High Witch
Chapter 10

Nadia began to walk towards Ariel purposefully. Ariel remained still, standing firm. Nadia took a few more steps forward, then stopped. She raised her right hand.

She pointed her index finger at Ariel, turning it in a circle. A green light streamed from her finger, a shimmering string, curling and twisting its way towards her. Ariel stood there, staring in confusion. The string of light floated closer, then began to circle her. Ariel screamed as the string tightened around her skin, binding her, wrapping itself tightly around her whole body. She struggled on the spot.

“Ariel, fight it!” Brayden screamed, and she looked at him in horror. She stood there for a moment, then clenched her fists and shut her eyes. Her skin began to glow, a white light radiating from her. Nadia ran towards her, pulling at the green string, but the glow from Ariel became stronger, shining out, blindingly bright. The binding shattered to pieces, shards of green clattering to the ground. Ariel opened her eyes and growled at Nadia. She flattened her hands, spreading out her fingers.

Ariel pushed out her arms. A scorching wind began to blow around them, hot, filled with dust and leaves. It whirled towards Nadia, circling around her. Flames appeared in the wind, flickering brightly, growing close to her. Nadia screamed.

She held up her arms, and an enormous flash of lighting streaked across the sky over dark clouds. There was a booming crash of thunder, then rain hammered down, drenching them, extinguishing the flames. The two witches stood there, breathing heavily. The rain poured down, then finally ceased. Brayden was petrified.

Simultaneously the women held out their arms towards each other, white light pouring out of Ariel’s hands, red light streaming from Nadia’s. The colors hit each other, two walls of radiance forming, high and wide. Ariel walked forward, arms outstretched, pushing her light onto the other witch. Nadia stumbled, the red light falling back towards her. She took a step backwards, then stomped her foot down, hard and loud.

The ground rumbled beneath them, as if it was an earthquake. Ariel lost her footing, tumbling to the ground, her light disappearing. The red wall screamed towards her, but she transported away, appearing next to the door of the inn. The ground stopped shaking, the red light faded away. Ariel lay there, gasping for breath. Nadia laughed wickedly.

She raised her right hand and a sword appeared in her grasp in a flash of light. She spun it around, then magically transported so she was in front of Ariel. She pulled back the blade, about to plunge it in, when Julius screamed at her.

“No! Don’t kill her!” he yelled. “Just capture her!”

Nadia faltered, and Ariel grasped the hand that held the sword and forced her to drop it. She leapt up and shoved Nadia to the ground, stepping on her stomach so she couldn’t transport away. The sword flew into Ariel’s grasp, and she lifted it high. Nadia cried out in terror.

Nadia thrust out her hand towards Brayden, a knife appearing in the air and hurtling towards him. Brayden stood there in horror, frozen to the spot. Ariel screamed, dropping the sword and transporting so she appeared in front of him. The blade embedded itself in her shoulder. She slumped back, falling against him.

“Ariel!” Brayden screamed, holding onto her, falling to his knees. Julius began yelling at Nadia. Brayden knew they had to get out of there, fast.

“Ariel, you have to transport us out of here!” he yelled, holding her tight. She was barely conscious. “Ariel, please!” he screamed.

Nadia suddenly appeared before them, then reached down to grasp Ariel by the arms. Brayden dragged her away.

“No!” he screamed. He knew Nadia could kill him in a heartbeat, but the one thing they both had working for them is that Julius didn’t want them dead. He dragged Ariel further back, then begged her one more time to transport them out of there. She groggily grasped his arm, then they were spinning.

They appeared in a small street filled with buildings, in a nearby village. Brayden breathed raggedly, unable to contain his shock. Ariel finally lost consciousness, and tears began to run down his face. He screamed for help.

Doors opened and a few men ran towards them. Brayden exclaimed to them through his tears, practically incoherent. One of the men said a healer lived nearby. Brayden lifted Ariel in his arms, hurrying after the man down the street. He hoped desperately that she would live. He couldn’t bear it if she didn’t. He couldn’t bear it.

Brayden sat beside Ariel as she lay on a bed in the healer’s home. Her left shoulder was bandaged, after the healer had cleaned and stitched her deep wound. Brayden gently took hold of her right hand, holding it in both of his. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she looked at him.

“Where...” she began, her voice croaky.

“Hush,” Brayden said. “You’re at a healer’s home. He said you’ll be alright. Just rest, Ariel. Just rest.”

She looked at him a moment longer, then lay her head back down. She stared up at the ceiling, her blue eyes vacant.

“She nearly killed me,” Ariel said softly. “It was so close.”

Brayden kissed her on the forehead. “You were amazing. You were astonishing. She only got you in the end because you’re good. Because you tried to save me. Ariel, I couldn’t stand it if I lost you.”

Tears welled in her eyes, and she wiped them away. “I don’t want to lose you, either,” she said, and Brayden leaned over and kissed her gently. He held her face in his hands and kissed away her tears. Tears of his own began, and he quickly wiped them away. Ariel touched his face. She smiled weakly at him.

“We have to stay away from them,” she said. “I’m not strong enough to fight her again. I don’t think I could stand it.”

She shut her eyes, and Brayden’s heart broke. He took hold of her hand again. She drifted off to sleep, her breathing becoming slow and even. He sat there, gazing at her closely. He loved her with all of his heart. He would do anything for her.

He looked at her, trying to think of a plan. A way to escape. Ariel was right — they couldn’t face them again. He wracked his brain, trying desperately to think of something. But only one thought kept hammering home.

No one had ever gotten away from Julius before.

Julius stood in the large room he and Nadia had rented, his hands clasped behind his back, trying not to lose his temper. That was too close. Nadia had nearly ruined everything. He gritted his teeth, then turned to her, standing beside the bed.

“You know what we discussed, Nadia. You capture her, and we kill her together. You can’t disobey me like that again.”

Julius watched her. She was standing very still, clutching her skirt, her knuckles white. He had to be very careful. He had to maintain the illusion. He walked over to her, putting his hands on her arms.

“You’re too strong for her, my love. Remember what we planned? Remember what we discussed, about destroying her together? I didn’t want you to take her life too quickly. Imagine how much better it’ll be, drawing it out. Imagine how much we can enjoy it. Do you want to take that away from us?”

She relaxed slightly, her hands loosening their grip on her dress. Julius smiled at her. “That’s it, Nadia. Remember our plan. Trust that I know what I’m doing. You’ll know better for next time.”

She nodded, sighing deeply. “Should I try to get another vision of them?” she asked. Julius shook his head.

“No, we’ll do things differently this time. Chasing them and forcing a fight is too — chaotic. We want more control than that. We won’t go to them.”

Nadia frowned. “Then what?”

A smile touched Julius’ lips. “We bring them to us, Nadia. We bring them to us.”