting and reconnaissance. Then of course, you can specialize even more. Fire spells, Energy spells.”
“I see. So you’re a combat witch?”
“I am,” she said. “I’ve only ever wanted to fight, to protect those who can’t. It’s all I ever wanted to do.”
“That’s very noble of you,” he said, not having expected such an answer from her.
Apparently, there was more to Natasha than he’d expected. Rane decided then that he was going to learn more about the fire-haired woman.
Much more.
Chapter Five
Natasha
As the day wore on, Natasha found herself smiling more often than not.
She had seriously misjudged Rane, thinking him little more than a simpleton and a mound of sculpted muscles. This assignment was going to be far easier than she’d thought, because spending time with him wasn’t a challenge. It was, despite her misgivings, somewhat enjoyable.
And he’s still hot.
She remembered the corded power she’d felt in his arm simply from patting it. His entire body was like that. It was…impressive. Though she teased him about proper clothing, Natasha didn’t want him to put on any layers. That would just be sad.
Stay strong though, Nat. Don’t fall for the charms. You’re stronger than that.
Although she hadn’t really known Anna, by now the entire school was aware of her. The witch that had fallen in love with a dragon. The story had spread like wildfire through all levels of Winterspell. The majority seemed to be indifferent to it, figuring it was none of their business. A few seemed to support the idea, championing the cause of uniting the two races, human and Dracian.
Some, like Loiner, disliked the idea entirely and advocated for keeping the two species separate. It wasn’t right, they said. Humans could mix with humans, but they just didn’t know enough about one another to risk mixing the species.
“You know what I don’t understand,” she said, speaking some of her thoughts on the matter out loud.
“What’s that?” Rane asked, pushing off from the wall and giving her his full attention.
She tried not to react to the weight of his gaze as he focused it on her. It was like a heavy blanket being draped over her when he did that, and Natasha still wasn
’t sure how to handle it. Her body wanted one thing, but her mind screamed at her to stay calm.
“Look at you,” she said, then closed her eyes. “I didn’t mean that. Not like, not like that,” she emphasized. “I just meant that you’re…well, I mean you know what you are. But then I’m me, and it’s like—”
Rane was looking at her blankly.
“Can I start again?” she said, closing one eye in a wince.
“Go for it,” he said, holding back a laugh.
“So funny,” she said, sticking out her tongue. “What I was trying to say, was look at us. We’re the same.”
Rane looked down at himself, then at her. Were his eyes lingering on her body? Did he just check her out?
“Did you just use that as an excuse to check me out?” she challenged, crossing her arms.
Rane’s eyes quivered, but they didn’t drop to look at the effect her movement had on her chest. She was impressed at his willpower.
“So what if I did?” he said in return, brushing aside her accusation as if it didn’t matter.
Just like that, he’d stolen the momentum back, putting her on the defensive. Natasha hated that, and hated even more that she simply didn’t know what to say to take it back. This was her conversation.
“You come from a different planet,” she said, forging ahead, ignoring his question instead. “Yet you look human.”
“Or you look Dracian,” he countered.
Natasha stopped short. She’d never considered that angle before.
“I know the prevailing theory is that we left earth,” he said. “But you never know, it could be the other way around. It could be that you left us.”
“Our history here is much too long for that to be the case,” she said. “I mean, considering we speak the same language. How is that possible?”
Rane shrugged. “I don’t know. Nobody seems to know. You have words that we don’t though. Lots of them. All your technology terms. We’re not that familiar with it. We’re getting there, but we didn’t have those words.”
“What sorts of tech did you have?” She waved her hand at him. “If you’re able to, I’d love to know more about life on Dracia. What it was like…before.”
Natasha wanted to know, but this would also give her something to give to Loiner. Some more information about the dragons that would keep her from putting Natasha in her sights. It would keep her safe for a little bit longer while she learned more about what the dragons were up to.
If they’re even up to anything. They seem pretty honest.
Rane looked down. “Before the Infected took over, you mean?”
She nodded. “I’m sorry, Rane. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I can’t imagine how painful it is for you to talk about.”
“It is,” he admitted, leaning back against the wall, waiting while a quartet of novices passed them by, nodding respectfully at the senior witch and carrying on up the wall, disappearing into the blizzard.
“You don’t have to say anything,” she offered.
“If we never talk about it,” Rane said slowly. “Then eventually, people will forget about it. We should talk about our home, about what we lost, so that the memory will live on. Those that come after us should know the history of their people.”
Natasha nodded, but inside she was unsure. More dragons? Offspring? She wasn’t sure how she felt about that idea. Earth belonged to humans. Didn’t it?
“Dracia was a very different place than earth,” he began.
Natasha found herself listening with great interest as Rane described his homeworld. She could picture in her mind the great swooping trees and towns nestled around the planet. It was interesting to see how a society that had access to easy long-range travel developed differently than that of the foot-powered humans.
“Fascinating,” she said during one pause. “So you never had need to develop machines. Your strength, or the labor of your dragon form accomplished most of what you needed. Then you just flew wherever you needed to be.”
