“For a witch, everything fits,” Ravenna smirked.
The dwarf departed as the conversation continued. As night approached, Duncan, Ravenna, and the Underking each retired to their beds. Ravenna slept soundly under the mountain, but Duncan stayed awake, still dreaming of revenge.
Chapter 16
The next morning, Duncan and Ravenna set out to return to the village. If Ravenna was right, the witch would be in hiding there. She likely wouldn’t know they were coming. They could end her life and be done with this quest for revenge. Duncan put on his armor and strapped Black Ice to his back. The Blacksteel dagger hung at his waist. Ravenna ventured out to the marketplace early and bought a bag. She kept her new dwarven gown in the bag for safekeeping. After meeting up, they bid the Underking farewell and left Hammerforge behind.
The journey took a few days, as it had to initially reach Hammerforge. They pushed their horses to the limit to make the best time. They stopped only when it became too dark to see, and started up again at first light. After a few days, they could see the village on the horizon. They saw black smoke rising from Dawn.
“Duncan,” Ravenna alerted him.
“I see it too.”
They picked up the pace and reached the village with haste. They feared the worst.
The village was engulfed in flames. Buildings burned and people ran, causing chaos to reign in the village. As Duncan and Ravenna reached the village, Ravenna formulated a plan. She conjured a rainstorm that covered the whole town. “Help who you can. I will quell the flames.”
Duncan nodded and ran off to get people out of their burning homes. Ravenna’s rainstorm poured water down onto the village. The water was not ordinary, but magical. The fire died away quickly under this rain, and as Duncan was on rescue duty, Ravenna managed to save the village with her magic. It took a lot out of her, but she couldn’t just sit by and watch people die.
After ten minutes, the fire was all but doused, and people were gathering by the tavern. Duncan and Ravenna addressed the crowd.
“We are sorry we didn’t get here sooner. We believe that this fire was caused by a witch we are hunting. She was likely someone who arrived in the village late yesterday. We do not know where she is now, but rest assured that we will find her.”
Ravenna was good with the crowd. Duncan didn’t think that he could be like that. She was putting people at ease. He admired that in his own way.
“Please, tend to your homes. Do not fear to rebuild. We will take care of the witch responsible.”
The tavernmaster, Jayla, stepped forward. “Please, rest here tonight, free of charge. You’ve helped us twice now. It is the least we can do for you.”
Ravenna graciously accepted, with Duncan nodding in agreement. The rest of the day was spent with Duncan chopping trees from just outside the village to rebuild the damaged houses of the village. Ravenna used her magic to repair what fire damage she could and helped make temporary shelters for the people of the village.
After a long day of work, Duncan and Ravenna retired to the inn. They had but one room, but it would be enough. Duncan had no problem sleeping on the floor. Ravenna took the opportunity to try on her new gown received from the dwarves.
“No peeking,” She said to Duncan as she began to strip.
Duncan looked away, fighting the slight urge to look.
Moments later, she was in the gown. “You may look now.”
Duncan turned to see her in the gown. She looked, quite frankly, gorgeous. The gown was a royal blue color that sat between the black of her hair and the icy blue color that her eyes naturally defaulted to. Her neckline plunged, showing off a fair amount of cleavage. As he looked her over, he noticed that her breasts were larger than he previously thought. They weren’t too big, but far from small. The gown showed off what curves she had, and stretched down to her ankles. The royal blue of the gown was accented by silver linings and trim that made the gown that much more beautiful.
“You look good,” Duncan said with a smile.
“Just good?”
“Great, even.”
Ravenna looked at him, exasperated.
“Ok, you look fantastic. It’s like it was made for you and you alone,” Duncan confessed.
“I know. I didn’t have to do any magical alterations at all.”
“Be careful with it. I’d hate for something to happen to it.”
“Oh, I shall. I’ll take good care of it.”
Duncan turned to look out the window. He fiddled with the pendant hanging from his neck.
“You’re thinking of her?” Ravenna asked.
“Yes…” He began. “…And no.”
“You make no sense.”
“I’m not strictly thinking of her. It’s simply that I feel that I am betraying her.”
“Betraying her how?”
“I don’t wish to say.”
“You can tell me, Duncan. After what we’ve been through, I like to think you can tell me stuff like whatever it is that you’re thinking.
Duncan looked at her, dressed in the dwarven gown. “I feel like I’m betraying her because of you.”
“Me? What did I do?”
“Nothing. You did nothing. This is entirely my fault.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Have you ever felt something for someone when you know you shouldn’t?”
Ravenna bit her lower lip slightly. “Yes. Hasn’t everyone?”
“I don’t know about everyone, but I’ve felt it. Or rather, I am feeling it.”
Ravenna shot him a confused look. Then she suddenly understood.
“Me? You mean me?”
Duncan nodded. “I can’t explain it. I shouldn’t feel anything like this. I hate your kind but I don’t hate you. I feel that I have betrayed Asha by having any feelings towards you.”
“Asha is gone, Duncan.”
