Of Wolf And Witch

by S. A. McGarey

  Duncan could hardly believe it. He had worked it out by now, the same as Ravenna. If they were both born under the sign of the wolf, and they were not bound to anyone, then they had both been virgins before last night. This witch, who was proving herself to be more than just an ordinary witch, gave herself to him before anyone else. She had begun to melt his heart the night before, and this only hastened the process.

  “Did I hurt you?” He asked her.

  “Only a little. I’ll manage.”

  Ravenna smiled. The thought that they gave themselves to each other was nice, and the fact that it was so good made Ravenna think that perhaps it was meant to be more.

  “Do we have to keep talking about this?” Duncan asked.

  “Making you uncomfortable?”

  “Uncomfortable and somewhat conflicted. Mostly just confused though.”

  “I understand,” Ravenna said, hiding her true thoughts. She had wanted to talk more, but wouldn’t push Duncan into it. She understood his inner conflict and respected it. She wasn’t without conflict, but it was just a different type of conflict from what Duncan had. They would work through it however they needed to. If Duncan needed space and time to get his head right, then she could give that to him.

  “I’d forgotten the cold of the north. I haven’t been gone that long, but I’d still forgotten what it felt like. I’ve missed it.”

  “It takes some getting used to,” Ravenna shivered. She sat in the snow near the fire and conjured a flame in her hand. The heat radiated from her palm and felt good on her skin.

  “I was wrong about you,” Duncan said, looking at Ravenna.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re a witch, but that doesn’t make you a bad person. For so long I’ve viewed magic as evil and those who wield it as wicked. You’ve proven me wrong though. You’ve saved people. You saved me. There is more to you than I initially thought. I just… I wanted to apologize,” Duncan explained.

  Ravenna smiled and extinguished the flame. “And there is more to you than a hunter who hates witches.”

  Duncan smiled. Ravenna started up the flame in her palm again.

  “I have a question,” Ravenna spoke up.

  “What is it?”

  “You are skilled in your craft of killing monsters, but I think I might have a way to help you with your craft. Would you care to learn it?”

  “What exactly would I be learning?”

  “This.” She motioned to her hand holding the fire. “I can teach you to conjure flame. It might help you in your quest to rid Rivania of monsters.”

  Duncan was wary. He had always distrusted magic, but he trusted Ravenna and trusted himself to use magic that same way Ravenna did. After a moment to debate it in his mind, he nodded and walked over to Ravenna.

  “Fire is the simplest thing to conjure,” she explained. “It comes from passion. Think of your passion and focus on producing your flame.”

  Duncan did as he was told. He could feel the heat first. He thought of killing monsters. He thought of killing Selene. After a few minutes, a small flame grew in his palm. Duncan was amazed at this. He had used magic for the first time and he felt good about it. The flame was small, but it existed. It would be some time before he could do the things that Ravenna could do.

  “Excellent job, Duncan. You picked that up quite quickly. That Djinn magic is no small thing. I think in time, you will be able to conjure flame and burn the monsters of this world to ash.

  Duncan smiled and let the flame die. He stood up and strode over to where he kept his things. He grabbed the Blacksteel dagger and pointed the handle towards Ravenna.

  “What’s this?”

  “Something to defend yourself with, just in case.”

  “But it’s Blacksteel. Isn’t that dangerous?” she questioned.

  “Only if it cuts you. It is small and shouldn’t dampen your magic. It will suffice until I can teach you to use an actual blade.”

  “You… You’re going to teach me to use a blade?”

  Duncan nodded. “It is only fair. Besides, I want you to be safe.”

  Ravenna took the dagger and laid it near her bag. She got close to Duncan and put an arm around him. “It’s getting dark.”

  “Time for bed,” Duncan agreed.

  Ravenna pushed herself a little closer. “Still feeling guilty?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I understand.”

  “You’re disappointed.”

  “Not disappointed, just…”

  “Wanting,” he finished her sentence.

  She nodded. “You’ve woken something up in me, Duncan.”

