Rogue Witch (Daughter of Darkness Book 2)

by Val O. Morris

  His head appeared over the edge again. “The idea is to not get in a situation like this.”

  I mumbled, “I’ll remember that next time I have the choice to save your ass.”

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing! Just find something to get me outta here!”

  “Hang tight,” he said before disappearing.

  “I”m hanging,” I said to myself. “I’ll be right here pondering life and all that jazz. And what I’m gonna do to that little shit imp if I find it.”

  Before I could get too caught up in the many ways to skin an imp, Spratlin reappeared, holding a large tree limb.

  “Are you happy to see me, or is that a large piece of wood in your hands?” I couldn’t resist.

  “Very funny. Stand back a little.”

  Heh, that’s what he wishes he could say. I glanced around at the walls. The hole was just barely wider than the length of my outstretched arms. “I’m in a hole. Where the hell am I supposed to go?”

  “Just watch out, okay?” He slowly lowered the limb into the hole using the edge of the hole to guide it. It was going good until the limb turned upright, and the weight of it was too much for him to hold.

  The limb came sliding down fast and hard. A stray branch scrapped my forearm as I shielded my face from the impact.

  “You okay?”

  I wiped the blood from my arm on my pants. “I’ll live!”

  The hole was so straight and narrow that I would literally have to climb the tree limb to get out. Luckily, it had a few small branches jutting out to grab onto. Spratlin reached for my hand as I neared the top and pulled me up the rest of the way.

  I dusted myself off and checked myself for any more injuries. I was still in one piece, thank God.

  Spratlin stared at me like I’d just stepped off an alien planet. I wanted to punch him. “Where have you been?”

  He said, “In the Dead Woods looking for you. Where have you been?”

  “Running around with an imp.”

  Spratlin stepped forward waving his hand, but I cut him off before he could say anything. “Don’t get all fatherly on me. It appeared right after I saw myse-. I thought it was you at first.”

  My dead face flashed before me again. I flinched and turned around. I didn’t want him to see me lose my shit. My head felt light. My skin felt clammy. It was happening again. The man with the snake head.

  I felt someone grab my arm, and I turned around flinging an Electro Ball.

  “Whoa!” Spratlin said as he barely dodged the ball of electricity. “Mackenzie, it's me. You're safe.”

  I blinked, trying to push the thought of the snake man out of my mind. It was Spratlin. I felt the warmth of his arms wrapping around me. It was like a dream. Nothing felt real anymore.

  Spratlin looked at me. “You're shaking.” Then, he wrapped his jacket around my shoulders and rubbed them.

  There was no cold, no heat, only numbness. I could hear Spratlin speaking, but it sounded muffled, like his head was covered in a bucket. But it wasn't him that was covered. It was me. It was like walls went up around me to protect me from what I saw. To protect me from… me.

  Through the distance of my own head, I heard him say, “What were you saying? Something about yourself. You looked like you were hallucinating.”

  I looked up at him in curiosity. I was hallucinating? It felt so real.

  “Did you see something?” I heard him ask.

  “There was a body,” I said.

  Spratlin grabbed me and held me still. “There’s no one else here but us. It’s the Dead Woods playing tricks with your mind.”

  It was doing that alright. At least snakes weren’t coming out of his head. I wondered if the imp was even real.

  “Come on,” he said as he led me back to the path.

  We picked up our pace. The faster we got out of there, the better. I puffed as the path grew steeper. My knees did not agree with the stress I was putting on them to walk uphill. Guess I wasn’t quite ready for the zombie apocalypse either. The path also narrowed between two rows of rocky terrain. I hoped that moment wasn’t the moment that another hallucination would take place or that a demon would jump out at us.

  Finally, the terrain leveled out. I didn’t realize I could be so happy to be on even ground. I could only imagine how elated I would feel to be off the mountain. My knees were killing me. I checked my watch—we’d been on the mountain for hours. It felt like days. I plopped down on a nearby rock to catch my breath.

