soulofawitch_463-9e1.htm

by Soul Of A Witch (lit)

  He noticed Drake madly sprinkling salt around himself. Franc grabbed the salt shaker and started doing the same.

  "What the hell are you doing?" Ephim croaked.

  "I don’t know if this shit works, but I’m in no position to take chances!" Franc said, throwing a good pinch of salt over his shoulder for good measure.

  "Something’s happening." Beli lifted a trembling hand and pointed. "Look!"

  The ghostly army was lined up behind Hortra, their swords held down by their sides, the blades glowing redly.

  "You might have my hounds baying, witch!" Hortra yelled in triumphant. "But the entities are mine, sworn to my duty! Kill her!"

  Thunder crashed, and silver lightning tore across the sky. Clouds swirled wildly, creating a vortex above the glowing couple.

  The ghostly line started to move forward, and Sinya himself took a step forward. Then he was there, standing on the sidelines, watching, stunned.

  A living flame of midnight blue and white, pale blue and silver, Beulah arched her neck back, opened her mouth, and a blue light burst forth, searing through the ghostly army.

  The shrieks of the dead resounded in the sky, the blue light shearing through them and sending them up in swirls of smoke. The line vanished, one ghostly soldier after another disappearing in a thin swirl of smoke.

  "No!" Hortra raged. "Goddamn you, witch! What are you? What are you to have such power over the living and the dead? What are you?"

  "I am what you gave me, and now I give it back." Dropping to one knee, Beulah looked right at Hortra, and plunged one hand into the ground.

  The hard rock should not have given way beneath her flesh, but the rock cracked, splintered and flew apart. Her hand sunk deep into the earth, and blue fire raged down her arm and deep into the rock, and further.

  Hortra stared, uncomprehending. "What is this? What foolishness is this? What--" He stumbled suddenly, then righted himself.

  Trying to move back, he found that he couldn’t shift his feet. He looked down, and saw roots snapping around his ankles, then a snaking line of rock and earth moved up his legs.

  "No! Frantically he fired red lightning at his legs, uncaring that he tore through his own flesh in his haste. "No, Beulah! What are you doing?"

  Fourteen

  Eyes closed, Beulah lifted her head up and tilted her face towards the sky.

  Lighting flickered, and the clouds whirled faster.

  "Beulah!" Hortra screamed, as the rock moved higher, imprisoning him in it’s unforgiving clasp.

  "From dust you came, but hell you embraced. Mystical forces and forbidden arts, you took them all." Beulah didn’t open her mouth, but her words cracked out with the lash of a verbal whip. "Nature is mine, and you sought to twist it for your own purposes. You gave me the light of hate, Hortra. Back in the mystical plane, you burned me with your hellish light, and left some of it inside me." Opening her eyes, she looked at Hortra, watching him emotionlessly as he screamed and writhed.

  The rock was now up to his chest, and climbing slowly.

  "Have mercy! Hortra cried. "You’re supposed to be a good witch, Beulah! You cannot murder me!"

  "I but give you back what you gave me." Red lightning flared from deep within the blue flame of her body, and travelled slowly towards the ground, following the line of her arm until it disappeared beneath the earth.

  Hortra raged in helpless fury. "My flame cannot kill me, witch!"

  "Now I give you what I have." Withdrawing her arm from the ground, she held it up, and blue sparks flew from her fingertips.

  Rasing one arm up towards the sky, she threw her head back. Lightning tore through in a silver haze, spearing into her arm. Her other arm she plunged into the broken earth, and the lightning, now mixed with her blue flame, pierced the earth with a loud explosion.

  No." Hortra’s eyes widened. "No!"

  The creeping rock had reached his neck, and he was helpless.

  It happened within seconds. His red lightning snapped up the rock, curving around his hardened prison, then the blue and silver lightning followed fast. It streaked through the rock, leaving a blazing blue trail, slid through his skin, and came out of the top of his head.

  He stared at Beulah in horror. Already his eyes had begun to melt into gelatinous mass upon his cheeks, and his mouth, when it opened, showed pure white light within its depth.

  "Nature will deal with you," Beulah said softly.

