by Magnum Opus
Tales of Aradia: the Last Witch
By Magnum Opus
I dedicate this story to my two best friends in the whole world, Nuby Caceres Sanchez and Kimberly Anne Mattia, whom have always accepted me for who I am in spite of everything. Although I will never be able to truly thank them enough for being the greatest friends I've ever had, I hope this story will be a start.
Copyright Magnum Opus 2010
Published at Smashwords
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient.Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author
Prologue
"We have doing nothing wrong!" The cry echoed in Roman's ears as he kept his face stony still. He stood at the head of the room watching as his men performed their gruesome duties. Screams could be heard from both the people being crucified and the ones being hung. The women's blouses were soaking wet from sweat and tears. Their sobbing competed with the children's. The ones who were being hung, kicked their little feet in the air while their cries were muffled by the bags tied over their heads. Some of the people were dragged as weak as dolls to their places of death, a broken look in their eyes from seeing their loved ones killed and not wanting to continue.
One of them,however, managed to break free of her captor's hold and raced towards the door. Roman noticed and using his vampire speed that could rival lightening headed her off and slammed the double doors behind him. The woman stopped and fell to the ground. She tried pushing herself away but it did no good. Finally she demanded, "why are you doing this? We have done nothing wrong!" Roman scoffed, "yeah right you betrayed us. After more than a thousand years the humans now know about the hidden world. At least they now know about you and your people. How else would they know unless they were told by one of you? You have betrayed us all! You and your people know the law, we of the hidden race must remain hidden and those who break the law must be put to death along with their people." "How is killing us all helping to protect the rest of the hidden?" She demanded. Roman snickered as he reached out, grabbed the woman's neck, and broke it in a matter of seconds. "It's good measure," Roman snorted, "and besides..." he trailed off looking at the shrieking, crying people being nailed to the crosses or hung from the rafters, "it's fun!"
Suddenly, he was tapped on the shoulder by one of his soldiers. Irritated at the interruption he turned around to growl, "what?" Quaking a little, the solider nevertheless continued by saying, "I am sorry sir but after checking the records of the people in the coven I have discovered there appear to be two missing." This definitely aroused Roman's interest. "Who could possibly be missing?" he snapped. The solider gulped and nervously spat out, "a woman, the seer of the coven, and a baby." Another solider appeared at Roman's right and said, "so what? A mere woman and a child? They are not worth killing!" Roman whipped around and slapped the solider hard across the face. The solider fell to the floor with his lip bleeding and the look in his eyes murderous. "Didn't you hear what I told her?" Roman said as he pointed to the dead woman at his feet, "it's good measure." The other solider looking to curry Roman's favor offered to go dispose of them. Roman shook his head and said, "no I will deal with it myself!"
The white light that greeted Roman upon reaching the little cottage was so blinding that he almost fell backwards. Irregardless, he gathered his wits, continued to move towards the cottage, and with one swift kick Roman broke the door down. The sight that greeted him upon storming into the cottage was that of a shriveled old woman leaning limply against a chair. A cauldron was in front of her, around her were small lit candles, and a spell book lay at her feet. "The seer I presume?" He asked while chucking dryly. The woman did not even reply. Roman cast his eyes around the cottage before demanding, "where's the brat?" "She is safe," the seer replied weakly, "safe where you and yours cannot touch her. She will be safe until she realizes her destiny." "Her destiny?" Roman asked skeptically, "what is her destiny?" "To destroy you and your master!" The seer sneered at him in a weak but firm crackling voice. Roman grabbed the woman by the neck and hissed, "what? What are you talking about?" "It is done," the woman laughed weakly, "it is done. She is safe where you and yours can never touch her. Sent to where she will be happy until the time comes to avenge her people and destroy your master!" "You know what lady?" Roman snapped, "You talk too much!" and with that Roman extended his fangs and buried his face in her neck, ignoring her screams.