  “I’m sorry. I want to, but I can’t bring myself to do it. Not just yet.”

  “I understand,” she used her flames to melt the snow around her and make a dry place to sleep.

  Duncan got ready for bed and lay down on the cold ground.

  “Duncan?”

  “Hmm?”

  “You don’t have to sleep on the other side of the fire.”

  “Ravenna, I told you I can’t bring myself to do it again.”

  “No, I know. It’s just that it’s cold. I could use some warmth and I don’t mind being closer to you.

  ‘Last time I shared a bed with you, we did things… things that perhaps should not have been done. Still, I can’t just leave you to be cold. You are, after all this, my mate.

  Duncan crawled over beside Ravenna, and eventually, they each fell asleep. They dreamed throughout the night. Ravenna dreamed of their night together. Duncan’s dream, however, was far less peaceful. He dreamed he was being called to by both Ravenna and Asha. When he awoke, it was the middle of the night, and he couldn’t remember whose call he listened to. Looking beside him, he saw Ravenna, shivering in the cold winter’s air. Duncan’s heartbeat began to slow, and he smiled because she was beside him.

  Elsewhere, in the wintery air of Wyvernwing, great wings flapped, and something descended on the town.

  Chapter 18

  The next day, Duncan and Ravenna had reached Wyvernwing part-way through the day. Along the way, he’d practiced conjuring fire, and was getting better at it, but the flames weren’t powerful like Ravenna’s. Granted she had more magical potency than him, but his flames were still weak. Still, they were functional, and this gave him a greater range of techniques when fighting monsters.

  The wingbeat of a frost dragon echoed throughout Wyvernwing as Duncan and Ravenna approached the town. It was heralded by snowfall. Duncan could see the great dragon with his wolf eyes as it descended on the town and began to go on a rampage.

  “Frost Dragons don’t usually come down this far south. I’ve never known a town to come under siege from one,” he explained. “Something is wrong here.”

  “The people are in trouble. We should go help them.”

  Reaching the border of the town, they could see that the people were running in fear of the dragon. Some unlucky souls had been frozen by the beast, and the cold took what life they had. Duncan needed to force the dragon to land so that he could fight it up close. Ravenna knew that this is what he needed, and knew just how to help. Wordlessly, she began to conjure lightning. It was unwieldy, but she did her best to control it. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he struck the Frost Dragon in the wing and it tumbled to the ground, destroying the buildings that it landed upon.

  “There, that should keep him grounded for you,” she said. “Now go! Hunt the dragon while I try to help the people to safety.”

  Duncan ran to where the dragon had landed and readied himself for a fight.

  He closed his eyes and focused, trying to conjure a flame. He thought of his passion and the flame came into being. He decided to try throwing the flame at the dragon to antagonize it. It connected and left a slight burn. The dragon roared and looked for the source. The next step was for Duncan to draw the dragon out of the town. He made his way through the town, working his way towards the outskirts, all the while flinging small fireballs a
t the dragon from his hands. The flames weren’t strong, but they did the job of making the dragon follow him.

  As Duncan reached the end of town, the dragon followed him out, breathing out winter itself on Duncan’s path. He inhaled and prepared to freeze Duncan with his frost breath. He exhaled with ice on the wind, but the breath did not touch Duncan. Black Ice was drawn, warding off the dragon’s breath, as dragon’s breath was essentially dragon magic. As the breath attack ended, Duncan lunged from the mist and drove Black Ice into the dragon’s long neck. It roared in pain and snapped at Duncan.

  Duncan conjured another flame and threw it in the Dragon’s face. He followed up with a slice through the dragon’s wing, ensuring that it would not take flight again. He then thrust the blade into the dragon’s side. Its freezing cold blood began to flow through the wound. The dragon rounded on him and hit him with his front foot, knocking him back, loosening Black Ice from his grip.

