Alainn placed the dagger to the witch’s body.
“You wouldn’t dare to attempt to truly harm me, not by your hand or your magic, not while my curse on the trows remains!” She shrieked, obviously holding on to the belief Alainn’s conscience wouldn’t allow her to cause her any further damage.
“You have just caused much harm and indecency for the man I love, and rendered me helpless to do anything about it. Now, you will see how deep my vengeance runs?” She hissed lowly though her throat was raw.
The other witch attempted to move and to use her dark powers once more, but Alainn held tight, employed her own powers and sliced the woman’s skin. She cried out in pain.”
“Undo the curse you placed on the trows.”
“I will not. I will never agree to it!”
The blood from the wound on the witch’s shoulder spurted yet Alainn didn’t hesitate, but instead forcefully plunged the blade deep into the witch’s belly and she screamed louder this time.
“We are surely cursed forever!” the trow lowly exclaimed in defeat.
“You said some curses die with the witch who issued the curse, aye?” Killian asked in a hollow, weak voice as he raised his sword directly above the witch’s head.
“Not always.” They heard Danhoul say.
He must have realized Alainn was now in control, for he’d stepped within the circle. He’d obviously freed Conner for he motioned for him to join them within the protective circle.
“You will be made to pay in ways you wouldn’t dare to imagine for this deed, white witch.” Ebrill warned in a voice racked with pain.
“I curse you tenfold plus three,” Alainn simply said again and the witch’s arms limply dropped to her sides. “I curse you tenfold plus three.” Her legs became entirely immobile as well and Alainn took meager satisfaction in seeing her eyes fill with fear.
“Sorry I am, Trow, but I cannot reason with her and I will not allow her to live to cause harm to anyone else ever again.”
The small trow made a sound of resignation and then she was startled to hear him spit several times. No one had mentioned the word troll so she couldn’t understand why he was behaving this way, when she heard Conner speak.
“Och, bloody hell, they’re real as well!”
They all looked up to see that they were surrounded by a number of unsightly creatures that surely must be trolls. They were large, green, and fearsome looking.
The witch seemed even less pleased than the rest of them to see the many trolls that now surrounded the protective circle.
“Make them leave,” she said and Alainn pulled the anelace from the woman’s body.
“Why do you fear trolls?” It was the Danhoul who questioned her.
The witch did not respond. Alainn had not been certain the trolls were capable of speech or of conversing in a language the humans would recognize, however one of the hideously ugly trolls called out to them.
“She promised us if we found a way to blame the trows and rid her of the unwanted child she bore, without implicating her in any manner, she would spend eternity mating with us, for trolls are wildly attracted to all witches, but most especially shees and lusting witches.”
“We have been waiting for centuries for the wizard’s spell to be removed.” Another huge and repulsive troll spoke as they all ogled the witch.
The trow’s face had filled with despair in believing there was no way to end the curse, but now the wee creature apparently held some hope the trolls might actually be able to assist them.
“This is your last opportunity, witch… end the curse and I will see the trolls do not take you away and do what they will with you, for with my curse of three and ten upon you, you shall be helpless to prevent it,” Alainn whispered to the other witch as she leaned closer.
“It shall be so.” Ebrill finally assured Alainn. “If you will see me safe from the trolls, I shall end the curse now.”
Alainn nodded reluctantly. The witch slowly nodded her head toward Trow and she spoke in a manner that appeared as if she were talking backwards. She might very well be reversing the curse in just such a manner.
The witch nodded and Trow looked at Alainn with uncertainty.
“I suppose you won’t know for certain if it is undone until darkness falls this night,” she whispered.
Even as Alainn remained sitting upon the witch and holding her with her supernatural abilities, the witch still gazed at Killian with lustfulness in her eyes and in hearing her thoughts, Alainn’s fury brimmed anew.
Chapter Seventeen
The impatient trolls remained waiting to see what would be done and Alainn in her furious state, felt she would soon be unable to control the situation. She wanted this witch dead, she couldn’t deny it. She could possibly end her life, but since Ebrill was an eternal witch that wasn’t a certainty. Alainn had told her she wouldn’t allow the trolls to take her, but at the moment, she believed that might be just punishment for all she had done.
She heard a movement behind her and was amazed to see that now within the circle was the imposing figure of Lugh, the Celtic god and one of her guardians. He stared at Alainn with some concern in his eyes at her shredded white garment now entirely red, soaked through with her blood, but then looked down into the face of the lusting witch.
“Ebrill, it’s been centuries I should think, since last we met.”
The witch looked up at Lugh with much interest, but she soon turned from him to gaze at Killian once more. She stared up at Alainn, waiting for her to move and to release her powers.
“It has been a most memorable night.” She boasted to Lugh as she stared up at Killian and smiled a slow seductive smile. “One we shall surely repeat soon enough, human.” She drawled in a voice dripping in sensuality.
The witch’s powers now pushed against Alainn’s. In her fury and enragement Alainn sensed the child within her was feeding on her deep unparalleled hatred, and sending out a dark power of his own. She was becoming filled with a darkness she’d never known and her need for vengeance was irresistible. With a swift glance at the charmed dagger she still held in her hand, Alainn drove it deep within the witch from just below her black heart to her womanhood. Even as her own blood seeped from the reopened wound with the strenuous effort, she raggedly pulled the dagger through the witch’s skin and flesh. As Alainn’s blood merged with the witch’s blood, it sizzled and burned.
