The Witch: Book Two of The Sorceress Saga

by Taliesin Govannon

  “Convince them to stand down!” the woman said to me one last time. Then she threw up her hands and a light brighter than the sun erupted from them. My world went white, and then black.

  * * *

  I awoke not very long after, laying on a sofa in the parlor. Vincent was standing nearby, talking with Angelique. Trevor, Evelyn, and Raina were lost in their own conversation off to the side.

  “So, what happened?” I asked, slowly sitting up.

  “We were going to ask you the same thing.” Vincent answered, turning with Angelique to face me.

  “Hey, sleeping beauty's awake...” Trevor said as he led the others over to the sofa as well. “When you slumped over in the circle, Evie here flipped out a little...”

  “Oh, so I'm the one who cried 'Christ, Evie, is the bird dead?', am I?” Evelyn said as she gave her brother a sideways glance.

  “I'd had a sense that you had slammed back into your body again.” Raina added, sitting beside me. “I told them you'd be fine.”

  “I had quite the adventure.” I said, a slight grin on my face.

  I then told them all about what I had seen... the surreal landscape, the cloaked lake surface, the Asian women, Vincent's sudden appearance, the works. When I was done, Vincent was shaking his head.

  “That one threw what must have been the nuclear bomb of Fae-fire.” he said. “By the time I could see again, they had both vanished.”

  “Do we have any idea who they might be?” Angelique asked the group. “It's obvious that they're not spirits, or else they wouldn't have needed a distraction in order to slip away.”

  “Not a bloody clue.” Trevor answered, shaking his head.

  “None here, either.” Evelyn added.

  “I can add this to the list of things to research.” Raina volunteered. “I'm heading back downstairs to brief Jack on the night's developments anyway.”

  “Sounds good.” Vincent said, then turned to me. “And you need some chocolate and cannabis to come back from another ungraceful entrance.”

  That sounded good to me.

  * * *

  A little bit later, I was reclining on a sofa down in Jack's playroom. It hadn't been down there before, but Vincent carried it down... with one hand, no less... so I would have a comfortable place to recover from my latest out of body escapade. He quickly left me in the care of my friends, needing to consult with Trevor and Evelyn on new paranormal security measures for the house. I was just fine with that. Being around two people that I had known my whole life had a way of making me feel better faster.

  Besides, I was sure that Vincent would do what he could to help me feel excellent a little later.

  Several pints of chocolate ice cream, all carrying names such as "coco orgasm" or "dutch fudge runner" littered the low table that Vincent had carried down with his other hand. They were interspersed with boxes of chocolate donuts, bags of chocolate cookies, and other bits of sugary chocolate excess. Jack and Raina had joined me for my pig-out session, Jack's bong providing the appetites for us.

  Jack slid a donut over the pipe stem of the bong and took a hit, blowing out the pungent smoke in a thick stream. “I wonder what's higher,” he mused, “my blood THC level or my blood glucose level?”

  “This would normally be the place where I'd give you a verbal smack-down,” Raina chimed in, “but I am far too busy having a love affair with these cookies.” She took another bite and closed her eyes in ecstasy.

  I stared down at the pint of ice cream I was holding and grunted. “I am so done.” I tossed the spoon into the container and set it down in front of me. “Why is it that every supernatural remedy calls for ingesting obscene amounts of sugar and fat?”

  “Don't knock it.” Jack replied, gesturing at me with the bong. “It's proof God approves of what we're doing. It's the only thing making me believe in Divinity these days.”

  “What, other than the fact that I met a Goddess?” I reached out and took the bong from him. My meeting with the Welsh Goddess Arianrhod last year still stuck out in my mind. I wondered if I would ever meet her again while I lit the bowl on the bong. I stopped, however, to take the donut off first and throw it playfully back at Jack.

  He caught it in his mouth and took a bite. “Well, yeah... other than that.” he replied with his mouth full.

  “I asked Rini about the lake.” Raina said, referring to her main magick teacher among the Fae. “Even she won't go near it.”

