The Responsible Witch (The Ward Witches)

by Lauren McMinn

  Gage stayed in the shadows to watch the implanted thoughts take root in Redman's mind. Eric sat up straight in his chair.

  “I need to get to Boston,” he said to himself. “I need to kill Gage and Dymphna. I'll gather a team, and we'll drive to Boston. That will give my Order the advantage it needs over those fanatics in the Coven. From there, I can regroup and kill them all!” Eric got up to go give commands.

  Perfect.

  Gage slipped right back out the way he came, keeping a light touch on his brother's mind long enough to see if he was aware of the other presence in his subconscious. There was no indication that he had, so Gage withdrew back to his own mind and his own body.

  It was like Dymphna had pointed out in so far as without being conscious of any limitations of his magic, Gage could do what no one had thought possible.

  He opened his eyes to see everyone in a semi-circle around him again, just like before. Dymphna had a glass of ice water again too, and he gulped it gratefully.

  “How did it go?” she asked hopefully.

  “It went great. As far as I could tell, he had no idea I was there. In fact, as I withdrew, he was going to rally his troops to head here. If all was as it seemed, they'll be on the road here soon.”

  “Good work,” Justin proclaimed, putting a hand on his shoulder in a brotherly fashion. “Alright, everyone, you heard the man. The game is on.”

  Dymphna thought it was awfully anti-climactic to wait even longer after the high of Gage's success. Of course, if he had succeeded like it seemed, they would still need to gather a team and drive to Boston. They could arrive tonight, or it could be tomorrow.

  She wouldn't have thought it possible, but the tension was even thicker than it had been before. Tim dropped a pan in the sink as he was helping Denise with dinner, and most of the witches jumped. One even had a fire ball conjured before they realized it wasn't an attack. They all felt a little silly when they figured it out.

  In the late evening, the shift changed and Dymphna was on for patrol. Her assigned spot was in the attic. There was a nice picture window up there that looked out over the front yard. She was able to sit in a chair and see anything that approached. Or anyone.

  Gage had the same shift, but he was watching the back.

  Dymphna thought about him and their relationship while she waited. She never thought she'd want a romantic relationship, but now that she had him, she needed him and everything he gave her. She had been thinking about it for days, but now she was sure that when she returned to work, she'd lay off some. The firm had a never-ending list of potential clients, but she shouldn't feel the need to represent every one of them. If she cut back, she could have some free time to spend with her husband. Maybe some day she'd spend that same free time with his children as well. Free time hadn't been a requirement before they met, but now it was.

  Off to the left, she saw some of the bushes move. It could have been an animal until she saw an arm around the end of the bush. Immediately she blew her whistle, and she could hear it resonate through the house on a magical level that only the elemental witches could hear. As soon as the sound stopped, she was running down the stairs to join the others.

  Luckily no one had gone to sleep yet so they came together in the front hall.

  "They're off in the bush to the left of the house," Dymphna said.

  "We can't be sure they're not surrounding the house," Justin pointed out. "Everyone knows where they're posted in an emergency; get there now. Don't reveal our hand until we see them. We don't want to scare them off before we get a chance to capture them. Be careful, and don't get hurt."

  On that note, everyone dispersed. Dymphna and Gage were both on the front team, and they stood together in the front hall. Without looking at her, Gage reached over and squeezed her hand. Just a bit, then he let go. It was just enough to say he loved her before the fight.

  The Coven witches kept out of sight through the windows, but they were able to use those windows to monitor the Dark Order witches as they approached the house. Dymphna could see Redman give the sign to move forward. That was their cue, and Justin threw open the door so the Coven witches could get outside.

  Redman and his men were startled, but only for a second. There were at least twenty attackers, but that moment of surprise allowed the witches to throw an offensive spell at them. Six Dark Order witches collapsed immediately, and five more were doing badly.

  Both sides threw fireballs and other offensive spells, and Dymphna chose to use her magic to erect a water barrier between the two forces. It was a complex spell because it allowed elemental magic to go through but not black magic. That meant that it was intense for Dymphna to hold it steady and impossible for her to do any other spells.

  She was aware of Gage firing fireball after fireball at her side. Two of theirs fell, but five of the Order fell as well. Eric Redman was behind the first line of his men, and he threw strong fireballs that stank of blood. For that much power, they must have used human blood, which made Dymphna sick. Her spell was taking more and more of her strength, and she concentrated all of her effort and magic on it.

  Then Redman threw a particularly strong fireball right at her. The barrier held, but then it faltered. Then it failed, and Dymphna collapsed.

  Gage noticed when Eric's spell destroyed Dymphna's barrier. He worried when he saw her fall. Plus now the Coven witches didn't have that protection anymore. This was Eric's fault, and he needed to pay.

  All of Gage's efforts were then concentrated on his half-brother. He switched from fireballs and tried an air magic spell to choke Eric. His half-brother dodged the spell, and so Gage tried water magic. He tried to pull the water from his lungs, but that didn't work either. Gage and Redman both moved to the right, ignoring the rest of the fight. They traded fireballs, and Gage wasn't sure he could keep it up much longer. He didn't have enough experience with magic to use so much of it in such a short time.

  Then all of a sudden, a bright red stain appeared on Redman's chest. It took Gage a second to figure out what was happening, but then he realized that his mother had stabbed Redman in the chest from the back. Eric turned to her and blasted her with a powerful fireball before he fell.

