The Witch’s Destiny

by Emma Glass

  I nodded against his shoulder. “I have faith in them.”

  “Yes… I do too,” Elliott lifted his gaze. “We came this close to our destruction today. We almost lost… everything.”

  I thought on that. He had a point. Were any of the others even aware of her? ‘Tzavos Tzovac’ was a name known here, in this realm—but even here it had faded into little more than a legend known by so very few. I had never heard the name back on my home-world… what if the next was equally blind? What if she did have other champions scattered among them, all sowing the seeds of destruction?

  What if we were the only ones who knew?

  “I want to find them,” I said. “I want to help them.”

  To my pleasure, he nodded. “We have a duty now. We survived this battle, but Tzavos intends to undo our victory. When she resurfaces, we must be there. Such is the only way our triumph today will ever last…”

  “In the names of Fiona, and Lorelei, and Mattias, and Nikki…”

  He nodded appreciatively. “Tzavos Tzovac believes we’re trapped far out of bounds. It is the only reason she would be so arrogant. But now, a new era dawns…” The lord of Stonehold let the basking, warm sunlight before us punctuate his words.

  Greatly hardened by all we had seen and lost, we stood broken together. But the jagged pieces left behind fit perfectly, I decided. Even if he is shattered and I am destroyed… together, we form one strong unit, no matter how snagged and prickly our separate hearts may be. We finally meet the light in the tunnel.

  Unified, Elliott and I are one.

  I looked into his eyes, and he into mine.

  “Clara,” he whispered achingly.

  My heart broke for him. “Yes, my love?”

  Elliott stared out over Seven Portals. “Let’s go home.”

  * * *

  Arch-Magister Vayne set aside her grief long enough to prepare us all meals for the long road ahead. Although I wanted nothing more, I could not comfort my old steward through her grief… or her lingering horror.

  While Elliott and I were outside, the vampire lords had apparently told her everything. As the Arch-Magister once told me, Tzavos Tzovac was the shining example to which all lords of Seven Portals hoped to reach—her legacy was the stick to which all successors were measured. Ever since her reign, none had come close to matching the incredible footprint she left on Stonehold, let alone magic itself.

  But they knew so little about her; in fact, Tzavos herself was historically thought to have been a man. It underlined how little they knew of the diabolical witch they loved.

  I couldn’t fault them. She had fooled me too.

  It was with the weariest of hearts that she shook hands with my beloved Elliott Craven, standing at the foot of the welcoming hall. “I shall summon back the others at once. They shall return in a day or two—and then I will notify you that all is well here at the academy again.”

  “Excellent.” He turned back and said: “One last thing.”

  “Oh?” Vayne wearily lifted her brow.

  “Take some time to yourself,” he told her tenderly. “Let the grief come. Let it run its course through you. And then, after you have made peace with your loss… I hope to hear from you again. I am certain we have much to discuss. But first, I want you to mourn your powerful loss.”

  She nodded. “I will make time for this when I can.”

  “That’s an order—from your sovereign.”

  Her eyes softened. “…Very well then, Lord Craven.”

  Each summing up the other with a warm, proud smile. And then the two parted ways. The great stone doors of the academy entrance closed at her back, just late enough for her to pause to give me a pleased wink.

  The rest of our group were securing the stirring horses. In various states of exhaustion of both body and mind, the vampire lords had graciously taken it upon themselves to bear the brunt of our losses. They fastened our fallen allies to the backs of our steeds without a word, lifting up those who didn’t make it with the tenderest of care.

  Viktor was barely awake as they strapped him onto the front of a steed—the one belonging to Chandra Song. Even with the solemnity of the hour, I couldn’t help but smirk at that. “When I tell him the most beautiful of all the vampire lords held him the entire way back… that one’s going to be furious that he slept through it.”

  Chandra laughed. “Eyes-Like-Fire wanted him first.”

