Nature of the Witch

by Helen T. Norwood

  He stopped when he saw the expression on Jack's face, “What's wrong?”

  “I don't think Kiera will feel much like celebrating this evening,” Jack said glumly, “she just found out that her friend has been killed.”

  “Killed?” Kitto shook his head. “How sad.”

  “They say by a wild animal,” Jack continued, watching Kitto carefully, “it attacked right after Kiera visited her, and the scene was pretty horrific apparently. They never caught the animal.”

  Kitto's face fell.

  Jack continued to look at him steadily, “So, if there is anything you can tell me that might help me to protect her then now is the time.”

  Kitto sighed. He pulled the bottle of wine out of the shopping bag and retrieved three glasses from the cupboard.

  “Let's go sit down,” he carried the bottle and glasses through to Kiera in the living room, “I'll tell you both everything.”

  Part Five

  Those who can be trusted,

  Trust them,

  With all your heart,

  And don't hold back.

  Those people whom you love,

  Love them,

  Love them unconditionally,

  Don't be afraid.

  Those who are worth fighting for,

  Fight for them,

  Fight until all you have is spent,

  And then fight some more.

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Kitto poured the wine whilst Jack sat down beside Kiera. Then he settled himself on a chair opposite them. Kiera and Jack looked at Kitto expectantly but for a while he didn't speak. He sipped at his wine and stared past them, his mind elsewhere. Eventually he looked into the fire and began to speak softly.

  “Bersaba and I grew up together. We lived in the same village. She and her sisters, Ailla, and Kelyn lived with their parents. Bersaba's mother was gifted. She didn't have powers, not like you Kiera, but she was a good woman and what she didn't know about plants and herbs wasn't worth knowing. She was a healer, people travelled for her medicines and tinctures and she taught her daughters everything she knew. They lived modestly. Bersaba's mother didn't receive much in the way of payment for her work. She did it to help others. My father owned a farm, sometimes the girls would help in exchange for food.

  Bersaba was the most beautiful girl in the village. Her hair was the colour of the sun but her heart was even more beautiful. I knew she was special before anyone else did. When we were little her house was always full of animals, sick ones that needed nursing and she would make them better. She had a talent for healing even back then, just like her mother.

  Then one day their mother took ill suddenly and died and their father followed soon after. The eldest, Ailla, was 13, Kelyn was 10 and Bersaba, the youngest, was only 8, the same age as me. My parents took them in. They couldn't afford to, they could barely feed me, but somehow we made it work.

  I grew up with them. Life was hard, we all had to work the farm and there was never enough food but we were happy. I went from being an only child to having three sisters. Then I reached sixteen and I was shy and clumsy. I was completely in love with Bersaba. For reasons I was never able to fathom I discovered that she loved me too. I felt like the luckiest man alive.

  We were married soon after. That was when the sister's skills really started to show. They had learnt all about the power of flowers and herbs from their mother and they could cure a person by mixing together a few bits of tree bark. People started to travel to see them - just as they had their mother - for healing, for advice, and they helped anyone they could. We were poor but they never asked for anything in return.

  What you must understand was how different the times were then. We lived in small huts and faced the elements with only a few bits of stone and wood. The natural world was on our doorstep whether we liked it or not. We had to learn how to live with it, to work with it, to use it, and Bersaba and her sisters had a natural gift for it, but especially Bersaba.

  Even in those days Tintagel was a sacred place. We only went there for festivals and religious occasions. At that time there were flowers there that didn't grow anywhere else in Cornwall. The sisters would all go together to collect them to use in some of their remedies. After one of their visits they came home and said something had happened to them. Bersaba said that they had been deemed worthy of special powers that they could use to help people. They bore strange symbols on their arms. I had heard tales of 'chosen' women but I had never really believed it and had certainly never actually met one.

  I suppose some people would've thought they were mad but I trusted them. I saw them do things that should have been impossible. I saw the good their powers could do and I was in awe of them.

  Witches, at that time, were important figures because their powers allowed them to do great deeds, but none shone as brightly as Bersaba, Ailla and Kelyn . People travelled for miles, their fame spread far and wide and they would see anyone who needed them. They never turned anyone away.

  Bersaba was very close to her sisters. Usually they worked together. People around us grew old, my parents died but Bersaba and her sisters remained young. I aged but very slowly, Bersaba's powers kept me safe too.

  We began to hear tales of other witches. Bersaba would tell me that some had started threatening people with curses unless they paid them money, or some spread disease across farmland and then charged people for them to cure it. They had abandoned the true way of the witch and succumbed to petty greed.

  At first covens were unheard of, but then a spell was made that could initiate other women. Instead of nature choosing the witch, witches were choosing others and covens formed. All witches bore the mark on their arm but when witches were made by people, rather than by nature, the brand changed. You could distinguish the different covens by the branding on the witches arm.

  Those few who stayed true to the old ways could be identified because they bore the original mark of the witch and they became known as Daughters of the Earth. Daughters of the Earth were women who were honest and brave and whose hearts remained pure and untainted by their powers. You couldn't be initiated as a Daughter of the Earth because only Mother Nature was able to choose them.

