The seven

Through smoke and candlelight

Sara ——————-

Song: mind over matter (acoustic) - PVRIS

We had flown for what felt like weeks but had been only two long days . When I had been too tired to go further in the air I had been forced to mount the beast that moved in the skies with me. Crawling atop it behind Eros and tying myself to her middle as I dozed so that I wouldn't fall. Every moment of it had set me on edge, even her sickly sweet smell seemed to be laced with iron from old blood.

That was the worst of it all. Something about my new body made me animalistic in a way, I had all these new senses, and they were screaming at me to get away from Eros and her creatures hideous body. Even now as I flew onwards, I had rested enough, I felt a sort of nausea just flying close to the enormous bodies.

Eros had taken to me flying beside her, as a show of her power to the other witches, to show I was her pet. She was a wicked cruel thing, born of hate and anger . She was a monster of this world, even the other witches seemed to fear her, bowed down only so that it wasn't their blood running along marble floors of forgotten castles. I knew that feeling, I had given into that feeling.

I barely remembered the last time I had spoken to my friends, maybe a small look at Gaia before she was dragged away when we last trained. And the others all at the fire. That seemed like eons ago.

I was circling Eros and her beast now. Flitting above and below in the misted open air. But then the mist hanging around us seemed to clear. And sunlight moved through. Gods I had missed it. I felt it's very warmth coating every single feather on my back and shining on my olive skin.

But beyond me was something far more terrifying. Cities and castles lay in a circle formation below me. The castle at the centre though, it spanned far wider and higher than any I had seen before. It was so tall that we were almost touching its highest turrets.

It seemed to be made out of slabs of open black stone, there were no windows, but I felt with what lingering power I had that the wind seemed to repulse away from it. Whatever spells that kept it warm felt unnatural. It's rooms all opened into the sky with no effect on the people moving about inside. Wide caverns were cut into the rock so that I could see servants moving within like ants in a maze.

Across from this seemed to sprawl wide villages and forest, tangled together and jutting from the earth haphazardly, made from the same dark rock and blackened wood, as though the forest had been torched and painted green at the top.

I heard as Eros called out to the witches then. Shouting to them to make for their respective turrets in the palace. I followed in the air towards where she and her beast were going to land. I savoured the last of the air up here, I would miss this.

We landed then , moving into a dark alcove on the side of the palace where Eros unloaded her dragon onto a waiting handler and then motioned for me to follow her through the palace.

She had clung onto one of her bags and guided us into an opposing room in the dark marble corridor with it in hand.

When she turned the light on I saw a huge room. A large circular bed with black quilted sheets and silk pillows lay before me. And then a weapons corner, a black marble desk area and another few doors which I assumed led to washrooms dining areas and seating areas. She was a queen of witches after all, and an army general.

The back of the room opened up to the forest behind, the huge cavernous hole decorated with candles burning to create a low light. I had barely registered the sky darkening as we moved through the palace, even with the abundance of windows. Night came quickly here it seemed.

Whoever had gifted the horrid creature her title was obviously mentally unsound. If you could even consider her as a woman that is. They had left her with all this power , all these gifts, but she was an untamed beast, she'd sooner bite her handler than bow down.