The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword)

by Gaudet, Christina G.

  “You better hope he’s okay,” she says.

  Her anger means nothing to me now that Farah is free.

  Rose stumbles back a few feet, and I remember she’s still fighting off the terror inducing dust I’ve blasted her with. I go over to her and lay a hand on her arm, causing her to flinch violently, nearly stabbing me with her knife in the process. She closes her eyes and tries to regain some control over herself.

  “It shouldn’t last much longer,” I say, although I have no idea if I’m telling the truth or not. I don’t usually stick around after using my dust. I’m more of a throw and run kind of girl. “Keep breathing, you’re doing great.”

  “You’re a witch, aren’t you?” the woman says after a minute of watching us. I don’t answer. I think the answer is clear by now. “Where is the sorceress who belongs to your outfit?”

  Of course. My outfit. The others must have seen it and that’s why they ran.

  “Dead,” I say. Her expression hardens and I realize what I sound like I’m saying. She thinks I killed Gran and stole her clothes. “She was my grandmother.”

  The woman seems to relax along with me as she nods once. “I’m sorry.” She waits as though expecting me to explain more of what happened. When I don’t she continues. “It’s always sad to hear of the death of one of my sisters. There are so few of us these days.”

  “Yeah, great.” I nod in the direction Rose and I had been walking before the attack. “Guess we’ll be going then. See you around.”

  She makes no move to return to wherever she came from, and I have no interest in turning my back on her first. We stare at each other for a few minutes, her face unreadable.

  “You use your powers as a witch in ways I’ve never seen before,” she says. “I’ve certainly never seen someone of your level control such a powerful beast.”

  I’m not sure if I should feel honored or insulted. So I simply say, “Her name is Farah.”

  The sorceress’s eyebrows rise in surprise, which she quickly covers with a weak attempt at a smile. “Where are my manners? I’m Rilla. This is Sonya, Albert, Anne and the boy you nearly killed is Peter.”

  I don’t offer an apology, though I can tell she’s expecting one.

  “This is Rose,” I say. “And you can call me Sin.”

  “Interesting name,” Rill says though she shows no hint of actually finding it interesting. I wonder if it has the same connotation in this world as mine. “Please, feel free to go on your way.”

  “Great.” I roll my eyes. “Thanks a bunch.”

  “Of course, your friend appears to need more time before she’s fully herself.”

  I groan, tired of the woman’s games. “What are you getting at?”

  Rilla smiles, and for the first time I actually believe she might be amused.

  “Come with us,” she says. “I’d like to learn more about you.”

  “You mean you want to spy on us.”

  She shrugs. “Of course, you could also stay here as sitting targets for the next people who happen across you. However, they might not be as generous as me.”

  I’ve never met a sorceress outside of my own family before, but so far I like her even less than Lou. This invitation feels more like a threat, but when I glance over at Rose to see what she thinks we should do, I notice her eyes are squeezed shut and she’s wobbling as though she’s going to fall at any moment. She’s definitely in no state to fight any more and Farah’s in about as bad a shape. It’s either I accept the ‘offer’ or fight five on one.

  “Fine,” I say. “We’ll go with you. But you’ll need to break the spell on Rose. And if anyone so much as looks at Farah again, they’ll wish they got off as easy as your boy, Peter.”

  Chapter Seven

  It doesn’t take long for Rilla to lead us down a barely visible path through the field and into a patch of trees with a broken stone tower and a few rough looking shacks hiding amongst the foliage.

  As we walk closer to the tower, Farah begins making her eerie whine. I take the sound as a warning. I follow her gaze up to the top of the tower where, although the top two or three stories are gone, a person has climbed to the top, perched with a crossbow, watching us.

  There are others watching as well, camouflaged within the bushes and trees surrounding us. No one makes a move to attack, but it’s clear if we weren’t here with Rilla and the others, Rose and I would already have been taken out.