  The dragon prepared to breathe its frosty breath again, and Duncan looked around for Black Ice. He saw it a few feet away but it was out of reach. He’d never get to it in time before being frozen by the dragon. He conjured up a flame and threw it at the dragon’s mouth. It slowed the beast but did not stop it. The inhale came, and Duncan threw his arms out in front of him. He waited for the exhale and closed his eyes, thinking of nothing… nothing except Ravenna.

  The exhale never came. When Duncan opened his eyes, he saw the dragon, burning intensely. Duncan looked confused. He must have done this. There was no one else around who could have. He had conjured such vibrant flames, but he did not understand how. His fire had been so weak. What changed?

  He thought back to what Ravenna told him. It all came from passion. He used monster hunting as his passion, but perhaps he had a stronger passion. Perhaps, even if he didn’t want to fully admit to it, he felt passionate about Ravenna. Was it the thoughts of her that conjured flames that burned so bright?

  The dragon was burning from the inside out. Duncan’s flames had gone down the throat of the dragon and set its insides ablaze. It was dying. Duncan should have died, yet he still stood, over the body of a dying frost dragon.

  “Duncan?” Ravenna’s voice called out.

  “Ravenna! Is everyone alright?”

  “I saved all that I could, but not everyone made it. Drawing the dragon out of the town helped though. Without your efforts to do so, many more would have died.”

  “I’m sorry we couldn’t save them all, but I’m glad we saved some.”

  Ravenna looked at the dragon and noticed that its eyes were a yellow color. “Something is wrong here.”

  “I know. My fire shouldn’t be that strong.”

  “No, not that. The dragon’s eyes. Normally they aren’t that color. That color is a specific sign of being controlled by magic.”

  Duncan looked at the dying dragon, and then back at Ravenna. “Selene?”

  “Could be. I wouldn’t put it past her.”

  “She’s scared. She’s trying to kill me before I get to her.”

  “Then let’s give her something to be scared of,” Ravenna suggested.

  “We’ll set out immediately. If we’re quick we can reach Hoarfrost Woods by nightfall.”

  Duncan and Ravenna set out immediately to hunt down Selene. For Duncan, he could feel his grip tightening around her. For Ravenna, this had become personal. Selene tried to kill her more than once, and she tried to kill her mate. She needed to die, for the sake of everyone involved.

  The Hoarfrost woods were still a good way away, but Wyvernwing was the closest settlement to the woods in western Rivania. They did not have enough coin for a horse, but the people of Wyvernwing were grateful for their deeds, so they gave them a single horse. They would have to ride together, but it would make the journey faster. Along the way they talked. Duncan seemed to open up more on the journey and Ravenna helped him practice his fire. He couldn’t seem to replicate what he’d done to the dragon, but he still kept trying. He suspected that he wasn’t thinking of the right passion. He was becoming less guilty, but he hadn’t quite perfected thinking of Ravenna in such a way. As he tried, his flames became a little stronger, but he began to suspect he would need another life or death situation to evoke the right feelings and thoughts.

  They camped in the wilderness for the night, and Duncan made a fire for Ravenna. He was learning more from her as well. Ravenna had begun to teach him a second, harder type of magic. She was teaching him to use magic to heal.

  “It’s not as easy. It isn’t driven by passion, but rather by a drive to help. That is why so few people can do this type of magic. So many people don’t have the drive to help anyone but themselves,” she explained.

  “Makes sense,” Duncan gave himself a dagger wound, then tried to heal it with magic. The more he focused, the more the wound tried to knit itself together. It wasn’t perfect, but it was working on some level.

  He worked on the healing spell for some time before sleeping. The next day they continued the journey through the snow on horseback until they reached the edge of the Hoarfrost Woods. It was midday when they reached the tree line. Duncan thought to himself that the journey had been too quiet. With all the recent attempts on Selene’s behalf to kill them, he suspected more mind-controlled beasts along the way. Instead, there was nothing. In the north of Rivania, frost trolls and other monsters who enjoyed the cold were prevalent, but even those monsters they did not see. It was almost as if Selene was clearing the way for them.

  “She’s somewhere in there,” Ravenna stated.

  “I’m not letting her get away this time. Either she dies, or I do.”

