Beasts and Maidens

by M.E. Timmons

  Chapter 22

  Wicesla clamped a hand over her mouth hard. “There’s no need to be making that infernal racket, girl,” she hissed. “You’ll wake up the whole house.” She looked over at Jenson, who was sleeping in the corner. He stirred, but he hadn’t woken up. Wicesla removed her hand, though hesitantly.

  “What do you expect me to do?!” Selene responded angrily, though in a hushed whisper. “I woke up and you were standing over me! You really shouldn’t do that to people.”

  “I didn’t come to murder you in your sleep, if that’s what you thought,” Wicesla said. “Not that the idea isn’t appealing. I came to talk, after what you just told me. Meet me outside in two minutes.”

  “Alone?”

  “Yes, alone. I told you I didn’t come to murder you, and I do keep my word. Two minutes.”

  Selene nodded reluctantly, and Wicesla slipped out. The door didn’t make its customary squeak as she went through it.

  Selene reached under the couch and pulled out the spell book. She turned to the right page to confirm the spell’s existence. It was there, and that fact gave her strength. She shut the book and put it back under the couch. She didn’t want the book to accidently end up in the wrong hands, and it was really her only bargaining tool, so she wasn’t taking it with her.

  It was still strangely warm outside, even though it was the middle of the night. Selene looked around, but there seemed to be no light at all, coming from the sky or from the village. She was hesitant to leave the safety of her home when she couldn’t see a thing outdoors.

  A light suddenly appeared near the barn. It was faint enough not to catch anyone’s attention, but bright enough for Selene to see. She recognized it as a magical light, not unlike the one she’d made in the clearing. She headed for it, her heart pounding. She didn’t want to be alone with an evil witch in the darkness of night. Really, she wouldn’t want to do it in the daytime either. She wished she had Jenson with her for support.

  The light moved. Selene stopped in her tracks and watched it. It began heading for the meadow. Selene couldn’t see well enough to follow safely without a light of her own, so she created one to guide her way. The trip didn’t take long.

  Wicesla stood near the forest. Selene approached, extinguishing her own light, since Wicesla’s remained. Its soft glow illuminated their faces, but little more.

  “What do you know of my curse?” Wicesla asked, breaking a momentary silence in which they had been staring at each other, sizing each other up.

  “I only know what Varla told me, though I don’t necessarily know if it’s true. She said she put a curse on you that makes you unable to touch any man without feeling tremendous pain. She also said that the only way to break the curse is for you to lose you powers, and that she didn’t expect you to make such a sacrifice.”

  Wicesla nodded, thinking. She brought her eyes up to meet Selene’s, and Selene was surprised by what she saw in them. There was no pretence; only a deep pain and loneliness.

  “I wouldn’t have made the sacrifice when I was young, but I’ve lived for too long like this. I miss being able to have lovers. The world is a lonely one when you never get to feel the touch of one you love. Tell me, how can you break the curse?”

  “Varla created a spell to take the powers from a witch. I am in possession of it. It requires little energy, so I have no doubt that I’ll be able to it. I must ask something in return though.”

  “You want me to help you end the curse on the men, don’t you?” Wicesla said. It was a rhetorical question, since she already knew the answer. “I’m afraid I can’t make any promises until you break my curse.”

  That wasn’t what Selene wanted to hear. “Why not?” she asked heatedly. “If your curse is broken, then surely you’ll have no reason to want to keep the men as beasts.”

  “That is true. Still, I’m not making any promises. I have my reasons. Do we have a deal, Ms. Brookbank?”

  “That isn’t a deal at all,” Selene complained. “It helps you, but I highly doubt that it will help me.”

  “It could, however, be your only chance. Besides, I could just as easily steal the spell from you. Surely it’s written down somewhere. I will repeat myself. Do we have a deal?” There was an edge of venom in her voice that made her sound very convincing.

  Selene didn’t have much time to think about, but she didn’t need time anyway. She wanted to do the spell if only to make Wicesla less of a threat. She nodded, trying to appear reluctant, even though she was actually reasonably happy. She just wished Wicesla would promise to help her. At least there was a chance.

  “When would you like to do it?” Selene asked.

  “Meet me here at sunrise,” Wicesla commanded. Before she turned to go, a sudden bright smile crossed her face, though only for a second. For once there was nothing dark or sinister about it; it was a smile of pure joy at the prospect of being freed from hundreds of years of living under a curse. To Selene, it made her look more human.

  With Wicesla gone, Selene was left standing in the dark. It only took moments for her to become disoriented and forget which direction was which, so she lit her own light again in order to see. It was hard finding her way back, even with years of experience and her weak light. The darkness was just so overpowering; it was like walking through a thick fog that her light hardly penetrated.

  Regardless, she made it back home. She winced at the creak of the door, but no one seemed to notice, as usual. Selene laid down on the couch, smiled to herself, and then closed her eyes.

  Unfortunately, sleep wasn’t so easy to come by. Selene was anxious for dawn to come, and worried that she would end up sleeping through it. She ended just lying there with her eyes wide open, staring up at the ceiling, even though it wasn’t visible in the dark.

  Sometime during the night she heard a rustling from the corner of the living room. She figured it was Jenson, even though she couldn’t see anything. She heard him stand up and take a few steps toward her.

  “Selene?” he whispered softly, as if checking to see if she was awake.

  “Yeah?” she responded, straining to see him, but unable to do so. It was just too dark, since there was no moon and no lights on.

