Witch's Reign

by Shannon Mayer

  Ahead of me was the outcropping of a cave partially covered by snow, the opening just big enough to slide a person through. That wasn’t what drew my eyes, though, despite it being a place we could hunker down for the night.

  No, it was the horses that had been hung by their back legs from the upper branches of the trees, their gear still on, the clank and jangle of bits of metal like a morbid set of wind chimes calling us to them. Richard’s and Leo’s horses.

  Maks caught up to me. “What the hell did this?”

  “The White Bear,” I said softly, as if by naming the creature we’d somehow call him to us. The White Wolf I knew more about, the Bear not so much. Mostly because so few got past the Wolf. “Lila, do you know much about the Bear?”

  “He’s bigger than the Wolf, and he’s known to do this, store his meat in the trees for later consumption.” She shivered as she crawled inside my hood. “And he can change shape, so he might be a bear, or he might be something else depending on his mood and who he’s facing in battle. He became a dragon once, according to my father.”

  “Wonderful,” I drawled as I hopped off Balder’s back and headed for the small opening of the cave. Just what we needed, another dragon.

  “Wait, you can’t be serious? We aren’t staying here in a friggin’ food locker. We aren’t,” Maks spluttered.

  I pulled a blade and used it to knock the snow down that covered the opening until it was just big enough to get the horses through. “We will die of exposure if we don’t get in here. We don’t know when the White Bear will come back. Could be weeks. And could be that he wouldn’t think to come back here at all, that the horses hanging in the trees would scare travelers off.”

  “We can find somewhere else,” he said, but there was no real conviction in his voice. There was nowhere else to find this close to when the temperatures were going to start dropping once more.

  “You start a fire, we’ll find some food.” I handed Balder’s reins to Maks and crooked my finger at Lila. No one argued, but then again, it was cold and only going to get colder.

  I pulled my hood over my head and settled into a crouched walk as I made my way through the trees around the forest. I could have climbed the tree that held the horses and taken meat from them, but we weren’t that bad off. I’d cared for those horses, fed and groomed them, trained them. I couldn’t make myself eat them unless there was no other choice.

  “Lila, can you drive some smaller game to me, do you think?”

  “As long as I can get back into your hood after.” She shivered. “I don’t like this cold place. It feels as though death is stalking us at every turn.”

  “I don’t like it either, but we’re almost there,” I admitted. “And yes, you can get back in my hood after.”

  She crawled up and out of the warm space. With a rush of her wings, and using her back feet to push off on my chest, she sent me stumbling back as she launched into the air. I settled in between two trees that held a small amount of cover for me, waiting for the game.

  I concentrated on my breath, slowing it, hearing my father in my ear as he whispered to me from beyond the grave. Damn Merlin, and his meddling with my memories.

  “You are the predator, but a predator with a mind. A heart. A soul. Do not let the chaos take you, Zamira. You are better than that. You are not a creature of madness. But of thought and intelligence. Kill when you must, to feed yourself, to protect those you love, but for no other reason.”

  I pulled the two curved blades from my thighs. I could throw them and hit a bullseye at thirty feet. But rabbits were sketchy little things that moved like lightning in a bottle when they were running scared.

  A tiny thump sounded in front of me, like the crack of leather on leather. Lila’s wings snapping through the air to drive the smaller creatures and let me know that they were on their way.

  Two solid white bunnies bounded toward me. I stood and cocked my right arm back, and threw the first. My kukri spun end over end in a flash of light before pinning the first rabbit to the frozen ground. The second rabbit dove to the side and I moved with it, throwing the second blade and catching it in mid-hop. Both were dead before I lowered my hands.

  There was a prickle of sensation, like I was being watched. I turned my head ever so slightly and caught the flicker of a dark shadow behind me, studying me. The Witch’s shadow then . . . which would lead the White Bear to the cave.

