by K. A Knight
He reminds me of a shark as he grins as me, flashing his pearly white teeth. Somehow that seems wrong, shouldn’t the evil I sense from him distort his appearance but no, here he stands. In another life I might have found him quite attractive, plain but attractive.
“That, my little witch, is not important. But you are.” He steps closer, and I step back.
“What do you mean?”
His head tilts, and he studies me.
“Could it be?” He throws his head back and lets out another laugh.
I simply stare at him.
He leans back, looking at me while a few more chuckles escape him. “You really don’t know, do you?”
“If I did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” My voice sounds mad even to me, and I clench my hands into fists so hard my nails cut my palms. All this talking and not being able to help them drives me crazy.
“How wonderful! Shall I enlighten you, little witch?” Not waiting for my response, he walks around my men, trailing his hand across them as he goes.
“There was once a little witch born to a very powerful family, but alas, she was never happy. Every day she would walk into the woods behind her house and disappear for hours. No one knew why, not even her powerful parents.”
His sing song voice grates on my nerves, making me clench my teeth.
“One day, her mother, worried for her little girl, followed her. There, she found her daughter curled up with a being, a being so powerful that it almost blinded the woman to see. Terrified, the woman screamed for her daughter and dragged her away from the being. Her parents decided her magic was too strong, so they locked her away in the house. The girl, no longer a child, now had enough and escaped from her gilded cage. She ran right into the clutches of some bad men, and as she faced death, she saw what she thought was an angel. The angel saved her, only to find out the little witch was homeless. Against all the rules, he took her in and cared for her. They grew to love one another and eventually had a child.”
My heart speeds up with each word. The story feels familiar, and I can’t help but question him, “The parents, what happened to them? And the being?”
I snap my mouth shut, but he smiles at me like I’ve just won a prize. “Good question, little witch. Her parents died in a mysterious accident. The child they birthed was stronger than her powerful parents. But the child wasn’t a full witch. She was a hybrid, the first of her kind. Fearing for her child’s safety, the mother ran, taking her child with her. They lived in relative harmony—the witch, the reaper, and the hybrid. One day, the child’s powers started to show. Too strong to hide, they tried to repress them until the child wandered into the woods. There she found a being, hurt and alone. Too beautiful to be human, body carved from stone, symbols marring his chest…”
An image from my childhood resurfaces of a man—no, not a man, something else. I frown as I try to grasp the memory, but it moves away like the fog that surrounds this creature.
“The being was hurt, so the child saved it without hesitation. Unknown to them, the child’s powers had been witnessed. A year later, the child’s mother was killed whilst the watcher hunted her. Her father, now filled with rage and pain, allowed his darkness to consume him until only darkness remained. He took it out on his daughter, still hiding her from the world...” he trails off, looking at me.
“What happened then, sweet Aurora?” His voice is condensing.
“I ran.” The words are forced past my lips. “Why you, why now?” I ask, stealing myself.
“I was there that day. I was on my way to take a soul when I saw what you did, who you saved. I reported you to above as I knew only a reaper could do what you did. Do you know what they did to me for it? They cast me aside in disbelief. Years I spent serving them. Oh, but they believed me when I brought your father before them.” My head snaps up in shock. He’s like me, like my father? A reaper… Wait!
“Yes, little one. I killed your mother that night. I planned to grab you and show you to them to make them believe. But she wouldn’t give you up. They sent for your father after, and he was stripped of his charge as well.”
Anger like I have never known before builds inside me, burning through my veins like lava. “Why? Why couldn’t you just leave us be!” I scream.
“You are an abomination,” he roars, spittle flying from his mouth. “You will be our downfall, our death. That sort of power would destroy our rules, our laws, and then where would we be?”
One of the guys makes a noise, and I breathe deeply, trying to calm myself.
I stare at him and realise my power in me is not evil, not like his. It’s the person who uses it. He allowed what resides inside to consume him like my father, turning his ability to comfort and save into pain and destruction. His soulless eyes connect to mine, and I know I could be like him if I don’t fight it every step of the way.
