by Logan Jacobs
“It’s magnificent!” Morgana gasped before she stepped deeper inside the room and began to twirl around. “Oh, if it weren’t for Cole and Scholomance, I would live in this library forever!”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Akira snorted, “but, Morgana… you need to focus. We’re here for the stone, remember?”
Morgana stopped twirling and then met my eyes, and the spark of innocent excitement quickly drained away from them as a deep blush spread across her cheeks.
“Forgive me, master,” she muttered while she looked down at her fingers and began to fiddle with them nervously. “I suppose I got a little carried away.”
“It’s fine,” I answered with a small chuckle. “I’d have been more shocked if you had no reaction at all.”
A small smile spread across the bookworm’s face before she flashed Akira a satisfied smirk.
“Whatever,” Akira said before she flashed her dark eyes in my direction. “Master, how are we going to find the stone inside this library? It’s fucking enormous.”
“I know,” I answered. “I suppose we--”
Cole! a familiar voice gasped inside my head. You must hurry… the queen… she is coming!
“Shit!” I snapped. “How long do we have?”
“What?” Penelope asked with bright, pinched eyebrows. “Master, who are you talking to?”
“Shhh,” Circe ordered before she pressed a finger against her lips. “Let him speak.”
The other women exchanged confused glances with one another as a sharp pain stabbed the sides of my temples.
I winced and nearly lunged forward from the intense jolt of electricity coursing through my veins.
Do you see the statue of the Elder God? the woman from the painting echoed. The one by the fireplace in the corner… over there to your right!
I swerved my head and spotted a giant, white marble statue of an Elder God with broad shoulders and a strong jaw. He held onto a small dove, and his mouth was set into a firm, tight line as if he were silently daring anyone who gazed upon him to touch the precious animal.
“I see it,” I responded, “but--”
Twist the head of the dove! she commanded. Hurry!
I ran over to the statue while the women silently watched in confusion. I placed my hand on the small dove’s head, and sure enough, with one quick twist, its head turned, and a low rumbling sound echoed inside the library.
“What’s going on?” Beatrix gasped.
“He’s clearly found the stone!” Akira snapped. “Duh!”
The bright, yellow and tangerine flames of the fireplace quickly died, and, just like the hidden passageway in Theodora’s office, the stones hastily began to rearrange themselves to create a wide opening. When the fireplace completely split apart, we found ourselves gawking at the vision before us.
There, on a tall golden podium, was the third and final Defero stone. Even in the darkness, its black and diamond-like texture glistened and shone with undeniable brilliance and glory. It may not have been grand in size, but it radiated power and incredible darkness that pulsated through my entire body.
Take it! the woman’s voice fiercely resounded inside my head. Now!
I rushed to grab the stone, and when my fingers curled around the rough texture, another sound came from behind us. My heart began to beat wildly inside my chest, and when we all whipped around, the doors to the library were parted wide open.
Standing at the threshold among an army of men was a tall and elegantly dressed woman with long, blonde hair and rich green eyes. I couldn’t see her face because she covered it with a pale pink silk veil, adorned with pearls and diamonds sewn along the edges of the flowing fabric. Then her sharp eyes met mine, and even through her cover, I knew she was smiling. I could sense her hatred and contempt for us, even from afar.
“Well,” she purred in a dangerously low voice. “It seems we have caught a group of thieves in my beloved library. Sir Allen… what is the penalty for trespassing and stealing? Not to mention impersonating a holy member of the Elder church… no true priest would ever steal… especially from a holy queen.”
A robustly built guard with raven-black hair and chestnut brown eyes smiled savagely at us before he turned obediently to his queen.
“Death, Your Majesty,” he responded without hesitation.
Her malevolent eyes bored into mine before she slowly raised her hand into the air and snapped her fingers.
“Seize them,” she ordered.
I’m sorry, Cole, the woman from my dreams whispered. This is a battle you must fight on your own… may Satan help you and your women.
And with those final words, I felt her presence leave my body and soul, and then it was just the nine of us against dozens of Elder worshipping soldiers.
The time to fight for our lives had arrived once again, and despite the odds, I was ready to spill their Wicca-hating blood and wreak total chaos over their entire fucking kingdom.
Chapter 6
As the queen’s men rounded in on us, I maintained my stance and regarded the veiled woman with nothing but utter contempt. Even through her cover-up, I could see her wicked and hate-filled smile glowering beneath the beautiful fabric, and I knew she would do everything within her power to see us burn at the stake.
While the men grew closer, none of my women made a move. They were silently waiting for my command, so I looked up and tried to see what I could use to my advantage, and I quickly studied the massive chandelier that dangled and glowed high above us. I smiled to myself when I pictured the massive ornament falling and crushing the soldiers, but if this was indeed my next plan of attack, I had to be quick.
Our lives depended on it.
Even though the men were hastily nearing us with their blades extended, I closed my eyes and forced myself to focus on the darkness that always guarded and guided me. I willed the evil spirits to be with me and summoned my inner wickedness to stand by my side as I controlled the elements to do my unholy bidding.