The witch screamed out both in pain and disbelief. As the blood sprayed upon Alainn, that, too, filled her with a humming power and a vengeful hunger. She recalled the horrific jealousy she’d felt in watching the woman intimately joined with Killian as she’d been helpless to do anything but watch Ebrill inflict pain upon him, and she now took immense satisfaction in furiously and repeatedly driving the dagger into the witch. She screamed and cried out in rage as she did so.
Lugh and the three men, who were typically mostly immune to Alainn’s powers, were held at a standstill by the power of the dark being within her and they were completely unable to prevent Alainn’s brutal attack.
Alainn’s infuriated screams of mad enragement matched the strangled moans of the witch. The scent of the blood seemed to cause the dark child within her to move unnaturally as if it now controlled and encouraged Alainn. She allowed herself to revel in the abhorrent darkness and revenge as she continued to stab and slice at the witch’s body while she still lived. She pulled the internal bits from within her, capably disemboweling her with something liken to mad, gleeful delight and when she began to toss them one by one to the trolls, they began to fight over them and soon devour them. Apparently they were as eager to feast upon the witch as to mate with her.
“Once they have tasted flesh, they will not rest until all of you are entirely consumed,” Lugh managed to utter though he remained unable to move.
That pulled Alainn from her dark trance long enough to realize she was releasing the control. The witch still moved beneath her and she sensed Ebrill would not die even though she was
covered in blood and she had been nearly eviscerated. Ebrill would eventually recover and, when her body was regenerated and entirely restored, she would seek Alainn out again, and more disturbingly she would one day seek out Killian again.
Even now in her great agony the witch stared at Killian with a promise of another time.
Alainn stretched out her hand and a magical white fire radiated from her finger tips and Alainn pointed it directly at the witch’s eyes. She soon screamed out in unimaginable pain as her eyes became engulfed in flames and soon only blackened holes remained where her eyes once were.
“You shall never look upon my husband ever again, witch. You shall never look upon another male of any species ever again, nor take another breath.” Alainn continued to brutally stab and mutilate the witch and the others looked on certain she had been driven to madness.
“You cannot kill me white witch, it is as I have said. I am immortal. My body will be healed and renewed, and when that happens I shall return and I will find your man. I—”
Alainn quickly punched Ebrill’s face and then pried her mouth open, grabbed hold of the vile witch’s bitter tongue and aptly sliced it off. The blood spurted and Alainn threw the severed tongue to the trolls as well.
Alainn continued to sneer venomously at the witch and viciously pulled the anelace upward through ribs and breastbone aptly exposing her beating heart. She proceeded to drive the dagger into her heart at precisely the same time as out of the corner of her eye she saw Killian’s sword being raised and when it came down swift and hard, the witch’s head was severed with one mighty blow. He had finally managed to break through the spell, perhaps because his intentions were not of preventing Alainn from killing the witch, but in aiding her.
Somewhat appeased, she ripped the warm heart from the witch’s chest and threw it to the trolls. She smiled deviously when Killian picked up the witch’s severed head with the tip of his sword and then tossed it away in disgust. As it thudded against Alainn’s magical barrier in the inner circle, Alainn saw it carried through to the trolls also.
“As usual you’re too late, Lugh!” Danhoul bitterly accused as soon as he was able to move and he went to Alainn and offered her his hand.
She did not take it, but remained sitting upon the witch’s headless, mutilated body. She was entirely covered in an appalling quantity of blood, both hers and the witch’s. She allowed herself to briefly look up into Killian’s face and when their eyes met, she saw deep guilt and distinct shame, but unmistakable accusation and fear at seeing her behave in such a violent uncontrolled manner as well.
She closed her eyes wanting to simply wish herself away, yet the trolls remained surrounding them and entrapping them within the circle.
*
“We need to get out of here straightaway,” Danhoul insisted.
The men all had their swords in their hands ready to do battle with the trolls should they manage to break the barrier with their powerful strength for they were aware it was much easier to enter the protected circle than to leave.
Lugh stared at her. “You must undo the protection spell, Alainn or I’ll not be able to magically take all of you away from this location. Unless you remove it we are trapped within this circle. The only other possible option is for you to charm our swords with your magic so when we move the items of warding, we shall be capable of dealing with the trolls. They will never allow humans to live now that they have tasted flesh and blood, and surely more and more will come to join them for they are drawn from afar by the scent of a witch’s blood, and they’ve surely caught the smell of two witches’ blood this day.”
The trow looked up at Alainn, but it was soon clear she was unresponsive.
“We can’t remain trapped here indefinitely,” Danhoul exclaimed.
“And a Celtic god and a druid can’t find a way to get us out of this damnable predicament?” Conner spoke for the first time since the trolls had arrived.
Lugh appeared uncertain as he spoke. “It is Alainn’s protection spell that magically holds us so we can’t simply be transported away even with my magic.”
