The Witch’s Destiny

by Emma Glass

  Because, as geometric shapes beamed into view to cut through the haze, conjoining these rings together… there was no mistaking the three distinct shapes watching us all, each one equidistant to the others in a central triangle.

  I recognized the left one—the laughing sorceress.

  The one on the right was draped in a dark cloak.

  And then there was the slowly appearing entity in the back. Something so dreaded, I could feel it in every bone…

  Part III

  The Calamity Falls

  Chapter 21

  Elliott

  I had felt this kind of power before.

  It sensed it when I crossed worlds with Clara.

  But there was something else here, something that dominated it, drowning it out in its own might; my entire body trembled as I realized precisely where I felt it before.

  Seven Portals. My whole life, since long before I ever found Clara, every time that I visited Seven Portals... I felt THIS.

  The indomitable purple light thankfully receded. My vision was blurred as I staggered forwards, attempting to figure out just where the hell we were. It didn’t take long to wipe the worst of it out from my eyes.

  Magical circles of power, enormous enough to fill most of my private suite, rotated slowly at our feet. Through the overlapping design, I saw the place that we left before; the black abyss of the bastardized high tower, sparkling panes of shattered glass barely visible on the other side. Where we were now was a white desert of pure… nothingness.

  The dark sky above offered no stars, no moon. Endless fields of ivory sand spread out in every direction, rippling out in sprawling dunes. There was no wind here, no gust of any kind. Nothing beyond the black sky above and the white sand below, featureless and dead.

  No life stirred whatsoever.

  Not besides the three beings that stood before us…

  Sabine looked around in what seemed to be a measure of surprise. “Master! I thought you were leaving this place, not bringing us down to meet you!”

  All eyes turned to the dark manifestation behind her. A cloaked creature of some sort was slowly materializing out of the ambient dust, as if willing itself into existence. I felt dread unlike any I had ever encountered—try as I might, I was too stunned to move, let alone reach for my sword.

  We have not yet finished, my servant.

  The words echoed terror across my heart—and I knew I wasn’t the only one. Even Valentine trembled behind me.

  “Did I just hear that in my head?” Chandra shuddered. A few of us cast her equally horrified looks.

  “What more do you need, Master?” Sabine pleaded. “I have brought you the seven! Even the harbinger has come! How else might I break your shackles?”

  I could barely look directly at the rising silhouette. For right now, it was little more than a hazy shape, filling itself out with its own sheer willpower. We’re here. This is it. The creature that killed one sister mad and drove the other mad. A foe with such deep scratches in my bloodline, my own mother cursed herself to even try to understand it…

  Briefly, my gaze drifted to the equally mysterious third of this triangle. A little shorter than Sabine, he stood in a concealing hooded robe, his face hidden away from me. I wondered who he could possibly be.

  But my attention was yanked away.

  “Who the hell are you?” Valentine demanded to know; I glanced over my shoulder at her with a mixture of shock and respect. “Where have you brought us?”

  A dark chuckle rattled out from the appearing shape.

  reasonable questions, deserving answers. Across my life, I saved countless lives. What was my reward? Eternal imprisonment. Involuntary slumber. And so I return. Not out of malice, but of pity. I will not see the world I loved so quickly destroyed.

  “Protection?” Svetlana shouted. “You put a bloodthirsty lunatic into the world on a genocidal rampage! How could you call yourself a protector with that black mark?”

  I did not sanction this. She acted independently.

  “But it was necessary!” Sabine snarled indignantly—Is she trying to convince us, or herself? “I needed to overcome the mind in the flesh! It was the only way to fully return!”

  “Excellent point,” Valentine cut in. “You handed over a living, sentient creature to her. You can’t possibly expect us to believe you’re good for our world if you’re willing to do such a despicable thing. That was one of us!”

  Enough of the shape was here that I could see its head shake. One does not fault a child for their curiosity; I cannot fault you for your misunderstandings. Such is the natural benefit of age… and you are so young.

  “Young?” She scoffed. “I am nearly a millennia old!”

  The shape started solidifying as it chuckled out a reply. As black dust continued to flow into the mysterious entity before us, it became less a hazy shape and more a creature now terrifyingly corporeal. A creature that stood upright…

  Only the one…? A half-formed face began to smirk as its voice steadily shifted—no longer did we hear it in our heads. “How very… trifling.”

  The ambiguous shape slowly became dark, worn robes. I couldn’t fathom what this thing really was—but the sight of it filled me with a pervasive, uncharacteristic horror. As my diabolical enemy lifted a half-formed, hooded face to greet us, I realized with mounting shock—

  “But, you’re a… vampire?”

  “Not as you understand them...” it noted. “But yes.”

  My heart stopped a beat. “A Sanguine One.”

  The entity paused at that. “I am not aware of the names and titles your kind has invented for us. Tell me, my child, what do you consider a ‘Sanguine One’?”

  “Our alleged predecessors,” Svetlana answered. “From an era at the start of this world. If not before.”

  “Then… yes. I suppose so, by your terms…” The robed creature stood just barely blurred out of sight. “But I have to admit, I do find the term… somewhat distasteful.”