  Witchcraft started to get out of control. People who had once loved and respected witches began to fear and loath them. We heard terrible tales of crimes committed by witches. And then the Creatures were created. A species that struck fear in people's hearts but whose true enemy was the witch, for its only purpose was to kill witches.

  We heard of the Creatures and I knew they would come for my wife. One night, under a full moon, I walked along the beach and threw myself into the waters. I had heard from Bersaba about the magical properties of the seas. I begged for her to be spared. I swore I would give my life to save hers and then something happened. My call was answered. I who, up until then, had known nothing but farming, was given skills to impress the greatest of warriors. I was given the ultimate weapon, the only one that could defeat the Creatures, a staff made from the rarest of trees.

  I was the first Gwithiaz and then others were initiated. We became an army of men who would give our lives for these gifted women. By the time the Kasadow reached us we were ready. With our strength and the witches' powers we crushed any enemy that attacked us.

  Other witches, who weren't given the protection of Gwithiaz, were not so lucky. Countless women perished over the years.

  Gwithiaz were given the same immortality as the witches we protected. Over the centuries we became experts at keeping one step ahead of the Creatures. We used spells to ensure theycouldn't find us and our guard was never down, if ever one did attack we were ready.

  Bersaba and I, we were happy. The centuries didn't change anything. I could never have loved anyone as I did her. She was my wife. She continued to use her gifts for good. We travelled the world together and then we settled, where our hearts had always been, in Cornwall.

  Those were happy times. We farmed again and lived alongside our sis
ters and their Gwithiaz, in a village not too different from the one we had grown up in. By this time all other covens had been killed, the only surviving witches were Daughters of the Earth. But the Creatures had suffered heavy losses too. With the might of the Gwithiaz there were now only two left.

  Then the unthinkable happened. One of our own was killed. A Daughter of the Earth slaughtered by a Creature, and her Gwithiaz beside her. We took extra precautions, the witches increased their protective spells and the Gwithiaz trained harder. Yet more witches fell victim to the Creatures. As a Daughter of the Earth each witch was connected and every loss was felt acutely by Bersaba, as though they had been her own sisters.

  The Creatures had found a way to destroy us and it seemed we were powerless to stop them. And then they found us. We were in the woods and heard the screams of her sisters. Bersaba felt their pain and screamed out with them.

  We raced back but when we got there they were all dead; not just her sisters and their Gwithiaz but the entire village. Men, women and children, their bodies torn to pieces and flung into a pile like rubbish. It's a sight I will never be able to un-see. Bersaba was alive but she was broken.

  We found what was left of the bodies of her sisters and of my brothers, the Gwithiaz, and we gave them a traditional burial, and then I wanted us to run. I wanted to get Bersaba far away. I wanted to keep her safe, I would've died to keep her safe.

  But she wouldn't leave. She said that Cornwall was her home, it was where she was born and it was where she would die. So we made a stand and one night they came for her. There were two of them, the last of their hideous species, and they were ferocious, but their hatred and bloodlust were no match for my love for Bersaba.

  I killed one but the other one got away from me. I had hidden Bersaba and when I returned to her she was gone.”

  For the first time since Kitto had begun his story he stopped. He closed his eyes and his expression was painful as he remembered, “I found her but I was too late. It wasn't the Creatures, it was her own pain that was her undoing. She went to Tintagel Island and I couldn't stop her. She threw herself from the clifftop. She couldn't live any longer, not with all that we'd lost. I was bereft but I turned my pain to anger. I tracked down the Creature, the last one of its kind, and I made it pay for what it had done.”

  He sighed and opened his eyes again, “With the witches gone I lost my immortality, which I didn't mind. I certainly didn't want to live forever without Bersaba. I spent my final years in solitude.”

  They all sat in silence and stared at the fire.

  “How did the Creatures kill the Daughters of the Earth?” Jack asked at length “Did you ever find out? It doesn't make sense why suddenly they couldn't protect themselves.”

  Kitto shook his head, “I never knew.”

  “Why did you tell people that Bersaba was killed by the Creature?” Kiera asked him. In her mind's eye she saw her vision; Bersaba throwing herself from the clifftop, her sorrowful eyes.

  Kitto pondered for a moment, “I don't know. Either way I had failed in my duty as a Gwithiaz and as a husband to protect her and I think I just wanted…I wanted to protect her still, I didn't want people to think badly of her. Her heart was always too big, and she couldn't bear the loss of her sisters but she wasn't weak. I wouldn't want anyone to think that. She was the strongest woman I ever met.”

  They lapsed into a contemplative silence again before Kitto said, almost to himself more than anyone else, “I had always hoped that when I died I would see her again. Yet now I can't remember if I did or not, I only remember my two lives, I can't remember anything between.”

  They all stared into the fire, thinking of love and loss.

  Then Jack leant forward, “What did they look like and how did you defeat them?”