When a dozen or so guards were exactly where I wanted them to be, I opened my eyes, narrowed them at the heavy, dangling ornament, and willed it to come crashing down to break bones and take souls.
Motus.
In moments, there was a crackling noise, like the sound of metal coming apart, and then the chandelier came cascading down upon the queen’s men. The last and most satisfying sound they made before they were crushed into a pile of broken bones and armor was their terrified and shocked screams.
I smiled to myself as the queen stumbled backward and then placed a trembling hand over her heart as if Satan himself was standing before her. Her remaining men looked pale faced, and their eyes were glassy and filled with horror. I knew they were in shock and rendered dumbfounded, and a few of them even appeared to be on the verge of fainting.
“Witchcraft,” she hissed as her snake-green eyes narrowed at me.
I knew the queen was using all her willpower to glower at me with nothing but disdain, but I thought I saw a tint of fear in those soulless orbs of hers.
“That’s right, bitch,” Nyx exclaimed before she tossed back her hood. “Motherfucking witchcraft. Hail Satan.”
The queen took another stumbling step backward, and her men also gasped with horror and shock as they gazed upon the fully blue witch with protruding red horns.
“Damn Wiccas… kill them!” the queen shrieked, but she didn’t sound like a powerful queen who was in total control of her emotions. Instead, she reminded me of a little girl, terrified of a spider who crawled uninvited into her bedroom in the dead of night. “Kill them all!”
It took them a moment, but soon, the men were obeying her commands and nearing us once more, and it didn’t take long for one of my women to attack.
“Volant!” Nyx screamed as she pulled out her wand and aimed it at a handful of guards coming our way.
They violently flew back into the wall of the library, and those who weren’t wearing their helmets crushed their skulls against
the wood and sunk limply to the floor, while their brains and blood covered the walls like a fresh coat of red paint mixed with bits of pink, glistening gore.
“Fuck this!” one knight yelled before he spun around and fled the library.
A few others followed him, but a handful remained behind to stay by the queen’s side.
“You cowards!” the queen bellowed. “I’ll hang you for treason, you ball-less bastards! The rest of you stop gawking and kill them! For the love of God, do something!”
“Attack with all you’ve got!” I commanded as I stared up at the stone ceiling. “Now!
The other women whipped out their wands, aimed their steady hands at the Wicca-hating soldiers, and prepared to wreak havoc on each fucker.
“Dissulto!” Morgana screamed, and a flash of bright red light hit a cluster of men who had listened to their queen and charged in our direction.
“Stupefaciunt!” Penelope cried out as another group of men went soaring backward.
“Contundito!” Circe roared, and as her spell hit a guard, his knees gave out, and we could hear the echoing crunch of his bones breaking before he fell to the floor and let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Well done!” I cheered, and I was relieved I decided to bring a more mature and advanced Wicca with us, even if we barely knew anything about her or her past.
While the other women were busy blasting spell after spell, I focused again on the crumbling ceiling and willed the stones to rain down upon the queen’s men, and soon, the room was an explosion of colors and tumbling rocks.
As the chaos ensued, I knew which ancient and vastly powerful spell would kill the remaining men. I was slightly hesitant to use it since it would take a substantial amount of my energy and willpower, but if it could bring the madness to an end, I was willing to do it. So, as my witches blasted their incantations and took out the soldiers, I stood there and once again summoned my inner darkness and malevolent strength to come to my aid. As I concentrated on the unholy power that had consumed my entire entity, I aimed my wand at the dozens of men left in the chaotic room. Then I took in a deep breath before I shouted with all my strength and determination to see their downfall.
“Praeteritum!”
In moments, the room darkened and grew ice-cold, and every man who was still alive and mobile crouched down in utter agony and let out piercing screams as their terrible pasts and former sins came back to haunt them, literally to death. I knew they could feel the flames of every Wicca they’d burned, the last breaths of each citizen they hanged, and the deep, buried regret they harbored for all the pain, loss, and agony they’d inflicted in this world.
“Noooo!” one guard shrieked while he covered his ears. “Make it stoooooop!”
I could feel my body weakening as the men slowly turned to ashes and dust, but then a different kind of sensation took over my mind and body. I’d used this spell before, to kill the elder general, and I knew what the side-effects would feel like, but this was something else entirely. It frightened me because I could feel my mind leaving this world and preparing to enter another.
And I couldn’t leave my women.
Not now.
“Cole?” Faye cried out. “What’s wrong?”
“I-I don’t know,” I replied through gritted teeth.
As my world darkened, I stared at the lone queen and gazed into her terrified green eyes.
Show her no mercy, said the woman from my dreams. Look at what she has done to us. Make her pay with fire and blood!
My entire body convulsed as the library left my eyes and was replaced with the same view I’d witnessed inside Theodora’s office.