Rane nodded. “It was a peaceful place. We tried to work with our world. Not against it. Technology simply wasn’t necessary.”
“I wish I could have seen it,” she said wistfully. “I’m sorry we didn’t know about your plight. Maybe we could have helped.”
Deep down, she knew that would never have happened. There were too many witches like Loiner out there who would shut down any such action.
Life was easier before they arrived, she thought to herself, thinking of how Loiner often made that point.
“It’s not your fault,” Rane said, waving off her apology. “We should have handled it differently, but of course it’s easy to say that in hindsight. Once you know how something pans out, you understand the different decisions you could have made.”
“True,” she agreed. “But I can still wish that we’d been able to help.”
“You’re helping now,” he pointed out. “Taking us in, sheltering us. That’s a big help.”
Natasha was forced to agree. Then she wondered where her sudden caring came from. Since when did the fate of the dragons matter to her? She was supposed to be trying to find a way to get rid of them from Winterspell so that her life could return to normal.
How exactly have they disrupted your life?
There was no time for the question to truly sink in though. Natasha’s attention was grabbed by shouts from up ahead.
The group of novices that had walked by them shortly ago.
“Trouble?” Rane asked, turning his attention further down the wall.
The snow cleared in a tunnel. Natasha had a moment to marvel at his powers yet again. Then it cleared and she saw a blast of blue light.
“Yes, trouble,” she said, rushing forward, drawing her wand, calling magic to the front of her mind.
Heavy footsteps indicated Rane was right beside her.
“And you said nothing ever happened on the walls,” he said with a bark of laughter.
“Focus,” she snarled, putting her head down. This wasn’t the time to laugh. Up ahead, she could see multiple bursts of magic as the novices put up one hell of a fight.
Winterspell was under attack, and she charged to the front with Rane at her side.
Chapter Six
Rane
The storm cleared ahead of them as he pushed his influence farther, revealing the extent of what they were up against.
Two of the novices were already down, one of them looking like she would never get up again. The other was clutching a hand to her side, screaming in pain as blood seeped through her fingers. Rane thought she would survive if someone arrived in time to treat her.
I hope.
The young woman looked up as they arrived on scene, and for the first time Rane truly understood just how young the novices were. Fifteen, perhaps sixteen at most. Children, really, though he’d thought of them as young women. This would be their first taste of combat, most likely. Their first time seeing a comrade die.
This wasn’t right. They shouldn’t be put up here in a position to die.
Anger exploded in him just as one of the creatures finished scaling the wall and leapt on another novice. Rane’s hand shot out and he clenched it into a fist. The monster froze in mid-air, its five slimy legs flailing helplessly.
One of its two heads turned to look back at him, its eyes a deep blood red. Rane snarled and started to squeeze his hands, intending on crushing the beast with the very air itself, but the animal opened its mouth and a blast of sonic energy slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.
His mental concentration was broken and the creature fell to the ground, stabilizing itself on its legs. Rising up on the three hind legs, the third one right under its rear end to form a triangle, it lunged at the novice.
Flames darted forward from behind Rane’s field of view, a fire serpent rising up and snatching the creature in its jaws. Grey skin blackened and died where the fangs dug deep.
He started to watch as Natasha went to work with he
r magic, but a shadow distracted him. Whipping his head around, he saw another creature clear the wall, its eyes focused on him. All twelve of the blood-red circles. Its mouths opened to reveal three rows of pointed teeth and a triple-forked tongue.
“You are one ugly beastie,” he said, extending his palm to the creature and waiting calmly.
The thing leapt at him—only to be impaled mid-flight by the lightning bolt that shot from his palm, slamming into the closest pointed snout and flipping it back over the wall.
Getting up, he took stock of the situation. The novice he’d saved was crouched over the injured woman, yellow light pouring from her hand as she ran it over the wound.
Natasha was busy fighting off two more of the creatures. While he watched though, three more cleared the top of the wall. One blasted him with that sonic energy, but this time he was ready. A vortex of wind tore the sound to shreds before it reached him.
“That trick won’t work twice,” he growled.
The other two beasts hurled themselves from the battlement at the pair of living witches.
“Do something!” Natasha shouted.
Below the walls he heard odd croak-like barking. There were more of the creatures coming, he realized.
Calling on his innate powers, Rane blasted the creature watching him from the top of the walls and rushed after the other two. He caught up with them, darting between the two beasts and grabbing them by the scruff. They came up to his waist, proving to be quite large.
He lifted the creatures from the ground and slammed their heads together as viciously as he could. Bone crunched and the bodies went limp. Rane turned, using the momentum to fling the bodies back over the wall.
Yet another of the beasts had scaled the walls, however, and it leapt at him while he was still in the throwing motion.
“Aw shit,” he said before the monster bowled him over, the two of them falling backward onto the stone. Stars exploded in his eyes as his head rebounded from the floor.
Pain cleared his vision as something dug into his chest.
“You sonofabitch,” he snarled. “Eat lightning.”
The beast opened its mouth to bite him again and Rane shoved his hand in its mouth, unleashing a torrent of lightning into the creature’s insides.