  Lightning seared through the sky once more, flaring down to meet the lightning crackling above his head. A second’s hush, then he exploded in a blinding flash of midnight blue light, followed by a white flare that made the ground vibrate beneath the feet of the watchers.

  Stumbling back, they covered their eyes from the light.

  The clouds churned, the demon hounds bayed, and the fortress crumbled. A chasm opened beneath it, and the fortress sunk rapidly downwards, hot lava splashing up from a depth Sinya didn’t even want to guess at.

  "Wes!" he screamed, but the searing heat forced him back. "My God! No! Wes!"

  Heat poured over the area, and a bright red flare covered everything, obliterating everything from sight.

  Panicked, Sinya looked around for Beulah. Then he saw her, a dark figure standing in the midst of the red. A darkness glowed around her, a flare of dark blue, then the redness was pushed back behind the midnight blue glow that surrounded Beulah.

  The chasm closed over the fortress behind her, and desperately he looked around, hoping against hope that Wes had somehow escaped. Tears burned the back of his throat. Tears because he feared he’d lost his brother to unknown forces--and tears because he didn’t know this woman who stood before him.

  In the unnatural dusk cast by the clouds swirling above, he looked at Beulah. She glowed with blue light, and her eyes were black pools. But his eyes fastened on her raised palm. A large golden light hovered, then slowly became a glowing ball that floated.

  "Wes?" Hardly daring to hope, he stepped forward, one hand outstretched.

  The golden ball quivered, then darted around Beulah’s hand. In a swift movement, it darted away from Beulah to dance around Sinya’s head, brushing him with a nothingness that only his own spirit could recognize.

  "Oh my God, Wes." Tears slid down his cheeks. "You’re safe!"

  Wes’s soul darted around the gaping pirates, making several of them shift nervously. Playfully he spun around Drake’s head, then hovered in front of Learta and went still.

  Sinya turned to Beulah. He didn’t know what to say, for her eyes were completely black, the stars within sparkling. The blue flame flickered low around her, and she was still. So very still.

  "Beulah?" He took a tentative step forward. "Are you all right?"

  "Sinya!’ Learta said sharply. "Hold!"

  "It’s Beulah, Learta--"

  "It’s Beulah as you don’t know her." Learta was suddenly by his side.

  "She would not hurt me. I know she wouldn’t. She saved Wes, and--"

  Learta placed her hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Sinya. I want to ask her something."

  Emotions churning under this new puzzle, Sinya fell silent.

  "Who are you?" Learta asked softly.

  "I am part of nature," Beulah’s voice whispered from the ground beneath Sinya’s feet, and he jumped.

  "Are you the witch-woman?"

  "I am what I am." Lifting her arm, Beulah held her palm out. "I am part of nature, and it is part of me."

  The wind carried her voice, and suddenly Sinya’s blood chilled. She spoke the same way the Accelis did. Their voices came from everywhere. Now Beulah’s did, too. Her eyes held the stars, and as he watched, green filtered through the blue flames.

  "Are you not Beulah, witch-woman?" Learta asked.

  Beulah shifted back, and pointed to the earth beneath her feet. "I am what I am."

  "Oh, my God," Sinya whispered.

  Where she had stood, a single blade of green grass was pushing upward. A tiny yellow flower unfurled beside it.
A root broke the through the broken earth.

  Even as they watched, more grass appeared, each blade straining upward. The grey of the sky cleared, the heavy clouds moving away. Rock crumbled on the mountains, showering down in fine grey dust to leave the mountains covered in rich, brown soil.

  Around Beulah’s feet a carpet of grass grew, spreading outwards slowly but surely. Flowers coyly peeked upwards, stretching their petals to the watery sun that appeared. The root thickened, grew taller, became a sapling, then a tree. Within minutes, Beulah stood under a towering tree, its branches heavy with leaves.

  Flowers now appeared beside the boots of the pirates, grass cushioning their steps.

  "What is happening?" Drake whispered, awed.

  "This is Beulah’s doing." Franc reached down and touched the grass, marvelling at the shoots.

  "Yes, but what does it mean?" Ephim asked hoarsely. He glanced at Wes’s soul, which shivered at his shoulder. "It’s okay, little pal."

