by A Lonergan
"I like the other war better. No need to fight for your life here." I could feel myself blushing and that wasn’t normal. I never blushed. I needed to change the subject before my plans flew right out the window. “I wanted to see if I could remove the magic restraint on your arm, and I have this.”
I held the bag out to her and her whole face lit up. She must have forgotten about how short her gown was because she flew off of the bed and all I could see was her thighs. I gulped, trying to rid myself of the desire overflowing my body.
“My pack! How did you get this?” She pulled out knives of all different sizes and what seemed to be buckets of gold. She closed her eyes and exhaled. “My stuff. I never thought I would see this again. The stories I could tell about what these weapons went through with me. I finally have them again.”
“Master Ren came knocking with it.” I smiled at her surprised face.
“That rutting, cheeky bastard.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s pretty convenient though.”
“That he is.” I would have to tell her more about him later, but I had a job to do. I motioned for her arm. She unfolded herself from the floor and removed herself from the pile of her possessions. She stood in front of me. I was having a hard time focusing; her robe had opened, and she hadn’t worried with closing it again. Her cleavage was on full display and I had to use all of my willpower to take her arm in mine and focus on the magic, instead of pushing her up against the wall and showing her how I really felt. Much against my wanting, I closed my eyes and imagined the magic there on her skin. Her voice stopped me, “I thought you couldn’t do it. I thought you knew of someone else capable of this.”
I closed my eyes. “Nico said that I should be the one to try. With my healing magic, it should come naturally. I didn’t think I would be powerful enough. But he’s right, I should be the one to do this. I can try, that way we can keep this little tidbit of information as concealed as possible.”
She held out her arm again and I was sucked into the magic. It was like a tangled ball of yarn. I had to find the end of it and slowly untangle it, wisp by wisp. It was like it was fluttering through my fingers. Each dark strand. When I found the end of the magic strand Willow let out a gasp and tried to pull free. I held tight and kept my eyes closed. The magic was dark, but I could coax it out. I had never done anything like this before, but healing magic was versatile and would allow me to do more than other witches. I pulled at the magic for what seemed like an eternity. Willow moaned and groaned beneath my hands, and not in the ways I would have hoped for. Not in the ways I wanted.
Eventually as the last loop came free I collapsed at Willow’s feet. “It’s done.”
When I looked up at her, her face was contorted in panic. “I have never known power, I don’t know what to do.” She held her trembling hands out in front of her as black wisps of magic slithered from her body. I had never seen magic like it before. I had never felt magic like it before. She sucked in her breath and shook her head. “I can’t do this. I can smell it.”
“Smell what?” I asked. I tried to stand but my legs shook.
“Death.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Willow
I practiced my breathing techniques, anything to help me get my heart rate and emotions under control. Cal looked up at me with uncertainty all over his face. I blinked and the room was gone. Fire surrounded me and tendrils of magic floated from my fingers. Lava flowed beneath my feet and the heat was almost unbearable, but I didn't burn me.
Had I done this?
“Hello, little love,” a female said behind me.
I turned around slowly, unsure of myself and this new magic coursing through me. The woman standing there was a good foot taller than me with midnight hair past her waist. Her green eyes glowed in the darkness. Her body seemed to move with the shadows dancing around us. “Who are you?” My voice didn’t sound as strong as I hoped it would.
“I am Hel,” Her head moved from side to side like a serpent as she looked me over. “You don’t have to fear me.”
“I don’t,” I was being honest too, I wasn’t afraid and I didn’t know how I couldn’t possibly be. Anyone would have been scared rutless. “But, I am curious.”
My fingers twitched for my knifes left back at the castle, but I knew I wouldn’t need them here, even if I did like their chilling comfort.
“You smell like a hellion,” Her body swooped forward and she inhaled right next to my neck. “But your eyes, they tell me differently.”
I could smell the death on her. It was pungent in the air. It wrapped around us both like a lover's embrace.
“I have my mother’s eyes.” My mother’s beautiful eyes. Besides that, my mother and father shared similar features. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember the color of his eyes though. There were many things missing on the memory of him. I wished I could remember the sound of his laugh. He didn't laugh very often, but when he did, his entire face would light up. I could remember that, but never the sound.
“That would explain it. My line of green eyes isn’t very strong, though my magic is.” She swayed from side to side in a sensual manner as she circled me. “You’re a pretty thing, it has been awhile since we have had a female death seeker.”
I blinked. “A what?”
“A death seeker,” she repeated herself, as if I should have known what that was. I shook my head and watched her. “The Maiden of Death’s Children.”
I threw myself down on the lava, but surprisingly it did nothing to my skin, just as it had done nothing to my feet. I pressed my face to the hot rocks and tried not to breathe. I was in the presence of the Maiden of Death. Why was I even surprised? Life hadn’t been predictable as of late. I bowed before her in the only way I knew how. I had to show her the respect she deserved.
She chuckled above me and pulled my hand from the ground. I didn’t raise my eyes to look at her until she put her hand under my chin. Her tan skin was surprisingly cool to the touch. “You are mine, child, you have no need to bow here. This is your domain, just as much as it is mine.”