  I sipped some water from my canister, trying not to gulp it all at once. “I think I’d like being a game character. They don’t tire out from all the running around we make them do.”

  “Shh.” Spratlin held up his hand and turned his ear toward the darkness beside us. “You hear that?”

  CRACK!

  A twig snapped and footsteps thudded toward us.

  I jumped to my feet and readied my magic. I was ready to fling electricity at the first sign of any monstrosity running toward us from the darkness. A horde of snake-headed men running towards us flashed through my mind. My breath caught. I could barely make out what was actually running towards us. “Demons!” I yelled as soon as one of the little pointy-eared fuckers showed its ugly face.

  I zapped the first one with an Electro Bolt, which sent the demon into the air and several feet back.

  Spratlin raised an Aquatic Shield for our protection.

  Fortunately, we could both still shoot through it without damaging its protection. We both fired off a few more magic shots taking out demons one-by-one. Then the sound of thunder swelled as the thuds from the footsteps grew louder. There wasn’t just one demon running at us, there was a horde of them!

  “Quick! Aqua Fury Combo!”

  Spratlin doused the horde with a giant blast of water, and I zapped them all with Electric Fury. Combo magic at its finest. We ran in the direction of the now dead horde. There must have been forty or fifty of them. I kept my guard up as we stepped through the pile of burning demon flesh. I’d seen enough horror movies to know not to assume they were all dead.

  An arm shot up from the pile of bodies. I flung an Electro Bolt at it faster than I could blink. I didn’t understand what the fuss was all about with Spratlin. How could I not enjoy blasting demons with a flick of my wrist?

  Something in the darkness moved, and I was about to zap it when Spratlin stepped in my line of fire.

  “There! The Hell Hole!” Spratlin said.

  I jumped in front of Spratlin putting my left hand on his shoulder to block him as I stabbed the demon with my Lightning Blade arm. I reacted impulsively. There was no time to think. Spratlin had no clue the demon was even there.

  My left hand slid from Spratlin’s shoulder. I ran over to the Hell Hole and slashed it with my bladed arm. Then, I closed my eyes as the Lightning Blade dissipated and my arm returned to normal.

  I could feel Spratlin as he approached me from behind. I didn’t want to face him, to see his disappointment. I slowly turned around.

  Spratlin didn’t say anything. He just stood there breathing heavily. I should have kept the blade—the air was so thick it would have sliced right through it. Getting into another argument wasn’t something I wanted, so I walked past him like nothing was wrong.

  Then, I heard Spratlin’s footsteps as he caught up to me on the path. “Thank you,” he said softly.

  Thankful for his gratitude, I figured it best not to press the issue. Instead, I asked, “Why was there a Hell Hole on the mountain?”

  Spratlin gave me a look that said I wasn’t gonna like what he was about to say. “Someone knows we’re here.”

  Well, duh. Our mystery man was the one who sent us here looking for Kellen. Was he up to something? Nothing made sense. I needed answers. I stopped at the rocks where I had taken a break from walking and picked up my backpack and Spratlin’s discarded jacket.

  Spratlin yelled, “Mackenzie! Look out!”

  I raised my hand to shoot a bolt. I
figured it was more demons running toward us, but it was a man. I didn't know who it was, so I kept my hand up ready to fire.

  “They're chasing me! Shoot behind me!”

  At first, I didn't see anything, but I heard the familiar rumbling. Then, three demons came into view, and I zapped them all with quick bolts to the head.

  The man ran up to me out of breath. “Thank you. They were gonna kill me.”

  Spratlin asked, “Are there more?”

  “I… I don't think so. I don’t know.”

  “I'll check it out.” Spratlin took off up the hillside a few yards while I stayed with the man.

  The man looked familiar. “Do I know you?” Then it hit me. “You're Kellen!”

  “Shh! Keep your voice down. Don't alert any more of those… things.”

  Before I knew it, my magic welled up in my palm and I had the guy pinned against a tree. “I should string you up and kill you myself.”