“Aye, I have attempted to break it, as well. I can’t undo it for all my attempts.” Danhoul admitted.
Trow looked to the east to see the pink glow that would soon be followed by the bright morning sun. The trow went to Alainn and placed his hand on her arm in gratitude for all she’d done, but she remained unresponsive. He took one last glance at the others within the circle, and the trolls that surrounded them.
“I wish you well, all of you. I would not choose to leave you, but for the fact if the witch’s curse has not been successfully removed I shall turn to ash as soon as the sun’s light touches my skin. I should not like to wait to see if that be truth.”
He looked toward the rising sun and then moved down into a small burrow in the ground.
“Can we make the hole bigger by way of our magic and tunnel our way out of here?” Danhoul wondered.
Lugh shrugged as he considered it. “Perhaps, but even with magic it may take some time. I believe Alainn controls all magic within this circle and at the moment she seems unreachable.”
“How long will they remain out there waiting for us to come out?” Conner asked.
“Days for certain, weeks if they set their minds on it,” Lugh suggested.
“Aye, well, Samhain and the full moon are only a week away,” Danhoul said. “We need to get Alainn to the realm of the gods to be healed, so clearly we don’t have that much time.” He dared to walk to the edge of the circle.
The trolls tried to climb on top of one another in attempt to get to him and they hungrily licked their lips.
“Where is Aine now?” Danhoul asked with obvious displeasure. “Sure she could be summoned. If we combined our magic, we might be powerful enough.” Danhoul once more walked around the edge of the circle this time to make certain the stones still remained intact sealing the protective circle and keeping the trolls out.
“She is now held by the council of the gods for she was in disagreement with how they have dealt with Alainn, with both their tests and their refusal to interfere and assist Alainn in all she has been made to encounter recently. Aine went before the council and charged them with cruelty. She claimed for all that Alainn had done for the gods and humankind alike, for the emotional hardship she now endures, they should be more willing to assist her. She also spoke her oppositional opinion that leaving Alainn to confront the many uncertainties as well as suffer their tests did nothing to accurately assess Alainn’s magical powers.
“In pleading for and defending young Alainn, she only managed to insult and infuriate nearly all who sit on the council and as a result they’ve placed her in banishment. She will not be allowed in any further decisions regarding Alainn because of her blood connection. She is not to be released till the day of Samhain when the ritual will be performed.”
“Well, I’m not stayin’ here one moment longer. I’ll move the crystals and stones myself and break the damnable protective spell. Sure I’d as soon be killed by trolls as remain trapped in this feckin’ detestable place.” Killian finally spoke.
He limped painfully in obvious agony and exhaustion toward the edge of the circle, and it was evident he was sorely wounded from the ruthless and inhumane encounters with the witch.
Lugh cautioned him. “If you break the protective barrier and we cannot immediately escape by way of magic, can the four of us fight off surely fifty enraged, hungry trolls who wait to be given a witch to mate with this night?”
Killian finally understood Lugh’s meaning and he glanced at Alainn who had not moved from where she disturbingly remained nearly entirely unclothed, her own face, hair, and body covered in a disturbing quantity of blood sitting upon what remained of the mangled body of the witch.
“Although Alainn has never before experienced meeting an eternal witch, she instinctively completed the first two steps that must be taken in order to kill her even though Ebrill was long ago deemed to be i
mmortal. She knew the heart must be removed from her body, and the head must be severed.” Lugh informed them.
“But Killian was the one to lop off her head.” Conner spoke.
“But Alainn placed the notion in his head, although sure you were more than willing to carry through with it.” Danhoul briefly glanced at Killian, but he would not meet Danhoul’s eyes and did not respond.
Lugh finally lifted Alainn into his powerful arms and away from what remained of the witch, though Alainn didn’t appear to notice.
“We won’t need to get far, just outside the circle, and then I can take all of us away. If we can distract them even for a moment, and move outside of the circle, I will carry us all to safety.
Conner and Danhoul picked up the bloodied remnants of the eternal witch and threw it to the trolls who once more fought over the body.
“It has to be done now,” Lugh called, “I may be immortal but the rest of you will soon be food for these vile beasts.”
Danhoul kicked a stone away and dared to step outside of the circle while the trolls feasted on the witch’s body, but still they noticed and as Conner stepped out they moved closer. Killian waited for Lugh to lift Alainn through the barrier, but by the time he stepped out they were nearly upon him.
Though her eyes were blank and emotionless, on some level she must have been aware of what was happening and what must be done, for Alainn instinctively held out her hands. They saw the trolls all furiously thrown against nearby trees and rocks. This only appeared to spur on the determined, resilient beasts. They roared and hollered and ran toward them faster than any of them would have thought possible with their thick bodies and cumbersome legs.
“Go now, Lugh,” Killian called. “Take her to safety now.”
He held up his sword as the trolls raced toward him. Danhoul and Conner lifted their swords as well, and Lugh glanced with regret at the three men who would surely meet their deaths this day. He was about to disappear to see Alainn to safety when she magically flew from his arms and floated to the ground. She held out her hands before her and wildly spun around to stare at the trolls.
A Witch's Destiny Page 20