“Give up, little witch. I have your men, and soon, I will have you. When I took the pretty one to play with I wasn’t expecting it to lead me to you...” He stalks around the men as he talks. Their eyes are screaming at me to leave, something I just can’t do. “Submit to me, and I will let them live.”
I edge closer to them as he speaks, trying to think of any way to get them out of this.
“Take their place, Aurora.”
Confused, I stare at him. “And you will let them go?” My voice is even if not a little weak, but I’m proud of myself for not letting what’s building inside to show.
“Yes, they can go. I only want you.”
I glance back at the men I’ve grown to care for. Ezra shakes his head, growling through his gag. Alexander stares at me, his decision clear in his eyes. Ben wiggles, trying to get free. Jason, my sweet Jason, looks resigned, but he still shakes his head at me.
“What do you say, little witch? I grow bored with this game.”
I look at them once more, then back at the reaper in front of me, the words of defeat on the tip of my tongue.
“Fine, if you won’t decide, I will.” Time slows down as he yanks Mikael, dropping his head back, stretching his neck in a long line. I can’t even scream or move as he drags his knife across his throat.
Blood spurts out. The noise of my guys and the reaper fade away as does the world. All I can do is stand and watch as the life runs out of him. His eyes meet mine, and they aren’t scared or angry. They’re resolute. With a cry, I rush towards him. No one stops me. I push my hands at his throat to try to stop the bleeding, but it’s useless. Tears run down my check as I try to control my sobs. Not again. I can’t watch someone I love die.
A laugh comes from behind me so close it ruffles my hair, and something inside of me snaps. I spin, throwing my hand out, blood and power staining my palms. I throw the reaper across the room without a thought. He flies and hits the wall hard. His body crumbles. He pushes himself up, darkness swirling at his back and hands. I have to stop him before he kills us all. I think of only one word, pushing all my intention into it.
Die.
His body arches on the stone floor, and a horrible noise emits from his mouth. Not wasting another moment, I turn back to Mikael. Blood pumps from his neck wound, and his skin palls, his heat leeching from his weakening body. His power is nowhere to be seen—the torture he endured sucked that supply away.
“No!” With my declaration, my power, my darkness, the thing I hide from everyone, rushes up in me. I kneel before him and place my forehead to his. His soul starts to rise through his body, looking for an escape.
No!
I close my eyes and see his soul. It hangs on, fighting but just barely. I grab it with everything in me and tie it to his body. My power rushes towards him, scanning through his body, dragging his soul as it goes, and healing what it can. The damage is extensive from the torture. I weaken as I reach his torn neck. My power falters, but I grit my teeth.
Pushing everything I have into fixing his neck, I imagine it knitting together again, the skin smooth and unblemished once again. I have
no idea if this is what I need to do, but something in me nudges me to carry on. I pour more power into him until behind my eyes he lights up, swirling black and violet from my power.
His soul still tries to escape, so I grab it with my darkness, not even hesitating. I filter more power in, unwilling to lose him. My power starts to dry up like a stream, and my body feels like lead. Darkness closes in on my vision, but I don’t stop pushing my power into him.
I slump over his unmoving form, and my eyes flutter open. No more blood pours from his neck wound; it is completely closed. I smile as I fall into the awaiting darkness no longer scared of it.
“Ήρθε η ώρα, έλα σε μένα”
Epilogue
- ALEXANDER -
I lock down my emotions as I sit between the two beds in the large, empty room. One holds my brother, the other the little witch grasping my heart. I rub my eyes in exhaustion. It’s been twelve hours since Mikael nearly died, and none of us have slept.
The minute Aurora killed the reaper, the spells holding us to the chairs broke, but it was too late. Blood pooled from the kill wound to Mikael’s neck, and Aurora was there to try to stop it, blood soaking through her hands. We stood like statues, watching another one of us die, unable to save him again.