  This was not good, and I had to do something about it now if we were going to survive the night. Indecision began to rattle its way through me, pushing me one way and then another. I had to find a way to dodge the shadow if we were going to make it all the way to Darcy. And the only thought I had on how to do that was not one I liked.

  I went to the first rabbit and ran a hand over the thick winter pelt. They’d been eating well, that was good. “Thank you.” I whispered the words then pressed two fingers to my lips and then to the rabbit’s head. I repeated the gesture with the second rabbit, thanking it. I would have a few more minutes before I had to actually decide how to handle the shadow.

  Lila flew down from the branches and hopped along the ground toward me. “Oh, two! You got them both!”

  I made myself smile up at her and then skinned the rabbits quickly, flicking the still-hot innards into the air for her. She gulped them down happily, her belly swelling until it brushed along the ground and left a trail in the snow as she walked. I let the plan form slowly on how I would best the shadow figure tracking me. Or at least, the beginnings of a plan. Though I wasn’t sure how good it was, it could possibly give us a chance to keep the White Bear at bay long enough that we could slip by unnoticed.

  I couldn’t afford to be indecisive any longer. My father was right, hesitation killed faster than just about anything else.

  “Goddess, I’m not going to be able to fly for a week.” Lila licked her chops as she spoke, her tongue as black as the night around us.

  I rolled my eyes. “You just want a free ride under my hood.”

  “Well, that doesn’t hurt either.” She grinned up at me, blinking several times.

  We quickly went back to the cave together. I handed the rabbits to Maks and then dug around in my pack for the two collapsible buckets I carried. The most expensive material out there because it was so hard to find, they were made of plastic, and were perfect for gathering water for the horses.

  “I’ve got something I have to do,” I said as I pulled the buckets out.

  “What?” Lila whipped around to look at me. Maks didn’t ask anything, didn’t say anything as he skewered the rabbits, his face only mildly green with the task. His eyes, though, spoke volumes.

  Be careful.

  “I’ll tell you when I get back.” I shooed her toward the fire and left the cave, heading east, toward the sound of rushing water. This river, if we followed it upstream, would take us to the bay and the bay was where the Ice Witch’s castle stood.

  I hurried along, head down as I faced the whipping wind. My spine tickled as though something had touched me. I didn’t look back, just kept moving until I came to the edge of the river. The shadow was far bolder with me on my own.

  My plan was a solid one, good in theory, at least. But I didn’t like it. Spirits only followed those who were alive. If I could make the spirit think I was dead, then it would no longer follow me. This would be slick like camel butter if I pulled it off.

  I went to my knees in the snow at the edge of the frozen river with the bucket in my hand. Under the ice, the water moved and swirled. I pulled the flail from my back, and the handle warmed as before. I swallowed hard. I wasn’t using it to hurt someone, so here’s hoping it didn’t try and suck the life out of me again.

  I swung it once, driving it into the ice. The river water exploded upward with the force of the weapon, spraying me with the wicked cold droplets. I gasped, and the handle cooled.

  I stared at the water a long time. Going for a dunk in this could kill me in a matter of minutes. And that’s assumi
ng I didn’t get swept downstream. I grimaced. “Stupid, it was a stupid plan.” For a moment, I’d thought I could play dead, make the shadow think I was not worth following. But the cold of the water changed my mind as it splashed across my face.

  I sighed, knowing that the flip-flop decision was no better than hesitating in some ways.

  “I might as well get water while I’m here,” I muttered to myself.

  I put the bucket in, careful not to lean too far over the edge. Now that I’d decided I was not going for a swim, I had no desire to fall in accidently.

  The thing was, I didn’t get a choice as to how far I leaned.

  Something shoved me from behind, headfirst into the slow-moving, frigid water.

  “Shit!” That was all I managed before I went under, my clothing and weapons dragging me deep, the current spinning me away from the opening I’d created, downstream as I’d feared under the ice.

  I swam to the surface of the ice, my face pressed against it in time to see Merlin standing there. Merlin! That fucking warlock had pushed me in!

