Night Witch

Chapter 12

"I don't think they are," Hans said. "Although I'm kind of biased."

"Warlock," she teased, though she had never seen him do magick. "You are a warlock...right?"

"Yeah. Though I'm not really sure what classifies as a warlock." He cleared his throat, glancing backwards and meeting Karina's skeptical stare. "Why? Does it matter?" Hans ran a hand through his hair, unconcerned. "I mean, who's gonna persecute me out here for it?"

Me, the voice in her head hissed, and she tried her best to ignore it. Hans wasn't turning out to be that bad of a travelling companion--he hadn't mentioned her yaga-marked face or her ancestry once, which was particularly good, seeing as she was using him as a tool against Moracia and he couldn't really embody their beliefs. Their survival was her revenge. He needed to be a part of her mindset in order to survive with her.

All the same, she was getting fonder of him than she liked. It was a strange feeling, like slipping on a coat with silken insides during the winter. Odd for her, yet somehow protecting her from the outside world.

Revenge did that, didn't it?

She wasn't going to let a stupid voice stop her vengeance, no matter what it did to her.

"Hey, Hans." She stopped and rotated his shoulders so that he was facing her. "Do you want to find out your warlock-ness? If you can do magick or not?"

He blinked, puddles of blue staring uncertainty into Karina's closed features. "Yeah."

"Perform magick for me." He gaped at her. "Well? You can, can't you? Prove to me that you're a warlock. Prove to me that you're worthy of travelling with me, of..."

Of being part of my revenge.

He nodded. "Okay." He closed his eyes and raised his arms, muttering incomprehensible words under his breath. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes a and let his arms drop. "Anything happen?"

"No," Karina said, trying to hide her disappointment. She hoped that he would have done better. "What were you saying?"

"I was singing a safesong from Moracia." He frowned. "Say something in that witchy language. Something about summoning power or whatever. I bet I could get it if it was in that language." He cracked his knuckles. "C'mon, let's go!"

Karina closed her eyes and tried her best to visualize the words and their meanings. The language slipped off her tongue slow as honey, the roof of her mouth catching each phrase before letting it escape her lips. When she was done, she opened her eyes and watched Hans. "Messengers of the sun, bestow the light," he translated slowly. "It'll do."

His lips moved, yet no words emerged, merely whispers of air. His eyes were wide and staring, his pupils flecks of black submerged in the sky-blue of his eyes. It was an eerie scene. Karina felt her skin grow cold. "Hans," she whispered, stepping backwards. Then louder: "Hans!"

He didn't respond. His skin seemed to glow from within, as though he was lit up by warm candlelight. No--he wasn't candlelight.

He was a bonfire.

The bonfire that killed her mother.

Karina froze, watching as his body seemed to turn translucent, letting rays of light through. He certainly didn't seem as thoigh he was burning up. He seemed almost as though he was turning to glass, letting light in and reflecting it back out. They only strange thing about this was his clarity. She couldn't see his organs, only his flesh, yet he shone brightly. Was this horrible vision what had made Moracians scared of yagas and warlocks? Was this all of the fault of yagas and warlocks?

Why did she ever ask him to do this?

Because...you wanted power. Because...you wanted to feel like you were better than...him.

You are, Karina Hedge.

You...are better.

"Stop!" she screamed, the word tearing from her throat, but nothing happened. She wasn't completely sure whom she had been asking to stop, either: the voice or Hans. Both were dangerous, and both seemed unstoppable.

You...could always kill...him.

Karina shook her head involuntarily, pressing her fists over her eyes. Hans's shine grew brighter every second, so bright that Karina couldn't stand it. He was white light, the color of a glowing fire poker. He was too bright because of that white light.

Karina turned away from the warlocks, running as far into a different direction as she could without having to uncover her eyes. She stumbled over a tree root, careening onto the thorny ground. Reaching desperately for her last hope, she put a single hand into her pocket for Lilith. Her fingers brushed against the inky DeadBird feather.

And everything was plunged into darkness.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate, and happy Sunday to those who don't! :)

I'm so sorry for the late update! Although hopefully this was interesting enough to make up for it. ;) We're getting pretty crazy here, which is one of the reasons this is a shorter chapter (sorry, guys). Did you enjoy it? If you did, please leave a vote and a comment telling me what you liked. If you didn't like it, please tell me why in a comment! Thank you all so much!

Edited 9/2/16 with a typo fix thanks to @Lesha872!