White Moon

Chapter 4

What did one do to get out of a situation like the one I found myself in?

“Those can’t be your real eyes,” I blurted out

Definitely not that. The snort that sounded in my mind let me know that I had an audience for that little slipup. A startled laugh busted out of the stranger as he pulled the blade back and rolled onto his side.

“Can’t say I’ve seen that particular tactic used before.”

I stilled from where I was trying to get off the bed as his voice washed over me. It was smooth and low but not quite a deep baritone. Shivers raced up my spine as I fought the urge to side bask and bask in it. I shrugged it off with effort.

“Yes, well I was half asleep,” I defended. “And forgive me for not expecting to wake up in such a deadly manner.” I turned to look at him and for the second time in minutes, I was stopped short.

No one had the right to look that good. He was lazily stretched out on his side, his lean body taking up a good portion of my bed. His tunic was pulled tight against his torso and I could just make out lean, well-defined muscles. A graceful but strongly corded neck arched up into a striking face with a defined jawline that looked chiseled by the finest stone craftsman. From full lips to a straight aristocratic nose, he looked like he had spent the night ravishing some poor woman with his rumpled dark hair falling over half-lidded eyes that seemed to be lit from within.

Definitely wolf-marked.

“Had your fill?” He said, a smirk on his lips.

I narrowed my eyes at him choosing annoyance over the embarrassment of having been caught staring.

“Most people would have just thanked the person who didn’t let them freeze.”

“I apologize,” he didn’t look the least bit apologetic, “but it’s not every day I find myself in the room of such a beautiful and enchanting woman,” he shrugged. “It seemed too good to be true.”

I rolled my eyes. I should have guessed. Just my luck that the town's ‘Lover’ would pass out on my doorstep.

“It still doesn’t justify the extreme reaction.”

I looked at his hand – which was surprisingly graceful – wondering where the said blade had disappeared to and it was only the amused snort from Razia - not that she had designed to show herself this morning - that snapped me out of it. My staring hadn’t gone unnoticed by the stranger either.

He grinned. “Look on the bright side, we will have an interesting story of how we met to tell the children.”

What. “What?” I felt like we were having two different conversations.

"With all the ogling you’ve been doing I just thought it prudent we tie the knot. We wouldn’t want the neighbors to talk." He shrugged casually. "I mean how else am I supposed to preserve my modesty and show my face in polite society."

I blinked slowly. I had no words

He laughed at me.

It was too early for this conversation and it was about time to vacate my unintentional house guest. I had a lot to do today and the soft glow of sunlight that peeked through the curtains told me it was time to get moving. I walked by the bed turning slightly to look away before I addressed him again.

"Look, mister - "

"Levi," he supplied.

“Look Levi," I corrected, "while I have thoroughly enjoyed your company this morning don’t you think it’s time that you -"

I was suddenly tugged backward and I landed on the bed, the wind knocked out of me. I found myself on my back sprawled out below him a mischievous smile on his face

"You have some drool right there," he said swiping at the side of my lips. I felt my cheeks heat as his hand came away with something.

He looked down at me with a small soft smile that was a stark contrast to the comical charm he had displayed so far. A warm feeling bloomed in my chest and for the first time in as long as I could remember I felt comfortable and content. It felt like I was home and that thought alone was enough to unnerve me. The whole thing seemed too intimate for two strangers and that put me on edge. I pushed up into a sitting position determined to shrug off those feelings but not before I saw his smile turn a little sad.

He grabbed my hand, stopping me before I could make it completely off the bed again.

"Allow me to treat you to breakfast."

He raised a hand to stop me when I would have protested. "It's the least I could do for not letting me freeze to death." His smile surfaced again this time a little cheeky. "Besides I know a little stall that sells the best sweet pastries."

"Let me guess, it's also run by a friendly woman who likes to give you free pastries because she just happened to make too much."

"I admit to nothing."

I laugh softly and my stomach decided to let out a rather unladylike sound reminding me that I hadn’t eaten since lunch the previous day.

"Alright, let’s go."

"Might I also have the name of the enchantress who saved me from the jaws of death?" He asked slipping back to his overly charming persona.

I rolled my eyes for the hundredth time that morning s I move away to get ready.

“It’s Dari.”

~

We never made it to the stall.

We were stopped by a city guard with a message for Levi that caused his good humor to flee. Something needed his urgent attention and from the colorful curses he let out whatever it was wasn’t good. He profusely apologized and promised to make it up to me before he left but I wasn’t holding my breath that I would see him again. I ignored the small ache in my chest at the thought, chucking it up to heartburn as a result of being hungry.

Getting on with my day, I stopped by the food shops to pick up the week's groceries and arranged to have them delivered before I headed to the Treasury office and finally the Carrier House.

As predicted the package from Jeanine had arrived with the selection of rare ingredients and teas I had ordered, as well as a few that she thought I might like. However what should have been a simple process of clearing my goods and having them delivered took several as the Carrier master – who I found was very paranoid and seriously hated witches – held on to the goods until a priest and physician could clear them. He talked my ear off with rants about caution and being safe just stopping short of outright calling me a witch.

I mean being this close to the Wither I couldn’t blame him, but how stupid did he think witches were that one would order all their deadly spell ingredients through the mail. Don’t get me wrong, it had a certain appeal not having to forage for the ingredients, but really.

By the time I got back to the shop, Phyllis had already finished the cleaning and was arranging the final items onto the shelves for tomorrow. Though she tried to hide it, I could tell that she was both excited and nervous about the opening tomorrow.

I moved to help her with the tasks as I regaled her with tales of my eventful morning from Levi, who – after laughing so much she shed tears – she claimed was a harmless flirt with a good heart, to the shipment issue at the Carrier House.