Once again, I found myself standing by the edge of a rugged cliff, where a row of stakes stood before me. The air was frigid, and the sky was a shade of merciless, steel gray. I could hear screams echoing in chorus with the shrill cries of the piercing wind, and when I looked through the mist, I saw another group of women being dragged with rusty chains by a group of cloaked holy men.
However, this time, instead of a king and pregnant queen leading the men and confined women to the stakes, it was the veiled queen herself, and she had her hands neatly folded in front of her as the witches cried out in agony and struggled to walk to their deaths.
“Tie them to their posts,” the queen ordered in a low growl.
Her obedient men didn’t say a word as the group of Wiccas were heartlessly secured to the wooden posts. When the last woman was tied to her fate, she spat at the queen’s feet and then stared straight into her menacing, emerald eyes.
“You will pay dearly for this, you God-loving bitch,” the Wicca snarled.
“Oh,” the queen purred, “I have already paid greatly for it.”
To my shock, the queen slowly unclasped her veil and revealed her face. In my lifetime, I’d seen a great deal of horrendous looking creatures, but I was still taken aback by her hideous appearance. Even Sweeny, the Wicca from our first year, with her scarred skin and gashed mouth, didn’t appear as hideously deformed as the woman in front of me was.
The queen’s skin was covered in massive boils and seemed to be putrid like a decayed corpse, and two holes in each cheek exposed her rotted, yellow teeth and swollen, bleeding gums. There was also a giant cleft in her mouth, and it made her lips seem twice the average size.
“As you can see, your kind decided to mark me with your hideous nature, long ago,” she cooed just before she covered her face back up. “Not only did you see fit to deform me, but you also stole the life of my mother. The sight of her gruesome child killed her immediately… do you not think that was punishment enough?”
“You should have never sought us out,” the Wicca snapped back. “We never disturbed you before your bastard of a father decided to seek us out for his vendetta.”
“You will do well not to speak ill of my father,” the queen growled before she took a step back.
As she did so, one of her men began to approach the pyre with a tall, white candle, but then the queen raised her hand to stop him.
“My queen--?” he began.
“I will light the flames,” she instructed in a firm voice. “Please, pass me the candle.”
“Yes, my queen,” he said in a hesitant tone.
The queen immediately snatched the candle from his withered hands and then gazed upon the helpless women with contempt and satisfaction glowing in her green eyes. She took her time to light each pyre, and as the flames began to lick at the bloody and bruised feet of each witch, the queen began to cackle like a madwoman.
It took them a good while, but eventually, the witches bellowed from the excruciating pain as the fire devoured their flesh and melted their bones.
“You should be thanking me!” Delphina screamed over their cries of agony. “I’m sending you back to hell where you belong!”
The last thing I heard before I was abruptly pulled out the vision was the cruel laughter of the queen resonating above the pain-filled screams of the Wiccas. I could feel their wrath, anguish, and helplessness, even when my soul returned to the cruel domain of Delphina’s realm and body littered library.
“You,” I snarled as I stared long and hard at the masked queen. “You’re even crueler than the Wiccas you sought out to murder in cold and callous blood… I’ll be sure to see you suffer the same fate as my fellow witches.”
“What do you--” she began, but it was too late.
My eyes darted over to the flaming scones along the walls, and with every ounce of strength I had left in my body, I forced them to complete my bidding.
Motus.
In the next moment, the flames flew in great balls of fire toward the queen, and her eyes widened in disbelief and horror as the flames climbed up her body and began to scorch her alive. She screamed and waved her hands up into the air as the inferno burned her flesh and clothing, and as her skin blackened and charred, I stood in place and watched her slow and painful demise with pure satisfaction.
I wanted her death to
be agonizing, and I wanted her to feel every nerve ending and fiber burning and melting away into oblivion. Her deafening screams were like music to my ears, and the smile on my face only widened as she collapsed to the floor and feebly attempted to diminish the growing flames that had consumed her entire body.
There was still life left within her, and even though I knew it would take a heavy toll on my body, I was ready for her to feel another kind of pain.
I wanted her to feel every ounce of fear she had caused each Wicca in her lifetime.
She deserved that, and more.
So, as I stared at her burning body, I narrowed my eyes at her form and willed the dark spirits to consume my body as I tortured her one final time. Then I slowly lifted my wand, and without remorse or hesitation, I uttered the last words she would ever hear.
“Praeteritum!”
The spell hit her body, and she let out a feral, ear-splitting scream that echoed throughout the entire castle. Then her body burned and bled from the boils erupting all over her singed skin, and she violently shook and sobbed as the sins from her past came back to collect their due.
With one final scream, an explosion of blood, guts, and bones filled the air and splattered everywhere. I could feel her gore all over my skin, and as I licked my lips, the taste of her scorched, sour blood filled me with a savage kind of satisfaction.
“Cole,” Akira whispered as she took a step closer toward me. “That was fucking amazing… but… how are you holding up?”
“That was an incredible amount of power to use, master,” Morgana added in a faint voice. “Even if it was well overdue.”