Forever Green

~ 22 ~ Escaping Temptation

As soon as the forest closed behind Theiden, Lenesa turned back to face Audeste—only to be met with a bolt of magic hurtling towards her face. She threw up a barrier just in time, but the impact of Audeste's spell splintered her shield and it burst into a million clear shards that rained down upon her. Lenesa ducked and covered her head, feeling the charged energy in the air left behind in the wake of Audeste's attack.

"Why have you not killed him yet?" Audeste called out, already preparing another spell to fling Lenesa's way. "Can you not see the deception he wields behind that helpless façade?"

Lenesa winced and slowly straightened, still feeling the aftereffects of the spell she had used to send Theiden away. "I will not kill him," she said.

"He reeks of evil," Audeste replied with a disdainful sneer. "He will bring ruin to us all if you do not dispose of him."

"He is not evil," Lenesa defended. But she knew there was little she could do to convince Audeste otherwise. Under her breath, she began calling upon the remaining stores of her power. She had used up so much already in her training with Theiden, and what magic was left had to be pulled out slowly and steadily, like the thread from an unraveling tapestry. Immediately, Lenesa knew she would not be able to win this fight.

"You are so naïve," Audeste laughed. The sound was abrupt and unnatural, as though she was unused to being so amused. "Mona died thinking the same thing."

Lenesa gritted her teeth. "She was right," she defended.

Audeste's derisive smile faded. "Your great-aunt wouldn't have died if she was right. I'd have thought you of all people would realize that, seeing as how you bear an eternal reminder of that day."

The breath stuttered in Lenesa's throat as her opponent eyed the scar along the side of her face. Lenesa quickly shifted her hair to cover it, but Audeste's eyes still gleamed with the victorious sting of her insult.

"Your efforts were wasted then, just as they are now," she added in a taunting hiss.

Another magical blast came Lenesa's way, and again, she put up a wall to block it. Beside her, Shwei shifted into a great horned owl to meet Audeste's wisp as it attacked in the form of an eagle. Lenesa could feel as Goru's talons ripped into Shwei as if it was her own skin under attack. The hisses and scratchy snarls of the two creatures tore through the air as they tumbled together, each grappling for an advantage over the other.

They had to leave!

"Admit you were wrong," Audeste demanded, while another orb of power began forming in her hands. Lenesa shook her head, still winded from the last attack. "Say you'll dispose of him."

"I can't," Lenesa said. "I can't become one of you."

"Why not? I offer you my protection." Audeste's tone turned sweet and deceptive, like the honey luring in the fly. "You will have nothing to fear from those in the city. Nothing to want. Let me help you."

Persuasion was Audeste's specialty, and she worked it well. Despite herself, Lenesa could feel her resolve weakening. She would give almost anything for this fight to end. She was tired of always being on guard, of worrying and trying to protect what little she had left. There was so much she had done to help those in the city, and she only received prejudice and hatred in return.

"You see," Audeste wheedled, a twitchy smile skittering across her lips as she took a step forward. "I can see you want an escape. An end to all of this. I can help you—"

"No!" Lenesa lashed out against the influential, magic-tinted words. A burst of energy left her fingertips and rippled in an arc across the space between them with enough force to knock the Turned witch off her feet.  The resulting sound echoed with all of the volume of an avalanche.