Ash And Ember The Wolf / Witch Hybrid

Chapter 4

The dungeon was cool and dark, but not as quiet as Brenda wanted it to be. She was furious at John for sending her here. After everything that she and her mother had done to get her to the status that she truly deserved, he ripped it away like it was nothing. Like she was nothing. She was sick of listening to the girls crying and sobbing over what was happening. They were weak, even her own daughter was weak. Her daughter only had one more month to keep that stupid man in line and she couldn't even get that right. Brenda was so angry that she picked up the chair that was in her cell and threw it at the door. A guard quickly approached the door, looking at Brenda with disgust.

"One more outburst from you, and we will happily take you to the lower levels of the dungeon." He sneered and walked away to look in on the others.

Brenda just glared at where the guard had been standing. She knew that at the moment she was only on the first level of the dungeon. This was where they had sent troublemakers that weren't violent to await their judgment. The lower levels resembled a living hell, whereas this level was more like a rundown hotel. The lower you went in the dungeon, the more horrific the crime you committed, and in turn, the more horrific the punishment.

Never would she have imagined that she would be here. She also knew that it was pointless trying to use her abilities here. The entire dungeon was carefully constructed with a special type of stone that voided out all magic. Unfortunately, there was nothing left for her to do but wait. She was in no mood to go any lower into this hell hole than where she already was.

As she went and sat down on the cot that was now her bed, she wondered about the books that Ash had been retrieving. At least that mutt was good for something, she bitterly thought to herself. She was particularly interested in one book that she had only been able to read for a few minutes. There was a note on top of it instructing that it should be read as soon as possible, but because most of it was in an ancient language, it was hard for her to read.

What was so special about it and where did it come from? It was enchanted by a very powerful individual and her translation spells were useless on it, so it must have contained something worth concealing. She was abruptly brought out of her thoughts by the sound of one of the cell doors squeaking open. She got up and was shocked to see that John had come and got Melony out of her cell. Stupid man. Why hadn't he come for her? As John and Melony walked past Brenda's cell, Melony kept her eyes on the floor and John didn't even spare her a glance. Brenda was furious all over again.

John escorted Melony to a private room in the dungeon. He needed answers and hopefully she had them. As Melony entered the room, she saw the other four council members waiting for her. She felt the blood drain from her face and her heart started beating double time. For the first time in her life, she was truly afraid.

"Have a seat, Melony." John said, trying not to sound intimidating. "We need to ask you some questions about your mother."

"Yes sir." was the only thing that she could reply.

As she sat down, she stared at the table in front of her, not wanting to look her father in the eye. She remembered back to when she was a little girl and how much she admired him. He was always kind and gentle, but he also made sure that she followed the rules. She felt loved and happy back then, but by the time her abilities started to manifest, her mother kept her so busy that she barely got to spend time with him. It was also around that time that her mother started making comments about him being weak and useless.

"I know that you are aware of the normal punishment for what you did this morning," Marlin began. "But if you can give us some of the answers we need, we are willing to grant you some leniency."

Melony looked up in surprise. What could they possibly want to know about her mother that they didn't already know? "I will try my best." She responded instantly. She didn’t want to think about the punishment that could be awaiting her.

"Good. Does your mother have a secret place that only she is allowed to go to?" Marlin was looking Melony in the eye.

"Her sanctum? She told me that all witches have one." Melony was confused by his question.

"Actually, they don't. The only ones that have them are either using or learning to use dark magic." John looked at her, dismayed to hear that his suspension was right.

"What?" Melony was in shock. Yes, her mother was mean, but a dark witch? No.

"Do you know where her sanctum is?" Marlin asked.

"Maybe, it's been a few years since she took me there." Melony was beginning to understand the severity of her mother's actions, and everything was starting to make sense. "I know that it's close to the f*******n clearing in the forest."

"What f*******n clearing?" Sharra narrowed her as at Melony. There was no such place in the entire valley.

"The one that seems extremely quiet and foreboding. Mother said that no one was allowed to go there because of the darkness lurking in the trees." Melony told them the same thing that her mother had always told her. Was her mother lying to her, or did her mother conjure something to keep her sanctum safe?

"Have you ever been inside of her sanctum?" Marlin continued, somehow staying completely emotionless.

"Once, when I was about 10 years old, and my abilities were starting to surface." Melony knew that they were going to ask about what she saw inside and started to recall the memory as clearly as she could. If her mother was using dark magic, then it would be unforgivable. Tonia slid an open book towards Melony with a picture of her mother's jewelry box on the page.

"That's mother's jewelry box. It was in the center of a small table with pictures of both mother and father on it. But why is it in this book?" Melony knew without a doubt that she wasn't going to like the answer that she would get.

"John, you were unfortunately right about Brenda." Tonia had tears in her eyes. "Melony, that is no jewelry box. It's a dark artifact that can mimic a fate bond, and after 100 years the spell is complete, and the bond is unbreakable."

"Just one more month," Melony absently said as she looked at her father and tears started falling from her eyes. How could she have been so stupid? She tried so hard to get her mother's approval that she didn't see the signs. And now both her and her father were doomed.

"For what?" Sharra asked urgently.

"Yesterday morning I overheard mother talking to herself and she said one more month until it's complete." Melony felt cold inside as she remembered the rest of what she heard but didn't want to tell them.

"Have you felt any different since you were sent to the dungeon?" Marlin leaned forward a bit as if trying to decipher something.

