Wolves of War

Temple of Serberus

Slowly, carefully, cautiously, we descended the stairs into the basement. My heart is thumping so hard in my chest it’s deafening to my ears. The last time I was there, my body reacted violently. I mentally and physically gave in to the fear. I felt helpless. If Asai and the others hadn't been there with me that day, the cursed witch would most likely have escaped. Standing in front of the stone door of the basement temple, the fear that once took over my mind and body just a few weeks ago no longer had an effect on me. A sign that I have grown in both magical and spiritual maturity.

“Wait” I whispered.

I held up my hand to stop the group from proceeding. We were close. I could see the final landing from around the corner and I could also see a shadow pacing back and forth. The energy coming from this shadow is not like the previous witches. It was more refined, more controlled. This zombie witch will be a challenge to subdue. But if I can’t subdue her here and now, then I won’t have a chance against the Queen.

I can feel her waiting. She is eager to be released from her prison and most likely very, very hungry. But something is off, I can’t quite put my finger on it. Something just doesn’t seem right.

“What’s wrong?” Ramune whispered in my ear.

I shake the feeling off my head. It’s best to focus on what I can see and control. And right now there is a cursed witch to liberate.

“I’m going to need you guys to stay back and guard the stairs.” I whispered low and near Ramune's ear. The corridor we are in is not the ideal place. Our voices can potently carry if we are too loud and that gives us away. However, I am 98% sure that the zombie witch and the Queen know I’m just around the corner. If I can feel them, I’m sure that they can feel me.

“Why?” Thea asks. “You can’t do this on your own.”

“I must” I told her, “a fight between witches is not a place you want to be.”

Thea clinched her jaw tightly “the stairwell is the only entrance and exit. I need the two of you to prevent any other unwelcome guests from coming down or going up.”

Thea and Ramune nod their heads reluctantly. I squeezed their shoulders reassuringly, and cleared the last stair landing, entering the basement.

The witch stands in front of a crystal clear pool. The water is so pure that it generates its own light. The pool illuminates every nook and cranny of the basement, leaving no area to darkness.

The witch watches me intently. She makes no movement near me, but her eyes are searching for weakness. A few moments later, her eyes locked onto the staircase behind me. She smiles.

My eyes focused on the curse mark at the center of her chest. It’s bigger than the others, but interestingly enough, it’s not festering. The mark almost looks like a brand burnt into her skin. It doesn’t ooze and it doesn’t smell. It glows every few seconds as the curse continues its botched purpose uninterrupted.

“Can you understand me?” I asked aloud

The cursed witch stood a little straighter, then nodded her head. She stops pacing in front of the pool, her fingers dancing and weaving what I can only assume is energy.

With a quick flick of her wrists she sent a ball made of air flying past my head. Without thinking, I turned around and reached out with my own energy to stop the orb from connecting with its target. If this hits Thea on any part of her body, she will fall broken to the floor, the force of the hit killing her instantly.

I wove my energy into the ball of air and disrupted the pattern, allowing the energy to break up and dissipate.

In another instant, my reflexes reacted to ill-intentions and built a shield wall to block the threat.

The cursed witch ricocheted off the shield, flying backwards several feet. The force of the impact pushed me back a few inches but I stayed firm, holding my ground.

My opponent growled at me. Her eyes flashed in anger as she reassessed the situation.

A little more confident, I took a deep breath. These last few weeks may have been short, but they left me with something valuable…growth. My magic is not the same as it was once before. I’ve learned on the fly that I am pretty adept at building seals and spells from scratch. In the span of a few short months, I have created several new spells. I should start my own time.

I shook off the doubt that weighted heavy on my mind and focused on what I knew I could do. Binding and sealing is what I do best.

A plan started forming in my mind. Even though I have grown in magic potential, my opponent is way stronger than I am, but that doesn’t mean that she is smarter.

With a blackened smile she charged forward, her fingers moving through the air as if she was playing an instrument. We clashed over and over. She attacked me relentlessly while I defended against her attacks. This exchange went on for what seemed like forever, but I know it was only a few short minutes.

With several feet between us, we stared at each other. My breaths came in fast short bursts while the witch showed no signs of tiring.

She smiled at me, knowing that I couldn’t keep up with this exchange. I was tiring myself out and would probably only last another two or three exchanges. But… I had something up my sleeve.

The cursed witch's face fell into confusion as she realized a little too late that she could no longer move.

During our exchanges, while I defended against her show of power, I counter attacked. I placed several small binding seals on several points of her body. They didn’t work as fast as I hoped they would but they were working nonetheless. On our second exchange, her speed had considerably slowed and kept slowing down until finally she was no longer able to move.

Even now, as my opponent stares angrily at me, my magic fully fulfills its purpose of trapping the witch. The more she struggles, the tighter the bind. The seal uses the curse witch's own energy to make itself stronger while draining the witches' energy.

The cursed witch fell to the ground and her energy was spent. The botched seal on her chest pulsed less as it tries to keep the body it’s using alive.

“Can you speak?” I asked the witch.

“Yess” she hissed with a raspy voice.

“Do you know your name?”

The witch stares at me blankly. Several moments of silence passed by before I realized she may not understand my question. She is a part of a hive, so the concept of individuality may no longer exist.

Just as I was about to ask another question, she answers.

“We have no name.”

“Do you remember life before the hive?” I asked.

A brief pause: “there is only the hive”

I nod my head “ok”

With my mini-dagger I disrupted the pattern. The pulsing light came to a stop and slowly faded away. For a brief moment her eyes sparkled with recognition.

I held her hand in comfort and watched my coven sister find her peace.

The battle is over. I hope everyone else is okay and is doing their best. I use a lot of energy when I create seals. The web that covers the temple is the strength seals, the binding seal. Before that, I used a considerable amount of energy when facing off Lumina and the deity Rahjah. I am not a combat witch I need to figure out a way to improve my conditioning. Fighting battles with magic with no room to recover energy quickly will soon catch up to me if I don’t improve myself. The burning sensation in my chest increased suddenly. I winced in pain and clasped my hand over the left side of my chest. What is this? Why is the seal burning me?

“Are you OK?” Ramune asks.

I nodded my head. “Just tired.”

Thea went around beside me and rested her hand against me. I grabbed her fur as Ramune helped me up onto her back.

“Ramune, if you don’t mind please bring her up with you” I asked the prince and pointed to my coven sister.

Ramune nodded. He picked her up and dutifully followed Thea and I went back up the staircase. I wasn’t able to get a good look at the basement, but despite not being used for several years, the pool itself is pristine. A little dusting and the pool can be used as a place of worship and for ceremonies for the people of South Akkaddia. The waters of the pool can be used as a base for healing positions as well. As long as they replenish it with spring water every season, they can use this water over and over, because the magic that keeps the pool alive and pristine is self-sustaining.

“What’s next?” Ramune asks.

“We cleanse the bodies and then burn them. Then we go home.” I told him.