  “Oh?” I glanced over at the nomadic lord as she tended to her horse, trying to not look at Viktor’s half-dazed form. “I didn’t realize Viktor was in such demand.”

  “Is that his name? ‘Viktor’?” Eyes-Like-Fire asked dryly, aiming a half-sincere glare over at the golden-haired lord. “He fought valiantly. He makes many of my own warriors look weak. I value he who can strike true and survive such injuries. He is also…” She turned her face. “Attractive.”

  “You stole the last one I wanted!” Chandra laughed.

  “I do not have him now,” Eyes-Like-Fire balked.

  “Of course not, you got him killed on a raid!”

  “The Mishipeshu.” Eyes-Like-Fire reminisced warmly. “It was a good raid, yes. He was not a good raider. But this Viktor? He would be a good raider.”

  “Well, too bad. I’m going to scoop him up and take him to be pampered back home. Give him a couple of weeks of warm therapy in the Sunstone Temple, maybe a few of my special hot-stone massages—he will be good as new!” She flirtatiously winked my way. “Not that you can have him back or anything…”

  I looked at him deliriously sitting upright in the saddle as Chandra climbed into position, clutching the reins with her arms around his waist. “Oh, I don’t doubt Viktor could learn to live with that…”

  Nearby, Wilhelm lit up with a grin to hear this happen. Half-staggering over with Asarra under an arm, he looked over at his half-dead companion with a sly chuckle. “Some guys! The hell did he do to deserve that…?”

  Asarra looked up at him, her eyes narrowing.

  “Not as much as you did to deserve me.”

  Her lips planted hard against his. His eyes flew open in surprise, but Wilhelm slowly relaxed into their kiss as they held each other. I practically squealed with joy to see my beloved friends reach this point together.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder. I knew it was Elliott.

  “We need to get going,” he whispered into my ear. “Let them have their moment. They’ve earned it.”

  Smiling, I nodded in agreement.

  Within minutes, we were riding hard across the barrier that separated Seven Portals from the countryside. Soon as the hooves of our steeds crossed the glimmering edge, the skies above transformed—

  And they were as gorgeous as ever.

  The burning skies were gone for good. That incredible sky that I saw my first hours here in Stonehold was back in all of its former glory; despite the pain and the losses, our entire traveling party cheered and whistled out in reply.

  The sun rose high as we all rode back towards the little edge of the coastline high to the west, where we first took these horses. I nestled into Elliott’s back as he whipped at his reins, urging our horses onwards and faster—though to me, we were already moving through the woods faster than any steed on my own world could take us.

  But I understood his impatience.

  The Far Reaches had tested us tonight. Every kilometer we put between us and Seven Portals was a welcome one. Without the chrysm system working yet… it would take a long ride and another ferry, but we could make good time.

  And at the end of our long, terrifying journey…

  There was no place I would rather be than home.

  Chapter 38

  Elliott

  We were back in Stonehold Castle at nightfall.

  I reached for any distraction I could find; I tried to involve myself with the matters of the castle, but the brave subjects who stayed behind refused to let me lift a finger. The Council of the Eight Holds was too drained from the experience to offer a
diversion either. But I could not bring myself to stop for a rest—because every last time that I closed my eyes…

  I saw her turn to ash. Her death looped in my head like a ceaseless vision, privately torturing me. It always started with that first flash of her platinum blond hair as I realized she was still with us—and then the shock of her limp arm, draped over the side of her throne.

  I even recalled precisely how her fingers dangled...

  “Elliott?”

  I blinked away the cruel memory. “Yes, love?”

  Clara Blackwell sadly gazed up into my eyes—but she did not have to say a word. That heartbroken expression in her gaze told me that she knew. You can read me like a book, can’t you? To you, even my innermost pages present no mystery. Not a single illegible character out of place…

  I said: “I can never hide my thoughts from you.”

  “No,” she sighed softly. “You can’t.”

