Ash And Ember The Wolf / Witch Hybrid

Chapter 6

Marlin was pacing the floor of his private library flipping through the pages of one of his books. He had been searching for some kind of hint or clue to help him remedy all three of his problems. He wasn't even sure if any of his books could help, but he was determined to find the answers he needed. He was so focused on his work that he felt like he had almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock on his door. He carefully placed his bookmark in between the pages he was reading before setting the book down and seeing who was at his door.

"Ash. What brings you to my little corner of the world? Please, come in." Marlin was a little startled to see her. She never came to visit him in his library.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was hoping that maybe you could help me with a problem that Ember and I are having." Ash looked around and noticed all of the books spread out everywhere.

"You know that I am always willing to help you." Marlin smiled. This would be a welcome distraction from his current problems.

"It seems that you are looking for something else already. I really don't want to disturb you if you are busy." Ash was starting to feel like there was something much more pressing going on. Marlin was always neat and organized, but at the moment his library was not.

"I was, but maybe if I don't focus so hard on it, then the answers will come to me. So, what seems to be bothering you my dear?" Marlin was extremely interested in what both of the girls were having a problem with.

"I was wondering if there was a spell that would be able to let Ember talk." Ash was not in the mood to try to convince him that she could come back later.

"Well now. There's something that I have been hoping you would ask about for years now. Although, I unfortunately haven't been able to find a solution to that yet." Marlin smiled and could hardly contain his excitement. He always wanted to be able to have a conversation with Ember.

"Maybe there is something in some of these books." Ash looked hopeful and was feeling optimistic. "It looks like they haven't been looked at in years."

Marlin looked at where she was pointing and realized that she might have just led him to what he was looking for. He gently hit himself on the side of his head with the heel of his hand. Why didn't he think of looking there hours ago?

"My dear, you are a genius." He proclaimed as he went to the shelf and pulled out a very dusty book. "Feel free to look at any book you want."

"Thank you." Ash went and grabbed three books at once. "So, what were you looking for before I interrupted you? This way, if I stumble across it, I can hand the book to you."

Marlin stopped and looked at her. He really didn't want to have her see the evil that he was facing, but unfortunately, she would see it soon enough for herself. Why did the fates hate him? He wanted nothing more than to make her life all rainbows and butterflies, but he knew that it would be anything but that. He wrestled with himself about whether or not to let her help until he finally decided that it would be better for both of them if he did.

"I'm looking for anything that I can find out about fate bond curses." He sighed deeply. He hoped that she wouldn't press him for any reason for it.

"I know exactly what book to look at." Ash looked shocked. The woman from the protected lands was right.

"How?" Marlin was extremely suspicious of how she was aware of this. There was more to this story than he liked. How would she know about dark magic? She never wanted to study magic over the years.

"When I went to Texas to get some books, a woman handed me one and said that it had a lot of counter spells for dark magic, and someone here would need it. I flipped through it while I was on the plane home. I wanted to know what she was talking about, and I skimmed over a few pages that talked about that exact curse." Ash said quickly, she knew that this was looking really bad. Not many knew a lot about dark magic, and the look on Marlin's face made her immediately regret saying anything.

"Who told you to go to Texas?" Marlin was clearly irritated about not knowing about this trip.

"I thought it was you. I just saw the plane ticket sitting on my desk like normal and went." Ash was shocked that he hadn't sent her there.

"We need to go talk to the others." Marlin walked out of his library. He needed answers and he was going to get them. There was no way that Angel could have possibly done this. She hadn't been here in two hundred years. She couldn't have.

As Marlin and Ash were starting to walk towards Vladimir's library, a young man approached them. He was one of the council's messengers, he was tall and slender, wearing his formal robes. Ash stepped aside and watched as Marlin looked slightly unnerved by him. The only time that the messengers wore their formal robes was either when the council sent them to other places or there was a visitor at the castle on official business. The young man bowed as he finally stopped in front of Marlin.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, but there's a woman here requesting an audience with the council. And Ash as well." The young man said, looking nervous about the entire situation. "She asked for Ash by name."

"Does the woman have a name, Seth?" Marlin asked.

"She is Angel from the House of Nine requesting an audience with the council of the House of Orion." Seth responded quickly.

"Dammit, I thought I would have a few more days before she came." Marlin grumbled to himself. "Go inform the others, Ash and I will meet them there."