"Is it done?" a deep almost dead like voice said to Roman as he entered the dimly lit throne room. Roman eagerly dropped to his knees as he made his report, "yes master it is done. The witches are dead! Dead to the last child!" "Your lying," the voice spoke softly. The voice took form of a man wearing a long black cloak, shiny black shoes, and long darkened pants. He stood up, his footsteps making frightening clicking sounds as he slowly made his way towards Roman. Roman quaked as he defended himself, "no master I swear to you they are are all dead. From the head witch to the seer they all rot in their precious town hall hidden away in their secret coven." "What of the seer's child?" the master asked. Roman trembled before asking, "you know of it?" The master growled before saying, "well what of her? Is she dead too!" "But master," Roman protested, "you said we were to execute the witches on charges of treason what difference does one child make!"
"The difference in following my orders and disobeying them you fool! But I get the feeling you did not kill her! Therefore the seer's child still lives! " the master cried out stamping his foot in frustration. Roman shook his head before asking, "I do not understand master why does the death of one little girl mean so much to you?." "of course you don't understand," the master said turning away from Roman, "you are too stupid to understand anything."
Roman stiffened from the indignation at least until he heard the master chuckle softly. "You are not displeased master?" Roman asked now sounding confused about his master's sudden mood swing. "Of course I am," the master continued, "but there is nothing to be done about it. At least not now is it Morgan?" A woman enshrouded in another black cloak clutching a crystal ball on a staff appeared in a puff of dark smoke. Wrapping one gnarled green hand on the ball she spoke in a disembodied voice. "No master, the child is lost. Lost for now in the fold." "Do you really believe it's possible that a mere child of a slaughtered race will become my downfall?" the master spoke folding his arms. The woman hesitated before answering in a trembling voice, "I have read the signs, used the runes, conversed with the gods and goddesses of time and space..." "for God's sake answer my question!" he snapped. The woman hesitated again, gulped, and said in a soft weak voice, "yes." Roman and the woman prepared themselves for the explosion instead the master sighed and placed his hand against his face hidden in the hood of his cloak. Finally he broke the tension in the air by asking, "tell me something Morgan. Do your visions always come true?" The woman hesitated yet again but then answered, "the future is a very unpredictable thing. One different step can make a whole new path." "In other words you don't know?" the master snapped. Reluctantly, the woman nodded. The master sighed and said, "well for all of our sakes let's hope out of all the accurate predictions you have made for me, may this not be one of them!"
Chapter One
"You'd think they'd tell us before we drove for six hours," Ross Preston muttered under his breath, sounding extremely bitter. "Did you say something honey?" Ross turned to look at the speaker, his wife Liza. Small, and petite with mousy blond hair and a voice that was barely audible; 'little woman' was a perfect way to describe Liza Preston. Her small appearance and her gentle behavior made many people wonder why s
he had chosen to marry Ross, who in contrast, was a large, brown eyed curly haired, loud-mouthed, outspoken hard-ass of a man.
However, once people got to know the both of them it became more than obvious that Ross and Liza Preston were quite frankly the 'Batman and Robin' version of a married couple. Liza was a high school art teacher and Ross was a police officer and the two of them had talents and a fiery ambition to help change anyone's life. No matter how screwed up that person was, whether it be through drugs or the law, if Ross and Liza decided that this person needed to be changed they would help them do it! Ross was the father figure, who could inspire even the most hardened criminal to go straight. Liza was the comforting mother figure, who just by using her soft voice and a few choice words, could convince anyone that they could change. Their friends, families, even the people they helped wondered why Ross and Liza would bother helping so many people out when they almost always received nothing in return. Ironically, the answer to that was the same reason to why the two of them were married in the first place. As opposite as Ross and Liza's personalities were, what truly united them was the two of them wanting to make a difference. They were the type of people whom would not be able to go to sleep at night if they could not make a positive impact on someone's life. No one really knew if Ross and Liza were like this naturally or if it was a result of how they were brought up. Either way Ross and Liza Preston were definitely the kind of couple whom could influence a person's life and be happy about it. At this current moment, however, the only person they would be more than happy to influence would be that of their own child, which they had just been told in a clinic in Salem, MA they could not have.