  "Well, that's comforting.” I deadpanned, exhaling. “Any idea about our mysterious female guests?”

  “There's not much.” Jack pushed his chair over to his desk and grabbed his wireless keyboard and mouse. He edged back over to us as he started clicking.

  A gigantic monitor on the far wall sprung to life, an image of a Wikipedia article on it.

  “Gee, what a reliable source!” Raina said sarcastically.

  “Cool your jets, Betty Rubble.” Jack retorted. “All I have to do is access a special version of Wikipedia...”

  He typed on the keyboard sitting in his lap, and suddenly the screen started to change. The white background started to fade to black, and the black lettering started rearranging itself while turning blood red. When it was done, a landing page for something called 'parapedia.org' stared back at us.

  “Para-pedia?” Raina read out loud.

  “It's a paranormal wiki.” Jack explained. “Kind of like a massive, digital Martello's.”

  “Well, if any vamp or shifter with an ax to grind can change the info on here, I think I'll keep my paper copy of Mr. Martello's Encyclopedia, thank you very much!” Raina took another bite of a cookie to punctuate her point.

  “So what does the Scooby-pedia say?” I asked impatiently.

  “Okay, so the closest thing I could find was the legend of the Botan Doro.” Jack began. “It's a Japanese folk tail... some kind of parable about not letting lust rule your life. Or maybe it's about not dwelling on death too long, or something.”

  “I've run into that story before.” Raina added. “About some Samurai?”

  “Also known as ‘The Peony Lantern’,” Jack continued, nodding, “the most popular version goes something like this… “

  Jack typed a few more keys. I stared intently at what popped up as he read.

  “Let’s see… “ he said, reading, “It usually starts with a samurai who’s just lost his wife, and he has the hardest time dealing with it at night.”

  “Not unbelievable.” Raina said.

  “So one night,” Jack continued reading, “a beautiful woman comes walking by the samurai’s house, she’s carrying a lantern with a peony flower on it, and she has a servant in tow.”

  “The women by the lake looked too similar to be employer and employee.” I said. “They looked more like sisters.”

  “I'm sure that there are versions out there where they're sisters." Jack said. "Anyway, the samurai is smitten with this beautiful, raven-haired beauty. They make love every night, watched over by the woman's handmaiden. His neighbors start to get worried about him, and one sneaks a peek through the samurai's windows one night. The neighbor sees the samurai, only he's in bed with a rotting corpse instead of a beautiful woman."

  “That would take the Mother of all beer goggles!” Raina said, whistling low.

  “Ya know?" Jack said with a grin. "Continuing on… the neighbor convinces the samurai to let them bring in a local priest to drive the corpse spirit away, the samurai reluctantly agrees, and the woman and her companion stop coming. The samurai can't handle the loneliness he feels, however, and goes to the local cemetery to see what he can find. He finds the beautiful woman standing by a crypt, and he rushes into her arms."

  “And now the twist.” I said.

  “Yes.” Jack nodded. “So the samurai has disappeared, and eventually the neighbor and the priest look in the cemetery. They open the crypt to find the samurai, dead, his body entwined with that of a rotting corpse.”

  “How lovely.” Raina deadpanned, taking a
bite of a donut.

  Jack clicked a few more places and brought up a parapedia article on the Botan Doro. “However, among people who actually interact with paranormal creatures,” he continued, "the Botan Doro are a pair of sisters from feudal Japan, age and year of origin unknown. They appear to be immortal because they haven't aged in about five thousand years.”

  “So what's their story?” I asked, leaning in.

  “Also unknown. They appear to, well... appear at sites of extreme paranormal distress.” He clicked on a few links and brought up an ancient-looking newspaper headline. “Nineteen twelve, Enid Oklahoma. A rash of teen girls disappeared, and some people blamed vampires. Local officials labeled these people as 'superstitious' and 'delusional', but didn't have any clues about what really happened. Later reports of a couple of 'strange oriental' women were thought to be unrelated, but spooky-pedia ties them to the eventual destruction of the rogue fledgling vamp responsible.”