“But my star sign,” Duncan brought up his concern. “You told me that people with my star sign mate for life. If I was supposed to be with Asha then why do I feel anything for you?” Duncan had said it. He admitted that he felt something for her. He had been feeling it for some time but had tried to ignore it.
“Duncan.”
“Hmm?”
“Did you and Asha ever...?”
“Ever what?”
“You know... make love.”
Duncan paused. “No.”
“No?”
“No. We never did. She wanted to wait and I was ok with that. I think we would have soon though.”
“But you kissed?”
“Every day.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“It’s ok,”
“But you never mated?”
“No, I’ve told you that already. Why does that matter?”
“Don’t you see? Yes, people with the sign of the wolf mate for life, but you never actually mated. You weren’t yet bound to Asha.”
Duncan was dumbfounded. He thought he’d been meant for Asha, but it was true. They had never mated, and so weren’t tied to each other as his star sign said.
“What of it?” Duncan said with a sliver of ice in his heart. “It still feels like a betrayal.”
“Of course it does. It meant something to you. Just because you weren’t meant to be doesn’t mean it wasn’t important or that it wouldn’t hurt you. You’re human. Humans hurt.
“I just feel…” Duncan paused. “Lost. I have these feelings that I don’t know what to do with.
Ravenna sensed the sadness in his voice. He longed for solace, so much that she could smell it on him. There was much forlorn love in his heart. She couldn’t believe the thought in her head at that moment, but she felt something for Duncan, and she knew Duncan was feeling something for her. She had felt it for a while, but only now understood it. It was a pull she couldn’t ignore any longer.
“Do you really think I look good in this?” She asked, still unbelieving of what she was thinking.
Duncan lowered his guard. “Be
tter than good.”
“What word would you use?” She inched closer.
“Beautiful.”
There was a heat between them. Each inched closer to the other. Finally, a spark. It was difficult to tell who actually kissed whom, but their lips locked together. The first kiss was followed by a second, and then a third, and soon there were too many to count. Their hands explored each other wildly and passionately, never lingering too long in one place. Duncan’s rough hands explored Ravenna’s dark hair. It was soft in between his fingers. Thoughts of carnal pleasures invaded both of their minds, but it was more than that. Each of them felt something emotional for the other. Duncan had loved Asha, of course, but Ravenna was right. Asha was gone. In what he considered a moment of weakness, he kissed her even deeper, feeling her breasts through the dwarven gown.
Duncan tugged at her gown slightly. “Maybe you should take this off?”
“It took some time just to put it on.”
“It will take less to take it off,” Duncan said alluringly.
Duncan unfastened the gown and it slumped to the floor. Ravenna was completely nude. She took a step back and sat on the bed. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor tonight.”
Duncan joined her in the bed, and they snuffed out the candle at the bedside. Their bodies became entwined in ecstasy soon after. Their hands explored every possible area of each other, and soon the two became one. Few words were spoken until they both fell on to the bed exhausted.
Ravenna stroked Duncan’s chest. “That was wonderful.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“You’re pretty good, wolf.”
“Not so bad yourself, witch,” He smiled.
“Duncan?”
“Yes, Ravenna?”
“I never told you my star sign, did I?
“No. What does yours mean?”
“The same as yours,” she confessed. “I was born under the sign of the wolf.
“And we just…”
“Mated. Yes.”
Duncan was floored. He wanted to say something, but the words could not come to him. Was this his fate? To be bound to a witch. She was not just any witch though. Ravenna had penetrated Duncan’s wall that he kept around himself. She knew his emotions. She likely knew him better than anyone alive did. Duncan did not protest. He simply closed his eyes, trying to make sense of it all in his mind. The moon shone through the window and Ravenna’s milky flesh glowed in the moonlight. Duncan still felt some guilt, even though he knew it was supposed to be Ravenna, not Asha that he was bound to. The memory of Asha still haunted him and disrupted his sleep. Ravenna, however, slept soundly through the night.
Chapter 17
Duncan had finally dozed off out of exhaustion. The early morning sun shining through the window had awoken him. He got out of bed and dressed. By the time he donned his armor and put his weapons on, Ravenna was stirring.
“Leaving?” she yawned.
“No. Just getting ready. We still need to find Selene.”
“I suppose you are right,” Ravenna rolled out of bed and began to dress.
Duncan looked upon her naked body and was panged with guilt. He had managed to become so conflicted over the course of one night. He felt as though he had betrayed Asha, and yet Asha was gone. The rational part of him said that he had no reason to feel guilty, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d been enticed by Ravenna, and now, if the legends were true, he was bound to her. He couldn’t believe he’d been drawn into another woman, much less a witch.
“Enjoying the view?” Ravenna asked, pulling on her clothes and beginning to cover up.
Duncan realized he’d been staring at her naked form. He smirked. He enjoyed the view, despite his guilt. He felt a pull to her that wasn’t there the night before. Was this what happened when someone with the wolf sign mated with their one and only? He then turned his attention to the dwarven gown, still on the floor where it had fallen from Ravenna’s body the night before. He folded up the gown neatly and placed it into Ravenna’s bag. He wondered to himself what she might be thinking about.