  “Whoa! What’d I do?”

  “You killed my father!”

  “I didn't kill anyone! I swear! I don't even know who your father is!”

  “Mackenzie! What the hell are you doing?” The Hell Hole must've been close by because Spratlin was already back.

  “This is Kellen. The bastard who killed my father.”

  “Put him down! We don't know that.”

  “Malek said-.”

  “Are you gonna take that old weirdo at his word?”

  Kellen, still pinned by my arm in his throat, coughed out, “Malek? You're with him?”

  “We’re not with him,” I corrected.

  “What do you know about Malek?” asked Spratlin.

  “I know he's not someone you want to cross. If you'll kindly let me down, I'll show you.”

  Spratlin gave me the nod that said he'd watch Kellen’s every move, so I slowly backed away from him. I never took my eye off him, though. There was something about him that I didn’t trust.

  “We’re waiting.”

  The man wore a long sleeve button down shirt. First, he unbuttoned the cuffs, then he unbuttoned the front. As he removed his shirt, what appeared to be burned, black and crimson veins became visible. It was horrifying.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “I used to be like you. A mage. Until Malek decided to take it away.”

  “Your magic?” I was shocked. I didn't know a witch could do that to another witch.

  Kellen nodded. “Burned it right out of me.”

  “Jesus.” It was like a train wreck. It was horrible and gross to look at, yet I couldn't tear my eyes away.

  “I don’t think so,” muttered Spratlin.

  Spratlin was right. It was no force of good that had made those wounds. I didn't even want to know how Malek was able to do that.

  “What are you doing out here?” I asked.

  “I was headed to the peak.”

  “Why the peak?”

  Kellen replied, “To see the wise mage.”

  To see the wise mage? As in, the wise wizard at the peak of the mountain? I looked at Spratlin. “That’s true?”

  Spratlin nodded and shrugged, which I took to mean that he had heard the legend, too, but had not seen proof himself.

  Laughter burst from my mouth. “You’re kidding, right? A wise old mage? Is he gonna give us the Master Sword, too?”

  Spratlin shrugged. He was used to my sarcastic disbelief by now. Only, it wasn’t really disbelief. Hell, I’d seen some weird shit. Shit I ain’t ever seen before since becoming a witch. I guess what I am trying to say is, the idea that there was a wise wizard at the top of the mountain wasn’t the craziest thing I’d heard.

  Two cut strands of silver dangled from his palm. “What's that?”

  Kellen held it up. “Why I was headed to see the mage. This was the relic you've been looking for.”

  I took the broken strand of silver from him. I was holding the necklace that once held Malek’s relic. So close, yet so far away.

  “Demons?”

  Kellen lowered his head. “Yeah.”

  Spratlin patted Kellen on the back. “It's not your fault. It's obvious someone else wants that relic, too. You're lucky they didn't kill you for it.”

  Kellen took a few steps back, away from us. “Ha. They tried. Look, I don't know anything about the relic. It's supposed to have magical powers. Go to the wise mage.”

  Before I could grab him, he took off down the path.

  Spratlin held me back. “Let him go. Even if he knows something, he's too scared to talk.”

  I stared at Spratlin. My jaw clinched. We were in it now. No sense in turning back.

  “Well, Toto, what do ya say we pay the wizard a visit?” I don’t think he liked my playful reference to a certain popular dog, but he didn’t argue about the idea.

  For the next ten minutes or so we walked in silence. We finally made it out of the Dead Woods, and it was instant relief, like a hundred pounds had been lifted from my back. Even the air was clearer. At least we survived. I hoped Kellen would be alright, too.

  Praying it wouldn’t cause a fight, I said to Spratlin, “I wish you would answer my question. Why did you bail after the fight at the square?”

  Spratlin sighed.

  Defeat did not look good on him. Something was definitely going on.

  “Yeah, I guess I owe you an explanation.”

  Even his voice was softer than usual, lacking any happiness.