  “Sounds tenuous.” Raina said.

  “Okay,” Jack continued, “How about Dublin, Ireland, nineteen thirty-two? What local papers described as a 'strange blight' was really an infestation of suka mold, a parasitic growth native to one of the numerous shadow realms that exist alongside our own. The stuff can render entire continents unlivable. They were ready to torch the whole town and all of the untouched fields around it when these two women appear again, and poof! The mold disappears overnight.”

  “How do they know where to go?” I asked.

  “Nobody knows. In fact, the only account I've ever found about anyone communicating with either of them is... yours.” he replied, pointing at me.

  “Something strange centers around Annie... must be a day that ends in 'y'.” Raina deadpanned.

  “Well, I'm going to try to chat her up inside my body next time.” I replied, picking up another carton of ice cream. “Leaving my body isn't good for my cholesterol levels.”

  Chapter Four

  From the Diaries of Angelique Dupre

  09/16/1588

  Roanoke Colony

  The past three weeks have been challenging for me, to say the least. Sarah has proven to be a frightful creature, only slightly less quivering than a field mouse. I had decided against the direct approach, attempting to gently ease her into the idea of my existence, though that was no easy feat even with my caution.

  I started coming to her in dreams. At first I was a voice, but eventually I transitioned to appearing in full view. When I told her that I could meet her in the waking world, she refused to leave her house for a solid eight days!

  I finally made contact last night. Her skin was so soft, so pale in the moonlight. How I wished she were one of the sisterhood, it would have soothed her fear and pain! There is a young man from a nearby family that she lusts after. I shall have to encourage her to taste his sweet manhood before her becoming arrives, for she may not be able to explore him safely afterwards.

  I am coming to her again tonight. I hope that we can proceed without too many childish games... we haven't much time.

  * * *

  “Breathe deep, and relax...”

  I sat in my favorite spot in the meditation room, eyes closed and legs folded under me. I was having Vincent guide me this time, and I had told him that I wanted to see a past life where he and I weren't lovers this time. Both he and Angelique had assured me that we fulfilled many roles for each other over the millennia, and I wanted a change of pace.

  “Now, you're flying down a tunnel of clouds...”

  The path I had formed to get to my past incarnations was well worn by now, and I knew the way almost by heart. I still liked having a guide, however, if for nothing more than to have someone to bounce things off of as I tried to fit what I had seen into a coherent narrative.

  “Before you, you see a series of doors.” Vincent said. “Pick one you have never been through before, and step through it.

  This was the tricky part. I studied the doors floating in front of me carefully, each one with a unique marking or basic pattern of lines. I mentally eliminated the ones I had chosen before and looked over what was left.

  Show me ones with a different lover I thought. Off to my left, one of the doors glowed with a faint, pulsing light.

  Well, here goes nothing... I thought and opened it.

  * * *

  I saw her in another's body.

  Angelique had been known as Alexandros in that life, and she was sturdy and curvaceous then. Her coal-black hair hung in lazy curls then, framing the most beautiful face in Athens.

  I could feel him in my mind, the man I had been in my own past incarnation. Pandaros had been my name, and I had been a child in a political family. I surrendered to his thoughts and memories...

  I know that some would-be philosophers question the notion of arranged marriages, but I couldn't complain. Alexandros was the daughter of a reputable philosopher and was seen as a prime marriage partner for the son of a local influential assemblyman and merchant. I may not have been the first son, but I wound up with the most beautiful bride.

  We had already explored each other's bodies, and it was everything that my earlier dalliances with the daughters of farmers hadn't been. They had been nervous and hesitant, while Alex had been bold and skilled. Alex's father opined on the freedom of love and intimacy, so she knew what she liked. My willingness to be directed opened her up to me in ways that no other man had ever experienced.