Seth bowed and then hurried away. Ash stood there shocked. She had never heard of either Angel or the House of Nine before. The only thing that she did know was that this Angel woman was not someone that Marlin liked. Her curiosity peaked at the thought of what she had done to make Marlin hate her.

She could feel his anger radiating off of him. The next thing she knew, they were back in the council chamber. Well great, she thought to herself. She was hoping that she would never have to be there again, but the fates had other plans. She looked around the room while Marlin was getting things prepared for their visitor. He was clearly lost in his own thoughts. Ash noticed that there was only one chair in front of the council's table this time, but she couldn't see any other seats available for herself. Was she to be judged today for something? She hadn't done anything wrong. Her mind was racing with the memories of that morning and she started to shake.

Marlin was still angry about this surprise visit from the woman he hated most. He was even angrier that she had formally requested an audience. How dare she come here, and then use the authority of her own house to force him to speak to her. Did she have no shame? As he was getting a few small details taken care of, he entertained some of his darker thoughts about how to make her go away. He looked around the room, pleased with it, until he saw Ash. She was staring at the chair in front of the council's table shaking. The color had drained from her face, and she was shaking a little. He felt horrified with himself, he hadn't even taken a moment to show her to her seat. Was his hatred towards Angel really worth scarring Ash to death? He quickly walked over to her and wrapped her in a protective hug until she was calm again. Old fool indeed, he bitterly thought to himself.

"I'm so sorry, Ash. I completely forgot to show you to your seat." Marlin's voice was soft. “I would never dream of making you sit there. You have done nothing wrong. Come over here and you will see where to sit."

He led her to the other side of the table, where there was another chair just behind where the councilors sat. Ash's eyes went wide when she saw the chair. She didn't think that there would be a concealment spell here. Did Marlin think that she was in danger? Was Angel here to hurt her? Ash's thoughts were starting to spin rapidly in her mind. Even Ember was feeling uneasy about this entire situation. Marlin noticed the change in Ash and wanted to help calm her down again. This was going to be a trying time for both of them.

"It's ok. No one but me and you will know that you are here, as long as you are in the chair. I placed a strong concealment spell on it. The other council members know about this and agree that until we know why Angel is here to see you, we will keep you hidden from her. None of us will let her cause any harm to you. I promise." Marlin said, smiling at her.

Before Ash could say anything, the rest of the council appeared. Each of them took a quick look around the room, then started to make sure that Ash would be completely concealed from Angel.

"Marlin, you need to change into your robes. Seth will be bringing Angel in soon." Sharra said as she sprayed a subtle perfume around the room.

"Ash, I need you to take your seat, so she doesn't see you. This way I can also make sure that she can't sense you either." Vladimir had his back to Ash as he spoke.

Ash looked around and noticed that everyone, but Marlin, had their backs to her. Marlin had quickly changed into his robes already. She waited a few seconds before finally sitting down. When she did, everyone whispered 'perfect' at the same time.

"So, it worked?" Ash couldn't help herself, she had to know if they could hear her.

"Dammit. Well, Ash, we can't see or sense you, but we can hear you. So just remember to stay quiet, and don't get out of the chair until we know what she wants from you. And please try your best to control your emotions, Ember." Vladimir was determined to keep them safe.

After everything was done, they all took their seats. As soon as they did, Seth and Angel appeared before them.

"I present Angel, from the House of Nine," Seth stated as he bowed at the waist before the council.

"Thank you, Seth. You may go now." Marlin said, giving him a firm nod.

Seth took a few steps back and then disappeared as Angel walked forward to her chair. Ash was starting to wonder if the room had any doors, but when she saw Angel, she froze. Angel was a woman from the protected lands. She was only about an inch taller than Ash, but was a little on the heavy side with long brown hair and emerald green eyes. She looked to be in her early 40's and was beautiful. Ash was confused and had so many questions she wanted to ask, but she remained silent. She knew better than to go against the council's wishes.

"Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice," Angel said. Her voice was soft but authoritative.

"It is our pleasure to receive a visit from a member of the House of Nine." Sharra spoke before Marlin had a chance to. She knew that it would be almost impossible for him to be civil with Angel.

"I see that one of your council members is not here with us. Is everything okay?" Angel was trying to be polite. She knew that since she had turned this into a formal visit, then she had to stay respectful.

"There was an unfortunate discovery made this morning and we had no choice but to remove that member from the council. We will be filling the seat as soon as we have had time to discuss potential candidates." Vladimir stated his tone was icy again.