  Kitto seemed to shudder at the memory, “I hoped I would never face one again. They are able to pass themselves off as men. They hunch themselves over and slink through the shadows unnoticed. But when they unfurl to full size…”

  Kitto didn't finish, instead he turned to Jack with a determined look on his face, “We will train tomorrow Jack. I will show you how to fight them. You must learn how to fight an opponent that towers at least twice as big, an opponent that moves at speed. You have to avoid the teeth at all costs because once they tear into your flesh it is over. I will show you tomorrow.”

  Jack nodded. He rose to his feet and felt uncharacteristically affectionate towards Kitto. He stepped forward and embraced him, “I'm sorry for what happened to Bersaba.”

  Kitto seemed surprised. He hugged Jack back, and then he took Kiera's hand and kissed it, “We never had children but you two, I want you to know, how much I treasure you both.”

  He turned quickly and left the room. Kitto cooked dinner and they toasted Kiera's driving test success. Jack was happier. Tomorrow Kitto would teach him how to defeat the Creatures. If they were back and baying for Kiera's blood then he would destroy them, just as Kitto had done all those years ago.

  Kiera didn't speak during dinner. She listened to Jack and Kitto, but mostly she thought about Kitto's story. Something was still gnawing at her. She looked at Kitto and couldn't help but feel that there was still something missing, something wasn't right. It made her feel uneasy and she had been taught to trust her instincts.

  “Perhaps we could get Mags over to stay with us?” Kiera asked as they cleared away. “Until this is sorted out.”

  “Do you want me to fetch her now?” Jack picked up his car keys but Kitto raised his hand.

  “Let's not panic,” he said, “we don't even know if the Creatures are back yet. I'll call her tonight and then see if we can pick her up in the morning.”

  Kiera nodded and felt some relief. As she climbed the stairs to bed she tried to figure out exactly what was troubling her. She closed her bedroom door behind her and leaned back against it. She thought about Stacey and closed her eyes in pain. Then she thought of Bersaba. How awful for her to have to live in hiding and then to see her sisters murdered. She guessed Bersaba just didn't want to live with all that pain.

  Kiera sat down on her bed. What was bugging her was how the Creatures succeeded in tracking down and killing the Daughters of the Earth. That was what was missing from Kitto's story and that was what she needed to figure out.

  Chapter Thirty

  He moved silently across the field, his eyes on the cottage in the distance. He was tired of waiting, and now it was almost time. A few sheep scattered before him but they were safe. No time for a snack. He had other things on his mind.

  He reached the cottage and stood for a moment in the shadows. A light was on in the kitchen. He watched the old lady hobble around with her walking stick. She was clearing away some dishes. She paused to catch her breath and he saw her look out of the window.

  She wouldn't see him though. No-one ever did until it was too late, until he wanted to be seen. The kitchen went dark and then the hallway light was on. He made his way up the path to the front door. She had a knocker shaped like a pixie. He heard her on the other side. The lock clicked and some keys jingled. He smiled, a locked door wouldn't be enough to keep him out.

  He waited until he could hear the tap of her walking stick on the stairs. He wanted her to hear him coming. Then he pounced.

  That night Kiera dreamt that someone was in her room. She couldn't see their face, just a silhouette, hovering briefly next to her bed and then moving gracefully across to her dressing table.

  She was strangely calm as she watched the unknown person moving around, she didn't feel threatened. On a subconscious level she instinctively knew they weren't there to hurt her.

  She awoke in the morning and rubbed her eyes. For a moment she thought about how much nicer it would've been to wake up with Jack.

  She climbed from her bed and made her way over to the window. It was early. She opened the curtains and looked out on to a countryside bathed in a dim glow. The sun would rise soon and she wanted to meditate.

  Somethin
g caught her eye on her dressing table and she gasped. Shakily she reached out and picked up a piece of paper with a sentence scrawled across the middle. It certainly hadn't been there when she went to bed.

  She peered at it in wonder because she recognised the handwriting. It was the same writing from the old spell book, the one Bersaba had written. How was that possible? How had Bersaba written her a note? But even more worrying was what she had written.

  In bold letters Kiera read;

  'Don't trust the Gwithiaz'

  Kiera didn't speak at breakfast. All she could think about was the note and what it meant. She had so many questions. Why would Bersaba say that? How had Bersaba said that? She was dead. How had she reached out to her beyond the grave? And why couldn't she be a little more specific? Was an explanation too much to ask for?

  She found herself watching Kitto suspiciously and mentally shook herself. It was crazy. Of course, she could trust Kitto. He looked after her. The note hadn't specified Kitto, it had said 'Gwithiaz.' This was definitely wrong because she knew she could trust Jack.

  She had tried to meditate but there was too much going on in her mind for her to concentrate.

  “Did you ring Mags?” Kiera asked. “Can we go and fetch her?”

  “I rang her,” Kitto replied, “but she said she's fine and will stay where she is.”

  Kiera frowned, “If the Creatures really are back she needs to be with us. I'll go and see her today and talk to her.”

  “No,” Kitto said quickly, “Jack and I have training to do today and I don't want you to leave the house alone.”

  “I'll ring her then,” Kiera said sullenly.

  Kitto nodded, “That's fine, although she did mention having chores to do in town today so she may not be in.”