  I glowered. “What would you have us call you, then?”

  In a final burst of light, she stood fully formed. Gnarled old fingers folded over a powerful staff as an ancient but formidable woman hunched politely before me—her cloak in tatters far older than any bone in my mother’s body.

  I’ve seen these robes before, in the windows of Seven Portals! The Harrowing Hall! No, please don’t tell me this is—

  “Lost progeny of mine. Call me… Tzavos Tzovac.”

  * * *

  I don’t know what I expected. But it wasn’t this.

  Whenever I thought of the apocalyptic creature that my fallen mother opposed, I envisioned a hulking monstrosity locked behind a seal. I imagined a living nightmare given life—a behemoth four or even five times my height.

  Shock overcame me. I never considered that our enemy was a vampire. But you really aren’t a vampire at all, are you? You’re so much worse. You’re a Sanguine One. Stronger, maybe, than all of us here… and all the more dangerous for it.

  “This is impossible,” Eyes-Life-Fire whispered.

  Tzavos ignored her. “Reveal yourself… my harbinger.”

  he cloaked man lifted its sleeves to pull back its hood, only to reveal that I was wrong. It wasn’t a man at all.

  It was Clara Blackwell—with burning, fiery eyes.

  Chandra found the words for me. “I don’t believe it.”

  I dove forwards to throw my arms around her. Nobody moved to stop me. Clara herself barely acknowledged my face; when she lazily glanced up, a hazy lack of awareness filled her eyes. Her mind was clearly somewhere else.

  “Elliott!” Ooktuk called out. “Stop!”

  “Clara! It’s me,” I whispered. “Please remember me.”

  The witch merely tilted her head. She looked just as beautiful as ever before—but her eyes burned in a colour I recognized. A rich shade of chrysm. What did she do to you? I wanted to break into tears. How could this happen?

  “You are… Elliott Craven,” Tzav
os observed.

  I steeled myself, desperately holding Clara. “I am.”

  “Then you are the brother of the fallen warrior maiden. I offer my condolences.” She shook her head gravely. “For the good of the realm, I could not allow her stubbornness to impede my return. The loss of any life is a tragedy… but Fiona left me no choice. Such rashness cost her dearly.”

  I turned to Nikki who looked… broken. My sister barely seemed aware we were even having a conversation, but her eyes made it clear this wasn’t the work of a malevolent spell. She seemed to be stricken with grief.

  Sabine folded her robed arms. “What now, Master?”

  Tzavos smiled patiently. “It is as I once foretold. All the pieces are in place, and the board is set! My harbinger, my champion, and the seven. We are ready to make the move I was denied. This game… ends.”

  Her eyes slid towards Clara in my arms.

  I decisively snarled: “Don’t you lay a finger on her.”

  Tzavos merely smiled kindly, choosing to not argue.

  Whether or not this place was real, I felt countless ages in her ancient eyes. This kindly old body deceptively hid a heavy level of wisdom and cunning that defied definition. Lorelei. Of all the things in our world and beyond that you could have picked a fight with… why did you choose Tzavos Tzovac?

  “Enough talk,” the Sanguine One suddenly declared. “I have already seen enough of my children undone. Each of their rewritten fates, avoidable. If destiny is kind today…” She took a few steps forwards, walking with her staff—she even dared to look mournful. “Then that time shall end.”

  “What do you want from us?” Valentine growled.

  “Your help.” Tzavos noted gently. “I am weak.”

  “You’re going to destroy the world,” I spat out.

  “I don’t fault your rage, Elliott. From your perspective, I am sure you see me as an enemy. But, so long as we wish to see the world saved…” Tzavos collected her hands over her staff again, nearly within my striking range. “Then we are all truly on the same side.”

  “I’m not listening to another word of this,” I growled.

  “Wait.” Valentine stopped beside me, holding her hand out to silence me. “Before provoking the greatest magician of our entire history, we should hear her out… or, young Lord Craven, have you forgotten your diplomacy?”

  The anger practically seethed within me. This creature is responsible for the destruction of my family—and she clearly has designs for Clara. Why should I be diplomatic?

  “Yes,” Sabine gestured. “It is as I said! My master bears terrible knowledge, and a choice that you must—“

  “Silence, servant.” Tzavos glanced her way.

  The sorceress shrank. “I… of course, Master.”

  “You have served me well. But I can take it from here.” The robed, elderly woman turned back to us once more. “I will talk, and you will all listen. And you will choose.”

  “And if we do not want to?” Eyes-Like-Fire insisted.

  Tzavos actually shrugged. “Then, your lives are beyond my power to save—and your world will collapse apart.”

  Chapter 22

  Kinsey

  Deep within the chrysm hub of Stonehold Castle, I reflexively clenched and unclenched my fists.

  Everything I was seeing here, I hated.

  It was all hands on deck beneath the chrysm monitors. Every capable chrysm attendant in the castle—few of them as we had—were struggling to calm down the machines.