  I nodded distantly. “I can remember it being… easier, in the past. When Fiona died… when Lorelei died… I always had somebody left. Even after she scampered off into exile, I knew there was still someone still in the world. Someone to help me bear the burden. Now, even she is gone.”

  “But there still is, Elliott.” Clara smiled despairingly.

  I pulled her tight and held back tears.

  “I am going to need you now, more than ever.”

  She nodded. “I know. And I’ll be right here.”

  Holding her closer, I clenched my eyes shut. It was the only way to keep myself together. “There were four of us. I am all that’s left now. The last Craven. All of us, destroyed for daring to face down the Calamity…”

  “Hey…” she soothed me, stroking at my hair as we still held one another. “They saved the world, Elliott… without their sacrifices, we could all already be dead. They all laid down their lives to get us there—and Nikki took our place. We were supposed to die there. She gave up her life so that we could live on together. And I will never forget that.”

  He nodded. “If she hadn’t been there…”

  “One of us would have died. And the other…”

  “Would have been forced to live with that. But Nikki intervened. With all Tzavos’s talk of markings… my sister made it there unmarked. She was the only one who did. And I can’t help but wonder if that made all the difference…”

  Clara nodded. “I saw you coming for me. You were going to jump into the light. It would have torn us both apart!”

  “That was our destiny.”

  “The Cravens,” she sighed. “Always defying destiny.”

  “I suppose we have a bit of a knack for it, yes…”

  Clara nodded against my chin. “You do.”

  “And you’ll be one of us, soon,” I reminded her with a smile. “If that fate is what you still desire…”

  Before she could answer, a nearby sound drew my eye. Lifting up my chin from her head, I gazed in the direction of Svetlana Lovrić. She hesitated at a nearby doorway.

  “Lord Craven. We require your presence.”

  “Not right now,” I said darkly.

  “The others are convened. I was tasked to find you.”

  I snorted. “Fine, then. But I won’t come alone.”

  Her eyes trailed to Clara in my arms. Svetlana nodded. “Yes. Of course. Please, if you could join us as well.”

  “What’s going on?” Clara looked between us.

  “The experience is fresh,” I growled. “It seems that the Council of the Eight Holds does not abstain, even for loss. They wish to confer over the latest revelations, even as the ash of my dead sister lies warm in my pouch. We have yet to bury our dead, but yes—let us convene for the hundredth time since I first assumed the throne…”

  Svetlana winced. Even Clara looked uncomfortable.

  “I am sorry, Lord Craven. But this world is bigger than any of us, and it demands leadership.”

  I took a deep breath. “Lead the way.”

  Clara accompanied me as I followed Svetlana towards the nearby war room. Posted strategically at a pillar along the route, my vassal glanced up as I approached her.

  I nodded. Svetlana frowned, but said nothing.

  Kinsey joined us as we walked up to the large doors. I glanced up, nearly seeing an old recollection from the day the vampire lords decided to put Clara on trial; Nikki had been eavesdropping, and she scampered up that wall and that pillar to slip out of sight as the others left the chamber. A wistful, sad smile hit my lips—I could almost hear the scraping of her boots between the walls as she vanished.

  “Elliott?” Clara briefly hugged my arm.

  I turned from the sight. “Right. Yes.”

  Pushing open the gate, I confronted the vampire lords, all sitting in their seats as if this were the night before. But it isn’t. Nikki was here last night. And now… she’s gone.

  I nodded at Svetlana. She took her seat.

  Kinsey and Clara sat down on either side of me when I took mine. The inclusion of my vassal earned more than a few strange looks, but nobody argued with her presence. But I didn’t sit down with them—instead, I held the back of the seat in both hands, nearly breaking it in my grip.

  “You understand what you ask of me,” I told them.

  The other lords looked disarmed. Although I sincerely doubted Lords Song and Eyes-Like-Fire had any actual say in this, the others should have known better.

  “We understand that you have suffered heavy losses,” Valentine Vasiliev replied as softly as her pride allowed. “All of us are privy to the great sacrifice that Nikki Craven made to save our lives—and this world. None at this table envy what you must be experiencing right now. No matter what the others think… I personally apologize.”