“Alex.” The soft whisper brings me back to the present. I meet Ben’s worried, tired eyes. He goes to speak but, with a sound, looks at the unconscious witches and then back to me.
I nod and stand.
Staring at Aurora, my emotions nearly falter, but I breathe through it—I can’t afford to break down now. My brothers need me. Leaning forward, I brush her hair away from her pale, gaunt face. Her eyes are sunken, with not even the ghost of her usual smile present. She looks so small in this bed, her feisty nature gone. I lean forward and kiss her cool forehead. Regret at not apologising for my callous remarks shoot me in my heart.
“Stay with me, Kitten.” With that, I spin to my brother and squeeze his hand. Blood still crusts his neck, and a massive scar sits along it.
Ben waits at the door, and I join him with one last look back.
I follow him to the sitting room of the healer’s house we’re in.
Jason sits nervously on the old, tattered sofa; Ben leans against the wall, using it to support his fatigued body. I glance to Ezra, whose taking this the hardest. With a sigh, I stride up to him. I’ve never seen the big guy so lost and out of control. His hair sticks up at all ends, his face as pale as our witch, but his eyes hit me the hardest. They’re pitch black and filled with fury, like at any minute he might break and tear the world apart—and I wouldn’t put it past him.
I pat his shoulder and lean against the wall near him, offering him my support in the only way I can. The healer sits back on the sofa, looking like we’re here for a social visit.
“Let me make this clear. You betray us, and you will not live long enough to regret it.” He doesn’t react to my threat apart from a wave of his hand.
“Yes, yes, whatever. I don’t care about the council or what you witches are up to. Now, do you want to know about your friends or not?” His voice sounds ancient and gruff, the total opposite of his physique. He can’t be much older than me, his young body fit and supple. His eyes show his wisdom, and thanks to us, his tiredness.
I nod for him to proceed.
“The male—”
“Mikael,” Jason interrupts, his voice small.
The healer looks at him before his face takes on a thoughtful edge. “Mikael is well...” He starts to fidget.
“Spit it out,” Ezra growls, grabbing his hair and yanking in frustration.
“He’s not dead, but he’s not alive.”
We all freeze and turn to him.
“What?” Ben steps away from the wall, his fists clenched by his side.
“Whatever your witch did to him, it closed his wounds and healed him somehow. But the wounds and trauma to his body were extensive; not even I could have saved him.” When we don’t interrupt, he carries on, “His soul, his essence, whatever it is you witches call it, had already started to leave his body when she tried to save him.”
“And her?” Ezra asks, and the healer peers around at all of us.
“I don’t know what she is, but that kind of power should kill you. She healed his body and a mortal wound, which is impossible. She drained herself and used her essence to stop his soul from leaving his body whilst she healed him, essentially trapping him in that dying form. She left her body unprotected and couldn’t fully bring herself back to it before she passed out. Do you understand what that means?”
“No, just tell us,” I growl.
“She is drained dry, her soul stuck somewhere between her body and his. Neither of your friends might ever wake up.”
The room explodes at this, but I ignore them all as an arrow of desperation and pain lances my heart.
I can’t lose them both.
I won’t.
Translations
ύπνος, απόγονος μου - sleep, my descendant.
* * *
με βοηθήστε, απόγονος μου - help me, my descendant.
* * *
οΟι μάγισσες είναι ήδη δικές σου, ο απόγονος μου - The witches are already yours, my descendant
* * *
Έτσι θα είναι, ο απόγονος μου - So it will be, my descendant
* * *
Ήρθε η ώρα, έλα σε μένα - The time has come, come to me
About the Author
K.A Knight is an indie author trying to get all of the stories and characters out of her head. She loves reading and devours every book she can get her hands on, she also has a worrying caffeine addiction.
She leads her double life in a sleepy English town, where she spends her days at the evil day job and comes home to her fur babies and other half.
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