  We reached a spot on the trail where we had to scramble over a few rocks. Spratlin let me go first, so I waited for him on the other side.

  Instead of starting up the trail again, Spratlin stood in front of me and said, “I went to see my father. He’s dying.”

  12

  Mr. James was dying?

  Well, shit. I felt like an asshole.

  “I’m so sorry.” I didn’t know if I should hug him, or even touch him, so I just stood there.

  Mr. James was always so nice to me, unlike Spratlin’s mother who, despite her coming around a little bit lately, wanted to see me banished from Blackwood the moment we met. Mr. James, on the other hand, was so kind and diplomatic. I guess that’s why he was such a good Councilman.

  I thought back to the day at the Council. He looked so frail. “How long?”

  Spratlin spoke softly. “Maybe a month.”

  Damn. Spratlin was about to lose his father and yet, he chose to be out here with me. Now I felt like a double asshole.

  “You should turn back. Take the scenic route home.”

  “No way. I’m not leaving you out here.”

  “I can handle it. This shit is nothing compared to…” I bit my tongue and silently berated myself for being so cold. “Sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. I know what you meant.”

  Spratlin started up the trail. I took just a moment to process the bad news and jogged after him.

  “You’ve seemed tense ever since you freaked out in the woods. What’s bothering you?” he asked.

  He was hurting. Maybe changing the subject to my experience would help. “Remember when I said I saw a body?”

  “Yeah, I remember. You almost zapped me.”

  “Sorry,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “What did you see?”

  I thought back to the image of seeing my dead face. The idea of not knowing when my next death would be my last sent chills down my spine.

  I shook it off. “Just some weird shit.” No way could I tell the man who was about to lose his father that his girlfriend hallucinated an image of herself deceased.

  Finally, we reached the top of the mountain. We both sprawled out on the stone benches, relieved our legs were no longer walking. Never mind the thought of having to walk back down once we were ready to leave. Now would be a great time for a fast-travel back to town option.

  Spratlin stood up and stretched. I covered my face with my hand. My head was pounding. I wasn’t budging. That was the last time I climbed a fricking mountain—ten grand or not. I wat
ched through my fingers as Spratlin walked around the flat area we were in. When I think about a mountain peak, I think pointy, not flat, but I suppose it looked different from a distance. Perception and all that.

  “Are you not exhausted?”

  “Not really.”

  Oh, how I despise him right now.

  I could push him off the mountain.

  And then dive after him.

  Nah, too exhausted.

  He walked over to a stone wall that I guess made the official highest point of the mountain. It was just smooth rock. There was no way up. Thank God.

  “What are you looking for?”

  “A way in.” I watched him feel all around the stone. “You came to see the wizard, right?”

  I slowly crawled off the bench and made my way over to Spratlin. As I climbed up on a rock that stood a few feet from the wall, I noticed small markings on the stone. I traced the outline with my eyes.

  “It’s a door!”

  “Huh?” Spratlin looked back at me.

  I pointed at the markings. “Look.”

  “How do we open it?”

  I looked at Spratlin and then at the wall. “Uh… open sesame?”

  Nothing happened.

  I shrugged. Worth a shot.

  I hopped down off the rock and walked up to the wall. Nothing’s been easy so far, but it was worth another shot. I raised my fisted hand and… knocked.

  The mountain shook.

  Spratlin grabbed hold of me to balance himself as he jumped off the rock.

  A low grumbling voice spoke. “Who goes there?”

  I looked at Spratlin in shock. “Oh, fuck.” I covered my mouth. I didn’t want to piss off the wise old wizard with my dirty mouth. “Mackenzie Adams, Lightning Mage.”

  “Why do you disturb my slumber?”

  What do you say to that? I mean, there was this voice speaking to me from the mountain peak, and I had one chance not to blow it.

  “I seek guidance for my place in the world.” Damn, that sounded even cheesier out loud.

  It must have worked because the ground rumbled even harder and the door began to shake. Dust and pebbles fell from the stone as the rock separated making a doorway. Was this really happening?