  I did not make her repeat herself.

  But I nearly did.

  My eyes narrowed. “So then. You really wish to do this right now? You want to convene before any of us can sleep on what we just did? What we all just saw?”

  Ooktuk sighed. “We think it best to speak now, with…”

  “…An open mind,” Svetlana finished.

  Valentine folded her arms, leaning forwards. “We were very wrong about you, Lord Craven—and your sister, too. Especially me. You have earned my respect. Despite these new revelations you’ve given us regarding your lineage, I think that without you, we would all be dead. All three of you.”

  Her eye conspicuously landed on Clara.

  Chandra slid a few strands of her hair behind her ear, watching me quietly. “Everything has changed, Elliott.”

  “Today, the sun rose over a new world,” Eyes-Like-Fire agreed. “And now we know of the legacy in your blood. Damn the taboos. It is too important for you to be slain.”

  “And maybe certain taboos,” Chandra added wistfully with a subtle twinkle in her eyes, “should be broken.”

  “We have lost too many of us,” Ooktuk Krum nodded. “If we are to rebuild, we must consider the future. The old ways of ruling are shattered and undone—to survive, we must find a new path forwards…”

  I grit my teeth. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

  Svetlana cleared her throat. “We were hoping, perhaps, that you might have some ideas…”

  My shoulders relaxed. “You want my input?”

  “Elliott,” Valentine chuckled sardonically, “we all watched you—and your witch—face off against the ancient Tzavos Tzovac. We were all rendered weak and powerless, all because of your rightful place in these events—and the forbidden vampire blood that pulses in your veins. We don’t want your input. We want your leadership.”

  Kinsey and Clara stared up at me in awe and shock.

  My gaze drifted. “Does she speak for all of you?”

  Every vampire lord at the table nodded in agreement.

  From fearing and despising all of you a few mere years ago to this. My eye briefly caught Clara’s. All of this because you showed up one day—in my castle. After all the chaos that you brought to this world, it eventually broug
ht us all to peace…

  I let my grip relax on the chair before me. With my eyes on Valentine, I pulled my seat free, settling down into it.

  “Fine. Let’s say I have some ideas…”

  * * *

  In the middle of the night, I left my bed. Clara slept at my side; I was careful to leave her undisturbed.

  I dressed quietly. I left silently. Even my own vassal did not notice my departure, asleep in her daze halfway across the private suite atop the tower I called my lair. It made no trouble to sweep out into the night, lunging off the balcony of Craven Keep and sliding down my tower wall.

  Nothing stirred as I landed gracefully on a castle wall.

  And so, I made my way towards the next nearest node.

  As I suspected, the chrysm network had been brought back online… but there were still a few problems to be solved. It would likely be the following afternoon before the vampire lords could return safely to their own holds through the chrysm portal under my castle. The attendants confirmed as much.

  But it would no longer tax the system to teleport one.

  Darkness veiled the familiar receiving chamber, which I now suspected was buried somewhere in the landmass Clara called ‘Australia.’ Giving a tired glance to the generator of small-scale chrysm here—a mechanical amplification to all of the existing ore—I stepped out into the sharply-cut, stark stone that lined the corridors. It felt as if I had been gone from this horrid place for months.

  In reality, it was but a mere few days.

  Australia, I remembered, walking abandoned corridors. The first day Clara was here, I showed here a map of this world. She told me that there was something here—a very large island. At the time, I thought it a mistake. We have had cartographers from all the holds map out our entire world.

  But what it they missed something?

  The council chambers are here—what if there is more?

  It was a lot to consider. If this place refused to be discovered, perhaps there was a reason behind it. There might be an entire hold here, in the seas south of Alevorra. Our world could be larger than we think. An entirely new hold, isolated from the others. Perhaps there is another vampire lord… one that even Tzavos Tzovac was not aware of…