High Witch Box Set

by Mona Hanna

  “Yes, most of our things were still packed, anyway,” Hallie said. “We just put changes of clothes and other items into a bag. I didn’t imagine traveling again so soon! It’s fine, just not what I expected. I—I hope everything goes well.”

  “Me too,” Ariel said. “I’m looking forward to meeting the little girl. She’s one of us. It’s like she’s related to us.”

  Hallie smiled, feeling the same way.

  Sean stood in the doorway. “Ready?”

  “Just about,” Ariel said. She packed a few more items, then closed the bag.

  Sean went over, picked it up, and carried it into the front room to join the other two bags there.

  Ariel fetched a large square piece of strong cloth, then folded it to create a sling to hold Erica in. After she fastened it around her, she went over to Erica’s cradle, where she was fast asleep. Ariel sighed. “I hope I don’t wake her,” she whispered, gently picking Erica up and placing her in the sling. Ariel made sure Erica was very securely wrapped to her body, and luckily Erica only grumbled a little before going back to sleep. Ariel breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness,” she said, and then she and Hallie walked into the front room.

  Everyone stood together for a moment, not speaking. Hallie felt her nerves run through her.

  “Alright, we’ll get going,” Brayden said quietly, so as not to wake the baby. “Wait, I’ll get Ariel’s cloak. I don’t want you and Erica getting cold.”

  Brayden moved to fetch Ariel’s cloak when there was suddenly a loud knock at the door. Hallie gasped, startled by the interruption. Erica woke up and began to cry. “Who in the world,” Brayden muttered, walking briskly to the door.

  Ariel tried to quiet Erica, kissing her head and rubbing her back.

  Hallie watched Brayden open the door a little and ask who was there. They all heard a man speak.

  “My name is Raven,” he said. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but I need to talk to Ariel.”

  “What about?” Brayden said. “How do you know my wife?”

  There was a moment of silence. “The fourth High Witch is in danger,” he said. “I need Ariel’s help to save her.”

  Brayden turned and looked at Ariel. Ariel gazed at him with wide eyes.

  “Let him in.”

  ***

  Everyone sat down while the man named Raven paced before them. He was tall and slender, with dark grey hair down to his shoulders. Hallie sat beside Ariel, scared out of her mind. Hallie recognized the man from the vision with the prophecy. Ariel whispered to her that she did too. What was going on?

  Raven finally stopped pacing and spoke. “Truthfully, we don’t have much time. There are three men who are after the fourth High Witch. Her name is Julia. They intend on taking Julia away from her mother. They mean her no harm but want to ensure that she never meets with you three—the other High Witches. I—I was with those men but didn’t want to go ahead with the plan, so they tried to get rid of me. I escaped and traveled all last night and today to come here. We have no time—we need to go to Julia immediately, before the men reach her. They are due to reach her tomorrow. We have to leave quickly.”

  Silence.

  “Why do the men want to keep Julia away from me and Hallie and Erica?” Ariel asked. “What do they think we’ll do?”

  Raven rubbed his forehead. “It’s complicated. I’ll explain it, but I can’t stress enough that we have to reach Julia before the other men do, or we’ll never be able to stop them from taking her. Once they have her, I don’t know how we’d get her back. Please, I beg of you, please, let’s go to her. I can see you have bags packed—I’m sorry to interrupt wherever you were going, but this is important.”

  There was silence once more. “We… we were actually going to go to Julia anyway,” Ariel said. “We don’t know her exact address, just the area where she lives.” Ariel paused, staring closely at Raven. “I don’t trust you. I don’t know anything about you, other than that you’ve said you were associated with these men. But I want to save Julia. We’ll travel together, but you must explain everything—who these men are, what they know about High Witches. And you must explain about the Prophecy of Innea.”

  Raven’s face paled considerably. “How do you know about that?” he rasped.

  “Hallie and I had a vision,” Ariel said. “But we’ll explain more about that once we’re traveling. We’ll go now. We need to walk a fair way to find a carriage.”

  “I have one waiting outside,” Raven said. “It’ll take all of us. I must confess, I didn’t expect you and Hallie to be together right now. I was aware that you, Ariel, lived near Julia, but I didn’t realize Hallie was visiting you. All the more evidence of the prophecy coming to fruition. But we must go.”

  Raven walked to the front door, followed by the others. Brayden and Sean carried their bags. No one spoke as they entered the carriage in the dim evening and closed the doors. But once everyone was seated—Ariel, Brayden, and Hallie on one seat and Raven and Sean on the other—all eyes were on Raven.

  He cleared his throat, looking at his hands. Finally he spoke. “It all began with the first High Witch,” he said. “Five hundred years ago.”

  ***

  Celena ran down the road on the hot day, her baby held tightly in her arms, fleeing from the men pursuing her. She’d stolen some food from a stall at the market, but that was the least of her crimes—when she’d been caught, she’d used magic on her captor, burning his skin with her power of controlling fire. Using magic on those without it was expressly forbidden. She would be hanged.