I took my time looking at the burning lands around me. Everything was black and charred, except where the lava flowed. There were a few stumps in the distance, but I couldn’t see anything else. It was almost like we were underground. There was no sky.
“This is the realm of death.”
Not rutting terrifying at all.
“How did I get here?” I asked.
Her hair seemed to lift from her shoulders and snake around her head. “I brought you here.”
“Why?”
“It has been a very long time since I have felt power like yours.” She paused, snapped her fingers and a golden throne appeared behind her. Hel sunk down onto it and gave me a wicked grin. Her teeth were pointed and pushed down past her top lip. “Power like mine, but it is odd. I should have known your power at birth, why am I just now sensing it? I should have been invited to the birth.”
I held up my wrist where the black ink still remained, but the magic binding was gone. “I was shackled and didn’t know of my magic, or heritage.”
“I can smell death on you, it has become one with you.” She leaned forward in her chair and her emerald dress parted to show off her shapely legs. “You have killed many and you are good at it.”
I nodded my head, feeling like I was awaiting judgement for my crimes. “I didn’t enjoy it.”
Her amusement went away with that and she pushed her hair away from her sculpted face. “You lie. You do enjoy how it feels to be more powerful than others. As the Maiden of Death, killing isn’t my duty. My duty is to bring the souls to a peaceful rest, but the job is tiresome. The job is lonely, but sometimes I enjoy the taking of a life too. The only difference between us is that you were bred to take life with weapons, and your hands. Not through your magic.”
Hel flicked her finger and a chair appeared beside me. It was gold like hers, but a tad smaller with a large cushion on it. The cushion matched he
r dress and her eyes. I sat down and looked at her again. “Is that why you created death seekers?”
“No,” she chuckled. “I was lonely and there was a spot only male company could fill. I never thought of having children, or raising them. But with desire can come unwanted things. Demi gods can't be killed, and when I found out I was expecting, somehow I found love in my black heart. When my daughter became of age, I sent her to your realm. I knew she was powerful and she would help me in the kingdoms there. Eventually the magic seemed to die off. I could no longer find my kin. I searched in secret and disguise for years, with my duties left unattended. I mourned and I moved on.”
“That couldn’t have been easy.” My mother was all I had back in Arinal, and I couldn’t imagine waking up one day and her just not being there.
Poof.
Gone.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“You’ll need to harness your power. It’ll be easy to kill and take lives now more than ever. Especially the sick and the ones close to the veil. They will call to you, and you must choose what to do from there.” She shrugged. “Vague I know, but I can’t use your magic for you. Your magic has been suppressed for far too long, it has been honed and trained to be a killer. You destiny is yours. You must choose what to do next. I will be here to help, when I can. I have many servants at my disposal that will pop in to help when the time comes, too.”
I could have rolled my eyes. “How does that help me train? How does that help me figure out how to use this?” I held up what appeared to be smoking hands. She beckoned with her hands and the black magic stopped. “That doesn’t teach me how to do it. What if I die before your minions come calling?”
“Your magic is a real thing. It can be controlled with your mind, like a muscle. You want the magic to stop escaping you? Imagine putting a cork on the hole that it is leaking from. It is all in your mind and you have the power.” She smiled. “Your magic is like my own. You will be able to take down armies once you uncork the magic inside of you. You will be able to rip souls from their bodies with just a glance. Kingdoms will tremble and fall at your feet. And it will be tremendously hard to kill you.”
No pressure.
Hel clapped her hands and a group of men appeared between us. “They’re rapists, wife beaters, slave owners and dealers. Feel them. Destroy them. Inhale and you will smell the despicable things they have done.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I could smell it. Every sin. Every transgression. It was all there in the air around us. I could see it all in my mind the things they had done.
“Now take it. Take their lives. Take everything from them. You can even have their magic.” Hel laughed then and it sent chills down my spine. “Imagine it and it will be done.”
I did. I imagined grabbing one of the men’s chests that had done despicable things to a child and pulled. When I opened my eyes, his body was crumbled on the ground. “Where did his soul go?”
“To judgment. Can you feel his magic?” Hel asked.
I could. I could feel fire coursing through my veins. It wasn’t much, but it was different from what I was used to.
“The more you observe other’s magic and the people around you, the more you will know what you can take and what you can’t, when you kill.” She clapped her hands again and the men were gone. “How do you feel?”
I imagined a flame on my palm and there it was, small and flickering. “How long does their magic last? I don’t know how I feel.”
I had done so much killing that doing it again had been like second nature. There was no feeling behind it, especially because I hadn’t had to do it with a knife. There had been no fight, no struggle. It had just happened. It wasn’t messy or drawn out. It left a strange feeling in my soul.
“The great thing about your power is, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to. You don’t have to be a killing machine anymore.” Hel’s voice softened. “I want you to know the power you have coursing through your veins, you should never doubt it.”
“I want my mother back.” My voice broke. “I want her freedom and then I don’t know what will happen next.”
“Go take your mother’s freedom like your father would want you to.” She flowed from her chair and got eye level with me. “I will always be around. Imagine me and your magic will do the rest.”