  Gage's heart stopped. Oh no, oh no, oh no, he chanted in his mind as he ran to where he saw her fall. Right in the middle of her chest, there was a bloody wound where the fireball hit. Her eyes were wide open in shock. Numb with grief, he tried to find a pulse, even though he knew there was no way she could survive such an injury. There was none.

  He checked to see if Redman lived, but his mother's last deed had succeeded and he was dead as well. Once he assured himself of that, he turned back to Denise. He couldn't stop the tears that welled in his eyes and fell onto her body.

  He heard the sounds of battle disperse, and he hoped that the Coven had won. But at what cost?

  Justin put a hand on his shoulder. "I saw what she did. I'm sorry for your loss."

  "Thank you. I... I need to make sure Dymphna is alright." He didn't know what he'd do if he had lost them both.

  "I'm sure that once the police arrive this will be a crime scene. They've been called and they're on their way."

  "You're right," Gage said. He saw Rita helping Dymphna, and he rushed to her side. "How is she?"

  "She'll be fine. She's used too much of her magic, and she needs to build it back up. Now you're here, I'll go help the others."

  He looked around, and saw that most of the Coven witches had some kind of injury. The ones who were mobile were moving about, putting plastic cuffs on the Dark Order witches. Gage could hear the sirens as the police came.

  Thankfully, Dymphna's pulse was still strong. He examined her with his water magic, and found that what Rita said was true. She had barely any magic left, and all of that was working to keep her body going. He pulled his wife so that she lay her head in his lap, and he smoothed her hair away from her face as the police showed up.

  Justin met them, and he explained the situation. The
police weren't happy, but they couldn't find fault with the Coven witches protecting their home. They confirmed with some of the others, and took the invaders off in the squad cars. Justin explained about how Denise and Redman died, and no one else had taken serious injury.

  Three officers stayed to take official statements from everyone as the ME's van was on the way. They offered to get the paramedics, but the water witches were more than enough. The paramedics would be coming to tend to the Order witches who had been hurt though. Since none of the Order witches had attacked the Coven House, all of the water witches there were on their way to help Rita. There had even been some Order witches in the back, so everyone who had been at Ward Manor had seen action.

  It was nearly morning when the officers and the water witches had finished up. Gage felt empty as they took his mother's body away. Dymphna still hadn't woken up, so he carried her up to their bedroom after saying goodnight to everyone. He undressed her and cleaned up her injuries that had come from her collapse. He would use his water magic on her later, when he had some magic left.

  Exhausted though emotional, Gage fell asleep as soon as he got under the covers with his wife.

  In the morning, Gage woke up when Dymphna did. He knew because she awoke with a wordless scream.

  "Honey, it's over," he said, sitting up and pulling her to his chest.

  "Oh god, what a nightmare. The last thing I remember is that fireball that killed my barrier."

  "I was so worried that you had been hurt."

  "I've used too much magic, but I'll recover." She looked closer at his face, and he knew she saw the pain there. "What did I miss? That look in your eyes isn't because I exhausted myself."

  He told her everything, and she took his hand in hers. "I'm sorry, Gage."

  "I don't know why she was there."

  "Yes, you do. She was there to kill Redman, and she succeeded. I hadn't thought of that possibility before the battle, but now it seems clear that she would try something like that. She felt responsible for much of what he did with the same kind of blood magic she had used herself. From what I knew of her, I'd bet she left you some kind of note."

  "You think?"

  "Get dressed, and we'll go look in her room." Dymphna was still weak, but she made it to the guest room on her own power.

  When they got there, Gage saw that she was right. There was an envelope on her bed with his name on it. In it, she explained that she knew that she would likely die if she went after Eric, but that she was willing to take the risk. She would do anything to try to kill him, the last leader of the Dark Order. Denise hoped that his death would be the end of it. His mother told him to be happy and to take advantage of the opportunity to change his life. He vowed to do so.

  Two months later, Gage waited in the hall with Leo as Dymphna was serving as Skylar's midwife. She had done the same thing a few weeks ago with Fiona, but that didn't mean Leo worried any less. Leo paced the hallway, and Gage just waited.

  After a while, they heard a baby cry. Leo knocked on the door, but Dymphna called for him to wait a little longer. Then they heard a second baby cry, and Dymphna again called for patience. When she finally let them come in, Skylar and the two infants were all cleaned up. Skylar smiled at Leo, and he ran his finger through her hair.

  "Are you alright?"

  "I'll be fine. Now meet our twins, one boy and one girl."

  Leo looked every bit the proud father as he held the babies, one in each arm. "What are we going to name them?"

  They decided on Jennifer and Jeremy. Then Dymphna, Gage, and Rita left the family alone. Rita excused herself as well, leaving Gage and Dymphna alone.

  "You do good work."

  "Thank you."

  "I love you, Dymphna. Daily I'm reminded how lucky I was to find you."

  "I love you too. And I know that with all that you've done around here, your mother would be proud."

  "I'm sure she would be. And you daily remind me what it is to love someone so strongly that you'd do anything for them.”

  “I'm just glad it won't come to that again.”

  “That's for sure. I can't see the Dark Order reforming again...”

  “But if it does, we'll be there to stop it.”

  “Exactly.”

  He kissed her, and all was right between them.

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