  She ran, tears streaming down her cheeks, her bare feet pounding against the rough ground. She magically transported away from the men but was still running, desperate to find somewhere safe to hide. She didn’t know of anywhere—she had no home, no family, no friends. She had nothing. She’d only stolen some food because she was starving and was barely able to produce milk to nurse her daughter.

  Celena finally stopped running, knowing it was no use—this was a small town and they’d find her eventually. She knelt, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, trying desperately to think of an answer. In her heart she knew she would be killed, but she felt she was dead now anyway, barely surviving as it was. She looked at her daughter, only a few months old, and the tears began again.

  “Oh, my darling,” she wept. “I’d do anything for you. I only took the food for you! Oh, my love. I’d give my heart, my soul, anything I have for you to be alright. I’d give my life—I don’t care if they take me! I just want you to be alright.”

  She continued to weep, her daughter, Ruth, starting to cry along with her. Celena tried to stop, tried to calm down, and then the most furious, blinding light she’d ever seen shone before her. She covered her eyes with her arm, looking down until the light dissipated to become a softer glow. Celena risked looking at the light, not able to discern what was causing it. She wiped her eyes of the remaining tears, staring in awe.

  “Make your wish,” a firm but gentle voice said. “Say what you wish more than anything.”

  Celena peered at the light, wondering over the unseen voice. A calmness overcame her, as if the being speaking to her could fix everything, could change everything. She sat quietly for a moment, and knew, even though she could wish for her safety, she should ask for the most important thing. The thing she wanted with her whole heart.

  “Protect my daughter,” she said. “I want Ruth to be alright. I want her to be raised by loving people and to be safe from those who wish to hurt her.”

  “Hold your daughter close,” the voice said.

  Celena did as she was told. She suddenly felt very strange—as if all of her power, all of her magic, was being drawn from her and pulled towards Ruth. Celena gazed at her daughter, and sure enough, a golden glow flew from her skin and seeped into Ruth’s. Her baby was bathed in the glow, pure and strong and powerful, until it finally subsided.

  Celena knew. She no longer had her magic. It was in Ruth now.
>
  She stood up. “Where do I take her? Who will look after her?”

  “Go to the house across the street and three doors to your left. Leave Ruth on the doorstep and knock twice. She will be taken care of. Hurry now. You don’t have much time.”

  Celena nodded. She looked at her child, her heart bursting with both love and sadness, and gave Ruth a final kiss on the cheek. She ran down the road to the third door, placed her child on the doorstep, then stood there for a moment. Could she do this? Could she leave her baby? But with everything inside her, she felt this was the right thing.

  She knocked twice, prayed things would work, then fled. She hid behind a tree down the street, watching, waiting. Presently the door was opened and a woman of about twenty-five stood there. She gasped when she saw the child, picked her up immediately, and began to weep. The woman called out to someone, and a man about her age came to her side. He put his arms around the woman, kissing her on the cheek. The duo looked around, as if trying to see who had left the child. Then they went inside and shut the door.

  Celena sighed with relief, then felt a rough hand grasp her arm.

  “Got you,” the man said.

  She turned to face him. She only lowered her head.

  She was hanged the next day.

  Sixteen years later, a wise elderly warlock had a vision. He saw that somewhere there existed a witch named Ruth who had not one core power, but who possessed all the powers. A witch who could control fire and water, and call things from one place to another, and receive visions, as well as any other power that existed. The warlock was told that when this woman dies, three more like her would be born in her place, and when they died, they would be replaced by another three. But there could only ever be three of this special kind of witch in the world at any one time. The witches were called High Witches.

  But there was more to the man’s vision. The High Witches would be bound by a test. They had the most power and so were subject to the highest testing. Should someone force a High Witch to kill another to save themselves, then the High Witch would be joined to that person, the one who forced them, for the rest of her life. She would give her heart and soul to this man and do anything for him.

  But there was one last thing. One last thing which came to the elderly warlock, which shocked him.

  Should there be four High Witches,

  But it will not be said how there could be four,

  Their power, if joined, would be like nothing this world has ever seen.

  Should these four cast a spell, giving extra power to all witches, ensuring they will never be overpowered by those who wish them harm again,

  Then a dark force will be unleashed, which the High Witches will have to battle.

  The price for giving all witches extra power is that the High Witches, and any witch who wishes to join them, will have to battle darkness and destruction of the most heinous, the most evil.

  People will die.

  The price paid will be high.

  This is the Prophecy of Innea.

  Chapter 9

  When Raven finished speaking, everyone sat quietly for a long while. The carriage rattled along quickly through the town towards their destination.

  Ariel moved some of her long hair away from her face. “Are you saying that the four High Witches can cast a spell, making every witch a High Witch?”

  “No, the other witches won’t be High Witches, they’ll just have additional strength, additional power,” Raven said. “If they become cornered, in a position where someone is about to overpower them, this additional strength will come forward, assisting them to escape. It’s as if they’ll be given a reserve of power that will come forward when they most need it. But the price, Ariel—I must stress the price to give all witches this additional power is extremely high.”

  There was silence once more. “And that’s why the other men want to stop Julia from being with us—because they don’t want us to cast the spell,” Ariel said. “They didn’t think to talk to me and Hallie? Try to explain the situation? They didn’t think we’d understand?”