  I certainly hope that being 'the boss' was enough to make up for having a bored and unsatisfied lover. Me? I'd rather have what I have with Alexandros.

  Her smile was so warm, so genuine, with everybody. How the others couldn't see her for the jewel that she was continued to baffle me.

  She made her way across the crowded villa in my direction. It was yet another party to celebrate our betrothal, but the frequency never phased her. She was just as kind and gracious with her fiftieth guest as she'd been with her fifth. She greeted people with a smile and a touch, but never stopped completely. As she locked eyes with me, her smile went from warm to burning.

  “My dearest Pan...” she purred, wrapping her arms around me, “... I trust that you're enjoying yourself?”

  “Hmm.” I hummed as her lips met mine. I felt her gentle curves press into my body, and her tongue darted into my mouth before intertwining with mine. Her hands traced over the muscles on my back, causing me to pull her even tighter into my embrace.

  If we had been alone, I would have already stripped her of every shred she wore.

  “Can we send everyone away now?” I asked, my voice hoarse with desire.

  “Now now, my love.” she mildly admonished me. “We formalize things tomorrow, then my every night will be spent with you between my legs.” She smiled a wicked smile... she knew what such talk did to me.

  “I have no duties for the next week. I shall keep you in bed the entire time.”

  “I like your priorities.” Her grin went from wicked to sweet, and my heart melted a little further. “We will have to have our fun soon. Something wonderful has happened.”

  She placed my hand over her womb. I could feel the spirit of a new life radiating from within.

  “Is that... are you?” I stammered.

  “Yes. And I feel that it will be a son.”

  Just then, my modern self felt the life growing within and knew who it was immediately.

  Vincent!

  * * *

  “So I was your son, eh?”

  Vincent's easy grin showed that he had little difficulty accepting this. Of course, he'd already experienced past lives where he and Angelique had been relations other than lovers, so adding me into the mix wasn't all that strange for him.

  For me, on the other hand, this was the first time I had felt his distinctive life force in someone who wasn't my lover, yet was still just as precious. It awoke feelings towards him that were, well, parental.

  “Doesn't it make things strange?” I asked. “I mean, now I know how it's like to love you as a son
. I'm worried that it'll get in the way of our lustier adventures.”

  “Do you want to have sex with me?” He moved closer to me on the sofa and caressed my shoulder.

  My body's response was instantaneous. “Oh Gods, yes!” I gasped as my body heated at his touch.

  “Making love is only one expression of my love for you.” he said softly, pulling on the bow that held my dress closed in the back. “Every form of love that we experience for each other only deepens the bonds of love that hold our lives together.”

  He eased my dress off of my shoulders and down my arms, exposing my breasts to the air. My nipples tightened, and my skin ached for his touch.

  “The deeper our love, the more intense sex becomes. We both know that this isn't unholy, but merely the most primal expression of our love.”

  His lips pressed against my neck as his hands found my breasts. I moaned, arching my back into his embrace.

  My vision suddenly shifted to that of Pandaros, my past life in ancient Greece. I was holding Alexandros the same way that Vincent was holding me, gently rolling her nipples with my fingers as I covered her neck and shoulder with kisses. She reached around behind her and grasped my erect member gently yet firmly, stroking it in time with my fingers on her.

  I snapped back to my modern reality and reached back behind me, grasping Vincent as Angelique had grasped me.

  Angelique...

  Vincent dropped one hand to my clitoris and rubbed it in time with my strokes on him. My body responded enthusiastically as my mind flashed back to that earlier time, feeling Alexandros' body moisten, beckoning me between her legs.

  Angelique...

  I pulled Vincent upwards, his mouth sucking hard on my nipple as he made his way. I gasped, and instantly tasted Alex's nipple in my own mouth. I flicked it with the rip of my tongue, and Vincent's concurrent teasing brought me back to my own body again.

  I pulled him up and into me, and my body ignited. Much the same way that Alex's body had come alive when I entered her all those centuries ago.