Witches (8 page)

Wait! Were there more witches approaching from the south? Fearfully, the wizard dropped the well bucket, running back toward the castle proper, preparing to duck inside its stout walls.

No. He sensed only one earth stone. A single witch, without support. Gensrow smiled, carefully flexing his burned arm. Let her come. Fighting alone, on his castle grounds, the witch had no chance. Another loss for the Coven, while yet another addition to his harem.

Once he took this girl and made his escape, it might be years before the Coven found him again. And by then he would be too strong for them to ever defeat.

***

Three of Jain’s five moons hung low over the castle. Staring up at the thick stone walls, Tiffany drew her heavy sword. Earth fire rippled along the sharp edge, sparking down into the grass with a dull hiss.

Extending her sensitivity, the sorceress detected a magical trip wire surrounding the wizard’s abode. Tossing an experimental rock at the nearest stone wall, she was unsurprised to find it immediately encased in a stout iron cage. Behind her, in the forest she’d just traversed, a pack of wolves began howling.

Battling the castle minions would bring her no closer to defeating their Lord. Gathering all her energy, Tiffany teleported to the center well of the roof.

It was a calculated risk, the young witch very vulnerable after such extreme exertion. She took a moment to recover in the bright moonlight, studying her surroundings.

The ramparts rose ten feet above her head, with several sets of stairs leading up to a stone walkway running three feet below the staggered parapet. Huge iron cauldrons sat in the lower center area, the better to prepare boiling oil to dump on would-be invaders, amid stacks of pikes, cross bows, and other ancient arms.

Inspecting the weapons, a glint of unnaturally smooth metal caught her eye. There, amid the medieval junk, sat a row of sleek laser rifles.

Clearly, the wizard had brought the guns to Jain from a modern world. As Lord Gensrow already enjoyed absolute magical dominance in Jain, the guns were clearly intended for cross-dimensional invasion.

Before she could disable them, the entire roof erupted. Amid a mighty, collective shriek, hundreds of rats suddenly charged the sorceress, flowing out from every nook and cranny. Tiffany unleashed a pulse of magical energy, the green first bursting outward. Every last rodent was blasted up and over the ramparts, to fall, burning and broken, to the ground below.

“Now that wasn’t very nice, was it?”

Whipping about, Tiffany’s blade oriented on the wizard himself, standing some two dozen feet away. A tall man wearing plain black clothes, the magician’s horribly mangled face gathered in a sneer. Casually hefting a heavy broadsword, Gensrow laughed.

“Hmmm, you’re very pretty.” Eyes widening, the wizard gave a satisfied nod. “You will serve me well.”

Revolted, she retreated a half-step.“Never!”

“You will serve me!” he bellowed, wildly swinging the sword. “You will pay for what those other bitches did!” He then held up his arm, sleeve falling away to show the severe burns.

A powerful magical aura emanated from the wizard, and in particular the black stone hanging from his belt. Tiffany would have to be very careful. Yet the man was obviously unbalanced. If she could rile him, distract him...

“Poor you. That must have hurt!” Laughing, Tiffany took a step closer. “But that’s nothing compared to what I will do to you.”

“Shut up!”

“By the stone, are you ugly! I’ll bet women won’t even give you the time of day, will they?”

“You whore!” Screaming in rage, Gensrow charged. Dropping the sword, Tiffany snatched up a laser rifle, firing a full charge at the evil Lord’s chest.

Somehow, Gensrow managed to raise his sword just in time to deflect the laser bolt. Still, the wizard found himself blasted back across the roof, against the far wall, his sword shattered. Shrapnel from the destroyed blade was embedded in the wizard’s chest and arms. Bellowing in pain, left arm thrown before his eyes, the magician’s right hand closed around the midate at his side.

A dark energy burst roiled across the castle rooftop. Shielded from the worst of it by her own power, Tiffany nevertheless had the laser ripped from her hands, flung far out into the Janian night, along with the other modern weapons. A fragment of dislodged stone painfully thudded against her knee, knocking the young sorceress flat.

“Bitch!” The very heavens now seemed to crackle with Gensrow’s madness. Staggering forward, he caused a spare sword to fly into his outstretched hand. Tiffany also rose, armed with her blade once more, hobbling on wounded knee to meet the attack.

