Night Witch

Chapter 19

"The future." Hans inclined his head. "I...I'll try."

"You going to break that promise?" The words were hurt, more vulnerable than she would have liked them. A chorus of voices pressed against her skull, murmuring "yes, yes, yes, he'll break it, yes," until she pressed her fingers against her temples in an attempt to stop them. "Because I've had enough broken promises to last a lifetime."

"Well, what do you want in your future?"

He breaks them, he really does. Why don't you believe me, Karina?

Why do you believe your assassin?

"I want--" The voices grew louder, thrumming in her ears-- "this pain to stop!"

The girl fell to the ground, pressing her hands against her ears and shaking her head like a madwoman. "Karina!" Hans said, immediately swooping beside her. She shoved him away because "he's trying to kill you, he's trying to kill you," or at least that's what the hissing voices said, and it was impossible to ignore...

"Hans!" She drowned in the thoughts that weren't hers, ideas that felt villainous to listen to. "Hans!"

She slammed her eyes shut. She could feel foreign hands on her back, knew it was the exact killer the voices had warned her against. And that was fine. It had to be, because she trusted Hans, and because all they had was each other, and that had to be enough.

And that was what she wanted.

The thought rang true against her mind, struggling against the whispers that cried "murderer!". The pain in her head intensified, a burning feeling that felt far too much like the heat of fire. She had to fight it, fight the light with the darkness.

She searched for the cool, focused place in her mind that she'd been in when she shot the arrow of the Night. The waves of tumult crashed against it until she could effectively block it and control it, until the voices abated.

She opened her eyes to darkness and bright blue eyes that she could see within the darkness.

"What I want," she whispered, "is to be a real yaga."

***

After Karina calmed down, the two continued walking in the Forest of the Dead. Silence cloaked their interaction until Hans finally spoke.

"A yaga."

"Yes."

"You're serious?"

"Oh, I have a sense of humor now?" She nudged Hans, gently shoving his shoulder. "I want to be a real yaga. A good one."

"Why, though?" He was playing the nonchalant, cocky boy he'd been in the village. She could see it in his walk, the daring swagger in the way he swung his arms and didn't look forwards as he walked. "Seems kind of pointless to me. Maybe we should just leave this place. Get out of the Forest. Get to some form of freedom."

"We're doing that, aren't we? I just want to become a yaga along the way." A semblance of a smile graced her lips. "Do you want to become a warlock? Knowing how to do magick, manipulate the Light?"

"A little more than you may think," he groused, speeding up. Karina hurried to meet his new pace.

"So, 'Rina, how are you going to get this magick of yours?" The question was expectant, unspoken words hanging off the end. "A teacher?" he prompted.

"Yes. She's a yaga."

"Really?" He snorted. "Ancestors, that's obvious. What's her name?"

"Baba Yaga."

Karina carefully examined Hans's features. Did she imagine that flash of guilt there, the way his eyes squeezed shut--as though he was in pain--for a split second? No. She didn't think so. But she couldn't possibly understand his expression. "The, er, Night told me about her."

Hans stared at his hands. "Great. That's freakin' fantastic," he said flatly before looking back up at Karina. "Do you know how to find her, then? Or are we stuck?"

"I...I don't know where she lives," Karina confessed. "But I feel like I'll be able to find her. Somehow." And indeed, the voices in her head were whispering basic directions, which Karina followed.

"That's stupid."

"It's stupid that we're banished to this dratted place, too, but look at us."

"It's not stupid." Hans sounded indignant. "We're threats to their society. We could destroy everything that they've done--"

"With what training?"

"--and kill off who knows how many. It's smart that they banished us, for them."

"They had no evidence!"

"But we don't belong!" Hans's eyes flashed dangerously. "I know you agree with that. Witch-girl."

"I was talking more about being in the Forest of the Dead, you numbskull, but your reasoning takes the sugar for ignorance." She sighed. "Why are you upset?"

"I don't--I'm not--I...I don't think you should go to Baba Yaga."

She looked into his eyes, the clear blue of them filled with tumult. "Why?"

"I just don't!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I'm trying to help you!"

"I...I...Hans, are you really?"

"Yes!"

"How?"

He pressed his lips together. "It's complicated," he muttered after a pause. "But you have to trust me on this."

"Everything is complicated. But it's not. I'm a yaga. I have to accept that. And I want to truly be a yaga."

"And I'm a warlock. But I'm not. I really can't explain why I don't want you to, but you're going to have to trust me." Silence. "Karina, do you trust me?"

His tone was pleading. So pleading. She cupped his cheek before letting her hand fall away from his hot skin.

"Not enough for this," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

And they continued walking.

Hello, everyone! Look at us, back with the first chapter of Part 4. What did you think of Hans's reaction to Karina's wish here, and Karina herself? Please comment your thoughts! Also, if you enjoyed this, please be sure to press that little gold star and tell me what you liked! If you didn't like this, please explain why, and I'll do what I can to make it better. Thank you so much! See you next week!