Red Spell

Chapter Eighteen

Hey guys!  One more chapter to go after this one and that's the whole book! :D :D

I stared at the blazing cottage for several seconds before I focused on Iresia, sitting huddled in the snow moaning pathetically. 
"Where is he?" I demanded stepping towards her.  She whirled and hissed at me in almost animal like rage. 
"You should have died years ago," she screeched, though I could hardly hear her over the roar of the flames. 
"And you killed my mother," I said in a low voice. 
"So are you going to say we're even?"
"Not hardly," I said.  I grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to her feet.  She howled like a night beast and struggled to get away. 
"You wretch!" she screamed. 
"Where is Wolf?" I demanded, grabbing her arms and giving her a shake. 
"You stupid girl!" she growled.  "There isn't a wolf anymore!" 
I was just about to shake her again when another hand nearly jerked me off my feet.  Merric wrenched me away with rage twisting his face.  I didn't wait for him to speak before planting my fist in his face, adding to his bruises.  He never seemed to expect it, which would have been laughable I wasn't so angry.  He stumbled back and I caught Iresia by the arm again and wrapped my arm around her neck. 
"Don't you come another step," I hissed, as Merric recovered and turned toward us. 
"Merric, make her stop!" Iresia squalled. 
"Shut up, Mother," he hissed back. 
"Mother?" I demanded, tightening my grip. 
"What is this?" 
We all looked up to see the hunting party appear through the trees, Da in the lead.  He stared at us.  Merric took several steps back, drawing himself out of a fighter's crouch. 
"Sir, Selene attacked this old woman," he said quickly.  He glanced back at Iresia, but I felt her shake her head a little and he visibly tensed.  What was wrong?  I didn't slacken my grip, but I had a hard time meeting Da's gaze.  What would he think of me now. 
"Selene?" he asked.  He was not glaring or angry looking at all.  In fact, he looked almost confused.  He seemed to be waiting for me to explain myself and I was wholly unprepared for it. 
"I—I don't know how to explain it," I finally said.  "Or at least, it would take a while."  
"Y—you've grown," Da said unsteadily. 
"What is going on?" Merric hissed towards Iresia. 
"Everything's ruined," she gasped.  "All of my work, all of my spells are burning, burning, burning!"
I looked at the cottage and then hurriedly at Da.  All her spells? 
"We'll have no justice" Iresia sobbed.  I let her drop to the ground and took several steps back.  Merric clenched his fists and looked quickly between the cottage, Iresia, me and the gathering hunting party. 
"What is going on?" Brog asked, coming up beside Da.  Iresia's moans grew louder. 
"You'll never have it and the curse is lost!" she wheezed, arms outstretched to Merric.  "You deserved it, but I've failed you." 
"Silence, nag!" Merric hissed. 
"Is that how you would speak to your mam?" Iresia whined. 
"You're no mother of mine!"
"What is this?" Da bellowed.  "What are you doing here?" he asked, turning on Iresia. 
"Only trying to get back what was rightfully ours!" Iresia snarled, glaring at him.  "We are the true leaders of the village.  It was only by chance that your line was selected.  It was a mistake," she said.  "And I have failed to correct it for my boy." 
"You were expelled because you practiced black magic!" he bellowed.  "How dare you come back here!" 
The blacksmith, Merric's adoptive father, stepped up to the front and stared at Merric.  "And what about you, boy.  Where is your loyalty?" he asked.  I could see pain hidden behind his frown and I looked at Merric, but there was no softening anywhere in his face.  He scowled. 
"It's my place to lead the village," he growled.  "Wouldn't you fight for something that was stolen from you?"
Da turned abruptly on Merric. 
"Yes," he said and stared directly at me.  "And you have stolen so much from me." 
Merric stepped back warily.  Iresia let out another moan.