"Oh I was just commenting on how truly unfair it is that doctors, no matter how questionable their choice of practice is, are able to make seventeen times the amount a cop is paid by choice. While in addition to a life of stress and sacrifice, the salary that a cop has to be content with is supplied by the kind of tax dollars that make the I.R.S burst out laughing!" Liza smiled at Ross's comment and said, "I'm disappointed too." Ross sighed and said, "we drive over six hours from Ohio to and back from Salem, MA where the best baby-making clinic is said to be located only to be told that we don't have a shot in hell of ever actually conceiving a baby of our own!" "They didn't say that!" Liza protested. Ross looked at her until Liza begrudgingly added, "well...maybe not in the same context but still.." "Liza...they said that judging by our bodies, our age, the kind of lives we lead, genes in addition to our family history the odds of us ever conceiving a baby with or without medical help are worse than the Redskins winning the Superbowl! I mean jeez! Why not just staple a huge sign on our heads that say 'these people would be sucky parents' and be done with it?!" Ross cried out angrily. Liza hung her head and Ross immediately regretted his harsh words. "Honey, I'm sorry..." he started. "Don't!" Liza cut him off, "you're right. They had absolutely no right to speak to us like the way they did and to even have the audacity to ask for more money to try experiments on me that might help conceive a child?! Please!" "I know," said Ross with a disgruntled sigh, "can you believe the nerve of those people?" Liza scoffed in agreement. An awkward silence passed between them until Liza asked Ross, "So what do we do now?" "Well..."Ross started, "we could always adopt." Liza stared at him and said, "You’re kidding right? Ross, haven't you seen the stuff on the news nor do you even remember what half of the criminals' you bring in backgrounds are? Almost every single one of those thugs are adopted and according to most of the news channels the children in the adoption or foster care system are treated no better than cattle therefore developing real sociopath tendencies which they are more likely to act upon in adulthood!" "That's only on FOX," Ross muttered. "That's not the point!" Liza shouted. "Well, what else do you want huh?!" Ross demanded angrily, "what exactly?! What?!" Liza didn't reply she just shrugged and turned to stare out her window and said, "I really don't know." Ross sighed as well and continued driving.
It was several minutes until Liza finally said, "Well there is one thing I do want." Ross heaved an exasperated sigh and asked, "And what would that be hmm?" "I want..." Liza started, "I want...I want...a sign!" "A sign?" Ross asked questioningly. "Yes! A sign!" Liza grinned with a sudden wave of cheerfulness, "a sign of what we should we do." Ross just looked at his wife, shrugged, and said "well you never really know Liza we might just get a sign. The real questions are where, when, and how on Earth will we be able to tell." "Well it’s like you said Ross," said Liza, "we never really know...at least until we get it."
Suddenly, a huge flash of light appeared from the area that was facing Liza's window! It was so blinding that both Ross and Liza were forced temporarily to cover their eyes but by doing so almost careened head-on with a truck driver! Ross gripped the steering wheel and turned as much as his strength would allow. Liza screamed in fright while Ross's pickup drove straight off the paved road and right into the forest. He slammed on the brakes as hard as he possibly could while the pickup skidded onto the rough dirt ground that was smeared with wet autumn leaves. Miraculously, the pickup managed to gain control of itself and Ross and Liza breathed a sigh of relief as it soon stopped. "You okay baby?" Ross asked Liza. "I wish you wouldn't call me that," Liza grumbled. "I'll take that as 'yes'" said Ross with a grin. Liza scowled at him for a quick second until turning her head and saying "what in the world was that thing?" "I don’t know," Ross said with a shrug. "You think we should check it out?" Liza asked. "No," Ross replied while Liza stared at her husband in disbelief, "I think I should check it out," and then nodded with sudden understanding. Ross reached into the glove compartment and then pulled out his gun. After loading it with the ammunition he kept in the beverage holder Ross opened his door, told his wife to stay in the car, and got out.As he slowly crept towards the direction to where the light had suddenly emerged, Ross wondered what it was that had had made the light they had seen. As a cop he had seen spotlights, flare guns, all kinds of things being used at riots or at the Fourth of July but he had never seen such a deep white piercing light. It seemed so strong and so fierce that it was almost as if a supernova had just occurred on the planet Earth. Now thinking of supernovas, Ross began to wonder if what had just happened was the cause of aliens but promptly muttered his breath, "Preston, if you want aliens to be the cause of crime move to New Mexico." Ross's chuckling managed to relax him a bit. At least until he heard a soft whimpering coming from inside a nearby cave. Ross's guard promptly came back up as he edged himself towards the opening with a menacing look. He pressed his back against the outer rim of the cave, bracing himself for whatever he may face, and suddenly jumped into the cave brandishing his gun from left to right saying, "freeze!" At first, Ross was perplexed because there seemed to be no one in the cave until he heard another soft whimper coming from the ground. He looked down and saw a little girl wrapped in brown linen, barely three years old all curled up trying to keep warm. Ross glanced upwards to make sure no one else was around and then looked down at the girl again in complete disbelief.
