The Dragon Witch

by Drako

  “Well, I suppose I can point you in the right direction to ride.” Ares pointed to the north, where they could just barely make out a small settlement. “That can be your first stop, if you need it. Just be warned, there isn’t a human anywhere in this realm. There are a large amount of witches, vampires, werewolves, and I even sense a few angels and demons here as well.”

  “I’ve encountered each and every one of those races, and I don’t see a problem with running into any of them,” Victoria told him.

  Ares shrugged. “There are also some of the giants here that can’t be slain by the hands of a god. We can’t kill them, but we can certainly seal them away. Feel free to take a few out. It can only help us in the long run.”

  “I’ll think about it. Maybe one of them will look at me funny and I’ll take them all out. I’m certainly bored enough to do it.” Victoria hopped up into the saddle of one of the horses.

  Brandon hopped up into the saddle of the other. “I can’t say that I’ve ever fought a giant before. Anything I need to know?”

  “Only that most of them are borderline retarded, which I assume is due to inbreeding because no one should be that stupid,” Victoria answered.

  Ares laughed. “There are some that are moderately intelligent, but for the most part, your aunt is right. They can also take a lot of damage so it’s never easy to put them down, no matter how stupid they are.”

  Victoria snorted. “Watch me take them down and make it look easy. Even giants can’t stand up to a dragon.” She gripped the reins and urged the horse forward.

  “I’ll see you shortly,” Ares told Brandon before he vanished.

  “Well, I suppose it’s time to see what’s so special about this place,” Brandon muttered as he urged his horse forward after his aunt.

  They rode for several hours through the forest. Brandon spotted several animals throughout the forest, several of which he was quite positive weren’t mere animals. Victoria spotted them as well, but seemed not to care what, or more importantly, who they were. They weren’t attacking, so perhaps she saw no cause for concern. Or at least, that’s what Brandon thought until she came to a stop at the edge of the forest. She stepped down off the horse as Brandon brought his horse to a stop behind her.

  “Well, it looks like we’ll get a bit of a workout after all,” she commented.

  “How many are there?” Brandon asked.

  “It looks like there’s only about six of them,” Victoria answered. “They’re older rogue wolves. They haven’t been in the mortal realm in centuries, so this should be exceedingly fun.”

  The last was said with obvious sarcasm.

  “I’ll let you take this fight if I get the first one in the coliseum,” Brandon told her.

  Victoria smirked. “Fine, but I still reserve the right to jump in if you’re in over your head.”

  “Likewise,” Brandon agreed.

  Brandon remained on his horse as the wolves slowly emerged from the forest and transformed into their human form. There were dressed in rather old style furs and plated armor.

  “Oh gods why must you plague me with weaklings,” Victoria lamented.

  She extended the blade of her sword and moved towards the group. The group began to pick up speed as they moved towards her and she did the same. Finally, they went into an all-out charge. Victoria began a low chant and waved her hand, a violet wave of energy being emitted from it. The werewolves suddenly began moving slower, as if time itself had slowed down. Victoria moved at her normal speed, wielding her sword with ease to slash the first wolf down from his shoulder through his stomach. The others found themselves able to move at regular speed again as she delivered a back kick to the chest of the wolf closest to her. Slashing her sword again, she caught the next one across the throat and blood sprayed out. Before any touched her, she flipped up over the wolf and extended the blade of her second sword, then stabbed the third wolf to come into her path through his chest plate, easily piercing his heart. Without looking, she used the second sword to take the head off a fourth wolf while pulling her first sword out of the third. She twirled the sword to hold it with the blade pointing down, then stabbed behind her into the stomach of the fifth wolf. The sixth caught her second sword through the throat, causing him to make a gurgling noise as blood flowed up. She withdrew both blades and let her enemies fall as she retracted her blades. A few muttered words and the bodies burst into flame as she walked back over to her nephew.

  “That was painfully easy,” she commented.

  “I get the feeling those wolves work under Balthas,” Brandon replied.

  Ares appeared again. “Of course they do. And more importantly, Balthas himself is here to make a play for that grimoire.”

  “What about Lucifer?” Victoria asked.

  “He’s not here, yet,” Ares added, knowing the Prince of Darkness would inevitably come sooner or later.

  Victoria frowned. “I thought that this book was meant for Brandon to get. Why exactly do we have to fight for it?”

  “Nothing in life is free,” Ares told her. “He has to show that he truly has the power and can master it. If the gods hand people things without making them work, they tend to get arrogant. Besides that, your father and mother aren’t the only ones that knew of this grimoire. They are merely the ones that know exactly what it has. Lucifer thinks he knows, and has no idea what a waste of time it is for him to be chasing it.”

  “No one ever said the Prince of Darkness was intelligent,” Brandon muttered. “He’s a complete moron. It just so happens that most people are weak minded and therefore easily manipulated.”

  “Interesting point of view. So, what’s your plan now?” Ares asked.

  “We’re going to that first settlement like you said, and then we’ll see what happens,” Victoria answered. “Do they have inns in this hellhole or do we just have to camp outside?”