  Rilla leads us toward the largest and best kept of the shacks. Before we reach the door, a girl barely in her teens runs to Rilla and drags her away. They’re too quiet for us to hear, so instead of standing around like an idiot, I turn to Rose.

  “How are you holding up?” I ask.

  “I’m fine,” she says, though her hand trembles as she speaks. Rilla claimed to have cleared the spell the best she could, but Rose is obviously suffering more than anyone else hit by my dust. “We shouldn’t be here.”

  “I know.” I turn back to see Rilla wave the girl off and head back over to us. “But at least this trip has finally become interesting.”

  Rilla returns to our side and gestures toward the door to the building. “They’re waiting for you.”

  Ominous. I wonder who ‘they’ could be. Only one way to find out.

  The building turns out to be a single large room. Twelve hooded figures sit in a semi circle, all facing the door. I can’t see their eyes under their hoods, but I can definitely feel their gazes on me. It’s unnerving.

  “Welcome,” a single female says, followed by a chorus of the rest of the people in the room, repeating the ‘welcome.’

  Not creepy at all.

  “Hey,” I say. “Nice robes.”

  Rilla leans in to say, “Sin, Rose, meet the Shadow Coven.”

  A coven? A real one full of witches who actually know what they’re doing? Gran was able to teach me a ton and I’ve figured out a bunch more on my own, but I could learn so much more from a real coven. My gut starts doing back flips while I do my best to keep my exterior calm.

  “A coven, huh?” I say. “Interesting. Why are we here?”

  Rilla smiles at me, but she seems more annoyed than amused. I know the look, I see it a lot.

  “I’ve asked you here because I thought it was important the coven met you,” she says. “It’s not often we have the opportunity to talk to a woman who dresses like a sorceress, but uses magic like a witch.”

  The witch who welcomed us stands and moves through the circle to close the gap between us. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says. “I am Mariah and the head of this coven.”

  If she’s the leader, I wonder what role Rilla has. She obviously has more power than all of them combined, and the people outside seem to check with her for guidance. If I were her, I’d be bitter at not holding the head title, even if it’s only a label.

  “I’m Sin,” I say. “Great place you have here.”

  The room is almost empty beyond the circle, a painted pentagram on the floor, a few messy candles and a single chest off to the side I assume holds anything else they might need for spells. The walls are rough wood I’d never want to touch for fear of splinters and there are no windows, making the place unnecessarily gloomy. Not exactly somewhere I’d want to spend much time.

  “Sin.” Mariah says my name as though she’s testing it for power. When nothing happens, she pulls her hood back and reveals long dark hair and a pretty, round face. “May I ask what coven you are from?”

  “None,” I say. “Never met another witch before now. At least as far as I know.”

  “Never?” She eyes me as though trying to see through a lie. “I’m even more impressed. Though you obviously have had at least one sorceress in your life.”

  “My gran.” After a second’s hesitation I add, “And sister.” Though she doesn’t really count.

  Rilla’s interest is suddenly peaked. “You have a sorceress sister? Is she alive and whole?

  That’s a much tougher question to answer than she�
��s intending it to be. Since Gran broke Lou’s magic apart, she won’t be exactly whole until I find the rest of the bags full of her toenails and magic. But what she’s really asking is if her magic has been stolen by a wizard.

  “She’s fine,” I say. “She’s sort of in hiding. Gran’s orders.”

  “I see.” Rilla’s expression seems more calculating than concerned. As if she’s trying to figure out how she can make my situation benefit her. “And your Gran is no longer with us? Well, I guess we’ll have to simply hope your sister remains safe.”

  No one else seems bothered by the dry tone Rilla has adopted and I wonder if I’m making more of it than I should.

  “I must apologize for the treatment you received from our friends on the road.” Mariah’s smile is sad. Mom gave the same look to many of my teachers and neighbors. I call it the ‘sorry my kid’s such a mess’ expression. “It’s been difficult for us since we’ve made this place our home. Although our goal is to live without the interference of wizards, it can be difficult to find basic necessities. We’ve been forced to use unconventional means to find what we need. You understand.”