  Beulah had a transparent quality about her now, as though at any minute she could fade into the woods that were growing around her.

  "Beulah." Sinya held out one hand. "What is happening?"

  "Life is where it should have been all along. I am merely helping it." The flowers nodded with her words.

  "I don’t understand." He swallowed. "Come back to the ship. Please."

  "I can’t come back." Her words whispered in the breeze that drifted through the branches. "I am not Beulah the witch."

  "No!" Desperation made him shake Learta’s hand from his shoulder. "You are Beulah!"

  "She is no more." Beulah touched the trunk of the tree, and a row of red flowers burst to life along the mossy trunk. "I am nature-bound, now. I have come into my own. I am she."

  "I don’t understand!" Sinya fisted his hands. "For the love of God, Beulah, speak to me! To me!" His throat choked, and the back of his eyes burned. "I lost Wes, then found him. I found you, and I won’t lose you! Do you hear me? Beulah?"

  She looked at him, the stars in her eyes shimmering. Pink and violet slid through her glow, becoming part of her gown.

  A hush fell over the wooded area. One of the pirates cleared his throat. Feet shuffled. But mostly there was silence. Then from behind Beulah came golden glow, bright enough that they all had to shade their eyes from the glow.

  Sinya knew instinctively who it was, and his suspicions were proven correct when he lowered his arm and beheld the giant golden Accelis standing behind Beulah. Their burgundy eyes shifted from Beulah to him. White robes swayed as they moved nearer, stopping directly behind Beulah.

  "Sister, much has happened."The voice came from the giant Acceli with the long braid, though his lips didn’t move.

  "You have completed your duty, and saved the boy," the second Acceli said.

  "There have been great changes." The deep voice eddied out from the tree.

  "What the hell has happened to her?" Sinya glared at them. "What happened?"

  "She is a child of nature, touched by the unnatural, and bursting forth into a heritage she didn’t know about," the first Acceli’s voice whispered past Sinya’s ear. "She is as she was meant to be."

  "She’s meant to be some kind of--of--goddess or something?" He felt stupid saying it, but then, nothing was normal now.

  "There is only one Being that rules over all. No, she is no goddess. She is a child of nature." The Acceli spoke from the grass. "Her role in life has changed."

  "What is her role now?"

  "That will be revealed." The Acceli laid his hand on Beulah’s shoulder. "Come, sister."

  "No!" Sinya strode forward quickly, reaching out to touch Beulah.

  She didn’t cringe, but merely looked at him out of eyes as black and endless as the night.

  Sinya half expected the Accelis to stop him, but they didn’t move. He half expected the blue glow to burn him, but all he felt was a cool touch, as refreshing as the first sensation of water on a hot day.

  His love for her hadn’t changed. He couldn’t think of a life without Beulah.

  Taking her hand in his, he looked down at her. "Please, Beulah, look at me."

  "I see you,’ she replied softly.

  "No, I mean, really look at me. Look into my eyes, my heart, my soul. I love you. I can’t live without you."

  "I will always be there in the wind, in the grass. In nature."

  "I don’t want you just there. I want you in my arms. I want you by my side. I want to talk to you, to laugh, to cry together." Sinya gritted his teeth against the stinging of his eyes. "I love you Beulah. Please don’t go."

  "The Beulah you knew is gone, Sinya." Touching his cheek lightly, she repeated softly, "Gone."

  "No! No, she’s not gone!" Pressing her hand to his heart, Sinya moved close enough that the lines of their bodies touched. Sparks flared between them, but he ignored it. "The Beulah I knew, the Beulah I love, is inside there somewhere."

  The black eyes of the woman before him remained emotionless.

  Desperately, he looked deep into her eyes. "Beulah loved to laugh and tease, she had a heart light as a summer breeze. She was courageous, never shy, but so giving. I can’t believe that nothing of that woman I love remains."

  A light breeze ruffled his hair, sending loose tendrils dancing lightly about his face. It didn’t touch her. She remained as still and motionless as though the very air was not a part of her world.

  "Please, Beulah," he whispered. "I love you. I love you more than anyone could ever love another human being. Please don’t go and leave me alone."

