Daughter of the Dragon

Chapter 9: The Witch (UPDATED)

Meika tried wiping sweat from her face to no avail. All she accomplished was making her eyes sting. The sun had long since set beyond the western hills, but the heat remained oppressive. Not a single gust of wind to cool the skin. Her faded blue cotton dress, long since dried after wading in the river, was sticky with sweat, and her long hair was a complete, frizzy mess. How she longed for a quick dip in the stream behind the cottage. Or better yet, a trip to the cool embrace of the plunge pool. As long as you stayed out of the white water beneath the waterfall and avoided the undercurrent, it was not dangerous at all—and the villagers shunned the place, which suited Meika just fine.

She tilted her head back to gaze at the star-speckled sky. The moon was less than half full—and waning—but still shone a hundred times brighter than all the stars together. They would have no trouble seeing as long as they stayed on the path. However, if they ventured into the woods, it would get really dark.

Meika had briefly entertained the idea of leading Valant and Darya-bitch off the path and into the forest. To claim they were taking a shortcut so she could see them stumble around while Meika used her magic to pierce the darkness. It would have been fun. But completely irresponsible and immature. Meika wasn't a little girl anymore. And she had been reckless enough for one day already. No more of that.

Besides, Meika needed time to think. Think about all that had happened. She was still shaken. Rijek's eyes... if she closed hers, she could still feel them, watching. Meika tried not to think too much about those black eyes. When she did, she got shivers and a tingle of panic.

Rijek had seen her through the cracks in the door. Notdirectly seen her, but caught the residual emanations from the spells she hadcast.  Meika had panicked and fled back into the temple, half stumbling, half crawling. She had wanted to run away, get out, and get back home, but her legs had turned to mud. She ended up crying on the steps before the sanctuary instead. Begging Queen Anena of all gods for help. Pathetic.

Rijek found her lying on the steps. The village blacksmith... a witch-hunter. It was impossible to imagine, even knowing the truth as Meika now did. Those eyes, those terrible eyes... and the sense of vertigo when the witch-hunter got closer. The little witch had never felt anything like it, a pull so intense she wanted to find a high place and leap from it. She knew—intellectually—what that feeling meant. Rijek was nulling her magic, sucking away the energy that powered her spells. Mage-killers could see magic—and they could eat it.

"Meika, is that you?" Rijek had said, voice neither angry nor frightening but soft, concerned even. It was the strangest thing, so totally unexpected.

"Yes," she sobbed. Not the most glorious moment of her very short career as a witch.

"What are you doing here? Why have you been casting spells?" He sat beside Meika, eyes normal, the sensation of falling gone.

Meika cried a little more—little child that she was—before she managed to answer. "Ela sent me. Valant and Darya touched a broken stele we found in the river. Mother thinks they may be in danger."

"A stele? Are you sure?"

Meika wiped at the tears with the back of her hands. "Very sure. It was black, set with golden runes in the old tongue. It spoke of the Dragon, the Knights, the Pit, and the Shadow. But it was broken, snapped in half. I could feel the magic still in it from fifty paces. It was strong."

"So you came to get Darya and Valant, and you thought the best way was to sneak into the temple of Zeyn using magic? I'm a bit disappointed, Meika. Your mother should have taught you better."

More tears followed. Pathetic.

"You wait here for me, Meika. I need to talk to you some more. You're not in trouble, young lady. Not a lot, anyway. It was good of you to come. But try the smithy next time—or knocking on the door. It's easier that way."