  “Sure,” I say with a smile. “Take what you want, whatever the cost. Who cares about the people who are hurt along the way?”

  Mariah’s smile fades at my words. “We aren’t proud of what we must do. But it’s necessary.”

  “I completely understand.” I refuse to take my eyes off Mariah and she seems to fade under my scrutiny. “The best people to steal from are women and children. They can’t usually fight back so there’s a lot less fuss.”

  Rose puts a finger to her chin. “I must say, your philosophy does sound familiar somehow. Where have I heard it before?”

  “To be fair,” I say, happy she’s thinking the same thing as me. “It is similar to the way wizards think about magic, but hey. You guys need to do what you need to do.”

  It probably isn’t the best move for me to piss off a room full of magic users, but I can’t help myself. It’s obvious these people need a smack on the head so the idea they can’t keep doing what they’re doing gets through to them. They expect me to accept their pathetic excuse for an apology after nearly killing Farah? No way.

  “We’ve never hurt anyone,” Mariah says by way of defending herself. Some of the others straighten at her words, as though they’re sure she’s made everything okay again. “We are not trying to hurt anyone with what we do. In fact, before today, we’ve never had a single injury on either end.”

  “And yet today you took on two girls and it ended with your own boy hurt. What if next time you attack it’s a real sorceress or a wizard in disguise? What will you do when someone is killed?”

  And there goes our welcome. I guess Mom’s right; I do need to learn when to shut up.

  The coven is much more visibly shaken than Rilla. In fact, she seems to be enjoying the others’ discomfort in some weird way.

  Mariah raises a hand and the murmuring from the rest of the coven stops. “You make an interesting point. One the coven will have to discuss further. For now, please feel free to meet with some of the other residents, and I hope you will stay and enjoy a meal with us.”

  Not like we have a choice.

  “Sounds great,” I say. “Thanks so much.”

  Chapter Eight

  “This is where we gather for meals and training.” Rilla pauses for us to have a chance to glance around before pointing toward another group of buildings. “And the area over there is our residences.”

  When I glance in the direction she points, I find myself balking. People actually live in those pathetic huts. Half of them don’t even have roofs.

  “It’s a lovely sanctuary you’ve built,” Rose says.

  I take in the fear and desperation of the kids who watch our every move and say, “Looks more like a prison to me.”

  Rose’s elbow digs into my ribs, causing me to grunt, but I refuse to apologize. I meant what I said, the place is horrible.

  “You’re right,” Rilla says. “It used to be only a handful of us. It was a temporary solution to hide from The Sword which became all too permanent.”

  “The Sword?” I think I heard Al mention them before, but I hadn’t had time to ask him more.

  Rilla scowls at my corset as though it offends her I could say something so dumb while wearing it. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of them.”

  It’s a good thing Rose steps between us, because I’m about one step from punching the smug jerk in the face, sorceress or not.

  “Don’t mind her,” Rose says to Rilla. “She’s not from around here.”

  “I didn’t think there was a place in this world where The Sword wasn’t known.”

  I’m not about to tell this stranger I’m from another world. Who knows what she’d do if she knew? I give a casual shrug and scratch Farah’s lion ear as she leans against my leg for my attention. “Gran did her best to keep us away from danger.”

  “You’re telling me she couldn’t be bothered to explain to you about her own people’s history?” She makes a noise of disgust and turns her back on me. “No wonder we’re losing this war.”

  No way am I letting her talk about Gran like that. “She might not have told us everything, but she did what she thought was right. She protected us. I’d say my life was a whole lot better living in ignorance than living in a hellhole like this, stealing from the poor to survive.”

  For a second, I’m sure she’s going to throw some hardcore spell at me. Her face is so red it looks like it’s on fire. Rose actually takes a step away as though to protect herself from being caught in the crossfire.