  Behind him was the shadow figure that had been dogging me, and they left together.

  There was no time to think about what that meant to me, what I would do if I ever saw Merlin again, or if he’d been playing me all along. Right then, I had to figure out how the fuck to get out of the water.

  And fast. My limbs slowed with each passing second as my muscles stiffened, and my lungs began to burn from holding my breath. I reached first for my kukri blades. I grabbed one and used it to hook into the ice, stopping my downstream flow. I grabbed the other and did the same, driving the tips into the ice, dragging myself back to the opening inch by inch. Bubbles slid from my mouth, spurts of air escaped me in hopes I would breathe in a big gulp very soon.

  Hand over hand, I pulled myself upstream while the water worked to drag me down in more ways than one.

  The water spilled into my nose, my mouth, and ears. I swam with all my might for the surface, breaking through with a gasp. I looked around for the Jinn, but they were gone, as if they had never been there in the first place.

  But my family, the strongest of my pride were there on the banks of the water, their bodies still. My eyes found my father and Bryce first, their golden coats sticking out clearly against the greenery of the Oasis. A coppery tang of blood and death blew in the breeze, coating the inside of my mouth with death. A panicked cry slid from me as I swam toward the shore, frantic to get to them. Why had the Jinn left me alive? Why had he tossed me into the water instead of snapping my neck like they’d done to all the others?

  Those were the thoughts that I focused on as I swam because I didn’t want to think about what I was going to find on the white sand. I already knew, but I didn’t want to let my mind go there. Even when I saw the dark red stains pooled around the bodies, even when I saw the pink flesh opened through the thick golden pelts, the weapons and blades that stuck out of their bodies, I didn’t want to think about it. I ran to my father first, ran and slid to a stop, spraying sand pebbles all over his face. His tongue stuck out through his massive teeth as if he’d lain down in mid-roar.

  “Papa,” I whispered, patting at his face with my too-small paws. “Papa.”

  He didn’t answer me.

  Bryce did.

  “Zam . . .” He groaned my name and I leapt up, searching for him.

  “Bryce, where are you?” I was all turned around, my mind breaking under the strain of the death in front of me. I should have been able to smell him but my nose was coated with the scent of blood and death. I could smell nothing else.

  A low groan pulled me forward and I found myself tripping and stumbling over bodies, limbs no longer attached, bits and pieces of viscera I tried not to see to get to my brother.

  He was on his belly, his back legs stuck out at a strange angle and his head twisted nearly all the way around. Broken spine. I knew it—our father had trained me in that much, recognizing wounds and injuries.

  I crouched by Bryce’s head and allowed myself to shift back into my human form. I leaned over him, my hands shaking as I cupped his large face. “Bryce, don’t leave me.”

  “Warn others,” he breathed out, a gurgling of air slipping in between the words. “Go. They need you.”

  I bent my head to touch his, breathing in as he breathed out his last. I wanted nothing more than to stay and hold him, to hold him and Father before their bodies cooled so I could pretend for a little while that they were alive.

  But Bryce was right, the rest of the prides in our valley had no idea an attack was coming and I could warn them. I let him go, and let the change flow over me again until I was once more nothing more than a common house cat.

  I raced across the sands to our home, the one place the Jinn had never dared come because of the strength of our pride. My breath came in ragged gulps, and the closer I got to the valley between the rocks, the more my fears coalesced into reality. Smoke reached out to me, and in the smoke was the death of my life as I knew it.

  I topped the last rise that looked down on our small village. The homes were burning down to the last one. Like the Oasis, bodies were strewn everywhere in chunks and out of order, bits and pieces mismatched as they’d been torn from their owners. Not unlike a child playing at war taking the limbs off its toy shoulders.

  Standing amongst the bodies was the same Jinn who’d grabbed me, Marsum. Something in my young mind snapped, breaking against the strain of seeing those I loved slaughtered. My family, my friends, my whole world destroyed for what? Because we protected those who needed our help, because we guarded the lesser supes from the Jinn’s cruelty.