  “That settlement has an inn if you desire to stay there.”

  “Great, then we’ll stay there for the night and move out again tomorrow morning.”

  “You might want to cast a temporary protection spell over your rooms. There’s no way of telling who may attack you at night if you don’t.”

  Victoria rolled her eyes. “I’m over six thousand years old. I know how staying in unfamiliar places works.”

  Ares shrugged. “It can’t hurt to point out. But you might want to add a little extra energy to it. This is a much more hostile territory than you normally stay in.” he vanished.

  “I don’t think it would hurt to take that suggestion,” Brandon told his aunt.

  Victoria grunted but said nothing as she got back onto her horse and led the way to the settlement. Clearly Ares was going to be around even more during this mission. And if she were honest with herself, she didn’t really mind it all that much. The war god was annoying and bossy, and liked to stick his nose where it didn’t belong, but at least talking to him wasn’t a total bore. And to his credit he wasn’t steadily trying to keep her out of action. So far, he wasn’t behaving in the way she expected. He hadn’t tried to lure her to a bed yet.

  What the hell is up with that anyway? She thought. When he first started coming around, I could have sworn he wanted to jump my bones. Now he’s just being the helpful friend. It’s weird. There has to be something up with him, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.

  Twenty Nine

  Adonis walked around alone outside of the palace to clear his mind. Fate was a real bitch to deal with when you actually knew exactly what was in store for you. He’d accepted what he found out, but he knew Phil would be a problem. Hell, if Brandon were here he’d be one too. Unfortunately, he had to get rid of Phil. Otherwise he’d interfere.

  Adonis sighed. Getting rid of Phil wouldn’t be easy, and he could only think of one way to ensure that he’d leave short of breaking up with him. Resigned, he headed back to the palace. As he approached, he found Phil sitting by the entrance, staring off into the distance. As he approached, Phil tu
rned to face him.

  “What’s on your mind?” Phil asked.

  “I need to ask you to do something that you’re going to hate,” Adonis told him.

  “What is it?”

  “I need you to go help Brandon.”

  Phil gave him a bland stare. “You need me to what?”

  Adonis let out an exasperated breath. “I need you to go help him in the Rose Realm. I’m perfectly safe here and you’re getting restless.”

  “I’m not restless.” Phil stood up. “I just have nothing to do. I can’t spend time with you because you don’t really want me to. You and I both know your mind is on Brandon.”

  “Right now, the only thing I want is to make sure he gets home safely. I’m asking you to help make that happen.”

  Phil glared at him. “That’s selfish of you but I’ll do it anyway.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry. But I need you two to get along.”

  Phil sighed. “He’s not my problem. If we’d met under other circumstances, I might actually like him. My problem is your inability to decide what you want.”

  Adonis glared at him. “I’m not being indecisive. I don’t feel the need to alienate him just because I’m with you. Do you want me to have no other friends than you?”

  “This isn’t about you not having friends. I don’t give a damn if you’re friends or not. You felt the need to sneak to see him, and that’s what causes me the problem. If you sneak to have conversations with him, then you’ll sneak to do other things with him.”

  “Fuck you. Even if I tried, it wouldn’t happen. He wouldn’t allow it. He may not like you, but he won’t allow me to step out on you either. He’s not content to be second any more than you are.”

  Phil actually growled. “I am second, and I’ve always been second. Face it, from the moment we met, I’ve been second to Brandon in your mind and heart.”

  Adonis winced, the words seeming to hit home.

  “You can’t even try to deny it. I’ve known for a long time. I was hoping that maybe you’d see me for who I am and like it, but in the end, I was just the substitute while he was gone. The sad part is that I love you enough to stay until you finally get the strength to end it. That’s what I’ve been waiting for.”

  Adonis looked him in the eyes. “I’m not leaving you. I have my reasons for asking you to do this, but it’s not because I intend to break up. He’s accepted what we are, and he has his own things to keep up with. He has a son to take care of.”

  Phil turned away from him. “Fine, I’ll go find Jarel and ask if he can send me to the Rose Realm. I’ll help Brandon however I can and then we’ll see what you really want.”

  Adonis started to reach out to him, but held back and let him walk away. Jarel appeared next to him.

  “I despise this situation,” the god told him.

  “You mean my being a heartless bastard for making him take second place?” Adonis asked.

  Jarel snorted. “No, I mean the reason you sent him away. And sadly, I’m going to have to send him to Brandon or else look like the soulless fuck that I feel like when he tries to put a stop to it.”

  Adonis turned to face his patron god. “The hardest part for me is knowing what it’ll do to him and Brandon.”

  “The hardest part for me is having to stand aside and let it happen.” Jarel folded his arms across his chest as he frowned. “This world is filled with sacrifice. It always has been. It is simply the way of things. But this sacrifice is one I would do without if I could. I cannot understand for the life of me why the Moirae gave you this task.”

  “I have a question for you and for once, I want a straight answer.”

  “I can’t guarantee that but ask away.”

  Adonis took a deep breath before asking. “Am I the soul mate for either of them?”