  “Maybe,” Rilla says in a low, dangerous voice, “if you hadn’t spent your whole life being coddled, your sister would actually be here right now helping the cause instead of running away and hiding.”

  I’m not one to stick up for Lou, but in this case I hate Rilla even more. “You know nothing about my sister.”

  “And you know nothing about the people whose colors you wear,” she says. “You want to know about The Sword? Well let me tell you the story most of us have heard since the time we were toddlers.

  My voice is flat when I say, “I’m sure it’s fascinating.”

  She ignores me. “They started as a coven.” From the way she emphasizes the word I know she’s expecting me to protest, but I don’t take the bait, and allow her to continue. “They were an elite group of witches, male and female, who worked to protect the king and queen.”

  “Protect them?” I ask. “Why wouldn’t someone more powerful, like sorceresses, do the job?”

  She’s way too smug when she says, “They did. Thousands of sorcerers and sorceresses dedicated their lives to protecting King Florin and Queen Verna. And in return they were given positions of power within the kingdom. Every city, town and village had at least one sorcerer as their leader. They could fix everything from a family dispute to a potentially life threatening drought.”

  “In other words,” I say, “they meddled in everyone’s lives even more than wizards do now?”

  She continues without comment, but some of the wistful expression she had for the good old days seems to fade.

  “Witches would pledge themselves to the king and queen as well, of course,” she says. “But their lack of power made it impossible for them to be on the same level as sorcerers.”

  “Come off it,” I say. “You can’t be seriously trying to tell me there has never been a witch who can manipulate their magic as well as some sorceresses.”

  I expected her to start back peddling and mumble some admittance about how I’m right. What she does instead is a lot creepier. She smiles. “It’s true. There were some who could control a great deal of magic. When these people revealed their talents, the king would give them the title of wizard.”

  Al’s words about us being the same come back to me and I’m forced to swallow down a lump in my throat. It can’t be true, can it? Wizards and witches are nothing alike. There’s no
way we could all have been part of the same people at one time.

  “Let me guess,” I say in order to cover my rising doubt. “The new wizards became sick of being considered second rate to the sorcerers and rebelled.”

  “Although they were powerful, no matter how hard they tried, wizards were never able to equal sorcerers, and so they sought out new ways to best our people. They turned to physical fighting, favoring the sword above all other weapons.”

  “And that’s how they got the name,” I say with a wave of my hand to tell her I’m bored. “So when you say, The Sword, you mean wizards.”

  But apparently Rilla hasn’t finished her story.

  “At first their skills were desired. Sorcerers saw no need to take up such a primitive form of defense, but there were others who meant our country harm and they used weapons instead of magic. The wizards were the only ones able to protect the country from their attack. They were rewarded for their skills, given more and more prestigious positions within the kingdom. No one suspected their coming betrayal.”

  “And then they started sucking the magic out of sorceresses.” I wish I had a watch to check, because this story is going on way too long. “Yeah, I understand.”

  “It started with secret experiments.” Rilla’s hands become tight fists as she continues. “Sorcerers would go missing. When their mutilated bodies showed up later, everyone believed it was beasts. After all, what kind of human could do something so horrible?”

  “They went from killing to sucking?” A sudden realization hits me in the stomach, almost knocking me back with its force. “Is that why there are no male sorcerers anymore? They killed them off?”

  “The experiments took many, and the following battles took the rest.” Her face twists in disgust. “A few may still live in hiding, but they are only a shadow of the great sorcerers of the past. They leave the fighting to the women and children.”

  “Crazy idea to want to live.”

  Rose’s elbow meets my ribs again, and I’m sure this time it’s going to leave a mark.

  “There is no avoiding this war,” Rilla says, too loud for only Rose and me. When I glance over my shoulder, I realize several of the villagers have joined us during her story and now they cautiously watch for Rilla to make a move. “No matter where we hide, we will always be hunted and under the control of The Sword. I say we stop hiding and start fighting back.”