Gensrow put all his might into an exaggerated overhand swing, which Tiffany easily parried. Yet there was an explosion where the blades met, green and black sparks fighting for supremacy. Despite marshaling all her physical strength, Tiffany was still smashed down onto the hard flagstones, while Gensrow remained standing.

Grinning, Gensrow aimed a strike at her prostrate body, but the sorceress rolled away, slashing at the magician’s exposed leg as she scrambled to her feet.

“Now, now, my dear,” the wizard murmured, almost to himself. “We don’t want to hurt you. At least not yet.” Rushing forward again, Gensrow and Tiffany exchanged several blows. Then, gathering himself, the sorcerer put all his fury into a single, massive strike.

Though once more bracing herself, the young witch found herself blasted up onto the stone walkway running just below the upper parapet. Painfully, she scrambled to her feet.

“I will have you, witch!” Still near the center of the roof, Gensrow stared up at her, yanking off his burning shirt to expose bare chest and arms. “Surrender now and it will go easier for you!”

“I think not.” Clearly, Tiffany would never win a battle of pure strength. But if she could tempt him up onto the ramparts, it might be possible...

With a tremendous leap, the wizard landed some dozen feet from Tiffany on the walkway. “I am the master of Jain!”

Deliberately, she pulsed green fire into her blade until the metal shrieked. “You’re nothing.”

Eyes widening, the magician strode forward. “You will learn respect!”

Tiffany smiled. “Not from you.” Then, with all her might, the witch laced an intense blast of earth fire into the stone at the magician’s feet.

The walkway instantly disintegrated, the wizard awkwardly tumbling some ten feet to the roof proper. Heavy rock crashed down on top of him. Scrambling backwards, Tiffany now leapt down to safety as the entire rampart structure collapsed.

A smoky haze now covered the rooftop. It was as if she were in the Boundary, yet there were no hummingbirds or unicorns for guidance and protection. The young sorceress held her sword at the ready, feeling very exposed.

With a shriek, the bloodied, crazed wizard rushed from the haze, dragging an obviously broken leg. Acting purely on instinct, she side-stepped his thrust, swinging once more to the attack.

As never before, Tiffany gave herself over to the green fire, its power coalescing throughout her being. It was as if body, blade, and earth stone had become one, providing strength and surety in abundance. Badly injured, burned, and largely immobile, the castle Lord was unable to match her. With growing confidence, she struck at Gensrow time and again, dancing clear of his counter blows. Soon the black fire became weaker, her own green blaze dominant.

Finally, with a tremendous crack, the magician’s latest blade split apart, horribly mangling his own hands. Shrieking in rage and pain, the wizard tumbled to the rooftop, bleeding profusely from multiple wounds. By this point the haze had cleared. A sharp slice from Tiffany’s weapon now dislodged the hateful midate, the black stone skidding well out of Gensrow’s reach.

“No!” he wailed, trying to crawl after the source of his power, blood gushing freely onto the rooftop. “Get away from me!”

Brutally slamming the now defrocked wizard down onto his chest, Tiffany pressed her blade to Gensrow’s ear. “Surrender and you live.”

“Never!” he screamed, tears now mingling with the blood. “You’re hurting me!”

What did she do now? Run the blade through his neck? Confused, Tiffany leaned back. “We didn’t start this. You did.”

“You hurt me first!” Eyes growing wide, Gensrow pounded his now broken hand on the stone roof. “You killed Daddy! You took my Mommy!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Tiffany screamed. “Shut up!”

But now the wizard began mumbling and sobbing unintelligibly, face pressed to the unyielding stone, trying to squirm away from the green sparks burning his skin.

Well, she had to do something. Brushing hair from her own burned forehead, the brunette warrior tried to remember the spell for conjuring a cage. But that would take too much energy. Maybe just put the wizard to sleep? Surely, that wouldn’t last long...

Without warning, Gensrow shoved her sword aside, leaping up. Caught by surprise, Tiffany lunged at the midate some twenty feet away, but Gensrow had other plans. Sprinting in the opposite direction, he ran through the now shattered ramparts, flying off the edge of the castle.