  Silence filled the wooded area again, as Sinya’s words seemed to hang in the air between them.

  Then Beulah stepped back. "She is no more."

  The meaning slapped at him, tore at his heart. I’m losing her. I’m really losing her!

  His blood pounded in his ears, his heart thumped in his chest. He couldn’t lose her. Not now! Not ever!

  Ignoring all danger, he leaped forward and wrapped his arms around her, then he did the only thing he could think of to get through to the woman he was positive dwelt inside this strange, new being.

  He kissed her.

  She remained unmoving, staring up at him, but he didn’t care. He had to prove to her that he loved her, that he needed her, and if this was the only chance he had left, he was taking it. Softening his lips, he cradled her unyielding body close, pouring all the love he could into the tenderest of kisses.

  He felt it first, a flare that rose up from deep inside him, arcing up on a joyous journey of desire and love. It passed from him to her, flowing through her mouth and slipping inside her cool body. Within seconds an answering flare burst from her, meeting his, and it seared between them in a kiss so shattering, it brought tears to the eyes of all who watched.

  Except for the Accelis. Motionless, they waited.

  Drawing back, Sinya looked down into Beulah’s eyes. They remained black, but the stars were gone. Pure black now, and the blue glow had faded a little. "Beulah?

  Turning her head, she looked back at the Accelis. They returned her gaze, nothing in their faces giving away what they thought or felt.

  Returning her gaze to Sinya, she said softly, "Release me."

  Heart sinking, he did as bidden. Had he lost her after all? Had it all been for naught?

  Everyone waited in hushed silence as she stepped back. Her head bowed, the silken swath of her hair falling froward over her shoulder. The silence lengthened, and it seemed that even the very air Sinya breathed was waiting.

  ~ * ~

  She knew this man. She knew his taste, his touch. It hadn’t mattered before, any needs she had disappearing under the joy of watching new life burst forth under her touch and direction. She’d come into her power, the evil that was Hortra igniting the hidden sources of untapped power deep within her. A heritage of mystical beginnings, mystical life.

  It set her free, made her feel more alive than she could remember. To distance herself from the humans watching was no hardship
. She saw them as she’d never before seen them. Not as weaklings, but as humans that needed care, nourishment. Not as pets. But not as equals.

  The dark-eyed pirate, Sinya, insisted on trying to believe she was someone else. That person had disappeared, had become the life giver of nature that she now was.

  Until he’d kissed her. Until that flare of life had brought back memories not quite vanished. It had touched her soul, spread warmth through her body. Compassion, desire, laughter--remembered laughter and sharing. It came to the fore, mixing with her calmness, her quiet, serene joy in nature.

  It gave her love for a human.

  Confused, she stepped back. The Acceli healers watched her, and she knew this was something she had to do herself, had to work out alone.

  About to refuse, to bury her disturbing feelings for the man before her, Beulah bowed her head. Then she realized. Beneath her calmness, her other self was struggling to come up. Through the layers of serenity and acceptance, the laughing woman, the little witch, the part of her soul that loved a human man enough to risk her very life and soul for... she was coming. Pushing upward. Love overwhelmed her, pouring forth, then the witch-woman was nearly there.

  Looking up, she saw Sinya start and look closely at her.

  "Beulah?" Hesitantly, he held out his hand. "Your eyes... they’re changing. Back to what they were. Beulah, are you there?"

  She didn’t know what to do. Turning to the silent Accelis, she looked at them mutely. Two Beulahs, one the child of nature, the other the witch-woman, both the same yet different.

  "Sires..." she said brokenly.

  "Sister," the first Acceli said softly. "It is a decision only you can make."

  "Know that whatever choice it is, we are here for you," the second Acceli murmured from the tree tops.

  "Sires..."

  "You know what you have," the third Acceli’s voice whistled through the flowers.

  "I know... what... the witch wants."

  "Follow your heart, sister. But know this, for one choice there is certain life. For another choice..." His words trailed off to moan in the tree tops.

  There is almost certain death. For to turn back, I may die. To turn back, is to forsake all that I am, that I could be. That I am becoming.