What on earth is she doing here? Ross asked himself as he crouched down to look at her. His first instinct was that this child had probably been abandoned like all those other unfortunate cases when a child comes along to someone who doesn't necessarily want it, decides to have it anyway, only to discover that having a child is not exactly like having your own personal obedient slave. So the freaks just leave their kids in some remote place to die like an owner shooting a dog just because it got too old, Ross thought sourly but noticed that the little girl looked surprisingly well-fed, well-nourished, and completely free of signs of abuse. Ross began to think as he watched the little girl slowly wake up, it’s like she just appeared out of nowhere. He then shook his head in disbelief.
Very carefully, Ross scooped the child up into his arms. I can't just leave her out here, he concluded, I'd be no different than the freaks I had just thought about and besides...Ross thought looking down at the little girl now clinging to him, Liza might like her because she is kind
of cute. "Ohhhhh Ross she's so cute!" Liza exclaimed as she reached out to take the little girl from her husband. A far cry from her shocked expression that she had given Ross just five minutes ago as he came out of the forest carrying what seemed to be a small brown sack. Ross chuckled as he saw his wife's maternal instincts immediately kick in. "Where on earth did you find her?" asked Liza. "Believe it or not," Ross said, "I found her in a cave." "Excuse me?" Liza glanced up from the little girl to look at him in disbelief. "I'm not kidding," Ross said throwing up his hands to illustrate his seriousness, "she was just lying there all alone I called out to see if anyone else was around but nobody answered." "Do you think they might have left for just a little while to get some food or something?" Liza asked. "That thought did occur to me so I left my old wallet in there with my business card in it and no, I did not leave my credit cards or ID's in there." Liza promptly closed her mouth after Ross's assurance and smiled. She glanced down at the little girl who seemed to have fully woken up at this point."What do you supposed happened to her?" Liza asked Ross."You got me," Ross said before he joined his wife's side and proceeded to made funny faces at the little girl. "Hm-mm..." Liza looked up at Ross then down at the little girl and promptly decided, "We should take her home with us." "What?" Ross exclaimed. "Well, she is all alone and we were just talking about adopting." "Hello?" Ross said while clapping his hand to his forehead in disbelief, "I was talking about it, you were arguing against it." Liza scowled and said while glancing down at her, "but we can't just leave her here she's so...special." "What?" said Ross, "you mean cute right?" "No I mean yes I mean she is cute but there is something about her that just tells me she's special." As if to concur with Liza's statement the little girl smiled up at her. "Yeah well," Ross stretched out his arms and turned to walk back to the pickup, "something tells me that it won't matter if we do or do not want to take her home if I don't look at my pickup and check out the damage." Liza chuckled and followed Ross. He raised the hood of his pickup and grimaced. "Bad huh?" Liza asked while swaying the little girl from side-to-side. Ross nodded solemnly as he turned to look at both of them but at that point the little girl's eyes left Liza's face and turned to gaze at him.