" Physically no, but mentally it's like a fog is lifting and I'm not sure who I am anymore. I don't know what to do with myself." Melony lowered her head in shame. She never wanted to hurt anyone when she was younger, but she also didn't want to appear weak to her mother. So, she buried her emotions and acted like her mother wanted her to. She allowed herself to become a monster and she took her friends with her.

"That is all of the questions that we have for now. Is there anything else you would like to say?" Marlin had allowed his tone to be compassionate again.

"My friends don't deserve to be here. They only follow my lead because I'm more powerful than them and they are too afraid to go against me." Melony openly started sobbing. Realizing what kind of monster, she had truly become.

"We will take that into consideration when the time comes. Guard, we are ready for Melony to be returned to her cell." Vladimir was still extremely angry at the group of girls. "Also, you only talked to your father here. No one is to know about this little meeting. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Melony sniffled as she stood so she could be returned to her cell. She didn't look up to see any of them. She only wanted to go back to her cell and sleep for the rest of eternity so that she didn't have to feel the guilt of her actions anymore.

As soon as Melony left, the group looked at one another. Each one wondering where to begin. It was now clear that Brenda was practicing the dark and f*******n arts, but to go as far as bewitching your own child was truly horrendous. Unfortunately, they were all painfully aware that this evil did exist, and it would never truly go away. The only thing that they could do was find Brenda's sanctum and destroy it.

"Does anyone know of the clearing that Melony mentioned?" John asked coldly as he stared at a wall.

"I don't, but we know someone that could find it easily," Sharra regretfully said.

"Who?" John snapped at her as if she had just admitted to knowing another dark witch in their midst.

"Calm down John. Ember is a wolf and can sense darkness that we can't." Sharra was staring daggers at him.

"It looks like Ash and Ember will have to become our saviors after all." Vladimir thought grimly to himself. "I just hope that they are up to the task."

"There's no time to lose. Let's go get her." John said as he stood and started walking to the door. Marlin grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"We can't start just yet. If everyone sees us looking for this place, then it would cause a panic and that wouldn't be good for anyone." Marlin gently replied. "That and we still don't know how to break the bonding curse."

"Well, once again. We know someone who does." Sharra was getting annoyed by the fact that she was the only person thinking about who could help them.

"No, I will not owe that woman another favor for as long as I live," Marlin sternly said.

"We have less than a month to break the curse and now you won't even consider that she might be John's only hope." Sharra stared at Marlin indignantly.

"I'm not sure who you two are talking about, but maybe there is something in the books that we have that might help." Tonia offered, trying to calm the tension in the room.

"John, would you like to accompany us to my library to see if we can find anything useful?" Vladimir took Tonia's lead and decided that it was best to leave Marlin and Sharra to bicker amongst themselves.

"For now, it seems like the only thing we can do." John walked to the door and left with Tonia and Vladimir.

"You know that she is going to be here soon, regardless of if you want her here or not." Sharra said as soon as the door closed.

"With any luck, we will have resolved this matter before she gets here." Marlin looked straight up at the ceiling, refusing to look Sharra in the eye. He would not be talked out of this, even if it was his fated one who was trying.

"Stubborn old fool." Sharra huffed as she stood and walked out of the room.

Marlin slumped in his chair and put his head on the table in front of him. He knew that Sharra was right, but he couldn't forget what happened the last time he had to repay a favor to Angel. He took his son, Jacob, with him to kill a warlock that was causing a lot of problems for the supernatural world by killing humans. Unfortunately, Jacob was caught in the middle of a surprise attack and died from his injuries. He would never forgive himself or her for that loss. And now everyone was willing to put Ash in a dangerous spot. It seemed that the fates were hell bent on not letting him enjoy having children grow up. Goddess be merciful to her, he thought to himself as he stood and left the room as well.

As Melony reached her cell, she was finally able to stop crying. The guard closed the door behind her and went back to his post. She finally realized that her mother was pure evil and was disgusted with herself for trying so hard to get that woman's approval. But the question that stood out the most was the one about how she felt.

Did they truly believe that her mother would bewitch her just to make her do horrible things? She knew in her heart that she was doing bad things, but her mother was always pleased by this. Why did she always act like this? Could it be a spell that she was under? Was little Tomas ok? She had completely forgotten to ask about the boy that her and her friends beat this morning. She felt like she was a monster.

"Are you ok sweetheart?" Brenda’s soft voice asked. Melony was in no mood to talk to her mother, but she knew that it would be better if she at least answered her.

" Everything is just peachy mother." she responded angrily to her mother. How dare her mother do this to her? Mothers are supposed to love and protect their children. Not use them as if they were mere pawns to be cast aside once they were no longer needed. "I'm tired and going to sleep."

"Oh, ok. Good night then." Her mother sounded sad about something, but Melony didn’t want to find out what.

Well, that plan didn't work, Brenda thought to herself. She needed to know what John and Melony talked about. She was slightly concerned that the fated bond spell wouldn't work because she was in this blasted dungeon. If only her mother were still alive, then she wouldn't be in this mess. At least for now, it seemed like her spell on Melony was holding. It had been a long and difficult time bleeding the good out of that girl. Brenda used the same spell on Melony that her mother had used on her. But soon Melony would be just as cold and ruthless as she was. It was getting close to time to introduce her to her ancestors' magic. With that thought dancing in her mind, Brenda slept peacefully.