  Selene felt Jenson’s hands as he felt for her, and then he sat down on the edge of the couch. His weight made her shift slightly. She put her hands up to feel where he was, and then she rested them on his, which she managed to find.

  “I can’t sleep,” Jenson said. “I don’t know why, but I feel like something big is going to happen soon, and I’ll miss it if I close my eyes.”

  Selene smiled, knowing that he couldn’t see the expression. She could hear an edge of something in his voice, and she wasn’t sure if it was excitement, or if it was something closer to fear.

  “Wicesla came to me not long ago; first in my dream and then she was really here. I’m meeting with her at sunrise to break her curse, but she didn’t make any promises to help me. She didn’t say she wouldn’t though, so I still have hope.”

  “Ah, so that must be what I’m expecting,” Jenson whispered.

  The sound of his voice was soft and yet rough at the same time; almost like a low growl. It sent shivers down Selene’s spine. She sat up and moved her hands, trying to find his face, but he found hers first, and he kissed her. In the dark there were no distractions, so the feeling of his lips on hers was almost overwhelming.

  She pulled away, trying to find her breath. Then she kissed him quickly once more, and then laid back down. Jenson laid down with her. There was barely room for the both of them on the tiny couch, but when tangled together it didn’t matter much.

  They stayed that way until a soft light came in through the window, finally allowing Selene to see. She still hadn’t slept, though she could tell by Jenson’s soft and rhythmic breathing that he was sleeping just fine. It wasn’t easy untangling herself without waking him, but she someh
ow managed. She had a feeling that Wicesla wouldn’t want him to be there, judging by the way she had ignored him in the past.

  It was much easier getting to the meadow with the light of dawn to guide her way. The sun wasn’t yet up over the mountains, but Selene could see that Wicesla was already by the forest, and she was standing there alone.

  Selene was nervous. It helped in a way, because the adrenaline in her system kept her from feeling tired. She walked with an almost perceptible bounce in her step and the faintest hint of a smile on her face. She wasn’t just nervous; she was excited. To her, it was a day when something big could happen. Like Jenson earlier in the night, she felt that there was something coming, and she hoped it was a change.

  Wicesla wasn’t facing her when she arrived at the top of the hill and started walking into the meadow. She spoke anyway.

  “Do you have the spell with you?” she asked, turning around. There was even a hint of excitement on her features.

  “I wouldn’t have bothered coming without it,” Selene said. She brought out the spell book.

  “I should have known,” Wicesla said, looking at the violet on the cover. “Well, I did know; just not for sure. It seems your little spirit friend helped you after all.”

  “My ‘little spirit friend’ doesn’t know I have this,” Selene told her. She opened the book to the right page. “Do you really want to do this now?”

  “I wouldn’t have bothered coming if I didn’t.”

  “You do realize that this spell will take away your powers permanently, right? There’s no spell to bring them back. You’ll be just a normal human. You won’t even be able to use magic to transport yourself, which you seem to like doing.”

  “I do like my dramatic entrances,” Wicesla said with a hint of sarcasm. “Honestly, kid, I know what this means for me, and I’m ready. If you aren’t, then I suggest you give me the spell book before I take it by force.”

  There was a hard edge to her voice that told Selene she meant what she said. She nodded and cleared her throat. Wicesla waved a hand, indicating impatiently for her to read the spell. Selene saw no reason to wait any longer, so she did:

  I call you spirits of magic,

  For I need you now,

  I have something to ask,

  A favour to allow.

  Abandon this witch before me,

  For she no longer needs you,

  She wishes to be normal,

  And view the world as new.

  Do not be offended,

  That she no longer seeks your aid,

  She will struggle without you,

  And be very much afraid.

  Some things are worth the sacrifice,

  For a sacrifice this will be,

  As much as you are loved,

  This witch needs to be free.

  Instead of energy visibly flowing from Selene, a thick silver cloud seemed to erupt from all over Wicesla’s body. She fell to her knees and moaned slightly as the energy rose up and coalesced into a throbbing orb. It flashed suddenly, as if it was exploding outward, and then it imploded into a pinprick of bright light that lingered for a second before disappearing. There was hardly any drain at all to Selene’s energy, which she was thankful for, since she had little to begin with.

  “It’s always easier to take something away than to give or create,” Wicesla commented. She sounded breathless and weak.

  Selene went over and offered a hand to help her up. Wicesla took it reluctantly, and seemed to be shaky on her feet. Still, she managed to hold herself up with some sense of dignity.

  “How do you feel?” Selene asked.

  Wicesla chuckled weakly. “I thought the first thing you’d ask would be for me to help you.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “I’ve been better, but I’ll survive,” Wicesla said. She was frowning slightly. “It doesn’t feel right. Not having powers, I mean. It will be strange to start growing older again.”

  That surprised Selene. “Why won’t you be growing older? You took the Draught of Eternal Life, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, but the spell took away my magic. It took away all magic within me, including the magic of the draught. I knew it was going to happen.” She shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal.

  Selene actually felt kind of bad, since she hadn’t known that would happen. There was nothing she could do about it though. She figured it was time to ask the question.

  “So, are you going to help me break the curse?”

  Wicesla looked at her seriously. Somehow, her gaze didn’t seem quite as sharp as before, as if it had lost some of its lustre. It did, however, appear more serious and honest.

  “No,” she said.