  I glanced up into the darkness. Sparks rained down as the strange and incomprehensible screens flickered on and off. The massive tubes of chrysm ore running up the walls and across the high atrium radiated dangerous amounts of ambient light, and great columns of steam intermittently bellowed out from a failing cascade of systems.

  There was nothing I could do to help. If I even dared to touch the wrong button, the entire castle could blow—and who knew how far that damage could extend.

  “Are you… sure I need to be down here?” I asked.

  Without looking, an attendant shouted: “One minute!”

  Fine, I sighed, leaning back against a wall and watching the chaos unfold. I pitied the subjects in the castle above. If this place really did explode, at least I would see it coming. The poor citizens of the hold, on the other hand…

  A surprised gasp left my lungs.

  The steam lowered, and the dangerous light dimmed. The struggling attendants started to relax and wipe at their brows. From a nearby cupboard, I quickly dug out a heavy armful of rags—usually only used for wiping down all the more sensitive equipment here—and tossed them over.

  The attendants gratefully dabbed away their sweat.

  I let them calm down for a few minutes before bringing up the obvious. “I was already in the middle of something when you had Silas come for me. Seeing as I don’t know the first thing about maintaining chrysm, what is it?”

  The oldest attendant sighed, taking a seat. She directed the others to continue cooling down the main engines.

  “Vassal Kinsey, you are who Lord Craven left in charge of the castle, correct?”

  “I suppose so,” I snorted. “Silas refused. But yes.”

  The senior attendant nodded to herself. Her expression made me think she was now accepting some grim reality.

  “What is the matter?” I asked. “Besides the obvious.”

  Nudged from her thoughts, she lifted her eyes with her brows raised. “Oh, forgive me, please. I am merely trying to find the right words to explain…”

  “I just watched you defuse a full-on chrysm meltdown, and now you tell me you have even worse news to report? Don’t make me regret asking…”

  A few others glanced over their shoulders at her, but all continued working to safely lower the core temperature of the chrysm hub. While I waited for her answer, I slowly let my gaze run along the major ore dispensaries on the walls. For such a revolutionary design, they certainly weave in and out around each other without obvious rhyme or reason—

  “That spike was due to a new incident,” she replied.

  I took a deep breath, pinching my nose. “Where?”

  The senior attendant didn’t bother to recheck the charts before giving her answer. “Seven Portals.”

  “But that’s where the old spike came from.”

  “This one was extraordinarily different.”

  “That means Elliott finally kicked the hornet’s nest… Okay. But what does this mean for us, right now?”

  “Us? We are safe.”

  “Not from what I just saw.”

  “That?” She glanced wearily over at the attendants in their fatigued flurry. “What you just witnessed here was a symptom of a much larger problem. There is not a way for me to conclude for certain what just happened over there, but… it’s not good.”

  “Give me your best educated guess.”

  The senior attendant swallowed, looking at me again.

  “I am not going to ask twice. Don’t waste my time.”

  “Right now, the chrysm spike has been stabilized. Our machines are no longer catastrophic. But stable and safe are not the same thing—the chrysm hasn’t fallen back to baseline levels. We can try to control its effects here, but there is an unbelievably powerful burst of magical energy bathing Seven Portals. We can’t extinguish it from this side of the portal network. And this could become highly dangerous for Lord Craven.”

  “Out with it,” I demanded. “What are you telling me?”

  “Ever since the skies went red… the magic of the world has been bathed in shadow. Surely you’ve noticed that the forests around the castle have went silent? The wildlife has gone into hiding. I would be surprised if they saw much of anything on their way to Seven Portals. But now, a lantern is lit, one the size of a citadel! It is a lantern surrounded by very dangerous moths…”

  My face fell. “What?”

  “Usually, a thick layer of magic pervades the entirety of the hold. Our machines, right now, c
an only detect a single source of it. Beforehand, the storm seemed to be pulling all the magic away through Seven Portals, but now…? Now, it looks like it is dousing the entire academy in it. And that will attract every monstrosity in a range…”

  In an instant, I had her coat in my fists.

  “What range? How dangerous are we talking here?”

  “About a thousand kilometers in radius, I think.”

  I stared into her eyes. “That’s… half the mainland…”

  “It will take days for the furthest predators to reach it. Possibly a week. But there are enough creatures lurking in just the Far Reaches alone. Within several hours, they will descend upon Seven Portals in a swarm. When they do… whatever is there will be overwhelmed.”

  “But… all of the vampire lords are there.”

  “True. I cannot read their magical signatures from here. I have reason to think they may be... incapacitated to some degree. But it is the strangest thing.” I released my grip on her as she rose from her seat to check the machines. “I can determine that they are, in fact, still there… and alive.”

  I processed all of this with mounting terror.

  “You’re telling me the Council of the Eight Holds is all but defenseless, and trapped in a citadel that’s about to be overrun by half the terrors of the mainland? Even if Seven Portals is filled with mages, no amount of magic is going to defend against that.”

  “It’s not entirely hopeless. At least they still have their barriers around Seven Portals. Perhaps—“

  A warning chime burst out of the machines.

  “Oh.” She stared vacantly.

  I grit my teeth. “Don’t you dare—“

  “Never mind. There it went.”