Ravenna was having her doubts about the night before as well. She knew why she’d done it. The pull. It was there for some time, growing and strengthening until she had to act upon it. She was fairly certain she initiated the kiss, and she very clearly enticed him with her nakedness. She lured him inside, and now she wondered if he was alright. She knew that both of them being born under the sign of the wolf was no coincidence and that each of them felt a pull towards the other. She knew that by sleeping with him, by mating with him, that they would be bound. And she was ok with that. But she wondered if Duncan would feel that same way. This wasn’t just simple carnal pleasure, even if it did feel wonderful to have the hunter deep inside her. Duncan’s guilt made things complicated, and she wondered what that would mean for the two of them.
She finished dressing and they got ready to go. The tavern was quiet. Not a soul was found anywhere.
“Must be rebuilding.” Duncan thought aloud.
Walking outside revealed a very different reason. The whole town was quiet because the whole town was dead.
The ground looked nearly saturated with blood, and the people of the village were scattered about the streets in various poses of death. Each body, upon closer examination, had been exsanguinated. The blood of each victim flooded the streets and soaked into the ground. The ground was more red with blood than brown with dirt or green with grass.
“What happened here?” Duncan asked.
“This is unnatural...” Ravenna stated. “This is blood magic. Most witches won’t deal with it. It’s uncontrollable, extremely powerful, and unnaturally twisted.”
“Sounds like Selene to me.”
“She drained each corpse of their blood. She killed them all from the inside out. It is unlikely that they ever even had a chance to scream.”
“Selene has killed far too many people. I will end her for this.”
“We will end her,” Ravenna corrected. She was a part of this now. She wasn’t in it to save herself. He wasn’t in it because of a threat from a hunter. She was in it because she wanted to be. She wanted to help Duncan rid the world of such a cruel and twisted creature.
They followed the paths of corpses and blood to the edge of the village. Here, there was a message on the ground. Scrawled in blood, there was but a single word. It was a message from Selene.
‘HOARFROST’
“I know where she is,” Duncan said.
“Hoarfrost Woods,” Ravenna added.
“Exactly.”
Together, they walked back to where they entered the town the day before and found that not even their horse had survived. It was pale, having lost all its blood. They would have to make the journey on foot. It would be a hard road, as they were heading north, where winter reigned.
“Before we go, we should do something,” Ravenna suggested.
“You’re thinking we should bury the bodies.”
“It’s only right.”
Duncan nodded. Ravenna used her magic to open up the earth and make graves as Duncan carried each body to the gravesite. It took a few hours to get everyone, but soon, the whole population of the village was buried in a graveyard just outside the village border.
“Now we can go,” Duncan said upon placing the final body.
With the bodies buried, Duncan and Ravenna left the village behind, hoping that one day it would be populated again.
They journeyed north into the snow-covered parts of Rivania. The Hoarfrost woods was a long way from where they were, and they decided that they should stop somewhere as soon as they could. The closest place was Wyvernwing, a town named for the Wyverns that occasionally pop up in town. Duncan had been there before and hunted Wyverns for coin. He knew it would be a decent place to stop. From there, they could make their way to the Hoarfrost woods and hunt down Selene. Without horses, it would take time to get to Wyvernwing.
“Can’t you make a portal like Sele
ne did to get out of Hammerforge?” Duncan asked along the journey.
“I don’t do portals. They’re messy and quite frankly, they make me sick. Besides, it’s magic. I thought you refused to deal with magic.”
“I trust you,” he said. “Plus, I’m part magic now, remember?” They both thought back to the incident with the Djinn in the desert.
“In that case, maybe I should teach you a thing or two, you know, since you trust me so much,” she playfully teased him.
“Aye, maybe you should,” Duncan said with all seriousness.
They spent the journey speaking of magic and how Duncan might use it to help in his monster hunting craft. They wouldn’t reach Wyvernwing that day, but after stopping and making camp, they figured they could make it the next day. They stopped for the night, and Ravenna conjured up a fire for them.
“Duncan.”
“Ravenna.”
Duncan motioned for Ravenna to speak first.
“Do you feel guilty about what we did?”
“Do you?”
“I asked you first.”
Duncan sighed. “In some ways, yes I feel guilty. I feel like I betrayed Asha.”
“Asha is gone, Duncan.”
“I know. Do you feel guilty?”
“Only in so much that I feel I was selfish and that I made you feel guilty.”
“What do you mean?”
“I kissed you.”
“We kissed each other.”
“I seduced you.”
“I wanted it.”
“I made you forget about Asha.”
Duncan scowled. “Perhaps, but that wasn’t your fault.
“Did you enjoy it though?”
“Of course I enjoyed it. You’re a beautiful and seductive woman and any man would likely give his life for a night with you.”
Ravenna blushed. She didn’t need to ask if he was telling the truth. His voice said it all. Her eyes wandered down below his waist, and she could see that Duncan was thinking about their tryst.
“Did you?” Duncan asked.
“Did I what?”
“Enjoy it.”
Ravenna nodded. “More than I ever dreamed I might. I’ve felt pleasure but never like that.”
Of Wolf And Witch Page 13