Oof. I landed on my back in the middle of Cal’s room. I wouldn’t have known it was his room until the brightest light blasted through it and Cal flew from his bed. His guards barreled through the door and Nico held a sword to my throat.
“Hello, boys.” I held my hands up in surrender.
Cal rubbed his eyes. “Willow? Are you okay? What the Hel happened?”
I winced. “Please, don’t say that name.”
Cal rolled his eyes. “What happened with your magic?”
Nico removed the blade from my throat and motioned for the men to get out. He gave me a curious glance before he closed the door behind him. Cal was wearing silk trousers and no shirt. Even with his healing cuts and bruises, he was easily the most attractive man I had ever laid eyes on. I could feel heat taking over my body and I prayed it wasn’t the fire magic coming into play. Cal sunk to the floor beside me.
“How long have I been gone?” The moonlight was shining brightly through Cal’s open windows. “I could have easily scaled the castle and killed you. Why in the rutting world would you keep your windows open like that?!”
“I had wanted you to. I had hoped you would come back and try to take my head.” He looked down at the wood floors underneath us.
“It’s been that long?” I frowned.
“It’s been days.” His voice sounded so sad.
“My magic brought me to another realm.” I pushed my hair away from my face and looked at the room around me.
“What realm?” He leaned back and watched me, but I wouldn’t meet his eyes. I knew I had to lie, at least about most of it. If he knew what I truly was, he could never love me. How would he love something as despicable as I? I could rip men’s souls from their bodies and eventually I would be able to do it with a flick of my wrist. I could be unstoppable and he would think of me as a monster. Because that’s exactly what I was.
“The realm of death.”
Cal pushed himself back up. “Really?”
“Really.”
“What happened?” His frown deepened. I would have never thought it possible.
“I need to go home.” I bit my lip. Soon I could taste copper and pulled my teeth away from my skin. “My mother needs freedom, even if I don’t get it.”
Cal nodded and got a far away look in his eye. “I figured you had left for Arinal. I didn’t think you would ever come back. I thought that was my goodbye. And seeing as it wasn’t, I have many regrets and I would like a proper farewell.”
I nodded my head, and was about to accept my fate when all of a sudden he was on top of me. His hands were cradling my head as we crashed down, and his body pressed into mine as his tongue parted my lips. I let out a noise foreign to my ears and tried to grasp what was happening. I closed my eyes and kissed him back. Warmth spread throughout me, and I could hardly keep my head from spinning.
Best first kiss ever.
When he pulled away from me all I could do was touch my lips.
“I kept thinking of all the things I should have done, and that was at the top of my list, plus this nightgown isn’t helping either.”
I smiled at him and felt tears fill my eyes. I hated goodbyes, because I knew this one was forever.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Willow
The nausea wasn’t as bad this go round.
The ship rocked just as badly as the last, but the company wasn’t terrible. The sailors were talkative and nice, no pirates here. Of course, there was also magic involved, and we were traveling at a faster rate than I had coming from Arinal, before. The King of Rosalia had made sure of that. I tried to not think of our kiss, but it was alw
ays at the front of my mind. It had only been a week, but it felt like it had just happened. I touched my lips and pushed away from the bow of the ship. A week aboard this thing was misery, but I knew we were almost there. I was thankful for magic now.
That was the thing I loved about magic and Rosalia. I had been afraid to accept the gift when Cal had presented it to me, but he had sworn that the magic on it would go undetected, and that his men would be gone before the Emperor even knew we docked, which was ideal. I needed to get my mother as far away from Arinal as I could. A few sailors watched me from the top deck but didn’t say anything. I pushed a door open and made my way down the stairs. My stomach was grumbling and I knew better than to ignore it. A sailor bumped into me and swore. His long blonde hair was braided down his back and his face had a dark brown goatee on it. His hat was pulled down over the top half of his face and his mouth was set in a deep scowl. “Watch it, Miss.”
“I’m sorry,” There was something familiar about him, but when he pushed back the brim of his hat and I saw his angry dark eyes, the familiar feeling went away. He was the only grouchy sailor I had come across. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
He grumbled something under his breath and swaggered up the stairs. This ship was much bigger than the one I had traveled on to get to Rosalia and there were more men to man it than the other. There were ample supplies, which I was thankful for. I didn’t want to kill anyone on the ship and there were already plenty of superstitious passengers, even if they were friendly and not pirates. I saw their nervous glances.
I was awoken by the sound of boot stomping on the deck above my sleeping quarters. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stretched. My hands barely missed the wooden panels above my head. There wasn’t much room, but at least I didn’t have to share it with anyone else. I enjoyed my privacy and I liked to sleep without my knives strapped to my body. I strapped my daggers and throwing knives to the tight leather on my thighs, and slipped a few shorter knives into my boots. I had missed my hunting gear so much. Those rutting dresses had me chaffing in the worst places and not to mention the tripping. I could hardly run in those awful skirts. The corsets didn’t help either. I didn’t mind corsets that were loose and over my tunics or sleeping attire, but I didn’t like them sucking the life out of me with every move I made.