  Jarel unfolded his arms and the frown vanished from his face. “No, you’re not. You are a major part of their lives, and someone they will never be able to forget. But you are not their soul mate.”

  “Well, I guess that’s something of a relief.” Adonis looked out over the land. “I hope that they can find their soul mates after I’m gone. I feel like I’m holding them back.”

  “Oh, they’ve found their soul mates. They just aren’t ready to realize it yet.”

  Adonis turned back to him. “Really?”

  Jarel nodded. “You’re not holding them back. You’re merely a step in their path to find the right one. They have something to learn from you to prepare them for their soul mates. And in the end, they will always love you.”

  Adonis sighed. “This really sucks. I don’t understand why I was chosen for this, and I don’t know what I’ll become after. I don’t know anything except that I have to do it.”

  Jarel kept silent. He knew the full extent of the sacrifice Adonis was going to make and what would happen afterward. Frankly, it was going to suck to be him for a while afterward. But the Black Dragon God knew that if he told his follower what would happen then the boy would run from his fate. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be allowed. It would only make things worse in the long run. Jarel had seen the alternative to the situation already. Sadly, this was the best way to go.

  Victoria and Brandon had reached the village and were currently in the town tavern. It was slightly noisy but the food was edible and they didn’t stand out in the crowd. They took a booth in a corner just to make sure that they kept to themselves.

  “It would be nice to know what direction we’re heading in to get to this coliseum,” Brandon commented.

  “I’m pretty sure Ares will be around sooner rather than later,” Victoria replied.

  “Why do you act as if you hate him so much?” Brandon asked.

  Victoria snorted. “Hating him would be a waste of my energy. I just find him to be irritating.”

  “I like him personally. He’s not as bad a guy as the stories make him out to be. He’s certainly been helping us out a lot.”

  Victoria grunted but said nothing.

  “I’m pretty sure you actually like him, dear aunt. You just don’t want to.”

  “Hey, keep out of my mind, you brat.”

  Brandon laughed. “I don’t have to read your mind for that. Besides, you’re strong enough to block me if I tried. I pay close attention. You don’t want to like him because you could come to love him, and you don’t think he can be faithful.”

  Victoria scowled. “It’s not like he’s shown evidence to the contrary.”

  “Not that you’ve heard of, anyway,” Brandon corrected.

  “Do you know something?” she asked.

  “Ares isn’t exactly like the stories say, that much I know,” Brandon answered. “You should really take time to get to know him before you judge him. After all, he’s no worse than Gramps as far as relationships go.”

  “I’ll consider it, but I’d rather not go into anything like that with him. But anyway, enough about me. What about you and Adonis?”

  Brandon’s face hardened. “There’s nothing to tell there.”

  Victoria narrowed her eyes on him. “Don’t you think it’s about time you stop denying it?”

  “I’m not denying anything. I’ll always love him. I can’t change that and I won’t try to. But I can’t force him to me either. Phil is who he chose and all I can do is respect that.”

  “Funny, I kind of figured he would end up as your soul mate.” Victoria took a drink as she gauged his reaction.

  “Perhaps he’s really only meant to have been a friend. Maybe our situation is something like my father’s with Vic.” Brandon kept his expression neutral.

  Victoria sat her cup down. “You two are a lot different from Julian and Vic. After all, they were never really together physically.”

  Brandon snorted. “Only by a technicality. And no one else would have known. It was widely thought in Shevat that the two were an item. Even Desdemona assumed they were until we came along.”

  “What do you mean by a technicality?”

&nb
sp; “You’d have to ask them, but they did an awful lot together during the course of their friendship. Let’s just say if you come across the right people they’ll tell stories. Personally, I didn’t need to know such detail about my father’s sex life,” Brandon added.

  Victoria smirked. “Try having my father. Goddesses talk entirely too much and I’ve had to learn to make myself conveniently deaf any time Father’s name and the word sex end up in the same sentence.”

  Brandon laughed softly. “Shouldn’t we find a place to stay?”

  “They always rent rooms in places like this. I’ll go get us one.” Victoria stood and walked off.

  Brandon took the time to observe their surroundings. He wondered how many of these people were in league with Lucifer or Cronus, and how many were just here in an attempt to add to their own power.

  “You know kid, you see a lot more than you should.” Ares appeared sitting across from him.

  “Maybe if you told her more about yourself, it would make your life easier,” Brandon told him.

  “Perhaps it would, but she doesn’t exactly give me the chance.”

  Brandon gave him a dull stare. “Since when does the mighty Ares sit back and wait for something to be handed to him? Don’t you generally just take what you want? Stop being so soft and force her to deal with you.”

  Ares jaw ticked, as if he were holding back laughter. “I’m already coming around when I’m not wanted.”

  “First, you’re wanted, she’s just not ready to admit it. Second, you’re not showing her much about you. Look, once she comes back with the room, I’m going to excuse myself. She’s nowhere near tired. Take a walk around this place and shoot down some of her misconceptions of you.”

  Victoria came back and sat down, scowling at Ares. “Don’t you have a war to plan on Olympus?”