VALERIA

Chapter Seven.

"Hah!" Came a shrill voice from behind the trio. Batty grunted as a hand wrapped around her mucus covered body, then Connor's. He was also a frog. In an attempt to help, Cassius swooped low and nipped at the elder witch, aiming for her neck each time. "Away, flying rat!" She swept her hand and Cassius lost control of his wings. The bat screeched as he went haywire, flapping clumsily until he soon couldn't any more, nosediving into the swamp mud. The water groaned.

"Ugh . . what was that? Ah!" Cassius squirmed backwards. Eyes appeared from the dirty waters. Alligators. The witch cackled and trudged through the mud towards the swamp banks. "I got 'em, Hazel! We're having frog legs tonight, girls!" All the witches within an earshot cheered eerily into the willow trees, the sound sending a parade of fireflies into the air. If they weren't going to die, Batty would've thought the scene was beautiful.

Batty squirmed and sighed. "Ugh! The bags! Connor! Are you okay?" She tried peering over at her friend's squashed body. "Mm . . yeah. All good here!" He called back the best he could. The witch squeezed. "Shush, you two! Annoying as all Earth!" Inside the witch's hunt, or at least this one's. It was quite spacious despite the size. There was a lot of of clutter: shelves covered in papers and books and leaves of all shapes and sizes. Herbs and potions were bottled up and lined up along the walls. And in the corner, a cauldron, which the witch named Hazel was preparing now.

"A male and a female!" The witch holding them cooed. "Just what we need for that love potion! I told ya, things will look up for us." Hazel dumped a liquid into the cauldron and threw a match into the logs below to start the fire. "I had no doubt, Acantha. Now, dump them in. It's best to do this while they're still squirming."

"No!" Batty screamed. "Wait! Listen! I'm a witch too! Just hear me out!" Hazel and Acantha laughed together, their old voices cracking. "Crazy frogs!" They mused, "I've never heard of such a thing before." Batty panicked, "No, really! Check my bag! The white cat bag! There's a journal in there!" She winced as Acantha brought she and Connor close to the bubbling broth. When a drop landed on her, it stung. "Valeria! Valeria!"

Acantha froze. She looked up at Hazel. Hazel's sunken eyes were wide. "Did they just say . . ?" 

"Yes, Hazel. Valeria."

"Oh, Valeria. Darling Valeria."

Acantha's arms dropped but her grip did not. Her eyes became wistful and full of tears. "Dear girl. She was so ambitious and foolish," She smiled thinly at the memory. Hazel joined in fondly, "Yes. She did much for the witch community, for bad or worse." Her smile slowly faded as she looked down at the frogs. "What do you two know about Valeria?" Batty piped up eagerly, able to breath again, "I'm a descendant of her! Her journal is in my bag, go look! In the mud!"

Hazel looked at Acantha then nodded. "Put them away. I'll get the bag," She then looked at the frogs. "If you're lying, you're dead meat, froggies." Batty held in a squeal. Acantha dropped them into a woven cage and shut the door. The teenager turned frog turned to her best friend. "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" She asked. Connor nodded a little, though his eyes were wide. He was shaken. "Yes," He breathed. "But we need to start figuring out to fix this and fast." Batty shook her head, "I've got it under control! They'll see that I'm a witch and they'll let us go!"

Connor opened his mouth but a ghastly cry stopped him. "What was that?" He whispered. The world around them seemed to shake. Hisses sounded to mute out the screams, the echoes of tearing flesh tainting the frogs' ears. Acantha gasped, "What's going on? Have you two . . sent them!" Batty inched into the back of the cage with Connor as Acantha approached. "N — No, I haven't! What's going — AH!" The ceiling burst. From the top, a lightly blue skinned creature rained down on Acantha, digging its claws in. It was a vampire. At first Batty thought it was Cassius, but then she noticed a looping snake tattoo and much longer hair. The vampire tore the witch to bits as she lay screaming for Hazel and her sisters' help.