  “So you do understand?” Raven said, leaning forward, his eyes bright. “You won’t cast the spell?”

  Ariel looked at Hallie, sitting on Brayden’s other side. They both exchanged worried glances. “I don’t know,” Ariel said.

  “That’s the problem!” Raven exclaimed. “While I am no longer on the side of the men who wish to capture Julia, I don’t want you to cast this spell. The men believe that you will cast it—that you will decide to give other witches this additional power—and that no amount of trying to convince you otherwise would work. Ariel, don’t you see? The darkness that would be released onto the world would be horrific. You and Hallie are strong, and if other witches decide to join you in the battle, you may have a chance—but people will die. And there’s no guarantee you’d defeat the dark force.”

  Raven sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Look, I’m on your side. Part of me thinks that, with the help of other witches, you could defeat the darkness. And this additional power that the witches would have, when cornered—if there was ever a time for it to come forward, it would be during this event. But what if you can’t defeat it. What if you can’t? Are all the people who would lose their lives worth giving witches additional power?”

  “Wait, this is too much!” Hallie suddenly exclaimed. “You only just told us about this prophecy. You want us to decide here and now if we’ll cast this spell—it’s too grave a decision to make quickly! And besides, Erica hasn’t shown any magical ability. I don’t even know if we can cast this spell, as it needs the power of four High Witches. It’s all so sudden and extreme, and these men, without even consulting us, think we aren’t to be trusted and want to take away Julia. Who are those men to make decisions on our behalf? What gives you authority over us?”

  Raven shut his eyes, his already-pale skin seeming to become ghostly. “We are the carriers of the prophecy. It has been passed down from our fathers, and their fathers, to us. We are supposed to protect the world from the dark force. I don’t know if you realize this is bigger than you and Ariel, Hallie. It’s bigger. It concerns the world. I—I don’t know what to say. I understand you not wanting anyone trying to make decisions for you, but the group believes you’re unable to decide to do what’s right in this case. That your desire to save other witches from being hurt will influence your decision too strongly. I—I don’t know what else to say.” Raven put his head in his hands, sighing.

  Ariel felt a pang of sorrow for him, realizing he was going against everything he’d been taught to be there with them. He is a brave man, she thought. But was he right? That casting the spell would be wrong? Ariel understood what Hallie was saying—this was all so sudden, so much. She made a decision.

  “Right now, we’ll just focus on saving Julia,” she said. “We’ll discuss the rest of this later, in detail, but now it’s all about rescuing that child. So we’ll just sit here and gather our strength, so we can stop the men from what they’re about to do. Does everyone agree?”

  Everyone nodded.

  She sighed, leaning back, shutting her eyes for a moment. They had a long trip ahead of them—they had to travel until early morning to reach Julia’s home. Ariel just wanted to sleep now. Get what slumber she could.

  “Good idea,” Brayden murmured beside her, and Ariel opened her eyes to see her husband leaning back also, looking at her with worry.

  She touched his face. “Rest now, my love,” she whispered, then shifted so she could lean her head against his shoulder. Brayden put his arm around her and leaned his head against hers. Ariel gently stroked Erica’s back, hoping her little angel would sleep through the night. That was her last thought as she drifted off.

  ***

  Alexandra fell into bed after checking on Julia and settling down her cranky baby. She snuggled under the covers, desperate for a good night’s rest. After a short while, she drifted off to sleep, her last thoughts being that she hoped Julia w
ould sleep the rest of the night.

  A loud knock at the door startled Alexandra awake. She looked at the clock in her room—it was just after six-thirty in the morning, barely daylight. She threw aside the covers, got out of bed, and reach for her dressing gown. She put it on as she walked to the front door.

  “Who is it?” she called, pulling the door open, a yawn escaping her mouth as she uttered the words. She was startled to see three middle-aged men standing there. A tall man with long grey hair disappeared into thin air, while the other two backed her into the house.

  “What are you…” Alexandra began, but a short, stocky man forced her hands behind her back while the other tied a cloth around her mouth. Alexandra squirmed in the men’s grasp, horrified, not knowing what was going on. She was led towards the table and chairs to the side of the room, forced into a chair, and then ropes were tied around her torso. Alexandra sat there, unable to move, thinking she was about to be robbed. But then she heard Julia scream, and the man who had disappeared walked out of the bedroom room holding her.

  Alexandra fought against her ropes, desperate to become free, her worst nightmare coming true as she saw her daughter in danger. Julia wailed loudly, and tears fell down Alexandra’s face, her heart racing in her chest. Not my daughter! No! NO! Then she heard a woman scream.

  A tall blonde woman ran into the house, then held out her right arm, a stream of white light flowing from her hand and binding the man who held Julia around the legs. The man began to tumble to the ground; the woman disappeared, then reappeared right next to him and took Julia out of the man’s arms as he fell.

  “Hallie!” the woman screamed.

  Another woman ran into the room, younger, shorter than the first. She held out her arms towards the two men near Alexandra, but they looked at each other, then both vanished.