Will of the Witch [Legacy, BK 2 - Completed]

Chapter 8.4

John

Hunter and I followed Ezra through the trees, and even though Ezra was walking fast, he wasn't in the same hurry everyone was in when Kaylee ran off into the jungle. Impatiently, I wiped the sweat from my eyes. The heat had built to an almost unbearable temperature, the humidity climbing even higher. Almost as if I was breathing water.

Ezra slowed, glancing back to motion at us with a finger to his lips. "No sudden movements either, I don't want to startle them."

I frowned, not knowing what to expect as we pushed past the last of the bushes. On the other side, a large demon was stretched out on the jungle floor. I recognized it immediately. It was kind of hard not to, since it had tried to kill me yesterday.

The demon was like a giant black panther with two saber tooth like teeth protruding from its mouth. It stretched out on the ground, tail twitching back and forth with Kaylee curled up next to it, as if it were nothing more than a giant house cat. She was murmuring to it, so softly I couldn't make out what she was saying.

What I could see, as plain as the sunlight that filtered down through the trees, was the magic that flowed through her to the demon and back. An endless loop that seemed to be keeping the creature calm and its attention entirely on her.

"I thought something was wrong," Benji whispered, glancing over at me and Ezra, relief clear in his eyes.

"Does this happen often?" Ezra whispered back.

We all stood a good few yards from Kaylee and the demon, but speaking loud seemed like a bad idea. No one wanted to startle the beast.

Benji shrugged and stepped closer to us. The movement caught the demons attention, its eyes tracking the movement. He slowed. "Often enough, though she'll rarely go barreling off into the trees like that. Usually, the demons find their way to her. They just show up."

Ezra refocused on the scene in front of us. "It's the strangest thing."

"Not really," I said, watching Kaylee. I felt their eyes on me, and I turned to Benji, uncertain how to approach the topic. "We should probably speak about this alone."
Benji stared at me a moment with confusion before he understood. "No, if Ezra really is Head of the Family now, whatever you have to say, I'll just end up repeating to him anyway." Benji inclined his head to Ez.

I glanced at the girl in her own world with the demon. Rubbing my hands together, I quickly thought over what I knew of spirit magic and what little I knew of Ezra's family powers. I was way out of my league here.

Hunter shifted, a subtle movement that reminded me that he was there for me. That he had my back.

That I wasn't alone any more.

I took a deep breath. "I can't be sure about this. My alignment is with Earth, and not the Spirit-"

Benji nodded, "She's taken after her mother then."

"Yes," I cringed, "in a way, but also no."

Kaylee's father gave me not so subtle 'what' look, but it was Ezra that asked, "What do you mean?"

"I can see she's using the Spirit element, but from what I can tell, she can reach all of the elements, and if she could reach them, she should be able to use them. I've never even heard of a witch being able to do that. And the way she's naturally channeling the magic, is completely new to me." I glanced over at her, watching for a moment just to make sure I wasn't seeing things. "She's using it to connect with that demon, to keep it calm, I think."

Benji turned to look at her, before turning back. "Kaylee's some sort of hybrid, then? She can use both the witch's powers and our necromancy?"

"As far as I can guess? Yes. But I'm only an Earth witch. I'm not an expert at all."

Ezra rubbed at his face. "I did find it odd that I could recognize her as part of the family when I look at her, but when I search for her with my power, I can't find her like I could sense you," Ezra said, glancing at Benji.

I nudged Hunter, who was fixated on the demon. "Maybe I could talk with your dad when we get back? He might know something."

"Yeah, that's an idea," he said, distracted. Hunter moved passed us, stepping closer to Kaylee and the demon.

"Hunter, wait-" I started to say, but wasn't sure how to finish the plea. He did pause, tearing his eyes away from the demon to look at me with an expectant gaze. I forced myself to finish, "Just be careful."

"Always." Hunter gave me a soft smile before he turned back and stepped oh so slowly up to the demon. Both Kaylee's eyes and the demon's yellow gold turned to look at him. It was then that I saw the blood on Kaylee's hands buried its fur.

"It's hurt," I said.

Hunter nodded, his voice soft as he continued slowly up to the two. "I thought it was."

The demon growled low in its throat, its eyes narrowing at Hunter as he approached. Fear gripped my heart hard in my chest as I fought to breathe.

"Easy," Hunter said as he eased closer still, raising his hands. "I just want to look. I used to help my mom out in her vet clinic. I don't know much, but we should at least stop the bleeding."

Kaylee smiled a little, and continued her murmuring and petting the demon's fur. The growling stop, but its weary and resigned look did not let up as Hunter made his way over and knelt next to them.

"Shh, there we go." He reached forward gently, stroking its fur as Kaylee was doing, keeping his voice a soft whisper as he continued to talk, looking the wound over. It was hard to make out exactly what Hunter was looking at from where I stood, but it didn't take long to see that his hands quickly became covered in the demon's blood as well. "I'm going to need a couple of things from camp," he called back softly to us.

"I'll go and get them," Ezra said after Hunter listed what he needed and took off at a jog. Benji wrapped his arms around his torso, watching over Kaylee as Hunter worked next to her.

"I don't know what to do," he said finally. "Do we explain it to her, tell her that she's so different that we've never seen anything like it before? Or not tell her at all?"

Closing my eyes, I tried to imagine myself both in Kaylee's shoes and her father's. It was practically impossible. "Maybe don't tell her everything all at once. Help her learn and control her powers as she grows and explain it all once she's older. But, just-" 

I paused, searching for the right words. "Just don't lie to her. If she asks, tell her the truth." 

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Y'all, I just can't even right now. 

One, I ended up having to split this section into 2, so in the next few weeks I'll have a Chp 8.5 up for you. 

Two, I am doing NaNo. I'm going in with no expectations of winning. I'm going to try, but I'm really starting to doubt the amount of time I've available. If you'd like to follow my progress, check out my YouTube and Instagram accounts. I'll be doing daily vlogs and updates.

Three, I need a vacation. 

I miss y'all. I love seeing your comments and votes. I appreciate every single one of you. I'm working as hard as I can with what I got to get updates to you as fast as I can. 

Happy Halloween, 

J.D.