“Malcolm's a paranoid one,” she agreed. "Still refuses to let me pick up my mail unless a priest has blessed it."

She smiled a mischievous smile then. “Harclaw and I laugh every time he is called upon. Says a bunch of gibberish, pours some water, and pronounces it blessed.,” She confided. Harclaw must have been the same priest that had ‘blessed’ my package because he looked rather weary when he walked in and the words he said didn’t carry one bit of magic in them.

“Malcolm still hasn’t caught on,” She laughed.

"Well, I can’t say I blame the man. It seemed like he was ready to hang up his robes when I met him."

She nodded. “Malcolm has put that man through a lot in his time as a priest.” She snorted, “For that service alone the lady already has a spot ready for him when he passes.”

No arguments there.

We went about putting the final touches on the place. From fresh-cut flowers on the tables, taking stock of the silverware and china and finally sorting out the shipment from Jeanine once it was delivered. I was shelving a particularly expensive tin of Mugwheat when another canister tipped over and fell to the floor.

As I bent to pick it, I noticed something, or rather the lack of something. The silver chain that I had always worn was missing. The pendant - an Aura stone - was a piece of ivory shaped like a crescent moon with thorny obsidian vines wrapped around it. The thorns on the vines were tiny crystals with a swirling blue-green color. the same kind of crystal hung from the tip of the moon.

Oh no.

I retrace my steps around the shop hoping to find the necklace but it soon became clear that it wasn’t there. Phyllis noting my distress even offered to help me look for it but I waved her off. I needed to find it myself.

To the average person it looked just like any piece of somewhat expensive jewelry but in the wrong hands, things could go bad fast. I left the shop heading back for the post house – as that was the last place I remember having it – trying to keep my panic in check. If all else failed I would have to do a locator spell but only as a last resort.

The feeling of dread didn’t hit until I was halfway to the main square and the closer I got, the worse it became. It was like that feeling a person got when walking down a dark alley at night only a hundred times worse. I quickened my pace heading back to the main square. The voice of people and the stumping of feet became audible and turning the last corner I came to a stop at the utter chaos occurring. People were shouting in alarm and running away from the center of the square, tripping over themselves and the various obstacles that now littered the street.

I ran against the tide of people and as I got closer to the center of the square, I felt the unnatural coldness in the air that signaled the use of magic. That should have been impossible. The noted the shimmering of the air into a curved shape in the distance, which told me that it was indeed magic, and whoever was wilding it had created some sort of barrier to keep people out or worse. Keep them in.

The rush was getting harder to navigate and after almost being knocked down and nearly trampled on twice I made my way to the side of the street to assess my options. Looking around I spied a small alley that branched off the side of the main street that led to the main square. I was shocked that it remained empty as it gave a clear view of the center of the main square. Not questioning it I walked into the ally and came to the other side and would have turned directly into the barrier

Staying behind the wall, I spotted the intruder and cursed. From here, her black clothing and hair stood out like a dark spot among the bright colors of the main square. I couldn’t see her face as most of her back was to me. This was made harder by the shimmering grey mist swirling around and protecting her from physical assault. By the various random objects forming a circle around her, they had tried.

Looking around I spotted a hand full of people cowering behind stalls and a few were still trying to run hitting the barrier with anything they could find. I knew it was a useless endeavor as that barrier wouldn’t be coming down unless she let it, she died, or someone stronger destroyed it.

I should just walk away. This wasn’t my fight and I was fairly sure that someone had alerted the guardians and they would be here very soon.

I watched the spell progress from where I was hidden while anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Guardians. Their bone-chilling howl could be heard in the distance but they were still too far away. As the air became saturated with magic, carrying the cloying smell of metal and decay I knew the spell was almost complete. Whatever she had planned would detonate before they could make it.

I tried to convince myself one last time that this wasn’t my fight and that the risk of getting caught far outweighed anything I would do but my feet refused to move.

Damn it. I couldn’t let them die. My oath to Amalia was too strong to let me sit by and do nothing.

I backtracked further into the alley keeping the witch in sight as a dug my nails into my palm hard enough to draw blood. Words that I hadn’t spoken in what seemed like a lifetime flowed from my lips with ease. The well in my center, which had lain dormant for far too long, sprang to life the intensity causing me to lose grip on the spell I was weaving for just a moment. The magic was almost too strong to contain but I wrestled it to submission guiding it to do what I needed. I hoped the smell of whatever she was doing was enough to mask my magic.

I carefully wove the spell taking care to make sure she wasn’t alerted to the changes I was making until it was too late. The silver tendrils of my magic flowed through the air penetrating the barrier with ease and forming a smaller barrier around the woman. They were so light that the only way to see them was if you were actively looking for them or if you had the blessed sight, which all guardians did. I wove the spell faster and faster racing against both the witch and the Guardians as their howls came closer and closer.

Just as the first guardian – a massive grey beast with blue eyes and markings – wove through the throng of people, the witch detonated the spell and so did I.

I watched as the cloud of red mist pushed out heading towards the trapped people and then watched as the look of triumph turned to confusion and then horror as the spell met my barrier and started to close in on her. In less time than it took for the guardians to penetrate the barrier and charge for her, the magic encircled her eating away at her meager protection and soaking into her skin. The guardians that had made it through stopped short and everyone watched as the magic ate at her causing her to bleed out of every orifice in her body until she dropped dead.

People stood motionless trying to comprehend what they saw and it was only the cry of a child that caused the commotion to pick up again. As people were headed to safety and the crowd was dispersed I slumped down behind some crates to catch my breath and smother any trace of my magic. Razia materialized lending me her magic as she sat at my side in silent support

Two questions played around in my head as my magic simmered down and became dormant once more

How did a witch get this far into the city and why does that brand of magic seem familiar?