Tiffany raced back down to ground level, but there was no sign of the magician or his body. Though desperately searching all around the outer grounds, he was gone. Could the wizard have possibly survived such a fall? Within the woods, the wolves howled anew. Perhaps they’d hauled Gensrow off, either dead or alive? There was no way to know.

Reuniting her captive sisters with their earth stones (found underneath Gensrow’s mattress), Tiffany attended to their wounds and distress as best she could. She then made sure all four witches made it to the Boundary without further incident.

Now joined by Brooke and Amber, an additional, exhaustive search failed to shed any light on Gensrow’s fate. After collecting all the midate in the castle, the three young women burned the wizard’s home to the ground, setting off for Haven before dawn.

***

IT WAS A BRIGHT, windy day, the Dythan system’s glowing primary bathing the entire plateau in brilliant sunshine. On the horizon could be seen the faint outlines of Dytha’s two sister planets, along with the occasional glimpse of spacecraft entering and exiting the atmosphere.

Tiffany’s childhood home was only a mile from the Boundary. Coming out of the light forest along the ridge line, she took a moment to study the large house overlooking the ocean, the white breakers rolling up the beach far below. Taking a deep breath, the tall brunette then left the woods, picking her way carefully though the edge of the family orange grove.

Like many wealthy people, Tiffany’s mother had acquired expensive hobbies to soak up the long, idle days. As a child she could remember her severe parent struggling to construct ugly wicker furniture, filling canvas after canvas with childish, depressing art, and hosting other matrons in spiritless discussions of books they had neither read nor cared about.

There had even been the raising of exotic hawks one summer, with Tiffany herself required to rise at the break of dawn to feed the ravenous predators. For years afterward the hawks had chased Tiffany through her nightmares, the wild birds snapping at her face after she inevitably ran out of fresh steak.

Interspersed with slavish devotion to the latest fashion trends and charitable causes had been a confusing whirlwind of new religions, each more “meaningful” than the next. One of these churches had required the copious imbibing of wine each evening, and though her mother’s spiritual ardor inevitably cooled, it had required a lengthy “vacation” in a local rehab center to completely shake the faith. On another occasion a young male pastor had come to live in their home, to be summarily thrown out by Tiffany’s father following the unexpected interruption of an  intimate “cleansing” bedroom ceremony. Life in the Smith household had certainly never been dull.

The citrus grove had been perhaps her mother’s most benign diversion, lasting long after the others had been abandoned. In this, at least, she managed to find some measure of peace, inspecting the lush orange trees for rot and insects, carefully picking the fruit when ripe. Tiffany was unsurprised to find her mother there now, placing the last of the season’s haul in a small cart.

Upon hearing Tiffany’s approach Mrs. Smith turned about, expectant, shading her eyes from the harsh glare. Upon recognizing her only child, however, the older woman’s face fell into a bitter frown.

“Oh, it’s you.” Sighing, she wiped her hands on a dirty smock. “What is it you need, child?”

Stopping some ten feet away, Tiffany took a deep breath. “I don’t need anything, mother.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I came for a visit.” Deliberately, Tiffany approached several more steps. “I’d like to talk to you.”

“I see.” Looking up, the older woman squinted at the bright sun. “It’s about time I took a break anyway. Come inside, then.”

Without waiting for a reply, Mrs. Smith turned away, making her way toward the house. Wordlessly, Tiffany followed.

Entering the kitchen, Mrs. Smith briskly removed her smock. “Coffee, dear?”

“No, mother. I’m fine.” Tiffany perched on a stool. “It’s been a while since...”

“Three-and-a-half years, in fact.” Pouring herself a cup, Mrs. Smith then faced her daughter across the narrow counter. “That’s a long time to ignore your mother.”

“As I remember,” Tiffany carefully replied. “You said to never come back.”

“Well, we all say things in the heat of the moment, dear. You’re old enough now to know that.” Grimly, Mrs. Smith took a sip from the faded coffee cup. “Did you change your name? I can’t find you listed anywhere on the three planets. It’s like you don’t even exist anymore.”

“Mother, I told you. I don’t live anywhere on the three planets.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Chuckling mirthlessly, the matron’s eyes flashed a cold fire. “You claim to live on some other world now. In many different dimensions. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, mother. That is correct,” Tiffany sighed.  “Though I would be punished severely if any of my Coven sisters knew I’d even told you that.”