  “It’ll be her. We’ve come too far to lose now.”

  Together they entered the woods, and the temperature dropped exponentially.

  As they ventured through the trees, Ravenna conjured fire, trying to keep warm. Duncan had Black Ice drawn, ready to behead Selene as soon as he found her. The woods were beyond freezing. Selene was undoubtedly using her magic to make the woods colder and colder, trying to discourage Duncan and Ravenna from continuing. To make matters worse, the woods felt like they went on forever. They began to think they were going around in circles.

  “We’ve been here before, I think,” Ravenna said.

  “Certainly feels like it,” Duncan concurred.

  “I don’t know how long we can keep this up.”

  “You are right. We’ll need to stop soon.”

  After a little bit longer, they both decided it was time to stop for the time being.

  “Let’s stop here for now,” Duncan said.

  Ravenna shivered relentlessly. “Gladly.”

  Duncan gathered up some wood and put it in a pile. They needed a fire. Duncan focused and tried to set it ablaze, but couldn’t. He thought of killing Selene, but it did not work. Finally, he looked upon Ravenna, and his thoughts instantly focused on her. He thought of her face, her color-changing eyes, her dark black hair. Fire shot from his hands into the wood and set it ablaze. Duncan knew now that Ravenna fueled his fire, not monster hunting and not killing the witch. He didn’t necessarily want to admit it, but he knew it was true.

  Ravenna got close to the fire. The warmth was nice but did not stave off the shivering. They were both tired, but it was mainly the cold sapping their strength. This was no normal frigidness. It was magically charged. Selene was trying to break their spirits. Ravenna wanted to rest, but it was too cold.

  “Duncan?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m so cold.”

  Duncan went over to her and cuddled close to her.

  She shivered relentlessly and was unsure that he could keep her warm. She conjured heat in her hands and warmed Duncan.

  “That’s a nice trick,” He said, vainly trying to keep her warm.

  “It’s like fire, but just the essence of heat. Think less of passion, and think more of love. Think about the warmth of your heart when you’re in love.”

  Duncan understood. He normally woul
d have thought of Asha and how she made him feel all those years ago. But that was the old Duncan. This was the new Duncan. He was a changed man, and this act would prove it. He thought of Ravenna. Not of sleeping with her that night in Dawn, but rather all the times throughout the trip that they had talked and bonded. He had love for her. And while he never said it aloud, he felt it within him. He thought of her and heat began to fill his palms. He ran his heated hands over Ravenna’s body.

  She sighed with some relief. “I guess Asha is still good for some things.”

  Duncan could have taken that very moment to say what was on his mind. He hesitated, though, and said nothing. He didn’t feel right saying it yet. It wasn’t the right time. He would say it soon though. Once Selene was dead and the hunt was over.

  Instead of speaking, Duncan briefly released his embrace, and shot flames down at the ground, melting the snow and making a dry place to lay. He took her in his arms again and they lay on the forest floor. Were it not so cold, they might have made love again.

  The woods were cold, but Ravenna had never felt warmer. They’d both fallen asleep on the forest floor, held in each other’s arms by the roaring fire as the winds of winter ebbed away.

  Chapter 19

  Duncan awoke without Ravenna by his side. It was still cold but not as cold as it had been before they fell asleep. Either he had gotten used to it, or Selene wasn’t actively trying to freeze them to death. Where was Ravenna? Where could she have gone? Duncan got his answer as soon as he stood up.

  “Hello, wolf.”

  “Selene,” Duncan growled.

  Selene was standing about fifteen feet away, holding Ravenna hostage, with the Blacksteel dagger to her neck.

  “So you know my name, then?”

  “What of it? I don’t need a name to end you.”

  “True, but you do need your Blacksteel blade, which you’ll notice is over here by me.”

  Selene was right. Duncan’s sword was at her feet, and his very limited scope of magic wouldn’t hold against Selene. Duncan was on the losing side.

  “You’ve got me here. Let her go,” Duncan tried to reason with her.