  Without a sound, I raced down the slope, skidding and sliding, tumbling the last few feet head over tail. Laughter greeted me, but I didn’t care. I’d never been so angry in my life. I’d never felt so completely out of control of who and what I was.

  “Look at this one, all fierce and puffed up,” Marsum drawled.

  “A house cat? How is she a house cat when her family lines were bright lion?” That second voice was younger and sounded ill. “Let her go, Father. She’s a child. This wasn’t what you told us was happening.”

  I didn’t look for him, the younger one. No, I kept my eyes locked on Marsum as I streaked across the blood-soaked sand. Marsum lifted a foot as if he’d kick me, and I dodged one way, deking him out and using the misdirection to leap at him, claws extended, mouth open, tiny fangs bared.

  Only he was faster than me, impossibly faster. His hand shot out and he grabbed right under my front legs, his hand wrapping around my chest like a vise. I twisted and turned, shrieking at him as I fought to get free. To kill him.

  He laughed at me, laughed and laughed, and that sound burned into my mind. “Look at her, still fighting. Pity she wasn’t a true lion, she’d be worth killing then. As it is, I think letting her live will be far more painful, don’t you think, son?”

  I slowed my movements until I was doing nothing but staring at his face, shock freezing me. He had long black hair twisted into dreadlocks that seemed to have a life of their own, moving and turning even though there was no wind. His eyes were the color of the sand, but lifeless, dull. Cruel, thin lips, a sharp nose and sharper chin finished off his face, leaving nothing to the imagination in terms of his personality.

  “You aren’t going to kill me?” I couldn’t help the horror from bleeding into my words. In death, I would be reunited with my father and mother, with Bryce. We would be together at least.

  The Jinn stared down at me, a slow, wicked smile sliding over his lips. “I’m going to curse you, cat. That disaster will follow your life, that you will find nothing but sorrow and disappointment, within every endeavor you take on. They will all be nothing short of a catastrophe.” He laughed and then looked over his shoulder at someone I couldn’t see. “Don’t you find that funny? Cat-atstrophe? Get it?”

  His companion didn’t answer and Marsum turned back to me. “To clarify, I won’t be killing you. I only h
ave the authority to kill bright lions from all the prides today, of which you are not.” He threw me for the second time. I hit the ground hard and flipped over three times before I came to rest on my belly. The change slid over me without me wanting it, but I couldn’t help it. Too much pain, too much heartache for such a small cat to take. My tiny body couldn’t hold all the grief and pain inside.

  I stood slowly, my skirt billowing around my legs as they trembled. The Jinn and those like him turned their backs on me and flowed out of the village.

  “I’ll kill you!” I screamed after him. “One day, I’ll kill you!”

  He waved a hand at me, dismissing me, not even bothering to turn around or answer me. That was how little he thought of me and he was right, I was nothing.

  At the edge of the village he and his companion slipped away, disappearing, and I was left with the bodies of all those I’d known and loved. Alone in a desert of death.

  My knife slid through open air and I grabbed the edge of the ice, pulling my face out from under it. I choked and gasped, spit water out and managed to get myself to the edge of the river.

  Shaking so hard my teeth rattled, I crawled out of the water and back the way I’d come. There was no one to watch me struggle to stand, fighting to survive this time. I was on my own again.

  Or so I thought.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Zam!” Maks’s voice cut through the brutal cold that had caught hold of me, the last vestiges of the river trying to drown me as my body froze into a solid block of ice in the open air. He grabbed my arms and tried to get me to move faster. “What happened?”

  “Pushed . . . in . . . Merlin . . . did . . . it,” I stuttered the words and went to my knees, unable to fight the cold any longer.

  “Son of a bitch, this is my fault,” he growled as he picked me up with ease, and carried me back to the cave.

  The fire was going, and that was about all I could see. My eyelashes had frozen during the distance between the river and the cave.