"Tie them up," Da commanded.  Immediately several members of the hunting party stepped forward and tied Iresia's wrists behind her and then to a tree.  Merric tried to run, but only got a few steps before being thrown into the snow and gagged.  I thought I must be dreaming.  I stepped further and further back as I watched the change in Da and the whole village.  They turned on Merric rather than me.  In what universe would that ever have happened?  I inched away until I bumped into a tree and I slid down with my arms around my knees.  My emotions felt as though they were sitting on a needle's point.  I couldn't decide what to feel except for numbness.  I watched as Iresia and Merric were passed into the watch of the hunters and how both of them were stared at as I had always been before tonight.  No one even remembered me; a pleasant change from being the unforgettable village menace.  I looked at the cottage.  All I had to do was burn it up to break Iresia's curses?  I imagined her potions and spell concoctions burning up and the magic falling apart.  That must have been what happened.  But it seemed too impossible, too unbelievable.  Surely I would wake up somewhere familiar and things would be...what would they be?  I didn't know anymore. 
"Selene." 
I jumped at the nearness of the voice and of its softness.  I hadn't heard it so gentle in years.  Da stood a few feet away looking lost and anxious.  I stood up quickly and backed a step or two out of habit.  I searched his face, trying to see what he was feeling and what he would do, but he was too lost to read. 
"Child, you've suffered," he managed before his voice choked and his eyes shone with tears.  "It was like a dream, but I remember every second of it," he said.  "All my love was stolen from you." 
I felt my own throat becoming thick as I watched him.  The hard lines around his eyebrows and mouth had softened and his left shoulder slumped like it had when I was a child. 
"And I—I wouldn't blame you if you couldn't love me now."  He swallowed with difficulty.  He looked as though he'd already given up.  He seemed to think I would hardly be capable of loving him now. 
"But I do," I said.  He looked up as a tear slid down his face into his beard.  His voice caught as his arms lifted slowly as though they'd forgotten how to hug.  He didn't expect me to run to him, or to cry into his fur vest, or to squeeze as hard as I could when he put his arms around me.  I was a child again, no older than nine, and I'd been frightened so I ran to my Da as any child would do.  That was how it was.  That was how it felt. 
It seemed like hours and yet only minutes as we sat in the snow.  My heart ached with happiness as I saw the future bright and shining again.  Even if the other villagers still hated me, it didn't matter.  They didn't matter.  I hadn't felt so happy since...I pulled away a little looked around.  Where was he? 
"What's the matter?" Da asked. 
"She took Wolf.  She took my friend."  I swallowed.  "She took his body."  I quickly told Da about the last few days.  I told him the truth even though I still wasn't sure if he would believe me.  I saw his anguish when he realized how close he'd come to killing me and I felt his hand tighten on mine as I got through the more difficult parts. 
"I know it sounds crazy, but—."
"I believe every word," he said.  "It was years ago, but Iresia practiced her magic in the village.  I was just a boy then, but I saw when she was exiled.  She is capable of the unbelievable.  The fact that she's still living is evidence of that, though I don't know where she picked up Merric." 
"Then she must have Wolf somewhere.  He wouldn't just disappear," I said. 
"I'll find out," Da said and reluctantly let me go and headed over to where Iresia and Merric were being watched.  I watched him go and I walked slowly around the cottage.  The flames had died down somewhat, but they still illuminated the surrounding trees.  I could see Da demanding answers from Iresia, but I almost didn't want to hear them.  The cottage was ablaze and Wolf was nowhere in sight.  I hated the thoughts those two facts provoked.  Soon I would be able to mourn, but all emotions were too twisted and tangled to sort out right now. 
The snow around the cottage had melted or become slush, but I didn't mind in the warmth of the fire.  Things felt over and ended, but they were very far from it.  Questions began to bombard my mind.  With Iresia's spell over Da broken, would that change the rest of the village as well?  What about the Red Spell?  What had become of it now?  I was jerked out of my thoughts by a shout from the hunters and I turned in time to see Merric leap at me with a small dagger.