"I'm sorry to hear of your misfortune. But I have heard of a fortunate discovery here as well." Angel was trying to hurry through the annoying formalities that she had to uphold. Why Her house liked these obscure civilities was beyond her.

"Yes, the House of Orion has been blessed by both our Goddess and the Wolf Goddess," Tonia said with a small smile. She had always secretly hoped that Ash would have magical abilities.

"So, there is a wolf/witch hybrid then?" Angel was trying hard to contain her excitement about this confirmation.

"Yes. Her magic has finally surfaced, and she is truly a remarkable young woman." John was cold and bitter. He didn't want to see this room again today, but he had to.

"What is it that you want to see her for?" Marlin was over the pleasantries; it was time to get some answers.

"I'm here about her training. I have to make sure that both her and her wolf are ready for what is to come." Angel sounded wounded from having to say this. She truly wanted to let Ash have a good life, but the fates were cruel.

"What do you mean by what is to come? Is she in danger?" Sharra couldn't hide the worry from her voice or expression.

"Once you read the prophecy about Ash, then you will know. It is in one of the books that I sent back with her from Texas." Angel grimly stated. She wished she could just tell them, but unfortunately it could do more harm than good.

"So, you were the one who sent her there? What were you thinking?" Marlin was almost yelling.

"This was the only way to get you the information that you needed. You wouldn't have even granted me an audience if I wasn't in the House of Nine. But this is bigger than the past, this is to protect the future." Angel was almost yelling as well. She knew that Marlin hated her, but she had no choice but to come.

Marlin and Angel sat there glaring at one another for a few minutes. The other council members were waiting to see how this would play out, but Vladimir was getting impatient and decided to interrupt their little spat.

"So why do you think that we are not capable of training Ash?" Vladimir's voice sounded slightly amused as both Angel and Marlin jumped when he spoke.

"I mean no disrespect, but have you ever trained a wolf to fight before?" Angel looked apologetically at him.

"Honestly, I haven't. That is why we have reached out to the pack of her birth mother. They are actually very close to us and are sending some of their best warriors here to help with that." Vladimir was determined to help Ember any way that he could.

"That will be helpful, but has she learned to control her emotions?" Angel was concerned about the possibility of wolves getting hurt.

"So far she seems to be doing well with it, but we are working on it," John answered, trying to keep everyone calm.

"Do you know what her main elements are yet?" Angel seemed to relax a bit.

"Only one has presented itself at the moment. But we are giving her a couple of days to rest before we begin to find another," Sharra firmly stated.

"Good. I'm pleased with how things are going with her, although I would like to stay to test a few elements that you cannot. If the prophecy is correct, then she will be one of the most powerful and unique beings on earth." Angel went back to her formalities to let them know that they really had no choice in the matter.

"Seeing how no one here is aware of this prophecy that you speak of, we will have to take it into consideration." Marlin was cold and determined to kick her out as soon as this meeting was over. He was completely shocked when Vladimir let out a loud sigh. When Marlin looked over at him, he was rubbing his hand on his face.

"Marlin, I know of the prophecy which she speaks of. I have the book in my personal vault for safe keeping, and I think that it is time for Ash to read it." Vladimir was unable to look him in the eyes. "I have had a feeling that someone on this council was practicing the dark arts, so I hid the books that Angel sent until I knew who it was, and that person was no longer a threat."

On hearing what Vladimir had to say everyone was shocked. Ash, who had been silently listening in her chair, was angry and hurt. Ember was hurt as well and just sunk deeper into their mind, not wanting to hear anything else. He had hidden something important about her and was probably going to keep it a secret forever. Ash couldn't stand it anymore. She stood up and walked over to Vladimir, staring daggers at him.

"How could you," was all she could manage to say before tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." Vladimir whispered, hanging his head in shame. He knew that he had hurt several people tonight without wanting to, but unfortunately, he had to.

Before anyone else could speak, an old grandfather clock chimed, signaling that it was time for dinner. Sharra and Marlin stood up and wrapped Ash in a group hug, while Tonia was rubbing Vladimir's back and consoling him. This night had become almost as bad as that morning had been.

"Well, I believe that now would be a good time to end this meeting and eat. After dinner we can all go to Vladimir's study and look at this prophecy together. Angel, you are welcome to join us for the time being. But if you cause any problems, then I'm sure Marlin will have no problems dealing with you." John announced, and everyone just nodded their heads. With that, John spoke the incantation and they were all standing outside of the dining hall. Hopefully, dinner would help calm and cheer everyone up.